JP7307329B2 - Carrier transfer device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrier transport device, and more particularly to a carrier transport device having a linear transport section and a non-linear transport section for transporting carriers along guides.

Conventionally, a carrier conveying device includes a carrier provided with a permanent magnet, a guide guide for guiding the movement of the carrier, a linear conveying section and a non-linear conveying section for conveying the carrier along the guide guide, and the linear conveying apparatus includes: The section is provided with an electromagnetic coil constituting a linear motor for conveying the carrier together with the permanent magnet of the carrier, and the nonlinear conveying section is provided with nonlinear conveying means for engaging with the carrier and conveying the carrier. A thing is known (patent document 1).
Since the carrier can be conveyed by the linear motor in the linear conveying section, the carrier can be conveyed while the position of the carrier is controlled with high accuracy by the linear motor.
On the other hand, since the carrier can be transported by the non-linear transport means in the non-linear transport section, the non-linear transport means, which is less expensive than the linear motor, can be employed, and the manufacturing cost of the entire apparatus can be reduced. can be done.

Japanese Patent No. 5365905

In the carrier conveying device having the above configuration, when it becomes necessary to arrange the carrier in the vertical direction, it is necessary to take care not to drop the carrier from the guiding guide. When the carrier is arranged horizontally, the guide can be configured by wheels provided on the carrier and rails provided on the fixed side, for example. will fall off the rail.
In order to prevent this, it is necessary to consider the configuration of the guide so that the carrier does not drop out of the guide even if the carrier is arranged in the vertical direction, which has been a factor in increasing the cost.
In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides an inexpensive structure in which the carrier does not fall off from the guide even when the carrier is arranged in a vertical direction or in an oblique direction intersecting the horizontal direction. A carrier transport device is provided.

The invention according to claim 1 comprises a carrier provided with a permanent magnet, a guide guide for guiding movement of the carrier, and a linear transport section and a non-linear transport section for transporting the carrier along the guide guide. and an electromagnetic coil forming a linear motor for transporting the carrier together with the permanent magnet of the carrier is provided in the linear transport section, and nonlinear transport means for engaging the carrier and transporting the carrier in the nonlinear transport section. In a carrier transport device provided with
In the linear conveying section, the carrier is conveyed while being held by the magnetic force of the electromagnetic coil. In the conveying section, the carrier is conveyed while being held by a magnetic body by magnetic force.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the carrier is conveyed while being attracted to the electromagnetic coil in the linear conveying section, and conveyed while being attracted to the magnetic body in the non-linear conveying section. It is possible to prevent the carriers from falling out of the guiding guides by means of magnetic force in each conveying section.
Further, since it is only necessary to provide a magnetic body in the non-linear transport section, it is possible to suppress the cost increase and to manufacture the carrier transport device at low cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The perspective view which shows 1st Example of this invention X direction arrow in Fig. 1 Sectional view of the non-linear transport section A in FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view similar to FIG. 2 showing a second embodiment of the present invention; The top view which showed the 3rd Example of this invention

The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In FIG. and a filling and capping/discharging section 6 for filling the container 3 supplied to the carrier 4 with a filling liquid, capping the container 3, and discharging the capped container 3 from the carrier 4. The carrier conveying device 1 can endlessly circulate and convey a plurality of carriers 4 between the component supply section 5 and the filling/plugging/discharging section 6 .

The carrier conveying device 1 includes a substantially elliptical guide 11 forming an endless conveying track, and a plurality of carriers 4 circulatingly conveyed along the guide 11 . The endless conveying track is divided into a linear conveying section A and a nonlinear conveying section B. The carrier 4 is conveyed in the linear conveying section A by a linear motor, which will be described later, and in the nonlinear conveying section B, nonlinear conveying. It is adapted to be transported by means 12 .

As shown in FIG. 3 , each carrier 4 includes a plate-like base member 15 arranged vertically, a fixed shaft 16 provided on the upper end surface of the base member 15 , and a lower end surface of the base member 15 . The fixed shaft 16 is rotatably provided with a roller 18 having a triangular cross-section with a pointed outer peripheral tip. rollers 19 are rotatably provided.
Two holders 20 are provided at the upper end of the upper fixed shaft 16 so that the container 3 can be supplied and held in each holder 20 .

The two lower rollers 19 abut on the lower guide surfaces 11a of the guides 11 to hold the plate-like base member 15 in a constant posture. The surface of the guide 11 faces the central guide surface 11b of the guide 11 with a required gap.
On the other hand, the roller 18 having a triangular cross section with a sharp outer periphery is engaged with a guide groove 11d having a triangular cross section formed in the upper guide surface 11c of the guide 11. As shown in FIG. The guide groove 11d is formed so as to extend endlessly along the conveying direction over the linear conveying section A and the non-linear conveying section B. As shown in FIG.
A permanent magnet 23 is provided on the base member 15, and a magnetic body 24 such as an iron plate is provided on the central guide surface 11b of the guide 11 in the non-linear transfer section B. As shown in FIG. As a result, the magnetic body 24 is attracted by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 23, and the roller 18 having a triangular cross section is held so as not to drop out of the guide groove 11d of the guide 11. As shown in FIG.

