JP2892623B2 - Folding container assembly equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a folding container assembling apparatus.
About the installation .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A rectangular container is used as a distribution container.
Pivotally attached to the side frame via a pivot and can be bent at the joint
And a pair of side plates, and pivotally attached to the side frame via a pivot,
A pair of end plates sandwiched between both side plates, and a pivot at the lower end of both side plates
Bottom plate pivotally attached via
It is possible to use a folding container having a pair of lids
Conceivable.

[0003]

The above-mentioned folding container is
Assemble the folded container manually by the operator, and
After that, the assembled container is transferred to the lower process and used.
You. However, the folding container is heavy, and
Open the lid, extend the side plate, push open the end plate, etc.
There is a great deal of difficulty in doing this. In addition, folding container
After loading in the folded state, assembling this folded container
And the operation of transferring the assembled folding container are performed in parallel.
When it is not feasible, the productivity of the line using folding containers
There is a limit to improvement.

An object of the present invention is to mechanically assemble a folding container.
As well as assembling and transferring folding containers.
Line processing .

[0005]

According to the present invention, the present invention is characterized in that the present invention is pivotally attached to a rectangular side frame via a pivot and is jointed at a joint.
A pair of side plates that can be bent and a side frame
A pair of end plates which are attached and sandwiched between both side plates, and lower ends of both side plates
Bottom plate pivotally connected to the base via a pivot, and hinges to the side frame
Of a folding container having a pair of lids pivoted together
Device that rotates in the lid opening direction and touches the edge of the lid
With a rotating body to open the lid and a gripper to hold the side frame.
The side frame is gripped, lifted and transported by this gripping part.
A swing arm and an extension that presses the inner surface of the end plate outward.
A folding container having an opening and a lid opened by a rotating body
Of the side frame of the swing arm
The side plate is extended by gravity, and the end plate is
The folding container can be pushed open to assemble the folding container .

[0006]

[0007]

[0008]

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention , the following operations are provided. Open the lid of the folding container with a rotating body,
Extend the extension to the gravity acting when lifting the side frame by the gripper
And open the end plate by the widening
, The folding container can be assembled mechanically. This
Assembly of folding containers can be performed easily and quickly.
You. Assembling the folding container, the gripping part of the swing arm is the side frame
Can be completed in the process of grasping and transferring. That is, folding volume
Container assembly and transfer can be processed in parallel, using a folding container
Line productivity can be improved.

[0010]

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a folding container assembling facility, FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a lid opening device, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a modification of the assembling apparatus, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a folding container, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an assembling procedure of the folding container, and FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of use of the folding container.

(Folding container 1) (FIGS. 6 to 8) As shown in FIG. 6, the folding container 1 is pivotally attached to a rectangular side frame 2 via a pivot 2A, and can be bent at a joint 3A. A pair of side plates 3, a pair of end plates 4 pivotally attached to the side frame 2 via a pivot 2 B and sandwiched between both side plates 3, and a bottom plate pivotally attached to the lower end of the side plate 3 via a pivot 3 B 5 is provided. In addition, the folding container 1 includes a pair of lids 6 pivotally attached to the side frame 2 via hinges 2C, and the lid 6 can open and close the opening 6A.

In the folding container 1, the side plate 3 is bent at the joint 3A in the folded state. The procedure for assembling the folding container 1 is as follows (FIG. 7).

(1) The opposite side frame 2 of the folding container 1 is gripped and lifted (FIG. 7A). Prior to this lifting, the lid 6 is opened.

(2) By the lifting of the above (1), the gravity of the bottom plate 5 is applied to the side plate 3, and the side plate 3 is extended (semi-assembled state) (FIGS. 7B, 7C and 7F).

(3) The end plate 4 is rotated downward by the action of gravity (temporarily assembled state) (FIGS. 7D and 7G).

(4) By pressing the inner surface of the end plate 4 outward, the end plate 4 is vertically installed between the pair of side plates 3 to complete the assembly of the folding container 1 (this assembled state). ) (FIGS. 7E and 7H).

Therefore, the folding container 1 is used, for example, as shown in FIG. (1) A stacked container group 1A in which a plurality of folded containers 1 are stacked is placed on a pallet and stored. A plurality of stacked container groups 1A are stored on the pallet.

(2) The stacked container groups 1A on the pallet are separated one by one, and each stacked container group 1A is carried into the lift device 8 by the carry-in conveyor 7.

