JPH0312754Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Industrial field of application> The present invention is an article conveying device for conveying flat and relatively lightweight articles such as bats stacked vertically one by one, and more specifically, an article conveying device using an elevating member. The suction member is moved up and down to pick up and release the suction one by one from the top of the articles stacked on the elevator mechanism, and transport the articles, and the elevator mechanism is moved upward so that the top of the articles is always located at the suction position. It's about what makes you do something.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 50-21739, articles stacked on an elevator mechanism are conveyed sequentially from the topmost layer using a suction cup connected to a suction pump as an article conveying device of this type. As the remaining amount of the article decreases, the elevator mechanism is moved up accordingly to keep the top of the article at a constant level, and when the remaining amount decreases further, the article is moved to the holder mechanism and the elevator mechanism moves up. There is a system in which a new group of articles is fed and moved upward to the position of the holder mechanism, thereby preventing interruption of the feeding of the articles.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> However, in such conventional article conveying devices, it is difficult to control the suction and release of suction of articles by opening and closing the pipe connecting the suction pump and the suction cup. However, there is a problem in that control parts such as a switching valve and a flow rate regulating valve are required, which increases the cost.

Therefore, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-23701, a communication path is formed in the main body of the suction member to communicate the interior of the elastically deformable suction cup connected to the main body of the member with the atmosphere. One end of the working rod is inserted into the passage so as to be movable up and down to form a valve, and the working rod is always biased in the direction of closing the valve, and the main body of the member is moved down by the lifting member to press the suction cup to the top of the article. Then, the main body of the member is moved upward and the suction cup is brought into pressure contact with the object at the top to adsorb it. Next, the main body of the member is moved upward to convey the object to the desired position. There are some devices that release the suction of the article by ventilating the atmosphere into the interior of the suction cup by further moving the operating rod upward to open the valve, and then alternately repeating suction and release of the suction of the article.

However, in the case of the product disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-23701, the lower limit position of the suction member by the elevating member, that is, the suction position, is fixed, so the suction position is adjusted in advance to the top of the stacked articles before operation. Not only is it necessary to accurately adjust the height of the article, but as the article is transported, the height position gradually decreases and becomes lower than the elastic deformation range of the suction cup, causing the suction cup to be unable to reach the article and become unable to suction it.

To prevent this, for example,
It is conceivable to gradually move the elevator mechanism upward as the number of articles decreases, as in Publication No. 21739, to always keep the topmost article at the suction position, but before operation, the suction position should be adjusted to the topmost article. The problem is that the structure must be finely adjusted, and the structure becomes complicated and the cost becomes high in order to perform delicate control.

In view of such conventional circumstances, the present invention is designed to adjust the suction position to the slight height of the article without having to finely adjust the suction position to match the topmost article each time when the number of articles decreases to some extent before and during operation. The purpose is to reliably adsorb articles in response to changes in surface area.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The technical means taken by the present invention to solve the above problems is to connect the inside of an elastically deformable suction cup connected to the main body of the suction member with the atmosphere. forming a communication path for communication, and constructing a valve by inserting one end of an operating rod into the communication path so as to be vertically movable;
A working rod is always biased in the valve closing direction, a working beam is provided at the other end of the working rod, and a frame body for pushing up the working beam is connected to an elevating member so as to be movable up and down. A movable claw that can swing in only one direction is provided to move the frame upward when the movable claw swings, and a fixed claw that faces the elevating member and moves toward and away from the movable claw as the elevating member moves up and down. The claw is provided to be swingable only in the same direction as the swinging direction from the initial state, and the member main body is connected to the lower connecting end of the elevating member so as to be movable up and down, and an elastic member is provided between these connecting ends and the member main body. The suction cup is always urged toward the article through a member,
The movable pawl contacts the fixed pawl and swings as the elevating member rises after suctioning the article, and the working rod is moved upward via the frame and the working beam to open the valve. be.

<Operation> According to the above-mentioned technical means, the present invention corrects subtle changes in the suction position by compressing the spring when the main body of the member is moved by the elevating member and the suction cup comes into contact with the uppermost article. .

<Example> Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the article is a vat, and a vat loading device 100 using a vat supply device 1 is integrally arranged with a tray loader 11 from a frame 11a. The tray loader 11 stores a predetermined number of products that are sequentially brought in and then places and stores them on a vat, and is equipped with a carry-in conveyor 11b.

