JP2023163276A - Article conveyance device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an article conveyance device having high versatility by broadening an extensive general purpose range of articles holdable with a gripper.SOLUTION: A linear conveyance device 6 has a lot of movable elements 16A, 16B having grip pieces 3A, 3b, and a gripper 3 holding a container 2 by the adjacent pair of the grip pieces 3A, 3B is formed. One grip piece 3A out of the adjacent pair of the grip pieces is decentered to the upstream side in the conveying direction in relation to an axis of the movable element 16A provided therewith, and the other grip piece 3B is decentered to the downstream side in the conveying direction of the movable element 16B provided therewith. When holding the minimum container 2, the container is held by a first mode consisting of a second holding face 3Adb of the grip piece 3A and a first holding face 3Bda of the grip piece 3B, and when holding the maximum container 2, the container is held by a second mode consisting of a first holding face 3Ada of the grip piece 3A and a second holding face 3Bdb of the grip piece 3B.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to an article conveying device, and more particularly to an article conveying device using a linear motor, in which an article is held and conveyed by a gripper provided over a pair of adjacent movers.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, linear conveyance devices that convey articles using linear motors have been known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). In such conventional linear conveyance devices, one grip piece is attached to one movable element, and the article is conveyed while holding the front and back of the article using a gripper (holding means) consisting of a pair of adjacent grip pieces. ing.

Patent No. 6334556 US Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0176659

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional linear conveyance device, when attempting to hold articles with different dimensions in the conveyance direction, by adjusting the interval between adjacent movers, the interval between a pair of adjacent grip pieces can be adjusted. is changed to match the dimensions of the item. Specifically, when holding an article with a small dimension in the conveyance direction with a gripper, the distance between a pair of adjacent grip pieces, that is, adjacent movers, is set narrowly, and the gripper holds an article with a large dimension in the conveyance direction. When holding, it is necessary to set a wide interval between a pair of adjacent grip pieces, that is, a movable element.
By the way, since the grip piece is provided on the movable element, when holding a small article with the gripper, the limit is a position where adjacent movable elements do not interfere with each other.
Further, for example, when the article is a container and the container is held by a plurality of grippers each consisting of a pair of grip pieces and is transported to a position of a filling device and filled with liquid, adjacent filling nozzles in the filling device are It is necessary to match the pitch of adjacent containers to the pitch. Therefore, when holding a large container with a gripper, the limit is a position that does not interfere with the mover of the gripper holding an adjacent container. In this case, increasing the moving range of the movable element also increases the pitch of the filling nozzles, which is not preferable because the filling device itself becomes larger and the manufacturing cost increases.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an article conveyance device equipped with a gripper that can widen the range of shared use of held articles even if the movement range of adjacent movers provided with grippers is limited.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention provides a large number of movable elements arranged along a predetermined conveyance path, a stator for linearly driving each of the movable elements along the conveyance path, and two adjacent movable elements. One grip piece provided on one of the movable elements and the other grip piece provided on the other movable element,
The grip pieces of the two adjacent movers constitute a gripper that holds the article, and the two adjacent movers are moved in synchronization to convey the article held by the gripper along the conveyance path. In the article conveyance device,
Each of the grip pieces has a first holding surface formed on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the article, and a second holding surface formed on the downstream side in the conveying direction,
The first holding surface and the second holding surface of one of the adjacent grip pieces are eccentrically provided on the upstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the movable member provided with the grip piece, and the first holding surface and the second holding surface of the other adjacent grip piece are The holding surface and the second holding surface are provided eccentrically on the downstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the movable element provided with the grip piece, and
Alternately arranging the one grip piece and the other grip piece on the conveyance path,
One of the movers provided with the one grip piece is located on the upstream side in the conveyance direction, and the other mover provided with the other grip piece is positioned on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, and the second holding surface of the one grip piece is positioned. and a first holding surface of the other grip piece to hold the article;
The other movable element provided with the other grip piece is located on the upstream side in the conveyance direction, and the one movable element provided with the above one grip piece is positioned on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, and the second holding surface of the other grip piece is positioned. and a second mode in which the article is held by the first holding surface of one of the grip pieces.

