JP2018154468A - Article alignment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article alignment device capable of suppressing a disturbance in attitude of an article at landing.SOLUTION: An attitude of a bag G during transfer to a first alignment conveyor 221 from a carrying-in conveyor 212 is inclined so that a part landing on the bag G having already being loaded on a first alignment conveyor 221 can be in an upper position and so that a part directly landing on the first alignment conveyor 221 can be in a lower position. Thus, the bag G lands on the first alignment conveyor 221 before or at the same time as it is brought into contact with the bag G loaded in advance. Since a friction force between the first alignment conveyor 221 and the bag G exceeds a friction force between the bags G, a slip between the bags G is prevented to suppress a disturbance in attitude.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an article alignment apparatus that aligns articles before packing.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a boxing device, an article is projected from a horizontal conveyor on the upstream side in the conveying direction to a conveyor on the downstream side, and partially overlapped while being sent by a predetermined distance. For example, in the boxing device described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-280279), a plurality of bag-shaped articles are aligned in a state where adjacent ones partially overlap each other, thereby forming a row of articles, The rows are conveyed by the conveying means, and a predetermined number of articles are collected and stored in a predetermined box.

  However, the dropped article may slide in contact with the previously dropped article immediately before landing on the conveyor, and the posture may be disturbed. Therefore, an unnecessary work such as a separate process is required to correct the disorder of the posture.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an article alignment apparatus capable of suppressing the disturbance of the posture at the time of landing of an article.

  An article alignment apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention aligns a plurality of articles having a thickness dimension smaller than the vertical and horizontal dimensions so that a part of each article overlaps a part of an adjacent article in the thickness direction. It is an alignment apparatus, Comprising: The 1st conveyor and the 2nd conveyor are provided. The first conveyor conveys the article in the first direction. The second conveyor conveys articles supplied from the first conveyor in the second direction. The first conveyor and the second conveyor are arranged so that the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal to each other. When the article is transferred from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, the plane including the vertical and horizontal directions of the article is inclined with the first direction as the rotation axis with respect to the article placement surface of the second conveyor. The article placement surface of the first conveyor is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane.

  In this article alignment apparatus, the posture of the article when it is transferred from the first conveyor to the second conveyor is such that the part that lands on the article already placed on the second conveyor is the upper part, and the part that lands directly on the second conveyor Is inclined so as to be on the lower side, so that the article lands on the second conveyor before or simultaneously with the article placed previously. And since the frictional force of a 2nd conveyor and articles | goods exceeds the frictional force of articles | goods, the slip between bags is prevented and disorder of a posture is suppressed.

  An article alignment apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the article alignment apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein when the article is transferred from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, the plane including the vertical and horizontal directions of the article is The article placement surface of the first conveyor and the article placement surface of the second conveyor are inclined with respect to the horizontal plane so that the first conveyor is inclined with respect to the article placement surface of the two conveyors. ing.

  The article alignment apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention is the article alignment apparatus according to the first aspect or the second aspect, wherein the inclined state is such that the first conveyor is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, and the second conveyor is This is established by inclining in the direction opposite to the inclination direction of the first conveyor.

  In this article alignment apparatus, it is reasonable to arrange and project the final landing posture on the first conveyor, but when it is difficult to achieve the final landing posture with the first conveyor alone, the second conveyor is also The posture viewed from the second conveyor side may be the final landing posture by inclining.

  An article alignment apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the article alignment apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the inclination angle of the second conveyor is changed when the leading article of the article group to be aligned is transferred. Is done.

  In this article alignment apparatus, the top of the row of article groups does not approach other articles, so that the landing posture is different from the following articles. Therefore, the landing postures of the first article in the row and the subsequent articles may be different from each other on the equipment. In that case, the timing when the inclination angle of the second conveyor is changed is best when the tail of the preceding row is discharged from the second conveyor and the head of the new row is transferred to the second conveyor.

  An article alignment apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the article alignment apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the relative height positions of the second conveyor and the first conveyor are It changes according to the size.

  In this article alignment apparatus, if the combination of the height positions of the first conveyor and the second conveyor is fixed for one article, it is unreasonable because facilities must be arranged for each product. If the relative height position of the first conveyor can be changed according to the size of the article, it is possible to handle various products with the same equipment, which is convenient.

  An article alignment apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the article alignment apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the first conveyor expands and contracts along the first direction.

