JP2021116130A - Accumulator and accumulating method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an accumulator capable of responding to high speed of an article processing device provided in an upstream or a downstream while having large accumulation ability.SOLUTION: An accumulator is provided with: a conveyance part comprising a supply conveyor for conveying an article conveyed from an upstream, and a discharge conveyer for conveying an article received from the supply conveyor in a conveyance direction T toward a downstream; and an accumulation part for accumulating the article conveyed by the supply conveyor. The supply conveyor comprises a first supply passage and a second supply passage that are parallel with each other. The accumulation part comprises a first accumulation area corresponding to the first supply passage, and a second accumulation area corresponding to the second supply passage. The first accumulation area is provided on one side of the conveyance direction, across the conveyance part. The second accumulation area is provided on the other side of the conveyance direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present disclosure relates to an accumulator and an accumulator method for temporarily accumulating articles continuously transported to an article processing apparatus when the operation of the article processing apparatus is stopped.

For example, a line that manufactures beverage products as an example of an article includes a filler that fills a container with a beverage, a capper that caps a container, a labeler that labels a container, and a container that is filled and labeled with a beverage. It is equipped with a plurality of types of article processing devices such as a caser for packing the labels. In order to prevent the upstream article processing device from stopping even if the downstream article processing device stops while each article processing device is processing the article, the accumulating device that accumulates the article, that is, the accumulating device Used (Patent Document 1).

The accumulator disclosed in Patent Document 1 accumulates articles supplied in one row in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction while continuously distributing the articles in two rows. As a result, the accumulator of Patent Document 1 is said to be able to obtain a sufficient accumulator capacity even if the distance between the article processing device on the upstream side and the article processing device on the downstream side is short.

Japanese Patent No. 63088887 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-137768

Article processing equipment is required to process articles faster. Therefore, it is required to cope with the high speed of the article processing device in the accumulator device attached to the article processing device.
Therefore, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide an accumulator and an accumulator method which have a large accumulator capacity and can cope with high speed of an article processing apparatus provided upstream or downstream.

The accumulator according to the present disclosure includes a transport unit having a supply conveyor for transporting articles transported from the upstream in the transport direction and a discharge conveyor for transporting the articles received from the supply conveyor in the transport direction toward the downstream. It is provided with an accumulator unit that stops the supply of articles to the discharge conveyor by accumulating the articles conveyed by the supply conveyor.
The supply conveyor according to the present disclosure includes a first supply path and a second supply path that are parallel to each other.
Further, the accumulator unit according to the present disclosure includes a first accumulator region corresponding to the first supply path and a second accumulator region corresponding to the second supply path. A first accumulator region is provided on one side in the horizontal direction and a second accumulator region is provided on the other side in the horizontal direction across the transport portion.

The accumulator method according to the present disclosure includes step a in which articles transported in a single row from the upstream in the transport direction are separately transported in units of a predetermined number of N groups into a first supply path and a second supply path.
The articles transported through the first supply path are accumulated in the first accumulator region orthogonal to the transport direction in units of a predetermined number N groups, and the articles transported through the second supply path are grouped with a predetermined number N. A step b is provided which is orthogonal to the transport direction and accumulates in a second accumulator region provided on the opposite side of the first accumulator region with the first supply path and the second supply path in between.
In step b according to the present disclosure, accumulating the article in the first accumulator region and accumulating the article in the second accumulator region are alternately performed.

According to the accumulator of the present disclosure, the first accumulator region 31 is provided on one side in the horizontal direction and the second accumulator region is provided on the other side in the horizontal direction with the transport portion interposed therebetween. Even if the distance between the processing device and the downstream article processing device is short, high accumulator capacity can be obtained.
Further, according to the accumulator of the present disclosure, it is not necessary to wait for the accumulation of the article in the second accumulator region in order to accumulate the article in the first accumulator region. That is, according to the present disclosure, since one of the first accumulator region and the second accumulator region is not restricted by the other accumulator operation, high-speed accumulator operation can be realized.

It is a top view and the side view which shows the schematic structure of the accumulator device which concerns on embodiment of this disclosure. It is a figure which shows the accumulator of FIG. 1 which is performing steady operation. It is a figure which shows the accumulator of FIG. 1 which started the accumulator operation in unsteady operation. It is a figure which shows the main part of the accumulator of FIG. 1 which performs unsteady operation following FIG. It is a figure which shows the main part of the accumulator of FIG. 1 which performs unsteady operation following FIG.4. It is a figure which shows the accumulator device of FIG. 1 which started the accumulator release operation at the time of transition from the unsteady operation to the steady operation. It is a figure which shows the main part of the accumulator of FIG. 1 which performs the accumulation release operation following FIG. It is a figure which shows the main part of the accumulator of FIG. 1 which performs the accumulation release operation following FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the diversion machine applied to this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the operation of the pallet in the accumulator operation applied to this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the operation of the pallet in the accumulation release operation applied to this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the operation speed of the 1st group conveyor and the 2nd group conveyor in the accumulator operation applied to this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the accumulator region applied to this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the 1st group transfer machine and the 2nd group transfer machine applied to this embodiment.

[Summary of Accumulator 1]
Hereinafter, the accumulator 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The accumulator 1 is provided, for example, in a beverage production line, and is provided between a capper as an article processing device on the upstream side and a labeler as an article processing device on the downstream side. As an example of this, the accumulator 1 accumulates a container as an article supplied from a capper without being conveyed to the labeler during unsteady operation when the labeler operation is stopped. When the operation of the labeler is resumed and the steady operation is returned, the accumulator device 1 conveys the accumulating container toward the labeler.
As shown in FIG. 1, the accumulator 1 is provided with a first accumulator region 31 and a second accumulator region 41 on both sides of the article transporting portion 10 in a plan view, and the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 31 are provided. A predetermined number of N articles 100 are alternately supplied to 41 and accumulated. As a result, the accumulator 1 has a large accumulator capacity and can cope with high speed of article processing.
Note that FIG. 1 shows a plan view and a side view of the accumulator 1, and a TV (Top View) and an SV (Side View) are attached to the reference numerals, respectively. The same applies to FIGS. 2 and later.

