JP2022115521A - Article handling device - Google Patents

Abstract

To restrain reduction in productivity and to prevent the occurrence of an incomplete carrier of with an insufficient number of non-defective products.SOLUTION: The prevent invention relates to a container handling device 1 (an article handling device) in which carrying means 5 moves a carrier 4 capable of accommodating a plurality of containers 2 (articles) and rejection means 10 removes a defective product which has been determined as defective by inspection means 9. The rejection means 10 is provided with a rejection area R for placing the defective product and a stock area S for placing a non-defective product determined as normal by the inspection means 9. When the inspection means 9 determines at least any one container as a defective product among the containers accommodated in the carrier 4, the rejection means 10 takes out the defective product from the carrier 4 and transfers it to the rejection area R, and also takes out a non-defective product from the carrier 4 and transfers it to the stock area S, making the carrier 4 empty.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article processing apparatus, and more particularly to an article processing apparatus provided with conveying means for moving a carrier capable of accommodating a plurality of articles and rejecting means for removing defective articles based on inspection results.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an article processing apparatus provided with inspection means for inspecting an article conveyed by a conveying means, and rejection means for removing defective articles judged to be defective by the inspection means.
As such an article processing apparatus, a conveying means conveys a plurality of articles accommodated in a carrier, and an inspection means judges the quality of the plurality of articles accommodated in the carrier (Patent Document 2). 1).
In Patent Document 1, when an article housed in a carrier is detected to be defective, the rejecting means transfers the carrier containing the defective article to another conveyor, and removes the defective article together with the carrier. It is designed to be removed.
In this way, in Patent Document 1, by removing defective products together with carriers, only carriers containing good products are conveyed downstream.

JP-A-5-51087

However, if the defective products are removed together with the carrier as in Patent Document 1, if the carrier contains non-defective products separately from the defective products, the contained non-defective products are also removed. is wasted, resulting in a decrease in production efficiency.
In addition, when only defective products are removed, an incomplete carrier with a shortage of good products is transported downstream, so there is a problem that processing equipment arranged downstream cannot process normally. .
In view of such problems, the present invention prevents a decrease in productivity by not removing the non-defective items together with the defective items when non-defective items and defective items are mixed in a carrier containing a plurality of items. To provide an article processing apparatus capable of suppressing the occurrence of incomplete carriers with insufficient number of non-defective articles.

In other words, the article processing apparatus according to the invention of claim 1 comprises transport means for moving a carrier having a plurality of article accommodation sections, inspection means for inspecting the plurality of articles accommodated in the carrier, and defective detection by the inspection means. In an article processing apparatus provided with reject means for removing defective articles determined as
The rejecting means is provided with a reject area for placing the defective products and a stock area for placing non-defective products determined to be normal by the inspection means,
When the inspection means determines that at least one of the items contained in the carrier is defective,
The reject means picks up defective products from the carrier and transfers them to the reject area, and picks up non-defective products from the carrier and transfers them to the stock area, thereby removing the carrier from all the storage units. It is characterized by empty carriers from which defective products and non-defective products are taken out.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article processing apparatus comprising: conveying means for moving a carrier having a plurality of article accommodating portions; inspection means for inspecting the plurality of articles accommodated in the carrier; In an article processing apparatus provided with reject means for removing defective articles determined as
The rejecting means is provided with a reject area for placing the defective products and a stock area for placing non-defective products determined to be normal by the inspection means,
When the inspection means determines that at least one of the items contained in the carrier is defective,
The reject means picks up defective products from the carrier and transfers them to the reject area,
If no non-defective products are placed in the stock area, the carrier is emptied from all the storage units by taking out non-defective products from the carrier and transferring them to the stock area. as a career
When non-defective products are placed in the stock area, the non-defective products are taken out from the stock area and transferred to the storage unit in which the defective products were stored in the carrier, thereby storing all the carriers. It is characterized in that it is a real carrier in which non-defective products are accommodated in the part.

