JP4811644B2 - Article state detection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an article placed on a pallet placed and conveyed by a conveying means in a state of protruding forward from the front end in the conveying direction of the pallet and protruding rearward from the rear end in the conveying direction of the pallet. The present invention relates to an article state detection device that detects a state.

Conventionally, the above-described article state detection apparatus has been configured as follows.
That is, a pallet detector that detects the presence or absence of a pallet at a pallet detection position provided in a conveyance path by the conveyance means, and a front side that detects protrusion of an article forward when the pallet reaches the pallet detection position Article detector and a rear article detector that detects the rearward protrusion of the article when the pallet reaches the detection position, and the pallet detector has reached the pallet detection position by the pallet detector. The detection result of the front-side article detector when it is detected, and the detection result of the rear-side article detector when the pallet detector detects that the pallet has reached the pallet detection position, There is one configured to detect the state of an article (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In other words, the front-side article detector is configured by a photoelectric switch, and the front-side set distance from the position where the front end of the article is predicted to be located when the pallet reaches the pallet detection position. It is configured to detect whether or not an article exists at a position close to the front side in the conveyance direction. The article detector on the rear side is constituted by a photoelectric switch, and only a rear set distance from a position where the rear end of the article in the conveyance direction is predicted to be located when the pallet reaches the detection position. It is configured to detect whether or not an article is present at a position close to the rear side in the transport direction.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-43056

  In the above conventional configuration, whether or not the front protrusion length at which the article protrudes forward from the front end in the pallet transport direction exceeds the front set distance, and the article protrudes rearward from the rear end in the pallet transport direction. Since it is possible to detect whether or not the rearward projecting length exceeds the rear set distance, when the length in the transport direction of the pallet and the length in the transport direction of the article to be placed are constant, in other words When the predicted front protrusion length and the predicted rear protrusion length are constant, the state of the article placed on the pallet can be detected.

  By the way, the pallet for placing and supporting the article includes a plurality of types of pallets having different lengths in the transport direction, and the pallet on which the article is placed and transported by the transport means has a length in the transport direction. When changing to a different type of pallet, the predicted forward protrusion length and the predicted backward protrusion length as described above may be different.

  In the above-mentioned conventional configuration, among the multiple types of pallets, a pallet is used whose predicted forward protruding length is shorter than the front set distance and whose predicted backward protruding length is shorter than the rear set distance. It is possible to detect the state of the article when the pallet type is changed, but when the predicted forward protrusion length exceeds the front set distance or the predicted backward protrusion length is When the set distance is exceeded, there is a possibility that the state of the article conveyed while being placed on the pallet cannot be properly detected.

  In the above-described conventional configuration, a plurality of types having different lengths in the conveyance direction can be obtained by changing the relative positions of the article detector on the front side and the article detector on the rear side with respect to the pallet detector. Although it is possible to detect the state of the article even if the pallet is to be transported, the mounting position of each detector must be changed and adjusted each time the type of pallet is different. The adjustment work is troublesome and cannot be dealt with in reality.

  An object of the present invention is to detect the state of an article that is conveyed while being placed on a pallet even when a plurality of types of pallets having different lengths in the conveyance direction are targeted for conveyance. The object is to provide a possible article state detection apparatus.

The article state detection device according to the present invention projects to a pallet placed and transported by a transport means in a forward direction from the front end in the transport direction of the pallet and in a rearward direction from the rear end in the transport direction of the pallet. The state of the placed article is detected, and the first characteristic configuration is to detect whether or not the article is present on the pallet at a detection operation position in the conveyance path by the conveyance means. Article presence / absence detecting means, a pallet presence / absence detecting means for detecting whether or not the pallet is present at a pallet detection position in a transport path by the transport means, and a transport distance detection for detecting a transport distance of the transport means Based on the detection information of each of the means, the article presence / absence detection means, the pallet presence / absence detection means, and the transport distance detection means. Forward projecting length protruding forward side of the forward end, and is configured by an arithmetic means for obtaining a rearward projection length of the article protrudes rearward than the conveying direction trailing end of the pallet, the pallet The detection position is located on the rear side in the transport direction by a set distance that is set longer than the predicted forward protrusion length at which the article is predicted to protrude forward from the front end in the transport direction of the pallet, relative to the detection operation position. The conveyance distance detection between the time when the presence of the pallet is detected by the pallet presence / absence detection unit and the presence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detection unit. The forward protrusion length is obtained based on the transport distance of the transport means detected by the means and the set distance, and the pallet presence / absence detection means detects the pallet presence / absence. Based on the transport distance of the transport means and the set distance detected by the transport distance detection means from when the presence is detected to when the absence of the article is detected by the article presence detection means. It is in the point comprised so that the said back protrusion length may be calculated | required .