The carry-in conveyor 11b is a horizontally driven roller conveyor, and a stopper 12 is provided at the discharge end of the carry-in conveyor 11b, so that the packaged goods are stored in an array on the conveyor 11b.

A pusher 13 is disposed on one side of the carry-in conveyor 11b on the carry-out side. The pusher 13 is for discharging the stored packaged products and the like all at once downward in FIG. 3, and the lower part of the position near the roller conveyor 11b from which the packaged products and the like are discharged is used as a bat placing section. The bats on the batt placing section on which the packaged products are placed are transferred to the unloading conveyor by the batt unloading pusher 44.

The batt supply device 1 includes a batt mounting device 10.
a storage section 2 for storing the stacked butts in the lower part of the 0;
A batt platform 3, 3 is provided above the storage section 2, and a suction member 4 for supplying batt A from the storage section 2 to the batt platform 3, 3 is moved up and down above the batt platform 3, 3. It consists of a suction part that can be operated freely.

The butt storage section 2 is shown in Figures 20, 21, and 22.
This will be explained using figures. The butt storage section 2 consists of two elevator systems. Upper fixed shaft 5 disposed opposite to both sides of the upper end of the butt storage section 2
A, 5a are rotatably provided with first elevator sprockets 5c, 5c on the inside of the shaft, and second elevator sprockets 6c, 6c on the outside thereof, respectively.

First drive shafts 5b, 5b and second drive shafts 6b, 6b corresponding to the fixed shafts 5a, 5a are arranged in upper and lower two stages on both sides of the lower end of the butt storage section 2, respectively. The first elevator sprockets 5c, 5c are attached to the first drive shafts 5b, 5b, and the second drive shafts 6b, 6
b has second elevator sprockets 6c, 6c.
are fixed respectively. Chains 5d, 5d, 6d, and 6d are stretched between the upper and lower sprockets, respectively.
Each chain 5d, 5d, 6d, 6d is provided with receiving claws 5e, 5e which support the stacked butts and project into the interior of the storage section 2 so as to be horizontally opposed to each other.

Each drive shaft 5b, 5b, 6b, 6b is operated by a clutch brake by a motor M provided at the bottom of the storage section 2.
It is driven via P ₁ , P ₂ and reducers P ₃ , P ₄ .
A sensor S for batt detection is provided at the upper end of the storage section 2 so that bats are always supplied to the upper end of the storage section 2.

A sensor (not shown) is provided to detect when the number of stacked bats supported by the first elevator 5 is running low, and a detection signal from this sensor drives the second elevator 6. The stacked butts of the second elevator 6 are transferred directly below the butt of the first elevator 5.

The batt mounting device 100 is provided on the top of the batt supplying device 1, and is a device for sucking the bats on the top surface of the batt feeding device 1 using suction members 4, 4, 4, 4, and placing them on the batt mounting table 3. . A side frame 100a is vertically installed above the butt supply device 1. The upper longitudinal direction of this side frame 100a is connected by upper frames 100b, 100b, and the lower longitudinal direction is connected by lower frames 100c, 100c. These upper frames 100b, 100b and lower frames 100c, 100c form an upper connecting frame 100.
d, 100d and the lower connection frame 100e, 1
Connected by 00e. Guide rods 20, 2 are provided between the upper and lower connecting frames 100d and 100e.
0, and the upper and lower connecting frames 100
d, vertically installed at the center of 100e. A buffer coil spring 100f is attached to the lower part of this guide rod, and a buffer plate 100g is attached to the upper part of this coil spring 100f.
100g is attached to the guide rods 20, 20. The guide rods 20, 20 include an operating rod 22, which will be described later.
and the mounting plate 4 attached via the support rods 33, 33.
The elevating member 21 provided with 0 and 0 is fitted so as to be movable up and down. Operating rods 22 are attached to both ends of the elevating member 21 so as to protrude below the elevating member 21.

The sliding rods 3a, 3a are installed horizontally on the sides of the butt mounting tables 3, 3, and the sliding rods 3a, 3a are
It is slidably attached to support members 3b and 3b provided on both sides of a. The drive pieces 3c, 3c are respectively connected to the shaft 3.
Mount it so that it can rotate freely around d and 3d. Each driving piece 3c, 3c is linked to the sliding rod 3a, 3a, and opens and closes the sliding rod 3a, 3a. An operating arm 3e is provided above each drive piece 3c so as to be rotatable about shafts 3h, 3h, and the drive piece 3c and the action arm 3e are linked by a link 3f.
Connect with. A spring 3g is provided on the operating arm 3e and the support member 3b to bias the batt mounts 3, 3 to the closed state.

