JP5684602B2 - Sorting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sorting device that changes a conveyance direction of a conveyed product sent from a conveyance device such as a conveyance conveyor in an arbitrary direction.

Conventionally, in a distribution center, a factory, and the like, various transport devices are used to move a transported object. And in the conveyance path | route of such a conveying apparatus, the sorting apparatus which changes the moving direction of a conveyed product to a some direction is used (for example, refer patent document 1).
The conventional sorting apparatus includes a plurality of spherical rollers arranged in a conveyance direction of a conveyance path and a width direction orthogonal thereto, a roller support frame that supports the spherical rollers rotatably around a horizontal axis, and a plurality of A rotating mechanism for rotating the spherical rollers all around the vertical axis, and a drive shaft for frictionally driving the spherical rollers all at once. And a conveyed product can be moved on a some spherical roller by rotating a drive shaft and rotating a spherical roller. Further, by rotating the rotation mechanism around the vertical axis of the spherical roller to change the direction, the conveyed product can be moved in a direction corresponding to the direction of the spherical roller.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-240819

  However, the above-described prior art has the following problems because the drive shaft has a cylindrical shape and the outer periphery of the drive shaft is in contact with the outer periphery of the spherical roller.

When the conveyed product sent from the conveyor is moved in the same direction by the sorting device, the spherical roller is brought into contact with the drive shaft with the rotation center axis of the spherical roller being parallel to the drive shaft. At this time, the contact point of the spherical roller to the drive shaft is the farthest from the rotation center axis.
On the other hand, when the conveyed product is moved in a direction different from the conveying direction of the conveying conveyor by the sorting device, the rotation center axis of the spherical roller is inclined obliquely with respect to the axial direction of the drive shaft. At this time, the contact point of the spherical roller to the drive shaft is close to the rotational center of the spherical roller, and the rotational speed of the spherical roller is increased so that the moving speed does not decrease even if the conveyed product is moved in an oblique direction. The distance between the rotation center shaft and the input point of the spherical roller is shortened, the driving torque is reduced, and the weight of the conveyed product can be reduced.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sorting device in which a reduction in driving torque is unlikely to occur even when the rotation center axis of a conveying roller is inclined.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1
A plurality of transport rollers installed in a transport path of the transport object and arranged in both directions of the transport direction of the transport object and the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction;
A support member that rotatably supports the transport roller around a rotation shaft that extends in the horizontal direction, and a support member that is rotatably supported around a vertical axis with respect to the base;
The transport roller row is supported by the base so as to be rotatable about the axis in the width direction, and the rotation thereof can be transmitted to the transport rollers of the transport roller row arranged in the width direction all at once. A drive shaft installed in parallel,
An interlocking mechanism that is connected to the support member of the transport roller array and horizontally rotates the transport rollers of the transport roller array in a synchronized manner.
A small-diameter portion provided on a portion of the outer periphery of the drive shaft that is in contact with the outer peripheral edge portion of the transport roller to transmit drive, and in which the outer peripheral edge portion is in contact with the rotation shaft in parallel with the drive shaft. A drive transmission portion formed in a shape in which the outer diameter gradually increases to a large diameter portion with which the outer peripheral edge abuts in a state where the rotation shaft is inclined in a horizontal direction with respect to the drive shaft;
Bei to give a,
The horizontal rotation center of the support member is disposed at a position closer to the drive shaft in the horizontal direction than the position of the rotation shaft when the transport roller is in contact with the small diameter portion of the drive transmission unit. A sorting device characterized by
The invention according to claim 2
A plurality of transport rollers installed in a transport path of the transport object and arranged in both directions of the transport direction of the transport object and the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction;
A support member that rotatably supports the transport roller around a rotation shaft that extends in the horizontal direction, and a support member that is rotatably supported around a vertical axis with respect to the base;
The transport roller row is supported by the base so as to be rotatable about the axis in the width direction, and the rotation thereof can be transmitted to the transport rollers of the transport roller row arranged in the width direction all at once. A drive shaft installed in parallel,
An interlocking mechanism that is connected to the support member of the transport roller array and horizontally rotates the transport rollers of the transport roller array in a synchronized manner.
A small-diameter portion provided on a portion of the outer periphery of the drive shaft that is in contact with the outer peripheral edge portion of the transport roller to transmit drive, and in which the outer peripheral edge portion is in contact with the rotation shaft in parallel with the drive shaft. A drive transmission portion formed in a shape in which the outer diameter gradually increases to a large diameter portion with which the outer peripheral edge abuts in a state where the rotation shaft is inclined in a horizontal direction with respect to the drive shaft;
With
The support member has a roller support portion that supports the rotating shaft in a vertical direction about a vertical swing shaft that extends in a horizontal direction with respect to a horizontal rotation portion that can rotate horizontally with respect to the base. Supported to be swingable,
The vertical swing shaft is arranged in a horizontal direction at a position farther from the drive shaft than the rotary shaft.
The invention according to claim 3 is the sorting apparatus according to claim 2,
The horizontal rotation center of the support member is disposed at a position closer to the drive shaft in the horizontal direction than the position of the rotation shaft when the transport roller is in contact with the small diameter portion of the drive transmission unit. was sorting machine it said.

