JP3376473B2 - Article transfer device - 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 device configured to stack a plurality of articles while pushing them and to transfer the stacked articles to a conveyor arranged on the downstream side in the pushing direction. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a device for stacking hot cakes disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-49556 is available as an article transfer device. Article transfer device disclosed in this publication
In the (stacking device), an upper stage receiving roller and a lower stage receiving roller are provided at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and the lower stage receiving roller is arranged on the downstream side of the upper stage receiving roller in the article transfer direction, and on each receiving roller, It is configured to supply the articles (hot cakes) via the corresponding relay conveyors, respectively. Further, above the upper receiving rollers, a stacking conveyor device having a pushing arm for transferring the articles on both receiving rollers onto a supply belt arranged on the downstream side in the article transfer direction is arranged.

That is, by operating the stacking conveyor device at the timing when the articles are respectively supplied onto the upper and lower receiving rollers via the respective relay conveyors,
The pushing arm first contacts the article on the upper receiving roller and pushes it toward the lower receiving roller. Then, this article slides on the upper receiving roller and falls on the upper surface of the article on the lower receiving roller to be stacked. Further, the articles in the stacked state are pushed by a pushing arm and transferred onto the supply belt, and the belt is used to feed the group of articles to the packaging machine.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned article transfer device, when the articles on the upper receiving roller are pushed by the pushing arm to be stacked on the articles on the lower receiving roller, the lower surface of the article on the upper side and the lower step of the article. The upper surface of the article on the side was rubbed. Therefore, the surface (upper and lower surfaces) may be damaged depending on the properties of the article. Further, as described above, since the articles are transferred to the supply belt in a stacked state, the transfer of the articles becomes unstable when the articles are tall or the number of stacking steps is set to be large, and the articles are stacked. There is a risk that the articles will collapse. On the other hand, when supplying articles in a stacked state to the packaging machine, a supply conveyor (for example, a pusher conveyor or a bucket) in which necessary article storage sections are formed along the supply direction so that the stacked articles do not collapse. It is preferable to continuously rotate the conveyor and the like). However, in the apparatus of the above-mentioned publication, the stacked articles are transferred onto a flat supply belt, and a means effective when transferring the articles onto such a supply conveyor is particularly disclosed. Absent.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned problems inherent in the above-mentioned conventional techniques, and is proposed in order to suitably solve the problems, and articles can be pushed and stacked without breaking. At the same time, it is an object of the present invention to provide an article transfer device capable of reliably transferring stacked articles to a conveyor in which a moving article storage section is formed.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to preferably achieve the intended purpose, the article transfer device according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of articles positioned with a required height difference,
An article transfer device that pushes and stacks articles by a horizontally moving push member, and transfers the articles in the stacked state to a conveyor having an article storage section that moves in a direction intersecting the pushing direction, in which the articles are placed. A plurality of supports, which are vertically spaced apart so that articles can be stacked,
The placed article to said each support, comprises a pusher capable of pushing member toward said conveyor, said with each support and pushing member is moved to the conveyor in the same direction, the pressing member is the conveyor Articles mounted on each of the supports
Was pusher, when the pressing member reaches the substantially pusher end, each supporting
While being transported to the article storage compartment of the conveyor stacked the article spaced from the lifting body, while the product <br/> article to be pusher is possess the said article storage compartment from said each support,
In the same direction as the conveyor of each of the support and the pressing member
Wherein the moving speed of the structure to be substantially the same as the moving speed of the article storage compartment.

