JP3319570B2 - 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 pressing tool for pressing and transferring the article onto the mounting table, a retractable pusher for transferring the article on the mounting table onto the pallet, and controlling the operation of the pressing tool and the pusher. The present invention relates to an article transfer device provided with control means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of transfer apparatus, for example, a transfer apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-330153 is known. The transfer device disclosed in this publication presses and transfers an article to a mounting table for mounting the article by a total of two pressing tools provided on both lateral sides thereof, and Are transferred to the pallet by a total of two pushers provided on the mounting table.

[0003]

Therefore, two pressing tools are required for one mounting table, and the number of pressing tools is increased, so that the apparatus becomes large-scale. A transport device for transporting an article to a location is also required separately, and the device itself may be quite large.

The present invention focuses on such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to press and place an article on a mounting table with a single pressing tool, so that the apparatus itself becomes as large as possible. While transferring multiple types of articles of different sizes onto a single pallet,
Another object of the present invention is to provide an article transfer apparatus capable of transferring articles having a directional property such as a rectangle in a plan view as efficiently as possible and orderly onto a pallet without protruding from the pallet.

[0005]

To achieve this object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, an article is pressed and transferred onto a mounting table on which the article is mounted. Only one pressing tool is provided, and the control means controls the one pressing tool so that articles are sequentially placed on the mounting table in the lateral direction. The transfer of the article onto the mounting table can be performed as desired, and the number of pressing tools is minimized, so that only one transfer device for transferring the article to the pressed position is required, and various accompanying devices are used. And the whole device becomes compact. In addition, a plurality of pushers for transferring the articles on the mounting table onto the pallet are provided along the lateral direction of the mounting table, and the plurality of pushers are configured so as to be able to move in and out individually. Is to control a plurality of pushers individually, and by appropriately changing and controlling the push-out distance of each pusher according to the size of the article, etc., selecting the placement position of the article on the pallet, Articles can be placed in a pattern.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the mounting table on which the article is mounted and the pallet are configured to be relatively movable in the perspective direction, and the control means controls the relative movement in the perspective direction. Therefore, for example, when the article is transferred onto the mounting table by the pressing tool, the mounting table and the pallet are kept away from each other to avoid the pressing tool from interfering with the pallet or the article on the pallet. In addition, when the articles on the mounting table are pushed out by a pusher and transferred onto a pallet, the placing table and the pallet are brought close to each other, whereby the pusher can transfer the articles by the pusher in an orderly manner. Moreover, since the plurality of pushers are provided on the mounting table, regardless of the relative movement between the mounting table and the pallet, the position of each pusher with respect to the mounting table is determined, and the pushing of the articles by the pushers is performed as desired. It can be carried out.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stacking device for vertically stacking articles to be transferred to the mounting table, and the stacking device is controlled by the control means. According to the above, various articles can be placed on the pallet in a state of being stacked up and down. In this case, if the mounting table and the pallet are configured to be relatively movable as described above, the Are placed close to each other, a plurality of articles stacked vertically can also be systematically transferred to the pallet.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, on the mounting table
A pressing tool for pressing and transferring articles to the table is provided on the side of the mounting table.
It is configured to be able to move back and forth along the horizontal direction of the mounting table,
A pusher for transferring the goods on the mounting table to the pallet.
The chassis extends along the front-back direction orthogonal to the horizontal
Because it is configured to be retractable,
Position the pallet in the front-back direction with the pressing tool sideways
The floor area can be reduced as much as possible.
The push-out direction of the pusher and the push-out direction of the pusher are orthogonal.
To avoid alternating interference between the pressing tool and the pusher as much as possible.
And thereby improve work efficiency
be able to.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the pusher
Are provided in the horizontal direction of the mounting table.
Of the pusher located at the center in the horizontal direction of the mounting table.
Direction width from the lateral width of the pushers located on the left and right sides
Is also narrow, for example, in the state shown in FIG.
At the time of placing the articles, the central row shown in FIG.
At the right and the center pusher, the left pusher
When pushing forward (a-b), the central pusher
Without pushing the adjacent left-hand items together,
Transfer onto the let P can be performed as desired.