[Rough configuration of accumulator 1 (FIG. 1)]
As shown in FIG. 1, the accumulator 1 has a transport unit 10 for transporting the article 100 from the upstream U to the downstream D, an accumulator 30 provided in the middle of the transport unit 10, and the transport unit 10 and the accumulator 30. A control unit 90 that controls the operation of the above is provided. In the accumulator 1, the upstream U and the downstream D have relative meanings. Further, in the accumulator 1, the width direction W and the height direction H are defined as indicated by the double-headed arrows in FIG. The width direction W coincides with the horizontal direction, and the height direction H coincides with the vertical direction.
In the steady operation of the accumulator 1, the article 100 is conveyed from the upstream U to the downstream D without passing through the accumulator 30. That is, during steady operation, the article 100 passes through the accumulator portion 30. Further, in the unsteady operation, since the article 100 is accumulated by the accumulator portion 30, the transportation of the article 100 to the downstream D from the accumulator portion 30 is stopped.

[Conveyor unit 10: supply conveyor 11, discharge conveyor 13]
As shown in FIG. 1, the transport unit 10 includes a supply conveyor 11 provided upstream U of the accumulator unit 30 and a discharge conveyor 13 provided downstream D of the accumulator unit 30. The supply conveyor 11 and the discharge conveyor 13 are responsible for transporting the article 100 according to the instruction of the control unit 90. The supply conveyor 11 conveys the article 100 that has been subjected to a predetermined process in the article processing device of the upstream U (not shown) toward the downstream D. The discharge conveyor 13 conveys the article 100 delivered from the supply conveyor 11 toward the article processing device downstream D. The form and drive source of the supply conveyor 11 and the discharge conveyor 13 are not limited as long as the article 100 can be conveyed at a required speed.

The supply conveyor 11 has a first supply path 11A and a second supply path 11B that are parallel to each other. The first supply path 11A and the second supply path 11B each have a dimension in the width direction W capable of transporting the article 100 independently, and are provided adjacent to each other. Similarly, the discharge conveyor 13 also has a first discharge path 13A and a second discharge path 13B that are parallel to each other. The first discharge passage 13A and the second discharge passage 13B each have a dimension in the width direction W capable of transporting the article 100 independently, and are provided adjacent to each other.

The first supply path 11A and the second supply path 11B do not have to be physically separated, and may be an integrated supply conveyor 11 driven by the same drive source. That is, it suffices that the supply conveyor 11 has a region as the first supply passage 11A and a region as the second supply passage 11B, each of which has a dimension in the width direction W capable of transporting the article 100. In particular, in the present embodiment, considering that the article 100 is transferred from the first supply path 11A to the second supply path 11B, the first supply path 11A and the second supply path 11B are connected to the integrated supply conveyor 11. Is preferably provided. The same applies to the first discharge passage 13A and the second discharge passage 13B of the discharge conveyor 13.

In the present embodiment, the article 100 is conveyed through the first supply passage 11A and the first discharge passage 13A of the supply conveyor 11 during steady operation, but is conveyed through the second supply passage 11B and the second discharge passage 13B. There is no such thing. That is, in the transport unit 10, the articles 100 are transported in a row on one of the two transport paths during steady operation.

In the unsteady operation, the article 100 is alternately conveyed through the first supply path 11A and the second supply path 11B of the supply conveyor 11. Prior to this alternate transfer, the articles 100 transported in a single row are conveyed by a predetermined number N of articles 100 and a second supply path 11B to be conveyed in the first supply path 11A by the operation of the flow dividing machine 15 described later. The articles 100 of a predetermined number N are transported in two rows. As a result, the accumulator portion 30 can alternately accumulate the article 100 to the first accumulator region 31 and the article 100 to the second accumulator region 41.

During the unsteady operation, the article 100 is accumulated by the accumulator portion 30, so that the article 100 is not conveyed on the discharge conveyor 13. However, when shifting from the unsteady operation to the steady operation, the article 100 is alternately conveyed through the first discharge passage 13A and the second discharge passage 13B of the discharge conveyor 13. After the alternating transport, the articles 100 transported in two rows are transported by the operation of the merging machine 17, which will be described later, so that the predetermined number N of articles 100 transported through the second discharge path 13B are conveyed through the first discharge path 13A. It is merged with a predetermined number of N articles 100. In this way, when the unsteady operation is canceled and the steady operation is started, the articles 100 transported in two rows are merged and transported in one row on the discharge conveyor 13. This merging into one row is performed in order to correspond to the processing performed in the article processing apparatus provided in the downstream D in one row.

There is a gap between the supply conveyor 11 and the discharge conveyor 13, and a part of the accumulator portion 30 is arranged at this gap. Therefore, it can be said that this part of the accumulator portion 30 substitutes for the transport portion 10.

[Conveying unit 10: Stream dividing machine 15]
The shunting machine 15 sets the first supply path 11A every predetermined number N for the articles 100 transported in one row through the first supply path 11A during the accumulator operation when shifting from the steady operation to the unsteady operation. The operation of transporting as it is and the operation of guiding and transporting to the second supply path 11B are performed. The state of performing the operation of transporting the first supply path 11A as it is is referred to as a passing state, and the time of performing the operation of guiding and transporting the first supply path 11B is referred to as a transfer state. The flow dividing machine 15 continues the passing state during the steady operation, and alternately repeats the passing state and the transferring state during the unsteady operation.

