JP2629343B2 - Transfer device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transport device, and more particularly, to a transport device that transports an object by moving a transport belt in a transport direction.

[Summary of the Invention]

A plurality of high-speed belts and a low-speed belt are respectively arranged in parallel with each other, and a low-speed belt is deviated from the conveyance path at a position in the middle of the conveyance path. The transported object is transported by a slow belt before and after the station, and the transported object is transported by a fast belt in the vicinity of the operation station, so that the transported objects are separated from each other. The transported objects to be transported are separated and positioned on the operation station.

[Conventional technology]

In order to automate the manufacturing process, it is necessary to automatically convey an object to be conveyed by a conveying device such as a roller conveyor disclosed in, for example, JP-A-63-97512. At present, conveyors used at production sites are roughly classified into two types: roller conveyors and belt conveyors. The transfer device disclosed in JP-A-63-97512 is a roller conveyor, which constitutes a free flow conveyor.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

A free flow conveyor consisting of a roller conveyor must use a pallet, and the number of pallets used increases, so a pallet must be prepared every time the model is switched, and it is costly to switch the model. There are drawbacks. On the other hand, the belt conveyor is inexpensive, but has a drawback that it is difficult to separate and position the transferred objects because the running speed is constant because the transferred objects are transported on the same plane. . In addition, since a belt conveyor usually uses one belt, there is a drawback that jigs and devices cannot be put in the belt conveyor.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and has an intermediate characteristic between a free flow conveyor and a belt conveyor, and can be used for both purposes, regardless of the presence or absence of a pallet. It is an object of the present invention to provide a usable transfer device.

[Means for solving the problem]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in a device in which a transport belt is transported in a transport direction to transport an article to be transported, the transport belt includes a fast belt and a slow belt.
In addition to arranging different types of belts in parallel with each other, an operation station is provided in a conveyance path, the object to be conveyed is transported by the slow belt before and after the operation station, and the slow belt is transported in the vicinity of the operation station by the slow belt. The transported object is transported, the transported object is separated by the fast belt, and the transported object is supplied to the operation station.

The second invention also includes a plurality of the fast belts and a plurality of the slow belts, respectively, so that the slow belt deviates from the transport path in the middle of the transport path, and the operation station is configured to control the operation of the slow belt by the transport path. It is provided at a position deviated from the position.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the drive belts of the fast belt and the slow belt have a common drive shaft, and the fast belt and the slow belt are respectively driven by drive wheels having different diameters on the drive shaft. Things.

[Action]

Therefore, according to the first aspect, it is possible to provide an operation station in the middle of the conveyance path, and separate the object to be conveyed by a high speed belt using the speed difference between the two types of belts, and to the operation station. Be able to supply.

Further, according to the second aspect, the operation station is provided in a space generated by removing a slow belt from a plurality of fast belts and a slow belt out of the transport path in the middle of the transport path.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a drive belt having different diameters is mounted on a common drive shaft, and two types of belts are driven by these drive wheels to obtain a fast belt.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall structure of a transport device according to one embodiment of the present invention, in which a plurality of fast belts 11 and a slow belt 12 are provided between a pair of left and right frames 10 extending in the transport direction. Are arranged alternately and parallel to one another. The fast belt 11 is guided by guide rollers 13 as shown in FIG. The slow belt 12 is guided by guide rollers 13 to 15 as shown in FIG.

The common drive shaft 16 has a large diameter drive pulley 17.
And a driving pulley 18 having a small diameter, respectively. The driving pulleys 17 and 18 respectively drive the belts 11 and 12 as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. And can be obtained. Moreover, the two types of belts 11 and 12 have different thicknesses, and the fast belt 11 has a thickness of 0.7 mm. In contrast, the slow belt 12 has a thickness of 1.4 mm. Therefore, two types of belts 11, 12 on the same plane
Respectively, the slow belt 12 comes into contact with the conveyed object, and the fast belt 11 comes to play.

