JPH054282B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a method in which a transfer belt is installed at the bottom of a storage chamber in which articles are stored in a row, and the stored articles are taken out one by one based on a command.

[Conventional technology]

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, a description will be given of an article retrieval device that operates according to a conventional article retrieval method. FIG. 8 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 9 is a side sectional view taken along the line PP of the front view. This conventional example is roughly divided into three parts: a main body case part, a storage/unloading part, and a receiving/dispensing part. In FIGS. 8 and 9, the main body case section mainly includes a main body case 81, a front door 82, and an article outlet 83. In addition, the storage/unloading section mainly includes a storage case 85, a spiral wire 86,
It consists of a drive motor 87. The receiving/dispensing section mainly consists of a vertical moving unit 90 and a moving table 9.
1. It consists of a receiving frame 92. The front door 82 can be opened more than 90 degrees around either the left or right vertical axis, and in this open state, the storage case 8 inside the main body case 81 is opened.
5. Store the items. The article outlet 83 is
It is fixed to this front door 82. The storage case 85 is a plate member formed in a U-shape, with the U-shaped opening facing upward and an opening 85a for carrying out articles on one side in a direction perpendicular to the U-shaped surface.
A drive motor 87 for transporting articles is provided on the other side.
has been established. On the output shaft of this drive motor 87,
The spirally shaped wires 86 are connected with their axes aligned. As shown in the front view of FIG. 8, the storage case 85 configured as described above, etc.
They are arranged symmetrically with the openings 85a facing each other, and are arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction and in the depth direction (in the case of the figure, four stages and three stages each). The vertical movement unit 90 has an elevating function and is installed deep in the center of the main body case 1. A moving table 91 is supported on the vertically moving unit 90 so as to be movable in the vertical direction thereof, and a receiving frame 92 is rotatably supported on the moving table 91 at one end thereof. The receiving frame 92 is a kind of slide and can be tilted by a predetermined angle from the horizontal direction, and when tilted, the other end is located at the article outlet 83. Note that 93 is a vertical drive motor, and illustration of the power transmission mechanism is omitted. The operation of this conventional example consists of three stages: storing the article 88, carrying it out from the storage case 85, receiving it, and discharging it, the details of which are as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 8, the article 88 is placed in advance.
It is stored between each pitch of the spiral wire 86 in the storage case 85. When a push button switch of a control device (not shown) is operated in accordance with the article 88 to be taken out, the movable table 91 moves up and down and stops at a position corresponding to the storage case 85 storing the article 88. Next, the drive motor 87 rotates, turns the spiral wire 86, moves the article 88 stored between the pitches in the axial direction, and places it on the receiving frame 92 provided in a horizontal position on the moving table 91. Move. Next, the moving table 91 is lowered and stopped at a predetermined position, and the receiving frame 92 is rotated to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
is discharged into the outlet 83. The above series of operations is
All this is done by a control device, not shown.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, this conventional example has the advantage of being simple in structure and operation and has little risk of failure, but it is inefficient in terms of space (vertical movement unit 9
0 space on the left and right sides and the operating range of the receiving frame 92 are not working effectively), the article 88 is pressed by the spiral wire 86 during movement, causing damage,
Since the helical wire 86 cannot have a large twist angle, there are restrictions on the thickness of the stored articles 88.Related to the previous item, the unloading speed is slow, and a drive motor 87 is required for each storage case 85, increasing costs. There are drawbacks such as the fact that it is impossible to automatically return or store the removed article 88 in a predetermined storage case 85 afterwards. The above drawbacks have considerable practical implications. The purpose of this invention is to solve the above problems of the previously proposed techniques, to make the operation of taking out an article simple, to make it possible to store or return the article as needed when taking it out, It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for taking out articles that satisfies conditions such as not damaging the articles due to contact, vibration, or impact caused by a transfer member during transfer.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration. (a) The article storage room shall be provided with an opening on the article retrieval side and a linear band-shaped hollow portion at the bottom approximately at the center of its width and extending through the article in the retrieval direction, and an opening on the retrieval side. (b) the transfer belt has a width less than the width of the belt-shaped hollow part, and its upper surface is driven in the direction of the belt-shaped hollow part based on a command; ,
(c) initially the upper surface of the transfer belt is at a predetermined initial level below the bottom of the goods storage chamber; (d) in accordance with the Directive, , the upper surface of the transfer belt is moved upward to a level exceeding the upper end of the blocking part at the bottom of the article storage chamber, and then stopped; (f) The transport belt is driven in the unloading direction until the rear end of the article is at the upper end of the blocking part and then stopped; (g) the transfer belt is then driven in the removal direction until the first article to be removed is at a predetermined removal position and then stopped; (h) the upper surface of the transfer belt is brought to a predetermined initial level; It is stopped after being moved down to In addition, the upper surface of the transfer belt is moved downward,
The level below the upper end of the blocking portion can be a predetermined initial level.

[Effect]

Since the configuration is as described above, the operation of the present invention is as follows. Initially, the top surface of the transfer belt is at a predetermined initial level below the bottom of the storage chamber. Based on the command, the upper surface of the transfer belt is first moved upward to a level exceeding the upper end of the blocking part at the bottom of the article storage chamber, and then stopped. That is, when the transport belt passes vertically through the belt-shaped hollow part, it lifts up with all the stored articles placed on its upper surface. Next, the transfer belt, with the article loaded thereon, is driven in the take-out direction until the rear end of the article to be taken out first comes to the upper end position of the blocking part, and then is stopped. And this stopping position is
For example, this can be determined by detecting the front surface of the article to be taken out using a position sensor. Then, the upper surface of the transfer belt is moved downward to a level at least below the upper end of the blocking part, and then stopped. Therefore, the article to be taken out is in a position slightly inclined forward, with its front end touching the transfer belt and its rear end touching the upper end of the blocking member. The transfer belt is then driven in the pick-up direction until the article to be picked first comes to a predetermined pick-up position, and then stopped. In this way, the article to be removed is in the removal position with its entire underside in contact with the transport belt. Then, the front end of the next article is in contact with the upright blocking section, or is located in front of the blocking section. Of course, when they are in contact with each other, there is a slippage between the lower surface of the article and the transport belt, and there is no problem with movement. Note that the succeeding article is either in contact with the preceding article or is kept at an arbitrary distance. Then, the upper surface of the transfer belt is moved down to a predetermined initial level and then stopped. The stopping position is determined by, for example, detecting the front surface of the article to be taken out using a position sensor.
In this state, only the article to be removed on the transfer belt is in the removal position, and the following items are in the vicinity of the storage chamber opening. Note that in the previous stage, since the amount of descent of the transfer belt is small, the inclination of the article to be taken out is gentle. If increasing this slope does not cause any practical problems, it is possible to take the initial level (term stage) at once at the term stage, and then take the term stage. In this way, operating steps can be reduced and the removal time can be reduced accordingly. According to the embodiment, the storage room can be arranged vertically or horizontally (horizontally or horizontally).
Even if the container is arranged three-dimensionally (in the vertical direction), it is possible to take out the article.

【Example】

An embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic article storage/retrieval device that operates according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view, FIG. 3 is a side view, and FIG. 4 is a side view. Perspective view of storage case,
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the article transfer mechanism, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the operation when taking out an article, and FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the operation when storing the article. The target article in this case is a video cassette, and the automatic article storage/retrieval device is a so-called automatic lending machine that takes out and returns the video cassette based on a command. The entire device of the automatic video cassette lending machine of this embodiment can be roughly divided into a storage warehouse and a transport mechanism for taking out video cassettes from a designated storage case or returning them to the storage case. ing. This overall configuration will be described in detail below, mainly with reference to FIG. 1 and with supplementary reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In Figure 1, 30 is a main body frame as a structural base frame, 2 is a storage case made by bending a plate-like member into a rectangular shape and opening on one side (front left side in the figure); these storage cases 2 are They are arranged adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction and at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and constitute the main part of the above-mentioned storage warehouse. In addition, video cassette 1 as the target item
moves in the direction of the dashed arrow in the figure, and in this figure, 3
Up to one item can be stored in the storage case 2 and taken out. Further, the above-mentioned transport mechanism section includes the article transport mechanism 1
1. It consists of a vertical movement mechanism 31 and a horizontal movement mechanism 41. The article transfer mechanism 11 transfers the video cassette 1 in the depth direction of the storage case 2, and is itself fixed to a moving table 34 that is vertically movably supported by a vertical moving mechanism 31 (details will be described later). . This vertical movement mechanism 31 is fixed to a moving table 44 that supports a horizontal movement mechanism 41 so as to be horizontally movable. In addition, 33 and 34 are
These are the pulse motors of the vertical movement mechanism 31 and the horizontal movement mechanism 41, respectively, and 35A and 35B (35B
(not shown), 45A and 45B are toothed belt pulleys, and 36 and 46 are toothed belts, both of which are power transmission members of each moving mechanism. In FIG. 2, when the front door 7 is opened, the interior can be seen as shown, and the video cassette 1 can be manually stored in the storage case 2. Moving mechanism 3
1. Easy inspection and maintenance of the horizontal movement mechanism 41) is possible. Note that the A space 3 is a lower part of each horizontal row of storage cases 2, and the B space is a part on the right side of a group of storage cases 2, and as will be described in detail later, the article transfer mechanism 11 is It is a space that can be moved both horizontally and vertically. In Figure 3, the space provided below each horizontal row of storage cases 2 is A space 3, and the space provided in common in front of storage cases 2 (on the left side of the figure) is C space 5. be. In A space 3,
A drive pulley 13A, a driven pulley 14B (the drive pulley 13A is not shown), and a V
The belt 16 and the like move in the horizontal direction (perpendicular to the plane of the paper). Also, in the C space 5, a vertical movement mechanism 3
1. The article frame 17 of the article transfer mechanism 11 moves horizontally and vertically (up and down along the page and in a direction perpendicular to the page). Note that the above-mentioned B space 4 (see FIG. 2) is located on the front side of this page. This concludes the explanation of the overall configuration of the device, and next,
The main components, the storage case 2 and the article transfer mechanism 11, will be explained in detail. FIG. 4 shows the storage case 2 viewed diagonally from the lower front, and has stoppers 2a on both sides of the lower front surface and a linear band-shaped slit 2b in the center of the lower surface. Further, although the front side is open, the back side is covered by a back plate (not shown). Article transfer mechanism 11 shown in perspective view in FIG.
Broadly speaking, it consists of a transfer section, a power section, and ancillary structures. The transfer section includes a main frame 12, a drive shaft 13, a drive pulley 13A, a driven shaft 14, a driven pulley 14A,
Two sets of intermediate shaft 15 and intermediate pulleys 15A and V
It is composed of a belt 16 and the like. The main frame 12 is a plate-like member formed into a U-shape.
Each of the above-mentioned shafts 13, 14, 15 and pulley 13A,
14A, 15A are provided, and these pulleys 13A,
A V-belt 16 is wound between 14A and 15A. The power section mainly consists of a mounting plate 21, a motor 22, toothed belt pulleys 23A, 23B, and a toothed belt 24. The toothed belt wheel 23A is the motor 22
The toothed belt pulley 23B is attached to the output shaft of the drive shaft 13, respectively. Therefore, by rotating the motor 22 in the forward and reverse directions, the V-belt 16
The upper surface on which the video cassette 1 should be placed is in the left-right direction in the figure (the depth direction of the storage case 2).
can be moved to. In addition, the V-belt was used as a belt as a power transmission means.
This is because the amount of deflection can be reduced when the placed articles overlap. The ancillary structure includes an article frame 17, which is a plate-like member formed into an inverted U shape, and two reflective photoelectric sensors 18A and 18B provided at predetermined positions on one side of the article frame 17. Both legs of the inverted U-shape of the article frame 17 are fixed to both side plates at the left end of the main frame 12, and have dimensions that allow the video cassette 1 to be accommodated within the inverted U-shape. This concludes the explanation of the configuration of this device, and next, its operation will be described in detail. The operation for taking out a predetermined video cassette 1 from the video cassettes stored in the storage case will be explained with reference to FIG. Note that before entering the state shown in FIG. 6, the "retrieval mode" and predetermined storage case position are set using the operation panel 9 shown in FIG. The mechanism 11 is brought to a predetermined lower position of the storage case 2. In FIG. 6a, video cassettes 1A, 1B, and 1C are stored in storage case 2. continue,
The V-belt 16 is raised by a predetermined height in the direction of the dashed arrow. In Figure b, all video cassettes 1A, 1
B and 1C are shown riding on the V-belt 16. Next, the V-belt 16 is moved in the direction of the dashed arrow and is stopped by detecting the front surface of the video cassette 1A with the first position sensor 18B. At this time, the rear end of the video cassette 1A still remains inside the storage case 2 near the exit. Next, move V-belt 1 in the direction of the double broken line arrow.
