JP2503998B2 - Fork support structure of batch transfer device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a support structure for mounting and elevating a fork of a supporting means in a transfer device.

(Prior Art) In the conventional fork supporting structure, the fork is attached by welding and is directly fixed to the horizontal bar of the supporting means by welding.
Further, the conventional main support structure also serves as a lifting means (hydraulic jack, etc.).

(Problems to be solved by the invention) In the conventional welded structure, disassembly and assembly are not easy.
That is, since a large number of long forks are welded orthogonally to the bar, the fork-bar set takes a large area, which makes it difficult to manufacture parts in a factory, transport to an installation site, and assemble.
Moreover, maintenance such as partial repair is difficult, and it is not easy to replace parts in case of trouble. In addition, it is indispensable that the angle of the forks can be easily corrected in order to fully automate the batch transfer, but it is difficult to correct the unbalance of each fork with the conventional welded structure.

Further, the mounting structure of the fork fixed to the bar cannot absorb the external force when the external force acts in the axial direction of the fork. As a result, the vehicle or device may be damaged when the fork is accidentally bumped into the vehicle by, for example, manual operation. In addition, the main lifting support structure requires a structure that is stronger than that required for lifting because it exerts a large force when holding it in a cantilever manner, and also has stability in a temporary cantilever state. There's a problem.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide a novel fork mounting structure.

(Means for Solving Problems According to the Invention) The fork support structure of the present invention is, in the above-described transfer apparatus, from the first viewpoint, the support means includes a large number of forks provided in a horizontal parallel state with each other, A horizontal bar for supporting the fork, a pin provided on the opposite side of the horizontal bar with the fork interposed therebetween, and a fork supporting member fixed to the horizontal bar and connecting the horizontal bar to the pin. Further, the fork is inserted between the horizontal bar and the pin, and the horizontal bar and the pin, which are connected to each other by the fork support member, support the fork from opposite sides, thereby the horizontal bar side Supports the fork in a cantilever manner.

As a second aspect, the present invention is characterized by further comprising a main column that is provided in parallel with the elevating means and is extendable / contractible in parallel with the elevating direction according to the elevating of the fork to support the supporting means. To do.

In the fork mounting structure of the present invention, the fork is supported in a cantilever manner between the horizontal bar and the pin (see FIG. 1). Therefore, one end of the fork is supported from below by the pin, and the other end of the fork is pressed and held from above by the horizontal bar.

As the pin support mode, (1) the lower surface of the fork is directly applied to the pin to support it, (2) a bracket having a pin engaging hole is attached to the fork and supported through the pin, (3) support part on the fork It is conceivable to provide a support and indirectly support it through the support part. In addition, in (2), from the viewpoint of strength ratio, it is better not to directly provide the pin engaging hole in the fork itself.

In the present invention, the fork is not fixed to the horizontal bar by the support mechanism itself. Instead, the movement of the fork due to the force acting in the advancing / retreating direction of the fork can be prevented by an appropriate means. For example, between the horizontal bar and the fork, a convex portion is formed on one side and a concave portion is formed on the other side so that they are fitted to each other. A groove having a large horizontal width of the horizontal bar is provided on the fork, and the lower surface portion of the horizontal bar is formed in the groove. It is possible to fit them, attach a pin engaging portion (hole, etc.) to the fork, and insert a fixed pin. According to these, when a large force acts on the fork in the axial direction, the fork can be fixed so as to be retractable.

Regarding the second point of view, the main column structure that can be expanded and contracted is mainly responsible for the posture maintaining function at the time of cantilever support, and the elevating means are mainly parallel to each other in parallel so that the elevating and lowering means are mainly responsible for the elevating and lowering function. It is arranged so as to be substantially parallel.
As a result, the stability during cantilevering is increased, and a more precise lifting means (such as a screw jack) can be adopted.

(Example) The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings illustrating an example.