  According to the first characteristic configuration, whether or not a pallet is present by the pallet presence / absence detection means at the pallet detection position in the conveyance path of the conveyance means while being conveyed by the conveyance means while the article is placed on the pallet. Is detected, and whether or not an article is present is detected by the article presence / absence detection means at a detection operation position in the conveyance path by the conveyance means. On the other hand, the conveyance distance of the conveyance means is detected by the conveyance distance detection means.

  Then, based on the detection information of each of the article presence / absence detection means, the pallet presence / absence detection means, and the conveyance distance detection means, the forward protrusion length at which the article protrudes further forward than the front end in the conveyance direction of the pallet, and The rear protrusion length at which the article protrudes rearward from the rear end of the pallet in the conveyance direction is obtained.

  For example, the pallet presence / absence detecting unit detects the presence of the pallet from the state in which the pallet presence / absence detecting unit does not detect the presence of the pallet as the article is conveyed. The transport distance transported by the transport means within an elapsed time between the timing at which the article is present and the timing at which the article presence / absence detecting means has not detected the presence of the article, and the timing at which the article is detected. The forward protrusion length can be obtained from the separation distance along the transport direction between the detection operation position and the pallet detection position. Similarly, the rearward projecting length can be obtained based on the detection information of each of the article presence / absence detection means, the pallet presence / absence detection means, and the transport distance detection means.

  Accordingly, it is possible to obtain the front projecting length in which the article projects forward from the front end in the pallet transport direction and the rear projecting length in which the article projects rearward from the rear end in the pallet transport direction. Provided is an article state detection device capable of detecting the state of an article conveyed while being placed on a pallet even when a plurality of types of pallets with different lengths are to be conveyed. I was able to do it.

Further , according to the first characteristic configuration, since the pallet detection position is set in a state of being located on the rear side in the transport direction by the set distance from the detection operation position, the front end of the pallet reaches the pallet detection position. Then, after the pallet presence / absence detecting means is in a state of detecting the presence of the pallet, the front end of the article reaches the detection operation position, and the article presence / absence detecting means is in a state of detecting the presence of the article. Then, based on the detection information of each of the article presence / absence detection unit, the pallet presence / absence detection unit, and the conveyance distance detection unit, the front protrusion length and the rear protrusion length can be appropriately obtained.

  Referring to FIG. 7, when the presence of the pallet is detected by the pallet presence / absence detection means (see FIG. 7 (a)), the presence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detection means ( The conveyance distance of the conveyance means detected by the conveyance distance detection means up to (b) of FIG. 7 is the front end of the article when the pallet presence detection means detects the presence of the pallet. This corresponds to the separation distance L3 between the position where is located and the detection action position. And if the said conveyance distance L3 is deducted from the separation distance L1 along the conveyance direction between a detection action position and a pallet detection position, the front protrusion length L2 of an article | item can be calculated | required.

Further, the rearward protruding length can be obtained in the same manner as the forward protruding length. That is, from the time when the pallet presence / absence detecting means detects the absence of the pallet (see FIG. 7 (b)) to the time when the article presence / absence detecting means detects the absence of the article (see FIG. 7 (d)). The conveyance distance L4 of the conveyance means detected by the conveyance distance detection means between the distance L1 along the conveyance direction between the detection action position and the pallet detection position is added to the rear protrusion length L5 of the article. Since the length is the length, the rearward protruding length L5 of the article can be obtained by subtracting the separation distance L1 from the transport distance L4.

  Then, after detecting the presence / absence of the pallet by the pallet presence / absence detection means, the presence of the article placed on the pallet is detected, so that the article is transported in a state where the article is placed on the pallet. It is possible to appropriately detect whether or not it is.