A fixed shaft 16 provided on the upper end of the base member 15 is provided with a flat plate-shaped drop-off prevention member 25. When the attractive force due to the magnetic force is canceled for some reason, the drop-off prevention member 25 is placed on the central guide surface. Care is taken to prevent the carrier 4 from falling out of the guide 11 by contacting the upper end surface of the guide 11b.
On the other hand, when the carrier 4 is attracted by the magnetic force, the roller 18 having a triangular cross-section is deeply engaged with the guide groove 11d having a triangular cross-section, so that the drop-off prevention member 25 is moved from the central guide surface 11b. A minute gap is formed between the two by slightly rising from the upper surface so that the carrier 4 can run along the guiding guide 11 without resistance.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the non-linear transport means 12 provided in the non-linear transport section B has an elliptical endless conveyor 31 inside the elliptical guide 11. The conveyor 31 Engagement members 32 are provided at equally spaced positions in the longitudinal direction to contact the carrier 4 and push the carrier 4 forward.
The upper and lower engaging members 32 are provided as one pair, and each pair of engaging members 32 can abut against the upper and lower portions of the carrier 4 on the rear side in the transport direction. 1 and 2, the carrier 4 having the configuration shown in FIG. 3 is shown in a simplified manner.
The conveyor 31 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 at a constant speed. can be conveyed counterclockwise in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the linear motor provided in the linear transfer section A has a large number of electromagnetic coils 33 provided on the central guide surface 11b of the guide 11. A linear motor is constituted by the permanent magnet 23.
The above-mentioned linear motor is already well-known in the prior art, and although a more specific configuration is omitted, the energization of the electromagnetic coils 33 is controlled by control means (not shown). By controlling the energization, the position and moving speed of each carrier 4 can be independently controlled.
The electromagnetic coils 33 are provided over the entire linear transfer section A, and both ends of the linear transfer section A and both ends of the non-linear transfer section B overlap each other. As a result, the carrier 4 can be transported from the linear transport section A to the non-linear transport section B and transported from the non-linear transport section B to the linear transport section A.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the continuous three carriers 4 each having an empty holder 20 are conveyed to the front surface of the component supply section 5 by the linear motor and positioned at the required positions. is stopped. In this state, each carrier 4 is attracted by the permanent magnet 23 and the electromagnetic coil 33 that constitute the linear motor, and is prevented from falling off the guide 11 .
When the three carriers 4 are stopped in front of the component supply section 5 , a robot (not shown) of the component supply section 5 supplies a total of six containers 3 into the holders 20 of the carriers 4 .
The carriers 4 supplied with the containers 3 are then conveyed to the front surface of the filling/plugging/discharging section 6 by the linear motors, positioned at the required positions, and stopped.
In this state, a filler filling nozzle (not shown) of the filling and plugging/discharging section 6 is lowered and inserted into the empty container 3 to fill the container 3 with the filling liquid. When each container 3 is filled with a predetermined amount of filling liquid, the filling nozzle is raised, and then the opening of each container 3 is capped by a capper.

After that, when each container 3 is taken out from the holder 20 by a robot (not shown) of the filling/plugging/discharging section 6, the three carriers 4 are moved from the linear conveying section A to the entrance of the non-linear conveying section B by the linear motor. They are transported and stopped in their vicinity.
Of the three carriers 4, the leading carrier 4 is synchronized with the operation of the non-linear transport means 12, more specifically, synchronized with the operation of the engaging member 32 of the conveyor 31 that constitutes the non-linear transport means 12. 32, it is carried into the overlapping portion between the linear transfer section A and the non-linear transfer section B, and is stopped there.

In this state, when the engaging member 32 of the conveyor 31 comes into contact with the rear end surface of the leading carrier 4, the engaging member 32 advances the carrier 4 against the magnetic force of the electromagnetic coil 33, thereby moving the carrier 4 forward. It is moved from the electromagnetic coil 33 to the magnetic body 24 in the non-linear transfer section B. At this time, the carrier 4 is attracted and held by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 23 provided on the carrier 4 and the magnetic body 24, so that the carrier 4 does not come off the guide 11. FIG.
When the leading carrier 4 is carried out from the overlapping portion, the second carrier 4 is carried into the overlapping portion in synchronization with the operation of the first engaging member 32 that advances the leading carrier 4 . After that, when the second carrier 4 is carried out from the overlapping portion by the second engaging member 32 following the first engaging member 32, the third carrier 4 is similarly carried into the overlapping portion. It will be done.

