JPH07251938A - Article transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To deliver loads staying on a first elevating/lowering base as bulk load without stacking these on a second elevating/lowering base. CONSTITUTION:When an article W mounted on a horizontally moving conveyor 40 is delivered to a bulk load conveyor 46 without being mounted on a pallet P on a second elevating/lowering base 24, the horizontally moving conveyor 40 reaches the upper part of the second elevating/lowering base 24, and when this is linked to the bulk load conveyor 46, the horizontally moving conveyor 40 and the bulk load conveyor 46 are driven to carry loads and thus the article W on the horizontally moving conveyor 40 can be carried through the bulk load conveyor 46 to a loading work area.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article transfer device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following items are known as this type of article transfer device. That is, a first elevating platform that is vertically movable in the unloading station, a second elevating platform that is vertically movable in a stacking station located next to the unloading station, a unloading station, and a stacking station. It is known to have a horizontal conveyor that reciprocates between.

[0003]

Operation of the Prior Art The operation of the prior art will be described below.
When the first lifting platform descends to the lowest position, the pallet that has been placed on the first lifting platform until now is unloaded, and another pallet in which many articles are stacked is loaded. After that, after the first elevating platform is lifted by a predetermined amount, only the uppermost article group is transferred (staged down) to the horizontal moving conveyor horizontally moved to the first elevating platform side by known means. After that, the horizontally moving conveyor moves to the second conveyor side, and then the article group on the horizontally moving conveyor is unloaded (stacked) on the pallet on the second lifting table by a known means. After that, the second elevator is lowered by the height of the article, and the empty horizontal conveyor is moved to the first
Move to the conveyor side. The pallet on the first lifting platform, on which the articles are stacked, is unloaded from the first lifting platform after the first lifting platform descends to the lowest position, and a new pallet on which the articles are stacked is first. It is carried into the lift. When the above operations are repeated several times to stack a predetermined article on the pallet on the second elevator and the second elevator is lowered to the lowest position,
Stacked pallets are unloaded from the second elevator, and empty pallets are supplied to the second elevator.

[0004]

It is an object of the present invention, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, to stack articles on the first elevator on the second elevator without stacking them on the second elevator.
The object of the present invention is to enable the processing of articles to be carried out efficiently as occasion demands, so that they can be carried out as bulk goods.

[0005]

[Means for Achieving the Object] The present invention employs the following means in order to achieve the object. The present invention is
Between the first lifting platform that is vertically movable in the loading / unloading station, the second lifting platform that is vertically movable in the stacking station located next to the loading / unloading station, and between the loading / unloading station and the stacking station It has a horizontal conveyor that reciprocates and a bulk conveyor connected to the horizontal conveyor located at the stacking station.

[0006]

The present invention has the following functions. Not only can the article placed on the horizontal conveyor from the first elevator be placed on the second elevator, but it can also be carried out to the bulk conveyor, so that the treatment of articles can be performed efficiently depending on the case. You can do it well.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on embodiments with reference to the drawings. In this specification, the front means the lower side in FIG. 1, the rear means the upper side in FIG. 1, the left means the left rear side in FIG. 1, and the right means the right side in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, a building, for example, 2
A large number of known automated warehouses 1 are provided in the left-right direction on the floor of the floor. The automated warehouse 1 has a large number of article storage shelves provided at predetermined intervals in the left-right direction, and has a fork passage gap that allows a slide fork 8 (to be described later) to move vertically. ), And a stacker crane 4 provided so as to be movable back and forth between the left and right rack devices 2. The stacker crane 4 includes a traveling carriage 5 and the traveling carriage 5. The mast provided on the mast 5 is provided with an elevating table 7 that can be moved up and down, and a slide fork 8 that is slidably provided on the elevating table 7 in the left-right direction. A pallet P in which a large number of articles W are stacked is stored in the article storage rack. As is well known, the slide fork 8 projects downward from the pallet P.
Lifting of pallet P by raising / lowering platform 7 / elevator platform 7
The pallet P is lifted up and down 7
Then, the pallet P can be lowered onto the article storage rack or the like by the reverse operation.