The lift device 8 is driven by a servomotor or a cylinder (not shown) to intermittently raise the single stacked container group 1A one by one at a predetermined pitch, and to open the uppermost folded container 1 at the lid opening position. And the assembly start position. At this time, the intermittent rising pitch is set to substantially match the thickness dimension of the folded container 1.

(3) The uppermost folding container 1 of the lifting device 8
Is positioned at the lid opening position, and the lid 6 is opened by the lid opening device 10.

(4) The uppermost folding container 1 of the lifting device 8
Is positioned at the container assembly start position one step higher than the lid opening position, and is transferred to the container discharge position of the carry-out conveyor 9 by the assembling device 20.
Is assembled.

(5) The folding container 1 after the completion of assembly is carried out to a lower step (an article picking facility, a container washing facility, or the like) by the carry-out conveyor 9. The folding container 1 carried out to the article picking facility stores the articles, and the folding container 1 carried out to the container washing facility is washed.

The details of the lid opening device 10 and the assembling device 20 will be described below. (Lid Opening Device 10) (FIGS. 1 to 4) As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lid opening device 10 includes a forward / backward moving cylinder 12 supported by a gantry 11,
A forward / backward moving table 13 is provided, and the left and right motors 14 and 14 and the rotating brushes 15 and 15
It has. Each rotary brush 15 is rotated by the motor 14 in the lid opening direction via the gear trains 16A and 16B, and is advanced from the standby position by the forward / backward moving cylinder 12 so that the rotation is stopped. The two lids 6 of the container 1 come into contact with the respective edges (handles 6B) of the pair of lids 6 to open both lids 6 together. The rotating brush 15 has a brush 15B on the outer peripheral side of the rotating plate 15A.
The hair has been planted.

The rotary brush 1 is moved by the forward / backward moving cylinder 12.
5 is moved for a certain period of time after confirming that the folding container 1 located at the container assembly start position at the upper stage of the lid opening position by the assembling apparatus 20 is turned off by the container gripping timing detection sensor 36A described later. After the elapse. This is because the rotating brush 15 interferes with the folding container 1 and the assembling device 20 at the container assembling start position unless the folding container 1 at the container assembling start position is removed from the lid opening position by the assembling device 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, it is advantageous that the center of rotation of the rotary brush 15 and the hinge 2C of the lid 6 are coaxial. Further, it is advantageous that the turning radius A of the rotating brush 15 and the distance B from the hinge 2C of the lid 6 to the handle 6B are equal. The brush 1 of the rotating brush 15
Advantageously, the flocking width C of 5B is equal to the width D of the handle 6B of the lid 6.

Therefore, the lid opening device 10 has the following operation. By bringing the rotating brush 15 into contact with the edge (handle 6B) of the lid 6 while rotating the rotating brush 15 in the lid opening direction, an opening rotational force is applied to the lid 6 and the lid 6 can be easily mechanically opened.

The rotating brush 15 includes a large number of flocking brushes 15.
B, which part of the brush 15B
The lid 6 can be reliably opened without damaging the lid 6 even if it comes into contact with the edge (handle 6B).

The lid opening device 10 shown in FIG. 4 is another example of the lid opening device 10 shown in FIGS. 4. The lid opening device 10 shown in FIG.
Are sprockets 18A, 18B,
Rotating arm 1 that can be rotated via chain 18C
The cover 19 is opened by bringing the pin 19A of No. 9 into contact with the edge (handle 6B) of the cover 6. The pin 19A is supported by a spring 19B as a backup, and prevents the pin 19A from being damaged by interference with portions other than the edge of the lid 6 during rotation of the rotary arm 19.

(Assembling Apparatus 20) (FIGS. 1, 2, and 5) The assembling apparatus 20 includes a pendulum-type swing arm 21 which is disposed adjacent to the lift device 8, and holds the folding container 1 at one end of the arm 21. And a gripper 22 for releasing the gripper 22 are provided. The gripper 22 is alternately positioned between the lift device 8 and the container discharge position by the pendulum operation of the swing arm 21.

The swing arm 21 is supported by a support 23 of the gantry 11.
A main link 25 pivotally connected to the support 23 via a support shaft 24A, and a sub-link 26 pivotally connected to the support base 23 via a support shaft 24B.
And a support shaft 24C at the upper end of the link 25, 26.
The grip 22 is pin-connected via 24D. At this time, the support 23, the main link 25, the sub-link 26, and the grip 22 form a parallelogram link mechanism, and can swing while holding the grip 22 horizontally.
A weight 27 is provided at the lower end of the main link 25.
For the pendulum operation of the swing arm 21, it is desirable that the weight 27 be heavier than the grip portion 22.

