JP2598551B2 - Transport device for removing objects from the substrate - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a transport device for removing an object from a substrate.

Objects, especially rectangular objects such as, for example, cardboard boxes, are often stacked on, for example, pallets to form packs. When stacked on a pallet, in order to prevent the packs from slipping, a board as an insert is often sandwiched between the packs, and the board is slip-proof by a high coefficient of friction of the so-called non-slip.

This substrate is used especially when the object to be piled is a cardboard box with no lid, that is, an open top, which replaces the cardboard box lid.

A problem arises when such stacked objects are mechanically removed from the substrate. The object placed on the board
Often, it is removed from the substrate by grasping it from above and lifting it. However, this is not possible in the case of objects that cannot be gripped from above, as for example when the cardboard box has no lid and is very unstable and cannot grip the edges of the box.

In particular, when a non-slip substrate is used to prevent collapse of the load, it is difficult and sometimes impossible to push down an object from the substrate.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a transport device capable of taking out an object, particularly an object that cannot be gripped from above, from the substrate even when the substrate is made of a material having high frictional resistance and is non-slip. It is to be.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a transport device characterized in that the object to be removed is tilted about a bottom ridge opposite its free end face as a fulcrum and then removed.

Objects that cannot be grasped from above and are relatively unstable, such as a cardboard box with an open mouth, can be easily removed from above the non-slip plate by using the apparatus of the present invention. This is possible in the case of the device according to the invention, in which the object is first tilted about one side or ridge of its bottom surface, thereby gripping the bottom of the box or reducing the contact area of the bottom and causing friction when sliding. This is because the resistance can be reduced.

When tilted, the objects only contact at least one free end surface that the objects outside the pack have.
For example, in the case of a cardboard box having an open mouth, the instability is relatively small because the box can be contacted from the side and the box is inclined.

The tilting of the object can be performed in various ways; for example, one side can be raised and tilted by applying pressure above the height of the center of gravity of the object.

The removal of this tilted object can also take place in various ways, for example by grabbing or sliding the bottom of the box.

With the transport device of the present invention, the object is preferably lifted as a whole at several points immediately after being tilted. The tilting causes the object to be partially lifted and then lifted as a whole at the bottom, for example, for transfer to a conveyor, for example a conveyor, or finally as a whole via an intermediate movement.

Before lifting, the object is preferably first held at its bottom. This is because even an unstable object such as a box with an open mouth can be reliably fried by having a bottom.

Using the apparatus of the present invention, the object is preferably first tilted and then slightly withdrawn from the substrate, whether or not the object is subsequently lifted.

The device according to the invention further comprises a tilting organ, which is applied to the free end face of the object to tilt the object, preferably by suction. Since at least the outermost object of the pack has one free end surface that can be touched, it is always possible to apply the tilting organ as described above, and by taking out the outermost object sequentially, the entire pack is removed. Can be processed.

As mentioned above, the object can be tilted by applying horizontal pressure above the height of the center of gravity of the object, or by applying vertical lift beside the object, but according to the method of the present invention. Preferably, the tilting organ is swiveled as a whole on an arc centered on one ridge of the bottom surface of the object, and the object to be removed is rotated and tilted around the base, preferably without any further operating elements. In this way, the removal operation is performed very carefully.

Individual objects can be removed from the substrate using the apparatus of the present invention, but the objects can be made into a plurality of objects, preferably two objects, and be taken out simultaneously.

The transport device according to the present invention includes the following (a), (b), and (c).
(D) It is characterized by (e).

(A) The device includes a tilting member having a tilting arm and a suction tool.

(B) The tilting arm faces and contacts a free surface of an object to be lifted.

(C) The tilting arm rotates on an arc centered on a bottom tilting ridge line on the opposite side of the free surface of the object.

(D) The tilting member comprises a guide curved portion on which a tilting arm for performing the rotation is mounted, and the tilting member is attached to a working head that turns around a vertical axis.

