JPH04140217A - Carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely permit the various kinds of articles to be delivered at a specified position by disposing a stationary guide with a specified space from a belt surface kept, a rocking guide in such a way that its upper end is energized in the inward direction, and also disposing a direction converting guide energizing each article in the direction opposite to the aforesaid direction in order from the lower section for the upstand section of a carrying belt in a belt carrying device for columnar articles and the like. CONSTITUTION:A stationary guide 3 is erected at the upstand section of a carrying belt 1 with a space from a carrying belt 1 set larger than the cross sectional shape of the largest carried article. And a rocking guide 4 is disposed at the upper section of the guide while being energized in such a way that the upper section of the guide pulled onto the carrying belt 1 side by a coil spring 41. In addition, a direction converting guide 5 which guides the carried articles in the direction opposite to the direction of energizing force by the rocking guide 4, is connected with the upper end section of the aforesaid guide. Furthermore, a sensor 6 is disposed at a place above the direction converting guide wherein the sensor suspends the carrying belt 1 at a fixed time after it detects the carried article. By this constitution, the various kinds of articles each of which is different in cross sectional shape, can thereby be surely delivered at a specified position.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The invention of this application relates to a conveyance device using a belt, and in particular, a conveyance device that uses a belt to discharge a cylindrical or prismatic object to be conveyed from an upright portion of the device. This relates to a type of conveyance device.

This item is a product (approximately cylindrical can or bottle filled with soft drinks, etc.) that is sent out from the product storage device of a vending machine.
It can be used in a product conveyance device for a vending machine, in which the product is conveyed by a belt to a height where the purchaser can take it out almost while standing.

[Conventional technology]

Examples of the product conveyance device for the vending machine mentioned above include those shown in Figures 8 and 9.As shown in the figure, this device has conveyance claws (2) arranged at regular intervals. A loop-shaped conveyor belt (1) stretched in an abbreviated shape
and a pair of guide rails (36) disposed slightly above the horizontal part (10) to the bent part (11) of the conveying belt (1), and the conveying belt (1).
It consists of guides (G) provided at regular intervals from the bending part (11) to the standing part (12), and the product is sent out from the product storage device (7) and placed on the guide rail (
36) Move the product (p) that has fallen onto the guide rail (36
) and a guide (G) to convey it upward along a constant conveyance trajectory while changing its posture in a constant manner.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, the product (p
) tilts from the solid line to the dashed line in the same figure using the upper edge of the guide (G) as a fulcrum, and this product (p.
) when the center of gravity (g) of the product (p) is located outside the guide (G), the product (p) will fall and be discharged onto the product tray (8).

However, in recent years, vending machines need to sell a wide variety of products with different lengths and diameters, such as cans and bottles.
) may not be discharged.

That is, in this product, the distance between the conveying surface of the upright portion (12) and the guide (G) is set according to the largest diameter and longest one among the various products. In this case, as mentioned above, the product can be placed smoothly on the plate (8).
However, other small items (especially those with the smallest diameter and the shortest length) are not transported because their center of gravity (g) is located inside the guide (G) as shown in Figure 10. When the catch between the claw (2) and the product is released, the product falls downward.

Generally, in this type of product conveyance device, as shown in FIG. 9, a detection lever (60) is activated by the product being conveyed to the open opening (38) between the upright portion (12) and the guide (G). By pushing up the conveyor belt (1), the drive of the conveyor belt (1) is stopped after a certain period of time.
Even if the product comes off the transfer claw (2) and falls, that is, even if the product is not ejected onto the product tray (8), if the product pushes up the detection lever (60) once, the transport belt (1) is stopped after a certain period of time, and the purchaser is no longer able to obtain the product. This is a fatal flaw for a vending machine.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Therefore, in the invention of this application, in a conveyance device of a type in which a cylindrical or prismatic object to be conveyed is discharged laterally from an upright portion of the device, the object to be conveyed has a plurality of objects having different lengths and cross-sectional shapes. An object of the present invention is to ensure that the discharge is performed at a predetermined position even in the case of different types.

