JPH0430170Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention relates to an article storage device that automatically stores and takes out fixed-sized articles such as containers onto and from shelves.

(Prior art and its problems) As shown in FIG. 5, an article storage device of this type is provided with an endless chain 1 forming an elliptical orbit in a horizontal plane in multiple stages vertically, and an endless chain 1 in each stage. A rotary article storage device in which a plurality of trays 2 are fixedly attached to a chain 1, and containers and other fixed products are taken in and out between the trays 2 and a shelf (not shown) provided along the trajectory of the endless chain 1. Devices are known. Furthermore, in such a rotary article storage device, at least one of the pair of left and right sprocket wheels 3a, 3b that stretches the endless chain 1 is used, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 60-126411. On the other hand, for example, the sprocket wheel 3a
A shaft 4 has also been developed in which the tension of the endless chain 1 can be adjusted by making the shaft 4 movable in the long axis direction of the elliptical track.

By the way, in such a rotary article storage device, in order to transfer a shaped article from the outside to the tray 2 of the endless chain 1, or to take out a shaped article from the tray 2 to the outside, the length of the endless chain 1 is usually A transfer table is arranged along one linear area of the circular orbit, and shaped articles are transferred between the transfer table and the tray 2. However, due to the space for installing this article storage device, etc., there may be cases where a layout in which the transfer table is installed in a straight line area of the elliptical orbit of the endless chain 1 cannot be created. Therefore, as a countermeasure against such a case, as shown in FIG. It is possible to configure the fixed-shaped product 7 to be pushed into the opposing tray 2 and transferred.

However, if the transfer table 5 is arranged at one end of the endless chain 1 where the tension can be adjusted as in the above configuration, when the tension of the endless chain 1 is adjusted, the difference in the tension as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. The tray 2 approaches the transfer table 5 by the tension adjustment amount a, and therefore the position at which the shaped product 7 is pushed into the tray 2 by the pusher 6 is relative to the tension adjustment amount a compared to before the tension adjustment. It becomes something deep. To prevent accidents, the shaped product 7 must be completely placed on the tray 2, so in consideration of the tension adjustment, give the tray 2 an allowance in advance corresponding to the maximum tension adjustment allowance a _nax . This causes a problem in that the depth of the tray 2 increases and the width of the entire device increases. Note that the deviation in the pushing position of the shaped product 7 due to the tension adjustment allowance a can be corrected by adjusting the position of the transfer table 5, but the endless chain 1 is provided in multiple stages vertically, and each stage Since the tension adjustment allowance a is different for each stage, it is not possible to adjust the position of the transfer table 5 so as to fit all stages.

(Purpose of the invention) This invention was made in order to solve the above problem.The transfer table is placed at one end of an endless chain whose tension can be adjusted. An object of the present invention is to provide an article storage device capable of adjusting the stroke of a pusher according to the tension adjustment allowance of an endless chain so that shaped articles are always transferred in a constant positional relationship between trays. shall be.

(Means for achieving the purpose) This invention provides a plurality of trays in an endless chain, moves the trays in a circular motion in a horizontal plane, and allows fixed-sized products to be taken in and out between the trays and a shelf provided along the trajectory. In order to achieve the above object, a transfer table is disposed on the end side of the endless chain where the tension can be adjusted, and moves back and forth in the tension adjustment direction to perform the transfer. By providing a pusher for transferring goods between the table and the tray facing it, and by providing a stroke adjustment means for adjusting the forward and backward stroke of the pusher according to the tension adjustment allowance of the endless chain, the transfer table and the tray The structure is such that the transfer of shaped products by a pusher between the two is always carried out in a constant positional relationship.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a warehousing transfer table 8 applied to an article storage device which is an embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the transfer table 8.

In this article storage device, the above-mentioned transfer table 8 is mounted on the tray 2 (FIG. 5) at one end of the endless chain 1 (FIG. 5) in the conventional example where the tension can be adjusted.
It is placed so that it can face the This transfer table 8 is provided with a pusher 9 that can move forward and backward for pushing a fixed-sized item such as a container placed thereon onto the tray 2, and this pusher 9 is driven forward and backward by a pusher drive motor (not shown). It is configured as follows. Further, a plate-shaped mark portion 10 having a plurality of slits 10a arranged in the advance/retreat direction is vertically provided at the lower end of one side of the pusher 9 as a count mark. Furthermore, on the front side of the operating range of the mark section 10 that moves forward and backward together with the pusher 9, there is an interrupter 11 made of a photocoupler or the like so as to sandwich the mark section 10 from both sides.
is provided, and the interrupter 11 is configured to detect the slit 10a of the mark portion 10 passing through the interrupter 11, and output a detection pulse as information on the advancing position of the pusher 9. The transfer table 8 is driven up and down by a motor (not shown) and is configured to be able to stop at a designated height position of the endless chain 1 of the endless chains 1 provided in multiple stages vertically.