The operating arm 3e is rotatable about a shaft 3h, and opens the bat platform 3 while the operating rod 22 and the operating arm 3e are sliding in contact with each other when the elevating member 21 moves up and down. It is something.

Next, to explain the suction member 4, FIGS. 8 and 9 show the principle of the suction member 4. A suction cup 7 is provided at the lower end of the member main body 4a, and this member main body 4
A communication path 8 that communicates the inside of the suction cup 7 and the atmosphere is formed in the inside of the suction cup 7a.

A conical valve 9 is slidably provided in the middle of the communication path 8 to enable the communication path 8 to be shut off at a suitable time.

One end of this conical valve 9 is formed into a conical shape to seal the communication passage 8, and the other end is integrally provided with one end of an operating rod 10 for operating the conical valve 9.

A coil spring 9a is attached to this operating rod 10,
The conical valve 9 is always biased by the coil spring 9a in the direction of blocking the communication path 8, and when the operating rod 10 is pulled against the bias of the coil spring 9a, the conical valve 9 opens and the communication path 8 is blocked. Release.

Support rods 33, 3 are provided on the lower end surface of the elevating member 21.
3 hangs down, and a mounting plate 34 having a substantially H-shape in plan is fixed horizontally to the lower ends of the support rods 33, 33. At each of the four corners of the mounting plate 34, a suction member 4 for suctioning a bat is arranged. Operating rod 1 of adsorption members 4, 4 on both sides
An action beam 35 is provided across the points 0 and 10.

Furthermore, a stepped portion 4b and a ring 4c are provided on the outer circumferential surface of the member main body 4a at appropriate intervals in the vertical direction, and between these two are four corners of a mounting plate 34 that constitutes a connecting end of the lower part of the elevating member 21. A sliding cylinder 21' fixed to each of the cylinders so as to be vertically adjustable is inserted in the vertically movable manner, and an elastic member 4d such as a spring is interposed between the sliding cylinder 21' and the ring 4c. 2
1' is always urged upward.

Therefore, within the compression range of the elastic member 4d, there is no need to finely adjust the suction position each time the uppermost position of the article changes.

A pressure beam 36 is arranged horizontally along the center of the H-shape of the mounting plate 34, and push-up screws 38 for pushing up the action beam 35 are arranged at both ends of the pressure beam 36, respectively (FIG. 6). . The pressure beam 36 is integrally provided with a gate-shaped frame 37. Therefore, the pressure beam 36 and the frame body 3
7 slides along support rods 33, 33.

A beam plate 39 is provided across the support rods 33, 33, and a mounting plate 40 is provided protruding from the beam plate 39. A movable claw 41 for operating the operating rod 10 of the suction member 4 is attached to this mounting plate 40. The movable claw 41 is connected to the shaft 43
The movable pawl 41 is provided so as to be slidable only in one direction from the initial position around the
force horizontally. The frame body 37 is supported on the upper surface of the beam plate 39 using a movable claw 41 as a stopper. The tip of this movable claw 41 rotates downward from the horizontal, which is the initial position, and moves the frame 37 at one end. Since the beam plate 39 acts as a stopper above the horizontal, it does not rotate.

The batt mounting device 100 is provided with a fixed claw 42 that comes into contact with a movable claw 41. The mounting structure of the fixed claw 42 is the same as that of the movable claw 41, and the fixed claw 42 has a structure in which it rotates downward from the horizontal, which is the initial state, but does not rotate above the horizontal.

When the elevating member 21 is lowered, the movable claw 4
1 comes into contact with the fixing claw 42 while remaining horizontal, and the fixing claw 42
rotates downward. Next, when the elevating member 21 is moved up, the fixed claw 42 does not rotate and maintains a horizontal state, so the movable claw 41 rotates downward, and the frame body 37 and the beam plate 3
Raise 6. When the beam plate 36 moves up, the push-up screw 38 pushes up the working beam 35 and pulls the working rod 10.

Note that the gap C between the push-up screw 38 and the action beam 35
This is to prevent the push-up screw 38 from pushing up the action beam 35 due to vibrations or the like when the elevating member 21 is moved up and down.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 10 to 19.

