JP3349080B2 - Linear motor driven sorting device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a sorting device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a sorting apparatus having a structure for sorting articles while circulating a large number of sorting trays with a linear motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional sorting apparatus includes a plurality of carriages A2 each having a sorting tray A1 which can be tilted sideways as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, for example.
There is a structure in which articles placed on the sorting tray A1 are sorted by endlessly circulating and driving in a vertical plane along a closed traveling path by driving a linear motor.

In such a sorting apparatus, each of the carriages A2 has a traveling roller A4 protruding to the left and right sides of the carriage A2 at opposite sides of the traveling path below a connecting portion of a swingable connecting rod A3. Rail A
5 are respectively supported on horizontal support surfaces h.
A guide roller A6 is attached at a position below the traveling roller A4 of the carriage A2 so as to be rotatable around the vertical axis, and is guided between the opposing vertical guide surfaces v of the rails A5 to meander while the carriage A2 is traveling. Has been prevented.

[0004] A reaction plate A7 is attached to the lower end of the carriage A2. The reaction plate A7 is mounted on the primary side stator unit A8 of the linear motor installed along the traveling path of the carriage A2. When the reaction plate A7 passes through, the reaction plate A7 receives a propulsion driving force, and the entire carriages A2 connected to each other by the connecting rod A3 are simultaneously driven to travel.

[0005] The articles to be sorted are placed on a sorting tray A1 from a loading section (not shown) provided on the horizontal portion upstream of the traveling route of the carriage A2, and when the carriage A2 travels to a designated sorting position, the vicinity of the sorting position is reached. The tip-up mechanism A8 provided at the sorting tray A
1 is tilted to the side, and the articles on the sorting tray A1 are discharged to a sorting chute (not shown) provided on the side of the sorting position.

[0006]

In the above-described sorting device driven by a linear motor, the carriage travels along a traveling path including a horizontal traveling portion which is parallel to the top and bottom, and moves along the upper horizontal traveling portion. The sorting tray is tilted on the way to discharge the articles to the sorting chute provided at the sorting position, and then turned upside down in the vertical plane and travels back down the horizontal part, and turned upside down again in the vertical plane. It is sent back to the horizontal traveling part, but the guide roller is disposed between the traveling roller and the reaction plate, and the reaction plate provided at the lower end of the carriage is moved back and forth to increase the propulsion driving efficiency. By being formed long, the turning radius in the vertical plane of the carriage at the reversing portions provided at both ends of the upper and lower horizontal traveling portions is large. Becomes, as a result, there is a problem that the height increases from the floor of the sorting device spacing horizontal running portion of the upper and lower is increased.

Further, a large difference in height between a sorting tray for placing and transporting articles and a floor on which the sorting device is installed necessitates a sorting chute having a long downhill length. Sorting chutes also require a large installation space.

Further, since the distance between the reaction plate receiving the propulsion driving force from the primary side stator unit and the traveling roller is large, when the traveling resistance acting on the carriage fluctuates, the traveling roller moves against the horizontal support surface of the rail. There is also a problem that a moment for vibrating the roller up and down acts to generate vibration and noise while the carriage is running.

Therefore, the present invention solves such a problem in the prior art, and reduces the height of the apparatus, and provides a linear motor driven sorting apparatus capable of running the carriage quietly and stably. The purpose is to provide.

[0010]

For this purpose, the sorting apparatus according to the present invention is provided along a traveling path having horizontal portions which are connected to each other endlessly by a horizontal connecting shaft so as to be freely bent and which are vertically parallel to each other. A large number of connection links, which are circulated in a vertical plane and are formed of reaction plates on the inner peripheral side of the travel path serving as a secondary side of the linear motor, are provided at both ends of each connection shaft, A rotatable traveling roller guided by traveling roller support surfaces of a pair of rails disposed on both left and right sides of the traveling path, and a sorting tray fixed to an outer peripheral side of the traveling path of the connecting link and on which a sorting tray for placing articles is placed. And a guide roller guide surface of a pair of rails disposed on both left and right sides of the traveling path between the carriage that is tiltably supported and the passing position of the connecting link and the sorting tray. A guide roller rotatably supported by the carriage about an axis perpendicular to both the traveling direction of the shaft and the axial direction of the connecting shaft, and a guide roller provided at a fixed position inside the traveling path so that the reaction plate faces when passing therethrough. A primary-side stator unit that drives the connecting link via the plate. It is desirable that the primary-side stator unit is disposed to face each of the horizontal portions that are vertically parallel to the traveling path of the connecting link.

