JP6439312B2 - Article transfer device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transfer device for delivering a large number of articles accommodated in a tray or the like to another place.

  For example, a transfer device using vacuum suction is known as an unloader that takes out a retort pouch processed in a retort pot from a tray and moves it to the next step. However, in the method using vacuum suction, a part of the retort pouch may be left in the tray due to a take-out error. Therefore, conventionally, the tray after unloading is reversed using a reversing device, and the retort pouch remaining in the tray is collected (Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-132553 A

  However, the mechanism for reversing the tray and the driving mechanism thereof are complicated, and it is difficult to handle the cleaning work. For this reason, problems such as maintenance costs, operation costs, and contamination of handled articles occur. In particular, when the article to be handled is composed only of a curved surface with a small radius of curvature, such as fish sausage (bar-shaped article), it is difficult to use an unloader that utilizes vacuum suction. Development is desired.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a transfer device that can transfer a large number of articles in a lump without scattering them, and that has a low possibility of contamination of the articles and is low in maintenance and operating costs.

An article transfer device according to the present invention includes a pair of base members provided so as to be movable in a direction approaching and separating from each other and a vertical direction, base member moving means for moving the pair of base members, and an article support surface. A pair of scooping guides, each of which is formed of a plate-like member and pivotally supported by each base member on the rear edge side of the article support surface and swingable with respect to each base member, and the pair of scooping guides are swung. An initial stage in which the pair of article support surfaces face each other with a predetermined distance therebetween by controlling the scooping guide swinging means to be moved, the base member moving means and the scooping guide swinging means. Control means for changing from a posture to a support posture in which each article support surface faces upward and the front edges of each article support surface are abutted, and the control means includes: The serial said article supporting surface which is the initial position, in a state in which the were spaced intervals corresponding to the pair of side walls of the accommodation recess accommodating a plurality of articles in a region surrounded by a pair of side walls and a bottom surface that faces, each article the front edge of the support surface, along the inner wall of each side wall of the housing recess is lowered to reach the vicinity of the bottom surface, then the said supporting position while the leading edge is moved along the bottom surface of each article supporting surfaces By changing, the articles accommodated in the accommodation recess are collectively scooped onto the article support surface.

It is preferable that the article is a plurality of rod-like articles, and is accommodated in the accommodating recess in a state where the longitudinal direction of each article is lying along the side wall .

  The scooping guide is provided so as to intersect the article support surface from the front edge to the rear edge of the article support surface, and has a fall prevention surface that prevents the article from falling from the article support surface in a support posture. It is preferable.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a transfer apparatus that can transfer a large number of articles in a lump without scattering them, and has low possibility of contamination of articles and low maintenance and operating costs.

It is a partial perspective view of the conveyance system using the transfer apparatus of one Embodiment of this invention. It is an expansion perspective view of the transfer apparatus of FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the start state of scooping operation | movement. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state immediately after the scooping of the article | item on a tray is started by scooping operation | movement. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which about half of the articles | goods on a tray were scooped up by scooping operation | movement. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state by which all the articles | goods on a tray were scooped up by scooping operation | movement. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state by which the 2nd conveyor was lowered | hung to the tray conveyance position. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state by which the workpiece | work discharge conveyor was extended to the receiving position.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a transfer system using a transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, only the drive system on one side of the transfer device is depicted.

  The transport system 10 of this embodiment includes a tray transport conveyor 11 and a work discharge conveyor 12. Between the tray transfer conveyor 11 and the workpiece discharge conveyor 12, a transfer device 13 according to the present embodiment for delivering the article A between both conveyors is provided. The conveyance surface of the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 is arranged at a position higher than the conveyance surface of the tray conveyance conveyor 11, and both the conveyors 11 and 12 are arranged so that the conveyance directions are orthogonal to each other.

  The tray conveyor 11 includes three roller conveyors, for example, a first conveyor 11A, a second conveyor 11B, and a third conveyor 11C that can be individually driven and controlled. In the present embodiment, the first to third conveyors 11A to 11C are linearly arranged in this order along the X-axis direction. The tray conveyance conveyor 11 is a conveyor that conveys a tray (accommodation recess) 14 in which a large number of articles A are accommodated, and the tray 14 is conveyed in the X-axis direction (horizontal direction) in the drawing.