  In this article alignment apparatus, when the first conveyor is transferred from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, the first conveyor supporting the lower surface of the article is shrunk and removed, so that the article maintains its posture at the time of transfer without being tilted. Since it lands on the second conveyor as it is, the posture disorder is suppressed.

  In the article alignment apparatus according to the present invention, the posture of the article when transferring from the first conveyor to the second conveyor is such that the part that lands on the article already placed on the second conveyor is directly above the second conveyor. Since the landing portion is inclined so as to be on the lower side, the article lands on the second conveyor before or simultaneously with the previously placed article. And since the frictional force of a 2nd conveyor and articles | goods exceeds the frictional force of articles | goods, the slip between bags is prevented and disorder of a posture is suppressed.

1 is a block diagram of a packaging system equipped with an article alignment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the flow of the cardboard box and articles | goods in a boxing system. The front view seen from the horizontal direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of a group of aligned bags. FIG. 3B is a front view of a state in which the group of aligned bags of FIG. 3A are raised. The perspective view which shows the arrangement | positioning state of a carrying-in conveyor, a 1st alignment conveyor, and a 2nd alignment conveyor. The front view of the arrangement | positioning state of the carry-in conveyor, the 1st alignment conveyor, and the 2nd alignment conveyor seen from the position facing the conveyance direction of the bag on a carry-in conveyor. The front view when the attitude | position when a bag falls from a carrying-in conveyor is seen along the inclination direction of a carrying-in conveyor. The front view when the attitude | position when the bag G falls from a carrying-in conveyor when the contact surface of a carrying-in conveyor and the bag G is instantaneously removed is seen along the inclination direction of a carrying-in conveyor. The perspective view of the carrying-in conveyor, the 1st alignment conveyor, and the 2nd alignment conveyor in the state which removed the contact surface with the bag of the carrying-in conveyor of FIG. 4 instantly. The perspective view which shows the bag before the attitude | position change operation | movement on a carrying-in conveyor. The perspective view which shows the bag in the attitude | position change operation | movement on a carrying-in conveyor. The perspective view which shows the bag of the attitude | position change operation completion on a carrying-in conveyor.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are specific examples of the present invention and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

(1) Configuration of Boxing System 1 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a boxing system 1 equipped with a transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the flow of the cardboard box B and articles in the boxing system 1. In FIG. 1, a boxing system 1 is a multi-stage packing of a certain number of packed products (bags G) such as snacks in a cardboard box B in an aligned state.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the boxing system 1, three processes of a box making process P1, an article alignment process P2, and a boxing process P3 are linked.

  The box making process P1 is a process of assembling the sheet-like cardboard box material Z into the cardboard box B and transporting it to the packing position, and is composed of a box material carry-in part 11, a box assembly part 12, and a box lower part transport part 13. ing.

  The article alignment process P2 carries the bags G supplied from the upstream process into a predetermined position, aligns a certain number of bags G so that adjacent ones partially overlap each other, and transports them to the packaging position. It is a process and is composed of an article carry-in section 21 and an article alignment section 22.

  The packaging process P3 is a process in which the cardboard box B conveyed from the box making process P1 is packed with a certain number of bags G that have been aligned in the article alignment process P2, and the box is closed and conveyed to the box discharge position. There is a boxing unit 31 and a box transport unit 32.

  The packaging system 1 performs the multistage packing of the bags G in the cardboard box B, and the posture of the bags G in the box B is a “standing posture”. That is, when the opening of the box B is directed upward, the front and back surfaces of the bag G face sideways, the top and bottom ends of the bag G face top and bottom, and the left and right side portions face sideways. is there.

(1-1) Box making process P1
As shown in FIG. 1, the box making process P1 includes a box material carry-in part 11 for introducing the cardboard box material Z into the boxing system 1, a box assembly part 12 for assembling the cardboard box B, the opening of the cardboard box B and the ceiling. It is comprised by the box downward conveyance part 13 which changes a attitude | position so that flap Zfa may be on the same vertical surface, and conveys it below.

(1-1-1) Box material carrying-in part 11
As shown in FIG. 2, the box material carrying-in part 11 feeds the cardboard box material Z, which is the top of the cardboard box materials Z stacked at the supply position, one by one and sends it upward. The box material Z is rotated by 90 ° around the vertical axis and spread in a cylindrical shape.

