JP6019306B2 - Article sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an article sorting apparatus that is provided in a conveyor device and changes the conveyance direction of articles.

  In recent conveyor apparatuses, a plurality of transport destinations are set, and each article can be transported to a corresponding transport destination. Specifically, the conveyor device is provided with an article sorting device, and the article sorting device appropriately switches the transport direction, and the article is transported to a transport destination associated with the article.

  One of the article sorting apparatuses is disclosed in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a main conveyor constituting a main conveyance path and a sorting conveyor branched from the main conveyor. The article sorting apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a plurality of slats that are moved in the conveying direction of the main conveyor by a driving device, and a slide shoe that slides along the slats. An article is placed on the slat, and the article moves along the main conveyance path together with the slat. When the slide shoe slides along the slat, the article on the slat is pushed out in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the slat by the slide shoe and sorted to the sorting conveyor.

JP 2002-370820 A

  By the way, when the article sorting apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, there is a complaint that the direction of the article changes. For this reason, when information such as a transport destination (RFID tag or the like) is attached to a specific part of an article, the orientation of the article may change, and detection by a sensor may be difficult.

  Therefore, the applicant of the present application prototyped an article sorting apparatus 280 that can sort in a desired sorting direction without changing the direction of the article. In the article sorting device 280, as shown in FIG. 47, the shoes (piece members) 282 on the slats (article placing members) 281 on which the articles 270 are placed are moved all at once and simultaneously on the side surfaces of the articles 270. The plurality of shoes 282 are brought into contact with each other to push out the article 270. According to the article sorting apparatus 280, the article 270 moves in the sorting direction while facing the original transport direction.

Hereinafter, the article sorting apparatus 280 shown in FIG. 47 will be described.
The article sorting apparatus 280 is provided with a plurality of guides 283 and a guide member 285. Each guide 283 extends in a direction inclined with respect to the moving direction of the slat 281. Each guide member 285 is disposed on one end side of the guide 283. Each guiding member 285 rotates and swings about an axis. That is, the guide member 285 has a rod shape and is arranged in a horizontal posture. The guide member 285 rotates and swings around a shaft 290 extending in the vertical direction. Specifically, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 47 (b), the end of the guide 283 is closed, and the guide 283 is extended along the guide as shown by the broken line in the figure. Oscillates and swings to a posture in the right direction.
Therefore, when each guide member 285 is rotated and swung, each guide member 285 is engaged with or released from the contact portion 284 provided at the lower portion of the shoe 282.

The article sorting apparatus 280 shown in FIG. 47 can move the article 270 in the sorting direction while facing the original transport direction, but has a large number of parts and the positional relationship and operation timing of each part. There is a drawback that it is difficult to adjust. That is, the article sorting apparatus 280 has a large number of parts as a first problem, and is difficult to manufacture and adjust.
That is, the article sorting apparatus 280 causes each guide member 285 to appear and disappear on the path of the contact portion 284 provided at the lower portion of the shoe 282 by rotating and swinging each guide member 285 individually. Since the article sorting device 280 rotates and swings each guide member 285 individually, it is necessary to support each guide member 285 so as to be individually rotatable. Therefore, according to the configuration of the article sorting apparatus 280, each guide member 285 needs a rotating shaft and a bearing, and the number of rotating shafts and bearings increases to a considerable number, and the number of parts is large.
The article sorting apparatus 280 shown in FIG. 47 can be said to have a large number of parts because there are many parts that actually move when the transport direction is switched. That is, the article sorting apparatus 280 shown in FIG. 47 has a large number of parts because there are many movable parts. Also, it can be said that the article sorting apparatus 280 shown in FIG. 47 is difficult to adjust because there are many parts that actually move when the transport direction is switched. That is, the article sorting apparatus 280 shown in FIG. 47 is difficult to adjust because there are many movable parts.

Further, in the article sorting apparatus 280 shown in FIG. 47, each guide member 285 is synchronously rotated and oscillated, but the mechanism for synchronously rotating and oscillating each guide member 285 is also complicated, and the parts There are many points.
That is, the article sorting apparatus 280 has a plurality of rotating shafts (rotating shafts of the article sorting apparatus 280) 290, all of which are in a vertical posture and distributed in the horizontal direction. Therefore, in order to rotate these rotating shafts 290 synchronously, it is necessary to connect between the rotating shafts 290 with a gear or a link mechanism.
In any case, each rotating shaft 290 requires a gear and a link, and the number of parts is large.
Moreover, since there are many parts, assembly and adjustment will take time.

  Further, as a second problem, there is a problem that when each guide member 285 is rotated and swung, the guide member 285 collides with a contact portion 284 provided at the lower portion of the shoe 282 or gets caught.

  That is, in the article sorting apparatus 280 shown in FIG. 47, the guide members 285 that rotate and swing synchronously appear and disappear on the path of the contact portion 284 provided at the lower portion of the shoe 282. When each guide member 285 is disposed on the path, each shoe 282 is simultaneously guided to the guide 283 by each guide member 285 and simultaneously moves in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction. Therefore, the article 270 on the slat 281 moves in the sorting direction without changing the direction.

  However, when the applicant conducted a trial operation of the article sorting apparatus 280 having the structure shown in FIG. 47, a new problem was discovered (second problem). That is, it is difficult to measure the timing at which each guide member 285 appears on the path of the contact portion 284 of the shoe 282. If the timing at which each guide member 285 is opened is delayed, as shown in FIG. The abutting portions 284 of the shoes 282 are simultaneously bitten between the guide member 285 and the side wall 286 of the article sorting device. As a result, it has been found that in the worst case, members such as the guide member 285 and the shoe 282 may be damaged.

  The present invention addresses the first problem described above and aims to provide an article sorting apparatus with a small number of parts.

The invention according to claim 1 for solving the above-described problem is an endless track that is connected in a ring and travels in at least one direction, and a plurality of article placements that are attached to the endless track and travel with the endless track. And a piece member attached to the article placing member. The piece member travels as the article placing member travels, and is movable relative to the article placing member. The piece member includes an article pressing portion that presses an article on the article placing member, and an engaging portion that moves under the article placing member and moves together with the article pushing portion, and is inclined with respect to the endless track. A guide member extending with respect to the article placement member by guiding the engagement portion that travels as the article placement member travels to the guide and moving the engagement portion along the guide. Can be moved relative to each other And a plurality of guide members for guiding the engaging portion to the guide, and a lift member, and the plurality of guide members are fixed to a common lift member. When the piece member travels as the mounting member travels, there is a normal passage through which a specific part of the piece member passes, and by raising and lowering the lifting member, the plurality of guide members appear and disappear in the normal passage When the elevating member is in the raised position, a plurality of guiding members appear in the normal passage and contact the specific part of the piece member to guide the engaging portion to the guide, and the elevating member is in the lowered position. The specific part of the piece member normally passes through the passage , and the buffer member is provided in at least a part of the elevating member or the guiding member, and when the elevating member is raised, the guiding member Push up a part of the piece The buffer portion when the rise of the descending member was prevented is elastically deformed, an article sorting apparatus characterized by alleviating the push-up force of the guide member.
The invention according to claim 2 is an endless track that is connected in an annular shape and travels in at least one direction, a plurality of article placement members that are attached to the endless track and travel with the endless track, and the article placement A piece member attached to the member, and the piece member travels as the article placement member travels, and is movable relative to the article placement member. An article pressing portion that presses an article on the placing member; and an engaging portion that moves under the article placing member and moves together with the article pushing portion, and has a guide that extends at an inclination with respect to the endless track. The piece member can be moved relative to the article placement member by guiding the engaging portion that travels as the article placement member travels to the guide and moving the engagement portion along the guide. In the article sorting apparatus, the guide is A plurality of guide members that guide the engaging portion to the guide, and a lift member, and the plurality of guide members are fixed to a common lift member, Accordingly, when the piece member travels, there is a normal passage through which a specific part of the piece member passes, and by raising and lowering the elevating member, the plurality of guide members appear and disappear in the normal passage, and the elevating member When the is in the raised position, a plurality of guide members appear in the normal passage and contact the specific part of the piece member to guide the engaging portion to the guide, and when the lifting member is in the lowered position A specific part of the piece member normally passes through the passage, and there is a lowering prevention engaging part in a part of the guide member or the lifting member, and a part of the piece member when the lifting member is in the raised position. Engages with the descent prevention engagement part to prevent the descent of the elevating member Preparative an article sorting apparatus according to claim.
The above-described invention includes an endless track that is connected in an annular shape and travels in at least one direction, a plurality of article placement members that are attached to the endless track and travel with the endless track, and are attached to the article placement member. The piece member travels as the article placement member travels and is movable relative to the article placement member. The piece member is located on the article placement member. An article pressing part that presses the article and an engaging part that moves under the article placing member and moves together with the article pressing part, and has a guide that extends at an angle with respect to the endless track, In an article sorting apparatus capable of moving a piece member relative to an article placement member by guiding an engaging portion that travels as the member travels to the guide and moving the engaging portion along the guide. A plurality of guides Further, the guide member includes a plurality of guide members that guide the engaging portion to the guide, and a lift member, and the plurality of guide members are fixed to a common lift member, and the piece member as the article placement member travels When the vehicle travels, there is a normal path through which a specific part of the piece member passes, and by raising and lowering the elevating member, the plurality of guide members appear and disappear in the normal path, and the elevating member is in the raised position. In some cases, a plurality of guide members appear in the normal passage and contact the specific part of the piece member to guide the engaging portion to the guide, and when the elevating member is in the lowered position, It is characterized in that a specific part normally passes through a traffic route .

In invention of Claim 1 , 2 , it has several guides and has several guide members corresponding to this. And in this invention, a raising / lowering member is raised, a some guide member appears in a normal passage, and the engaging part of a piece member is guide | induced to the said guide.
In the article sorting apparatus according to the present invention, since the plurality of guide members are fixed to the common lifting member, the plurality of guide members can be caused to appear and disappear in the normal passage at the same time only by lifting and lowering the lifting member. In the article sorting apparatus of the present invention, only the elevating member operates when switching the transport direction, and there are few movable parts. Therefore, the article sorting apparatus of the present invention has a small number of parts. Adjustment is also easy for the same reason.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a buffer portion is provided in at least a part of the elevating member or the guiding member, and when the elevating member is raised, the guiding member pushes up a part of the piece member so that the elevating member is raised. It disturbed the cushioning portion is elastically deformed when the it you said to alleviate the push-up force of the guide member.

The invention according to claim 1, in which an object to overcome the second problem mentioned above. In premise other Ru aspect of the present invention, since raising the lifting members to reveal a plurality of guide members in the normal way road, although not biting by rotating the swing, the guide member is movable piece when raising the lifting member It is assumed that a part of this will be pushed up. That the premise other Ru aspect of the present invention, to raise the lift member intended but is intended to reveal the plurality of guide members in the normal way road, to solve the problem when the timing for raising the lifting member does not match is there.
The present invention raises the elevating member and causes a plurality of guide members to appear in a normal passage, and it is ideal that the plurality of guiding members appear immediately before the corresponding piece members by raising the elevating member. It is. In other words, when the elevating member is raised, it is ideal that no piece member exists at the upper part of the guiding member (the position where the guiding member rises and appears).
However, it is difficult to accurately determine the timing for raising the elevating member, and when the elevating member is raised, a piece member may exist above the guide member.
The invention according to claim 1 addresses this problem, and a buffer portion is provided in at least a part of the elevating member or the guiding member. When the elevating member is raised, when the guiding member pushes up a part of the piece member and the raising of the elevating member is hindered, the buffer portion is elastically deformed to relieve the pushing force of the guiding member.
For example, a spring, rubber, resin or the like can be considered as the buffer portion. The buffer portion is provided on at least a part of the elevating member or the guiding member. For example, assuming that the elevating member is composed of a main body part that actually raises and lowers and a push-up device that pushes up the main body part, it is possible to provide a buffer part such as a spring or rubber at the boundary between the main body part and the push-up device. It is done.
As the push-up device, for example, a cylinder, a cam, a crank, a solenoid, and the like can be considered. In addition, a buffer portion can be provided at a boundary portion between the main body portion and the push-up device.
Further, a buffer portion may be provided between a push-up device such as a cylinder, a cam, a crank, or a solenoid and a base on which the push-up device is placed.
You may provide a buffer part in the boundary part of a part of guide member or a guide member, and a raising / lowering member. Furthermore, the lifting force of the guiding member can be reduced by making the lifting member itself from an elastic body and bending the lifting member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the elevating member has a main body portion and a push-up device, and a part of the main body portion is supported by another member and is moved up and down by swinging up and down. The push-up device is for abutting a part of the main body part to raise the main body part, and a spring is applied to a part of the main body part, which is a part of the push-up apparatus. The article sorting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the buffer section configured by the above is provided.

