JP4720023B2 - Article storage device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Technical field to which the invention belongs]
The present invention relates to an article storage device, and more particularly to an article storage device that inserts an article from an opening of a carton being conveyed by a carton conveyor.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art An article storage device (cartoning machine) that inserts articles from an opening of a carton while a carton is continuously conveyed by a carton conveyor has been widely known. For example, a carton CA (see FIG. 4 (a)) whose side is opened by a carton conveyor is transported at a constant interval, and the carton CA is spaced by an article conveyor arranged in parallel with the carton conveyor. The article is conveyed from the opening of the carton CA to the inside by moving the article at an equal interval and at a constant speed, and a pressing member provided on the article conveyor is advanced from the article conveyor toward the carton conveyor. An article storage device adapted to be inserted is widely used.
[0003]
Further, the one-touch carton CB (see FIG. 4B) widely used in recent years has two wall surfaces CBa, CBb, CBc, CBd facing each other in close contact with each other, and the bottom surface CBe is in close contact with this surface. The lid CBf is connected in a state of being folded between the wall surfaces and upright on one wall surface CBc. In the article storage device for inserting articles into the one-touch carton CB, the folded one-touch carton CB is attached. After taking out from a magazine and making it into the state of FIG.4 (b), while conveying by a carton conveyor, it inserts articles | goods by article insertion means, such as a robot, from the opening part of the upper direction. It has become.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, an article storage device that inserts an article while transporting a carton with an open side usually stores a small amount of articles in a small carton, whereas in the case of a one-touch carton, a large carton In addition, the former article storage device is configured so that an article being conveyed in synchronization with the carton is placed in a horizontal direction by a pressing member in an opening of the carton directed in the lateral direction. On the other hand, the article storage device of the one-touch carton is configured to insert an article grasped by a robot or the like into the carton that is open on the upper side, and insert the article. Are completely different from each other, and it has been impossible to combine these two types of article storage devices (cartoning machines).
[0005]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and provides an article storage device that can be used as both a carton that is transported in a state where the side portion is open and a carton that is open upward such as a one-touch carton. It is intended to provide.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The article storage device according to the present invention has a carton conveyor that holds and conveys a carton with a pair of holding claws at the front and back, and an opening facing sideways between the front and rear holding claws at the upstream end of the carton conveyor . A carton supply means for supplying the carton in a state, and an article insertion means for conveying the article by an article conveyor arranged in parallel with the carton conveyor and operated in synchronization with the carton conveyor, and forcing the article into the carton from the side. And a second carton supply means for supplying the carton conveyor with the opening facing upward, and a position downstream from the position where the second carton supply means supplies the carton to the carton conveyor. 2nd article insertion which is arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the carton conveyor of the side, hold | maintains the article | item supplied, and accommodates it in the carton from the said carton top And means is provided, said carton supply means and by operating one of the second carton supply means, a an article accommodating device capable combined from the carton and upwardly to accommodate a carton for accommodating articles articles from the side The second carton supply means is such that the carton is inserted between the holding claws before and after the carton conveyor on the downstream side of the carton supply position of the carton supply means .
[0007]
In the article storage device, when an article is inserted into a carton that is conveyed with the opening directed sideways, the article is inserted by the article insertion means while the article is being conveyed by the article moving means arranged in parallel with the carton conveyor. When inserting into the carton and inserting the article into the carton with the opening facing upward, while the carton is conveyed by the same carton conveyor, the article is inserted by the second article inserting means. A carton conveyor can also be used for cartons of different sizes and structures.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a simplified overall structure of an article storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a carton conveyor for transporting cartons at a predetermined interval, which is used for the two types of cartons (a carton CA having an open side and a one-touch carton CB having an open top). The carton conveyor 2 is driven by a servo motor 3 (see FIG. 2 described later), and can be switched between continuous operation and intermittent operation.
[0009]
A large number of cartons CA are stored in a folded state in a carton magazine 4 installed on the upstream side of the carton conveyor 2, taken out one by one by a carton supply means 6, and placed on the carton conveyor 2. Can be placed. The carton conveyor 2 is provided with engagement claws 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d (see FIG. 2) for holding the front and rear of the carton CA at regular intervals. The front and rear engagement claws 8a, 8b, 8c By holding the carton CA by 8d, the carton CA is opened in an accurate quadrangular shape and conveyed while maintaining its shape. The carton CA which is taken out from the carton magazine 4 and supplied to the carton conveyor 2 is transported in a state where the opening is directed to the side (side to the traveling direction of the carton conveyor 2 (see arrow A)). .