  The cardboard box material Z is placed at the supply position by the operator. The cardboard box material Z is folded in a state where the flap Zf is opened, and the flaps Zf are stacked in a horizontal direction in a posture in which the flap Zf is positioned in the vertical direction. For convenience of explanation, the top side flap Zf is referred to as a top flap Zfa, and the bottom side flap Zf is referred to as a bottom flap Zfb.

  The cardboard box material Z is sent upward by the elevating mechanism 111. When all the cardboard box materials Z at the supply position are used up, a detection signal from a detection sensor (not shown) is sent to the controller 40 (see FIG. 1). Send.

  Further, the rotation of the corrugated cardboard box Z around the vertical axis is performed by sucking and holding the side surface of the corrugated cardboard box Z with a suction cup by the suction rotation mechanism 112, and rotating the suction rotation mechanism 112 about the vertical axis by a motor (not shown). This is realized by rotating 90 °.

(1-1-2) Box assembly unit 12
The box assembling unit 12 folds the bottom flap Zfb of the cardboard box material Z while feeding the cardboard box material Z spread in a cylindrical shape in the horizontal direction, and tapes the cardboard box B with the top flap Zfa opened. assemble.

(1-1-3) Box downward conveyance unit 13
The box lower transfer unit 13 rotates the cardboard box B by 90 ° around a horizontal axis orthogonal to the transfer direction, and the posture of the cardboard box B so that the opening, the top flap Zfa, and the bottom flap Zfb are on the same vertical plane. After being converted, it is transported downward. That is, it is moved downward while maintaining the cube shape of the cardboard box B formed by the box assembly unit 12.

(1-2) Article Alignment Process In the upstream process in the flow of the bag G of the packaging system 1, a measuring device (not shown), a bag making packaging machine, and the like are arranged. And only the bag G which passed weight, a sealing performance, a foreign material mixing test, etc. in the upstream process is supplied to the packaging system 1.

  The article alignment process P2 includes an article carry-in section 21 that receives the bag G and conveys it to a predetermined position, and an article alignment section 22 that aligns the bags G supplied from the article carry-in section 21.

(1-2-1) Article carrying-in part 21
The article carry-in unit 21 includes an article introduction conveyor 211 and a carry-in conveyor 212. The article introduction conveyor 211 receives the supply of the bag G that has passed the inspection on the downstream side of the process of performing the weight, sealability, foreign matter mixing inspection, and the like, and guides it to the carry-in conveyor 212.

  The carry-in conveyor 212 conveys the bag G conveyed from the article introduction conveyor 211 to the article alignment unit 22. Details of the carry-in conveyor 212 will be described later.

(1-2-2) Article alignment unit 22
The article alignment unit 22 includes a first alignment conveyor 221, a second alignment conveyor 222, and a third alignment conveyor 223. In order to receive the bag G falling from the carry-in conveyor 212, the first alignment conveyor 221 has one end set at a position lower than the height of the tip of the carry-in conveyor 212 and the other end at the height position of the second alignment conveyor 222. Is set to

  In addition, it is preferable that the front-end | tip part of the carrying-in conveyor 212 is located in the space immediately above the article mounting surface of the 1st alignment conveyor 221. FIG. Here, the article placement surface is a surface that waits for the falling bag G among the transport surfaces of the first alignment conveyor 221.

  Each time the first alignment conveyor 221 receives one bag G, the first alignment conveyor 221 conveys the bag G toward the second alignment conveyor 222 by a certain distance L. Therefore, the bag G approaches the second alignment conveyor 222 by a certain distance L from the position where it dropped. On the other hand, a part of the bag G that falls later lands on the first alignment conveyor 221, and the remaining part leans against the previous bag G and inclines.

  For example, when N = 8 bags G as shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, which will be described later, are aligned as a group, the leading bag G advances by a length of 7 L from the position where the last bag G lands. Therefore, in the present embodiment, at least 4 (N / 2) bags G reach the second alignment conveyor 222 from the top of the row. Note that the number of bags G reaching the second alignment conveyor 222 varies depending on the size of the bags G, the length of the conveyor, and the like, and thus is limited to a numerical value of “four from the top of the row” in the present embodiment. It is not a thing.

  Further, the bags G on the first alignment conveyor 221 and the second alignment conveyor 222 are arranged in a row so that adjacent ones partially overlap each other.

