JPH06321318A - Article accumulation and supply method and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform the high-speed accumulation treatment of articles without stopping article supply to an accumulation conveyer. CONSTITUTION:Articles are supplied successively to the accumulation part of an accumulation conveyer 18 via a carrying conveyer 16. In the case where article supply timing from the accumulation conveyer 18 to a transfer conveyer is not attained when the given number of articles are accumulated at an accumulation part, the downstream end part of the carrying conveyer 16 is risen. In the case where article supply timing is attained when the given number of articles are not accumulated at the accumulation part, the accumulation part of the accumulation conveyer 18 is lowered, and also the carrying conveyer 16 is lowered so as to follow the movement of the accumulation part. Moreover when article supply timing is attained concurrent with accumulating the given number of articles at the accumulation part, the accumulation part of the accumulation conveyer 18 is lowered, and also the carrying conveyer 16 is elevated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product accumulation and supply system in which a predetermined number of articles sequentially conveyed from a previous process are stacked and accumulated, and then transferred to a transfer conveyor in a predetermined number of units. A method and apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Articles sequentially conveyed from a conveyor in a previous process are stacked in a predetermined number of units and stacked.
2. Description of the Related Art A stacking device for delivering the stacked and stacked articles to a transfer conveyor connected to a packaging machine such as a boxing machine or a bagging machine or various processing machines has been conventionally known. In this stacking device, the stacked products are controlled to be delivered according to the timing at which the products can be delivered to the transfer conveyor. Especially, under the condition that high-speed stacking processing is required, the products from the conveyor in the previous process to the stacking device are controlled. In the case where the supply is continuously performed, when a predetermined number of articles are stacked and accumulated in the accumulating device, but it is not yet possible to deliver the articles from the accumulating device to the transfer conveyor,
Alternatively, when the transfer conveyor is temporarily stopped, the stacking device is held in the delivery standby state, and the method of blocking the article supply from the conveyor in the previous process to the stacking device has been adopted.

[0003]

Under the above-mentioned conditions, when the conveyor in the previous step cannot be stopped, the articles sequentially conveyed by the conveyor from the previous step are discharged to the outside of the system, or It was necessary to install a device or the like for accumulating articles on the conveyor of the process. That is, it is pointed out that the processing of the articles supplied to the stacking device becomes complicated and the high-speed stacking processing of the articles becomes difficult.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned problems inherent in the above-mentioned prior art, and has been proposed in order to solve this problem irrespective of the delivery conditions of accumulated articles to a transfer conveyor. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and a device for accumulating and accumulating articles, which enables high-speed accumulation processing of the articles without stopping the acceptance of the articles from the previous step.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Overcoming the above-mentioned problems,
In order to achieve the intended purpose, an article stacking and feeding method according to the present invention is to sequentially feed articles to a stacking section of a stacking conveyor including a plurality of stacking sections that intermittently circulate in the vertical direction by a conveyor. When transferring articles stacked in a predetermined number of units in the stacking section onto a transfer conveyor, when the number of articles stacked in the stacking section reaches a predetermined number, stacking on the transfer conveyor side is performed. If it is not possible to deliver the articles, the article supply position to the accumulation conveyor in the transfer conveyor is set to the upper stage of the accumulation section in which a predetermined number of articles are accumulated with respect to the accumulation conveyor held in the standby state. By feeding so that the articles to be conveyed are fed to the next stacking section and the number of articles stacked on the stacking section has not reached a predetermined number, When the delivery becomes possible, the stacking portion of the stacking conveyor is moved downward to transfer the stacked articles toward the transfer conveyor side, and the article supply position to the stacking conveyor in the transfer conveyor is set to the article in the stacking conveyor. By moving downward while following the movement of the stacking unit while being directed to the stacking unit in the middle of stacking, conveyed articles are continuously supplied to the same stacking unit, and the number of stacked products in the stacking unit reaches a predetermined number. At the same time, when the accumulated articles can be delivered to the transfer conveyor side, the accumulating section of the accumulating conveyor is moved downward to transfer the accumulated articles toward the transfer conveyor side, and at the same time, the accumulating articles on the conveying conveyor are accumulated. By switching the article supply position to the conveyor so that it is directed to the stacking section located above the stacking section where a predetermined number of articles are stacked, the conveyed article is transferred to the next stacking section. Characterized by being adapted to supply.