[0007]

The articles are placed on the upper and lower supports, respectively. The articles placed on each support are pushed toward the conveyer by the pushing member, and when the pushing member reaches the substantially pushing end, the articles are stacked, and the articles in the stacked state are stored in the conveyer. Transferred to a parcel. During the transfer of the article, while the article to be pushed is transferred from the support to the article storage section, the support and the pressing member move in the same direction at substantially the same speed as the moving speed of the conveyor, so that the article storage section of the conveyor. The articles are surely transferred to. When a plurality of pushing members and supports are provided at substantially the same intervals as a plurality of article storage compartments provided at equal intervals on the conveyor, a plurality of stacked article groups are transferred to the corresponding article storage compartments at once. And its processing capacity is increased.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an article transfer device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings with reference to preferred embodiments. For convenience of description, a direction parallel to the moving direction of the supply conveyor (article supply direction) is referred to as a width direction, and a direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction is referred to as a front-back direction. Further, in what is referred to as the front-back direction, the downstream side (the supply conveyor 12 side) of the article transfer device in the article transfer direction is the front side, and the upstream side (the introduction conveyor 13 side) is the rear side. For example, in the drawing of FIG. 1, the upper side is the rear side of the article transfer device and the lower side is the front side.

As shown in FIG. 1, the article transfer apparatus 10 according to the embodiment has an article 11 whose conveyance direction coincides with the width direction.
Introduction conveyor 13 and a packaging machine (not shown) arranged in parallel with the conveyor 13 at a predetermined distance in the front-rear direction.
Is placed between the supply conveyor 12 and the introduction conveyor 1
A plurality of articles 11 gathered in the required arrangement at three gathering positions
Are transferred to the supply conveyor 12 in a stacked state.

(Regarding Introducing Conveyor and Supplying Conveyor) A stopper (not shown) for the articles 11 is provided at the conveying end of the introducing conveyor 13 to stop a plurality of articles 11 conveyed from the upstream side. , At the gathering position (in the embodiment, there are 5 rows in the carrying direction and 3 columns in the direction intersecting the carrying direction). Then, the 15 articles 11 thus gathered together are handled by the robot 24 described later.
The article transfer device 10 is configured to transfer the articles. The article 11 handled in the embodiment has a flange portion (projection portion) 11a protruding outward on the outer periphery of its upper portion (see FIG. 3).

In the supply conveyor 12, lugs (not shown) are attached to the endless chain at equal intervals to define article storage sections 12a between a pair of lugs adjacent to each other in the traveling direction. The article storage sections 12a are continuously formed at equal intervals in the moving direction. Further, on a machine frame (not shown) that supports the supply conveyor 12, an article placing plate (not shown) is horizontally arranged along the horizontal moving part of the endless chain, and the article placing plate is placed above the placing plate. Each lug extends and is configured to be movable, and the article mounting plate forms the bottom surface of the article housing section 12a. Further, the upper and lower positions of the upper surface of the article placing plate are located on the lower support 20c, which will be described later, on the flange portion 11a.
It is set to be substantially the same (slightly lower) as the vertical position of the bottom surface of the article when the article 11 placed via a is transferred to the supply conveyor 12. Then, the stacked articles 11 placed on the article mounting plate are configured to be supplied to a packaging machine (body-wrapping packaging machine) on the downstream side by a continuously traveling lug. The article storage section 12a that is continuous along the moving direction of the supply conveyor 12 has upper, middle, and lower supports 20a, 20b, 20 that will be described later in the front-rear direction.
It is arranged so as to be close (adjacent) to the front end of c.

(Regarding the schematic structure of the article transfer apparatus) In the article transfer apparatus 10, a plurality of articles (five corresponding to the number of rows gathered by the introduction conveyor 13) to be the transfer paths of the articles 11 to the supply conveyor 12 are provided. The article storage space 16 is defined in parallel in the moving direction (width direction) of the supply conveyor 12, and the article storage body 16 is movable in the width direction on the upper surface of the housing 18 which is the main body of the article transfer device 10. It is arranged. In addition, in the article transfer device 10, a push member support 22 having a push member 15 that pushes the articles 11 facing the respective article storage spaces 14 toward the supply conveyor 12 is arranged so as to be movable in the front-back and width directions. Set up. The article container 16 and the pressing member support 22 are configured to be moved by the drive mechanism 62 provided in the housing 18.