[Means to solve the problem]

Therefore, in the invention according to claim 1 of this application, a loop-shaped conveyance belt (
1) and a guide (G) that faces the conveyance surface of the upright portion of the conveyor belt (1) with a fixed interval, and guides the upper end side of the approximately columnar conveyed object ( G)
The guide (G)
In a conveying device that discharges the conveyed object to a predetermined position from an open upper end, the guide (G) is composed of a fixed guide (3) and a swinging guide (4) located at the upper end thereof. At the same time, the upper end of the swing guide (4) is biased by a spring in a direction that reduces the distance between the swing guide (4) and the conveyor belt (1), and the conveyor belt (1) and the fixed guide (3
) is set to be larger than the cross-sectional shape of the largest transported object, and the transported object is placed above the swinging guide (4) in the opposite direction of the swinging guide. A direction changing guide (5) is provided for moving the object diagonally upward.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 of this application provides a loop-shaped conveying belt (1) on which conveying claws (2) are arranged at regular intervals.
and a guide (G) that faces the conveyance surface of the upright portion of the conveyance belt (1) at a constant interval, and a guide (G) that is disposed above the guide (G) and that when detecting the conveyed object. and a sensor (6) that stops the conveying belt (1) after a certain period of time, and a sensor (6) that stops the conveying belt (1), and brings the substantially columnar conveyed object into contact with the guide (G) at its upper end and at its lower end. The sensor (6) is engaged with the transfer claw (2) and is slid upwardly and is ejected from the open upper end of the guide (G) to a predetermined position.
) is in the output state, the guide (
G) is composed of a fixed guide (3) and a swinging guide (4) located at the upper end of the fixed guide (3), and the upper end of the swinging guide (4) is connected to this and the conveyor belt (1). The conveyor belt (1) is biased by a spring in the direction of decreasing the interval between
The distance between the fixed guide (3) and the fixed guide (3) is set to be larger than the cross-sectional shape of the largest object to be transported, and the swinging guide (4)
A direction changing guide (5) is provided above the conveyor for moving the conveyed object obliquely upward in the direction opposite to the biasing direction of the swing guide.

[Effect]

The invention of this application operates as follows.

(Action of the invention as claimed in claim 1) In this device, the upper end of the swing guide (4) is biased by a spring in a direction that reduces the gap between the swing guide (4) and the conveyor belt (1). The conveyed object is discharged from between the swing guide (4) and the conveyor belt (1) against the biasing force of the spring. That is, when the conveyed object is discharged from the device, the upper edge of the swing guide (4) changes its position following the outer surface of the conveyed object, and moves in the direction toward the conveying belt (1) side. force is acting on.

Since a direction changing guide (5) is provided above the swing guide (4), the conveyed object is
), the rocking guide (4) is moved obliquely upward against the biasing force of the spring of the rocking guide (4), and the rocking guide (4) is moved in the opposite direction to the moving direction of the transported object. 4) Move while sliding on the upper edge.

Therefore, the center of gravity of the transported object reliably passes over the upper edge of the swing guide (4) (effect of the invention according to claim 2). 1
As described in the operation of the invention, the center of gravity of the object to be conveyed reliably passes over the upper edge of the swing guide (4).

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The structure of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings showing one embodiment.

In this embodiment, the conveying device of the invention of this application is applied to the product conveying device of a vending machine, and the basic configuration is based on the conventional technology as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The structure is almost the same as that described in the column.

That is, in this embodiment, as shown in the figure, the transfer claws (2) are arranged at regular intervals, and are stretched in an oval shape through rollers (13) and guide rollers (14). a loop-shaped conveyor belt (1), and a loop-shaped conveyor belt (1).
) a pair of guide rails (36) arranged slightly above the horizontal part (10) to the upright part (12).
and a guide (G) provided at a constant interval from the bent portion (11) to the upright portion (12) of the conveying belt (1) (in this case, the casing of the conveying belt (1) described above). A part of the upright surface in (9) is attached to the guide (G
) as a fixed guide (3). ), and the products (Pi, P2.P) are sent out from the product storage device (7) and fall onto the guide rail (36).
3), the upper product tray is conveyed to the tray (8) along a constant conveyance trajectory while changing its posture in a constant manner via the guide rail (36) and the guide (G).

The above-mentioned transfer claw (2) is entirely made of elastic synthetic resin, and as shown in FIGS. At the same time, the tip (20) and its vicinity are formed approximately parallel to the belt surface of the conveyor belt (1), thereby ensuring smooth conveyance of the products (PL, P2, P3). .

Here, the container for the above-mentioned product (Pl) is a long can with a large diameter (50ml long can), and the container for product (P2) is a short and large can (190ml so-called barrel can). and
The container for product (P3) is a short, small-diameter bottle.

The configuration of the vicinity of the product discharge port, which is the main part of the invention of this application, will be described in detail below.