  In other words, as the article presence / absence detection means, a non-contact type sensor such as a photoelectric sensor is generally used so as not to damage the article, but such a non-contact type sensor is more erroneous than a contact type sensor. It is easy to detect. Therefore, if the presence / absence detection of the article is performed prior to the detection of the presence / absence of the pallet, the state of the article may not be properly detected due to the erroneous detection as described above. On the other hand, as described above, since the configuration is such that the presence / absence of the pallet is detected before the presence / absence of the article, the detection means with few false detections such as the contact type sensor is used as the pallet presence / absence detection means. Thus, by detecting the presence or absence of an article after detecting the presence or absence of a pallet, it becomes possible to appropriately detect whether or not the article is being transported in a state of being placed on the pallet. .

  Accordingly, there is provided an article state detection device that can appropriately determine the front protrusion length and the rear protrusion length in a state where there is little risk of erroneously detecting the state of the article when the article is not placed on the pallet. I was able to provide it.

The second characteristic configuration of the present invention, in addition to the first feature configuration, the calculation means, of the pallet at the pallet presence detection means from when the presence of the pallet at the pallet presence detecting means is detected The transport direction length of the pallet, the forward protruding length, and the rear determined based on the transport distance information of the transport unit detected by the transport distance detection unit until the absence is detected Add the protruding length to determine the length of the article in the transport direction, or the presence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detecting means when the presence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detecting means The length of the article in the conveyance direction is obtained based on the information on the conveyance distance of the conveyance means detected by the conveyance distance detection means until is detected.

According to the second characteristic configuration, the conveyance distance of the conveyance means detected by the conveyance distance detection means from the time when the presence of the pallet is detected by the pallet presence detection means until the absence of the pallet is detected. Based on the information, the pallet transport direction length is obtained. Then, the length of the article in the conveyance direction is obtained by adding the front protrusion length and the rear protrusion length to the conveyance direction length of the pallet.

  Since the length of the article placed on the pallet is determined in the conveyance direction in this way, when a plurality of types of articles having different lengths in the conveyance direction are to be conveyed, For example, it is possible to detect whether or not the length of the placed article in the conveyance direction is different from the predicted length.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an article state detection device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
This article state detection device projects to the pallet P placed and transported by a transport conveyor 1 serving as transport means in front of the front end in the transport direction of the pallet P and rearward from the rear end in the transport direction of the pallet P. It is comprised so that the state of the article | item A mounted in the state which protrudes in may be detected.

  The transport conveyor 1 is configured to place and transport the article A stored in a warehouse or the like to the shipping place while being placed on the pallet P. The article A transported to the shipping place is, for example, A large number of trucks are loaded on a carrier bed for transportation. And this conveyance conveyor 1 makes the conveyance object the multiple types of pallets P from which the length of a conveyance direction mutually differs. For example, a pallet P having a length in the transport direction of 1100 mm, a pallet P having a length in the transport direction of 1200 mm, or the like is used, and the length in the transport direction of the article A may vary depending on the type of article to be handled. is there.

  The article state detection apparatus includes an article presence / absence detection unit 2 as an article presence / absence detection unit that detects whether or not an article is present on the pallet P at a detection operation position in the conveyance path by the conveyance conveyor 1. The pallet presence / absence detection unit 3 as pallet presence / absence detecting means for detecting whether or not the pallet P is present at the pallet detection position X2 in the conveyance path by the conveyance conveyor 1 and conveyance for detecting the conveyance distance of the conveyance conveyor 1 Based on the detection information of the rotary encoder 4 as the distance detection means, the article presence / absence detection unit 2, the pallet presence / absence detection unit 3, and the rotary encoder 4, the article A projects forward from the front end of the pallet P in the transport direction. To calculate the forward projecting length and the rear projecting length at which the article A projects rearward from the rear end in the conveying direction of the pallet P It is constituted by an arithmetic unit 5 as stage.

Hereinafter, a specific configuration of each unit will be described.
First, the configuration of the transfer conveyor 1 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the transfer conveyor 1 includes a pair of left and right frames 7 supported by a plurality of support columns 6 and spaced apart in the width direction of the conveyor, and a conveyor covering the pair of frames 7. It comprises a stay 8 erected in the width direction and a pair of left and right endless rotating chains 9 supported so as to be able to rotate on each of the pair of left and right frames 7. A drive sprocket 11 driven by an electric motor 10 with a speed reducer is rotatably supported. A driven sprocket 12 is rotatably supported at the other end of each frame 7. 12, an endless rotating chain 9 is wound around.

