JP2609189B2 - Article handling equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for distributing and collecting articles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a picking device for articles as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-110399. This prior art has a cutting device and an inclined chute. The cutout device stores articles in each of a plurality of article storage sections, and the bottom cutout of each article storage section is used as an opening / closing apparatus.
Therefore, it is opened, and the articles in each article storage section can be dropped and cut out. The inclined chute is arranged inclined below the cutting device, and transfers the articles dropped and cut from the cutting device to a lower process.

[0003]

However, in the prior art, the articles dropped and cut from the cutting apparatus fall on the inclined chute and hit to some extent with an impact. Poor pickup in lower process. In addition, since the falling speed is deprived by the collision with the inclined chute, the momentum is lost and the vehicle may stop in the middle of the inclined chute.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to smoothly introduce articles to be dropped and cut out from the cutouts of a plurality of article storage sections provided in the cutout apparatus to the inclined chute with a simple apparatus configuration .

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an article is stored in each of a plurality of article storage sections partitioned in a matrix of n rows and k columns, and a bottom portion of each article storage section. A cutting device that drops and cuts out the articles in each article storage unit from the cutout provided in the cutting device, and is arranged inclined below the cutting device,
A non-powered conveying device for transferring the articles cut and cut from the cutting apparatus;
An opening / closing device that moves in the row direction along the bottom of each article storage unit of the cutting device and sequentially opens the cutout of each article storage unit is provided.
The opening / closing device moves along the bottom of each article storage
Large opening and closing that moves and opens the cutout of each article storage unit in one line unit
The body and the cutout side end of the large opening and closing body are provided for each cutout.
With multiple small opening and closing bodies that open and close the corresponding cutouts
The opening / closing side end of the large opening / closing body in the opening / closing device corresponding to the cutout edge of the article storage section opened by the opening / closing device
The upper end of the guide chute is fixed to the lower part of each small opening / closing body at the portion, and the guide chute extends from the cutout edge of the cutout device to the upper surface side of the non-powered transfer device.

[0006]

[0007]

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, further, the lower end of the guide chute is suspended so as to follow the upper surface of the non-powered transfer device in parallel. It is made to become.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the following effects are obtained. The guide chute has a curve that smoothly changes the falling direction of an article dropped and cut from the cutting apparatus toward the non-powered transfer device. Therefore, the article dropped and cut from the cutting device is smoothly introduced from the guide chute to the non-powered transfer device and does not hit the non-powered transfer device. Therefore, the article is not damaged, and the orientation on the non-powered conveyance device is unlikely to be separated, so that the collection property in the lower process is good. Further, the falling speed is not robbed by the collision with the non-powered transfer device, the momentum is not lost, and there is no stopping in the middle of the non-powered transfer device.

The upper end of the guide chute is fixed to a large opening / closing body which sequentially opens each of the cutouts of the cutting device one by one, so that the guide chute can cut out the articles of the cutting device. In order to prepare for cutting out articles. Therefore, it is not necessary to arrange guide chutes individually for all the cutouts in the cutout device, and a single guide chute can cope with all of the cutouts, thereby simplifying the device configuration.

Since the lower end of the guide chute hangs down so as to follow the upper surface of the non-powered transfer device in parallel, the articles discharged from the guide chute are smoothly slid into the non-powered transfer device. be introduced.

[0012]

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a picking device to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a reserve tank and a cutting device, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a partition, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an opening / closing device of a cutting device, FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a guide chute and an inclined chute that are connected to the middle and lower cutting devices.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a guide chute and an inclined chute connected to the upper cutting device, FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an inclined chute, a collection conveyor, and a charging conveyor, and FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a cutting pattern of the cutting device. 10 is a schematic view showing a modified example of the guide chute, FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing a modified example of the concave receiving member, FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing a modified example of the collection conveyor, and FIG. 13 is another modified example of the collection conveyor. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the inclined arrangement of a collection conveyor, FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of an inclined chute,
FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of the guide chute, and FIG.
7 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of a guide chute lower end position regulating means, and FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of a concave receiving member forming a collection conveyor.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a picking device 10 has a plurality of (for example, 20) reserve devices corresponding to a plurality of types (for example, 20 types) of articles, for a collection conveyor 11 and an input conveyor 12. 13, the unit equipped with the cutting-out device 14 is constructed as one unit.

