JPH07187133A - Automatic collecting and supplying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supply a predetermined number of objects to be packed securely with their arranged state held, being pushed aside while a bucket conveyer is continuously operated. CONSTITUTION:Every time a conveyer 18 carries five objects 14 to be packed to an exit, a push-out means 37 of a conveyer 34 pushes the object to a packing apparatus on a side. A comb 44a at the tip of the push-out means comes between vertical walls 25 of a bucket 24 to push out the objects 14. The comb moves slantly to discharge the objects in an arranged state onto a transfer path on a side, and subsequently moves linearly for supplying them no the packing apparatus. Then the push-out means reversely rotates on a sprocket to move over to an upper return route.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic stacking and feeding apparatus used in a packaging apparatus or the like in which a plurality of articles to be packaged are packaged as a single package, and more particularly, they are vertically aligned and conveyed by a bucket conveyor. The present invention relates to an improvement of an automatic stacking / supplying device that discharges the items to be packed from the front end part in a predetermined number in a stacked state and discharges them laterally in the transport direction to the packing machine or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an automatic stacking and feeding apparatus used in the above-mentioned packaging apparatus or the like vertically aligns the articles to be packaged on a conveyor means such as a conveyor along the direction of conveyance, and A certain number of pieces are intermittently conveyed to a carry-out port provided on the side of the conveying direction, and the objects to be packaged on the conveying path are accumulated from the front end portion thereof in an integer multiple of the above-mentioned constant number. Then, it is sequentially discharged to the side and supplied to the packaging machine side.

Specifically, the conveyor is a bucket conveyor or the like, and the bucket conveyor stores a predetermined number of articles to be packaged which are continuously conveyed from the upstream side in a bucket, and stores one bucket. Is set as the minimum unit of the conveyance pitch, and intermittent driving is performed at a conveyance pitch of 2 units or more at least once in the conveyance opportunity. And, the objects to be packaged transported by this bucket conveyor are 1 for each transportation opportunity.
Each of the buckets is intermittently transported by being exposed to a carry-out port provided on the side in the transport direction by an integral multiple of the number of the buckets.

At the carry-out port, all the objects to be packaged, which are stored in a plurality of buckets facing the carry-out port, are discharged sideways while being aligned and accumulated, and Supplying means for supplying to the carry-in end of the packaging machine provided on the side is provided.

The supply means is a transfer passage formed by linearly connecting the carry-out port of the bucket conveyor and the carry-in end of the packaging machine provided on the side thereof, and the bucket conveyer provided on the transfer passage. It consists of a yagura conveyor that pushes the upper object to be packaged and feeds it to the carry-in end of the packaging machine.

The yagura conveyor comprises a pair of endless chains and an extruded plate attached to the endless chains, and by rotation of the endless chains, all of the objects to be packaged stored in the plurality of buckets facing the carry-out port. It is adapted to be pushed out to the side while being locked at the lower part of the extrusion plate and supplied to the carry-in end of the packaging machine.

Further, on both sides of the transfer passage, the wrapping machine side is set along the transfer passage while preventing the disorder of the plurality of objects to be packaged pushed out by the extruding plate and maintaining the aligned state. A guide plate is attached for feeding in accordance with different positions.

[0008]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional automatic stacking and feeding device, the yagura conveyor can be moved only laterally when pushing out the articles to be packaged on the bucket conveyor laterally. For this reason, in order to reliably push out a predetermined number of articles to be packaged from the front end portion on the bucket conveyor, the bucket conveyor had to be intermittently operated.

Here, the extruded plate of the yagura conveyor needs to pass between the buckets during the stop period of the bucket conveyor, but when operated at high speed, the movement stop timing of the bucket coincides with the passage timing of the extruded plate. There is a risk that they will be lost and interfere with each other, causing damage,
Therefore, there is a problem that there is a limitation in high speed operation.