In this example, the above-mentioned guide (G) is the third
As shown in the figure and No. 4, it consists of a fixed guide (3) with a U-shaped cross section larger than the outer diameter of the product (Pl) and a swinging guide (4) with a larger circumference than this fixed guide (3). As shown in FIG. 4, the swing guide (4) is swingably mounted along the outer peripheral surface of the fixed guide (3) with the vicinity of both side edges as fulcrums (40). As shown in FIG. 5, the swing guide (4) is attached by a coil spring (41) in a direction in which its upper edge approaches the conveyor belt (1) (in the direction from the two-dot chain line to the solid line). It is a force.

Further, above the swing guide (4), as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, there is a curved plate (51) that curves from the conveyor belt (1) toward the fixed guide (3). (corresponding to the direction change guide (5) in the column of means) is formed, and the conveyance direction of the product conveyed by this curved plate (51) is directed to the upright portion (12) of the conveyance belt (1). It is configured so that the direction can be changed from the direction toward the fixed guide (3) side. The direction conversion guide (5) may also be an inclined plate that slopes from the conveyor belt (1) toward the fixed guide (3) or a pair of rails (with the rails approaching each other toward the ends). can be used.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, the tip of the detection lever (60) corresponding to the sensor (6) is exposed to the upper open part of the swing guide (4), and the tip of the detection lever (60) that corresponds to the sensor (6) is exposed. Detection lever (60) by product (PI, P2.P3)
By pushing up the conveyor belt (1), the drive of the conveyor belt (1) is stopped after a certain period of time.

Since the product transport device of this embodiment has the above-described configuration, the products (Pi, P2, P3) are transported and the parts receiver is discharged onto the tray (8) in the following manner.

I: The product is sent out from the product storage device (7) of LPIP2P3 and the guide rail (3
6) The product (pl, p2.p3) that fell onto the product (
PL, P2. Regardless of the type of P3), it is guided by the guide rail (36) and transported from the horizontal part (10) to the bent part (11) on the transport belt (1) by the transport claw (2), and then fixed. The product (PL, P2, P3) is guided by the guide (3) from the bending part (11) to the upper part of the standing part (12), and the upper end side thereof is in contact with the fixed guide (3). It is transported in such a manner that the lower end side is engaged with the transport claw (2).

Product (Pl) transported to the upper end of fixed guide (3)
As shown in Fig. 5, is pushed up into the swing guide (4) and is forcibly ejected from between the swing guide (4) and the conveyor belt (1) against the biasing force of the coil spring (41). It will be done. Since the curved plate (50) is provided above the swing guide (4), the product (Pl) resists the urging force of the coil spring (41) of the swing guide (4) and follows this. The product (Pl) is moved obliquely upward, and the product (Pl) is moved while sliding on the upper end edge of the swing guide (4) that is moved in the opposite direction to the movement direction of the product (Pl). Therefore, the center of gravity (g) of the product (Pl) will surely get over the upper edge of the swing guide (4), and the product (Pl) will be surely ejected into the tray (8). Become.

Furthermore, when the upper part of the product (Pl) exits from the upper end open part of the swing guide (4), the detection lever (6o) goes into the output state and after a certain period of time, the conveyor belt (1) comes to a stop state. Since the product (Pl) will be reliably discharged into the parts tray (8), the purchaser will be able to reliably obtain the product (Pl).

Similar to the above-mentioned product (Pl) of C'P2P3, product (P2. P3)
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the swing guide (4)
The product (P2, P3) is moved diagonally upward along the curved plate (5o) against the biasing force of the spring.
) is moved while sliding on the upper edge of the swing guide (4), which is moved in the opposite direction to the moving direction.

Therefore, the center of gravity (g) of the products (P2, P3) reliably passes over the upper edge of the swing guide (4), and the products ( Items smaller than Pl) (P2. P
However, in this embodiment, the minimum distance between the upper edge of the swing guide (4) and the conveyor belt (1) is the same as the product (P3). ) If the swing guide (4) is attached to correspond to the above, the parts receiver of the products (Pi, P2, P3) can be more smoothly discharged to the tray (8).

On the other hand, in the above embodiment, if the biasing force of the coil spring (41) is set large to increase the biasing force toward the upright part (12) at the upper end edge of the swing guide (4), the unstable state (transfer The product (P2, P3) that has been transported by the transfer claw (2) in a state where the claw (2) is not tightly attached to the product) will be held down by the swing guide (2), and as a result, The tip of the transfer claw (2) is deformed and the products (P2, P3) fall. and,
The products (P2, P3) are again brought into a state of engagement with the lower transfer claw (2) and are transported toward the swing guide (4). That is, the above steps are repeated until the product (P2, P3) is stably engaged with the transfer claw (2), and when the engagement becomes stable, the transfer claw (2) is The elastic return force overcomes the biasing force on the swing guide (2), and the product (P2 to P3) is ejected from the upper end opening for the first time.