However, the picking device 10 is provided with the fluidized shelf 1
5, three stages of a lower stage (front), a middle stage (middle), and an upper stage (rear) in three steps along a direction orthogonal to the collection conveyor 11, three sets of reserve devices 13, and a cutting device 14. Are arranged in multiple stages, and each of the upper and middle reserve devices 13 can be moved forward above the middle and lower reserve devices 13, that is, toward the flow shelf 15 side. Incidentally, the lower reserve device 13 can also be pulled out. That is, in the picking device 10, when the worker transfers the articles in the product box 16 stored in each frontage of the fluidizing shelf 15 to the corresponding reserve device 13,
The empty storage device 13 is pulled out from the original position to the fluidized shelf 15 side, and the reserved device 1 is positioned on the fluidized shelf 15 side.
After the transfer of the article to 3, the reserve device 13 to which the article has been transferred is pushed back to the original position.

The picking device 10 is provided with a transfer request display 17 at the front of each reserve device 13.
When the reserve device 13 becomes empty, the worker is informed of this by flashing the transfer request display 17. At this time, the transfer article display 18 provided at the corresponding frontage of the fluidized shelf 15 also flashes.

As described above, the picking device 10 has the cut-out device 14 disposed below the reserve device 13, and all the articles transferred to the reserve device 13 can be used by the shutter device 19 of the reserve device 13. , And the shutter device 21 of the cutout device 14 is opened to cut out any number of the articles from the cutout device 14 toward the collection conveyor 11. .

At this time, in the picking device 10, in the reserve device 13 and the cut-out device 14, a plurality of articles partitioned by the partitions 24 and 25 inserted into the reserve tank 22 and the cut-out box 23, respectively. Storage units 26 and 27 are provided,
The articles stored in each product box 16 stored in each frontage in a random or predetermined arrangement are transferred to each article storage section 26 of the reserve device 13 by a worker's manual operation,
The articles transferred to the reserve device 13 are transferred to the respective article storage portions 27 of the cutout device 14 by the opening control of the shutter device 19, and the cutout device 14
The article transferred to is stored in the article storage unit 27 by the opening control of the shutter device 21 described above.
The shutter device 19 and the shutter device 21 are controlled by a picking control device (not shown) provided in the picking device 10.

The picking device 10 includes a plurality of (for example, 20) cutting devices 14 constituting one unit.
In order to pack the articles cut out from the above as described above and supply them to the containers 32 on the container transport line 31, the following packing apparatus is provided.

That is, the loading and unloading device is an inclined chute 33 disposed below the cutting device 14 along the entire cutting device 14 of the picking device 10 constituting one unit.
(A non-powered conveying device) and the above-described collection conveyor 1 disposed downstream of the chute 33 along the cutting-out device 14.
1 and the above-mentioned charging conveyor 12 which is disposed downstream of the collection conveyor 11 and collects the articles cut out from the respective cutting-out devices 14 to the collection conveyor 11. And in the packing device, each cutting device 1
4 is transferred to the collection conveyor 11 via the chute 33, and the collection conveyor 11
The above article is transferred to the input conveyor 12. And
When it is determined from the barcode attached to the container 32 that the container 32 on the container transport line 31 is to be loaded with the article, the container 32 is stopped in front of the loading conveyor 12 and loaded. Conveyor 12
To drive the article on the input conveyor 12 into the container 3
Put into 2.

The object of the present invention can be achieved even if the inclined chute 33 as a non-powered conveying device is replaced with a roller-free conveyor.

The reserve device 13 and the cut-out device 14 will be described in more detail below.

In the reserve device 13, the partition 24 inserted into the reserve tank 22 allows the n rows, k
It has a plurality of article storage sections 26 that are partitioned in rows and columns. At this time, as in the case of the cutout box 23 shown in FIG. 4, the reserve tank 22 has a large number of partition insertion slits, and when the sizes of articles to be cut out are different, the partition in the same reserve tank 22 is used. By changing the insertion position of 24, the arrangement pattern of the article storage sections 26 partitioned in the reserve tank 22 can be changed in the same manner as in the cutout box 23 shown in FIG.