Further, when the bucket conveyor is operated intermittently, it is necessary to secure a mechanical strength sufficient to withstand the frequent start and stop thereof. Therefore, not only the bucket conveyor becomes large in size but also intermittently. Another problem was that a drive mechanism was required and the cost increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reliably absorb the interference between the bucket of the bucket conveyor and the extruded plate of the yagura conveyor while laterally securing the object to be packaged. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic stacking and feeding device capable of reliably discharging a packaged object while laterally discharging the bucket conveyor as well as continuously operating the bucket conveyor at high speed as well as continuously. .

[0012]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a yagura conveyor arranged across the upper part of a bucket conveyor, and is stored in a bucket of the bucket conveyor and conveyed in an aligned state. To be packaged
In an automatic stacking and feeding device that pushes laterally in a stacking state in which a predetermined number of sheets are aligned from the front end portion in the transport direction and feeds them to the loading end of a packaging machine, etc., the yagura conveyor is located on the side of the bucket conveyor. A pair of endless traction means arranged along both sides of a machine frame extending to the drive frame, a drive means for orbiting the traction means, and a pair of traction means suspended between the traction means. A slide bar that is moved around together with the pulling means, a slider that is engaged with the slide bar and is slidably movable in the carrying direction of the bucket conveyor, and a tip end portion of the slider that has a comb-teeth shape. Attached to the slider, which is attached, and in the forward path, each comb tooth pushes the object to be packaged through the inside of the bucket laterally and is pushed by the bucket to move laterally in the conveying direction, and the slider. And a guide rail that is provided on the return path so as to be engageable with the engaging element and that moves the slider to the upstream side in the transport direction of the bucket conveyor to guide the extrusion plate to a predetermined extrusion start position. Is characterized by.

[0013]

According to the automatic stacking and feeding apparatus of the present invention having the above-described structure, every time the bucket conveyor conveys a predetermined number of articles to be packaged, the extrusion plate of the yagura conveyor laterally wraps the predetermined number of articles to be packaged. Push it to the machine side. That is, in the outward path, the comb teeth at the tip of the push-out plate enter between the buckets and push out the packaged items stored inside to the side. At this time, when the bucket comes into contact with the side portions of the comb teeth as the bucket moves, the slider slides on the slide bar. As a result, the comb teeth move diagonally to discharge the articles to be packaged sideways in the aligned state, and after they are separated from the bucket, move linearly and feed the packaging machine. After that, when it reverses and moves to the return path, the cam follower attached to the slider comes into contact with and engages with the guide rail, is laterally moved to the upstream side in the conveyor direction of the bucket conveyor, and when it reverses again and returns to the forward path, the push plate is conveyed. It is returned to a predetermined extrusion start position in the direction.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the overall construction of an automatic integrated feeding device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line III-III in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the automatic stacking and feeding device 10 is provided with the articles to be packaged 14 stored in the buckets 24 arranged in a row along the transport direction, on the downstream side in the transport direction. Carry-out exit 16
Bucket conveyor 18 that is conveyed to the container, and the article to be packaged 14 on the bucket conveyor 18 that is conveyed to the carry-out port 16.
Means 22 for discharging and supplying the side to the side of the packaging machine 20
It is composed of and.

A large number of bucket conveyors 18 are attached to the chain 26 such that the buckets 24 forming the conveying path 12 are in contact with each other at a fixed pitch in the front and rear directions. Each of the buckets 24 has an L-shaped cross section and is configured to store one packaged item 14. The bucket conveyor 18 is continuously driven by a drive device 28.

At the rear end of the bucket conveyor 18 in the carrying direction, a carrying means 30 for carrying the article to be packaged 14 into each bucket 24 is provided. The transport means 30 is continuously operated in synchronization with the bucket conveyor 18, transports the articles 14 to be packaged at a predetermined interval, and becomes a horizontal state at the carry-in end at the rear end of the bucket conveyor 18. The articles to be packaged 14 are successively delivered inside one by one.

The supply means 22 is provided between the carry-out port 16 formed on the side of the bucket conveyor 18 in the carrying direction and the carry-in end of the packaging machine 20 provided on the side of the carry-out port. 16 and a transfer passage 32 formed so as to connect the carry-in end of the packaging machine 20 substantially linearly, and the transfer passage 32.
And a yagura conveyer 34 disposed above.

The carry-out port 16 has a front opening 7 of the bucket 24.
The supply means 22 faces the carry-out port 16 at each supply opportunity, and supplies five packaged objects 14 from the front end stored in the bucket conveyor 24. It is configured to be discharged to one side and supplied to the packaging machine 20 side.

As shown in more detail in FIGS. 4 to 6, the yagura conveyor 34 includes endless chains 42, which are endless traction means, arranged along both sides of the machine frame 35.
The endless chain 42 is composed of three pushing means 37 attached at equal intervals to the entire circumference.

The endless chain 42 is provided above the bucket conveyor 18 at a right angle to the bucket conveyor 18, and the drive side sprocket 48 disposed above the carry-in end of the packaging machine 20 and above the bucket conveyor 18. And is wound and wound between the sprocket 50 on the driven side and the sprocket 50, which is disposed on the opposite side of the packaging machine 20 in an overhanging state. The endless chain 42 is configured to be continuously rotated at a constant speed in synchronization with the operation of the bucket conveyor 18, and while the bucket conveyor 18 continuously conveys and moves five buckets 24, one third rotation is performed. It is supposed to do.

The push-out means 37 is slidably mounted on a slide bar 45 provided between the endless chains 42 on both sides.
And a slider 47 which is engaged with the slide bar 45 and is slidably movable in the carrying direction of the bucket conveyor 18, and an extrusion plate 44 attached to the slider 47.

Both ends of the slide bar 45 are fixed to the endless chain 42 via support stays 49, and the support stays 49 are further connected to the endless chain 42 by an auxiliary arm 51 in order to stabilize the posture thereof. The auxiliary arm 51 and the support stay 49 are connected by a pin 53 (see FIGS. 7 and 8).

An extruding plate 44 is attached to the slider 47, and its tip portion is divided into five comb teeth. The comb teeth 44a are inserted between the vertical walls 25 of the L-shaped bucket 24 of the bucket conveyor 18 which is in the moving state facing the carry-out port 16, and the five comb buckets 24a to 24a.
A state of being in contact with the articles to be packaged 14 housed in e, pushing them out to the side, sliding them on the transfer passage 32 through the carry-out port 16 and aligning them with the loading end of the packaging machine 20. It is designed to be supplied by.

A cam follower 55 as an engaging element is attached to the slider 47, and the cam follower 55 engages with a guide rail 61 fixedly attached to a crossbar 57 of the machine frame 35. The guide rail 61 moves the slider 47 to the upstream side in the transport direction of the bucket conveyor 18 to move the push plate 4
4 is for guiding to a predetermined extrusion start position.

The guide rail 61 is attached to the upper side of the cross bar 57 and extends between the drive side sprocket shaft 48a and the driven side sprocket shaft 50a. The end portion 61a near the driving side sprocket shaft 48a is close to the machine frame side plate 35a on the downstream side in the transport direction of the bucket conveyor 18, and the end portion 61b near the driven side sprocket shaft 50a coincides with the pushing start position by the pushing plate 44. The cam follower 55 of the pushing means 37, which is aligned with the upstream side position in the transport direction and is reversed from the outward path on the lower side of the machine frame 35 to the return path on the upper side thereof, comes into contact. That is, the slider 47, which moves in the return path, is guided to the upstream side in the transport direction of the bucket conveyor 18, and the pushing plate 44 is returned to a predetermined pushing start position.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, on the transfer passage 32, the object to be packaged 1 discharged from the bucket conveyor 18 from the carry-out port 16 to the carry-in end of the packaging machine 20.
Positioning means 50 for positioning and feeding 4 at a predetermined position is provided at the carry-in end of the packaging machine 20 while maintaining its aligned state. This positioning means 50
Consists of two guide plates 52, 54 provided on both sides of the transfer passage 32 along the same. The guide plate 52, which is located on the front side in the transport direction of the bucket conveyor 18 and is provided on the side of the transfer passage 32, is linearly arranged.

