JP7128583B2 - Pallet carrier - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a conveying device that sequentially conveys a plurality of pallets along rails to the next station.

For example, after manufacturing an oil pump for supplying oil to an automobile engine or transmission, it is checked whether it functions normally. The oil pump inspection device disclosed in Patent Document 1 below couples the inner rotor of an oil pump set on a pallet to a rotating shaft of a driving device so that torque can be transmitted. It inspects the performance of the pump.

JP 2013-204571 A

In the above oil inspection device, inspection is performed using one pallet. In this case, the next workpiece cannot be set on the pallet until the inspected workpiece is unloaded from the pallet, resulting in poor work efficiency.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a loading station S1, an inspection station S2, and an unloading station S3 are provided, and if a plurality of pallets P1 and P2 are sequentially transported along the rail L, the workpieces are inspected at the inspection station S2. Since the next workpiece can be set at the carry-in station S1 while the inspection is being carried out, the inspection efficiency can be improved.

In this case, the pallet must be precisely positioned in the inspection station. For example, it is conceivable that the pallet is automatically transported by a motor and the pallet is stopped at a predetermined position in the inspection station using a sensor. However, the use of motors and sensors in this way increases the cost, and in automatic transportation using motors, the transportation speed cannot be so high from the viewpoint of safety. will decline.

Therefore, if a plurality of pallets are manually pushed to the downstream side at once and conveyed, the pallets can be conveyed more quickly than the case of automatic conveyance by a motor, thereby improving work efficiency. In this case, the inspection station must be provided with a positioning mechanism for positioning the pallet at a predetermined position. Therefore, when the inspection is completed, the pallet positioning mechanism of the inspection station is released, the pallet is transported to the unloading station, the pallet of the loading station on which the next work is set is transported into the inspection station, and this pallet is positioned. It is necessary to position with a mechanism. As described above, the increase in the number of transportation procedures results in a decrease in work efficiency and an increase in production cost.

The above-described problems are not limited to the transportation of pallets in the oil pump inspection process, but similarly occur when a plurality of pallets are manually transported to the next station along the rails.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to increase productivity and reduce costs by reducing the number of procedures for sequentially transporting a plurality of pallets manually.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a first station and a second station adjacent to the downstream side of the first station and provided with restricting means for restricting downstream movement of pallets at a predetermined position. , and a third station adjacent to the downstream side of the second station, a pallet conveying apparatus for sequentially conveying a first pallet and a second pallet along a rail to a station downstream of the second pallet. To provide a pallet conveying device in which a regulating means for regulating sideward movement is released by a first pallet conveyed from a first station by an operator's hand.

According to this pallet conveying apparatus, the regulating means for regulating the downstream movement of the second pallet arranged at the second station by the first pallet conveyed from the first station by the operator's hand is provided. While releasing, the first pallet can push the second pallet downstream and convey it to the respective next station. As a result, both pallets can be sequentially conveyed to the next station simply by pushing the first pallet downstream by hand.

In the pallet conveying apparatus described above, the second pallet is conveyed from the second station to the third station only by the pushing force of the first pallet, so there is a possibility that the second pallet will not reach the predetermined position of the third station.

Therefore, the third station includes a traveling body movable in the conveying direction of each pallet, an engaging means for engaging the traveling body with each pallet from the upstream side, and an urging means for urging the traveling body downstream. and a traveling object restricting means for restricting movement of the traveling object to the downstream side, and the traveling object restricting means is released by the second pallet conveyed from the second station to the third station. It is preferable to In this case, when the second pallet releases the traveling object restricting means, the traveling object travels downstream by the biasing force of the biasing means while being engaged with the second pallet by the engaging means. can be transported to a predetermined position in the third station. As a result, even after the pushing force of the first pallet disappears, the second pallet is engaged with the traveling body traveling downstream and pulled downstream, thereby ensuring that the second pallet reaches the predetermined position of the third station. can be transported to

As described above, according to the pallet conveying apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of pallets can be sequentially conveyed to the next station with a small number of procedures, so productivity can be improved and costs can be reduced.

