JP2651564B2 - Article conveyer - 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 of collecting bagged articles and the like supplied at predetermined intervals and discharging the collected articles in a predetermined number of units at a time to the next step of a boxing machine or the like. The present invention relates to a collective transport apparatus for articles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Bag-packed articles supplied at predetermined intervals are received in an upright state, these articles are transported to a discharge position, and the articles assembled in the upright state at the discharge position are held in the upright state for a predetermined time. For example, an automatic collecting device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-127224 is known as a device for discharging a number of units to a boxing machine or the like. In this apparatus, a number of holding plates are erected at predetermined intervals in the traveling direction on the outer surface of an upright conveyor, and articles supplied at predetermined intervals by a belt conveyor disposed on the upstream side face the traveling direction. The holding plate is held and transported in a standing state between the holding plates. Then, when a predetermined number of articles gather at a predetermined discharge position, the upright conveyor is stopped, and
By operating a comb-shaped pusher provided on the side of the conveyor, a predetermined number of articles are collectively discharged out of the conveyor.

[0003]

In the collecting apparatus according to the prior art described above, when the articles are discharged from the upright conveyor, the comb-shaped pusher comes into contact with the holding plate so that the discharge cannot be performed smoothly. To prevent this, the conveyor is stopped at a position where the holding plate does not interfere with the pusher when a predetermined number of articles arrive at the discharge position. For this reason, while the pusher is operating, the supply of articles from the belt conveyor to the upright transport conveyor is interrupted, so that high-speed transport processing of the articles cannot be performed, and the work efficiency cannot be improved. was there.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems inherent in the prior art, and has been proposed to solve the problem suitably. It is an object of the present invention to provide a collective transport apparatus capable of receiving an article and achieving high-speed transport processing of the article.

[0005]

[Means for solving the problems] To overcome the above-mentioned problems,
In order to achieve the intended purpose, the article collective transport device according to the present invention receives a predetermined number of articles supplied from the preceding process at a receiving position, and transfers the predetermined number of articles downstream on the same transport path as the receiving position. an apparatus for conveying to a discharge position which is spaced apart a predetermined on the side gap comprises a pair of endless conveying means which is arranged parallel to the conveying direction of the article, of one
Endless conveying means are arranged in parallel in both sides of the conveyance center of the article, a pair extending parallel to the conveying direction of the object article first
Ri構 with made by the 1 Mutansaku body, the other endless conveyor hands
Stage is made Ri構 by the other pair of second Mutansaku body which is arranged in parallel in contact next to the first Mutansaku body forming the pair, the one
One endless transport means and the other endless transport means
By a driving means controlled by the control means with a motor
Independently driven to form the one endless transport means
The first endless rope and the second endless rope constituting the other endless transporting means are alternately arranged in a direction intersecting the transport direction.
And the distance between the pair of first endless cords and the pair of second endless
The distance between the cords is set to be the same, and the first endless cord is
Is installed between both cords to receive articles in the article transport direction.
First holding unit including a plurality of first holding units provided at possible intervals
Means are provided at predetermined intervals in the article transport direction,
The second endless cord can be compatible with the first holding portion.
A plurality of second holding units of the same size receive an article in the article transport direction.
Second holding means erected between both cords at an insertable interval
Are provided at predetermined intervals in the article transport direction, and the first holding means provided in the one endless transport means and the second holding means provided in the other endless transport means are in the article transport direction. The speed at which the first holding means provided on one of the endless conveying means receives a predetermined number of articles at the article receiving position, and then the endless conveying means moves forward when receiving the articles. When the article moves at a higher speed and is transported to the discharge position, the second holding means of the other endless transport means faces the article receiving position and receives the articles sequentially supplied from the previous process. The driving means is controlled by a control means so as to continue without interruption.

[0006]