(Regarding the article container) The article container 16
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the base member 26 extending in the width direction of the housing 18 and the partition member standing on the base member 26 in parallel at a predetermined distance in the width direction. As 6
The article accommodating space 14 is basically formed by a pair of guide plates 17, and the article accommodating spaces 14 are defined between the pair of guide plates 17 and 17 adjacent to each other in the width direction. In addition, the intervals in the width direction (moving direction of the supply conveyor 12) of the five article accommodation spaces 14 defined in the article container 16 are the intervals of the article accommodation sections 12a (lugs) defined in the supply conveyor 12. Is set to be almost the same. The article storage space 1 of the embodiment
4 is set to be longer than the length in which the three articles 11 corresponding to the number of rows gathered by the introduction conveyor 13 are separated in the front-rear direction so as not to overlap in the up-down direction.
(See Figure 4).

On the facing surface portions 17a, 17a of the pair of guide plates 17, 17 that define the article accommodating spaces 14, upper support members 20a, 20a, middle support members 20b, 20b and lower support members facing in the width direction are provided. The bodies 20c and 20c are vertically spaced apart from each other by a distance slightly larger than the height of the article 11 (the article 1
They are arranged in three stages with an interval (one stackable). The upper supports 20a, 20a, the middle supports 20b,
The space between the lower support 20b and the lower supports 20c, 20c in the width direction is set to a size at which the article 11 can be placed via the flange 11a. In addition, each support 20a, 2
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, 0b and 20c are bar members each having a rectangular cross section, and each of the support members 20a and 20c.
The lengths of 0b and 20c in the front-rear direction are set such that the one disposed in the lower stage is longer than the one disposed in the upper stage by about one article. That is, each support 20
In the state where the front ends of the a, 20b, and 20c close to the supply conveyor 12 are aligned at the same position, the middle support 20b with respect to the rear end of the upper support 20a (the upstream end of the pushing member 15 in the feeding direction of the article 11). The rear end is located rearward (upstream side in the pushing direction) by the amount that one article 11 can be placed, and the rear end of the lower support 20c is one end relative to the rear end of the middle support 20b. The article 11 of FIG. As a result, the articles 11 can be placed on the middle supports 20b, 20b and the lower supports 20c, 20c from above without interfering with the supports immediately above (see FIG. 5).

A rail 30 having a required length is laid on the upper surface of the casing 18 along the width direction of the casing 18, and the base portion 26 is arranged on the bottom of the rail 30. It is slidably arranged via the three slide members 28. As shown in FIG. 2, one end of a turnbuckle 34 is rotatably supported at the center of the base portion 26 in the width direction via a projecting piece 32 projecting downward, and the other end of the turnbuckle 34 is rotatably supported. The end is rotatably supported by the tip of the first arm 38a of the short L-shaped lever 38 that constitutes the drive mechanism 62, and the first arm 38a of the lever 38 swings in the width direction. The article container 16 is configured to reciprocate in the width direction parallel to the moving direction of the supply conveyor 12.

(Regarding the pushing member support) The article container 1
A moving plate 42 which is reciprocally movable forward and backward in the front-back direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the supply conveyor 12 is arranged above the moving member 6.
Are supported so as to slide in the width direction parallel to the moving direction of the supply conveyor 12. As shown in FIG. 1, the moving plate 42 is a plate body having a size slightly shorter than the width of the housing 18, and is a lower surface near the end of the supply conveyor 12 located on the downstream side in the article supply direction. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a slider 46 is vertically provided on the slider.
Is a side plate 4 that is erected at one end of the housing 18 in the corresponding width direction.
8 is slidably engaged with a guide rail 50 that is horizontally arranged inside and extends in the front-rear direction. Two rollers 54, 54 are rotatably supported via a roller holder 52 on the lower surface near the end of the moving plate 42 located on the upstream side of the supply conveyor 12 in the article supply direction. Both rollers 54, 54 are movable in a pair of upper and lower guide rails 58, 58 extending in the front-rear direction, which are horizontally arranged inside a side plate 56 erected at the other end in the corresponding width direction of the housing 18. Engaged. That is, the moving plate 42 is reciprocally arranged along the guide rail 50 and the guide rails 58, 58 arranged in the housing 18 while maintaining a horizontal posture in the front-rear direction.

