JPH07330141A - Article shifting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an article shifting device which can easily change the loading posture of an article on a bed. CONSTITUTION:In an article shifting device which comprises an article shifting means for shifting an article conveyed by a conveying line 2 onto a bed, and the control means for controlling the operation of the article shifting means, the bed 32 is elevatably provided at a position where it faces the terminal end part of the conveying line 2 so that the article shifting means receives, on the bed 32, the article discharged from the terminal end of the conveying line 2. The control means changes over the height of the position where the bed receives the article, relative to the terminal end part of the conveying line 2, so as to change over the loading posture of the article on the bed 32 between its vertical posture and its horizontal posture.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is provided with an article transfer means for transferring an article conveyed on a conveyor line onto a table and a control means for controlling the operation of the article transfer means. The present invention relates to an article transfer device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in such an article transfer apparatus, a table is provided at a position facing the terminal end of the transfer line so that the table receives the article discharged from the terminal end of the transfer line. The article conveyed by the above method was transferred on the table as it is, that is, in the same posture as the conveying posture on the conveying line.

[0003]

In such an article transfer apparatus, it is desired to change the placing attitude of the article on the table variously depending on the customer's request or the place of placing the article (that is, the vertical attitude is changed to the horizontal attitude). However, the conventional article transfer device cannot meet the demand, and improvement has been desired. By the way,
In order to change the mounting posture of the article on the table in various ways, for example, a transfer device (transfer robot, etc.) that grabs the article on the transfer line and transfers it to the table is separately provided, and the transfer apparatus is used. It is also possible to change the mounting posture of the article on the table, or, when placing the article on the conveyor line on the upper side of the conveyor line, install a special transfer device to make it on the conveyor line. Although it may be possible to change the article posture in advance, whichever method is used, there is a problem in that a large-scale transfer device for changing the article posture must be separately installed. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an article transfer device that can easily change the placement posture of an article on a table.

[0004]

An article transfer device of the present invention controls an article transfer means for transferring an article conveyed on a conveyor line onto a table and an operation of the article transfer means. Control means is provided, and a first characteristic configuration thereof is that the article transfer means sets the table so that the article transfer section receives the article discharged from the terminal end of the transport line. The control means switches the height of the article receiving position of the table with respect to the end portion of the transfer line, and the article on the table is arranged to be movable up and down at a position facing the end portion of the transfer line. The mounting posture is changed to a vertical posture and a horizontal posture. A second characteristic configuration is that the end portion of the transport line is configured by a belt conveyor having a large pulley diameter or a roller conveyor having a large roller diameter. A third characteristic configuration is that an article pushing-in means for pushing an article located at the terminal end of the carrying line onto the table is provided near the terminal end of the carrying line.

[0005]

According to the first characteristic configuration, the control means can switch the height of the article receiving position of the table to switch the article mounting posture on the table between the vertical posture and the horizontal posture. That is, for example, as shown in FIG.
23) When the article D in the horizontal position conveyed in 23) is to be placed on the table 32 in the horizontal position, the article receiving position of the table 32 is not so low with respect to the height of the end portion of the transfer line 23. When it is set to the position Rb and is to be placed on the table 32 in a vertical posture, the article receiving position of the table 32 with respect to the end portion of the transfer line 23 is set to a position Ra lower than the height of the end portion of the transfer line. As a result, the article mounting posture on the table 32 can be switched between the vertical posture and the horizontal posture. According to the second characteristic configuration, the end portion of the transport line is
Since the belt conveyer has a large pulley diameter or the roller conveyer having a large roller diameter, it is possible to smoothly change the article placement posture when the article is transferred from the transport line to the table. That is, for example, if the end portion of the transfer line is configured by a belt conveyor with a small pulley diameter or a roller conveyor with a small roller diameter, the change of the article placement posture in the transfer of articles from the transfer line to the table (for example, horizontal Since the article in the posture is changed to the vertical posture) rapidly, the load collapse is likely to occur. Therefore, since the terminal end of the transfer line is configured by a belt conveyor with a large pulley diameter or a roller conveyor with a large roller diameter, the change of the article placement posture in the transfer of articles from the transfer line to the table is gradually changed. As a result, the load collapse is unlikely to occur. According to the third characteristic configuration, the article pushing means for pushing the article located at the end portion of the transport line onto the table is provided near the end portion of the transport line. It is possible to reliably transfer the above article to the table. In other words, when the article receiving position of the table is set to a position that is not so low with respect to the height of the end portion of the conveying line, the article conveyed on the conveying line will be affected by the friction resistance of the article receiving position of the table. However, there is a problem that the transfer force of the transfer line alone does not completely move the table and stops it on the way, but this problem can be solved by the article pushing means.