In front of the rack device 2, there is provided a loading / unloading roller conveyor 10 having a transport direction directed in the front-back direction. A known article elevator (not shown) is provided on the rack device 2 side of the loading / unloading roller conveyor 10. The article lifter is a lift table that can be raised and lowered by a known lift device below the rollers of the loading and unloading roller conveyor 10, and a pair of bearings that are erected on the lift table and located between the rollers of the loading and unloading roller conveyor 10. And a frame. This article lifter forms a fork insertion gap between the conveying surface of the loading / unloading roller conveyor 10 and the lower surface of the pallet P by lifting the pallet P by the support frame, or the slide fork 8 by the support frame in the raised position. The pallet P is received from the pallet P and is then lowered to lower the pallet P onto the loading / unloading roller conveyor 10.

An endless track-shaped guide rail 12 for track and field is provided such that a rear road passes in front of the loading / unloading roller conveyor 10, and a required number of transport carriages 13 are guided by the guide rail 12. However, they are designed to run in the same direction. The carrier vehicle 13
Has a conveyor bed 14 composed of a drive conveyor in which the transport direction is the front-rear direction and the drive direction is freely reversible with the traveling direction facing the left-right direction. In addition, the conveyor bed 14
When stopped in front of the loading / unloading roller conveyor 10,
It is configured to be connected to the loading / unloading roller conveyor 10.

Since the empty pallet station 17 and the pallet P on which the articles W are stacked are carried in so as to be positioned on the front right side of the front side road of the guide rail 12, the carry-in conveyor 18 whose carrying direction is the front-rear direction. Is provided. Elevator 1 in front of this carry-in conveyor 18
9 is provided.

At least one article transfer device 21, which will be described in detail below, is provided so as to be positioned in front of the front side path of the guide rail 12.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the article transfer device 2
A first elevator 23 located at the stacking station 37 and a second elevator 24 located at the stacking station 38 are provided on the base frame 22 of one unit so as to be vertically movable by a known elevator. The upper surfaces of the first elevating table 23 and the second elevating table 24 are composed of drive conveyors 23a, 24a which can be driven in the forward and reverse directions with the conveying direction oriented in the left-right direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plane-shaped L-shaped carry-in conveyor 26 is provided so as to connect the left side of the first elevator 23 and the front of the guide rail 12 to the right side of the first elevator 23. A carry-out conveyor 27 having an L-shaped planar shape is provided so as to connect the front side of the guide rail 12 with the front side. With such a configuration, the transport carriage 13 stops after connecting the conveyer carrier 14 to the carry-in conveyor 26, and then conveys the carrier carrier 14, the carry-in conveyor 26, and the first conveyer 26.
Drive conveyor 23a of the lift 23 (drive conveyor 23a
The transport surface of (1) is flush with or substantially flush with that of the carry-in conveyor 26), and the pallet P on which the articles W are stacked on the conveyor loading platform 14 is loaded into the first lifting platform 23. You can do it. Further, similarly, by driving the drive conveyor 23a and the carry-out conveyor 27, the pallet P can be placed on the carrier vehicle 13 which is stopped so as to connect the carry-out conveyor 27 and the conveyor carrier 14.

An empty pallet conveyor 29 having a plane L shape is provided so as to connect the left side of the second lifting platform 24 and the front of the guide rail 12, and in the middle of the empty pallet conveyor 29, A known empty pallet magazine 30 having a function of stocking the stacked empty pallets P and carrying out the empty pallets P one by one toward the second lifting platform 24 according to a request is provided. There is. A unloading conveyor 31 having a planar L-shape is provided so as to connect the right side of the second lifting platform 24 and the front of the guide rail 12. With such a configuration, the transport carriage 13 stops by connecting the conveyor loading platform 14 to the empty pallet conveyor 29, and then drives the portion of the empty pallet conveyor 29 up to the empty pallet magazine 30 to convey the conveyor. Stacked empty pallets P on the loading platform 14
Can be loaded into the empty pallet magazine 30. And, if requested, magazine 30 for empty pallets
A single empty pallet P is unloaded from the empty pallet magazine 30 and the empty pallet conveyor 29 and the drive conveyor 24a of the second elevator 24 (the transport surface of the drive conveyor 24a is the empty pallet conveyor 29). It is possible to carry the empty pallet P into the second lift table 24 by driving the same. In addition, by similarly driving the drive conveyor 24a and the carry-out conveyor 31,
It is possible to connect the conveyor loading platform 14 to the carry-out conveyor 31 and to place it on the stopped transport carriage 13. In addition,
The pallet P placed on the carrier 13 is temporarily stored in the automated warehouse 1. In the middle of the carry-out conveyor 31, a turntable 33 having a conveyor whose upper surface can be driven forward and backward is interposed.
Are connected. A known binding machine (not shown) is provided near the turntable 33. With such a configuration, after the pallet P is placed on the turntable 33, the turntable 33 can be horizontally turned and the pallet P can be sent to the shipping conveyor 34.