The diversion machine 15 in the passing state does not interfere with the article 100 conveyed through the first supply path 11A. Therefore, when the diversion machine 15 is in the passing state, the article 100 passes through the diversion machine 15 and is conveyed as it is in the first supply path 11A. The flow dividing machine 15 in the transferred state guides the article 100 to the second supply path 11B while stopping the article 100 from being conveyed in the first supply path 11A on the first supply path 11A. In the unsteady operation, the flow dividing machine 15 allows the article 100 of a predetermined number N to be conveyed as it is through the first supply path 11A by being in the passing state for a predetermined time, and then becomes a predetermined state by being in the transferred state. It guides the article 100 of the number N to be transferred from the first supply path 11A to the second supply path 11B.
Since the article 100 transferred to the second supply path 11B takes a long time to be transferred, the article 100 is delayed in the transport direction T as compared with the article 100 transported as it is through the first supply path 11A. This delay appears as the distance between the trailing article 100 transported through the first supply path 11A as it is and the leading article 100 transferred to the second supply path 11B.

The configuration of the flow dividing machine 15 is not limited as long as it exhibits the above functions, but an example of a specific configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the flow dividing machine 15 in the transferred state.
The flow dividing machine 15 includes a drive pulley 21, a driven pulley 23, a drive belt 25 that is hung around the drive pulley 21 and the driven pulley 23, and a plurality of guides 27 that are fixed to the drive belt 25. The guide 27 includes a support plate 28 supported by the drive belt 25 so as to be orthogonal to the drive belt 25, and a guide plate 29 supported by the front end of the support plate 28 so as to be parallel to the drive belt 25. In the flow dividing machine 15, a plurality of guide plates 29 are aligned parallel to the straight portion of the drive belt 25 and without gaps. However, the guide 27 is provided only in a range having a length of about half that of the drive belt 25, and nothing is provided in the other range of the drive belt 25. As shown in FIG. 9, when the guide 27 is arranged on the first supply path 11A, the guide 27 guides the article 100 to the second supply path 11B.

The article 100 transported through the first supply path 11A comes into contact with a plurality of guide plates 29 aligned flush with each other in the flow dividing machine 15 in the transferred state. Since the plane P formed by the plurality of guide plates 29 is inclined with respect to the transport direction T of the first supply path 11A, the article 100 in contact with the guide plates 29 is transferred to the second supply path 11B. At this time, the flow dividing machine 15 moves the plurality of guide plates 29 at a speed corresponding to the transport operation of the first supply path 11A and the second supply path 11B by the power applied to the drive pulley 21, and thus the plurality of guide plates. In 29, the article 100 can move synchronously.

When a predetermined number of articles 100 are transferred to the second supply path 11B, the diversion machine 15 shifts to the passing state. This shift is performed by rotationally driving the drive pulley 21 and arranging the drive belt 25 without the guide 27 on the first supply path 11A. When the flow dividing machine 15 is in the passing state, the article 100 is conveyed as it is through the first supply path 11A.

[Conveying unit 10: Merger 17]
Next, the merging machine 17 performs an operation of transporting the article 100 transported in the first discharge path 13A as it is and a second discharge in the first discharge path 13A during the accumulator release operation of shifting from the unsteady operation to the steady operation. The operation of guiding the article 100 transported on the road 13B to the first discharge passage 13A and transporting the article 100 is alternately performed. The time when the operation of transporting the first discharge path 13A as it is is called the passing state, and the time when the operation of guiding and transporting the first discharge path 13A is performed is called the transfer state. The merging machine 17 alternately repeats a passing state and a transferring state during unsteady operation. Since the article 100 is not conveyed to the second discharge path 13B during the steady operation, the merging machine 17 may be in either the passing state or the transferring state.

The merging machine 17 in the passing state does not interfere with the article 100 conveyed in the second discharge path 13B. Therefore, when the merging machine 17 is in the passing state, the article 100 passes through the merging machine 17 and is conveyed as it is in the first discharge path 13A. The merging machine 17 in the transferred state guides the article 100 to the first discharge path 13A while stopping the article 100 from being conveyed in the second discharge path 13B on the second discharge path 13B. In the accumulator release operation, the merging machine 17 allows the article 100 of a predetermined number N to be conveyed as it is through the first discharge passage 13A by being in the passing state for a predetermined time, and then becomes the predetermined state by being in the transferred state. It guides the article 100 of several N to be transferred from the second discharge passage 13B to the first discharge passage 13A.
Since the merging machine 17 has the same configuration as the shunting machine 15, the description thereof will be omitted.

[Accumulation section 30: 1st accumulator region 31, 2nd accumulator region 41]
As shown in FIG. 1, the accumulator portion 30 includes a first accumulator region 31 and a second accumulator region 41 for accumulating the article 100. The first accumulator region 31 is provided on one side in the horizontal direction with the supply conveyor 11 and the discharge conveyor 13 as boundaries, and the second accumulator region 41 is provided on one side in the horizontal direction with the supply conveyor 11 and the discharge conveyor 13 as boundaries. It is provided on the side of. The first supply path 11A and the first accumulator region 31 are orthogonal to each other, and the second supply path 11B and the second accumulator region 41 are orthogonal to each other. The first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41 are preferably provided at the same position in the transport direction T.
The first accumulator region 31 corresponds to the first supply path 11A of the supply conveyor 11 and accumulates the article 100 conveyed through the first supply path 11A during unsteady operation. Further, the second accumulator region 41 corresponds to the second supply path 11B of the supply conveyor 11 and accumulates the article 100 conveyed through the second supply path 11B during unsteady operation. Accumulation of the article 100 to the first accumulator region 31 and accumulation of the article 100 to the second accumulator region 41 are alternately performed.

Next, the configuration of the first accumulator region 31 will be described.
The first accumulator region 31 includes a main pallet group 34 in which a plurality of pallets 33 are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the transport portion 10 from the front end to the rear end, and a sub pallet group adjacent to the upstream U of the main pallet group 34. It has 35. When the accumulator of the article 100 in the main pallet group 34 reaches a certain amount, it is accumulated in the sub pallet group 35. Here, since the number of pallets 33 is small, it is referred to as the sub pallet group 35, but the same number of pallets 33 as the main pallet group 34 can be provided at the position where the sub pallet group 35 is provided. In this case, the master-slave relationship disappears.
In the first accumulator region 31, the portion closest to the transport portion 10 is referred to as the front end, and the portion farthest from the transport portion 10 is referred to as the rear end.