Block-shaped support holders 44 and 45 are vertically provided on the lower surface of the movable plate 42 so as to be spaced apart from each other in the width direction. One of the support holders 44 has one end of a turnbuckle 60 as shown in FIG. The turnbuckle 60 is rotatably supported, and the other end of the turnbuckle 60 is rotatably supported on the tip of the first arm 66a of the long L-shaped lever 66 that constitutes the drive mechanism 62. Has been done. As shown in FIG. 4, one end of a turnbuckle 68 is rotatably supported by the other support holder 45.
The other end of the lever is rotatably supported by the upper end of another lever 70 that constitutes the drive mechanism 62. That is, as will be described later, by integrally swinging the first arm 66a of the long L-shaped lever 66 and the other lever 70 in the front-rear direction, the moving plate 42 reciprocates in the front-rear direction. There is.

The pushing member support 22 includes a rod-shaped base portion 76 extending in the width direction, and a plurality of (three in the embodiment) sliders 74 arranged on the base portion 76 at a predetermined distance in the width direction. Composed of. The pushing member support 22 is slidably disposed on the guide rail 72, which is disposed on the upper surface of the front end portion of the moving plate 42 and extends in the width direction, via three sliders 74, and moves. It is configured to be movable in the width direction (moving direction of the supply conveyor 12) with respect to the plate 42. Also, short stays 78 are provided at both widthwise ends of the rod-shaped base 76.
The rollers 80 are rotatably supported by the respective rollers.

2 and 3 are provided outside the guide plates 17 located at both ends of the article container 16 in the width direction.
As shown in, the guide rail 82 extending horizontally in the front-rear direction.
Are arranged respectively, and the corresponding rollers 80 arranged on the rod-shaped base portion 76 are movably abutted on the respective guide rails 82. That is, the pushing member support 22 moves in the front-rear direction along the article container 16 via the rollers 80, 80 along with the moving plate 42 that reciprocates in the front-rear direction of the housing 18 by the pair of levers 66, 70. It is configured to reciprocate and to reciprocate in the same direction along with the article container 16 moving in the moving direction of the supply conveyor 12.

On the rod-shaped base 76, five pushing members 15 extending in the vertical direction are arranged at equal intervals corresponding to the five article housing spaces 14 defined by the article housing 16.
Each pushing member 15 is set to have a width dimension smaller than the spacing between the upper supports 20a, 20a, the middle supports 20b, 20b, and the lower supports 20c, 20c facing each other in the article housing space 14, and The vertical dimension from the upper end of the pressing member support 22 to the lower supports 20c, 20c is set. That is, the articles 11 placed on the upper supports 20a, 20a, the middle supports 20b, 20b, and the lower supports 20c, 20c are pushed up and down while being pushed by the pushing member 15 that moves forward in the article housing spaces 14. It is configured to be stacked in the direction and transferred to each article storage section 12a of the supply conveyor 12. In the embodiment, the pushing member 15
When the pushing member 15 reaches the pushing end in the vicinity of the supply conveyor 12, the respective articles 11 pushed by the corresponding upper support bodies 20a, 20a, middle support bodies 20b, 20b or lower support bodies 20c, 20c, It is designed to be completely stacked apart from 20c.

(Driving Mechanism) The housing 18 has a driving mechanism 6 for driving the article container 16 and the pushing member support 22.
2 are provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the drive mechanism 62 includes a large-diameter gear 84, a first cam 86 close to the large-diameter gear 84, and a second cam 8 close to the first cam 86.
8, a rotary shaft 6 in which these members are rotatably supported by a frame-shaped holder 90 arranged at the bottom of the housing 18.
4 are arranged in common and are configured to rotate integrally. As shown in FIG. 4, the large-diameter gear 84 has a drive shaft 94 which is connected to a drive source (not shown) of the supply conveyor 12.
The small-diameter gear 92 disposed in the gear meshes with the gear. The small-diameter gear 92 is set to a gear ratio (reduction ratio) of 1/5 with respect to the large-diameter gear 84, and the lug of the supply conveyor 12 is 1
It is set to rotate once when moving by a pitch (one attachment interval). Therefore, while the lug moves a distance of 5 pitches (5 attachment intervals), the large diameter gear 84 makes one rotation and the article is moved. The container 16 and the pushing member support 22 are adapted to reciprocate once.

