JP2507267B2 - Method and device for discharging articles from conveyor device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for discharging articles from a conveyor apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an article conveying conveyor device has a supporting member that can be circulated along an article conveying path, and a flexible load receiving member is provided at each of a number of positions along the conveying direction of the supporting member. In a method of unloading an article from a conveyor device, wherein each of the load receiving members is supported in front and rear supported points along the transport direction and is hung in a flexible U-shape so that a U-shaped load receiving portion can be formed. , A U-shaped load receiving portion can be formed.

Then, as an article discharging method using this article conveying conveyor device, both side surfaces of each article receiving member are opened at least at the article ejecting position of the article conveying path, and the pushing device provided at the article ejecting position is provided to each article receiving member. It is conceivable that the article in the U-shaped load receiving portion is discharged from the other side opening port of each load receiving member by inserting the article into the U-shaped load receiving portion from the one side opening opening and pushing out the pushing device. When the article is discharged, the flexible load-receiving member is slackened, and the bottom of the load-receiving member is lifted by the flat mold fitting plate to adjust the U-shape of the U-shaped load-receiving part, and then the above-mentioned extrusion is performed. It is also conceivable to insert the delivery plate constituting the device into the U-shaped load receiving portion and eject the article in the load receiving portion by the pushing force of the delivery plate.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional techniques have the following problems. The corners of both sides of the bottom of the flexible load receiving member lifted by the mold fitting plate may have an irregular shape such as an arc shape, which may hinder the insertion of the dispensing plate.

When the amount of articles in the load receiving portion is small, the side wall of the load receiving member lifted by the mold fitting plate may slacken and enter the inside of the U-shape to prevent insertion of the dispensing plate.

When the amount of articles in the load receiving portion is large, the side wall of the load receiving member lifted by the mold fitting plate bulges outward in the U-shape, and the article is removed from the gap between the discharging plate side portion and the bulging portion of the load receiving member. It may leak.

When the article in the article receiving member is pushed out by the delivery plate, the article receiving member is carried in the article ejection direction so as to be deformed so as to accompany the article and is deformed to form a gap between the article receiving member and the delivery plate. Articles may leak through the gap.

According to the present invention, when the article is discharged from the U-shaped load receiving portion of the flexible load receiving member which constitutes the conveyor device by using the pushing device, the pushing device can be smoothly inserted into the load receiving member, and The purpose is to be able to discharge the goods without leakage.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a supporting member that can be circulated along an article conveying path, and the supporting member is provided at each of a plurality of positions along the conveying direction of the supporting member. A conveyor device in which flexible load receiving members are provided, and each load receiving member is supported by supporting points at front and rear points along the transport direction and is hung in a flexible U-shape to form a U-shaped load receiving portion. In the method of unloading articles from, the both side surfaces of each article receiving member are opened at least at the article discharging position of the article transporting path, and the bottom of each article receiving member is lifted by the lifting device provided at the article discharging position. The bottom side edges of each load receiving member are spread outward by the spreading device provided in the, and the pushing device provided at the article discharge position is opened from one side opening opened by the spreading device of each load receiving member. U of the cargo receiving member
The article of the U-shaped load-receiving member is inserted into the U-shaped load-receiving portion and discharged from the other side opening of each load-receiving member by the pushing force of the pushing device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a supporting member that can be circulated along an article conveying path, and flexible load receiving members are provided at a plurality of positions along the conveying direction of the supporting member. Each of the load receiving members is hung in a flexible U-shape with the supported points at the front and rear in the transport direction being supported by the support member.
In an article unloading device from a conveyor device capable of forming a U-shaped load receiving portion, the conveyor device opens both side surfaces of each load receiving member at least at an article discharging position of an article conveying path to the article discharging position. Is provided with a lifting device, a spreading device and an extruding device, the lifting device is capable of lifting the bottom portion of each load receiving member, and the spreading device spreads both sides of the bottom portion of each load receiving member outward. The push-out device can be inserted into the U-shaped load-receiving portion of the load-receiving member from the one side opening opened by the expansion device of each load-receiving member, and the pushing-out force of the push-out device pushes the U-shaped member. The article in the character-shaped load receiving portion can be discharged from the other side opening of each load receiving member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a supporting member that can be circulated along an article conveying path, and a load receiving member is provided at each of a number of positions along the conveying direction of the supporting member. In the method of unloading articles from a conveyor device, the load receiving member is hung in a flexible U-shape while being supported by supporting members at front and rear supported points along the transport direction, and a U-shaped load receiving portion can be formed. The front and rear parts forming the U-shaped load receiving part of the member are made of hard material and the central part is made of flexible material, and both side surfaces of each load receiving member are opened at least at the article discharge position of the article transport path. Then, the lifting device provided at the article discharging position lifts the bottom portion of each load receiving member to expand the front and rear portions thereof outwardly, and the pushing device provided at the article discharging position lifts each of the loading receiving members above. The cargo receiving part is opened from the one side opening opened by the device. Of inserting into the U-shaped goods receptacle, in which so as to discharge the articles of the U-shaped goods receptacle member from the other side opening port of each goods receptacle member by extrusion force of the extrusion apparatus.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a supporting member which can be circulated along an article conveying path, and a load receiving member is provided at each of a number of positions along the conveying direction of the supporting member. In the article unloading device from the conveyor device, wherein the load receiving member is supported by support members at supported points before and after along the transport direction and is hung in a flexible U-shape, and the U-shaped load receiving portion can be formed. The device is U
The front part and the rear part forming the letter-shaped load receiving portion are made of a hard material, and the central portion is made of a flexible material, and both side surfaces of each load receiving member are opened at least at the article discharging position of the article transporting path, A lifting device and an extruding device are provided at the article discharging position, and the lifting device lifts the bottom portion of each load receiving member so that the front portion and the rear portion thereof can be expanded outwardly. The load receiving member can be inserted into the U-shaped load receiving portion of the load receiving member from the one side opening opened by the lifting device, and the articles in the U-shaped load receiving portion are pushed by the pushing force of the pushing device. The load receiving member can be discharged from the other side opening.

[0013]

According to the present invention described in claims 1 and 2, the following effects are obtained. By expanding both sides of the bottom portion of the flexible load receiving member outward by the spreading device, it is possible to surely open a rectangular (or a fixed size) opening such as a rectangle in the one side opening of the load receiving member. Therefore, the extruding device (discharging plate) can be smoothly inserted into the load receiving member from the fixed opening without the flexible load receiving member becoming indeterminate or sagging inward from the U-shape.

Since the opening on one side of the load receiving member forms an opening having a constant size, the article can be received by setting the size of the extrusion device (discharging plate) to match the size of the opening. It is possible to prevent leakage from the gap between the member and the extrusion device (discharging plate). Further, as a result of the load receiving member being expanded and held by the expanding device, when the article is extruded by the pushing device (discharging plate), the load receiving member is held by the expanding device and is taken and deformed together with the article. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a gap from leaking out from the extrusion device (discharging plate).

According to the present invention as set forth in claims 3 and 4, the following effects are obtained. The front portion and the rear portion of the load receiving member (portions that become both side walls of the U-shaped load receiving portion) were made of hard material. Therefore, when the lifting device raises the bottom portion (the central portion made of the flexible material) of the load receiving member, the front portion and the rear portion made of the hard material naturally expand outward, and one side surface of the load receiving member. The opening will surely open a rectangular or other regular shape (constant dimension) opening. Therefore, the extruding device (discharging plate) can be smoothly inserted into the load receiving member from the fixed opening without the flexible load receiving member becoming indeterminate or sagging inward from the U-shape.

Since the opening on one side of the load receiving member forms an opening having a certain size, the article can be received by setting the size of the extrusion device (discharging plate) to match the size of the opening. It is possible to prevent leakage from the gap between the member and the extrusion device (discharging plate). Further, since the front part and the rear part of the load receiving member (the portions which become both side walls of the U-shaped load receiving part) are made of hard material, when the article is extruded by the extrusion device (discharging plate), the U shape of the load receiving member is used. Both side walls of the load receiving portion are not brought along with the article to be deformed, and it is possible to prevent a gap from leaking out the article from the pushing device (discharging plate).