According to this configuration, by switching the gripper between the first mode and the second mode according to the size of the container, it is possible to widen the range of objects that can be held by the gripper. Therefore, a highly versatile article conveying device can be provided.

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention. 2(a) is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 1, FIG. 2(b) is a rear view of the main part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2(c) is a vertical sectional view of the main part of FIG. An enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 1. 4(a) is a plan view showing a state in which the container is held by the gripper in FIG. 2, FIG. 4(a) shows a state in which the smallest container is held in the gripper in the first mode, and FIG. It shows a state in which it is held by a two-mode gripper. FIG. 5(a) is a plan view showing a case where the smallest container is held by a conventional gripper, and FIG. 5(b) is a plan view showing a case where the largest container is held by a conventional gripper. FIG. 6(a) is a plan view showing the case where the smallest container is held by the gripper of the first mode of the present invention, and FIG. 6(b) is a plan view showing the case where the largest container is held by the gripper of the second mode of the present invention. FIG.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a filling system for filling a container 2 with liquid. In this filling system 1, a large number of grippers 3 holding containers 2 are made to circulate in the direction of the arrow along a circulation conveyance path R, and a feeding robot 4 moves the containers to the grippers 3 stopped at a feeding position A. After the container 2 is supplied and held, the container 2 held by the gripper 3 is conveyed to the filling position B and stopped, where the filling device 5 fills the container 2 with a predetermined amount of liquid. It has become.
The filling system 1 includes a linear conveyance device 6 as an article conveyance device that holds and conveys containers 2 with grippers 3, and is disposed at a supply position A in a circulation conveyance path R of the linear conveyance device 6, and is configured to transport empty containers 2. A supply robot 4 that supplies the gripper 3, a filling device 5 that is disposed at a filling position B downstream of the supply position A in the circulation conveyance path R and fills the container 2 with liquid, and a filling position in the circulation conveyance path R. A capping device 7 installed at a capping position C downstream of the capping device B, an inspection device 8 installed at an inspection position D downstream of the capping device 7 for inspecting the container 2, and a discharge position downstream of the inspection position D. It is equipped with an ejecting robot 9 provided at E and a control device 11 that controls the operation of these components.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, a ferri plate 12 that supports the bottom of the container 2 is arranged from the supply position A to the discharge position E on the downstream side in the transport direction, and the container is held by the gripper 3 and transported. 2 is supported by the Ferri plate 12 and slides on its surface. A nut member 13 is connected to the lower part of the ferri plate 12, and this nut member 13 is screwed into a ball screw 14 arranged in the vertical direction (see FIG. 2(c)). The ball screw 14 is rotated by a servo motor M1, and the operation of the servo motor M1 is controlled by the control device 11. When the height or shape of the container 2 to be processed is changed, the height of the Ferri plate 12 can be changed by rotating the servo motor M1 by a required amount by the control device 11. This allows the gripper 3 to hold the body of the container 2 at a suitable height position.
A linear supply conveyor 15 is arranged parallel to the circulation conveyance path R at the supply position A, and the empty containers 2 arranged vertically in an upright state are supplied to the supply device A by the supply conveyor 15 and stopped. It has become so. A supply robot 4 is disposed in the supply device A, and the supply robot 4 grasps the empty containers 2 on the supply conveyor 15, widens the distance between adjacent containers 2, and then transfers them onto the ferri plate 12 at the supply position A. The container 2 is held by the eight grippers 3 that are stopped.
As will be described in detail later, the gripper 3 consists of a grip piece 3A provided on one adjacent movable element 16A and a grip piece 3B provided on the other adjacent movable element 16B. The body of the container 2 is held by the pieces 3A and 3B from the front and rear in the transport direction (see FIG. 3). As described above, the container 2 held by the gripper 3 is supported by the ferriplate 12 and slides on the surface thereof. The container 2 to be filled with liquid has a body and an upper end opening, and the liquid is filled inside from the upper end opening.
Note that a configuration may be adopted in which the container 2 is held only by the gripper 3 without arranging the Ferri plate 12.