[0011]

When the reaction plate on the secondary side facing the primary-side stator unit receives propulsion driving force from the primary-side stator unit, the connection link provided with the reaction plate is driven. The driving force is transmitted to the front and rear connection links connected by the connection shaft, and all the connection links connected endlessly circulate in a vertical plane along a traveling path having a horizontal portion that is vertically parallel. It is driven to run.

At this time, the respective connecting links are guided by running rollers provided at both ends of the connecting shaft in contact with running roller support surfaces of a pair of rails arranged on both right and left sides of the running path. The guide rollers provided on the carriage are guided by guide roller guide surfaces formed on the left and right rails to prevent the carriage from meandering.

[0013] When the connecting link to which the carriage is fixed moves on a horizontal portion above the traveling path, articles are placed on a sorting tray on the upper portion of the carriage at an upstream side thereof.
When the carriage moves to the designated sorting position, the sorting tray is tilted sideways by a tip-up mechanism provided on the side of the passing position of the carriage, and the articles on the sorting tray are moved to the sorting position. Is discharged to

In the case where the primary stator units are arranged so as to oppose each of the horizontal portions that are vertically parallel to the traveling path of the connecting link, the respective primary stator units are endless. Both the article transport side and the return side of the multiple connected links are driven, and the tensile force acting between the connected links is equalized.

[0015]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a linear motor-driven sorting apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. In the sorting apparatus 1 shown in these drawings, a large number of sorting trays 2 are linear motors. When the articles placed on the sorting tray 2 are conveyed from the article carry-in sections 3 and 4 to the designated sorting position, the articles are loaded. The sorting tray 2 tilts sideways and is discharged onto the chute plate 5, slides down its surface and is discharged into a designated one of the article cases 6 arranged in a large number on both sides in the conveying direction of the sorting tray 2. It has become so.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrow. As shown in FIG. 3, the chute plate 5 is formed in a cross-sectional mountain shape. It is elongated in the direction.

The chute plate 5 is assembled in such a manner that a plurality of chute plates are connected in the longitudinal direction over the entire area where the cases 6 are arranged to form a single descent surface, but the descent surface is short and steep. Because of the slope, the articles discharged from the sorting tray 2 slide down the chute plate 5 at the shortest distance and are surely put into the designated case 6.

In this embodiment, the chute plate 5 also serves as an upper cover of the machine frame 7, and the chute plate 5
Thereby, it is possible to prevent the articles and the like on the tray 2 from falling into the machine frame 7.

At the center in the width direction of the machine frame 7 of the sorting apparatus 1, a rail 8 formed of a pair of left and right aluminum extruded members is vertically spaced along the longitudinal direction of the machine frame 7. They are arranged in columns. A plurality of connection links 9A, which are connected endlessly alternately between the pair of rails 8 facing each other,
9B passes.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, these connecting links 9A and 9B are formed in a flat plate shape in the up-down direction, and both right and left sides are vertically bent, and both ends are horizontally connected. The shafts 10 are mutually flexibly connected to each other.

Running rollers 11 are rotatably attached to both ends of the connecting shaft 10, respectively, and can run freely on horizontal roller supporting surfaces h formed on the left and right rails 8 as shown in FIG. Supported.

As shown in FIG. 4, a carriage 12 is attached to the connecting link 9A on the outer peripheral side of these connecting links 9A and 9B which are connected endlessly. A tray base 14 to which the sorting tray 2 is attached on the upper surface via a pivot pin 13 is supported so as to be tiltable to the left and right sides.

