JPH061430A - Elevating conveyer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change the transport height for an article to be transported without correcting the track of a conveyer chain. CONSTITUTION:An elevating conveyer apparatus comprises plural upper and lower stages of lateral guide members 1, 2, 3 disposed horizontally, a cutting space formed in such a manner as to vertically pierce the plural upper and lower stages lateral guide members, an elevating guide member 5 disposed in the cutting space, an elevating driving device 13 for elevating the elevating guide member, conveyers 15, 18 moving sideways, a longitudinal guide member 19 provided on the conveyers, and a suspended member 21 which is provided on the longitudinal guide member in such a manner as to freely elevate and can be engaged with one of plural upper and lower stages lateral guide members and with the elevating guide member.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lifting conveyor device provided in various assembly lines, plating lines, coating lines and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a continuous assembly line, main articles are hung on a hanging conveyor device and conveyed laterally while accessory articles are sequentially assembled to the main articles. When attaching an accessory article to the upper surface of the main body article or attaching it to the lower surface, it is necessary to raise and lower the main body article so that the main body article is in an appropriate working position.

A trolley conveyor device has been conventionally known as an elevating conveyor device for vertically moving an article to be conveyed at a predetermined work station. In this conventional trolley conveyor device, a conveyor chain is laid around the ceiling so that it can freely circulate, and a hanging rod for suspending articles is attached to the chain. And, the trajectory of the conveyor chain is high at a certain work station,
It was also set to be low at some work stations.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional trolley conveyor device, since the track of the conveyor chain is fixedly provided, if the type of articles to be conveyed changes and the work height at each work station changes. , Had to re-install the track. The work line had to be stopped for a long time to correct the trajectory, resulting in a decrease in production efficiency.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator conveyor device capable of changing the position of an article at each work station to an appropriate height without correcting the trajectory of the chain.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following means. That is, the feature of the present invention is that the upper and lower horizontal guide members arranged in the horizontal direction, the cutting space formed by vertically penetrating the upper and lower horizontal guide members, and the cutting space. An elevating guide member arranged in the space, an elevating drive device for elevating the elevating guide member, a conveyor that moves in the lateral direction, a vertical guide member provided on the conveyor, and an elevating and lowering device for the vertical guide member. It is provided with one of the upper and lower horizontal guide members and a suspending member engageable with the elevating guide member.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the article is held by the hanging member. Now, assuming that the hanging member is engaged with, for example, the upper lateral guide member of the upper and lower lateral guide members, the hanging member maintains its height by the lateral guide member. . When the conveyor moves in the horizontal direction, the vertical guide member moves with it, and the hanging member also moves with it. During the lateral movement of the suspension member, the suspension member and the lateral guide member are maintained in engagement with each other, so that the suspension member moves laterally while maintaining its height.

At this time, the elevating guide member is held at a position where it is connected to the upper lateral guide member. Therefore, the hanging member guided and moved by the upper lateral guide member transfers to the elevating guide member. When this transfer is completed, the drive device operates to lower the elevating guide member to the position of the lower lateral guide member. Since the suspending member is engaged with the elevating guide member at this time, the suspending member is guided by the vertical guide member and descends along with the descending of the elevating guide member. Then, the hanging member moves onto the lower lateral guide member, and is guided by the lateral guide member to move laterally.

That is, the conveyed article is conveyed laterally by descending by the difference in height between the upper lateral guide member and the lower lateral guide member. Similarly, when raising the conveyed article,
When the hanging member that is moving in the lateral direction by engaging the lower lateral guide member reaches the position of the elevating guide member, move the elevating guide member from the lower lateral guide member to the position of the upper lateral guide member. Just raise it.

By providing the elevating guide member at the entrance position of each work station and providing the lateral guide members in multiple stages, the elevating amount of the elevating guide member can be set in multiple stages, so that it is easy to secure an appropriate work position. . Further, since the height of the conveyed article can be changed by setting the elevation amount of the elevating guide member, it is not necessary to correct the trajectory of the chain as in the conventional case even if the kind of the conveyed article or the work content changes. .

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2, the lifting conveyor device of the present invention is
Upper horizontal guide member 1, middle horizontal guide member 2, and lower horizontal guide member
It has 3 and. The upper, middle, and lower three-level lateral guide members 1, 2, 3
Has a certain space in the vertical direction and is in the same vertical plane,
It is arranged horizontally in the horizontal direction.

Each of the lateral guide members 1, 2 and 3 has a cutting space 4 in the middle thereof in the lateral direction and is discontinuous. The cutting space
Reference numeral 4 penetrates the upper, middle and lower three lateral guide members 1, 2, 3 at the same position. A lifting guide member is provided in the cutting space 4.
5 is installed so that it can be raised and lowered. This lifting guide member 5
Has a connecting portion 6 for connecting the discontinuous portions of the lateral guide members 1, 2, 3 and a nut 7 fixed to the connecting portion 6.

An elevating screw 8 having a vertical axis posture is screwed onto the nut 7. The lift screw 8 has its upper and lower end portions rotatably supported by a fixed bracket 9 and is vertically immovable. A gear 10 is fixed to the lower end of the lifting screw 8, and the gear 10 meshes with a drive gear 12 driven by a motor 11. This motor 11, gear 10,1
2, a lifting drive device 13 for the lifting guide member 5 is constituted by the lifting screw 8 and the like.

A pair of guide rails 14 are vertically fixed on the left and right sides of the lifting screw 8. The connecting portion 6 is guided by the guide rail 14 so as to be able to move up and down, and the connecting portion 6 is prevented from rotating around the elevating screw shaft. The lifting conveyor device of the present invention further includes an upper conveyor 15 above and below the lateral guide members 1 and 3.
And a lower conveyor 16. The upper and lower conveyors 15 and 16 are
Each has a guide rail 17 and an endless chain 18 which is guided by the guide rail 17 and moves laterally. The upper and lower chains 18 are provided so as to face each other in the vertical direction and to be parallel to each other and to be rotatable around the horizontal plane. The upper and lower chains 18 are synchronously driven and move at the same speed.

A vertical guide member 19 is vertically installed between the upper and lower chains 18 so as to cross the front of the lateral guide members 1, 2, and 3. The vertical guide members 19 are arranged in a row at a predetermined pitch in the horizontal direction. A slide bracket 20 is fixed to the lower part of the vertical guide member 19. The bracket 20 is provided with a guide hole penetrating in the vertical direction.

A hanging member 21 is provided on the vertical guide member 19 so as to be vertically movable. The hanging member 21 is a vertical guide member 19
A slide bush 22 that is slidably fitted in the
And a hanging rod 23 suspended from the slide bush 22. The hanging rod 23 is slidably inserted in the guide hole. A hook portion 24 is provided at a lower end portion of the hanging rod 23, and a transported article 25 is hung and held by the hook portion 24.

A guide roller 26 is attached to the slide bush 22.
The guide roller 26 rolls on the upper surfaces of the connecting portions 6 of the lateral guide members 1, 2, 3 and the elevating guide member 5. The elevating conveyor device includes the guide roller 26
A lateral movement detecting means 27 is provided for detecting that the vehicle has moved from the lateral guide members 1, 2, 3 to the elevating guide member 5. The detection means 27 is composed of a limit switch, a proximity switch, etc. for detecting the moving position of the vertical guide member 19.

Further, the lifting conveyor device is provided with lifting position detecting means 28 for detecting the lifting position of the lifting guide member 5. The elevating position detecting means 28 is composed of a limit switch for detecting the elevating position of the elevating guide member 5, a proximity switch, an encoder for detecting the rotation angles of the motor 11 and the elevating screw 8.

The lateral movement detecting means 27 and the elevation position detecting means 28 are electrically connected to the control device of the motor 11. According to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, the suspension member 21
An article 25 is held by the hook portion 24 at the bottom of the. Now, the guide roller 26 of the suspension member 21 is used as the horizontal guide member 1 in the upper, middle and lower three stages.
Assuming that the suspension member 21 is on the middle lateral guide member 2, for example, the suspension member 21 maintains its height by the middle lateral guide member 2.