In the main pallet group 34, a plurality of pallets 33 are arranged in a row from the front end to the rear end. Each pallet 33 is movable from the front end to the rear end by a drive source (not shown). The pallet 33 that has moved to the rear end can be lowered by a predetermined distance downward in the height direction H, further moved from the rear end to the front end, and further raised upward by a predetermined distance in the height direction H. That is, in the main pallet group 34, the plurality of pallets 33 can be cyclically moved.

In the main pallet group 34, the pallet 33 provided at the front end is arranged between the first supply path 11A and the first discharge path 13A. That is, in the present embodiment, a part of the pallets 33 of the main pallet group 34 replaces a part of the supply conveyor 11.

Similar to the first accumulator region 31, the second accumulator region 41 also has a configuration including a main pallet group 44 composed of pallets 33 and a sub pallet group 45, except that the positions where they are arranged are different.

Next, the movement of the pallet 33 during the accumulator operation will be described with reference to FIG. 10, and the movement of the pallet 33 during the accumulator release operation will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, in FIGS. 10 and 11, the pallet 33 holding the article 100 is painted in gray. Further, in FIGS. 10 and 11, the numbers in parentheses mean the order in which the article 100 is held during the accumulator operation. 10 and 11 show only the minimum number of pallets 33 required.
In FIGS. 10 and 11, the pallet 33 can be horizontally moved from the front end (FE) to the rear end (BE) and from the rear end (BE) to the front end (FE). Further, the pallet 33 can be moved up and down at the front end (FE) and the rear end (BE). The description of the drive mechanism for horizontal movement and ascending / descending movement is omitted.

As shown in the uppermost part of FIG. 10, during the accumulator operation, the article 100 is first delivered to the pallet 33 marked with (1) at the front end (FE). Therefore, the palette 33 on which (1) is written is painted in gray.
Next, the pallet 33 on which (1) holding the article 100 is represented moves by one pallet 33 toward the rear end (BE) as shown in the second row from the top of FIG. do. At the same time, the pallet 33 marked with (8) and (7) also moves toward the rear end (BE). The pallet 33 marked with (6) at the rear end (BE) descends while staying at the rear end (BE), and moves to the place where the pallet 33 marked with (5) was. In line with this, the pallets 33 on which (5) to (3) are described move toward the front end (FE) by the amount of one pallet 33. The pallet 33 shown in (2) at the front end (FE) rises to the vacant space by moving the pallet 33 shown in (1), and the next article 100 is delivered. The second figure from the top of FIG. 10 shows the completed state of the operations up to this point.

By repeating the movement of the pallet 33 in the same manner as described above, the article 100 is accumulated on the pallet 33 shown by (4) as shown in the lowermost part of FIG. Further accumulation is not possible in this state. Therefore, when the article 100 accumulated by the pallet 33 shown in is moved to the sub-pallet group 35, the accumulating of the pallet 33 shown by is possible, so that the moving operation of the pallet 33 shown in FIG. 10 may be repeated. ..

FIG. 11 shows an accumulator release operation, that is, an operation of paying out the article 100. By moving the pallet 33 in the direction opposite to the accumulator operation described with reference to FIG. 10, in (1) to (4). The articles 100 that have been accumulated on the pallet 33 shown can be dispensed in order.

[Accumulation section 30: Group transfer machine 50]
The accumulator unit 30 includes a group conveyor 50 that conveys the article 100 to the accumulator unit 30 in units of a predetermined number N groups that are continuously conveyed by the supply conveyor 11.
The group transfer machine 50 includes a first group transfer machine 50A that conveys the article 100 in the first supply path 11A, and a second group transfer machine 50B that conveys the article 100 in the second supply path 11B. The first group carrier 50A is provided above the first supply path 11A, and the second group carrier 50B is provided above the second supply path 11B.

The first group transfer machine 50A and the second group transfer machine 50B are transfer machines using a linear motor. The first group transfer machine 50A and the second group transfer machine 50B are provided. Although the positions are different, the configurations are the same. Therefore, the first group transfer machine 50A will be described below as an example.
As shown in FIG. 1, the first group transfer machine 50A includes a guide rail 51 forming an endless transfer path, and a plurality of movers 55 traveling along the guide rail 51.

[Guide rail 51]
The guide rail 51 connects the linear transport rails 52A and the circulation rail 52B, which are arranged at intervals in the height direction H, and the ends of the transport rails 52A and the circulation rails 52B, and is spaced apart in the transport direction T. The arc-shaped connecting rails 53A and 53B are provided. Although not shown, the guide rail 51 is provided with an electromagnetic coil, which is one of the main components of the linear motor.

[Movable element 55]
Each of the plurality of movers 55 independently travels along the guide rail 51. Although not shown, each mover 55 is provided with a permanent magnet, which is the other main component of the linear motor. The control unit 90 controls the current supply to the electromagnetic coil of the guide rail 51, so that each mover 55 independently travels along the guide rail 51 at an arbitrary speed. Each mover 55 includes a support arm 56 that is in contact with the article 100 and supports the article 100 in the transport direction T.

As shown in FIG. 3, of the two movers 55 spaced in the transport direction T, the support arm 56 located on the downstream D is in contact with the article 100 forming the head of the group from the downstream D side, while being on the upstream U. The positioned support arm 56 comes into contact with the article 100 that forms the tail of the group from the upstream U side. That is, the first article group 100GA composed of articles 100 having a predetermined number N is conveyed along the first supply path 11A toward the accumulator portion 30 while being sandwiched from the front and the rear by the pair of movers 55 and 55. In the present embodiment, the mover 55 traveling on the transport rail 52A provided below the height direction H transports the first article group 100GA, and the mover 55 that has finished transporting travels toward the circulation rail 52B. .. The article 100 having a predetermined number N transported through the second supply path 11B is referred to as the second article group 100 GB.