The differences between the present invention described in claims 1 and 2 and the present invention described in claims 3 and 4 are as follows (a) to (c).

(A) According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, when the pressing tool of the expanding device is put inside the load receiving member, the expanding device is used during the expansion depending on the type of product in the load receiving part and the amount of the product. There is a possibility that the pressing tool may damage the article or may be caught by the article and cannot press the bottom corners of the load receiving member.

On the other hand, according to the present invention as set forth in claims 3 and 4, the load receiving member can be expanded by merely making the front portion and the rear portion of the load receiving member hard. Since the expansion device is not used, there is no inconvenience such as damage to the product or catching on the product during expansion. Since the central portion of the load receiving member is made of a flexible material, it absorbs a drop impact when receiving an article.

(B) In the present invention as set forth in claims 1 and 2, if the holding tool of the expanding device is shortened so as not to hit the article, it may depend on the material of the load receiving member, the type of the article in the article receiving section, and the amount of the article. , The part of the load receiving member that cannot be pressed by the retainer sags inward or outward, obstructs the insertion of the extrusion device (dispensing plate), or leaks articles from the gap between the load receiving member and the extrusion device (dispensing plate). There is a risk of falling.

On the other hand, in the present invention as set forth in claims 3 and 4, since the front portion and the rear portion of the load receiving member (the portions which become the both side walls of the U-shaped load receiving portion) are made of a hard material, the load receiving member is When expanded, the hard material does not sag like a flexible material as both side walls.

(C) In the present invention as set forth in claims 3 and 4, it is not essential to provide the expanding device as set forth in claims 1 and 2, but the material of the load receiving member and the type of article in the load receiving portion. ,
Depending on the quantity of the article (for example, when the quantity of the article is too small), the side wall made of a hard material may incline inward, so that a spreading device may be used together as a precaution. However, since the holding device of the expanding device in this case is to prevent an accidental inclination of the hard material by touching a part of the hard material, for example, only the end of the load receiving member is pressed and it does not hit the article. Even if it is moved, the entire cargo receiving member can be reliably expanded and maintained. Therefore, there is no inconvenience due to the pressing tool of the expanding device that enters the inside of the load receiving member described in (a).

[0023]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an entire picking device.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a plurality of collection units along a container transport line, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a collection unit, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state where articles are cut out from an article cutting device, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a main part,
FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a main part of the article cutout apparatus, FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a plan view of the article takeout apparatus, FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a plan view of the article cutout apparatus, and FIG. 9 is an article from the chute to the load receiving conveyor. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a state of supply, FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a shock absorbing member provided on a receiving conveyor, FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an apparatus for adjusting a supported point interval of a receiving member provided on a receiving conveyor, and FIG. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the point interval adjusting device, FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an article discharging / transferring device,
FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a spreading device for the load receiving member, FIG.
5 is a schematic diagram showing the load transfer device, FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an article discharging operation from the load receiving member to the load transfer tool, and FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an article transfer operation from the load transfer tool to the container. , FIG. 18
Is a schematic diagram showing an article transfer operation from the load transfer tool to the container, FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing an article transfer operation from the load transfer tool to the container, and FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing a pickup step of the picking device, FIG. 21 is a schematic view showing another example of the load receiving member.

The picking device 10 is, as shown in FIG.
The fluidized rack 11, the article supply robot 12, the article take-out device 13, the article cutting-out device 14, the guide chute 15, the fixed chute 16, the load receiving conveyor 17, and the load transfer device 18 constitute one collecting unit 10A. And
As shown in FIG. 2, the collection unit 10A is arranged at each of a plurality of positions along the container transport line 19, and the articles are sequentially transferred to the container 83 by each of the load transfer devices 18 of each of the collection units 10A. . The details of each device will be described below.

(A) Fluidized shelf 11 and article supply robot 12
(Refer to FIG. 1) The fluidized shelves 11 have a plurality of frontages (for example, 20 frontages, 20 frontages) corresponding to articles of a plurality of types (for example, 20 types) arranged in parallel, and different types for each frontage. The cardboard case 21 in which a plurality of the above items are stored is temporarily stored.

The article supply robot 12 is self-propelled along the front surface of each front of the fluidized shelf 11 and supplies the corrugated cardboard case 21 of each front to the corresponding article cutting device 14. Specifically, the article supply robot 12 receives the cardboard case 21 of the specific frontage on the support table 22 and moves the article take-out device 13 held by the hand 23 to the cardboard case 2 on the support table 22.
The article take-out device 13 is attached to the upper part of the corresponding article cutting-out device 14 in a state where the cardboard case 21 mounted on the upper surface of 1 and sandwiched by the support 22 and the hand 23 is inverted. The article supply robot 12 reverses and returns the empty cardboard case 21 on the article cutting device 14 together with the article take-out device 13 to the front side of the fluidized shelf 11, and the empty cardboard case 21 is discharged to the lower case of the front side of the fluidized shelf 11. The conveyor 24 is made to drop.

(B) Article take-out device 13 and article cutting-out device 14 (see FIGS. 1 to 8) The article taking-out device 13 and the article cutting-out device 14 are coupled to each other to form a set. Then, the picking device 10 includes a plurality of sets (for example, the first frontage to the first frontage) corresponding to the articles of the plurality of types so as to correspond to the frontage of the fluidized shelf 11.
20 frontage) article take-out device 13, article cut-out device 1
It is equipped with 4.

The picking device 10 has an article take-out device 13 corresponding to the upper part of each article cut-out device 14.
Is detachable, and after transferring all the articles in the cardboard case 21 attached to the article taking-out device 13 to the article cutting-out device 14 below by opening the shutter device 26 of the article taking-out device 13, The shutter device 27 of the article cutting device 14 is opened to guide the guide chute 15 from an arbitrary number of the above-mentioned articles from the article cutting device 14.
Can be cut to the side of.

At this time, the article take-out device 13 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of article storage units 31 partitioned in a matrix with the same arrangement (n rows, k columns) as the article arrangement in the corrugated cardboard case 21 are formed by the partitions 30 included in the partition frame 29 attached to the machine frame 28. Prepare The article take-out device 1
In order to make the mounting member 29A of the partition frame 29 detachable according to the change in the type of product handled, the machine frame 28 is provided with the slot 32 for fixing the partition frame. The article take-out device 13 also includes a grasped portion 33 that is held by the hand 23 of the article supply robot 12.

In the article take-out device 13, as shown in FIG. 5, the bottom surface of the article storage portion 31 formed in the partition frame 29 can be opened and closed by the shutter device 26. In the shutter device 26, the shutter 35 is movable along a guide rail 34 provided on the machine frame 28, and an engagement pin 38 on a cylinder 37 side supported on a gantry 36 side engages an engagement recess 39 of the shutter 35. It is detachable. When the article supply robot 12 engages the article take-out device 13 with the upper part of the article cutting-out device 14, the engagement recess 39 is engaged with the engagement pin 38. That is, in the shutter device 26, when the cylinder 37 is driven by the control of the picking control device (not shown), the shutter 35 is moved in the row direction, and the opening control of all the article storage units 31 is performed at a stretch, resulting in the article removal. All the articles in the cardboard case 21 attached to the apparatus 13 are cut out from the article cutting apparatus 14 below.
Transfer to. Then, the article supply robot 12 removes the empty cardboard case 21 and the article take-out device 13 from the article cutting-out device 14 and removes the cardboard case 21.
Are discharged to the case discharge conveyor 24 as described above, the actual cardboard case 21 is reset in the article take-out device 13, and returned to the article cutting-out device 14.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the article slicing device 14 has a plurality of article storages partitioned by a partition 43 provided in a partition frame 42 attached to the machine frame 41 into a matrix having the same arrangement as the article unloading device 13. The unit 44 is provided.
In addition, the article cutting device 14 is provided with a partition frame fixing long hole 45 in the machine frame 41 in order to make the mounting member 42A of the partition frame 42 detachable according to the change of the handling type.
In addition, the article cutting-out device 14 is the article taking-out device 13
It has an uneven portion 46 for making the device removable.

