JP3369852B2 - Article supply apparatus and method - 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 supply apparatus and method capable of reliably supplying a predetermined number of randomly sent articles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an apparatus for randomly sending articles, taking out a predetermined number from them, and transferring them to the next step is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a vibrator feeder 50 continuously transfers articles 51 in one direction. And the transfer member 52
When a predetermined number of the articles 51 are placed on the article 51, the delivery member 52 is rotated to be in an inclined state so that the article 53 is supplied to the container 53 standing by below the delivery member 52.

However, the supply of the articles by this device is inaccurate because a plurality of articles are placed on the delivery member and overlapped with each other or they are intermittently formed. There was a problem that the supply amount was not constant.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, in which a transporting end portion of a delivery means for delivering an article corresponds to a transporting means for adsorbing and delivering the article. , The conveying means is provided with a take-out means for taking out articles, and a supply means for carrying out the taken-out article to the next step after accumulating a predetermined number of the taken-out articles is provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article supply apparatus and a method therefor capable of reliably supplying a predetermined number of articles.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The means of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object is a delivery means for randomly storing articles and delivering them in one direction, and an article corresponding to a transfer end portion of the delivery means. Transporting means for sucking and delivering the articles, taking-out means for taking out the articles from the carrying means, supply means for storing a predetermined number of the taken-out articles and then carrying them out to the next step, and suction force by the carrying means. Collect goods that are not subject to
The conveying means is rotated in one direction by the driving means and has a cylindrical rotating body having an article receiving surface on its surface, and the article receiving surface is provided with one or more holes. is not composed of a suction hole of the article is connected to a suction source, the transfer end of said delivery means, rotation of said rotary member
The supply means is provided so as to be located at the top, and the frame has a frame body having an opening at the bottom corresponding to the lower side of the take-out means, and a lid body that is openably and closably attached to the opening of the frame body by an operating means. , The take-out means in cooperation with the actuating means
Ri Do and a scraped counting means for detecting an article to be fed to said stile body by the returning means, said rotating
If the article that does not correspond to the suction hole of the body
The article receiving surface slides along with the rotation from the top and the rotation
It is in the configuration of an article supply device that is dropped from a body and collected .

[0006] Then, the article is sent to a random, the
Conveying means comprising a rotating body having suction holes formed in the article receiving surface
Feed to the rotary top of the articles corresponding to the suction holes provided in the rotary body rotating transport adsorbed and held, passing into the supply means scrapes off the extracting means, the supply hand
Detecting the scraped-off article in the step,
When the number of articles reaches a predetermined number, the articles are supplied to the next step, and the articles that do not correspond to the suction holes in the conveying means are moved from the rotation top of the rotating body in the conveying means to the next step.
Sliding the article receiving surface along with the rolling and returning from the rotating body
In the method of supplying an article, the article is dropped to the means, returned to the delivery means, and redelivered to the transport means.

[0007]

The present invention configured as described above has the following operations.

The article sent at random is sent out by the sending means onto the article receiving surface of the rotating body in the conveying means having the suction holes formed in the peripheral surface.

Then, when the articles corresponding to the suction holes are suction-held and rotationally transferred, they are transferred into the supply means by the take-out means, and when the number of objects reaches a predetermined number by the counting means, the actuating means is operated. Then, the lid of the frame is opened and supplied to the next step.

Further, the articles which do not correspond to the suction holes in the conveying means or which are overlapped with each other are slid on the receiving surface of the conveying means, returned to the delivering means through the returning means, and redelivered to the conveying means.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the article supply apparatus and method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3, A is an article supply device,
The article b is, for example, a relatively lightweight and formed in a thin piece, and the article b is put into the container c by a predetermined amount by continuous automatic operation.

The structure is basically composed of the sending means 1, the conveying means 2, the taking-out means 3 and the supplying means 4.

The above-mentioned sending-out means 1 randomly receives a large number of articles b and sends them out in one direction, and a conventional vibrator feeder or the like can be used. The sending-out means 1 is aligned from the end portion thereof via the chute 1a. Taken out.