In the reserve device 13, the bottom surface of the article storage section 26 formed in the reserve tank 22 can be opened and closed by the shutter device 19 described above. At this time, as shown in FIG.
A pair of left and right large gears 42 driven by 1 and three pairs of left and right non-driven small gears 43 are arranged on the inner surfaces of the left and right plates of the reserve tank 22 and wound around these gears 42 and 43. A large number of slats are continuously carried on a part of the pair of left and right endless orbital chains 44 to form an opening / closing body 45. That is, when the motor 41 is driven by the control of the picking control device as described above, the shutter device 19 moves the opening / closing member 45 in the row direction (see FIG. 4), and the entire article storage section in the reserve tank 22 is moved. 26 can be opened at once, and as a result, all the articles in the reserve tank 22 can be transferred to the lower cutting device 14.

In the cut-out device 14, the partition 25 inserted into the cut-out box 23 corresponds to the article storage section 26 formed in the upper reserve device 13.
A plurality of article storage units 27 in a matrix such as a row and k columns are provided. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the cutout box 23 has a large number of partition insertion slits 50, and when the size of the article to be cut out is different, the insertion position of the partition 25 in the same cutout box 23 , The article storage unit 2 partitioned in the cutout box 23
7 can be changed.

Further, in the cutout device 14, the bottom cutout of the article storage portion 27 formed in the cutout box 23 is
It can be opened and closed by the shutter device 21 described above. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the shutter device 21 includes a pair of left and right large gears 52 and 3 driven by a motor 51.
A pair of left and right non-drive small gears 53 is disposed on the inner surfaces of the left and right side plates of the cutout box 23, and a pair of left and right endless circular chains 54 wound around these gears 52, 53 is a large open / close body. 55 and a plurality of small opening / closing members 56 are provided.

The large opening / closing body 55 is formed by continuously supporting a large number of slats on a part of the chain 54. That is, when the motor 51 is driven under the control of the picking control device as described above, the shutter device 21 moves the large opening / closing body 55 in the row direction (see FIG. 4) and cuts the bottom of each article storage section 27. The outlets can be opened and controlled simultaneously in line units.

As shown in FIG. 5, each of the small opening / closing members 56 is provided at the leading end of the chain 54 so as to be disposed at the leading end cutout side end of the large opening / closing member 55 for each cutout . The support members 57 are supported in parallel with each other, and rotate around a support shaft 58 substantially parallel to the bottom surface of each article storage portion 27 to open and close the bottom surfaces. A push rod guide 61 supported by a support 59 provided on the distal end side of the chain 54 supports a push rod 62 corresponding to each of the small opening / closing bodies 56 and an opening / closing cylinder device 63. 64 is a bracket.
The push rod 62 abuts against the lower surface of the small opening / closing body 56 and moves forward and backward with respect to the lower surface while being guided by the push rod guide 61.
In addition, the opening / closing cylinder device 63 drives the push rod 62 and pushes up the small opening / closing body 56 by the push rod 62, thereby closing the bottom surface of the article storage portion 27. When the opening / closing cylinder device 63 pulls back the push rod 62, the small opening / closing body 56 rotates by its own weight and opens the bottom surface of the article storage section 27. As a result, the small opening / closing body 56 is
Each of the bottom cutouts 7 can be independently opened and closed.

The small open / close body 56 has a size corresponding to the minimum interval between the partitions 25 inserted into the cut-out box 23, and a plurality of small open / close bodies 56 of the size are provided in parallel. When the space between the partitions 25 is wide, the plurality of small opening / closing members 56 are controlled to open simultaneously according to the width.

Hereinafter, in the picking apparatus 10, the characteristic configuration of the inclined chute 33, the guide chute 71, the collection conveyor 11, the charging conveyor 12, and the like for transferring the articles cut from the cutting apparatus 14 will be described.

(A) Inclined Chute (See FIGS. 1, 6, 7 and 15) As shown in FIGS. 1 and 15, the inclined chute 33 is composed of all of the upper, middle and lower stages constituting a multi-stage cutting device group. Below the cut-out devices 14, the cut-out devices 14 are arranged obliquely so as to be substantially parallel to the downward slope formed by each other.

That is, the upper end of the inclined chute 33 is disposed immediately below the cutout of the upper section cutting device 14, and the inclined chute 3
The lower end of 3 is arranged so as to project from just below the cutout of the lower cutting device 14 and face the collection conveyor 11. And the whole of the upper end to the lower end of the inclined chute 33 is inclinedly arranged as described above.