An index plate 15 is attached to the lower surface of the tray base 14 so as to be able to swing up and down by a rotating pin 16, and a plate provided on the bottom surface of the index plate 15 by the urging force of a compression spring 17 at all times. A concave portion (not shown) formed in the cam 18
The tray base 14 is maintained in a horizontal posture by engaging with an index pin 19 fixed to the carriage 12, and at this time, the sorting tray 2 is also horizontal as shown by a solid line in FIG.

The index plate 15 is brought close to the left and right sides of the traveling path of the carriage 12 by the rollers R of the tip-up mechanism T provided on the machine frame 7 contacting the lower surface on either the left or right side. When pivoted upward around the pivot pin 16 against the urging force of the compression spring 17, the plate cam 18 integrated with the index plate 15 separates from the index pin 19, and the concave portion of the plate cam 18 and the index pin The engagement with 19 is released.

Then, the tray base 14 to which the sorting tray 2 is fixed is pushed up by the rollers R via the index plate 15 and tilts to the opposite side to the rollers R, so that the articles placed on the sorting tray 2 Is discharged to the article case 6 provided on the side of the machine frame 7 at the sorting position via the chute plate 5 on the sorting side.

Here, as the mechanism for tilting the tray base 14, the same mechanism as that used in the conventional sorting apparatus is used. After the articles are discharged, the tilted sorting tray 2 is returned to the horizontal position again by means not shown.

A guide roller shaft 20 is fixed to the center of the carriage 12.
A guide roller 21 is rotatably mounted around zero. The guide roller 21 is guided between the guide roller guide surfaces v formed on the opposite sides of the pair of rails 8 as shown in FIG. 3, and regulates the deviation of the running position of the carriage 12 in the left-right direction. ing.

As shown in FIG. 5, the right and left widths of the connecting link 9A are formed to be wider than the width of the connecting link 9B, and the connecting links 9A are provided inside the right and left vertical portions of the connecting link 9A projecting forward and backward. The vertical portions on the 9B side are overlapped with each other, and the connecting shaft 10 passes through these portions.

A reaction plate 22 made of an aluminum alloy, which is a secondary side of the linear motor, is fixed to the bottom surface of each of the connecting links 9A and 9B by screws. All of these reaction plates 22 have the same shape, and the width thereof is substantially equal to the width of the connecting link 9A.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the driving propulsive force is received from the primary stator unit 23 fixed inside the machine frame 7 and the endless connecting links 9A, 9B are connected to the rail 8. The vehicle is driven to travel along.

The primary-side stator unit 23 is composed of a coil and a magnetic core that generate a moving magnetic field along the running direction of the connecting links 9A and 9B. It is designed to generate force.

In this embodiment, the upper and lower horizontal portions of the traveling path of the connecting links 9A and 9B are guided in order to uniformly apply the driving force to the connecting links 9A and 9B connected endlessly. A plurality of rails 8 are arranged at intervals in the transport direction.

Each primary stator unit 2
A cooling fan 24 is provided for every three. Cooling fan 2
By cooling the primary-side stator unit 23 at 4, the driving efficiency can be improved.

Although not shown, the machine frame 7 of the sorting apparatus 1 is continuously connected to both ends of a rail 8 which guides the upper and lower horizontal portions of the traveling route of these connecting links 9A and 9B. A reversing rail curved in a vertical plane is provided for guiding the traveling roller 10 and the guide roller 21 to move the carriage 12 from an upper horizontal portion to a lower horizontal portion.

In the above-described embodiment, the connecting links 9A and 9B are made of a steel plate having a flat shape up and down because the connecting links 9A and 9B have the advantages that they are lightweight, have high rigidity against twisting, and are easy to mount the reaction plate. If a high strength is obtained, the connecting link itself may be shaped like a block, a rod, or the like.

In this embodiment, the carriages 12 are attached to the wider connection link 9A among the connection links 9A and 9B alternately arranged alternately. However, the carriage 12 may be attached to the connection link 9B. Further, the link 9
If the length of the sorting tray is shorter than the lengths of A and 9B, it is possible to attach a carriage to all the connecting links.

In this embodiment, the running roller support surface h for guiding the running roller 11 and the guide roller 21 respectively.
Although both the rail 8 and the guide roller guide surface v are formed on the rail 8, the rail having the traveling roller support surface and the rail having the guide roller guide surface may be formed separately.