  The article A stored in the tray 14 is, for example, a fish sausage (bar-shaped article), and a retort pot (not shown), for example, is connected to the upstream side of the first conveyor 11A, and the first conveyor 11A is boiled with a retort pot. The tray 14 containing the raised fish sausage A is conveyed from the retort pot to the second conveyor 11B. On the other hand, the entire second conveyor 11B is supported by an elevating part 15A of a lifter 15 (broken line), and can be raised and lowered, for example, along the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) in the figure. When the real tray 14 spread out is supplied, the tray 14 is raised to the pick-up position. Then, as will be described later, all articles A in the tray 14 are collectively delivered to the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 by the transfer device 13 using the scooping guide 13G.

  When the tray 14 is emptied, the lifter 15 is lowered, and the emptied tray 14 is sent to the upstream side of the first conveyor 11A via the third conveyor 11C. FIG. 1 shows an empty tray 14 placed on the second conveyor 11B lowered to the same height (tray transport position) as the first and third conveyors 11A and 11C. Above, the empty tray 14 moved on the conveyor for reference is drawn in broken lines.

  The workpiece discharge conveyor 12 is, for example, a belt conveyor that conveys the article A in the Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X and Z-axis directions, and its upstream end 12E can advance and retreat along the Y-axis. When the tray 14 on the second conveyor 11B is lifted by the lifter 15, the upstream end 12E is moved to the downstream side in the transport direction (Y-axis direction), and the second conveyor 11B is at the retracted position indicated by the broken line in the figure. Be placed. That is, when the second conveyor 11B is retracted, the transfer device 13 can scoop up the article A from the actual tray 14 that is lifted by the lifter 15 and disposed at the pick-up position using the guide 13G.

  When the articles A on the tray 14 are all scooped by the scooping guide 13G, the second conveyor 11B on which the empty tray 14 is placed is lowered by the lifter 15. Then, the upstream end 12E extends toward the upstream side in the transport direction, and the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 is disposed at the receiving position indicated by the solid line in the drawing. That is, the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 is disposed below the transfer device 13 and above the second conveyor 11B. Thereafter, as will be described later, the article A held by the transfer device 13 is lowered onto the workpiece discharge conveyor 12, and the article A is conveyed in the Y-axis direction by the workpiece discharge conveyor 12, and discharged to, for example, a caser (not shown). Is done.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the more detailed structure of the transfer apparatus 13 of this embodiment is demonstrated. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the transfer device 13 of FIG.

  The transfer device 13 is substantially symmetrical with respect to the ZY plane, and scoops up articles on the tray 14 from both sides using a pair of scooping guides 13G arranged symmetrically. In the tray 14 of the present embodiment, the housing recess is formed by surrounding the four sides of the bottom surface 14B made of a rectangular plate with the side wall 14S. The housing recess is divided into, for example, four areas in the Y-axis direction by three crosspieces 14R, and rod-shaped articles A that are fish sausages are spread on the bottom surface 14B of each area. In this embodiment, the rod-shaped article A is placed in each area so that its longitudinal direction is parallel to the pair of side walls 14S perpendicular to the crosspieces 14R, and is laid in a row along the crosspieces 14R. The scooping guide 13G includes four pairs of small guides 16 corresponding to four areas. Each small guide 16 includes a substantially rectangular plate-shaped article support surface 16B that supports the article A. Except for the front edge (tip) 16L that scoops up the article A, the article support surface 16B is surrounded by the side wall 16S at the rear edge (base end) 16T and the article A is prevented from falling or shifting. That is, the side wall 16S plays a role as an article fall prevention surface. 1 and 2, the driving mechanism for the scooping guide 13G on the near side is omitted, but it has the same configuration as the driving mechanism on the illustrated side.

  The four small guides 16 constituting the one-side scooping guide 13G are assembled together and supported by a guide base (base member) 18 via a swing shaft 17 along the Y axis. The guide base 18 is held up and down by the plate 19 via a pair of Z-axis direction rails 19 </ b> R extending in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction), and the plate 19 is fixed and held on the plate base 20. The plate base 20 includes a pair of X-axis direction sliders 20S. The X-axis direction slider 20S is provided on a fixed frame (base) 21 and is connected to a pair of X-axis direction rails 21R extending in the X-axis direction. It is slidably engaged.

