JP4863784B2 - Article transfer device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an article transfer device that collects and transfers a plurality of articles conveyed by a bucket conveyor to the next place.

  Devices for boxing articles in cartons and cases, so-called cartoners and casers, are used in various industrial fields. The target items are extremely wide, such as food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.

  When boxing articles, only one article may be put in one carton or case, or a plurality of articles may be put together. When a plurality of articles are packed together, a bucket conveyor is often used because it is convenient to cut out a predetermined number of standing articles and group them in parallel. Examples of such devices can be found in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a bucket of a bucket conveyor in which one package is placed between the interval holding plates of the alignment conveyor and conveyed, and one unit of the package is paralleled to the alignment conveyor by a comb-like pusher. An apparatus is described in which a box is pushed out into a corrugated cardboard box from a bucket conveyor with another pusher.

Patent Document 2 describes an apparatus for extruding a predetermined number of articles to be packed from a bucket conveyor to the packaging machine side using an extrusion plate of a Yagra conveyor.
JP 2003-54517 A (page 3-4, FIG. 1-3) JP 7-187132 A (page 3-5, FIG. 1-10)

  In the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a unit of a package is directly pushed from a bucket of a bucket conveyor into a corrugated cardboard box whose opening is directed sideways. This method can be used when the package is placed on the bucket conveyor with the bottom sideways. However, this method cannot be adopted when there is a circumstance that the article must be placed on the bucket conveyor with the bottom facing down due to restrictions on the shape.

  In the apparatus described in Patent Document 2, the object to be packaged on the bucket conveyor is fed to the packaging machine side by being pushed by the extrusion plate of the YAGRA conveyor, and is pushed into the carton with the opening facing sideways. There is no problem even if the object to be packaged has the bottom side down. The problem with this apparatus is the structure in which the comb-like extruded plate pushes a plurality of articles to be packaged in parallel to the packaging machine. In other words, it is desirable that a plurality of items to be packaged be as dense as possible at the stage of delivery to the packaging machine. If the arrangement pitch of the bucket and the width of the package are substantially equal as in Patent Document 2, the package is already dense when the extruded plate pushes the package from the bucket conveyor, and the extruded plate is packaged as it is. There is no problem even if the package is pushed to the delivery location. However, if the arrangement pitch of the bucket is wider than the width of the package, the package is not in a dense state when the extruded plate is pushed out from the bucket conveyor, and the packed product is directly pushed to the packaging machine with the extruded plate. You cannot go by pressing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points. When a plurality of articles individually held in buckets of a bucket conveyor are extruded and sent to the next process, for example, to a boxing process, the work in the next process is performed. An object is to provide an article transfer device capable of collecting a plurality of articles in an easy shape.

  (1) The article transfer device according to the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a bucket conveyor provided with a plurality of buckets continuously in the traveling direction, a plurality of article receiving sections corresponding to the buckets of the bucket conveyor, an intermediate holding section disposed on the side of the bucket conveyor, and the bucket conveyor A first extruding device that extrudes a plurality of articles individually held in the plurality of buckets to an article receiving unit of the intermediate holding unit by an extruding plate, and the intermediate holding unit spans all of the plurality of article receiving units. The disposed push bar and the push bar are further moved from the first position to stop the overrun of the article in the article receiving section to a second position that wraps behind the article in the article receiving section and from the article receiving section. It is the 2nd extrusion apparatus which is displaced sequentially to the 3rd position pushed out to the delivery location to a mounting chuck.

  According to this configuration, the push-out plate for extruding a plurality of articles individually held in a plurality of buckets of the bucket conveyor can be completed if the article is pushed out to the article receiving part of the intermediate holding part arranged on the side of the bucket conveyor. In addition, even when the arrangement pitch of the buckets is wider than the width of the articles and the extruded articles cannot be said to be in a dense state, no further burden is required. Further, the pushing plate only needs to have a stroke for pushing the article to the intermediate holding portion, and the tact time of the apparatus does not become long. Furthermore, since the push bar that waits for the article in the intermediate holding portion plays a role from stopping the overrun of the article to pushing out the article, it is not necessary to increase the number of components.