The invention according to claim 4 is the sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The drive transmission unit is formed into a curved shape along a rotation locus of the outer peripheral edge of the transport roller when the support member rotates horizontally .

In the sorting apparatus according to the present invention, when the rotation axis of the conveyance roller is arranged in parallel with the drive shaft, the conveyance roller is in a state where the outer peripheral edge abuts on the small diameter portion of the drive transmission portion of the drive shaft. The rotation is transmitted at.
From this state, when the support member is rotated in the horizontal direction, the conveying roller changes the contact position of the outer peripheral edge portion from the small diameter portion to the large diameter portion along the drive transmission portion. For this reason, compared with the state where the conveying roller is in contact with the small-diameter portion, the number of rotations is increased. However, since the rotation input is made from the outer peripheral edge, the input driving torque does not change greatly. .

Furthermore, in this onset bright, horizontal times about a vertical axis of rotation center during movement of the support member, than the position of the rotary shaft of the conveying roller when in contact with the small-diameter portion, at a position closer to the drive shaft in the horizontal direction Arranged. Therefore, the rotation locus of the contact position with the drive shaft when the conveyance roller is rotated in the horizontal direction is compared with the rotation locus when the rotation center around the vertical axis is located at the same position as the rotation axis. Thus, a small-diameter arc is formed, and the arc connecting the small-diameter portion and the large-diameter portion of the drive transmission portion can be made shallower.
Therefore, the processing work when forming the drive transmission portion on the drive shaft is facilitated, the required outer diameter of the drive shaft can be reduced, and the weight and cost can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the vertical swing shaft that supports the roller support portion of the support member is disposed at a position farther from the drive shaft than the rotation shaft of the transport roller. For this reason, when conveying a conveyed product with a conveyance roller, the load of a conveyed product acts in the direction which rocks a roller support member, and it acts so that a conveyance roller may be press-contacted to a drive shaft.
Accordingly, the frictional force acting between the transport roller and the drive shaft is relatively large when transporting a heavy object and relatively small when transporting a light object, depending on the weight of the transport object.
Therefore, the weight limit of the conveyed object that can be conveyed can be set higher than in the case where the conveying roller is brought into contact with the drive shaft only by the urging force of the spring as in the prior art. In the case of the prior art, when a heavy object is to be transported, it is necessary to set a large biasing force by the spring. Thus, compared with the case in which the transport roller is always in strong contact with the drive shaft, Durability can be improved.
In the invention according to claim 4, the shape of the drive transmission portion is formed in a shape along the rotation locus of the outer peripheral edge portion of the transport roller. Therefore, when the transport roller is rotated in the horizontal direction, the outer peripheral edge of the transport roller changes the contact position from the small diameter portion to the large diameter portion without changing the contact position with the drive transmission portion. . Therefore, there is almost no fluctuation in the driving torque of the transport roller during horizontal rotation of the transport roller, and stable transport performance and transient characteristics can be obtained.

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a conveyance path CW to which the sorting apparatus A according to the first embodiment is applied. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a roller mechanism portion 30 including a pair of transport roller rows 50 and 50 and one drive shaft 40 applied to the sorting apparatus A of the first embodiment, in which the transport roller 51 has a small diameter portion. The state which contact | abutted to 42a is shown. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a roller mechanism portion 30 including a pair of transport roller rows 50 and 50 and one drive shaft 40 applied to the sorting apparatus A of the first embodiment, and the transport roller 51 has a large diameter. The state which contact | abutted to the part 42b is shown. 4 is a side view of the roller mechanism 30 of the sorting apparatus A according to the first embodiment, and shows a state viewed from the arrow Y1 in FIG. FIG. 5 is a front view of the roller mechanism 30 of the sorting apparatus A according to the first embodiment, and shows a state viewed from the conveyance direction indicated by the arrow F1 in FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the conveying roller 51 and the support member 52 in the sorting apparatus A according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the operation of the interlocking mechanism 70 used in the sorting apparatus A according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the transport roller 51 is horizontally rotated in the clockwise direction with respect to the transport direction indicated by the arrow F1. (B) shows a state in which the conveying roller 51 is directed in the conveying direction indicated by the arrow F1, and (c) shows a horizontal rotation of the conveying roller 51 in the counterclockwise direction with respect to the conveying direction indicated by the arrow F1. Shows the state. FIG. 8 is a plan view of a main part of the sorting apparatus A according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between the conveyance roller 51 of the sorting apparatus A according to the first embodiment and the drive transmission recess 42 of the drive shaft 40. FIG. 10 is a plan view of the second embodiment showing another application example of the sorting apparatus A. FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The sorting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is installed in a transport path (CW) of a transported object (W), and a plurality of sorting apparatuses are arranged in both the transport direction of the transported object (W) and the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction. The transport roller (51) and the transport roller (51) are rotatably supported around a rotating shaft (53) extending in the horizontal direction, and are rotated about a vertical axis with respect to the base (60). A support member (52) supported so as to be movable, and supported by the base (60) so as to be rotatable about the axis in the width direction, and the rotation thereof is arranged in the width direction. A drive shaft (40) installed in parallel with the transport roller row (50) so as to be able to transmit to the transport roller (51) of the roller row (50) all at once, and the support member of the transport roller row (50) (52) connected to the conveying roller row (5 ) And the outer peripheral edge portion (51a) of the conveying roller (51) on the outer periphery of the drive shaft (40). The rotating shaft (53a) is provided at a portion where drive transmission is performed and the rotating shaft (53) is parallel to the driving shaft (40) in a horizontal direction, and the outer peripheral edge portion (51a) abuts on the small diameter portion (42a). The outer diameter is gradually increased to the large diameter part (42b) with which the outer peripheral edge part (51a) abuts in a state where the shaft (53) is inclined in the horizontal direction with respect to the drive shaft (40). And a drive transmission unit (42).

