JP3292287B2 - Article transfer equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article transfer apparatus used for transferring various articles on a pallet in an automatic warehouse, a factory, or the like, and more specifically, to a loading apparatus for placing articles. A mounting table, a retractable pusher for pressing an article on the mounting table to transfer the article onto the pallet, and a pallet support device for supporting a pallet on which the article pressed by the pusher is mounted. The present invention relates to an article transfer device provided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In such an article transfer apparatus, an article on a mounting table is pressed by a pusher to transfer the article on a pallet. It is necessary to transfer while maintaining the vertical position relative to the upper surface of the pallet in a state suitable for transfer. Therefore, in the past, in consideration of the height of the pallet to be used,
When the pallet is placed on the pallet support surface of the pallet support device, the vertical relative position between the upper surface of the pallet and the mounting table is maintained in an optimal state for transfer, and
In order to prevent the relative positional relationship from being deviated, the vertical relative position between the pallet support surface and the mounting table is fixed to be invariable.

[0003]

Therefore, there is no problem if only a pallet having a predetermined height is always used, but there is an inconvenience that a pallet having a height other than a predetermined height cannot be used. In particular, in recent years, diversification of goods and the like often require the use of pallets other than the prescribed pallets, and when handling various types of goods such as automated warehouses, the use of pallets depends on the type of goods. In some cases, a pallet that is higher than a predetermined height cannot be used with a conventional transfer device, and a pallet that is lower than a predetermined height can be used. The height becomes lower than the optimum height for transfer, and when transferring the goods to the pallet by the pusher, the posture of the goods may be disturbed or even fall down, and there is room for improvement in this point. Was.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem. The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problem even when the height of a pallet to be used is different from a predetermined height due to a difference in pallet type or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article transfer apparatus capable of always maintaining a vertical relative position between the upper surface of the pallet and the mounting table in a state suitable for the article transfer and transferring the articles on the pallet as desired.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a pallet supporting surface of a pallet supporting device for supporting a pallet and a mounting table for mounting articles are provided. A relative position in the vertical direction is configured to be changeable, a height changing device for changing the relative position in the vertical direction, and control means for controlling the operation of the height changing device are provided, and the control means includes a pallet. The height changing device is controlled in accordance with the height of the pallet supported by the supporting device, and the relative position of the pallet supporting surface and the mounting table in the vertical direction is adjusted. Therefore, two types having different heights, or It is possible to use more types of pallets, and to maintain the vertical relative position between the upper surface of the pallets and the mounting table irrespective of the type of pallets used. , It is possible to perform the transfer of goods in an orderly manner.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a pusher for pressing an article and transferring the article onto a pallet is provided on the mounting table. , It is easier to maintain the positional relationship of the pusher with respect to the mounting table in a desired state, and
By configuring the mounting table so as to be movable in the perspective direction with respect to the pallet support device, the mounting table can be brought close to the pallet when transferring articles by the pusher, and the pressing and transferring to the pallet by the pusher can be performed well. obtain. Then, the position of the pallet supporting surface of the pallet supporting device, not the moving mounting table, can be changed in the vertical direction, and the vertical position relative to the mounting table is changed by adjusting the height of the pallet supporting surface. Therefore, the structure for changing the position in the vertical direction can be simplified as compared with the case where the position of the moving mounting table can be changed in the vertical direction.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the pallet support device includes the unloading conveyor for unloading the pallet on which the articles are mounted, the pallet on which the articles are mounted by the unloading conveyor is used. The pallet can be unloaded from the support device, and the transport surface of the unloading conveyor also serves as the pallet supporting surface. Therefore, the structure is simpler than when a pallet supporting surface is provided separately from the unloading conveyor. Needless to say, the pallets can be supported and transferred on the transport surface of the unloading conveyor, and the pallets can be transported by the unloading conveyor as it is, so that the work efficiency can be improved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the carry-in conveyor for carrying an empty pallet is provided in the pallet support device, the empty pallet can be carried into the pallet support device by the carry-in conveyor. In addition, a part of the carry-in conveyor is overlapped and arranged in a plan view without interfering with the carry-out conveyor of the pallet support device, and the transfer surface of the carry-out conveyor is located higher than the carry-in conveyor in the overlap arrangement portion. It is configured to be switchable between the attitude and the non-transporting attitude located below,
Since the control means switches the carry-out conveyor between the transfer posture and the non-conveyance posture, under control of the control means, the transfer of the empty pallet to the pallet support device and the discharge of the actual pallet from the pallet support device are performed. All can be performed automatically.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the height changing device comprises an elevating device for supporting the unloading conveyor, and the unloading conveyor is switched between the transport position and the non-transport position by the lifting operation of the lift device. Therefore, with the same lifting device, the relative position between the pallet support surface and the mounting table can be changed, and the posture of the unloading conveyor can be switched.
The structure can be simplified by also using the lifting device.