The above-mentioned conveying means 2 is adapted to adsorb the article b and deliver it to the next supplying means 4 in correspondence with the transfer end portion of the chute 1a of the delivering means 1.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, a predetermined suction chamber 7a is formed in a cylindrical shape having a predetermined length and a predetermined diameter.
Is formed, is rotated in one direction by a driving means 5 such as a motor, and has a rotating body 7 having an article receiving surface 6 on its surface, and a suction source by piercing the article 7 at one or a plurality of points. 8 is connected to the suction hole 9 of the article b, and the tip of the chute 1a of the delivery means 1 is provided so as to be located at the top of rotation of the rotating body 7.

The suction holes 9 are formed at one location or at a plurality of locations at intervals in a part of the peripheral surface of the article b, and the size and weight of the article b or the state of the contents of the container are determined. The hole diameter and the number of holes are selected accordingly, and the suction force is such that it does not drop during the rotational transfer of the rotating body 7 and does not hinder it from being easily taken out by the taking-out means 3 described later.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the suction hole 9 is not limited to the case where the hole 9 is simply formed in the rotating body 7, and as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the hole 9 is formed. The peripheral edge portion 9a may be projected, or, as shown in FIG. 3C, a concave or groove-shaped article storage portion 9b may be formed.

The above-mentioned take-out means 3 takes out the article b adsorbed in the suction hole 9 from the conveying means 2. The take-out means 3 is located at the portion of the rotating body 7 located at the bottom of the rotation, and its tip is on the article receiving surface 6. A corresponding plate-shaped scraping member 10 is provided, and the article b adsorbed in the suction hole 9 swivels from the top of rotation to the bottom of rotation as the rotating body 7 rotates. , The article b at the tip of the scraping member 10
When it hits, the suction force is lost and the product falls due to its own weight.

Further, this take-out means 3 can be re-transferred to the rotary top while being adsorbed to the rotary body 7 when it is not fed to the supply means 4 which will be described later, and the scraping-off means described above is used. The base of the member 10 is rotatably supported by a pivot 11, and the scraping member 10 is provided by an operating member 12 such as an air cylinder so that the scraping member 10 can be brought into contact with and separated from the article receiving surface 6 of the rotating body 7.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the scraping member 10 of the take-out means 3 has its tip end always directed to the article receiving surface 6 of the rotating body 7 by means of the spring hinge 30 as shown in FIG. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the contact member is biased to come into contact with a predetermined pressure.

The above-mentioned supply means 4 stores a predetermined number of articles b taken out from the conveying means 2 and then carries them out to the next step, for example, the container c, and corresponds to the lower side of the taking-out means 3. A frame 14 having an opening 13 at the bottom thereof, a lid 16 attached to the opening 13 of the frame 14 so as to be openable / closable by an operating means 15, and an article fed into the frame 14 in cooperation with the operating means 15. counting means 17 for detecting b.

As shown in FIG. 2, this frame 14 corresponds to a plurality of rows when a plurality of rows of suction holes 9 are provided in the lengthwise direction in the rotating body 7 of the conveying means 2. Provide each row.

The actuating means 15 of the lid 16 pivotally attaches the base of the lid 16 to a pivot 18 so that the actuating member 19 such as an air cylinder is linked to the lid 16. There is.

Further, the counting means 17 comprises a detection member such as a photoelectric tube or a proximity switch, a counter operated by this detection signal, and control means for controlling these, and the control means is predetermined. The input numerical value is input, and the operating member 12 and the operating means 15 are operated based on this data.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 20 denotes a returning means, and the article b transferred to the conveying means 2 by the delivering means 1 does not correspond to the suction hole 9 of the rotating body 7 and is placed on the article receiving surface 6 other than the hole. An article b that collects the placed objects and that does not receive the suction force that drops with the rotation from the rotating top of the rotating body 7.
Is a transfer member 2 such as a conveyor provided at the bottom of the conveying means 2.
It drops on 1.

Then, the article b is returned from the transfer member 21 to the delivery means 1 via the relay member 22 and is again carried into the transport means 2.

Therefore, according to the apparatus A of the present invention, the articles b randomly placed in the delivery means 1 are delivered by the delivery means 1.
Are aligned and delivered one by one from the chute 1a onto the article receiving surface 6 of the rotating body 7 in the conveying means 2.

Then, the article b corresponding to the suction hole 9 on the article receiving surface 6 is moved integrally with the rotating body 7 by the suction force of the suction source 8.