With the holding means of one of the endless conveying means arranged in parallel facing the receiving position of the article, and the conveying means independently driven and advanced, the article supplied from the preceding process can be conveyed. It is sequentially received by the holding means facing in the direction. When a predetermined number of articles are received by the holding means in one endless transport means, the holding means is moved to the article discharge position at a speed higher than the moving speed at the time of receiving the articles. While the holding means of one endless transfer means is moved to the discharge position, the holding means of the other endless transfer means faces the receiving position and is independently driven to advance to sequentially supply the holding means to the holding means from the previous process. Goods are received without interruption.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a collective conveying apparatus for articles according to the present invention will be described with reference to preferred embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a collective transfer apparatus 10 according to an embodiment.
A pair of machine frames 14, 14 spaced apart by a predetermined distance in a direction intersecting with the transport direction 2 are provided in parallel (only a part is shown in FIG. 2). It is erected. As shown in FIG. 2, the first drive shaft 22 has one shaft end (the end where the toothed pulley 32 described later is disposed).
The first drive sprocket 24, the second drive sprocket 26, the first drive sprocket 24, and the second drive sprocket 26 are arranged at required intervals in this order. Further, a driven shaft 16 is rotatably supported at a position separated by a predetermined distance upstream from the arrangement position of the first drive shaft 22 in the machine frames 14 and 14 in the transport direction. Drive shaft 2
2 and driven sprockets 18, 20, 18, 20 in the same arrangement as the drive sprockets 24, 26, 24, 26.
Are arranged. That is, the first driven sprocket 18, the second driven sprocket 20, the first driven sprocket 18, and the second driven sprocket 20 are arranged at required intervals in order from one shaft end of the driven shaft 16.

Each pair of the first driving sprockets 24
The first endless chain 28 is wound between the first driven sprocket 18 and the first driven sprocket 18, and the second endless chain 30 is wound around each of the second driving sprocket 26 and the second driven sprocket 20. ing. That is, a first endless chain 28 and a second endless chain 30 parallel to the conveyance direction are arranged in parallel on both sides of the article conveyance center, and the paired first endless chains 28, 28 are arranged in pairs. The second endless chains 30, 30 forming a pair are located inside and outside the transport center, and are located outside and inside the transport center.

The first driving sprockets 24,
24 is provided so as to be rotatable integrally with the first drive shaft 22, while both second drive sprockets 26, 26 are connected to the first drive shaft 2.
2, the first endless chains 28, 28 and the second endless chains 30, 30 can be driven independently of each other as described later.

As shown in FIG. 2, a toothed pulley 32 is disposed at one end of the first drive shaft 22 protruding outward from the machine frame 14 so as to be integrally rotatable.
A toothed belt 38 is wound around the toothed pulley 36 of the first servomotor 34 disposed at an appropriate fixed position (see FIG. 1). Accordingly, by driving the first servomotor 34, the first drive shaft 22 and the first drive sprockets 24, 24 rotate integrally, and the first endless chains 28, 28 run.

A second drive shaft 40 is rotatably supported by the machine frames 14 and 14 in the vicinity of the first drive shaft 22. The drive shaft 40 has the second drive shaft 40 as shown in FIG. Gears 42 meshing with a gear 26a formed integrally with the drive sprocket 26 are provided so as to be integrally rotatable. Further, a toothed pulley 44 is disposed at one end of the second drive shaft 40 protruding outward from the machine frame 14, and as shown in FIG. 1, a second pulley 44 is disposed at an appropriate fixed position with the toothed pulley 44. A toothed belt 50 is provided between the servomotor 46 and the toothed pulley 48.
Is wrapped around. Therefore, by driving the second servomotor 46, the second drive shaft 40 and the second drive sprockets 26, 26 rotate, and the second endless chain 3
0,30 runs. However, the second drive sprocket 26,
Since the second drive sprocket 26 is freely rotatable with respect to the first drive shaft 22, the second drive sprocket 26
The rotation is possible regardless of the rotation of the drive shaft 22. That is, a pair of first endless chains 28 and 28 disposed inside and outside of the conveyance center of the article 12, and a pair of second endless chains disposed outside and inside of the conveyance center. 30,30
Is driven independently by the first servomotor 34 and the second servomotor 46, respectively. The operation of the servomotors 34 and 46 is controlled by the control means 70.

The first endless chains 28, 28 are provided on the front side (conveying surface side) of the plurality of chains at predetermined intervals in the running direction.
A first holding member group 52 (two sets in the embodiment) is provided, and the holding member group 52 includes a plurality of holding members 52a extending between the endless chains 28, 28 via brackets 64, 64.
(See FIG. 3). Similarly, a plurality of holding members 5 erected on the front side of the second endless chains 30, 30 via brackets 66, 66 between the chains 30, 30.
A plurality of second holding member groups 54 composed of 4a (see FIG. 3) are arranged at predetermined intervals in the traveling direction. The first endless chain 28 and the second endless chain 3 located inside the conveyance center.
As shown in FIG. 4, a support plate 68 that functions to support the lower end of the article 12 is horizontally disposed at a position facing the position between the support members 68, and the holding members 52a and 54a are positioned above the support plate 68. It is designed to move without contact. This support plate 6
As shown in FIG. 1, the article 8 extends from the article receiving position to the article discharging position, and transfers the article 12 supplied from the supply conveyor 56 described later and transferred to the support plate 68 to the holding members 52a, It is configured to be fed by 54a.
The holding members 52a and 52a and the holding members 54a and 5
4a is the distance between the articles 1 supplied from the supply conveyor 56.
2 is set to a dimension that can be held upright.