  (2) Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the article transfer device having the above-described configuration, the second extrusion device is configured as follows. That is, the second pushing device is attached to the first crank supported rotatably in a vertical plane, a motor for turning the first crank at a predetermined angle, and a tip of the first crank. A second crank that rotates independently of the first crank in a vertical plane parallel to the surface, a sun pulley that is disposed at the center of rotation of the first crank and is fixed to a stationary member so as not to rotate. A planetary pulley disposed at the rotation center of the second crank and fixed to the second crank so as not to rotate; a belt wound around the sun pulley and the planetary pulley; and a tip of the second crank. A slider that supports the push bar; and an actuator that changes a relative position between the second crank and the slider in accordance with a rotation angle of the second crank.

  According to this configuration, the operation bar in the horizontal direction and the high level of the horizontal movement component that the push bar that was in a position to prevent overrun of the article wraps around the back of the article and pushes the article to the transfer place to the transfer chuck as it is. A motion in which the motion component in the vertical direction is mixed can be realized only by controlling the motor and the actuator.

  (3) Further, according to the present invention, in the article transfer device having the above-described configuration, a plurality of articles pushed out from the intermediate holding unit are placed in a dense state between the intermediate holding unit and the transfer position to the transfer chuck. It is characterized in that a dense means is provided.

  According to this configuration, the article naturally becomes dense in the process in which the push bar pushes the article, and the handling in the next process becomes easy.

  (4) Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the article transfer apparatus having the above-described configuration, the denser means includes a tapered guide.

  According to this configuration, the denser means can be easily and inexpensively configured without requiring a complicated mechanism.

  According to the present invention, after a plurality of articles individually held in a plurality of buckets of a bucket conveyor are extruded by an extrusion plate to an article receiving section of an intermediate holding section disposed on the side of the bucket conveyor, the articles of the intermediate holding section Since the pushing bar that has been waiting at the overrun prevention position is pushed to the transfer location to the transfer chuck, each operation can be steadily performed with a small number of components.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1-20. FIG. 1-6 is a plan view of the main part of an article transfer device placed as a pre-process element of cartoner, and shows different operation states, and FIG. 7-10 is an operation explanatory diagram of an extrusion plate of the article transfer device. FIG. 11-17 is an explanatory view of the operation of the push-out bar of the article transfer device and the transfer chuck of the cartoner, and shows different operation states, and FIG. 18 is an article transfer device. FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of the supply of articles to the bucket conveyor of the article transfer apparatus, and FIG. 20 is a control block diagram.

  The article transfer device 1 is combined with the cartoner 100 as a pre-process element. The article transfer apparatus 1 includes the following components. That is, the bucket conveyor 10 that conveys the article 2, the intermediate holding unit 20 that receives the article 2 from the bucket conveyor 10, the first extrusion device 30 that pushes the article 2 from the bucket conveyor 10 to the intermediate holding unit 20, and the article that the intermediate holding unit 20 has received. 2 is a second extrusion device 40 that pushes 2 to the cartoner 100 with the extrusion bar 41.

  The bucket conveyor 10 is provided with a plurality of buckets 11 continuously in the traveling direction of the endless chain 12. A plurality of partition plates 13 are arranged on the endless chain 12 so as to intersect at right angles to the extending direction of the chain (see FIG. 19). The partition plate 13 is attached to the endless chain 12 at a predetermined pitch, and the space between the front and rear partition plates 13 constitutes the bucket 11.

  The buckets 11 are not continuous on the endless chain 12, but are composed of the same number of buckets 11 as one unit of goods packed in a carton, which will be described later, and the groups are arranged at predetermined intervals. Yes. The number of articles per unit is 8 in this embodiment, but this is merely an example, and any number may be used as long as it is plural. The articles 2 are individually held for each of the buckets 11 in a state where the articles 2 are erected with one side face down.

  Each partition plate 13 is erected so as to be normal to the travel line of the endless chain 12. Therefore, the width of the bucket 11 is the same width in the straight section of the endless chain 12 on both the base side and the front end side. However, when the pulley 11 reaches the pulley 14 at the end of the conveyor, the travel line of the endless chain 12 draws a circular arc. It opens from the root side (see FIG. 19). Since it is easier to put the article 2 when the tip of the bucket 11 is open, the article 2 is thrown in aiming at this point.