First, when the motor M is started and the elevating member 21 is lowered, the actuating rods 22, 22 abut the working arms 3e, 3e, respectively, and close the bat platforms 3, 3, and the movable claw 41 moves into the fixed claw. 42 is rotated and moved downward, and the suction members 4 press and suction the butt A (FIGS. 10 and 14).

When a micro switch (not shown) detects that the bottom has been reached, the motor M is reversed and the lifting member 21 is moved up and down. , 3e are disengaged from the actuating rods 22, 22, and the bat mounts 3, 3 move closed (FIGS. 11 and 15).

When the elevating member 21 is further raised, the movable claw 41 and the fixed claw 42 come into contact with each other, the movable claw 41 rotates downward, and air flows into the suction cup 7 of the suction member 4, causing the bat A to move onto the bat mounting base. 3, 3 (Fig. 12, Fig. 16).

Figures 13 and 17 show the lifting member 21 at the top.
This shows a state in which a micro switch (not shown) detects that the motor M has started to move upward and stops the motor M.

With the elevating member 21 fully raised, the pusher 13 of the tray loader 11 is driven to distribute the packaged products B, B, . . . onto the vat A (FIG. 18).

Next, push the batt unloading pusher 44 to move the batts A on the batt mounting tables 3, 3 to the unloading conveyor 43.
(Figure 19).

The above operations are repeated.

Incidentally, the suction member 4 may be of such a structure that the butt is released when the operating rod 10 is pushed.

<Effects of the Invention> Since the present invention has the above configuration, it has the following advantages.

When the main body of the member is moved by the elevating member and the suction cup comes into contact with the uppermost article, the compression of the spring compensates for the slight change in the suction position. The article can be reliably attracted by adjusting the suction position to correspond to slight changes in the height of the article without having to finely adjust the suction position to match the topmost article each time.

Therefore, the adjustment work becomes very easy, and the conveyance can be continued without readjusting the suction position in response to slight changes in the height of the article as it is conveyed, and costs can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of an article conveying device showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged planar cross-section showing the main parts of Fig. 3. Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 4, Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 4, Figure 7 is a plan view of Figure 6, and Figure 8 shows the principle of the suction member. cross section,
Figure 9 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of Figure 8, Figures 10 to 13
The diagrams are an operational diagram of the main parts of Figure 1, and Figures 14 to 1.
7 is a side operational view of FIGS. 10 to 13, respectively, FIGS. 18 to 19 are operational views of FIG. 17, FIG. 20 is a front view of the butt supply device, and FIG. 21 is a side view of the same, FIG. 22 is a plan view of the same. In the figure, A...article (butt), 4...adsorption member,
4a... Member main body, 4d... Elastic member, 5, 6...
...Elevator mechanism, 7...Suction cup, 8...Communication path,
9...Valve (conical valve), 10... Working rod, 21...
Elevating member, 21'... lower continuous end (sliding tube) of elevating member, 35... action beam, 37... frame, 41
...Movable claw, 42...Fixed claw.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The suction member is moved up and down by the elevating member, and the articles stacked on the elevator mechanism are adsorbed one by one from the top, and then the suction is released and conveyed, so that the elevator mechanism is moved so that the top of the articles is always located at the suction position. In the article conveying device for moving the article upwardly, a communication path is formed in the main body of the suction member to communicate the interior of the elastically deformable suction cup connected to the member main body with the atmosphere, and an operating rod is provided in the communication path. One end is inserted so as to be movable up and down to form a valve, a working rod is always urged in the valve closing direction, a working beam is provided at the other end of the working rod, and a frame for pushing up the working beam is used as an elevating member. The lifting member is provided with a movable pawl that is movable up and down and can swing in only one direction from the initial position, and when the lifting member is swung, the frame is moved upward, and the lifting member is opposite to the lifting member. A fixed claw that comes into contact with and separates from the movable claw as the member moves up and down is provided so as to be swingable only in the same direction as the swinging direction of the movable claw from the initial position, and the main body of the member can be moved up and down at the lower connecting end of the lifting member. connected to,
An elastic member is interposed between these connecting ends and the main body of the member to constantly urge the suction cup toward the object, and as the elevating member rises after suctioning the object, the movable claw comes into contact with the fixed claw and swings. An article conveying device characterized in that the valve is opened by moving a working rod upward through a body and a working beam.