JP6035140B2 - Width conveyor and sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a width-shifting conveyor that moves an article in the main conveyance direction while making the width in the left-right direction perpendicular to the main conveyance direction, and a sorting facility including the width-feeding conveyor.

The conventional width-carrying conveyor includes a plurality of rows of horizontal rollers arranged in the main conveyance direction of articles. The plurality of rollers constituting the horizontal roller array are arranged in the left-right direction orthogonal to the main conveyance direction, and all of them convey articles by rotating around the rotation center line, and the rotation center line It can be rotated around the center. Each roller is rotated so that the roller direction is inclined with respect to the main conveyance direction, and thereby the article is moved in the left-right direction while being conveyed in the main conveyance direction. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
In addition, as a sorting device for sorting articles, a plurality of horizontal roller rows arranged in the main conveying direction of the articles are provided, and the plurality of rollers constituting the horizontal roller rows are centered on the respective rotation center lines. Sorting devices that rotate all at once are known. (For example, see Patent Document 2)

JP 2008-174318 A (paragraphs 0034-0054, 0070-0072, FIG. 1-6, FIG. 9) JP-A-11-208876 (paragraphs 0019-0065, FIGS. 1-6)

By the way, in the width-shifting conveyor that changes the position of the article being conveyed in the main conveyance direction in the left-right direction, that is, in the width-shifting conveyor for width-shifting the article in the left-right direction, When all the rollers are rotated so that the direction of the rollers is inclined at the same turning angle with respect to the main transport direction, each horizontal roller row has a target position in the left and right direction (hereinafter referred to as the width direction). , Which is referred to as “width alignment target position”).
For this reason, for example, it is not possible to perform width alignment (that is, center width alignment) to the center of the horizontal roller row in the left-right direction. There was a problem of low.
In addition, when center width alignment is performed by a width alignment conveyor including two types of skew rollers fixed in different roller directions, the width alignment target position is one. There was a problem that the degree of freedom of setting the target position was small, and the convenience of the width adjusting conveyor was low.

Furthermore, when the roller directions of all the rollers in the horizontal roller row are the same for width adjustment, there is no roller whose roller direction is directed in the main transport direction. There has been a problem that it is difficult to increase the speed component in the main transport direction of the transport speed of the width-adjusted article, and the transport efficiency of the width-shifting conveyor is lowered.
Therefore, in order to improve the transport efficiency, if the speed component in the main transport direction of the transport speed of the articles on the width-shifting conveyor is increased, the speed component in the left-right direction of the transport speed is reduced. If the position of the article just before being brought into the shifting conveyor is away from the width alignment target position in the left-right direction, it takes time to move the article to the width alignment target position, and the width alignment target In order to enable the width adjustment to the position, there is a problem that the width adjustment conveyor is enlarged in the main conveyance direction.

  On the other hand, if the turning angle in the roller direction is increased or the conveyance speed is increased in order to accelerate the arrival of the article at the width adjusting target position, the position of the article immediately before being brought into the width adjusting conveyor is When the left and right direction is close to the width alignment target position, a phenomenon may occur in which the article moves beyond the width alignment target position in the left and right direction. Therefore, in order to suppress the phenomenon of the article with respect to the width adjusting target position, when the article conveying speed is reduced, the speed component in the main conveying direction is also reduced, and the conveying efficiency in the width adjusting conveyor is lowered. .

The present invention solves the above-described problems, and its purpose is to increase the degree of freedom in setting the width alignment target position, thereby improving convenience and the main conveyance direction of the width-aligned article. It is to provide a width-shifting conveyor that improves the efficiency of conveying articles by increasing the conveyance speed at the center.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a width-shifting conveyor that further improves the width-shifting efficiency and the width-shifting accuracy to the target width-shifting position, and is downsized in the main transport direction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sorting conveyor that achieves the above-mentioned object and improves the efficiency of the sorting operation, and is reduced in size and reduced in cost. Is to provide facilities.

  First, the invention according to claim 1 includes a horizontal roller row group composed of a plurality of horizontal roller rows arranged in the main conveyance direction of the article, and the horizontal roller row is perpendicular to the main conveyance direction. A plurality of rollers that are arranged in a predetermined number of rollers and that convey an article by rotating around a rotation center line, and the roller direction forms a turning angle with respect to the main conveyance direction. The right and left sides of the left and right are conveyed while the article is being conveyed in the main conveyance direction by the rollers that are rotatable about the rotation center line at the rotation position, and the roller direction is inclined with respect to the main conveyance direction. In the width-conveying conveyor, the predetermined number of the rollers is divided into one or a plurality of non-inclined rollers adjacent to each other in the left-right direction and one or more inclined rollers. And The roller direction of the non-inclined roller is the same as the main conveying direction, the roller direction of the inclined roller is inclined with respect to the main conveying direction, and the horizontal roller row has the left-right direction. The respective positions of the non-inclined roller and the inclined roller can be changed according to the rotation position of each of the rollers, and the non-inclined roller group composed of the non-inclined rollers of the horizontal roller row group includes the non-inclined roller group. One or more non-inclined vertical roller rows that are arranged in the main conveyance direction or adjacent in the left-right direction are formed, and an inclined roller group composed of the inclined rollers of the horizontal roller row group, The inclined roller forms one or more inclined vertical roller rows arranged in the main conveying direction, and the horizontal roller row includes the inclined rollers adjacent to the non-inclined rollers in the left-right direction. When the adjacent inclined roller is one, the turning angle of the adjacent inclined roller is the minimum value of the turning angle of the inclined roller, and the adjacent inclined roller is set to the left and the non-inclined roller. In the case of one each on the right, the turning angle of the left adjacent inclined roller is the minimum value of the turning angles of all the inclined rollers located on the left, and the right adjacent inclined roller Since the turning angle is the minimum value of the turning angles of all the inclined rollers located on the right, the above-described problem is solved.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect of the invention, in the horizontal roller row, the plurality of rollers are the inclined rollers, and the inclined roller group is a plurality of the inclined vertical roller rows. In the horizontal roller row, the turning angle of the inclined roller is smaller as the inclined roller is closer to the non-inclined roller in the left-right direction, thereby solving the above-described problem.

  In the invention according to claim 3, in addition to the configuration of the invention according to claim 1 or 2, the roller direction of each non-inclined roller of the non-inclined vertical roller array is determined for each non-inclined vertical roller array. It is the same, and the above-mentioned problem is solved by having the same roller direction of each inclined roller in the inclined vertical roller row for each inclined vertical roller row.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the width-adjusting conveyor includes one or more width-adjusting units having one or more horizontal roller rows. The width adjusting unit has a single actuator that simultaneously rotates all the rollers of the width adjusting unit, and the actuator is positioned in the middle in the horizontal direction in the horizontal roller row. One or more middle rollers, one or more left rollers positioned with one or more rollers to the left of the middle roller, and one or more rollers positioned to the right with respect to the middle roller The above-mentioned problem is solved by rotating all the rollers of the width adjusting unit so that one or more right-side rollers to be alternatively the non-inclined rollers.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the width-adjusting conveyor according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, a supply conveyor arranged upstream of the width-adjusting conveyor, and downstream of the width-adjusting conveyor A sorting facility comprising a sorting line arranged to sort the articles conveyed by the width-conveying conveyor, wherein the sorting line conveys the articles from the width- conveying conveyor, and in the middle of the main conveyor One or more sorting devices arranged, and a branch line for conveying articles sorted by the sorting device, wherein the lateral roller row group has a width-shifting form, and the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row is the left-right direction. And a non-inclined left-side-shifted form when the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row is a left position with respect to the middle position in the left-right direction, and the non-inclined form. In the right lateral move form when the position of the vertical roller train is the right position with respect to the middle position in the lateral direction can be changed depending on the rotational position of each roller in said transverse roller train, The branch line has a left branch conveyor located on the left side and a right branch conveyor located on the right side with respect to the main conveyor, and the sorting mode of the sorting device is shifted in the left width shift mode. The left sorting form for moving the article to the left branching conveyor, the right sorting state for moving the article that has been width-justified in the right width-shifting form to the right-branching conveyor, and the position that has been width-justified by the width-conveying conveyor The above-mentioned problem is solved by being able to change to a width-shifting position maintaining form in which the article is moved to the main conveyor downstream while maintaining the above.

In the context of the present invention, the expression “identical” means substantially identical. The expression “substantially” includes the case where there is no modifier “substantially” and does not exactly match the case where there is no modifier “substantially” (for example, This means a range where there is no significant difference in effect compared to the case where there is no modifier “substantially”.
The roller direction of the roller is a direction orthogonal to the rotation center line of the roller as viewed from the direction in which the rotation center line of the roller extends.
The turning angle is an angle including 0 °.

  Therefore, the width-shifting conveyor of the present invention includes a horizontal roller row group composed of a plurality of horizontal roller rows arranged in the main conveyance direction of the articles, and the horizontal roller rows are arranged in the left-right direction orthogonal to the main conveyance direction. A plurality of rotation positions, each of which is composed of a predetermined number of rollers, and which conveys an article by rotating around a rotation center line, the roller direction forming a turning angle with respect to the main conveyance direction In addition, the main body can be rotated in the left-right direction while conveying the article in the main conveyance direction by a roller that is rotatable about the rotation center line and the roller direction is inclined with respect to the main conveyance direction. A plurality of rollers arranged in the transport direction and the left-right direction and capable of rotating around the rotation center line, while conveying the article in the main transport direction, the width-shifting direction in the left-right direction depends on the rotation position of the roller You can set multiple Not only exhibits the specific effect on the following present invention.

  That is, according to the width-shifting conveyor of the present invention according to claim 1, in the horizontal roller row, the predetermined number of rollers is one or a plurality of non-inclined rollers adjacent in the left-right direction and one or more inclined rollers. The roller direction of the non-inclined roller is the same as the main conveying direction, the roller direction of the inclined roller is inclined with respect to the main conveying direction, and in the horizontal roller row, the non-inclined roller in the left-right direction and The respective positions of the inclined rollers can be changed according to the rotational positions of the respective rollers, and the non-inclined roller group composed of the non-inclined rollers of the horizontal roller row group is arranged in the main transport direction. One or a plurality of non-inclined vertical roller rows adjacent in the left-right direction, and the inclined roller group composed of the inclined rollers of the horizontal roller row group is one or more inclined in which the inclined rollers are arranged in the main transport direction Vertical When there is one adjacent inclined roller that forms a roller row and in the horizontal roller row is adjacent to the non-inclined roller in the left-right direction, the turning angle of the adjacent inclined roller is the turning angle of the inclined roller. When the adjacent inclined rollers are one each on the left and right with respect to the non-inclined rollers, the turning angles of the left adjacent inclined rollers are the turning angles of all the inclined rollers located on the left. Since the turning angle of the right adjacent inclined roller is the minimum value of the turning angles of all the inclined rollers located on the right, the articles conveyed to the width-conveying conveyor are It is conveyed by the inclined vertical roller row formed by the inclined rollers and moved in the main conveying direction while moving in the left-right direction in a direction approaching the non-inclined vertical roller row formed by the non-inclined rollers of each horizontal roller row. Width to top of inclined vertical roller row Is allowed, the centering of the position of the non-inclined vertical roller train in the lateral direction and the centering target position is performed. Since the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row in the left-right direction is changed according to the rotation position of each roller in the horizontal roller row group, the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row in the left-right direction can be changed. Since the width alignment target position is changed, the degree of freedom in setting the width alignment target position is increased, and the convenience of the width alignment conveyor can be improved.

  Further, since the roller direction of each non-inclined roller in the non-inclined vertical roller row is the same as the main conveying direction, the non-inclined vertical roller row is widened at a conveying speed with a large velocity component in the main conveying direction. Since the turning angle of the adjacent inclined rollers in the inclined vertical roller row is the minimum value of the turning angles of all the inclined rollers, the adjacent inclined rollers are arranged as a Since the speed component in the main transport direction with respect to the speed component in the left-right direction is transported at a transport speed that is not smaller or larger than other tilt rollers, The conveyance speed in the main conveyance direction of the articles increases in the horizontal roller row group, and the conveyance efficiency of the articles in the width-shifting conveyor can be improved.

According to the width-shifting conveyor of the present invention according to claim 2, in addition to the effect produced by the invention according to claim 1, in the horizontal roller array, the plurality of rollers are inclined rollers, and the inclined roller group includes a plurality of inclined rollers. A vertical roller row is formed, and in the horizontal roller row, the turning angle of the inclined roller is smaller as the inclined roller is closer to the non-inclined roller in the left-right direction. Since the speed component in the main transport direction with respect to the speed component in the left-right direction of the transport speed is increased, it is possible to improve the transport efficiency in the main transport direction of the widened article.
In addition, an article carried into the horizontal roller row group at a position far from the non-inclined vertical roller row (or the width-shifting target position) in the left-right direction becomes a non-inclined vertical roller row at a conveyance speed having a large speed component in the left-right direction. Since the sheet is conveyed toward the target, the width alignment to the target width alignment position is speeded up, and the article and the non-inclined vertical roller carried in the horizontal roller array group at a position close to the non-inclined vertical roller array in the left-right direction. Articles that have been widened to the vicinity of the row are directed toward the non-tilted vertical roller row at a conveyance speed that is smaller than the inclined roller at a position farther in the left-right direction with respect to the velocity component in the main conveyance direction. Since the product moves, the phenomenon that the article moves beyond the target width adjustment position in the left-right direction is suppressed, and the width adjustment to the width adjustment position is speeded up. Improve the accuracy It is possible, it is possible to reduce the size of the biassing conveyor in the main conveying direction.
In addition, when the roller at the end in the left-right direction is a non-tilt roller, the speed component in the left-right direction is relatively reduced, and movement in the left-right direction is suppressed. It is possible to improve the effect of preventing the articles from falling from the width-shifting conveyor.

  According to the width-shifting conveyor of the present invention according to claim 3, in addition to the effect produced by the invention according to claim 1 or 2, each non-inclined roller of the non-inclined vertical roller array is provided for each non-inclined vertical roller array. The roller direction of each of the inclined vertical roller rows is the same and the direction of each inclined roller in the inclined vertical roller row is the same. It is easy to ensure stability, it is easy to change the positions of the non-inclined roller and the inclined roller in the horizontal roller row, and the horizontal roller row increases or decreases according to the article, such as the article length in the main conveyance direction. Since it becomes easy, the convenience of the width-adjusting conveyor can be improved.

According to the width-shifting conveyor of the present invention according to claim 4, in addition to the effect exhibited by the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the width-shifting conveyor has one or more horizontal roller rows. It has one or more width adjustment units, and the width adjustment unit has a single actuator that rotates all the rollers of the width adjustment unit at the same time, and the actuator is located in the middle in the horizontal direction in the horizontal roller row. One or more middle rollers, one or more left rollers positioned with one or more rollers on the left with respect to the middle rollers, and one or more positioned with one or more rollers on the right with respect to the middle rollers By rotating all the rollers of the width adjusting unit so that the right roller of the right side is alternatively a non-inclined roller, the setting of the non-inclined roller is separated from each other with the roller in the left-right direction. Since the three types of width-shifting forms by the three types of rollers, the left roller and the right-side roller, are formed by a single actuator, the structure of the width-shifting conveyor is simplified and the cost of the width-shifting conveyor is reduced. be able to.
Further, the interval between the width adjusting target positions in the left-right direction changes the number of intervening rollers that are respectively interposed between the middle roller and the left roller and between the middle roller and the right roller. Because of this, it is easy to change the number of intervening rollers according to the size of the article in the left-right direction. Can be made.

  According to the sorting equipment of the present invention concerning claim 5, in addition to the effect which the invention concerning any one of claims 1 to 4 produces, the sorting equipment is upstream of the width-adjusting conveyor and the width-adjusting conveyor A main conveyor that conveys articles from the width-feeding conveyor, and a sorting line that sorts the articles that are arranged downstream of the width-shifting conveyor and are conveyed by the width-shifting conveyor; It is equipped with one or more sorting devices arranged in the middle of the main conveyor and a branch line that conveys articles sorted by the sorting device. Center width alignment mode when the center position is in the direction, left width alignment mode when the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row is the left position with respect to the middle position in the left-right direction, and the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row Left and right Can be changed according to the rotation position of each roller in the horizontal roller row, and the branch line is left to the main conveyor. A left branching conveyor having a left branching conveyor and a right branching conveyor located on the right. A right-handed distribution state in which articles that have been brought together in a gathering form are moved to the right branch conveyor, and a width-shifting position maintenance form in which the article is moved to the downstream main conveyor while maintaining the position that has been gathered by the gathering conveyor. By being changeable, the articles conveyed to the sorting device by the width-adjusting conveyor are shifted to the left and right corresponding to the left branch conveyor and the right branch conveyor, respectively. Since the sorting by the sorting device becomes easy, the efficiency of the sorting work by the sorting equipment 10 can be improved in combination with the improvement of the conveying efficiency by the width-shifting conveyor, and the sorting device is further downsized. As a result, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the sorting equipment.

The Example of this invention is shown, (a) is the schematic plan view with which one part of the sorting equipment provided with a width-shifting conveyor was abbreviate | omitted, (b) is an enlarged view of the principal part of b part of (a). The principal part enlarged view of the width alignment conveyor in the center width alignment form of the sorting equipment of FIG. The figure of the principal part of the width-shifting conveyor in 3 arrow view of FIG. The figure of the principal part of the width-shifting conveyor in the 4 arrow view of FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a width adjusting unit of the width adjusting conveyor of FIG. 2. Sectional drawing of the principal part in 6-6 line of FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of a width-shifting conveyor similar to that in FIG. It is the principal part enlarged view of the width-shifting conveyor similar to FIG. 2, and the figure in the right width-shifting form.

  The width-adjusting conveyor of the present invention includes a horizontal roller row group composed of a plurality of horizontal roller rows arranged in the main conveyance direction of articles, and the horizontal roller rows are arranged in the left-right direction orthogonal to the main conveyance direction. A roller that conveys an article by rotating around a rotation center line, and a plurality of rotation positions in which the roller direction forms a turning angle with respect to the main conveyance direction, With the roller that is rotatable around the rotation center line and the roller direction is inclined with respect to the main conveyance direction, the article is moved in the left and right direction while being conveyed in the main conveyance direction. The predetermined number of rollers is divided into one or a plurality of non-inclined rollers adjacent in the left-right direction and one or more inclined rollers, and the roller direction of the non-inclined rollers is the same as the main transport direction, and is inclined The roller direction of the roller is The positions of the non-inclined roller and the inclined roller in the horizontal direction in the horizontal roller row can be changed according to the rotation position of each roller, and the horizontal roller row group is not inclined. The non-inclined roller group consisting of rollers forms a plurality of non-inclined vertical roller rows adjacent to each other in the left-right direction in which the non-inclined rollers are arranged in the main transport direction, and from the inclined rollers of the horizontal roller row group The inclined roller group is formed with one or more inclined vertical roller rows in which the inclined rollers are arranged in the main transport direction. In the horizontal roller row, adjacent inclined rollers that are adjacent to the non-inclined rollers in the left-right direction are arranged. In the case of one, the turning angle of the adjacent inclined roller is the minimum value of the turning angle of the inclined roller, and when the adjacent inclined roller is one each on the left and right with respect to the non-inclined roller, Left adjacent The turning angle of the inclined roller is the minimum value of the turning angles of all the inclined rollers located on the left, and the turning angle of the right adjacent inclined roller is the minimum value of the turning angles of all the inclined rollers located on the right This increases the degree of freedom in setting the width alignment target position, improving convenience, and increasing the conveyance speed in the main conveyance direction of the width-aligned article, thereby improving the conveyance efficiency of the article. As long as it improves, the specific aspect may be anything.

  For example, the number of rollers constituting the horizontal roller row of the width-adjusting conveyor of the present invention may be an even number, or may be the same number in all the horizontal roller rows, or one horizontal roller row or a plurality of rollers. It may be different for each horizontal roller row. A plurality of horizontal roller rows having the same number of rollers constituting the horizontal roller row may be adjacent to each other in the main transport direction, or may be separated with another horizontal roller row interposed therebetween.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
Referring to FIG. 1, in the embodiment, the width-shifting conveyor 100 is provided in a sorting facility 10 as a transport facility that transports a plurality of different types of articles W, while transporting the articles W in the main transport direction. Alignment of changing the position of the article W in the left-right direction is performed. The sorting equipment 10 is installed in a distribution facility, and performs sorting work for sorting the articles W to be transported according to the sorting destination.

  In addition to the width-carrying conveyor 100, the sorting facility 10 is arranged upstream of the width-carrying conveyor 100 and feeds articles W into the width-carrying conveyor 100, and is arranged downstream of the width-carrying conveyor 100. Depending on the sorting line 12 as a downstream line for transporting the articles W conveyed by the conveyor 100, the guide member 60 capable of correcting the posture of the articles W being conveyed by the width-adjusting conveyor 100, and the sorting destination of the articles W And a control device 180 for controlling the sorting conveyor 30 and the sorting device 30 of the sorting line 12.

The main conveyance direction is the conveyance direction of the articles W on the width-shifting conveyor 100 that conveys the articles W to the sorting line 12, and is preferably set to be the same as the conveyance direction of the articles W on the entrance conveyor 20a in the sorting line 12. The
The left-right direction is a direction orthogonal to the main transport direction. In the present embodiment, the plane including the main conveyance direction and the left-right direction is a horizontal plane orthogonal to the vertical direction (that is, the up-down direction). Left and right are left and right when facing the main transport direction, respectively. Regarding left and right, one of left and right is one of left and right, and the other of left and right is the other of left and right.
The expressions “downstream” and “upstream” relate to the flow of the articles W transported in the sorting equipment 10 (that is, the movement of the articles W).

The conveyance direction of the articles W on the supply conveyor 11 into which a plurality of articles W are randomly input by the operator is the same as the main conveyance direction.
The sorting line 12 includes a main conveyor 20 that conveys articles W that have been widened by the width-carrying conveyor 100, one or more sorting devices 30 that are arranged in the middle of the main conveyor 20, and a main conveyor. A branching line 50 is provided that is branched from the number 20 and has the same number of branch lines 50 as the sorting device 30.

  In this embodiment, the main conveyor 20 is one or more between the most upstream conveyor 21 arranged immediately downstream of the width-shifting conveyor 100 and the sorting devices 30 adjacent to each other in the conveying direction of the articles W in the main conveyor 20. It has a plurality of intermediate conveyors 22 and a most downstream conveyor 23 arranged immediately downstream of the most downstream sorting device 30B. The most upstream conveyor 21 maintains a position in which all articles W conveyed by the width-adjusting conveyor 100 are width-aligned (hereinafter referred to as “width-aligned state”), that is, in the left-right direction. While carrying. For this reason, the articles W in the width-aligned state are carried into the most upstream sorting device 30 </ b> A via the most upstream conveyor 21. The inlet conveyor 20a includes a most upstream conveyor 21 and a most upstream sorting apparatus 30A.

The branch line 50 includes a left branch conveyor 51 and a right branch conveyor 52 that are arranged on at least one of the left and right of the main conveyor 20 and in both of the left and right in this embodiment, for each sorting device 30.
Each conveyor 22, 51, 52 of the supply conveyor 11 and the sorting line 12 is a drive type conveyor having a drive source or a non-drive type conveyor (including a chute), a drive type conveyor and a non-drive type having no drive source. It is a conveyor having an arbitrary structure that is configured by a combination of drive type conveyors and that can convey articles W such as a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor.

The guide member 60 has a left guide member 61 and a right guide member 62 that are respectively arranged on the right and left with respect to the width-adjusting conveyor 100. Each guide member 61, 62 is composed of a pair of belt conveyors that move in the same movement direction as the main conveyance direction, and is arranged across the width-adjusting conveyor 100 and the most upstream conveyor 21 in the main conveyance direction. Yes.
Each of the guide members 61 and 62 corrects the posture so as to follow the main transport direction of the article W by contact with the article W that has been width-adjusted by the width-adjusting conveyor 100, and in the left-right direction from the width-adjusting conveyor 100. This limits the amount of protrusion of the article W, and further contributes to preventing the article W from falling from the width-adjusting conveyor 100.

  2 to 7, the width-adjusting conveyor 100 is a horizontal roller row group including a machine base 101 installed on a floor F of a physical distribution facility and a plurality of horizontal roller rows 112 arranged in the main transport direction. 110, a plate-like cover 102 that covers a gap formed between the rollers 120 of the roller group including all the rollers 120 constituting the horizontal roller row group 110, and the rotation center line of each roller 120 A plurality of roller supports 140 that are rotatably supported around a horizontal axis Lh, and each roller 120 is supported via the roller support 140 so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis Lv that is a rotation center line. One or more, in this embodiment, a support base 130 composed of a plurality of unit support bases 131, and one or more, in this case, a plurality of rotational drives, that rotate each roller 120 about a vertical axis Lv. Includes a structure 150, one or more for rotating the rollers 120 in the horizontal axis Lh around where the line shaft 160 as a plurality of rotary drive member, and a rotation drive mechanism 170 for rotating the line shaft 160.

In the width-conveying conveyor 100, the horizontal roller row group 110, the support base 130 that is detachably fixed to the machine base 101, the rotation drive mechanism 150, the line shaft 160, and the rotation drive mechanism 170 are detachably attached to the machine base 101. One or more, here, a plurality of width-adjusting units U (FIGS. 4 and 5) as a plurality having basically the same structure.
Since the width adjusting conveyor 100 includes a plurality of width adjusting units U, the horizontal roller row 112, the roller support 140, the rotation drive mechanism 150, and the line shaft 160 can be easily attached to and detached from the machine base 101. Assembling property and maintenance property of the width-shifting conveyor 100 can be improved.

Referring to FIGS. 5 to 7, each horizontal roller row 112 includes a predetermined number of seven rollers 120 as odd numbers arranged in the left-right direction. In the roller 120, a portion that forms the outer peripheral surface 126 that is a contact surface with the line shaft 160 is formed of a rubber material that is a friction material that generates a frictional force between the line shaft 160 and the article W.
The outer peripheral surface 126 includes a middle contact surface 127 formed of a cylindrical surface that comes into contact with the line shaft 160 when the roller 120 is a non-inclined roller 121 described later, and the line shaft 160 when the roller 120 is an inclined roller 122 described later. And a pair of end contact surfaces 128 made of contacting spherical surfaces. As another example, the middle contact surface 127 and each end contact surface 128 may be spherical surfaces of the same radius or different radii.

A part of the outer peripheral surface 126 penetrates a circular hole 102 a provided in the cover 102 and protrudes upward from the cover 102, and comes into contact with the article W conveyed on the cover 102. The article W is supported by a plurality of rotating rollers 120 and is conveyed by a frictional force acting between the outer peripheral surface 126.
The friction coefficient of the outer peripheral surface 126 is the sorting roller when the article W is conveyed by contact with a plurality of rollers 120 having the same roller direction (for example, the sorting roller 35 of the sorting device 30 (FIG. 1B)). It is set to a smaller value than the friction coefficient of 35. As a result, the swinging of the article W in the left-right direction due to the difference in the acting direction of the frictional force generated by the contact with the plurality of rollers 120 with different roller directions is reduced, and stable width adjustment becomes possible. .

2 to 7, the unit support base 131 includes a pair of support frames 132, connecting portions 134 and 135 that connect the pair of support frames 132, and an attachment portion 138. The pair of connecting portions 134 supports the line shaft 160 in a rotatable manner.
The roller support 140 includes a roller support frame 141 that rotatably supports the roller 120, a roller support frame 141 that swings around a swing center line Ls parallel to the horizontal axis Lh, and about the vertical axis Lv. A rotation support member 142 that can rotate and a biasing spring 147 that presses the roller 120 against the line shaft 160 are provided.
The rotation support member 142 is supported by a rotation body 143 having a rotation arm 143a, a joint shaft 144 supported by the rotation body 143 so as to swing the roller support frame 141, and a support frame 132 so as to be rotatable. And a rotating shaft 145 to be operated.

The rotation drive mechanism 150 includes an air cylinder 151 as an actuator, and a connection mechanism 155 that connects the air cylinder 151 and the rotation arm 143a of each roller support 140.
The air cylinders 151 fixed to the pair of support frames 132 are tandem cylinder mechanisms, and are coupled to the cylinder 152 and a pair of pistons (not shown) slidably accommodated in the cylinder 152, respectively. And a pair of actuating rods 153, 154.
The first operating rod 153 is pivotally attached to a pair of swinging arms 157 that are swingably supported by both support frames 132, and the second operating rod 154 is attached to an attachment portion 138 that is fixed to both support frames 132. It is pivotally attached.

The connection mechanism 155 includes a pair of swing arms 157 that are integrally coupled to a connection shaft 156 that is swingably supported by each support frame 132, and each pivot arm 143 a is pivotally mounted at a pivot portion 146. And a pair of relay links 159 that connect the pair of swing arms 157 and the pair of connectors 158, respectively.
The air cylinder 151 is controlled by the control device 180 (FIG. 1) to rotate the roller support 140 and the roller 120 via the coupling mechanism 155, so that the rotation positions P <b> 1 to P <b> 3 of the rollers 120 (FIG. 2). 8 and 9) are controlled.

  Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a rotational drive mechanism 170 that rotationally drives each line shaft 160 includes an electric motor 171 as a drive source attached to the machine base 101 and controlled by the control device 180 (FIG. 1), And a winding transmission mechanism 172 having a belt 173 which is a power transmission mechanism for transmitting the power of the electric motor 171 to each line shaft 160. The electric motor 171 rotationally drives the line shafts 160 of the width adjusting conveyor 100 in the same rotational direction at the same time. The main transport direction is a direction orthogonal to the rotation center line Lr (FIG. 6) of the line shaft 160 when viewed from the direction in which the vertical axis Lv extends.

Referring mainly to FIGS. 2, 8, and 9, and appropriately referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, all the rollers 120 of the unit roller row 111 are driven by the line shaft 160 at the same rotational speed and simultaneously. Rotate to. Further, since all the horizontal roller rows 112 of the width-conveying conveyor 100 are driven by the respective rotation drive mechanisms 150, the rollers 120 of the horizontal roller row group 110 have different turning angles with respect to the main transport direction. In this embodiment, the plurality of rotation positions formed respectively rotate in synchronism with three rotation positions P1 to P3 that form three different turning angles θ1 to θ3, respectively.
Each turning angle θ1 to θ3 includes 0 ° and is an angle of 0 ° or more and less than 90 °. The roller direction when each of the turning angles θ1 to θ3 is 0 ° is the same as the main transport direction.
Each roller 120 in the horizontal roller row 112 has a connecting body 158 via a roller support 140 so that the rotation positions P1 to P3 (that is, the turning angles θ1 to θ3 in the roller direction) are different for each roller 120. It is connected to.

For this reason, the width alignment form of the article W formed by the horizontal roller row group 110 can be changed according to the rotation positions P <b> 1 to P <b> 3 of the rollers 120.
Specifically, for each of the rotation positions P1 to P3, all the rollers 120 in the horizontal roller row 112 include one non-inclined roller 121 and inclined rollers 122 as a plurality of non-specific rollers other than the non-inclined roller 121. Divided into two. The non-inclined roller 121 is a specific roller that defines the width-adjusting target position, and the inclined roller 122 is a non-specific roller that adjusts the width of the article W toward the non-inclined roller 121.

The non-inclined roller group composed of all the non-inclined rollers 121 of the horizontal roller array group 110 forms one non-inclined vertical roller array 123 in which the non-inclined rollers 121 are arranged in the main transport direction. In addition, the inclined roller group including all the inclined rollers 122 of the horizontal roller row group 110 includes a plurality of inclined rollers 122 in the horizontal roller row 112 in the present embodiment in which the inclined rollers 122 are arranged in the main transport direction. The same number of inclined vertical roller rows 124 are formed.
The vertical axis Lv (FIG. 3) of the roller 120 constituting each of the vertical roller rows 123 and 124 is substantially located on one plane orthogonal to the left-right direction.

  In the horizontal roller row 112, the air cylinder 151 (FIG. 3) has one middle roller 120C located in the middle in the left-right direction, and one or more on the left with respect to the middle roller 120C. The left end roller 120L as one left roller positioned with the two rollers 120 and one or more to the right with respect to the middle roller 120C, and two rollers 120 as a plurality in this embodiment are positioned. All the rollers 120 of the width adjusting unit U are rotated so that the right end roller 120R as one right roller is alternatively the non-inclined roller 121 according to the rotation positions P1 to P3. In all the rollers 120 in the horizontal roller row 112, only these three rollers 120 can be non-inclined rollers 121.

  For this reason, when each roller 120 of the horizontal roller row 112 occupies the first rotation position P1 shown in FIG. 2 for each horizontal roller row 112 (or for each unit roller row 111), the horizontal roller row group 110 Forms a center width adjustment form as the first width adjustment form, and occupies the second rotation position P2 shown in FIG. 8, the horizontal roller row group 110 has a left width adjustment form as the second width adjustment form. When forming and occupying the third rotation position P3 shown in FIG. 9, the lateral roller row group 110 forms a right width-shifting form as a third width-shifting form.

Thus, in the horizontal roller row group 110, the center width-shifting mode is a mode when the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 is the middle position in the left-right direction, and the left width-shifting mode is the non-tilting vertical roller. This is a form when the position of the row 123 is the left position with respect to the middle position in the left-right direction. It is a form.
Here, the middle position, the left position, and the right position are relative positions in the left-right direction in the horizontal roller row group 110, and the middle position may be a position between the left position and the right position in the left-right direction. .

In the present embodiment, the middle position is a central position that is equidistant in the left-right direction from the left position and the right position defined by the left end roller 120L and the right end roller 120R, respectively. In the horizontal roller row 112, the middle roller 120C is a roller at a position where the same number of inclined rollers 122 are interposed as intervening rollers on the left and right with respect to the middle roller 120C. The left end roller 120L and the right end roller 120R are center rollers, and are end rollers that are rollers 120 positioned at the ends in the left-right direction.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, at the first rotation position P1, in each horizontal roller row 112, the left and right inclined rollers 122 are substantially mirror images of each other with respect to the non-inclined roller 121. It is in.

The roller direction of the non-inclined roller 121 is the same direction as the main conveyance direction (that is, the direction in which the turning angles θ1 to θ3 are substantially 0 °). The roller direction of the inclined roller 122 is inclined with respect to the main conveyance direction so as to approach the non-inclined roller 121 in the main conveyance direction.
In each width-shifting form, the roller direction of each of the most upstream inclined rollers 122 is directed to the most downstream non-inclined roller 121, for example, its vertical axis Lv.
The turning angles θ <b> 1 to θ <b> 3 of the inclined roller 122 are angles that do not increase as much as the inclined roller 122 close to the non-inclined roller 121 in the left-right direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the adjacent inclined rollers 122E adjacent to the non-inclined roller 121 in the left-right direction are one each on the left and right with respect to the non-inclined roller 121, the left adjacent inclined roller The turning angle θ1 of 122E is the minimum value of the turning angles θ1 of all the inclined rollers 122 located on the left, and the turning angle θ1 of the right adjacent inclined roller 122E is the turning angle of all the inclined rollers 122 located on the right. This is the minimum value of θ1.
8 and 9, when there is one adjacent inclined roller 122E that is the inclined roller 122, the turning angles θ2 and θ3 of the adjacent inclined roller 122E are the turning angles θ2 of the inclined roller 122, respectively. , Θ3 is the minimum value.

  In all the non-inclined vertical roller rows 123 of the horizontal roller row group 110, the only non-inclined vertical roller row 123 in this embodiment, the roller directions of the non-inclined rollers 121 in the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 are the same. On the other hand, in all the inclined vertical roller rows 124 of the horizontal roller row group 110, the turning angles θ1 to θ3 are different for each inclined vertical roller row 124, while in each inclined vertical roller row 124, the roller direction is the same.

Referring mainly to FIG. 1, and appropriately referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, the sorting device 30 is configured such that all the sorting rollers 35 are composed of rollers corresponding to the non-inclined rollers 121, and unit roller rows 111 is different from the width-adjusting conveyor 100 in that the number of sorting rollers 35 constituting a pair of horizontal roller lines 112 corresponding to 111 is basically the same as the width-adjusting conveyor 100 in other points. It has the structure of.
Then, a rotation driving mechanism corresponding to the rotation driving mechanism 150, a line shaft corresponding to the line shaft 160, and a rotation driving mechanism corresponding to the rotation driving mechanism 170 (all not shown) are controlled by the control device 180. Thus, the sorting form of the sorting apparatus 30 is such that the left sorting form in which the articles W are moved to the left branch conveyor 51, the right sorting form in which the articles W are moved to the right branch conveyor 52, and the articles W in the justified state are moved to the main conveyor. 20 can be changed to a width-alignment position maintaining mode in which the movement is performed in the basic conveyance direction that is the same as the main conveyance direction.

  Each of the sorting rollers 35 that are driven by the rotation drive mechanism and rotate to different rotation positions around the rotation center line is in the basic rotation position (in FIG. Left rotation position (indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 1 (b)) in the left sorting form, and right rotation position (in FIG. 1 (b), in a two-dot chain line) in the right sorting form. Occupy).

Referring to FIG. 1, the control device 180 includes a setting unit 182 in which the operator of the sorting facility 10 inputs setting information in advance, a width-shifting article information detecting unit that detects article information of the article W, and sorting article information detection. And a control unit 181 that controls the supply conveyor 11, the width-feeding conveyor 100, and the sorting device 30 based on the initial setting information from the setting unit 182 and the detection signal from the detection unit 183.
The setting information includes information associating the sorting destination of the article W with each of the branch conveyors 51 and 52 and the most downstream conveyor 23.

Each article information detecting means 184, 185 (for example, a bar code reader) detects the sorting destination of the article W as the article information. The width-shifting article information detection means 184 is provided on the supply conveyor 11 and detects the sorting destination of the articles W on the conveyor 11. The sorting article information detection means 185 is provided in the most upstream conveyor 21 and each intermediate conveyor 22 and detects the sorting destination of the articles W on the main conveyor 20.
The control unit 181 controls the width aligning form of the width aligning conveyor 100 based on the sorting destination of the articles W, and the articles W are conveyed to any of the branch conveyors 51 and 52 or the most downstream conveyor 23. By controlling the sorting mode of the sorting apparatus 30 and further controlling the transport speed of the supply conveyor 11, the interval in the main transport direction between the articles W carried into the width-adjusting conveyor 100 is adjusted.

With reference to FIG. 1, the sorting operation by the sorting equipment 10 will be described.
Each article W put into the supply conveyor 11 is carried into the width-adjusting conveyor 100 by the supply conveyor 11 after the sorting destination is detected by the width-adjusting article information detecting means 184. The control unit 181 changes the width adjustment form of the width adjustment conveyor 100 according to the sorting destination detected by the article information detection unit 184.
Specifically, the control unit 181 determines the right width alignment mode when the distribution destination of the article W is the left branching conveyor 51 and the right branching conveyor 52 when the right branching conveyor 52 is used. Thus, in the case of the most downstream conveyor 23, the air cylinders 151 (FIG. 3) of the width adjusting units U (FIG. 4) are simultaneously operated so as to be in the center width adjusting form.

  Next, the control unit 181 controls the sorting mode of each sorting device 30 according to the sorting destination detected by the sorting article information detection unit 185. For example, when the sorting destination of the article W is the left branch conveyor 51A in which the article W is sorted by the sorting apparatus 30A immediately downstream of the article information detecting unit 185A, the sorting apparatus 30A has a width at the left end in a left-justified form. In the case of the right branching conveyor 52A in which the articles W1 that have been brought are turned and conveyed in the left branching conveyance direction toward the left branching conveyor 5152A and the articles W are sorted by the sorting apparatus 30A, the sorting apparatus 30A has a right width The article W2 that has been brought to the right end in the gathering form is turned and conveyed in the right branching and transporting direction toward the right branching conveyor 52A.

In addition, with respect to the articles W sorted by the sorting apparatus 30B located downstream of the sorting apparatus 30A, each sorting apparatus 30 upstream from the sorting apparatus 30B has a sorting destination of the articles W when it is the right branch conveyor 52B. In the case of the left branch conveyor 51B, the article W3 is conveyed so that the right-alignment state at the right end of the horizontal roller row group 110 is maintained. In the case of the most downstream conveyor 23, the article W5 is conveyed so as to maintain the width-shifted state in the middle of the horizontal roller row group 110, and the articles W3 to W3 are conveyed. W5 is transported in the basic transport direction (same as the main transport direction) toward the intermediate conveyor 22 or the most downstream conveyor 23 without turning.
In this way, all the articles W put into the supply conveyor 11 are sorted for each sorting destination.

Next, operations and effects of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.
The width-adjusting conveyor 100 includes a horizontal roller row group 110 including a plurality of horizontal roller rows 112 arranged in the main conveyance direction of the article W, and the horizontal roller rows 112 are a plurality arranged in the left-right direction. It is composed of a predetermined number of rollers 120. The roller 120 is rotatable about a vertical axis Lv at a plurality of rotation positions P1 to P3 where the roller direction forms turning angles θ1 to θ3. Then, the width-adjusting conveyor 100 moves the articles W in the left-right direction while conveying the articles W in the main conveying direction by the rollers 120 whose roller directions are inclined with respect to the main conveying direction.
Thus, the plurality of rollers 120 arranged in the main conveyance direction and the left-right direction and rotatable about the vertical axis Lv convey the article W in the main conveyance direction, and the width-shifting direction in the left-right direction is the roller 120. A plurality of rotation positions P1 to P3 can be set.

  The predetermined number of rollers 120 in the horizontal roller row 112 is divided into two, a non-inclined roller 121 and an inclined roller 122. The roller direction of the non-inclined roller 121 is the same as the main transport direction, and the roller direction of the inclined roller 122 is the main roller direction. The respective positions of the non-inclined roller 121 and the inclined roller 122 in the left-right direction, which are inclined with respect to the transport direction, can be changed according to the rotation positions P1 to P3 of the respective rollers 120. Are formed with a non-inclined vertical roller row 123 and an inclined vertical roller row 124. In the horizontal roller row 112, the turning angles θ1 to θ3 of the adjacent inclined rollers 122E adjacent to the non-inclined rollers 121 in the left-right direction are the same as those of the inclined rollers 122. This is the minimum value of the turning angles θ1 to θ3.

As a result, the articles W carried into the width-conveying conveyor 100 are conveyed by the inclined vertical roller rows 124 formed by the inclined rollers 122 of the respective horizontal roller rows 112 and moved in the horizontal direction while moving in the main conveying direction. The non-inclined vertical roller row 123 formed by the non-inclined roller 121 of the roller row 112 moves in a direction approaching the non-inclined vertical roller row 123, and the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 in the left-right direction is adjusted. The width alignment as the width alignment target position is performed. And since the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 in the left-right direction is changed according to the rotation positions P1 to P3 of the rollers 120 of the horizontal roller row group 110, the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 in the left-right direction. Since the width adjusting target position is changed by changing the position, the degree of freedom of setting the width adjusting target position is increased, and the convenience of the width adjusting conveyor 100 can be improved.
Further, since the roller direction of each non-inclined roller 121 in the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 is the same as the main conveying direction, the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 has a conveying speed with a large velocity component in the main conveying direction and a width. Since the articles W that have been brought together are conveyed in the main conveyance direction, and the turning angles θ1 to θ3 of the adjacent inclined rollers 122E in the inclined vertical roller row 124 are the minimum values of the turning angles θ1 to θ3 of all the inclined rollers 122, The adjacent inclined roller 122E has the speed component in the main conveyance direction with respect to the speed component in the left-right direction, compared with the other inclined rollers 122. Since the article W is conveyed at a conveyance speed that is not small or large, the conveyance speed in the main conveyance direction of the article W that has been justified becomes large in the horizontal roller row group 110, and the article in the justification conveyor 100 can be used. It is possible to improve the transport efficiency of the article W.

A plurality of inclined vertical roller rows 124 are formed in the horizontal roller row group 110. In the horizontal roller row 112, the turning angles θ1 to θ3 of the inclined rollers 122 are smaller as the inclined rollers 122 closer to the non-inclined rollers 121 in the left-right direction.
Thus, the closer the inclined roller 122 is to the non-inclined roller 121 in the left-right direction, the greater the speed component in the main transport direction of the transport speed of the article W relative to the speed component in the left-right direction. The transport efficiency of W in the main transport direction can be improved.
Further, the article W carried into the horizontal roller row group 110 at a position far from the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 (or the width-shifting target position) in the left-right direction is non-inclined vertical at a conveyance speed having a large speed component in the left-right direction. Since the sheet is conveyed toward the roller row 123, the width alignment to the target width alignment position is speeded up, and it is carried into the horizontal roller row group 110 at a position close to the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 in the left-right direction. Article W and article W which has been widened to the vicinity of non-inclined vertical roller row 123 are transported in which the speed component in the left-right direction relative to the speed component in the main transport direction is smaller than that of tilt roller 122 at a farther position in the left-right direction. Since it moves toward the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 at a speed, the phenomenon that the article W moves beyond the target width adjustment position in the left-right direction is suppressed, and the width adjustment to the width adjustment position is accelerated. It is possible to improve the centering accuracy of the biassing efficiency and target the centering position, it is possible to reduce the size of the biassing conveyor 100 in the main conveying direction. Further, when the roller 120 at the end in the left-right direction is the non-inclined roller 121, the speed component in the left-right direction is relatively reduced, so that the movement in the left-right direction is suppressed. The effect of preventing the article W from falling from the width-conveying conveyor 100 due to the collision can be improved, and the impact caused by the collision of the article W with the guide members 61 and 62 is reduced. Therefore, the article W caused by the collision is reduced. The occurrence of damage can be prevented.

  The roller directions of the non-inclined rollers 121 in the non-inclined vertical roller row 123 are the same, and the roller directions of the inclined rollers 122 in the inclined vertical roller row 124 are the same, so that the entire range in the main transport direction is reached. , Facilitating smoothing of the width and facilitating ensuring stability, facilitating the change of the positions of the non-inclined roller 121 and the inclined roller 122 in the horizontal roller row 112, and the article length in the main conveyance direction, etc. Since the increase / decrease of the horizontal roller row 112 according to the articles | goods W becomes easy, the convenience of the width-shifting conveyor 100 can be improved.

  Each width aligning unit U of the width aligning conveyor 100 includes a single actuator that simultaneously rotates all the rollers 120 of the width aligning unit U around the respective vertical axis Lv, and the actuator is a horizontal roller. In the row 112, a middle roller 120C positioned in the middle in the left-right direction, a left end roller 120L positioned with a plurality of rollers 120 on the left with respect to the middle roller 120C, and a plurality of on the right with respect to the middle roller 120C All the rollers 120 of the width adjusting unit U are rotated so that only the right end roller 120R on which the roller 120 is placed becomes the non-inclined roller 121 as an alternative.

As a result, the non-inclined roller 121 is set to have a single actuator with three types of width-shifting forms by the three types of rollers 120, ie, the middle roller 120C, the left end roller 120L, and the right end roller 120R, which are separated from each other in the left-right direction. Therefore, the structure of the width-adjusting conveyor 100 is simplified, and the cost of the width-adjusting conveyor 100 can be reduced.
Further, the distance between the width adjusting target positions in the left-right direction is the number of intervening rollers which are rollers 120 interposed between the middle roller 120C and the left end roller 120L and between the middle roller 120C and the right end roller 120R, respectively. Since it is easily changed by changing, the degree of freedom in designing the width-adjusting conveyor 100 is increased, such as changing the number of the intervening rollers according to the size of the article W in the left-right direction, and the width-adjusting The convenience of the conveyor 100 can be improved.

  In the sorting equipment 10, the width-shifting form of the horizontal roller row group 110 is a center width-feeding form, a left-side-justified form, and a right-side-justified form, depending on the rotation positions P <b> 1 to P <b> 3 of the rollers 120 in the horizontal roller array 112. The sorting form of the sorting device 30 is the left sorting form that moves the article W that has been left-justified in the left-justified form to the left branch conveyor 51 and the article W that has been justified in the right-justified form. The right sorting state for moving to the right branching conveyor 52 and the shifting position maintaining form for moving the articles W to the downstream intermediate conveyor 22 or the most downstream conveyor 23 while maintaining the position shifted by the shifting conveyor 100. It can be changed.

  Thus, the articles W conveyed by the width-adjusting conveyor 100 and carried into the sorting device 30 are shifted to the left and right with respect to the sorting device 30 corresponding to the left branch conveyor 51 and the right branch conveyor 52, respectively. Therefore, sorting by the sorting device 30 is facilitated. For this reason, combined with the improvement of the conveyance efficiency in the width-conveying conveyor 110, the efficiency of the sorting operation by the sorting equipment 10 can be improved, and the sorting apparatus 30 is further downsized, and the sorting equipment 10 is downsized. And cost savings.

Hereinafter, an example in which a part of the configuration of the above-described embodiment is changed will be described with respect to the changed configuration.
In any of the rotation positions P1 to P3, when the turning angles θ1 to θ3 of all the inclined rollers 122 are equal in the horizontal roller row 112, the turning angles θ1 to θ3 are minimum values.
The horizontal roller row 112 may include a plurality of non-inclined rollers 121 composed of rollers 120 adjacent to each other in the left-right direction. In this case, a plurality of non-inclined vertical roller rows 123 adjacent to each other in the left-right direction are provided. It may be formed and may have one inclined roller 122. In this case, one inclined vertical roller row 124 is formed.
In the horizontal roller row 112, at least one of the middle roller, the left roller, and the right roller may be a plurality of rollers 120. When the left roller or the right roller is composed of a plurality of rollers 120, the left roller may include the left end roller 120L, and the right roller may or may not include the right end roller 120R. Also good. Further, only two types of rollers 120 of the middle roller, the left roller, and the right roller may be the non-inclined rollers 121.
The actuator may be an electric actuator (for example, a linear drive device including an electric motor and a ball screw mechanism).
In addition to 3, the rotation position (and thus the turning angle) of each roller 120 for forming a plurality of width-shifting forms may be 2 or 4 or more. In this case, the number of branch conveyors included in the branch line may be increased or decreased according to the number of rotation positions, or the main conveyor may be divided into a plurality of divided conveyors in the left-right direction.
The sorting device is a sorting device other than one having a plurality of horizontal roller rows arranged in the conveying direction (for example, a turning member (for example, a so-called diverter) that turns the article by contact with the article and moves it to a branch line) May be provided).
The number of rollers 120 constituting the horizontal roller row 112 may be an even number, or may be the same number in all the horizontal roller rows 112, or may be one or more horizontal roller rows 112 or one or more width adjustments. Each unit U may be different.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Sorting equipment 11 ... Supply conveyor 12 ... Sorting line 20 ... Main conveyor 30 ... Sorting device 50 ... Branch line 51 ... Left branch conveyor 52 ... Left branch conveyor DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Shifting conveyor 110 ... Horizontal roller row group 112 ... Horizontal roller row 120 ... Roller 120C ... Middle roller 120L ... Left end roller 120R ... Right end roller 121 ... Non Inclined roller 122 ... Inclined roller 122E ... Adjacent inclined roller 123 ... Non-inclined vertical roller row 124 ... Inclined vertical roller row 130 ... Support base 140 ... Roller support 150 ... Times Dynamic drive mechanism 160 ... Line shaft 170 ... Rotary drive mechanism 180 ... Control devices W, W1 to W5 ... Article Lh ... Horizontal axis Lv ... Vertical axis P1 P3 ··· rotational position θ1~θ3 ··· turning angle

Claims (5)

A predetermined number of horizontal roller rows each including a plurality of horizontal roller rows arranged in the main conveyance direction of the article, wherein the horizontal roller rows are a plurality arranged in the left-right direction orthogonal to the main conveyance direction. The roller that conveys the article by rotating around the rotation center line is at a plurality of rotation positions in which the roller direction forms a turning angle with respect to the main conveyance direction. In the width-adjusting conveyer that moves the article in the left-right direction while conveying the article in the main conveying direction by the roller, the roller direction being inclined with respect to the main conveying direction,
In the horizontal roller row, the predetermined number of the rollers is divided into one or a plurality of non-inclined rollers adjacent in the left-right direction and one or more inclined rollers,
The roller direction of the non-inclined roller is the same as the main transport direction;
The roller direction of the inclined roller is inclined with respect to the main transport direction;
In the horizontal roller row, the respective positions of the non-inclined roller and the inclined roller in the left-right direction can be changed according to the rotation position of each roller,
The non-inclined roller group composed of the non-inclined rollers in the horizontal roller array group includes one non-inclined roller array in which the non-inclined rollers are arranged in the main transport direction or a plurality of non-inclined vertical roller arrays adjacent in the left-right direction. Form the
An inclined roller group composed of the inclined rollers of the horizontal roller row group forms one or more inclined vertical roller rows in which the inclined rollers are arranged in the main transport direction,
In the horizontal roller row, when there is one adjacent inclined roller that is the inclined roller adjacent to the non-inclined roller in the left-right direction, the turning angle of the adjacent inclined roller is the turning angle of the inclined roller. If the minimum value of the angle and the adjacent inclined roller is one each on the left and right with respect to the non-inclined roller, the turning angle of the left adjacent inclined roller is The minimum width of the turning angle of the inclined roller, and the turning angle of the right adjacent inclined roller is the minimum value of the turning angle of all the inclined rollers located on the right. Conveyor. A width-shifting conveyor according to claim 1,
In the horizontal roller row, the plurality of rollers are the inclined rollers,
The inclined roller group forms a plurality of the inclined vertical roller rows,
The width-adjusting conveyor, wherein in the horizontal roller row, the turning angle of the inclined roller is smaller as the inclined roller is closer to the non-inclined roller in the left-right direction. The width-shifting conveyor according to claim 1 or 2,
For each non-inclined vertical roller row, the roller direction of each non-inclined roller in the non-inclined vertical roller row is the same,
The width-adjusting conveyor, wherein each of the inclined vertical roller rows has the same roller direction of the inclined rollers. The width-adjusting conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising one or more width-adjusting units having one or more horizontal roller rows,
The width adjusting unit has a single actuator that rotates all the rollers of the width adjusting unit all at once,
One or more middle rollers located in the middle in the left-right direction and one or more left rollers located one or more of the rollers on the left with respect to the middle roller in the horizontal roller row And all the rollers of the width-adjusting unit so that one or more right rollers positioned with one or more rollers on the right side of the middle roller are alternatively the non-inclined rollers. A width-adjusting conveyor characterized by rotating. The width-adjusting conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a supply conveyor disposed upstream of the width-aligning conveyor, and disposed downstream of the width-aligning conveyor and conveyed by the width-conveying conveyor. A sorting facility comprising a sorting line for sorting the processed articles,
The sorting line includes a main conveyor that conveys articles from the width-adjusting conveyor, one or more sorting devices arranged in the middle of the main conveyor, and a branch line that conveys articles sorted by the sorting apparatus. Prepared,
The width-shifting form of the horizontal roller row group is a center width-shifting form when the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row is the middle position in the left-right direction, and the position of the non-tilted vertical roller row is in the left-right direction. To the left width alignment form when it is the left position with respect to the middle position, and to the right width alignment form when the position of the non-inclined vertical roller row is the right position with respect to the middle position in the left-right direction, It can be changed according to the rotation position of each roller in the horizontal roller row,
The branch line has a left branch conveyor located on the left and a right branch conveyor located on the right with respect to the main conveyor;
The sorting form of the sorting device is a left sorting form in which articles left-justified in the left-justified form are moved to the left branch conveyor, and an article width-justified in the right-justified form is moved to the right branch conveyor. The sorting equipment can be changed to a right sorting direction to be moved and a width-shifting position maintaining form in which the position shifted by the width-shifting conveyor is maintained and articles are moved to the downstream main conveyor.

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