  In the article sorting apparatus of the present invention, the elevating member has a main body portion, and the main body portion is lifted and lowered by swinging in the vertical direction, with a part of the elevating member being pivotally supported by another member. Therefore, the raising / lowering locus of the raising / lowering member is stabilized. In addition, since there is no need for a guide or the like that regulates the lifting locus of the lifting member, the number of parts is small.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is a lowering prevention engaging part in a part of the guide member or the lifting member, and a part of the piece member is engaged with the lowering prevention engaging part when the lifting member is in the raised position. combined, you wherein preventing the descent of the elevating member.

The present invention solves the problem when the timing for lowering the elevating member does not match.
That is, in the premise other Ru inventions of the present invention, to raise the lifting member to appear multiple guide member to the normal traffic path induces the engagement portion of the bridge member to the guide. And after an engaging part crosses over a guide, a raising / lowering member is dropped. In other words, it is ideal that the elevating member is lowered immediately after the engaging portion reaches the guide.
However, it is difficult to perfectly adjust the timing for lowering the elevating member, and a situation is assumed in which the elevating member is lowered before the engaging portion reaches the guide.
Therefore, in the present invention, a lowering prevention engagement portion is provided on a part of the guide member or the lifting member, and when the lifting member is in the raised position, a part of the piece member is engaged with the lowering prevention engagement portion to move up and down. It was decided to prevent the member from descending.
Although the descent prevention engaging portion may be provided on the guide member or the elevating member, it is recommended that the descent prevention engagement portion be provided on the induction member. In other words, as described above, it is ideal that the elevating member is lowered immediately after the engaging portion reaches the guide. When the lowering engagement portion is provided on the guide member, the engagement portion crosses the guide, and at the same time the engagement relationship between the lowering prevention engagement portion and the piece member can be canceled. After crossing, the elevating member can be quickly lowered.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the engaging portion of the piece member is a freely rotatable rotating body having a central axis, a peripheral surface portion, and an end surface portion, and the central axis is suspended in a substantially vertical posture. The surface portion is in contact with the guide or the guide member, and the lowering prevention engaging portion is an engaging flange projecting in the horizontal direction, and when the elevating member is in the raised position, the engaging flange is 3. The article sorting apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the article sorting device is engaged with an end face portion to prevent the elevating member from descending.

According to the present invention, since the engagement between the lowering prevention engagement portion and the piece member can be canceled simultaneously with the engagement portion crossing the guide, the raising and lowering member is promptly provided after the engagement portion crosses the guide. Can be lowered.
The invention according to claim 5 is an endless track that is connected in a ring and travels in at least one direction, a plurality of article mounting members that are attached to the endless track and travel with the endless track, and the article mounting A piece member attached to the member, and the piece member travels as the article placement member travels, and is movable relative to the article placement member. An article pressing portion that presses an article on the placing member; and an engaging portion that moves under the article placing member and moves together with the article pushing portion, and has a guide that extends at an inclination with respect to the endless track. The piece member can be moved relative to the article placement member by guiding the engaging portion that travels as the article placement member travels to the guide and moving the engagement portion along the guide. In the article sorting apparatus, the guide is A plurality of guide members that guide the engaging portion to the guide, and a lift member, and the plurality of guide members are fixed to a common lift member, Accordingly, when the piece member travels, there is a normal passage through which a specific part of the piece member passes, and by raising and lowering the elevating member, the plurality of guide members appear and disappear in the normal passage, and the elevating member When the is in the raised position, a plurality of guide members appear in the normal passage and contact the specific part of the piece member to guide the engaging portion to the guide, and when the lifting member is in the lowered position A specific part of the piece member normally passes through the passage, and the elevating member has an elevating plate to which the plurality of guide members are fixed, and a cam member, and the elevating plate is the cam member. The cam member is placed on the The article sorting apparatus is configured to move up and down, and when the lifting member is in the raised position, the top of the cam member is at a higher position than when the lifting member is in the lowered position. .

  The article sorting apparatus of the present invention has a small number of parts and few members that operate when switching. Therefore, the article sorting apparatus of the present invention is easy to manufacture and adjust. Further, the article sorting apparatus of the present invention has few failures.

It is a perspective view of the articles | goods sorting apparatus of embodiment of invention of a previous application, and shows the state in the case of carrying an article straight. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the state of the article sorting apparatus of FIG. 1 when moving in the sorting direction without changing the attitude of the article. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the article sorting apparatus of FIG. 1 with an article placement member removed. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the article sorting apparatus of FIG. 1 with an article placement member removed. It is a disassembled perspective view of the goods sorting apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view of the switching guidance device in the state where a guidance member is closed. It is a perspective view of the switching guidance device in the state where the guidance member is open. It is a disassembled perspective view of a switching induction device. It is a perspective view of a link device, (a) shows the state where each parallel guide member can engage with a piece member, and (b) shows the state where each parallel guide member does not engage with a piece member Indicates. It is a perspective view of a set switch member and a raising / lowering apparatus, (a) shows the state in which the set switch member is falling, (b) shows the state in which the set switch member is rising. It is a side view which shows the relationship between a raising / lowering apparatus and a set switch member, (a) shows the state which the set switch member has evacuated below, (b) is a set switch member raises, and the contact part of a piece member The state which exists in the position which can contact | abut is shown. It is a perspective view of a set switch member and a reset device, (a) shows a state just before a piece member reaches a set switch member, and (b) shows a state just before a piece member pushes a set switch member and reaches a reset device. (C) shows a state in which the piece member has pushed the reset device. It is sectional drawing of a chain drive device. It is a perspective view of an article mounting member. It is a disassembled perspective view of an article mounting member. It is a disassembled perspective view of a piece member. It is sectional drawing of the state which mounted | wore the article mounting member with the piece member. It is a top view of the principal part of an article sorting device, (a) shows the state where each guidance member for parallel delivery is closed, and one piece member has reached the set switch member, (b) shows the set switch (C) shows a state in which each piece member is guided to each paralleling guide member, and (d) shows a set switch member. It shows a state where the piece member that has pushed out passes through the reset device, and each paralleling guide member is closed. It is a top view of the conveyor apparatus containing an article | item sorting apparatus, and shows the state which conveys articles | goods without sorting. It is a top view of the conveyor apparatus containing an article sorting apparatus, and shows the state which sorts and conveys an article. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the skew feeding guide member and the lifting device, where (a) shows a state in which the skew feeding guidance member is lowered, and (b) shows that the skew feeding guidance member is raised. It shows the state. It is a top view of the conveyor apparatus containing an article | item sorting apparatus, and shows the state which sorts and conveys articles | goods by skew feeding. It is the perspective view which showed typically the movement path | route of the contact part of the piece member which drive | works the inside of an article | item sorting apparatus in the case of not classifying articles | goods. It is the perspective view which showed typically the movement path | route of the contact part of the piece member which drive | works the inside of an article | item sorting apparatus in the case of classifying an article | item by parallel delivery. It is the perspective view which showed typically the movement path | route of the contact part of the piece member which drive | works the inside of an article | item sorting apparatus in the case of classifying an article | item by skew feeding. It is a perspective view of the goods sorting device of an embodiment of the present invention, and shows the state in the case of making goods go straight. It is a disassembled perspective view of the goods sorting apparatus of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the switching guidance apparatus of FIG. It is the assembly figure seen from another direction of the switching induction device of FIG. It is a front view of the cam member of FIG. It is a front view in each attitude | position of the switching guidance apparatus of FIG. 27, (a) represents a passing attitude | position, (b) represents a guidance attitude | position. It is explanatory drawing showing the positional relationship of the hinge part of FIG. 27, and a guidance | induction part. It is explanatory drawing showing the condition where a guidance part pushes up the contact part of a piece member when switching from the passing attitude | position of FIG. 27 to a guidance attitude | position. It is explanatory drawing showing the force relationship of each member in the condition of FIG. It is explanatory drawing showing the condition where a piece member is located in the boundary part of the guide for parallelism and a raising / lowering board at the time of the descent | fall of the guidance | induction part, when changing from the guidance attitude | position of FIG. FIG. 36 is an explanatory diagram showing a situation in which the engaging portion of the guide portion is inserted into the gap between the contact portion of the piece member and the leaf spring in the situation of FIG. It is the figure seen, (b) is an A direction arrow directional view of (a). It is a disassembled perspective view of the guide member for skew feeding of FIG. It is a front view in each attitude | position of the skewing guide member of FIG. 27, (a) represents a passing attitude | position, (b) represents an oblique attitude | position. It is explanatory drawing showing the guidance | induction part of FIG. This is a reference example, and shows the relationship between the abutting portion of the piece member, the guiding portion and the paralleling guide when the guiding portion has no lowering prevention engaging portion, and the trajectory through which the abutting portion passes is shown. It is illustrated. 40 is a diagram illustrating a reference example illustrated in FIG. 40, and illustrates the positional relationship between the contact portion, the guide portion, and the paralleling guide when there is no lowering prevention engagement portion, over time. . This embodiment is to explain the relationship between the contact portion of the piece member, the guide portion, and the parallel guide when the guide portion is provided with the descent prevention engagement portion, and the contact portion passes. The locus to be shown is illustrated. 42 illustrates the embodiment shown in FIG. 42, and the positional relationship between the abutment portion, the guide portion, and the paralleling guide in the case where the guide portion is provided with the descent prevention engagement portion is individually recorded over time. It is illustrated. It is explanatory drawing of the switching induction | guidance | derivation apparatus in other embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the switching induction | guidance | derivation apparatus in other embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the switching induction | guidance | derivation apparatus in other embodiment. It is a top view of the principal part of the sorting apparatus of a prior art, (a) shows the state which has normally sorted articles | goods, (b) is the relationship between the contact part of a shoe and a guide in the state of (a) (C) shows the relationship between the contact portion of the shoe and the guide member when the opening timing of the guide member is delayed.

Prior to the description of the embodiments of the present invention, an article sorting apparatus 1 filed earlier by the inventor will be described in order to facilitate understanding.
The configuration of the article sorting apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the invention filed earlier will be described with reference to the drawings.
The article sorting apparatus 1 of this embodiment constitutes a part of the conveyor apparatus 100 as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20. That is, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the conveyor apparatus 100 includes an upstream conveyor 97, an article sorting apparatus 1, a downstream conveyor 98, and a branch conveyor 99. The article sorting device 1 is disposed at a branching point of the conveyor device 100. That is, the upstream conveyor 97 is disposed upstream of the conveyance direction of the article 96 (conveyed object), and the article sorting apparatus 1 is disposed adjacent to the downstream side of the upstream conveyor 97. A downstream conveyor 98 is disposed adjacent to the downstream side of the article sorting apparatus 1. Further, a branch conveyor 99 is arranged adjacent to the side of the article sorting apparatus 1.

