JPH04260480A - Article sorting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform arrangement at a high speed, in an apparatus for arranging glass bottles, by providing a distributing lever wherein one single side surface thereof is set to a guide surface along a main feed path and the other single side surface thereof is set to a guide surface along a branch path in a freely shakable manner so as to energize the same to the main feed path by a spring to make it possible to change over both paths. CONSTITUTION:At a usual time, a distribution lever 11 is held to a main feed path selecting position by the action of a second spring 14 and the article 3 fed along a rotary table 1 is passed through a branch point Z so far as it is an acceptable product to be guided by the guide surface 11a of the lever 11. When an inferior product 3' arrives, the distribution lever 11 is pulled by the operation of a solenoid 16 to be held to a branch path selecting position. By this mechanism, a main feed path 1 is isolated and the inferior product 3' is guided by the guide surface 11b of the distribution lever 11 and fed by a timing screw 2 to be removed from the main feed path. Next, the solenoid 16 becomes a non operative state to be returned to the original state by a spring 17.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an article sorting device used to classify relatively fragile articles, such as glass bottles, into good and defective articles at extremely high speed. .

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In order to sort predetermined articles, the articles are conveyed along a conveying means such as a conveyor or a rotary table, and a branch part is provided in the middle of this conveyance path, and a sorting member is attached. , by operating this sorting member, the good products are transported along the main transport path,
Furthermore, a configuration is generally used in which defective products are transported along a branch path.

[0003] Here, for example, when a glass ampoule container is filled with a chemical solution and then the ampules are sorted into good and defective products, it is difficult to store items that are unstable when standing upright. In order to transport the product in a stable state so that it does not fall over during transport, the circumference of the body must be guided over as wide a surface as possible. For this purpose, for example, by forming a large number of arcuate recesses on the outer periphery of the main conveyance path, the main conveyance path is configured with a rotary table that serves as a guide for the article, and the branch path is configured with a timing screw. Then, this timing screw is connected to the main conveyance path formed by the rotary table, and this connection part is used as a branching part,
A distribution member equipped with a swing lever is provided at this branching part,
A driving means may be connected to the sorting member so that the article can be displaced between a state where the article can be conveyed as it is along the main conveyance path and a state where the article can be transferred to a branch path.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, when sorting fragile items such as the aforementioned ampoules, if the sorting member hits the ampoule, it will easily be damaged, so it is difficult to operate the sorting member. It must be ensured that the product does not come into contact with the product with strong force. For this reason, the distribution member cannot be displaced at high speed. In addition, in order to reliably sort the articles, it is necessary to ensure sufficient intervals between the articles being conveyed along the main conveyance path or to convey them at a low speed. For these reasons, it has been extremely difficult to speed up the sorting process for fragile items such as ampoules. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and its purpose is to provide an article that can be subjected to extremely high-speed and accurate sorting processing even for fragile articles. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a sorting device.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a branching section that branches some of the articles conveyed along the main conveying path into a branching path that can swing horizontally. A sorting lever is installed, one side of this sorting lever is used as a guide surface along the main conveyance path, and the opposite side is used as a guide surface along the branching path, and this sorting lever is used as a guide surface along the main conveyance path by a first spring. The article is biased to a state in which the article can be transported along the path or the branch path, and is also switchable by the driving means to the state in which it can be transported along the other transport path, and is distributed with the driving means. Its feature is that when the lever is in its inactive state, it is connected to the lever via a second spring that has a weaker spring force than the first spring.

[0006]

[Function] In this article sorting device, for example, the sorting lever is normally held in a state in which the articles are conveyed along the main conveyance path by the action of the first spring, and the articles to be separated are When the article is conveyed, the drive means is actuated to feed the article into the branching path, and the main conveying path can be configured with a rotary table and the branching path can be configured with a timing screw. Then, an inspection mechanism is provided to determine whether the article is a good product or a defective product at an upstream position on the rotary table or at a stage before being carried into the rotary table,
The sorting lever is actuated based on the signals of good products and defective products detected by this inspection mechanism.

[0007] Thus, the articles are sequentially conveyed along the rotary table. Among the articles transported in this manner, when an article determined to be good by the inspection mechanism is transported, the sorting lever is held in a non-operating state. On the other hand, when the defective product advances toward the branch point, the driving means is activated based on a signal from the inspection mechanism immediately after the preceding product in front of the defective product passes the branch point position. As a result, the sorting lever is displaced toward the branch path and comes into contact with the preceding article that is being conveyed along the main conveyance path after passing through the branch point. However, this sorting lever is not directly connected to the drive means, but a second spring is interposed between them, so the sorting lever is displaced by the biasing force of this second spring. By weakening the spring force of the spring 2 to a certain extent, even if the sorting member is in contact with the article, the conveyance can be continued smoothly without damaging the article. Become. As soon as the preceding article leaves the position where it contacts the sorting lever, this sorting lever is completely switched to the branching path side, and when the next defective article to be conveyed reaches the branching point, this sorting lever is turned off. It is guided along the guide surface on the branch road side and fed toward the timing screw that constitutes the branch road.

