JP2635605B2 - Conveyor device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a conveyor apparatus for performing a work of assembling parts and a test and inspection work of assembled products on one continuous conveyor line. .

(Prior Art) When products are manufactured on one continuous conveyor line, the manufacturing contents are roughly divided into an assembly process and a test inspection process. The assembling work is merely a work of assembling parts, and the function of the conveyor used in this assembling process is such that parts, semi-finished products, products, etc. can be placed. On the other hand, the conveyor used in the test and inspection process requires equipment for supplying power to the product, which is functionally and costly higher than the conveyor for the assembly process. Conventionally, however, the conveyors that make up one production line are shown in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, one type of conveyor 1 for the assembly process
Also, the conveyor 2 for the test and inspection process used a high-cost free-flow conveyor (hereinafter referred to as an FF conveyor) or a more expensive Boo-flow conveyor having a current collecting function. In the figure, a first lifter device 4 for transferring an assembly serving pallet 3 on which components and semi-finished products to be mounted are placed from a lower conveyor 1b to an upper conveyor 1a is provided at one upstream end of the FF conveyor 1. Is provided. Further, a second lifter device 5 is provided between the FF conveyors 1 and 2 to transfer the serving pallet 3 on the upper conveyor 1a of the FF conveyor 1 to the lower conveyor 1b, and to operate the lower conveyor of the FF conveyor 2. Product pallet 6 on 2b upper conveyor
2a. A third lifter device 7 for transferring the product pallet 6 from the upper conveyor 2a to the lower conveyor 2b is provided at one end on the downstream side of the FF conveyor 2.
Is provided.

As described above, since one manufacturing line was conventionally configured with one type of conveyor, FF conveyors were used for all lines in accordance with a highly functional process, that is, a test and inspection process. As a result, there is a problem that the cost is increased.
The second lifter 5 alternately switches between the operation of transferring the assembly serving pallet 3 from the upper stage 1a of the FF conveyor 1 to the lower stage 1b and the operation of transferring the product pallet 6 from the lower stage 2b of the FF conveyor 2 to the upper stage 2a. Therefore, there is also a problem that time loss occurs due to these operations, and a smooth production system is hindered. Further, the pallet as an accessory requires two kinds of pallets, namely, the serving pallet 3 for assembly and the product pallet 6, so that there is a problem that the cost is further increased.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the present invention, the type of the conveyor, which was a problem in the conventional conveyor device, was changed to one for one production line. To solve the problem that the cost is high, and that two types of pallets are required, and that the workability of the second lifter for circulating these pallets deteriorates.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyor device capable of reducing costs and improving the working efficiency of a production line.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides at least one belt conveyor for mounting parts and performing an assembly operation to produce a product; At least one free flow conveyor for placing and testing the assembled product on a product pallet via a product pallet and provided at an upstream end and a downstream end of a line of the free flow conveyor, respectively. A lifter for transferring the product pallet between the upper stage and the lower stage of the free flow conveyor, the free flow conveyor having a power supply unit, the product pallet having a current collection unit, and The conveyor device is configured to transfer an empty product pallet from the downstream side to the upstream side of the free flow conveyor.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, the parts are placed directly on the belt conveyor to perform the assembling work, and the products are tested and inspected on the FF conveyor. The cost as a whole can be reduced. In addition, only one type of pallet is required for the product, and the required number is greatly reduced. At the same time, the number of lifters is reduced to one, and workability of the intermediate lifter is improved.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of a conveyor device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. In these figures, the same or equivalent parts as those in the conventional example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the parts 8 are located upstream of the conveyor line.
Further, a belt conveyor 10 for mounting the semi-finished products 9 to be assembled and assembling parts is provided. The FF conveyor 2 is connected to the downstream side of the belt conveyor 10 via a lifter 5, and a product 11 is placed on the FF conveyor 2 via a product pallet 6. The test and inspection of the product 11 are performed by the device. A lifter 7 is provided at the downstream end of the FF conveyor 2, and the product pallet 6 is moved from the upper stage 2a to the lower stage of the FF conveyor 2.
2b. The lifter 5 transfers the product pallet 6 from the lower stage 2b of the FF conveyor 2 to the upper stage 2a.

FIG. 3 shows the main part of the upper stage 2a of the FF conveyor 2. The FF conveyor 2 includes a pair of loop-shaped chains 12 and a base, on which a pallet is placed and transported. The brush-like power supply is provided on the base side of the FF conveyor 2 at a predetermined interval. A current for testing and inspection is supplied to these power supply terminals 13 from a power supply (not shown).
The current flows to an outlet 15 provided on the pallet 6 through current collectors 14 such as copper plates provided on both sides of the pallet 6.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The parts 8 placed on the belt conveyor 10 are sequentially assembled on the belt conveyor 10 into semi-finished products 9 and finally become products 11. This product 11 is placed on the product pallet 6 on the lifter 5,
The FF conveyor 2 is transferred to the upper stage 2a. On the FF conveyor 2, a current is passed from the outlet 15 to the product 11, and various tests and inspections are performed. The finished product is transported from the FF conveyor 2 to the outside, and the empty product pallet 6 is transferred from the upper stage 2a to the lower stage 2b by the lifter 7, and is lifted again by the lifter 5 to place the product 11.

According to the present embodiment, the assembly work of the components 8 is performed by directly mounting the components 8 on the low-cost belt conveyor 10, so that the lifter 4 and the serving pallet 3 in the conventional example become unnecessary, and the equipment cost is greatly reduced. To be reduced. Moreover, since the intermediate lifter 5 only transfers the product pallet 6, complicated movement is eliminated, and the efficiency of the production line can be improved.

In this embodiment, the case where the brush-like power supply 13 is provided on the FF conveyor 2 and the current collector 14 such as a copper plate is provided on the product pallet 6 has been described.
The structure may be reversed with 14, or another structure.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the assembly work part of the conveyor device is a belt conveyor, and the test and inspection part is an FF conveyor having a power supply function. The need for a circulating lifter is eliminated, and the cost of the entire conveyor device can be significantly reduced. In addition, since the circulation of the serving pallets by the lifters is not required, the efficiency of the production line can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a conveyor device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged detailed view of a main part of FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG. 4 showing a conveyor device. 2 FF conveyor, 5, 7 Lifter 6 Product pallet, 8 Parts 10 Belt conveyor, 11 Products 12 Chain, 13 Feeder 14 Collector

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] At least one belt conveyor for placing parts to perform an assembly operation to produce a product, and a test and inspection operation for placing the assembled product via a product pallet. At least one free flow conveyor, and a lifter provided at each of an upstream end and a downstream end of a line of the free flow conveyor for transferring the product pallet between the upper and lower stages of the free flow conveyor. The free flow conveyor has power supply means, the product pallet has current collection means, and is configured to transfer a used empty product pallet from a downstream side to an upstream side of the free flow conveyor. A conveyor device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The free flow conveyor has a pair of chains and a base, and a power supply means is provided at a predetermined interval between the bases, and a current collection means can contact the power supply means on a product pallet. The conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor device is provided at an appropriate position.