In the article slicing device 14, as shown in FIG. 6, the bottom surface of the article storage portion 44 formed in the partition frame 42 can be opened and closed by the shutter device 27. The shutter device 27 includes a large opening / closing body 49 and a plurality of small opening / closing bodies 50 in an endless revolving chain 48 driven by a motor 47. Large opening / closing body 49
Has a wide plate shape corresponding to all the cutouts in the row direction of the article storage unit 44, and is moved in the row direction by the drive of the motor 47, and the bottom face cutouts of each article storage unit 44 are simultaneously controlled to be opened line by line. To do. Each small opening / closing body 50 is arranged at the tip of the large opening / closing body 49 for each one cutout in the column direction of the article storage unit 44, and the bottom cutout of the corresponding article storage unit 44 is arranged by each cylinder 51. Each can be opened and closed independently. That is, in the shutter device 27, when each cylinder 51 is driven by the control of the picking control device, the individual article storage units 44 of the most advanced row in which the articles are stored by the small opening / closing bodies 50 are independently formed by the required number of sections. Open control and cut out items, 1
When the article storage units 44 in all rows are empty, the motor 47 moves the large opening / closing body 49 to the next row. In this way, when the article storage units 44 of all the rows are emptied, the shutter devices 27 are all closed and the articles are replenished from the article take-out device 13.

The small opening / closing body 50 may be of a size corresponding to the minimum distance between the partitions 43 of the partition frame 42, and a plurality of small opening / closing bodies 50 of the size may be provided in parallel. good. In this case, when the space between the partitions 43 is wide, the plurality of small opening / closing bodies 50 are controlled to open simultaneously according to their width.

(C) Guide chute 15 and fixed chute 16 (see FIGS. 4 and 9) The fixed chute 16 is located below each article cutting device 14 as shown in FIGS. It is fixedly arranged at the frontage width (total cutting width) of each article cutting device 14 for each. That is, the rear end of the fixed chute 16 is disposed immediately below the cutout of the article cutout device 14, and the tip of the fixed chute 16 is disposed so as to project forward from directly below the cutout of the article cutout device 14 and face the load receiving conveyor 17. ing.

It should be noted that both ends in the width direction of the fixed chute 16 and intermediate portions thereof function as a lower end position restricting means of the guide chute 15 and a function of restricting the moving posture (direction) and the moving direction of the article. A rising wall 16A is also provided. The rising wall 16A is continuously or intermittently installed over the entire length from the inner end to the leading end of the fixed chute 16 corresponding to the adjacent cutout boundary portions of the article cutting device 14, and the adjacent article runway 16B (article discharge). Area) is divided from each other.

The guide chute 15 is, as shown in FIG.
Fixed chute 1 from the cutout edge of article cutout device 14
6, the articles dropped and cut from the cutout of the article cutting device 14 are smoothly introduced into the fixed chute 16.

The guide chute 15 is provided with a partition wall 15A (not shown) which is provided in the longitudinal direction of the chute so as to correspond to the boundary between adjacent cut-out openings of the article cutting device 14, and the article runways adjacent to each other by the partition wall 15A. 15B
(Not shown) are separated from each other to regulate the movement posture (direction) and movement direction of the article.

As a result, the plurality of articles cut out from the respective cutouts of the article cutout device 14 are guided by the guide chute 15.
Partition wall 15A, rising wall 16A of fixed chute 16
And are supplied to each of the load receiving members 62 of the load receiving conveyor 17 in a state of being aligned in parallel with each other.

However, if the article is a round bottle or the like and flows stably, the partition wall 15A of the guide chute 15 and the rising wall 16A of the fixed chute 16 are not necessarily required.

Here, the upper end of the guide chute 15 is
It is fixed to a bracket 15C that is integral with the large opening / closing body 49 that constitutes the shutter device 27 of the cutting device 14. As a result, the guide chute 15 has the large opening / closing body 49.
It is automatically set so as to always be located at the edge of the cutout opening of the article cutting device 14 in which the article is cut out by the opening operation of the small opening / closing body 50 arranged at the tip of the.

The lower end of the guide chute 15 is hung so as to follow the upper surface of the fixed chute 16 in parallel.
The guide chute 15 has a slit 15D (not shown) inserted into the rising wall 16A of the fixed chute 16, and the lower end of the guide chute 15 has a fixed chute 16.
In parallel with the upper surface of the fixed chute 16 in a state of sliding contact with the upper surface of the.

At this time, the upper surface of the fixed chute 16 may be fixedly arranged in an inclined state which forms a downward slope from the side of the article cutting device 14 toward the side of the load receiving conveyor 17, but in the present embodiment, the shutter device is provided. It is fixedly arranged in a horizontal state parallel to the opening / closing direction of 27. As a result, the distance from the fixing point (bracket 15C) to the shutter device 27 where the guide chute 15 extends to the upper surface of the fixed chute 16 is always constant, and the extending height of the guide chute 15 is constant. The guide chute 15 can be formed of a solid member.

(D) Load receiving conveyor (see FIGS. 4 and 9 to 14) The load receiving conveyor 17 transfers the load from the front surface of the guide chute 15 and the fixed chute 16 which are connected to each article cutting device 14 as described above. It is installed along the collection route (article transportation route) set across the loading device 18.

The load receiving conveyor 17 is an endless circular support member (chain or the like) that can be circulated along a collection path.
61, and a flexible load receiving member (belt or the like) 62 is provided at each of a number of positions along the carrying direction of the support member 61. Each of the receiving members 62 is supported by slats 64 provided at fixed intervals on the supporting member 61 at front and rear supported points 63A and 63B along the transport direction by a pin joint, and is suspended in a flexible U-shape. , U-shaped load receiving portion 62A can be formed. At this time, in the flexible load receiving member 62, the load receiving width (opening width) WA of the U-shaped load receiving portion 62A on the front surface of the fixed chute 16 becomes the same width as the fixed chute 16 (width of each article cutting device 14). Is set.

Each load receiving member 62 is continuously formed of a single belt material having a length that extends over the entire circumference of the supporting member 61, and is defined for each U-shaped load receiving portion 62A. The front and rear supported points 63A and 63B may be fixed to the slats 64 with screws.

The load receiving conveyor 17 is driven by a motor 66 which drives a drive wheel 65 around which the support member 61 is wound. That is, by the control of the picking control device, the support member 61 is intermittently driven according to the timing of cutting out the article from the article cutting out device 14, and the load receiving members 62 are pitch-fed by the load receiving width of each U-shaped load receiving portion 62A to receive each load receiving device. Part 62A
Are sequentially positioned in front of each fixed chute 16. As a result, the conveyor device 17 circulates while collecting the articles cut out from the respective article cutting devices 14 from the fixed chutes 16 to the respective receiving portions 62A.

At this time, the article cut out from each article cutting device 14 slides down the guide chute 15 and the fixed chute 16 in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the load receiving conveyor 17 by the gravity energy of the position. In the load receiving conveyor 17, the side surface of the load receiving member 62 on the side opposite to the fixed chute is closed by the shock absorbing member 17 </ b> A at the position where the articles are loaded from the fixed chute 16. The shock absorbing member 17A is provided on a gantry 17B of the conveyor 17 in this embodiment. However, the shock absorbing member 17A may be provided on the support member 61 or the load receiving member 62.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the shock absorbing member 17A is made of a shock absorbing material such as non-repulsive rubber and is located at a position not facing the article runway 16B (article discharge area) of the fixed chute 16. That is, at the position corresponding to the boundary of each article runway 16B, it is supported by each support member 17C screwed to the pedestal 17B. Shock absorbing member 17A
Is fixed to the support member 17C by a set screw 17E via a seat plate 17D. Therefore, the shock absorbing member 17A
Is the support member 17 at a position facing each article runway 16B.
It is in a floating state without being back-supported by C or the like, and the shock absorbing ability can be improved.

As described above, the rising wall 16A provided in the fixed chute 16 so as to correspond to the boundary between the adjacent cut-out ports of the article cutting device 14 (the boundary between the adjacent article storage units) is the fixed chute 16. The partition 16C is formed by extending above the load receiving portion 62A of the load receiving conveyor 17 from the side. The partition 16C is
An article discharge area 16D that is continuous with the article runway 16B (article discharge area) of the fixed chute 16 is defined above the cargo receiving portion 62A.