[0010]
The engagement claws of the carton conveyor 2 are a pair of front and rear two pairs (front engagement claws 8a and 8d and rear engagement claws 8b and 8c). By changing the positional relationship between these front and rear The cartons CA and CB of different sizes can be held and transported. Here, a configuration for adjusting the distance between the front and rear engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d will be described with reference to FIG.
[0011]
Four sprockets 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d are attached to the rotating shaft 11 that is rotated by receiving the drive of the servo motor 3, and the four chains 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d are respectively wound around. The front two engaging claws 8a and 8d are attached to the two outer chains 15a and 15d, and the rear two engaging claws 8b and 8c are attached to the inner two chains 15b and 15c. It has been.
[0012]
The two sprockets 13a and 13d around which the outer chains 15a and 15d are respectively hung are fixed to the rotary shaft 11, while the two sprockets 13b around which the inner chains 15b and 15c are hung around are respectively fixed. , 13c are rotatable via a bearing (not shown). Two discs 17a and 17b located on the side surfaces of the inner sprockets 13b and 13c are fixed to the rotary shaft 11, respectively. During normal operation, the inner sprockets 13b and 13c are connected to the discs 17a and 17b. When the distance between the front and rear engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d is adjusted by screwing them together with screws, the discs 17a and 17b of the inner sprockets 13b and 13c are adjusted. And the two inner sprockets 13b and 13c are rotated to change the phase in the rotational direction.
[0013]
An article transporting conveyor (article moving means) 10 is disposed adjacent to the carton conveyor 2 in parallel with the carton conveyor 2. The article conveying conveyor 10 is also provided with guide members 14 for guiding both sides (front and rear in the traveling direction) of the article 12 at a pitch equal to the engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d provided on the carton conveyor 2. ing. A first article supply conveyor 16 is disposed at an upstream end of the article transport conveyor 10 in an orthogonal direction, and the articles 12 continuously conveyed by the article supply conveyor 16 are a pair of front and rear guides. Sequentially supplied between the members 14a and 14b and conveyed in the same direction as the conveying direction of the carton CA. The carton conveyor 2 and the article transport conveyor 10 are operated synchronously, and the carton CA and the article 12 always have the same position in the traveling direction.
[0014]
An article pushing mechanism (first article insertion means) 18 is provided on the opposite side of the carton conveyor 2 with the downstream portion of the article conveyor 10 interposed therebetween. The article pushing mechanism 18 is provided with a plurality of pushers 20 at the same interval as the transport pitch of the carton CA by the carton conveyor 2 and the transport pitch of the article 12 by the article transport conveyor 10 (FIGS. 1 and 3). (See (a)). These pushers 20 can be moved back and forth in a direction crossing both the conveyors 2 and 10, and when inserting the article 12 into the carton CA, while moving in synchronization with the carton CA and the article 12, It advances from the front side (upper side in FIG. 1) of the article conveying conveyor 10 to the carton conveyor 2.
[0015]
A second carton magazine 22 is provided on the opposite side of the carton conveyor 2 across the article conveying conveyor 10. In the second carton magazine 22, folded one-touch cartons CB are stacked and accommodated, and are taken out one by one by a carton supply robot (second carton supply means) 26 and opened. After that, it is supplied onto the carton conveyor 2.
[0016]
The position S2 where the one-touch carton CB is supplied by the carton supply robot 26 is downstream of the position S1 where the carton supply means 6 supplies the carton CA. The carton supply means 6 takes out the carton CA by continuous rotational motion with a low degree of freedom and supplies it to the carton conveyor 2, so that the engaging claws 8 a, 8 b, 8 c and 8 d at the upstream end of the carton conveyor 2 are sprockets. 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d, where the carton CA is passed to the place where the front and rear engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d are opened at the place where it rises around the periphery, and then this carton CA Although the second carton supply means 26 is a robot, it has a high degree of freedom of movement, and the front and rear engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c are sandwiched between the claws 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d. , 8d, the carton CB can be inserted between the one-touch carton CB supply position S2 downstream of the carton CA supply position S1 as described above. It is constant.