  The drive shaft 13 of the electric motor 10 is provided so as to extend long across the pair of left and right drive sprockets 11 along the widthwise direction of the conveyor so that each of the pair of left and right drive sprockets 11 is integrally rotated. It is configured. The drive shaft 13 includes a rotary encoder 4 having a well-known configuration that generates one pulse each time it rotates by a unit angle, in other words, every time the pallet P is transported by a unit transport distance (for example, 1 mm). It has been. As will be described later, by counting the number of pulses of the pulse signal output from the rotary encoder 4, the transport distance when the transport conveyor 1 transports an article can be measured.

  And the article presence detection part 2 which detects whether the article exists on the pallet P in the detection action position X1 in the conveyance path | route by the said conveyance conveyor 1 is provided. The article presence / absence detection unit 2 is provided in a state of being supported by a support body 14 formed in a gate shape so as to straddle the upper outer side of the conveyor 1.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the article presence / absence detection unit 2 includes a light emitter 2a that emits detection light in a state of horizontally facing the inner side surfaces of the vertical support columns 14a on both the left and right sides of the support 14, and It is composed of a transmissive photoelectric switch in which a light receiver 2b that receives detection light is disposed. That is, if the article A does not exist on the pallet P, the light receiver 2b receives the detection light emitted from the light emitter 2a and is turned on, but if the article A exists on the pallet P, Since the detection light is blocked by the article A and is not received, the detection light is turned off. The presence / absence of the article A on the pallet P can be detected by the difference in the detection state.

  A pallet presence / absence detection unit 3 is provided for detecting whether or not the pallet P exists at the pallet detection position X2 located on the upper side in the transport direction by a set distance from the detection operation position X1 in the transport path by the transport conveyor 1. ing. The pallet detection position X2 is positioned on the front side in the transport direction by a set distance longer than the predicted forward protrusion length at which the article A is predicted to protrude further forward than the front end of the pallet P in the transport direction than the detection action position X1. It is set in the state to do. If it demonstrates with a specific example, although the said prediction front protrusion length changes with the kind of pallet P and the kind of goods, for example, it is a case where it is estimated that the said prediction front protrusion length is in the range of 20 mm-80 mm. For example, the set distance, that is, the separation distance between the pallet detection position X2 and the detection action position X1, is set to a distance of about 100 mm to 150 mm.

  The pallet presence / absence detection unit 3 is movable up and down between a protruding position protruding above the conveying placement surface Z and a retreating position retracting below the conveying loading surface Z in the conveying conveyor 1 and toward the protruding position. If the roller 17 is in the projecting position and the roller 17 is in the protruding position, the absence of the pallet P is detected, and if the roller 17 is in the retracted position, the presence of the pallet P is detected. And a detection switch 16 that is turned on.

  Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a swing arm 19 is pivotally supported by a support plate 18 attached and fixed to the stay 8, and a swing end portion of the swing arm 19. A detection roller 17 is supported on the shaft so as to be rotatable around the horizontal axis. The oscillating arm 19 is oscillated and biased in the direction in which the roller 17 moves upward by the tension force of the tension spring 22, and the position of the oscillating arm 19 is restricted to the set upper limit position by the stopper 20, thereby preventing further oscillation. Yes. Further, at the set upper limit position, the roller 17 protrudes upward from the transport placement surface Z of the transport conveyor 1.

  On the other hand, a detection switch 16 is attached to the support plate 18, and a cam member 21 that swings integrally is provided on the swing arm 19. When the pallet P on which the article A is placed is transported by the transport conveyor 1. When the pallet P comes into contact with the roller 17 and the pallet P pushes the roller 17, the swing arm 19 swings against the pulling force of the tension spring 22, and the roller 17 descends to convey the conveyor 1. It will be in the state which retreats below from the conveyance mounting surface Z.