At the bent corner of each conveyor,
In order to smoothly move the pallet P, a well-known lifting conveyor (not shown) whose conveying direction is the sending direction
Or a pusher with the moving direction facing out (not shown)
Etc. are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the base frame 22 of the article transfer device 21 can be moved above the first elevator 23 and the second elevator 24 (movement in FIG. 2). A horizontal moving conveyor 40 is provided so as to be movable back and forth so that it can move between the ranges L). The horizontal conveyor 40 is composed of a drive conveyor whose forward and backward directions can be freely driven with the conveying direction facing forward and backward. The horizontal conveyor 40 is slid back and forth by a known driving device.

The first frame is attached to the base frame 22 of the article transfer device 21.
An article holding device 42 having a large number of downward suction and suction plates 42 is provided so as to be able to move up and down so as to be located above the elevating table 23. It should be noted that the article holding device 42 sucks the article W by the suction suction plate 43, and when the article W is lifted, the lower surface of the article W is positioned above the conveying surface of the horizontal conveyor 40. The lifting amount is set so that Note that the article holding device 42 is fixed to the base frame 22 at a height position that satisfies the above conditions, and the first lifting platform 23 is once raised to a position where the article W abuts on the suction suction plate 43. The article W on the first lifting platform 23 may be lowered to a position where it does not collide with or interfere with the horizontal conveyor 40.

A swing stopper is provided on the base frame 22 so as to be positioned above the rear edge of the horizontal conveyor 40, which has stopped moving above the second lifting table 24, by a pivot having its axis centered in the left-right direction. 44 is provided so as to be vertically swingable. When the swing stopper 44 swings upward, it is positioned above the article W on the horizontal conveyor 40, while on the other hand, when the swing stopper 44 swings downward, it moves on the horizontal conveyor 40. It is designed to come into contact with the article W.

A bulk conveyor 46, which is a drive conveyor, is provided which is connected to the horizontal conveyor 40 located above the second elevator 24 (stacking station 38). The bulk conveyor 46 includes a first conveyor 47 whose conveying direction is the front-rear direction, and a second conveyor 48 following the first conveyor 47 and having a higher speed than the first conveyor 47.
And a third conveyor 49 that follows the conveyance direction in the left-right direction. A loading work area 51 (see FIG. 1) is provided on the exit side of the third conveyor 49 that descends near the floor.

The second elevator 2 of the stacking station 38
A thin plate 6 such as a cardboard on the upper surface of the article W placed on
A thin plate supply device 54 for supplying 0 is provided. The thin plate supply device 54 includes a thin plate stocker 55 provided in front of the base frame 22 and having an open upper surface, and the thin plate stocker 55.
And a position above and below the second lifting table 24 and above the bulk conveyor 46 so as to move back and forth, and a lifting member 56 is lifted up and down by a belt or the like. It has a lift table 57 that is freely suspended and a large number of suction suction plates 58 provided on the lower surface of the lift table 57.
In order to reduce the lifting stroke of the lifting platform 57,
The thin plate stocker 55 may be provided with a lifter or the like for lifting the thin plate 60 upward.

[0022]

Next, the basic operation of the embodiment will be described. Article W to be unloaded from the automated warehouse 1
As described above, the pallet P on which (four pieces of nine articles W are stacked in each of the front, rear, left and right, in total of four) is passed through the transport carriage 13 and the carry-in conveyor 26, and then the first lifting platform 23.
Is supplied to. After that, the first lifting platform 23 moves up to move the uppermost article W to the article holding device 42 at the lowering standby position.
To the position where it is pressed against the suction-and-sucker disc 43. After that, the article W is sucked and sucked by the suction-and-sucker board 43, and then the article holding device 42 positions the lower surface of the article W held by the suction-and-sucker board 43 above the transport surface of the horizontal conveyor 40. To rise. At the same time, the first lift 23 descends to the lowest position.

After that, the horizontal conveyor 40 stopped and waiting in front of the first elevator 23 enters below the article W held by the article holding device 42, and the horizontal conveyor 4 moves.
0 stops just below the article W held by the article holding device 42. After that, the article holding device 42 is lowered and the article W is
Is lowered onto the horizontal conveyor 40, and the suction action of the suction suction board 43 is released. Then, the article holding device 42 rises slightly.