6 is lowered to a position slightly below the upper end of the stopper 2a. This lowered state is shown in figure c. At this time, the lower left end of the video cassette 1A rests on the V-belt 16, and the lower right end rests on the upper end of the stopper 2a of the storage case 2. Next, when the V-belt 16 is moved in the direction of the dashed arrow, only the video cassette 1A is pulled out to the left.
Its lower surface completely rests on the V-belt 16 and is further moved to the left. Then, only when the front position of the video cassette 1A is detected by the second photoelectric sensor 18A, the V-belt 16 is stopped, and therefore the video cassette 1A is also stopped (see d in the same figure). Note that the subsequent video cassettes 1B and 1C are prevented from moving by a stopper 2a. During this blockage, video cassettes 1B, 1
The bottom surface of C and the top surface of V-belt 16 slip. Then, the V-belt 16 descends in the direction of the dashed arrow in Figure d, and stops after reaching the initial level (see Figure 3e), completing the ejection of the video cassette 1A. Note that each of the first and second photoelectric sensors 18
A and 18B are provided on the side surfaces of the article frame 17 shown in FIG. 5 mentioned above. Furthermore, at the stage of FIG. 6c, the V-belt 16
Since the amount of descent is small, the inclination of the video cassette 1A is gentle. If increasing this inclination does not cause any practical problems, the V-belt 16 can be lowered all at once to the level shown in the figure e at the stage c in the figure. Then, it is driven in the direction of the broken line in c of the figure, and finally the state shown in e of the figure is achieved. In this way, the number of operating steps can be reduced and the removal time can be reduced accordingly. For reference, the operation when storing the video cassette 1 in a predetermined storage case 2 is as follows. In FIG. 2, the operation panel 9 is used to set the "storage mode" and at the same time set the position of the storage case. Next, a predetermined video cassette 1 is inserted through an article loading/unloading port (not shown) and placed on the upper surface of the V-belt 16 within the article frame 17 of the article transfer mechanism 11 (see FIG. 5). Turn on the startup switch that is not activated. Then, the vertical movement mechanism 31 moves the article transfer mechanism 11 between a predetermined position in the B space 4 and the A space below the storage case 2 to be stored, using a storage room position sensor and a control device (not shown). The horizontal movement mechanism 41 moves to the intersection point -, and then the horizontal movement mechanism 41 moves to the vertical movement mechanism 3.
1 and thus the article transfer mechanism 11 is moved horizontally and stopped at a predetermined position below the storage case 2. The subsequent operation, that is, the operation of storing the video cassette 1 inside the storage case 2 will be explained with reference to FIG. Figure a shows a state in which the article transfer mechanism 11 is stopped at a position below a predetermined storage case 2 as described above. V-belt 16
is located below the outer lower surface of the storage case 2 as shown in the figure. This is natural because it moves in the horizontal direction (perpendicular to the plane of the paper). Further, the position where the video cassette 1A is placed on the V-belt 16 has an appropriate distance from the front opening (left side in the figure) of the storage case 2. Next, the article transfer mechanism 11 rises in the direction of the dashed arrow. In Figure b, the V-belt 16 passes through the slit 2b on the lower surface of the storage case 2, enters the inside of the storage case 2 a little, and then stops. Its position is V-belt 16
The upper surface of the storage case 2 is beyond the tip of the stopper 2a. That is, all videos
The cassettes 1A, 1B, and 1C are placed on the upper surface of the V-belt 16. Next, move the V-belt 1 in the direction of the dashed arrow.
When video cassette 6 is moved for a predetermined short period of time, video cassette 1 is located at the position indicated by the solid line in Figure b.
A, 1B, and 1C move from that position to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line (until the right side of the video cassette 1C comes into contact with the inner surface of the back of the storage case 2), and after that they move between the V-belt 16 and the video cassette 1C. slipping occurs. This slipping continues until the V-belt 16 stops after a predetermined short time has passed. When the V-belt 16 stops, it then descends to its original state (V
There is an appropriate gap between the upper surface of the belt 16 and the outer lower surface of the storage case 2). The state when restored to its original state is shown in FIG. This completes the new storage of the video cassette 1A. Furthermore, in actuality, the article transfer mechanism 1
1 goes through the reverse process and returns to the original article input slot (second
(see figure). Note that in FIG. 7, the display of the article frame 17 (see FIG. 6) is omitted. In this case, the video cassette 1A is positioned when stored by being blocked by the inner surface of the back of the storage case 2 and by sliding between it and the V-belt 16. Of course, the V-belt 16 may be stopped based on the detection of the video cassette 1 by a position sensor. In the above explanation, the word "storage" was used, but in the case of video cassettes, it also means "return."

【Effect of the invention】

Therefore, the present invention has the following superior effects compared to previously proposed techniques. (1) In addition to taking out the article, it is also possible to store or return the article by moving in almost the opposite direction, if necessary. (2) Since the article is removed by transfer using frictional force, there is no contact with any member other than the transfer belt.
In addition, there is less vibration and shock when taking out the
There is no risk of damage to the item. (3) Since the articles can be arranged in a row in contact with each other in the storage room, the space efficiency of article storage is good. (4) It is very convenient in terms of operation because there are few restrictions on the dimensions of the article, especially the depth, and there is flexibility. (5) Since the operation is simple and the transfer speed can be increased, the efficiency of the extraction work is high. (6) According to the embodiment, the storage room is vertical. Horizontal (horizontal)
Even if the device is arranged three-dimensionally (in the vertical direction), it can be applied to take out the article.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic article storing and retrieving device operated according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, FIG. 3 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a same view thereof. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the storage case; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the article transfer mechanism; FIGS. 6 a to e are explanatory views of the action when taking out articles; FIGS. 7 a to c
8 is a front view of an automatic article retrieval device operating according to a conventional example, and FIG. 9 is a side view thereof. Code explanation, 1: Video cassette (article),
2: storage case, 2a: stopper, 2b: slit, 11: article transfer mechanism, 13A: drive pulley,
14A: Driven pulley, 15A: Intermediate pulley, 1
6: V belt, 18A, 18B: Photoelectric sensor, 2
2: Motor, 31: Vertical movement mechanism, 41: Horizontal movement mechanism, 50: Automatic article storage/retrieval device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method in which a transfer belt is installed from the bottom of a storage room where articles are stored in a row to a predetermined take-out position, and the articles are taken out one by one based on a command, comprising: (a) the above-mentioned method; The article storage chamber is provided with an opening on the article take-out side, and a straight band-shaped hollow portion at the bottom that is located approximately in the center of the width and extends through the article in the take-out direction, and the take-out side opening (b) the transfer belt has a width less than the width of the belt-shaped hollow part, and the upper surface of the transfer belt is driven along the direction of the belt-shaped hollow part based on a command; (c) Initially, the upper surface of the transfer belt is at a predetermined initial level below the bottom of the article storage chamber; (d) Based on the command, first, the upper surface of the transfer belt is moved upward to a level exceeding the upper end of the blocking part at the bottom of the article storage chamber, and then stopped; (f) Then, the upper surface of the transfer belt is moved to the upper end of the blocking part; (g) The conveying belt is then driven in the unloading direction until the first article to be unloaded is at a predetermined unloading position and then stopped. (h) Next, the upper surface of the transfer belt is moved downward to a predetermined initial level and then stopped. 2. In the method described in claim 1,
A method for taking out an article, characterized in that the level below the upper end of the blocking part, at which the upper surface of the transfer belt is moved downward, is a predetermined initial level. 3. In the method according to claim 1 or 2, the transfer belt is parallel to the bottom of the storage chamber and perpendicular to the article removal direction, or
A method for taking out articles, characterized in that the articles are supported so as to be movable in parallel at right angles to the bottom of the storage chamber. 4. In the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the temporary stop position and the predetermined take-out position for the article to be taken out first are provided in a first place which is provided separately from the article. and a second position sensor.