As in the embodiment, a holding member 52a is erected between the first endless chains 28, 28 provided inside and outside of the center of conveyance of the article 12, and the outside and outside of the chain are connected to the center of conveyance.
Holding member 5 between the second endless chains 30, 30 disposed therein.
By constructing the 4a, even if the article 12 has a large dimension in a direction intersecting with the transport direction, it can be stably pushed on the support plate 68. The holding members 52a, 54
a can be of the same shape and dimensions,
As can be seen from FIG. 3, both members 52a and 54a can be used simply by reversing the front and rear in the transport direction. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of types of parts and to reduce the cost.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first holding member group 52 and the second holding member group 54 are set so as to be located alternately in the article conveying direction, and the first holding member groups 52, 52 are provided.
The distance between the second holding member group 54 and the second holding member group 54 is set such that when the second holding member group 54 moves to the discharge position of the article 12 and is decelerated or stopped to discharge the article 12, the first holding member With the group 52 facing the receiving position of the article 12, the interval is set between the holding members 52 a, 52 a to allow a forward movement for receiving the article 12. Thus, a predetermined number of articles 12 can be discharged toward a box packing machine or the like without interrupting the reception of the articles 12 from the supply conveyor 56.

An article 12 is provided upstream of the transport device 10.
Are arranged in series, and their downstream end faces above the upstream end of the conveying device 10. The articles 12 conveyed by the supply conveyor 56 fall from the downstream end of the conveyor 56 and are received by the first holding member group 52 or the second holding member group 54 in an upright state.

Here, since the articles 12 are supplied from the supply conveyor 56 to the conveyor 10 at predetermined intervals, the first
The article 1 is attached to the first holding member group 52 of the endless chains 28, 28.
2 is received by the control means 70.
The first servo motor 34
Are driven intermittently, and the first endless chains 28, 28 are set so that the opposing holding members 52a, 52a advance intermittently at a pitch sequentially facing the article receiving position. Also the first
When a predetermined number of articles 12 are received in the holding member group 52,
The first servomotor 34 drives the first endless chain 2
Control is performed such that the first holding member group 52 is moved to the discharge position of the article 12 at a stretch and stopped by traveling at a predetermined speed on the wheels 8 and 28. The same control is performed by the control means 70 in the second servomotor 46 as well. By driving the endless chains 28, 28, 30, 30 by the servo motors 34, 46,
Accurate and good conveyance of the article 12 can be performed.

As shown in FIG. 1, an air cylinder 5 is provided beside the discharge position provided at a predetermined position of the transfer device 10.
8, a pusher 60 is provided which is movable forward and backward in a direction intersecting the article conveying direction. This pusher 60
Are the endless chains 28, 28 (30, 30) as shown in FIG.
The article 12 which is formed in a comb shape corresponding to the interval between the holding members 52a, 52a (54a, 54a) disposed on the holding member 52 and is held by the holding member group 52 (54) by the pusher 60 is pushed out of the machine. At this time, the holding member 52a (54a) and the pusher 60 are set so as not to interfere with each other.

[0019]

Next, the operation of the collective transfer apparatus according to the embodiment will be described below. In addition, for convenience of explanation, FIGS.
In FIG. 9, the second holding member group 54 provided on the second endless chains 30, 30 is hatched, and the first holding member group 52 provided on the first endless chains 28, 28 is It is distinguished. The articles 12 are supplied from the supply conveyor 56 at a rate of 120 pieces / min.
It is assumed that ten articles 12 are gathered at 54.

The first endless chain 28 of the transfer device 10
The first holding member group 52 in FIG.
And the chain 28 is advanced intermittently in time with the article supply timing. The articles 12 supplied at predetermined intervals from the supply conveyor 56 are the holding members 52a, 5a of the first holding member group 52.
It falls between 2a and is held in an upright state with its lower end in contact with the support plate 68. Then, the article 12 is supplied with 0.5.
Every second, the first endless chains 28, 28 are held by the holding members 52a, 5
The vehicle advances intermittently at the pitch of 2a. When a predetermined number of articles 12 are supplied to the first holding member group 52 disposed on the first endless chains 28, 28, the second holding member group on the second endless chains 30, 30 disposed subsequently. The leading holding member 54 a of the 54 is moved forward so as to face the rear part of the first holding member group 52 at a predetermined interval. First endless chain 2
After the ten articles 12 have been supplied to the first holding member group 52 provided on the first and second endless chains 8 and 28, the second endless chain 3 continues to be supplied.
The second holding member group 54 provided at 0, 30 intermittently advances toward the article receiving position, whereby the article 12 is received between the holding members 54a, 54a without interruption (see FIG. 5). .