As shown in FIG. 4, a first cam groove 86a having a required cam curve is formed on one side surface of the first cam 86. A swing shaft 61, which is parallel to the rotary shaft 64, is rotatably supported by the housing 18, and is disposed on a swing lever 96 whose one end is rotatably supported by the swing shaft 61.
The cam follower 98 is rotatably engaged with the first cam groove 86a. Further, the L-shaped bent portion of the short L-shaped lever 38 is fixed to the shaft body 36 that is rotatably supported by the housing 18 and is orthogonal to the rotation shaft 64, and the first arm 3 thereof is provided.
8a is configured to swing in the moving direction of the supply conveyor 12, and the second arm 38b of the L-shaped lever 38 and the swing lever 96 are connected via a turnbuckle 40. Therefore, when the first cam 86 rotates in the predetermined direction, the first cam follower 98 rolls along the first cam groove 86a, so that the swing lever 9 moves around the swing shaft 61.
6 swings vertically in a predetermined range, and this vertical movement is transmitted to a short L-shaped lever 38 via a turnbuckle 40 to swing the lever 38. And
The first arm 38a of the L-shaped lever 38 is the turnbuckle 3
4 along the rail 30 (along the moving direction of the supply conveyor 12)
It is configured to reciprocate. At least the supply conveyor 12 from each of the supports 20a, 20b, 20c.
While the article 11 is transferred to the article accommodation section 12a, the moving speed of the article accommodation body 16 (supports 20a, 20b, 20c) to the downstream side in the article supply direction is the lug (the article accommodation section 12a) in the supply conveyor 12. Is set so as to be substantially the same as the moving speed of No. 1, so that the articles 11 in the stacked state can be satisfactorily transferred.

As shown in FIG. 3, a second cam groove 88a having a desired cam curve is formed on one side surface of the second cam 88. The second cam follower 100 disposed on the second arm 66b of the long L-shaped lever 66 having the L-shaped bent portion fixed to the swing shaft 61 is rotatably engaged with the second cam groove 88a. I am fit. Further, the lower end of another lever 70 connected to the support holder 45 of the moving plate 42 via a turnbuckle 68 is fixed to the swing shaft 61. Therefore, when the second cam 88 rotates in the predetermined direction, the first arm 66a of the elongated L-shaped lever 66 swings in the front-back direction about the swing shaft 61 via the cam follower 100 within a predetermined range. It moves and the rocking shaft 61
Another lever 70 fixed to the other end of the same also swings in the front-back direction integrally with the first arm 66a of the elongated L-shaped lever 66. As a result, the pushing member support body 22 reciprocates in the front-back direction via the moving plate 42 in which the long L-shaped lever 66 and another lever 70 are linked.

(Regarding article transfer means) A robot 24 as an article transfer means is installed behind the introduction conveyor 13. The robot 24 is of a so-called manipulator type, and the grip portion 108 arranged at the rotating end of the arm of the robot 24 stores the articles in the article container 16 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Five parallel link mechanisms 110 corresponding to the space 14 are arranged in parallel in the moving direction of the supply conveyor 12. Each of the parallel link mechanisms 110 has a support plate 11 slidably inserted in a support shaft 112 installed along the width direction of the grip portion 108.
4 is configured to swing about a swing fulcrum on the support plate 114 within a predetermined range and move along the support shaft 112 in the width direction of the grip portion 108.
Further, suction cups 116 made of a flexible member are respectively arranged at the lower end portions of the pair of rod members 110a, 110a positioned in front and back of the parallel link mechanism 110 with the support plate 114 interposed therebetween and the lower end portion of the support plate 114. Each suction cup 116 is connected to a suction mechanism (not shown). That is, the grip 10
In FIG. 8, 15 suckers 116 corresponding to 15 articles 11 gathered in 3 columns and 5 rows at the gathering position of the introduction conveyor 13 are provided.
Are arranged so that 15 articles 11 can be adsorbed and held at one time.