[0010] According to the second aspect of the present invention, to the mounting table.
Provide a posture changing device to change the mounting posture of the article to be mounted
And the control means controls the attitude changing device.
Because there is a pallet with articles that are directional in plan view
When placing items on the pallet
Increase the number of placement patterns by changing the placement posture
For example, multiple articles can be kept in the same posture.
When it is transferred to the pallet, it protrudes from the pallet
Even in the case where it goes wrong, a large number of
Can be placed.

[0011] Specifically, as shown in FIG.
A rectangular shape consisting of a long side a and a short side b in a plan view
In the case of, three of the long side a
If four sides are arranged side by side, they protrude from the pallet
If the short side b is arranged in a horizontal line and three are arranged,
The unplaced area on the pallet is too large
There is. In such a case, the posture changing device
As shown in FIG. 9, the long side a is
, One on the side, two on the short side b, and
To change the pushing distance of multiple pushers appropriately
More items on the pallet
When the above-mentioned stacking device is installed together,
It can be placed in multiple stages in an orderly manner.

[0012]

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 articles taken out of an automatic warehouse onto a pallet, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, articles A taken out of the automatic warehouse together with pallets P by a stacker crane (not shown). A plurality of mounting sections for mounting the articles B are provided, and a robot 2 for sequentially taking out the articles A and B from the mounting sections and mounting them on the supply conveyor 1 is provided. When the article A or the article B is rectangular in a plan view, the robot 2 changes the posture of the taken out article A or the article B to the horizontal or vertical orientation under the control of the control device H described later. 1 and also functions as a posture changing device that changes the mounting posture of the articles A and B.

The supply conveyor 1 is for transporting and supplying the articles A and B sequentially to the transfer apparatus side, and has a stacking device 3 for vertically stacking the articles A and B at the end in the transport direction. A transfer device 4 for transferring the articles A and B onto the pallet P is disposed on the side of the stacking device 3. , B are sequentially provided to the transfer device 4. A pallet support device 6 for placing and supporting a pallet P is disposed in front of the transfer device 4, and an actual pallet P on which articles A and B are placed is shown in front of the pallet support device 6. An unloading conveyor 7 for transferring the sheet to an outside unloading station is provided, and an unloading conveyor 8 for transferring an empty pallet P to the pallet support device 6 is disposed in a state orthogonal to the transfer direction of the unloading conveyor 7. .

The operation of each device including the robot 2 is controlled by a control device H (FIG. 10) as control means using a computer.
), And based on command information input in advance and information on the articles A and B and the pallet P, when the articles A and B are rectangular in plan view, the robot 2 The article B is configured to be placed on the supply conveyor 1 with the attitude of the article B being set horizontally or vertically. The control device H is configured to control the operation of other devices other than the robot 2 and also to control the management of the articles A and B stored and stored in the automatic warehouse (not shown) and the operation of the stacker crane. I have.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the stacking device 3 includes two belt conveyors 9 and two belt conveyors 9.
Pusher 10, a position regulator 11, provided in the middle of
Further, the belt conveyor 9 is constituted by a relay stand 12 inclined at a predetermined angle, and the like.
The pusher 10 is driven by an air cylinder 14 and the position restrictor 11 is driven by another air cylinder 15, and the relay stand 12 is configured to be able to move up and down in a vertical direction by a screw shaft 17 for rotation driven by an electric motor 16. Have been. Further, on one side of both belt conveyors 9, a pressing plate 18 for pressing the articles A and B to one side is provided, and between the two belt conveyors 9, two sets of optical sensors 19 each including a light emitter and a light receiver are provided. , 20 are provided.