  When putting the article 2 into the bucket 11, a belt conveyor 15 shown in FIG. 19 is used. Although the article conveyance surface of the belt conveyor 15 is initially horizontal, the angle of a roller (not shown) that supports the belt conveyor 15 is gradually changed so that the belt conveyor 15 is gradually twisted and comes closest to the bucket 11. At the time, it is inclined at the same angle as that of the partition plate 13. For this reason, the article 2 smoothly transfers to the bucket 11. A guide plate 16 is attached to the belt conveyor 15 to prevent the articles 2 from slipping down from the article conveying surface where the inclination gradually becomes steep.

  An intermediate holding unit 20 made of block-like metal is disposed on the side of the bucket conveyor 10 and fixed to a non-illustrated immovable member. The intermediate holding part 20 is formed with a plurality of horizontal groove-shaped article receiving parts 21 at the end adjacent to the bucket conveyor 10. The number thereof is the same as that of the group of buckets 11, that is, eight, and that many are arranged in parallel to each other at the same pitch as the buckets 11. The height of the bottom surface of the article receiving unit 21 is the same level as or slightly lower than the bottom surface of the bucket 11.

  The eight article receiving portions 21 merge near the end opposite to the bucket conveyor 10 to form one discharge path 22. The width of the discharge path 22 is narrower than the interval between the eight article receiving portions 21 located at both ends, and the eight articles 2 come into contact with each other when they reach the discharge path 22. In order to achieve an orderly and dense state, a dense means is prepared. In the present embodiment, a taper guide 23 is used as the denser means. One of the inner side walls of the article receiving portions 21 at both ends constitutes a tapered guide 23 that guides the article 2 to the discharge path 22.

  The bucket conveyor 10 stops for a predetermined time when the eight buckets 11 that individually hold the articles 2 are aligned with the eight article receiving portions 21. During this stop period, the first extrusion device 30 pushes the article 2 from the bucket 11 to the intermediate holding unit 20.

  The structure of the 1st extrusion apparatus 30 is demonstrated referring FIG.1 and FIG.7. The first extrusion device 30 includes a comb-like extrusion plate 31. The extrusion plate 31 is formed with a total of eight hanging parts 31 a that enter the bucket 11 and the article receiving unit 21, and push out the eight articles 2 together. A horizontal beam 32 is attached to the extrusion plate 31 so as to form a T shape when viewed from above.

  The beam 32 is horizontally supported by a parallel link mechanism 33. The two links 34 constituting the parallel link mechanism 33 have an upper end connected to the beam 32 and a lower end connected to the slider 35. The slider 35 moves up and down along a guide 36 fixed vertically. When the slider 35 moves up and down, the link 34 connected to the slider 35, the beam 32 supported by the link 34, and the pushing plate 31 also move up and down. The vertical movement is caused by a crank disk 38 connected to one link 34 by a pin 37.

  The first extrusion device 30 waits for the arrival of the bucket 11 while keeping the extrusion plate 31 at the height of FIG. 7, that is, the height at which the tip of the hanging portion 31 a is slightly above the bottom of the bucket 11. When the bucket 11 arrives and stops, the crank drive motor 39 shown in FIG. 20 rotates the crank disk 38 clockwise in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the slider 35 is lowered while the link 34 is rotated counterclockwise to send the beam 32 to the left.

  In the process in which the pin 37 moves from the position shown in FIG. 7, that is, the position closest to the right, to the position shown in FIG. 8, ie, the position closest to the bottom, the slider 35 is displaced downward. On the other hand, the upper end of the link 34 is displaced upward as the link 34 rises from the inclined state as shown in FIG. 7 as shown in FIG. The downward displacement of the slider 35 and the upward displacement of the upper end of the link 34 cancel each other, and the upper end of the beam 32 moves approximately horizontally. Therefore, the extrusion plate 31 draws an approximately horizontal locus as shown in FIG.

  After the state of FIG. 8, the slider 35 starts to rise. A little later than that, the upper end of the link 34 turns downward. Ascending and descending cancel each other, and the beam 32 continues approximate horizontal movement. The extruded plate 31 also continues to draw an approximately horizontal trajectory.