It is a front view of an oil pump inspection device. It is a front view which shows the conveyance procedure of the pallet of the said oil pump inspection apparatus. It is a front view which shows the conveyance procedure of the pallet of the said oil pump inspection apparatus. It is a front view which shows the conveyance procedure of the pallet of the said oil pump inspection apparatus. It is a front view which shows the conveyance procedure of the pallet of the said oil pump inspection apparatus. It is a front view which shows the conveyance procedure of the pallet of the said oil pump inspection apparatus. FIG. 4 is a plan view of first and second pallets; FIG. 8 is a side view of the restricting means viewed from the direction of arrow X in FIG. 7; It is the front view which looked at FIG. 7 from the arrow Y direction. It is a top view which shows the state which made the 1st and 2nd pallets contact|abut. FIG. 11 is a side view seen from the ZZ line in FIG. 10 in the direction of the arrow; FIG. 4 is a front view of the retraction mechanism; It is a front view which shows the procedure which pulls in a pallet by the said retraction mechanism to a downstream. It is a front view which shows the procedure which pulls in a pallet by the said retraction mechanism to a downstream. It is a front view which shows the procedure which pulls in a pallet by the said retraction mechanism to a downstream. FIG. 4 is a front view showing how the traveling body of the retraction mechanism is disengaged from the pallet returned upstream.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The oil pump inspection apparatus shown in FIG. and an unloading station S3 as a station. The inspection station S2 has a standby area S21 provided between the loading station S1 and the unloading station, and an inspection area S22 provided above the standby area S21. In this oil pump inspection apparatus, two pallets (a first pallet P1 and a second pallet P2) are used to sequentially convey works (oil pumps). The procedure for conveying workpieces and pallets will be described below.

First, in the state shown in FIG. 1, the first pallet P1 on which the pre-inspected work W1 is set is placed in the carry-in station S1, and the post-inspection work W2 is set in the waiting area S21 of the inspection station S2. 2 pallets P2 are arranged.

From this state, as shown in FIG. 2, both pallets P1 and P2 are collectively conveyed downstream along the rail L by the operator's hand, and the first pallet P1 is placed in the standby area S21 of the inspection station S2. , the second pallet P2 is placed at the discharge station S3.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3, the first pallet P1 placed in the waiting area S21 of the inspection station S2 is lifted and placed in the inspection area S22. At this time, the first pallet P1 and the work W2 are placed in the inspection area S22 by raising the first elevating rail L1 forming part of the rail L together with the first pallet P1. At the same time, the second elevating rail L2 provided below the first elevating rail L1 is raised, and the second elevating rail L2 is arranged in place of the first elevating rail L1, thereby making the rail L continuous.

In the inspection area S22, while the work W1 set on the first pallet P1 is being inspected, the work W2 is unloaded from the second pallet P2 arranged at the unloading station S3 (see FIG. 4), and is empty. The second pallet P2, which has become full, is returned to the carry-in station S1 along the rail L (see FIG. 5), and a new work W3 is set on the second pallet P2 placed at the carry-in station S1 (see FIG. 6). The return of the empty second pallet P2 is automatically performed by a motor, for example. When the inspection of the work W1 in the inspection area S22 is completed, the second elevating rail L2 is lowered, and the first pallet P1 is lowered together with the first elevating rail L1 and placed in the standby area S21 (similar to FIG. 1). state). By repeating the above steps, the workpieces are inspected sequentially.

Among the above steps, the pallet conveying apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied to the step of collectively conveying the pallets P1 and P2 from the state shown in FIG. 1 to the state shown in FIG. The procedure for transporting pallets by this pallet transporting device will be described in detail below. In the following description, the conveying direction of the pallets P1 and P2 (horizontal direction in FIG. 1) is referred to as "pallet conveying direction", and the horizontal direction perpendicular to the pallet conveying direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1) is referred to as " pallet width direction".

As shown in FIG. 7, first dogs P11 and P21 protruding outward in the pallet width direction (downward in the drawing) from the pallet body are provided near the upstream (right in the drawing) end of each of the pallets P1 and P2. . Further, second dogs P12, P22 projecting downstream from the pallet main body are provided near the downstream (left side in the drawing) end of each of the pallets P1, P2.