According to the invention described in claim 6, in the overlapping portion of the carry-out conveyor and the carry-in conveyor, the carry-out conveyor whose transport surface functions as a pallet support surface is constituted by a chain conveyor composed of a plurality of chains. Therefore, for example, compared to the case where the conveying surface of the roller conveyor is used as the pallet supporting surface, the actual pallet on which the articles are placed can be reliably supported without making the conveyor itself relatively large. Moreover, by configuring the carry-in conveyor with a roller conveyor composed of a plurality of rollers,
The overlapping arrangement of the carry-out conveyor and the carry-in conveyor can be realized with a simple structure.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an article transfer device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This article transfer device is for transferring, for example, articles taken out of an automatic warehouse onto a pallet. As shown in FIG. 1, articles A taken out of the automated warehouse by a stacker crane (not shown) are used.
Conveyor 1 for sequentially transporting and supplying the paper to the transfer device side
At the end of the supply conveyor 1 in the transport direction, an attitude changing device 2 for changing the mounting attitude of the articles A on the pallet P or stacking the articles A is provided. A transfer device 3 for transferring the article A onto the pallet P is disposed on the side of the posture changing device 2.
Further, there is also provided a traversing device 4 for sequentially supplying the articles A on the posture changing device 2 to the transfer device 3.

A pallet support device 5 for mounting and supporting a pallet P is disposed in front of the transfer device 3, and a pallet P on which an article A is mounted is shown in front of the pallet support device 5. An unloading conveyor 6 for transferring the sheet to an outside unloading station is provided, and an unloading conveyor 7 for transferring an empty pallet P to the pallet support device 5 is disposed in a state orthogonal to the transfer direction of the unloading conveyor 6. . The operation of each of these devices is entirely controlled by a control device H (see FIG. 13) as control means using a computer.
Further, the control device H also controls the management of the articles A stored and stored in the automatic warehouse (not shown) and the operation of the stacker crane, and based on command information input in advance, information on the articles A and the pallets P, and the like. To control the operation of each device.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the posture changing device 2 includes a pusher 9 provided between the two belt conveyors 8 and the two belt conveyors 8, a position regulating tool 10,
The belt conveyor 8 is constituted by a relay stand 11 inclined at a predetermined angle and the like.
The pushing tool 9 is moved by the air cylinder 13 to the position regulating tool 1.
0 are each driven by another air cylinder 14,
The relay stand 11 is configured to be able to move up and down in a vertical direction by an elevating screw shaft 16 that is rotated and driven by an electric motor 15. Further, a pressing tool 17 for pressing the article A to one side is provided on one side of both belt conveyors 8, and two sets of optical sensors 18 and 19 including a light emitting device and a light receiving device are provided between both belt conveyors 8. Is provided.

Under the control of the control device H, the articles A supplied from the supply conveyor 1 onto the belt conveyor 8
Is conveyed by both belt conveyors 8. Since the pusher 9 is pivotally supported above its center of gravity, the article A is transported while forcibly rotating the pusher 9. After the article A has passed, it automatically returns to the original posture. And two sets of optical sensors 18 and 19
When both detect the presence of the article A, the control device H
The electric motor 12 is stopped, the article A is moved to one side by the pressing tool 17, and the electric motor 12 is driven again to convey the article A. After the two sets of optical sensors 18 and 19 detect the presence of the article A, if the optical sensor 18 on the upper side in the transport direction detects the absence of the article A, the push-in tool 9 is moved by the extension of the air cylinder 13 and the article 9 is moved. Press A later and press
Push it to the side.