In the group transfer machine 50, the first group transfer machine 50A is arranged above the first supply path 11A, and the first group transfer machine 50A is arranged above the second supply path 11B. Further, the guide rail 51 has the above-described configuration, and the mover 55 is folded back in the height direction H at the connection rail 53A and the connection rail 53B. Therefore, the support arm 56 suspended from the mover 55 is inserted from above with respect to the first article group 100GA and the second article group 100GB. The configuration of the group transfer machine 50 does not interfere with the accumulating operation of the pallet 33 in the accumulating unit 30.

FIG. 12 shows an example of the timing chart of the mover 55 of the first group transfer machine 50A and the mover 55 of the second group transfer machine 50B. In FIG. 12, the vertical axis represents the speed and the horizontal axis represents the position (distance). Each of the first group transfer machine 50A and the second group transfer machine 50B increases the speed after sandwiching the first article group 100GA and the second article group 100GB with the mover 55, and stops when reaching the accumulator portion 30. This operation is alternately performed by the first group transfer machine 50A and the second group transfer machine 50B.
The peak speed of the mover 55 is set to be equal to or higher than the transport speed of the first supply path 11A and the second supply path 11B.

[Operation of Accumulator 1]
Next, the operation of the accumulator 1 will be described in the order of steady operation (FIG. 2), accumulator operation (FIGS. 3 to 5), and accumulator release operation (FIGS. 6 to 8).

[Steady operation: Fig. 2]
The steady operation means that the article processing devices provided in the upstream U and the downstream D from the accumulator 1, for example, the filler and the labeler in the beverage manufacturing system are operated to process the respective articles. During steady operation, the accumulator 1 does not need to function. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the diversion machine 15 and the merging machine 17 are in the passing state, and all the movers 55 of the group conveyor 50 are waiting on the circulation rail 52B. Therefore, the article 100 that has been conveyed through the first supply path 11A passes through the accumulator portion 30 and is conveyed as it is toward the downstream D through the first supply path 11A. The article 100 further slides over the pallet 33 arranged at the front end between the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41 to reach the first discharge passage 13A of the discharge conveyor 13, and this time the first discharge passage. 13A is conveyed toward the article processing device downstream D.
As described above, during steady operation, the articles 100 are transported in a row from the upstream U to the downstream D.
When the article 100 passes through the pallet 33, it is pushed by the article 100 on the upstream U, so that the article 100 on the downstream D is conveyed while sliding on the surface of the pallet 33. Further, although FIG. 2 shows an example in which articles 100 adjacent to each other in the transport direction T are transported while being in contact with each other, they can be transported at intervals. Also in this case, since the transport force is not received from the pallet 33 after reaching the pallet 33, the article 100 on the upstream U side is conveyed by pushing while being in contact with the article 100 on the downstream D side.

[Accumulation operation: FIGS. 3 to 5]
The unsteady operation means, for example, that the operation of the labeler, which is an article processing device provided downstream D from the accumulator device 1, is stopped. Even if the operation of the labeler is stopped, in order to continue the operation of the article processing device provided in the upstream U, the accumulator operation of accumulating the article 100 that has passed through the article processing device is executed.

In the accumulator operation, the passing state and the transfer state are alternately repeated through the flow dividing machine 15, and as shown in FIG. 3, the article 100 sets the first supply path 11A and the second supply path 11B in units of a predetermined number N groups. It is transported alternately. In the example of FIG. 3, the second article group 100GB conveyed through the second supply path 11B is followed by the first article group 100GA conveyed through the first supply path 11A, and then the second supply path 11B is conveyed. The second article group 100GB is followed. The first article group 100GA and the second article group 100GB carried through the first supply path 11A and the second supply path 11B are movable because both the downstream D and the upstream U are supported by the support arms 56 of the mover 55. According to the traveling speed of the child 55, the pallet 33 is reached toward the downstream D. Here, an example is shown in which the first second article group 100 GB reaches the pallet 33 of the second accumulator region 41.
When the second article group 100 GB reaches the pallet 33 of the second accumulator region 41, the movers 55 and 55 constituting the linear motor are stopped to prepare for the accumulator.

In the second accumulator region 41, the pallet 33 that has received the first second article group 100 GB moves toward the rear end as shown in the upper part of FIG. Instead of the moved pallet 33, an empty pallet 33 moves from below the height direction H in FIG. 4 and is inserted between the second supply path 11B and the second discharge path 13B. This new pallet 33 waits for the second article group 100 GB to be transported next.
During this time, in the first accumulator region 31, the first article group 100GA reaches the pallet 33 to prepare for accumulation.

By repeating the above operation, the article 100 fills the main pallet group 34, the sub pallet group 35, the main pallet group 44, and the sub pallet group 45 in the order of the lower part of FIG. 4, the upper part of FIG. 5, and the lower part of FIG. If the unsteady operation continues, as shown in FIG. 13, the accumulator capacity can be improved by adding the main pallet group 34 to the sub pallet group 45 in the height direction H. On the contrary, if the unsteady operation is short, the article 100 finishes the accumulator operation without satisfying the main pallet group 34 to the second sub pallet group 45.

Here, the first group conveyor 50A is provided above the first accumulator region 31, and the second group conveyor 50B is provided above the second accumulator region 41 and does not interfere with the accumulator operation of the pallet 33. Therefore, the group transfer machine 50 can transfer the first article group 100GA and the second article group 100 GB to the accumulator unit 30 while ensuring a quick accumulator operation.

[Accumulation release operation: FIGS. 6 to 8]
When the operation of the article processing device in the downstream D is resumed and returns to the steady operation, the accumulated article 100 is discharged and transported toward the article processing apparatus. This payout operation will be described following FIG.
As an example, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 6, a pair of movable heads and tails of the second article group 100 GB mounted on the pallet 33 placed between the first supply path 11A and the first discharge path 13A is movable. The mover 55 is driven toward the second discharge path 13B while being sandwiched between the child 55s. Next, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 6, a pair of movers at the head and tail of the first article group 100GA mounted on the pallet 33 placed between the first supply path 11A and the first discharge path 13A. The mover 55 is driven toward the first discharge path 13A while being sandwiched between the 55s. At this time, the next pallet 33 on which the second article group 100 GB is placed moves between the second supply path 11B and the second discharge path 13B to prepare for the next payout.