In addition, both ends in the width direction of the inclined chute 33 (direction orthogonal to the inclined direction) and intermediate portions thereof function as guide chute lower end position regulating means, which will be described later, and regulate the transfer direction of the articles. A rising wall 33A that also performs a function is provided (see FIGS. 6 and 7).
The rising wall 33 </ b> A is continuously installed over the entire length from the upper end to the lower end of the inclined chute 33.

In the width direction of the inclined chute 33, an intermediate portion sandwiched between the adjacent rising walls 33A has a ridge 3 which functions to prevent turning during the transfer of articles.
3B is provided. The ridge 33B is continuously installed over the entire length from the upper end to the lower end of the inclined chute 33 (FIGS. 6 and 7).
reference). The number of protrusions 33B between the rising walls 33A is not limited to one, but may be, for example, two or three. Further, even if the articles are discontinuous, the articles need not necessarily be parallel to the wall as long as the articles are configured to follow the inclined direction.

(B) Guide chute (FIGS. 1, 6, 7,
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 16, the guide chute 71 is
The article that extends from the cutout edge of the cutout device 14 to the upper surface side of the inclined chute 33 and drops from the cutout of the cutout device 14 is smoothly introduced into the inclined chute 33. The guide chute 71 is formed of a rectangular elastic body.

Here, the upper end of the guide chute 71
A lower portion of each small opening / closing body 56 at the cut-out side end of the large opening / closing body 55 constituting the shutter device 21 of the cutout device 14.
, Is fixed to a bracket 64 integrated with the large opening / closing body 55 . Thereby, the guide chute 71 is automatically set so as to always be located at the cutout edge of the cutout device 14 where the article is cut out by the opening operation of the small opening and closing body 56 disposed at the tip of the large opening and closing body 55. Will be done.

The lower end of the guide chute 71 is suspended so as to follow the upper surface of the inclined chute 33 in parallel.
The guide chute 71 corresponding to the upper cutting device 14 has a slit 71A inserted around the rising wall 33A of the inclined chute 33, and the lower end of the guide chute 71 is in sliding contact with the upper surface of the inclined chute 33. , In parallel with the upper surface of the inclined chute 33. Further, the lower end of the guide chute 71 corresponding to the middle and lower cutting devices 14 slides in contact with the upper edge of the rising wall 33A of the inclined chute 33 and follows the upper surface of the inclined chute 33 in parallel.

As shown in FIG. 10, the guide chute 71 moves the slide portion 73 up and down on a guide plate 72 hanging down from a bracket 64 integral with the large opening / closing body 55 constituting the shutter device 21 of the cutout device 14. It may be configured by fitting slidably. At this time, the guide chute 71 is not an elastic body,
It may be composed of a hard body. When the large opening and closing body 55 moves, the guide chute 71 moves by being dragged by the guide plate 72. During the movement, the guide chute 71 rises along the slide portion 73 by an amount corresponding to the inclination of the inclined chute.

(C) Guide chute lower end position regulating means (see FIGS. 1, 6, 7, and 17) The guide chute 71 is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 17, each cutting device constituting a multistage cutting device group. 14 is provided for each. Then, among all the cutting devices 14 constituting the multi-stage cutting device group, the middle and lower cutting devices 14
As described above, the lower end of the guide chute 71 corresponding to the above is slidably in contact with the upper edge of the rising wall 33A of the inclined chute 33 as the guide chute lower end position restricting means, so that the position thereof is regulated. Thus, the lower end position of the guide chute 71 corresponding to the middle and lower cutting devices 14 is located between the upper surface of the inclined chute 33 and the article falling from the upstream side of the chute (cut out from the upper cutting device 14). To form a passing gap.

(D) Collection Conveyor (See FIGS. 1, 2, 8, 12 to 14, and 18) The collection conveyor 11 is wound around a pair of right and left gears 81 as shown in FIG. A large number of concave receiving members 83 which can receive articles are connected to a pair of left and right endless orbiting chains 82.

At this time, the longitudinal direction of each concave receiving member 83 coincides with the inclination direction of the inclined chute 33, and the article storage section 27 of the cutting device 14 stores the article in a state where the longitudinal direction of the article is up and down. It is possible. As a result, the article is cut out in the longitudinal direction from the cutting-out device 14 and is stored in the concave receiving member 83 while keeping the longitudinal direction from the inclined chute 33.