The gripper 22 has a pair of left and right gripping hands 29 that can be expanded and contracted by a gripping cylinder 28 so that the folding container 1 can be gripped / released.

The assembling device 20 includes an expanding portion 31. The expanding portion 31 includes a pair of left and right expanding hands 33 that can be opened and closed by an expanding cylinder 32, and presses the inner surface of the end plate 4 outward from the opening 6 </ b> A of the folding container 1 with the lid 6 opened. By doing, the end plate 4 is erected,
The folded container 1 is brought into a fully assembled state.

That is, the assembling apparatus 20 includes (1) the swing arm 2
At one end of the pendulum operation 1, the side frame 2 of the folding container 1 set at the assembly start position, which is the uppermost stage of the lift device 8, is gripped by the gripping portion 22. The folding container 1 is lifted by the operation (FIG. 7).
(A)), while being transferred to the container discharge position on the carry-out conveyor 9, the side plate 3 of the folding container 1 is extended by the gravity of the bottom plate 5 to bring the folding container 1 into a semi-assembled state (FIG. (B), (C), (F)), a temporary assembly state in which the end plate 4 is rotated downward by the action of gravity (FIGS. 7 (D), (G)).
Further, after the end plate 4 of the folding container 1 is pushed downward by the expanding portion 31 to open the main assembly state (FIGS. 7E and 7H), (3) the pendulum operation of the swing arm 21 is performed. On the other end,
The side frame 2 of the folding container 1 is released, and the folding container 1 is transferred to the container discharging position.

The assembling apparatus 20 includes a main link 2 of the swing arm 21 for continuing the pendulum operation of the swing arm 21.
5 is provided with an arm drive cylinder 34 which vibrates the vibration at the one turning point side of the pendulum operation. In the contracted state, the arm drive cylinder 34 functions as a stopper 35A at the turning point side where the swinging arm 21 starts to grip the folded container 1 by the lifting device 8, and swings by the extension operation from the contracted state. The arm 21 is vibrated. The assembling device 20 is provided with a stopper 35B for the swing arm 21 at a turning point where the swing arm 21 discharges the folded container 1 to the carry-out conveyor 9 side.

Further, the assembling apparatus 20 includes a container gripping timing detection sensor 36A including an optical sensor or the like on a swinging path on a turning point side where the swinging arm 21 grips the folded container 1 toward the lift device 8 side. A container release timing detection sensor 36B composed of an optical sensor or the like is provided in a rocking path on the turning point side where the swing arm 21 discharges the folded container 1 to the carry-out conveyor 9 side. The container gripping timing detection sensor 36A is turned on at the timing when the swing arm 21 reaches the turning point on the side of the lift device 8, causes the gripping cylinder 28 of the gripper 22 to perform a gripping operation, and moves the folding container 1 at the assembly start position. It is gripped by the gripping part 22. The container release timing detection sensor 36B is turned on when the swing arm 21 reaches the turning point on the unloading conveyor 9 side,
The gripping cylinder 28 of the gripper 22 is released, and the folding container 1 gripped by the gripper 22 is unloaded from the conveyor 9.
Release to the side.

The assembling device 20 engages with the swing arm 21 when the operation is stopped, and moves the swing arm 21 to one turning point side (the turning point side where the grip portion 22 is on the lift device 8 side).
Left and right pair of stoppers 37 with cylinders
have. If the holding of the swing arm 21 by the stopper 37 is released when the assembly device 20 is restarted, the swing arm 21 starts the pendulum operation again.

Therefore, according to the assembling apparatus 20, the following operations are provided. While the gripper 22 of the assembling apparatus 20 grips the side frame 2 of the folding container 1 and lifts and transfers the folding container 1 to the container discharging position, the weight of the bottom plate 5 of the folding container 1 causes the weight of the folding container 1 to decrease. Since the side plate 3 is extended, the assembling device 2
In the above-mentioned transfer process by the folding container 0, the folding container 1 can be assembled in a semi-assembled state. Therefore, the assembling time of the folding container 1 by the assembling apparatus 20 can be shortened, and the assembling of the folding container 1 can be quickly performed as a whole assembling facility of the folding container 1.

Since the swing arm 21 having the grip portion 22 of the assembling apparatus 20 is of a pendulum type, the swing arm 21
Is gently inverted at the turning points at both ends of the swing, and the deceleration and acceleration of the swing arm 21 near the turning points become smooth. For this reason, even if the swing speed is increased, the impact at the turning point of the swing arm 21 can be reduced and the swing arm 21 can be gently inverted, and the gripping portion 22 can hold the swing arm 21 at one turning point. The operation and the release operation at the other turning point can each have a certain margin, and the assembling ability of the folding container 1 can be improved.