[0008] After the defective products are directed toward the timing screw, the drive means is actuated to displace the sorting lever to a state where the products are transported along the main transport path. However, the sorting lever will not come into contact with the defective product and be completely switched until the defective product has completely passed the position of the sorting lever. However, the goods by the sorting lever are pressed against the wall surface of the timing screw based on the difference between the spring force of the first spring and the spring force of the second spring, but this pressing force is used to damage goods that are defective. It is possible to make adjustments to the extent that smooth conveyance can be achieved without causing any problems. When the defective product moves to a position where it is removed from the sorting lever, the sorting lever is completely switched, allowing subsequent articles to be conveyed along the main conveyance path.

[0009] From the above, since the sorting lever can be actuated immediately after the articles pass the branching point position, it is possible to sort the articles smoothly and accurately even if the articles are transported at extremely high speeds. can. Moreover, when switching the conveyance path, the sorting lever is brought into contact with the articles, but the pressing force of the sorting lever against the articles is due to the spring force of the first and second springs.
If these spring forces are set appropriately, there is no risk of damaging the article when switching the conveyance path.

0010

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the article sorting device, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof.

As is clear from the figure, as the main conveyance path,
A rotary table 1 is provided, and a timing screw 2 is provided as a branch path. The rotary table 1 has a large number of arcuate recesses 1a formed in its outer peripheral edge, and articles 3 are conveyed while being guided by the arcuate recesses 1a. Therefore, the article 3 is carried in from the position of the article carry-in part It will be carried out from department Y. A branch point Z is provided in the middle of this conveyance path, and one end of the timing screw 2 faces this branch point Z. The timing screw 2 is configured to be able to convey the article 3 in a linear direction by rotating it by a driving means such as a motor. Further, guide walls 4 and 5 for guiding the article 3 are provided on the main conveyance path and the branch path, respectively, except for the position of the branch point Z.

A sorting mechanism 10 is provided at the branch point Z. This sorting mechanism 10 has a sorting lever 11, and this sorting lever 11 can swing horizontally about a swing shaft 12. The surface 11a of this sorting lever on the rotary table 1 side has an arc shape, and when facing the rotary table 1 at a predetermined distance as shown by the solid line in FIG. It has a function of guiding the article 3 being conveyed. Therefore, this position becomes the main conveyance path selection position. Also, the surface 11b on the side of the timing screw 2
is a straight line, and as shown by the virtual line in Figure 2,
When the article 3 is moved to face the timing screw 2 at a predetermined distance, the article 3 conveyed along the main conveyance path becomes a branch path selection position toward the timing screw 2 .

The swing shaft 12 is erected on an actuating plate 13, and the actuating plate 13 is horizontally rotatable about the fixed position of the swing shaft 12. A first spring 14 acts on this actuation plate 13 to hold the distribution lever 11 at the main transport path selection position, and a stopper 15 acts on the operation plate 13 to stop the distribution lever 11 at this position.
is provided. On the other hand, this first spring 14
A solenoid 16 is provided in order to displace the sorting lever 11 to the branching path selection position against the force, and a second spring 17 is interposed between the output shaft 16a of the solenoid 16 and the actuating plate 13. equipped. Here, this second
The spring force of the first spring 17 is set to be weaker than the spring force of the first spring 14 when the solenoid 16 is in the inactive state. A stopper 1 for stopping the sorting lever 11 at this branch road selection position
8 is provided.

The present embodiment is constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained next. On the rotary table 1 constituting the main conveyance path described above, before reaching the branch point Z or before being carried into the rotary table 1, a predetermined inspection mechanism checks whether the article 3 is good or not. An inspection is carried out to determine whether the products are defective, and based on the inspection results, the sorting lever 11 is operated, and the non-defective products are transported along the main conveyance path, while the defective products are transferred to a branch path that branches off. It will be done.

At all times, the sorting lever 11 is held at the main conveyance path selection position by the action of the second spring 14, thereby allowing the distribution lever 11 to be conveyed along the rotary table 1 constituting the main conveyance path. As long as the article 3 is of good quality, it is transported directly through the branch point Z. However, as shown by 3' in FIG. 3, when a defective product is transported, the sorting lever 1 is activated based on a signal from the inspection mechanism.
1 is activated, and the timing screw 2 forming the branch path is caused to branch and convey.

