JPH0539140A - Sheet bundle transport apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent damage of a sheet material and transport failure, to eliminate the need of markers for separating a sheet bundle and to easily cope with a sheet size change in the case of a transport apparatus for sliding and transporting a sheet bundle on a transport surface. CONSTITUTION:Compressed air 40 is sprayed between a sheet bundle 11 and a transport surface 14 by an air blowoff nozzle 37 to force the end portion of the sheet bundle 11 to float from the transport surface 14, and the floating end portion of the sheet bundle 11 is gripped by a gripping means 20 having gripping licks 24a, 24b. Subsequently, the gripping means 20 is moved to transport the sheet bundle 11 to a designated position on the transport surface 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for conveying a sheet bundle in which sheet materials are accumulated, and more specifically, it holds a sheet bundle placed on a conveying surface and slides it on the conveying surface. The present invention relates to a sheet bundle conveying device that conveys a sheet bundle to a predetermined position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sheet bundle formed by stacking sheet materials is
It is done in many fields to convey a bundle while keeping it in a bundled state. When the sheet bundle is set on a cutter, for example, the sheet bundle is often slid on a flat transport surface and transported to a predetermined position. In order to slide and convey the sheet bundle on the conveying surface, first, the end portion of the sheet bundle is grasped by the grasping means having a pair of upper and lower grasping claws, and the grasping means is moved. It is common.

In order to allow the gripping means to grip the end portion of the sheet bundle as described above, conventionally, a notch is provided in a part of the flat conveying surface, and the gripping claws on the lower side of the gripping means cut the cutout. The gripping means is arranged at a position near the end of the sheet bundle so as to enter the notch, and then both gripping claws are operated.

Further, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-132849, a large number of sheet materials are piled up in a mountain shape with a marker sandwiched between a predetermined number of sheet materials, and the sheet mountains are laterally arranged. Using the protruding marker as a guide, the wedge-shaped member is inserted between the sheet materials to create a gap, which holds a predetermined number of sheet materials separated upward from the lower sheet pile as a bundle, It is also considered to be slid and transported.

[0005]

However, when the cutout is provided on the sheet bundle conveying surface as described above, there is a problem that it is difficult to cope with the size change of the sheet material. That is, the position for gripping the end of the sheet bundle needs to be changed according to the size of the sheet material, so the position of the notch must also be changed. It becomes very complicated.

If the above-mentioned notch is formed on the sheet bundle conveying surface, depending on the sheet bundle conveying direction,
The corners and the notches interfere with each other, causing problems such as poor conveyance and damage to the sheet material.

On the other hand, when a wedge-shaped member is introduced into the accumulated sheet pile, the wedge-shaped member may scratch the surface of the sheet material. Further, in this case, it is necessary to insert a marker between the sheet materials and remove it later, and the marker may be erroneously mixed in the sheet bundle.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a gap is formed between the sheet bundle and the conveying surface without damaging the sheet material, the sheet bundle is gripped, and the size of the sheet material is increased. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet bundle transporting device having a simple structure that can easily cope with changes.

[0009]

A sheet bundle conveying apparatus according to the present invention conveys a sheet bundle placed on a conveying surface as described above, and conveys the sheet bundle to a predetermined position by sliding on the conveying surface. In the apparatus, air is blown vertically toward the conveying surface of the sheet bundle, and air blowing means for floating the end portion of the sheet bundle from the conveying surface and the end portion of the sheet bundle floated from the conveying surface are grasped from above and below. It is characterized in that it is provided with a gripping means and a moving means capable of moving the gripping means along the transport surface and sending the sheet bundle to the predetermined position.

[0010]

In the above construction, since the end portion of the sheet bundle is floated from the conveying surface by air blowing and grasped, it is necessary to provide a notch for advancing the grasping claw on the conveying surface. Absent. Therefore, the sheet bundle and the notch do not interfere with each other to damage the sheet material, and the conveyance failure does not occur.

Further, the position where the air is blown to the end portion of the sheet bundle can be easily changed by changing the mounting position of the air blowing means, and even if the mounting position is not changed, the size is small. Since the sheet bundle that does not change can be floated at a preferable gripping position (for example, the center position in the width direction) in common, it is possible to easily cope with the size change of the sheet material.