(E) The tilting member is attached to a transport arm for moving the tilting arm together with the working head.

With this transport device according to the invention, the tilting arm is applied to the free surface of the object to be taken out, the object is tilted,
Even if the object is placed on a non-slip plate and the object itself has an unstable structure, the object can be removed and transported by the removal device in a simple manner.

Preferably, the tilting arm pivots on an arc about the tilting ridge at the bottom of the object opposite the free surface of the object, such that the object is first tilted slightly before the object moves otherwise. To

Preferably, in the case of the device according to the invention, the pivoting of the tilting arm is an arc-shaped pivoting guide for the tilting member and a drive for moving the tilting member along said pivoting guide, preferably a reversing movement And an operating cylinder that operates. In this case, preferably, the tilting member is made as a tilting arm, which is mounted in a swivel guide having a guide curve extending on both sides of the arm. For example, the guide curve is a guide groove or recess, for example, in which a pin engages or a running roller runs.

Another feature of the transport device according to the invention is that the suction member has at least one suction cup at the part where it is applied to the object, which suction cup is in the form of a simple suction cup, for example, a flexible material, This suction cup, made for example of plastic, preferably connected via an air pipe to the pump and which can also be made of rigid material, is switched on and off as required.

The transport device according to the invention can have a plurality of tilting members for a plurality of objects, preferably two tilting members can be tilted adjacently, and a plurality of objects can be simultaneously removed in the same manner.

In one embodiment of the transporter of the present invention, the tilter member itself is made as a removal device, ie, a separate removal device is not required. In this case, the tilting member can be moved back and forth in the horizontal direction, preferably at right angles to the tilting ridgeline of the object, by the double-acting working cylinder.

By using the tilting member in this way, the object to be taken out can not only be tilted, but also be pulled or pushed down in any direction completely or partially from the substrate. In this case, the object can also rotate at right angles to the tilting ridge. This is also possible if a non-slip plate is used, which means that the object is no longer flat and only touches the substrate at its tilted angle, and this tilted object has an area of contact with the substrate. This is because the friction resistance is small.

The following features of the present invention provide a support surface for supporting an object to be removed. In this case, preferably, this support surface is or can be placed under the tilting member,
This should be approximately the same height as the bottom of the object. Preferably, the tilting member is capable of drawing an object onto the support surface. However, this support surface can be part of a separate take-off device, preferably by means of a double-acting working cylinder, which allows it to move back and forth under an inclined object.

Preferably, this support surface can move up and down as part of the tilting member. This may be such that the support surface is a component of another pick-up device and that the tilted object whose bottom is supported by this support surface lifts off the substrate, or that the tilting member is In this case, it is advantageous to transport the removed object further.

 This support surface can be made in the form of a fork.

According to a further feature of the invention, the tilter member and its supporting surface belong to the working head 16 of the transport device, which device can move uniformly and is preferably assembled, preferably as part of a robot. I can do it. As a result, the transport device can be used with great elasticity and the working head according to the invention can be easily retrofitted. In particular, the swiveling operation of the head allows the taken-out object to be freely transported in any shape or to a place that is hard to reach. For example, the removed object can be carried, rotated, slid, and placed at different heights, all of which are accomplished with one action of the working head.

In this context, it is possible to use this function in reverse and to use the unloading device as a loading device and to pack objects exactly with the same prudence as unloading.

Due to the mobility of the transport device, the working head can preferably pivot about the axis of the vertical head. In one embodiment of the device, a head is provided at the free end of the carrying arm, which articulates by means of preferably three vertical axes, including the head axis, even in confined spaces. The working head can be used to carry an object from one location to another within the range of movement of the carrying arm.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a transport device in the form of a robot 11 according to the present invention.