When the article A is pushed into the relay stand 11 side,
When the article A is to be placed on the pallet P in the horizontal posture,
The relay stand 11 is located at the position of La in FIG. 3, and the article A is placed on the relay stand 11 in a horizontal posture by cooperation of the pushing tool 9 and the position restricting tool 10, and is placed in a vertical posture. If it is desired to be positioned at the position Lb,
The belt conveyor 8 and the position restricting tool 1
It will be placed in a vertical position by cooperation with 0,
When stacking a plurality of articles A, the relay stand 11 descends sequentially and stacks the plurality of articles A. Thereafter, the relay board 11 is lowered to the lowermost position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. 2, and the articles A on the relay board 11 are sequentially fed to the transfer device 3 side by the traverse device 4. In other words, details are omitted,
The lateral feed plate 21 of the lateral feed device 4 is moved laterally by the rotation drive of the lateral feed screw shaft 20 by an electric motor (not shown), and the articles A on the relay stand 11 are sequentially fed laterally to the transfer device 3 side.

The transfer device 3, as shown in FIG.
Mounting table 22 for mounting thereon, and articles A on the mounting table 22
A plurality of pushers 23 provided on the mounting table 22 for forcibly extruding the pallet P onto the pallet P on the pallet support device 5.
(See FIG. 1), and a carriage 24 for holding the mounting table 22 so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis Q is reciprocated in the horizontal direction so as to be movable in the perspective direction with respect to the pallet support device 5. It is configured. The carriage 24 is reciprocally movable by forward and reverse rotation driving of a screw shaft 26 by an electric motor 25.
Each pusher 23 is configured to be able to move out and retreat by an air cylinder 27 held on the mounting table 22, and further, the carriage 2 around the axis Q of the mounting table 22 by another air cylinder 28.
The angle of inclination with respect to 4 is configured to be changeable.

The transfer of the article A to the mounting table 22 is described with reference to FIG.
As shown in (a), the mounting table 22 is inclined by substantially the same angle as the relay board 11 and is moved by the lateral movement of the horizontal feed plate 21 in a state of being positioned beside the relay board 11. After the transfer of the articles A to the mounting table 22 is completed, the mounting table 22 is moved to the pallet P side by the carriage 24 as shown in (b), and each pusher 23 is moved by the extension of the air cylinder 27. Push A slightly forward. When the tip of the mounting table 22 contacts the auxiliary plate 29 as shown in (c), the air cylinder 28 is extended to correct the inclination of the mounting table 22 as shown in (d), and (e). The carriage 24 is retracted by the electric motor 25 as shown in FIG.
The article A on the mounting table 22 is transferred onto the pallet P in synchronization with the pushing of each pusher 23 by the push button 23. At the time of transfer of the article A onto the pallet P, the upper surface of the mounting table 22 is maintained in a state suitable for transfer located slightly above the upper surface of the pallet P, and after the transfer to the pallet P is completed. As shown in (f), the carriage 24 is retracted and the air cylinder 27 is shortened to return to the standby posture shown in (g), and the transfer to the pallet P is executed while repeating the same operation.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the pallet support device 5 includes a frame 30 and an elevating device 31 arranged so as not to interfere with the frame 30. The roller conveyor 33 is formed by holding a plurality of rollers 32 rotationally driven by the electric motor, and the roller conveyor 33 constitutes a part of the carry-in conveyor 7 for carrying an empty pallet P into the pallet support device 5. are doing. On the other hand, the elevating device 31 is placed in a state perpendicular to the conveying direction of the roller conveyor 33,
The chains 34 are rotatably held, and a chain conveyor 35 formed by the three chains 34 is overlapped and arranged in a plan view without interfering with the roller conveyor 33 including the plurality of rollers 32. The pallet P on which the chain conveyor 35 has placed the article A
Is configured to carry a part of an unloading conveyor 6 for unloading from the pallet support device 5.

