JPH0485214A - Pallet recovering/supplying device on conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automate pallet loading and pick out operation by providing a lift, which elevates with its claw inserted into a pallet, which has insert hole thereon and has arrived on a roller conveyor, on the end of the conveyor, and by holding the lift up to a plurality of heights. CONSTITUTION:An elevating means 40, equipped with two arms 30 having two claws 31 on each arm 30, is provided on the end portion of a roller conveyor 3. The arm 30 is opened and closed by an arm opening and closing means 20 and its claw 31 engages with a hole 2 provided on all sides of a square pallet 1. When the pallet 1 conveyed on the roller conveyor 3 is detected, an elevator frame 10 descends by the elevating means 40, the claw 31 impinges against a hole 2 as the arm 30 closes to hold the pallet 1 in between, lifts up the pallet 1 to a specified height and awaits. The elevator frame 10 descents to response to the succeeding pallet 1. This movement is repeated to stack up the pallet 1. To pick out, the pallet 1 on the lowest stage is picked out first and successively upward. Thus loading and pick out operations in a narrow area can be performed simply and automatically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) This invention relates to a conveyor-mounted pallet collection and supply device, which stacks empty pallets transported by a roller conveyor on the end of the conveyor. Collect or
It is used to take out a large number of pallets stacked on the conveyor one by one from the bottom and supply them to other parts.

(Conventional technology) In the scouring process at a rubber processing factory, Banbury processes include masticating cut raw rubber, kneading by adding and kneading various compounded chemicals, and finishing kneading by adding vulcanizing agents. This is done using a mixing machine such as a mixer, and the masticated rubber is formed into a long strip and folded into multiple layers on a rectangular pallet, which is then conveyed to a mixer for kneading by a conveyor and placed in an upper charging port. be pulled up towards. Further, this kneaded rubber is similarly formed into a long band shape and folded onto a pallet, which is conveyed by a conveyor to a mixer for finishing kneading, and then pulled up to an upper charging port. The empty pallets below the charging ports of the mixer for kneading and the mixer for finishing kneading are each pushed out onto a roller conveyor, which is then manually transferred one by one onto a forklift truck and stacked in multiple stages. It was then transported to the next process.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) Conventionally, empty pallets pushed onto a roller conveyor were manually transferred one by one to a forklift truck, so a dedicated worker was assigned to perform this transfer work. There was a need.

In order to eliminate this manual work, a table lifter is installed at one end of the roller conveyor, and the table is lowered one by one by the thickness of one empty pallet and pushed onto the table. A fork is provided that can move forward and backward as well as up and down, and the fork is driven to move the empty pallets on the roller conveyor one by one onto the floor and stack them up. After a predetermined number of pallets have been stacked, they are removed from the table or floor. Attempts were made to transfer the product to a forklift truck, but using a table lifter required major changes to the existing line, such as digging down the floor where the table lifter was installed, and moving the fork forward and backward. Both methods required a large space for advancement and retreat, which was a practical problem.

This invention can automatically stack and collect pallets on a roller conveyor, or take out and supply pallets one by one from a large number of stacked pallets, and can significantly change existing lines and expand the To provide a device for collecting and feeding pallets on a conveyor, which does not require space.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The conveyor pallet collection/supply device according to the present invention (see FIGS. 1 and 2) has a rectangular shape having a pair of holes 2 for inserting lifting forks in each of the four circumferential side walls. A lifting frame 10 that can be raised and lowered is provided on one side of the end of the roller conveyor 3 for conveying pallets 1, and a pair of front and rear arms 30, 30 extending upward of the roller conveyor 3 are attached to the lifting frame 10, respectively. A pair of claw pieces 31 that can be inserted into the holes 2 in the side wall of the pallet are fixed to the front and rear arms 30 and 30, respectively, so as to be slidable.
The arm opening/closing means 20 opens and closes the pair of arms 30, 30 by sliding back and forth to insert and remove the claw piece 31 into the hole 2 of the side wall, and the lifting frame 10 moves up and down. An insertion position where the height of the claw piece 31 matches the hole 2 in the side wall of the pallet 1 on the roller conveyor 3, and two pallets 1 are stacked on the roller conveyor 3.
an overlapping position that corresponds to the hole 2 in the side wall of the upper pallet l in the middle;
The present invention is characterized in that an arm elevating means 40 is provided which can move the arm 30 to at least three positions, including a standby position above the overlapping position. In addition, the first
Pallet l located on the left side of the figure carries 4 loads of masticated rubber, etc.
When the load 4 is consumed and the pallet 1 becomes empty, it is transferred to the right side and stopped at a predetermined position by a stopper 5.