As described above, since the end portion of the sheet bundle is floated from the conveying surface without contacting the sheet bundle, the sheet material is not scratched when the sheet bundle is floated.
Furthermore, since it is not necessary to use special markers for separating the sheet bundle, the markers do not get mixed in the sheet bundle, and the troublesome work of setting and removing them is also unnecessary. Become.

When the sheet bundle is conveyed linearly and the size of the sheet material is changed only in this conveying direction, the moving means for moving the sheet bundle holding means and the air blowing means is in the conveying direction. It may be formed so as to be movable in one dimension. On the other hand, when the sheet bundle is two-dimensionally moved on the conveying surface, or when the sheet material size in the direction intersecting the sheet bundle conveying direction is largely changed, the moving means is formed to be two-dimensionally movable. Is desirable.

Further, the moving means may be provided in only one or in plural. When a plurality of moving means are provided and each moving means is formed so as to be movable two-dimensionally, when a plurality of sheet bundles are placed adjacent to each other on the delivery surface. (For example, in a cutting machine that cuts a large-sized sheet bundle into a plurality of small-sized sheet bundles, a plurality of strip-shaped sheets, which are once trimmed into strips, are in the state of being arranged adjacent to each other, and the trimming direction is When the sheets are cut in a direction orthogonal to each other and placed at the position where they are carried out from the cutting machine), it becomes possible to convey the sheet bundles while separating them at one time without damaging them. In this case, even if the widthwise dimension of each sheet bundle is changed, it is possible to move each gripping unit to a preferable gripping position adapted to the size of each sheet bundle gripped by each gripping unit. The size of the bundle can be easily changed.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a sheet bundle conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an enlarged main part thereof. The apparatus of this embodiment is, for example, for supplying the sheet bundle 11 placed on the transport table 10 to the cutting machine 12. The sheet bundle 11 is formed by accumulating a predetermined number of square sheet materials 11a, and is placed at a predetermined position (position indicated by arrow A) on the transport table 10 by a known means.

The conveying table 10 is formed so that its upper surface is aligned with the upper surface of the sheet bundle placing table 13 of the cutting machine 12, and the aligned upper surfaces of these tables 10 and 13 become the sheet bundle conveying surface 14. ing.

Connecting members 15 and 16 are fixed to the two tables 10 and 13, respectively, and these connecting members 15 and 16 are
Both ends of a frame 17 extending in the direction in which the two tables 10 and 13 are arranged (the left-right direction in FIG. 1) are fixed. Two rails 18 and 19 are fixed to this mount 17, and these rails are
The gripping means 20 is loaded on the 18 and 19 so as to be movable along them. The gripping means 20 includes a base portion 21 directly engaged with the rails 18 and 19, and a cylinder 23 such as an air cylinder attached to the base portion 21 with the piston rod 22 facing downward.
And a pair of upper and lower gripping claws 24a and 24b attached to the tip of the piston rod 22. More specifically, the lower claw 24b is directly fixed to the piston rod 22, and the upper claw 24a is vertically movable relative to the lower claw 24b by a driving means (not shown).

A positioning unit 29 whose position can be changed in the width direction of the sheet material 11a (direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing) is fixed to the base portion 21, and the cylinder 23 has this positioning unit 29.
It is fixed with screws. Therefore, the position of the cylinder 23, that is, the gripping claws 24a, 24b in the sheet material width direction can be adjusted by changing the position of this screwing.

A cylinder 25 is attached to the mount 17 in parallel with the rails 18 and 19, and a base portion 21 of a gripping means 20 is fixed to a tip of a piston rod 26 of the cylinder 25. Therefore, when the cylinder 25 operates and the piston rod 26 expands and contracts, the gripping means 20 moves along the rails 18 and 19. As described above, in the present embodiment, the cylinder 25, the piston rod 26, the rails 18, 19
This constitutes a means for moving the gripping means 20 along the transport surface 14.

On the other hand, a lower end portion of a holding member 30 is fixed to the transport table 10, and another positioning unit material 31 capable of changing the position in the width direction of the sheet material 11a is fixed to the upper end portion of the holding member 30. ing.

A cylinder 34 is attached to the positioning unit 31 in the width direction with the piston rod 33 facing downward. A sheet bundle pressing roller 35 made of soft rubber or the like is rotatably attached to the tip end portion of the piston rod 33 with the rotating shaft extending in the sheet material width direction. Further, an air blowing nozzle 37 is attached via an L-shaped bracket 36 so as to face downward. The air blowing nozzle 37 is arranged at a position closer to the cutting machine 12 than the sheet bundle pressing roller 35. The air blowing nozzle 37 is connected to a compressed air supply source via a hose 38.

