JP3135102B2 - Slide shoe sorter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a slat of a slat conveyor, which is provided with a shoe for pushing out an article which is movable in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the slat, and which is moved on the slat by moving the shoe for pushing out the article. The present invention relates to a slide shoe type sorter for sending articles to a sorting conveyance path branched from a conveyance path of a slat conveyor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sorting apparatus for sorting articles into a plurality of sorting / conveying paths prepared at predetermined positions, articles which can move on a slat of a slat conveyor which conveys articles in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the slats have been conventionally used. There have been proposed various slide shoe sorters equipped with an extruding shoe, and for feeding a conveyed article on a slat to a sorting conveying path branched from a conveying path of a slat conveyor by a moving operation of the article extruding shoe.

FIGS. 2 to 4 show a conventional example of the slide shoe sorter. The slide shoe type sorter 10 includes a slat conveyor 1 that conveys articles by moving a slat 3 on which articles 6 are mounted in a conveying direction of the articles, and a slat conveyor 1 that slides in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the slats 3. The article pushing shoe 4 is moved to the sorting / conveying path 7 side in the sorting zone S provided with the article pushing shoe 4 provided on the slat 3 and the sorting / conveying path 7 branched from the conveying path of the slat conveyor 1. Shoe driving means 5 is provided, and the articles 6 on the slats 3 are sent out to a predetermined sorting conveyance path 7 by the article pushing shoe 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the slat 3 of the slat conveyor 1 is supported by an endless chain 2 whose both ends run in the direction of transporting articles (the direction of the arrow (a) in the figure). . As shown in FIG. 3, the shoe driving means 5 is provided in each sorting zone S corresponding to each sorting transport path 7 that diverges from the transport path by the slat conveyor 1 and transports the shoe on the slat conveyor 1. The operation of moving the article pushing shoe 4 is performed so that the finished article 6 is transferred to the corresponding sorting / conveying path 7.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the shoe driving means 5 comes into contact with a bearing (see FIG. 4) on a support shaft projecting below the slat 3 of the article pushing shoe 4. A rod member for moving the article pushing shoe 4 in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. The rod member is guided obliquely by an actuator 8 operated by control means (not shown), and is connected to one side of the slat conveyor 1 (the sorting conveying path 7). The transfer of the articles is realized by moving and aligning the article pushing shoe 4 waiting on the opposite side (diagonally) in the sorting and conveying path 7 in the diversion direction. In the example shown here, the sorting and conveying path 7 is a roller conveyor as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the article pushing shoe 4 is normally supported so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the slats 3 and is orthogonal to the running direction of the slats 3 by the shoe driving means 5. A shoe slide 13 that is operated to move in the direction, and a shoe cap 14 that is provided on the shoe slide 13 and serves as a contact portion with the article when the article is pushed out to the sorting conveyance path 7. As described above, the shoe slide 13 has a support shaft 17 projecting below the slat 3 and the support shaft 17.
(Shoe bearing) 18 which is supported by the arm and serves as an abutment part in a moving operation by the shoe driving means 5 or the like.
And is equipped with.

The slat 3 of the slat conveyor 1
Is circulated by the endless chain 2 in the range from the conveyance start point to the conveyance end point. On the return side, as shown in FIG. A return guide rail 20 for returning the article pushing shoe 4 moved to the conveying path 7 to a standby position on the opposite side of the sorting conveying path 7.
Will be equipped.

The return guide rail 20 is provided on the guide surface 2 with which the bearing 18 of the article pushing shoe 4 comes into contact.
A first guide rail 22 formed in a straight line inclined from the sorting and conveying path 7 side to the standby side, and a guide surface 23 provided on the standby side and contacting the bearing 18 are along the traveling direction of the slat 3. 2nd guide rail 2 which forms a straight line
4 is provided.

[0009]

However, in the movement of the article pushing shoe 4 by the conventional return guide rail 20 described above, when the article pushing shoe 4 arrives at the standby side, the article pushing shoe 4 is moved. As shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), there is a problem that it collides vigorously with the second guide rail 24 on the standby side and becomes a noise source that generates a loud collision sound.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to solve such a problem, a magnetic attraction type control device for keeping the bearing 18 in close contact with the first guide rail 22 by a magnetic attraction is provided, or It has been considered that a cushioning material for cushioning the bearing 18 is provided on the guide surface of the second guide rail 24. However, if such a measure is taken, a mechanism for moving the article pushing shoe 4 becomes complicated. Thus, there is a problem that the cost of the apparatus is increased.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an article pushing shoe slidably mounted in a direction perpendicular to a running direction of a slat is provided as a part of the article pushing shoe. Is moved in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the slats by a guide rail
In this case, it is possible to prevent collision noise by maintaining a part of the article pushing shoe in close contact with the guide surface of the guide rail without using a magnet attraction type control device or cushioning material. To provide a slide shoe type sorter that can simultaneously achieve a reduction in manufacturing cost and a reduction in noise.
It is in.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a slat conveyor for carrying an article by moving a slat on which the article is carried in the article carrying direction, and a slat conveyor which slides in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the slat. An article pushing shoe movably mounted on the slat, and a guide rail for moving the article pushing shoe on the slat in the width direction of the conveying path by the slat by a guide surface with which a part of the article pushing shoe abuts. (31) a slide shoe sorter for feeding articles on the slats to a sorting conveying path branched from the conveying path of the slat conveyor by an article pushing shoe moving in the width direction of the conveying path by the slats, wherein the guide The rail (31) serves as a guide surface against which a part (18) of the article pushing shoe abuts, in a direction at an angle θ with respect to the running direction. The first shoe guide surface (34), a second shoe guide surface smoothly continuous to the first end of the shoe guide surface for moving the shoe article extrusion (35)
The second shoe guide surface (35) has a moving speed V _{0 in} the width direction of the conveying path of the article pushing shoe that has reached the end of the first shoe guiding surface (34). Smooth to the position where it becomes 0 by the frictional force acting on the shoe
The guide rail has a curved surface extending
The radius R of the shoe guide surface (35) of No. 2 indicates the gravitational acceleration.
g, the coefficient of friction between the article extrusion shoe and the slat
μ, slat running speed V _s , slat running direction
The angle of inclination of the first shoe guide surface with respect to
Conveyance path of the shoe for pushing out the article that has reached the end of the menu guide surface
Moving speed V _{0 in} the width direction of the product acts on the article extrusion shoe
Maximum arrival in the width direction of the transport path until it becomes 0 due to frictional force
When the reaching distance is S _max , the following equation (1)

(Equation 1) Arc with a radius of curvature greater than the radius R ₀ determined by
Slide shoe type characterized by being formed on the surface
Achieved by a sorter .

[0013]

[0014]

(Equation 2)

[0015]

In a slide shoe type sorter, an article pushing shoe slidably mounted in a direction perpendicular to a running direction of a slat is moved by a guide rail having a guide surface with which a part of the article pushing shoe abuts. The collision sound generated when moving in the direction perpendicular to the running direction of the slat is
A bearing, which is a part of the shoe for pushing out articles, which has been in contact with the guide surface of the guide rail for the moving operation, is separated from the guide surface with which it was initially in contact, and is guided by another guide rail which is arranged opposite to the guide surface. Caused by colliding with a surface.
The collision sound at this time increases in proportion to the speed of the article pushing shoe in the width direction of the conveying path.

However, according to the above configuration of the present invention, the guide surface of the guide rail with which the bearing, which is a part of the shoe for pushing out the article, abuts, has an angle θ with respect to the running direction of the slat.
A first shoe guide surface for moving the article pushing shoe in the direction of the arrow, and a second shoe guide surface smoothly continuing to the end of the first shoe guide surface. The surface has a moving speed V _{0 in} the width direction of the conveying path of the article pushing shoe that has reached the end of the first shoe guiding surface.
Has a curved surface shape that smoothly extends to a position where it becomes zero due to the frictional force acting on the article pushing shoe, so that the end of the guide rail (i.e., the end of the second shoe guide surface).
The article extrusion shoe that has arrived at has no force toward another guide rail that is arranged opposite to the guide rail that was in contact with it, and without using a magnet-attached control device or cushioning material, It is possible to prevent a collision sound from being generated by maintaining a state in which a part of the article pushing shoe is in close contact with the guide rail, and it is possible to simultaneously reduce manufacturing costs and reduce noise.

Further, the guide rail itself can be formed into a simple shape which can be easily formed by making the first shoe guide surface of the guide rail straight and the second shoe guide surface arc-shaped. It is possible to improve the productivity of the rail and at the same time to reduce the molding cost of the guide rail.

[0018]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A slide shoe type sorter according to the present invention includes a slat conveyor that conveys an article by causing a slat on which the article rests to travel in a conveying direction of the article, and a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the slat (that is, a slat conveying path). The article pushing shoe mounted on the slat slidably (in the width direction) and the guide surface against which a part of the article pushing shoe abuts, the article pushing shoe on the slat is moved in the width direction of the conveying path by the slat. And a guide rail for moving the slats in the width direction of the conveying path by the slats to push the articles on the slats from the conveying path of the slat conveyor to a sorting conveying path branched from the conveying path of the slat conveyor. It is something elaborate.

The configuration other than the guide rails may be the same as the conventional one. That is, the slat conveyor is shown in FIGS.
And the shoe for extruding an article has a configuration as shown in FIG. FIG. 1 shows a guide rail 30 used in one embodiment of the present invention. The guide rail 30 is arranged on the return side of the slat, and pushes out the article and returns the article pushing shoe moved to the other end of the slat (sorting path) to the standby side opposite to the sorting path. A first guide rail 31 for moving the article pushing shoe to the standby side of the slat, and a first guide rail 31 linearly arranged on the standby side of the slat opposite to the first guide rail 31. And two guide rails 32.

Here, the first guide rail 31 is
Shoe bearing 18 which is a part of the article extrusion shoe
A first shoe guide surface 34 for moving the article pushing shoe in a direction of an angle θ with respect to a traveling direction indicated by an arrow (b) as a guide surface with which the first shoe guide (see FIG. 4) contacts, and the first shoe guide. A second shoe guide surface 35 smoothly continues to the end of the surface 34.

The second shoe guide surface 35 is
The moving speed V _{0 in} the width direction of the conveyance path of the shoe bearing 18 reaching the end of the first shoe guide surface 34 is caused by the frictional force acting on the article pushing shoe from the slats or the like .
It is formed on an arcuate curved surface having a radius R that smoothly extends to a position where it becomes zero .

More specifically, the radius R is g, the gravitational acceleration is g, the friction coefficient between the article pushing shoe and the slat is μ, the running speed (constant) of the slat is V _s , and the radius is relative to the running direction of the slat. The inclination angle of the first shoe guide surface 34 is θ, the moving speed in the width direction of the conveying path of the article pushing shoe reaching the end of the first shoe guide surface 34 is V ₀ , and this V ₀ is for the article pushing. When the maximum reachable distance in the width direction of the transport path until it becomes 0 due to the frictional force acting on the shoe is _Smax , the radius is set to be larger than the radius _R0 obtained by the following equation (1).

[0023]

(Equation 3)

The songs of this way, the second of the shoe guide surface 35
The reason for setting the rate radius R is as follows. According to the first guide rail 31, the range L ₁ shown in FIG.
Is the shoe bearing 1 by the first shoe guide surface 34.
8 is an area where the moving direction is restricted, the range L ₂ is the second
This is an area where the movement direction of the shoe bearing 18 is regulated by the shoe guide surface 35. The first shoe guide surface 34 guides the shoe bearing 18 linearly at an angle θ with respect to the running direction of the slat.

If the second shoe guide surface 35 is not provided at the end of the first shoe guide surface 34, the article pushing shoe 4 reaching the end of the first shoe guide surface 34 , Constant speed V in the direction of travel of the slat
_{In S} , as a parabola, which is driven out from the end of the first shoe guide surface 34 at the initial velocity V ₀ in the width direction of the conveyance path and the velocity in the conveyance path width direction is gradually attenuated by the frictional force acting on the article pushing shoe. Following the trajectory.

In this case, the speed V in the width direction of the conveying path of the article pushing shoe and the moving distance S in the width direction of the conveying path are used.
Is as shown in the following equations (2) and (3), where t is the elapsed time.

[0027]

(Equation 4)

In the above equations (2) and (3), the acceleration α is a coefficient of friction μ between the article pushing shoe and the slat.
Α = −μg (g is a gravitational acceleration). Further, since the initial speed V ₀ which the width direction of the conveying path of the shoe article extruded is V ₀ = V _S tan θ, of (2),
Equation (3) can be rewritten into the following equations (4) and (5).

[0029]

(Equation 5)

The first shoe guide surface 3 of the shoe for extruding articles
The maximum reaching distance (maximum moving distance) _{Smax in} the width direction of the conveyance path of the article pushing shoe that has protruded from the end of No. 4 is the time t when V = 0 as shown in the following equations (6) and (7). , And substituting the t into the above equation (4),
It can be expressed by the following equation (8).

[0031]

(Equation 6)

The movement trajectory X of the article pushing shoe when the article pushing shoe protrudes from the end of the first shoe guide surface 34 is substantially equal to that of the first shoe guide surface 34.
An arc passing through two points at the end and at the point of maximum reach S _max
R ₀ and is represented by the above equation (1).

Therefore, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the second shoe guide surface 35 is set to an arc-shaped curved surface having a radius of curvature R larger than R ₀ shown in the above equation (1). Then, the shoe bearing 18 that has exited the end of the first shoe guide surface 34 passes through the point of S _max while maintaining a state of being in close contact with the surface of the second shoe guide surface 35, and during that time, Since the speed in the width direction is sufficiently attenuated, and the force toward the second guide rail 32 disposed on the standby side of the slat is almost eliminated, the shoe bearing 18 is vigorously moved to the second guide rail 32. Collisions can be avoided.

