JPH07315569A - Pallet unloading device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the installation space of a discharge conveyor by dropping vessels in order from the push-out level on the uppermost step of a pallet onto the discharge conveyor of the lower part through a vertical discharge passage. CONSTITUTION:Vessels 1 of the uppermost step is elevated up to a specific push-out level by an elevator mechanism 4 through a control mechanism. The vessels of the frontmost line are transferred onto a shutter 16 closing the upper end opening part of a vertical discharge passage 14 by means of a presser member 13, and at the time the presser operation is stopped. The first shutter 16 is opened/closed by an air cylinder through a control mechanism. By opening/ closing operation of the first shutter 16, a line of vessels stopped on the shutter are dropped on a second shutter 17 of a second step. Next one line of vessels 1 are pressingly transferred again by a push-out mechanism 6. Each shutter 16-18 is opened/closed in cooperation with push-out operation of the push-out mechanism 6 under the condition in which the succeeding vessels exist on the over part and the preceding vessels do not exist the under space. Hence, the vessels on the uppermost step can be in order discharged one line by one line onto a discharge conveyor 24.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pallet unloading device of a type in which containers such as bottles stacked in a plurality of stages on a pallet via intermediate sheets are sequentially discharged onto a discharge conveyor from the uppermost one. . More specifically, it relates to a transfer path for discharging the uppermost container of the pallet onto a discharge conveyor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various developments have been made on this type of bulk pallet unloading device, and a large type of device in which the uppermost container stacked on the pallet is extruded on a discharge conveyor for each stage In addition, a container in which the uppermost containers are discharged on a discharge conveyor line by line is disclosed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-105236).

[0003]

By the way, in a bulk pallet unloading device that discharges containers of this kind stacked in a plurality of layers in order from the uppermost one, due to its mechanism, the extrusion level of the container at the uppermost stage is high. Is higher than the transfer surface of another conveyor. In the above-mentioned conventional technique, the difference in height from the height of the other transport surface is eliminated by the inclination of the discharge conveyor. Therefore, the conventional discharge conveyor needs a certain length in order to absorb the height difference, which is problematic in terms of installation space. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to reduce the installation space of the discharge conveyor in the pallet unloading device.

[0004]

According to the present invention, the uppermost container stacked on the pallet via the intermediate sheet is pressed by the container pushing mechanism and is dropped from the frontmost container by one line. A vertical discharge path is provided, and an appropriate number of shutters for opening and closing the path are provided at an upper end opening and an intermediate portion of the vertical discharge path, and a discharge conveyor is provided below the vertical discharge path. A technical means was adopted in which the containers from the uppermost stage of the pallet were sequentially dropped through the vertical discharge path one row at a time onto the discharge conveyor to discharge them toward the next process.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the container is discharged by sequentially dropping it from the uppermost extrusion level of the pallet onto the lower discharge conveyor through the vertical discharge path. Compared with the one that absorbs the height difference from the transfer surface of another conveyor depending on the surface, the installation space can be significantly reduced. Note that the control of dropping the container onto the carry-out conveyor is performed by controlling the opening / closing timing of each shutter arranged at the upper end opening and the intermediate portion of the vertical discharge path.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an essential part of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line AA. As shown in the figure, a pallet 3 in which a large number of containers 1 such as bottles are stacked via an intermediate sheet 2 is placed on an elevating table 5 of a known pallet elevating mechanism 4. Each time the discharge for one stage is completed, the container 1 in the upper stage is sequentially raised so as to maintain a predetermined extrusion level.
In the figure, 6 is a container pushing-out mechanism for pushing out the uppermost container 1, and as shown in FIG. 2, the chain 1 on both sides stretched between sprocket wheels 7, 8 and 9, 10.
The container 1 is pressed in a certain direction by the pressing member 13 provided between the first and the second parts.

In front of the container pushing-out mechanism 6, there is formed a vertical discharge path 14 through which the front row of the containers 1 pressed by the pressing member 13 can drop, and the upper end of the vertical discharge path 14 is formed. A cover body 15 having a substantially U-shaped planar shape is arranged around the opening. Further, a first shutter 16 is attached to the upper end opening of the vertical discharge passage 14 so as to open and close the passage in cooperation with the pushing operation of the pushing mechanism 6. Further, an appropriate number of the second discharge path 14 in the present embodiment is also provided in the middle portion of the vertical discharge path 14.
Two shutters including a shutter 17 and a third shutter 18 are attached. Each of these shutters 16-18
Is controlled to open and close at a predetermined timing by controlling driving means such as an air cylinder via a control mechanism (not shown). In the figure, 19a to 19c are wall portions forming the vertical discharge path 14, 20 and 21 are air cylinders as an example of shutter driving means, and 22 and 23 are guide rails for guiding the shutter forward and backward when opening and closing. It is a thing.
Further, below the vertical discharge path 14, the discharge conveyor 2 is provided.
4 are arranged, and the containers 1 are sequentially dropped row by row on the discharge conveyor 24 and discharged toward the next process. In the figure, 25 is the intermediate sheet 2
The intermediate sheet take-out mechanism for removing the intermediate sheet 2 is transferred to a predetermined place every time the discharging of the container 1 for one step is completed, and the intermediate sheet 2 remaining on the upper part of the container 1 which is a new uppermost step is transferred.
Reference numeral 26 is a suction means for taking it out, and 27 is a guide member.