Further, the robot 24 has its gripping portion 10
8, the assembly position of the introduction conveyor 13 and the article transfer device 10
15 articles 11 assembled on the introduction conveyor 13 and configured to move between the article container 16 in FIG.
Can be collectively transferred to the article container 16. Further, in the grip portion 108, while moving from the introduction conveyor 13 to the article transfer device 10, the five parallel link mechanisms 110 are provided in the article accommodation space 14 of the article container 16 (the article accommodation section 12a of the supply conveyor 12). The link mechanism 110 is moved in the width direction so that the distance becomes substantially the same as the distance, and when the link mechanism 110 operates, the front side, the middle, and the rear side 3 are moved.
The three articles 11 sucked and held by one sucker 116 are
As shown in FIG. 5, the height difference is provided so as to be high, medium and low. The height difference between the three articles 11 on the front side, the middle side, and the rear side is set to correspond to the height of about one article. That is, the robot 24 moves from the introduction conveyor 13 to the article container 16
The arrangement of the articles transferred to the
Upper supports 20a, 2 in each of the article accommodating spaces 14
0, middle support 20b, 20b and lower support 20c, 20
Changed to correspond to the position of the upstream end of c in the feeding direction,
Each of the supports 20a, 20a, 20b, 20b, 20c,
Corresponding to 20c, the article 11 can be placed stepwise from above.

[0026]

Next, the operation of the article transfer device according to the above-described embodiment will be described. By the introduction conveyor 13, the articles 11 conveyed in three rows at predetermined intervals,
When the article is conveyed from the upstream side in the conveying direction to the rear side of the article transfer device 10, the leading article 11 is stopped by the stopper at the conveying end, and the succeeding articles 11 are sequentially brought into contact and stopped.
(See Figure 1). In this state, the introduction conveyor 13 is previously
The robot 2 waiting above the gathering position in
The gripper 108 of 4 descends toward the articles 11 (3 columns × 5 rows = 15 pieces) aligned at the gathering position on the introduction conveyor 13, and the suction cups 116 suck and hold them at once.

When the articles 11 are transferred from the introduction conveyor 13 to the article container 16, the parallel link mechanisms 110 arranged in the gripper 108 are mutually moved in the width direction (moving direction of the supply conveyor 12). By moving the articles 11 apart from each other, the five rows of the articles 11 in the abutting state are widened to approximately the same spacing as the spacing between the article storage spaces 14 of the article storage body 16. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the articles 11 in the front row in the vicinity of the supply conveyor 12 are sequentially arranged in the higher order, and the height differences are substantially the articles 1.
The parallel link mechanism 110 operates so as to be separated by the height of the individual pieces. That is, the height difference between the three articles 11 located in each row is determined by the upper support 20 in the article housing space 14.
a, the height difference between the middle support 20b and the lower support 20c is substantially the same. At this time, the space between the three articles 11 in the front-rear direction is set to be slightly smaller than the space on the introduction conveyor 13 and slightly longer than the length of the articles 11 in the front-rear direction. Then, the grip portion 108 arrives above the article container 16 in a state where the article 11 is suction-held, and then the article 1
1 is lowered to a position where it faces the article housing space 14, and each sucker 1
By releasing the suction action of 16, each article storage space 1
Three articles 11 are transferred on the sheet 4 at a distance in the front-rear direction. That is, the articles 11 in the front row are the upper supports 20a, 2
0a via the flange portion 11a, and the article 11 in the middle row has the flange portion 1 on the rear end side of the middle supports 20b, 20b.
The article 11 in the rear row is placed via the lower support 20.
It is placed on the rear end side of the c, 20c via the flange portion 11a.