  In the state of FIG. 9 in which the pin 37 is at the leftmost position, the horizontal movement of the beam 32 reaches its limit. At this point, the article 2 has completely moved from the bucket 11 to the article receiving unit 21. When the crank disk 38 continues to rotate clockwise, the slider 35 is displaced upward, and the upper end of the link 34 is also displaced upward as the link 34 shifts from the angle of FIG. 9 to the angle of FIG. Two types of upward displacement overlap, and the beam 32 is greatly lifted upward. Along with this, the pushing plate 31 draws a mountainous trajectory, passes over the hanging portion 31a without being hooked on the bucket 11, and returns to the position of FIG. Since there is no problem even if the bucket conveyor 10 is moved in the state of FIG. 10, the pull-back of the push-out plate 31 and the forward movement of the bucket conveyor 10 can be advanced simultaneously to shorten the tact time.

  The first pushing device 30 gives a kind of gate motion to the pushing plate 31 only by the rotation of the crank disk 38, but this structure is only one example. For example, a similar locus can be drawn on the extrusion plate 31 by combining a horizontal linear motion mechanism and a vertical linear motion mechanism.

  The article 2 received in the article receiving unit 21 is pushed out to the tip of the discharge path 22 by the pushing bar 41 that is horizontally supported parallel to the bucket conveyor 10. The structure of the 2nd extrusion apparatus 40 which moves the extrusion bar 41 is demonstrated referring FIG.1, FIG.11, FIG.18.

  The second extrusion device 40 includes a first crank 42 that rotates in a vertical plane that intersects the bucket conveyor 10 at a right angle. The first crank 42 is supported by the output shaft of the speed reducer 44 combined with the motor 43. The first crank 42 supports the second crank 45 at its tip. The second crank 45 rotates in a vertical plane parallel to the rotation plane of the first crank 42. A slider 46 is attached to the tip of the second crank 45 so as to be slidable in the axial direction of the second crank 45. The slider 46 is moved by an actuator 47 (see FIG. 20) such as an air cylinder or a linear motor, and changes its position relative to the second crank 45. The push bar 41 protrudes from the mounting plate 48 supported by the slider 46. The push bar 41 is arranged so as to extend over all of the eight component receiving portions 21.

  A sun pulley 50 is disposed at the center of rotation of the first crank 42. The sun pulley 50 is fixed to the immovable member so as not to rotate. On the other hand, a planetary pulley 51 is arranged at the rotation center of the second crank 45. The planetary pulley 51 is fixed to the second crank 45 so as not to rotate, and rotates together.

  The sun pulley 50 and the planetary pulley 51 are connected by a belt 52 wound around both. The sun pulley 50 and the planetary pulley 51 are timing pulleys, and the belt 52 is also a timing belt. The number of teeth of the sun pulley 50 is set to twice the number of teeth of the planetary pulley 51.

  Outside the outlet of the discharge path 22, a cartoner 100 for inserting the article 2 into the carton 101 having an open top surface is arranged. The main components of the cartoner 100 are a shutter 110 and a vacuum suction type transfer chuck 120.

  The shutter 110 is composed of a horizontal plate placed under the intermediate holding unit 20, and slides in a horizontal direction between an advanced position protruding from the intermediate holding unit 20 and a retracted position drawn under the intermediate holding unit 20. Is possible. The shutter 110 covers the upper surface of the carton 101 at the advanced position and exposes the carton 101 upward at the retracted position. The shutter 110 is moved by a shutter driving device 111 using an air cylinder or a linear motor as an actuator.

  An angular bending device 112 for the article 2 is provided for the shutter 110 at the advanced position. The article 2 is obtained by enclosing the contents in an envelope-shaped package, and is placed with the side of the package facing down and the bonded portions at both ends facing sideways. If eight such articles 2 are arranged side by side, the package ends of the articles 2 located at both ends of the article 2 may be caught by the corners of the carton 101, leading to an insertion error. It is the role of the corner bending device 112 to avoid this.