The three chains 34 forming the chain conveyor 35 are wound around a driving sprocket 37 and an idle sprocket 38 held by a chain frame 36, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 7, each of the chain frames 36 is held by a guide rail 39 provided continuously from the chain frame 36, and is driven to rotate in synchronization with each other by an electric motor 40 interlockingly connected to each drive sprocket 37. Is attached to the lift table 41 of the lift device 31. The elevating device 31 includes a pair of left and right X-type link mechanisms 42 interposed between the frame 30 of the pallet support device 5 and the elevating table 41.
7 is the frame 30 and the lift 4
1 and is slidable on the right side with respect to the frame 30 and the elevating table 41, and an interlocking mechanism such as a screw shaft or a worm mechanism (not shown) interposed between the link mechanism 42 and the frame 30. Is driven by the electric motor 43 in the forward and reverse directions, so that the position of the lift table 41 can be changed in the vertical direction.

The raising and lowering operation of the elevator 41 and the operation of the roller conveyor 33 and the chain conveyor 35 are all controlled by the controller H. As shown in FIG. 13, the control device H includes a main control device H1 for controlling the management of the articles A stored and stored in the automatic warehouse and an operation of the stacker crane and an elevating device for controlling the elevating operation of the elevating table 41. When the empty pallet P is carried in, the carry-in conveyor 7 including the roller conveyor 33 is driven. At this time, the chain conveyor 35 is stopped, the elevator 41 is lowered by driving the electric motor 43, and the electric motor 43 is stopped based on the detection of the height of the elevator 41 by a height detecting device (not shown). 35 transfer surface 35
A is set to a position L1 in FIG. 7 below the conveying surface 33A of the roller conveyor 33, that is, a non-conveying posture.

When the pallet P is stopped at a predetermined position, the roller conveyor 33 is stopped, and the elevator 41 is moved so that the conveying surface 35A is located above the conveying surface 33A of the roller conveyor 33 while the chain conveyor 35 is stopped. To rise. Then, the empty pallet P is lifted and supported by the transport surface 35A of the chain conveyor 35, and in this state, the article A is transferred onto the pallet P as described above. That is, the conveying surface 35A of the chain conveyor 35 also serves as the pallet supporting surface of the pallet supporting device 5, and the elevating device 31 functions as a height changing device of the pallet supporting surface 35A.

When the pallet P is supported by raising the conveying surface of the chain conveyor 35, in other words, the pallet supporting surface 35A by the elevating device 31, the lifting position is changed and adjusted according to the type of the pallet P. I have. That is, there are various sizes and heights of the pallets P. In this embodiment, the pallet supply section 44 for supplying the pallets P having a height of 15 cm to the carry-in conveyor 7, Is provided with a pallet supply unit 45 for supplying a pallet P of 12 cm. The size of the pallet P to be used is input by operating the operation panel 46. Then, when supplying the higher pallet P from the pallet supply unit 44, the pallet support surface 35A supplies the lower pallet P from the pallet supply unit 45 to the position L2 in FIG. The position is changed and adjusted to L3, which is 3 cm above L2, regardless of the pallet P used.
The upper surface is always maintained at a constant height, so that the transfer of the article A onto the pallet P can be performed satisfactorily.

When the transfer of the article A onto the pallet P is completed in this way, the conveying surface 35A of the chain conveyor 35 is moved by the elevating device 31 to the conveying surface 3 of the roller conveyor 33.
The position is switched to a transport position that is located above 3A and that is flush with the transport surface of the unloading conveyor 6. That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, since the position of L3 supporting the lower pallet P is set to the same height as the transporting posture position, the higher pallet P
When the pallet P is used, the transport surface 35A of the chain conveyor 35 at the position L2 is raised to the position L3 as shown in FIG. Then, the carry-out conveyor 6 including the chain conveyor 35 is driven to convey the articles A together with the pallets P to a carry-out station (not shown).

[Another Embodiment] In the above embodiment,
Although the configuration in which the transfer surface 35A of the chain conveyor 35 also serving as the pallet support surface is vertically changed is shown, the position of the mounting table 22 is changed in the vertical direction, and the transfer surface 35A of the chain conveyor 35 is not changed. Both the mounting table 22 and the mounting table 22 may be changed in the vertical direction so that the upper surface of the pallet P is maintained at a constant height regardless of the difference in height.

Also, an example is shown in which a pusher 23 for pressing the article A to the pallet P is provided on the mounting table 22.
The push 23 does not necessarily need to be provided on the mounting table 22, and may be provided on a carriage 24 for pivotally supporting the mounting table 22. It can also be carried out by leaving and leaving in a state in which it is linked.

In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the transfer position of the transfer surface 35A of the chain conveyor 35 is set to the same height as the position of L3 that supports the lower pallet P. Can be set to a height different from L3. Further, an example in which two types of pallets P having different heights are used has been described, but the present invention is also applicable to a case where three or more types of pallets P having different heights are used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view including an article transfer device.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the posture changing device.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part of the posture changing device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the posture changing device.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the transfer device.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the operation of the transfer device.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the pallet support device.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a pallet support device.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a main part of the pallet support device.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the operation of the pallet support device.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing the operation of the pallet support device.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing the operation of the pallet support device.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 5 Pallet support device 22 Mounting table 23 Pusher 31 Elevating device as height changing device 32 Roller constituting import conveyor 33 Roller conveyor as import conveyor 33A Transport surface of roller conveyor 34 Chain constituting export conveyor 35 As export conveyor Chain conveyor 35A Chain conveyor conveying surface also serving as pallet support surface A Article P Pallet H Control means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 57/00-60/00

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A mounting table for mounting an article, a pusher capable of pressing and retracting the article on the mounting table to transfer the article onto a pallet, and an article pressed by the pusher. An article transfer device comprising a pallet support device for supporting a pallet to be placed, wherein the pallet support surface of the pallet support device and a vertical relative position between the placing table and the pallet support surface can be changed,
A height changing device for changing the relative position in the vertical direction, and control means for controlling the operation of the height changing device, wherein the control means controls the height of the pallet supported by the pallet supporting device. An article transfer device configured to control the height changing device in accordance with the height of the pallet and adjust the relative position of the pallet support surface and the mounting table in the vertical direction. 2. The pusher is provided on the mounting table, wherein the mounting table is configured to be movable in a distance direction with respect to the pallet support device, and the pallet support surface is configured to be vertically changeable. And the control unit controls the height changing device to adjust the height of the pallet support surface. The article transfer device according to claim 1. 3. The pallet supporting device according to claim 1, wherein the pallet supporting device includes an unloading conveyor for unloading the pallet on which the articles are placed, and a conveying surface of the unloading conveyor also functions as the pallet supporting surface. An article transfer device as described in the above. 4. A pallet supporting device is provided with a carry-in conveyor for carrying an empty pallet, and a part of the carry-in conveyor is overlapped in a plan view without interfering with a carry-out conveyor of the pallet supporting device. Wherein the transport surface of the unloading conveyor is configured to be switchable between a transport position located above the transport surface of the import conveyor and a non-transport position located below the transport surface, and the control unit controls the unload conveyor to be in a non-transport position. 4. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the article transfer apparatus is configured to switch to a transport posture. 5. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said height changing device comprises an elevating device for supporting said unloading conveyor, and wherein said unloading conveyor is switched between a transport position and a non-transport position by an elevating operation of said elevating device. Item 5. The article transfer device according to Item 4. 6. In an overlapping portion of the carry-out conveyor and the carry-in conveyor, the carry-out conveyor is constituted by a chain conveyor comprising a plurality of chains, and the carry-in conveyor is constituted by a roller conveyor comprising a plurality of rollers. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the article transfer apparatus is provided.