The transport device has a transport arm 12, which articulates by means of three vertical axes (13, 14, 15), the operational status of which is indicated by both arrows and dash-dot lines in the figure. This carrying arm
Of the twelve axes, the head axis 15 is the vertical pivot axis of the working head 16 by which individual objects are removed from the pallet 17. Articles placed on a pallet are stacked together as a group of square cardboard boxes 18 with open tops. Between the stacks of this group there is a so-called non-slip substrate as insert with increased frictional resistance.

The cardboard boxes 18 are removed from the pallet 17 two at a time by the working head 16 and lowered into position on the conveyor belt 19. Since the carrying arm 12 articulates, this carrying can be performed in a limited area.

The working head 16 has two tilting members formed as tilting arms 20, each of which is provided for removing a cardboard box 18. The tilting arm has a piston rod 21 that moves in and out of a working cylinder 22 that performs a double action operation. Tilt arm 20
A suction cup 23 is provided at the free end of the piston rod 21 and is applied to a cardboard box 18 to be taken out by suction and fixed thereto. Working head 16 under tilting arm 20
Has a support surface formed as a fork 24, and by retracting the piston rod 21 of the tilting arm 20, the cardboard box 18 to be taken out is pulled out.

In the following drawings, the same reference numerals are used for the same structural parts as in FIG.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the working head 16 of the transport device in detail.

In FIG. 2, a substrate 25 is shown between the packs 26 of the cardboard box 18. The substrate 25 is made of corrugated cardboard, and both sides thereof are provided with a non-slip coating for preventing the cardboard box from slipping. The suction cup 23 of the working head 16 is made as a suction cup and has a connection 27 to the air line. Sucker 23
Can be moved in and out in the direction of both arrows 28. The entire tilting arm 20 can rotate in both directions in the direction of the arrow 29 about the bottom ridge line 30 opposite to the side surface of the cardboard box 18 to which the suction cup 13 is applied.
Due to this rotation, the tilting arm 20 is guided in the arcuate guide curve. The guide curve 31 is a recess in the base frame 32 of the working head 16. Running roller with tilting arm 20
33 travels in the guide curve 31. In order to move the tilting arm 20 along the guide curve 31, a double acting action cylinder 34 is provided in the base frame 32, in which case
One end is attached to the base frame 32 and the other free end articulately acts on the tilting arm 20.

According to the length of the extended piston rod and the depth of the cardboard box 18 to be taken out, the guide curve portion 31 is formed in the radial direction centered on the bottom ridgeline 30 of the cardboard box 18 to be taken out. They are designed to extend.

FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the working head 16 along the line III-III in FIG.

In FIG. 3, the structure of the fork 24 and the structure of the guide curved portion 31 and the running roller 33 in the base frame 32 are well shown. This figure also shows a state in which two parallel tilt arms 20 are connected to each other inside the base frame 32. Characteristically, two tilting arms 20 along the guide curve 31
Only one working cylinder 34 is provided to move the cylinder.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the working head 16 taken along line IV-IV of FIG.

From this drawing, it is possible to know the outline of the sectional structure of the working cylinders 22 and 34, in which case the working cylinder 34 is completely retracted and the cardboard box 18 to be taken out is tilted about the bottom ridgeline 30. The working cylinder 22 has been retracted halfway and the cardboard box 18 has been pulled halfway through the fork 24.

FIG. 5 shows the working head 16 as seen along the line V--V in FIG.
Is shown.

In this drawing, the guide curve portion 31 and the traveling roller
Details of the structure of 33 are shown, so that the entire arrangement of the tilting arm 20 in the base frame 32 can be known. The two tilting arms 20 are connected to each other via a lateral bar 36,
An integral tilting arm is formed, which is pivotally driven by the working cylinder.

In FIG. 5, the mounting position of the head axle 15 can be known, which in this embodiment is shown as a single shaft, but this means that the base frame 32 and thus the entire working head 16 This is because it is possible to turn through this shaft.