In order to preferably carry out the above-described method, an article stacking and feeding apparatus according to another invention of the present application is an apparatus for gathering a predetermined number of articles to be fed and transferring the gathered articles to a transfer conveyor. It has a plurality of stacking units that receives and transports the supplied and transported products in a predetermined number of stacks, and intersects the stacking conveyor that is intermittently circulated by a drive mechanism and the stacking conveyor. A transport conveyor that is provided so that its downstream end is directed toward the stacking section of the stacking conveyor and sequentially supplies articles to the stacking section; and an article supply position that is directed toward the stacking section of the transport conveyor. A moving mechanism for moving the stacking unit in the article transport direction, an input shaft to which the driving mechanism of the stacking conveyor is connected, and an output shaft to which the transport mechanism of the transport conveyor is connected are rotated. A differential gear mechanism which is arranged on a first driving motor for rotating the input shaft of the differential gear mechanism,
A second drive motor for rotatably driving a differential means rotatably disposed in the differential gear mechanism, wherein the stacking portion of the stacking conveyor is moved to the downstream side by driving the first drive motor. The accumulated articles are transferred toward the transfer conveyor side, and the article supply position of the transfer conveyor is maintained so as to be directed to the current accumulation section of the accumulation conveyor, and the article supply of the transfer conveyor is performed by driving the second drive motor. The position is moved so as to be positioned at the next stacking part of the stacking conveyor, and the stacking part of the stacking conveyor is moved to the downstream side by the driving of both motors to transfer the stacked articles toward the transfer conveyor side. The article supply position of the transfer conveyor is moved so as to be positioned at the next stacking portion of the stacking conveyor.

[0007]

The articles are sequentially supplied to the accumulating portion at an appropriate position on the accumulating conveyor through the conveying conveyor and accumulated in a stacked state. When a predetermined number of articles are accumulated in the accumulating section and the accumulated articles cannot be delivered to the transfer conveyor side, the accumulating conveyor is held in the standby state and the article feeding position of the conveying conveyor is accumulated. Switched to point to the next stacking section of the conveyor, the articles conveyed by the transport conveyor are fed to the next stacking section. Also, when a predetermined number of articles are not accumulated in the accumulating section of the accumulating conveyor, and the accumulating articles can be delivered to the transfer conveyor side, the accumulating section of the accumulating conveyor is moved down to the transfer conveyor. While transferring the accumulated articles, the article supply position of the transfer conveyor is moved downward so as to follow the movement of the accumulator, and the articles conveyed by the transfer conveyor are:
It is continuously supplied to the same stacking unit. Further, when a predetermined number of articles are accumulated in the accumulating section of the accumulating conveyor and at the same time the accumulated articles can be delivered to the transfer conveyor side, the accumulating section of the accumulating conveyor is moved down and accumulated in the accumulating conveyor. As the articles are transferred, the article supply position of the transfer conveyor is switched to point to the next stacking section of the stacking conveyor, and the articles transported by the transfer conveyor are supplied to the next stacking section.

[0008]

EXAMPLES Next, the article accumulating and feeding method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to preferred examples in relation to an apparatus capable of suitably implementing the method.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of an integrated supply device 10, which receives the articles 14 supplied from the connection conveyor 12 in the previous step and sequentially receives the articles 14 at predetermined intervals. Conveying conveyor 16 for conveying and articles 14 discharged from the downstream end of the conveying conveyor 16 for accumulating in a stacking unit in a predetermined number unit in a stacking conveyor 1
8, a differential gear mechanism 67 connected to the elevating mechanism of the transfer conveyor 16 and a drive mechanism of the accumulating conveyor 18, and an input shaft 69 and a differential shaft 71 of the mechanism 67 are rotationally driven 2.
It is basically composed of the base motors 62 and 77.

In the conveyor 16, an endless belt 22 is movably arranged between a pair of frames 20, 20 arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the articles 14, The endless belt 22 is configured to continuously run at a constant speed by a motor (not shown). A pair of brackets 24, 24 are arranged on the outer sides facing each other on the upstream end side of the frames 20, 20, and a long hole 24a is formed in the portion of each bracket 24 hanging from the frame 20 along the transport direction. There is. A pin 28 projecting from a supporting member 26 arranged at the downstream end of the connecting conveyor 12 is slidably inserted into the long hole 24a of each bracket 24. That is, the transport conveyor 16 is allowed to move in the article transport direction with respect to the connection conveyor 12, and is rotatably supported. The endless belt 22 is preferably a toothed type, and is configured to prevent fluctuations in the movement amount due to slippage.

A pair of brackets 30 and 30 are disposed on the outer sides of the frames 20 and 20 facing each other on the downstream end side of the frames 20 and 20.
As shown in FIG. 3, a support shaft 32 is rotatably supported between the parts hanging from 0 and 20. A plurality of protrusions 34a are provided on the support shaft 32 in a protruding manner, and the protrusions 34a are arranged and fixed to an elevating bar 34 extending below the transport conveyor 16 in a direction intersecting the transport direction. Guide bodies 36 are respectively arranged at both ends of the elevating bar 34 in the longitudinal direction, and each guide body 36 is slidably arranged on a guide rod 40 arranged corresponding to the facing surface of the device frame 38. ing. Further, the driven pulleys 42, 42 are rotatably supported to oppose each other at an upper position on the facing surface of the device frame 38, and the first drive shaft 46 is mounted on the bottom surface of the device frame 38 via a plurality of bearings 44. Is pivotally supported. This first
The driven pulley 4 is provided at both longitudinal ends of the drive shaft 46.
Drive pulleys 48, 48 forming a pair with 2, 42 are provided, and an endless belt 50 is wound between the corresponding driven pulley 42 and drive pulley 48. And each endless belt 5
An appropriate position of 0 is fixed to the elevating bar 34 via a fixture 51. Therefore, if the first drive shaft 46 is rotationally driven in the forward and reverse directions via the differential gear mechanism 67, the downstream end (article supply position) of the conveyor 16 moves up and down as the two endless belts 50, 50 travel. It moves (see FIGS. 4 to 6).

The downstream end of the conveyor 16 is rotatably supported by the elevating bar 34 via a support shaft 32, and the upstream end of the conveyor 16 is connected to the connecting conveyor 12. In contrast, the endless belts 50, 5 are configured to be movable in the transport direction and rotatable.
When the transport conveyor 16 moves up and down as the vehicle travels 0, the downstream end of the transport conveyor 16 is set so as not to be greatly separated from the stacking conveyor 18. Further, at the downstream end of the conveyer conveyor 16, a photoelectric type detecting means 52 for detecting passage of the article 14 conveyed by the conveyer 16 is arranged.
It is set to count the number of articles supplied to the stacking conveyor 18 by the detection signal of 2.

On the downstream side of the transfer conveyor 16, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the stacking conveyor 18 composed of a pair of belt conveyors 53, 53 is arranged.
Is an article 14 that is sequentially transported from the transport conveyor 16.
Are stacked in a stacking unit in a predetermined number of units (5 units in the embodiment). That is, the belt conveyors 53, 53 extending in the up-down direction are arranged opposite to each other on both sides of the transport conveyor 16 with the article transport center interposed therebetween. Each belt conveyor 53 is configured by winding an endless belt 56 having a plurality of holding plates 56a projecting at predetermined intervals between a driven pulley 54 and a drive pulley 55 which are vertically spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval. To be done. Then, on the opposite sides of the belt conveyors 53, 53 (positions where the downstream end of the conveyor 16 faces), the holding plates 56a, 56a facing each other are aligned in a horizontal state to form a stacking section of the articles 14. It is set so that five articles 14 are stacked in a stacking section.

A bevel gear 58 is provided on a drive shaft 57 provided on a drive pulley 55 located below each belt conveyor 53 in the stacking conveyor 18, and each bevel gear 58 is rotatable with respect to the apparatus frame 38. It meshes with a bevel gear 60 arranged corresponding to the second drive shaft 59 pivotally supported. As shown in FIG. 3, a pulley 61 is integrally rotatably disposed in the vicinity of the left end of the second drive shaft 59, and the pulley 61 has a motor (processed by an inverter disposed on the lower surface of the bottom of the apparatus frame 38). (First drive motor) 62
Endless belt 6 wound around the pulley 63 arranged on the output shaft of the
4 is wrapped around. Therefore, by intermittently driving the motor 62, the pair of belt conveyors 53, 53
The holding plates 56a, 56a in the facing portion are intermittently rotated in directions opposite to each other in the descending direction. The second drive shaft 5
The rotation amount of 9 is the slit disk 65 disposed near the right end of the shaft 59 and the optical sensor 6 disposed on the device frame 38.
6 is configured to be detected by the pulse generating means 82. The belt conveyor 53 is a motor 62
The endless belt 56 is rotated by an amount that moves the space between the upper and lower holding plates 56a, 56a (one step) by one intermittent drive, and is stacked in the stacking section located at the bottom. The articles 14 are adapted to be dropped and supplied to a transfer conveyor 83 described later.

A differential gear mechanism 67 is disposed on the bottom surface of the device frame 38. This differential gear mechanism 67
The structure of is known, and as shown in FIGS.
An input shaft 69 and an output shaft 70 are rotatably supported by the gear box 68 so as to project in mutually opposite directions with their axes coincided with each other and to be orthogonal to the shafts 69, 70. A differential shaft 71 is rotatably supported. In the embodiment, the endless belt 6 wound between the pulley 63 of the motor 62 and the pulley 61 of the second drive shaft 59.
4 is wound around a pulley 72 arranged on the input shaft 69. Further, the pulley 73 disposed on the first drive shaft 46
An endless belt 75 is wound between the pulley 74 and the pulley 74 disposed on the output shaft 70. Further, the pulley 76 arranged on the differential shaft 71 is wound around a pulley 78 arranged on the output shaft of a servo motor (second drive motor) 77 arranged on the upper surface of the bottom of the device frame 38. A belt 79 is wrapped around. When the servo motor 77 is driven, the output shaft 70 rotates via the differential shaft 71,
Set to move the conveyor 16 up
(See Figures 4 and 5). When the motor 62 is driven, the output shaft 70 is rotated by the rotation of the input shaft 69, and the belt conveyors 53, 5 of the accumulation conveyor 18 are rotated.
3 is intermittently rotated by one stage in the descending direction of the stacking unit, and is set so as to lower the transport conveyor 16 at a speed synchronized with the rotation speed of the conveyors 53, 53 (FIG. 5).
And FIG. 6). Further, when both motors 62 and 77 are driven, the conveyor 16 is set to move up and down while the belt conveyors 53 and 53 of the accumulating conveyor 18 are intermittently rotated by one step in the descending direction of the accumulating portion ( 6-
(See FIG. 8). Reference numeral 80 is a pulley 63 of the motor 62.
The tension roller which gives tension to the endless belt 64 wound around is shown.

Below the stacking conveyor 18, as shown in FIG. 2, there is arranged a transfer conveyor 83 parallel to the article transfer direction of the transfer conveyor 16. This transfer conveyor 83 is provided with a plurality of attachments 81 at predetermined intervals in the traveling direction, and is configured to continuously transfer the five articles 14 dropped and supplied from the accumulation conveyor 16 by each attachment 81 toward the next process. Has been done.

Here, the motor 62 is intermittently driven and controlled in synchronization with a timing at which an article can be delivered to the transfer conveyor 83 (an article supply timing) by a timing signal such as a timing pulse from the next step of a packaging machine or the like. The transfer conveyor 83 conveys the five articles 18 stacked and accumulated in the accumulation section located at the bottom of the accumulation conveyor 18.
It is set so as to drop and supply between the attachments 81, 81 adjacent to each other. The rotation amount of the motor 62 is adapted to be intermittently rotated by a predetermined amount (one step of the holding plate 56a) based on the number of pulses transmitted by the pulse generating means 82. Further, the servomotor 77 is in a standby state when the article supply state from the transfer conveyor 16 to the stacking section of the stacking conveyor 18 (the number of articles stacked in the stacking section) and the timing of the article supply from the stacking conveyor 18 to the transfer conveyor 83 are reached. Drive control is selectively performed depending on. That is, the number of articles accumulated from the conveyor 16 to the accumulator of the accumulator 18 is a predetermined number (5).
Reach the transfer conveyor 8
3 has not reached the timing for supplying articles to the stacking conveyor 3, the timing for supplying articles from the stacking conveyor 18 to the transfer conveyor 83 has been reached while the number of stacked articles from the transport conveyor 16 to the stacking section of the stacking conveyor 18 has not reached a predetermined number. In this case, the motor 62 and the servo may be operated when the number of articles accumulated from the transfer conveyor 16 to the accumulating portion of the accumulating conveyor 18 reaches a predetermined number and when the article supply timing from the accumulating conveyor 18 to the transfer conveyor 83 coincides. The motor 77 is set so as to be selectively drive-controlled.