  The corner bending device 112 has a planar U-shaped frame 113 fixed above the position where the shutter 110 is advanced. The frame 113 is arranged with the opening portion directed toward the discharge path 22, and slopes 114 are formed at the corners on both sides at the back so as to form chamfered portions. A rotating plate 115 is disposed on both sides of the entrance of the frame 113. The rotating plate 115 is rotated in the vertical plane by the angle bending actuator 116 shown in FIG. 20 from the angle in the article acceptance state shown in FIG. 1 to the angle in the article angle bending state shown in FIG. The package end of the positioned article 2 is folded inside the article row.

  The transfer chuck 120 adsorbs eight articles 2 taken into the angle bending device 112 at a time, and one article with a plurality of (two in the embodiment) suction holes arranged at intervals. 2 is adsorbed. The transfer chuck 120 is connected to a vacuum source 122 through a valve 121 and is moved up and down by an elevating device 130.

  The lifting device 130 includes a bracket 131 that supports the transfer chuck 120 and an actuator 132 that lifts and lowers the bracket 131. The actuator 132 is configured by connecting in series a first air cylinder 133 whose axis is vertical and a second air cylinder 134 whose axis is also vertical. The rod of the first air cylinder 133 is connected to the stationary part, and the rod of the second air cylinder 134 is connected to the bracket 131. In comparison between the air cylinder strokes, the first air cylinder 133 has a large stroke, and the second air cylinder 134 has a small stroke.

  The article transfer apparatus 1 and the cartoner 100 include a control system as shown in FIG. The control unit 200 that forms the center of control includes, as controlled elements on the article transfer device 1 side, a conveyor motor 17 that drives the bucket conveyor 10, a conveyor motor 18 that drives the belt conveyor 15, and a crank of the first extrusion device 30. The drive motor 39 and the motor 43 of the second extrusion device 40 and the actuator 47 are connected. Further, as controlled elements on the side of the car toner 100, a shutter driving device 111, a corner bending actuator 116, a valve 121, a first air cylinder 133 and a second air cylinder 134 of the elevating device 130, and a conveyor that supports the carton 101 (not shown). ) Conveyor motor 102 is connected. In addition, various components that require control by the control unit 200 are connected in addition to the operation unit 201 for inputting a driving command, various sensors for confirming the presence and state of the article 2 and the carton 101, and the like.

  Next, operations of the second extrusion device 40 and the cartoner 100 will be described. When the first pushing device 30 pushes the article 2 from the bucket conveyor 10 into the article receiving unit 21 of the intermediate holding unit 20, the second pushing device 40 keeps the pushing bar 41 at the position shown in FIG. Seen from above, it looks like Figure 2. This is the first position of the push bar 41. The push bar 41 in the first position serves to prevent the article 2 from overrunning forward.

  The control device 200 issues an article pushing command to the second pushing device 40 as the pushing plate 31 is retracted by the operation of FIG. Then, the motor 43 is driven, and the first crank 42 fixed to the output shaft of the reduction gear 44 rotates clockwise as seen in FIG. On the other hand, a counterclockwise rotation occurs in the second crank 45 that is supported at the tip of the first crank 42 and is connected to the stationary pulley 50 by the belt 52 with the planetary pulley 51 fixed to itself. At this time, the control device 200 gives a motion corresponding to the rotation angle of the second crank 45 to the actuator 47 so that the push bar 41 does not push back the article 2, and the slider 46 is connected to the connecting portion of the first crank 42 and the second crank 45. Slide toward. As a result, the extrusion bar 41 draws a trajectory that is lifted diagonally from the first position (symbolized by the circled number “1” in the figure) and moves in the horizontal direction, and moves above without touching the article 2. To do.

  When the push bar 41 crosses the article 2, the control unit 200 drives the actuator 47 again and slides the slider 46 to the tip side of the second crank 45. Then, the extrusion bar 41 turns around behind the article 2 as shown in FIG. This is the second position of the push bar 41 (in the figure, this is symbolized by a circled number “2”). Seen from above, it looks like Figure 3.