As a result, the article runway 15B of the guide chute 15 and the article runway 16B of the fixed chute 16 cut out from each article cutting device 14 are slid down to separate the partition 16 from each other.
The article supplied from the article discharge area 16D defined by C to the load receiving member 62 collides with the shock absorbing member 17A to stop the momentum, and is further shock-absorbed by the bending deformation of the load receiving member 62, so that the U-shaped load receiving member is received. It is stored in the portion 62A. U
The baggage items stored in the character-shaped load-receiving portion 62A are aligned and held in the load-receiving member 62 in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the load-receiving member 62 due to the bending deformation of the load-receiving member 62. Maintain the pickup status.

Further, the picking control device preliminarily plans the type and quantity of the baggage items to be loaded into each of the load receiving members 62 of the load receiving conveyor 17 in accordance with the storage amount of the U-shaped load receiving portion 62A, and the conveyor 17 is sequentially operated as described above. While being positioned in front of each fixed chute 16, the collection from each fixed chute 16 to the load receiving member 62 is repeated to reach the article discharge position after the collection plan is achieved.

The cargo collection plan for each cargo receiving member 62 of the cargo receiving conveyor 17 is executed, for example, as described in (1) to (3) below.

(1) When the order (order) from each of the shops A, B ... Is as shown in Table 1, for example, the type of goods to be collected in each of the load receiving members --- so that the capacity of the load receiving member 62 is 20 L or less. And assign quantity. In this case, do not mix orders for more than one store with one consignment member. In addition, the same product type is assigned without dividing it into two or more receiving members.

(2) Next, in accordance with the pitch feed of the conveyor 17, the cut-out quantity data is sent to each article cut-out device 14. That is, the load receiving member is the first article cutting device 14
When the front of the (first frontage) (a type) is reached, the cut-out quantity data of 6 pieces is sent to the first article cutting-out device 14. At this time, if there are other load receiving members to be cut out on the front surface of the other article cutting out device 14 as well, the cutout quantity data corresponding to them are sent at the same time.

(3) Upon receiving the cut-out quantity data, the article cutting-out device 14 cuts out the specified quantity of articles.

The transfer of the cut-out quantity data is not limited to the above, but may be transferred in advance and the cut-out timing may be instructed.

[0057]

[Table 1]

Further, the cargo receiving conveyor 17 is provided at the article discharge position (the cargo collecting section) defined on the downstream side of all the fixed chutes 16.
A U-shaped adjusting device 67 that can adjust the U-shape of the load receiving portion 62A of the load receiving member 62 is provided. U-shaped adjusting device 67
Is a supported point interval adjusting device 68 for adjusting the distance between the supported points 63A and 63B before and after each load receiving member 62, and a mold fitting device 69 (lifting device) for lifting the U-shaped load receiving portion 62A.
And a spreading device 70 for spreading both sides of the bottom of the load receiving member 62 outward.

The supported point interval adjusting device 68 has a first supporting member pulling device 71 and a second supporting member pulling device 72. The first support member pulling device 71 is installed right above the article discharge position, and the front and rear hoisting wheels 73 are juxtaposed at intervals narrower than the above-mentioned load receiving width of the U-shaped load receiving portion 62A.
The support member 61 between A and 73B is pulled up to the pulling position above the normal transport path by the elevator train 75 that can be moved up and down by the cylinder 74, and as a result, before and after the load receiving member 62 positioned at the article discharge position. Supported point 6
The unloading width WB, which is narrower than the above-mentioned load receiving width, between the 3A and 63B
Change to. At this time, the second support member pulling device 7
2 is installed on the exit side of the first support member pulling device 71, and the support member 6 between the front and rear hoisting wheels 76A and 76B, which are juxtaposed at the same intervals as the hoisting wheels 73A and 73B.
1 is returned from the pulling position to the normal transport path by the elevator train 78 that can be raised and lowered by the cylinder 77. As a result, the second support member pulling device 72 in the pulling position
The margin length of the support member 61 held by is converted into a pulling length by the first support member pulling device 71,
Without causing slack in the peripheral path length of the support member 61,
The gap between the supported points 63A and 63B before and after the load receiving member 62 can be changed.

That is, in the supported point distance adjusting device 68, the first carrying member pulling device 71 is set to the normal carrying path, and the second carrying member pulling device 72 is set to the drawing position (see FIG. 12 (A)), the load receiving member 6
2 is fed one pitch, and the U-shaped load receiving portion 62A is positioned at the article discharge position. After that, the first support member pulling device 71 is changed to the pulling position, and the second support member pulling device 72 is set.
12 is set to the normal transport path.
(See (B)), the supported points 63 before and after the load receiving member 62.
The interval between A and 63B is the unloading width WB, and U of the cargo receiving portion 62A
The letter shape can be adjusted to a narrow width suitable for handling the discharge destination.

The mold fitting device 69 is provided immediately below the article discharge position, and has a concave mold fitting plate 79A that can be moved up and down by a cylinder 79 to adjust the distance to the above-mentioned load width WB. The bottom (bottom) is lifted to set the article packaging in the cargo receiving section 62A to a packaging suitable for handling the discharge destination (packing suited to the opening form of the container 83) (see FIG. 12 (B)). .

The mold fitting device 69 sets the article discharging level in the load receiving member 62 to the same level as the article receiving level of the article inputting device 80.

In the expanding device 70, as shown in FIG. 14, a supporting shaft 70A is rotatably provided at one end of both side flanges of a concave mold fitting plate 79A of the mold fitting device 69, and both ends of the supporting shaft 70A are rotatable. While fixing the pair of flat plate-shaped pressing members 70B,
The arm member 70C is fixed to the central portion of the support shaft 70A, and the arm member 70C is connected to the expanding cylinder 70D that is trunnion-supported by the mold fitting plate 79A. Then, the expanding device 70 swings the arm member 70C and the support shaft 70A by the expanding cylinder 70D, thereby swinging the holding tool 70B by 90 degrees and tilting the holding tool 70B toward the load receiving member 62 side. It has become.
Thereby, the expanding device 70 presses the bottom both corners of the load receiving member 62 on the side of the payout means 81 described later with the pressing tools 70B, and expands and holds the both sides of the bottom of the load receiving member 62 outward.
It is assumed that a rectangular opening for inserting the payout means 81 is opened in the one side opening of the load receiving member 62 which is lifted by the mold fitting plate 79A.

The mold fitting plate 79A is not limited to the concave shape, and the pressing tool 70 is provided on both sides of the mold fitting plate 70A.
B, so that both bottom corners of the receiving member 62 are pushed into the above-mentioned grooves provided on the mold fitting plate 79A by the holding member 70B. May be formed more reliably. Also, the receiving member 62 may be cut into both corners at the bottom or (b) cut at the two corners at the bottom and then sewn together to form a rectangular shape at one side opening of the receiving member 62. The opening may be formed more reliably.

Further, as the expanding device 70 described above, the both corners of the bottom portion of the load receiving member 62 are sucked from the outer surface side thereof without depending on the pressing tool 70B, and both sides of the bottom portion of the load receiving member 62 are expanded and held outward. It may be one that does. This expanding device 70
It can be constituted by vacuum suction means or magnetic suction means. Further, the expanding device 70 can be configured by instructing the mold fitting device 69 to operate.

(E) Load Transfer Device (Refer to FIGS. 13 to 15) The load transfer device 18 pushes the articles collected on the load receiving conveyor 17 at the article discharge position by the discharging means 81 and is located on the side. The articles are dispensed to the loading device 80 and transferred from the article loading device 80 to the container 83.

At this time, each load receiving member 62 is opened at its both side surfaces at least at the article discharge position (the position where the U shape of the load receiving portion 62A can be adjusted by the U-shaped adjusting device 67) in the article transport path.

The article discharge position of the article receiving conveyor 17, the article transfer device 80 and the article transfer position to the container 83 are arranged in a straight line.

The article transfer position to the container 83 is set near the side of the container transport line 19, and at this position, the container attitude control device 84 corresponding to the article input device 80.
Is installed. The container attitude control device 84 has a container support table 86 which is tilted upward from below the roller conveyor of the container transport line 19 by a cylinder 85 and between the roller conveyors, and the container 83 to be set to the article transfer position. The container 83 is tilted so that the opening 83A of the container 83 faces the article input device 80.