The linear conveyance device 6 as an article conveyance device includes a pair of upper and lower rails 17 arranged along an endless circular conveyance route R, and is arranged over the entire area of the circular conveyance route R between these upper and lower rails 17. , an electromagnetic coil unit 18 in which a large number of electromagnetic coils are provided at predetermined intervals, and a large number of movable units arranged adjacent to the electromagnetic coil unit 18 and guided by the rails 17 and moved along the circulation conveyance path R. children 16A and 16B. The electromagnetic coil unit 18 constitutes a stator of the linear motor for the movers 16A and 16B. Furthermore, the movable elements 16A and 16B have the same size and are alternately arranged in a line along the circulation conveyance path R. Thereby, the grip pieces 3A and the grip pieces 3B are also arranged alternately along the circulation conveyance path R.
Permanent magnets 19A and 19B are embedded in these movers 16A and 16B to face the electromagnetic coil unit 18, and a plurality of rollers 16Aa and 16Ba at upper and lower positions that roll along the guide surfaces of the upper and lower rails 17 are embedded in these movers 16A and 16B. It is rotatably provided.
A large number of electromagnetic coils provided in the electromagnetic coil unit 18 are individually excited by the control device 11 at required timings. The control device 11 synchronizes the pair of adjacent movable elements 16A and 16B and moves them along the circulation conveyance path R, thereby controlling each gripper consisting of grip pieces 3A and 3B provided on the pair of movable elements 16A and 16B. 3 along the circulation conveyance route R, and the movement position and movement speed during movement can be individually controlled.
By exciting the electromagnetic coils at predetermined positions along the circulation transport path R, the control device 11 moves the grippers 3 provided across the pair of adjacent movers 16A and 16B to each position A to E along the circulation transport path R. It is possible to circulate at a predetermined speed and stop at a predetermined position. Thereby, the container 2 held by the gripper 3 is transported from the supply position A to the discharge position E by the linear transport device 6. In addition, by adjusting the distance between the pair of adjacent movers 16A and 16B in the conveyance direction by the control device 11, the distance between the pair of grip pieces 3A and 3B can be adjusted, and the sizes differ accordingly. The container 2 can also be held by a gripper 3. Note that the basic configuration of a linear conveyance device that moves a movable element by linear drive is conventionally known, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

