JPH04350012A - Automatic guide width adjuster for direction change guide - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure correct clearances between a transported article and guide members and conduct direction change smoothly by providing a plurality of front and rear adjusting means that support respective predetermined positions of deformable guide members so as to be adjustable forward and backward, driving respective front and rear adjusting means in connected engagement with each other. CONSTITUTION:Guide members 3, 4 constituted with slat chains or the like are provided on both the upper sides of transport conveyors 1, 2, and direction change guide surfaces are formed by these. These guide members 3, 4 are respectively supported by means of front and rear regulating means 5, 6, and in the case of guide width change accompanying transported article change or the like, respective front and rear adjusting means 5, 6 are driven by a predetermined quantity each by means of a connected engagement drive means, and a guide width is adjusted. The connected engagement drive means is constituted with a drive pulley 16 that gives drive force to welts 14, 15 and a belt 14 connecting engagingly and respectively the respective main pulleys 11 of the respective means 5, 6, and a drive motor or the like that drives the drive pulley 16.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention is installed in a conveyor system such as a bottling factory in order to smoothly change the direction of flow of conveyed articles when the conveyors are connected at a predetermined angle to each other. This invention relates to an automatic guide width adjustment device for a direction change guide.

0002

[Prior Art] In this type of conveyor system, when there is a predetermined angle between adjacent conveyors due to the layout etc., in order to smoothly change the flow direction of conveyed articles at the connecting corner, Installing the conversion guide and configuring the guide width so that it can be adjusted to correspond to the width of various conveyed articles,
This has been known for a long time (Special Public Interest Publication 54-35
(See Publication No. 389).

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, although the conventional guide width adjusting device described above can adjust the guide width in accordance with the width of various conveyed articles, it is difficult to adjust the guide curve itself to a desirable curvature suitable for each adjustment width. It did not have a function to adjust. For this reason, in the guide width adjustment work, in order to keep the parallelism of both guide curves within an allowable range, there is a limit to the range of the guide width that can be adjusted, and it is necessary to This method has the disadvantage that it is difficult to deal with cases such as direction change guides. In view of this, the present invention eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art, and simultaneously adjusts the guide width and automatically adjusts the shape of the guide curve itself to an almost ideal shape that matches each adjustment width. The object of the present invention is to provide a guide width adjusting device that obtains the following.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, in the invention according to claim 1, there is provided a deformable guide member forming a guide surface, and each predetermined position of the guide member is supported so as to be adjustable back and forth. An automatic guide width adjustment device is constituted by a plurality of longitudinal adjustment means, and a linked drive means for driving these longitudinal adjustment means in conjunction with each other. A technical means was adopted in which the pinions of each longitudinal adjustment means were linked via a belt as the linked drive means, and the belt was connected to the drive means.

[0005]

[Operation] By employing the above-mentioned solution, when adjusting the guide width, each of the longitudinal adjustment means is linked and driven in the longitudinal direction by a predetermined amount by the linked drive means. Parallelism is maintained and a nearly ideal guide curve commensurate with the target guide width can be obtained.

[0006]

Embodiments Next, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the main parts of this apparatus, and shows an example in which conveyors 1 and 2 are connected at right angles to each other. Guide members 3 and 4 constituted by slat chains and the like are provided on both sides above the conveyors 1 and 2, thereby forming guide surfaces for direction change. The guide members 3 and 4 are supported at appropriate predetermined positions by a plurality of longitudinal adjustment means 5 and 6, respectively. When changing the guide width due to a change in the conveyed article, etc., each of the longitudinal adjustment means 5 and 6 is configured to be driven by a predetermined amount by a linked drive means to adjust the guide width. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the longitudinal adjustment means 5 and 6 each have a support portion 7 at the tip and a longitudinal sliding rod 9 having a rack 8, which meshes with the rack 8. The main elements are a pinion 10 and a main pulley 11 connected to the pinion 10. The pinion 10 and main pulley 11 are rotatably supported via a support shaft 13 erected on a machine base 12. The linked driving means includes the respective longitudinal adjustment means 5,
6 main pulleys 11 respectively, a belt 14,
15, the main elements are a drive pulley 16 that applies a driving force to the belt 14 and a drive means such as a drive motor (not shown) that drives the drive pulley 16. In addition, 17 in the figure is an interlocking pulley, and gear box 18
By driving the belt 15 through the rotating shaft 19, the gear box 20, and the other interlocking pulley 21, the longitudinal adjustment means 5 and 6 are interlocked. In addition, 22 in the figure is an intermediate pulley, 23,
24 is a longitudinal adjustment means 27 for the additional guide members 25 and 26;
28 additional pulleys for driving; 29 and 30 tension adjustment pulleys for the belts 14 and 15; 31 and 32 free wheels for the guide members 3 and 4; 33 and 34;
35 is a potentiometer, and 36 is a rotating table.
5, the actual movement amount of the additional guide member 26 is fed back to the drive means so that the target guide width can be achieved.

