JPH04204105A - Measuring equipment of length - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the precision in measurement of a dimension of an article by a method wherein a light-intercepting panel having a slit is provided in front of a light-projecting means and the length of the article in the direction of conveyance is calculated on the basis of the time when a light from the light-projecting means is intercepted by the article being conveyed. CONSTITUTION:A light-intercepting panel 9a having a longitudinally long silt 8a is provided in front of an infrared projector 6a, and a light-intercepting panel 9b having a laterally long slit 8b is provided in front of an infrared photosensor 6b. A holding box 2 is conveyed in circulating manner by a couple of endless chains 1a and 1b and passes by a photoelectric switch 6. On the occasion, an infrared beam of the projector 6a narrowed by the slit 8a is projected to an article 3 held in a holding pocket 4 of the box 2 and it is intercepted when the article 3 passes. On the photosensor 6b side, the beam is restricted by the slit 8b and sensed. The time of interception of the light shown by a light interception signal and the speed of the box 2 are inputted to a computer and the length of the article 3 in the direction of conveyance is calculated.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is useful for determining the type of an article by measuring the length of an article and measuring the length of an inventory item, for example, during article manufacturing and article inventory management. The present invention relates to a length measuring device used.

(Prior Art) Manufacturers of bottles and the like need to count the quantities of each bottle size when counting quantities during production and managing inventory. Particularly in inventory management, products with different ignition levels are sometimes stored together, and it takes a lot of effort to tally up the quantity of stored products for each type. Development of an inventory management system that can aggregate inventory is underway.

By the way, such an inventory management system suspends a plurality of storage shelves storing a plurality of items on a pair of endless chains, and by driving the endless chains, the storage shelves are transported along a predetermined transport route. is configured to be During the conveyance route, the articles stored in the storage shelves are detected by photoelectric switches, and the shape of the detection results is determined by a computer or the like, and the quantity is totaled for each type of can or bottle.

As shown in Figure 4, the photoelectric switch used in such a system consists of a combination of an infrared emitter and an infrared receiver, through which an object such as a can or bottle to be inspected passes and the infrared light is blocked. The shape of the article was determined based on the time taken.

However, as shown in Figure 5, the light emitted from the infrared projector of the charging switch in such a system has the characteristic of spreading depending on the distance, causing variations in the shaded point and impairing the accuracy of dimensional measurement of the item. The problem was that it got worse.

Further, when photoelectric switches are used side by side as shown in FIG. 6, there is a problem in that the infrared receiver receives the light beam projected from the adjacent infrared projector.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in conventional shape determination devices, the light output from the infrared projector has the characteristic of spreading according to the distance, causing variations in the light-blocking point and causing problems with the dimensions of the article. There is a problem that the measurement accuracy deteriorates, and when photoelectric switches are used side by side, there is a problem that the infrared receiver receives the light beam projected from the adjacent infrared projector.

The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a length measuring device that improves the accuracy of measuring dimensions of articles.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the first invention provides a conveyance means for conveying an article at a predetermined speed along a conveyance path, and a first light shielding panel that has a first slit and is provided in front of the light projecting means; A length of the article in the conveying direction is calculated based on a light receiving means that receives the emitted light and a time during which the light projected from the light projecting means is blocked by the article conveyed by the conveying means. A second invention is a length measuring device comprising a calculation means, and a second invention is a length measuring device comprising a calculation means.
In the invention, the length measuring device further comprises a second panel having a second slit provided substantially perpendicular to the first slit on the front surface of the light receiving means.

(Function) In the length measuring device of the first invention, since the panel having the slit is provided in front of the light projecting means, the light projected by the light projecting means does not spread and can be accurately measured. It becomes possible to measure length.

Furthermore, in the length measuring device of the second invention, a panel having a slit orthogonal to the slit in the panel provided on the front surface of the light projecting means is further provided on the front surface of the light receiving means, so Since the projected light can be accurately taken into the light receiving means, more accurate length measurement is possible.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an embodiment in which the length measuring device of the present invention is applied to an inventory management device for checking the temporal quality of beer.

As shown in the figure, a storage box 2 is suspended between a pair of endless chains 1a and lb. These storage boxes 2 are rotatably fixed to the pair of endless chains la, lb so as to maintain substantially the same posture at any position along the transport path. Furthermore, the storage box 2 is provided with a plurality of storage pockets 4 in which articles 3 such as canned beer and bottled beer are stored. Furthermore, the pair of endless chains 1a, lb are circulated and conveyed at a constant speed by a drive device 5 using a motor. Also, ■ is a belt conveyor for transportation.