According to the first aspect of the invention, when at least one of the articles accommodated in the carrier is defective, the rejecting means takes out the defective and non-defective items from all the accommodating portions of the carrier. empty carrier.
For this reason, incomplete carriers with an insufficient number of non-defective products do not move downstream, so that processing apparatuses arranged downstream can perform normal processing.
On the other hand, since the non-defective products taken out from the carrier are transferred to the stock area, the non-defective products in the stock area can be used later, and the non-defective products are not wasted.
Further, according to the third aspect of the invention, the rejecting means takes out the defective products from the carrier and transfers them to the reject area. The actual carrier is transferred to the accommodating portion in which it was accommodated.
In other words, even if a defective product is taken out from a carrier and empty storage units are generated, the actual carrier that stores the good products in all the storage units of the carrier is used in order to transfer the non-defective products from the stock area to the empty storage units. state can be moved downstream.

A configuration diagram of a container processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Side view of conveying means and rejecting means Diagram explaining the operation in the caser A configuration diagram of a container processing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows a container processing apparatus 1 as an article processing apparatus according to the present invention, in which containers 2 as articles are filled with a liquid and capped, and a predetermined number of the containers 2 are processed. It is a device that is held and housed in the case 3 .
The container processing apparatus 1 includes transport means 5 for moving a carrier 4 capable of accommodating a plurality of containers 2 , container supply means 6 provided along the transport means 5 for supplying the containers 2 to the carrier 4 , container 2, a capper 8 for attaching a cap to the container 2, an inspection means 9 for inspecting the container 2, and a rejecter for extracting from the carrier 4 the container 2 judged to be defective based on the inspection result. A means 10 and a caser 11 as transfer means for taking out a plurality of containers 2 from a plurality of accumulated carriers 4 and storing them in the case 3. These are controlled by control means (not shown). ing.
The container 2 is made of resin and has an elliptical cross section. The filler 7 is filled with a liquid such as shampoo, and the capper 8 is fitted with a cap on the top of the container 2 .
The caser 11 holds eight containers 2 and accommodates them in one case 3 .

The conveying means 5 is composed of an endless rail 12 and a plurality of carriers 4 which are movable along the rails 12. The carriers 4 are driven along the rails 12 by linear driving. It is designed to move in a circular fashion.
As shown in FIG. 2, each carrier 4 is formed with two storage portions 4a capable of storing the containers 2, and these storage portions 4a are provided in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carrier 4. As shown in FIG.
Each carrier 4 is provided with a mover 4b made of a magnet at its lower portion and rollers 4c provided at both ends of the mover 4b. , and roller support portions 12b provided on both sides of the stator 12a and in contact with the rollers 4c of the carrier 4. As shown in FIG.
Since the principle of linear drive is conventionally known, a detailed description is omitted. Electromagnetic induction is generated between the element 4b and the carrier 4 is moved.
The control means recognizes the positions of all the carriers 4 on the rail 12 and moves each carrier 4 to the filler 7, the capper 8 and the like. and the carrier 4 can be stopped in close contact with each other or can be stopped individually.

The container supply means 6 includes a supply conveyor 6a for supplying empty containers 2, a camera 6b provided above the supply conveyor 6a, and a container 2 on the supply conveyor 6a. and a supply robot 6c for transferring to the carrier 4.
The supply conveyor 6a conveys the containers 2 in a state of being overturned, and at this time, each container 2 is oriented in a random direction.
The camera 6b photographs all the containers 2 conveyed on the supply conveyor 6a, and the direction of each container 2 is recognized by image recognition means provided in the control means.
Since the supply robot 6c is conventionally known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. When the side surface of the container 2 is sucked and held, it is rotated in the horizontal plane and oriented in a desired direction.
Further, the supply robot 6c is capable of standing upright the container 2 in a sideways state, and after standing upright the adsorbed horizontal container 2, the container 2 in the concave shape formed in the carrier 4 is lifted up. 4a.

Since the filler 7 and the capper 8 are conventionally known, detailed description thereof will be omitted. Equipped with 8 capping heads.
On the other hand, the conveying means 5 stops at the filler 7 and the capper 8 while keeping the four carriers 4 in close contact with each other. The containers 2 housed in each are positioned below filling nozzles and capping heads aligned in two rows.
When the carrier 4 stops at the filler 7 and the capper 8 in this way, the liquid is filled and the cap is attached by the filling nozzle and the capping head, respectively.