Therefore, if the coil spring (41) is set as described above, the product (P
2. P3) will no longer push up the swinging lever (60), and as a result, the products (P2, P3) will fall to the lower transfer claw (2) after pushing up the swinging lever (60). That will no longer be the case. That is, the product bones (P2, P3) are surely discharged to the tray (8) before the conveyor belt (1) comes to a halt.

[Effect of idea]

Since the invention of this application has the above-described configuration, it has the following effects.

(Effect of the invention according to claim 1) Since the center of gravity of the transported object reliably passes over the upper edge of the swing guide (4), the length and cross-sectional shape of the transported object are different. Even if there are many types, they will be reliably discharged at a predetermined position.

(Effect of the invention according to claim 2) Even when conveying many types of objects having different lengths and cross-sectional shapes, the sensor (6) becomes activated and the conveying belt (1) stops. The conveyed object will be reliably discharged at a predetermined position before the state is reached.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the conveyance device of the invention of this application, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the conveyance device, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the discharge section of the conveyed object in the conveyance device, and FIG. 4 is the conveyance device. A cross-sectional view of the discharge section of the conveyed object in the device, FIGS. 5 to 7 are views showing the mode of discharge of the conveyed object, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional conveying bag device, and FIG. 9 is a conventional 10th cross-sectional view of the conveying device of
The figure is a diagram showing a mode of discharging objects to be conveyed in a conventional conveyance device, and in the figure,

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A loop-shaped conveyance belt (1) on which transfer claws (2) are arranged at regular intervals, and a conveyance surface of an upright portion of this conveyance belt (1) provided with a constant interval. The guides facing each other (
G), the upper end side of which is in contact with the guide (G), and the lower end side of the substantially columnar conveyed object is brought into contact with the transfer claw (2).
In a conveyance device of a type that slides and conveys the object upwardly so as to engage with the guide (G), and further discharges the conveyed object to a predetermined position from the upper end release part of the guide (G), It is composed of a fixed guide (3) and a swinging guide (4) located at the upper end of the fixed guide (3), and the distance between the upper end of the swinging guide (4) and the conveyor belt (1) is reduced. The distance between the conveyor belt (1) and the fixed guide (3) is set larger than the cross-sectional shape of the largest object to be conveyed, and the swing guide (4) is biased by a spring in the direction of A conveying device characterized in that a direction changing guide (5) is provided above to move the conveyed object obliquely upward in the direction opposite to the biasing direction of the swing guide. 2. A loop-shaped conveyance belt (1) on which transfer claws (2) are arranged at regular intervals, and a guide (
G) and the conveyor belt (1
) is in a stopped state, and the substantially columnar conveyed object is brought into contact with the guide (G) at its upper end and engaged with the transfer claw (2) at its lower end. In a conveyance device of the type that slides upward and discharges the guide (G) to a predetermined position through the open upper end thereof, and immediately before the discharge, the sensor (6) is set to an output state, the guide ( G) is composed of a fixed guide (3) and a swinging guide (4) located at the upper end of the fixed guide (3), and the upper end of the swinging guide (4) is connected to this and the conveyor belt (1). a spring biased in a direction to decrease the distance between the conveyor belts (1) and the fixed guide (3), the distance between the conveyor belt (1) and the fixed guide (3) is set larger than the cross-sectional shape of the largest object to be conveyed; A conveyance device characterized in that a direction change guide (5) is provided above (4) for moving the conveyed object obliquely upward in the opposite biasing direction of the swing guide. . 3. The shape of the conveyed object is set to be approximately cylindrical, and the fixed guide (3) and swinging guide (4) are formed to have a U-shaped cross section, and the fixed guide (3) and swinging guide (4) 3. The conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion with the conveyed object is an R-shaped portion. 4. The transfer claw (2) as a whole is inclined forward toward the conveyance direction of the object to be conveyed, and its tip (20) and its vicinity are attached to the belt surface of the conveyance belt (1). 3. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying apparatus is formed substantially parallel to the conveying apparatus, and is entirely made of elastic synthetic resin. 5. The conveyance device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the direction conversion guide (5) is constituted by an inclined plate that slopes upward from the conveyance belt (1) toward the fixed guide (3). . 6. According to claim 1 or 2, the direction conversion guide (5) is constituted by a curved plate (51) that curves upward from the conveyor belt (1) toward the fixed guide (3). conveyance device.