The gripper 108 of the robot 24 moves upward from the article container 16 and returns to above the introduction conveyor 13, and then waits for the next article 11 to be transferred. While the gripper 108 returns, the moving plate 42 starts to move closer to the supply conveyor 12 together with the pressing member support 22 via the second cam 88 and the pair of levers 66 and 70. With the movement of the pushing member support 22, the pushing member 15 first pushes the article 11 placed on the lower supports 20c, 20c to the front side. In addition, slightly after the pushing member support 22 starts moving, the article container 16
Via the first cam 86 and the levers 38 and 96, starts moving downstream of the supply conveyor 12 in the article supply direction (in the same direction as the supply conveyor 12). As a result, the pushing member support body 22, that is, the pushing member 15 moves to the front side along with the moving plate 42, and at the same time, moves to the downstream side in the article feeding direction (in the same direction as the feeding conveyor 12) along with the article container 16.

The pushing member 15 for pushing the lower article 11 is
After the lower article 11 is made to arrive below the article 11 positioned in the middle row, the middle article 11 contacting the pushing member 15 is pushed toward the supply conveyor 12 together with the lower article 11. Further, the pushing member 15 for pushing the middle and lower articles 11 and 11 causes the middle and lower articles 11 and 11 to come below the articles 11 located in the upper row, as shown in FIG. At this time, the articles 11 located on each stage
Are the upper supports 20a, 20a and the middle supports 20b, 20
The upper and lower surfaces of each article 11 are not rubbed and scratched because they are supported by b or the lower supports 20c, 20c and overlap each other with a slight gap in the vertical direction. Then, the pushing member 15 has the upper, middle, and lower supports 20a, 20.
b, 20c (article container 16) by aligning with the front end portion or moving to a slightly protruding projecting end position,
The three middle and lower articles 11 are respectively the supports 20a, 20b, 20.
While being separated from c at the same time and completely stacked, the five stacked article groups are transferred to the corresponding article storage section 12a of the supply conveyor 12 (see FIG. 7).

The upper, middle and lower supports 20a, 20b,
As described above, the space between 20c in the vertical direction is the same as that of the article 11
Since they are set to be slightly larger than the height dimension, the articles 11 are stacked well without falling. Further, the article container 16 and the pressing member 15 are, as described above,
Although it moves to the downstream side in synchronization with the movement of the supply conveyor 12, the moving speed of the article container 16 and the pushing member 15 is close to the pushing end of the pushing member 15 in the vicinity of the feeding conveyor 12 when the feeding conveyor 12 The upper, middle, and lower three articles 1 are set so that the moving speed of the storage compartment 12a) is substantially the same as the required time, and are pushed by the pushing member 15 at this time.
1 is an article storage section 1 from each of the supports 20a, 20b, 20c
It is designed to transfer to 2a respectively. Therefore, even if the dimension of the article storage section 12a in the moving direction of the supply conveyor 12 (the interval between the lugs) is set to be narrow, the stacked article group is a group of articles with the stacked state maintained. It is reliably transferred to the storage compartment 12a.

When the group of articles is transferred to the supply conveyor 12, the article container 16 returns to the upstream side in the article supply direction, and the moving plate 42 and the pressing member 15 move to the introduction conveyor 1.
It retreats toward 3, returns to the initial position, and waits for the next article transfer.

[0032]

[Modification] In the embodiment, the flange portion of the article is supported by each of the supports in the article housing space, but the article having no flange portion is configured to support the bottom surface of the article. Further, in the supply conveyor, the article storage section is formed by the lug, but the article storage section may be formed by another bucket or the like. Further, in the embodiment, 15 articles in 3 columns and 5 rows gathered by the introduction conveyor are stacked three by three and transferred to the supply conveyor in five rows, but the present invention is not limited to this. The number of stacked articles may be two or more, and the group of articles transferred to the supply conveyor may be one or more rows.

Further, in the embodiment, the article is mounted on the pair of supports disposed on the opposite surface portions of the article accommodating space, but the support body is formed between the opposite surface portions. You may make it a board | plate material and mount an article on this board | plate material. However, in this case, as a pressing member, a comb-teeth shape in which a pushing piece that can be inserted is formed between vertically spaced supports, and the length of each pushing piece pushes the article placed on the support to the supply conveyor. It is necessary to push the articles of each stage by using the length dimension that can be set so that each pushing piece does not interfere with the support.