First, referring to FIG. 1, the conveyance of the container 2 by the gripper 3 of the linear conveyance device 6 and the outline of the processing performed at each position A to E will be explained.
When the eight grippers 3 are stopped above the Feli plate 12 at the supply position A and the empty container 2 in the upright state is supplied to the supply device A by the supply conveyor 15, the supply robot 4 moves to the supply conveyor. After gripping the empty container 2 on the top 15, the distance between adjacent containers 2 is widened, and then the eight grippers 3 stopped at the supply position A are made to hold the container 2. At this time, the bottom of the container 2 is supported by the ferriplate 12 as described above.
When the containers 2 are held by the grippers 3 at the supply position A, the six grippers 3 holding empty containers 2 are moved to the filling position B and stopped. The filling device 5 is provided with six filling nozzles (not shown) arranged at equal pitches along the conveying direction of the container 2, and the container 2 held by the six grippers 3 and stopped at the filling position B is , located on the lower side of each of the six filling nozzles. Then, a predetermined amount of liquid is filled into the six containers 2 by the filling nozzle of the filling device 5.
Thereafter, the six grippers 3 holding the containers 2 filled with liquid are transported to the capping position C and stopped there. A capping device 7 is disposed at the capping position C, and caps are attached to the upper end openings of the six containers 2 to close them.
Thereafter, the gripper 3 holding the container 2 with the cap attached is conveyed to the inspection position D and stopped. An inspection device 8 is disposed at the inspection position D, and the inspection device 8 inspects every four containers 2 for the presence of foreign matter, defective capping, and the like.
The container 2 that has been inspected by the inspection device 8 at the inspection position D is then transported to the discharge device E and stopped. At the discharge position E, a discharge robot 9 and a discharge conveyor 21 are arranged.The discharge robot 9 takes out four containers 2 at a time from the gripper 3 stopped at the discharge position E, and transfers them onto the discharge conveyor 21. It is designed to be handed over.
The containers 2 delivered onto the discharge conveyor 21 are conveyed downstream. On the other hand, the gripper 3, which is empty after the container 2 is taken out at the discharge position E, is moved to the supply position A and stopped there again. Note that the containers 2 determined to be defective as a result of the inspection by the inspection device 8 are delivered to the discharge conveyor 21 and then rejected from the discharge conveyor 21 by a reject device (not shown).
In this way, the filling system 1 of the present embodiment sequentially transports the container 2 held by the gripper 3 of the linear transport device 6 from the supply position A to the discharge position E along the circulation transport path R, and into the container 2. Filling with liquid followed by capping and necessary inspections are performed.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the configurations of a pair of movable elements 16A and 16B adjacent to each other in the conveying direction and the grip pieces 3A and 3B of the gripper 3 provided thereon will be described.
Base members 22A and 22B are horizontally connected to the upper part of each movable element 16A and 16B, respectively, and rotating shafts 23A and 23B are fixed to the upper surfaces of these base members 22A and 22B so as to face vertically upward.
Each grip piece 3A, 3B has the same size and consists of a square columnar base 3Aa, 3Ba and a holding part 3Ab, 3Bb integrally provided on the tip side thereof. Vertical through-holes 3Ac and 3Bc are formed.
The upper small diameter part of the rotating shaft 23A of one adjacent movable element 16A is rotatably passed through the through hole 3Ac of the grip piece 3A, and the upper small diameter part of the rotating shaft 23B of the other adjacent movable element 16B is inserted into the grip piece. It is rotatably penetrated through the through hole 3Bc of 3B.
Thereby, the adjacent grip pieces 3A, 3B are supported horizontally at the same height, and are rotatable about the rotation shafts 23A, 23B, respectively.
A first holding surface 3Adb having a V-shape in plan view is formed on the side surface of the holding portion 3Ab of the grip piece 3A facing upstream in the conveyance direction, and a V-shape in plan view is formed on the side surface facing downstream in the conveyance direction. A second holding surface 3Ada is formed.
Further, a first holding surface 3Bdb which is V-shaped in plan view is formed on the side surface of the holding portion 3Bb of the grip piece 3B facing upstream in the conveyance direction, and a V-shaped first holding surface 3Bdb is formed on the side surface facing downstream in the conveyance direction. A second holding surface 3Bda is formed in the shape of a letter.
In this way, the first holding surfaces 3Adb, 3Bdb and the second holding surfaces 3Ada, 3Bda are formed on both the upstream side surface and the downstream side surface in the conveyance direction of each grip piece 3A, 3B, so that 4(a), the grip piece 3A is arranged on the downstream side in the conveyance direction and the grip piece 3B is placed on the upstream side in the conveyance direction, and the first holding surface 3Adb of the grip piece 3A and the second holding surface 3Bda of the grip piece 3B The first mode gripper 3 that holds the container 2 can be constructed, and the grip piece 3A can be arranged on the upstream side in the conveyance direction and the grip piece 3B on the downstream side in the conveyance direction as shown in FIG. 4(b). The second holding surface 3Ada of the piece 3A and the first holding surface 3Bdb of the grip piece 3B constitute a second mode gripper 3 that holds the container 2.
In addition, in this embodiment, the center of the holding portion 3Ab of the grip piece 3A in the conveying direction is moved by a predetermined distance (for example, 10 mm) toward the upstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the axis of the mover 16A on which the grip piece 3A is provided. It's eccentric. In other words, the first holding surface 3Adb facing upstream in the conveying direction and the second holding surface 3Ada facing downstream in the conveying direction of the grip piece 3A are eccentrically arranged toward the upstream side in the conveying direction by a predetermined dimension with respect to the mover 16A. There is.