The waiting area S21 of the inspection station S2 is provided with a first restricting means 10 that restricts movement of the pallets P1 and P2 to the downstream side. The first restricting means 10 of the present embodiment is provided at a position where it can be engaged from the downstream side with the first dogs P11 and P21 of the pallets P1 and P2 arranged in the standby area S21. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the first regulating means 10 has a locking portion 11 and an elevating means for lowering the locking portion 11 in cooperation with the pallets P1 and P2. In the illustrated example, a base 13 having a rotation shaft 12 in the pallet conveying direction and a roller 15 rotatably attached to the base 13 via a rotation shaft 14 in the width direction of the pallet are provided as lifting means, A locking portion 11 is provided so as to protrude upward from the base portion 13 . The second dogs P12, P22 of the pallets P1, P2 push down the rollers 15 to rotate the base 13, thereby lowering the engaging portion 11 (see FIG. 11). The base 13 is rotatable clockwise from the initial position shown in FIG. 8, and is provided with restoring means for biasing the base 13 counterclockwise to return it to the initial position.

Also, in the waiting area S21 of the inspection station S2, a second restricting means 20 is provided to restrict the movement of the pallets P1 and P2 to the upstream side (see FIG. 7). The second restricting means 20 of the present embodiment is provided at a position where it can be engaged with the second dogs P12, P22 of the pallets P1, P2 from the upstream side. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the second restricting means 20 has a locking member 22 having a rotating shaft 21 extending in the width direction of the pallet. The locking member 22 is rotatable counterclockwise from the initial position shown in FIG. 9, and is provided with restoring means for biasing the locking member 22 clockwise to return it to the initial position.

As shown by the arrow in FIG. 7, the operator manually conveys the first pallet P1 of the loading station S1 downstream, and as shown in FIG. It is brought into contact with the arranged second pallet P2. At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the second dog P12 of the first pallet P1 slips under the second pallet P2 and pushes down the roller 15 of the first restricting means 10, thereby rotating the base 13 around the rotating shaft 12. rotates. As a result, the locking portion 11 is arranged at a position (in the illustrated example, below the first dog P21) where it does not engage with the first dog P21 of the second pallet P2, thereby allowing the locking portion 11 and the second pallet to The engagement with P2 is released.

In this state, by manually conveying the first pallet P1 further downstream, both pallets P1 and P2 are collectively conveyed downstream while the first pallet P1 pushes out the second pallet P2. Then, when the second dog P12 of the first pallet P1 gets over the roller 15 of the first restricting means 10, the first restricting means 10 is returned to the initial position shown in FIG. 8 by the restoring means. Then, the first dog P11 of the first pallet P1 engages with the locking portion 11 of the first restricting means 10 from the upstream side, thereby restricting the further downstream movement of the first pallet P1.

Further, by conveying the first pallet P1 downstream as described above, the second dog P12 of the first pallet P1 climbs over the locking member 22 of the second restricting means 20 . Specifically, the second dog P12 rotates the locking member 22 counterclockwise around the rotation shaft 21 and pushes it down as indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 9, and passes over it. Then, when the second dog P12 gets over the locking member 22, the restoring means restores the locking member 22 to the initial position indicated by the solid line in FIG. It is arranged at a position where it can be engaged with P12 from the upstream side. Immediately after this, the engaging portion 11 of the first restricting means 10 is engaged with the first dog P11, thereby restricting the movement of the first pallet P1 to the downstream side and the upstream side. It is positioned at a predetermined position on the rail L within the standby area S21.

According to the above method, the operator only needs to convey the first pallet P1 to the downstream side to release the first restricting means 10 that restricts the movement of the second pallet P2 to the downstream side, and the first pallet By pushing the second pallet P2 downstream at P1, both pallets P1 and P2 can be collectively conveyed downstream. Further, after conveying the second pallet P2 to the downstream side, the first restricting means 10 is returned to the initial position, thereby engaging the locking portion 11 of the first restricting means 10 with the first pallet P1, and the first A pallet P1 can be positioned at a predetermined location.

In addition, in this embodiment, the first restricting means 10 and the second restricting means 20 are attached to a lift (not shown) provided with the first lift rail L1. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when the first elevating rail L1 and the second elevating rail L2 are raised and lowered, the first restricting means 10 and the second restricting means 20 also ascend and descend together with them.