The inspection means 9 is equipped with a camera and a sensor, and determines the quality of the amount of liquid filled in the container 2 accommodated in the carrier 4 and the state of attachment of the cap.
At this time, the transport means 5 stops the carriers 4 one by one at a predetermined position adjacent to the inspection means 9, and the inspection means 9 judges whether the two containers 2 accommodated in the carrier 4 are good or bad. At the same time, the control means stores the results of quality determination of the containers 2 housed in each carrier 4 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the rejecting means 10 includes a reject robot 13 provided adjacent to the conveying means 5, and a gripper 13b for gripping the container 2 at the tip of an arm 13a. can be done.
Also, as shown in FIG. 1, adjacent to the reject robot 13 are a reject area R for placing defective products determined as defective by the inspection means 9 and a non-defective product determined as normal. A stock area S is provided for storing.
Although the detailed operation of the rejecting means 10 will be described later, the conveying means 5 stops the carriers 4 inspected by the inspecting means 9 one by one at a position adjacent to the reject robot 13 .
The control means stores the judgment result of the container 2 accommodated in the carrier 4, controls the reject robot 13 based on the judgment result, takes out the defective product from the carrier 4, and moves it to the reject area R. picking up non-defective products from the carrier 4 and transferring them to the stock area S; It's becoming

The caser 11 includes a case supply conveyor 14 that supplies empty cases 3, a case discharge conveyor 15 (second conveying means) that discharges the cases 3 containing the containers 2, and a case discharge conveyor 15 from the case supply conveyor 14 to the case discharge conveyor 15. and a casing robot 17 for taking out the container 2 from the carrier 4 and storing it in the empty case 3.
The case supply conveyor 14 and the case discharge conveyor 15 are provided parallel to the conveying means 5, and the conveying means 5 stops the four carriers 4 in close contact with each other at the position of the downstream end of the case supply conveyor 14. It's like
The pusher 16 pushes the empty case 3 stopped at the downstream end of the case supply conveyor 14 toward the case discharge conveyor 15. Between the case supply conveyor 14 and the case discharge conveyor 15, A plate 18 is provided for supporting the case 3 from below during movement.

Since the casing robot 17 is conventionally known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. I have.
When the conveying means 5 stops the four carriers 4 on the caser 11, the casing robot 17 positions the eight grippers above the four carriers 4. At this time, the distance changing means changes the distance between the grippers to the carrier. The eight containers 2 housed in the container 4 are aligned with each other.
When the casing robot 17 lifts and lowers the gripper by the moving means and takes out the container 2 accommodated in the carrier 4 , the interval changing means changes the interval between the grippers and accommodates the held container 2 in the case 3 . It is designed to be as narrow as possible.
After that, the gripper moves above the empty case 3 located at the upstream end of the case discharge conveyor 15 by the moving means, and then descends so that the eight containers 2 are accommodated in the empty case 3. It's becoming

The operation of the container processing apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described below.
First, in the container supply means 6, the supply conveyor 6a conveys the overturned container 2, and the supply robot 6c grips the overturned container 2 on the supply conveyor 6a, changes its direction, and furthermore rolls over. to a standing position.
On the other hand, the conveying means 5 stops the empty carrier 4 at a position adjacent to the container supplying means 6, and the supply robot 6c moves the two containers 2 to the two accommodating portions formed in the empty carrier 4. 4a respectively.

Subsequently, the conveying means 5 moves the carrier 4 containing the empty container 2 to the filler 7, and moves the four carriers 4 to the filler 7 while keeping the four carriers 4 in close contact with each other.
When the four carriers 4 are stopped on the filler 7, the filling nozzle is positioned above the eight containers 2 accommodated in the four carriers 4, and the liquid is filled into each container 2 by the filling nozzle. done.
Subsequently, the conveying means 5 moves the four carriers 4 as they are to the capper 8, and the capper attaches caps to the eight containers 2 accommodated in the four carriers 4 by eight capping heads.
When the filling of the container 2 with the liquid and the attachment of the cap are completed in this manner, the carrier 4 is moved one by one to the inspection means 9, and the container 2 is filled with the liquid in the inspection means 9. Judge the quality of the amount and cap attachment state.