On the other hand, the center of the holding portion 3Bb of the grip piece 3B in the conveyance direction is offset by a predetermined dimension (for example, 10 mm) toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction with respect to the axis of the movable element 16B provided with the grip piece 3B. In other words, the first holding surface 3Bdb facing upstream in the conveying direction and the second holding surface 3Bda facing downstream in the conveying direction of the grip piece 3B are offset toward the downstream side in the conveying direction by a predetermined dimension with respect to the mover 16B. There is.
As a result, when holding a small container 2, as shown in FIG. The container 2 is held by the first holding surface 3Adb and the second holding surface 3Bda of the grip piece 3B (first mode gripper 3), and on the other hand, as shown in FIG. When holding with the gripper 3, the grip piece 3A is arranged on the upstream side in the conveying direction, the grip piece 3B is placed on the downstream side in the conveying direction, and the second holding surface 3Ada of the grip piece 3A and the first holding surface of the grip piece 3B are arranged. 3Bdb (the gripper 3 in the second mode). That is, in this embodiment, by switching the arrangement of the pair of adjacent movers 16A and 16B to the upstream side and the downstream side by the control device 11, the first holding surface 3Adb of the grip piece 3A and the second holding surface 3Adb of the grip piece 3B are A gripper 3 in a first mode holds the container 2 by a holding surface 3Bda, and a gripper 3 in a second mode holds the container 2 by a second holding surface 3Ada of the grip piece 3A and a first holding surface 3Bdb of the grip piece 3B. It is now possible to switch between.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the adjacent movers 16A and 16B provided with the grip pieces 3A and 3B can be connected to each other via connection shafts 25A and 25B provided on the grip pieces 3A and 3B, respectively. Yes, and the connection status can be canceled.
The downstream end of a first connecting shaft 25A is connected to the base 3Aa of the grip piece 3A, and the first connecting shaft 25A is supported horizontally toward the upstream side in the conveying direction. Furthermore, a horizontal through hole 3Ae along the conveying direction is bored in the base 3Aa of the grip piece 3A on the lower side of the first connecting shaft 25A.
A downstream end of a second connecting shaft 25B is connected to the base 3Ba of the grip piece 3B, and the second connecting shaft 25B is supported horizontally toward the upstream side in the conveying direction. Furthermore, a horizontal through hole 3Be along the conveyance direction is bored in the base 3Ba of the grip piece 3B on the upper side of the second connection shaft 25B.
The free end of the first connecting shaft 25A of the grip piece 3A can slidably pass through the through hole 3Be of the grip piece 3B at the adjacent upstream position. Further, the free end of the second connecting shaft 25B of the grip piece 3B can be slidably inserted into the through hole 3Ae of the grip piece 3A at the adjacent upstream position.
With such a configuration, in the case of the gripper 3 in the first mode in which the grip piece 3A is disposed on the downstream side in the conveying direction and the grip piece 3B is disposed on the upstream side in the conveying direction, the first connecting shaft 25A is arranged as shown in FIG. 2(b). In the case of the gripper 3 in the second mode, in which the grip pieces 3A and 3B can be connected together, and the grip piece 3A is arranged on the upstream side in the conveyance direction, and the grip piece 3B is placed on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, both grips can be connected by the second connecting shaft 25B. Pieces 3A and 3B can be connected.
In the linear conveyance path (positions A to E above) in the circulation conveyance path R, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the first connecting shaft 25A of the grip piece 3A connects to the grip piece 3B at the adjacent upstream position. It is adapted to be slidably fitted into the through hole 3Be. As a result, the adjacent movers 16A, 16B are in a connected state and can be moved toward or away from each other in synchronization, and the pair of grip pieces 3A, 3B provided on the pair of movers 16A, 16B can maintain a parallel state and approach or separate in the conveyance direction. As a result, containers 2 of different sizes are held by the opposing first holding surfaces 3Adb, 3Bdb and second holding surfaces 3Ada, 3Bda of the pair of grip pieces 3A, 3B provided on the pair of adjacent movers 16A, 16B. It is now possible to do so.
By the way, as mentioned above, the upper small diameter portions of the rotating shafts 23A, 23B are rotatably fitted into the through holes 3Ac, 3Bc of the grip pieces 3A, 3B, so that the rotating shafts 23A, 23B and their lower sides are connected to each other. The grip pieces 3A, 3B can swing relative to the movers 16A, 16B.
As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, when the gripper 3 consisting of a pair of grip pieces 3A and 3B is moved along the straight line portion of the circulation conveyance path R while holding the container 2, the 3, the second connecting shaft 25B of the grip piece 3B located on the downstream side in the conveyance direction penetrates through the through hole 3Ae of the grip piece 3A on the upstream side in the conveyance direction, and the curved When moving a portion, the distance between adjacent grippers 3 is expanded immediately before the second connecting shaft 25B is pulled out from the through hole 3Ae.
As a result, when the gripper 3 holding the container 2 moves around the corner of the circulation conveyance path R, the connection with the following gripper 3 is released, and the grip piece 3A, 3B is rotated so that the container 2 and the first connecting shaft 25A are kept parallel to each other and smoothly moved along the curved portion.
Although the first connecting shaft 25A and the second connecting shaft 25B are provided facing upstream in the conveying direction, they may be formed to extend toward the downstream side in the conveying direction. In that case, A through hole through which the first connecting shaft 25A and the second connecting shaft 25B are slidably inserted may be formed in the grip piece on the downstream side.