  After the push bar 41 reaches the second position, the control unit 200 reverses the rotation direction of the motor 43. Then, as seen in FIG. 14, the first crank 42 rotates counterclockwise and the second crank 45 rotates clockwise, and the pushing bar 41 pushes the article 2 from behind and moves to the left in the figure. Let The control unit 200 drives the actuator 47 so that the push bar 41 does not come into contact with the intermediate holding unit 20 so that a certain distance or more is maintained between the push bar 41 and the intermediate holding unit 20.

  The eight article receiving units 21 of the intermediate holding unit 20 are individually separated at the beginning, but merge together in the middle to become one. At the same time, since the tape enters the region of the tapered guide 23, the eight articles 2 are pushed toward the left by the push-out bar 41 and approach each other, and become dense around the discharge path 22. The pushing bar 41 pushes the article 2 in a dense state into the upper surface of the shutter 110, which is a delivery position to the transfer chuck 120, and into the corner bending device 112 as shown in FIG. The position at the time of completion of pushing is defined as a third position of the push bar 41 (in the figure, this is symbolized by a circled number “3”). When viewed from above, it looks like FIG. At this time, needless to say, the shutter 110 is in the advanced position, and the transfer chuck 120 is held upward at this stage as shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the denser means for densely packing the articles 2 is constituted by the tapered guide 23, but the denser means may be constituted by other things. For example, when the push bar 41 moves from the first position to the third position, a pair of width aligning plates that move with the push bar 41 are prepared, and the interval between the width aligning plates is shortened so that the articles sandwiched therebetween. A structure in which 2 are densely arranged is also possible.

  When the eight articles 2 are arranged in a horizontal row and pushed into the corner bending device 112, the front package ends of the articles 2 located at both ends hit the inclined surface 114 and are bent inside the article row. After that, when the rotating plate 115 rotates as shown in FIG. 5, the rear package end of the article 2 whose front package end is bent by the inclined surface 114 is bent inside the article row by the rotating plate 115.

  After the article 2 is taken into the corner bending device 112, the control unit 200 drives the motor 43 and the actuator 47 to return the push bar 41 from the third position to the first position as shown in FIG. The extrusion bar 41 draws a locus as shown in FIG. 15 until it starts from the first position and returns to the first position. Similar to the pushing plate 31 of the first pushing device 30, this movement of the pushing bar 41 can also be realized by a mechanism other than the illustrated mechanism, for example, a combination of a horizontal linear motion mechanism and a vertical linear motion mechanism.

  Further, the control unit 200 issues a lowering command to the lifting device 130 and lowers the transfer chuck 120 toward the article 2 on the shutter 110. When the transfer chuck 120 contacts the upper surface of the article 2, the control unit 200 opens the valve 121. Then, the transfer chuck 120 adsorbs the article 2 with a vacuum pressure. Then, the control unit 200 issues a rising command to the lifting device 130. The transfer chuck 120 rises and lifts the article 2 as shown in FIG. Up and down of the transfer chuck 120 so far is performed by reducing and extending the second cylinder 134 having a small stroke. Since the article 2 is attracted to the transfer chuck 120 in a state where the article 2 is properly held by the shutter 110, the adsorption is surely executed, and the article 2 does not fall due to poor adsorption.

  When the article 2 is lifted, the control unit 2 issues a shutter retract command to the shutter driving device 111. Then, the shutter driving device 111 retracts the shutter 110 as shown in FIG. This opens a way to insert the article 2 into the carton 101. Since the shutter 110 is slid in a state where the article 2 is lifted from the shutter 110, the scratch mark of the shutter 110 remains on the surface of the article 2, the article 2 falls due to friction with the shutter 110, or the sliding of the shutter 110 is inhibited. The relationship between the article 2 and the shutter 110 can be broken without difficulty.

  Subsequently, the control unit 200 issues a transfer chuck lowering command to the lifting device 130. The lowering command this time reduces not only the second air cylinder 134 but also the first air cylinder 133. Thereby, the transfer chuck 120 is given a large descending stroke in which the strokes of both air cylinders are superimposed, and the article 2 is inserted all at once to the bottom of the carton 101 as shown in FIG. As described above, since the package ends of the articles 2 at both ends of the row are bent inside the row of articles, the package ends are not caught by the corners of the carton 101 and the insertion of the articles 2 is not hindered. In addition, since the article 2 is securely adsorbed to the transfer chuck 120, the article 2 can be inserted into the carton 101 in a correct posture.

