JPH0363196A - Sheetlike work feed conveyor apparatus having confluent mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the work fed by a branch conveyor to smoothly meet with a main conveyor without changing the posture of the work by providing a jump stand for jumping the work fed from the branch conveyor upwardly from the feed surface of the main conveyor. CONSTITUTION:The work W2 fed to a confluent position is once intercepted by a gate 36. The gate 36 and a nip roll 38 receive the signal of a sequencer and the gate 36 is moved to the place under the work W2 while the nip roll 38 is moved to the position holding the work W2 between the roll 38 and a roller 37. The work W2 passing through the gate 36 is discharged along the slope of a jump stand 15 and allowed to meet with the works W1 fed on a main conveyor 1 so as to be pushed in the works W1. As mentioned above, since the work discharged from the gate 36 is thrown out upwardly from the slope of the jump stand 15, the work W2 can be allowed to meet smoothly without interfering the groove of the main conveyor or other feed means.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a conveyor device for sheet-like work, and is particularly useful in a bookbinding process or an elastic sheet processing process from at least two processes. The present invention relates to a conveyor device for merging discharged objects (workpieces) in the same direction and in the same posture.

[Conventional technology]

In the process of manufacturing a product, a conveyor line configuration is sometimes adopted in which the processing line is divided or merged in the middle depending on the specifications of the product or processing speed.

Conventionally, sheet-like works (for example, sheets of paper or elastic material are stacked on top of each other and some of them are bound together)
If a special mechanism is not installed at the merging position on a conveyor that conveys paper, the elasticity of the workpieces causes flexure when merging sheet-like workpieces such as paper, and the introduction end of the workpieces will not reach the conveyance means on the main conveyor. Since there is a problem in which the merging is not completed due to interference, the heights of the conveying surfaces of the main conveyor and the tributary conveyor are made to differ from each other, so that the workpieces can smoothly transition from the higher conveying surface to the lower conveying surface at the merging section. They were forced to devise ways to do so. In addition, the timing at which the workpieces join from the tributary conveyor to the main conveyor is controlled in synchronization with the driving mechanism and the like. Furthermore, if the tributary conveyor has a turn section, the workpiece is conveyed by a conveyor belt that runs in the same direction as the workpiece until the entrance of the turn section, and from the exit of the turn section from the center of the turn section. It was transported by a transport belt that ran in the direction toward the merging position.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in such conventional devices, the height of the conveyance surface of the tributary conveyor at the merging position is made higher than that of the merging conveyor, thereby taking into account the deflection of the elastic body and merging the workpieces. There were problems in that the drive system became complicated to accommodate the difference in conveyor levels and maintenance became difficult.

In addition, in conventional workpiece merging devices, the timing of merging from the tributary conveyor to the main conveyor was controlled by synchronizing with the driving mechanism, etc., but sheet-like elastic bodies such as paper Because the physical properties of the workpieces vary greatly depending on the environment, the transport time to the merging position is not always constant, and conventional so-called oven loop timing control has a problem in that the timing of merging the workpieces deviates.

In addition, in conventional merging devices, when a tributary conveyor has a turn section, a conveyor belt runs in the same direction as the workpiece traveling direction from the turn section to the turn section entrance, and from the turn section exit to the turn section entrance. Because the work was transported by a transport belt running in the direction from the center of the turn to the convergence point, the work was not transferred smoothly between both transport belts, and changes in the posture of the work were taken into consideration. Because the conveyance direction was changed while rotating the workpieces, there was a problem that the orientation of the workpieces after merging was inconsistent.

The present invention aims to solve these problems, and it is possible to smoothly merge the workpieces conveyed by the tributary conveyor into the main conveyor without changing their posture, and also to convey the workpieces on the main conveyor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet-like work conveyor device having a merging mechanism that can always position a work conveyed on a tributary conveyor at a fixed position with respect to a work conveyed on a tributary conveyor.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve such problems, the present invention provides a conveyor system for sheet-like work having a merging mechanism for merging a tributary conveyor attached to a main conveyor into the main conveyor at its terminal end. The present invention is characterized in that a jump platform is provided on the conveyance surface of the main conveyor for causing the workpieces conveyed from the tributary conveyor to jump above the conveyance surface of the main conveyor.