The operation of the stacking device 3 is controlled by a control device H. As shown in FIG. 10, the control device H manages articles A and B stored in an automatic warehouse and controls a stacker crane. It comprises a main control device H1 for controlling the operation and a transfer control device H2 for controlling the operation of the stacking device 3 and the transfer device 4. Under the control of the control device H, the supply conveyor 1 to the belt conveyor 9 are controlled. The articles A and B supplied above are conveyed by both belt conveyors 9. At that time, since the pusher 10 is pivotally supported above its center of gravity, the articles A and B are conveyed while forcibly rotating the pusher 10 and the articles A and B pass through. Later, it automatically returns to the original posture. When the two sets of optical sensors 19 and 20 both detect the presence of the articles A and B, the transfer control device H2 sends the electric motor 1
3, the articles A and B are moved to one side by the pressing plate 18, and the electric motor 13 is driven again to convey the articles A and B. After the two sets of optical sensors 19 and 20 detect the presence of the articles A and B, the optical sensors 19 on the upper side in the transport direction
Is detected, the pusher 10 moves due to the extension of the air cylinder 14, and pushes the articles A and B to the relay stand 12 side later.

At this time, the relay stand 12 is usually set at L in FIG.
When one of the articles A and B is placed on the relay stand 12 by the cooperation of the pushing tool 10 and the position regulating tool 11 at the position a, the electric motor 16 rotates the lifting screw shaft 17,
The relay stand 12 descends by the height of the placed articles A and B,
Another article A, B is placed on it, and by repeating this one by one, a plurality of articles A, B are vertically stacked and stacked. When the articles A and B conveyed in the horizontal posture or the vertical posture are placed by rotating them by 90 degrees, the relay table 12 is positioned at the position Lb in FIG. It is placed on the relay stand 12 in a state rotated by 90 degrees by cooperation with the relay 11 and is stacked as needed. Thereafter, the relay table 12 is lowered to the lowermost position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. 2, and the articles A and B stacked on the relay table 12 are sequentially fed to the transfer apparatus 4 side by the traverse apparatus 5. Is done. That is, although not described in detail, the transverse feed plate 22 as a pressing tool constituting the transverse feed device 5 is laterally moved by the rotation drive of the transverse feed screw shaft 21 by an electric motor (not shown), The articles A and B are sequentially fed sideways to the transfer device 4 side.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the transfer device 4 includes a mounting table 23 for mounting the articles A and B, and an empty pallet on the pallet support device 6 for transferring the articles A and B on the mounting table 23. There are provided a total of three pushers 24a, 24b, 24c provided on the mounting table 23 for forcibly extruding onto P. The pushers 24a, 24b, 24c are arranged side by side in the lateral direction of the mounting table 23, and are configured to be individually retractable by three air cylinders 25a, 25b, 25c held on the mounting table 23. . The mounting table 23,
The truck 26 is configured so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis Q and is configured to be able to change the inclination angle with respect to the truck 26 by an air cylinder 27. The pallet support device 6 is configured to be capable of reciprocating in the horizontal direction by forward and reverse rotation drive.
It is configured to be able to move in the near and far directions with respect to.

The operation of the transfer device 4 is also controlled by the control device H. When the articles A and B are transferred onto the empty pallet P, the mounting table 23 is inclined at substantially the same angle as the relay table 12. In the held state, the articles A and B stacked on the relay table 12 are transferred onto the mounting table 23 by the lateral movement of the traverse plate 22 caused by the rotation of the traverse screw shaft 21. At this time, since the articles A and B are previously placed on the supply conveyor 1 in the horizontal or vertical direction based on the shape thereof by the robot 2 under the control of the main controller H1, they are stacked. The articles A and B are stacked in the same direction.

For example, when the articles A and B are rectangles of exactly the same size in plan view but differ only in height, 55 articles A and 56 articles B are transferred on the same pallet P. Taking an example of loading, first, 11 articles A are stacked in a horizontal direction, and the stacked articles A are transferred to the innermost portion of the mounting table 23 by the horizontal feed plate 22, that is, the stacking device 3. The pusher 24a, which is farthest from the pusher 24a, is traversed and placed on the front surface. Next, the article A is 11
Individually stacked, the articles A are traversed to the front of the central pusher 24b and placed thereon, and further, 11 articles A vertically stacked are placed on the front of the pusher 24c, for a total of 33 pieces. The articles A are placed in a row on the placing table 23 in the horizontal direction. In this case, the horizontally stacked articles A are placed on the front surface of the pusher 24c, and then, when the vertically stacked articles A are placed on the mounting table 23, the vertically oriented articles A Thus, the articles A in the horizontal direction can be pushed inward and sequentially placed in a line in the horizontal direction.