After one second from the state shown in FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. 6, the first endless chains 28, 28 are advanced by the first servomotor 34 at a predetermined speed (speed higher than the speed at the time of article reception). The first servomotor 34 is stopped by detecting the arrival of the first holding member group 52 at the discharge position by detecting means (an optical sensor, an encoder, or the like) (not shown), and the first holding member group 52 is stopped. 52 is positioned at the discharge position. At this time, the second endless chains 30, 30
Is intermittently advanced in synchronization with the article supply timing from the supply conveyor 12, and enters a state in which three articles 12 are received in an upright state between the holding members 54a, 54a in the second holding member group 54. .

Next, when the air cylinder 58 is urged to advance the pusher 60 toward the transfer device 10,
1 held by the first holding member group 52 facing the discharge position
The zero articles 12 are extruded outside the machine while maintaining the upright state, and are discharged toward a processing machine (not shown) such as a box packing machine. Also, during the article discharging operation of the pusher 60, the articles 12 supplied from the supply conveyor 56 are successively received by the second holding member group 54, and after one second from the state shown in FIG. As shown, the seven articles 12 are in a state of being received in the holding member group 54. Further, while the pusher 60 is retracted from the transport section of the transport device 10 (one second after the state in FIG. 7), as shown in FIG. 8, the number of articles 12 received in the second holding member group 54 becomes nine. I have.

The article 12 is discharged by the pusher 60 and the second endless chain 30 is moved by the second servomotor 46 from the state shown in FIG. The arranged second holding member group 54 is intermittently advanced, and ten articles are supplied to the second holding member group 54 facing the article receiving position. Further, the first servomotor 34 is driven to advance the first endless chains 28, 28, and at the same time, one of the first holding members 52 facing the discharge position is moved out of the discharge position, and
The leading holding member 52a of the other first holding member group 52 is
It moves to a position facing the rear part of the second holding member group 54 that is receiving the article 12 at the predetermined position at the receiving position, and the article 12 is received between the leading holding members 52a, 52a (FIG. 9). reference).

By repeating the above operation, each time ten articles 12 are supplied to the holding member group provided on one endless chain, the holding member group is moved to a position facing the article discharge position. After advancing at a stretch, the positioning is stopped and the article 12 is discharged out of the machine by the operation of the pusher 60. Also, at this time, the articles 12 supplied from the supply conveyor are continuously received without interruption by the holding member group arranged on the other endless chain that is arranged subsequently to the one holding member group. That is, since the receiving operation and the discharging operation of the article 12 can be performed at the same time, the article 12 can be transported at high speed.

[0025]

[Modification] The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment. For example, the holding member group is provided with a holding member such as a partition bar for receiving articles one by one. The present invention can also be suitably applied to the case where the collective conveyance of articles lying down is performed. Also, by appropriately changing the number of holding members constituting the holding member group, the number of articles to be collectively held can be changed. Further, in the embodiment, the holding means (holding member group) is constituted by a plurality of holding members individually arranged in the transport means, but a holding member capable of receiving a plurality of articles is formed in a single member. You may.

In the embodiment, the endless chain is rotated in the vertical direction. However, the endless chain is rotated in the horizontal direction, and articles supplied from above between the holding members are moved to the discharge position. After transport, the article group may be discharged downward by opening a shutter or the like provided at the discharge position. Further, when discharging the articles held by the holding member group, the discharging operation may be performed by operating a comb-shaped pusher while the transport means is running at a low speed. Furthermore, it is also possible to transfer an article stopped or moved at a low speed at the article discharge position to another processing machine by a transfer means such as a suction conveyance device.

In the embodiment, the support plate is provided between the article receiving position and the article discharge position to support the article. However, the holding member is formed in, for example, an L-shape capable of holding the article. If one is used, the support plate can be omitted.

[0028]

As described above, according to the article collective transport apparatus of the present invention, the pair of endless transport means arranged in parallel to the article transport direction can be driven independently of each other, so that one of them can be driven independently. While the group of articles held by the holding member group of the endless conveying means is conveyed to the discharge position, subsequent articles can be received by the holding member group of the other endless conveying means. In other words, the discharge operation and the reception operation of the article can be performed simultaneously, the article can be conveyed at high speed, and the work efficiency can be improved.