 The transport device according to the invention operates as follows.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the working head 16 is
It is moved towards the free side of the cardboard box 18 to be removed from 17. The piston rod 21 of the piston 22 is extended,
The suction cup 23 contacts the free surface of the cardboard box 18 and the suction cup
And is fixed to this surface by suction. Next, the piston rod 35 of the working cylinder 34 which has been stretched in advance is retracted, and the tilting arm 20 rotates along the guide curved portion 31 about the ridgeline 30 at the bottom of the cardboard box 18 to be taken out. Since suction force is applied to the suction cups 23 that abut the cardboard box 18, the cardboard box is also tilted about the bottom ridge line at the same time,
A wedge-shaped gap is formed between the bottom of the cardboard box and the base 25 which is a non-slip.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the piston rod 21 of the working cylinder 22 is retracted, and the cardboard box 18 is pulled over the fork 24. As soon as the center of gravity of the cardboard box 18 is placed on the fork 24, the inclination angle of the cardboard box 18 gradually decreases. When the piston rod 21 is retracted, the tilt arm is lowered by extending the piston rod 35 again. The cardboard box 18 is now placed on the fork 24.
The suction effect of the suction cups 23 can be cut off, but for safety reasons, they can be carried down onto another substrate, for example a conveyor belt 19, while continuing suction.

The transport of the cardboard box 18 is performed by the transport head 16 via the transport arm 12.
, In particular by swiveling around the axis 15 of the head.

[Brief description of the drawings]

 FIG. 1 is a plan view of a transport device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial side view of the device of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a plan view taken along line III-III of FIG. Is a side view along line IV-IV in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a side view along line VV in FIG.

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] An object (18) characterized by the following (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e), wherein an object (18) is first tilted and then pulled out of a substrate (25). A transport device for removing 18) from the substrate (25). (A) The device includes a tilting member having a tilting arm (20) and a suction tool (23). (B) The tilting arm (20) faces a free surface of an object (18) to be lifted. (C) the tilting arm (20) rotates on an arc centered on a bottom tilting ridge line (30) on the opposite side of the free surface of the object (18), (d) the tilting The member comprises a guide curve portion (31) on which a tilting arm (20) for performing the rotation is mounted, and the tilting member is attached to a working head that pivots about a vertical axis; (e) The tilting member is attached to a transport arm for moving the tilting arm (20) with the working head; 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized by a plurality of tilting arms (20) for a plurality of objects (18), preferably two adjacently mounted tilting arms (20). 3. The tilting arm (20) itself, preferably by moving the tilting arm back and forth in a horizontal direction, preferably in a direction perpendicular to the tilting ridge of the object (18), preferably 3. The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the transport device is configured as an unloading device by means of a working working cylinder. 4. The transport device according to claim 1, wherein a support surface (24) for supporting an object (18) to be taken out is provided. 5. The device according to claim 5, wherein said support surface is positioned sufficiently far below said tilting arm such that said support surface is positioned at substantially the same height as the substrate of said object. 5. The transport device according to claim 4, characterized in that it can be placed or placed. 6. Transport according to claim 3, characterized in that the tilting arm (20) is adapted to draw the object (18) to the support surface (24). apparatus. 7. The support surface (24) is part of an object (18) removal device and is moved back and forth under an inclined object (18), preferably by a double acting working cylinder. The transport device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that the transport device is capable of performing the following. 8. The transport device according to claim 4, wherein the support surface (24) can move up and down as part of a lifting mechanism. 9. The transport device according to claim 4, wherein the support surface is formed in the shape of a fork. 10. The tilting arm (20) and its support surface (24).
Belong to the working head (16) of said conveying device, said device being able to move uniformly, and preferably to a robot (11)
10. A transport device according to any one of claims 4 to 9, characterized in that it can preferably be assembled as part of a transport device. 11. Transport device according to claim 10, characterized in that the working head (16) can pivot about a vertical axis (15) of the head. 12. The work head (16) comprises a carrying arm (12).
Arm at the free end of its head axis (15)
12. The transport device according to claim 11, characterized in that it is made in an articulated manner, preferably by three vertical axes (13,14,15).