1. The present invention provides a sheet-like work conveyor device having a merging mechanism for merging a tributary conveyor attached to a main conveyor into the main conveyor at its terminal end.
As a merging mechanism, a guide wall is provided at the end of the tributary conveyor that extends transversely to the running direction of the conveyor and reaches the side of the main conveyor, and the running direction is inclined with respect to the guide wall. The present invention is characterized in that a conveyor belt is disposed such that its terminal end approaches the guide wall.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a sheet-like workpiece conveyor device having a merging mechanism for merging a tributary conveyor attached to a main stream conveyor into the main conveyor at its terminal end, in which a tributary conveyor adjacent to the conveying surface of the tributary conveyor is used as the merging mechanism. The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a workpiece detection means having a detection section and a control system for controlling the circumferential speed of the conveyor belt of the tributary conveyor based on a detection signal from the workpiece detection means.

[Effect]

In the apparatus of the present invention, when the workpiece conveyed from the tributary conveyor passes the jump table, it is caused to jump once above the conveyance surface of the main conveyor and then fall onto the conveyance surface.

Further, in the present invention, while being guided by a guide wall provided at the terminal end of the tributary conveyor so as to extend transversely to the running direction of the conveyor and reach the side of the main conveyor, The conveyor belt, which is disposed so that its running direction is inclined so that its terminal end approaches the guide wall and engages with the lower surface of the sheet-like workpiece, advances the workpiece.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the workpiece detection means detects the position of the workpiece with its detection part, and operates the control system based on the detection signal to control the circumferential speed of the conveyor belt on the tributary conveyor, thereby controlling the position of the workpiece being conveyed from the tributary conveyor. It always has the function of making the workpieces conveyed on the main conveyor merge into a fixed position with the workpieces conveyed on the main conveyor.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a conveyor device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this conveyor device includes a main conveyor 1 and a tributary conveyor 2 attached thereto. In this embodiment, the main conveyor 1 is equipped with lugs 12 that are intermittently driven along grooves 11 by a plurality of parallel lug chains (not shown). A guide wall 14 is provided for regulating the lateral position of both side edges of the workpiece during transportation.

On the other hand, the tributary conveyor 2 has a plurality of parallel conveyor belts 21 upstream thereof, and is provided with guide walls 23 on both sides of the conveyance surface 22 for regulating the lateral positions of both side edges of the workpiece during conveyance. Near the rear ends of these conveyor belts 21, there are nip rollers 24 that engage with and transfer the upper surface of the conveyor belts 21, respectively.

The turn section 3 of the tributary conveyor 2 is provided so as to connect the end of the tributary conveyor to the midway side of the main conveyor 1, and guide walls 14.2 are provided at the front and rear edges of the conveyance surface 31.
A guide wall 32 is erected to connect the three rooms. On the upstream side of this turn part, there is a diagonally advancing conveyor belt 33, and a bearing unit 34 holding a plurality of balls for nipping the workpiece in cooperation with the conveyor belt 33 is mounted on a bracket extending oppositely from the upper part of the conveyor belt 33. installed. Furthermore, a plurality of parallel conveyor belts 35 are provided further downstream of the tributary conveyor 2, that is, on the exit side of the turn section.

The most downstream part of the turn section is a gate section, and this gate section is provided with a gate 36 and a feed roller 37. The feed roller 37 extends across the conveyance surface 31, and a pair of nip rollers are disposed facing each other on the upper part of the feed roller 37. The gate 36 is located at the final end of the turn portion and is configured to be able to freely appear and retract onto the conveying surface 31 by a drive mechanism (not shown).

Guide wall 14 at the part where the main conveyor l connects with the turn section
is cut out only in that part, and a jump platform 15 whose height increases toward the inside of the conveying surface 13 of the main conveyor 1 with a width corresponding to the width of the notch is the conveying surface 1 of the mainstream conveyor 1.
3.

Detection sections of workpiece detection means 45 and 46 are arranged on the entrance side and in the middle section of the upper part of the conveyance surface 31 of the turn section, and these sensors forming the detection section are reflective non-contact sensors. It is configured.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an embodiment of the invention. In the figure, reference numeral Wl indicates a workpiece that is intermittently conveyed by the main conveyor, and W2 indicates a workpiece that is conveyed by a tributary conveyor.

