JP5221173B2 - Conveyance interval adjustment device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sorting facility in which a plurality of conveyed items having different flow widths mixed in a conveying line are transferred to a branching conveyor line in the orthogonal direction by a sorter, and the interval between the preceding and following conveyed items is conveyed before transferring. The present invention relates to a distance adjustment device for a conveyed product that adjusts to a different interval according to the width of an object.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sorter that sorts a conveyed product , a structure in which an endless chain provided with a plurality of extruded pieces is rotated at high speed in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance line is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). Conveyed in the conveyance forms a spacing between the opposite side Consider moving, the front and rear as extruded piece moving does not contact with the subsequent conveying conveying comprises a pre-branch side. The interval between the conveyed items is set to be constant based on the conveyed item having the maximum width among all the conveyed items flowing through the conveying line.

By the way, such a sorter is capable of transporting the succeeding transported object to the branching position earlier before the movement of the extruding piece is finished as the width of the succeeding transporting object is small, and operating the next extruding piece at an earlier timing. Is possible. However, in the prior art, the extruding piece always operates at a fixed timing with the maximum width of the conveyed product , so the narrower the following conveyed item , the more the extruding piece waits until the next operation, and the sorter's ability Was not fully utilized.
Japanese Patent No. 3864074 Japanese Patent No. 3864075

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve these conventional problems, and to reduce the waiting time for the operation of the sorter by adjusting the interval between the conveyed items to be smaller as the width of the conveyed item is smaller. It is in.

The configuration of the present invention that solves this problem is as follows.
1) In sorting equipment that sorts by transferring a plurality of transported goods with different flow widths mixed in the transport line to the branch conveyor line in the orthogonal direction with the sorter, the distance between the transported goods before and after the transported goods is transferred before the transfer. A device for adjusting the interval of a conveyed product that adjusts to a different interval according to the width of the conveyance line, and is provided with an alignment means that brings the conveyed product to one side and brings the front and back close to an upstream position of the conveyance line, and a conveyance line downstream of the alignment means provided a conveyor and a rear conveyor before driving intermediate position to independently of the series, a first detector for detecting the conveyed material before the conveyor provided with said lapping side of the conveyed object by an optical sensor in the oblique optical axis A second detector for detecting the tip of the opposite side is provided on the rear conveyor. When the second detector detects the tip of the conveyed object after the first detector detects the conveyed object , the rear conveyor is stopped, and then the second conveyor is detected. 1 detector detects the transported object A control unit for controlling the transported object to be operated so that the rear conveyor is operated when it runs out. 2) A distance adjusting device for a transported object described in 1) above, Sorting equipment consisting of a sorter line that transports a plurality of adjusted articles to the branch conveyor line, and a sorter that sorts the articles on the sorter line by transferring them to the branch conveyor line in the orthogonal direction 3) A structure in which a plurality of extruding pieces that project the conveyed product to an endless belt or endless chain suspended between sprockets protrudes at equal intervals, and the extruding pieces move in the direction of the branch conveyor line and then reverse and circulate. In the sorting equipment described in 2) above.

According to the present invention, a plurality of transported objects having different widths are moved to one side by the aligning means and transported close to each other, and after the first detector detects the forward transported object , the second detector When the leading edge of the conveyed product is detected, the rear conveyor stops, and when the first detector stops detecting the forward conveyed material (when it passes), the rear conveyor is activated and the interval between the conveyed items is adjusted to a predetermined interval. It is sent out in the state.

Since a 2nd detector detects the front-end | tip part on the opposite side to the said approach side of a conveyed product with the optical sensor of an oblique optical axis, the timing which a 2nd detector detects changes according to the width | variety of a conveyed product . In the case of a wide conveyance object , the detection by the second detector is accelerated and stops at a position upstream from the average to increase the distance from the conveyance object in front, and in the case of a narrow conveyance object , the second detection Detection by the container is delayed and stops at a position downstream of the average, and the distance from the forward conveyance object becomes small.

Therefore, when a narrow-width transported object is transported, the interval between the transported objects is adjusted to be smaller than that of the conventional maximum width, so the sorter is operated at a faster timing than that of the maximum-width transported object . Therefore, the waiting time until the next operation can be shortened and the sorter's ability can be fully utilized. Moreover, since the space | interval between the conveyed products which flow through a conveyance line becomes small, the conveyance quantity per unit time can increase and conveyance efficiency can also be improved.