As is clear from FIG. 3, the solenoid 16 is activated immediately after the good product 3a before the defective product 3' passes through the branch point 3a. As a result, the spring force of the second spring 17 increases and when the spring force of the second spring 17 becomes greater than that of the first spring 14, the distribution lever 11 is displaced in the direction of the branch path selection position. do. However, at this time, the article 3a is not moved by the sorting lever 1.
It has not completely gone beyond the position facing the surface 11a of 1. Therefore, the surface 11a of the sorting lever 11 comes into contact with the article 3a. However, the rotating force of the distribution lever 11 is pressed by a force equal to the difference between the spring force increased by exciting the solenoid 16 and compressing (or tensioning) the second spring 17 and the first spring 14. Because of this, no impact is applied when they make contact, and by adjusting the spring force, no excessive pressing force is applied. Therefore, the article 3a may be damaged or
Furthermore, there are no inconveniences that would impede transportation.

As the rotary table 1 rotates, when the article 3a comes out of contact with the sorting lever 11, the sorting lever 11 is completely switched to the branch path selection position, and then the article is transported next. Defective product 3'
reaches branch point Z. Therefore, this defective product 3' reliably advances toward the timing screw 2 forming the branch path. When the defective product 3' enters the branch path in this manner, the excitation state of the solenoid 16 is immediately released. As a result, as shown in FIG.
1 comes into contact with the defective product 3', but since the sorting lever 11 is swung and displaced based on the force of the difference between the first spring 14 and the second spring 17, the defective product 3'
There is no risk of damage due to excessive pressing force or impeding smooth conveyance. Here, the defective product 3' is conveyed along the timing screw 2 constituting the branching path while being in contact with the surface 11b of the sorting lever 11, and after traveling a predetermined distance, it leaves the sorting lever 11 and moves to the sorting lever. 11 completely returns to the main conveyance path selection position. As a result, the state returns to the state in which the next non-defective article 3b to be transported is transported along the main transport path.

By operating as described above, the articles 3 can be sorted at an extremely high speed.
Furthermore, there is no risk that the articles 3 will be damaged or damaged during this sorting. By the way, the solenoid 16 generally has a weak suction force when it starts operating, so it has poor response and is not suitable for high-speed operation. However, as described above, by operating the product immediately after the preceding article 3a passes the branching point Z, the article (
It becomes possible to reliably displace the defective product 3') to the branch path selection position before it reaches the branch point Z.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the main conveyance path is formed by an arc-shaped conveyance path made of a rotary table, and the branch path is formed by a linear conveyance path made of a timing screw. Branching from a straight conveyance path to an arcuate conveyance path, branching from a straight conveyance path to a straight conveyance path, and further branching from an arcuate conveyance path to an arcuate conveyance path. may be configured. In addition, although ampoules are shown as articles, they are suitable for high-speed sorting of fragile articles that are not stable during transportation, such as ampoules, and the articles that can be handled are not limited to this. .

[0020]

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a horizontally swingable sorting lever at the branching section in order to branch some of the articles conveyed along the main conveying path into the branching path. One side of the distribution lever is used as a guide surface along the main conveyance path, and the other side is used as a guide surface along the branch path, and the distribution lever is controlled by a first spring to guide the main conveyance path or the branch path. A drive means is used to bias the article so that it can be conveyed along either one of the conveyance paths, and to switch the sorting lever to a state where it can be conveyed along the other conveyance path against the first spring. and the drive means, when in its inoperative state, is in a first position.
Since the configuration is such that the distribution lever is connected to the distribution lever via a second spring having a spring force weaker than that of the second spring, the distribution lever can be actuated immediately after the article in front of the article destined for the branch path passes through the branch point. This makes it possible to sort articles at extremely high speed, and since the force that acts on the articles at this time of separation is based on spring force, it is necessary to adjust this spring force appropriately. This allows the sorting work to be carried out without damaging the articles.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an article sorting device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the article sorting device.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram showing an operation state different from that in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Rotary table 2 Timing screw 3, 3a, 3b Goods 3´　Defective product 10 Sorting mechanism 11 Sorting lever 12 Swing axis 13 Actuation plate 14 First spring 16 Solenoid 17 Second spring

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A branch part is provided in the middle of a main conveyance path for conveying articles, and the branch path is connected to this branch part, so that some of the articles conveyed along the main conveyance path are branched to the branch path. A horizontally swingable distribution lever is installed at the branching portion, one side of the distribution lever serves as a guide surface along the main conveyance path, and the opposite side serves as a guide surface along the main conveyance path. the distribution lever is biased by a first spring to a state in which the article can be conveyed along the main conveyance path or the branch path;
The drive means can switch to a state in which the conveyance is possible along the other conveyance path along the other conveyance path, and when the distribution lever is in the inactive state, the first An article sorting device characterized in that the device is configured to be connected via a second spring having a spring force weaker than that of the second spring.