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) show a specific example in which containers 2 of different sizes are held by the linear conveyance device 6 and its gripper 3 configured as described above.
When holding the smallest container 2 that can be held, as shown in FIG. The container 2 is held by the first holding surface 3Adb and the second holding surface 3Bda of the grip piece 3B (first mode).
On the other hand, when holding the largest container 2 that can be held, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the grip piece 3A is arranged on the upstream side in the conveyance direction and the grip piece 3B on the downstream side in the conveyance direction. The container 2 is held by the second holding surface 3Ada of the grip piece 3B and the first holding surface 3Bdb of the grip piece 3B (second mode).
In addition, when each container 2 having an intermediate size between the smallest and largest container 2 that can be held is held by the gripper 3, a pair of adjacent movers in the gripper 3 in the first mode or the second mode The distance between 16 and 16 is adjusted. Thereby, by changing the interval between the pair of grip pieces 3A and 3B that constitute the gripper 3, it is possible to smoothly hold the container 2 of an intermediate size with the gripper 3. In addition, in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), the second connecting shaft 25B is positioned directly below the first connecting shaft 25A to make it easier to understand the relationship between the first connecting shaft 25A and the second connecting shaft 25B. It is written in a slightly shifted position.

According to the linear conveyance device 6 of this embodiment configured as described above, the versatility of the containers 2 that can be held can be expanded compared to the conventional technology in which grippers are provided across adjacent movers.
Here, the gripper of the prior art and the gripper 3 of this embodiment will be compared and explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, with respect to the differences in filling liquid with a filling device equipped with a plurality of filling nozzles. In these FIGS. 5 and 6, it is assumed that the container 2 is transported from left to right.
FIG. 5 shows the prior art, and FIG. 5(a) shows a state in which the gripper 3 holds the smallest container 2 that can be held with adjacent movers 16A and 16B brought as close as possible. Further, FIG. 5(b) shows a state in which the gripper 3 holds the largest container 2 that can be held with the adjacent movers 16A and 16B separated as much as possible.
In addition, in the gripper 3 of the prior art, a holding surface for holding the container 2 is formed only on one opposing surface of the grip pieces 3A and 3B, and the gripper consists of a pair of adjacent grip pieces 3A and 3B. 3 to hold the container 2.
Here, the pitch between adjacent filling nozzles in the filling device is Lmm, the dimensions of each movable element 16A and 16B are the same, and the distance between the adjacent movable elements 16A and 16B is maximized from the position when they are closest to each other. The position will be the same in both cases.
In the conventional gripper 3, if the grip pieces 3A and 3B are fixedly arranged at the center of each movable member 16A and 16B (the center in the conveyance direction), the container that can be held by the grip piece 3A and the grip piece 3B is 2 is the minimum size shown by the broken line in FIG. 5(a), and the maximum size is shown by the broken line in FIG. 5(b).
In contrast to such conventional technology, in the gripper 3 of the present embodiment, the center in the conveying direction of the grip piece 3A disposed on the downstream side in the conveying direction is aligned in the conveying direction with respect to the axis of the mover 16A on which it is provided. At the same time, the center of the grip piece 3B disposed on the upstream side in the conveying direction is eccentrically moved downstream in the conveying direction by a predetermined distance with respect to the axis of the mover 16B in which the grip piece 3B is provided. ing.
In the case of the gripper 3 in the first mode in which the container 2 is held by the first holding surface 3Adb of the grip piece 3A and the second holding surface 3Bda of the grip piece 3B, as shown in FIG. Compared to the smallest container 2 that can be held using the prior art, it is possible to hold a smaller container 2 as shown by the solid line. In other words, it is possible to hold a container 2 that is smaller than before by the size of the grip pieces 3A, 3B eccentric to the movers 16A, 16B.
Further, as shown in FIG. 6(b), in the case of the gripper 3 in the second mode in which the container 2 is held by the second holding surface 3Ada of the grip piece 3A and the first holding surface 3Bdb of the grip piece 3B, the broken line Compared to the largest container 2 that can be held using the conventional technique shown in , it is possible to hold an even larger container 2 shown by a solid line. In other words, it is possible to hold a larger container 2 than in the past by the size of the grip pieces 3A, 3B being eccentric to the movers 16A, 16B.
Therefore, according to the linear conveyance device 6 of this embodiment, even if there is a limit to the movement range of the movers 16A, 16B that move the pair of adjacent grip pieces 3A, 3B, the movement range of the movers 16A, 16B is limited depending on the size of the container 2. By switching between the gripper 3 in the first mode and the second mode to hold the container 2, it is possible to widen the range in which the containers 2 to be held can be used, so it is possible to provide a linear conveyance device 6 with high versatility.