On the other hand, an operation panel (not shown) for controlling the endless chain 1, transfer table 8, pusher 9, etc. is provided with an arithmetic unit 12 shown in a block diagram in FIG. 3 for setting the forward and backward strokes of the pusher 9. This arithmetic unit 12 includes a register 13 that stores a preset value input from the operation panel, a counter 14 that counts detection pulses sent from the interrupter 11, and a counter 14 that stores the count value of this counter 14 and a value of the register 13. The comparator 15 is configured to compare the preset value to be stored, and when the count value of the counter 14 and the preset value match, the comparator 15 outputs a signal to the pusher motor control section 16 to instruct the pusher 9 to stop. ing.

Next, the forward/backward stroke adjusting operation of the pusher 9 of this article storage device will be explained. First, preset values corresponding to each stage of the endless chain 1 are input into the register 13 of the arithmetic unit 12 from the operation panel. In this embodiment, this preset value is manually set by the operator according to the tension adjustment allowance of the endless chain 1 of each stage, but a means for automatically detecting the tension adjustment allowance is provided so that the preset value is automatically set according to the detected amount. It may be configured as follows. In either case, the preset value is set as a value that provides a stroke of the pusher 9 that can push the shaped product into a fixed position on the tray 2 for each tension adjustment allowance.

When the pusher 9 starts pushing the shaped product from the transfer table 8 to the tray 2 at the designated stage, as the mark part 10 passes the interrupter 11, the number of slits 10a passed is The detected pulse is input from the interrupter 11 to the counter 14 of the arithmetic unit 12, and the count value and the preset value of the register 13 are compared by the comparator 15. Then, when the count value matches the preset value, a stop signal is output from the comparator 15 to the pusher motor control section 16, whereby the motor that drives the pusher 9 forward and backward stops, and the pusher 9 is fixed to the proper position on the tray 2. It stops at the position where the item is pushed in. In this way, for each stage, the stroke of the pusher 9 is adjusted according to the tension adjustment allowance a of the endless chain 1, as shown in FIG. The pressed positions of the shaped products 7 within the container 2 are uniformly aligned. Therefore, there is no need to provide an allowance for the depth dimension of the tray 2, and the width dimension of the entire device can be reduced over the entire circumference.

In this embodiment, the tray 2 is transferred from the transfer table 8.
The description has been given using an example of warehousing in which a fixed-sized product 7 is pushed to the side, but the invention is not limited to this.
The present invention can be similarly applied to the case of unloading by pushing out. In this case as well, since there is no need to provide an allowance for the depth dimension of the transfer table 8, the width dimension of the entire apparatus can be similarly reduced.

Further, the detection means for detecting the pushing stop position of the pusher 9 is not limited to the configuration using the slit 10a and the interrupter 11 of the above embodiment, but may also be configured in conjunction with the movement of the pusher 9, such as by using a rotary encoder attached to the pusher motor. It may also be by means of

Furthermore, the configuration of the above embodiment in which a preset value corresponding to the tension adjustment allowance is inputted in advance to the calculation device 12 may be replaced with a detection unit such as a limit switch that advances toward the tray 2 in response to pushing of the pusher 9. Of course, it is also possible to detect a predetermined position and directly control the pushing stop position of the pusher 9 based on the detection signal.

(Effects of the invention) As described above, according to the article storage device of this invention, since a stroke adjustment means is provided to adjust the forward and backward stroke of the pusher according to the tension adjustment allowance of the endless chain, the transfer table and tray The transfer of shaped products using a pusher is always carried out in a fixed positional relationship, which eliminates the need for extra depth in the tray or transfer table, and reduces the overall width of the device. is obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a transfer table in an article storage device which is an embodiment of this invention, Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the transfer table, Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the arithmetic unit, and Fig. 4 is a FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the main parts of the rotary article storage device, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the problem caused by the tension adjustment allowance of the endless chain. 1... Endless chain, 2... Tray, 8... Transfer table, 9... Pusher, 10... Mark section, 1
1...Interrupter, 12...Arithmetic device.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A plurality of trays are provided in an endless chain, and the trays are circulated in a horizontal plane, and fixed-sized products can be taken in and out between the trays and shelves provided along the trajectory. In the article storage device designed to perform
A transfer table is disposed on the tension-adjustable end side of the endless chain, and a pusher is provided that moves forward and backward in the tension adjustment direction and transfers articles between the transfer table and the tray facing it. The article storage device is further provided with a stroke adjustment means for adjusting the forward and backward stroke of the pusher in accordance with the tension adjustment allowance of the endless chain. (2) The pusher is provided on a transfer table and is configured to push out the article from the transfer table and transfer it onto the tray, and the stroke adjustment means adjusts a count value according to the advancing position of the pusher. and means for stopping the drive source of the pusher when this count value matches a preset value input in advance according to the tension adjustment allowance of the endless chain. Goods storage device.