Here, the second article group 100GB transported through the second discharge path 13B is later transferred to the first discharge path 13A, and then joins the first article group 100GA transported through the first discharge path 13A from the beginning. .. It is necessary to prevent the second article group 100GB from interfering with the first article group 100GA at the time of this merging. Therefore, the first article group 100GA paid out to the first discharge path 13A and the second article group 100GB paid out to the second discharge path 13B are alternately paid out one after the other in time. This alternating payout is a procedure required to merge the first article group 100GA and the second article group 100GB later in a row.

FIG. 7 shows the state of this confluence. The merging machine 17, which has been in the passing state until now, shifts to the transferring state.
When the second article group 100GB transported through the second discharge passage 13B reaches the merging machine 17, it is guided to the merging machine 17 and transferred to the first discharge passage 13A. Since the first article group 100GA and the second article group 100GB are alternately discharged in chronological order, the article group 100GB conveyed to the first discharge path 13A is conveyed behind the second article group 100GB. It joins the first article group 100GA to be carried, and thereafter, it is transported in a row through the first discharge path 13A.

The payout includes the payout of the first article group 100GA from the first accumulator area 31, the payout of the second article group 100 GB from the second accumulator area 41, and the payout of the second article group 100 GB to the first discharge channel 13A. Transfer is the basic operation. This basic operation is repeated until all the articles 100 accumulated in the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41 are paid out, as shown in the upper to lower rows of FIG.

[Effect of Accumulator 1]
Next, the effect of the accumulator 1 will be described.
Since the accumulator 1 is provided with two accumulator regions, a first accumulator region 31 and a second accumulator region 41, on both sides in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction T, the distance between the article processing apparatus of the upstream U and the article processing apparatus of the downstream D is provided. Even if it is short, high accumulator ability can be obtained.

The accumulator 1 includes a first accumulator region 31 and a second accumulator region 41 on both sides in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction T, and also includes a first supply path 11A for transporting the article 100 to the first accumulator region 31. A first discharge passage 13A for transporting the article 100 is individually provided in the second accumulator region 41. Therefore, it is not necessary to wait for the accumulation of the article 100 in the second accumulator region 41 in order to accumulate the article 100 in the first accumulator region 31. As described above, according to the accumulator device 1, although the accumulator operation is performed on one of the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41, the accumulator operation is not restricted by the other accumulator operation, so that a high-speed accumulator operation can be realized.

[Additional Notes]
The accumulator and the accumulator method described in the above embodiments are grasped as follows.
[Structure of Accumulator 1 According to First Aspect]
The accumulator 1 according to the first aspect has a supply conveyor 11 that conveys the article 100 conveyed from the upstream U in the transfer direction T, and an article 100 received from the supply conveyor 11 that is conveyed in the transfer direction T toward the downstream D. A transport unit 10 having a discharge conveyor 13 and an accumulator unit 30 for stopping the supply of the article 100 to the discharge conveyor 13 by accumulating the article 100 conveyed by the supply conveyor 11.
The supply conveyor 11 includes a first supply path 11A and a second supply path 11B that are parallel to each other.
The accumulator portion 30 includes a first accumulator region 31 corresponding to the first supply path 11A and a second accumulator region 41 corresponding to the second supply path 11B, and one of the transport directions T with the transport unit 10 interposed therebetween. A first accumulator region 31 is provided on the side, and a second accumulator region 41 is provided on the other side in the transport direction T.

[Effect of Accumulator 1 According to First Aspect]
According to the accumulator 1 according to the first aspect, since the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41 are provided on both sides in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction T, the article processing apparatus of the upstream U and the article processing of the downstream D are provided. High accumulator capability can be obtained even if the distance between the devices is short. Further, according to the accumulator device 1, it is not necessary to wait for the accumulator operation of one of the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41 to perform the accumulator operation, so that it is possible to contribute to a high-speed accumulator operation.

[Structure of Accumulator 1 According to Second Aspect]
The accumulator device 1 according to the second aspect has an accumulator operation for accumulating the article 100 in the accumulator unit 30, an accumulator release operation for discharging the accumulated article in the accumulator unit 30, and a non-accumulation operation for not accumulating the article in the accumulator unit 30. Performs the accumulator operation.
In the accumulator operation, for each of the plurality of articles 100 transported through the first supply path 11A, the first supply path 11A is transported as it is or is guided to the second supply path 11B alternately for each predetermined number N. A diversion machine 15 is provided.

[Effect of Accumulator 1 According to Second Aspect]
According to the flow dividing machine 15 according to the second aspect, the articles 100 transported in one row are divided into two rows, and the first supply path 11A is conveyed as it is for one row. Therefore, the time required for the flow dividing machine 15 to divide the flow into two rows can be shortened.

[Structure of Accumulator 1 According to Third Aspect]
In the accumulator operation, the accumulator 1 according to the third aspect supports the article 100 having a predetermined number N to be conveyed through the first supply path 11A from the head and the tail in the transport direction T, and conveys the articles 100 to the accumulator portion 30. The first group transfer machine 50A and the second group transfer machine 50B that supports the predetermined number N of articles 100 transported through the second supply path 11B from the beginning and the tail of the transfer direction T and conveys them to the accumulator portion 30. It includes a linear motor for driving the 1st group transfer machine 50A and the 2nd group transfer machine 50B.

[Effect of Accumulator 1 According to Third Aspect]
According to the first group transfer machine 50A and the second group transfer machine 50B according to the third aspect, since the articles 100 having a predetermined number N are supported from the head and the tail in the transport direction T, they are arranged between the head and the tail. Articles 100 can be brought into contact with each other. Therefore, according to the third aspect, the dimensions of the first article group 100GA and the second article group 100 GB in the transport direction T can be reduced, so that the dimensions of the transport direction T in the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41 can be reduced. Can be made smaller. Thereby, even if the distance between the article processing device of the upstream U and the article processing device of the downstream D is short, the effect of the present embodiment that a high accumulator ability can be obtained can be improved.