Incidentally, a cushioning material is attached to the inner surface of the concave receiving member 83 as required. The cross-sectional shape of the concave receiving member 83 is round (FIG. 11A), hexagonal (FIG. 11B),
A square (FIG. 11 (C)) and a round bottom (FIG. 11C)
(D)) or a triangle (FIG. 11 (E)).

The article receiving width WB of the concave receiving member 83
Need not be deemed to be the same as the interval WA between the protrusions of the inclined chute 33 (see FIG. 12).

In the area for receiving articles from the inclined chute 33 to the concave receiving member 83 of the collection conveyor 11, the article guard plate 8 is provided above the collection conveyor 11 as necessary.
4 are provided (see FIG. 13). The article guard plate 84 moves the article on the side edge of the concave receiving member 83, and the collection conveyor 11
Prevent jumping out.

Further, at the position for receiving articles from the inclined chute 33 to the concave receiver 83 of the collection conveyor 11, the concave receiver 83 is in a plane including the inclination direction of the inclined chute 33.
By arranging the articles not inclined horizontally but inclinedly, the posture of the article received in the concave receiving member 83 can be immediately stabilized in the concave receiving member 83 (FIG. 14).
(See (A) and (B)). The inclination angle θ of the concave receiving member 83 is
The direction opposite to the inclination direction of the inclination chute 33 (FIG. 14A)
(See FIG. 14B) or the same direction (see FIG. 14B).

(E) Charging Conveyor (See FIGS. 1, 2, and 8) The charging conveyor 12 includes a plurality of concave charging portions 91 divided in the longitudinal direction. And the input conveyor 12
The collection conveyor 11 transfers a predetermined number of articles to the collection conveyor 1.
The operation is stopped until the transfer to the concave feeding section 91 on the first output side is completed, and then the intermittent driving is performed.

At this time, the articles are bound together by a binding machine (not shown) in the process of being transferred from the collection conveyor 11 to the charging conveyor 12 and transferred to the concave charging section 91. Is also good. Since the direction of the articles is supplied by being aligned by the concave receiving members 83 of the collection conveyor 11, the binding becomes easy.

The articles arranged in the direction by the concave receiving members 83 of the collection conveyor 11 may be directly discharged from the concave receiving members 83 by the robot device. Since the direction of the articles is supplied by being aligned by the concave receiving members 83 of the collection conveyor 11, it is easy to grasp by the robot device.

The specific procedure of using the picking device 10 will be described as follows (1) to (4) (see FIG. 9). Here, the basic concept of the cutout is that the articles cut out from the respective article storage sections 27 of the cutout apparatus 14 follow the curve of the guide chute 71, and therefore, the small opening / closing body 56 located ahead of the guide chute 71. The above article shall be cut out. The shutter device 21 of the cutting device 14 has six small opening / closing members 56.
Shall be provided.

(1) The insertion position of the partition 25 in the cutout box 23 is selected in accordance with the size of the article to be cut out, and the arrangement pattern of the article storage sections 27 partitioned in the cutout box 23 is set. FIG. 9 shows a four-row array pattern.

At this time, even in the reserve device 13, the insertion position of the partition 24 in the reserve tank 22 is selected, and the same arrangement pattern of the article storage portions 26 as in the cutout device 14 is set.

(2) When the article is cut out from each article storage section 27, all of the small open / close bodies 56 at least partially corresponding to the bottom surface of the article storage section 27 are controlled by the control of the shutter device 21 by the picking control device described above. The opening is controlled by the operation of the corresponding opening / closing cylinder device 63.

For example, in the arrangement pattern of four rows in FIG. 9, two small opening / closing members 56 (one small opening / closing member
(Corresponding to No. 7) is controlled by the operation of the corresponding opening / closing cylinder device 63 so that one article can be cut out.

(3) After the articles of one row in all the article storage sections 27 are cut out according to the above (2), the small opening / closing body 56 is closed by the control of the shutter device 21 by the picking control device. In the controlled state, the large opening / closing body 55 is moved in units of one line by the operation of the motor 51, and then the above (2) is repeated as necessary.