The payout means 81 is a payout plate 8 driven by a cylinder 87 supported by the mount 17B.
Eight. At the article discharge position, the payout means 81 extends from one side opening of each load receiving member 62 to the load receiving portion 62A.
The delivery plate 88 is inserted into the inside of the load receiving portion 62A so that the article whose shape is adjusted by the above-mentioned U-shaped adjusting device 67 can be pushed out from the other side opening of each load receiving member 62 and delivered out.

The payout plate 88 is expanded by the expanding device 70 of the U-shaped adjusting device 67, and the load receiving member 6 is expanded.
2 is set to be smaller than the rectangular opening (substantially the same), can be smoothly inserted into the rectangular opening without interfering with the receiving member 62, and form an article leakage gap with the receiving member 62. Nor.

Further, the payout plate 88 is provided in the cargo receiving section 6
Even in the process of completing the delivery of the articles in 2A, the receiving section 62
A is set so as not to go outside of A, so that it does not interfere with the load receiving member 62 even when returning to the initial position. Note that the payout plate 88 is connected to the receiving section 62A.
When it is advanced to the outer side of the discharge plate 88, both side flanges of the payout plate 88 are extended rearward as shown in FIG.
It may be set so that it remains within 2A.

The article loading device 80, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 15, is a box-shaped load transfer device 9 having openings on one side surface and a top surface.
0, an article guide device 91 that prevents the article from being disturbed by pressing the tip of the article delivered from the load receiving member 62 to the load transfer tool 90 by the delivery plate 88, and the load transfer tool 90. The load transfer tool slide device 92 that can slide an arbitrary amount in both directions of the container 83 and the container 83, the tilting device 93 that can incline the load transfer tool 90 together with the load transfer tool slide device 92, and the load transfer tool 90. Each of the load transfer tool slide device 92 and the tilting device 93 can be slid by a predetermined amount, and the load transfer tool 90 can be moved by the load transfer tool sliding device 92, the tilting device 93, and the tilt base slide device 94. A swivel device 95 that can swivel (reciprocate) 180 degrees from the load receiving conveyor 17 toward the container 83, and the load transfer device 90 that transfers the load transfer device slide device 92, the tilting device 93, and the tilting belt. And a swivel device 95 to move up and down to change the height of the load transfer device 90, and to elevate the insertion position of the load transfer device 90 into the container 83. To be done.

The article guide device 91 includes a rodless guide cylinder 102 which is movable along a horizontal guide 101 provided on the side of the frame 17B opposite to the payout means 81, and an elevating cylinder 103 mounted on the guide cylinder 102.
The lifting / lowering cylinder 103 is configured to have a lifting / lowering body 105 that moves up and down along a slide guide 104, and an article pressing plate 106 suspended and supported by the lifting / lowering body 105. As a result, the article guide device 91 moves the payout plate 8
8 and the holding plate 106 with the article sandwiched therebetween, the payout plates 88,
The holding plate 106 is moved, and the articles are paid out from the load receiving member 62 to the load transfer device 90. Here, the article pressing plate 106 and the payout plate 88 start moving at the same time, and by moving at the same speed, the interval between the article pressing plate 106 and the payout plate 88 is kept constant. At this time, the contact of the leading end of the article with the presser plate 106 is detected by a contact detector or the like provided on the front surface of the presser plate 106, and the movement of the article presser plate 106 is started. The transfer may be performed while being sandwiched between two plates 88. Then, the holding plate 106 is moved to the load transfer device 90.
, And the articles are transferred to the load transfer device 90, the holding plate 106 is pulled upward from the inside of the load transfer device 90 by the lifting cylinder 103, and the holding plate 106 is
Return to the side. Here, the rodless cylinder 102 for moving the horizontal guide is one that can be stopped intermediately.
6 is pulled out from above, and the platform 17 of the receiving conveyor 17 is removed.
B, the pressing plate 106 is moved to a position before the intermediate stop, and the lifting plate 103 is moved down to a position where the pressing plate 106 does not interfere with the support member 61 of the receiving conveyor 17. The plate 106 is moved to a position immediately near the load receiving member 62. The holding plate 106 also serves to close the opening on the other side of the load receiving member 62 and prevent the articles from spilling out of the load receiving portion 62A when the load receiving conveyor 17 moves.

The load transfer tool slide device 92 is used for the load transfer tool 9
No. 0 of the counter opening side surface is rotatably supported on the slide frame 109 by the support shaft 108, and the elongated hole 110A of the support member 110 is pin-supported on the same side surface upper portion of the load transfer device 90.
Is engaged with a pin on the upper part of the slide frame 109, so that the load transfer device 90 is swingably supported by the slide frame 109. Further, the load transfer tool slide device 92 is
With the slide guide 111A, the slide frame 10
9 is slidably mounted on a slide base 111, and a servo motor 11 provided on a slide frame 109.
2 by driving the rack and pinion mechanism (rack 11).
3, the slide frame 10 through the pinion 114)
9 is moved.

In the tilting device 93, the tilting cylinder 11 installed on the tilting base 115 has the slide base 111 pin-supported by the tilting support shaft 116 on both outer sides of the tilting base 115.
By pushing up the slide base 111 at 7, the slide base 111 can be tilted.

The tilted base slide device 94 has the tilted base 115 mounted on the swivel frame 118 and a slide guide 119.
The slidable base 115 is slidably supported by the slide cylinder 120 and fixed to the swivel frame 118 side. This makes it possible to reduce the distance that the load transfer tool 90 raised by the lifting device 96 is separated from the front surface of the container 83.

In the turning device 95, the turning frame 118 is fixed to the turning shaft 122 provided on the elevating frame 121, and the turning shaft 122 is driven by the servo motor 123 so that the turning frame 118 can reciprocate 180 degrees. The turning frame 118 is supported by wheels 124 provided on the lifting frame 121.

The elevating device 96 includes the elevating frame 121,
The lifting base 125 is supported by a link mechanism in which two support arms 126 are crossed in an X shape and connected to each other, and one side of the support arm 126 is pin-supported by a mover 127 slidably provided on the lifting base 125. , The other side of the support arm 126 is slidably engaged with the elongated hole of the elevating frame 121 by a pin, and the ball screw 1 is driven by the servomotor 128.
By rotating the movable member 29 and sliding the movable member 127 screwed to the ball screw 129 to raise and lower the support arm 126, the lifting frame 121
Can be raised and lowered.

Therefore, the load transfer device 18 operates as follows. (a) The articles collected on the receiving member 62 of the receiving conveyor 17 reach the article discharging position. At this time, the U-shaped adjusting device 6
7 adjusts the U-shaped form of the load receiving portion 62A, and forms a rectangular opening for insertion of the payout means 81 in the opening on one side of the load receiving member 62 by the presser 70B of the expanding device 70;
The packing style of the collected goods in the receiving section 62A is set to a packing style compatible with the opening 83A of the container 83 (FIG. 16A).

(B) The dispensing plate 88 of the dispensing means 81 is attached to the U-shaped load receiving portion 6 through the opening on one side of the load receiving member 62.
2A, the delivery plate 88 and the holding plate 106 of the article guide device 91 sandwich the baggage item in the load receiving portion 62A, and the delivery plate 88 delivers the article to the load transfer tool 90 side of the article loading device 80. Issue (Fig. 16)
(A)). At this time, the load transfer device 90 is arranged so as to protrude from the front edge of the slide base 111 toward the load receiving conveyor 17 by the load transfer device slide device 92, and can smoothly receive the articles discharged from the load receiving portion 62A.

(C) After the article is transferred to the load transfer device 90, the load transfer device 90 is pulled into the slide base 111 by the load transfer device slide device 92. Then, the payout plate 88 is returned to the side of the load receiving member 62 (FIG. 16B), and thereafter, the holding member 70B is returned to the outside of the load receiving member 62 (FIG. 1).
6 (C)). At this time, at the same time, the holding plate 106 is pulled out above the load transfer device 90 (FIG. 16 (B)), and thereafter, the article holding plate 106 is returned to a position near the pedestal 17B of the load receiving conveyor 17 and stopped intermediately, and the holding plate 106 is stopped. It is lowered to a position where it does not interfere with the support member 61 of the receiving conveyor 17, and
06 to the immediate vicinity of the load receiving member 62 and stop at the end (FIG. 16C).