Therefore, even without using a magnet-attractive control device or cushioning material, it is possible to maintain the state in which the shoe bearing 18 is in close contact with the first guide rail 31 and prevent the generation of collision noise. It is possible to simultaneously reduce the manufacturing cost and reduce noise.

In addition, the first shoe guide surface 34 of the guide rail 31 is formed in a simple linear shape, and the second shoe guide surface 3
By forming the guide rail 5 into a simple arc shape, the guide rail 31 itself can be formed into a simple shape that can be easily formed, thereby improving the productivity of the guide rail 31 and, at the same time, improving the productivity of the guide rail 31.
1, the molding cost can be reduced.

The shape of the curved surface of the second shoe guide surface 35 is not limited to a simple arc with a single radius of curvature.

In the above-described embodiment, the movement trajectory X of the article pushing shoe when the article pushing shoe protrudes from the end of the first shoe guide surface 34 is determined by the first shoe guide surface 34. Although the approximation is made by the arc _R0 passing through the two points of the end point and the point of the maximum reach distance _Smax , the approximation may be made by an ellipse or another function.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the article pushing shoe on the sorting / conveying path side is moved to the standby side on the return side of the slat is described. Needless to say, the present invention can also be used when the article pushing shoe located on the standby side is moved to the sorting / conveying path side in order to send it out.

[0039]

According to the slide shoe sorter of the present invention, the guide surface of the guide rail, which is a part of the shoe for pushing out the article, contacts the bearing in the direction of the angle θ with respect to the running direction of the slat. A first shoe guide surface for moving the first shoe guide surface, and a second shoe guide surface smoothly continuing to an end of the first shoe guide surface. by the frictional force 1 of the moving speed V ₀ which the width direction of the conveying path of the shoe article extrusion reaches the end of the shoe guide surface acts on the shoe article extrusion
The article pushing shoe that has reached the end of the guide rail (that is, the end of the second shoe guide surface) has a curved surface shape that smoothly extends to a position where the guide rail has reached zero. There is no force toward another guide rail that is placed opposite the rail, and a part of the article pushing shoe is kept in close contact with the first guide rail without using a magnet attracting type control device or cushioning material etc. As a result, it is possible to prevent the generation of a collision sound, and it is possible to simultaneously reduce the manufacturing cost and reduce the noise. In addition, since the first shoe guide surface of the guide rail has a linear shape and the second shoe guide surface has an arc shape, the guide rail itself can be formed into a simple shape that can be easily formed. The molding cost of the guide rail can be reduced at the same time as the performance is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a guide surface of a guide rail according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional slide shoe sorter.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a sorting method using a conventional slide shoe sorter.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an article pushing shoe used in the slide shoe sorter of one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a guide rail in a conventional slide shoe sorter.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 slat 6 article 13 shoe slide 14 shoe cap 17 support shaft 18 shoe bearing 30 guide rail 31 first guide rail 32 second guide rail 34 first shoe guide surface 35 second shoe guide surface

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A slat conveyor for transporting an article by causing a slat on which the article rests to travel in a transport direction of the article, and an article slidably mounted on the slat in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the slat. An extrusion shoe;
A guide rail (31) for moving the article pushing shoe on the slat in the width direction of the conveying path by the slat by a guide surface with which a part of the article pushing shoe abuts, and moving the shoe in the width direction of the conveying path by the slat. A slide shoe sorter that feeds articles on the slats from a conveying path of a slat conveyor to a sorting conveying path that branches off from the conveying path of the slat conveyor, wherein the guide rail (31) is a part (18) of the article pushing shoe. ) Abuts on a first shoe guide surface (34) for moving the article pushing shoe in the direction of an angle θ with respect to the running direction, and smoothly continues to the end of the first shoe guide surface. A second shoe guide surface (35), wherein the second shoe guide surface (35) is provided with an article pushing surface that has reached the end of the first shoe guide surface (34). The moving speed V _{0 in} the width direction of the transport path of the queue extends smoothly to a position where it becomes zero due to the frictional force acting on the article pushing shoe.
And forms a curved, radius of the second shoe guide surface of the guide rail (35)
R is the gravitational acceleration, g and the shoe and slat
The friction coefficient between μ, the running speed of the slat V _S ,
The inclination angle of the first shoe guide surface with respect to the running direction of the
θ, article extrusion reaching the end of the first shoe guide surface
For the moving speed V ₀ which the width direction of the conveying path of the use shoe article extrusion
Conveyance path until it becomes 0 due to frictional force acting on the shoe
When the maximum reaching distance in the width direction is S _max , the following expression
(1) [number 1] Arc with a radius of curvature greater than the radius R ₀ determined by
Slide shoe type characterized by being formed on the surface
Sorter.