Note that the above embodiment describes a case in which the container 2 is held and transported by the gripper 3 of the linear transport device 6 and the container 2 is filled with liquid. The linear conveyance device 6 of this embodiment can also be used when holding and conveying objects.
Further, the shapes of the first holding surface 3Adb and the second holding surface 3Ada of the grip piece 3A and the first holding surface 3Bdb and the second holding surface 3Bda of the grip piece 3B do not need to be all the same; The holding surface 3Adb and the second holding surface 3Ada may have different shapes, and the first holding surface 3Bdb and the second holding surface 3Bda of the grip piece 3B may have different shapes. However, even in that case, the shapes of the first holding surface 3Adb of the grip piece 3A, the second holding surface 3Bda of the grip piece 3B, the second holding surface 3Ada of the grip piece 3A, and the first holding surface 3Bdb of the grip piece 3B are need to be the same.

2... Container (article) 3... Gripper 3A... Grip piece 3B... Grip piece 6... Linear conveyance device (article conveyance device) 16A, 16B... Mover 3Adb, 3Bdb... First holding surface 3Ada, 3Bda... Second holding surface 18 ...Electromagnetic coil unit (stator) R...Circulation conveyance path

Claims (2)

A large number of movers arranged along a predetermined conveyance path, a stator for linearly driving each of the above-mentioned movers along the conveyance path, and a stator provided on one of the two adjacent movers. one grip piece provided on the other movable element, and the other grip piece provided on the other movable element,
The grip pieces of the two adjacent movers constitute a gripper that holds the article, and the two adjacent movers are moved in synchronization to convey the article held by the gripper along the conveyance path. In the article conveyance device,
Each of the grip pieces has a first holding surface formed on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the article, and a second holding surface formed on the downstream side in the conveying direction,
The first holding surface and the second holding surface of one of the adjacent grip pieces are eccentrically provided on the upstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the movable member provided with the grip piece, and the first holding surface and the second holding surface of the other adjacent grip piece are The holding surface and the second holding surface are provided eccentrically on the downstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the movable element provided with the grip piece, and
Alternately arranging the one grip piece and the other grip piece on the conveyance path,
One of the movers provided with the one grip piece is located on the upstream side in the conveyance direction, and the other mover provided with the other grip piece is positioned on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, and the second holding surface of the one grip piece is positioned. and a first holding surface of the other grip piece to hold the article;
The other movable element provided with the other grip piece is located on the upstream side in the conveyance direction, and the one movable element provided with the above one grip piece is positioned on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, and the second holding surface of the other grip piece is positioned. and a second mode in which the article is held by the first holding surface of one of the grip pieces. One of the adjacent movers is provided with a first connection shaft extending along the conveyance direction, and a first through hole is bored along the conveyance direction,
A second connecting shaft extending along the conveyance direction is provided on the other side of the adjacent movers, and a second through hole is bored along the conveyance direction,
The first connecting shaft of the one movable element can pass through the second through hole of the other movable element, and the second connecting shaft of the other movable element can penetrate the first through hole of one of the movable elements. The article conveyance device according to claim 1, characterized in that:

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