JP4598548B2 - Transport / sorting system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport / sorting system, and more particularly to a transport / sorting system that can transport while sorting at high speed without stopping a transport work.

  For example, when the transport work is a test tube holder for transporting a test tube containing blood for inspection or the like, as described in Patent Document 1, it is arranged at a branch position between the original flow side conveyor and the tributary side conveyor. A rotating body, a plurality of workpiece separating arms attached to the rotating body at equal intervals in the circumferential direction so as to extend radially from the center, and two adjacent workpiece separating arms, and a test tube A branch unit having a workpiece engaging member engageable with the holder, and separating the test tube holder continuously conveyed by the original flow side conveyor by the workpiece separating arm, and at the same time a predetermined conveying workpiece is engaged with the workpiece. There is one that is selectively engaged with a joint member and guided to a tributary conveyor.

  Since the branch unit as described above engages or releases the workpiece engaging member with the test tube holder, mechanical friction and impact are likely to occur, and noise and damage to the test tube holder increase. There is a problem.

JP-A-6-321345

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and provides a transport / sorting system that can sort transport work at high speed with low noise and less mechanical contact and friction. This is the issue.

  The following problems can be solved by the present invention described below.

(1) A main stream side conveyor, a branch stream side branch branched from now, and a transfer work that is arranged near the branch position from the original stream side conveyor to the branch stream side conveyor and is transported by the original stream side conveyor. A sorting device that sorts whether the material is guided to the side conveyor or is conveyed as it is by the original flow side conveyor, and the transport work includes a disk-shaped base portion that can be placed on the conveyor, and the base portion. The sorting device is configured to include a sorting rotor, a suction device, and a control device, and the sorting rotor has an outer peripheral portion. the a size passing through the original downstream conveyor and the branch side on a conveyor, said is adapted to rotate the tributary side conveyor direction from the original stream side conveyor, and the axis direction of the rotation axis Is in the transport work on the original upstream side conveyor is such that the height position in contact with the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion at the base near the suction device is in the vicinity of the outer circumference of the sorting rotor, the circumferential They are arranged in a direction equal angular intervals, and, e Bei a plurality of suction openings which rotates sorting rotor integrally with, each suction port is independently adsorbing the base of conveying workpieces on the original stream side conveyor, releasing The control device applies a negative pressure to the suction port of the suction device or releases it, and controls the suction and release of the transported workpiece, and controls the transported workpiece sucked by the suction port. A transfer / sorting system characterized by sorting on a tributary conveyor.

(2) The base portion of the transport work is preliminarily provided with ID information, and the control device includes an ID detection device that reads the ID information of the transport work on the original flow side conveyor. The suction device is controlled based on the ID information detected by the device, and the suction device is configured to position the plurality of workpieces at positions where the base of the transported work can be suctioned at a reading position by the ID detection device. One of the suction ports is located, and the control device can control the suction device to suck the base of the transport work when the ID detection device reads the ID information of the transport work. The conveyance / sorting system according to (1), characterized in that

(3) An original flow side conveyor, a branch flow side conveyor branched from the original flow, and a transfer work that is arranged near the branch position from the original flow side conveyor to the branch flow side conveyor and is conveyed by the original flow side conveyor A sorting device that sorts whether the workpiece is guided to the side conveyor or is transported as it is by the original flow side conveyor, and the transport work is a disc shape that can be placed on the conveyor and has ID information in advance. The sorting device is configured to include a sorting rotor, a suction device, and a control device, and the sorting rotor has an outer peripheral portion that passes over the original flow side conveyor and the tributary side conveyor. The suction device rotates in the direction from the original flow side conveyor to the tributary side conveyor, and the suction device is arranged at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the sorting rotor. And a plurality of suction ports that rotate integrally with the sorting rotor, each suction port being capable of independently sucking and releasing the base portion of the transport work on the original flow side conveyor, and the control device Is an ID detection device that applies or releases negative pressure to the suction port of the suction device, controls suction and release of the transport work, and reads ID information of the transport work on the original flow side conveyor. The suction device is controlled based on the ID information detected by the ID detection device, and the suction device sucks the base portion of the transported work at a reading position by the ID detection device. the possible locations, said one of the plurality of suction ports are configured to be positioned, wherein the controller, when the ID detecting unit has read the ID information of the transport work, to adsorb the base of the transport work Transport and sorting system, characterized by sorting said conveying workpieces adsorbed on the tributary side conveyor by being capable of controlling the suction device the suction port as.