The sheet bundle pressing roller 35 is used for the sheet bundle 11
The sheet bundle 11 is arranged so as to be pressed at a position of, for example, about 100 mm from the edge of the sheet. In addition, the air blowing nozzle 37
The attachment position of is at a position apart from the bundle end surface by about 10 to 40 mm at the widthwise center position of the sheet bundle 11.

When the sheet bundle 11 is placed at a predetermined position (position shown by arrow A) on the transport table 10, the cylinder 34 is operated to extend the piston rod 33 by a predetermined length and the sheet bundle pressing roller 35 is moved. The sheet bundle 11 is pressed from above.
Next, an on-off valve (not shown) provided in the middle of the hose 38
2 is opened from the air blow-out nozzle 37 by, for example,
The compressed air 40 having a pressure of about 5 kgf / cm ² is discharged. The compressed air 40 is blown vertically onto the conveying surface 14 and spreads in four directions along the conveying surface 14, and the conveying surface 14 and the sheet bundle are
It enters into between 11 and vigorously. Therefore, the end portion of the sheet bundle 11 is floated above the transport surface 14. At this time, since the sheet bundle 11 is pressed by the roller 35, only the end portion of the sheet bundle 11 floats up and the sheet bundle 11 does not move as a whole.

At this time, the upper claw 24a and the lower claw 24b of the gripping means 20
Means that the upper claw 24a is previously pulled up to the upper end position and is set to the position shown in FIG. Then cylinder
23 is actuated to extend the piston rod 22, so that the pawls 24a and 24b move down the path indicated by the arrow B. Next, the cylinder 25 operates to contract the piston rod 26, whereby the pawls 24a and 24b laterally move along the path indicated by the arrow C. Then, the lower claw 24b is inserted below the end of the floated sheet bundle 11, and the upper claw 24a is positioned above the end of the sheet bundle 11. Next, the upper claw 24a is lowered, and the end portion of the sheet bundle 11 is gripped by the both claws 24a and 24b. The mounting position of the cylinder 23 with respect to the mounting member 29 is
Both claws 24a and 24b are set so as to grip the center position of the sheet bundle 11 in the width direction.

After that, the cylinder 23 operates and the piston rod 22 contracts by a predetermined amount, so that the end portion of the sheet bundle 11 is slightly lifted. Next, the cylinder 25 is actuated to extend the piston rod 26, whereby the sheet bundle 11 is conveyed while sliding on the conveying surface 14 to the right in the drawing. When the sheet bundle 11 is conveyed by a predetermined distance in this way, the upper claw 24
a is pulled up, and the gripping of the sheet bundle 11 by the claws 24a and 24b is released there. Since the piston rod 26 is also slightly elongated thereafter, both the claws 24a and 24b are completely separated from the sheet bundle 11 as shown in FIG. 1, and the sheet bundle 11 is cut by the cutting machine.
The table 12 is placed at a predetermined position on the table 13 (position indicated by arrow D in FIG. 1).

The conveyed sheet bundle 11 is subjected to a predetermined cutting process by the cutting machine 12 and then discharged from the table 13 by other known means. After releasing the conveyed sheet bundle 11 as described above, both the claws 24a, 24 of the gripping means 20 are released.
2b is returned to the position shown in FIG. 2 to prepare for the next conveyance of the sheet bundle 11.

The nozzle 37 blows air and the roller
It is desirable that the pressing of the sheet bundle 11 by the 35 and the gripping of the sheet bundle 11 by both the claws 24a and 24b be performed at the center position of the sheet bundle 11 in the width direction. However, in the case where the right end or the left end of the sheet bundle 11 is defined on the transport surface 14, when the width of the sheet material 11a forming the sheet bundle 11 changes, the center position in the width direction also changes. become. In the present apparatus, it is possible to easily deal with the change in the sheet size by adjusting the positions of the positioning units 29 and 31.