When the inspection of the container 2 is completed in this way, the transport means 5 moves the carrier 4 containing the container 2 to the rejecting means 10. At this time, the carrier 4 contains defective products. There are cases where there are no items, and there are cases where there are defective items.
First, when the carrier 4 does not contain any defective products, the carrier 4 is a real carrier containing two non-defective containers 2. Therefore, the conveying means 5 does not cause the rejecting means 10 to stop the carrier 4. , can be moved to the caser 11 as it is.

On the other hand, when at least one defective product is accommodated in the carrier 4, the rejecting means 10 removes the defective product by performing any one of the following first to fourth processes. It's becoming
The first process is performed when the carrier 4 contains only one defective product and the stock area S does not contain any good product.
When the transport means 5 stops the carrier 4 containing one defective product at the rejecting means 10, the reject robot 13 takes out the defective product from the carrier 4, transfers it to the reject area R, and further stores it in the carrier 4. The non-defective products that have been stored are also taken out and transferred to the stock area S.
As a result, the carrier 4 becomes an empty carrier 4 from which the containers 2 have been removed from the two storage portions 4a, and on the other hand, the stock area S is loaded with the containers 2 as non-defective products.

The second process is performed when two defective products are stored in the carrier 4 and no good products are placed in the stock area S. FIG.
When the conveying means 5 stops the carrier 4 containing two defective products at the rejecting means 10, the reject robot 13 takes out the two defective products from the carrier 4 and transfers them to the reject area R described above.
As a result, the carrier 4 becomes an empty carrier 4 from which the containers 2 have been removed from the two storage portions 4a. Become.

The third process is when one defective product is stored in the carrier 4 and more than the number of defective products taken out from the carrier 4, that is, when one or more good products are placed in the stock area S. done.
When the conveying means 5 stops the carrier 4 containing one defective product at the rejecting means 10, the reject robot 13 takes out the defective product from the carrier 4 and transfers it to the reject area R and places it on the stock area S. The non-defective products placed there are taken out and transferred to the storage section 4a which has become empty after the defective products have been taken out.
As a result, new non-defective products are accommodated by the rejecting means 10 in the empty accommodating portions 4a from which the defective products have been removed from the carrier 4, so that the two accommodating portions 4a of the carrier 4 contain non-defective products. It becomes the actual carrier 4 accommodated.

The fourth process is when two defective products are stored in the carrier 4 and more than the number of defective products taken out from the carrier 4, that is, two or more good products are placed in the stock area S. done.
When the carrier 4 containing two defective products is stopped by the rejecting means 10 by the transporting means 5, the reject robot 13 takes out the two defective products from the carrier and transfers them to the reject area R, and also to the stock area S. The two non-defective products placed in the container are taken out and transferred to the two empty storage units 4a from which the defective products have been taken out.
As a result, two new non-defective products are accommodated in the carrier 4 by the rejecting means 10 in place of the two defective products taken out. It becomes the actual carrier 4 accommodated.

After the processing by the rejecting means 10 is completed, the conveying means 5 moves the four carriers 4 to the caser 11 while keeping them in close contact with each other.
First, the operation of the caser 11 when all the four carriers 4 are real carriers 4 accommodating two containers will be described. This is the case when the inspection means 9 determines that both the containers accommodated in the carriers 4 are non-defective products for all four carriers 4, or the third or fourth process described above in the rejecting means 10. is performed.
When the four carriers 4 are moved to the caser 11 in this way, eight grippers are positioned above the eight containers 2 contained in the four carriers 4, and these eight grippers hold the eight containers 2. Then, the empty case 3 positioned on the case discharge conveyor 15 is accommodated.
As a result, the container 2 is accommodated in the empty case 3 without causing a shortage of items. Thereafter, the case 3 is discharged by the case discharge conveyor 15, and the pusher 16 is moved to the new empty case. 3 from the case supply conveyor 14 to the case discharge conveyor 15 .

Next, the operation of the caser 11 when at least one of the four carriers 4 is an empty carrier 4 will be described. In other words, the rejecting means 10 performs the above-described first or second processing on any one of the carriers 4 .
Referring to FIG. 3, the conveying means 5 moves the four carriers 4 including the empty carrier 4 to the caser 11 in close contact with each other (FIG. 3(a)). Here, the second carrier 4 from the downstream side is an empty carrier 4 .
When the four carriers 4 stop on the caser 11 , the eight grippers of the caser 11 perform operations to hold the containers 2 accommodated in the carriers 4 . However, since the first, third, and fourth carriers 4 from the downstream side are real carriers 4, they can hold the container 2, but the second carrier 4 from the downstream side is empty. cannot hold the container 2.