An operating station 20 is provided in the middle of the transfer path of the transfer device shown in FIG. And operating station
Reference numeral 20 denotes a lifting block 21. Lifting block
Reference numeral 21 denotes a guide belt 1 as shown in FIG.
It is arranged so as to be able to ascend and descend in a space created by evacuation from the transport path guided by 4 and 15. That is, the lifting block 21 is moved up and down by the air cylinder 22. Elevating block, 21
Elevating plates 23 and 24 are disposed at the front and rear portions of the device, respectively, and are provided with stopper pins 25 and 26, respectively. The lift plates 23 and 24 are moved up and down by air cylinders 27 and 28, respectively.

Of the five lifting blocks 21 provided in the operation station 20, lifting blocks on both sides adjacent to the frame 10
A clamp plate 30 is mounted on the clamp 21 as shown in FIGS. The clamp plate 30 is connected to the lifting block 21 by a pair of right and left 31, 32. These clamp plates 30 are opened and closed by an air cylinder 33 (see FIG. 6) disposed below the lifting block 21.

The opening / closing mechanism of the clamp plate 30 will be described with reference to FIG.
The drive arm 35 is connected to the drive shaft 36.
Is connected to the link 32 via the. Further, the distal end portion of the piston rod 34 is connected to a drive shaft 39 on the opposite side via a link 37 and a drive arm 38.
The drive shaft 39 moves the clamp plate 30 via the link 32.

In the above configuration, the transported object is supplied from the left side of the apparatus in FIGS. 1 to 3, and is transported left and right by belts 11 and 12. At a position on the near side of the operation station 20, the sheet is conveyed by the slow belt 12 at a low speed. That is, on the front side of the operation station 20, two types of belts 11,
12 are running in parallel, but the slower belt 12 is thicker, so that the transported object is transported while being placed on the slower belt 12. At this time, the fast belt 11 is idle.

As shown in FIG. 1A, when the transported object is transported to the operation station 20 with the lifting block 21 being lowered,
At this position, the speed of the conveyed object is increased by the fast belt 11. That is, as shown in FIG.
Since the slow belt 12 is retracted downward at the position where the transfer belt 20 is provided, the speed of the transferred object is rapidly increased by the fast belt 11 at the position of the operation station 20 (fourth embodiment).
See figure). Therefore, the conveyed object is separated from the conveyed object traveling at a slow speed at this time. In this position, the lift plate 24 is moved by the air cylinder 28.
Rise, and the first transferred object is positioned by the stopper pin 26. At this time, the lift plate 23 is raised by the front air cylinder 27, and the stopper pin 25 is moved to the first position.
As shown in FIG. B, the transport of the separated subsequent transported object is restricted by the stopper pin 25 to protrude upward.

In this state, the clamp mechanism changes from the state shown in FIG. 6A to the state shown in FIG. 6B. That is, when the piston rod 34 of the air cylinder 33 is pushed out and the drive arm 35 is rotated, the clamp plate is
30 is projected in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction. At the same time, the movement of the piston rod 34 of the air cylinder 33 is transmitted via the link 37 to the opposite link 38. Therefore, the clamp plate 30 on the opposite side also protrudes to the side. As a result, the state shown in FIG. 1B or the state shown in FIG. 3 is obtained, and the first conveyed object whose position is restricted by the stopper pin 26 is supported by the pair of clamp plates 30,
The lifting block 21 is raised by the air cylinder 22.
As a result, a predetermined operation is performed in the starting station 20. This operation may be various processing operations or various inspection operations.

When such inspection or processing is completed, the operation reverse to the above is performed. That is, FIG.
Is changed from the state shown in FIG. 6 to the state shown in FIG. 6A, and the clamp of the transferred object by the pair of clamp plates 30 is released. Moreover, the lifting block 21 is lowered by the air cylinder 22. Also, the lifting plate 24 is lowered by the air cylinder 28,
The stopper pin 26 is moved to a position lower than the conveying surfaces of the belts 11 and 12. As a result, the conveyed object is returned to the fast belt 11 again, and is moved rightward in FIG. 2 by the fast belt 11. Then, the fast belt 11 merges with the slow belt 12 that has deviated from the transport path so as to retreat from the operation station 20, and thereafter is transported at the transport speed of the slow belt 12 and sent rightward. Then, in synchronization with the discharge of the first transferred object from the operation station 20, the stopper pin 25 is lowered by the air cylinder 27, and the next transferred object is supplied to the operation stations 20. The operation will be repeated.