Further, when the length of the sheet material 11a, that is, the size in the sheet bundle conveying direction can be changed, if the roller 35 and the nozzle 37 are attached to the positioning unit 31 so that the position in this direction can also be adjusted, this size change can be performed. Can also be dealt with. When the length of the sheet material 11a is changed, it is necessary to change the position of the sheet bundle gripped by the claws 24a, 24b in the length direction.
This can be dealt with by changing the initial position setting (position shown in FIG. 2) of (1) or changing the movement length in the path of arrow C.

Further, the roller 35 and the nozzle 37 are held by a holding means.
If it is formed so as to be movable together with 20, the sheet bundle 11 after being cut by the cutting machine 20 can be gripped and conveyed to another position.

As described above, in this device, the lower claw is
Since it is not necessary to provide a cutout in the transport surface 14 in order to allow the sheet 24b to enter the lower side of the sheet bundle 11, this cutout and the sheet bundle 11
The sheet material 11a will not be damaged due to the interference with the sheet material 11 and the conveyance failure will not occur. In addition, the sheet bundle 11 is contactless
Since it is floated from 14, the sheet member 11a is prevented from being scratched by the member that floats the sheet bundle 11.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. 3 is a plan view showing a sheet bundle conveying device according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of a main part thereof.

The sheet bundle conveying device 52 of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is, for example, placed on the sheet bundle placing table 56 of the cutting machine 54 in a state of being cut by the cutting machine 54 and adjacent to each other. The plurality of sheet bundles 58 thus formed are conveyed to a predetermined position (position indicated by an arrow M) on the conveyance table 60 at a time while separating them from each other.

The transport table 60 is formed so that its upper surface is aligned with the upper surface of the sheet bundle placing table 56 of the cutting machine 54, and the aligned upper surfaces of these tables 56, 60 are the sheet bundle transport surface 62. ing.

Above both edge portions of the two tables 56, 60 in the width direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3), the two tables 56, 60 are
Horizontal pedestals 64 and 66 extending in the direction of arrangement of 60 (left and right in FIG. 4) are provided between the upper part of the cutting machine 54 and the vertical pedestal 70 provided on the floor surface 68 near the right edge of the conveyance table 60 in the drawing. The rails 72 and 74 are fixed to the horizontal mounts 64 and 64, respectively. And, on these both rails 72, 74, it is bridged between the both rails 72, 74,
A conveyance means 76 is attached along them, which is movable by a driving means (not shown).

This transport means 76 has a base portion 78 directly engaged with the rails 72 and 74, and the rail 7 below the base portion 78.
A shaft member 80 provided along a direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3) substantially orthogonal to 2, 74, and the shaft member 80.
And a plurality of grip units 82 attached to the shaft member 80 so as to be movable along.

As best shown in FIG. 5, the gripping unit 82
The main body 84 directly engaged with the shaft member 80,
A drive means 85 such as a servomotor attached to the shaft 84 for moving the main body 84 along the shaft member 80, and a piston rod.
A cylinder 88 such as an air cylinder attached to the main body 84 with the 86 facing downward, and a support 90 attached to the tip of the piston rod 86 are provided. Then, at the tip of the support 90, with the rotation axis extending in the width direction of the sheet bundle,
A sheet bundle pressing roller 92 made of soft rubber or the like is rotatably attached. Further, an air blowing nozzle 94 is attached to the support 90 in a state of facing downward, and the air blowing nozzle 94 is connected to a compressed air supply source via a hose 96. Further, the support 90 has an upper nail 98a.
A pair of upper and lower gripping claws 98a, 98 configured to be movable relative to the lower claw 98b in the vertical direction by a driving means (not shown).
b is attached to the support 90 so as to be relatively movable in the left-right direction in the drawing by a driving means (not shown).

Each gripping unit 82 configured as described above
Moves along the shaft member 80 when each of the sheet bundles 58 is placed at a predetermined position (position shown by an arrow N in FIGS. 3 and 4) on the sheet bundle placing table 56 in a state where they are adjacent to each other after cutting. At the same time, the base portion 78 of the transporting means 76 moves along the rails 72, 74 to stand by at a desired position near each sheet bundle. When each gripping unit 82 moves to the desired position, as shown in FIG. 5, the cylinder of each gripping unit 82 is
88 is actuated to extend the piston rod 86 by a predetermined length, and the sheet bundle pressing roller 92 presses each sheet bundle 58 from above. Next, the compressed air 99 is transferred from the air blowing nozzle 94 to the transfer surface.
It is sprayed vertically onto the sheet 62, and the end of each sheet bundle 58 is floated above the transport surface 62. Then, the pair of gripping claws 98a and 98b of each gripping unit 82 are moved from the positions shown in FIG. 5 to grip the floating end of each sheet bundle 58.