(D) In addition to the above (a) to (c), the container 8
At the article transfer position to 3, the container attitude control device 8 installed so as to correspond to the article loading device 80
4 selects the container 83 in which the articles are to be stored based on the barcode information attached to the container 83, and tilts the container 83 so that the opening 83A of the container 83 faces the article insertion device 80. (FIG. 17
(A)).

At this time, when the container 83 already stores the article, the article in the container leans against the lower side wall of the container 83, and an empty space with no article is provided above the container 83. Will be formed.

(E) Therefore, the procedure for transferring the articles transferred to the load transfer tool 90 in (c) above to the empty container 83 is as follows.

That is, the swivel device 95 swivels the load transfer device 90 of FIG. 16C toward the container 83 side by 180 degrees, and the load transfer device slide device 92 moves the load transfer device 90 into the container 83.
Side and inserted into the container 83 (FIG. 17).
(A)) The load transfer device 90 is tilted together with the load transfer device slide device 92 by the tilt device 93, and the article is hung on the bottom of the container 83 (FIG. 17B). Then, by moving the load transfer device 90 to the side opposite to the container 83 by the load transfer device slide device 92, the load transfer device 90 is pulled out while leaving only the articles in the container 83 (FIG. 18A). ). This operation inserts the load transfer device 90 to the deep part of the container 83, so that the distance over which the articles can slide freely can be reduced, and therefore,
The posture of the article is hard to collapse. After pulling out the load transfer device 90,
The tilting device 93 is returned (FIG. 18B), and the turning device 9
By using 5, the load transfer device 90 is turned 180 degrees toward the load receiving conveyor 17 as shown in FIG. 18C to return to the state shown in FIG. 16A, and the above operation is repeated.

(F) On the other hand, the procedure for transferring the article transferred to the load transfer tool 92 in (c) above to the container 83 that already stores the article is as follows.

That is, the point different from the case where the container 83 in (e) above is empty is that the load transfer tool 90 on which the articles have been transferred in (c) above is lifted and moved to the upper part of the container 83. Mount 9
This is the point where 0 is inserted. Specifically, when the load transfer device 90 shown in FIG. 16C is turned 180 degrees toward the container 83 by the turning device 95, the load transfer device 90 is simultaneously moved by the lifting device 96 to the opening of the container 83. Rise to about half the height of After the load transfer device 90 is moved closer to the container 83 by the inclined base slide device 94,
Similar to (e), the load transfer tool 90 is inserted into the container 83 (above the already stored article), tilted and pulled out, and a new article is placed on the already stored article. Store it so that

At this time, even if the load transfer tool 90 touches the already stored article, the load transfer tool 90 does not crush the article, and the load transfer tool 90 is inserted into the slide frame 109 via the elongated hole 110A of the support member 110. It is pin-coupled to and can escape upward. That is, the load transfer device 90 rotates around the support shaft 108 (FIG. 19).

The rising level of the load transfer device 90 is
Depending on whether the amount of goods already stored is empty, up to half the volume of the container, or more (smaller than the total volume of the container), the lower level (same as the lower side wall of the container) and the intermediate level (half of the container opening) Level), the upper level (about 3/4 of the container opening). In addition, container 8
The articles to be stored in 3 are calculated for the article capacity, and are allocated to each container 83 so as to be equal to or less than the container capacity.
The ascending level of each container at each loading / unloading device is calculated in advance by a computer, transferred to a collection unit controller (not shown) together with the above-mentioned cut-out quantity data of each cutting-out device, and adjusted in accordance with the progress of loading into the container. To the load transfer device. In addition,
Although the load transfer device 90 cannot be inserted to the deep part of the container, the empty space is small, and the disturbance of the articles is small.
The method of determining the lifting level of the cargo transfer device 90 is not limited to this method. For example, a photo switch, a visual sensor, or the like may be used to detect an empty space in the container 83 and raise the required amount.

In the above (d), if the container 83 is tilted so that the longitudinal direction of the container 83 is vertical, the lateral spread of the articles within the container 83 is Therefore, the posture of the article in the container 83 is less likely to be disturbed, the empty space (height) is increased, and the load transfer tool 90 can be easily inserted into the container 83.

(F) Container transport line 19 (see FIGS. 1 to 3 and 13) The container transport line 19 is located along the plurality of cargo collection units 10A and at the article loading device 8 in the cargo collection unit 10A.
It is installed by the side of the article transfer position from the 0 load transfer device 90 to the container 83, and is configured by a roller conveyor.

The container carrying line 19 is equipped with a bar code reader 98 and a container attitude control device 84.
It is provided with stoppers 99A and 99B provided at two front and rear positions.

As described above, the picking control device reads the bar code affixed to the container 83 and determines whether or not it is the container 83 to which the article should be supplied. For the container 83 to supply the goods, the stopper 9 on the downstream side
The container 83 is stopped by 9A and the succeeding container 83 is also stopped by the stopper 99B on the upstream side, and as described above, the container attitude control device 84 tilts the container 83 so that the opening 83A of the container 83 becomes the article input device 80. Place it sideways so that it faces you.

At this time, the container transport line 19 moves the roller conveyor slightly to the side of the collection unit 10A (from 5 degrees to
(Approximately 10 degrees). The container 83 is disposed inclined and the container 83 is transported in an inclined state. Then, the articles put in the container 83 are kept close to one side wall of the container, and can be transported to the next collection unit 10A. Therefore, an unstable article such as a flat bottle is transferred without falling down in the container 83, and an empty space for the next input article can be stably formed in the upper part of the container 83.

However, a specific procedure for using the picking device 10 will be described below (1) to (4) (see FIG. 20). (1) Operation of the article clipping device 14 The corresponding item clipping device 14 receives the item clipping quantity data output from the picking control device.

A predetermined number of articles are cut out by each article cutting device 14. The cut-out articles pass through the guide chute 15 and the fixed chute 16 and then the cargo receiving conveyor 17
Is supplied to the predetermined load receiving member 62 of.

(2) Operation of the cargo receiving conveyor 17 The cargo receiving conveyor 17 sequentially positions each cargo receiving member 62 on the front surface of the plurality of article cutting devices 14, and cuts the article cutting device 14 as described in (1) as necessary. While being accommodated in each of the load receiving members 62, they are intermittently moved toward the article discharge position.

The cargo receiving member 62 that has reached the article discharge position
The U-shaped load receiving portion 62A is supported by the supported point interval adjusting device 68, the mold fitting device 69, and the expanding device 70 of the U-shaped adjusting device 67.
The U-shape is adjusted, and a rectangular opening for inserting the payout means 81 is formed in an opening on one side of the receiving member 62, and the container 83 as a discharge destination is used to transfer the package in the receiving section 62A.
Into a certain shape that fits the opening 83A.

(3) Operation of the load transfer device 18 The goods transferred to the article loading device 80 positioned laterally by pushing out the articles collected on the respective load receiving members 62 of the load receiving conveyor 17 at the article discharge position by the discharging means 81. It is transferred to the mounting tool 90. At this time, the articles are sandwiched between the payout means 81 and the article holding plate 106, and are transferred to the load transfer device 90 without disturbing the collection posture in the load receiving section 62A. The load transfer device 90 is disposed so as to protrude from the front edge of the slide base 111 toward the load receiving conveyor 17 by the load transfer device slide device 92, and smoothly receives the articles discharged from the load receiving portion 62A.

As described above, the operation of transferring the article to the empty container 83 after transferring the article to the load transfer tool 90 is performed as follows. That is, the load transfer device 90 is pulled into the slide base 111 by the load transfer device slide device 92. Then, the load transfer device 90 is turned 180 degrees toward the container 83 by the turning device 95, the load transfer device 90 is inserted into the container 83 by the load transfer device slide device 92, and the load transfer is performed by the tilt device 93. The load transfer tool 90 is tilted together with the tool slide device 92, and the article is hung on the bottom of the container 83. Then, by moving the load transfer device 90 toward the opposite side of the container 83 by the load transfer device slide device 92, the load transfer device 90 is pulled out while leaving only the articles in the container 83.