Next, the method of adjusting the guide width will be explained. When the guide width needs to be readjusted due to a change in the conveyed article, etc., when the target guide width is input via an operation panel (not shown), an operation command is output to the drive means, and the corresponding amount is adjusted. The drive pulley 16 rotates by the same amount. As a result, the belt 14 moves by a predetermined amount, and each of the main pulleys 11 is rotated by a predetermined amount while interlocking with each other. Therefore, each support portion 7 is connected to the pinion 10.
and moves in the front-back direction by a predetermined amount via the rack 8, and moves the guide member 3 by a predetermined amount. The operation of this belt 14 is controlled by an interlocking pulley 17, a gear box 18, a rotating shaft 19, a gear box 20, and an interlocking pulley 21.
, and similarly moves the other guide member 4 by a predetermined amount in the front-back direction. Furthermore, simultaneously with the adjustment operations of these guide members 3 and 4, the additional guide members 25 and 26 perform longitudinal adjustment operations via additional pulleys 23 and 24 and longitudinal adjustment means 27 and 28 in conjunction with the adjustment operations. In this case, the amount of back-and-forth movement of the additional guide member 26 is detected by the potentiometer 35 and fed back to the drive means (not shown), so that automatic control is performed to achieve the target guide width. Therefore, the above-mentioned guide members 3, 4 and additional guide members 25, 2
As a result of the adjustment work in step 6, a nearly ideal guide curve is obtained that ensures a predetermined clearance between the target article and the conveyed article. In addition, in the above description, although the case where each conveyor 1, 2 is connected at right angles was shown, it cannot be overemphasized that it can apply to the connection part of various shapes, such as S shape. In addition, although a belt system is used as the linked drive means, a chain system may be used instead, and an electric or fluid actuator may be used as the front-rear adjustment means, or feedback control using a potentiometer may be used instead. It is also possible to employ a servo mechanism.

[0008]

Effects of the Invention The present invention can obtain the following effects based on the above configuration. (1) Since each of the longitudinal adjustment means supporting the guide member is configured to be adjusted in conjunction with each other, a guide curve that maintains almost ideal parallelism can be obtained in the entire range of the guide width adjustment region. , an accurate clearance is always ensured between the guide member and the conveyed article, resulting in a smooth direction change. (2) Since the respective longitudinal adjustment means are automatically adjusted in conjunction with each other, accurate guide curves can be easily obtained in each guide width adjustment operation by simply performing the setting operation accurately. (3) It can be used not only when connecting at right angles but also when connecting in various shapes such as an S-shape. (4) When applied to guide members on both sides, no center deviation occurs before and after adjusting the guide width.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of main parts of an entire apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a longitudinal adjustment means portion according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the front-rear adjusting means portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2... Transfer conveyor 3, 4... Guide member 5, 6... Back and forth adjustment means 8... Rack 10... Pinion 11... Main pulley 14, 15... Belt 16... Drive pulley 17, 21 ... Interlocking pulleys 23, 24... Additional pulleys 25, 26... Additional guide members 29, 30... Tension adjustment pulleys 31, 32...
‥Freewheel 35‥‥Potentiometer 36‥‥Rotary table

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A deformable guide member that forms a guide surface, a plurality of longitudinal adjustment means that support each predetermined position of the guide member in a longitudinally adjustable manner, and these longitudinal adjustment means are driven in conjunction with each other. 1. An automatic guide width adjustment device for a direction change guide in a conveyor system, characterized by comprising a linked drive means. 2. The conveyor according to claim 1, wherein a pinion rack mechanism is used as the longitudinal adjustment means, and the pinions of each longitudinal adjustment means are linked via a belt as the linked drive means, and the belt is connected to a drive means. Automatic guide width adjustment device for direction change guide in the system.