Subsequently, the caser 11 once raises all the grippers including the grippers not holding the container 2, and the conveying means 5 moves the four carriers 4 from which the container 2 has been extracted to the downstream side (FIG. 3(b)). )).
Then, the conveying means 5 moves only one filled carrier 4 closest to the caser 11 from among the filled carriers 4 positioned on the upstream side of the caser 11, and moves the filled carrier 4 to the second from the downstream side. It is stopped at the position of the positioned gripper (Fig. 3(c)).
The caser 11 lowers all the grippers, including the gripper holding the container 2, and is accommodated in the actual carrier 4 by the gripper positioned second from the downstream side not holding the container 2. Two containers 2 are held.
As a result, all the eight grippers hold the containers 2, and the empty cases 3 positioned on the case discharge conveyor 15 can accommodate the eight containers 2 without causing shortages ( FIG. 3(d)).

As described above, according to the container processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, for the carrier 4 containing the container 2 determined as a defective product by the inspection means 9, the reject means 10 is any one of the first to fourth. By performing the process 2, the empty carrier 4 containing no containers 2 or the full carrier 4 containing only non-defective products is moved to the caser 11 .
As a result, the incomplete carrier 4 containing only one non-defective container 2 is prevented from being moved to the caser 11, and when the container 2 is accommodated in the case 3 in the caser 11, the container is prevented from missing items. 2 can be accommodated in the case 3 .
In particular, when any of the containers 2 accommodated in the carrier 4 is defective, the first process is performed by the rejecting means 10, and the non-defective product is taken out from the carrier 4 and placed in the stock area S. It is designed to be
The non-defective products placed in the stock area S in this way are then accommodated in the carrier 4 instead of the defective products in the third process by the rejecting means 10, so that the non-defective products can be used without waste. can.

Further, even when an empty carrier 4 is generated in the rejecting means 10, that is, even when the first or second processing is performed, the conveying means 5 of the present embodiment can individually move the carrier 4 by linear driving. As shown in FIG. 3, a new full carrier 4 containing non-defective products can be moved to the position of the empty carrier 4, so that the containers 2 can be accommodated in the case 3 without causing shortages. .

FIG. 4 shows a configuration diagram of a container processing apparatus 1 according to a second embodiment, and includes container supply means 6, filler 7, capper 8, reject means 10, caser 11, except for the configuration of transport means 5, which will be described below. is the same as that of the first embodiment.
In the conveying means 5 of this embodiment, a branch passage 21 is provided between the rejecting means 10 and the caser 11 on the rail 12, and the downstream end of the branch passage 21 is a circulation route. are provided so as to merge at a position on the downstream side of the caser 11 in the rail 12 forming the .
Switching means (not shown) controlled by control means is provided at the branching position between the rail 12 and the branch passage 21, and the control means moves an arbitrary carrier 4 to the branch passage 21 by the switching means. It is possible.
Also in the branch passage 21, the carrier 4 is linearly driven.

In the second embodiment having the above configuration, as in the first embodiment, the first to fourth processes are performed in the rejecting means 10, but the container 2 is not accommodated by the first or second process. The difference is that the following operation is performed when an empty carrier 4 that is not present is generated.
When an empty carrier 4 occurs in the rejecting means 10 , the conveying means 5 moves the empty carrier 4 , and the switching means moves the empty carrier 4 to the branch passage 21 .
After moving through the branch passage 21, the empty carrier 4 returns to the rail 12 at a position on the downstream side of the caser 11, so the carrier 4 returns to the rail 12 without passing through the caser 11. It is a thing.
As a result, empty carriers 4 do not move to the caser 11, and only full carriers 4 are moved. It is possible to take out the container 2 and store it in the case 3 without causing a shortage.

As described above, in the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the carriers 4 containing the containers 2 determined to be defective by the inspection means 9 are subjected to the first to fourth processes by the reject means 10. By doing so, either an empty carrier 4 containing no containers 2 or a full carrier 4 containing only non-defective products is generated.
On the other hand, according to the second embodiment, since the empty carrier 4 is not moved to the caser 11, the container 2 can be accommodated in the case 3 without requiring any complicated operation in the caser 11 and without causing shortages. be able to.

