JPH02248B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a converting device for transferring articles conveyed by a conveyor to another sorting conveyor that intersects the articles so as to sort them.

Conventionally, various conversion devices have been proposed for sorting conveyors that sort articles such as cardboard boxes according to their purpose, such as the type of content or destination, and transfer the articles to another sorting conveyor that intersects with them for sorting. One such conversion device includes two rows of sorting cars spaced laterally at an angle to the conveying direction of the sorting conveyor relative to the conveying direction of the main conveyor. The angle of the cars on the downstream side is larger than the angle of the cars on the upstream side, so that these cars can protrude above the conveyor transport surface when necessary, and when the items to be sorted are being transported. 2. Description of the Related Art A conveyor conversion device is known in which a sorting wheel is projected upward to rotate articles and push the articles toward a sorting conveyor. However, such conveyor conversion devices have drawbacks such as being bulky and complicated in structure, prone to breakdowns, high manufacturing costs, and unsuitable for high-speed operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor conversion device that has a simple structure, can perform reliable sorting operations, is free from failures, and can be operated at high speeds, in order to eliminate these conventional drawbacks.

According to the invention, the conveyor conversion device includes a plurality of wheels arranged in a row at laterally spaced intervals and rotatably supported by U-shaped brackets at the intersection of the conveying surfaces of the intersecting conveyors. A U-shaped bracket is attached to the upper end, and a plurality of rotating shafts are supported so as to be able to slide vertically and freely rotate around the axis, a prime mover installed to move the rotating shafts up and down, and a rotating shaft. a cam member having a circumferentially inclined slot into which a transverse pin is engaged, the top of the wheel is normally in the same position as the conveyor transport surface, and the vertical center plane of the wheel is in the direction of transport; They are located in the same direction, and during sorting operation, the rotating shaft is lifted by the prime mover and protrudes above the conveyor conveying surface, and at the same time, it is rotated by the cam member, so that the vertical center plane of the wheel is tilted with respect to the conveying direction. ing.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description below, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the converting device of the present invention includes a sorting conveyor 2 which is disposed at an arbitrary angle, approximately perpendicular in the illustrated embodiment, to the main conveyor 1.
The main conveyor 1 is provided with a necessary number of converting devices 20 corresponding to the following. The conversion device 20 of the present invention includes a sorting conveyor 2 as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5.
It is preferable that the belt is provided at the bending portion 4 formed on the main conveyor 1 corresponding to the position of the belt conveyor, and if necessary, it can also be provided between two adjacent belt conveyors.

As shown in the figure, the converting device 20 of the present invention includes a plurality of grooved wheels 21 which are laterally spaced apart and supported in a vertically movable manner on the bent flexure 4 of the main conveyor 1. The bending part 4 of the main conveyor 1 is formed by bending the belt 7 in a loop shape as shown in the figure by means of intermediate rollers 5 and 6. The wheel 21 has a groove 22 formed therein as shown in the figure, and is driven by a round belt 23 being passed through the groove 22. A plurality of such grooved wheels 21, seven in the illustrated embodiment, are provided at horizontal intervals in the bent recess 4 of the main conveyor 1.
5 are rotatably supported. A rotation shaft 26 extending downward is provided on the lower surface of the bottom of the U-shaped bracket 25, and extends through a cylindrical cam member 28 provided on a horizontal frame member 27 attached between the frames 3. , the lower ends thereof are rotatably supported by a horizontal operating member 29 for raising and lowering. The cam member 28 preferably has two diagonal or helical slots 28' corresponding to the circumferential direction;
At least one pin 30 is provided and fitted on the pivot shaft 26 for the wheel.
A lateral actuating member 29 that rotatably supports these pivot shafts 26 has both ends supported approximately in the middle of a pair of pivot arms 31 with some play in the lateral direction.
One end of this integral pivot arm 31 is pivoted to the frame 3 by a pin 32, and the other end is supported by a horizontal connecting member 34.
is connected to. Appropriate mechanical, electrical or hydraulic prime movers are provided to operate this transverse coupling member 34. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the transverse coupling member 34 is mounted at its midpoint by the end of a piston rod 36 of a pneumatic or hydraulic fluid cylinder piston arrangement 35. Therefore, the arm 31 is moved against the pin 32 by the actuation of the fluid cylinder piston device 35.
Since the wheel 21 is pivoted about the center, the wheel 21 is moved up and down via the U-shaped bracket 25 that supports the wheel 21 and the rotation shaft 26. At this time, the pin 30 moves along the slot 28' of the cam member 28, so the rotation shaft 26 is rotated.
The wheels 21 are inclined with respect to the transport direction of the main conveyor 1. Further, the round belt 23 that drives the wheel 21, which may of course be another belt, is looped around an intermediate wheel 38 attached to a shaft 39, and can obtain driving force from the shaft 9 of the intermediate roller 6 of the main conveyor 1. I'm starting to be able to do it. That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the intermediate wheel 38 is driven from a belt pulley 11 provided on the shaft 9 of the intermediate roller 6 via a belt 42 and a belt pulley 41.