Below, based on FIGS. 1-9, the sorting apparatus A of Example 1 is demonstrated.
(Constitution)
The sorting apparatus A according to the first embodiment is installed in the conveyance path CW shown in FIG.
And this sorter A is the 2nd conveyance conveyor 12 which conveys conveyance thing W conveyed in the direction of arrow F1 by the 1st conveyance conveyor 11 in the conveyance way CW in the direction of arrow F2 which is the direction along arrow F1. And a third conveyor 213 that conveys in the direction of arrow F23 that is substantially orthogonal to the direction of arrow F1 in the horizontal direction.

  The sorting apparatus A is covered with a transport plate 20 having an upper surface formed of a thin metal plate such as iron, and a roller mechanism unit 30 including a plurality of later-described transport rollers 51 below the transport plate 20 follows the arrow F1. A plurality of sets (for example, about 5 to 8 sets) are arranged in parallel in the direction. In the first embodiment, five sets are arranged in parallel. The number of installation groups is set as appropriate based on the size of the conveyance object, the conveyance speed, and the like.

Next, the configuration of the roller mechanism unit 30 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, which is a plan view of the roller mechanism unit 30 as viewed from above, the roller mechanism unit 30 includes a drive shaft 40 extending in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the arrow F1 and the drive shaft 40. There are also provided two sets of conveying roller rows 50 in which conveying rollers 51 are arranged in the width direction with the shaft 40 in the center.

  The drive shaft 40 is rotatably supported at both ends in the axial direction by the base 60 via bearings (not shown). Further, an input pulley 41 to which rotation is input from a motor (not shown) is provided at one end in the axial direction. In addition, rotation is input to the input pulleys 41 of the roller mechanisms 30 at the same time.

Further, on the outer periphery of the drive shaft 40, there are a plurality of (for example, about 5 to 7) drive transmission concave portions (drive transmission portions) 42 recessed in the inner diameter direction along the axial direction according to the number of the conveying rollers 51 installed. There are seven locations in the present embodiment 1). Note that the number of the transport rollers 51 and the drive transmission recesses 42 is appropriately determined according to the transport object W, the transport speed, and the like.
Each drive transmission recess 42 is in contact with a pair of transport rollers 51 disposed with the drive shaft 40 interposed therebetween in the transport direction, and the drive shaft 40 rotates, based on the frictional force of both. The rotation is transmitted to the conveyance roller 51.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4 showing a state viewed from the direction of arrow Y1 in FIG. 2, the transport roller 51 is supported by the base 60 via the support member 52.
The support member 52 supports the transport roller 51 so as to be rotatable about a horizontal rotation shaft 53, and swings the rotation shaft 53 in the vertical direction and supports the rotation in the horizontal direction. is there.

  The support member 52 will be described in detail. The support member 52 has a base 54 fixed to the base 60 and a horizontal rotation axis 54a that rotates about the vertical axis with respect to the base 54 in the horizontal direction. A horizontal rotation bracket (horizontal rotation portion) 55 supported so as to be rotatable, and a vertical swing shaft 55a (refer to FIG. 4) whose axial direction is horizontal with respect to the horizontal rotation bracket 55. A roller support bracket (roller support portion) 56 that is supported at the center so as to be swingable in the vertical direction and supports the rotating shaft 53 is provided.

The base 54 is made of metal and is fixed to the base 60 by welding or the like.
As shown in FIG. 5, the horizontal rotation bracket 55 has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and a lower end portion of the horizontal rotation bracket 55 is supported so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction around the horizontal rotation shaft 54 a. ing. As shown in FIG. 4, the horizontal rotation shaft 54 a is arranged close to the drive shaft 40 by the dimension X in the horizontal direction and in the transport direction (arrow F <b> 1 direction) with respect to the rotation shaft 53. .

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the roller support bracket 56 is formed in a hat cross-sectional shape having a pair of flanges 56 f and 56 f at the upper end portion, and the conveyance roller 51 is provided along the horizontal direction on the inner side. The rotating shaft 53 is supported so as to be rotatable. The flange 56f closes an opening 20a, which will be described later, of the transport plate 20. In the first embodiment, the flange 56f is formed in a substantially semicircular shape as shown in FIG. 6, but the shape is not limited to this.
The roller support bracket 56 is supported so as to be swingable in the vertical direction about the vertical swing shaft 55a as described above with respect to the horizontal rotation bracket 55. The vertical swing shaft 55a is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, it is arranged at a position away from the drive shaft 40 by a dimension Y in the horizontal direction with respect to the rotation shaft 53. Further, a spring 57 that swings and biases the roller support bracket 56 in the direction of the drive shaft 40 is provided on the outer periphery of the vertical swing shaft 55a.
Accordingly, the transport roller 51 is pressed against the drive shaft 40 by the urging force of the spring 57.

The conveying roller 51 has an outer diameter that is larger than the maximum diameter portion of the drive shaft 40, and is narrow in the axial direction of the rotating shaft 53, as shown in FIG. The outer peripheral edge 51a which is the maximum outer diameter portion is formed in an arc cross-sectional shape.
By the support member 52 configured as described above, the transport roller 51 is supported so as to be swingable in the vertical direction indicated by the arrow Y2 in FIG. 4 and rotated in the horizontal direction as indicated by the arrow Y3 in FIG. It is supported movably.

The horizontal rotation of the transport roller 51 is performed simultaneously and synchronously by the interlocking mechanism 70 on the two pairs of transport roller rows 50 and 50 provided along the drive shaft 40.
As shown in FIG. 7, the interlock mechanism 70 includes a drive cylinder 71, drive links 72 and 73, and interlock links 74 and 74.
The drive cylinder 71 is expanded and contracted by a fluid such as air. In the first embodiment, the drive cylinder 71 can be driven from the neutral position shown in FIG. 5B to the shortened position shown in FIG. 5A and the extended position shown in FIG. It is used.
The drive cylinder 71 is supported such that a base end portion thereof is rotatable with respect to the base 60 in the horizontal direction.

  The drive link 72 is formed in an L shape in plan view as shown in the drawing, and the central corner portion of the L shape is arranged at the center in the width direction (direction orthogonal to the arrow F1) in the transport roller row 50. As shown in FIG. 4, the support member 52 is coupled to the lower end portion of the horizontal rotation shaft 54a. Therefore, the drive link 72 horizontally rotates integrally with the combined horizontal rotation shaft 54a.

  Returning to FIG. 7, one end (input portion) of the drive link 72 is connected to the piston rod 71 a (see FIG. 5) of the drive cylinder 71 so as to be relatively rotatable in the horizontal direction. On the other hand, the other end (output portion) of the drive link 72 is connected to one end (input portion) of another drive link 73 via a connecting rod 75. An intermediate portion of the connecting rod 75 is provided with an adjusting portion 75a that adjusts the length of the connecting rod 75 in the axial direction.

  The drive link 73 has a straight bar shape, and a central corner of the drive link 73 is connected to the horizontal rotation shaft 54a of the central support member 52 in the arrangement direction of the other transport roller row 50, and the horizontal rotation shaft 54a. They are coupled together so as to be rotatable.

  Therefore, the interlocking mechanism 70 rotates the drive link 72 and the drive link 73 in the same phase based on the expansion and contraction of the drive cylinder 71, and accordingly, the horizontal rotation shaft to which both the drive links 72 and 73 are connected. 54a and 54a rotate, and the transport roller 51 having the horizontal rotation shaft 54a swings in the horizontal direction.

  Furthermore, the horizontal rotation bracket 55 is connected to each conveyance roller row 50, 50 by an interlocking link 74, and the horizontal rotation of both the drive links 72, 73 is applied to all the horizontal rotation brackets 55 in the same row. As a result, all the transport rollers 51 of one roller mechanism 30 rotate horizontally in the horizontal direction at the same phase.

  Here, to describe the connection by the interlocking link 74, the interlocking link 74 is formed in a thin plate shape having an L-shaped cross section and extending along the axial direction of the drive shaft 40, as shown in FIG. ing. A rotating shaft 74a is erected on the interlocking link 74 at a constant pitch, and a columnar block 74b is mounted on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 74a so as to be relatively rotatable in the horizontal direction although not shown in detail. Has been.

  Each block 74 b is attached to the horizontal rotation bracket 55. The block 74b is attached differently at both ends of the conveying roller array 50 in the arrangement direction and at the intermediate portion sandwiched between the both ends. The blocks 74b at both ends in the arrangement direction are fixed to the horizontal rotation bracket 55, while the block 74b disposed at the intermediate portion sandwiched between them is a direction perpendicular to the axis of the drive shaft 40 in the horizontal direction (arrow in FIG. 2). It is attached so as to be relatively movable in the forward and reverse directions of F1. That is, the horizontal rotation bracket 55 disposed in the intermediate portion is formed with a substantially U-shaped long groove 55b as viewed from above as shown by a dotted line in FIG. It is mounted so that it can slide relative to the direction.

  Based on such a connection structure, as the interlocking link 74 moves in the width direction of the conveyance path CW in FIG. 7, all the horizontal rotation brackets 55 are synchronously rotated at the same time. The roller 51 also rotates in the horizontal direction.

  The conveyance roller 51 described above protrudes slightly upward from the conveyance plate 20, as shown in FIG. That is, the transport plate 20 has an opening 20a shown in FIG. 8 at a position where each transport roller 51 is provided, and an upper end portion of the transport roller 51 protrudes from the opening 20a. The opening 20a is formed in a substantially fan shape that narrows on the side close to the drive shaft 40 in the horizontal direction and expands on the far side. Further, the conveying roller 51 is formed with a small width with respect to the outer diameter, and the gap between the conveying roller 51 and the inner peripheral edge of the opening 20a is blocked by a flange 56f formed on the roller support bracket 56. This prevents the article from falling through the gap.

  Here, the drive transmission recessed part 42 of the drive shaft 40 with which the conveyance roller 51 abuts will be described. That is, the transport roller 51 is pressed against the drive transmission recess 42 of the drive shaft 40, and when the drive shaft 40 rotates, the transport roller 51 rotates based on the frictional force and is sent onto the transport plate 20. The coming conveyed object W is moved in the rotation direction.

  As described above, the transport roller 51 rotates horizontally around the horizontal rotation shaft 54a. Therefore, the drive transmission recess 42 has an arc shape centered on the horizontal rotation shaft 54a in plan view so that the tip of the outer peripheral edge portion 51a always abuts when the transport roller 51 rotates horizontally. The toroidal surface shape is formed by combining the arc shape (see FIG. 4) centered on the rotation center of the drive shaft 40 in a side view. And when the conveyance roller 51 turns to the direction orthogonal to the drive shaft 40, it arrange | positions in the position contact | abutted to the small diameter part 42a.

(Operation of Example 1)
Next, the operation of the sorting apparatus A according to the first embodiment will be described.
(When transporting from the first transport conveyor 11 to the second transport conveyor 12)
When sorting the conveyed product W sent from the 1st conveyance conveyor 11 shown in FIG. 1 to the 2nd conveyance conveyor 12, the drive cylinder 71 of the sorting apparatus A is arrange | positioned in the neutral position shown in FIG.7 (b). . Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 9A, the conveyance roller 51 is directed in the direction along the arrow F <b> 1 that is the conveyance direction of the conveyance object W, and is directed in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction with respect to the drive shaft 40. It abuts on the small diameter portion 42 a of the recess 42.

  At this time, the conveyance roller 51 is brought into contact with the small-diameter portion 42a of the drive transmission recess 42 of the drive shaft 40, is rotated by the rotation of the drive shaft 40, and is conveyed from the first conveyance conveyor 11 onto the conveyance plate 20. The conveyed product W is conveyed in the direction of arrow F1 along the conveyance plate 20 by the rotation of the conveyance roller 51. Therefore, the conveyed product W is sent to the 2nd conveyance conveyor 12, and is further conveyed by the 2nd conveyance conveyor 12 in the arrow F2 direction of FIG.

  In addition, since the vertical swing shaft 55a is disposed away from the drive shaft 40 in the horizontal direction with respect to the rotation shaft 53 of the transport roller 51, the transport object W input to the transport roller 51 when the transport object W is transported. As shown in FIG. 4, the load generates a moment in the direction indicated by the arrow Y <b> 2 in the drawing around the vertical swing shaft 55 a, and acts to press the transport roller 51 against the drive shaft 40. Accordingly, the pressure contact force of the transport roller 51 to the drive shaft 40 is larger as the transport object W is heavier and smaller as the transport object W is lighter. Therefore, the heavier the conveyed product W, the greater the frictional force acting between the conveying roller 51 and the drive shaft 40, and the driving force of the drive shaft 40 is reliably transmitted to the conveying roller 51, thereby conveying the conveyed product W. Is surely made. Moreover, when the conveyed product W is light, the frictional force between the conveyance roller 51 and the drive shaft 40 is suppressed, and an excessive frictional force can be prevented from acting. Thereby, the urging force by the spring 57 can be kept small, the conveyance roller 51 can be prevented from being strongly pressed against the drive shaft 40 at all times, and wear of the conveyance roller 51 and the drive shaft 40 can be prevented.

(When transporting from the first transport conveyor 11 to the third transport conveyor 213)
When the conveyed product W is conveyed from the first conveying conveyor 11 to the third conveying conveyor 213, the conveying roller 51 is moved to the second conveying until the entire conveyed item W reaches the conveying plate 20 of the sorting apparatus A. As in the case of conveyance to the conveyor 12, as shown in FIG. 9A, the small diameter portion 42a of the drive transmission concave portion 42 is abutted and rotated in the direction along the arrow F1. After that, when the conveyed product W is conveyed onto the conveying plate 20 of the sorting apparatus A, the directions of the conveying rollers 51 of all the roller mechanism units 30 are changed all at once.