When the leading carrier 4 is advanced by the engaging member 32 of the conveyor 31 and conveyed from the magnetic body 24 to the overlapping portion between the non-linear conveying section B and the linear conveying section A, the engaging member 32 moves along the conveyor 31. , separates from the rear end surface of the leading carrier 4 by arcuate motion of .
In this state, the leading carrier 4 is prevented from falling off the guide 11 by the linear motor. is carried out of the overlapped portion by
Similarly, when the following two carriers 4 are successively carried out from the overlapped portion, the preceding three carriers 4 are changed according to the conditions of the preceding three carriers 4 supplied to the component supply section 5. After being discharged from the parts supply unit 5, the parts are supplied to the parts supply unit 5 again.
Thereafter, the operations described above are repeated.

In this embodiment, in the linear transfer section A, the carrier 4 is transferred while being attracted to the electromagnetic coil 33, and in the non-linear transfer section B, the carrier 4 is transferred while being attracted to the magnetic body 24. , the carrier 4 can be prevented from falling off from the guiding guide 11 in each conveying section by the magnetic force.
Since the magnetic body 24 may be provided in the non-linear transfer section B, the carrier transfer apparatus 1 can be manufactured at low cost by suppressing the cost increase compared to the case where the electromagnetic coil 33 is provided in the entire section. becomes.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the magnetic body 24 of the first embodiment is omitted, and instead magnetic bodies are attached to the upper and lower engaging members 32 of the conveyor 31, respectively. 34 is provided. At this time, the magnetic body 34 may be provided as part of the engaging member 32 , or the entire engaging member 32 may be composed of the magnetic body 34 .
The rest of the configuration is similar to that of the first embodiment, and the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment.
In this embodiment, the permanent magnet 23 provided on the carrier 4 is magnetically attached to the magnetic body 34 of the engaging member 32, thereby preventing the nonlinear conveying means from falling off the guide 11. 12 will be transported.
Even in such a configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effect as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, three processing units 42, 43 and 44 are provided on the endless circulatory transfer track of the carrier. Of these three processing devices, one processing device 42 is a rotary processing device.
The processing devices 42 to 44 are, for example, container supply means for supplying containers to carriers, fillers for filling containers with filling liquid, cappers for capping containers filled with filling liquid, or capped containers. from the carrier, or any one or more of them.

Further, the carrier transport device 41 in this embodiment includes two linear transport sections A1 and A2 and two non-linear transport sections B1 and B2 connecting the two linear transport sections A. As shown in FIG.
More specifically, the first linear transport section A1 is provided continuously over the two processing devices 42, 43, and the other second linear transport section A2 is provided in front of one processing device 44. . A first nonlinear transport section B1 is provided between the first linear transport section A1 and the second linear transport section A2, and a second nonlinear transport section is provided between the second linear transport section A2 and the first linear transport section A1. A section B2 is provided.
As in the first and second embodiments, linear motors are provided in the linear transfer sections A1 and A2, and the nonlinear transfer means shown in the first or second embodiment are provided in the nonlinear transfer sections B1 and B2. 12 is provided.
Also in the third embodiment having the above configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effects as in the first and second embodiments.

In addition, although the carrier 4 is arranged in the vertical direction in each of the above embodiments, it is not limited to this. Even if the carrier 4 is arranged in an oblique direction intersecting the horizontal direction or in a horizontal direction as necessary, the carrier 4 can be stably conveyed without falling off the guide 11 .
Further, in the above embodiment, the conveyor 31 is rotated at a constant speed, but it may be accelerated or decelerated in consideration of the position of the carrier 4 in the linear transfer section A, or may be temporarily stopped. Furthermore, the construction of the non-linear conveying means 12 is not limited to that of the above embodiment, and may be a rake conveying device or the like that performs linear reciprocating motion.
Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the carrier 4 is cyclically transported on an endless circulating orbit, but the invention is not limited to this. If necessary, the carrier 4 may be reciprocated on a reciprocating track.

Reference Signs List 1, 41 carrier conveying device 4 carrier 11 guide guide 12 nonlinear conveying means 15 base member 23 permanent magnet 24, 34 magnetic body 31 conveyor 32 engaging member 33 electromagnetic coil A, A1, A2 linear conveying section B, B1, B2 nonlinear conveying section

Claims (4)

a carrier provided with a permanent magnet; a guide guide for guiding movement of the carrier; a linear transport section and a non-linear transport section for transporting the carrier along the guide guide; A carrier conveying device provided with an electromagnetic coil constituting a linear motor that conveys the carrier together with a magnet, and a non-linear conveying means that engages with the carrier to convey the carrier in the non-linear conveying section,
In the linear conveying section, the carrier is conveyed while being held by the magnetic force of the electromagnetic coil. A carrier conveying apparatus, wherein the carrier is conveyed in a conveying section in a state in which the carrier is magnetically held by a magnetic body. 2. The carrier conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the permanent magnet of the carrier and the electromagnetic coil are magnetically attached in a substantially vertical plane. 3. The carrier transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic body is provided over the non-linear transport section. The non-linear conveying means includes an endless conveyor provided over a non-linear conveying section, and engaging members provided at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor for contacting and conveying the carrier. 3. The carrier transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said magnetic body is provided on said engaging member.

Images