[Structure by Accumulator 1 According to Fourth Aspect]
In the accumulator 1 according to the fourth aspect, the first group transfer machine 50A and the second group transfer machine 50B include support pieces that are inserted from above the article 100 and are supported from the front end and the tail end in the transfer direction T.

[Effect of Accumulator 1 According to Fourth Aspect]
The first group transfer machine 50A and the second group transfer machine 50B according to the fourth aspect include a support piece inserted from above the article 100, and the pallet 33 in the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41. It does not interfere with the accumulator operation due to movement.

[Structure by Accumulator 1 According to Fifth Aspect]
In the accumulator device 1 according to the fifth aspect, the article 100 conveyed to the accumulator unit 30 by the first group transfer machine 50A is accumulated in the first accumulator area 31 in units of a predetermined number N groups, and is conveyed in the second group. The article 100 conveyed to the accumulator portion 30 by the machine 50B is accumulated in the second accumulator region 41 in units of a predetermined number N groups. Accumulation to the first accumulator region 31 and accumulation to the second accumulator region 41 are alternately performed.

[Effect of Accumulator 1 According to Fifth Aspect]
According to the accumulator 1 according to the fifth aspect, a group of articles 100 having a predetermined number N is formed in the process of transportation to the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41. Therefore, the accumulator operation can be started as soon as a group of articles 100 having a predetermined number N reaches the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41.

[Structure by Accumulator 1 According to the Sixth Aspect]
The accumulator 1 according to the sixth aspect includes a first discharge path 13A and a second discharge path 13B in which the discharge conveyor 13 is parallel to each other.
In the accumulator release operation, the article 100 accumulated in the first accumulator region 31 is discharged to the first discharge passage 13A in units of a predetermined number N groups, and then the first discharge passage 13A is directed to the downstream D. Be transported. The article 100 that has been accumulated in the second accumulator region 41 is discharged to the second discharge passage 13B in units of a predetermined number N groups, and then is conveyed along the second discharge passage 13B toward the downstream D. The payout from the first accumulator area 31 and the payout from the second accumulator area 41 are alternately performed.

[Effect of Accumulator 1 According to Sixth Aspect]
According to the accumulator 1 according to the sixth aspect, since the payout from the first accumulator region 31 and the payout from the second accumulator region 41 are alternately performed, the first article group 100GA and the second article group 100 GB are later assigned. It is easy to make one row.

[Structure by Accumulator 1 According to Seventh Aspect]
In the accumulator 1 according to the seventh aspect, the article 100 conveyed in the first discharge path 13A is conveyed as it is in the first discharge path 13A, and the article 100 conveyed in the second discharge path 13B is first discharged. A merging machine 17 that guides the road 13A is provided.

[Effect of Accumulator 1 According to Seventh Aspect]
According to the accumulator 1 according to the seventh aspect, since the merging machine 17 is provided, it is possible to cope with the provision of the article processing apparatus in which the article 100 needs to be supplied in one row in the downstream D.

[Structure by Accumulator 1 According to Eighth Aspect]
In the accumulator 1 according to the eighth aspect, each of the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41 includes a plurality of pallets 33, 43 for holding and accumulating the article 100 in units of a predetermined number N groups. ..

[Effect of Accumulator 1 According to Eighth Aspect]
According to the accumulator device 1 according to the eighth aspect, the article 100 is held on the pallets 33, 43, and the article 100 is accumulated by moving 33, 43 on which the accumulated article is held. Or pay out. That is, according to the accumulator 1, no load is applied to the article 100 when accumulating and paying out the article 100, so that it is possible to avoid deformation of the article 100 due to the load.

[Structure by the accumulator method according to the first aspect]
In the accumulating method according to the first aspect, the articles 100 transported in a row from the upstream U in the transport direction T are divided into a first supply path 11A and a second supply path 11B in units of a predetermined number N groups. Step a and the article 100 transported through the first supply path 11A are accumulated in the first accumulator region 31 orthogonal to the transport direction T in units of a predetermined number N groups, and the second supply path 11B is transported. The article 100 to be made is provided on the opposite side of the first accumulator region 31 with a unit of a predetermined number N groups orthogonal to the transport direction T and sandwiching the first supply path 11A and the second supply path 11B. 2 The step b for accumulating in the accumulator region 41 is provided. In this step b, the accumulation of the article 100 in the first accumulator region 31 and the accumulation of the article 100 in the second accumulator region 41 are alternately performed.

[Effect of the accumulator method according to the first aspect]
According to the accumulator method according to the first aspect, since the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41 are provided on both sides in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction T, the article processing apparatus of the upstream U and the article processing apparatus of the downstream D are provided. Even if the interval between the two is short, a high accumulator ability can be obtained. Further, according to the accumulator device 1, it is not necessary to wait for the accumulator operation of one of the first accumulator region 31 and the second accumulator region 41 to perform the accumulator operation, so that it is possible to contribute to a high-speed accumulator operation.

[Structure by the accumulator method according to the second aspect]
In the accumulating method according to the second aspect, the article 100 accumulated in the first accumulating area 31 is paid out toward the downstream D, and the article 100 accumulated in the second accumulating area 41 is paid out toward the downstream D. The step c is provided. In this step c, the payout of the article 100 from the first accumulator region 31 and the payout of the article 100 from the second accumulator region 41 are alternately performed.

[Effect of the accumulator method according to the second aspect]
The withdrawal of the article 100 (first article group 100GA) from the first accumulator region 31 and the withdrawal of the article 100 (second article group 100 GB) from the second accumulator region 41 are alternately performed. Therefore, it is easy to later merge the first article group 100GA and the second article group 100GB in one row.