In the present invention , the alignment of the conveyed product is generally performed by the direction of the roller of the roller conveyor and the difference in the conveying speed of the front and rear conveyors, but may be sent out by being directly aligned by the operator's hand. The proximity distance between the conveyed products during the alignment is set to be smaller than the minimum distance between the first detector and the second detector. Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

  The embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 is an example in which the apparatus for adjusting the interval of conveyed items according to the present invention is provided in a sorting facility that sorts cardboard boxes containing fresh food items according to stores. FIG. 1 is a layout diagram of the sorting equipment of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the interval adjusting device of the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a side view of the sorter of the embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is an operation flow of the interval adjusting device of the embodiment, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a comparison of interval adjustment of the embodiment, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the sorting device of the embodiment.

In the figure, 10 is an input conveyor line, 11 is a skew conveyor line (alignment means), 12 is an accumulator conveyor line (alignment means), 13 is a conveyance interval control line (interval adjustment device), 13a is a front conveyor, and 13b is a rear Conveyor, 13c is a first detector, 13d is a second detector, 13e is a controller, 14 is a sorter line, 15 is a sorter, 15a is an extruded piece, 15b is a timing belt, 15c is a drive sprocket, 15d is a driven sprocket, 16 Is a branch conveyor line, and B is a conveyed product .

Sorting installation according to the present embodiment, the charged conveyor line 10 feeding the conveyed object B that are available, as shown in FIG. 1 was charged worker, a skew conveyor line 11 to gather the conveyed B to the left side, it was received The accumulator conveyor line 12 for bringing the front and rear transport objects B close to each other, the transport object interval control line 13 for adjusting the distance between the transport objects B close to each other to a predetermined interval, and the transport object B having the adjusted spacing branched by the conveyor line 16 And a sorter 15 that sorts the conveyed product B on the sorter line 14 to the right branch conveyor line 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conveyance object interval control line 13 includes a front conveyor 13a and a rear conveyor 13b that are independently driven in series, and a first detector 13c that detects the conveyance object B on the front conveyor 13a with an optical sensor. And a second detector 13d for detecting the right end of the conveyed product B with an optical sensor having an oblique optical axis whose left side is closer to the downstream side is attached to the rear conveyor 13b. The controller 13e is the second detector 13d is conveyor 13b after when detecting the leading end of the conveyed object B after the first detector 13c detects the conveyed object B is stopped, then the first detector 13c is conveyed B When it stops detecting, it has the control which operates the back conveyor 13b.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sorter 15 hangs two endless timing belts 15b between a pair of left and right drive sprockets 15c and a driven sprocket 15d, and puts an extruding piece 15a between the two timing belts 15b. Four projecting parts are provided at intervals, arranged in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sorter line 14, and the extruded piece 15 a moves in the direction of the branch conveyor line 16 and then reverses and circulates. The length of the extrusion piece 15a is slightly shorter form than the shortest conveyed lengths B of the total transport compound B, the spacing between extrusion pieces 15a, the conveying object B widest greater of the total conveyed B Largely formed.

The conveying speed of the accumulation conveyor line 12 is 40 m / min, the conveying speed of the conveyed product interval control line 13 and the sorter line 14 is 50 m / min, and the moving speed of the pushing piece 15a of the sorter 15 is 80 m / min. The interval Cw between the conveyed objects B is calculated by the following calculation formula.
Cw = (C + W) × VL / VW
C: Spacing direction interval between the conveyance object B being sorted and the subsequent conveyance object B (in this embodiment, about 100 mm)
W: Width of the subsequent transported object B VL: Transport speed of the sorter line 14 VW: Travel speed of the pushing piece 15a of the sorter 15

The operation of the conveyed product interval control line 13 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the conveyed product B before and after moving from the accumulator conveyor line 12 is conveyed in a state where there is a slight gap due to the speed difference with the rear conveyor 13b as shown in FIG. 4 (a). As shown in FIG. 4 (b), when the first detector 13c detects the forward conveyed object B, and then the second detector 13d detects the tip of the backward conveyed object B, the rear conveyor 13b stops, The forward conveyance object B continues to be conveyed. Figure 4 transport of the front of the conveyance object B as shown in (c) transport of backward after the no longer detected through the first detector 13c conveyor 13b is activated B is resumed, among the conveyed object B Is sent to the sorter line 14 in a state adjusted to a predetermined interval Cw.