After that, the horizontal conveyor 40 moves forward and is positioned above the second lift 24. At that time, the swing stopper 44 is swinging upward and collides with the article W.
It is designed not to interfere. Then, the article holding device 42 returns to the initial descent standby position. On the other hand, the swing stopper 44 swings downward when the horizontal conveyor 40 stops.

In parallel with the above work, an empty pallet P is
Empty pallet magazine 30 to empty pallet conveyor 2
It is supplied to the second lifting table 24 via 9. Then, the second elevator 24 on which the empty pallet P is placed moves up as much as possible within a range in which the empty pallet P does not collide with or interfere with the horizontal conveyor 40.

After that, when the horizontal conveyor 40 moves backward, the articles W on the horizontal conveyor 40 are scraped off by the swing stopper 44, and the second elevator 24 is moved.
It is placed on the pallet P. Then, when all the articles W are scraped off, the horizontal conveyor 40 moves to the first
It is in a state of being stopped and waiting in front of the lift 23. As is clear from this description, the first elevator 23 and the second elevator 24
A space for the horizontal motion conveyor 40 to stand by is formed between (and between the stacking station 37 and the stacking station 38). After that, the second elevating table 24 descends by an amount slightly larger than the height of the article W.

Thereafter, if necessary, a thin plate 60 such as a cardboard is supplied and placed on the upper surface of the article W on the second elevator 24.

In the meantime, the pallet P on the first elevating table 23 which has reached the lowest position and which has been completely lowered is returned to the automatic warehouse 1 via the carry-out conveyor 27 and the carrier vehicle 13. Then, the new pallet P on which the article W to be unloaded is placed is supplied to the first lift 23.

Thereafter, when the articles W of a predetermined level are placed on the pallet P on the second elevator 24 by repeating the same operation, the pallet P on the second elevator 24 is carried out by the carry-out conveyor 31.
And is bound by a known binding machine (not shown) on the turntable 33 and then carried out to the side of the shipping conveyor 34, or as it is, the carrying-out conveyor 31,
It may be temporarily stored in the automated warehouse 1 via the carrier vehicle 13.

Next, another operation of the embodiment will be described. When the article W placed on the horizontal conveyor 40 is not placed on the pallet P on the second elevator 24 and is carried out to the bulk conveyor 46, the horizontal conveyor 40 reaches above the second elevator 24. , When connected to the bulk conveyor 46,
The horizontal moving conveyor 40 and the bulk conveyor 46 can be driven to convey, and the articles W on the horizontal conveyor 40 can reach the loading work area 51 via the bulk conveyor 46. Since the transport speed of the second conveyor 48 is faster than the transport speed of the first conveyor 47,
The articles W are automatically separated from the ones in the front row and smoothly sent to the third conveyor 49.

[0031]

The present invention has the following effects due to the above-described structure. According to the invention of claim 1, since the article placed on the horizontal conveyor from the first elevator can be not only placed on the second elevator, but can also be carried out to the bulk conveyor, the article The processing can be efficiently performed depending on the case. Also, put the article on the horizontal conveyor,
Since it moves above the second lift, that is, because the article is not transported in a suspended state, an accident such as dropping of the article does not occur. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the article holding device provides the first
Since the articles on the lift can be held and the horizontal conveyors can be inserted below the articles, the articles do not hit the horizontal conveyor, and as a result, the articles are not damaged. According to the invention of claim 3, since a thin plate can be interposed between each step of the articles placed on the second lifting table, even if there is a void in the article group of the lower step, the thin plate that covers the void can be Items can be stacked on top of each other.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along the line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 23 First Elevating Platform 24 Second Elevating Platform 37 Stage Unloading Station 38 Stacking Station 40 Horizontal Moving Conveyor 46 Bulk Carrier 47 First Conveyor 48 Second Conveyor 49 Third Conveyor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first elevating platform provided in a stacking station so as to be able to ascend and descend, a second elevator platform provided ascendably in a stacking station located next to the platform station, and a stacking station and a stage. An article transfer device having a horizontal conveyor that reciprocates between a stacking station and a bulk conveyor connected to the horizontal conveyor located at the stacking station. 2. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an article holding device is provided above the step-off station so as to face the first elevating table. 3. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a thin plate supply device that supplies a thin plate to an upper surface of the article placed on the second lifting platform of the stacking station.