  The article 96 is conveyed from the upstream conveyor 97 to the article sorting apparatus 1. Then, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the article 96 is further conveyed to either the downstream conveyor 98 or the branch conveyor 99. In this manner, the article sorting apparatus 1 transfers the article 96 to either the downstream conveyor 98 or the branch conveyor 99. Hereinafter, the configuration of the article sorting apparatus 1 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the article sorting device 1 includes a base 2, a switching guide device 10, parallel guides 16a to 16f, a skew guide 18, chains 3a and 3b (endless track), a chain drive device 44a, 44b, the article placement member 4 (4a, 4b,...), The piece member 7, and the like. Hereinafter, it demonstrates in order.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the base 2 is composed of steel vertical frames 2a and 2b having strength and horizontal frames 2c, 2d and 2e.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the vertical frame 2 a is a member having a vertical wall portion 56 a and a horizontal wall portion 56 b and having an L-shaped cross section. Holes 58a and 58b are provided in the vicinity of both ends of the vertical wall portion 56a. In addition, openings 60 and 61 are provided in the vertical wall portion 56a.

  The vertical frame 2b has a vertical wall portion 57a and a horizontal wall portion 57b, is a member having an L-shaped cross section, and has the same configuration as the vertical frame 2a. However, the openings 60 and 61 like the vertical wall portion 56a are not provided in the vertical wall portion 57a.

  The horizontal frames 2c to 2e are long members having a substantially U-shaped cross section and having rigidity.

In the base 2, the vertical walls 56a and 57a of the vertical frames 2a and 2b are opposed to each other with a predetermined distance, and the horizontal walls 56b and 57b of the vertical frames 2a and 2b are arranged outward. The horizontal frames 2c, 2d, and 2e are spanned between them, and are integrated by screwing or welding.
The vertical wall portion 56a of the vertical frame 2a constitutes a first travel path 85 (normal traffic path) and a back side travel path 94, and the vertical wall portion 57a of the vertical frame 2b constitutes a second travel path 92 described later. .

  A support plate 72 is fixed to the base 2 by screwing or welding. The support plate 72 is a thin plate-like member that has a rectangular shape in plan view. The support plate 72 is disposed so as to extend in the same direction as the vertical frames 2a and 2b, and is screwed or welded to the horizontal frames 2c and 2e. The support plate 72 is provided with a plurality of holes for screwing parallel guides 16a to 16f described later.

  The parallel guides 16a to 16f are elongated rectangular columnar or flat rail members. The parallel guides 16a to 16f are arranged at equal intervals with a predetermined interval, and are fixed on the support plate 72 by fixing means such as screwing or welding. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the parallel guides 16a to 16f are connected to the horizontal frame 2e and the vertical frame 2b from the connection side of the horizontal frame 2c and the vertical frame 2a (upstream side of the first traveling path 85). It extends toward the side (downstream side of the second traveling path 92) and is fixed to the support plate 72 in an inclined manner.

  The skew feeding guide 18 is an elongated rectangular columnar or flat rail member, is disposed in parallel with the parallel feeding guide 16f, and is screwed or welded onto the support plate 72. The interval between the skew guide 18 and the parallel guide 16f is larger than the interval between the parallel guides 16a to 16f.

  In addition, back side guides 62 (FIG. 5), which are elongated rectangular columnar or flat rail members, are screwed to the horizontal frames 2c and 2e. The back surface side guide 62 is fixed to the side opposite to the installation position of the support plate 72 (back surface side, lower side) in the horizontal frames 2c and 2e. The back-side guide 62 is fixed to the horizontal frames 2c and 2e so as to cross the vertical frames 2a and 2b from the vicinity of the vertical frame 2a in the horizontal frame 2c and the vicinity of the vertical frame 2b in the horizontal frame 2e. . The back side guide 62 is screwed to the lower side of the horizontal frames 2c and 2e in a state where the base 2 is inclined in the same direction as the parallel guides 16a to 16f and the skew guide 18 when viewed in plan. . And the back surface side guide 62 comprises the below-mentioned return travel path 116. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the switching guide device 10 includes a support plate 73, a support member 19, a lifting / lowering device 8, parallel guide members 13 a to 13 f, a set switch member 12, a link device 14, a reset device 15, and the like. Have

  As shown in FIGS. 8, 11A, and 11B, the support plate 73 is a thin and thin flat plate member having a fixing portion 73a and a mounting portion 73b. The fixing portion 73a and the mounting portion 73b are orthogonal to each other.

  Bolt insertion holes (not shown) are provided at a plurality of locations of the fixing portion 73a, and the support plate 73 is a bolt / nut (not shown) with respect to the vertical wall portion 56a of the vertical frame 2a of the base 2. It is fixed with.

As shown in FIG. 8, the mounting portion 73b is provided with mounting holes 76a to 76g along the longitudinal direction. Among these, the mounting holes 76a to 76f are equally spaced, and only the space between the mounting hole 76f and the mounting hole 76g is wide. A mounting hole 77 is provided between the mounting hole 76f and the mounting hole 76g. Bearings 82 a to 82 e are mounted in the mounting holes 76 a to 76 e from the upper surface side of the support plate 73.
Further, bearings 82f, 82g, and 63 are mounted in the mounting holes 76f, 76g, and 77 from the lower surface side of the support plate 73.

  As shown in FIG. 8, a notch 74 is provided in the middle of the fixing portion 73a. The support plate 73 has a stepped portion 75 formed by bending the mounting portion 73b. The step portion 75 forms a high portion 78 and a low portion 79 on the support plate 73. Mounting holes 76a to 76e are provided in the high portion 78, and mounting holes 76f and 76g and a mounting hole 77 are provided in the low portion 79.

  The mounting holes 76a to 76f and the mounting hole 77 are holes for mounting parallel guide members 13a to 13f (described later) and the reset device 15 through bearings 82a to 82f and 63, respectively. It is a hole for mounting the skew guide member 17 through the bearing 82g.

  The support member 19 is disposed below the support plate 73 in parallel with the support plate 73. The support member 19 is a flat member having a fixing portion 19a and a mounting portion 19b. The fixing portion 19a is a portion that is orthogonal to the mounting portion 19b by bending the edge of the mounting portion 19b. The support member 19 is screwed or fixed to the vertical wall portion 56a of the vertical frame 2a of the base 2 with screws.

  The mounting portion 19b is provided with holes for arranging the bearings 24a to 24g and the bearing 112. The center distance between these holes is the same as the center distance between the mounting holes 76a to 76g and 77 of the support plate 73 described above. The bearings 24 a to 24 g and 112 are unitized and mounted on the mounting portion 19 b of the support member 19.

  The bearings 82a to 82g attached to the support plate 73 and the bearings 24a to 24g attached to the support member 19 respectively rotatably support the shaft members 23a to 23g, and the bearing 63 and the bearing 112 are connected to the shaft member. 40 is rotatably supported.

  As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the parallel guide members 13a to 13f have guide portions 80a to 80f and fixing portions 81a to 81f, respectively. The guide portions 80a to 80f are tapered and substantially block-shaped members. The fixing portions 81a to 81f are disk-shaped portions having holes 68a to 68f in the center. Guide parts 80a to 80f are integrally fixed near the outer periphery on the upper surface side of the fixing parts 81a to 81f so as to extend in the tangential direction of the fixing parts 81a to 81f.

  The shaft members 23a to 23f are inserted through the holes 68a to 68f of the fixing portions 81a to 81f. The shape of the cross-section of the shaft members 23a to 23f is not circular, but is a shape in which two portions of the circle are cut by parallel lines. The holes 68a to 68f of the fixing portions 81a to 81f are holes through which the shaft members 23a to 23f can be inserted. Accordingly, each of the paralleling guide members 13a to 13f can rotate integrally with the shaft members 23a to 23f.

  As shown in FIGS. 6, 7, 11 (a), and 11 (b), the lifting device 8 includes a solenoid 52 and a lever 53. The insulator 53 has a dust-like shape, and a hole through which the shaft member 102 is inserted is provided in the opposite side wall. A U-shaped support member 101 is fixed on the support plate 73 with the U-shaped opening side facing up. The opposing wall surface of the support member 101 is provided with a hole through which the shaft member 102 is inserted. The shaft member 102 passes through the support member 101 and the insulator 53. Therefore, the insulator 53 can swing around the shaft member 102 with respect to the support member 101 (base 2). The shaft member 102 constitutes a fulcrum 53 a of the insulator 53.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the solenoid 52 is placed and fixed on the horizontal wall portion 57 b of the base 2. The solenoid 52 has a movable iron core 52a that is driven up and down. The movable iron core 52 a is connected to the power point 53 b of the insulator 53. A set switch member 12 described later is placed in a region corresponding to the action point 53 c of the lever 53.

  As shown in FIGS. 8, 10 (a) and 10 (b), the set switch member 12 has a base portion 12a and a contact portion 12b. The base portion 12a is a flat plate-like portion and is provided with a hole 55 through which the shaft member 23f is inserted. The contact part 12b is a block-shaped part. The contact part 12b is integrally fixed to the end part of the flat base part 12a. The contact portion 12 b has a contact surface 54. The contact surface 54 is a surface orthogonal to the flat base 12a. Further, the contact surface 54 is a surface that extends in a direction connecting the base portion 12a and the contact portion 12b and includes a straight line connecting the installation position of the hole 55 and the installation position of the contact portion 12b. It is an inclined surface.

  As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the contact portion 12b of the set switch member 12 can move up and down along the shaft member 23f and can rotate integrally with the shaft member 23f. . Further, a gear 70 is fixed to the shaft member 23f. That is, the shaft member 23f and the gear 70 rotate integrally.

  The set switch member 12 is driven up and down by the lifting device 8. That is, the set switch member 12 is placed on the action point 53c of the lever 53, and the set switch member 12 is moved up and down along the shaft member 23f by the operation of the lever 53 swinging by the lifting device 8. Is possible. The set switch member 12 is further rotatable integrally with the shaft member 23f. That is, the shaft member 23f can rotate integrally with the gear 70, the set switch member 12, and the above-described parallel guide member 13f.

  As shown in FIGS. 8, 9 (a), and 9 (b), the link device 14 includes lead members 83 a to 83 f and a connecting member 84. The lead-out members 83 a to 83 f are provided with holes 86 a to 86 f through which the shaft members 23 a to 23 f are inserted and holes 89 a to 89 f for connecting to the connecting member 84. The connecting member 84 is provided with holes 90a to 90f at a predetermined constant interval. The holes 90a to 90f of the connecting member 84 are rotatably connected to the holes 89a to 89f of the lead-out members 83a to 83f by pins.

  When the configuration described above is seen in each of the shaft members 23a to 23f, as shown in FIG. 9A, the shaft members 23a to 23e include parallel guide members 13a to 13e and lead members 83a to 83e, respectively. Are mounted so as to be rotatable together. Further, as shown in FIG. 10A, a parallel guide member 13f, a set switch member 12, a lead member 83f, and a gear 70 are rotatably attached to the shaft member 23f in order from the top. . And each guide | induction part 80a-80f of each parallel guide member 13a-13f has faced the same direction, and operate | moves so that it may face the same direction simultaneously with the link apparatus 14. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 12 (a) to (c), the reset device 15 (reset switch member) includes a shaft member 40, a gear 71, and a contact member 91. The shaft member 40 is rotatably attached to the support member 19 and the support plate 73 via bearings 112 and 63. A gear 71 is attached to an intermediate portion of the shaft member 40. Further, a contact member 91 is attached to the shaft member 40 so as to be integrally rotatable.