  After putting the article 2 into the carton 101, the control unit 200 closes the valve 121 and separates the transfer chuck 120 from the article 2. Then, a lifting command is issued to the lifting device 130, and the transfer chuck 120 is lifted to the height shown in FIG. Then, a shutter advance command is issued to the shutter driving device 111, and the shutter 110 is returned to the advanced position. The angle bending actuator 116 is also commanded to return the rotating plate 115 from the angle shown in FIG. 5 to the angle shown in FIG. Further, the carton containing the articles 2 is moved to the downstream side of the conveyor, and a new empty carton 101 is placed under the shutter 110. This prepares for the next article carton packing.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

    The present invention can be widely used as an article transfer device when a plurality of articles are boxed in a carton or a case.

Plan view of main parts of article transfer device A plan view of the main parts of an article transfer device showing different operating states A plan view of the main parts of the article transfer device showing different operating states A plan view of the main parts of the article transfer device showing different operating states A plan view of the main parts of the article transfer device showing different operating states A plan view of the main parts of the article transfer device showing different operating states Explaining operation of extrusion plate Explain the operation of the extrusion plate and show different operating states Explain the operation of the extrusion plate and show different operating states Explain the operation of the extrusion plate and show different operating states Explanatory drawing of operation of extrusion bar and transfer chuck Explaining the operation of the push bar and transfer chuck, showing different operating states Explaining the operation of the push bar and transfer chuck and showing different operating states Explaining the operation of the push bar and transfer chuck and showing different operating states Explaining the operation of the push bar and transfer chuck and showing different operating states Explaining the operation of the push bar and transfer chuck and showing different operating states Explaining the operation of the push bar and transfer chuck and showing different operating states Configuration explanatory diagram of the second extrusion device Explanatory drawing of article supply to bucket conveyor Control block diagram

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Goods transfer apparatus 2 Goods 10 Bucket conveyor 11 Bucket 20 Intermediate | middle holding | maintenance part 21 Goods reception part 30 1st extrusion apparatus 40 2nd extrusion apparatus 41 Extrusion bar 42 1st crank 43 Motor 44 Reduction gear 45 Second crank 46 Slider 50 Sun Pulley 51 Planetary pulley 52 Belt 200 Control unit

Claims (4)

Article transfer device having the following configuration:
(A) Bucket conveyor provided with a plurality of buckets continuously in the running direction (b) Intermediate holding section (c) provided with a plurality of article receiving sections corresponding to the buckets of the bucket conveyor and disposed on the side of the bucket conveyor ) A first extrusion device that pushes a plurality of articles individually held in a plurality of buckets of the bucket conveyor to an article receiving section of the intermediate holding section by an extrusion plate. (D) The intermediate holding section includes a plurality of article receiving sections. Extrusion bar arranged in a spanning manner (e) The extrusion bar is further moved from a first position to stop overrun of the article in the article receiving section to a second position that wraps behind the article in the article receiving section. Extruding device for sequentially displacing to the third position for extruding the material from the article receiving portion to the transfer location to the transfer chuck. The said 2nd extrusion apparatus is provided with the following structures, The article transfer apparatus of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned:
(A) a first crank that is rotatably supported in a vertical plane; (a) a motor that rotates the first crank at a predetermined angle; (c) is attached to a tip of the first crank; A second crank (d) rotating independently of the first crank within a parallel vertical plane; (d) a solar pulley (e) disposed at the center of rotation of the first crank and fixed to a stationary member so as not to rotate; A planetary pulley (f) disposed at the center of rotation of the second crank and non-rotatably fixed to the second crank (f) A belt wound around the sun pulley and the planetary pulley (g) Attached to the tip of the second crank A slider that supports the push-out bar and changes a relative position between the second crank and the slider in accordance with a rotation angle of the second crank.   2. A denser means for bringing a plurality of articles pushed out from the intermediate holding part into a dense state is provided between the intermediate holding part and the transfer position to the transfer chuck. 2. The article transfer apparatus according to 2.   4. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the denser means comprises a tapered guide.

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