As described above, when the first pallet P1 engages with the engaging portion 11 of the first restricting means 10 and is restricted from moving downstream, the force for pushing the second pallet P2 downstream disappears. The two pallets P2 travel only by inertial force and are conveyed to the unloading station S3. In this case, there is a possibility that the second pallet P2 will not reach a predetermined position in the carry-out station S3. Therefore, in this embodiment, a retracting mechanism is provided to retract the second pallet P2 to a predetermined position of the unloading station S3 by mechanical means without using a separate driving means such as a motor. This retraction mechanism will be described in detail below.

As shown in FIG. 12, the retraction mechanism includes a traveling body 40 that can move in the pallet conveying direction (horizontal direction in the figure), biasing means 50 that urges the traveling body 40 downstream (left side in the figure), A traveling body restricting means 60 for restricting movement of the traveling body 40 to the downstream side and an engaging means 70 for engaging the traveling body 40 and the pallet are provided.

The traveling body 40 has a base 41 and a guide 42 fixed to the base 41 . A rail 44 extending in the pallet conveying direction is provided on the fixed frame 43, and the guide 42 is guided along the rail 44 so that the traveling body 40 can reciprocate in the pallet conveying direction.

The urging means 50 urges the traveling body 40 downstream using, for example, gravity. The biasing means 50 in the illustrated example has a weight 51, a string 52 connecting the weight 51 and the running body 40, and a pulley 53 around which the string 52 is wound. 40 is always urged downstream (left side in the drawing).

The traveling body restricting means 60 includes, for example, a first roller 61 as an abutting member provided on the traveling body 40, and a locking member 62 fixed to the fixed frame 43 and capable of being engaged with the first roller 61 from the downstream side. and releasing means for releasing the engagement between the first roller 61 and the locking member 62 . The releasing means is, for example, a mechanism that raises the first roller 61 in cooperation with the pallet. The releasing means of this embodiment includes a rotating shaft 63 in the pallet width direction provided on the traveling body 40, an arm 64 rotatable around the rotating shaft 63 and having a first roller 61 attached to one end thereof, and and a second roller 65 attached to the other end of the . The arm 64 is urged in a direction to lower the first roller 61 by an urging means such as a spring (not shown). be.

The engaging means 70 is provided with a third roller 71 as an engaging member provided on the traveling body 40 and a releasing means for releasing the engagement between the third roller 71 and the pallet. The releasing means is, for example, a mechanism that lowers the third roller 71 in cooperation with the cam 77 . The releasing means of this embodiment includes a rotating shaft 72 in the width direction of the pallet provided on the traveling body 40, an arm 73 rotatable around the rotating shaft 72, to which the third roller 71 is attached, and an end of the arm 73. and a fourth roller 74 attached to the portion. The arm 73 is biased by a spring 75 as biasing means in a direction to raise the third roller 71, and the third roller 71 is arranged at a predetermined height when the arm 73 comes into contact with a stopper (not shown). be. The cam 77 is provided at a predetermined position on the fixed frame 43, and is provided on the upstream side of the rail 44 in the illustrated example.

A procedure for drawing the second pallet P2 to a predetermined position of the unloading station S3 by the drawing mechanism will be described below.

First, when the second pallet P2 is pushed by the first pallet P1 and carried into the carry-out station S3, as shown in FIG. While pushing down the 3rd roller 71 of , it gets over this. At this time, the third dog P23 easily climbs over the third roller 71 because the lower surface of the third dog P23 is an inclined surface inclined upward toward the downstream side. When the third dog P23 gets over the third roller 71, the force of the spring 75 causes the arm 73 to rotate around the rotation shaft 72 to raise the third roller 71, and the arm 73 comes into contact with the stopper to move the third roller. 71 is arranged at a predetermined height. The first pallet P1 is also provided with a third dog similar to the above.

When the second pallet P2 is further conveyed downstream, the third dog P23 pushes down the second roller 65 of the traveling body restricting means 60, as shown in FIG. As a result, the arm 64 rotates around the rotation shaft 63 to raise the first roller 61, disengage the engagement between the first roller 61 and the locking member 62, and travel by the gravity of the weight 51 (see FIG. 12). Body 40 is pulled and begins to travel downstream. Then, the traveling body 40 travels downstream faster than the second pallet, and as shown in FIG. 15, the third roller 71 engages the third dog P23 from the upstream side. In this state, the traveling body 40 travels further downstream due to the biasing force of the biasing means 50, whereby the traveling body 40 and the second pallet P2 are conveyed downstream together, and the second pallet P2 reaches a predetermined position. be drawn in.