As described above, when the articles transferred to the load transfer tool 90 are added to the already stored container 83, the following points are different. That is, after the load transfer device 90 is pulled into the slide base 111 by the load transfer device slide device 92, when the load transfer device 90 is turned 180 degrees toward the container 83 by the turning device 95, the lifting device 96 is simultaneously driven. As a result, the load transfer device 90 is raised. Then, after the load transfer device 90 is brought closer to the container 83 by the inclined base slide device 94, the load transfer device 90 is inserted above the already loaded articles in the container 83 in the same manner as described above, and tilted. Then, it is pulled out and inserted so that a new article is placed on the already-input article.

(4) Operation of container transport line 19 The barcode of the container 83 is read to determine the container 83 into which the article should be loaded.

The container 83 into which the articles are to be loaded is tilted by the container attitude control device 84 so that the opening 83A of the container 83 is oriented to the article loading device 80.

In the above (3), the article delivered by the load transfer device 90 is received by the container 83.

The container 83 to which the articles are supplied is returned to the inclined roller conveyor of the container transfer line 19 by the container attitude control device 84.

The container 83 is conveyed to the next step in an inclined state provided by the inclined roller conveyor (inclination toward the collecting unit 10A side).

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. Anti-chute 16 of the cargo receiving portion 62A in the conveyor 17
A shock-absorbing material such as rubber is used as the shock-absorbing member 17A provided on the side surface on the side, and the back of the shock-absorbing material is covered with a rigid material such as plywood in the collision area of the article (corresponding to the article discharge area 16D from the chute 16). It was made to float without supporting.
Thereby, the collision energy of the articles discharged from the chute 16 can be sufficiently absorbed, and the rebound of the articles can be reduced.

As described above, after the article hits the side surface of the conveyor 17 on the side opposite to the chute 16 of the load receiving portion 62A, the article does not bounce significantly, and as a result, the chute 1
It is stably loaded into the load receiving portion 62A without returning to the upper position of 6 or changing its direction.

Since the load-receiving portion 62A of the conveyor 17 is flexible, the loading impact force can be absorbed by the bending deformation of the load-receiving portion 62A when the article is loaded into the load-receiving portion 62A, resulting in damage and noise of the article. Can be reduced. Also, since the receiving portion 62A has flexibility, the receiving portion 62A
Can be flexibly deformed so as to match the shape of the input article, and the articles can be held in an orderly packing form. For example, a plurality of articles can be held in an orderly and stable manner by aligning them in the longitudinal direction.

Article discharge area 16D from the chute 16
However, the partition 16C corresponding to the boundary between the adjacent article storage units of the cutting device 14 is moved from the chute 16 to the conveyor 17
Is defined as extending over the cargo receiving portion 62A. Therefore, depending on the shape of the article (for example, an article with a round tip), it is possible to prevent the articles from inclining to the left and right at the time of collision with the impact absorbing member and entering the article discharge area 16D, and the articles may be oriented by the collision with the adjacent article. It is possible to avoid the occurrence of disturbance.

The chute 16 is used for articles having a stable flow shape (for example, articles such as spheres, cylinders and prisms).
The partition 16C above the load receiving portion 62A is not necessary.

By expanding the both sides of the bottom of the flexible load receiving member 62 outward by the spreading device 70, the load receiving member 6
The opening of a regular shape (constant dimension) such as a rectangle can be surely opened in the one side opening. Therefore, the flexible load receiving member 6
The extrusion device (discharging plate 88) can be smoothly inserted into the load receiving member 62 through the above-described fixed opening without causing the irregular shape of 2 and sagging inward of the U shape.

Since the opening on one side of the load receiving member 62 forms an opening having a constant size, the size of the extrusion device (discharging plate 88) is set in conformity with the size of the opening, so that the article Can be prevented from leaking through the gap between the load receiving member 62 and the pushing device (discharging plate 88). In addition, as a result of the cargo receiving member 62 being expanded and held by the expanding device 70, the pushing device (discharging plate 8
When the article is extruded by 8), the load receiving member 62 is held by the expansion device 70 and is not taken along with the article and deformed. The extruding device (discharging plate 88)
It is possible to prevent a gap from leaking between the product and the product.

The load transfer tool 90 accommodating the articles is inserted into the empty space above the inclined container 83, and the load transfer tool 90 is inserted.
Is pulled out of the container 83 in a downwardly inclined state, so that the article is inserted into the container 83 while maintaining the load state (aligned state) on the load transfer device 90.

When there is a product already inserted in the container 83, the product in the container 83 is brought closer to the lower side wall of the container 83 by tilting the container 83, and an empty space is created in the upper part of the container 83. This empty space becomes a space in which articles can be added to the container 83 and then input by inputting subsequent articles as described above. That is, the articles received by each of the plurality of receiving sections 2A of the conveyor 17 can be sequentially put into one container 83, or the articles can be added to the container 83 into which the articles have already been input from the collection unit 10A. In addition, the storage efficiency of the container 83 can be improved, and the collection capacity of the collection line can be improved.

By tilting the container 83 to the load transfer device side 18 and carrying it between the front and rear load transfer devices 18, the article in the container 83 is kept close to the lower side wall of the container 83, and the next It can be transported to the load transfer device 18.
As a result, unstable articles such as flat bottles can be stored in the container 8.
3 can be maintained without falling down, and the article handling in the subsequent process can be improved. Further, since the articles in the container 83 do not fall down, it is possible to stably secure an empty space above the container 83 as a space for adding articles in the next load transfer device 18.

Therefore, the support member 61 of the cargo receiving conveyor 17
The load receiving member 62 provided in the load receiving member 1 shown in FIG.
It can be replaced by 30. The receiving member 130 is
Similar to the load receiving member 61, supported points 63A and 63B at the front and rear along the transport direction of the flexible member 131 are supported by slats 64 provided at regular intervals on the supporting member 61 by pin joints and are flexible. It is hung in a U shape, and the U-shaped load receiving portion 130A can be formed. At this time, the load receiving member 1
The hard material 132 is attached to the front and rear portions of the flexible material 131 forming the load receiving portion 130A of the flexible material 131, and the central portion thereof is composed of only the flexible material 131. As the hard material 132, a steel plate, a plastic plate or the like can be adopted.

The load receiving member 130 is the U-shaped load receiving portion 13
The front portion and the rear portion forming 0A are composed only of the hard material 132, and the lower end portion of the front hard material 132 and the rear hard material 132 are formed.
A flexible material 131 which is the central portion of the load receiving portion 130A is attached between the lower end portion and the lower end portion of the load receiving portion 130A, and the upper end portions of the front and rear hard materials 132 are suspended and supported by the support member 61 by way of the slats 64. May be

In the cargo receiving conveyor 17 including the cargo receiving member 130, the cargo receiving member 130 is provided at the article discharging position.
U of the U-shaped load receiving portion 130A of FIG.
A character adjusting device 67 is provided. The U-shaped adjusting device 67 is configured in the same manner as described above, and the supported point interval adjusting device 68,
It has a mold fitting device 69 (lifting device) and a spreading device 70. However, in the conveyor 17 including the load receiving member 130, it is not essential to include the expanding device 70 as described later.

Therefore, in the conveyor 17 provided with the load receiving member 130, the articles collected in the load receiving member 130 can be discharged at the article discharging position as follows.

(1) By the supported point interval adjusting device 68, the distance between the supported points 63A and 63B before and after the load receiving member 130 positioned at the article discharge position is set to be smaller than the load receiving width WA as described above. As the projecting width WB, the U-shaped configuration of the U-shaped 130A is set to a narrow width suitable for handling the discharge destination (FIGS. 21A and 21B).

(2) With the mold fitting plate 79A of the mold fitting device 69, the lower surface (bottom part) of the load receiving member 130 is lifted up, and the article load inside the U-shaped load receiving portion 130A is suitable for handling at the discharge destination. (Package appearance suitable for the opening form of the container 83) is set (FIG. 21 (C)). When the load receiving member 130 is lifted by the mold fitting device 69, the hard members 132, 132 in front of and behind the load receiving member 130 naturally expand outward.