[0034]

As described above, in the article transfer device according to the present invention, each article to be pushed by the pushing member is configured to be supported by the support member to a position where the pushing member almost reaches the pushing end. The articles do not collapse, and the upper and lower articles do not rub against each other to cause scratches or the like. While the article to be pushed is transferred from the support to the article storage section of the conveyor, the support and the pressing member are configured to be movable in the same direction at substantially the same speed as the moving speed of the conveyor (article storage section). Even when the dimension of the article storage section in the moving direction of the conveyor is slightly larger than the dimension of the article, the article can be reliably transferred to the article storage section. Further, since a plurality of stacked article groups can be transferred to the corresponding article storage compartments at one time, there is also an advantage that the processing capacity thereof becomes high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an article transfer device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the article transfer device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a relationship between a second cam and a long L-shaped lever of the article transfer device according to the embodiment together with a grip portion of the robot.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing the relationship between the first cam and the swing lever of the article transfer device according to the embodiment together with the grip of the robot.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state in which the articles on the introduction conveyor are transferred to the article container via the grips in the article transfer apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a process of transferring an article facing an article storage space toward a supply conveyor in the article transfer apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state in which an article facing the article storage space is transported toward a supply conveyor in the article transfer apparatus according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 articles 11a Flange part (projection part) 12 Supply conveyor (conveyor) 12a article storage section 15 Push member 20a Upper support 20b Medium support 20c lower support 24 Robot (Transfer means)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 57/03 B65G 47/82 B65G 47/91

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of articles (11) positioned with a required height difference are pushed and stacked by a horizontally moving pushing member (15), and the articles (11) in the stacked state intersect the pushing direction. An article transfer device for transferring to a conveyor (12) having an article storage section (12a) that moves in a direction, wherein the support (20a, 20b, 20c) on which the article (11) is placed is the article (11 ) Are arranged in a plurality in the vertical direction so that they can be stacked, and the articles (11) placed on each of the supports (20a, 20b, 20c),
With a pushing member (15) capable of pushing toward the conveyor (12), each of the supports (20a, 20b, 20c) and the pushing member (15) moves in the same direction as the conveyor (12), The pushing member (1
5) said each support toward said conveyor (12) (20a, 20b, 20
When the article (11) placed on (c) is pushed and the pushing member (15) almost reaches the pushing end, it is separated from each of the supports (20a, 20b, 20c).
Wherein the between article storage compartment of the article (11) is stacked above the conveyor (12) while being transferred to (12a), before being pusher
Serial article (11) of each support (20a, 20b, 20c) while possess from the said article storage compartment (12a), said each support (20a, 20b, 20
The moving speed of the c) and the pushing member (15) in the same direction as the conveyor (12) is set to be substantially the same as the moving speed of the article storage section (12a). Article transfer device. 2. An article storage section (12) is provided on the conveyor (12).
a) are continuously formed at equal intervals in the moving direction, the pressing member (15) and each support (20a, 20b, 20c) along the moving direction of the article storage compartment (12a) said Item storage area (12a)
2. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of article transfer apparatuses are provided at substantially the same intervals. Wherein said plurality of supports (20a, 20b, 20c) each pusher upstream side end in the, pusher direction only can be placed min is the article (11) that immediately below with respect to those immediately above The article transfer device according to claim 1 or 2, which is set so as to face the upstream side. 4. The front of each of the plurality of articles (11) is held.
Note that each support (20a, 20b, 20c) is provided with an article transfer means (24) to be transferred from above, and the article transfer means (24) transfers to each support (20a, 20b, 20c). Before the article transfer means (2
4) The placement of the article (11), wherein each support (20a, 20b, 20
4. The article transfer device according to claim 3, wherein the position is changed to a position corresponding to the position of the upstream side end in the pushing direction of c). 5. The article (11) has a projecting portion (11a) projecting outward, and each of the support bodies is provided via the projecting portion (11a).
The article transfer device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is placed on (20a, 20b, 20c).