For example, in FIG. 9, if the number of articles remaining in the article storage section 27 in the first line on the tip side is four and the number of articles cut out this time is five in total, all of the six small open / close bodies 56 Is opened, four articles in the article storage section 27 on the first row are cut out, and the small open / close body 56 is closed. Then, the large open / close body 55 is moved by one row, and two small open / close bodies 56 (the article storage section 1) Open and cut out one article in the article storage section 27 in the second row,
As a result, the cutting of five items is completed.

(4) The articles cut out from the cut-out device 14 by the above (2) fall on the inclined chutes 33 along the guide chutes 71 and are received from the inclined chutes 33 into the concave receiving members 83 of the collection conveyor 11. Then, it is transferred from the concave receiving member 83 of the collection conveyor 11 to the loading conveyor 12, and finally carried into the container 32 on the container transport line 31.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The guide chute 71 has a curve that smoothly changes the falling direction of the article dropped and cut from the cutting device 14 to the direction of the inclined chute 33. Therefore, the article dropped and cut from the cutting device 14 is smoothly introduced from the guide chute 71 to the inclined chute 33, and does not hit the inclined chute 33. Therefore, the goods
It is not damaged, and the orientation on the inclined chute 33 is hard to be separated. Further, the falling speed is not robbed by the collision with the inclined chute 33, the momentum is not lost, and there is no stopping in the middle of the inclined chute 33.

[0057] upper end of the guide chute 71, by which shall be fixed to the large open <br/> closed field 55 of one row unit at a time sequentially opening each cut outlet of the clipping device 14, the guide chute 71, The articles of the cutting device 14 are sequentially arranged at the cutouts where the articles are to be cut out, and are prepared for cutting out the articles. Therefore, in the cutting device 14, there is no need to individually arrange the guide chutes 71 for all the cutouts along the inclination direction of the inclined chute 33, and a single guide chute 71 can cope with all of the cutouts.
The device configuration can be simplified.

By letting the lower end of the guide chute 71 hang down so as to follow the upper surface of the inclined chute 33 in parallel, the articles discharged from the guide chute 71 can slide on the inclined chute 33 extremely smoothly. be introduced.

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to smoothly introduce an article dropped and cut from the cutting apparatus into the inclined chute.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a picking device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a reserve tank and a cutting device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a partition of the cutting device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an opening and closing device of the cutting device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a guide chute and an inclined chute connected to the middle and lower cutting devices.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a guide chute and an inclined chute connected to an upper cutting device.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an inclined chute, a pickup conveyor, and a charging conveyor.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a cutting pattern of the cutting device.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing a modified example of the guide chute.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing a modified example of the concave receiving member.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a modified example of a collection conveyor.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing another modified example of the pickup conveyor.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an inclined arrangement of a pickup conveyor.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of an inclined chute.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of a guide chute.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of a guide chute lower end position regulating means.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of a concave receiving member constituting the collection conveyor.

[Description of Signs] 10 Picking device (article handling device) 14 Cutting device 21 Shutter device (opening / closing device) 27 Article storage portion 33 Inclined chute (non-powered transfer device) 55 Large opening / closing body 56 Small opening / closing body 71 Guide chute

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An article is stored in each of a plurality of article storage sections partitioned in a matrix of n rows and k columns, and articles in each article storage section are dropped from a cutout provided at the bottom of each article storage section. An article handling apparatus comprising: a cutting device for cutting, and a non-powered conveyance device that is inclined and disposed below the cutting device and transfers articles dropped and cut from the cutting device. An opening / closing device that moves in the row direction along the bottom and sequentially opens the cutouts of each article storage unit is provided.
The opening / closing device moves in the row direction along the bottom of each article storage
Large opening and closing body that opens the cutout of each article storage unit by one line
And, it is arranged for each cutout at the cutout side end of the large opening and closing body
Multiple small opening and closing bodies that open and close the corresponding cutouts
The opening and closing device corresponding to the cutout edge of the article storage section opened by the opening and closing device has a small opening at the cutout side end of the large opening and closing body.
An article handling apparatus characterized in that an upper end portion of a guide chute is fixed to a lower portion of a closed body, and the guide chute extends from a cutout edge of a cutout device to an upper surface side of a non-powered conveyance device. 2. The article handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a lower end of the guide chute is suspended so as to follow the upper surface of the non-powered transfer device in parallel.