(3) In order to ensure the expansion of the load receiving member 130 according to the above (2), the expansion device 70 includes the payout means 81.
Both corners of the bottom side of the load receiving member 1
The hard materials 132, 132 in front of and behind 30 are kept open and expanded outward. As a result, the payout means 81 is inserted into the one side opening of the load receiving member 130 lifted by the mold fitting plate 79A.
The rectangular opening for insertion can be stably formed.

(4) The pay-out plate 88 of the pay-out means 81 is inserted into the U-shaped load-receiving part 130A from the opening on one side of the load-receiving member 130, and the article is transferred by the pay-out plate 88 in the same manner as described above. It is paid out to the 90 side (FIG. 21 (D)).

Therefore, the cargo receiving conveyor 17 provided with the cargo receiving member 130 has the following effects.

The front portion and the rear portion of the load receiving member 130 (portions which become the both side walls of the U-shaped load receiving portion 130A) are made of the hard material 132. Therefore, the mold fitting device 69 (lifting device) is the load receiving member 1
When the bottom portion (the central portion made of the flexible material 131) of 30 is lifted up, the front portion and the rear portion made of the hard material 132 will naturally expand outwards, and the one side opening of the load receiving member 130 can be securely opened. The opening of a fixed shape (constant size) such as a rectangle will be opened. Therefore, the extrusion device (discharging plate 88) can be smoothly inserted into the load receiving member 130 through the fixed opening without the flexible load receiving member 130 having an irregular shape or sagging inward from the U-shape. .

Since the one side opening of the load receiving member 130 forms an opening having a constant size, the size of the extrusion device (discharging plate 88) is set in conformity with the size of the opening so that the article Can be prevented from leaking through the gap between the load receiving member 130 and the pushing device (discharging plate 88). Further, since the front part and the rear part of the load receiving member 130 (the portions which become both side walls of the U-shaped load receiving portion 130A) are made of the hard material 132, when the article is extruded by the extrusion device (discharging plate 88), Member 130
Both side walls of the U-shaped load receiving portion 130A are not taken and deformed together with the article, and it is possible to prevent a gap from leaking the article from the extruding device (discharging plate 88). .

The load receiving member 130 is the U-shaped load receiving portion 13
Since the front part and the rear part of 0A are composed of the hard materials 132, 132, as described above, the mold fitting device 69 (lifting device).
The hard materials 132, 132 can be naturally expanded outwardly only by lifting by, and it is not essential to use the expansion device 70 together.

When the expanding device 70 is not used together, the pressing tool 70B of the expanding device 70, which is inside the load receiving member 130, does not damage the article or get caught in the article.

However, the material of the load receiving member 130 and the load receiving portion 13
The side wall made of the hard material 132 may incline inward depending on the type of articles in 0A and the quantity of articles (for example, when the quantity of articles is too small). 70 may be used together. In this case, since the holding tool 70B of the expanding device 70 touches a part of the hard material 132 to prevent an unexpected inclination of the hard material 132, for example, it holds only the end of the load receiving member 130 and does not hit the article. Even if the load receiving member 130 is shortened to a certain extent, the entire load receiving member 130 can be reliably expanded and maintained. That is, the holding tool 70 of the expanding device 70
Since B is short enough, it does not cause inconvenience such as damage to the article or getting caught on the article when it enters the inside of the load receiving member.

[0132]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the article is ejected from the U-shaped load-receiving portion of the flexible load-receiving member that constitutes the conveyor device by using the push-out device, the push-out device is installed in the load-receiving member. It is possible to smoothly insert the article into the box and to discharge the article without leakage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an entire picking device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a plurality of collection units along a container transport line.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a collection unit.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a state where an article is cut out from the article cutting apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a main part of the article take-out device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a main part of an article cutting device.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a plan view of the article take-out device.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a plan view of the article cutting out device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an article supply state from a chute to a cargo receiving conveyor.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing an impact absorbing member provided on the cargo receiving conveyor.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an apparatus for adjusting a supported point interval of a load receiving member provided on a load receiving conveyor.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing the operation of the supported point interval adjusting device.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing an article discharging / transferring device.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a spreading device for a load receiving member.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a load transfer device.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an article discharging operation from the load receiving member to the load transfer tool.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of transferring an article from a load transfer tool to a container.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of transferring an article from a load transfer tool to a container.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing an operation of transferring articles from the load transfer tool to the container.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a pickup process of the picking device.

FIG. 21 is a schematic view showing another example of the load receiving member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 17 cargo receiving conveyor 61 support member 62 cargo receiving member 62A cargo receiving portion 69 mold fitting device (lifting device) 70 expanding device 81 dispensing means (extruding device) 130 cargo receiving member 130A cargo receiving portion 131 flexible material 132 hard material

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A support member that can be circulated along an article transport path, and flexible load receiving members are provided at a plurality of positions along the transport direction of the support member, each load receiving member being in the transport direction. In a method of unloading an article from a conveyor device in which supported points are supported by support members at front and rear sides along a line, and a U-shaped load receiving portion can be formed, both side surfaces of each load receiving member are , Open at least at the article discharge position in the article transport path, lift the bottom of each load receiving member by the lifting device provided at the article discharge position, and open both sides of the bottom of each load receiving member by the expansion device provided at the article discharge position. To the outside and insert the pushing device provided at the article discharging position into the U-shaped load receiving portion of the load receiving member from the one side opening opened by the expansion device of each load receiving member, The above-mentioned U Article method for discharging from the conveyor device, characterized in that discharging the articles Jo goods receptacle member from the other side opening port of each goods receptacle member. 2. A support member that can be circulated along an article transport path, and flexible load receiving members are provided at a plurality of positions along the transport direction of the support member, each load receiving member being in the transport direction. An article unloading device from a conveyor device in which supported points at the front and rear of the container are supported by a supporting member and is hung in a flexible U-shape to form a U-shaped load-receiving portion, wherein the conveyor device is provided with each load-receiving part. Both side surfaces of the member are opened at least at the article discharging position of the article conveying path, and at the article discharging position, a lifting device, a spreading device and an pushing device are provided, and the lifting device is provided for each load receiving member. The bottom can be lifted, the expansion device can expand the bottom both sides of each load receiving member to the outside, and the extrusion device can be opened from one side opening opened by the expansion device of each load receiving member. In the U-shaped load receiving portion of the load receiving member It is a entrant article discharge device from the conveyor device characterized by comprising the articles in the U-shaped goods receptacle by extrusion force of the extrusion apparatus as can be discharged from the other side opening port of each goods receptacle member. 3. A support member that can be circulated along an article transport path, and load receiving members are provided at each of a number of positions along the transport direction of the support member, and each load receiving member is front and rear along the transport direction. In the method of unloading an article from a conveyor device in which a supported point of the article is supported by a support member and is hung in a flexible U-shape to form a U-shaped load receiving portion, the U-shaped load receiving portion of each load receiving member is The front part and the rear part to be formed are made of a hard material and the central part is made of a flexible material, and both side surfaces of each load receiving member are opened at least at the article discharging position of the article conveying path and provided at the article discharging position. The lifting device lifts the bottom of each load receiving member to expand its front and rear parts outward, and the pushing device provided at the article discharge position is expanded by the lifting device of each load receiving member. From the side opening into the U-shaped load receiving part of the load receiving member Input, and an article ejection process from the conveyor device, characterized in that for discharging the articles of the U-shaped goods receptacle member from the other side opening port of each goods receptacle member by extrusion force of the extrusion apparatus. 4. A support member that can be circulated along an article transport path, and load receiving members are provided at each of a number of positions along the transport direction of the support member. In the article unloading device from the conveyor device, the supported point of which is supported by a supporting member and is hung in a flexible U-shape so that a U-shaped load receiving portion can be formed. The front part and the rear part forming the letter-shaped load receiving portion are made of a hard material, and the central portion is made of a flexible material, and both side surfaces of each load receiving member are opened at least at the article discharging position of the article transporting path, A lifting device and an extruding device are provided at the article discharging position, and the lifting device lifts the bottom portion of each load receiving member so that the front portion and the rear portion thereof can be expanded outwardly. Expanded by the lifting device of the cargo receiving member It can be inserted into the U-shaped load receiving portion of the load receiving member through one side opening, and the articles in the U-shaped load receiving portion can be discharged from the other side opening of each load receiving member by the pushing force of the pushing device. An article discharging device from a conveyor device characterized by the above.