JP5774390B2 - Article conveying and sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention includes one or a plurality of article carry-in lines for carrying articles having a flat bottom surface of a box-like, plate-like, or cylindrical throw used in a product carry-out area of various factories, a distribution facility, etc. The article sorting line that sorts and sorts the articles that are carried from the article carry-in line for each delivery destination, and the articles that are sorted by the article sorting line are accepted, and each article is provided for each delivery destination. The present invention relates to an article transport sorting device including one or a plurality of article carry-out lines.

Conventionally, in an article sorting line composed of a conveyor that circulates and moves articles received from an article carry-in line composed of belt conveyors, etc., each delivery destination is sorted into a plurality of unloading lines arranged around the article sorting line. There is known an article sorting and conveying apparatus that stores for each delivery destination (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
As shown in FIG. 13, for example, the conventional article conveying and sorting apparatus 800 includes a circulating transfer means 821 including a plurality of endlessly connected trays that are horizontally circulated and driven along a closed path. A sorting line 820 is configured, and a large number of chute means 860 constituting an article carry-out line are arranged on both sides of the travel route of the circulating transfer means 821.
Also provided on one side of the circulation conveying means 821 is an article carry-in conveyor 810 that constitutes an article carry-in line for carrying the articles into the circulation transfer means 821, and the articles carried from the article carry-in conveyor 810 are circulated and conveyed. It is placed on 821 and transferred, and is carried out from the circulating transfer means 821 at a desired position of the chute means 860 and stored below the chute means 860.
In addition, it has also been proposed to improve the sorting efficiency per installation area by causing the circulating transfer means 821 to travel in two vertical stages.

  In addition, as a device for transporting articles vertically, a frame is installed by penetrating from the lower floor to the upper floor, and a box-shaped carriage is held inside the frame by an endless track body such as a chain, and is driven by a motor. Thus, there is known one that raises and lowers a carriage (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2010-89965 A (full text, FIG. 1, FIG. 4) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-43110 (full text, full figure)

However, in the article conveying and sorting apparatus 800 disclosed in Patent Document 1, a large number of carry-out lines are arranged side by side on the plane, so that when the number of carry-out destinations is large, the installation area must be increased according to the number of carry-out lines. I couldn't get it.
However, in recent years, there has been an increasing demand for transporting various kinds of goods in many directions, and as a result of installing a large number of carry-out lines, the installation of the goods transport sorting apparatus requires a huge installation area. As a result of enlarging the apparatus, the problem that installation, maintenance, management, etc. of the apparatus takes a lot of trouble has become prominent.

Further, in the sorting using the conventional circulating transfer means, the sorting direction of the articles can be only two directions, right or left, with respect to the traveling direction of the circulating transfer means, and if the number of carry-out lines that can be installed on both sides is increased, the circulation becomes possible. There is a problem that the length of the transfer means becomes complicated, and the chute means installed inside the circulation transfer means is difficult to lay a cart or truck for carrying out, making it easy to use as a carry-out station. There was no problem.
Furthermore, when the circulation transfer means is arranged in two upper and lower stages as conventionally proposed and the sorting efficiency per installation area is improved, the layout of the chute means arranged around the circulation transfer means becomes complicated, The problem that the structure becomes complicated due to the arrangement of the mechanism for adjusting the slope of the chute means, the sorting to one of the upper and lower circulation transfer means, the sorting from the circulation transfer means to the chute means, and the sorting operation are 2 There is a problem that the control becomes complicated at the stage and the risk of erroneous delivery increases.
In addition, in a vertical two-stage sorting device, if an attempt is made to form a carry-out line without providing a steeply inclined portion, a drop between the conveyor belts having different heights may be combined with a gently inclined slope. Since it is necessary to provide a mechanism for coupling, there is a problem in that it is difficult to avoid an increase in the size of the apparatus because the installation space for the mechanism for coupling these conveyors in the vertical two-stage sorting apparatus increases. .

In addition, vertical transport devices such as those used in the past are hung up and down by a motor with a carriage suspended from a strip such as a wire or chain, and the strip is handled in the vicinity of the device frame. , There are restrictions on the direction of loading and unloading articles, loading and unloading of articles can only be done in a specific direction, it is inconvenient, driving mechanism such as motors, weight of strips, load of transferred articles, etc. All the weight of the machine acts on the ceiling part of the equipment frame, so it is necessary to design the frame with high rigidity, or to provide extra space for the strips such as hanging wires. There was a problem that enlargement could not be avoided.
In addition, if the apparatus becomes complicated in this way, the number of parts increases and there is a problem that maintenance work of the drive mechanism becomes complicated.

Therefore, the present invention solves the conventional problems, that is, the object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for sorting and unloading articles in the vertical direction, so that sorting and unloading per installation area can be performed in a small space. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article conveying and sorting apparatus that is highly efficient and that is compact, reliable in operation and simple in maintenance workability without increasing the size of the article transfer machine .

According to the first aspect of the present invention, one or a plurality of article carry-in lines for carrying in articles, an article sorting line for sorting articles carried in from the article carry-in line for each destination, and articles sorted in the article sorting line In the article transport sorting apparatus provided with one or a plurality of article carry-out lines that accumulate and store each time, the article sort line feeds articles into the carry-in entrance and the article carry-out line for carrying articles put in from the article carry-in line. And a lifting / lowering mechanism for transferring articles between the carry-in port and the carry-out port, and the article carry-out line is configured to carry the article sorting line. are arrayed in the vertical direction with the outlet facing the elevator sorting mechanism, the left and right before or after the article mounting surface provided with a goods mounting surface for mounting the carried-in article to the article sorting line A rectangular article transfer machine having an article transfer conveyor for loading and unloading articles loaded in the direction, and parallel to the article mounting surface of the article transfer conveyor below the article transfer machine Ascending and descending sprockets that rotate forward and backward about the installed rotation shaft and meshing with each other while deflecting from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction by the elevating sprockets, and ascending in a self-standing state, and vertically by the elevating sprockets A pair of raising and lowering mesh chains that are bifurcated while descending from each other while being deflected in the horizontal direction from the direction, and a meshing chain type vertical conveying machine that includes a drive source that drives the lifting sprocket, The article transfer machine includes a ball conveyor having an endless belt shape in which a number of free balls are provided so as to be freely rotatable with part of the upper and lower ends protruding, and the balls A linear drive belt that contacts a free ball projecting from the lower end of the conveyor and applies a rotational force to the free ball in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the ball conveyor, and a drive source that drives each of the ball conveyor and the linear drive belt. by comprises is obtained by solving the problems described above.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the article conveying and sorting apparatus according to the first aspect, the casing of the article sorting line has the carry-in port and the carry-out port at a desired height in the vertical direction in the front-rear and left-right directions. An article transfer machine that opens in any one direction or a plurality of directions, and that the lifting and lowering mechanism carries the article in any one of the front, rear, left, and right directions, and the carry-in entrance that supports the article transfer machine The above-described problem is further solved by including a vertical transfer machine that moves up and down the articles carried in to a desired carry-out height.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the article conveying and sorting apparatus according to the first or second aspect, a plurality of the article carry-out lines are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction to form an article carry-out rack. One or more racks are arranged in parallel or radially in the horizontal direction, thereby further solving the above-described problems.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the article conveying and sorting apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the article transfer machine includes a spherical shape in which a plurality of the article transfer machines are arranged in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction. By providing a cylindrical transfer roller, a transfer direction changing mechanism that swings the respective rotation shafts of the transfer roller all at once in a horizontal plane, and a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the transfer rollers at the same time, This problem is further solved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the article transport sorting device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects , the article sorting line includes a guide rail for guiding and guiding the article mounting unit. The above-described problems are further solved by the fact that guide rollers are installed at the four corners of the casing and are rolled along the guide rails at the corners of the article transfer machine. is there.

  According to the article conveying and sorting apparatus of the present invention according to claim 1, one or a plurality of article carrying lines for carrying articles, and an article sorting line and an article sorting line for sorting articles carried from the article carrying line for each destination. In an article transport sorting apparatus provided with one or more article carry-out lines for collecting and storing sorted articles for each carry-out destination, the article sort line carries a carry-in entrance and an article into which an article put in from the article carry-in line is carried It has a case in which a carry-out port for carrying out articles to the carry-out line is arranged in parallel in the vertical direction, and a lifting / lowering mechanism for transferring the articles between the carry-in port and the carry-out port, and the article carry-out line is a carry-out port of the article sort line By arranging a plurality of components in the vertical direction so as to face each other, there is no need for a circulating transfer means that is horizontally circulated and driven as an article sorting line as in the prior art. The product sorting line can be installed in a very small area, which is somewhat larger than the size of the product to be mounted, so that the product sorting line can be installed in parallel. Can be significantly improved.

In addition, by arranging a plurality of article carry-out lines in the vertical direction, a large number of article carry-out lines can be arranged in the installation area of one carry-out line without occupying a place in the horizontal direction as before. Since it is installed, the installation efficiency of the carry-out line can be significantly improved as compared with the conventional case.
Furthermore, since the article unloading lines are concentrated in the vertical direction, the article unloading lines are concentrated in one place, so that any article unloading line can be easily accessed, and the articles are transferred to a cart, a truck or the like. Maintenance work such as loading, inspection, and maintenance can be performed smoothly and efficiently.
The elevating sorting mechanism has an article loading surface on which an article loaded into the article sorting line is loaded, and an article transfer conveyor that loads and loads the loaded article by moving the article loading surface in either the front, rear, left, or right direction. A rectangular article transfer machine, an elevating sprocket that rotates forward and backward around a rotating shaft that is installed in parallel to the article mounting surface of the article transfer conveyor below the article transfer machine, and for lifting A pair of lifts that branch from one to the other while they are engaged with each other while being deflected from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction by the sprocket and that are lifted in a self-supporting state while being deflected from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction by the lifting and lowering sprocket. And a meshing chain type vertical conveyor equipped with a drive source for driving the lifting and lowering sprocket at a desired height. An article transfer machine that can carry in and out an entry path or a carry-out path in up to four directions, and that transports articles in a state where the articles are stably placed on the article loading surface of the conveyor without being suspended. The article can be transported in a stable state without complicating the structure of the lifting mechanism such as a pair of lifting engagement chains, a lifting sprocket, a drive source, etc. The drive mechanism is not installed upward compared to the conventional suspended lift mechanism, and the load of the article placed on the lift mechanism frame or the load of the drive mechanism is not applied. It is not necessary to increase the structural strength, and the conveyance weight can be increased without increasing the size of the article sorting line as a whole.
In addition, a raised position where a pair of raising and lowering meshing chains are engaged with each other and lifted together in a self-supporting state, and a lowered position where they are separated from each other while being deflected from the vertical direction of the self-supporting state to the horizontal direction and then branched down Since the lifting / lowering stroke of the article transfer machine is set up to this point, it is not necessary to provide a space for installing mechanical parts such as a suspension mechanism above, and the gap generated in the lifting / lowering mechanism portion is kept to a minimum. The number of branches of the article carry-in line and the carry-out line can be set to the maximum by efficiently opening the carry-in entrance and the carry-out exit, etc., with the lift stroke being maximized.
Furthermore, since the strips for suspension do not hang around the side or the top, such strips may interfere with the work in carrying out and carrying in the articles on the article loading machine. In addition, maintenance work on the article mounting surface can be performed smoothly, and maintenance work such as replacement of parts of the lifting mechanism can be easily performed on the floor.
An article transfer machine comes into contact with a free ball protruding from the lower end of the ball conveyor and a free ball protruding from the lower end of the ball conveyor. The drive direction of the ball conveyor and the linear drive belt is provided by including a linear drive belt that gives a rotational force in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the ball conveyor and a drive source that drives each of the ball conveyor and the linear drive belt. By simply adjusting the speed, it is possible to carry in and out in any direction, so that the article transfer machine can be made compact and reliable without increasing its size.

According to the article conveying and sorting apparatus of the present invention according to claim 2, in addition to the effect exhibited by the article conveying and sorting apparatus according to claim 1, the casing of the article sorting line has a desired inlet and outlet in the vertical direction. An article transfer machine that opens in any one or a plurality of directions in the front, rear, left, and right directions at a height of the height, and that the lifting and lowering mechanism carries in and out the articles in either the front, rear, left, and right directions, and the article transfer machine. It is possible to install a loading path or a loading path at a desired height in four directions at the maximum by providing a vertical transfer machine that supports and moves the articles carried from the loading port up and down to a desired discharge height. Therefore, in comparison with the conventional circulating means in which carry-out lines can be installed only in two directions at maximum, a large number of carry-in and carry-out lines can be branched at respective height positions.
Also, as a result of doubling the number of article carry-out lines branching at a specific height, even if the number of article carry-out lines or article carry-in lines is increased, a short path is transferred without lengthening the path reaching each branch line. Since only the desired loading / unloading line is reached, the apparatus can be made compact and the time required for sorting can be shortened to improve the working efficiency.

According to the article conveying and sorting apparatus of the present invention according to claim 3, in addition to the effect exhibited by the article conveying and sorting apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, a plurality of article carry-out lines are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction. By carrying out a carry-out rack and arranging one or a plurality of the carry-out racks in a horizontal direction or in a radial direction, a large number of carry-out lines are gathered in an area where one article carry-out line is installed. Since it is arranged as a rack, the installation area of the carry-out line can be remarkably reduced, and the sorting space can be effectively utilized.
Further, by arranging one or a plurality of article carry-out racks in parallel or radially, it is easy for the operator to approach all the article carry-out lines from the same direction and confirm the position of the target carry-out line. In addition, in any article carry-out line, the loading operation onto the cart, the truck, etc. can be smoothly performed without overlapping the flow lines.
Furthermore, it is possible to open in either the front, back, left or right direction by changing the height of the carry-in port and the carry-out port in the article sorting line laid out in the vertical direction without using a circulating transfer means. The article take-out line can be arranged in an appropriate direction. For example, the article sorting line can be arranged along the wall surface of the article sorting space, the corner can be arranged at the corner of the corner, or the center of the article sorting space. It is possible to construct an article transfer sorting device that is arranged in multiple directions and has an article carry-out rack arranged in multiple directions, so the size, shape, unloading, and loading of the sorting space that can be used are both free. An article transport sorting device that can be freely laid out according to conditions such as the location of the entry route and departure route of carts, vehicles, etc., and can perform sorting work efficiently Rukoto can.

According to the article conveying and sorting apparatus of the present invention according to claim 4, in addition to the effect exhibited by the article conveying and sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, A plurality of spherical or cylindrical transfer rollers arranged in the left-right direction, a transfer direction changing mechanism that simultaneously swings the respective rotation shafts of the transfer rollers within a horizontal plane, and a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the transfer rollers all at once. The transfer direction changing mechanism that appropriately swings and changes the rotation axis direction of the transfer rollers arranged in a large number on the front, rear, left, right, and plane without making the conveyor mechanism moving in four directions complicated by providing And a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the transfer roller forward or backward, and can smoothly move in any of the four directions of front and rear and left and right, making the article transfer machine compact Can be made operate reliably.

According to the article conveying and sorting apparatus of the present invention according to claim 5, in addition to the effect exhibited by the article conveying and sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , the article sorting line includes an article transfer The guide rails for guiding and guiding the machine are erected at the four corners of the casing, and the guide rollers for rolling along the guide rails are installed at the corners of the article transfer machine, so that the raising and lowering engagement chain The product transfer machine that is moved up and down by the guide is guided and guided by the guide rails installed at the four corners, so that it prevents stable rolls and pitches that are likely to occur when using a chain-driven vertical conveyor. Therefore, it is possible to reliably carry out the vertical conveyance of the article.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The front view of the goods conveyance sorting apparatus which is one Example of this invention. The side view of the article conveyance sorting apparatus shown in FIG. The plane of the article conveyance sorting apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and sectional drawing. The perspective view of the article conveyance sorting apparatus shown in FIG. The perspective view of the vertical raising / lowering mechanism used for the article conveyance sorting apparatus shown in FIG. The perspective view of the ball conveyor used for the article transfer machine of the vertical raising / lowering mechanism shown in FIG. The perspective view of the article conveyance sorting apparatus which is 2nd Example of this invention. The perspective view of the goods conveyance sorting apparatus which is 3rd Example of this invention. The perspective view of the articles | goods conveyance sorting apparatus which is 4th Example of this invention. The perspective view of the article conveyance sorting apparatus which is 5th Example of this invention. The perspective view of the goods conveyance sorting apparatus which is 6th Example of this invention. The perspective view of the articles | goods conveyance sorting apparatus which is 7th Example of this invention. The perspective view of the goods conveyance sorting apparatus of a prior art.

The article transport sorting apparatus according to the present invention includes one or a plurality of article carry-in lines for carrying articles, an article sort line for sorting articles carried from the article carry-in line for each destination, and articles sorted by the article sort line. In an article transport sorting apparatus including one or a plurality of article carry-out lines that accumulate and store each time, the article sort line carries the articles to a carry-in entrance for carrying in articles to be loaded from the article carry-in line and to the article carry-out line. It is provided with a case in which a carry-out port is juxtaposed in a vertical direction, and an elevating sorting mechanism for transferring articles between the carry-in port and the carry-out port, and the article carry-out line is opposed to the carry-out port of the article sorting line in the vertical direction. a plurality of arranged, lift sorting mechanism, mounted by moving the article mounting surface before and after the right or left direction provided with a goods mounting surface for mounting an article carried in the article sorting line article A rectangular article transfer machine having an article transfer conveyor to be carried in and out, and a rotation axis installed in parallel to the article mounting surface of the article transfer conveyor below the article transfer machine. The up-and-down rotating sprocket and the up-and-down sprocket are meshed with each other while being deflected from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction, and are lifted together in a self-supporting state. And a pair of lifting and lowering chain that branches while descending, and a meshing chain type vertical conveyor having a drive source for driving the lifting and lowering sprocket. A ball conveyor having an endless belt shape in which a ball partially protrudes from the upper end and the lower end of the ball conveyor and a free protrusion protruding from the lower end of the ball conveyor. And a driving source for driving each of the linearly driving belt ball conveyor and a linear drive belt in contact with the ball impart rotational force in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the ball conveyor the free ball, sorting the articles and If the mechanism for carrying out is provided in the vertical direction, the sorting and the carrying-out efficiency per installation area is high, and the operation is compact and reliable without increasing the size of the article transfer machine , a specific embodiment thereof Can be anything.

  For example, the elevating / sorting mechanism used in the article conveying / sorting apparatus of the present invention can be arranged in any apparatus layout as long as the article transfer machine carrying the article can be vertically conveyed between the carry-in position and the carry-out position. For example, after an article carried in from an article carry-in line connected to the lower position such as a carry-in conveyor is lifted and vertically conveyed, a carry-out roller conveyor or the like through a carry-out outlet connected in either the front, rear, left, or right direction Or the like, or vice versa, after the article is carried in from the article carry-in line connected to the upper position through the carry-in port, the carried-in article is lowered and vertically conveyed, etc. Also good.

  In addition, the pair of raising and lowering engagement chains used in the engagement chain type vertical conveying machine of the article conveying and sorting apparatus according to the present invention is integrated by being meshed with each other by normal rotation of the pair or one raising and lowering sprocket. As long as they are disengaged from each other by reversing the lifting sprocket and branched, any specific chain form may be used, for example, one single row in the chain width direction, chain width Any of two or more double rows in the direction may be used, but when adopting a double row of two or more rows in the chain width direction, one of the pair of meshing chains is configured. The hook-shaped outer tooth plate and the hook-shaped inner tooth plate form the other side of the chain. More specifically, it is possible to realize a lifting mechanism with excellent strength by reliably suppressing buckling, which tends to occur in the chain width direction of the meshing chain, because it is engaged with each other in multiple hooks and firmly in a hook shape. .

  Furthermore, the pair of raising and lowering interlocking chains used in the vertical raising and lowering mechanism of the present invention may be any one that does not have a roller, that is, one that has only a bush, one that has a roller, When the one having only the bush is adopted, the number of chain parts is reduced, and the weight of the chain can be reduced.

  In addition, as for the specific form of the article transfer machine used in the article conveying and sorting apparatus of the present invention, various types of transfer apparatuses such as a belt conveyor and a roller conveyor can be used. Of the type that can be transferred in the direction of the drive of a combination of a ball conveyor rotatably provided with a number of free balls and a linear drive belt that rotates the free balls of the ball conveyor in an appropriate direction. A conveyor or spherical or cylindrical transfer rollers arranged in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, a transfer direction changing mechanism that simultaneously swings the respective rotation axes of the transfer rollers in a horizontal plane, and the transfer rollers all at once If you use a type of roller conveyor equipped with a rotary drive mechanism that rotates, the size can be reduced in size, and in any direction Unloading, loading operation is freely preferred.

As the article carry-out line used in the article conveying and sorting apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that a lot of rollers, such as a roller way, are moved in parallel by the weight of the article so that extra energy is not required. However, when the scale of the apparatus becomes large, if the roller conveyor or belt conveyor driven by a driving source such as a motor is provided, the article can be reliably transferred without the article staying on the line.
Further, the form of the article carry-out line is not limited to a straight line, and a curved transfer path such as an article sorting line and a connecting portion may be provided.

The article transport sorting device of the present invention may be configured to be installed only in one room.For example, when an article carry-in line is installed above, an article sort line and an article carry-out line are installed on the lower floor, The article transport sorting device of the present invention may be installed over two or more floors, such as installing an article carry-in line on one or both of the upper floor and the lower floor.
Further, in the article transport sorting apparatus of the present invention, the article unloading line is arranged in four directions, front, rear, left and right, using a rectangular article transfer machine as a lifting sorting mechanism, but the entire apparatus is configured on a large scale. In order to do so, the outer diameter of the elevating sorting mechanism is configured as multiple hexagons, regular octagons, etc., and the article carry-out line is configured to extend from each side of the multi-shaped elevating sorting mechanism. A larger number of article carry-out lines may be branched from one height position, and as the number of branches increases, a large number of article carry-out lines can be arranged even with devices of the same height. Therefore, it can cope with various and various delivery forms.

Hereinafter, an article conveyance sorting device 100 which is the 1st example of the present invention is explained, referring to drawings.
Here, FIG. 1 is a front view of the article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the article transport sorting apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the article transport sorting apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the vertical elevating mechanism 130 used, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a ball conveyor used in the article transfer machine 140 of the vertical elevating mechanism 130 shown in FIG.

The article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is used for manufacturing equipment in various manufacturing fields, a distribution center in the shipping field, and the like. As shown in FIGS. Inside an article sorting line 120 constituted by a casing 121 erected in a tower shape in the vertical direction, such as a heavy article carried from an article carry-in line 110 constituted by a conveyor or the like via a carry-in port 122. The product is mounted on the lifting / lowering sorting mechanism 130, and the lifting / lowering sorting mechanism 130 is lifted and lowered vertically with respect to the installation surface of the work area, and the article M is opened via the carry-out port 123 opened at a desired position in the vertical direction. Depending on the delivery destination of M, for example, it is carried out to one of the article carry-out lines 160 branched in five rows in the vertical direction.
1 to 3, the article transfer machine 140 at the time of lowering is indicated by a solid line, and the article transfer machine 140 at the time of rising is indicated by a virtual line. Moreover, the white arrow in FIGS. 1 to 3 and 5 indicates the conveyance direction of the article M in the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3, the article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment has a grounding surface on the lower side of a carry-in line 110 for receiving articles manufactured in the manufacturing process or brought in from an external warehouse or the like. The article carry-in line 110 is arranged in the vicinity, and is composed of, for example, a roller conveyor 111 that is rotationally driven by a belt driven by a motor.
An optical reader 112 such as a barcode reader is installed at an appropriate position of the article carry-in line 110, for example, immediately before the article sorting line 120, and the article M described on the label L attached to the article M. The data such as the delivery destination is read, and based on the delivery destination data read by the optical reader 112, each article M is transferred to a desired article carry-out line 160 through the carry-out port 123 corresponding to the delivery destination. In the next article sorting line 120, sorting and unloading are performed.

The article sorting line 120 is installed in a tower shape in the vertical direction. In the first embodiment, the article sorting line 120 is provided with a tower-like casing 121, and a carry-in inlet 122 continuous with the article carry-in line 110 is opened at the bottom of the tower. In the upper part, five outlets 123 are opened in a direction orthogonal to the loading direction of the article M.
In addition, as shown by a virtual line in FIGS. 1 and 2, another article carry-in line 120 ′ may be installed on the upper floor of the work floor. The floor to be carried out and the floor to be carried out can be distinguished from each other, and can be configured without crossing the flow lines of the carry-in truck, the cart and the carry-out truck, the cart, etc., and can be suitable for transferring a large amount of articles M.

The elevating / sorting mechanism 130 is installed inside the casing 121 described above, and the elevating / sorting mechanism 130 is mounted with the article M carried from the article carry-in line 110 through the carry-in port 122 and has a desired height. The article transfer machine 140 that carries out the article M mounted toward the specific exit 123 located at the position, and the article loading surface 145 of the upper article loader 140 below the article transfer machine 140 Ascending and descending sprocket 152 rotating in the forward and reverse directions around the rotating shaft installed in parallel, and ascending / descending from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction by the forward rotation drive of the elevating sprocket 152, mesh with each other and ascend in a self-supporting state In addition, a pair of lifting and lowering engagement chains 151 that branch while descending from each other while being deflected from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction by the reverse drive of the lifting and lowering sprocket 152; And a mesh chain type vertical conveyors 150 and a lift motor 153 is a driving source for driving the descending sprocket 152 are installed is housed in the housing case 154.
In the first embodiment, two sets of meshing chain type vertical conveyors 150 are provided, but one set depends on the conditions such as the weight of the article M to be transferred, the size of the article mounting machine 140, the length of the lifting stroke, and the like. It does n’t matter.
The article transfer device 140 is disposed in the elevating housing 131 and the elevating housing 131 that have a rectangular parallelepiped shape when viewed from above, and carries the article M to be loaded from the right side in FIG. A carry-out conveyor 141 is provided.

An article carry-out line 160 is provided for each carry-out port 123 continuously to the carry-out port 123 arranged in the vertical direction of the tower-like casing 121.
Each article carry-out line 160 has an inclined track like a roller way in which a large number of rollers are arranged in parallel, and the article M sent from the carry-out port 123 of the article sorting line 120 is conveyed through the article carry-out line 160. When placed on the road, the article carrying line 160 descends due to the weight of the article M, and is accumulated and stored in the lower end portion.
The downstream side of each article carry-out line 160 is not arranged horizontally on the grounding surface of the sorting area, but is stacked in the vertical direction at intervals of the height of the sorted articles to form the article carry-out rack 170. Are arranged as follows.
At the lower end side of the article carry-out line 160, a delivery destination display unit 162 that displays the delivery destination of the articles M collected and stored in each article carry-out line 160 is provided. According to the display on the display unit 162, the articles M on each article carry-out line 160 can be loaded on a truck, a cart, or the like in charge of each person.

Thus, the article transport sorting apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment moves the article transfer device 140 to the carry-out port positioned at an appropriate vertical position by the mesh chain type vertical transport device 150, and transfers the article at the vertical position. Since the loading machine is driven to sort and carry out, a branch path to the other right can be formed without providing a long endless track-shaped transfer means as in the prior art.
In addition, since the branched article carry-out lines 160 are arranged in a rack in the vertical direction, a plurality of article carry-out lines 160 can be placed and installed in a single carry-out line space, so that the vertical space in the transfer sorting space is effective. Therefore, the article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 with a very high space efficiency with a small exclusive area is obtained.
In addition, it is also possible to access the article carry-out line 160 arranged in a line in the vertical direction from the lower left side, that is, the front side in FIG. However, since it can be accessed from the lower right side, that is, the right side in FIG. 4 or from the upper left side, that is, the left side in FIG. However, since the worker can work in a wide space, the possibility that the workers will match each other in the delivery work of the article M is significantly reduced, and the work efficiency can be greatly improved.

Further, in the article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, the meshing chain type vertical conveying machine 150 includes a pair of lifting and lowering engagement chains 151, a lifting and lowering sprocket 152, and a lifting and lowering motor 153, all of which are rectangular. Since the tower-shaped casing 121 constituting the article sorting line 120 is disposed in the lower area of the machine 140, the weight of the article transfer machine, the lifting mechanism, and the transported article is not added to the tower-shaped casing 121. Since it is not necessary to arrange the suspension strips on the sides, the housing 121 can be made extremely light and compact compared to the case of using the conventional suspension type lifting mechanism.
Further, it is not necessary to hang a hanging strip on the side of the article transfer machine 140, and the article M 122 can be opened in the front, rear, left and right directions without any trouble. The article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 can be configured with a high degree of design freedom by freely branching the carry-out line 160 in any direction, and the article transfer apparatus 140 can be efficiently cleaned and maintained. can do.
In addition, drive mechanisms such as a lifting engagement chain 151, a lifting sprocket 152, and a lifting motor 153 are placed in a storage case 154 near the installation surface of the sorting area, usually in a dead space. These maintenance operations can be performed on the installation surface without any trouble without providing a useless space.

In addition, four guide rails 124 for guiding and guiding the elevating sorting mechanism 130 are respectively provided at four corners of the casing 121 included in the article sorting line 120, and guides that roll along the guide rails 124. Since the rollers 132 are arranged at the four corners of the lifting housing 131 of the lifting sorting mechanism 130 so as to face the guide rails 124, the article transfer machines 140 that are lifted and lowered by the two sets of lifting mesh chains 151 are at the four corners. The guide rails 132 are guided and guided to move up and down, so that the vertical movement of the article M can be performed smoothly and reliably by preventing the rolling and vertical shaking that tend to occur when the article transfer machine 140 is raised and lowered. it can.
In addition, since the guide rail 124 is located at the corner of the casing 121, the guide rail 124 becomes an obstacle to the carrying-in and carrying-out work when carrying the article M through the side surface of the elevating sorting mechanism 130. There is no such thing, and it can be carried out smoothly even in the carry-in and carry-out operations in either the front, rear, left or right direction.

Now, the article transfer machine 140 used in the present invention will be described a little more on the basis of FIGS. 3, 5 and 6 so as to contribute to the understanding of other embodiments to be described later.
In the article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, the article M is carried in from the longitudinal direction of the article transfer machine 140 and is carried out only from one side in the short direction. For example, a relatively simple mechanism such as a transport mechanism that combines a belt conveyor and a pusher can be used. However, in the embodiments described later, loading and unloading are performed in the left and right sides, or in the front and rear directions. Therefore, it is desirable to use a transport mechanism that can be driven forward and backward freely in four directions, as indicated by phantom lines in FIG.
As an embodiment capable of carrying out and carrying-in operations in four directions, each embodiment of the present invention employs a free ball conveyor type conveyor unit as shown in FIGS. .

In the article transfer machine 140, a large number of horizontally long chain links 141a are inserted into the pin holes 141c provided in the front and rear hinge portions 141b, that is, the chain links 141a are extended in the longitudinal direction via the hinge pins 141d. A plurality of endless belts are connected to each other, and a free ball 141f is formed in a ball unit mounting region 141e formed on the rear end side of the chain link 141a. Many are mounted in the form.
In other words, a free ball 141f is rotatably held by a pair of upper and lower retainers 141h serving as ball holding portions to form a ball unit 141g, and a plurality of the ball units 141g are formed in a concave shape on each chain link 141a. The mounting area 141e is locked and held by a locking projection 141j to form a ball conveyor 141 in which a large number of free balls 141f are mounted in the left-right direction and the front-rear direction as a whole.

As shown in FIG. 5, the ball conveyor 141 is wound around a plurality of conveyor sprockets 142 installed in the longitudinal direction and mounted in an endless belt conveyor shape, and the upper surface thereof is a mounting surface on which an article M to be transferred is mounted. 145 is formed.
A linear drive belt 144 is provided on the inner side of the ball conveyor 141, that is, on the side opposite to the mounting surface 145 on which the article M is loaded, to contact the lower end side of the free ball 141f and to give a rotational force to the free ball 141f. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the free ball 141 f is given a rotational force in the width direction of the ball conveyor 141 by the operation of the linear drive belt 144.
When the linear drive belt 144 is inactive and the belt drive motor 143, which is a drive source connected to the conveyor sprocket 142, is operated to drive the ball conveyor 141 in the forward direction, the article M on the ball conveyor 141 moves forward. When the ball conveyor 141 is moved and operated in the reverse direction, the article M on the ball conveyor 141 is moved backward.
Further, when the linear drive belt 144 is driven in the forward direction or the reverse direction with the belt drive motor 143 stopped, the free ball 141f rotates and the mounted article M is opposite to the drive direction of the linear drive belt 144. Moved in the direction.

By operating the ball conveyor 141 and the linear drive belt 144 in combination, the article M mounted on the ball conveyor 141 can be carried in and out in any of the front, rear, left and right directions. In the present invention, the mechanism combining the ball conveyor 141 and the linear drive belt 144 constitutes an article transfer conveyor that loads and unloads the loaded article M in the front, rear, left, and right directions.
Since the mechanism combining the ball conveyor 141 and the linear drive belt 144 can be carried out in an arbitrary direction in the horizontal direction by performing a combination operation, the article loading machine 140 is not limited to a rectangular shape but a regular hexagonal shape. It can be seen that a large number of carry-in and carry-out branch paths can be formed as various shapes such as a regular octagon.

It is possible to rotate the mounted article M by installing two sets of linear drive belts side by side and driving the two linear drive belts in opposite directions. If the direction of the article M is not changed, such as when the position of the attached label L is aligned in a specific direction and, for example, the carry-in line 110 and the carry-out line 160 are positioned orthogonally as shown in FIG. Even when the article is likely to be aligned in a direction in which the label L of the second and subsequent articles M cannot be visually recognized, the article M is rotated to align the article M in a direction in which the label L can be visually recognized on the carry-out line 160. it can.
Further, if the linear drive belt 144 is placed on a rotation mechanism 146 such as a rotary table and the rotation mechanism 146 is rotated so that the linear drive belt 144 can be driven at an arbitrary angle, the linear drive belt 144 can be driven in a direction other than the left-right direction. In addition, the article M can be carried in and out in an arbitrary direction, and the article M mounted by driving the rotation mechanism 146 can be rotated on a horizontal plane.

Next, with the vertical article sorting line 120 as in the present invention, the article carry-in line 110 and the article carry-out line 160 can be configured in various layouts with reference to the drawings. explain.
Since the article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment described above is generally L-shaped when viewed from above, it can be accessed from any of the three directions if it is used in a space where all four sides are open. As described above, it is convenient for loading work. However, when the sorting space is limited, it is suitable for use in the corner area of the sorting space, that is, in the vicinity of the orthogonal wall surface.
That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment is not particularly important as a work space for the upper right side and the upper left side in the figure. Since the sorting operation can be performed without any particular problem, as described above, the sorting operation can be performed without any particular problem even in the corner area of the sorting space.

On the other hand, in the article transport sorting apparatus 200 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the article carry-out line 260 is arranged on the opposite side of the article carry-in line 210 with the article sort line 220 as the center.
In FIG. 7, an article carry-in line 210 for carrying articles M from the right side to the left is arranged, and an optical reader 212 is installed on one side in the same manner as the article transport sorting apparatus of the first embodiment, and each article is delivered. The tip is read.
The articles M carried in from the article carry-in line 210 are sorted and carried out to a plurality of article carry-out lines 260 arranged in the vertical direction at positions facing the article carry-in line 210 in the upright article sorting line 220.
As in the case of the first embodiment described above, each article carry-out line 260 is arranged so as to be stacked in the vertical direction at intervals of the height of the articles M to be sorted to form an article carry-out rack 270. Yes.
In the case of the article conveying and sorting apparatus 200 of the second embodiment, since the article M is carried in from the rear side and carried out to the front side in the article transfer device 240, the article employed in the second embodiment. The transfer machine 240 may be constituted by a simple belt conveyor.

The article conveying and sorting apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment is suitable when the article carrying line 210 and the article carrying line 260 are laid out in an I-shape when viewed from the top, so that only a long and narrow space can be taken as the sorting space. In particular, it is suitable for installation in contact with the wall surface.
Of course, even if it is used in a sorting space that is open on all four sides, its function can be demonstrated without any problem. In this case, the operator can carry out the article loading line 210 or the article carrying line from three directions in unloading and loading operations. 260 can be accessed, so operations such as unloading and loading can be performed freely.

Further, compared to the article conveying and sorting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, an example in which the article carry-out line is doubled and laid out is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and the article conveying and sorting apparatus of the third and fourth embodiments is shown. It is.
The article conveying and sorting apparatus 300 of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 8 has one article carry-out line 360 arranged in parallel in a plurality, specifically five rows, in the vertical direction as in the first embodiment. As the article carry-out rack 370, two of these article carry-out racks 270 are arranged in parallel.
In the article transport sorting apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment, the article M that is fed from the article carry-in line 310 disposed on the lower right side in FIG. Since sorting is performed in the two directions of the front side or the left side, ten rows of article carry-out lines 360 can be branched.
In this way, by using the two horizontal directions, a large number of article carry-out lines 360 can be branched and arranged without increasing the height of the article transport sorting apparatus 200.

In the article transport sorting apparatus 300 of the third embodiment, the article M is carried out in the two directions, the front side and the left side, by the article transfer machine 340 in the article sorting line 220. It is effective to use a mechanism in which a ball conveyor 141 and a linear drive belt 144 that can carry in and out freely in the horizontal direction and the horizontal direction are used.
Further, as shown in FIG. 8, if the direction of the label L is aligned so as to be positioned on the right side of the article on the article carry-out line 360, a mechanism for rotating the article M is also provided. Good.
Further, in the article transport sorting apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment, since the article carry-out rack 370 is arranged in parallel, the upstream side of the article carry-out line 360 positioned on the left side in FIG. After receiving the article M to be carried out in a direction orthogonal to the linear carrying-out path 361 constituting the downstream-side article carrying-out line 360 at the joint with the carrying-out outlet 323 of the article sorting line 320, the curved carrying-out path 363 The articles are accumulated and stored in the straight carry-out path 361 via the route.

  When arranged as in the article transport sorting apparatus 300 of the third embodiment, when accessed from the front side, that is, the side opposite to the delivery destination display portion of the article carry-out line 360 in FIG. Can be observed from a single location, there is no need to move around looking for the desired item carry-out line 260, and it can be laid out so that the flow lines of each worker do not intersect in the loading operation. The work can be performed efficiently without waste that tends to occur in the stacking work.

The article transport sorting apparatus 400 of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is common to the third embodiment in that two article carry-out racks are arranged in parallel, but in the third embodiment, one article carry-out line 370 is provided. Whereas the article transport sorting device 400 of the fourth embodiment is arranged on the opposite side of the article carry-in line 310, an article carry-out rack 470 is arranged on the same side as the article carry-in line 410 is arranged. Is different.
That is, the article conveying and sorting apparatus 400 according to the fourth embodiment is formed by stacking five rows of article carrying lines 560 formed by straight carrying out paths 461 extending linearly from the left side surface of the article sorting line 420 in the vertical direction. The first article carry-out rack 570 and four articles in the vertical direction are arranged near the article carry-in line 410 of the article carry-out rack 570 and receive articles M carried out to the article carry-in line 510 side of the article sorting line 520. A second article carry-out rack 570 formed by overlapping carry-out lines.
In the second article carry-out rack 470 arranged on the article carry-in line 410 side, the article carry-in line 410 is located at the lowermost stage, so that the number of the article carry-out racks 460 is reduced by one row, and each article carry-out rack 470 is arranged. A curved carry-out path 463 is formed on the upstream side of the line 460 so as to be connected to a carry-out port that opens on the article carry-out line 410 side of the article sorting line 420.

In the article transport sorting apparatus 400 of the fourth embodiment, the article M is carried in from the article carry-in line 410 arranged on the lower right side, as in the third embodiment. There are 5 levels in the vertical direction and 2 directions in the horizontal direction: left or rear.
If arranged in this way, the space on the side of the article carry-in line 410 can also be used as a space for installing the article carry-out line 460, and the space on the left side of the article sorting line 420 in FIG. In an even smaller space than the article conveying and sorting apparatus 300 of the third embodiment, the sorting work can be performed by arranging the article carry-out lines 460 that are approximately one row fewer, similar to the second embodiment. Further, as in the case of the first embodiment, the article conveying and sorting apparatus 400 as in the fourth embodiment can be installed in the corner area of the sorting space.

As shown in FIG. 10, the article carrying sorting apparatus 500 of the fifth embodiment is configured by further adding three article carrying racks and arranging three.
The article transport sorting apparatus 500 of the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 10 is arranged such that the third embodiment and the fourth embodiment are compromised, but three article carry-out racks 570 are provided. The line 610 is arranged so as to extend sideways as viewed from the direction of carrying in.
The article carry-out rack 570 is configured such that the left two units in FIG. 10 each have five article carry-out lines 560 arranged in parallel in the vertical direction, and the article carry-out line 560 constituting the leftmost article carry-out rack 570 is arranged. On the upstream side, a curved carry-out path 563 is formed at a portion connected to the article sorting line 520.
The article delivery rack 570 located in the center is formed by vertically stacking article delivery lines 560 constituted by straight delivery paths 561 extending linearly from the left side surface of the article sorting line 520, and Since the article carry-out rack 570 located on the right side has the article carry-in line 510 arranged at the lowermost stage, four article carry-out lines 560 are overlapped to form one article carry-out rack 570.
Since the article transfer machine 540 used in the article sorting line 520 of the fifth embodiment carries the article M loaded in the three directions, front, left, and rear, as described above. If a mechanism using both the ball conveyor 141 and the linear drive belt 144 is used, the apparatus can be made compact and extremely easy to use.

When configured like the article conveying and sorting apparatus 500 of the fifth embodiment, the number of branches of the article carry-out line 560 is set to 14 rows without increasing the height of the article conveying and sorting apparatus 500. Sorting work becomes possible.
In addition, since the information such as the delivery destination can be visually recognized from the front side for any article carry-out line 560, the operator can easily find out the article carry-out line 560 on which the article to be loaded is reserved without looking around. The loading operation can be performed smoothly.

Although the article conveyance sorting apparatus 600 of the sixth embodiment shown in FIG. 11 is similar to the article conveyance sorting apparatus 300 of the third embodiment described above in that two article carry-out racks are arranged. The article carrying line 610 is different in that it is arranged on the opposite side of the two article carrying racks 670.
The article conveying and sorting apparatus 600 of the sixth embodiment has a first article carrying rack 570 formed by overlapping five rows of article carrying lines 660 composed of straight carry-out paths 661 in the vertical direction, and on the upstream side. The left second article carry-out line 660, which has a curved carry-out path 663 and is formed by stacking five rows of article carry-out lines 660 in the vertical direction with the downstream side being a straight carry-out path 661 parallel to the first article carry-out rack 570. One rack 570 is provided.

  The article transfer device 640 used in the article conveying and sorting apparatus 600 of the sixth embodiment carries the article M from the rear and carries out the article mounted on either the front side or the left side. When a mechanism using the ball conveyor 141 and the linear drive belt 144 as described above is used, the apparatus can be made compact and extremely easy to use.

In the article conveying and sorting apparatus 600 of the sixth embodiment, the arrangement direction does not overlap between the article carrying-in line 610 and the article carrying-out line 670. Therefore, it is possible to arrange the article carrying-out lines 660 as the maximum number in each article carrying-out rack 670. it can.
Further, according to the article transport sorting apparatus 600 of the sixth embodiment, the article carry-in line 610 and the article carry-out line are arranged at positions separated from each other, so that the articles to be carried in are unloaded and put into the article carry-in line 610. The loading / unloading zone and the loading zone for taking out the article M to be carried out from the article carry-out rack 670 and loading it onto a truck, cart, etc. can be arranged completely separated, so that the unloading work is performed in the sorting space. And loading work are not mixed, and loading and unloading work can be performed smoothly without causing unnecessary confusion among workers.

The article transport sorting apparatus 700 of the seventh embodiment shown in FIG. 12 is a further development of the article transport sorting apparatus 600 of the sixth embodiment described above, and three units are provided on the opposite side to the article carry-in line 710. The article carry-out rack 770 is arranged.
In the article conveyance sorting apparatus 700 of the seventh embodiment, an article carry-out rack 770 is formed on the opposite side of the article carry-in line 710 by placing five rows of article carry-out lines 760 composed of straight carry-out paths 761 in the vertical direction. Further, five rows of article carry-out lines 760 having a curved carry-out path 763 formed on the upstream side and a straight carry-out path 761 on the downstream side on both sides of the article carry-out rack 770 provided with the linear carry-out path 771 in the vertical direction. An article carry-out rack 770 formed in an overlapping manner is arranged.
The article transfer machine 740 used in the article sorting line 720 carries the article M from the rear and carries the loaded article M in any of the three directions of the front, left, and right. It is recommended to use a mechanism using a ball conveyor 141 and a linear drive belt 144 that can carry out the unloading operation freely in the front, rear, left and right directions.

According to the article transport sorting apparatus 700 of the seventh embodiment configured as described above, the article carry-in line 710 and the article carry-out line 770 are completely connected in the same manner as the article transport sort apparatus 600 of the sixth embodiment described above. Therefore, it is possible to provide an article conveying and sorting apparatus 700 capable of smoothly performing unloading and loading operations without causing any disruption, and a vertical article sorting line 720 that is a feature of the present invention. Thus, a large number of article carry-out lines 760 can be branched.
In addition, since the article carry-out line 760 is arranged in one direction, it is not necessary for the operator to find the article carry-out line 760 to be the target of the loading work to be performed. The person's work can be carried out smoothly.

As described above in detail with reference to the seven embodiments, when the vertical article sorting lines 120 to 720 of the present invention are employed, the article carry-in lines 110 to 710 and the article carry-out lines 160 to 760 are arranged in various layouts. Thus, the optimum article transport sorting devices 100 to 700 can be configured in accordance with each sorting space.
In addition to branching the article carry-out lines 160 to 760 in multiple stages in the vertical direction, a plurality of article carry-out lines 160 to 760 can be branched in the horizontal direction such as front, rear, left and right at each height. In combination with the horizontal direction, a very large number of article carry-out lines 160 to 760 can be branched.
Furthermore, by arranging a plurality of article carry-out racks 170 to 770 formed by overlapping a plurality of article carry-out lines 160 to 760 in the vertical direction, the article carry-out lines 160 to 760 are two-dimensionally arranged in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. By doing so, it is possible to dramatically increase the number of the article carry-out lines 160 to 760 per unit installation area. Therefore, compared to the conventional planar arrangement article conveyance sorting apparatus, Sorting efficiency can be dramatically increased.

The article conveying and sorting apparatus of the present invention can be further modified in addition to the seven embodiments described above.
For example, if the number of branches of the article carry-out line is increased, it is not only sorted in three directions in the horizontal direction as in the article transport sorting apparatus of the fifth embodiment or the seventh embodiment, but on the same side as the article carry-in line. However, if the article carry-out line is branched by changing the height so as to be sorted in four directions in the horizontal direction, a larger number of article carry-out lines can be branched while using the same-size article sort line.
In the above-described embodiment, the article carry-out racks are arranged in parallel so as to make the convenience of the operator's work within the limited space. It is also conceivable to divide and arrange an article carry-out line or an article carry-out rack radially from the sorting line so that each article carry-out line can be freely accessed.
Furthermore, when the article carrying racks are arranged in a radial manner, as described above, a polygonal shape such as a regular hexagon or a regular octagon is used as the article transfer machine, and the regular polygon-shaped article mounting is performed. If six or eight article carry-out racks are arranged in accordance with the respective carry-out directions of the machine, it is possible to form an article transport sorting device in which a large number of article carry-out lines are branched.

  In the article conveyance sorting apparatuses 100 to 700 of the respective examples obtained in this way, the article sorting lines 120 to 720 and the article inlets 122 to 722 for carrying the articles M input from the article carry-in lines 110 to 710 and the articles. The articles M are placed between the casings 121 to 721 in which the carry-out ports 123 to 723 for carrying the articles M to the carry-out lines 160 to 760 are juxtaposed in the vertical direction, and the carry-in ports 122 to 722 and the carry-out ports 123 to 723. By including the lifting and lowering sorting mechanisms 130 to 730 to be transferred, the goods sorting lines 120 to 720 can be installed in a very small area that is somewhat larger than the size of the article M on which the article sorting lines 120 to 720 are mounted, The lines 160 to 760 do not occupy a place in the horizontal direction in the same manner as before, and can be carried out by one unloading roller. Since a large number of article carry-out lines 160 to 760 are arranged in the range of the installation area of the product, the installation efficiency of the article carry-out lines 160 to 760 can be greatly improved as compared with the conventional case with space saving. It can be set as the article conveyance sorting apparatus 100 thru | or 700 which improved the sorting efficiency with respect to an installation area markedly.

Also, a plurality of article carry-out lines 160 to 760 are arranged in the vertical direction so as to face the carry-out openings 722 of the article sort lines 120 to 720, and the lifting sort mechanism 130 moves the articles M carried into the article sort lines 120 to 720. An article transfer machine 140 including an article transfer surface 141 that includes an article transfer surface 141 that includes an article mounting surface 145 to be mounted, and that moves the article mounting surface 145 in any of the front, rear, left, and right directions to load and unload the mounted article. Below 140, from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction by the elevating sprocket 152 that rotates forward and backward around a rotation axis that is installed parallel to the article mounting surface 145 of the article transfer conveyor 141, and the elevating sprocket 152. Engage with each other while deflecting and ascend in a self-supporting state, and move vertically from the vertical by the lifting sprocket 152 And a pair of raising and lowering engagement chains 151 that are separated from each other while being deflected and branching downward, and an engagement chain type vertical conveyor 150 that includes a drive source 153 that drives the elevation sprocket 152. Thus, the sorting operation for distributing the article M in the four directions of front, rear, left, and right in the horizontal direction can be performed at a plurality of vertical positions, and the number of the devices M can be increased in many directions without increasing the height of the apparatus. Branching of the article delivery lines 160 to 760 allows a large number of article sorting, increasing the density of the article delivery lines 160 to 760 with respect to the area occupied by the apparatus, and significantly increasing the sorting efficiency compared to conventional article sorting apparatuses. Can be increased.
In particular, in the article sorting lines 120 to 720, the position and direction of branching of the article carry-in lines 110 to 710 and the article carry-out lines 160 to 760 are extremely large, and the article carry-in lines 110 to 710 and the article carry-out lines 160 to 760 are provided. Since the layout can be freely performed, it is possible to provide various forms of the article transport sorting apparatus 100 to 700 that meet various needs of users who install and operate the article transport sorting apparatuses 100 to 700.

Further, by adopting the meshing chain type vertical conveying machine 150, the lifting mechanism can be made smaller in the lower part of the article sorting lines 120 to 720 and the stroke in the re-feeding direction can be made longer, so that the inlets 122 to 722 for sorting the articles M can be taken. Alternatively, a large number of carry-out ports 123 to 723 can be arranged in the vertical direction, so that the sorting efficiency can be further improved, and it is not necessary to run a strip around the lifting mechanism. Maintenance work such as inspection and cleaning of the vertical conveyor 150 can be simplified.
In addition, the article transfer machine 140 includes a ball conveyor 141 including a belt 141a in which a large number of free balls 141f are rotatably provided with their upper and lower ends partially protruding, and a free conveyor protruding from the lower end of the ball conveyor 141. A linear drive belt 144 that contacts the ball 141f and applies a rotational force to the free ball 141f in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the ball conveyor 141, and a drive source 143 that drives the ball conveyor 141 and the linear drive belt 144, respectively. As a result, the carrying-in / out mechanism can be made compact and excellent in operability, and the effect is enormous.

100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700 ... article transport sorting apparatus 110, 210, 310, 410, 510, 610, 710 ... article carry-in lines 111, 211, 311, 411, 511, 611 711 ... roller conveyors 112, 212, 312, 412, 512, 612, 712 ... optical readers 120, 220, 320, 420, 520, 620, 720 ... article sorting lines 121, 221, 321 , 421, 521, 621, 721... Casings 122, 222, 322, 422, 522, 622, 722... Carry-in ports 123, 223, 323, 423, 523, 623, 723. ... Guide rails 130, 230, 330, 430, 530, 630, 730 ... Elevating sorting mechanism 13 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Elevating housing 132 ... Guide roller 140, 240, 340, 440, 540, 640, 740 ... Goods transfer machine 141 ... Ball conveyor 141a ... Chain link 141b ... Hinge part 141c ... pin hole 141d ... hinge pin 141e ... ball unit mounting area 141f ... free ball 141g ... ball unit 141h ... retainer 141j ... locking projection 142 ... conveyor sprocket 143 ... Belt drive motor 144 ... Linear drive belt 145 ... Article mounting surface 146 ... Rotating mechanism 150 ... Engagement chain vertical conveyor 151 ... Elevation mesh chain 152 ... Elevation Sprocket 153 ... Elevating motor 154 ... Storage cases 160, 26 0, 360, 460, 560, 660, 760 ... article carry-out lines 161, 261, 361, 461, 561, 661, 761 ... straight carry-out paths 162, 262, 362, 462, 562, 662, 762 ..Transport destination display section
163, 263, 363, 463, 563, 663, 763 ... Curve carry-out path 170, 270, 370, 470, 570, 670, 770 ... Article carry-out rack 800 ... Article carry sorting apparatus 810 ... Article carry-in line 820 ... Article sorting line 821 ... Article circulation transfer means 860 ... Article carry-out chute M ... Article L ... Label

Claims (5)

Integrating one or more sorting articles that are conveyed from the article carrying-in line and the article carrying-in line for each discharge destination article sorting line and the article sorting articles sorted by the line for carrying an article for each discharge destination 1 for storing Alternatively, in an article transport sorting device provided with a plurality of article carry-out lines,
The article sorting line includes a case in which a carry-in entrance for carrying in articles to be introduced from the article carry-in line and a carry-out opening for carrying out articles to the article carry-out line are arranged in a vertical direction, and the carry-in entrance and the carry-out opening And an elevating sorting mechanism for transferring articles between
A plurality of the article carry-out lines are arranged in the vertical direction facing the carry-out port of the article sorting line ,
An article transfer conveyor in which the lifting / lowering mechanism includes an article mounting surface on which an article carried into the article sorting line is mounted, and the article mounting surface is moved in either the front / rear or left / right direction to load / unload the loaded article A rectangular article transfer machine comprising: an elevating sprocket that rotates forward and backward about a rotation axis that is installed in parallel to the article mounting surface of the article transfer conveyor below the article transfer machine; The elevating sprocket is engaged with each other while being deflected from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction and is lifted in a self-supporting state, and the elevating sprocket is deviated from each other while being deflected from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction. The article transfer machine comprising: a pair of elevating meshing chains for branching; and a meshing chain type vertical conveying machine provided with a drive source for driving the elevating sprocket. A plurality of free balls are in contact with the free ball protruding from the lower end of the ball conveyor and a ball conveyor having a shape of an endless belt provided so that the upper end and lower end of the free ball are partly rotatable. An article conveying and sorting apparatus comprising: a linear drive belt that applies a rotational force in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction; and a drive source that drives each of the ball conveyor and the linear drive belt . The housing of the article sorting line opens the carry-in port and the carry-out port in any one direction or a plurality of directions in the front-rear and left-right directions at a desired height in the vertical direction,
The elevating sorting mechanism carries the article in any one of the front, rear, left and right directions, and an article transfer machine that supports the article transfer machine, and the article carried in from the carry-in port to the desired carry-out port The article conveying and sorting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a vertical conveying machine that moves up and down to a height.   A plurality of the article carry-out lines are arranged side by side in the vertical direction to form an article carry-out rack, and the article carry-out racks are arranged in one or more, parallel or radial directions in the horizontal direction. Item transporting and sorting apparatus according to Item 2. The article transfer machine includes a plurality of spherical or cylindrical transfer rollers arranged in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, a transfer direction changing mechanism that simultaneously swings the respective rotation shafts of the transfer rollers in a horizontal plane, The article transport sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the transfer rollers all at once. The article sorting line is provided with guide rails for guiding and guiding the article transfer machine at the four corners of the casing, respectively.
5. The article transport sorting according to claim 1, wherein a guide roller that rolls along the guide rail is installed at a corner portion of the article transfer machine. apparatus.

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