In order to transfer the 33 articles A placed in a row on the pallet P, first, as shown in FIG. 7A, the electric motor 28 for moving the carriage is driven. The mounting table 23 is moved to the pallet P side together with the carriage 26, and the pushers 24a, 24b, 24c push the article A slightly forward by extension of the air cylinders 25a, 25b, 25c. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8A, the pusher 24a that pushes out the articles A stacked horizontally is slightly forward of the other pushers 24b and 24c, that is, the pusher 24a of the article A shown in FIG. Long side a and short side b in plan view
To the front by the difference (ab) from the above, so that the front surfaces of the articles A placed in a line are flush with each other. And
As shown in (b) of FIG. 7, when the tip of the mounting table 23 contacts the auxiliary plate 30, the air cylinder 27 is extended to tilt the mounting table 23 as shown in (c) of FIG. The three air cylinders 25a, 25b, and 25c are synchronously extended while the carriage 26 is retracted by the electric motor 28, and 33 articles A are transferred to the innermost portion of the pallet P, and the transfer is completed. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7D, the carriage 26 returns to the original standby posture by retreating the carriage 26 and shortening the air cylinders 25a, 25b, 25c.

Next, 11 articles A are stacked vertically, and the stacked articles A are placed on the front surface of the pusher 24a by the traverse plate 22. Next, the articles A are stacked 11 The articles B, which are individually stacked and placed on the front surface of the central pusher 24b, are further stacked on the front side of the pusher 24c, and the fourteen articles B stacked vertically are placed on the front surface of the pusher 24c.
As shown in the figure, 22 articles A and 14 articles B
One row is placed on the mounting table 23. Then, it is transferred onto the pallet P as described above. In this case,
The pusher 24a and the pusher 24b are connected to the pusher 24c.
Is pushed forward by (ab) and transferred onto the pallet P. After that, 14 articles B stacked vertically are placed on the front surfaces of the pushers 24a and 24b,
The fourteen articles B stacked sideways are placed on the front surface of the pusher 24c, and as shown in FIG.
Two articles B are mounted on the mounting table 23, and each pusher 2
The articles B are extruded in a state where the articles 4a, 24b, and 24c are flush with each other and transferred onto the pallet P.

As described above, with respect to the innermost row of the pallet P, the pusher 24a located on the right side in a plan view is pushed forward by (ab) from the other pushers 24b and 24c, and the center row is pushed out. Is the right pusher 24a and the center pusher 24b
c, and push out all pushers 24a, 24b and 24c in the same row in the last row, and 55 pieces are pushed on the same pallet P as shown in FIG. The article A and the 56 articles B are orderly transferred so as to be rectangular in plan view.

The three pushers 24a, 24
The widths of the central pusher 24b are determined by taking the width of the central pusher 24b into consideration in consideration of the size of the pallet P and the lengths of the long sides a and the short sides b of the articles A and B. Since the width is smaller than the widths of the pushers 24a and 24c, when the pusher 24a located on the right side is pushed forward by (ab) from the other pushers 24b and 24c during the transfer of the innermost row, The right pusher 24a not only pushes out the adjacent central article A together but also pushes the right pusher 24a and the central pusher 25 when transferring the central row.
When b is pushed forward by (ab), the center pusher 25b does not push out the adjacent left-side article B together, so that the transfer onto the pallet P can be performed as desired.