(Function) When the pair of front and rear arms 30 and 30 are open and in the standby position at the upper limit of the lifting stroke, when the empty barre /) reaches the lower part, the lifting frame 10 moves one step to the insertion position at the lower limit of the lifting stroke, When the arm 30.30 is closed, the claw pieces 31.31 are inserted into the front and rear holes 2 of the baren (1), and then the elevating frame 10 rises to the original standby position (see Figure 3). .

Next, the next second arm is placed below the arm 30.300 in the standby position.
When pallet 1 (see line gi in Figure 3) arrives, arm 30.30 descends to the stacking position in the middle of the lifting stroke, and the first pallet 1 is stacked on top of the second pallet l (see Figure 4). 0 The arm 30.30 is then opened as shown in chain lines and lowered into the insertion position as shown in FIG. It will rise to the standby position as shown in . Thereafter, when a predetermined number of pallets (e.g., eight) 1 are stacked by repeating this process, the arms 30, 30 are opened at the insertion position, and the stacked pallets 1 are stacked on the opposite side of the lifting frame lO (as shown in FIG. 1). above the roller conveyor 3) by a forklift truck (not shown). By performing the above operation in reverse, the pallets 1 stacked on the roller conveyor 3 can be taken out one by one, starting from the bottom, and sent to one side along the roller conveyor 3.

As shown in FIG. 7, the arm 30 on the lagging side (left side in the figure) with respect to the advancing direction of the pallet 1 has a claw piece 3 on its lower surface.
1 is fixed, and a claw piece 31 is fixed on the upper surface of the arm 30 on the advancing side (right side in the figure), and the claw piece 3I is moved to an escape position where it contacts the surface of the roller conveyor 3 further below the insertion position. By forming the arm 30 so that it can be lowered, that is, by forming the arm 30 so that it can move to the escape position in addition to the above-mentioned three positions of the insertion position, stacked position, and standby position, the forklift truck is moved to the front end of the roller conveyor 3 (first position). 7
(on the right side of the figure), and the stacked pallets I can be transferred to a forklift truck. In addition,
The claw pieces 31 indicated by chain lines on the right side of FIG. 7 are the claw pieces in the standby position, stacked position, and insertion position in order from the top, and the claw pieces 31 shown in solid lines at the lower end are the claw pieces in the escape position. .

(Example) In FIG. 8, the elevating frame IO is shaped like a rectangular frame, and is formed so that it can be elevated freely while being guided by left and right elevating guides 1111. A first fluid cylinder 42 is fixed to the frame 41 above the elevating frame 10 (see Fig. 1θ), and the piston rod 4 of the first fluid cylinder 42
2 is connected to a second fluid cylinder 43, and the piston rod 45 of this second fluid cylinder 43 is connected to the elevating frame 10, and the elevating frame 10 is moved to the standby position by the operation of these two fluid cylinders 42 and 44. , move to overlapping and inserting positions. That is, when the piston rods 43.45 of the two fluid cylinders 42.44 are both retracted, the elevating frame lO is located at the standby position at the upper end of the elevating stroke, and only the piston rod 43 of the first fluid cylinder 42 is in the standby position. When protruding, the lifting frame lO
lowers to the stacked position in the middle of the lifting stroke, and then moves to the second position.
When the piston rod 45 of the fluid cylinder cylinder 44 protrudes, the elevating frame IO descends to the insertion position at the lower end of the elevating stroke.

A support frame 21 of the arm opening/closing means 20 is fixed to the front surface (roller conveyor 3 side) of the lifting frame 10 via a connecting member 12, and brackets 22 (see FIG. 9) at the four corners of the front surface of this support frame 21 are fixed to the front surface (roller conveyor 3 side) of the above-mentioned lifting frame 10. A pair of upper and lower guide shafts 23.23 are attached to the upper and lower guide shafts 23.23, and rectangular plate-shaped arm holders 24.24 are slidably attached to the left and right sides of the upper and lower guide shafts 23.23, respectively.

