JPH0436978B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a method for storing arbitrary products in trays in various factories and transporting them between various manufacturing and processing lines.
Concerning linked product transport and mounting.

In order to automate the manufacturing and processing of small products in various factories, etc., it is necessary to transport the products between the various manufacturing and processing lines in an automatically organized and regulated state.

This transportation system generally stores and transports small products in trays, which are flat containers, and these trays are transferred to the product loading and unloading sections of each manufacturing and processing department using automated systems such as conveyors. However, automated systems such as conveyors have the disadvantage of being large and cannot be easily installed, and also require accurate positioning of each tray to the product loading/unloading area. The drawback was that it was difficult. Furthermore, there is a drawback in that automatic product transport is not possible unless the large conveyor system is used to rearrange and transport the large number of trays that have been loaded and unloaded with the products.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and when transporting products using trays, a large number of trays are housed in a transport body within the main body of the device, and the trays can be removed from any stacked shelf within the main body. By installing a work device that can be loaded and unloaded in a product loading/unloading section for manufacturing and processing of various products, it is possible to easily continuously supply trays to the product loading/unloading section with a simple device. At the same time, each tray can be supplied with accurate positioning to the product loading/unloading section, and each tray on which products have been loaded/unloaded is then stored in a stacked manner within the conveyor, To provide a product conveyance device that allows the next conveyance work to be carried out in an organized manner.

Embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 is an overall conceptual diagram of the apparatus of the present invention.

In the figure, the present invention includes a working unit 50 that manufactures or processes arbitrary products in various factories, etc.
A and 50B are respectively installed with working devices 10 each having a mounting section 4 and a tray operating device 5 in the device main body 3, and these working devices 10 and 10 are connected by a carrier 1 containing a tray 2. , this carrier 1
The tray 2 stores a large number of trays 2 in a vertically stacked manner and is removably attached to the attachment part 4 of the working device 10, and when it is attached, the work robot 40 takes products in and out of each tray 2. , at this time, the conveyor 1 is operated by the operating device 5 to take out and take out each of the stacked trays 2, 2 from an arbitrary shelf section,
Further, the work robot 40 is configured to always load and unload products at a predetermined position on the tray 2 pulled out from an arbitrary shelf portion of the carrier 1.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tray conveyor. Although the conveyor 1 in the embodiment is made up of eight stacked trays 2, the number of stacked shelves can be arbitrarily selected in proportion to the size of the working device 10. In the figure, carrier 1
This is made up of eight stacked shelves 11 each having an opening 12 on the side surface arranged in a row in the vertical direction, and a tray 2 is stored in each shelf 11, 11 such that it can be taken in and out through the opening 12. Although the trays 2 are vertically stacked, the adjacent upper and lower portions are not in contact with each other, so that they can be freely taken out and inserted through the opening 12. Each tray 2 is conveyed and connected between the respective working sections 50A and 50B by the conveying body 1. Transport body 1
is transported by an arbitrary trolley or the like. It is sufficient to have at least one working section 50A, and this working section 50A may be connected to a general working section or a subcontracted factory outside the same factory using the conveyor 1.

The tray 2 described above is formed as a flat rectangular container with an open top surface, as shown in FIG. Note that the external shape and depth of the tray can be freely selected, and any tray such as a general pallet or a commercially available plastic container can be used. In addition, inside the tray, there is a product fitting part 1 made of styrofoam or the like that is adapted to the external shape of the transported product.
The work robot 40 is placed in such a way that the formwork 17 having the shape 8 is housed so that the product itself can be positioned.
The work can be done more automatically. Further, the mold 17 and the tray 2 themselves can be integrally molded with any material.

Next, a description will be given of the working device 10, which includes the device main body 3, the tray mounting section 4, and the tray operating device 5.

The working device 10 is a working unit 50 of various factories, etc.
As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the main body 3 of the device is a rectangular box.
A tray mounting section 4 consisting of a space in which the tray conveying body 1 is housed is provided in the box-shaped apparatus main body 3, and a tray mounting section 4 is provided in the apparatus main body 3 facing the mounting section 4. Machine 5 is installed.

The carrier 1 of the tray 2 is usually placed on an arbitrary truck, and is moved and placed on the mounting section 4 of the working device 10 from this truck. On the other hand, the carrier 1 may be moved and placed on the mounting section 4 together with a trolley, or may be transported by an automatic machine such as a fork without using a trolley.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the tray mounting section 4 has a space in which the carrier 1 of the tray 2 is detachably mounted, and this space is opened on the side. Then, the carrier 1 is attached by sliding it from the side.

The operating device 5 for the tray 2 provided in the apparatus main body 3 basically comprises a tray 2 loading/unloading device 6 and an elevator 7. These entrance/exit machines 6 and elevators 7 are
Each operates according to a command from the control section 30.

Next, the loading/unloading machine 6 that constitutes the tray handling machine 5 is constructed by installing a hook-shaped metal fitting on a cylinder with a stroke that can move one tray 2 horizontally, and stacks it on each loading shelf 11 of the carrier 1. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the trays 2 placed on the
Perform horizontal movement to take out and insert from 1.

The tray 2 is taken out by placing the tray 2 on the upper surface of the elevator 7. The elevator 7 is configured by providing a folding arm on the lower surface of the base 9, and moves up and down adjacent to the mounting section 4 between its upper and lower parts. In the embodiment, the base 9 is the tray 2
It is designed so that two can be stored and placed in a non-contact manner. The elevator 7 with the tray 2 placed on the base 9 ascends to the product entrance/exit section 14 and transfers the tray 2 to the product entrance/exit section 14 by the transverse feeder 13. At the product entrance/exit section 14, the tray 2 is loaded and unloaded with products by a work robot 40.

