JP2929428B2 - Container transfer device - 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 for selecting a required container from a plurality of containers each containing a powder having a different content component, transferring the container to a predetermined place, and supplying the powder after supplying the powder. The present invention relates to an apparatus capable of transferring empty containers to a predetermined place and aligning them.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the fields of the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the chemicals industry, etc., it is necessary to use various kinds of powders having different components and to produce necessary products by mixing a plurality of powders. Is being done. Conventionally, in general, powders having different content components are respectively filled in bags such as paper or cloth, and workers carry the bags to a hopper or transport devices such as a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor. The bag was used to carry the bag to the hopper, the bag opening was opened, and the powder was put into the hopper.

[0003]

However, since the bag filled with the powder is very heavy, it is very hard work for one or more workers to carry the bag to the hopper and open the bag. . In particular, when opening the bag mouth using a cutter, chips from the bag are generated, which may enter the hopper together with the powder, and the powder and the chips are mixed together as a state. Had quality control and hygiene problems. Furthermore, when the bag is opened and the powder is supplied to the hopper, dust and powder attached to the surface of the bag may be scattered around, causing a problem that the environment is degraded and the human body is adversely affected. Was.

In some cases, the powder is stored in, for example, a drum-shaped container. Such a container is particularly heavy, and it is difficult for an operator to carry it. There has not been provided any automatic device (machine) for automatically selecting a necessary container from a large number of containers and transferring the container to a predetermined place.

[0005] In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention selects a necessary container from a plurality of can-shaped containers each containing a powder having a different content component, and transfers the container to a predetermined position. It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of automatically carrying empty containers after supplying powder to a predetermined place and aligning them.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention operates in a range surrounded by an X axis on which the rail 16 travels and a Y axis perpendicular to the traveling direction of the rail 16. It has a hand unit 1 and a traveling unit 2, and the hand unit 1
The lower surface of the holding plate 3 has two hands 4, 5 and one claw 6 at a triangular point, and can be moved up and down by the holding plate 3 and the main cylinder 7, and the claw 6 can be moved up and down.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a transfer device according to the present invention. The transfer device includes a hand unit 1 capable of holding a container and a traveling unit 2 capable of reciprocating the hand unit 1 to a predetermined place. Consists of

The hand unit 1 has two hands 4, 5 and one claw 6 arranged on the lower surface of a horizontal holding plate 3 at triangular points. The pawl 6 can be moved up and down independently by a cylinder 9 provided on the holding plate 3. The hand unit 1 is guided by two guide rods 10 so as not to cause a lateral shake when the hand unit 1 moves up and down.

The positional relationship between the hands 4, 5 and the claws 6 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the hands 4 and 5 are located below the claws 6 in the normal state. As shown in FIG. 3, the claw 6 is located at a position where it can come into contact with a corner 11 a of the container 11.
The two hands 4 and 5 are the container corners 11a with which the claws 6 contact.
Since the container 11 is located at a position corresponding to both side surfaces in contact with the diagonal 11b, the container 11 can be sandwiched and held between the claw 6 at the corner 11a and the hands 4, 5 on the two side surfaces.

The container 11 used in this embodiment has a lid 12 on the upper surface as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and has four corners formed in a curved line, and is carried to the upper center of each side surface. Is formed of a conventionally known plastic in which a concave portion 13 for hooking is formed. A plurality of containers 11 each accommodating a powder having a different content component are usually placed on one pallet 14 in a vertical and horizontal arrangement. A plurality of pallets 14 are installed in an aligned state.

As shown in FIG. 6, each container 11 has a pallet 14 as shown in FIG.
When placed on top and aligned, a space 15 will be formed between the adjacent corners of the container 11, and the claw 6 will use this space 15 to make contact with the side surface of the corner 11 a of the container 11. Contact is possible.

The traveling section 2 is a section for moving the hand section 1, and as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
A pinion 19 which is mounted horizontally on wheels 6 via wheels 17 and which is directly connected to a reversible drive motor 18 meshes with a rack 20 integrally mounted on the rail 16 along the length of the rail 16. .

For example, the rail 16 is installed between support members such as beams of a building in a factory, and wheels provided at both ends of the rail 16 are allowed to run along the support members. By installing the part 2, the hand part 1
Can reciprocate in the Y-axis direction within the length range of the rail 16. In addition, the rail 16 itself also has an X perpendicular to the length direction.
If it is possible to move in the axial direction (see FIG. 2), the hand unit 1 can move the X axis along which the rail 16 moves and the Y axis perpendicular to the X axis.
It can move axially.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, guides installed in the traveling section 2 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal state are provided on both sides of a long guide body 21 projecting along the length direction of the lower surface of the rail 16. A roller 22 is provided in contact therewith. Therefore, the motor 18
Is driven to rotate the pinion 19, the pinion 19
Will move while rotating along the rack 20,
The traveling portion 2 and the hand portion 1 integrally connected to the traveling portion 2 can travel straight along the rail 16 without reciprocating due to the relationship between the guide body 21 and the guide roller 22, and can reciprocate.

Next, the container 1 on the pallet 14 is
A case where the user grabs 1 and transfers it to a predetermined place, for example, a hopper for charging powder will be described. X rail 16
The traveling unit 2 is moved along the axis, that is, the direction perpendicular to the length direction of the rail 16, and the traveling unit 2 is moved along the Y axis, that is, the length direction of the rail 16, and the hand unit 1 is aligned on the pallet 14. It is stopped at a position corresponding to the container 7.

The positional relationship between the plurality of containers 11 on the plurality of pallets 14 and the content components of the powder contained in each container 11 are previously input and stored in a computer, and the rails 16 and The required container 11 can be selected by moving the traveling unit 2 in the X axis and the Y axis, and the hand unit 1 can be stopped on the container 11.

When the hand unit 1 moves on the selected container 11 and stops, if the hand unit 1 is lowered by the main cylinder 7, the hands 4, 5 are raised to the heights facing the concave portions 13 on the two side surfaces of the container 11. And the claw 6 is located above the container 11 on the side opposite to the hand 5.

The descent stop position of the hand unit 1 is not shown, but a sensor is installed on the lower surface of the holding plate 3, and the sensor contacts the upper surface of the lid 12 of the container 11 and detects the position. Should be stopped. Alternatively, since the height position of each container 11 and the hand unit 1 is determined, it is possible to manage the lowered position of the hand unit 1 by a computer.

After the hand unit 1 stops at the predetermined height position as described above, the sensor 23 attached to the hand 4 is advanced by the cylinder 24 forward of the hand 4 as shown in FIG. In this state, the traveling unit 2 is moved in the (−) direction of the Y axis (see FIGS. 2 and 3), and the sensor 2
When 3 contacts the side surface of the container 11 and detects its presence, it stops moving.

When the hand unit 1 descends and stops at a predetermined height, the hand 4 is at a position shifted to one side with respect to the side surface of the container 11 as shown in FIG. By moving 1 in the Y-axis (-) direction, the hand 5 is located at the center of the side surface of the container 11 as shown in FIG. At the same time, the pawl 6 is located above the corner 11a of the container 11.

In this way, both hands 4 and 5 are
When the hand 4 faces the concave portion 12 formed on the side surface of the hand, first, the hand 4 moves forward by the cylinder 25, enters the concave portion 12, and stops. The hand 5 is installed on the lower surface of the holding plate 3 via a support plate 26 as shown in FIG.
The upper end of 6 is slidably connected to the holding plate 3 in a horizontal direction, and the support plate 26 is slid by a cylinder 27 attached to the lower surface of the holding plate 3.

In order to put the hand 5 into the concave portion 12 of the container 11, the sensor 27 attached to the hand 5 is advanced in advance, and when the position of the container 11 is detected, the cylinder 27 is actuated. Hand 5 to container 1
1 and the operation of the cylinder 27 is stopped when the hand 5 enters the recess 12. Next, when the claw 6 is lowered by the cylinder 9 until it comes into contact with the side surface of the corner 11a of the container 11, the container 11 is held at the triangular point as described above.

The movement and stop of the rail 16 in the X-axis and Y-axis directions of the traveling unit 2, the selection of a necessary container 11, the lowering and stopping of the hand unit 1 by the main cylinder 7, and the hand 4, 5
A series of operations such as operation and stop of the claw 6 can be automatically performed in advance by computer control.