Further, the articles b that do not correspond to the suction holes 9 of the article receiving surface 6, that is, the articles b that do not receive the suction force and the articles b other than the suction holes 9 that are passed over in the suction holes 9 are overlapped. As the rotating body 7 rotates, the supporting force of the article receiving surface 6 is lost, and the article 7 slides off the rotating body 7 and falls on the transfer member 21 at the lower part of the rotating body 7 in the returning means 20 to remove the relay member 22. It is returned to the sending means 1 via.

On the other hand, when the article b held in the suction hole 9 reaches the rotating bottom of the rotating body 7, the scraping member 1 of the take-out means 3 corresponding to the article receiving surface 6 scrapes the article b, so that the article b falls. Then, it is sent to the supply means 4 below it.

Then, the counting means 17 operates the operating means 15 on the basis of the data inputted to the control means, and is supplied into the container c which is placed on the transfer conveyor 25 and is transferred intermittently or at a predetermined speed.

The suction holes 9 provided in the rotating body 7 are provided at a constant pitch so that a predetermined time is obtained until the suction holes 9 are scraped off by the take-out means 3 and stored in the container c. The rotating body 7 is also rotated so as to obtain the timing with this predetermined pitch. At this timing, when the counting means 17 detects the amount of the article b of the predetermined data in the frame body 14, ,
In order to prevent excessive supply to the container c, the operation member 12 associated with the scraping member 10 of the take-out means 3 is operated to stop scraping of the article b adsorbed on the article receiving surface 6, In the adsorption state of b, it moves to the rotating top again.

In the apparatus A of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the suction hole 9 of the conveying means 2 and the frame 1 of the supplying means 4 are provided.
By providing a large number of 4 individually, it is possible to arrange a large number of containers c corresponding to the lower side of the supply means 4, and it is possible to perform efficient processing by associating different types of articles b and containers c.

[0035]

As described above, the article supply apparatus and method according to the present invention can supply articles sent at random to the next process at high speed and with high accuracy in the number of articles, and the supply amount can be kept constant. This is a measurable item, and there is an extraordinary effect that the waste of the articles is eliminated and the articles can be supplied at a low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the outline of an embodiment of an apparatus for carrying out an article supply method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing each example of a suction hole of the conveying means in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a conventional article supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

b goods 1 sending means 2 transportation means 3 taking out means 4 supply means 5 Drive means 6 Article receiving surface 7 rotating body 8 suction source 9 suction holes 13 openings 14 frame 15 Operating means 17 counting means 20 means of return

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A delivery means for randomly storing articles to be delivered in one direction, a delivery means for adsorbing and delivering the articles corresponding to a transfer end portion of the delivery means, and an ejection for taking out the articles from the delivery means. supply means for unloading to the next step after the means, a defined number of the retrieved article was 蓄溜, before
Return to collect articles that are not subject to suction force by the transport means
The transporting means is rotated in one direction by the driving means and has a cylindrical rotating body having an article receiving surface on the surface thereof, and the conveying means is provided at one or more locations on the article receiving surface. A suction hole of the article connected to the suction source, and the transfer end of the delivery means.
The end portion is provided so as to be located at the top of rotation of the rotating body.
The supply means is linked to the operating means by a frame body having an opening at the bottom corresponding to the lower side of the takeout means, a lid body which is openably and closably attached to the opening of the frame body by an operating means. hand
Ri Do and a counting means for detecting an article to be fed to the scraped said stile body by said extraction means, said returning means does not correspond to the suction hole of the rotating body the
An article from the top of rotation of the rotating body
An article supply device characterized in that an article receiving surface is slid and dropped from the rotating body to be collected . 2. An article received at random is sent
In a transport means consisting of a rotating body with suction holes on its surface.
It is sent to the rotating top, and the articles corresponding to the suction holes provided in the rotating body are suction-held and rotatably transferred, by the take-out means.
Scraped off and handed over to the supply means,
Then, the scraped article is detected and the total of the article is measured.
When the number of objects reaches a predetermined number, it is supplied to the next step, and the articles that do not correspond to the suction holes in the conveying means are accompanied by the rotation from the top of the rotating body of the rotating means in the conveying means.
Sliding the article receiving surface from the rotating body to the returning means.
An article supply method, characterized in that the article is dropped , returned to the delivery means, and resent to the transportation means.