The lateral feeder 13 is constituted by a cylinder mechanism substantially similar to the inlet/outlet machine 6. However, the loading/unloading machine 6 is configured to have a lifting function to move up and down according to the vertical position of each tray 2, 2.

Since the base 9 of the elevator 7 can accommodate two trays 2, as shown in FIGS. By interlockingly lowering one tray and moving one of the trays 2, which has been stored in advance, to the product entrance/exit section 14, the work robot 40 is prevented from waiting for work, and speed of work is achieved. There is. The elevator 7 then descends and places the tray 2 that has been worked on on a specific shelf 1.
1, stores the next tray 2, and ascends again to the product entrance/exit section 14 as described above.

In addition, in addition to the tray 2 in the carrier 1, the apparatus main body 3 in the above embodiment has one spare tray 2.
All trays 2 of conveyor 1
(8 pieces in the embodiment) When the spare tray 2 is loading and unloading products after completing one cycle of loading and unloading the products, the carrier 1 is moved to the mounting section 4.
It is designed to improve work efficiency by allowing replacement work to be performed from the beginning.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned working device 10 will be explained.

First, the work device 1 installed in a specific work section 50
0, a transport body 1 in which trays 2, 2 for loading and unloading products are stacked and stored is adapted for transport, and the transport body 1 is pushed into the mounting section 4 and mounted.
Next, each operating section operates as follows based on commands from the control section 30. That is, the elevator 7 and the loading/unloading machine 6 are moved to the front of the tray 2 to be taken out in the carrier 1 mounted on the loading section 4, and the tray 2 is pulled out and placed on the elevator 7 by the loading/unloading machine 6. Next, the elevator 7 transports the tray 2 to the product entrance/exit section 14, and the work robot 40 loads and unloads the tray 2 with products. The tray 2 that has been worked on is similarly returned to the empty shelf 11 of the carrier 1 by the elevator 7 and the loading/unloading machine 6, completing one cycle of product loading and unloading work. This work may be performed on all trays 2 of the conveyor 1 in order, or may be performed on only one specific tray 2.

Therefore, when loading and unloading products on all the trays 2, by repeating the above operation for the number of trays 2 on the carrier 1, the product can be loaded onto all the trays 2, 2 attached to the attachment section 4. Carry out loading and unloading work. In other words, when eight empty box-shaped trays are installed, by taking out and putting in and out all the empty boxes in order, products are loaded into each and stored in eight layers in the conveyor 1, while the products are The work is completed by unloading the products from each tray 2 and stacking and storing the empty box-shaped trays 2, 2 on the carrier 1 of the trays 2 loaded with the products. Conveyor 1 after the above work is completed
is taken out from the mounting section 4, and then a new carrier 1 is mounted on the mounting section 4.

Note that the loading and unloading work of products can also be performed manually without using the work robot 40. Note that the elevator 7 may be any device as long as it has the function of substantially raising and lowering the tray 2.
For example, it can be constructed by a combination of a cylinder and a base, an air spring, or the like.

Note that since it is also possible to take out only arbitrary trays 2 of the conveyor 1, the present conveyor 1 can also be used as a storage for managing parts and the like.

As described above, the product conveyance device of the present invention has a working device in which a conveying body containing a large number of stacked trays is removably installed in the product loading/unloading section. Each stacked tray is sequentially taken out to the product entrance/exit section.
It is possible to easily continuously supply trays to the product loading/unloading section with a simple device, and since each tray is taken out from the product loading/unloading section using the operating device of the working device, accurate positioning is possible. Furthermore, the trays can be taken out from any shelf of the conveyor, and after loading and unloading the products, they are returned to the shelf and stored in a stack on the conveyor. This has the effect of allowing the next conveyance work to be carried out in an organized manner. Furthermore, since the elevator of the operating machine is equipped with a base and stores a spare tray, it is possible to continuously load and unload products into and from the tray and transfer the tray at the same time, which has the effect of further increasing work efficiency. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall conceptual diagram of the apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tray conveyor, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the tray.
4 to 6 are side views of the working device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Transportation body, 2...Tray, 3...Device main body, 4...Mounting part, 5...Operation machine, 6...Ingress/egress machine, 7...Lifting machine, 10...Working device, 11...
Placing shelf, 12...Opening, 30...Control unit, 40
...Work Robot, 50...Working Department.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A product conveying device comprising a combination of a conveying body housing a tray for loading and unloading products and a working device, and having the following requirements. (a) A plurality of stacking shelves each having an open side surface are provided in a vertically connected manner on a transport body formed as a framework, and trays are stacked and stored in the stacking shelves so that they can be taken in and out. (b) The main body of the working device is provided with a mounting portion for detachably mounting the carrier, and an operating device for removing and operating the tray in the carrier. (c) The above-mentioned operating device consists of an ejector and an elevator for loading and unloading trays in the carrier. (d) The loading/unloading machine is movable up and down so as to face each shelf of the carrier, and can freely take out and insert each tray of the shelf to the outside of the carrier. (e) The elevator is provided with a base on its upper surface, and a tray is transferred and placed on the base so that it can freely reciprocate between the product entrances and exits provided in the mounting section. (f) The base is capable of storing at least two trays, and one spare tray, and can freely transport the stored tray between the product entrances and exits.