By providing the retraction mechanism as described above, the second pallet P2 can be reliably moved to a predetermined position in the unloading station S3 without requiring a separate driving means such as a motor even after the pushing force of the first pallet P1 is lost. can be drawn into

In the above retraction mechanism, until the second pallet P2 reaches the position where the traveling body 40 starts to travel downstream, that is, the position where the third dog P23 pushes down the second roller 65 (see FIG. 14). , the second pallet P2 is preferably pushed with the first pallet P1. In this case, the second pallet P2 pushed in by the first pallet P1 is reliably handed over to the retraction mechanism, so that the second pallet P2 can be retracted to the predetermined position more reliably. However, the retraction mechanism is not limited to this. P2 may be driven by inertia to reach the position where the second roller 65 is pushed down.

After the second pallet P2 is placed at the predetermined position of the unloading station S3, the work W2 on the second pallet P2 is unloaded while the work W1 on the first pallet P1 is being inspected (see FIG. 4). , the empty second pallet P2 is returned along the rail L to the carry-in station S1 (see FIG. 5).

At this time, as shown in FIG. 15, since the third dog P23 of the second pallet P2 is engaged with the third roller 71 from the downstream side (left side in the drawing), the driving force of the motor or the like is applied to the upstream side (the left side in the drawing). Along with the second pallet P2 returned to the middle right side), the traveling body 40 is also returned to the upstream side while resisting the gravity of the weight 51. Then, as shown in FIG. 16, when the fourth roller 74 is pushed downward by the cam 77, the arm 73 rotates around the rotation shaft 72 and the third roller 71 descends. As a result, the engagement between the third roller 71 and the third dog P23 is released (more specifically, the third dog P23 abuts above the center of rotation of the third roller 71), and the third dog P23 moves to the third position. While pushing down the roller 71 further, it climbs over to the upstream side. As a result, only the second pallet P2 is returned upstream, while the traveling body 40 is pulled downstream by the gravity of the weight 51 and conveyed downstream. Then, when the first roller 61 comes into contact with the locking member 62, the traveling body 40 stops and is arranged at the initial position shown in FIG.

The invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, two pallets P1 and P2 are transported on a line having three stations S1, S2 and S3, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a line having four or more stations or a line having four or more stations. , the present invention can also be applied when three or more pallets are conveyed.

In the above embodiment, the pallet conveying device of the present invention is applied to the oil pump inspection device, but the pallet conveying device of the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to other workpiece inspection devices, production lines, and the like. good too.

10 First Regulating Means 11 Locking Part 15 Roller 20 Second Regulating Means 22 Locking Member 40 Traveling Body 50 Biasing Means 51 Weight 60 Traveling Body Regulating Means 61 First Roller 62 Locking Member 70 Engaging Means 71 Third Roller 73 Arm 74 Fourth Roller 77 Cam L Rails P1, P2 Pallets P11, P21 First Dogs P12, P22 Second Dog P23 Third Dog S1 Loading Station (First Station)
S2 inspection station (second station)
S3 carry-out station (third station)
W1, W2 Work (oil pump)

Claims (2)

a first station, a second station adjacent to the downstream side of the first station and provided with restricting means for restricting movement of the pallet downstream at a predetermined position, and a third station adjacent to the downstream side of the second station. A pallet conveying device for sequentially conveying a first pallet and a second pallet along a rail between a station and a station on the downstream side,
The restricting means restricting the downstream movement of the second pallet is released by the first pallet conveyed from the first station by the operator ,
the restricting means has a locking portion and a lifting means for lifting and lowering the locking portion;
Each pallet has a pallet body on which a workpiece is mounted, a first dog projecting outward in the width direction from the pallet body, and a second dog projecting downstream from the pallet body,
A pallet conveying apparatus in which the first dog does not push down the lifting means, and the lifting means is pushed down only by the second dog . A third station includes a traveling body movable in the conveying direction of each pallet, engaging means for engaging the traveling body with each pallet from the upstream side, and urging means for urging the traveling body downstream. and a traveling body restricting means for regulating movement of the traveling body to the downstream side,
2. A pallet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said traveling body restricting means is released by the second pallet conveyed from the second station to the third station.

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