When the chain 18 of the upper and lower conveyors 15 and 16 moves in the horizontal direction, the vertical guide member 19 moves with it, and the hanging member 21 also moves with it. At the time of lateral movement of the suspension member 21, the guide roller 26 of the suspension member 21 moves the middle lateral guide member 2
As it rolls up, the hanging member 21 moves laterally while maintaining its height. At this time, the connection part of the lifting guide member 5
6 is held at a position for connecting discontinuous portions of the cutting space 4 of the middle lateral guide member 2. Therefore, the middle lateral guide member
Guide roller of hanging member 21 guided by 2
26 transfers to the connecting portion 6 of the lifting guide member 5. Since the position of the vertical guide member 19 at this time is detected by the lateral movement detecting means 27, when the transfer of the guide roller 26 is completed,
The motor 11 of the lifting drive device 13 is activated and the lifting screw
Rotate 8 to move the vertical guide member 5 to the lower horizontal guide member 3
Lower to the position and stop. This stop command is issued by the ascending / descending position detecting means 28.

Since the guide roller 26 of the hanging member 21 is on the connecting portion 6 of the elevating guide member 5 at this time, the hanging member 21
While being guided by the vertical guide member 19, the lifting guide member 5
To go with the descent of. At this time, since the chain 18 is moving in the horizontal direction, the hanging member 21 moves down while moving in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the descending speed of the elevating guide member 5 is set so that the connecting portion 6 reaches the lower lateral guide member 3 before the guide roller 26 reaches the end portion of the connecting portion 6.

Therefore, the guide roller 26 of the suspension member 21
Moves to the lower lateral guide member 3 and
Follow 3 and move laterally. That is, the conveyed article 25
Is conveyed laterally by descending by the difference in height between the middle lateral guide member 2 and the lower lateral guide member 3. Similarly, when the conveyed article is to be lifted from the position of the lower lateral guide member 3 to the position of the upper lateral guide member 1, for example, the hanging article which is engaged with the lower lateral guide member 3 and is moving in the lateral direction is used. The lower member 21
When it reaches the position of the lifting guide member 5, the lifting guide member
5 may be lifted from the lower lateral guide member 3 to the position of the upper lateral guide member 1.

By providing the elevating guide member 5 at the entrance position of each work station and providing the lateral guide members 1, 2, 3 in multiple stages, the elevating amount of the elevating guide member 5 can be set in multiple stages, so that proper work can be performed. The position can be secured. Also,
By increasing the number of steps of the horizontal guide members 1, 2 and 3, the setting range of the lifting amount of the lifting guide member 5 becomes wider, so even if the type of the conveyed article 25 or the work contents change, There is no need to correct the orbit.

Further, according to this embodiment, the vertical guide member 19
Is held by the upper and lower conveyors 15 and 16, and the hanging rod 23 is guided up and down by the vertical guide member 19, so that the hanging rod 23 does not swing and the work becomes easy. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and for example, the lifting drive device may use a cylinder or the like, or may be provided on the lifting guide member. Also,
The lifting conveyor device of the present invention is also used in a plating line and a coating line. Further, the number of steps of the lateral guide member is not limited. Further, the vertical spacing of the lateral guide members can be freely adjusted, and the number of steps can be freely increased or decreased.

Further, the conveyor is not limited to the chain, and is not limited to one provided at the top and bottom, and may be only one at the top.

[0026]

According to the present invention, it is possible to change the conveyance height of a conveyed article without modifying the trajectory of the chain as in the conventional case. Therefore, the kind of the conveyed article and the work content are changed. Also, the height of the conveyed article can be easily adjusted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 lateral guide member 2 lateral guide member 3 lateral guide member 4 cutting space 5 lifting guide member 13 lifting drive device 15 conveyor 16 conveyor 21 hanging member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A horizontal guide member having a plurality of upper and lower stages arranged in a horizontal direction, a cutting space formed by vertically penetrating the horizontal guide members having a plurality of upper and lower stages, and a cutting space arranged in the cutting space. An elevating guide member, an elevating drive device for elevating the elevating guide member, a conveyor that moves in a lateral direction, a vertical guide member provided on the conveyor, and an elevating and lowering device provided on the vertical guide member, and An elevating conveyor device comprising one of upper and lower lateral guide members and a suspending member engageable with the elevating guide member.