  In the state where the roller 17 protrudes upward, the cam member 21 does not push the operating portion 23 of the detection switch 16, so that the detection switch 16 is turned off. When the roller 17 is retracted downward, the cam member 21 pushes the operating portion 23 of the detection switch 16 so that the detection switch 16 is turned on.

  Accordingly, the fact that the roller 17 is in the protruding state and the detection switch 16 is in the off state corresponds to the state in which the absence of the pallet P is detected, and the roller 17 is in the retracted state and the detection switch 16 is in the on state. Corresponds to a state in which the presence of the palette P is detected.

  The arithmetic device 53 is configured by using a microcomputer. As shown in FIG. 1, the arithmetic device 53 includes detection information of each part such as the pallet presence / absence detection unit 3, the article presence / absence detection unit 2, and the rotary encoder 4. Is input, and the article state is detected based on the detection information.

  That is, the arithmetic device 5 is detected by the rotary encoder 4 between the time when the presence of the pallet P is detected by the pallet presence / absence detection unit 3 and the time when the presence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detection unit 2. The forward protrusion length is determined based on the transport distance of the transport conveyor 1 and the set distance (the separation distance between the pallet detection position X2 and the detection action position X1), and the pallet presence / absence detection unit 3 Based on the transport distance of the transport conveyor 1 detected by the rotary encoder 4 and the set distance between the time when the absence is detected and the time when the absence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detection unit 2 It is configured to determine the length.

  Further, the arithmetic device 5 is detected by the rotary encoder 4 between the time when the presence of the pallet P is detected by the pallet presence / absence detection unit 3 and the time when the pallet presence / absence detection unit 3 detects the absence of the pallet P. The length of the pallet P in the conveyance direction obtained based on the conveyance distance of the conveyed conveyor 1, the front protrusion length, and the rear protrusion length are added to obtain the length of the article in the conveyance direction. Has been. Moreover, when the front protrusion length is longer than the predicted front protrusion length, it is configured to determine that the state of the article is abnormal.

Next, the processing operation of the arithmetic device 53 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. 6 and the operation explanatory diagram of FIG.
The pallet P is placed and conveyed by the conveyor 1 while the article A is placed and supported, and the pallet presence / absence detection unit 3 changes from the off state where the pallet P is absent to the on state where the pallet P is present. When it is detected that the switching has occurred (see FIG. 7A), counting of the number of pulses of the pulse signal output from the rotary encoder 4 is started from that point (steps 1 and 2).

  Further, when the pallet P is conveyed and it is detected that the article presence / absence detection unit 2 has switched from an off state in which the absence of an article is detected to an on state in which the presence of an article is detected (see FIG. 7B). Then, the pulse count value of the pulse signal at that time is read, and the pulse count value and the pulse count value corresponding to the separation distance L1 between the pallet detection position X2 and the detection action position X1 that are measured and stored in advance. Is calculated from the set count value corresponding to (Steps 3 and 4).

  In other words, when the presence of the pallet P is detected by the pallet presence / absence detection unit 3 based on the value obtained by multiplying the pulse count value by the conveyance distance per pulse, the presence / absence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detection unit 2. The transport distance L3 of the transport conveyor 1 detected by the rotary encoder 4 until it is detected, and a value obtained by multiplying the set count value by the transport distance per pulse is the pallet detection position X2 and the detection action position X1. Therefore, when the conveyance distance L3 is subtracted from the separation distance L1, the front protrusion length L2 can be obtained.

  After that, when the pallet P is further transported and it is detected that the pallet presence / absence detector 3 has switched from an on state in which the presence of the pallet P is detected to an off state in which the absence of the pallet P is detected (FIG. 7 ( C)), the conveyance direction length L6 of the pallet P is calculated by multiplying the pulse count value of the pulse signal at that time by the conveyance distance per pulse (steps 5 and 6). At that time, the pulse count value is reset and counting is started again (steps 7 and 8), and the article presence / absence detection unit 2 detects the absence of the article from the on state in which the article A is detected. When it is detected that the state has been switched (see FIG. 7D), the pulse count value of the pulse signal at that time, the pallet detection position X2 and the detection action position X1 that are measured and stored in advance. The rear protrusion length L5 is obtained by calculation from the set count value corresponding to the separation distance between them, and the pulse count value is reset (steps 9, 10, and 11).

That is, similar to the calculation of the forward protrusion length, the conveyance distance per pulse is added to the pulse count value when it is detected that the article presence / absence detection unit 2 has been switched to the off state for detecting the absence of an article. When the absence of the pallet P is detected by the pallet presence / absence detection unit 3, the conveyance detected by the rotary encoder 4 is detected from the time when the absence of the item is detected by the article presence / absence detection unit 2. The transport distance L4 of the conveyor 1 is obtained. By subtracting the separation distance L1 between the pallet detection position X2 and the detection action position X1, which is a value obtained by multiplying the set count value by the transport distance per pulse, from the transport distance L4, The rearward protruding length L5 can be obtained.

  Next, the front protrusion length L2, the conveyance direction length L6 of the pallet P, and the rear protrusion length L5 obtained as described above are added to calculate the length L7 of the article A in the conveyance direction. (Step 12).

  And based on the detection result of the front protrusion length L2, the back protrusion length L5, and the length L7 of the conveyance direction of the article | item A, it is discriminate | determined whether the state of the article | item A is normal or abnormal (step 13). . That is, the front protrusion length L2 is within the range of the expected front protrusion length, the rear protrusion length L5 is within the range of the expected rear protrusion length, and the length L7 in the transport direction of the article A is set in advance. If it is within the predicted length range, it is determined that the state of the article A is normal (step 14), the front protrusion length L2 is longer than the expected front protrusion length, and the rear protrusion length L5 is If it is detected that the length is longer than the expected rearward protrusion length or the length L7 of the article A in the transport direction is longer than the expected length, it is determined that the condition of the article A is abnormal (step 15). ).

In step 1, before it is detected that the pallet presence / absence detection unit 3 switches from the off state in which the pallet P is absent to the on state in which the pallet P is present, the article presence / absence detection unit 2 In this case, when it is detected that the OFF state for detecting the absence of the product has been switched to the ON state for detecting the presence of the article A, the forward protruding length of the article A is longer than the predicted forward protruding length. In addition, it is determined that the article A is abnormal (step 16).

The transport conveyor 1 is intended for transporting a plurality of types of articles A having different lengths in the transport direction. The transport conveyor 1 places and transports the articles A on the platform of a transport truck from the shipping location and ships them. For example, when the items A are placed on the loading platform in order, the length of the item A along the conveying direction of the item A is not limited. If it is larger than the above, it may not be possible to load efficiently, so that not only the forward projecting length L2 and the rear projecting length L5 but also the length along the conveying direction of the article A is determined, and it is determined as abnormal. I am trying to do it. When the article A is determined to be abnormal, a process for distributing the article A determined to be abnormal to a different conveyance path from the normal article is performed at the lower side in the conveyance direction.

[Another embodiment]
Hereinafter, other embodiments are listed.

( 1 ) In the above embodiment, the calculation means adds the length in the conveyance direction of the pallet, the front protrusion length, and the rear protrusion length to obtain the length in the conveyance direction of the article. However, instead of such a configuration, the following configuration may be used.

  That is, the conveyance detected by the conveyance distance detection unit from when the presence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detection unit to when the absence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detection unit. The length of the article in the conveyance direction may be obtained based on the information on the conveyance distance of the means.

  In such a configuration, when it is detected that the pallet presence / absence detecting means is switched to the off state for detecting the absence of the pallet as in the above embodiment (see FIG. 7C), the pulse count It is not a configuration that resets the value and restarts the pulse count from that time, but when it is detected that the pallet presence / absence detecting means has switched to an on state that detects the presence of the pallet (see FIG. 7 (a)). Until it is detected that the article presence / absence detecting means has switched to the off state for detecting the absence of the article (see FIG. 7D), the pulse count is continued. It is possible to determine the length of the article in the conveyance direction. Then, the pulse count value at the midpoint ((B), (C) in FIG. 7) is obtained by calculating the difference value between the two target pulse count values by reading the progress of the count each time. This can be done by calculating the transport distance.

( 2 ) In the above-described embodiment, the rotary encoder that outputs one pulse per unit transport distance is used as the transport distance detection unit that detects the transport distance of the transport unit. For example, the distance in the conveying direction between the article and the pallet is measured by a laser distance measuring device to measure the conveying distance by the conveying means, or based on image information captured by the imaging means. It is possible to measure in various forms such as measuring the transport distance by the transport means from the amount of movement of the article or pallet.