  The plate base 20 incorporates a horizontal drive motor (not shown). The scooping guide 13G, the guide base 18, and the plate 19 are integrated with the scooping guide 13G, the guide base 18, and the plate 19 along the X axis along the X axis. It can move horizontally. A lifting motor 22 is provided on the upper portion of the plate 19, and the lifting motor 22 is connected to the guide base 18 via a crank mechanism 23. That is, when the lifting motor 22 is rotated, the guide base 18 is lifted and lowered along the Z-axis direction rail 19R integrally with the scooping guide 13G.

  A link mechanism 25 driven by a swing motor 24 is connected to the swing shaft 17, and the swing shaft 17 is rotated in conjunction with the rotation of the swing motor 24. As a result, the scooping guide 13 </ b> G configured integrally with the swing shaft 17 is swung around the swing shaft 17. The swing motor 24 is fixed to the guide base 18 and is moved up and down integrally with the guide base 18.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in the drawing, an opening 19A is provided between the Z-axis rails 19R at the approximate center of the plate 19. An opening 18 </ b> A is provided at a position overlapping the opening 19 </ b> A of the guide base 18. The swing motor 24 is disposed on the opposite side of the guide base 18 with respect to the scooping guide 13G, and the link mechanism 25 connects the swing motor 24 and the swing shaft 17 through the openings 18A and 19A. Further, a horizontal drive motor (not shown) built in the plate base 20, a lifting motor 22, a swinging motor 24, and a drive mechanism (not shown) for moving the lifter 15 and the upstream end 12E of the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 forward and backward. ) Is driven in conjunction with a control unit (not shown), and the transfer operation of the article A from the tray transfer conveyor 11 to the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 described below is executed.

  3 to 8 are schematic diagrams showing each step of the transfer operation of the present embodiment. Hereinafter, an article transfer operation using the transfer apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 8.

  FIG. 3 shows a state in which the upstream end 12E of the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 is retracted to the retracted position, and the actual tray 14 on the second conveyor 11B is raised to the picking position by the lifter 15. The left and right small guides 16 (the scooping guides 13G) are directed vertically downward by the swing motor 24, and the article support surfaces 16B of the small guides 16 (the scooping guides 13G) are separated by a predetermined distance (for example, the distance between the side walls 14S of the tray 14). ) And face each other (initial posture). That is, the position of the guide base 18 in the X-axis direction is adjusted so that the front edge 16L of the small guide 16 (the front edge of the scooping guide 13G) is along the inner wall of the pair of side walls 14S (outer frame) facing each other. Has been. Thereafter, the elevating motor 22 is driven, the small guide 16 (the scooping guide 13G) is lowered, and the front edge 16L (the scooping) of the small guide 16 is placed between the side wall 14S of the tray 14 and the article A arranged on the tray 14. The guide 13G is inserted until the front edge) reaches the vicinity of the bottom surface 14B of the tray 14.

  Here, “in the vicinity of the bottom surface 14B” satisfies 0 ≦ L / H ≦ 1/2 when the height of the article A lying on the bottom surface 14B is H and the distance from the bottom surface 14B is L. The range of the distance L (including the case where the leading edge 16L contacts the bottom surface 14B). For example, when the cross-sectional shape of the article A is circular like a fish sausage, “the vicinity of the bottom surface 14 </ b> B” is up to half the diameter. However, in the case of a circular cross section, when the front edge 16L is inserted to a height of 1/3 of the diameter, the front edge 16L of the small guide 16 does not contact the bottom surface 14B of the tray 14, and the article A is picked up more reliably. Can do. Moreover, when the cross-sectional shape of the article A is a quadrangle, it is preferable that the same effect can be obtained by inserting the front edge 16L up to ¼ of the height of the article A.

  In the scooping guide 13G, the left and right small guides 16 are integrally operated. Therefore, in the following description of the operations in FIGS. 4 to 8, the operation of the small guide 16 is substantially the same as the operation of the scooping guide 13G. . Therefore, in the following description, only the operation of the small guide 16 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the small guides 16 are rotated inwardly around the swing shaft 17 while the left and right guide bases 18 are expanded left and right along the X-axis direction. Then, the guide base 18 is further lowered so that the small guide front edge 16L maintains a certain distance from the bottom surface 14B of the tray 14. Thereby, the articles A arranged on the tray 14 are scooped up by the small guide 16 from the side wall 14S side of the tray 14. As shown in FIG. 5, the left and right guide bases 18 are further lowered, and the small guide 16 is further rotated around the swing shaft 17 and moved in the X-axis direction toward the inner side of the tray 14. The arranged articles A are scooped up sequentially from the outer frame (side wall 14S) side of the tray 14. In this operation, as shown in FIG. 6, the front edges 16 </ b> L of the left and right small guides 16 are brought together at the center of the tray 14 (supporting posture), and all articles A on the tray 14 are scooped up by the left and right small guides 16. It continues until it is done. During this time, each drive unit is controlled so that the front edge 16L of the small guide 16 maintains a predetermined distance from the bottom surface 14B of the tray 14 and the small guide 16 does not hit the side wall 14S of the tray 14.