At this time, the wide conveyed B, interval Cw ₁ before and after the conveyed object B right end is detected at the position of the upstream is largely adjusted as shown in Figure 6 (a). If the width W of the conveyed product B is, for example, 600 mm, the interval Cw ₁ is adjusted to 437.5 mm. In conveyed B narrow hand, spacing Cw ₂ of the conveyed object B right end at the downstream position is detected as shown in FIG. 6 (b) is adjusted smaller. When the width W of the conveyed product B is, for example, 150 mm, the interval Cw ₂ is adjusted to 156.3 mm, which is 281.3 mm smaller than that of the 600 mm width.

The conveyed product B adjusted in this way is sorted into the branch conveyor line 16 by the sorter 15. As shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, even if the narrow conveyance object B is located downstream of the wide conveyance object B, the moving extruding piece 15a is equivalent to the wide conveyance object B. The distance is maintained, and sorting is performed without contact. Therefore, distance Cw between the conveyed object B of the front as the width W of the subsequent conveyance object B is less able to pack, it is possible to operate the correspondingly sorter 15 at a faster timing, waiting time until the next operation The capacity of the sorter 15 can be fully utilized by shortening. Further, since the interval Cw between the conveyed objects B flowing through the sorter line 14 is reduced, the conveyance quantity per unit time is increased and the conveyance efficiency can be improved.

The conveyed product interval adjusting device of the present invention is used for sorting a plurality of conveyed items having different widths into a plurality of sorting destinations.

It is a layout figure of the sorting equipment of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the space | interval adjustment apparatus of an Example. It is a side view of the sorter of an Example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the action | operation of the space | interval adjustment apparatus of an Example. It is an operation | movement flow of the space | interval adjustment apparatus of an Example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the comparison of the space | interval adjustment of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the sorting apparatus of an Example.

10 Input conveyor line 11 Skew conveyor line (alignment means)
12 Accumulate conveyor line (alignment means)
13 Conveyance interval control line (interval adjustment device)
13a Front conveyor 13b Rear conveyor 13c 1st detector 13d 2nd detector 13e Controller 14 Sorter line 15 Sorter 15a Pushing piece 15b Timing belt 15c Drive sprocket 15d Driven sprocket 16 Branch conveyor line B Conveyance

Claims (3)

In the width flowing mix conveying line different transport material was transferred to the perpendicular direction in the sorter to the branch conveyor line sorting sorting installation, the width of the conveyed object the distance between the front and rear of the transfer material before the transfer A device for adjusting the interval of a conveyed product that adjusts to a different interval according to the position, provided with an alignment unit that brings the conveyed product to one side and brings the front and back closer to the upstream position of the conveyance line, and is located in the middle of the conveyance line downstream of the alignment unit It provided a conveyor and a rear conveyor before independently driven to the position in series, a first detector for detecting the conveyed material before the conveyor provided, opposite to the lapping side of the conveyed object by an optical sensor in the oblique optical axis A second detector for detecting the leading edge of the conveyor is provided on the rear conveyor. When the second detector detects the leading edge of the conveyed object after the first detector detects the conveyed object , the rear conveyor is stopped, and then the first detection is performed. vessel rather detects the feed material Characterized in that a control means for controlling to actuate the rear conveyor and that the spacing adjustment device of the conveyance object. The interval adjustment device for the conveyed product according to claim 1, a sorter line for conveying a plurality of conveyed products whose intervals are adjusted by the same interval adjusting device to the branch conveyor line, and the conveyed product on the sorter line to the branch conveyor line Sorting equipment composed of sorters that are transferred and sorted in the orthogonal direction. The sorter projects a plurality of extruding pieces that push the conveyed product to an endless belt or endless chain suspended between sprockets at equal intervals, and the extruding pieces move in the direction of the branch conveyor line and then reverse and circulate. The sorting equipment according to claim 2, which has a structure as described above.

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