( 3 ) In the above embodiment, when it is determined that the state of the article is abnormal, a process of distributing the article determined to be abnormal to a conveyance path different from that of a normal article is performed on the lower side in the conveyance direction. However, instead of such a configuration, for example, when it is determined that the state of the article is abnormal, the article is removed from the conveyance path by the conveyance means and temporarily held in a standby place, and then the same length. When a set number of articles are collected, they may be transported together along the transport path. Further, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and when it is determined that the state of the article is abnormal, a notification operation by the notification unit may be performed to stop the conveyance of the conveyance unit.

( 4 ) In the above-described embodiment, the pallet presence / absence detecting means is a contact-type detecting switch provided with a detection switch that is movable up and down and that switches to an ON state when a roller that is biased upward and protrudes contacts the pallet and retracts downward. Although the configuration constituted by the detection means is exemplified, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, a non-contact detection means such as a photoelectric switch may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the article presence / absence detecting means uses a photoelectric switch. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the contact member swings in contact with the article to be conveyed and is turned off. It may be configured by contact-type detection means that switches from ON to ON.

( 5 ) In the above embodiment, an example in which the conveyance conveyor as the conveyance means is configured by a chain conveyor is illustrated, but instead of such a configuration, various conveyance conveyors such as a roller conveyor and a belt conveyor are used. Can do.

Side view of article condition detection device Plan view of article condition detection device Front view of the article state detection device Front view showing the configuration of the pallet presence / absence detection unit Side view showing the configuration of the pallet presence / absence detection unit Flow chart of control operation Operation explanatory diagram showing detection status

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyance means 2 Article presence / absence detection means 3 Pallet presence / absence detection means 4 Conveyance distance detection means 5 Calculation means A Article L1 Set distance L2 Front protrusion length L5 Backward protrusion length P Pallet X1 Detection action position X2 Pallet detection position

Claims (2)

The state of the article placed on the pallet placed and conveyed by the conveying means is projected forward from the front end in the conveyance direction of the pallet and rearward from the rear end in the conveyance direction of the pallet. An article state detection device,
An article presence / absence detection means for detecting whether or not the article is present on the pallet at a detection operation position in a conveyance path by the conveyance means;
A pallet presence / absence detecting means for detecting whether or not the pallet is present at a pallet detection position in a transport path by the transport means;
A transport distance detecting means for detecting a transport distance of the transport means;
Based on the detection information of each of the article presence / absence detection means, the pallet presence / absence detection means, and the conveyance distance detection means, the front protrusion length at which the article protrudes forward from the front end in the conveyance direction of the pallet, and A calculation means for obtaining a rear protrusion length in which the article protrudes rearward from the rear end in the conveying direction of the pallet ;
The pallet detection position is rearward in the transport direction by a set distance that is set to be longer than the predicted forward protrusion length at which the article is predicted to protrude forward from the front end of the pallet in the transport direction relative to the detection operation position. Set in the position,
The computing means is
The conveyance means detected by the conveyance distance detection means from the time when the presence of the pallet is detected by the pallet presence / absence detection means until the presence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detection means. The forward projecting length is obtained based on the transport distance and the set distance, and when the absence of the pallet is detected by the pallet presence / absence detecting means, the presence / absence of the article is detected by the article presence / absence detecting means. The article state detection device configured to obtain the rearward protrusion length based on the transport distance of the transport unit and the set distance detected by the transport distance detection unit until detection.   The computing means is
  The conveying means detected by the conveying distance detecting means from when the presence of the pallet is detected by the pallet presence detecting means to when the absence of the pallet is detected by the pallet presence detecting means. The length of the pallet in the transport direction, the forward protrusion length, and the rearward protrusion length obtained based on the transport distance of the article are added to determine the length in the transport direction of the article, or the presence / absence detection of the article The conveyance distance of the conveyance means detected by the conveyance distance detection means from when the presence of the article is detected by the means to when the absence of the article is detected by the article presence detection means. The article state detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the article state detection apparatus is configured to obtain a length of the article in a conveying direction based on the article.

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