  When scooping up of the articles from the tray 14 by the small guide 16 is completed, the tray 14 emptied by the lifter 15 is lowered to the tray conveying position together with the second conveyor 11B as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the upstream end 12 </ b> E of the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 is extended from the retracted position to the receiving position, and the conveyance surface of the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 is disposed immediately below the small guide 16. 7 and 8, for convenience of explanation, the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 is drawn along the X axis, but the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 is arranged along the Y axis. This corresponds to the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIGS.

  Thereafter, each drive unit of the transfer device 13 operates the small guide 16 (in the order of FIGS. 6 to 3) in reverse to the scooping operation of the article A described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6. The articles A that have been discharged are sequentially discharged onto the transport surface of the workpiece discharge conveyor 12. When the small guide 16 returns to the state shown in FIG. 3, the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 is driven, and the article A discharged to the workpiece discharge conveyor 12 is conveyed and discharged in the Y-axis direction of FIG. The upstream end 12E of 12 is returned to the retracted position. During this period, the empty tray 14 is discharged to the third conveyor 11C from the second conveyor 11B lowered to the tray conveying position, and a new actual tray 14 on which the articles A are spread is received from the first conveyor 11A. .

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a large number of rod-shaped articles laid out in the tray in the same direction are scooped up from both sides by flat plate-shaped small guides (skim-up guides). By operating the guide, the articles are discharged onto the workpiece discharge conveyor, and the articles can be transferred together without being scattered. Further, since only the plate-shaped scooping guide that is away from the drive system touches the article, the cleaning is easy, and the possibility of contamination of the article is low, and maintenance costs and operating costs can be suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, a fish sausage has been described as an example as an article, but the article to be conveyed is not limited to a fish sausage.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Conveyance System 11 Tray Conveyor 11A 1st Conveyor 11B 2nd Conveyor 11C 3rd Conveyor 12 Work Discharge Conveyor 12E Upstream End 13 Transfer Device 13G Scooping Guide 14 Tray 15 Lifter 16 Small Guide 17 Oscillating Shaft 18 Guide Base ( Base member)
19 Plate 19R Z axis direction rail 20 Plate base 20S X axis direction slider 21 Fixed frame 21R X axis direction rail 22 Lifting motor 23 Crank mechanism 24 Oscillating motor 25 Link mechanism A Article (fish sausage)

Claims (3)

A pair of base members provided so as to be movable toward and away from each other and in the vertical direction;
Base member moving means for moving the pair of base members;
A pair of scooping guides comprising a plate-like member having an article support surface, and pivotally supported by each base member on the rear edge side of the article support surface and swingable with respect to each base member;
Scooping guide swinging means for swinging the pair of scooping guides;
The base member moving means and the scooping guide rocking means are controlled so that the pair of article support surfaces are positioned upward from an initial posture in which the article support surfaces face each other with a predetermined distance therebetween. And a control means for changing to a support posture in which the front edges of each article support surface face each other,
The control means separates the article support surface in the initial posture at an interval corresponding to the pair of side walls of the housing recess that accommodates a plurality of articles in a region surrounded by a pair of opposed side walls and a bottom surface . state, the leading edge of each article support surface, the is lowered until it reaches the vicinity of the bottom surface along the inner wall of each side wall of the accommodation recess, then, to move the leading edge of each article support surface along said bottom surface However, by changing to the support posture, the articles accommodated in the accommodation recess are collectively scooped onto the article support surface.   The article transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the article is a plurality of rod-shaped articles, and the article is accommodated in the accommodation recess in a state where the longitudinal direction of each article is lying along the side wall. The scooping guide is
It has a fall prevention surface that is provided so as to intersect the article support surface from the front edge to the rear edge of the article support surface, and prevents the article from falling from the article support surface in the support posture. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

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