Further, in this embodiment, the primary-side stator unit 23 is opposed to each of the horizontal parts vertically parallel to the traveling path of the connecting links 9A and 9B. It may be provided so as to face any one of the portions.

In the present embodiment, each one
One cooling fan 2 for each of the secondary stator units 23
4, the heat generated by the plurality of primary-side stator units by a large-capacity cooling fan may be collectively discharged to the outside of the machine frame. Furthermore, when the heat generation amount of the primary side stator unit 23 is small and the ventilation into the machine casing 7 is performed well, the cooling fan may be omitted.

[0040]

As described above, according to the sorting device of the present invention, the traveling rollers are provided at both ends of the coupling shaft of the coupling link, and the inner surface of the coupling link on the traveling path is constituted by the reaction plate. Thereby, the reversal turning radius in the vertical plane of the carriage at both ends of the traveling path can be reduced, and as a result, the interval between the upper and lower horizontal portions of the traveling path of the connecting link can be reduced, so that the device Height can be reduced.

Further, since the head between the sorting tray from which the articles are discharged and the floor on which the sorting device is installed can be reduced, the sliding length is long like a conventional sorting device having a structure in which a carriage is circulated in a vertical plane. A sorting chute is not required, and the space around the sorting device can be used effectively.

Further, since the distance between the traveling roller and the reaction plate receiving the propulsion driving force from the primary stator unit is short, vibrations generated during traveling of the carriage can be suppressed, and each of them can be suppressed. Since the connecting link has the reaction plate, the driving propulsion force has little fluctuation, and quiet and stable operation can be performed.

In the case where the primary stator units are arranged so as to face respective horizontal portions parallel to the upper and lower sides of the traveling route, the respective primary stator units are connected endlessly. To drive both the article transport side and the return side of a large number of connecting links, the driving force can be increased, and the pulling force acting between the connecting links can be made uniform. And can cope with a sorting operation of various kinds of articles.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing one embodiment of a sorting device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a sorting device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a main structure of a sorting device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view of the connecting link in the sorting device of the present invention as viewed from the bottom surface side.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a main part structure of a conventional sorting device.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part structure of a conventional sorting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sorting apparatus 2 Sorting tray 3, 4 Article carrying-in part 5 Chute plate 6 Article case 7 Machine frame 8 Rail 9A, 9B Connecting link 10 Connecting shaft 11 Running roller 12 Carriage 13 Pivot pin 14 Tray base 15 Index plate 16 Rotating pin 17 Compression spring 18 Plate cam 19 Index pin 20 Guide roller shaft 21 Guide roller 22 Reaction plate 23 Primary stator unit 24 Cooling fan

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-176213 (JP, A) JP-A-1-111626 (JP, U) JP-A-57-135519 (JP, U) 29367 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 54/00-54/02 B65G 47/34-47/51 B60L 13/02-13/10 B61B 13/08

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A circulating drive in a vertical plane along a traveling path having horizontal portions that are vertically bent parallel to each other and endlessly connected to each other by a horizontal coupling shaft, and is provided on an inner peripheral side of the traveling path. A large number of connecting links, each of which is constituted by a reaction plate whose surface is a secondary side of a linear motor, and a pair of rail running rollers provided at both ends of each connecting shaft and arranged on both left and right sides of the running path A rotatable traveling roller guided on the support surface, a carriage fixed to the outer peripheral side of the traveling path of the connecting link and supporting the sorting tray on which the articles are placed so as to be able to tilt to the side, and a connecting link and the sorting tray, respectively. Are guided by guide roller guide surfaces of a pair of rails arranged on the left and right sides of the traveling path between the passing positions of A guide roller rotatably supported by the carriage; and a primary stator unit provided at a fixed position inside the traveling path so that the reaction plate faces when passing therethrough, and driving the connection link via the reaction plate. A linear motor driven sorting device, comprising: 2. The linear motor-driven sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the primary stator unit is disposed so as to face each of the horizontal portions vertically parallel to the traveling path of the connecting link. .