[0018]

Next, the operation of the integrated feeding apparatus according to the embodiment will be described below in relation to the integrated feeding method. For convenience of explanation, the position of the stacking conveyor 18 facing the stacking position on which the articles 14 supplied from the transfer conveyor 16 facing the stacking position are stacked is defined as the stacking position, and the stacking position is located one stage above the stacking position. The position facing the stacking unit is referred to as the upper stacking position. Further, it is assumed that five articles 14 have already been stacked in a stacked state in each stacking portion located below the reference stacking position on the stacking conveyor 18. Then, the interval of the article supply timing from the accumulation conveyor 18 to the transfer conveyor 83 is set to be longer than the time required to supply the five articles 14 from the transfer conveyor 16 to the accumulation section of the accumulation conveyor 18. In this state, the case of each of the above-mentioned conditions will be individually described.

[0019]

[In case of condition] Connection conveyor 12 in the previous process
The articles 14 supplied from are transferred to the transfer conveyor 16 facing the reference position, and are sequentially transferred to the downstream side at a predetermined interval. Then, the articles 1 sequentially conveyed by the conveyor 16
As shown in FIG. 4, the sheets 4 are dropped in a stacking portion (holding plates 56a, 56a) facing the reference stacking position in the stacking conveyor 18 and stacked in order. The number of sheets supplied from the transfer conveyor 16 to the stacking section of the stacking conveyor 18 (stacked number) is detected by the detection means 52, and when the number of stacks reaches 5, the stacking conveyor 18 transfers to the transfer conveyor 83. If the article supply timing has not come, the motor 62
Is not driven and the accumulation conveyor 18 is held in a standby state.

In this case, the servomotor 77
By driving only the endless belts 50, 50 through the differential gear mechanism 67, the elevating bar 34 rises along the guide rods 40, 40. As a result, the article supply position (downstream end) of the transport conveyor 16 supported by the elevating bar 34 rises as shown in FIG. 5 and is in a tilted state toward the next stacking unit facing the upper stacking position. Therefore, the articles 14 sequentially transported by the transport conveyor 16 are stacked and stacked in the next stacking unit facing the upper stacking position.

[0021]

[Conditions for the Condition] As described above, the detecting means 52 is operated in a state where the conveying conveyor 16 is tilted and the articles 14 are sequentially supplied to the accumulating portion of the accumulating conveyor 18 facing the upper accumulating position to perform stacking. Does not detect that the number of articles supplied to the stacking unit has reached 5, when the timing of article supply from the stacking conveyor 18 to the transfer conveyor 83 is reached, only the motor 62 is driven and the stacking conveyor 18 is moved in the direction in which each stacking unit is lowered by one stage. As a result, as shown in FIG.
The five articles 14 stacked and accumulated in the accumulation section located at the lowest stage are dropped and supplied to the transfer conveyor 83 in the stacked state. The article 14 is then transferred to the transfer conveyor 83.
It is transferred to the next process by the attachment 81. Further, the article supply position of the transport conveyor 16 is synchronously lowered at a speed that follows the moving speed of the stacking section of the stacking conveyor 18, and is directed toward the stacking section facing the reference stacking position of the stacking conveyor 18. As a result, the articles 1 are conveyed to the accumulating portion where the number of articles 14 stacked in the upper accumulation position has not reached 5 via the conveyor 16.
4 will continue to be supplied.

[0022]

[Condition under the condition] As shown in FIG. 6, the articles 14 sequentially conveyed by the conveyor 16 facing the reference position.
However, in the state in which they are supplied to the stacking unit facing the reference stacking position of the stacking conveyor 18 and are stacked, the detection means 52 detects that the number of supply to the stacking unit has reached 5, and at the same time, stacking is performed. When the timing for supplying the articles from the conveyor 16 to the transfer conveyor 83 is reached, both the motor 62 and the servomotor 77 are driven. That is, by driving the servo motor 77, as shown in FIG. 7, the article supply position of the transfer conveyor 16 rises and is directed to the next stacking portion facing the upper stacking position of the stacking conveyor 18,
The articles 14 are supplied to the stacking unit to perform stacking. Also,
While the transport conveyor 16 is rising, the accumulation conveyor 1
Since 8 lowers each stacking unit by one stage, the next stacking unit facing the upper stacking position is lowered to the reference position. At this time, under the action of the differential gear mechanism 67, as shown in FIG. 8, the downstream end portion of the conveyor 16 also follows and descends to return to the reference position, and the articles 14 are collected in the accumulating portion facing the reference position. Will continue to be supplied.

By repeatedly performing the operation according to the above conditions, the stacking of the articles 14 sequentially supplied from the transport conveyor 16 on the stacking section of the stacking conveyor 18 can be performed without stopping the stacking of the articles on the stacking section of the stacking conveyor 18. The articles 14 accumulated in the accumulating section can be transferred and supplied to the transfer conveyor 83. That is, even when the accumulation conveyor 18 is in the standby state, it is possible to perform high-speed accumulation processing of the articles 14 without stopping the supply of the articles from the transfer conveyor 16 to the accumulation conveyor 18.

[0024]

[Modification] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the belt conveyors 53, 53 are provided with plate-like holding plates 56a, 53a at predetermined intervals.
The case where 56a is provided and the articles 14 stacked on the holding plates 56a, 56a are dropped and supplied to the transfer conveyor 83 located below has been described, but the present application is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a belt conveyor 53,
Comb-shaped holding plates 56a, 56a are arranged at predetermined intervals on the endless belts 56, 56 of 53 (only one is shown), and the holding plates 56a, 56a are arranged on the bed 84 of the transfer conveyor 83.
Comb-shaped notches 84a, 84a are formed correspondingly to allow the passage of the. Then, the holding plates 56a, 56a that move by the running of the endless belts 56, 56 are
A method in which the article 14 is delivered when passing through the three notches 84a, 84a, or the bed 84
Is set to be shorter than the width of the article 14, and the holding plates 5 of the belt conveyors 53, 53 facing each other are provided.
By setting the positions of 6a and 56a so as not to interfere with the bed 84, the article 14 may be placed on the bed 84 when the holding plates 56a and 56a further descend from the upper surface of the bed 84.

Further, the stacking conveyor 18 is composed of one belt conveyor 53, and one holding plate 56a arranged at a predetermined interval on the conveyor 53 is used to convey the conveyor 16
You may make it stack the articles 14 supplied from. Further, the downstream end of the transfer conveyor 16 can be configured to be lowered from a horizontal reference position or can be raised so as to be directed upward from the reference accumulation position in the accumulation conveyor 18 to a plurality of accumulation units. Accumulation conveyor 18
It is also possible to deal with the case where the standby state is long. Alternatively, the entire transport conveyor 16 may be held in a horizontal state and moved up and down. Furthermore, the conveying conveyor 16 is controlled so that every time one article 14 is supplied to the stacking portion of the stacking conveyor 18, the height of the article 14 is increased by one, and according to the above-described conditions. You may make it move one stage of an accumulation part. Further, the transport conveyor 16 and the accumulating conveyor 18 are not limited to those that are moved in the vertical direction (vertical direction) as described in the embodiments and the modified examples, but may be configured to be moved in the horizontal direction (horizontal direction). Of course. Further, in the embodiment, the articles are to be dropped or fed or placed and fed directly from the accumulating conveyor to the transfer conveyor.For example, a shutter member is provided below the accumulating conveyor, and the article is conveyed from the accumulating conveyor through the shutter member. A method of supplying articles to the transfer conveyor can also be adopted, and the articles are not necessarily supplied directly from the accumulation conveyor to the transfer conveyor.

It is also possible to drive and control the raising and lowering of the transfer conveyor 16 and the intermittent movement of the accumulating conveyor 18 by individual servo motors without interposing the differential gear mechanism 67. The integrated supply device 1 in the embodiment
A toothed type is preferably used for each of the pulleys and the endless belt that form 0, and is configured to prevent fluctuations in the movement amount due to slippage. Then, instead of the pulley-belt, it is possible to employ a transmission mechanism such as a chain-sprocket that does not cause slippage.

[0027]

As described above, according to the method and apparatus for accumulating and supplying articles according to the present invention, it is possible to convey the accumulated articles to the transfer conveyor side regardless of whether it is possible or not. The articles successively supplied by the conveyor can be accumulated in the accumulating section of the accumulating conveyor. As a result, it becomes possible to perform high-speed accumulation processing of the articles. Moreover, since the driving of the stacking conveyor and the movement of the transporting conveyor are performed via the differential gear mechanism, the control relating to the transfer of articles between the conveyors can be made extremely simple.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of an integrated supply device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the integrated supply device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the integrated supply device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a step of collecting and supplying articles by the collecting and supplying apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an integrated supply step of articles by the integrated supply apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a step of collecting and supplying articles by the collecting and supplying apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a step of collecting and supplying articles by the collecting and supplying apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a step of collecting and supplying articles by the collecting and supplying apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view showing a modification of the stacking conveyor and the transfer conveyor in the stacking and feeding apparatus according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 articles 16 transport conveyor 18 stacking conveyor 34 lifting bar (moving mechanism) 50 endless belt (moving mechanism) 56a holding plate (stacking section) 58 bevel gear (driving mechanism) 60 bevel gear (driving mechanism) 62 motor (first driving motor) 64 Endless belt (drive mechanism) 67 Differential gear mechanism 69 Input shaft 70 Output shaft 71 Differential shaft (differential means) 77 Servo motor (second drive motor)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An article is sequentially supplied to a stacking section of a stacking conveyor having a plurality of stacking sections that intermittently circulate in the vertical direction, and a predetermined number of units are stacked in the stacking section. When transferring the accumulated articles to the transfer conveyor, when the number of articles accumulated in the accumulating section reaches a predetermined number, if the accumulated articles cannot be delivered to the conveyor side, it is in a standby state. By switching the article supply position to the stacking conveyor in the transport conveyor with respect to the held stacking conveyor so as to be directed to the stacking section located above the stacking section in which a predetermined number of articles are stacked, When the number of articles accumulated in the accumulating section has not reached a predetermined number, the accumulated articles can be delivered to the transfer conveyor side. The stacking section is moved down to transfer the stacked articles toward the transfer conveyor side, and the stacking is performed while the article supply position to the stacking conveyor in the transport conveyor is directed to the stacking section in the middle of stacking the articles in the stacking conveyor. By moving the parts downward while following the movement of the parts, the conveyed articles are continuously supplied to the same accumulating section, and at the same time when the number of accumulated articles on the accumulating section reaches a predetermined number, the accumulated articles on the transfer conveyor side When the delivery becomes possible, the stacking section of the stacking conveyor is moved downward to transfer the stacked articles toward the transfer conveyor side, and the article supply position to the stacking conveyor in the transfer conveyor is set to a predetermined number of articles. A collection of articles, characterized in that the articles to be conveyed are supplied to the next stacking section by switching the stacking section to the stacking section located above the stacking section. Supply method. 2. A device for accumulating supply articles in a predetermined number of units and transferring the accumulated articles on a transfer conveyor, wherein a plurality of conveying articles are received and conveyed in a predetermined number of accumulation states. And a stacking conveyor that is intermittently circulated and moved by a drive mechanism, and is provided so as to intersect with the stacking conveyor, and the downstream end thereof is arranged so as to be directed to the stacking portion of the stacking conveyor. A transport conveyor that sequentially supplies articles to the stacking unit, a moving mechanism that moves an article supply position of the transport conveyor that is directed to the stacking unit in the article transport direction of the stacking unit, and a drive mechanism of the stacking conveyor are connected. Differential gear mechanism in which an input shaft to be connected and an output shaft to which the moving mechanism of the conveyor is connected are rotatably arranged; and a first drive device for rotationally driving the input shaft of the differential gear mechanism. A driving motor and a second drive motor that rotationally drives differential means rotatably arranged in the differential gear mechanism, and the stacking portion of the stacking conveyor is driven downstream by the driving of the first drive motor. And the accumulated articles are transferred to the transfer conveyor side and the article supply position of the conveyor is maintained so as to be directed to the current accumulating portion of the conveyor, and the second conveyor is driven by the second drive motor. The article supply position of the conveyor is moved so as to be located at the next stacking section of the stacking conveyor, and the driving of both motors moves the stacking section of the stacking conveyor to the downstream side to move the stacking articles toward the transfer conveyor side. An article stacking and feeding apparatus, which is configured to be placed and moved so that an article feeding position of a transfer conveyor is located at a next stacking portion of the stacking conveyor.