Further, the holding means is provided between the pair of endless ropes, and the holding means is set so as to extend beyond the center of conveyance to the other endless conveyance means side. Even an article having a large size can be transported while being stably supported. Further, the holding means provided for the two sets of endless transport means can be used in common, so that the types of parts can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a collective transfer device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a driving unit of the collective transfer device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a main part showing a transport unit of the collective transport apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a transport unit of the collective transport apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a collective transport process of articles by the collective transport device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a collective transport process of articles by the collective transport device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a collective transport process of articles by the collective transport device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a collective transport process of articles by the collective transport device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a collective transport process of articles by the collective transport device according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Collective conveyance apparatus 12 Article 22 1st drive shaft 24 1st drive sprocket 26 2nd drive sprocket 28 1st endless chain 30 2nd endless chain 34 1st servomotor 46 2nd servomotor 52 1st holding member group 52a Holding member 54 second holding member group 54a holding member 68 support plate 70 control means

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. Articles supplied from a previous process(12)Receive
Receive a predetermined number of items at the position(12)Before
A predetermined distance is provided downstream on the same transport path as the receiving position.
A device for transporting to a discharge position provided by the(12)Endless pair arranged in parallel to the transport direction of
Transport meansEquipped,One endless transport means The article(12)Between the transport centers
Placed in parallel on both sides,StuffGoods(12)Extend parallel to the
A pair of existingFirstEndless cord(28,28)ByConstructionOnce formed
both,The other endless transport means isMake a pairFirstEndless cable
body(28,28)Tonext toAnother pair ofSecond
Endless cord(30,30)ByConstructionIs formed,The one endless conveying means and the other endless conveying means are
Control means (70) with servo motors (34, 46).
Independently driven by the driving means  Constituting the one endless transport meansFirstEndless cord(28,2
8)And the other endless transport meansSecondEndless cord(30,
30)Are arranged alternately in the direction that intersects the transport direction.To
With the distance between the pair of first endless cords (28, 28) and the pair of
The interval between two endless cords (30, 30) is set to be the same,The first endless cord (28, 28) is installed between the two cords (28, 28).
Are placed at intervals that can receive the articles (12) in the article transport direction.
First holding means (52) comprising a plurality of first holding portions (52a)
Are provided at predetermined intervals in the article transport direction, and the second
The endless cord (30, 30) has compatibility with the first holding part (52a).
Convey a plurality of second holding parts (54a) of the same size
Between the cords (30, 30) at an interval that can accept the article (12) in the direction
The second holding means (54) installed on the
Provided at every interval,  Also, the one endless transport means is provided.FirstHolding hands
Step(52)And the other endless transport meansSecondHolding hands
Step(54)Are alternately located in the article transport direction, and are provided in one endless transport means.FirstHolding means(52)But,
A predetermined number of articles at the article receiving position(12)Accepted
Later, the endless transport means moves forward when receiving the article.
Moving at a speed faster than(12)Is the emission position
When transported to theSecondRetention
means(54)In the order from the previous process facing the article receiving position
Next supplies(12)We will continue accepting
The driving means is controlled by a control means.(70)As controlled by
A collective conveyance device for articles characterized by the following. 2. A control means (70) for controlling the driving means, the first holding means (52) of one endless conveying means is stopped facing the discharge position, or the other endless conveying means. Of the second holding means (54) at a speed lower than the speed at which the second holding means (54) advances to sequentially receive the articles (12).
When discharging (12) , the first holding means (52) of the other endless transport means is controlled so as to continuously receive the articles (12) sequentially supplied from the previous process at the article receiving position. An apparatus for collectively conveying articles according to claim 1. Wherein during Mutansakutai opposed across the conveying center of the article (12) (28, 30), a support for supporting an article (12) carried by said holding means (52, 54) plate (68) is a set transport device article of claim 1 or 2, wherein is disposed over the article discharging position from the article receiving position. 4. A first drive member (24, 24) engaging with a first endless cord (28, 28) is attached to a first drive shaft (22) rotationally driven by a first servomotor (34). with integrally rotatably disposed, a second drive member (26, 26) for engaging the second Mutansakutai (30, 30) arranged freely rotatably on the first drive shaft (22), set transport device of the article according to claim 1, 2 or 3 configured to rotatably driven by said second driving member (26, 26) a second servo motor (46).