  When the direction of the conveying roller 51 is changed as described above, the drive cylinder 71 is driven to extend as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7C, and the drive links 72 and 73 are driven in the counterclockwise direction. As a result, the support member 52 to which the drive links 72 and 73 are attached rotates counterclockwise, and this rotation is transmitted to the other support members 52 by the interlocking link 74, so that each roller mechanism unit 30 All the support members 52 and the transport rollers 51 supported by the support members 52 are horizontally rotated counterclockwise in synchronization with each other.

  When the transport roller 51 rotates horizontally, the outer peripheral edge 51a of the transport roller 51 moves along the curved surface of the drive transmission recess 42 of the drive shaft 40 from the smallest diameter portion 42a toward the large diameter portion 42b. As shown in FIG. 9B, the conveyance roller 51 is inclined with respect to the drive shaft 40.

Accordingly, the conveyed product W sent from the first conveyor 11 to the sorting apparatus A advances in the direction of the arrow Y22 which is the direction of the conveying roller 51 (an angle of about 45 degrees) while maintaining the posture, and the third After transferring to the transfer conveyor 213, it is transferred in the direction of arrow F23.
At this time, the conveyance roller 51 comes into contact with the large-diameter portion 42b, so that the rotation speed of the conveyance roller 51 increases. Accordingly, the conveyed product W sent from the first conveyor 11 to the sorting apparatus A is directed toward the conveying roller 51 (in the direction of arrow F22) while maintaining the speed in the direction of arrow F1 due to the increase in the rotational speed of the conveying roller 51. It is conveyed to. Thus, since the conveyance speed in the direction of arrow F1 in the sorting apparatus A does not change, the first conveyance conveyor 11 can continue conveyance of the conveyed product W at a constant speed.

  Further, as described above, when the transport roller 51 rotates horizontally and faces an oblique direction, the transport roller 51 has an outer peripheral edge portion 51 a that is orthogonal to the drive transmission recess 42 of the drive shaft 40. Since they are in contact with each other, the driving torque input to the conveyance roller 51 has the same value as that at the neutral time.

(Effect of Example 1)
The sorting apparatus A according to the first embodiment described above has the effects listed below.
a) When the transport roller 51 is horizontally rotated in an oblique direction from a state of being orthogonal to the drive shaft 40, the transport roller 51 maintains contact with the drive shaft 40 by the outer peripheral edge portion 51a. However, the drive transmission recess 42 continuously moves from the small diameter portion 42a to the large diameter portion 42b. Thus, even if the conveyance roller 51 rotates horizontally in an oblique direction, the rotation speed is increased without reducing the driving torque of the conveyance roller 51 in order to maintain the contact of the outer peripheral edge portion 51a having the maximum diameter. it can.
b) When the conveyance roller 51 is in a neutral state where it is in contact with the drive shaft 40 at a right angle, the conveyance roller 51 is in contact with the small-diameter portion 42 a of the drive transmission recess 42. For this reason, the interval between the conveying rollers 51 in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the drive shaft 40 (the direction of the arrow F1) can be reduced, and the conveying roller 51 having a large diameter can be reduced while keeping the interval in the conveying direction of the conveying roller 51 small. It can be used. As a result, the diameter of the transport roller 51 can be increased and the transport performance can be stabilized while ensuring the minimum pitch required from the dimensions of the transport object as the transport direction pitch of the transport roller 51.
In addition, if the diameter of the transport roller 51 is increased, the protrusion margin from the roller support bracket 56 that supports the transport roller 51 can be set large, and by forming in this way, the horizontal direction of the transport roller 51 can be increased. A large rotation angle can be set. In the first embodiment, it is possible to incline at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the neutral position orthogonal to the drive shaft 40.

c) The shape of the drive transmission recess 42 of the drive shaft 40 in plan view is formed in a shape along the locus when the outer peripheral edge 51a of the transport roller 51 rotates about the horizontal rotation shaft 54a. For this reason, when the transport roller 51 is horizontally rotated, the outermost peripheral edge portion 51a having the largest diameter always comes into contact with the drive transmission recess 42.
Therefore, when the transport roller 51 performs horizontal rotation, it is possible to increase the rotational speed of the transport roller 51 and prevent a decrease in driving torque as in the conventional case.

d) The horizontal rotation shaft 54 a that is the rotation center when the conveyance roller 51 is rotated horizontally is disposed at a position closer to the drive shaft 40 in the horizontal direction than the rotation shaft 53 that is the rotation center of the conveyance roller 51.
As a result, when the conveying roller 51 rotates horizontally as in b) above, the arc shape of the drive transmission recess 42, which is the shape along the rotation locus of the outer peripheral edge portion 51a, is changed to the rotation shaft 53 and the horizontal rotation shaft 54a. As compared with the case where the two are vertically overlapped with each other, an arc shape with a small diameter can be formed, and accordingly, the shape of the drive transmission recess 42 in the drive shaft 40 can be made shallower. Thereby, the processing operation of the drive shaft 40 becomes easy, the diameter of the drive shaft 40 can be reduced, and the weight and cost can be reduced.

e) The vertical rocking shaft 55a is arranged farther from the drive shaft 40 in the horizontal direction than the rotation shaft 53 of the transport roller 51.
For this reason, when the conveyed product W is conveyed by the conveying roller 51, the load of the conveyed product W acts in a direction in which the conveying roller 51 is pressed against the drive shaft 40. Therefore, the frictional force acting between the transport roller 51 and the drive shaft 40 is relatively large when transporting heavy objects and relatively small when transporting light objects, depending on the weight of the transport object W.
Therefore, as compared with the case where the conveying roller 51 is brought into contact with the drive shaft 40 only by the urging force of the spring 57 as in the prior art, the weight limit of the conveyed product W that can be conveyed can be set higher. Further, in the case of the prior art, when a heavy object is to be conveyed, it is necessary to set a large urging force by the spring, and as compared with the case in which the conveying roller 51 is always strongly abutted against the drive shaft 40 in this way. The durability of the roller 51 can be improved.

  f) Since the opening 20a is formed in a fan shape, the transport roller 51 can be horizontally rotated while keeping the opening area of the opening 20a small. In addition, since the flanges 56f are provided on both sides of the transport roller 51, the opening 20a can be blocked and the article can be reliably prevented from falling, regardless of which direction the transport roller 51 rotates horizontally from the neutral position.

g) A block 74b provided in an intermediate portion of the interlocking link 74 is provided in a long groove 55b of the horizontal rotation bracket 55 so as to be slidable. For this reason, even if there is a shift in the horizontal position of each support member 52, this shift can be absorbed by the relative sliding of the block 74 b and the long groove 55 b, and the support members 52 can be simultaneously rotated in synchronization. it can.
h) The transport roller 51 rotates from the neutral position orthogonal to the drive shaft 40 as shown in FIG. 7B to the left and right in the horizontal direction as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7C. Configured to be movable. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 1, the sorting apparatus A is symmetric with respect to the conveyance direction F1 in addition to the same direction of the arrow F2 and the left direction of the arrow F23 with respect to the conveyance direction F1 from the upstream. Sorting in the right direction is also possible, and high sorting performance can be obtained.

(Other examples)
Other embodiments will be described below.
In the description of the other embodiments, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted. Regarding the action, the action different from that of the first embodiment will be described, and the description of the same action as that of the first embodiment will be omitted.

FIG. 10 shows another application example of the sorting apparatus A described in the first embodiment, and the configuration of the sorting apparatus A itself is the same as that of the first embodiment described above.
That is, in the second embodiment, the direction of conveyance by the third conveyance conveyor 13 is inclined about 45 degrees in the horizontal direction as indicated by the arrow F3 with respect to the conveyance direction of the first conveyance conveyor 11 (direction of arrow F1). Accordingly, the sorting direction by the sorting apparatus A is different from that of the first embodiment. Further, when the sorting direction by the sorting apparatus A is different from that in the first embodiment, the control method for horizontally rotating the transport roller 51 is different from that in the first embodiment.

  In the second embodiment, when the transported object W sent from the first transport conveyor 11 is sorted to the second transport conveyor 12, the drive cylinder 71 of the sorting apparatus A is changed to the one shown in FIG. ) Place it in the neutral position shown in

On the other hand, when conveying the conveyed product W from the 1st conveyance conveyor 11 to the 3rd conveyance conveyor 13, the roller mechanism part 30 provided in multiple rows is made from the upstream of a conveyance direction, with the drive shaft 40 rotating. The conveyance rollers 51 are sequentially driven so as to change the direction as shown in FIG. Thereby, the conveyed product W conveyed from the 1st conveyance conveyor 11 to the sorting apparatus A is conveyed to the 3rd conveyance conveyor 13, changing direction gradually from the front end side of a conveyance direction.
In addition, about another effect, it is the same as that of Example 1, and also in this Example 2, the effect of a)-h) mentioned above is acquired.

  As described above, the embodiment of the present invention and Examples 1 and 2 have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment and Examples 1 and 2, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Design changes that do not depart from the gist are included in the present invention.

  For example, in the embodiment, the narrow conveying roller 51 is shown as the conveying roller, but a spherical roller as in the prior art can also be used. Even when this spherical roller is used, it is possible to prevent the drive torque from being lowered because the portion farthest from the rotating shaft always contacts the drive shaft when horizontally rotated.

  In the embodiment, the drive transmission concave portion 42 is formed in an arc shape along the horizontal rotation locus of the outer peripheral edge portion 51a of the conveyance roller 51 in plan view, but the shape is from the small diameter portion toward the large diameter portion. As long as the shape changes in diameter, the shape is not limited to an arc shape. For example, the shape may change linearly from a small diameter portion to a large diameter portion, or may change as a quadratic curve. Also good.

  In the embodiment, the support member includes a horizontal rotation bracket 55 supported by the base, and a roller support bracket 56 that is supported by the horizontal rotation bracket 55 so as to swing up and down and supports the transport roller 51. However, the support member may be configured to support the transport roller so as to be rotatable and to be supported so as to be rotatable about the vertical axis, and does not have a vertical swing mechanism.

  In the embodiment, one roller mechanism portion 30 is provided with two rows of conveying roller rows 50 and 50 with one drive shaft 40 interposed therebetween. However, the present invention is not limited to this. One drive mechanism and one conveyance roller row may constitute one roller mechanism.

  In the embodiment, the drive cylinder is a so-called dual drive type that drives to a total of three positions in both the shortened and extended directions from the neutral position, and the same direction and the left and right directions with respect to the conveyance direction F1 from the upstream. Although one capable of sorting in three directions is shown, the drive cylinder is not limited to this, and one that simply expands and contracts in two positions may be used. In this case, it is possible to form a state in which the transport roller is orthogonal to the drive shaft and a state in which the transport roller is tilted to only one of the left and right sides. Only two directions can be sorted.

  In the embodiment, the drive transmission unit of the drive shaft is formed so that the transport roller is rotated in the horizontal direction by an angle of about 45 degrees. However, this angle indicates the downstream transport when sorting. When the horizontal rotation angle is shallower than 45 degrees, the concave shape of the drive transmission portion can be changed from the drive transmission concave portion 42 shown in the embodiment. If the concave shape of the drive transmission portion is made deeper than the drive transmission concave portion 42 of the embodiment, the horizontal rotation angle exceeds 45 degrees shown in the embodiment, for example. It is also possible to set an angle of about 60 degrees.

30 Roller mechanism section 40 Drive shaft 42 Drive transmission recess (drive transmission section)
42a Small diameter portion 42b Large diameter portion 50 Conveying roller row 51 Conveying roller 52 Support member 53 Rotating shaft 54a Horizontal rotating shaft 55 Horizontal rotating bracket (horizontal rotating portion)
55a Vertical swing shaft 56 Roller support bracket (roller support part)
60 Base 70 Interlocking mechanism A Sorting device CW Conveying path W Conveyed material

Claims (4)

A plurality of transport rollers installed in a transport path of the transport object and arranged in both directions of the transport direction of the transport object and the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction;
A support member that rotatably supports the transport roller around a rotation shaft that extends in the horizontal direction, and a support member that is rotatably supported around a vertical axis with respect to the base;
The transport roller row is supported by the base so as to be rotatable about the axis in the width direction, and the rotation thereof can be transmitted to the transport rollers of the transport roller row arranged in the width direction all at once. A drive shaft installed in parallel,
An interlocking mechanism that is connected to the support member of the transport roller array and horizontally rotates the transport rollers of the transport roller array in a synchronized manner.
A small-diameter portion provided on a portion of the outer periphery of the drive shaft that is in contact with the outer peripheral edge portion of the transport roller to transmit drive, and in which the outer peripheral edge portion is in contact with the rotation shaft in parallel with the drive shaft. A drive transmission portion formed in a shape in which the outer diameter gradually increases to a large diameter portion with which the outer peripheral edge abuts in a state where the rotation shaft is inclined in a horizontal direction with respect to the drive shaft;
Bei to give a,
The horizontal rotation center of the support member is disposed at a position closer to the drive shaft in the horizontal direction than the position of the rotation shaft when the transport roller is in contact with the small diameter portion of the drive transmission unit. Sorting device characterized by A plurality of transport rollers installed in a transport path of the transport object and arranged in both directions of the transport direction of the transport object and the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction;
A support member that rotatably supports the transport roller around a rotation shaft that extends in the horizontal direction, and a support member that is rotatably supported around a vertical axis with respect to the base;
The transport roller row is supported by the base so as to be rotatable about the axis in the width direction, and the rotation thereof can be transmitted to the transport rollers of the transport roller row arranged in the width direction all at once. A drive shaft installed in parallel,
An interlocking mechanism that is connected to the support member of the transport roller array and horizontally rotates the transport rollers of the transport roller array in a synchronized manner.
A small-diameter portion provided on a portion of the outer periphery of the drive shaft that is in contact with the outer peripheral edge portion of the transport roller to transmit drive, and in which the outer peripheral edge portion is in contact with the rotation shaft in parallel with the drive shaft. A drive transmission portion formed in a shape in which the outer diameter gradually increases to a large diameter portion with which the outer peripheral edge abuts in a state where the rotation shaft is inclined in a horizontal direction with respect to the drive shaft;
With
The support member has a roller support portion that supports the rotating shaft in a vertical direction about a vertical swing shaft that extends in a horizontal direction with respect to a horizontal rotation portion that can rotate horizontally with respect to the base. Supported to be swingable,
It said vertical swing axis, sorting apparatus characterized that you have been positioned away from the drive shaft than the rotational axis in the horizontal direction. The horizontal rotation center of the support member is disposed at a position closer to the drive shaft in the horizontal direction than the position of the rotation shaft when the transport roller is in contact with the small diameter portion of the drive transmission unit. The sorting apparatus according to claim 2 . The said drive transmission part is formed in the curved surface shape which follows the rotation locus | trajectory of the said outer periphery part of the said conveyance roller when the said support member rotates horizontally . The sorting apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims.