JP3061513B2 - Transfer line system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer line system for separating and sorting articles flowing on a transfer line, and more particularly to a transfer line system for separating and sorting objects according to a simple structure.

[0002] In a production line, a process of sorting cardboard boxes and the like conveyed by a conveyor by type is performed. It is preferable that the sorting process in such a transport line system can be realized with a configuration as simple as possible.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In a transport line system, when articles to be transported flow continuously, they are separated and the sorted articles are sorted by type.

Conventionally, such cutting and sorting of articles is performed by detecting breaks in articles using sensors,
This is done by detecting the type of article. That is,
As shown in FIG. 13, a break in an article that flows continuously is detected using a sensor such as a photoelectric switch, and when this break is detected, the article that flows later is forcibly stopped. By doing so, the processing was carried out so as to cut out the continuously flowing articles.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14, the type of article flowing is detected by using a sensor such as a photoelectric switch, and the processing is performed so that the article is sorted to each gathering place according to the detection result. is there.

[0006]

However, according to such a conventional technique, since a sensor is required, there is a problem that the cost is increased and the control is complicated. That is, it is necessary to provide a sensor for detecting a break in the article, and it is necessary to provide a sensor for detecting the type of the article. There was.

[0007] In addition, when articles flow closely together, there is a problem that a complicated sensing configuration is required in order to accurately detect a break in the articles. There are also problems that a plurality of sensors must be used or a complicated sensing configuration is required in order to be able to detect.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a new transport line system that realizes separation and sorting of objects according to a simple configuration.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a specific position on a transfer line is determined in order to perform separation of an object which continuously flows on the transfer line. Is provided with a protruding means, and provided at a position upstream of the conveying line with respect to the protruding means,
When the distal end becomes a space, it is configured to protrude into the space and to have a cylinder means having a function of forcibly terminating the protrusion in response to an instruction from the outside.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in order to separate the objects continuously flowing on the transport line, the transport line is divided into an upstream transport line and a downstream transport line. And at the connection point of the two transfer lines, the upstream transfer line is located above the downstream transfer line, and provided at the connection position, and the tip is provided. It is configured to include a cylinder means that projects into the space when it becomes a space and has a function of forcibly terminating the projection in response to an instruction from the outside.

[0011]

[0012]

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when articles continuously flow on the transport line, the leading article is pushed up by the projection means, whereby the pushed up article and the succeeding article are separated. There is a gap between them. At this time, by protruding into the gap, the cylinder means forcibly stops the subsequent article and separates the article. Here, the cylinder means, for example, forcibly terminates the projection after a certain time, or forcibly terminates the projection in response to a detection result of a sensor provided on the downstream side of the transport line with respect to the projection means, so that the next article is forcibly terminated. It operates so as to enter the separation process.

In the second aspect of the present invention, when articles continuously flow on the transport line, the leading article moves from the upstream transport line to the downstream transport line. Occasionally, a gap is created between the moving article and the following article. At this time, by protruding into the gap, the cylinder means forcibly stops the subsequent article and separates the article. Here, for example, the cylinder means forcibly terminates the projection after a predetermined time, or forcibly terminates the projection in response to a detection result of a sensor provided on the downstream side of the transport line with respect to the projection means, so that the next article is forcibly terminated. It operates so as to enter the separation process.

[0015]

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to separate and sort articles flowing on a transport line without using a sensor by utilizing physical characteristics of the articles. The problem which the technology had can be solved at once.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to embodiments. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a transport line system constituted by the present invention. Here, FIG. 1A is a top view of the transport line system, and FIG. 1B is a side view of the transport line system.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a conveyor, which is composed of two conveyors, a left conveyor and a right conveyor, and which conveys articles to be placed. 3 is a cylinder constituted by, for example, a pneumatic cylinder or the like, which is provided at a separating portion of the roller, and is a separating portion between a left conveyor and a right conveyor upstream of the roller 2. Which protrudes into this space when the tip becomes a space, and forcibly terminates the protrusion in response to an instruction from the outside, and 4 is a timer which is used when the cylinder 3 starts the protruding operation. A timer for generating a time-out signal after a lapse of a predetermined time from the start of the timekeeping operation. 3 the protrusion of those to be killed.

In such a configuration, FIG.
In the transport line system according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, when the articles continuously flow on the conveyor 1, the articles are pushed up by the rollers 2, whereby the pushed up articles and subsequent articles are There is a gap between At this time, the cylinder 3 protrudes into the gap, thereby forcibly stopping the subsequent article. And timer 4
Generates a time-out signal to the forced termination drive mechanism 5 after a lapse of a predetermined time since the cylinder 3 enters the protruding operation. In this way, the article is separated.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the transport line system constituted by the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes an upstream conveyor that conveys articles to be placed, and 11 denotes a downstream conveyor that is disposed below the upstream conveyor 10 and is connected to the upstream conveyor 10. And a cylinder 12 composed of, for example, an air cylinder, which is provided at a connection point between the upstream conveyor 10 and the downstream conveyor 11 and has a tip end. Protrudes into this space when it becomes a space, and forcibly terminates the protruding in response to an instruction from the outside. Reference numeral 13 denotes a timer, which starts a timing operation when the cylinder 12 starts a protruding operation. A time-out signal is generated after a lapse of a predetermined time.
When a time-out signal is generated, the protrusion of the cylinder 12 is forcibly terminated.

In such a configuration, FIG.
In the transport line system of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, when the articles continuously flow on the upstream conveyor 10, the leading article moves from the upstream conveyor 10 to the downstream conveyor 11. A gap is created between the moving article and the following article. At this time, the cylinder 12 protrudes into the gap, thereby forcibly stopping the subsequent article. Then, the timer 13 generates a time-out signal to the forced termination drive mechanism 14 after a lapse of a predetermined time since the cylinder 12 enters the protruding operation, and in response thereto, the cylinder 12 forcibly terminates the protruding operation. In this way, the article is separated.

[0023] FIG. 5 illustrates a conveyance Rainshisu <br/> Te arm associated with the present invention. Here, FIG. 5A is a top view of the transport line system, and FIG. 5B is a side view of the transport line system.

In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a conveyor, which is composed of two conveyors, a left conveyor and a right conveyor, and which conveys articles to be loaded, and 21 is a seesaw table constituted by a plurality of free flow rollers. When a product is not placed on the fulcrum 22 when the articles are not placed on the fulcrum 22, the conveyor 2 is provided at a separated portion between the left conveyor and the right conveyor.
In addition to being inclined to the upstream side of the conveyor 20, it is inclined to the downstream side of the conveyor 20 when articles are placed.

In such a configuration, FIG.
In the conveyance line system, as shown in FIG. 6, when the article is flowing continuously conveyor 20, riding on the seesaw stand 21 the head of the article is inclined to the upstream side, seesaw stand 21, this ride Then, the articles are tilted to the downstream side and sent out to the downstream side of the conveyor 20 according to the free flow rollers. At this time, the seesaw table 21 forcibly stops the subsequent articles by inclining to the downstream side, and separates the articles. Then, when the article to be placed is sent out to the downstream side of the conveyor 20, the seesaw table 21 inclines again to the upstream side, and operates to start a process of separating the next article. In this way, the article is separated.

[0026] FIG. 7 illustrates another conveyance line <br/> system related to the present invention. Here, FIG. 7A is a top view of the transport line system, and FIG. 7B is a side view of the transport line system.

In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes a main conveyor, which is composed of two conveyors, a left conveyor and a right conveyor, and which conveys articles to be placed.
0, a roller which operates so as to push up the conveyed articles, 32 is a main conveyor 3
A cylinder provided at the upstream side of the roller 31 and protruding into the space when the tip becomes a space, and forcibly terminating the protrusion in response to an instruction from the outside; Reference numeral 33 denotes a stopper provided on the main conveyor 30, which stops conveyance of articles cut by the roller 31 and the cylinder 32 which operate in the same manner as in the embodiment of FIG. As shown in (1), when the cylinder is moved up and down by the cylinder mechanism 35, the article to be placed is sent out with a prescribed constant force.

Reference numeral 36 denotes an intermediate roller base provided at the upper set position of the drive conveyor 34,
A reference numeral 37 denotes a photoelectric switch provided at a specified position of the intermediate roller base 36, which detects that an article is mounted on the intermediate roller base 36, and 38 denotes a free switch. A flow conveyer that conveys articles sent from the drive conveyor 34 in a free flow state; 39 denotes a plurality of push cylinders provided at assigned positions of the free flow conveyor 38, which are stationary at the specified positions. 40 is a push cylinder 39 which operates to push the article to be pushed to the opposite side.
And a storage packet for storing the articles to be pushed out by the push cylinder 39. Reference numeral 41 denotes a control mechanism, which controls the transport line system.

In such a configuration, FIG.
In the conveyance line system, the main conveyor 30 article
Are continuously pushed up by the roller 31, so that a gap is formed between the pushed up article and a subsequent article. At this time, the cylinder 32
Protrudes into this gap to forcibly stop the succeeding article to separate the article,
Temporarily suspends the separated article. Here, the cylinder 32 is controlled by the control mechanism 41 after a lapse of a specified time.
, The protruding operation is forcibly terminated, and the process for separating the next article is started.

When the stopper 33 stops the article,
First, the control mechanism 41 releases the stopper 33 to release the stopped articles from the main conveyor 30.
To the intermediate roller base 36. Next, when the arrival of the article is detected by the photoelectric switch 37 according to this operation, subsequently, the drive conveyor 34 is set to the upper position,
The placed article is sent out to the free flow conveyor 38 with a prescribed constant external force.

As shown in FIG. 9, the articles delivered in this manner travel freely for a long distance for a heavy article and stop at a predetermined position, and for a light article, a short distance according to the weight of the article. Free-running and stationary at a specified position, and the intermediate article is free-running for an intermediate distance and stopped at a specified position. From now on, after a lapse of a prescribed period of time for realizing the rest of the article, the control mechanism 41 operates the push cylinder 39 all at once, so that the article resting at any of the positions of the push cylinder 39 can be stored in the corresponding storage packet. Store in 40. In this way, sorting according to the weight of the article is performed.

In order to make the sorting process in the transfer line system shown in FIG. 7 more accurate, the lever must be moved when a predetermined amount of force is applied as shown in FIG. A plurality of retractable stoppers 5 which operate so that the lever does not fall down when the prescribed amount of force is not applied while falling down
0, and by arranging these foldable stoppers 50 at specified positions of the free flow conveyor 38 as shown in FIG. 11, the article can be accurately positioned at a specified position according to its weight. It is preferable to adopt a configuration in which the stationary state is maintained.

As another method for making the sorting process in the transport line system of FIG. 7 more accurate,
As shown in FIG. 12, a configuration is adopted in which a plurality of sensors 60 such as microswitches for detecting the passage of an article and a plurality of stoppers 61 for forcibly stopping the article are arranged at predetermined positions of the free flow conveyor 38. , Upstream sensor 60
Sensor 6 even after the specified time has passed since the detection of the passage of the article
When 0 does not detect the passage of the article, the article is recognized to be in the stop state because the speed of the article is low, and the article is forcibly stopped by operating the pair of stoppers 61 to forcibly stop the article. It is preferable to adopt a configuration in which the vehicle is accurately stopped at a specified position corresponding to the weight.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Using the physical characteristics of the articles, it is possible to realize separation and sorting of articles flowing on the transport line without using a sensor. As a result, the problems of the related art can be solved at once.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a related technique.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the transfer line system of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a related art.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a drive conveyor used in the transport line system of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram of the transport line system of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an example of a retractable stopper.

FIG. 11 is a configuration example for improving the transport line system of FIG. 7;

FIG. 12 is a configuration example for improving the transport line system of FIG. 7;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (56) References JP-A-4-58522 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 47/88 B65G 47/28 B65G 47 / 68

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transport line system for separating an object which continuously flows on a transport line, wherein a projection means is provided at a specific position on the transport line, and which is transported more than the projection means. A cylinder means provided at an upstream position of the line and projecting into the space when the tip becomes a space, and having a function of forcibly terminating the projection in response to an instruction from the outside; Transfer line system. 2. A transport line system for performing separation of an object that continuously flows through a transport line, wherein the transport line includes two transport lines, an upstream transport line and a downstream transport line. At the connection point of the two transfer lines, the upstream transfer line is configured to be located above the downstream transfer line, and provided at the connection position, and when the tip becomes a space, A transport line system comprising: cylinder means having a function of projecting into the space and forcibly terminating the projection in response to an external instruction.