(4) The control device includes a rotary encoder that detects the rotation angle of the sorting roller, and the transported work adsorbed by the adsorbing device moves on the branch-side conveyor based on the output signal of the rotary encoder. when, in the adsorption device, conveyor and sorting system as claimed in any one of which is characterized in that it is configured to release the transport work (1) to (3).

(5) The sorting rotor has a notch-shaped transfer recess that substantially coincides with a part of the outer peripheral shape of the cylindrical portion of the transfer work at equal circumferential intervals in the outer circumferential end surface of the sorting rotor, and the suction port Is arranged at a position close to the sorting rotor rotation center side of the conveying recess, and a part of the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion adsorbed by the suction port is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the conveying recess. (4) The conveyance / sorting system according to any one of (1) to (4).

  (6) The suction device includes a rotary pressure supply rotary joint provided at a rotation center portion of the sorting rotor, and a negative joint extending radially from the rotary joint at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction. The conveyance / sorting system according to any one of (1) to (5), characterized in that it includes a pressure pipe and the suction port provided at the tip of these negative pressure pipes.

  (7) The transport / sorting system according to (6), wherein the suction port is configured by a suction pad that is extendable and contractable within a certain range.

  (8) A transport work that is provided on at least one rear tributary conveyor along the tangent line of the outer periphery of the sorting rotor, on the front side of the rotor in the rotational direction of the rotor, and is adsorbed on the original conveyor (1) to (7) are configured such that they are transported on the tributary conveyor in an adsorbed state according to the rotation of the sorting rotor and can be released on the target rear tributary conveyor. ) The transport / sorting system described in any of the above.

  In the transport / sorting system according to the present invention, the transport work to be guided from the original flow side conveyor to the tributary side conveyor is adsorbed by negative pressure, and is transported to the tributary side conveyor by the sorting rotor, and is released here. There is little mechanical friction and impact between the transport work to be guided to the side conveyor and the sorting rotor, and the transport work can be transported and sorted with low noise and almost no impact.

  The transport / sorting system according to the best mode is provided with a sorting rotor having notch-shaped transport recesses at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction at the branch position from the original flow side conveyor to the tributary side conveyor, and is integrated with the sorting rotor. A rotating suction device is provided, and the work to be transported to the tributary conveyor is sucked by the suction device, held in the transport recess, and transported to the tributary conveyor by the sorting rotor, where the negative pressure is released. By doing this, it is the structure which transfers a conveyance workpiece | work to a tributary side conveyor.

  Hereinafter, the conveyance / sorting system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  The transport / sorting system 10 is disposed in the vicinity of a branch position from the original flow side conveyor 12, a branch flow side conveyor 14 branched therefrom, and the original flow side conveyor 12 to the branch flow side conveyor 14. And a sorting device 18 that sorts whether the transport work 16 transported by the transport is guided to the tributary conveyor 14 or is transported as it is by the original conveyor 12.

  The sorting device 18 includes a sorting rotor 20, a suction device 22, and a control device 24.

  The sorting rotor 20 has a size such that an outer peripheral portion thereof passes over the original flow side conveyor 12 and the tributary side conveyor 14, and is rotated clockwise in FIG. The outer periphery is adapted to move.

  The adsorbing devices 22 are arranged at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the sorting rotor 20 and at a lower position of the sorting rotor 20 as shown in FIG. 2 and are integrated with the sorting rotor 20. Are provided with twelve suction ports 26 that rotate in the same manner.

  The suction ports 26 can independently suck and release the workpiece 16 on the original flow side conveyor 12, and the control device 24 selectively applies negative pressure to the suction port 26 of the suction device 22. Is applied or released to control the suction and release of the transfer work 16 (details will be described later).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer work 16 includes a disk-shaped base portion 16A that can be placed on a conveyor, and a cylindrical portion 16B that is erected at the center of the base portion 16A and has a smaller diameter than the base portion 16A. It is configured. In the first embodiment, the transport work 16 is a test tube holder, and a test tube 17 is inserted into the cylindrical portion 16B from above and supported thereby.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sorting rotor 20 has a circular saw shape in which notch-shaped transport recesses 28 </ b> A to 28 </ b> L are formed at 12 circumferentially equal angular intervals as shown in FIG. 1. Yes. Further, the protruding portion between each of the conveyance recesses 28 is a separation protrusion 30 that enters between the conveyance workpieces 16 that are continuously conveyed on the original flow side conveyor 12 and separates them.

  In the axial direction of the rotation center axis of the sorting rotor 20, the sorting rotor 20 is set to a height position in contact with the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 16 </ b> B in the vicinity of the base portion 16 </ b> A in the transport work 16 on the original flow side conveyor 12. ing. The conveyance recess 28 has a shape that substantially coincides with a part of the outer circumference of the cylindrical portion 16B so that the outer circumference of the cylindrical portion 16B of the conveyance work 16 can enter the radial direction of the sorting rotor 20. .

  Further, the center of the sorting rotor 20 is supported at the upper end of the rotary joint 32, and is connected to the output shaft of the sorting rotor rotating motor 34 shown in FIG. As a result, it is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 36 denotes a rotary encoder. The rotary encoder 36 rotates with the rotary joint 32 via a timing belt 37 so that the number of rotations or the rotation angle can be detected. Reference numeral 32B denotes a fixed portion on the lower side of the rotary joint 32.

  The suction device 22 includes the rotary joint 32, twelve negative pressure pipes 38 </ b> A to 38 </ b> L extending radially from the rotary joint 32 at equal angular intervals, and the negative pressure pipes. And the suction port 26 provided at each of the tips of 38A to 38L.

  The suction port 26 provided at the tip of each of the negative pressure pipes 38A to 38L is composed of a suction pad made of a bellows-like soft resin that can expand and contract within a certain range.

  The rotary joint 32 can supply twelve negative pressure lines 42 </ b> A to 42 </ b> L from the negative pressure source 40 to the negative pressure pipes 38 </ b> A to 38 </ b> L that rotate together with the sorting rotor 20.

  Electromagnetic valves 44A to 44L are arranged in the middle of the negative pressure lines 42A to 42L, respectively, and negative pressure is selectively introduced into the negative pressure lines 42A to 42L or the negative pressure is released to release the atmosphere. And be able to.

  The electromagnetic valves 44 </ b> A to 44 </ b> L are configured so that introduction and release of negative pressure are controlled by the control device 24.

  1 and 4, reference numeral 46 denotes a biting prevention roller. The biting prevention roller 46 is arranged so that the transport work 16 transported by the raw-side conveyor 12 starts to contact the outer periphery of the sorting rotor 20 and the transport work 16 is placed between the sorting rotor 20 and the roller. By being rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1, the transport work 16 that is about to be sandwiched between the outer periphery of the sorting rotor 20 is returned to the direction opposite to the transport direction by the original conveyor 12. Has been.

  The biting prevention roller 46 is rotationally driven by a motor 47 via a spring coupling 48, and when a reaction force is generated from the transfer work 16 sandwiched between the sorting rotor 20, the transfer work It can be displaced elastically in a direction away from 16.

  A data carrier 50 such as an IC chip in which information on individual characteristics (ID) of the specimen in the test tube 17 transported by the transport work 16 is written is attached to the disc-shaped base 16A of the transport work 16. It has been.

  The base 16A of the transfer work 16 is provided with a power coil 52 along its outer periphery or inner periphery so that power is generated by power electromagnetic waves supplied from the reader / writer 54.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, the reader / writer 54 is located at a position where the straight line in the transport direction of the original flow side conveyor 12 becomes a circumscribing line of the sorting rotor 20. ID information recorded on the data carrier 50 at the same time as power is supplied to the transfer work 16 which is arranged on the opposite side of the sorting rotor 20 and is transported between the reader / writer 54 and the sorting rotor 20. Have been able to read.

  The control device 24 detects the transport work 16 to be sorted into the tributary conveyor 14 based on the reader / writer 54, the electromagnetic valves 44 </ b> A to 44 </ b> L, and read signals from the reader / writer 54. At the same time, at the same time as detection, one of the corresponding electromagnetic valves 44A to 44L is driven to introduce a negative pressure, and the rotary encoder 36 is provided.

  Next, a process of conveying / sorting the workpiece 16 by the conveyance / sorting system 10 according to the first embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the transport workpiece 16 is continuously transported by the original flow side conveyor 12 from the left to the right in the drawing.

  At this time, for example, the ID information of the sample in the test tube 17 to be transported is recorded in advance on the data carrier 50 of the transport work 16.

  Both the sorting rotor 20 and the biting prevention roller 46 are rotated clockwise in the figure. When the transfer work 16 is sent on the original flow side conveyor 12 and is captured by the transfer concave portion 28 of the rotating sorting rotor 20, it moves on the original flow side conveyor 12 as it is rotated.

  On the other hand, when the transport work 16 comes into contact with the outer peripheral position near the tip of the separation protrusion 30 of the sorting rotor 20, the separation work 30 pushes the transport work 16 in a direction away from the center of the sorting rotor 20. Therefore, the conveying work 16 is repelled by the biting prevention roller 46 from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 and adjacent to the opposite side of the separation protrusion 30 in the rotation direction. It enters into the conveyance recess 28.

  As a result, the transport work 16 is prevented from being sandwiched between the separation protrusion 30 of the sorting rotor 20 and the side wall (not shown) of the original flow side conveyor 12, and is continuously contacted to the original. Separation protrusions 30 enter between a plurality of transport workpieces 16 transported on the flow conveyor 12, and the transport workpieces 16 can be separated at regular intervals.

  The transport work 16 that has entered the transport recess 28 of the sorting rotor 20 is read by the reader / writer 54 at the position of the reader / writer 54.

  The ID information read by the reader / writer 54 is output to the CPU 56, and the CPU 56 determines whether the transport work 16 is sorted into the original flow side conveyor 12 or the tributary side conveyor 14 based on the read information. When transporting to the side conveyor 14, the corresponding negative pressure line, in the example of FIG. 3, the electromagnetic valve 44A of the negative pressure line 42A is opened, and the negative pressure from the negative pressure source 40 passes through the negative pressure line 42A. It is supplied to the suction port 26 at the tip of the negative pressure pipe 38A. In the case of the transfer work 16 to be transferred as it is by the original flow side conveyor 12, no negative pressure is applied to the suction port 26.

  By applying the negative pressure, the suction port 26 of the negative pressure pipe 38A sucks the outer periphery of the base portion 16A of the transfer work 16, and by this suction, the suction pad-shaped suction port 26 extends until it comes into contact with the base portion 16A. This will be adsorbed.

  The position of the negative pressure pipes 38A to 38L in the rotational direction is always detected by the rotary encoder 36.

  The transport work 16 sucked by the suction port 26 of the negative pressure pipe 38 </ b> A moves with the rotation of the sorting rotor 20 and reaches the branch-side conveyor 14.

  The timing at which the negative pressure pipe 38A reaches 90 ° in the clockwise direction from the position facing the reader / writer 54 when it reaches the tributary conveyor 14 is detected by the rotary encoder 36, whereby the CPU 56 detects the electromagnetic valve 44A. Is switched to open to the atmosphere, and the adsorbed transfer work 16 is released onto the tributary conveyor 14.

  In the conveyance / sorting system 60 according to the second embodiment, in addition to the tributary side conveyor 14, the second tributary side conveyor 62 is orthogonal to the tributary side conveyor 14 in a direction parallel to and opposite to the original flow side conveyor 12. It is provided as follows.

  Since other configurations are the same as those in FIG. 1, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the branch work side conveyor 14 and the second branch flow side conveyor 62 are provided for one original flow side conveyor, and the conveyed work 16 can be sorted in three directions.

Three or more tributary conveyors may be provided by changing the crossing angle with the original conveyor.
Moreover, although the conveyance work 16 in the said Example 1 and Example 2 is a thing for test-tube 17 mounting, this invention is not limited to this, It uses for conveyance and sorting of various conveyance work. be able to.

  Further, in the first and second embodiments, the transport work 16 is configured such that the ID information is read by the reader / writer 54 and at the same time is sucked or not sucked by the sucking device 22, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Instead, the reader / writer may be provided on the upstream side of the original flow side conveyor 12 from the position of FIG. In addition, the sorting device 22 may sort based on other information such as the shape of the transport work, without using the ID information of the transport work.

The top view which shows the conveyance and the sorting system based on Example 1 of this invention Sectional view along line II-II in FIG. Pipeline diagram showing the negative pressure circuit of the transfer / sorting system Sectional view along line IV-IV in FIG. Sectional drawing which follows the VV line of FIG. The top view which shows the conveyance and the sorting system which concern on Example 2 of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 60 ... Conveyance / sorting system 12 ... Original flow side conveyor 14 ... Tributary side conveyor 16 ... Conveyance work 16A ... Stem part 16B ... Cylindrical part 18 ... Sorting device 20 ... Sorting rotor 22 ... Suction device 24 ... Control device 26 ... Suction Port 28 ... Conveyance recess 30 ... Separation protrusion 32 ... Rotary joint 36 ... Rotary encoder 38A-38L ... Negative pressure pipe 40 ... Negative pressure source 44A-44L ... Electromagnetic valve 50 ... Data carrier 54 ... Reader / writer 62 ... Second branch side Conveyor

Claims (8)

An upstream side conveyor, a branch side conveyor branched off from this, and a transfer work placed near the branch position from the source side conveyor to the branch side conveyor, and conveyed by the source side conveyor, are transferred to the branch side conveyor. It has a sorting device that sorts whether it is guided or conveyed as it is by the original conveyor,
The transport work is composed of a disk-shaped base portion that can be placed on a conveyor, and a cylindrical portion that is erected at the center of the base portion and has a smaller diameter than the base portion.
The sorting device includes a sorting rotor, a suction device, and a control device,
The sorting rotor has a size such that an outer peripheral portion thereof passes over the original flow side conveyor and the tributary side conveyor, and is rotated from the original flow side conveyor to the tributary side conveyor, and the rotation center axis thereof In the direction of the axial line, in the conveyance work on the original flow side conveyor, the height is in contact with the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion in the vicinity of the base,
The suction device is in the vicinity of the outer circumference of the sorting rotor, disposed circumferentially such angular intervals, and, Bei example a plurality of suction openings which rotates sorting rotor integrally with, each suction port is independently a It is possible to adsorb and release the base part of the transport work on the original flow side conveyor,
The control device applies or releases a negative pressure to the suction port of the suction device to control the suction and release of the transport work, and the transport work sucked by the suction port is placed on the tributary conveyor. Transportation and sorting system characterized by sorting into In claim 1,
ID information is given to the base of the transport work in advance, and the control device includes an ID detection device that reads the ID information of the transport work on the original flow side conveyor, and is detected by the ID detection device. The suction device is controlled based on the ID information, and the suction device is configured to position the plurality of suction ports at positions where the base portion of the transported work can be sucked at the reading position by the ID detection device. It is configured that one is located, and the control device is capable of controlling the suction device to suck the base of the transport work when the ID detection device reads the ID information of the transport work. Characteristic transport / sorting system. An upstream side conveyor, a branch side conveyor branched off from this, and a transfer work placed near the branch position from the source side conveyor to the branch side conveyor, and conveyed by the source side conveyor, are transferred to the branch side conveyor. It has a sorting device that sorts whether it is guided or conveyed as it is by the original conveyor,
The transport work has a disk shape that can be placed on a conveyor and has a base portion to which ID information is given in advance.
The sorting device includes a sorting rotor, a suction device, and a control device,
The sorting rotor has a size such that an outer peripheral portion passes over the original flow side conveyor and the tributary side conveyor, and rotates from the original flow side conveyor to the tributary side conveyor,
The suction device includes a plurality of suction ports arranged at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the sorting rotor, and rotates integrally with the sorting rotor. It is possible to adsorb and release the base of the transport work on the flow side conveyor,
The control device applies or releases a negative pressure to the suction port of the suction device, controls suction and release of the transport work, and reads ID information of the transport work on the original flow side conveyor it has a detection device, on the basis of the ID information detected by the ID detector, the adapted to control the suction device, the suction device, the conveyance workpiece at the reading position by the ID detector One of the plurality of suction ports is located at a position where the base can be sucked, and the control device reads the base of the transport work when the ID detection device reads the ID information of the transport work . A conveyance / sorting system characterized in that the adsorption device can be controlled so as to adsorb, and the conveyance work adsorbed by the adsorption port is classified on the tributary conveyor . In any one of claims 1 to 3,
The control device has a rotary encoder that detects a rotation angle of the sorting roller, and when the transport work sucked by the suction device moves on the branch-side conveyor based on an output signal of the rotary encoder. A transport / sorting system configured to cause the suction device to release the transport work. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 4,
The sorting rotor has a notch-shaped transport recess that substantially coincides with a part of the outer peripheral shape of the cylindrical portion of the transport work at equal circumferential intervals in the outer circumferential end surface thereof, and the suction port includes the suction port, A portion of the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion , which is disposed at a position close to the rotation center side of the sorting rotor of the conveyance recess and is adsorbed by the suction port, is configured to contact the inner peripheral surface of the conveyance recess. Transport / sorting system. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5,
The suction device includes a rotary pressure supply rotary joint provided at a rotation center of the sorting rotor, and negative pressure pipes extending radially from the rotary joint at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction. And a suction / exhaust port provided at the tip of these negative pressure pipes. In claim 6,
The transport / sorting system, wherein the suction port is constituted by a suction pad that can be extended and contracted within a certain range. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 7,
Along the tangent to the outer periphery of the sorting rotor, at least one rear tributary conveyor is provided on the front side in the rotor rotation direction from the tributary conveyor.
Conveyed workpieces adsorbed on the original flow side conveyor are conveyed on the tributary side conveyor in the adsorbed state according to the rotation of the sorting rotor, and can be released on the target rear tributary side conveyor. Transportation and sorting system characterized by that.

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