In the above-described embodiment, when no good products are placed in the stock area S by the rejecting means 10, the above-described first and second processes are performed to remove the good products from the carrier 4. However, for example, by placing a plurality of non-defective products in the stock area S in advance by the operator, it is possible to generate the actual carrier 4 in which only the non-defective products are accommodated by the third and fourth processes.
As a result, the processing shown in FIG. 3 in the caser 11 is not required in the first embodiment, and the branch passage 21 is not required in the second embodiment.
Also, at the start of production, even if only non-defective products are contained in the carrier 4, all the containers 2 are extracted from the carrier 4 until a predetermined number (for example, five) or more of non-defective products are stored in the stock area. Control may be performed so that only the empty carrier 4 is moved downstream.

Furthermore, although two containers 2 are accommodated in one carrier 4 in the above embodiment, more containers 2, such as three or four, may be accommodated.
Even in this case, if there is even one defective product in the carrier 4, all the defective products contained in the carrier 4 are moved to the reject area R as the first processing in the rejecting means 10. In addition to loading, all other non-defective items may be transferred to the stock area S.
As a third process, when a plurality of empty storage portions 4a are generated in the carrier 4, the non-defective products placed in the stock area S may be stored in all of the empty storage portions 4a.
By doing so, the rejecting means 10 can obtain either an empty carrier 4 or a carrier 4 containing only non-defective products, and the number of containers 2 can be accommodated in the case 3 without causing a shortage of products in the caser 11. be able to.
In addition, in the above embodiment, linear drive is used to move the carriers 4 individually.

1 container processing device (goods processing device) 2 container (goods)
3 Case 4 Carrier 4a Storage Unit 5 Transport Means 6 Container Supply Means 9 Inspection Means 10 Reject Means 11 Caser (Transfer Means)
21 Branch passage R Reject area S Stock area

Claims (5)

A transporting means for moving a carrier having a plurality of storage portions for articles, an inspection means for inspecting the plurality of articles accommodated in the carrier, and a rejecting means for removing defective products determined to be defective by the inspection means. In the provided article processing equipment,
The rejecting means is provided with a reject area for placing the defective products and a stock area for placing non-defective products determined to be normal by the inspection means,
When the inspection means determines that at least one of the items contained in the carrier is defective,
The reject means picks up defective products from the carrier and transfers them to the reject area, and picks up non-defective products from the carrier and transfers them to the stock area, thereby removing the carrier from all the storage units. An article processing apparatus characterized in that an empty carrier from which defective articles and non-defective articles are taken out is used. A transferring means for taking out a plurality of articles from the carrier and transferring the articles to the second conveying means is provided downstream of the rejecting means,
providing a branch passage between the rejecting means and the transferring means in the conveying means;
2. An article processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said empty carrier is moved to said branch path so as not to move said empty carrier to said transfer means. A transporting means for moving a carrier having a plurality of storage portions for articles, an inspection means for inspecting the plurality of articles accommodated in the carrier, and a rejecting means for removing defective products determined to be defective by the inspection means. In the provided article processing equipment,
The rejecting means is provided with a reject area for placing the defective products and a stock area for placing non-defective products determined to be normal by the inspection means,
When the inspection means determines that at least one of the items contained in the carrier is defective,
The reject means picks up defective products from the carrier and transfers them to the reject area,
If no non-defective products are placed in the stock area, the carrier is emptied from all the storage units by taking out non-defective products from the carrier and transferring them to the stock area. as a career
When non-defective products are placed in the stock area, the carrier is placed in all the storage units by taking out the non-defective products from the stock area and transferring them to the storage units in which the defective products were stored in the carrier. 1. An article processing apparatus characterized by using a real carrier containing non-defective articles. A transferring means for taking out a plurality of articles from the carrier and transferring the articles to the second conveying means is provided downstream of the rejecting means,
providing a branch passage between the rejecting means and the transferring means in the conveying means;
4. An article processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said empty carrier is moved to said branch path so as not to move said empty carrier to said transfer means. The carrier of the conveying means is provided so as to circulate by a linear drive along an endless rail,
5. The article processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the carrier is provided with a plurality of storage sections in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction.

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