In the present disclosure, it is possible to select the configuration described in the embodiment or change it to another configuration as appropriate.
For example, if the articles 100 transported in one row can be divided into two rows, the means is not limited to the flow dividing machine 15. For example, one row can be divided into two rows by alternately repeating a guide made of a plate-shaped member disclosed in Patent Document 2 in a passing state and a transferring state. Further, in the present embodiment, the first supply path 11A in which one transport path after being divided into two rows transports the article 100 in one row is used as it is, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the present disclosure allows an embodiment in which the articles 100 transported in one row are distributed to one transport path and the other transport path different from the previous transport paths. Although this aspect is disclosed in Patent Document 1, it may not be applicable when the processing speed in the article processing apparatus on the upstream side and the downstream side is high.

Further, in the first group transfer machine 50A and the second group transfer machine 50B, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 14, the mover 55 travels on the guide rail 51 with the support arm 56 facing the outside of the guide rail 51. You can also. Further, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 14, the mover 55 can travel on the guide rail 51 with the support arm 56 facing downward.

Further, the first group transfer machine 50A and the second group transfer machine 50B adopt a form in which a plurality of articles 100 are sandwiched and conveyed from the front and back, but as long as a predetermined number N of articles 100 can be conveyed in group units, this The form of disclosure does not matter. For example, it is also possible to use a plurality of instruments called grippers that grip each of the articles 100 having a predetermined number N.

1 Accumulator 10 Conveyor 11 Supply conveyor 11A 1st supply path 11B 2nd supply path 13 Discharge conveyor 13A 1st discharge path 13B 2nd discharge path 15 Divider 17 Merger 21 Drive pulley 23 Driven pulley 25 Drive belt 27 Guide 28 Support plate 29 Guide plate 30 Accumulation section 31 First accumulator area 33 Pallet 34 Main pallet group 35 Sub pallet group 41 Second accumulator area 44 Main pallet group 45 Sub pallet group 50 Group conveyor 50A First group conveyor 50B Second group Conveyor 51 Guide rail 52A Conveyor rail 52B Circulation rail 53A, 53B Connection rail 55 Movable element 56 Support arm 90 Control unit 100 Article 100GA First article group 100GB Second article group U Upstream D Downstream H Height direction T Conveyor direction W Width direction

Claims (10)

A transport unit having a supply conveyor that transports articles transported from the upstream in the transport direction, and a discharge conveyor that transports the articles received from the supply conveyor in the transport direction toward the downstream.
An accumulator portion that stops the supply of the article to the discharge conveyor by accumulating the article conveyed by the supply conveyor is provided.
The supply conveyor
It has a first supply path and a second supply path that are parallel to each other.
The accumulator section
A first accumulator region corresponding to the first supply path and a second accumulator region corresponding to the second supply path are provided.
An accumulator in which the first accumulator region is provided on one side in the horizontal direction and the second accumulator region is provided on the other side in the horizontal direction with the transport portion interposed therebetween.
The accumulator is
An accumulator operation for accumulating the article in the accumulator portion,
It is possible to perform an accumulator release operation for paying out the article that has been accumulated in the accumulator portion.
In the accumulator operation,
A flow dividing machine is provided which alternately performs an operation of conveying the first supply path as it is and an operation of guiding the article to the second supply path for each predetermined number N of the plurality of articles transported through the first supply path. ,
The accumulator according to claim 1.
In the accumulator operation,
A first group transfer machine that supports a predetermined number of N articles transported through the first supply path from the head and tail in the transport direction and transports the articles to the accumulator portion.
A second group transfer machine that supports the predetermined number N of articles transported through the second supply path from the head and tail in the transport direction and transports the articles to the accumulator portion.
A linear motor for driving the first group carrier and the second group carrier is provided.
The accumulator according to claim 2.
The first group transporter and the second group transporter include movers that are inserted from above the article and are supported from the head and tail in the transport direction.
The accumulator according to claim 3.
The article conveyed to the accumulator portion by the first group transfer machine is accumulated in the first accumulator region in units of a predetermined number of N groups.
The article conveyed to the accumulator portion by the second group transfer machine is accumulated in the second accumulator region in units of a predetermined number of N groups.
Accumulation to the first accumulator region and accumulation to the second accumulator region are alternately performed.
The accumulator according to claim 3 or 4.
The discharge conveyor
It has a first discharge path and a second discharge channel that are parallel to each other.
In the accumulator release operation,
The article, which has been accumulated in the first accumulator region, is discharged to the first discharge channel in units of a predetermined number of N groups, and then is transported downstream through the first discharge channel.
The article, which has been accumulated in the second accumulator region, is discharged to the second discharge channel in units of a predetermined number of N groups, and then is transported downstream through the second discharge channel.
The payout from the first accumulator area and the payout from the second accumulator area are alternately performed.
The accumulator according to any one of claims 2 to 5.
A confluence in which the operation of transporting the article transported in the first discharge path as it is in the first discharge path and the operation of guiding the article transported in the second discharge path to the first discharge path are alternately performed. Equipped with a machine
The accumulator according to claim 6.
Each of the first accumulator region and the second accumulator region
A plurality of pallets for holding and accumulating the article in units of a predetermined number N groups are provided.
The accumulator according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
Step a in which articles transported in a single row from the upstream in the transport direction are divided into a first supply path and a second supply path in units of a predetermined number of N groups and transported.
The article transported through the first supply path is accumulated in a first accumulator region orthogonal to the transport direction in units of a predetermined number N groups, and is also accumulated.
The article transported through the second supply path is orthogonal to the transport direction in units of a predetermined number of N groups, and the first accumulator region sandwiches the first supply path and the second supply path. A step b for accumulating in a second accumulator region provided on the opposite side of the
In step b
Accumulation of the article in the first accumulator region and accumulation of the article in the second accumulator region are alternately performed.
Accumulation method.
A step c is provided in which the article accumulated in the first accumulator region is discharged downstream and the article accumulated in the second accumulator region is discharged downstream.
In step c
The withdrawal of the article from the first accumulator region and the withdrawal of the article from the second accumulator region are alternately performed.
The accumulating method according to claim 9.

Images