Racks 26.26 are fixed in parallel to the upper inner side of the left arm holder 24 and the lower inner side of the right arm holder 24 through metal fittings 25.25, and the binions 27 that engage with the upper and lower racks 26.26 are attached to the above-mentioned support. It is attached to a bracket 27a fixed to the frame 21. The piston rod 28a of the opening/closing fluid cylinder 28, which is horizontally fixed to the upper left side of the support frame 21, is connected to the above-mentioned left side mounting fitting 25 via a connecting fitting 29. Therefore, when this opening/closing fluid cylinder 28 is operated, the left arm holder 24 slides left and right along the upper and lower guide shafts 23.23, and as a result of this sliding, the right arm holder 24 moves against the left arm holder. 24 and slide in the opposite direction.

Arms 30.30 are protruded from the outer lower ends of the left and right arm holders 24.24 (see Figs. 8 and 12).
(see figure), a pair of claw pieces 31.31 are fixed to each lower end of this arm 30.30 facing inward and at equal intervals to the pair of holes 2.2 bored in each side wall of the barrel l-1. ,
When the left and right arms 30.30 are closed by the operation of the opening/closing fluid cylinder 28, the left and right claw pieces 31 are inserted into the hole 2 of the barrel l-1, and when the left and right arms 30.30 are opened, the left and right The claw piece 31 escapes from the hole 2.

FIG. 11 illustrates an elevating means 40 for changing the height of the claw piece 31 in four stages. In this Figure 11, the first
The fluid cylinder 42 and the second fluid cylinder 44 are the same as the first fluid cylinder 42 and the second fluid cylinder 44 shown in FIG. 10, and in the example shown in FIG.
A third fluid cylinder 46 is connected to the piston rod 45 of No. 4, and an elevating frame IO is connected to the piston rod 47. As shown in FIG. 13, an arm 30 is connected to the lower end of the arm holder 24 on the right side of FIG. The height of each claw piece 31 of .30 is aligned, and the above-mentioned first to third fluid cylinders 42, 44, 46
When all of the piston rods 43, 45, 47 are protruded, the claw piece 31 is lowered to the escape position which is further below the insertion position.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention provides a pair of arms located on the end of the roller conveyor, which are located in front and rear of the pallet in the transport direction, so that the pallet can be freely opened and closed, and can be raised and lowered, and the pallet is transported on the roller conveyor. Since the pallets are stacked one by one under the arms by a combination of opening/closing movements and lifting/lowering movements of the pair of arms,
The stacking of pallets can be automated, and since only a pair of arms can be opened and closed within a narrow range and raised and lowered, installation requires only a small area, and unlike conventional table lifters, there is no need to drill holes in the floor. There is no need to make major changes to the line, and it is easy to modify the conventional process.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a pallet, Figs. 3 to 6 are front views of main parts for explaining the operation, and Fig. 7 is a main part of the second embodiment. 8 is a plan view showing details of the arm opening/closing means, FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-IX in FIG. 8, and FIG. 1O is a front view of the elevating means of the first embodiment. Figure 11 is a front view of the elevating means of the second embodiment, Figure 12 is a side view of the arm mounting section of the first embodiment, and Figure 13 is a side view of the arm mounting section of the first embodiment.
The figure is a side view of the arm attachment section of the second embodiment. l: pallet, 2: hole, 3: roller conveyor, lO:
Lifting frame, 20: arm opening/closing means, 30: arm,
31: Claw piece, 40: Arm lifting means. Figure 2 Figure 8 Figure 9 Fn Figure 12 Figure 11 Figure 1113

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] [1] A roller conveyor for conveying a rectangular pallet having a pair of holes for inserting lifting forks in each of the four circumferential side walls is provided with an elevating frame that can be raised and lowered on one side of the end thereof, and this elevating frame A pair of front and rear arms extending upward from the roller conveyor are provided so as to be slidable back and forth, and a pair of claw pieces that can be inserted into the holes in the side wall of the pallet are respectively fixed to the front and rear arms. An arm opening/closing means that slides back and forth to insert and remove the pawl pieces into and out of the holes in the side wall, and by raising and lowering the elevating frame, the height of the pawls is adjusted to the height of the pallet side wall on the roller conveyor. The arm is placed in at least three positions: an insertion position that matches the hole in the upper pallet, a stacked position that matches the hole in the side wall of the upper pallet among two pallets stacked on the roller conveyor, and a standby position above the stacked position. A collection and supply device for pallets on a conveyor, characterized in that a movable arm lifting means is provided.