Next, the method of operation of this embodiment will be described. As described above, when the real pallet 3 in which a large number of containers 1 such as bottles are stacked via the intermediate sheet 2 is placed on the elevating table 5 of the pallet elevating mechanism 4, its elevating and lowering is performed via a control mechanism not shown. The mechanism 4 is driven and the uppermost container 1 is raised to a predetermined extrusion level. Next, the pushing mechanism 6 is driven to press the uppermost container 1 by the pressing member 13 so that the container 1 in the front row of the container group has the upper end opening of the vertical discharge passage 14 closed. 16
It moves forward until it is transferred to the upper position, and when it reaches the shutter 16, the pressing operation is stopped. Then, the air cylinders 20 and 21 are driven by a control mechanism (not shown) to open and close the first shutter 16. While the passage between the opening operation and the closing operation of the first shutter 16 is open, the stopped one row of the containers 1 is dropped onto the second shutter 17 of the second stage above the passage. Become.

Next, the pushing mechanism 6 is driven again to transfer the next one row of containers 1 which is the front row, onto the first shutter 16 and stop the pressing operation. That is, the containers 1 are pressed and transferred by one row. Before and after this pressing operation again, the second shutter 17 in the second stage is opened and closed, and the container 1 stopped on the shutter 17 is dropped onto the third shutter 18 in the third stage. After that, the first shutter 16 is opened and closed, and the stopped container 1 is dropped onto the second shutter 17 above the first shutter 16. As a result, the container 1 is stopped on the second shutter 17 and the third shutter 18.

Further, the pushing mechanism 6 is driven again, and the container 1 for the next one row, which is the new front row, is transferred onto the first shutter 16 and the pressing operation is stopped. Around this time, first, the third shutter 18 of the third stage is opened and closed, and one row of the stopped containers 1 is discharged onto the discharge conveyor 2 above the third shutter 18.
4 and then the second shutter 17 of the second stage is opened and closed, and the container 1 stopped above is dropped onto the third shutter 18 of the third stage. After that, the first shutter 16 is opened and closed again, and the container 1 above the first shutter 16 is opened.
Drop on 7.

After that, by repeating the above operation, the uppermost container 1 is sequentially discharged onto the discharge conveyor 24 via the vertical discharge path 14 one row at a time. In this case, regarding the operation timing between each operation described above, after the one row of containers dropped on the discharge conveyor 24 are discharged, the third shutter 18,
By opening and closing each shutter in the order of the second shutter 17 and the first shutter 16, the respective containers 1 are sequentially dropped step by step while opening the respective drop spaces, and thereafter, the containers for the next one row are moved by the pushing mechanism 6. As a result, there is a timing constraint that 1 is pressed and transferred onto the first shutter 16. That is, in principle, each shutter 16 to 18 is linked to the pushing operation of the pushing mechanism 6 on condition that the next container 1 is present in the upper portion and the previous container 1 is not present in the lower space. Will be opened and closed.

When the above operation is repeated and the uppermost container 1 is completely discharged, the pallet elevating mechanism 4 raises the container 1 by one step to elevate the next container 1 to the extrusion level, and the intermediate The sheet 2 is removed at a predetermined place by the intermediate sheet take-out mechanism 25. After that, by repeating the above-mentioned operations, the unloading operation of the container 1 is continued. The conveying direction of the discharge conveyor 24 is not limited to the mode in which the discharge conveyor 24 is parallel to the vertical discharge path 14 as in the above-described embodiment, but is changed to a right angle direction so that the width of one row is conveyed. It is also possible. The vertical angle of the vertical discharge path 14 does not need to be strictly vertical as long as it does not hinder the free fall of the container 1, and may be slightly inclined. Further, the installation position of the vertical discharge path 14 can be changed as long as it is within the range that can be extruded by the container extruding mechanism 6.
Further, the number of shutters attached to the intermediate portion of the vertical discharge path 14 may be selected according to the size of the height difference between the extrusion level and another transport surface.

[0013]

According to the present invention, by dropping a container from the uppermost extrusion level of the pallet onto the lower discharge conveyor through the vertical discharge path, the uppermost extrusion level of the pallet and other Since the height difference from the transfer surface is directly eliminated, the installation space can be significantly reduced compared to the conventional case.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing a main part of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Container, 2 ... Intermediate sheet, 3 ... Pallet, 4 ... Pallet raising / lowering mechanism, 6 ... Container extruding mechanism, 13 ... Pressing member, 1
4 ... Vertical discharge path, 16 ... First shutter, 17 ... Second shutter, 18 ... Third shutter, 20, 21 ... Air cylinder, 22, 23 ... Guide rail, 24 ... Discharge conveyor,
25 ... Intermediate sheet take-out mechanism

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pallet elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering a pallet, a container extruding mechanism for pressing an uppermost container stacked on the pallet via an intermediate sheet in a certain direction, and a container pressed by the container extruding mechanism. Is provided with a vertical discharge path capable of dropping by one row, and an appropriate number of shutters for opening and closing the path are provided at the upper end opening and the intermediate portion of the vertical discharge path, and the vertical discharge path is discharged below the vertical discharge path. A pallet unloading device, characterized in that a conveyor is provided, and the uppermost containers stacked on the pallet are sequentially dropped through the vertical discharge path one row at a time onto a discharge conveyor to discharge.