FIG. 1 is a partial front view of an embodiment showing a fork mounting structure of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial plan view of the transfer device, showing the fork 1
Are arranged horizontally on the fork column 2 which is moved up and down by the rear lift 21 at regular intervals and form a supporting means for the transfer device. In Fig. 1, 3
Is a bracket serving as a fork supporting member fixedly arranged on the fork main column 2. The fork 1 is formed with pin support portions 4 projecting downward on both sides thereof. A hole 4a is formed in a protruding portion 3a of the bracket 3 extending over both sides of the fork and a pin support portion (bracket) 4 of the fork, and a pin 5 is inserted in this hole. The pins 5 support the lower surface of the fork 1 and prevent the fork from moving forward, backward, leftward and rightward.
An E-ring 6 is attached to the pin 5 to prevent it from coming off.
(Note that as a safety measure when the tip of the fork hits an obstacle, it is also beneficial to make the hole 4a a long hole and insert the safety pin 4b into the long hole to lock the pin 5.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a rod housed inside the fork 1, through which the rotary roller 36 moves in and out of the lower part of the fork by an air cylinder 46 in FIG.

With this fork support structure, for example, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 4, an air cylinder 52 is provided, whereby the fork can be horizontally adjusted by pushing the fork top surface.

Reference numeral 51 in FIG. 4 is an automatic control device for automatically operating the transfer device. The lifting means of this transfer device comprises a rear lift 21 and a front lift 22. The rear lift 21 is moved up and down by the screw jack 23, and the front lift 22 is moved up and down by the screw jack 24.

The fork support column 2 is held in a predetermined posture by the telescopic expansion and contraction portions of the main columns 54 at both ends and the central portion. The holding structure of the supporting means of the present invention in which the screw jack and the main column are separate structures provides more stable support than the conventional structure in which both are integrated, and enables precise control of the lifting operation.

Regarding the forward / backward movement, the rear lift 21 travels on the guide rail 29 via the wheels 28 attached to the base 27, and the front lift 22 moves on the guide rail 32 via the wheels 31 attached to the base 30. It is done by running. Reference characters A and B denote traveling speed reduction motors for the rear lift 21 and the front lift 22, respectively. The power of each motor is 2
Transmitted to 8,31.

The fork 1 has a front fork support column 35 of a front lift 22 that supports the front of the fork from below when the product is lifted.
Are combined.

A rotary roller 36 is mounted on the lower surface of the front end of the fork 1 so that it can be freely moved in and out of the lower end of the fork by an air cylinder 46. When the pallet is dropped onto the loading platform of the vehicle, it is projected and cooperates with the loading platform. Used as a support roller for supporting the front part of the fork 1.

In FIG. 4, reference numerals 37 and 38 denote three-lens photoelectric sensors for detecting the platform. 37 is attached to the lateral surface of the tip of the fork 1, and 38 is attached to the lower surface of the central portion of the fork 1.

(Operation of Embodiment) In FIG. 4, the product 40 on the pallet 39 that has been placed on the self-propelled traverser 41 and moved in front of the transfer device 42 is supported by the pusher 43 of the self-propelled traverser 41 together with the pallet. It is transferred to the fork 1 of the means and inserted in the front half of the fork. This insertion pallet is moved to the latter half of the fork 1 by the stopper 70 of the retracting device 71 and placed at a predetermined position. As shown in FIG. 9, the retracting device 71 has an inclined surface 72 at the tip.
It has a rod 72 having a, and when this rod 72 moves to the left in the figure, the stopper 70 rotates around the shaft 73 to project and to engage with the bottom of the pallet on the upper surface of the rod 72. The pallet is carried by the stopper 70 by holding and then retracting the rail 74. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the pallet 39 is inserted into the fork 1 with a space maintained.

Next, referring to FIG. 5, the front lift 22 and the rear lift 21 are simultaneously raised 100 mm by the jacks 24 and 23, and
36 comes out.

The pallet on which the product is placed is in front of the loading platform 45 of the truck 44 30
After advancing the front lift 22 and the rear lift 21 onto the guide rails 32 and 29 by the deceleration motors B and A until reaching 0 mm,
Both lifts simultaneously rise to the ascending end (200 mm higher than the truck bed) and then move forward to the top of the truck bed (until both lifts are stopped by the limit switch).

Next, referring to FIG. 6, the front lift 22 and the rear lift 21
When and are simultaneously lowered, and the photoelectric sensor 37 built in the lower surface of the front end of the fork 1 detects the truck bed 45, the lowering of the rear lift 21 is stopped and only the front lift 22 is lowered to the lowering end. As a result, the fulcrum moves to the rear lift 21, and due to the deflection of the fork 1 supported by the rear lift 21, the rotating roller 36 protruding from the lower surface of the fork tip end hits the truck bed 45, providing support in cooperation with the truck bed. Keep the beam on both sides with the rear lift 21.