As described above, a predetermined container 11 is selected from the group of many containers 11 and the container 11 is gripped by the hand unit 1, and then the hand unit 1 is moved by the main cylinder 7 to a predetermined height position (on the pallet 14). To a predetermined position, for example, by moving the rail 16 in the X-axis direction or moving the traveling unit 2 in the Y-axis direction. It may be carried to a hopper (not shown).

When the hand unit 1 reaches a predetermined place, the hand unit 1 is lowered by the main cylinder 7, and the claws 6 and the hands 4, 5 are separated from the container 11 by the reverse operation.
The container 11 may be opened. Alternatively, the hand unit 1 may be positioned on a transfer device such as a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor, the container 11 may be placed on the transfer device, and the container 11 may be transferred to another place.

In the above embodiment, the rail 16 is installed between the support members of the building, and the traveling section 2 is attached to the rail 16, but as shown in FIG. A rail 16 may be installed between the upper parts of the movable crane 29 in a direction (Y-axis direction) orthogonal to the moving direction of the crane 29, and the traveling unit 2 may be mounted on the rail 16 so as to be able to travel.

The hands 4 and 5 of the hand unit 1 correspond to those having a concave portion 12 which can be lifted on the side surface of a rectangular container 11. The hands 4 and 5 cannot be used in the case of a circular container such as a container without such a concave portion 12 or a drum. In such a case, the pads shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 can be used instead of the hands 4 and 5.

The pad 30 shown in FIG. 10 is used for vacuum suction. A large number of small holes 31 are formed on the suction surface of the pad 30, and each small hole 31 is formed through one air suction pipe 32. It is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown). Such a vacuum pad 30 is located on the triangular surface with respect to the claw 6 like the hands 4 and 5, and the pad 30 is attached to the side surface of the container 11 by a vacuum force, and further, is held between the claw 6 and the pad 6 What is necessary is just to grasp the container 11 using force.

FIG. 11 shows a pad 33 having a rubber-like press contact surface with a high friction coefficient on the contact surface with the container 11.
The pad 33 may be pressed against the side surface of the container 11, the container 11 may be held between the pad 33 and the claw 6, and the container 11 may be lifted. The pads 30 and 33 can correspond to a rectangular container or a circular container. However, in the case of a circular container, it is desirable that the contact surfaces of the pads 30 and 33 be adjusted to the shape of the container.

[0030]

The transfer device according to the present invention described above comprises a hand unit 1 and a traveling unit 2. The hand unit 1 connects two hands 4, 5 and one claw 6 to the holding plate 3. Since the holding plate 3 can be moved up and down and the pawl 6 can be moved up and down independently, the hand unit 1 is lowered to a predetermined position, and The side of the container 1
1 is to be held by being sandwiched between three surfaces. Traveling part 2
Can travel within a range surrounded by the X-axis and the Y-axis, and can transfer the container 11 to a predetermined place without the range. It is also possible to grasp an empty container and transfer it to a predetermined pallet 14.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a main part of a hand unit.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the container.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the container.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of containers arranged on a pallet.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an A-line part in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a B-line part in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a crane.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another example of the hand.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another example of the hand.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hand part 2 Running part 3 Holding plate 4 Hand 5 Hand 6 Claw 7 Main cylinder 8 Rod 9 Cylinder 10 Guide rod 11 Container 12 Cover 13 Depression 14 Pallet 15 Space 16 Rail 17 Wheels 18 Motor 19 Pinion 20 Rack 21 Guide 22 Guide roller 23 Sensor 24 Cylinder 25 Cylinder 26 Support plate 27 Cylinder 28 Sensor 29 Crane 30 Pad 31 Small hole 32 Suction pipe 33 Pad

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An X-axis on which a rail 16 travels, and a hand unit 1 and a traveling unit 2 that operate within a range surrounded by a Y-axis perpendicular to the traveling direction of the rail 16; ,
It has two hands 4, 5 and one claw 6 at the triangular point on the lower surface of the holding plate 3, and can be moved up and down by the holding plate 3 and the main cylinder 7, and the claw 6 can be moved up and down. Container transfer device.