The converting device of the present invention constructed in this manner operates as follows.

The converting device 20 of the present invention is such that the wheel 21 is normally in the lowered position as shown in FIGS.
is at almost the same height as the conveyance surface of wheel 2.
A vertical plane passing through the center of the main conveyor 1 is aligned in a direction parallel to the conveyance direction of the main conveyor 1. Therefore, the articles conveyed by the main conveyor 1 directly pass through the converting device 20 and are conveyed.

When the destination of the articles conveyed on the main conveyor 1 is read by an appropriate destination reading device (not shown) and a sorting position command is issued, when the articles reach the corresponding conversion device 20, Pressure fluid is supplied to the fluid cylinder piston device 35, which is the prime mover of the converting device 20, by the sorting command, and the fluid cylinder piston device 35 is actuated to lift the horizontal connecting member 34, and the pivot arm 31 moves around the pin 32. The transverse actuating member 29 is pivoted and lifted. Therefore, the rotating shaft 26 provided on the horizontal actuating member 29 is pushed upward along the cam member 28, and at this time, the pin 3 of the rotating shaft 26
0 is guided along the diagonal slot 28' of the cam member 28, the pivot shaft 26 is rotated, and the pivot shaft 2
The wheel 21 supported by a U-shaped bracket 25 provided at the upper end of the wheel 6 is rotated about the axis of the rotation shaft 26 and simultaneously lifted.
The state in which the wheel 21 is thus lifted is shown in FIGS. 6 to 9. That is, as shown in the figure, the wheel 21 is lifted so as to protrude above the conveyance surface of the main conveyor 1, and the wheel 21 is rotated around the axis of the rotation shaft 26 to form a vertical plane passing through the center of the wheel 21. is rotated to a position at an angle to the conveying direction of the main conveyor 1 (FIG. 8). Therefore, when the articles conveyed on the main conveyor 1 reach the conversion device 20 which is operated for sorting, they are rotated on the wheels 21 that protrude above the conveyance surface of the main conveyor 1 and are transferred to the sorting conveyor 2. , and is transported by a predetermined sorting conveyor 2 to be sorted. When the sorting operation is completed, it is preferable that the fluid cylinder piston device 35 is actuated by an appropriate release command to lower the wheel 21 to its normal position.

As described above, according to the converting device of the present invention, the fluid cylinder piston device of a predetermined converting device is actuated in response to a sorting command according to the destination of the transported articles, so that the articles can be suitably and automatically transferred. Can be sorted. In particular, the recess spacing between the intermediate rollers of the main conveyor on which the wheels of the diversion device are arranged;
Alternatively, the distance between the conveyor bed and the belt may be small, resulting in less load shifting, and a row of wheels spaced laterally allows for reliable sorting operation, and straight-line and sorting are the same. Since it can be carried out using wheels, the number of parts used is small, the structure is simple, it is durable, it can be manufactured at low cost, it does not break down, it is suitable for high-speed operation, and the installation space is short. , the arrangement interval of the sorting conveyors can be narrowed, and therefore a large number of sorting conveyors can be used and arranged. In addition, by changing the direction of inclination of the slot in the cam member, the direction of rotation of the wheel can be reversed, so that the sorting conveyor can be placed alternately and arbitrarily on either side of the main conveyor. This provides advantages such as easy installation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of a main conveyor and a sorting conveyor equipped with a conversion device of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of the converting device of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a side view, Fig. 4 is a plan view, Fig. 5 is a front view, and Fig. 6 is a diagram of the converting device of the present invention during sorting conversion operation. 7 is a side sectional view, FIG. 8 is a plan view, and FIG. 9 is a front view. In the diagram, 1: main conveyor, 2: sorting conveyor,
3: Frame, 4: Bend recess, 5, 6: Intermediate roller, 7: Belt, 20: Converter, 21: Wheel, 23: Round belt, 25: U-shaped bracket, 26: Rotating shaft, 27: Horizontal Frame member, 2
8: cam member, 28': slot, 29: lateral actuation member,
30: Pin, 31: Pivoting arm, 34: Lateral connecting member, 35: Fluid cylinder piston device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bending flexure of a single conveyor formed at the intersecting portion of the conveying surfaces of the intersecting conveyors, and a plurality of bending flexures provided in a row at laterally spaced intervals within this bending flexure and rotatably supported by a U-shaped bracket. A wheel, a U-shaped bracket of the wheel is attached to the upper end, and a plurality of rotating shafts are supported so as to be able to slide vertically and freely rotate around the axis. The prime mover is equipped with a cam member having a circumferentially inclined slot into which a transverse pin provided on the rotating shaft engages, and the top of the wheel is normally in the same position as the conveyor conveying surface and the wheel is The vertical center plane is in the same direction as the conveyance direction, and during sorting operation, the rotating shaft is lifted by the prime mover and protrudes above the conveyor conveyance surface, and at the same time, it is rotated by the cam member so that the vertical center plane of the wheel is in the conveyance direction. A conveyor conversion device characterized in that it can be tilted against the conveyor.