In order to prevent the cargo bed from sinking greatly when a heavy load is deposited on the cargo bed, a vehicle body height holding mechanism 53 that supports the cargo bed from below is used for the chassis of the vehicle.

At this time, the timer works when the front lift 22 goes below the bottom surface of the pallet, and the rear lift 21 moves forward to carry the product to the center of the truck 44 (Fig. 7).

The forward movement of the rear lift 21 is stopped by the operation of a limit switch provided at the forward end. At this time, the rear lift 21 descends until the photoelectric sensor 38 attached to the lower surface of the central portion of the fork 1 detects the loading platform 45.

It should be noted that the horizontal adjustment of the fork inclination is not limited to this, but may be performed in parallel with the forward movement of the fork, for example.

By confirming the forward limit switch of the rear lift 21, the rotating roller 36 on the lower surface of the fork is released. At this time, the front stroke of the fork 1 is tilted by the release stroke of the rotary roller 36.

This tilt is automatically lowered by the rear lift 21 until the photoelectric sensor 38 at the center of the fork detects the truck bed 45.
The fork 1 is controlled parallel to the center of the pallet height.
After that, the fork 1 is retracted to a predetermined position (to a position where the rear lift 21 is separated from the truck bed by about 300 mm).
Next, the rear lift 21 and the front lift 22 simultaneously return to the retracted ends, return to their original positions, and the loading operation ends.

In addition, the horizontal adjustment of the fork is not limited to the above case,
It can be performed as many times as appropriate.

Further, if the operation sequence of the loading operation described above is reversed, the loaded products can be unloaded at one time.

(Effect of the Invention) The first aspect of the fork support structure of the present invention enables easy disassembly, assembly, and correction of the fork angle. Therefore, complete automation of the batch transfer device is facilitated, maintenance is facilitated, and parts can be easily replaced in case of failure. As a second viewpoint, in addition to the effect of the first viewpoint, stabilization of the cantilever support structure is realized. In addition, by increasing the precision of the lifting means and increasing the durability,
It also facilitates automatic correction such as fork height and angle correction for automatic batch transfer.

Further, since the structure can absorb the impact, it is possible to prevent the vehicle, the device, etc. from being damaged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial front view showing a fork mounting structure of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 4 to 7 show a transfer device. Diagram showing operation, No. 8
FIG. 9 is a partial plan view of the transfer device, and FIG. 9 is a partial side view of the retraction device. 1 ... Fork, 2 ... Fork post 3 ... Bracket, 4 ... Pin support 5 ... Pin

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A support means, an elevating means and a fork axial direction advancing / retreating means, which collectively support a plurality of pallets by the supporting means, and elevate / retract the supporting means by the elevating / lowering means and the advancing / retreating means. In the transfer device for transferring, the support means includes a plurality of forks provided in a state of being horizontally aligned with each other, a horizontal bar for supporting the forks, and the horizontal bar sandwiching the forks. A pin provided on the opposite side, and a fork supporting member fixed to the horizontal bar and connecting the horizontal bar and the pin, further comprising: inserting the fork between the horizontal bar and the pin, The horizontal bar and the pin connected to each other by a fork supporting member support the fork from opposite sides, so that the fork is supported by the horizontal bar side in a cantilever manner. Forks support structure. 2. A support means, an elevating means and a fork axial direction advancing / retreating means, and a plurality of pallets are collectively supported by the supporting means, and the supporting means is elevated / retracted by the elevating / lowering means and the advancing / retreating means for loading and unloading luggage. In the transfer device for transferring, the support means includes a plurality of forks provided in a state of being horizontally aligned with each other, a horizontal bar for supporting the forks, and the horizontal bar sandwiching the forks. A pin provided on the opposite side, and a fork supporting member fixed to the horizontal bar and connecting the horizontal bar and the pin, further comprising: inserting the fork between the horizontal bar and the pin, The horizontal bar and the pin, which are connected to each other by a fork supporting member, support the fork from opposite sides so that the fork is cantilevered on the horizontal bar side, and Fork support structure, characterized in that it comprises a main pillar that provided in parallel relationship with the stage supporting the supporting means elevation direction substantially parallel stretchable in response to the lifting of the forks.