As described above, the transport device according to the present embodiment has a high speed belt.
Belt 11 with different speed by making 11 and slow belt 12 multiple
1 and 12 are made to run on the same plane. In addition, a gap is provided between the belts 11 and 12, and the lifting block 21 is arranged so as to be able to move up and down, thereby forming the operation station 20. In addition, such a transport device can place and transport a transported object directly on the belts 11 and 12 without using a pallet, in addition to transporting the transported object on a pallet. It becomes possible. Therefore, such a transport device constitutes a transport device having properties intermediate between the free flow conveyor and the belt conveyor, and can be used for both purposes.

Further, the transfer device according to the present embodiment includes an operation station 20.
Fast belt 11 and slow belt on the same plane before and after
12 and arrange the thickness of these belts 11 and 12 so that the fast belt 11 has a thickness of 0.7 mm and the slow belt 12 has a thickness of 1.4 mm.
The conveyance is performed by the slow belt 12 before and after the operation station 20, and the conveyance is performed by the fast belt 11 at the position of the operation station 20 where the slow belt 12 is retracted. Therefore, it is possible to separate the conveyed object by utilizing the speed difference between the two types of belts 11 and 12 in the area where the operation station 20 is entered. A stopper pin 2 that moves up and down by air cylinders 27 and 28
5, 26, and the clamp plate 30 which performs the clamping operation by the air cylinder 33, it is possible to perform the positioning of the transferred object by the clamp at the operation station 20, and to perform the inspection and the inspection at the operation station 20 provided in the middle of the transfer path. Processing can be performed.

〔The invention's effect〕

In the first invention, the transport belt is composed of a fast belt and a slow belt, and these two types of belts are arranged in parallel with each other, and an operation station is provided in the transport path. An object is conveyed, the object is conveyed by a fast belt near the operation station, and the object is separated from each other by the fast belt and supplied to the operation station. Therefore, according to such a configuration, it is possible to separate the continuously conveyed objects and supply the separated objects to the operation station in the conveyance path, and perform a predetermined operation in this operation station.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of fast belts and a plurality of slow belts are provided so that the slow belt deviates from the transport path in the middle of the transport path, and the operation station is provided at a position where the slow belt deviates from the transport path. It is like that. Therefore, according to such a configuration, it is possible to provide an operation station by effectively utilizing a space generated at a position where the slow belt deviates from the transport path,
It is possible to make the transfer device having the working station at an intermediate position compact.

In the third invention, the drive shafts of the fast belt and the slow belt are common, and the fast belt and the slow belt are respectively driven by drive wheels having different diameters on the drive shaft. Therefore, it is possible to make the driving mechanism of the belt having two kinds of speeds a simple configuration, and it is possible to provide a transport device that is advantageous in cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the overall structure of a transfer device according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same main part, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same during clamping, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a front view of a running system of a slow belt, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of a clamp mechanism. The names of the main parts in the drawings are as follows. 11 Fast belt 12 Slow belt 13-15 Guide roller 16 Drive shaft 17 Drive pulley (large) 18 Drive pulley (small) 20 Operating station 21 Elevating block 22 ... Air cylinders 23, 24 ... Lift plates 25, 26 ... Stopper pins 27, 28 ... Air cylinders 30 ... Clamp plates 31, 32 ... Links 33 ... Air cylinders 35 ... Drive arms

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] In a device for transporting an article to be transported by moving a transport belt in a transport direction, the transport belt comprises a fast belt and a slow belt, and these two types of belts are arranged in parallel with each other. With the arrangement, an operation station is provided in the conveyance path, and before and after the operation station, the object is conveyed by the slow belt, and in the vicinity of the operation station, the object is conveyed by the fast belt, The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the transported object is separated by the fast belt and the transported object is supplied to the operation station. 2. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a plurality of said fast belts and a plurality of said slow belts, wherein said slow belt is deviated from said conveyance path in the middle of said conveyance path, and said operation station is shifted from said conveyance path by said slow belt. 2. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the transfer device is provided at an inclined position. 3. The fast belt and the slow belt have a common drive shaft, and the fast belt and the slow belt are respectively driven by drive wheels having different diameters on the drive shaft. The transfer device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein