JP6283649B2 - Article conveying device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an article conveying apparatus for conveying an article.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an article conveying apparatus that can stop an article at an article delivery position for delivering an article to the next process and smoothly deliver the article to the next process.

  As shown in FIG. 20, as one of such article transport apparatuses 100, an article holding means 101 that receives an article P from the previous process and transports the article P toward the next process, and the article holding means. There is a thing provided with posture change means 102 which changes posture of 101, and robot 103 for grasping article P in which posture was changed, and delivering it to the next process (for example, patent documents 1).

  In this article transporting apparatus 100, the article holding means 101 includes a box-shaped article holding case 104, and stores the article P conveyed in a state of being overturned from the previous process in the article holding case 104. Transport to the article delivery position T. The posture conversion means 102 erects the fallen article P by changing the attitude of the article holding means 101 during the conveyance of the article P. The robot 103 holds the article P in an upright state and transfers it to the next step. As described above, the conventional article transport apparatus 100 can stop the article P at the gripping position of the robot 103 and smoothly deliver the article P to the next step.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-48243

  By the way, in this article transporting apparatus 100, the attitude changing means 102 changes the attitude of the article holding case 104 in which the article P is stored to erect the fallen article P upright, but the article delivery position T Thus, there is a problem that the robot 103 cannot hold the article P.

  Specifically, when the regular article P is conveyed by the article conveying apparatus 100, the article P is displaced in the article holding case 104 when the posture of the article holding case 104 is changed. As a result, when the article holding means 101 stops at the article delivery position T, the article P may deviate from the gripping position of the robot 103, and gripping by the robot 103 may occur.

  In addition, when conveying an irregularly shaped article P, if the posture of the article holding case 104 is changed to an upright position, the article P is deformed to a shape biased to the lower side of the article holding case 104. The robot 103 may fall below the article holding case 104 and the robot 103 may not reach the article P in the first place.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the articles | goods conveying apparatus which can deliver articles | goods to the following process reliably in view of this situation.

The article conveying apparatus according to the present invention includes an article receiving position that receives an article from a previous process and an article conveying path that includes an article delivery position that delivers an article to the next process, and before and after the article conveying path extends. A linear conveyor having a plurality of movers arranged in a direction and a control unit that moves the plurality of movers along the article conveyance path, and each mover is located between adjacent movers located next to each other. The article is arranged so that the article can be transported together with the adjacent movable element, and the control unit is configured to control the distance between the adjacent movable elements in the front-rear direction so that the article is positioned at the article delivery position. The distance between the movable elements is changed from the distance between the movable elements at the article receiving position, and each movable element extends toward the adjacent movable element, and a placement extending portion on which an article can be placed. , Previous description Relative detecting section an upper extending portion extending upward and having an upper extending portion located on the proximal side of the front according置延out portion.

  According to such a configuration, each mover conveys an article together with the adjacent mover in a state where the article is arranged between adjacent movers, and the control unit sets the distance between the movers. The distance between the movers at the article receiving position can be changed so that the article is positioned at the article delivery position. Therefore, for example, even when the posture of the article changes from the article receiving position to the article delivery position or when the shape of the article changes, the distance between the movers at the article receiving position is determined by the article at the article delivery position. By changing according to the width of the article, the article can be accurately positioned at the article delivery position. As a result, the article can be reliably placed at the article delivery position.

  According to this configuration, when an article is disposed between adjacent movers, the adjacent mover supports the article from below with the placement extension portion at the article delivery position, while holding the article with the upper extension portion. It can be supported from both sides in the front-rear direction. Therefore, the article can be positioned stably and accurately at the article delivery position.

  As another aspect of the present invention, the distance between the movers at the article receiving position may be larger than the distance between the movers at the article delivery position.

  According to such a configuration, for example, when an article is received in a wide width and delivered in a narrow width, at the article receiving position, the wide article is received from the previous step with a wide distance between adjacent movers, and the article is delivered. In the position, the distance between the adjacent movable elements can be reduced in accordance with the width of the narrow article. Therefore, the article can be stably received at the article receiving position, and the distance between adjacent movers can be adjusted to the width of the article at the article delivery position, so that the article can be accurately positioned at the article delivery position. Can do.

  As another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a posture changing unit that changes the posture of the article between the article receiving position and the article delivery position, and the posture changing unit is movable adjacent to the posture changing unit from the upstream side. The posture of the article conveyed by the child is changed by rotating the article around a direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction and the up-down direction, and the control unit is configured to change the posture from the posture change unit to the article. You may change the distance between movable elements between delivery positions.

  According to this configuration, the posture of the article can be changed by the posture changing unit while the adjacent mover conveys the item, and the control unit can move the distance between the movers between the posture changing unit and the article delivery position. Can be changed. Therefore, the article can be accurately positioned at the article delivery position while changing the posture of the article during conveyance.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an article transport apparatus that can reliably deliver an article to the next step.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an article conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the article transport device according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an arrangement relationship between the mover and the stator in the article transporting apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the mover of the article transport device according to the embodiment is approaching the posture changing unit. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the mover of the article transport device according to the embodiment has delivered the article to the posture changing unit. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the mover of the article transport device according to the embodiment has moved to a receiving position for receiving an article from the posture changing unit. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the posture changing unit of the article transport device according to the embodiment is changing the posture of the article. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the posture changing unit of the article transporting apparatus according to the embodiment has delivered the article to the mover. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the mover of the article transport device according to the embodiment approaches the mover on the upstream side to support the article. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the mover of the article transport device according to the embodiment supports the article after the posture change and is waiting for the next article to be delivered. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the posture changing unit of the article transporting apparatus according to the embodiment is changing the posture of the next article. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the posture changing unit of the article transporting apparatus according to the embodiment delivers the next article to the mover. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the article moving unit receives an article from the article delivery position of the article transport apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the article moving unit receives an article from the article delivery position of the article carrying device according to the embodiment and delivers the article to the article carrying unit. FIG. 15 shows a modification of the mover. FIG. 16 shows another modification of the mover. FIG. 17 shows still another modification of the mover. FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the adjacent movers of the article transporting apparatus according to the embodiment support the irregular shaped article in a wide manner. FIG. 19 is a view for explaining a state in which the adjacent movers of the article transporting apparatus according to the embodiment narrow the irregular shaped article. FIG. 20 is a plan view of a conventional article transport device.

  Hereinafter, an article conveyance device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The article conveying apparatus 1 conveys the article P from the article receiving position S, which is a position for receiving the article P from the previous process, to the article delivery position T, which is a position for delivering the article P to the next process. As shown in FIG. 1, the article transport apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is located upstream of the article transport apparatus 1 and supplies articles as a previous step for supplying the article P to the article transport apparatus 1. Between the unit 90 and the article accommodating unit 91 as a next step for accommodating the article P transferred from the article conveying apparatus 1, located downstream of the article conveying apparatus 1. Yes. As shown in FIG. 2, an article moving unit 92 for receiving the article P from the article conveying apparatus 1 and transferring the article P to the article accommodating unit 91 is located above the downstream end of the article conveying apparatus 1. Is provided. A parallel link robot is employed as the article moving unit 92 of the present embodiment.

  Hereinafter, the direction in which the article P is conveyed is defined as the front, the direction in which the article conveyance path R including the article receiving position S and the article delivery position T extends is defined as the front-rear direction X, and the vertical direction is defined as the vertical direction Y. Further, a direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction X and the up-down direction Y is defined as a left-right direction Z. In the drawings, coordinate axes corresponding to the respective directions are illustrated as necessary.

  In this embodiment, for example, the article transporting apparatus 1 transports, as the article P, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped package packed in a packaging bag in a state where ten PTP sheets are stacked. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the article P of the present embodiment has a long side and a short side, and the surface excluding both ends in the longitudinal direction is composed of surfaces having different areas. The article P has a rectangular wide surface P1 having the largest area and a rectangular narrow surface P2 having a smaller area than the wide surface P1.

  The article conveying apparatus 1 directly receives the article P from the article supply unit 90 at the article receiving position S. The article conveyance device 1 is arranged so that the article conveyance path R is orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the article P in the article supply unit 90. The article conveying apparatus 1 has a rear end in the front-rear direction X disposed close to the article supply unit 90, and receives the article P from the rear end. The article supply unit 90 conveys the article P in the left-right direction Z so that the longitudinal direction of the article P and the conveyance direction of the article P are parallel to each other. The article transport apparatus 1 receives the article P from the article supply unit 90 in a state where the longitudinal direction of the article P is orthogonal to the front-rear direction X. The article conveying apparatus 1 conveys the article P so that the short direction of the article P and the conveying direction of the article P are parallel. In the present embodiment, the article supply unit 90 conveys the article P with the wide surface P1 of the article P as the bottom surface, and the article conveyance device 1 receives the wide surface P1 of the article P from the article supply unit 90 as the bottom surface. The article P is received in the fall state.

  The article transporting apparatus 1 delivers the article P to the article accommodating unit 91 via the article moving unit 92 at the article delivery position T. The article conveyance device 1 is arranged such that the article conveyance path R is parallel to the conveyance direction of the article P in the article accommodation unit 91. The article conveying apparatus 1 has a front end in the front-rear direction X disposed close to the article storage unit 91, and delivers the article P from the front end. The article transporting apparatus 1 delivers the article P to the article storage unit 91 in a state where the longitudinal direction of the article P is orthogonal to the front-rear direction X. In the present embodiment, the article moving unit 92 sucks the narrow surface P2 of the article P with a suction cup, and transfers the article P to the article accommodating unit 91. The article transporting apparatus 1 has a width of the article P. The article P is delivered to the article storage unit 91 in an upright state in which the narrow surface P2 is the bottom surface.

  As described above, the article transporting apparatus 1 is disposed between the article supply unit 90 and the article storage unit 91, receives the article P from the article supply unit 90, and transfers the article P to the article storage unit 91 via the article moving unit 92. The article P is delivered. Hereinafter, the article conveyance device 1 of the present embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the article transporting apparatus 1 includes a linear conveyor 10 for transporting the article P and an attitude changing unit 8 that changes the attitude of the article P.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the linear conveyor 10 includes a main body 2 that forms an article conveyance path R for conveying an article P, a plurality of movers 3 that move along the outer periphery of the main body 2, and a plurality of movers 3. And a control unit 4 for controlling the traveling state of the movable element 3. The linear conveyor 10 of the present embodiment transports the three articles P by arranging the four movable elements 3 as one group and arranging the articles P between the movable elements 3.

  The main body 2 includes a base 5 positioned at the center of the main body 2, a stator 6 disposed along the outer periphery of the base 5, a rail 7 disposed along the outer periphery of the stator 6, Have The main body 2 is formed flat. The main body 2 is installed and used so as to stand upright in the vertical direction Y.

  The base 5 has a rectangular plate-shaped central base 51 having a long side and a short side, and a semicircular horizontal base 52 connected to each end portion in the longitudinal direction of the central base 51. In the base 5, a pair of base linear portions 511 corresponding to the peripheral edge on the long side of the central base 51 and a pair of base curved portions 521 corresponding to the peripheral edge on the circumferential side of the horizontal base 52 are connected continuously. It is formed in an endless shape. The base 5 is installed such that the long side extends in the horizontal direction.

  The stator 6 includes a pair of stator straight portions 61 disposed along the base straight portions 511 of the central base 51 and a pair of stator curved portions disposed along the base curved portions 521 of the lateral base 52. 62. That is, the stator 6 is formed in an endless shape by making a round of the base 5 along the outer periphery of the endless base 5. In the present embodiment, the stator 6 side is an electromagnet EM.

  The stator 6 constitutes an article transport path R including an article receiving position S and an article delivery position T. In the present embodiment, the article transport path R extends in the horizontal direction, and is configured by an upper stator straight portion 611 located on the upper side of the pair of stator straight portions 61. When the mover 3 runs on the rail 7 and is positioned at the end 611a on the rear side of the upper stator straight portion 611, the mover 3 receives the article P. Therefore, the position of the conveyance unit 32 (described later) when receiving the article P becomes the article receiving position S. Further, since the mover 3 delivers the article P when it is positioned at the front end 611b of the upper stator straight part 611, the position of the transport unit 32 at this time is the article delivery position T.

  The rail 7 includes a pair of rail straight portions 71 disposed along each stator straight portion 61 of the stator 6 and a pair of rail curved portions 72 disposed along each stator curved portion 62 of the stator 6. And having. That is, the rail 7 makes the circuit around the stator 6 along the outer periphery of the endless stator 6 and is formed in an endless shape.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the mover 3 is provided with a permanent magnet PM, a mover main body 31 that travels on the rail 7 of the main body 2, and an upper part of the mover main body 31. And a transport unit 32 for transporting. The mover 3 moves on the rail 7 using the force of repulsion between the permanent magnet PM and the electromagnet EM as a driving force by flowing current through the electromagnet EM of the stator 6, and circulates on the rail 7 of the main body 2. . In the present embodiment, ten movable elements 3 circulate on the rail 7 of the main body 2. The plurality of movable elements 3 are arranged in the traveling direction on the rail 7. Therefore, the plurality of movers 3 are arranged in the front-rear direction X on the article transport path R.

  The mover main body 31 includes a plate-like placement portion 311 for placing the conveyance portion 32 and both ends of the placement portion 311, and the moving direction of the mover 3 (the front-rear direction X in FIG. 3). And a pair of opposing extension portions 312 extending from both ends in a direction (left and right direction Z in FIG. 3) orthogonal to the front direction. The placement portion 311 and each opposing extension portion 312 of the present embodiment are integrally formed. The placement portion 311 and each opposing extension portion 312 are formed of an aluminum alloy. A permanent magnet PM is provided on the distal end side of each opposing extension portion 312, and a roller 313 that moves along the rail 7 is provided on the proximal end side of each opposing extension portion 312. The permanent magnet PM is arranged along the electromagnet EM by arranging the rail 7 between the pair of opposing extending portions 312 so that the mounting portion 311 is positioned on the upper portion of the rail 7. 31 is movable along the rail 7.

  The transport unit 32 includes a plate-shaped transport base 321, a partition unit 322 that partitions the transport base 321 into two regions, and a fixing unit 323 for fixing the transport unit 32 to the mover main body 31. In this embodiment, the conveyance base 321 and the partition part 322 are integrally formed. The conveyance base 321 and the partition part 322 are formed of PE resin (polyethylene). The transfer unit 32 is fixed to the mover main body 31 by the fixing unit 323 in a state where the transfer base 321 is placed on the placement unit 311 of the mover main body 31. Thereby, the conveyance unit 32 travels integrally with the mover main body 31.

  The conveyance base 321 is formed in a rectangular shape having a long side 3211 and a short side 3212. The conveyance base 321 is arranged so that the short side direction is parallel to the moving direction of the mover 3. The conveyance base 321 includes a front base 321a located on the front side in the traveling direction with respect to the partition portion 322, and a rear base 321b located on the rear side in the traveling direction with respect to the partition portion 322.

  When the plurality of movers 3 are arranged on the rail 7 in the front-rear direction X, the front base 321a extends with respect to the mover 3 located in the front, and the rear base 321b is located in the rear. It extends with respect to the mover 3.

  The partition part 322 is formed in a plate shape. The partition portion 322 is a rectangular plate member having a long side 3221 and a short side 3222. The length of the long side 3221 of the partition part 322 is substantially the same as the length of the long side 3211 of the transport base 321, and the partition part 322 partitions the transport base 321 in the short direction of the transport base 321. . The partition part 322 is disposed on the transport base 321 so as to extend from one surface of the transport base 321. The partition part 322 of the present embodiment includes a front partition part 322a constituting the front base 321a and a rear partition part 322b constituting the rear base 321b on the transport base 321. That is, the front partition 322a is located on the proximal end side of the front base 321a, and the rear partition 322b is located on the proximal end side of the rear base 321b. The partition part 322 has a shape in which the center part of the upper long side 3221 is cut out.

  The fixing portion 323 extends downward from the short side 3212 side of the transport base 321. When the conveyance unit 32 is placed on the mover main body 31, the fixed portion 323 is disposed along the opposing extension portion 312 of the mover main body 31. The fixing portion 323 is screwed to the opposing extension portion 312. Thereby, the conveyance part 32 is fixed with respect to the needle | mover main body 31. FIG.

  The control unit 4 controls the current flowing through the electromagnet EM so that the mover 3 travels on the rail 7. The control unit 4 moves the plurality of movers 3 along the article transport path R. The control unit 4 changes the distance between the movable elements, which is the distance between the adjacent movable elements 3 in the front-rear direction X. The control unit 4 changes the distance between the movers so that the article P is positioned at the article delivery position T. Specifically, the distance between the movers set at the article delivery position S is changed to the distance between the movers set at the article delivery position T so that the article P is positioned at the article delivery position T. In the present embodiment, the control unit 4 changes the distance between the movers while the article P is being conveyed. The control unit 4 controls the movable elements 3 so that they do not come closer than a predetermined distance between the movable elements during conveyance, so that the movable elements 3 do not come into contact with each other. In the present embodiment, the predetermined distance between the movable elements is set so that the distance between the movable element main bodies 31 does not become 20 mm or less.

  In the present embodiment, the distance between the movers at the article receiving position S is set wider than the distance between the movers at the article delivery position T. Specifically, the article transport device 1 receives the article P in a fall state, changes the posture of the article P by the posture changing unit 8, and then delivers the article P in an upright state. The distance between the movable elements is controlled so that the distance between the movable elements at the article delivery position T is smaller than that at the receiving position S. Further, since the width of the article P in the front-rear direction X is narrower downstream than the upstream of the posture changing unit 8 with the posture changing unit 8 as a boundary, the control unit 4 is movable downstream of the posture changing unit 8. Each mover 3 is controlled so that the distance between the children becomes narrow. In the present embodiment, the control unit 4 is built in the base 5 of the main body unit 2.

  The attitude changing unit 8 changes the attitude of the article P between the article receiving position S and the article delivery position T. Specifically, the posture changing unit 8 changes the posture of the article P conveyed by the adjacent mover 3 from the upstream side of the posture changing unit 8 in a direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction X and the vertical direction Y. It is changed by rotating the article P around the center. In the present embodiment, the posture changing unit 8 is. The posture of the article P is changed by rotating the article P around the left-right direction Z.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the posture changing unit 8 includes a rotating body 81 for rotating the article P, and a rotating shaft that rotates the rotating body 81 about a direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction X and the up-down direction Y. 82. The posture changing unit 8 is installed upstream of the article delivery position T. In the present embodiment, the posture changing unit 8 is installed so as to be located at the center of the article transport path R.

  The rotating body 81 includes a rotating shaft fixing portion 811 to which the rotating shaft 82 is fixed and serving as a rotation center, and at least one plate-like portion 812 extending from the rotating shaft fixing portion 811 in the radially outward direction of the rotating shaft 82. . The rotating body 81 rotates as the rotating shaft 82 rotates. In the present embodiment, the rotating body 81 has four plate-like portions 812. The four plate-like portions 812 extend from the rotation shaft fixing portion 811 in the radially outward direction of the rotation shaft 82 so that the intervals between adjacent plate-like portions 812 are equal. The rotating shaft fixing portion 811 and the plate-like portion 812 are integrally formed and are thin plate-like members. The rotating shaft fixing portion 811 and the plate-like portion 812 are made of PE resin (polyethylene).

  The rotating body 81 is switched between a normal state that is a state before and after the posture change of the article P and a change state that is a state during the posture change of the article P. The rotating body 81 of the present embodiment is controlled so as to be switched between the stopped state and the rotating state so as to stop in the normal state and receive the article P and rotate in the changed state. The rotating body 81 is disposed along the article transport path R. The rotating body 81 is disposed on both sides of the article transport path R in the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction X. The rotating body 81 is disposed on both sides in the left-right direction Z of the article transport path R. Specifically, the upper rail linear portion 711 located on the upper side of the pair of rail linear portions 71 of the main body 2 is disposed on both sides in the left-right direction Z. The rotating body 81 is installed at a height such that the upper half is positioned above the upper end surface of the upper rail linear portion 711 and the lower half is positioned below the upper end surface of the upper rail linear portion 711. The rotating body 81 is installed so that the end surface of the plate-like portion 812 is at the same height as the upper surface of the transfer base 321 of the mover 3 in a normal state.

  The plate-like portion 812 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape having a long side and a short side. The plate-like portion 812 has a front end surface 8121 facing forward in the rotation direction, a rear end surface 8122 facing rearward with respect to the rotation direction, and a front end surface 8123 located at the tip of the plate-like portion 812, and has a long side. The side constitutes a front end surface 8121 and a rear end surface 8122. Each end face is formed flat.

  Each plate-like part 812 has a front end face of the plate-like part 812 in which the rear end face 8122 is located at the rear in the rotation direction so that the front end face 8121 is perpendicular to the rear end face 8122 of the plate-like part 812 located in the front in the rotation direction. The rotary shaft 821 extends from the rotary shaft fixing portion 811 in the radially outward direction so as to be perpendicular to the 8121. Therefore, the rotating body 81 has a cross shape with the rotating shaft fixing portion 811 as the center.

  This is the end of the description of the article conveyance device 1 of the present embodiment. Next, the flow from when the article transport apparatus 1 of the present embodiment receives the article P from the article supply unit 90 to when the article P is delivered to the article storage unit 91 will be described with reference to FIGS. . 6 to 12, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 4 and 5 are omitted. Here, a case will be described in which the distance between the movers at the article receiving position S is set to be larger than the distance between the movers at the article delivery position T.

  In the present embodiment, when the article P is disposed between the mover 3 and the mover 3, the article P is moved from the rear base 321b of the mover 3 positioned in front and the front base of the mover 3 positioned rearward. 321a. The distance between the movers is such that the rear partition 322b of the mover 3 located at the front and the front partition 322a of the mover 3 located at the rear are closer to each other so as to easily come into contact with the side surface of the article P. Is set. Therefore, the front base 321a and the rear base 321b function as placement extension portions 321a and 321b on which the article P can be placed, and the partition portion 322 extends upward with respect to the placement extension portions 321a and 321b. It functions as the upward extending part 322. In this way, the adjacent movable elements 3 support the article P from both sides in the front-rear direction X by the rear partition 322b and the front partition 322a while supporting the article P from below by the front base 321a and the rear base 321b. Can be done.

  In the adjacent mover 3 of the present embodiment, the rear partition 322b of the mover 3 positioned in the front and the front partition 322a of the mover 3 positioned in the rear are close to the side surface of the article P and positioned in the front. The article P is transported in the proximity support state in which the rear base 321b of the movable element 3 and the front base 321a of the movable element 3 located behind support the bottom surface of the article P.

  In this embodiment, four movable elements 3 are made into one group, and the three articles | goods P are conveyed. Therefore, the first mover 3A, the second mover 3B, the third mover 3C, and the fourth mover 3D are sequentially arranged from the foremost mover 3 in the front-rear direction X.

  First, the four movers 3 travel on the rail 7 toward the article transport path R. The first mover 3A and the second mover 3B are stopped when the conveying units 32A and 32B come to the article receiving position S. That is, the first movable element 3A and the second movable element 3B stop at a position where the article P flowing through the article supply unit 90 is carried between the conveyance unit 32A and the conveyance unit 32B. When the article P is carried between the transport unit 32A and the transport unit 32B, the first and second movers 3A and 3B move forward, and the third mover 3C follows the second mover 3B. The second mover 3B and the third mover 3C are stopped when the transport units 32B and 32C come to the article receiving position S. When the article P is carried between the transport unit 32B and the transport unit 32C, the second mover 3B and the third mover 3C move forward, and the fourth mover 3D follows the third mover 3C. The third mover 3C and the fourth mover 3D are stopped when the transport units 32C and 32D come to the article receiving position S. When the reception of the three articles P is completed, the four movable elements 3 start traveling toward the article delivery position T.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the four movers 3 travel in a state where they are aligned in the front-rear direction X, and approach the posture changing unit 8. In the present embodiment, since the rotating body 81 of the posture changing unit 8 has four plate-like portions 812, the plate-like portion 812 located on the upper side in the vertical direction Y is defined as the first plate-like portion 812A in order in the rotation direction. The second plate-like portion 812B, the third plate-like portion 812C, and the fourth plate-like portion 812D are used. As shown in FIG. 5, the four movers 3 stop at a position where the end surface of the rear partition 322bA of the first mover 3A and the rear end surface 8122A of the first plate-like portion 812A substantially coincide with each other in the front-rear direction X. . Thereby, the bottom part of the article P is placed on the front end face 8121D of the fourth plate-like part 812D, and the front part located on the front side in the front-rear direction X of the article P is the rear end face 8122A of the first plate-like part 812A. opposite. In this case, the four movers 3 may move to a position where the front portion of the article P comes into contact with the rear end surface 8122A of the first plate-like portion 812A.

  As shown in FIG. 6, only the first movable element 3A moves forward, and the first movable element 3A has a distance between the end surface of the rear partition 322bA and the front end surface 8121A of the first plate-shaped portion 812A. Is stopped at a position corresponding to the width of the narrow surface P2 and waits to receive the article P. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotating body 81 rotates. The rotating body 81 rotates while supporting the bottom portion of the article P with the front end face 8121D of the fourth plate-like portion 812D and supporting the front portion of the article P with the rear end face 8122A of the first plate-like portion 812A. As shown in FIG. 8, when the rotating body 81 rotates by a predetermined angle, the bottom of the article P supported by the front end surface 8121 </ b> D of the fourth plate-like portion 812 </ b> D becomes standing, and the first plate-like portion The front side portion of the article P supported by the rear end surface 8122A of 812A is in a sleeping state. In this way, the posture changing unit 8 changes the posture of the article P from the falling state to the standing state, and the first movable element 3A receives the standing article P. In the present embodiment, the posture of the article P is changed by rotating the rotating body 81 by 90 degrees.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when the first mover 3A receives the article P, the fourth mover 3D moves forward from the second mover 3B, and the article P is moved to the second mover 3B. Is held from behind. The second movable element 3B to the fourth movable element 3D are stopped at a position where the end face of the front partitioning part 322aB of the second movable element 3B and the front end face 8121D of the fourth plate-like part 812D substantially coincide with each other in the front-rear direction X. To do. As described above, the distance between the movable elements is changed from the wide state to the narrow state immediately after the posture of the article P is changed in order to hold the article P by the movable element 3 located at the rear.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the first mover 3 </ b> A and the second mover 3 </ b> B move forward with the article P being closely supported. In the first mover 3A and the second mover 3B, the distance between the end face of the rear partition 322bB of the second mover 3B and the front end face 8121D of the fourth plate-like part 812D is the width of the narrow face P2 of the article P. The vehicle stops at a position corresponding to the distance and waits to receive the next article P. At the same time, the third mover 3C and the fourth mover 3D move slightly forward so that the article P is firmly placed on the front end surface 8121C of the third plate-like portion 812C.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the rotating body 81 rotates, and as shown in FIG. 12, the rotating body 81 changes the posture of the article P from the overturned state to the upright state, and the second mover 3B The article P in a state is received. By repeating the above operation, the four movable elements 3 run side by side in a state where all the articles P whose postures are changed are placed.

  The four movers 3 stop when the transport unit 32 is positioned at the article delivery position T so that the article P is positioned at the article delivery position T. As a result, as shown in FIG. 13, the three articles P are located at the position where the article moving unit 92 is lowered, and thus the article moving unit 92 can reliably hold the three articles P. Then, as shown in FIG. 14, the article moving unit 92 aligns the three articles P and transfers them to the article accommodating unit 91. The four movers 3 that have delivered the article P travel again on the rail 7 toward the article transport path R. Then, when the four movable elements 3 reach the article conveyance route R, the conveyance of the article P is started again.

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, each movable element 3 conveys the article P together with the adjacent movable element 3 in a state where the article P is disposed between the adjacent movable elements 3. At the same time, the control unit 4 can change the distance between the movers from the distance between the movers at the article receiving position S so that the article P is positioned at the article delivery position T. Therefore, for example, even when the posture of the article P changes from the article receiving position S to the article delivery position T or when the shape of the article P changes, the distance between the movers at the article receiving position S By changing according to the width of the article P at the delivery position T, the article P can be accurately positioned at the article delivery position T. Thereby, the article P can be reliably placed at the article delivery position T.

  Further, when the article P is arranged between the adjacent movable elements 3, the adjacent movable elements 3 extend upward while supporting the article P from below at the article delivery position T by the placement extending portions 321a and 321b. The article P can be supported from both sides in the front-rear direction X by the portion 322. Therefore, the article P can be positioned accurately and stably at the article delivery position T.

  In the embodiment, the distance between the movers at the article receiving position S is set wider than the distance between the movers at the article delivery position T. Thus, for example, when the article P is received in a wide width and delivered in a narrow width, the article P is received at the article receiving position S with a wide distance between the adjacent movable elements 3 from the previous step. At the delivery position T, the distance between the adjacent movable elements 3 can be reduced according to the width of the narrow article P. Therefore, the article P can be stably received at the article receiving position S, and the distance between the adjacent movable elements 3 can be adjusted to the width of the article P at the article delivery position T. P can be accurately positioned.

  In the above embodiment, by providing the posture changing unit 8, the posture of the article P can be changed by the posture changing unit 8 while the adjacent mover 3 conveys the article P. In addition, the control unit 4 can change the distance between the movers between the posture changing unit 8 and the article delivery position T. Therefore, the article P can be accurately positioned at the article delivery position T while changing the posture of the article P during conveyance.

  In the above embodiment, the article P can be conveyed by disposing the article P between the movable element 3 and the movable element 3, and therefore, the article P having various sizes can be conveyed. Specifically, by adjusting the distance between the movers according to the size of the article P, such as the article P having a wide width in the front-rear direction X and the article P having a narrow width in the front-rear direction X, various sizes can be obtained. Article P can be conveyed. It is also possible to carry a plurality of types of articles P at a time. For example, even if the size of the article P conveyed by the first movable element 3A and the second movable element 3B is different from the size of the article P conveyed by the second movable element 3B and the third movable element 3C, the article By adjusting the distance between the movable elements according to the size of P, articles P having different sizes can be conveyed. Thus, in the above embodiment, articles of various sizes can be conveyed without being limited by the size of the article.

  In the above embodiment, since the postures of all articles P can be changed by one posture changing unit 8, it is not necessary to provide the posture changing unit 8 for each movable element 3. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the apparatus from becoming complicated, and it is difficult to cause a leakage of gripping by the article moving unit 92 as a result of failure of any attitude changing unit 8 to change the attitude of the article P. .

  In the said embodiment, since the needle | mover 3 is conveyed in the state which supported the goods P in proximity | contact, the needle | mover 3 can be conveyed in the state which hold | maintained the goods P firmly. This prevents the article P from being displaced on the conveyance unit 32 during the conveyance of the article P, and causes the article P to hurt due to the article P contacting the outer wall or the like of the linear conveyor 10 during the conveyance. Can be prevented.

  In the above embodiment, since the rotating body 81 is disposed on both sides in the left-right direction Z of the article transport path R, the article P can be rotated while supporting both ends in the longitudinal direction of the article P. Therefore, the posture changing unit 8 of the above embodiment can stably change the posture of the article P.

  In the above embodiment, the rotating body 81 is installed so that the end surface of the plate-like portion 812 is at the same height as the upper surface of the transport base 321 of the mover 3 in the normal state. Specifically, the rotating body 81 is installed so that the front end surface 8121 and the rear end surface 8122 of the plate-like portion 812 are at the same height as the upper surface of the transport base 321 in the normal state. Thus, since the rotating body 81 is arrange | positioned without a level | step difference with respect to the needle | mover 3 in a normal state, it can receive the articles | goods P from the needle | mover 3 smoothly.

  In addition, the goods conveyance apparatus 1 of this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Of course, it can add various changes within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

  Although the partition part 322 demonstrated the case where the partition part 322 had the front partition part 322a and the back partition part 322b in the said embodiment, it is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 15, one partition 322 may be provided. Further, the front base 321a and the rear base 321b may be configured as in the above-described embodiment by cutting out the material located in the central portion of the partition 322, and the transport unit 32 may be measured.

  Various shapes can be employed for the front base 321a and the rear base 321b. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the front base 321a may be extended from the center part of the front partition part 322a, and the rear base 321b may be extended from both ends of the rear partition part 322b at intervals. As shown in FIG. 17, the front base 321a may be extended from one side in the left-right direction Z, and the rear base 321b may be extended from the other side in the left-right direction Z. Thereby, since the conveyance base 321 of the rear movable element 3 and the conveyance base 3 of the front movable element 3 are positioned so as to be fitted with a gap, the adjacent movable elements 3 can be brought closer to each other. Even a thin article P can be accurately positioned at the article delivery position T.

  In the said embodiment, although the substantially rectangular parallelepiped package packed in the packaging bag in the state in which the PTP sheet | seat was piled up 10 steps was illustrated as the goods P, it is not limited to this. The mover 3 can carry various articles P. Moreover, although the case where the substantially rectangular parallelepiped goods P were conveyed as the goods P was demonstrated, it is not limited to this. The mover 3 can carry articles P having various shapes. For example, the shape of the container P having a curved surface, a cylinder, a prism, or the like that can be transported is not limited.

  In the above-described embodiment, the article transport apparatus 1 has been described with respect to the case where the article P is transported so that the short direction of the article P and the transport direction of the article P are parallel, but the present invention is not limited to this. The article conveyance device 1 may convey the article P such that the longitudinal direction of the article P and the conveyance direction of the article P are parallel to each other. Then, by changing the posture of the article P by the posture changing unit 8, the end in the longitudinal direction of the article P may be a bottom surface, and the article P may be delivered to the article storage unit 91.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the standard article P is conveyed has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The mover 3 may carry an irregular shaped article P. For example, as shown in FIG. 18, a bag filled with fluid contents such as mayonnaise, whipped cream, liquid, etc. is conveyed in an unfolded state, and is movable at the article delivery position T as shown in FIG. By narrowing the distance between the children, the shape of the article P can be deformed so that the width in the front-rear direction X is narrowed. In this case, the article P after deformation is not limited to being gripped and transferred by the article moving unit 92. The article P may be moved directly to the article storage unit 91 by a pusher or the like as the article moving unit 92. Thus, even if the article P is pushed out by a pusher or the like, the article P is positioned at the article delivery position T. Therefore, the article P hits the frame or the like of the article accommodating portion 91 and the movement leakage of the article P is caused. It can be prevented from occurring.

  In addition, when an irregularly shaped article P is transported, the distance between the movers may be changed so that the article P is positioned at the article delivery position T, and it may be changed at any position on the article transport path R. Good.

  In the above embodiment, the stator 6 side is the electromagnet EM and the mover 3 side is the permanent magnet PM. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The stator 6 side may be the permanent magnet PM, and the mover 3 side may be the electromagnet EM.

  In the said embodiment, although the linear conveyor 10 demonstrated the case where the four needle | mover 3 was made into 1 group and conveyed the three articles | goods P, it is not limited to this. The number of the movable elements 2 to be made into one group is not limited. For example, the linear conveyor 10 may convey four articles P with five movable elements 3 as one group. That is, the linear conveyor 10 can freely increase or decrease the number of movable elements 3 that form one group according to the number of articles P to be conveyed.

  In the embodiment described above, the distance between the movers at the article receiving position S is set to be wider than the distance between the movers at the article delivery position T, but the present invention is not limited to this. The distance between the movers at the article receiving position S may be set narrower than the distance between the movers at the article delivery position T. That is, the article transport apparatus 1 may receive the article P in a standing state and deliver it in a fallen state. In addition, when an irregularly shaped article P is conveyed, the article P having a narrow width in the front-rear direction X at the article receiving position S may be widened at the article delivery position T.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the rotating body 81 is disposed on both sides in the left-right direction Z of the article transport path R has been described. However, the rotating body 81 is disposed on one side in the left-right direction Z of the article transport path R. Also good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the rotating body 81 is described as being stopped in the normal state and switched to the normal state and the changed state by rotating in the changed state, but the present invention is not limited to this. The rotating body 81 may be continuously switched between the normal state and the changed state by rotating continuously without repeating the stop and rotation. Thereby, it is possible to follow a higher transport speed, and it is possible to transport more articles P in a shorter time.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where each movable element 3 conveys the article P in the proximity support state has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Each mover 3 is in a state in which the rear partition 322b of the mover 3 positioned in the front and the front partition 322a of the mover 3 positioned in the rear are set to be separated from the side surface of the article P. The article P may be conveyed in a separated support state. In short, it is only necessary that the article P can be conveyed by the adjacent movable element 3 and the article P can be positioned at the article delivery position T, and the mode during the conveyance of the article P is not particularly limited.

  In the above embodiment, the distance between the movers has been described with respect to the case where the distance is changed from the wide state to the narrow state in accordance with the posture change by the posture changing unit 8, but is not limited thereto. The article P only needs to be positioned at the article delivery position T, and the distance between the movers may be changed from the wide state to the narrow state at any position between the posture changing unit 8 and the article delivery position T. .

  Although not specifically mentioned in the above embodiment, the posture changing unit 8 may be housed below the transport unit 32 of the mover 3. That is, when an irregular shaped article P filled with fluid content is transported, the posture of the article P is not changed, so the article P may be transported in a state in which the posture changing unit 8 is stored. .

  In the above embodiment, the case where the control unit 4 is built in the base 5 of the main body unit 2 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The place where the control unit 4 is arranged is not particularly limited, and the control unit 4 may be built in the mover 3.

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the article P having a different size can be conveyed by adjusting the distance between the movable elements according to the size of the article P. However, the position of the partition portion 322 is changed on the conveyance base 321. Thus, articles P having different sizes can be transported.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Article conveying apparatus, 10 ... Linear conveyor, 2 ... Main-body part, 3 ... Movable element, 3A ... 1st movable element, 3B ... 2nd movable element, 3C ... 3rd movable element, 3D ... 4th movable element, 31 ... Movable body, 32, 32A, 32B, 32C, 32D ... Conveying section, 311 ... Placement section, 312 ... Opposing extension section, 313 ... Roller, 321 ... Conveyance base, 321a ... Front base (mounting extension section) , 321b ... rear base (mounting extension part), 322 ... partitioning part (upward extension part), 322a, 322aA, 322aB, 322aC, 322aD ... front partitioning part, 322b, 322bA, 322bB, 322bC, 322bD ... rear Partition part, 323 ... Fixed part, 3211, 3221 ... Long side, 3212, 3222 ... Short side, 4 ... Control part, 5 ... Base, 51 ... Center base, 52 ... Side base, 511 ... Base straight part, 521 ... Base Curved part, 6 ... Stator, 61 ... Stator straight part, 62 ... Stator curved part, 611 ... Upper stator straight part, 611a, 611b ... End, 7 ... Rail, 71 ... Rail straight part, 72 ... Rail Curved portion, 711 ... upper rail linear portion, 8 ... posture changing portion, 81 ... rotating body, 82 ... rotating shaft, 811 ... rotating shaft fixing portion, 812 ... plate-like portion, 812A ... first plate-like portion, 812B ... first Two plate-like portions, 812C ... third plate-like portion, 812D ... fourth plate-like portion, 8121, 8121A, 8121B, 8121C, 8121D ... front end surface, 8122, 8122A, 8122B, 8122C, 8122D ... rear end surface, 8123, 8123A , 8123B, 8123C, 8123D ... tip end surface, 90 ... article supply section, 91 ... article storage section, 92 ... article moving section, EM ... electromagnet, P ... article, P1 ... wide face, P2 ... narrow face, PM Permanent magnets, R ... article transport path, S ... article receiving position, T ... article delivery position, X ... front-rear direction, Y ... vertical direction, Z ... lateral direction

Claims (3)

A stator constituting an article transport path including an article receiving position for receiving an article from the previous process and an article delivery position for delivering the article to the next process;
A plurality of movers arranged in the front-rear direction in which the article transport path extends;
A linear conveyor having a control unit that moves the plurality of movers along the article conveyance path,
Each mover is configured to be capable of conveying an article together with the adjacent mover in a state where the article is disposed between adjacent movers located adjacent to each other.
The control unit changes a distance between movers, which is a distance between adjacent movers in the front-rear direction , from a distance between movers at the article receiving position so that the article is positioned at the article delivery position ,
Each mover includes a placement extension portion that extends toward the adjacent mover, and on which an article can be placed, and an upper extension portion that extends upward relative to the placement extension portion. And an upper extension part located on the base end side of the placement extension part . Mover distance in the article receiving position is wider than the movable element distance in the article transfer position, product transport apparatus according to claim 1. A posture changing unit for changing the posture of the article between the article receiving position and the article delivery position;
The posture changing unit changes the posture of the article conveyed by the adjacent mover from the upstream side of the posture changing unit by rotating the article around the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction and the vertical direction. Configured to
The said control part is an article conveyance apparatus of Claim 1 or 2 which changes the distance between movable elements between the said attitude | position change part and the said article delivery position.