  After the last bag G in the line has landed on the first alignment conveyor 221, the second alignment conveyor 222 and the third alignment conveyor 223 start operation, and the first alignment conveyor 221, the second alignment conveyor 222, and the second alignment conveyor 221 The three-alignment conveyor 223 performs the conveying operation in the same direction. Therefore, the N bags G aligned in a line on the first alignment conveyor 221 and the second alignment conveyor 222 move to the third alignment conveyor 223 all at once and travel on the third alignment conveyor 223.

  In the present embodiment, the transport direction of the carry-in conveyor 212 is arranged such that the transport directions of the first alignment conveyor 221, the second alignment conveyor 222, and the third alignment conveyor 223 are orthogonal to each other. Therefore, it can suppress that a conveyance direction becomes long in the same direction, and also the carrying-in conveyor 212 does not interfere with conveyance of the bag G by the 1st alignment conveyor 221, the 2nd alignment conveyor 222, and the 3rd alignment conveyor 223. Since a wall can be provided in front of the bag, the landing posture on the first alignment conveyor 221 can be adjusted by applying the bag G to the wall.

(1-3) Boxing process P3
The packaging process P3 includes a packaging unit 31 that packs the bag G into the cardboard box B, and a box transporting unit 32 that transports the cardboard box B after the packaging of the bag G is completed.

(1-3-1) Packing part 31
The packaging unit 31 inserts the entire group of bags G into the cardboard box B across the top and the end of the group of bags G aligned in a row by the third alignment conveyor 223. As shown in FIG. 2, the boxing portion 31 includes a blocking plate 311, a pushing plate 313, and an insertion plate 315 in order to sandwich the group of aligned bags G.

  The blocking plate 311 is provided on the downstream end of the third aligning conveyor 223 and blocks the progress of the bags G conveyed in a row. The blocking plate 311 is arranged so that the plane portion is always orthogonal to the carrying direction of the bag G.

  FIG. 3A is a front view seen from the horizontal direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the group of bags G arranged in an array. FIG. 3B is a front view showing a state in which the group of aligned bags G in FIG. 3A is erected. In FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the pushing plate 313 pushes the tail end of the N bags G aligned in a row and stands up with the blocking plate 311.

  The pushing plate 313 is provided on the upstream end of the third aligning conveyor 223. While the row of bags G is moving from the second aligning conveyor 222 to the third aligning conveyor 223, the plane portion is the bag G. Is accommodated on the side of the third alignment conveyor 223 so as to be parallel to the conveying direction. Further, the pushing plate 313 rotates so that the plane portion is orthogonal to the carrying direction of the bags G when the last bag G in the row has completely moved from the second alignment conveyor to the third alignment conveyor 223. Further, the pushing plate 313 pushes the bag G at the tail of the row to move the entire row toward the blocking plate 311 side.

  At this time, since the blocking plate 311 is fixed, the leading bag G in the row rises along the flat portion of the blocking plate 311, and the next bag G stands along the standing leading bag. Subsequent bags G stand up in a chain by a similar operation, so that the N bags G are aligned in a standing state.

  Further, the boxing unit 31 pushes the standing N bags G into the cardboard box B through the insertion plate 315. The insertion plate 315 is located on the side opposite to the position of the cardboard box B with the third alignment conveyor 223 interposed therebetween. When viewed from the second alignment conveyor 222 side, the opening surface of the cardboard box B is positioned on the right side of the third alignment conveyor 223 and positioned on the left side of the third alignment conveyor 223.

  The insertion plate 315 stands by with its flat portion facing the opening of the cardboard box B, and after the N bags G are in a standing state, they are pushed toward the opening surface of the cardboard box B, N Are inserted all at once into the cardboard box B from the opening toward the bottom. The insertion plate 315 travels between the blocking plate 311 and the pushing plate 313 to the cardboard box B to the opening surface.

(1-3-2) Box transport unit 32
The box transport unit 32 includes a posture changing mechanism 321 that changes the posture of the cardboard box B packed with bags G, and a discharge conveyor 322 that transports the cardboard box B.

  The posture changing mechanism 321 rotates the cardboard box B so that the opening surface that has been vertical until now is horizontal, that is, the opening surface faces upward. The posture changing mechanism 321 holds the side surface and the bottom surface of the cardboard box B with an L-shaped member with a suction plate, and the cardboard box B rotates by rotating the L-shaped member by 90 °.

  The posture changing mechanism 321 places the cardboard box B on the discharge conveyor 322 with the opening surface facing upward when the cardboard box B is rotated 90 °. The discharge conveyor 322 conveys the cardboard box B to a predetermined position, but before reaching the predetermined position, the top flap Zfa is folded to close the opening surface and the tape application is completed.

(2) Posture adjustment of the bag G As described in the article alignment step P2, the first alignment conveyor 221 conveys the bag G toward the second alignment conveyor 222 by a certain distance L each time one bag G is received. Therefore, a part of the bags G land on the first alignment conveyor 221, and the remaining part leans against the previous bag G to form a row so that adjacent ones partially overlap each other.

  Conventionally, the bags G dropped from the carry-in conveyor 212 may slide and move in contact with articles already dropped just before landing on the first alignment conveyor 221, and the posture may be disturbed. This is because if the bag G that is being transported horizontally falls in a horizontal posture as it is, the subsequent bag G will fall directly on the upper surface of the bag G that is waiting, so that it may bounce in a direction different from the target position. Responsible.

(2-1) Inclination of the carry-in conveyor 212 and the first alignment conveyor 221 Therefore, in this embodiment, from the stage where the bag G is conveyed by the carry-in conveyor 212, the posture suitable for landing on the first alignment conveyor 221 The carry-in conveyor 212 is inclined so that it may become.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an arrangement state of the carry-in conveyor 212, the first alignment conveyor 221 and the second alignment conveyor 222. FIG. 5 is a front view of the arrangement state of the carry-in conveyor 212, the first alignment conveyor 221, and the second alignment conveyor 222 as viewed from the position facing the carrying direction of the bags G on the carry-in conveyor 212.

  4 and 5, the transport surface of the carry-in conveyor 212 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, and the bag G is supported at the lower end of the transport surface in the inclined direction to prevent the bag G from falling off. A support wall 213 is provided to guide the direction. Since the bag G moving on the upper side of the conveying surface in the inclination direction receives a gravitational force along the inclination direction, the bag G slides down toward the support wall 213 while moving, and then moves along the support wall 213.

  Further, the transport surface of the carry-in conveyor 212 is inclined by an angle θa around a virtual axis parallel to the transport direction in the front view of FIG. 5 and counterclockwise with respect to the horizontal plane. Further, the transport surface of the first alignment conveyor 221 is inclined by the angle θb around the virtual axis and in the clockwise direction with respect to the horizontal plane.

  If the relative angle between the bag G1 first dropped on the first alignment conveyor 221 as the head of the row of bags G and the bag G2 dropped next is θc, The inclination angle θa of the conveying surface of the carry-in conveyor 212 is set so that θc = θa + θb].

  By setting the angle θa in this way, the posture of the bag G3 when it is transferred from the carry-in conveyor 212 to the first alignment conveyor is such that the portion that lands on the bag G2 already mounted on the first alignment conveyor 221. Since the upper part is inclined so that the part directly landing on the first alignment conveyor 221 is downward, the bag G3 is contacted with the previously placed bag G2 or simultaneously with the first alignment conveyor 221. Land on the transport surface. At that time, since the frictional force between the first alignment conveyor 221 and the bag G3 exceeds the frictional force between the bag G3 and the bag G2, slippage at the time of landing of the bag G3 is suppressed, and disorder of the posture is avoided.

(2-2) Expansion / contraction of the front end portion of the carry-in conveyor 212 FIG. 6A is a front view when the posture when the bag G falls from the carry-in conveyor 212 is viewed along the inclination direction of the carry-in conveyor 212. In FIG. 6A, normally, when the falling bag G moves away from the carry-in conveyor 212, the balance between the part that has been separated first and the part that is still in contact with the carry-in conveyor 212 is lost, and the part that has been separated first is first. Landing is disturbed. The ideal drop is to drop while maintaining the posture when being conveyed on the carry-in conveyor 212.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, when the bag G reaches a predetermined position of the carry-in conveyor 212, the contact surface between the carry-in conveyor 212 and the bag G is instantaneously removed, thereby depriving the opportunity of tilting the posture of the bag G and carrying it. I try to maintain the posture of time.

  FIG. 6B is a front view of the posture when the bag G drops from the carry-in conveyor 212 along the inclination direction of the carry-in conveyor 212 when the contact surface between the carry-in conveyor 212 and the bag G is instantaneously removed. It is.

  7 is a perspective view of the carry-in conveyor 212, the first alignment conveyor 221 and the second alignment conveyor 222 in a state where the contact surface with the bag G of the carry-in conveyor 212 in FIG. 4 is instantaneously removed.

  6B and 7, when the article detection sensor 215 detects that the bag G is conveyed to the downstream side of the carry-in conveyor 212 and the leading end of the bag G has reached the leading end of the carry-in conveyor 212, The leading end roller R1 moves in the direction of the arrow D1. At this time, the intermediate roller R2 of the carry-in conveyor 212 moves in the direction of arrow D2, thereby absorbing the slack of the conveyor belt when the tip roller R1 moves in the direction of arrow D1.

  The front end portion of the carry-in conveyor 212 in the state where the front end roller R1 has moved in the direction of the arrow D1 is located in a space that is out of the space immediately above the bag G placed on the conveyance surface of the first alignment conveyor 221.

  That is, since the leading end of the carry-in conveyor 212 instantaneously moves upstream from the bag G, the bag G suddenly loses the drag from the carrying surface of the carry-in conveyor 212. Since it maintains, it is hard to become the attitude | position which the front-end | tip of the bag G like FIG. 6A falls first.

  Therefore, the posture of landing on the first alignment conveyor 221 is easily maintained when leaving the carry-in conveyor 212, and the posture disorder when landing is suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, the movement distance of the leading end roller R1 of the carry-in conveyor 212 is controlled by the controller 40. Therefore, the expansion / contraction distance of the front end portion of the carry-in conveyor 212 is adjusted according to the size of the bag G. Therefore, it is possible to handle various products with the same equipment.

(3) Changing the attitude of the bag G Depending on the packing specification, the bag G conveyed by the carry-in conveyor 212 may be rotated 90 ° in a plane.

  In the present embodiment, a member that prevents conveyance (posture changing member) is applied to the leading end of the bag G, and this is followed by the conventional method of rotating the fulcrum, but the conveyance surface of the carry-in conveyor 212 is illustrated in FIG. 5 Since it is inclined by an angle θa around an imaginary axis parallel to the transport direction in a front view and counterclockwise with respect to the horizontal plane, it is “disengaged from the fulcrum while the bag G is rotating”. Overcoming the problems.

  FIG. 8A is a perspective view showing the bag G before the posture changing operation on the carry-in conveyor 212. FIG. 8B is a perspective view showing the bag G during the posture changing operation on the carry-in conveyor 212. 8B is a perspective view showing the bag G after completion of the posture changing operation on the carry-in conveyor 212. FIG.

  In FIG. 8A, the conveyance surface of the carry-in conveyor 212 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, and the support wall 213 is provided at the lower end in the inclination direction of the conveyance surface. In response to the gravitational force along the inclination direction, the slider slides down toward the support wall 213 while moving, and then moves along the support wall 213.

  In FIG. 8B, although it moves along the support wall 213, it contacts the corner portion 214b of the attitude changing member 214 protruding from the support wall 213 side, and the progress is prevented but the conveyance is continued. The bag G rotates as a fulcrum.

  When it is not necessary to change the posture of the bag G, the posture changing member 214 stands by so that the guide surface 214a is on the same plane as the wall surface of the support wall 213 as shown in FIG. And when the attitude | position change of the bag G is required, it protrudes in the conveyance surface side of the carrying-in conveyor 212 rather than the wall surface of the support wall 213. FIG. The protruding operation of the posture changing member 214 is performed by a motor (not shown).

  The corner portion 214b of the posture changing member 214 with which the bag G hits may be either a fillet or a corner, but the corner is more resistant to the article being conveyed than the arc, and thus it is easy to give a propulsive force of 90 ° rotation. However, in this embodiment, a fillet is employed to prevent the corner portion 214b from biting into the bag G in a wedge shape.

  8A to 8C, the posture changing member 214 is formed in a block shape, but may be made of a sheet metal bent into an L shape.

  The bag G is subjected to a centrifugal force in a direction away from the fulcrum during rotation, but the bag G receives a force component of gravity along the inclined direction and thus rotates without leaving the fulcrum.

  8C, when the bag G is rotated by 90 °, the lateral seal side end of the bag G is supported by the guide surface 214a of the posture changing member 214, and the bag G is along the guide surface 214a of the posture changing member 214. Move.

  Subsequent operations are the same as those already described.

(4) Modification (4-1)
The inclination angle θb of the first alignment conveyor 221 can be changed when the top of the group of bags G to be aligned is transferred.

  Since the first bag G in the row does not approach another bag G, the landing posture is different from the subsequent bags G. Therefore, the landing postures of the leading bag G and the succeeding bag G may be different from each other on the equipment. In this case, when the rear end of the preceding row is discharged from the first alignment conveyor 221 and the top bag G of the new row is transferred to the first alignment conveyor 221, the inclination angle of the first alignment conveyor 221 is changed. Best timing.

(4-2)
The relative height position between the front end portion of the carry-in conveyor 212 and the article placement surface of the first alignment conveyor 221 can be changed according to the size of the bag G. If the combination of the height positions of the carry-in conveyor 212 and the first alignment conveyor is fixed for one product, it is unreasonable because equipment must be prepared for each product. However, since the relative height position of the carry-in conveyor 212 and the first alignment conveyor 221 can be changed according to the size of the product (bag G), it is possible to handle various products with the same equipment, so that it is easy to use. Is good.

(5) Features (5-1)
The posture of the bag G when it is transferred from the carry-in conveyor 212 to the first alignment conveyor 221 is such that the portion that lands on the bag G already placed on the first alignment conveyor 221 is directly above and landed directly on the first alignment conveyor 221. Since the portion to be inclined is inclined downward, the bag G is landed on the first aligning conveyor 221 before or simultaneously with the bag G previously placed. And since the frictional force of the 1st alignment conveyor 221 and the bag G exceeds the frictional force of the bags G, the slip between the bags G is prevented and the disorder of the attitude | position is suppressed.

(5-2)
It is reasonable to arrange and project the final landing posture on the carry-in conveyor 212, but when it is difficult to achieve the final landing posture with the carry-in conveyor 212 alone, the first alignment conveyor 221 is also inclined to make the first landing posture 221 inclined. The posture seen from the 1st alignment conveyor 221 side may be the final landing posture.

(5-3)
Since the head of the row of the bags G does not approach the other bags G, the landing posture is different from the following bags G. Therefore, the landing postures of the first bag G and the subsequent bag G in the row may be different from each other due to equipment. In that case, the best timing for changing the inclination angle of the first alignment conveyor 221 is when the last column of the preceding column is discharged from the first alignment conveyor 221 and the top of the new column is transferred to the first alignment conveyor 221. It is.

(5-4)
If the combination of the height positions of the carry-in conveyor 212 and the first alignment conveyor 221 is fixed for one product, it is unreasonable because equipment must be arranged for each product, but the first alignment conveyor 221 and the carry-in conveyor If the relative height position of 212 can be changed in accordance with the size of the product, it is possible to deal with various products with the same equipment, which is convenient.

(5-5)
When transferring from the carry-in conveyor 212 to the first alignment conveyor 221, the carry-in conveyor 212 supporting the lower surface of the bag G is shrunk and removed, so that the bag G is not tilted and the posture at the time of transfer is maintained. Since landing on the first alignment conveyor 221, the disturbance of the posture is suppressed.

1 Boxing system 212 Carry-in conveyor (first conveyor)
221 First alignment conveyor (second conveyor)
G bag (goods)

JP 2009-280279 A

Claims (6)

An article alignment apparatus for aligning a plurality of articles having a thickness dimension smaller than a vertical and horizontal dimension so that a part of each of the articles overlaps a part of the adjacent article in the thickness direction,
A first conveyor for conveying the article in a first direction;
A second conveyor for conveying the article supplied from the first conveyor in a second direction;
With
The first conveyor and the second conveyor are arranged so that the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal to each other,
When the article is transferred from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, the plane including the vertical and horizontal directions of the article is inclined with the first direction as the rotation axis with respect to the article placement surface of the second conveyor. The article placement surface of the first conveyor is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane so as to be in a state,
Article alignment device. When the article is transferred from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, the plane including the vertical and horizontal directions of the article is inclined with the first direction as the rotation axis with respect to the article placement surface of the second conveyor. The article placement surface of the first conveyor and the article placement surface of the second conveyor are inclined with respect to a horizontal plane so as to be in a state,
The article alignment apparatus according to claim 1. The inclined state is established by the first conveyor being inclined with respect to a horizontal plane, and the second conveyor being inclined in a direction opposite to the inclination direction of the first conveyor.
The article alignment apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The inclination angle of the second conveyor is changed when the article at the head of the article group to be aligned is transferred.
The article alignment apparatus according to claim 2. The relative height position of the second conveyor and the first conveyor is changed according to the size of the article,
The article alignment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The first conveyor expands and contracts along the first direction.
The article alignment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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