Further, at a predetermined position on the transport route, the same number of photoelectric switches 6 as there are storage pockets 4 are provided to detect the articles 3 stored in the storage box 2 transported to that position.

The charging switch 6 includes an infrared emitter 6a that emits eight infrared beams, and an infrared receiver 6b that is placed opposite the infrared emitter 6a and receives the infrared light from the infrared emitter 6a.
When the infrared beam is blocked by the article 3, a light blocking signal is output from the infrared receiver 6b. Furthermore, the storage box 2 is provided with an opening so as not to block the infrared beam when no article 3 is stored therein.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an infrared light emitter 56a and an infrared receiver 6b provided in the inventory management device.

As shown in the figure, a light shielding panel 9a having a vertically long slit 8a is provided on the front surface of the infrared projector 6a. In addition, there is a horizontally long slit 8b in the front of the infrared receiver 6b.
A light shielding panel 9b is provided. Arrow A in the diagram
indicates the conveyance direction of the article 3.

Next, a description will be given of the operation when the articles 3 such as beer stored in the inventory management device configured as described above are totaled by type.

The storage box 2 is circulated and conveyed by a pair of endless chains 1a and lb, and passes through a charging switch 6 one after another. At this time, the infrared beam of the infrared projector 6a is narrowed by the slit 8a and projected onto the goods 3 such as beer stored in the storage box 2 and the storage pocket 4 of the storage box 2. This infrared beam is interrupted when it passes through article 3.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the infrared beam 10a projected from the infrared projector 5a is narrowed by the light shielding panel 9a having the vertically long slit 8a, and becomes the infrared beam 10b having a vertically long elliptical cross section.

On the other hand, on the side of the infrared receiver 6b, an infrared beam 10b having a longitudinally elongated cross section is restricted by a laterally elongated slit 8b and is received.

and the shading time indicated by the shading signal and the endless chain pair 1a,
The speed of the storage box 2 that is circulated and conveyed by lb is input into a computer (not shown), the length of the article 3 such as beer in the conveyance direction is calculated, and the type is determined. Then, aggregation is performed for each type.

Therefore, in the inventory management device of this embodiment, the infrared beam 10a from the infrared projector 6a is narrowed and projected.
In addition, since the light receiving range of the infrared receiver 6b is limited, even when a plurality of photoelectric switches 6 are used in close proximity to each other as in this embodiment, the influence of infrared beams from the next side is reduced, and the accurate conveyance direction of the article 3 is reduced. The length of can be measured.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the length measuring device of the present invention,
Since the light from the light projecting means is restricted by the slit and the light receiving range of the light receiving means is also narrowed, variations in the light blocking point are reduced, and the influence of other light is also reduced, and the length of the object to be measured in the transport direction is reduced. It becomes possible to measure accurately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an embodiment in which the length measuring device of the present invention is applied to an inventory control device for checking the temporal quality of beer, and Fig. 2 is an infrared ray installed in the inventory control device. Figure 3 shows an infrared beam narrowed by a slit on the emitter side and a slit on the receiver side. Figure 4 shows an infrared emitter and an infrared receiver with a conventional length-fixing device. FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing the relationship between the container and the article 3, and are diagrams showing how an infrared beam projected from a projector reaches an infrared receiver. 18% 1b... Endless chain, 2... Storage box, 4... Storage pocket, 5... Drive device, 6a...
・Infrared emitter, 6b...Infrared receiver, 8a, 8b
...Slit, 9a, 9b...shading panel. Applicant Toshiba Engineering Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Sasa Suyama - (1 other person)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A conveyance means for conveying the article at a predetermined speed along the conveyance path, a light projection means for projecting light toward a passing position of the article conveyed along the conveyance path, and a first slit. a first light shielding panel provided on the front surface of the light projecting means; a light receiving means for receiving light projected from the light projecting means; and a first light shielding panel provided in front of the light projecting means; 1. A length measuring device, comprising: calculating means for calculating the length of the article in the transport direction based on the time during which light projected from the article is interrupted. (2) Length measurement according to claim 1, further comprising a second light shielding panel having a second slit provided substantially perpendicular to the first slit on the front surface of the light receiving means. Device.