  The contact member 91 is a thick disk-shaped member, and a hole 91b is provided at the center. The contact member 91 has a protruding portion 91c in which a part of the disk protrudes outward in the radial direction. The protruding portion 91 c has a thickness equivalent to the thickness of the contact member 91. A contact surface 91a that is inclined with respect to a plane including both the straight line connecting the installation position of the projection 91c and the installation position of the hole 91b and the center line of the hole 91b is provided at the tip of the projection 91c. ing. The shaft member 40 is inserted through the hole 91b.

  As shown in FIGS. 12A to 12C, the gear 71 is engaged with the gear 70. Therefore, when one of the gears rotates, the other gear rotates in the opposite direction.

  The reset device 15 is disposed adjacent to the front side (downstream side) of the traveling direction (direction indicated by arrow B in FIG. 4) on the upper side (front side) of the chains 3a and 3b (endless track) with respect to the set switch member 12. ing.

  The chain drive devices 44a and 44b are devices mainly composed of motor built-in rollers 20a and 20b shown in FIG.

  That is, the motor built-in roller 20a has a cylindrical roller body 45, a motor 46, a speed reducer 47, support shafts 48a and 48b, and the like as shown in FIG. The motor 46 and the speed reducer 47 are disposed in the roller main body 45, and both ends of the roller main body 45 are closed by lids 49a and 49b. The support shaft 48a passes through the lid 49a and protrudes outside the roller body 45, and the support shaft 48b passes through the cover 49b and protrudes outside the roller body 45. The support shafts 48 a and 48 b are supported by the holes 58 a and 58 b of the vertical frames 2 a and 2 b of the base 2.

  The motor 46 is connected to a power source (not shown) provided outside the roller body 45 by an electric wire 50. The electric wire 50 connects the power supply outside the roller body 45 and the motor 46 inside via the support shaft 48b. The operation (rotation drive and stop) of the motor 46 is controlled by an external control device (not shown).

  Near one end of the roller body 45, a sprocket 21a is integrally fixed. Similarly, near the other end of the roller body 45, a sprocket 21b is integrally fixed. That is, there are sprockets 21 a and 22 a at both ends of the roller main body 45, and the sprockets 21 b and 22 b can rotate integrally with the roller main body 45.

  The motor built-in roller 20b has the same configuration as the motor built-in roller 20a. That is, the sprockets 22a and 22b are integrally fixed to the roller body of the motor built-in roller 20b. The motor built-in rollers 20 a and 20 b are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval and are fixed to the base 2.

  The chain 3a and the chain 3b are publicly known, and are connected to an annular shape (endless track). The chain 3a is engaged with the sprockets 21a and 21b. Further, the chain 3a has a plurality of pairs of pins 51a and 51b projecting sideways on one side. The plurality of sets of pins 51a and 51b are fixed to the side of the chain 3a at equal intervals.

  The article placement member 4 is generally called a slat, and includes a covering member 5 made of a resin material and metal plates 6a and 6b as shown in FIGS. The covering member 5 is long and has a structure in which the edges of both sides extending in the longitudinal direction of the rectangular plate-like body are bent at four locations so as to face each other. That is, the covering member 5 has hanging portions 30 a and 30 b that are orthogonal to the base portion 31 on both sides of the base portion 31 that is a central portion of the rectangle, and further, a wall portion that is orthogonal to the hanging portion 30 a and faces the base portion 31 in parallel. 5c and a wall portion 5b that is orthogonal to the hanging portion 30b and faces the base portion 31 in parallel.

  The front end (edge) of the wall 5b and the front end (edge) of the wall 5c are close to each other, and an opening 25 is formed between both wall portions. An internal space 26 is formed in the covering member 5. The internal space 26 communicates with the outside through the opening 25. The height dimension from the upper surface of the wall parts 5b and 5c to the top surface 5a inside the base part 31 and the width dimension from the inner surface of the hanging part 30a to the inner surface of the hanging part 30b can be inserted through the metal plates 6a and 6b. It is a size.

  The metal plates 6a and 6b have the same size and shape. The metal plate 6a has a long shape, a drooping portion 27a bent at a right angle is provided at one end, and an inclined end portion 29 is provided at the other end. The inclined end portion 29a becomes smaller in the width direction toward the tip (the other end), the metal plate 6a and the metal plate 6b are arranged in the same straight line, and the hanging portions 27a and 27b stand on the same side. If it arrange | positions in, the inclination edge part 29a of the metal plate 6a and the inclination edge part 29b of the metal plate 6b adjoin and oppose in parallel.

  A long hole 28a extending in the width direction of the metal plate 6a is provided in the hanging portion 27a of the metal plate 6a. Instead of the long hole 28a, two holes having the same diameter may be opened at positions corresponding to both ends of the long hole 28a.

A pin hole 67a is provided on the long hole 28a in the hanging part 27a of the metal plate 6a. A support member 65 is attached to the hanging part 27a. The support member 65 is provided with a pin hole 65a and a long hole 65b. When the pin hole 65a is matched with the pin hole 67a of the hanging part 27a, the long hole 65b and the long hole 28a of the hanging part 27a are also matched. Then, a common pin 66 is inserted into the pin hole 67a and the pin hole 65a of the hanging part 27a, and the support member 65 is fixed to the hanging part 27a. As a result, the long hole 28a of the hanging part 27a and the long hole 65b of the support member 65 coincide. That is, the depth of the long hole 28a is extended.
A support member 65 is similarly attached to the hanging portion 27b of the metal plate 6b.

  The inclined end portion 29a side of the metal plate 6a is inserted into the internal space 26 from one end portion of the covering member 5, and the inclined end portion 29b of the metal plate 6b is inserted into the internal space 26 from the other end portion of the covering member 5. When the side is inserted, the article placement member 4 is configured as shown in FIG. In the article placement member 4 shown in FIG. 14, hanging portions 27 a and 27 b of the metal plates 6 a and 6 b are arranged on the opening 25 (FIG. 15) side of the covering member 5. In addition, hanging parts 27 a and 27 b are disposed at both ends of the article placing member 4.

  The piece member 7 is generally called a slide shoe or a mouse, and includes a housing 32, flat plates 33 and 69, a plate spring 36, a bolt 34, a nut 35, and a contact portion 11 as shown in FIG.

  The housing 32 is formed of a thermoplastic resin or the like having excellent wear resistance and sliding characteristics. The housing 32 includes an insertion portion 37, vertical guides 38a and 38b, a bottom wall 39, side walls 41a and 41b, an upper wall 42, and a pressing surface 201. A hollow portion 43 is formed inside the housing 32. The cavity 43 is a part through which the above-described article placement member 4 is inserted. That is, the article placement member 4 is inserted into the hollow portion 43 of the piece member 7, and the piece member 7 can smoothly move along the article placement member 4.

  A pressing surface 201 (article pressing portion) is formed at a portion of the housing 32 where the opening of the hollow portion 43 is formed. The pressing surface 201 is a surface that is pressed against an article on the article placement member 4. The flat plate 33 is a thin plate having a rectangular shape. A hole 33 a is provided in the center of the flat plate 33.

  The contact part 11 is comprised with a bearing. A bolt 34 that functions as a rotation shaft is inserted into the shaft insertion portion 113 at the center of the contact portion 11. As shown in FIG. 17, the bolt 34 passes through the shaft insertion portion 113 of the contact portion 11, the hole 36 a of the leaf spring 36, the hole 69 a of the flat plate 69, the insertion portion 37 of the housing 32, and the hole 33 a of the flat plate 33. And screwed into the nut 35. The contact portion 11 is a part that passes through the first travel path 85.

Next, the relationship between the members of the article sorting apparatus 1 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the chain drive devices 44 a and 44 b described above are fixed near both ends of the base 2. That is, chain drive devices 44a and 44b are attached between the vertical frames 2a and 2b. More specifically, the support shaft 48a of the motor built-in roller 20a is inserted into the hole 58a (FIG. 5) of the vertical frame 2a. The support shaft 48b of the motor built-in roller 20a is similarly inserted through the corresponding hole of the vertical frame 2b. Therefore, the motor built-in roller 20a (roller body) is rotatably supported by the vertical frames 2a and 2b. Similarly, the motor built-in roller 20b (roller body) is rotatably supported by the vertical frames 2a and 2b.

The chain 3a (endless track) is suspended from the sprocket 21a of the motor built-in roller 20a and the sprocket 21b of the motor built-in roller 20b. At that time, a plurality of pairs of pins 51 a and 51 b provided on the chain 3 a are arranged so as to protrude inside the base 2. Similarly, the chain 3b (endless track) is suspended from the sprocket 22a of the motor built-in roller 20a and the sprocket 22b of the motor built-in roller 20b. A plurality of pairs of pins 51 a and 51 b provided on the chain 3 b are also arranged inside the base 2.
That is, each pair of pins 51a and 51b of the chain 3a and each pair of pins 51a and 51b of the chain 3b are opposed to each other.

  The chains 3 a and 3 b support both ends of the article placement member 4. There are a plurality (many) of article mounting members 4, and the chains 3a and 3b support both ends of each article mounting member 4 (4a, 4b,...). As a result, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a large number of article placement members 4 (4a, 4b,...) Are continuously arranged close to each other. The upper surface of each article placement member 4 (4a, 4b,...) Functions as a placement surface on which an article 96 that is a conveyed product is placed.

  The pins 51a and 51b (FIGS. 3 and 15) of the chain 3a are inserted through the long hole 28b of the metal plate 6b of the article placement member 4 and the long hole 65b of the support member 65, and the pins 51a and 51b of the chain 3b. Is inserted through the long hole 28a of the metal plate 6a of the article placement member 4 and the long hole 65b of the support member 65. The distance between the pin 51a and the pin 51b is substantially the same as the length of the long hole 28a. Therefore, the pins 51a and 51b are inserted into the long holes 28a and 65b, and the article placement member 4 is fixed to the chains 3a and 3b. Since the pins 51a and 51b are inserted through the long holes 65b of the support member 65 attached to the metal plates 6a and 6b in addition to the long holes 28a and 28b of the metal plates 6a and 6b, the postures with respect to the article placement member 4 Is stable.

  The motor built-in rollers 20a and 20b rotate in synchronization. Therefore, the chains 3a and 3b (two endless tracks) smoothly circulate. In the present embodiment, the two chains 3a and 3b (two endless tracks) are driven by the two motor built-in rollers 20a and 20b. However, one (for example, the motor built-in roller 20b) is used as a drive source. It can also be a driven connecting shaft that does not have any.

  The switching induction device 10 described above is disposed under the upper side plane on which the article placement members 4 are arranged. That is, the switching guiding device 10 is configured so that the paralleling guiding members 13a to 13f of the set switch member 12 of the switching guiding device 10 and the paralleling guides 16a to 16f fixed to the support plate 73 have the same height. It is arranged below the upper plane.

Next, the operation of the article sorting apparatus 1 of this embodiment will be described.
The article sorting apparatus 1 constitutes a part of the conveyor apparatus 100 as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20 described above. That is, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the conveyor apparatus 100 includes an upstream conveyor 97, an article sorting apparatus 1, a downstream conveyor 98, and a branch conveyor 99.

  The upstream conveyor 97, the article sorting apparatus 1, the downstream conveyor 98, and the branch conveyor 99 all have articles 96 in their own zones (conveyors) and articles 96 in the downstream zones (conveyors). Or is driven on condition that the downstream zone (conveyor) is driven. For example, the upstream conveyor 97 is activated when there is an article on the upstream conveyor 97 and there is no article in the downstream article sorting apparatus 1. Therefore, in-zone sensors 261 to 264 that detect the presence or absence of the article 96 are provided in each zone.

  Further, the upstream conveyor 97 is provided with a transport destination reading device 267 that detects the transport destination of the article 96, and whether the transport destination of the article 96 is the downstream conveyor 98 or the branch conveyor 99. Determined. And each conveyor is driven as needed by control by the control apparatus which is not illustrated.

  In the article sorting apparatus 1, when the motor built-in rollers 20a and 20b are driven, the article placement member 4 coupled to the chains 3a and 3b travels from the upstream side to the downstream side. At this time, the contact portion 11 (engagement portion) of the piece member 7 passes through the first travel path 85 (FIG. 5), passes through the back side travel path 94, and reaches the upstream end of the first travel path 85. Return.

  Here, the first traveling path 85 and the back-side traveling path 94 are paths schematically shown in FIG. The first traveling path 85 and the back-side traveling path 94 are along the vertical wall portion 56 a, and the abutting portion 11 of the piece member 7 that circulates and moves is along the vertical wall portion 56 a of the vertical frame 2 a of the base 2. Moving.

  When the article 96 that has reached the upstream conveyor 97 is to be conveyed to the downstream conveyor 98, the lifting / lowering device 8 of the switching guide device 10 is not operated, and the set switch member 12 is connected to the first travel path 85. The state retracted downward is maintained. That is, there is no obstacle in the first travel path 85 that obstructs the contact portion 11 of the piece member 7. Therefore, the contact portion 11 of the piece member 7 travels straight on the first traveling path 85. As a result, the article 96 moved from the upstream conveyor 97 to the article sorting apparatus 1 is placed on the article placing member 4 and is directly moved to the downstream conveyor 98 side without changing the conveying direction by the piece member 7. Be transported.

  The article placement member 4 passes through the back side (lower side) of the base 2 and returns to the upstream end. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 23, the piece member 7 returns from the downstream end of the first travel path 85 through the back surface travel path 94 to the upstream end of the first travel path 85.

  On the other hand, when the article 96 that has reached the upstream conveyor 97 is to be sorted into the branch conveyor 99, the lifting device 8 is operated to change the state shown in FIG. 11 (a) to FIG. 11 (b). The switching induction device 10 is switched to the state shown. That is, the set switch member 12 is raised and disposed on the first travel path 85. The raising / lowering device 8 switches the set switch member 12 to and from the first travel path 85.

  More specifically, when the lifting device 8 is operated, the force point 53b (movable iron core 52a) of the lever 53 is lowered, and the action point 53c side lifts the set switch member 12. As a result, the contact portion 12 b of the set switch member 12 is raised and disposed on the first travel path 85. At this time, the contact surface 54 of the contact portion 12 b disposed in the first travel path 85 faces the upstream side of the first travel path 85. In the state shown in FIG. 18A, the switching guide device 10 is in a passing posture in which the guide portions 80 a to 80 f are retracted from the first travel path 85.

  As shown in FIG. 18A, a control device (not shown) immediately before the contact portion 11a (engagement portion) of the piece member 7a mounted on the article placement member 4a passes through the set switch member 12. Then, the lifting device 8 is operated. Here, the piece member 7 a is attached to the article placement member 4 a closest to the set switch member 12 among the article placement members 4 that have not passed through the set switch member 12. The contact portion 11 a that moves on the first travel path 85 contacts the contact surface 54 of the contact section 12 b that is disposed on the first travel path 85.

  The contact portion 11a of the piece member 7a is driven by the motor built-in rollers 20a and 20b and presses the contact surface 54 of the set switch member 12. As a result, as shown in FIG. 18B, the set switch member 12 rotates about the shaft member 23f, and the contact portion 12b of the set switch member 12 is pushed away from the first travel path 85.

  When the shaft member 23f rotates, the parallel guide member 13f attached to the shaft member 23f rotates and is disposed on the first travel path 85. Further, since the gears 70 and 71 are engaged, the shaft member 40 is also rotated at the same time, and the contact surface 91 a of the contact member 91 is disposed in the first travel path 85. Furthermore, the shaft member 23f is connected to the shaft members 23a to 23e by the link device 14, and rotates in the same direction together with the shaft member 23f. As shown in FIG. Along with the guide portion 80f, the guide portions 80a to 80e of the parallel guide members 13a to 13e are arranged on the first travel path 85. That is, the switching guiding device 10 takes a guiding posture in which the contact portions 11b to 11g of the piece members 7b to 7g are guided to the parallel guides 16a to 16f.

  The contact portions 11a to 11g of the piece members 7a to 7g move from the upstream side to the downstream side while maintaining a predetermined interval. 18C, the piece members 7b to 7g excluding the piece member 7a move to the parallel guides 16a to 16f along the parallel guide members 13a to 13f, and FIG. As shown in d), it moves from the first travel path 85 side to the second travel path 92 along the parallel guides 16a to 16f. As a result, the piece members 7b to 7g move (slide) on the article placement member 4, and the article 96 on the article placement member 4 is pushed out to the branch-side conveyor 99 by the piece members 7b to 7g, Sorted.

  The piece members 7b to 7g (contact portions 11b to 11g) excluding the piece member 7a at this time are, as shown in FIG. 24, the first traveling path 85, the parallel guides 16a to 16f, and the second traveling path. 92, return to the upstream side of the first travel path 85 via the return travel path 116 (back surface side guide 62). On the other hand, the piece member 7a (contact portion 11a) returns from the first travel path 85 shown in FIG. 23 to the upstream side of the first travel path 85 through the back-side travel path 94.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 18C, immediately after the contact portions 11b to 11g of the piece members 7b to 7g are guided to the 16f side from the paralleling guide 16a, the contact portion 11a of the piece member 7a is the first one. The vehicle travels straight along one traveling path 85, abuts against the abutment surface 91 a of the reset device 15, and presses. Then, the contact portion 11a pushes the contact surface 91a, the contact member 91 rotates together with the shaft member 40 and the gear 71, and the contact surface 91a moves from the first travel path 85 as shown in FIG. evacuate.

  Further, the gear 70 meshing with the gear 71 rotates, and the shaft member 23f integrated with the gear 70 rotates. As a result, the lead-out member 83f integrated with the shaft member 23f is rotated, and the shaft members 23a to 23e are also rotated simultaneously by the link device 14, so that the guide portions 80a to 80f of the parallel guide members 13a to 13f are moved. As shown in FIG. 18 (d), the vehicle is retracted from the first travel path 85. And the contact surface 54 of the contact part 12b of the set switch member 12 is arrange | positioned in the 1st travel path 85 again.

  Here, the control device (not shown) lowers the contact portion 12 b of the set switch member 12 by the lifting device 8 and retracts the contact portion 12 b below the first travel path 85. At this time, the switching guidance device 10 has returned from the guidance posture to the passing posture. Then, a control device (not shown) detects the transport destination of the article 96 transported from the upstream conveyor 97 next, and determines whether or not the lifting device 8 is to be operated.

  Here, when the elevating device 8 is operated and the contact portion 12b of the set switch member 12 is raised to the first travel path 85, the timing is temporarily delayed, and the contact portion 11a of the piece member 7a is moved to the set switch. Consider a case where the member 12 does not contact the contact surface 54 of the contact part 12b but is pushed up by the contact part 12b.

  The article placing member 4 integral with the piece member 7a is supported by the chains 3a and 3b. Naturally, there are gaps in the chains 3a and 3b and there is slack. Therefore, the intermediate portions of the chains 3a and 3b suspended by the two sprockets 21a and 22a (21b and 22b) naturally have a degree of freedom in the vertical direction, and the article placement member 4 can move upward. Therefore, the contact portion 11a of the piece member 7a pushed up to the contact portion 12b of the set switch member 12 escapes upward and rides on the contact portion 12b, and passes through the contact portion 12b without difficulty. Therefore, the contact part 11 does not cause a fatal catch, and the article placement member 4 maintains traveling.

  Then, the piece member 7b next to the piece member 7a shown in FIG. 18A abuts against the abutment surface 54 of the set switch member 12, and pushes away the abutment portion 12b. The subsequent operation is as described above.

  The article sorting apparatus of the invention filed earlier can also be used to align the articles on one side of the conveyance path and align them in a line when the width of the conveyance path is sufficiently wider than the width of the article. That is, the branch guide inclined with respect to the conveyance path is configured to be parallel to the conveyance path in the middle. As a result, the piece member installed on each article placement member moves in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the endless track as it goes downstream, and when the piece member reaches a portion parallel to the traveling direction of the endless track. Thereafter, the movement of the endless track in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction is eliminated, and the articles are aligned in a row on the article placement member. And it is conveyed to a downstream conveyor.

  Therefore, the worker can reach the article without extending his / her hand on one side of the downstream conveyor, and the work efficiency is improved. Moreover, the conveyance width of the downstream conveyor of the article sorting apparatus can be made smaller than the conveyance width of the article sorting apparatus or the upstream conveyor, and space saving can be achieved.

The article sorting apparatus 1 can also skew out the article 96.
When skewing out the article 96, the skew feeding guiding member 17 and the aforementioned skew feeding guide 18 shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B are used.

  As shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B, the skew feeding guiding member 17 includes a thick disk-shaped mounting portion 105 and a tapered elongated block-shaped guiding portion 110. The mounting portion 105 is provided with a hole 106. The shaft member 23g is inserted into the hole 106. The lower end of the shaft member 23g is supported by the support member 19 and the bearing 112. The vicinity of the center of the shaft member 23g is supported by a bearing 82g attached to the support plate 73. The skew feeding guiding member 17 can move up and down along the shaft member 23g.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the base 2 is provided with an elevating device 9 adjacent to the parallel elevating device 8. The lifting device 9 has the same configuration as the lifting device 8. In other words, as shown in FIG. 21, the lifting device 9 includes a solenoid 109 and a lever 107. A fulcrum 107 a of the insulator 107 is fixed to a support plate 73 integral with the vertical frame 2 a of the base 2 via a support member 121 and a shaft member 122. That is, the shaft member 122 is fixed to the base 2 and constitutes the fulcrum 107a of the insulator 107.

  The force point 107 b of the insulator 107 is disposed outside the base 2, and the action point 107 c is disposed inside the base 2. The solenoid 109 is mounted and fixed on the horizontal wall portion 57 b of the base 2, and a movable iron core 108 a that is driven up and down is connected to a power point 107 b of the insulator 107. The guide portion 110 of the skew feeding guide member 17 is placed at the action point 107 c of the insulator 107.

  The guide portion 110 of the skew feeding guide member 17 is supported by the action point 107c of the lever 107, and the guide portion 110 moves up and down along the shaft member 23g as the action point 107c moves up and down. Usually, the guide part 110 is retracted below the first travel path 85. And if the raising / lowering apparatus 9 is operated, the guidance | induction part 110 will raise and will be arrange | positioned at the 1st travel path 85. FIG.

  When the articles 96 conveyed from the upstream conveyor 97 shown in FIG. 22 are sorted into the branch conveyor 99, the control device (not shown) operates the lifting device 9 and raises the guide portion 110 along the shaft member 23g. The guiding unit 110 is disposed on the first travel path 85. The abutment portion 11a of the piece member 7a mounted on the article placement member 4 on which the article 96 is placed abuts on the guide portion 110, moves along the guide portion 110, and is guided to the skew feeding guide 18. .

  Similarly, the abutting portions 11b to 11f of the piece members 7b to 7f following the piece member 7a are also guided from the guide portion 110 to the skew feeding guide 18. Each contact part 11a-11f (piece member 7a) moves along the skew guide 18 and branches the article 96 on the article placement member 4 with respect to the traveling direction as shown in FIG. Extrude to side conveyor 99. And the articles | goods 96 sorted into the branch side conveyor 99 are conveyed toward the previous conveyor from the branch side conveyor 99 in the state changed 90 degree | times.

  The moving paths of the contact portions 11a (piece members 7a) to 11f (piece members 7f) at this time are as shown in FIG. That is, the contact portions 11a to 11f sequentially move from the first travel path 95 to the second travel path 92 along the skew guide 18 and return configured from the second travel path 92 by the back surface side guide 62. It returns to the upstream side of the first travel path 95 via the travel path 116.

To end the skew feeding, a control device (not shown) lowers the guide portion 110 by the lifting device 9 and retracts the guide portion 110 from the first travel path 85. Thereby, the contact portion 11 of each piece member 7 can go straight on the first travel path 85.
The above is the description of the article sorting apparatus 1 filed earlier.

  The inventor has developed the article sorting apparatus 400 of the present invention by reducing the number of components and simplifying the structure against the background of the above-described invention. That is, the structure which simplified the structure of the switching induction | guidance | derivation apparatus 10 was searched, providing the raising / lowering function similar to the article sorting apparatus 1, and the article sorting apparatus 400 of this invention was derived. Hereinafter, the article sorting apparatus 400 will be described. In addition, description is abbreviate | omitted about the part which overlaps with the above-mentioned content. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the vertical positional relationship of the switching guide device 300 will be described based on the posture (passing posture) in FIG.

  The article sorting apparatus 400 forms a part of the conveyor apparatus 100 as in the article sorting apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 27, the article sorting apparatus 400 includes a switching guiding device 300 and a skew feeding guiding member 320.

  As in the above-described embodiment, the switching guiding device 300 is configured such that the guiding positions 305a to 305f are retracted from the first travel path 85 (FIG. 31A) and the piece members 7a to 7f as shown in FIG. A guiding posture (FIG. 31 (b)) for guiding the contact portions 11a to 11f toward the paralleling guides 16a to 16f is taken.

As shown in FIG. 28, the switching induction device 300 includes a motor built-in roller 301, a cam member 302, an elevating plate 303, a hinge portion 306, a fixed plate 307, and the like.
The motor built-in roller 301 is a known motor built-in roller.
The cam member 302 is a so-called eccentric cam, and a shaft hole 304 is formed at a position shifted from the center. Specifically, when viewed from the front as shown in FIG. 30, the cam member 302 is a circular plate-like body, and the center of the shaft hole 304 is provided at a position shifted by a lift H from the center of the cam member 302. Yes. That is, the difference between the maximum diameter (the distance from the shaft hole 304 to the farthest peripheral edge (arc)) and the minimum diameter (the distance from the shaft hole 304 to the closest peripheral edge) is a lifting plate 303 described later (see FIG. 3A). It is almost the same as the slope height. In other words, a line connecting a portion having the maximum diameter on the periphery of the cam member 302 and a portion having the minimum diameter on the periphery of the cam member 302 passes through the shaft hole 304 of the cam member 302, and the maximum diameter The portion to be formed and the portion having the minimum diameter are opposed to each other with the shaft hole 304 interposed therebetween.
Further, the rotation shaft of the motor built-in roller 301 can be inserted into the shaft hole 304.

As shown in FIGS. 28 and 32, the elevating plate 303 is a flat plate-like member that can be rotated via a hinge shaft 306 c that connects the attachment portions 306 a and 306 b.
As shown in FIGS. 28 and 29, the elevating plate 303 is formed of a main body part 310, guide parts 305 a to 305 f, and an elastic member 312.

  The main body 310 is a rectangular plate-like part in plan view, and is a part serving as a skeleton of the lifting plate 303.

26 and 28, the guide portions 305a to 305f are tapered from the inner side (parallel guides 16a to 16f side) to the outer side (chains 3a and 3b side) when the switching guide device 300 is assembled. Shaped member.
As shown in FIG. 28, the guide portions 305a to 305f include a flow path forming portion 308 and a lowering prevention engagement portion 309 (a lowering prevention engagement portion). The flow path forming part 308 is an arcuate part in plan view.
The descent prevention engaging portion 309 is a flange extending in the extending direction of the paralleling guides 16a to 16f.

The guide portion 305 (305a to 305f) will be further described. As shown in FIG. 39, the guide portion 305 includes a contact region 350 having a descent prevention engagement portion 309 and a piece member outside the contact region. 7 has a direction change region 351 that causes the flow of 7 to flow inward.
The contact area 350 of the guide portion 305 extends substantially linearly, and the direction changing area 351 is gently curved upstream in the transport direction from the contact area 350 side to the outside.
The lowering prevention engagement portion 309 located in the contact region 350 of the guide portion 305 is provided at the upper end in the vertical direction of the guide portion 305 and over the entire contact region 350. Further, the descent prevention engaging portion 309 is provided on the upstream side in the transport direction of the guide portion 305 (upstream in the approach direction of the contact portion 11).
A chamfered portion is formed at the upper end in the vertical direction of the guide portion 305 and on the opposite corner of the lowering prevention engaging portion 309, and a chamfered portion 352 is formed. That is, the chamfered portion 352 is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the guide portion 305 (downstream in the approach direction of the contact portion 11).
The chamfered portion 352 is an inclined surface and is chamfered much larger than the chamfers of other portions.

The lowering prevention engaging portion 309 located on the leading end side (the incoming side) of the guiding portions 305a to 305f is a portion having a lowering stopping function described later, and is a portion that is continuous with the main body portion 310 in a step shape.
The thickness of the lowering prevention engaging portion 309 is smaller than the thickness of the main body portion 310, and is a thickness that can be inserted into the gap between the contact portion 11 of the piece member 7 and the leaf spring 36.

As shown in FIG. 28, the guide portions 305a to 305f are arranged in parallel on the main body portion 310 at a predetermined interval, and are fixed integrally on the main body portion 310 by a known fastening element or the like. Yes.
Specifically, each of the guide portions 305a to 305f is positioned on the top surface of the main body portion 310, and each of the guide portions 305a to 305f is arranged in parallel, and further to the parallel guides 16a to 16f. Lined up in parallel. More specifically, in the guiding posture described later (corresponding to the guiding posture of the previous invention), the guiding portions 305a to 305f are respectively arranged on the extension in the extending direction (longitudinal direction) of the parallel guides 16a to 16f. .
That is, the longitudinal direction of the guide portions 305a to 305f has a component (internal / external component) and a component (transport component) perpendicular to the traveling direction on the upper side (front side) of the chains 3a and 3b (endless tracks). Yes.

The elastic member 312 is formed of a plate-like elastic main body 315 and an interval maintaining member 316 that fixes the elastic main body 315 to the elevating plate 303 at a predetermined interval as shown in FIGS. .
The elastic main body 315 is specifically a leaf spring, and is formed of a fixed portion 317 fixed to the interval maintaining member 316 and an elastic portion 318 as shown in FIG. That is, the elastic main body portion 315 (fixed portion 317) is fixed to the lower surface of the main body portion 310 of the elevating plate 303 via the interval maintaining member 316, and the elastic main body portion 315 is supported in a cantilever manner by the interval maintaining member 316. Has been. In other words, a space is formed between the elastic main body 315 and the lower surface of the main body 310.
The elastic member 312 is attached to the outer side of the main body 310 in the inner / outer direction (width direction).

When the eyes are moved to the hinge portions 306 located at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the elevating plate 303, the hinge portions 306 are known hinges, and the elevating plate 303 and the support plate 72 are connected as shown in FIG. This is a member that can swing with respect to the support plate 72.
As shown in FIG. 32, the hinge portion 306 is formed of attachment portions 306a and 306b and a hinge shaft 306c that connects the attachment portions 306a and 306b.

  The fixing plate 307 (see FIG. 28) is a plate member for fixing the elevating plate 303 to the horizontal frames 2c and 2d (see FIG. 27), and can be fixed to the horizontal frames 2c and 2d by known fastening elements. Yes. The fixed plate 307 can be attached with the motor built-in roller 301.

  Here, if the description about the piece members 7a-7g is added, the contact part 11 (engagement part) of the piece members 7a-7g is a rotary body which can rotate freely. That is, the contact portion 11 of the piece members 7a to 7g has a center shaft 345, a peripheral surface portion 346, and an end surface portion 347 as shown in FIG. And in the attitude | position which assembled the switching induction | guidance | derivation apparatus 300, the center axis | shaft 345 is suspended in the substantially perpendicular | vertical attitude | position with respect to the housing | casing 32, and the surrounding surface part 346 is parallel guide 16a-16f or guide part 305a-305f. Contact is possible.

Hereinafter, the positional relationship of each component in each posture of the switching guidance device 300 will be described. For convenience of explanation, the passing posture will be described first.
Most of the switching guidance devices 300 are installed on the top and bottom projection surface of the fixed plate 307. A motor built-in roller 301 is mounted on the fixed plate 307, and the rotation axis of the motor built-in roller 301 is oriented in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the article placing member 4 (see FIG. 1). A cam member 302 is attached to the rotation shaft of the motor built-in roller 301.
As shown in FIG. 31A, in the passing posture, the portion having the maximum diameter on the periphery of the cam member 302 faces downward, and the portion having the minimum diameter on the periphery of the cam member 302 faces upward. It is suitable.
That is, the main body 310 of the lifting plate 303 is inclined with the hinge shaft 306c connecting the attachment portions 306a and 306b as a fulcrum. Specifically, the main body portion 310 of the lifting plate 303 is inclined downward from the inner side (the hinge portion 306 side) toward the outer side (the guiding portions 305a to 305f side). The inclination angle θ of the main body part 310 of the elevating plate 303 shown in FIG. 31A is about 10 degrees, which is a gentle inclination. The apexes of the guide portions 305 a to 305 f are lower than the contact portion 11 of the piece member 7.
In short, the guide portions 305a to 305f are not in contact with the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f, and do not protrude (rise) on the first travel path 85. Therefore, the movement of the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f is not hindered, and the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f can pass through the first travel path 85.

A fixing plate 307 is attached to the horizontal frames 2c and 2d, and the elevating plate 303 is attached to the support plate 72 via attachment portions 306a and 306b above the fixing plate 307 in the vertical direction. .
The elevating plate 303 is placed on the cam member 302, and an elastic member 312 is interposed between the main body portion 310 and the cam member 302. That is, the power received from the cam member 302 is transmitted to the main body 310 via the elastic member 312.

Next, the guidance posture will be described.
In the guiding posture, as shown in FIG. 31B, the portion having the smallest diameter on the periphery of the cam member 302 faces downward, and the portion having the largest diameter on the periphery of the cam member 302 faces upward. Yes. That is, the top of the cam member 302 is higher than the cam member 302 in the passing posture. Specifically, the cam member 302 is at a position higher by the lift H (see FIG. 30).
The elevating plate 303 is placed on the cam member 302, and the elastic member 312 is pressed by the cam member 302. The main body 310 is pushed up by the elastic force of the elastic member 312.
Therefore, the main body portion 310 of the elevating plate 303 is substantially horizontal with the hinge shaft 306c connecting the attachment portions 306a and 306b as a fulcrum. The apexes of the guide portions 305 a to 305 f are higher than the contact portion 11 of the piece member 7.
In short, the guide portions 305 a to 305 f can come into contact with the contact portions 11 a to 11 f of the piece members 7 a to 7 f and protrude on the first travel path 85. Therefore, the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f contact the guide portions 305a to 305f, so that the trajectories of the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f are directed to the parallel guides 16a to 16f. It is possible to change.

In the sorting operation in the switching guidance device 300, the passing posture and the guidance posture described above are taken. Then, in the sorting operation in the switching guide device 300, the motor built-in roller 301 is operated according to the article 96 (see FIG. 22) to be carried in, and the passing posture and the guiding posture are switched.
Hereinafter, although the sorting operation in the switching induction device 300 will be described, since it is almost the same as the operation of the above-described embodiment, it will be briefly described.

When the article 96 that has reached the upstream conveyor 97 is to be conveyed to the downstream conveyor 98, the switching guide device 300 is not operated, and the guide portions 305a to 305f are located below the first travel path 85. The retracted state is maintained (passing posture).
In the passing posture, there is no obstacle in the first travel path 85 that obstructs the contact portion 11 of the piece member 7 as described above. Therefore, the contact portion 11 of the piece member 7 travels straight on the first traveling path 85.
As a result, the article 96 moved from the upstream conveyor 97 to the article sorting device 400 is placed on the article placing member 4 and is directly moved to the downstream conveyor 98 side without changing the conveying direction by the piece member 7. Be transported. The article placement member 4 passes through the back side (lower side) of the base 2 and returns to the upstream end. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 23, the piece member 7 passes from the downstream end portion of the first traveling path 85 through the back surface traveling path 94 and returns to the upstream end portion of the first traveling path 85.

  On the other hand, when the article 96 that has reached the upstream conveyor 97 is an object to be sorted into the branch conveyor 99, the motor built-in roller 301 is operated, and the state shown in FIG. The switching guidance device 300 is switched to the state (guidance posture) shown in (b). That is, the guide portions 305 a to 305 f are arranged on the first travel path 85 using a cam mechanism by rotating the motor built-in roller 301.

More specifically, when the motor built-in roller 301 is actuated (forward rotation), the cam member 302 is rotated by the rotation of the rotation shaft, and the position of the apex of the cam member 302 is increased by the lift H as described above. .
As a result, power is transmitted to the main body 310 via the elastic member 312 and the main body 310 is inclined. Along with this, the guide portion 305 is raised and disposed on the first travel path 85.
At this time, the descent prevention engaging portion 309 of the guide portions 305a to 305f arranged in the first travel path 85 faces the upstream side of the first travel path 85 and faces the horizontal direction. Specifically, the lowering engagement portions 309 of the guide portions 305a to 305f are respectively high corresponding to the spaces (see FIG. 17) formed between the leaf spring 36 and the contact portion 11 of the piece member 7. It has become.
As described above, in the guiding posture, the guiding portions 305a to 305f are lifted and arranged on the first travel path 85, so that the abutting portion 11 of the piece member 7 is guided by the guiding portions 305a to 305f and parallel. It moves to the guides 16f-16a for taking out.

  And like the above-mentioned embodiment, each piece member 7 moves from the 1st runway 85 side to the 2nd runway 92 along parallel guides 16a-16f. As a result, the piece members 7a to 7f move (slide) on the article placement member 4, and the article 96 on the article placement member 4 is pushed out to the branch conveyor 99 by the piece members 7a to 7f. Sorted.

When returning from the guiding posture to the passing posture, the motor built-in roller 301 is reversely rotated to lower the position of the cam member 302 by an amount corresponding to the lift (deviation from the center of the cam member 302).
As a result, the main body portion 310 becomes horizontal, and the guide portions 305a to 305f descend and retreat from the first travel path 85.

Here, when switching from the passing posture to the guiding posture, when the guiding portions 305a to 305f rise, the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f are positioned above the guiding portions 305a to 305f. The guide portions 305a to 305f may push up the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f.
For example, when the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f are positioned above the guide portions 305a to 305f as shown in FIG. 33, the cam member 302 is rotated by the power of the motor built-in roller 301. A force to push up the elastic member 312 works. Therefore, the guide portions 305 a to 305 f are pushed up, and the guide portions 305 a to 305 f protrude on the first travel path 85.
On the other hand, when viewed from the piece members 7a to 7f side, the guide portions 305a to 305f are pressed by the weight of the piece members 7a to 7f. That is, when both forces act on the guide portions 305a to 305f, an impact sound is generated and the chains 3a and 3b may be bent.
Therefore, in the switching guide device 300 according to the present embodiment, the lifting plate 303 is provided with the elastic member 312 so that the elastic member 312 presses the force of the motor built-in roller 301 and the weight of the piece members 7a to 7f as shown in FIG. The force is buffered, and the force by which the guide portions 305a to 305f push up the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f is reduced. Therefore, no impact sound is generated, and the deflection of the chains 3a and 3b is suppressed.
Further, immediately after the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f pass over the guide portions 305a to 305f, the chamfered portion 352 is provided, so that the contact portions 11a of the piece members 7a to 7f are gently provided. ˜11f falls and no impact sound is generated.

In addition, when the article 96 following the article 96 to be sorted to the branch side conveyor 99 is to be conveyed to the downstream side conveyor 98, it is necessary to return from the guiding posture to the passing posture. Therefore, the switching guide device 300 of the present embodiment is configured such that the motor built-in roller 301 is actuated to return to the passing posture when a predetermined time has elapsed after changing to the guiding posture.
However, when changing from the guiding posture to the passing posture, the timing of the cam member 302 by the motor built-in roller 301 is earlier than the conveying speed of the article 96, so that the guiding portions 305a to 305f on the lifting plate 303 are rapidly lowered. There is a case. For example, the piece members 7 a to 7 f may be positioned at the boundary portion between the parallel guides 16 b to 16 f and the lifting plate 303 when the guide portion 305 is lowered. In this case, a step is generated between the parallel guides 16b to 16f and the lifting plate 303, and the piece members 7a to 7f are unstable.

Therefore, the switching guide device 300 according to the present embodiment includes the lowering prevention engagement portion 309 in the guide portion 305. As shown in FIGS. 35 and 36, the descent prevention engaging portion 309 of the guide portions 305a to 305f can be inserted into the gap between the contact portion 11 of the piece member 7 and the leaf spring 36 in the guide posture. ing. Specifically, the lowering prevention engagement portion 309 of the guide portions 305a to 305f can be engaged with the end surface portion 347 of the contact portion 11 of the piece members 7a to 7g.
Therefore, when a step is generated between the paralleling guides 16b to 16f and the lifting plate 303, when the piece members 7a to 7f are positioned on the lifting plate 303, the end surface portion 347 has a lowering prevention member. The joining portion 309 is engaged, and the elevating plate 303 is supported by the piece members 7a to 7f. Therefore, even when the portion having the maximum diameter on the periphery of the cam member 302 faces downward (when the portion having the minimum diameter on the periphery of the cam member 302 faces upward), the cam member 302 moves up and down. The plate 303 does not descend. On the other hand, in a state where the piece members 7a to 7f have advanced to the positions of the parallel guides 16b to 16f, the engagement between the lowering prevention engagement portion 309 of the guide portion 305 and the piece member 7 is released, and the guide portion 305 descends.

This point will be described in more detail. That is, the operation of the lowering prevention engaging portion 309 will be described in detail.
The passage trajectory of the contact portion 11 when the guide portion 305 ′ does not have the lowering prevention engagement portion 309 is as shown in FIG. 40, and the elevating plate 303 (not shown in FIG. 40) rises to the first. When the contact part 11 flows through the first travel path 85 in a state where the guide part 305 ′ appears on the travel path 85, the contact part 11 contacts the direction change area 351 of the guide part 305 ′ at time A, and the guide part Drive along 305 in an oblique direction. That is, the abutting portion 11 tends to move downstream as the chains 3a and 3b travel, but by contacting the guiding portion 305 ′, a component force toward the center is generated, and the guiding portion 305 ′. Travel diagonally along the road.
The contact portion 11 reaches the contact region 350 of the guide portion 305 at time B. Further, the contact portion 11 passes through the boundary portion between the guide portion 305 and the paralleling guide 16 at time C and enters the paralleling guide 16, and after time D, along the paralleling guide 16. Progress diagonally.

  During the period from time A to time D described above, it is necessary that the lifting plate 303 is maintained in the raised state. As shown in FIG. 41, if the elevating plate 303 is lowered at the stage of time C, the guide portion 305 'is lowered and the engagement relationship with the contact portion 11 is canceled. As a result, the component force toward the center of the contact portion 11 disappears, and the contact portion 11 moves straight downstream as the chains 3a and 3b travel. As a result, the contact portion 11 collides with the protruding end portion of the paralleling guide 16 and rides on the protruding end portion of the paralleling guide 16, causing a failure.

On the other hand, since the guide portion 305 employed in the present embodiment is provided with the descent prevention engaging portion 309 in the contact region 350, the contact portion 11 becomes the contact region 350 of the guide portion 305 at time B. As shown in FIGS. 42 and 43, the end face portion 347 (not shown in FIGS. 42 and 43) of the contact portion 11 is engaged with the lowering prevention engaging portion 309. To prevent. Therefore, when the contact portion 11 reaches the boundary portion between the guiding portion 305 and the paralleling guide 16 at time C, the elevating plate 303 maintains the raised state. That is, even if the motor built-in roller 301 rotates between time B and time C and the position where the maximum diameter of the cam member 302 becomes downward, the lifting plate 303 does not descend, and the contact portion 11 It continues to engage with the guide portion 305. Therefore, it passes through the boundary portion between the guiding portion 305 and the paralleling guide 16 at time C and enters the paralleling guide 16, and after time D, proceeds in an oblique direction along the paralleling guide 16. .
In this way, when the piece members 7a to 7f pass, the guide portions 305a to 305f do not descend and maintain a horizontal state, so that the piece members 77a to 7f move smoothly without rattling. it can. Moreover, even if the motor built-in roller 301 is rotated quickly, the postures of the guide portions 305a to 305f can be maintained, so that it is easy to control.

In addition, the article sorting apparatus 400 of the present embodiment can skew out the article 96 as in the above-described article sorting apparatus 1.
When the article 96 is skewed, the skew feeding guide member 320 and the aforementioned skew feeding guide 18 shown in FIG. 27 are used.

As shown in FIG. 37, the skew feeding guide member 320 includes a skeleton part 321, a support part 322, a guide member 323, a support fixing shaft 335, and a guide fixing shaft 340.
The skeleton part 321 is formed by bending a single plate member. The skeleton portion 321 includes a support fixing portion 330 that fixes the support portion 322 and a guide fixing portion 331 that fixes the guide member 323.
The support fixing portion 330 is a member that is connected to the support portion 322 via the support fixing shaft 335 and can fix the support portion 322, and has support fixing holes 341a and 341b through which one support fixing shaft 335 can be inserted. doing. That is, the centers of the support fixing holes 341a and 341b are aligned on the same straight line.
The guide fixing portion 331 is a member that is connected to the guide member 323 via the guide fixing shaft 340 and can fix the guide member 323, and has guide fixing holes 342a and 342b through which one guide fixing shaft 340 can be inserted. doing. That is, the guide fixing holes 342a and 342b have their centers aligned on the same straight line.
The guide fixing holes 342a and 342b are provided on the opposite side of the support fixing portion 341 from the support fixing holes 341a and 341b. In other words, the support fixing holes 341 a and 341 b and the guide fixing holes 342 a and 342 b are provided in the vicinity of opposite sides of the skeleton part 321.

  The support portion 322 is a member that supports the guide member 323 and is a member that can slide as the solenoid 109 moves up and down. The support part 322 has an elevating part 332 connected to the solenoid 109 and a pressing part 333 that can push up the guide member 323. Insertion holes 336a and 336b into which the support fixing shaft 335 can be inserted are provided at an intermediate part between the elevating part 332 and the pressing part 333.

The guide member 323 is formed of a guide portion 325 and a main body portion 326. The guiding part 325 is a part having a configuration substantially similar to that of the guiding part 305 (FIG. 39). That is, the flow of the piece member 7 can be changed by the guide portion 325.
The main body portion 326 is formed by bending a metal plate as shown in FIG. 37, and includes a top surface portion 343 and side wall portions 337a and 337b bent downward from a pair of opposite sides of the top surface portion 343. The reinforcing wall portion 338 is bent downward from a side sandwiched between the opposite sides. Both side wall portions 337a and 337b protrude toward the inner side (parallel guide 16 side) with respect to the reinforcing wall portion 338, and insertion holes 339a and 339b into which the guide fixing shaft 340 can be inserted are provided in the protruding portion. doing.

  Similarly to the above-described embodiment (switching guidance device 10), the switching guidance device 300 according to the present embodiment takes a passing posture and a diagonal projection posture even in the skew feeding guidance member 320. Hereinafter, the positional relationship of each component in each posture of the skew guide member 320 will be described. For convenience of explanation, the passing posture will be described first.

As shown in FIG. 38A, the guide member 323 is located inside the skeleton part 321, and the support part 322 is located further inside. The support fixing holes 341a and 341b of the skeleton part 321 and the insertion holes 336a and 336b of the support part 322 are aligned on the same straight line to form one through hole. A support fixing shaft 335 is inserted through the through hole. That is, the support portion 322 is pivotally supported relative to the support fixing portion 330. In other words, accompanying the lifting and lowering operation of the solenoid 109, the support fixed shaft 335 can be swung around the fulcrum.
In addition, the guide fixing holes 342a and 342b of the guide fixing portion 331 and the insertion holes 339a and 339b of the guide portion 325 are aligned on the same straight line to form one through hole. Further, the guide fixing shaft 340 is inserted through the through hole. That is, the guide part 325 is pivotally supported relative to the guide fixing part 331. In other words, accompanying the lifting and lowering operation of the solenoid 109, the guide fixed shaft 340 can be swung around the fulcrum.

  As shown in FIG. 38A, the solenoid 109 is raised to a height at which the elevating part 332 of the support part 322 is horizontal. That is, the support portion 322 is in a substantially horizontal state, and the main body portion 326 of the guide member 323 is also in a substantially horizontal state. Therefore, the apex of the guide portion 325 is lower than the contact portion 11 of the piece member 7. In short, the guide portion 325 does not reach a height at which the guide portions 325 are in contact with the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f, and does not protrude on the first travel path 85. Since the movement of the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f is not hindered, the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f can pass through the first travel path 85.

Next, the oblique posture will be described.
As shown in FIG. 38 (b), the solenoid 109 is lowered, and the elevating part 332 of the support part 322 is pulled down. Since the support portion 322 is fixed to the skeleton portion 321 by the support fixing shaft 335 as described above, the support portion 322 is inclined, the pressing portion 333 is pushed up by the lever principle, and the guiding portion 325 is moved. Pressing. In the guide member 323, since the guide portion 325 is pressed by the support portion 322, a force acts in the direction of improvement in the celestial region, and the guide portion 325 is raised by rotating in the circumferential direction around the guide fixing shaft 340. Therefore, the apex of the guide part 325 is higher than the contact part 11 of the piece member 7.
In short, the guide portion 325 is located at a height at which it comes into contact with the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f, and protrudes on the first traveling path 85. Therefore, when the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f are in contact with the guide portion 325, the trajectories of the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f are changed to the skew feeding guide 18 side. Is possible

In the operation of performing the skew feeding in the skew feeding guide member 320, the above-described passing posture and the skewing posture are taken. Then, in the skew feeding operation in the switching guide device 300, the skew feeding operation is activated according to the article 96 to switch between the passing posture and the skew feeding posture.
Hereinafter, the skew feeding operation in the switching guide device 300 will be described. However, since it almost overlaps with the operation of the above-described embodiment, it will be described briefly.
When the articles 96 conveyed from the upstream conveyor 97 shown in FIG. 25 are sorted into the branch conveyor 99, the control device (not shown) operates the solenoid 109 to dispose the guide portion 325 on the first travel path 85. To do. The abutment portion 11a of the piece member 7a mounted on the article placement member 4 on which the article 96 is placed abuts on the guide portion 325, moves along the guide portion 325, and is guided to the skew feeding guide 18. .

  Similarly, the abutting portions 11b to 11f of the piece members 7b to 7f following the piece member 7a are also guided from the guiding portion 325 to the skew feeding guide 18. The contact portions 11a to 11f (piece members 7a to 7f) move along the skew feeding guide 18, and the article 96 on the article placement member 4 is moved in the traveling direction as shown in FIG. To the branch side conveyor 99. And the articles | goods 96 sorted into the branch side conveyor 99 are conveyed toward the previous conveyor from the branch side conveyor 99 in the state changed 90 degree | times.

  In order to end the skew feeding, a control device (not shown) lowers the guide portion 325 by the solenoid 109 and retracts the guide portion 325 from the first travel path 85. Thereby, the contact portion 11 of each piece member 7 can go straight on the first travel path 85.

  In the above-described embodiment, by providing the elastic member 312 between the main body 310 and the cam member 302, the collision between the guide portions 305a to 305f and the abutting portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f can be prevented. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the guiding portion 305 may be provided with an elastic member. Further, the main body 310 may be elastic as shown in FIG.

  In the above-described embodiment, the collision between the guide portions 305a to 305f and the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f is reduced by elasticity, but the present invention is not limited to this, You may ease by the up-and-down movement of a member. For example, the guide portions 305a to 305f may have a structure in which the guide members 305a to 305f are lowered (recessed) downward in the vertical direction in accordance with a collision with the contact portions 11a to 11f of the piece members 7a to 7f, or a motor is built in The structure which a roller falls may be sufficient.

  In the above-described embodiment, the solenoid 109 is moved up and down during the skew feeding operation. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any device having a lifting function may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the cam member 302 is moved up and down by 180 rotations, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the rotation angle of the cam member 302 is not limited. For example, you may raise / lower by rotating only 30 degree | times. In this case, the cam member 302 is preferably an egg-shaped eccentric cam as shown in FIG. 46 rather than a circular eccentric cam from the viewpoint of increasing the lift.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the cam member 302 is always in contact with the elastic member 312 in the passing posture and the guiding posture has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the guiding portions 305a to 305a in the passing posture. It is only necessary that 305 f does not protrude on the first travel path 85. That is, the cam member 302 may not always be in contact with the elastic member 212.

3a, 3b chain (endless track)
4 article placement member 7 piece member 11 contact part (engagement part)
16a to 16f Parallel guide (guide)
201 Press surface of a piece member (article pressing portion)
301 Motor built-in roller (push-up device)
302 Cam member (contact portion)
305a-305f Guide part (guide member)
309 Engagement part (Descent prevention engagement part)
310 Body 312 Elastic member (buffer part)
400 Article sorting equipment

Claims (5)

An endless track connected in a ring and traveling in at least one direction;
A plurality of article placement members attached to the endless track and traveling with the endless track;
A piece member attached to the article placement member,
The piece member travels as the article placement member travels, and is movable relative to the article placement member. The piece member presses the article on the article placement member. And an engaging part that moves under the article placing member and moves together with the article pressing part,
Having a guide extending inclined with respect to the endless track,
An article that can move the piece member relative to the article placing member by guiding the engaging portion that travels as the article placing member travels to the guide and moving the engaging portion along the guide. In the sorting device,
A plurality of the guides;
Furthermore, it has a plurality of guide members for guiding the engaging portion to the guide, and an elevating member,
A plurality of guide members are fixed to a common lifting member,
When the piece member travels with the travel of the article placement member, there is a normal passage through which a specific part of the piece member passes,
By raising and lowering the elevating member, the plurality of guiding members appear and disappear in a normal passage,
When the elevating member is in the raised position, a plurality of guide members appear in the normal passage and contact the specific part of the piece member to guide the engaging portion to the guide,
When the elevating member is in the lowered position, the specific part of the piece member normally passes through the passage ,
A buffer portion is provided on at least a part of the elevating member or the guide member, and when the elevating member is raised, when the guide member pushes up a part of the piece member and the raising of the elevating member is prevented, the buffer portion is An article sorting apparatus that is elastically deformed and relaxes a pushing force of a guide member . An endless track connected in a ring and traveling in at least one direction;
A plurality of article placement members attached to the endless track and traveling with the endless track;
A piece member attached to the article placement member,
The piece member travels as the article placement member travels, and is movable relative to the article placement member. The piece member presses the article on the article placement member. And an engaging part that moves under the article placing member and moves together with the article pressing part,
Having a guide extending inclined with respect to the endless track,
An article that can move the piece member relative to the article placing member by guiding the engaging portion that travels as the article placing member travels to the guide and moving the engaging portion along the guide. In the sorting device,
A plurality of the guides;
Furthermore, it has a plurality of guide members for guiding the engaging portion to the guide, and an elevating member,
A plurality of guide members are fixed to a common lifting member,
When the piece member travels with the travel of the article placement member, there is a normal passage through which a specific part of the piece member passes,
By raising and lowering the elevating member, the plurality of guiding members appear and disappear in a normal passage,
When the elevating member is in the raised position, a plurality of guide members appear in the normal passage and contact the specific part of the piece member to guide the engaging portion to the guide,
When the elevating member is in the lowered position, the specific part of the piece member normally passes through the passage,
A part of the guide member or the lifting member has a lowering prevention engaging part, and when the lifting member is in the raised position, a part of the piece member engages with the lowering prevention engaging part to prevent the lifting member from lowering. An article sorting apparatus characterized by: The elevating member has a main body portion and a push-up device, and a part of the main body portion is supported by another member and is moved up and down by swinging in the vertical direction.
The push-up device raises the main body by abutting with a part of the main body, and is constituted by a spring at a part of the main body that contacts the part of the push-up device The article sorting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the buffer section is provided. The engaging portion of the piece member is a freely rotatable rotating body having a central axis, a peripheral surface portion, and an end surface portion. The central axis is suspended in a substantially vertical posture with respect to the article pressing portion, and the peripheral surface portion is a guide. Or in contact with the induction member,
The descent prevention engaging portion is an engaging flange that projects in the horizontal direction,
3. The article sorting apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein when the elevating member is in the raised position, the engaging flange engages with an end surface portion of the rotating body to prevent the elevating member from descending. An endless track connected in a ring and traveling in at least one direction;
A plurality of article placement members attached to the endless track and traveling with the endless track;
A piece member attached to the article placement member,
The piece member travels as the article placement member travels, and is movable relative to the article placement member. The piece member presses the article on the article placement member. And an engaging part that moves under the article placing member and moves together with the article pressing part,
Having a guide extending inclined with respect to the endless track,
An article that can move the piece member relative to the article placing member by guiding the engaging portion that travels as the article placing member travels to the guide and moving the engaging portion along the guide. In the sorting device,
A plurality of the guides;
Furthermore, it has a plurality of guide members for guiding the engaging portion to the guide, and an elevating member,
A plurality of guide members are fixed to a common lifting member,
When the piece member travels with the travel of the article placement member, there is a normal passage through which a specific part of the piece member passes,
By raising and lowering the elevating member, the plurality of guiding members appear and disappear in a normal passage,
When the elevating member is in the raised position, a plurality of guide members appear in the normal passage and contact the specific part of the piece member to guide the engaging portion to the guide,
When the elevating member is in the lowered position, the specific part of the piece member normally passes through the passage,
The elevating member has an elevating plate to which the plurality of guide members are fixed, and a cam member,
The elevating plate is placed on the cam member and moves up and down as the cam member rotates,
The article sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the elevating member is in the raised position, the apex of the cam member is higher than when the elevating member is in the lowered position.

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