[0017]
On the downstream side of the carton conveyor 2 from the position S2 where the one-touch carton CB is supplied by the carton supply robot 26, a second article supply conveyor 28 is installed in the orthogonal direction. The second article supply conveyor 28 supplies the articles 12 to be inserted into the one-touch carton CB. In this embodiment, the second article supply conveyor 28 is connected to the first article conveyor 16 via an intermediate conveyor 30, and the same article 12 as the article 12 to be inserted into the carton CA opened at the side. Is supplied.
[0018]
An article insertion robot (second article insertion means) 32 is disposed near the intersection between the carton conveyor 2 and the second article supply conveyor 28. Normally, the one-touch carton CB is used to insert a large amount of articles 12, and the article insertion robot 32 grabs a plurality of articles 12 conveyed by the second article supply conveyor 28 and simultaneously, Alternatively, a large amount of articles 12 are inserted into the one-touch carton 24 by grasping and inserting each article 12 and repeating this multiple times. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the article insertion robot 32 grasps and inserts two articles at a time, and repeats this five times so that 10 articles can be placed in one one-touch carton CB. A single article 12 is inserted.
[0019]
The operation of the article storage device according to the above configuration will be described. First, when the article 12 is inserted into the carton CA with the side opened, the carton conveyor 2 is continuously operated, the article conveying conveyor 10 and the first article supply conveyor 16 are operated, and the first Cartons CA are taken out from the carton magazine 4 one by one by the carton supply means 6 and are supplied between the engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d of the carton conveyor 2 to be opened into an accurate square shape and on the downstream side. Transport.
[0020]
On the other hand, the article supply conveyor 16 continuously conveys the articles 12 inserted into the carton CA and supplies them to the article conveyance conveyor 10 that runs in a direction orthogonal to the conveyor 16. The article transport conveyor 10 is provided with guide members 14 at the same pitch as the carton transport pitch of the carton conveyor 2, and the articles 12 are sequentially supplied between each set of guide members 14 (14 a, 14 b).
[0021]
The carton conveyor 2 and the article transport conveyor 10 are operated synchronously, and the carton CA transported by the carton conveyor 2 and the article 12 transported by the article transport conveyor 10 are in a state in which the positions in the front-rear direction match. Move downstream. When the cartons CA and the articles 12 reach the position of the article pushing mechanism 18 (first article insertion position P1), the pusher 20 that moves in synchronization with the cartons CA and the articles 12 travels in the traveling direction of the conveyors 2 and 10. And move forward in a direction crossing the conveyors 2 and 10. By the advance of the pusher 20, the articles 12 held between the guide members 14a and 14b of the article transport conveyor 10 are gradually pushed out and pushed into the carton CA on the carton conveyor 2 (FIGS. 1 and 3A). reference). The carton CA in which the article 12 is pushed into the inside through the side opening in this way is sealed by a sealing mechanism (not shown) and then sent to the next step.
[0022]
When inserting the article 12 into the one-touch carton CB, the operation of the article conveying conveyor 10 is stopped, the intermediate conveyor 30 and the second article supply conveyor 28 are operated, and the first article supply conveyor 16 is operated. The same article 12 as the article 12 inserted into the carton CA is sent to the second article supply conveyor 28. In addition, a single article 12 is inserted into the carton CA, but a plurality of articles 12 are accommodated in the one-touch carton CB. Since the inserting operation is performed, the carton conveyor 2 is switched from the continuous operation to the intermittent operation, and the article 12 is inserted while the one-touch carton CB is stopped.
[0023]
Furthermore, since the one-touch carton CB is large in size, the distance between the front engaging claws 8a and 8d and the rear engaging claws 8b and 8c of the carton conveyor 2 is adjusted according to the size of the one-touch carton CB. At this time, the screws with the discs 17a and 17b fixed to the rotating shaft 11 are loosened so that the inner two sprockets 13b and 13c can be rotated. In this state, the inner two chains 15b and 15c are moved to adjust the distance between the front and rear engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d to the size of the one-touch carton CB. Thereafter, the screws between the discs 17 a and 17 b are tightened to fix the inner two sprockets 13 b and 13 c to the rotating shaft 11.
[0024]
The carton supply robot 26 takes out the one-touch carton CB folded from the second carton magazine 22 and opens it, and then supplies it onto the carton conveyor 2 at the carton supply position S2. The carton CB sandwiched between the engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d of the carton conveyor 2 is conveyed downstream, and the second article supply conveyor 32 by the article insertion robot 32 at the second article insertion position P2. The article 12 picked up from 28 is inserted. In this embodiment, while the carton conveyor 2 is intermittently operated and the one-touch carton CB is stopped, first, the article insertion robot 28 grasps two articles 12 from the opening above the one-touch carton CB. Further, this operation is repeated four times, and ten articles 12 are inserted into the one-touch carton CB by a total of five operations.
[0025]
This one-touch carton CB is also sealed after the article 12 is inserted and sent to the next step. As described above, in the present embodiment apparatus, the carton conveyor 2 is used as both the carton CA for inserting an article in the horizontal direction from the side and the one-touch carton CB for inserting an article from the upper side. Therefore, the installation space is smaller and the configuration can be simplified than when the article storage devices are provided independently.
[0026]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the structure described in the above embodiment, and it goes without saying that the shape, structure, arrangement, and the like of each part can be appropriately modified and changed. In any case, the carton conveyor 2 may be shared, and the carton supply means 6 and 26 and the article insertion means (the article pushing mechanism 18 and the article insertion robot 32) may be provided independently.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a carton conveyor that holds and transports a carton with a pair of holding claws at the front and back, and an opening between the front and rear holding claws at the upstream end of the carton conveyor , are opened sideways. Carton supply means for supplying the carton in a state of being directed, and article insertion means for conveying the article by an article conveyance conveyor arranged in parallel with the carton conveyor and operated in synchronism with the carton conveyor, and forcing the article into the carton from the side A second carton supply means for supplying the carton conveyor with the opening facing upward, and a position at which the second carton supply means supplies the carton to the carton conveyor. Located near the carton conveyor on the downstream side, holds the supplied articles and accommodates them into the carton from above the carton A second article insertion means provided, wherein by operating one of the carton supply means and the second carton supply means, which can be combined from the carton and upwardly for accommodating an article laterally to a carton for accommodating articles It is an article storage device, and the second carton supply means is conventionally impossible by inserting the carton between the holding claws before and after the carton conveyor on the downstream side of the carton supply position of the carton supply means . It has become possible to use both a carton for storing articles from the side and a carton for storing articles from above.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a simplified overall configuration of an article storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a carton conveyor of the article storage device.
FIG. 3 (a) is a perspective view showing an operation of inserting an article into a carton conveyed with the opening facing sideways, and FIG. 3 (b) shows an operation of inserting the article into a carton with the opening facing upward. It is a perspective view shown.
FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing the carton with the opening facing sideways, and FIG. 4B is a perspective view showing the carton with the opening facing upward.
[Explanation of symbols]
CA carton (carton for inserting items from the side)
CB carton (one-touch carton for inserting articles from above)
2 Carton conveyor 6 First carton supply means 10 Article moving means (article conveying conveyor)
12 article 18 article insertion means (article pushing mechanism)
26 Second carton supply means 32 Second article insertion means

Claims (1)

Carton conveyor for holding and transporting the carton by a pair of holding claws at the front and rear, and a carton supply means for supplying the carton with the opening facing sideways between the front and rear holding claws at the upstream end of the carton conveyor And an article insertion device comprising article insertion means for conveying an article by an article conveyance conveyor arranged in parallel with the carton conveyor and operated in synchronization with the carton conveyor, and pushing the article into the carton from the side,
Second carton supply means for supplying a carton with the opening facing upward to the carton conveyor, and the vicinity of the carton conveyor downstream from the position where the second carton supply means supplies the carton to the carton conveyor Provided with a second article insertion means for holding the article to be supplied and accommodating it in the carton from above the carton ,
An article storage device that operates either the carton supply means or the second carton supply means, and can be used as both a carton for storing articles from the side and a carton for storing articles from above.
The second carton supply means inserts a carton between the holding claws before and after the carton conveyor on the downstream side of the carton supply position of the carton supply means .

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