The weight 27 provided at the other end of the swing arm 21 to constitute the pendulum swing arm 21 functions as a balance weight for the grip portion 22 at one end of the swing arm 21 so that the swing arm 21 can be moved. The driving force for pendulum operation can be reduced.

Since the assembling apparatus 20 has the expanding portion 31 which pushes and expands the end plate 4 of the folding container 1, the folding container 1
Can be mechanically and reliably assembled in this assembled state.

Since the predetermined pitch of the lift of the lift device 8 is set to substantially match the thickness of the folded container 1, the assembly start time (the gripper 2) by the assembly device 20 is set.
2), the assembly of the folding container 1 by the assembly equipment of the folding container 1 can be further speeded up.

By the arm drive cylinder 34 stably continuing the pendulum operation of the swing arm 21,
The pendulum amplitude is kept constant, and as a result, the gripper 22 can be reliably and alternately positioned between the lift device 8 and the container discharge position.

The assembling apparatus 20 of FIG. 5 is a modified example of the assembling apparatus 20 of FIGS. Assembling apparatus 20 shown in FIG.
Is different from the assembling apparatus 20 of FIGS. 1 and 2 in the following points (1) to (3).

(1) A screw shaft portion 41 is provided on the main link 25 of the swing arm 21, and the weight 27 is attached to the screw shaft portion 41 with a nut, and the mounting position of the weight 27 is adjusted. The swing speed (period) of 21 can be adjusted.

(2) A back plate 42 is fixed to the lower end of the main link 25 of the swing arm 21 so that the exciting force of the arm drive cylinder 34 can act on the back plate 42.

(3) The starting motor 43 is connected to the support shaft 24A of the main link 25 of the swing arm 21. Starting motor 4
Reference numeral 3 denotes a clutch with a clutch for transmitting only the forward torque to the support shaft 24A, and the swing arm 21 which is in a neutral state when the operation is stopped.
Can be swung up to the turning point side in the forward direction when the operation is resumed, and the swing arm 21 can restart the pendulum operation.

The assembling apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 5B has the following (1)
(2) is different from the assembling apparatus 20 of FIGS. (1) A sprocket 53 is fixed to a lever 52 that swings through a crank mechanism by rotation of a driving motor 51, and the sprocket 53 and a main link 25 of the swing arm 21 are fixed.
The chain 55 is wound around the sprocket 54 attached to the support shaft 24A. The rotation of the motor 51 causes the chain 5
5 reciprocates and swings the swing arm 21.

(2) The period of the pendulum operation of the swing arm 21 can be adjusted by the rotation speed of the motor 51.

In the assembling apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 5B, the swing arm 21 is forcibly operated to pendulum by the rotational force of the motor 51. Therefore, in this case, the weight 27 is
Even when the weight is smaller than 2, the swing arm 21 can be made to perform a pendulum operation.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the design may be changed without departing from the scope of the present invention. The present invention is also included in the present invention.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, the folding container
The container can be assembled mechanically and a set of folding containers
Standing and transfer can be performed in parallel.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of a folding container assembling facility.

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

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a lid opening device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing another example of the lid opening device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a modification of the assembling apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a folding container.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a procedure for assembling the folding container.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of use of a folding container.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Folding container 2 Side frame 3 Side plate 4 End plate 5 Bottom plate 6 Cover 15 Rotary brush (rotary body) 21 Swing arm 22 Gripping part 31 Expanding part

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] (1) A pivot is attached to a rectangular side frame via a pivot.
A pair of side plates that can be bent at the joint and a pivot on the side frame
A pair of end plates, which are pivotally connected via
A bottom plate pivotally attached to the lower end of the side plate via a pivot, and a side frame
Folding with a pair of lids pivoted via hinges
A container assembling device, which rotates in a lid opening direction and contacts the edge of the lid to open the lid.
A rotating body and a gripper for gripping the side frame are provided.
It has a swinging arm for gripping, lifting and transferring, and an expanding portion for pressing the inner surface of the end plate outward, and swinging the side frame of the folding container whose lid is opened by the rotating body.
In the process of gripping and transporting by the rocking part of the
The end plate is pushed open by the expanding part, and
Foldable container characterized in that the container can be assembled
Assembly equipment.