In the conveyor device configured as described above, the front workpiece 2 is conveyed downstream by the conveyor belt 21, and is conveyed to the corner of the turn section by the conveying force of the conveyor belt 21 and the nip rollers 24. Nip roller 24 is before work 2
The conveyor belt 33 is attached at a position to release the nip of the workpiece when it reaches the corner of the turn section, and the conveyor belt 33 has a conveyance force oblique to the conveyance direction of the conveyor belt 21 and the conveyor belt 35. The leading end of the conveyor 2 is always pressed against the guide wall 32 on the downstream side of the tributary conveyor 2 from the entrance to the exit of the corner. Therefore, there is an advantage that the workpiece can be transported without being tilted or rotating in the turn section.

The workpiece that has passed through the turn section is transported by the conveyor belt 35 to the first
, 3 to the position of the gate 36 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III--III in FIG. 2. As shown in the figure, the workpiece front 2 that has been conveyed to the merging position is temporarily blocked by a gate 36, as shown in FIG. 3(a). The gate 36 and the nip roller 38 receive signals from a sequencer (not shown), and when the main conveyor is at a lug stop, the gate 36 is placed under the workpiece, and the nip roller 38 is placed under the roller 37, as shown in FIG. 3(b). Move to the position where it pinches the front part 2 of the workpiece.

At this time, the front workpiece 2 is sandwiched between the nip roller 38 and the roller 37, and as the roller 37 rotates, it is pushed out in the direction of the main conveyor 1. The workpiece 2 that has passed through the gate 36 is discharged along the slope of the jump platform 15 as shown in FIG. 3(C), and the workpiece WI is transported on the main stream conveyor 1 as shown in FIG. They are forced to merge in between.

In this way, the workpiece discharged from the gate 36 is
Since the work W is thrown upward along the slope of the jump table 15, even if the main conveyor 1 and the tributary conveyor 2 are on the same plane, the work W cannot interfere with the groove 11 on the main conveyor 1 or other conveyance means. This has the advantage that it can be merged smoothly without any problems.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart of work merging timing control of the conveyor device according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the symbol Pl indicating the signal is the opening/closing timing of the gate,
P2 is the output signal of the workpiece detection means 45 in FIG.
P is the output signal of the workpiece detection means 46 in FIG. Signal P4. P6 is an output signal of a circuit created in the sequencer, and signal P is an output signal of a circuit that holds the rising edge of the work detecting means 45 and resets it at the rising edge of the detecting means 46. The signal P is an output signal of a circuit that is held for a certain period of time after the rise of the workpiece detection means 46 and then reset. And in the sequencer,
An operation is performed to calculate the product of the rising edge of signal P and each of signals P, ~P, each time a workpiece passes under the workpiece detection means 45, 46, and as a result, the control system Perform pattern control as shown. That is, pattern ■
; When the product of the rising edge of signal P1 and signal P is 1, it is determined to be slow and the speed is set to high speed. is set to medium speed, and pattern (1): When the product of the rising edge of signal P1 and signal P4 is l, it is determined that the speed is fast, and the speed is set to slow.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 5, a control system is constructed in which the sequencer 41 is used to adjust the speed of the drive motor 42 of the conveyor belt 35 to vary the timing at which the front workpiece 2 reaches the gate 36.

In this way, in the above embodiment, the timing of conveying the workpiece at the set position of the workpiece detection means 45 is detected, and the timing of arrival at the gate 36 is controlled by adjusting the speed of the conveyance belt 35. This method has the advantage of being able to compensate for any disturbances in the timing of the workpiece caused by such influences.

In this embodiment, as shown in the circuit diagram of the timing control system in FIG. 5, a relay 43 and a variable resistor 44 are added to the control system, and a sequencer 41 of the conveyor device serves as a controller.
Since the control system is constructed simply by using the following, there are advantages in terms of simplicity and cost when applied to similar devices.

Although the present invention has been described in detail based on one embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented with various changes within the scope of the claims. Some examples are as follows.