Thereafter, the blowing of the compressed air 99 is stopped, and the cylinder 88 operates to contract the piston rod 86 by a predetermined amount, so that the end portion of the sheet bundle is slightly lifted. Each gripping unit that grips the sheet bundle 58
Reference numeral 82 denotes a transport means which moves along the shaft member 80.
The base of 78 moves in the transport direction along the rail, so that the sheet bundles 58 are slid and transported on the transport surface 62 while being separated from each other. When the sheet bundles 58 have been conveyed by a predetermined distance in this way, the gripping of the sheet bundles 58 by the grip claws 98a and 98b is released, and the sheet bundles 58 are shown at predetermined positions on the conveying table 60 (indicated by arrows M in FIGS. 3 and 4). Position).

The conveyed sheet bundles 58 are discharged from the conveying table 60 by other known means. After releasing each conveyed sheet bundle 58 as described above, each gripping unit 82 prepares for the next conveyance of the sheet bundle 58.

As described above, in this apparatus, since it is not necessary to provide the transport surface 62 with a notch for gripping the sheet bundle 58, the notch interferes with the sheet bundle 58 and the sheet material is damaged. And there will be no conveyance failure. Further, since the sheet bundle 58 is floated from the conveying surface 62 without contact, it is possible to prevent the sheet material from being scratched by the member that floats the sheet bundle 58. Furthermore, a plurality of grip units 82
Are provided so as to be movable two-dimensionally along the transport surface 62, so that each sheet bundle 58 placed adjacent to each other
Can be conveyed at one time while being separated, and even when the size of each sheet bundle 58 is changed, by changing the standby position of each holding unit 82, the holding claw 98
Since a and 98b can hold a preferable holding position according to the size of each sheet bundle 58, it is possible to easily cope with the size change of the sheet bundle 58.

The sheet bundle conveying device 52 according to the present embodiment
Can be applied to a sheet bundle cutting system as shown in FIG. 6, for example. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a cutting system to which the sheet bundle conveying device according to this embodiment is applied.

In the cutting system 102 shown in FIG. 6, a large-sized sheet bundle 106a supplied to a supply station S1 on the right side of the drawing on a crank-shaped table 104 is converted into a small-sized sheet bundle 106b of a desired size. A series of cutting operations from cutting to carrying out from the carrying-out station S2 on the left side of the drawing is automated. In this cutting system 102, a large-sized sheet bundle 106a is deflated by the air bleeding mechanism M1 and then first trimmed into strips by the trimming mechanism M2 and then trimmed in a direction orthogonal to the trimming direction, and then conveyed to the transfer station. Small sheet bundle on S2 106b
Are placed adjacent to each other.

Therefore, the sheet bundle conveying apparatus according to the present embodiment
If 52 is installed in the carry-out station S2, it is possible to convey the small sheet bundles 106b that are cut and placed on the table 104 in a state of being adjacent to each other at a time while separating them from each other. It becomes possible to carry out smoothly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing a main part of the apparatus of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the apparatus of the other embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view showing a main part of the apparatus of another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a cutting system to which the apparatus according to another embodiment is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 60 Transport table 11, 58, 106a, 108b Sheet bundle 14, 62 Sheet bundle transport surface 18, 19, 72, 74 Rail 20, 76 Transport means 22, 26, 33, 86 Piston rod 23, 25, 34, 88 Cylinder 24a, 24b, 98a, 98b Gripping claw 29, 31 Positioning unit 35, 92 Sheet bundle pressing roller 37, 94 Air blow nozzle 38, 96 Hose 40, 99 Compressed air

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sheet bundle transporting apparatus for transporting a sheet bundle placed on a transport surface to a predetermined position by sliding on the transport surface, in which air is blown vertically toward the transport surface of the sheet bundle. Air blowing means for floating the end of the sheet bundle from the conveying surface, gripping means for gripping the end of the sheet bundle floating from the conveying surface from above and below, and moving the gripping means along the conveying surface. A sheet bundle conveying device, which is capable of moving the sheet bundle to the predetermined position.