The pallet support device 6 includes a frame 31
And a lifting device 32 arranged so as not to interfere with the frame 31. The frame 31 holds a plurality of rollers 33 which are driven to rotate by an electric motor (not shown). Of the carry-in conveyor 8 for carrying the pallet P into the pallet support device 6. On the other hand, in the elevating device 32, three chains 34 are rotatably held in a state perpendicular to the direction of conveyance by the rollers 33, and the three chains 34 do not interfere with the plurality of rollers 33 in plan view. The chains 34 are arranged in an overlapping manner, and the chains 34 are configured to carry a part of the unloading conveyor 7 for unloading the actual pallets P on which the articles A and B are placed from the pallet support device 6.

That is, when the empty pallet P is carried into the pallet support device 6, the carry-in conveyor 8 is driven together with the rollers 33, and the driving of the chain 34 is stopped. When the empty pallet P is stopped at a predetermined position, the drive of the carry-in conveyor 8 including the roller 33 is stopped, and the chain is turned off. The elevator 41 is raised so that the transport surface 34A is located above the transport surface 33A of the roller 33 while the stop 34 is stopped. Then, the transport surface 34 of the chain 34
A lifts and supports the empty pallet P, and transfers the articles A and B onto the pallet P in this state as described above. With the completion of the transfer onto the pallet P, the chain 3
The actual pallet P is conveyed to a carry-out station (not shown) by switching the conveyance surface 34A of No. 4 to a conveyance posture located above the conveyance surface 33A of the roller 33.

[Alternative Embodiment] In the previous embodiment, an example was shown in which pushers 24a, 24b, and 24c for pressing the articles A and B toward the pallet P were provided on the mounting table 23. , 2
4b and 24c do not necessarily need to be provided on the mounting table 23, and may be provided on a carriage 26 that supports the mounting table 23 in a pivotal manner. it is also as possible de be carried out by extending and retracting in the state to work with.

In the above embodiment, a case where a total of 111 articles A and B, which are rectangles having the same size in plan view but differing only in height, are mixed and transferred on the same pallet P is described. As described above, the present invention is applicable not only to the case where only the same article A or the article B is transferred on the same pallet P, but also to the case where three or more types of articles are mixed and transferred. The shape may also be a shape having directionality in a plan view, and need not necessarily be a rectangle. Further, the number of stacks by the stacking device 3 and the number of articles transferred onto one pallet P can be variously changed.

[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 plan view of a main part of the transfer device.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing the operation of the transfer device.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the operation of the transfer device.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state in which articles are placed on a pallet.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Posture changing device 3 Stacking device 22 Pressing tool 23 Mounting table 24a, 24c Left and right pushers 24b Central pushers A, B Articles P Pallet H Control means

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A mounting table for mounting an article, a pressing tool for pressing and transferring the article onto the mounting table, and a retractable mechanism for transferring the article on the mounting table to a pallet. What is claimed is: 1. An article transfer device comprising: a pusher; and a pressing unit and a control unit for controlling an operation of the pusher, wherein one of the pressing units is provided for a mounting table, and the pusher is arranged along a lateral direction of the mounting table. A plurality of pushers are configured to be able to move out and out of each of the plurality of pushers, and the control means controls the one pressing tool so as to sequentially place articles on the mounting table in the lateral direction. And, the plurality of pushers are configured to be controlled separately, and the plurality of pushers are provided on the mounting table,
The mounting table and the pallet can move relatively in the near and far directions
Wherein the control means is configured to
A stack configured to control the relative movement in the perspective direction and to vertically stack the articles to be transferred to the mounting table.
The device is provided on the lateral side of the mounting table, and the control means includes:
The stacking device is configured to be controlled, and the pressing tool is provided on a lateral side of the mounting table.
The pusher is configured to be able to move back and forth along the lateral direction of the pusher.
Out along the front-rear direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction of the mounting table.
The pusher is configured to be retractable, and three pushers are provided in a lateral direction of the mounting table,
Of these three pushers, the one in the horizontal direction of the table
Adjust the horizontal width of the center pusher to the left and right.
An article transfer device configured to be narrower than the lateral width of the pusher . 2. The mounting posture of an article to be mounted on the mounting table.
A posture changing device for changing the posture;
The article transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the article transfer device is configured to control the force changing device.