In the above embodiment, the lug 12 was used as the conveyance means in the main conveyor l, but a flat belt and a presser ball or presser roller may be used instead of the lug, and the workpiece may be sandwiched between them and conveyed. good. Further, although a flat belt is used as the conveyor belt 21 in the tributary conveyor 2, a lug chain or the like may be used instead of the flat belt.

In addition, presser rollers 24 and presser balls 34 were provided at the positions of the conveyor belts 21 and 33 on the tributary conveyor 2, respectively.
In order to transport the workpiece reliably, pressing rollers or the like may be provided at locations other than those in the above embodiments.

In addition, although the jumping platform 15 was installed at the position immediately after the gate,
Depending on the physical properties of the workpiece, modifications such as providing another jump base between the grooves 11 or devising the shape of the jump base are also possible.

In addition, when controlling the transport timing of workpieces at the merging position, we selected the above specifications to obtain the simplest and stable control system configuration possible, but it is possible to change the control system as necessary. be.

Naturally, the number of main stream conveyors 1 and tributary conveyors 2 can also be changed as appropriate.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention changes the traveling direction of the workpiece to the lateral direction upstream from the merging position of the conveyor conveying the workpiece, and connects the workpiece with the main conveyor without changing the posture of the workpiece conveyed by the tributary conveyor. Since the workpieces can be transported to the merging position, it is possible to maintain the joined workpieces and the workpieces transported by the mainstream conveyor in the same direction and in the same posture on the mainstream conveyor.

Furthermore, in the present invention, at the merging position of the main conveyor and the tributary conveyor, the workpieces conveyed from the tributary conveyor can be jumped above the conveyance surface of the main conveyor and merged, so that the workpieces do not become clogged on the way. The effect can be obtained that it can be merged without any problem.

Furthermore, in the present invention, a workpiece detection means having a detection part is provided on the conveyance surface of the tributary conveyor to control the circumferential speed of the conveyor belt on the tributary conveyor. Therefore, the workpieces conveyed from the tributary conveyor can always join the workpieces conveyed on the main conveyor at a fixed position.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a conveyor device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic plan view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a -
(2) A sectional view taken in the direction of arrows, FIG. 4 is a timing chart of the work merging control, and FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the timing control system. l...mainstream conveyor, 2...tributary conveyor, 3...
・Turn part, 4...control system, 11...groove, 12...
・Lug, 13... Conveyance surface, 14... Guide wall, 15.
... Jumping platform, 21 ... Conveyance belt, 22 ... Conveyance surface, 23 ... Guide wall, 24 ... Nip roller, 31
... Conveyance surface, 32 ... Guide wall, 33 ... Conveyance belt, 34 ... Bearing unit, 35 ... Conveyance belt, 36 ... Gate, 37 ... Delivery roller,
38...Nip roller, 41...Sequencer, 42.
... Drive motor, 43... Relay, 44... Variable resistor, 45.46... Workpiece detection means ■ Fig. 2

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a conveyor device for sheet-like work that has a merging mechanism for merging a tributary conveyor attached to a main conveyor into the main conveyor at its terminal end, the merging mechanism is used to convey the sheet work from the tributary conveyor to the conveyance surface of the main conveyor. A conveyor device for conveying sheet-like works, characterized in that a jumping platform is provided for causing an incoming work to jump above the conveyance surface of the main conveyor. (2) In a sheet work conveyor device having a merging mechanism that allows a tributary conveyor attached to a main conveyor to join the main conveyor at its terminal end, the tributary conveyor is connected to the terminal end of the tributary conveyor as the merging mechanism when the conveyor runs. A guide wall is provided that extends transversely to the main conveyor and reaches the side of the main conveyor, and is arranged so that the running direction is inclined with respect to the guide wall so that its terminal end approaches the guide wall. A conveyor device for sheet-like workpieces, characterized by being equipped with a conveyor belt. (3) In a sheet-like work conveyor device having a merging mechanism for merging a tributary conveyor attached to a main conveyor into the main conveyor at its terminal end, a detection unit located close to the conveyance surface of the tributary conveyor serves as the merging mechanism. What is claimed is: 1. A conveyor device for conveying sheet-like workpieces, characterized in that a control system is provided for controlling the circumferential speed of the conveyance belt of the tributary conveyor based on a detection signal from the workpiece detection means.