On the other hand, the guide plate 54 located on the rear side of the bucket conveyor 18 in the conveying direction and provided on the side portion of the transfer passage 32 has the packaging machine 2 from the rear end side of the carry-out port 16 in the conveying direction.
To the carry-in end side of 0, the bucket conveyor 18 corresponding to the thickness of two pieces with respect to the width of one piece of the article to be packaged 14
Is formed to be inclined forward in the transport direction.

In the automatic stacking and feeding apparatus 10 of the present embodiment as described above, the bucket conveyor 18 and the small yagura conveyor 34 are synchronously and continuously operated together, and the bucket conveyor 18 includes 15 articles 14 to be packaged. The endless chain 42 is rotated once while being conveyed toward the carry-out port 16, and the three pushing means 37 attached to the endless chain 42 at equal intervals perform three pushing operations.

That is, on the outward path in which the push-out plate 44 abuts against the articles to be packaged 14 and pushes them out toward the packaging machine 20, when the push-out plate 44 attached to the slider 47 crosses over the bucket conveyor 18, Each comb tooth 48 at the tip of the bucket conveyor 24 of the bucket conveyor 18
4e enters between the vertical walls 25, and the articles 14a to 14e to be packaged are extruded sideways. Then, as the bucket 24 moves, its vertical wall 25 comes into contact with the side of the comb teeth 44 a of the pushing plate 44. Then, the slider 47 slides on the slide bar 45 in response to the thrust from the vertical wall 25, and the comb teeth 44a move diagonally while slidingly contacting the vertical wall 25 to move the article to be packaged 14 on the lateral transfer passage 32. Discharge diagonally while maintaining the aligned state. At this time, the corner of the rearmost packaged object 14e is prevented from slidingly contacting the slanted guide plate 54 and disturbing the alignment. Five items to be packaged 14a to 14e
Is extruded linearly toward the carry-in end of the packaging machine 20 by the extruding plate 44, and is supplied to this.

Then, the pushing means 37 is reversed by the drive side sprocket 48 and moves to the return path on the upper side of the machine casing 35. On this return trip, slider 47 cam follower 5
5 abuts on and engages with the guide rail 61, and the slider 47 and the push-out plate 44 are guided by the positioning guide rail 61 until the bucket conveyor 18 is turned over again by the driven sprocket 50 and returning to the forward path. Is laterally moved toward the upstream side in the transport direction and is returned to a predetermined extrusion start position in the transport direction.

Therefore, as is apparent from the above description, in the above embodiment, even if the object to be packaged 14 is continuously conveyed by the bucket conveyor 18, the object to be packaged on the bucket conveyor 18 facing the carry-out port 16 is conveyed. A certain number (five) of the articles 14 are discharged from the front end portion in a vertically aligned state in a stacked state to be surely discharged to the side, and the reference position is adjusted to the downstream packaging machine 20 side and supplied. can do.

For this reason, it is not necessary to carry out intermittent operation such as repeatedly starting and stopping the bucket conveyor 18, so that sufficient durability can be ensured even if the mechanical strength of the bucket conveyor 18 is not so large. Not only can the bucket conveyor 18 be miniaturized, but the intermittent drive mechanism is also unnecessary, and the cost can be reduced.

In the illustrated embodiment, the guide rail 61 extends between the sprocket shafts 48a and 50a, but the cam follower 55 finally starts a predetermined extrusion in the conveying direction of the bucket conveyor 18. As long as it can guide you to the position, it may be shorter, and the route on the way is not asked.

Further, although the case where the bucket conveyor is continuously operated is illustrated in the automatic accumulation and feeding apparatus of the above-mentioned embodiment, the present invention can be applied to the case where the bucket conveyor is intermittently operated. That is, since the moving force of the vertical wall 25 of the bucket 24 is used to move the push-out plate 44 to the downstream side in the transport direction of the bucket conveyor, the bucket conveyer 18 is intermittently operated at a high speed, and the bucket and the push-out plate interfere with each other. However, this can be absorbed by the movement of the extruding plate to surely extrude the objects to be packaged to the side, and there is no problem such as damage to them.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a modification of the guide rail. As shown in the figure, the guide rail 61 in this modified example is composed of two guide rails 63a, 63a, 63b, 63b, 63c, 63c, 63c, and 63d. It is freely connected. The engagement / disengagement side guide rail 63b is rotatably attached to the crossbar 57 via a bolt 67, and the engagement start side guide rail 69b.
The a is slidably attached to the crossbar 57 by an elongated hole 71 and a bolt 69 formed therein.

That is, with this structure, the angle of the guide rail 63b on the engagement / disengagement side can be arbitrarily set and changed. Therefore, by adjusting this angle, it is possible to change the number of the articles to be packaged extruded. It becomes possible to flexibly cope with the change of the extrusion start position.

[0038]

As described above in detail in the embodiments,
According to the automatic stacking and feeding apparatus according to the present invention, since the movement of the push plate to the downstream direction in the conveyor direction of the bucket conveyor is obtained by the moving force of the vertical wall of the bucket, the bucket conveyor and the push plate are intermittently operated at a high speed. Even if they interfere with each other, or even if the bucket conveyor continuously conveys the objects to be packaged, a predetermined number of objects to be packaged on the bucket conveyor facing the carry-out port are vertically aligned from the front end. As it is, it can be surely discharged laterally and supplied to the packaging machine side downstream thereof.

Further, it is not necessary to intermittently operate the bucket conveyor, and when it is continuously operated, it becomes possible to secure sufficient durability even if the mechanical strength of the bucket conveyor is not so large. Therefore, not only the bucket conveyor can be downsized, but also the intermittent drive mechanism is not necessary, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the overall configuration of an automatic integrated supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a yagura conveyor.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the yagura conveyor.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the pushing means.

FIG. 8 is a view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a traversing start position when an extruding plate traverses on a bucket conveyor.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a traversing end position when the pushing plate traverses on the bucket conveyor.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a modified example of the guide rail of the yagura conveyor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Automatic accumulation supply device 12 Conveyance path 14 Packaged goods 16 Outlet 18 Bucket conveyor 20 Packaging machine 34 Yagura conveyor 37 Extrusion means 42 Endless chain (pulling means) 44 Extrusion plate 44a Comb teeth 45 Slide bar 47 Slider 48a Drive side sprocket shaft (Driving means) 55 Cam follower (engagement element) 61 Guide rail 63a Engagement start side guide rail 63b Engagement release side guide rail

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A yagura conveyor arranged across the upper side of a bucket conveyor, and the objects to be packed that are stored in the buckets of the bucket conveyor and are conveyed in an aligned state,
In an automatic stacking / feeding device that pushes laterally in a stacked state from the front end portion in the transport direction in a predetermined number of rows and feeds it to a carry-in end of a packaging machine or the like, the yagura conveyor is located on a side of the bucket conveyor. A pair of endless traction means arranged along both sides of a machine frame extending to the drive frame, drive means for orbiting the traction means, and a pair of traction means suspended between the pair of traction means. A slide bar that is rotated around integrally with the pulling means, a slider that is engaged with the slide bar and is slidably movable in the carrying direction of the bucket conveyor, and a tip end portion of the slider that has a comb-teeth shape. Installed,
In the forward path, the comb teeth pass through the bucket to push the object to be packaged to the side, and the push plate pushed by the bucket and laterally moved in the transport direction, the engaging element attached to the slider, A guide rail which is provided on the return path so as to be engageable with the engaging element and which moves the slider to the upstream side in the conveying direction of the bucket conveyor to guide the push-out plate to a predetermined push-out start position. Automatic integrated feeder.