[0006]

According to the first characteristic configuration, it is possible to easily switch the article mounting posture on the table between the vertical posture and the horizontal posture by simply changing the height of the article receiving position of the table with respect to the end portion of the transport line. Therefore, the present invention has been made to provide an article transfer device capable of easily changing the mounting posture of an article on a table. According to the second characteristic configuration, since it is possible to smoothly change the article placement posture when the articles are transferred from the transfer line to the table, it is possible to further improve the performance of the article transfer apparatus. It came to be possible. According to the third characteristic configuration, since the article pushing means can surely transfer the article on the conveyance line onto the table, it is possible to further improve the performance of the article transfer apparatus. Arrived

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a transport line 2 that transports a plurality of types of articles D (Da, Db) stored in each shelf of the article storage facility 1 in series, and near the transport line 2, A pre-processing device E for transferring the articles D from the transport line 2 to the relay table 32 in a stacked state, and a post-processing transfer device F for transferring the articles D stacked on the relay table 32 onto the pallet P. Is provided. A control device A using a computer is provided, and the control device A manages a plurality of types of articles D in the article storage facility 1, issues the article D in the article storage facility 1, drives the transport line 2, It is configured to control the driving of the pre-processing device E, the driving of the post-processing transfer device F, and the driving of the chain conveyors 91, 92, 93, respectively, and these controls are based on previously input command information. It is done based on. The command information includes information on the loading order of the articles D, dimension information of the articles D, and the like.

First of all, the article storage equipment 1 will be described. As shown in FIG.
12 are provided side by side, and a stacker crane 13 is provided for performing a shipping operation for the storage shelves 11, 12.
A plurality of types of articles D are stored individually on the shelves of the storage shelves 11 and 12, and the stacker crane 13 transfers the articles D of the respective shelves to the upper side of the transport line 2.

The transfer line 2 is composed of a pair of left and right introducing conveyors 21 (21a, 21b), 22 (22a, 22b) and a feed conveyor 23 (23a, 23b). Therefore, the articles D are conveyed in order of loading to the feed conveyor 23a via the introduction conveyors 21a and 22a, and to the feed conveyor 23b via the introduction conveyors 21b and 22b. It should be noted that the feed conveyor 23 is configured to separate and convey only one article D on the lower side of the articles D on the introduction conveyor 22 (detailed configuration is omitted).

The feed conveyor 23 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b) and FIG. 4, the two belts 231a,
231b, an article pushing plate 232 for pushing and moving the article D on the feed conveyor 23 to one side (the belt 231b side),
And optical sensors 233 and 234 that detect the presence or absence of the article D.
And the like between the belts 231a and 231b,
A pushing device 235 is provided as a pushing means for pushing the article D on the feed conveyor 23 onto the relay table 32. The optical sensors 233 and 234 are the light emitting units 23, respectively.
3a and 234a and light receiving portions 233b and 234b. Therefore, the article D is relayed in a horizontally stacked state as shown in FIG. 9A, a vertically stacked state as shown in FIG. 9B, or a vertically and horizontally mixed stacked state as shown in FIG. 9C. It will be stacked on the table 32.

The pushing device 235 is shown in FIGS.
Pushing device 235a for pushing article D and its article
Slide the product pushing tool 235a along the rail 235b.
And an air cylinder 235c for moving
Has been. The fulcrum q of the article pushing tool 235a has a center of gravity.
As it consists of a cam on the upper side,
When the article D is on the article pushing tool 235a,
Is the fallen state S₁When the article D passes by
State S that stands up naturally ₂Be urged by. Transport line
2 is the end of the feed conveyor 23.
It consists of a belt conveyor with a large diameter.
In the figure, 236 is an air for moving the article pushing plate 232.
The cylinder 237 has two belts 231a and 231b.
Is an electric motor that rotates at the same speed.

Next, the movement of the article D on the feed conveyor 23 will be described with reference to FIG. The article D conveyed on the feed conveyor 23 by the introduction conveyor 22 is
By the movement of 1a and 231b, it will be conveyed to the terminal end side of the feed conveyor 23, but at that time, the article D will be conveyed by urging the article pushing tool 235a in a tilted state. When the optical sensor 233 detects the presence of the article D and then the optical sensor 234 detects the presence of the article D, the driving of the electric motor 237 is stopped to temporarily stop the conveyance of the article D by the belts 231a and 231b. . In this state, the air cylinder 236 is driven to push the article D by the article pushing plate 232 to one side, and then the belts 231a and 231b are rotated again by the electric motor 237 to restart the delivery of the article D. When the detection result of the optical sensor 233 changes from the presence of the article to the absence of the article in the state where the optical sensor 234 detects the presence of the article D, it is determined that the article D is not present on the article pushing tool 235a.
The article pusher 235a is moved to the terminal end side of the feed conveyor 23 by the air cylinder 235c, and the article D is pushed out to the relay table 32.

As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the pretreatment device E comprises a back plate 31, a relay stand 32, and an article posture correcting plate 33. The back plate 31 and the relay stand 32 are provided so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle as shown in the figure, and the relay stand 32 is provided so as to be vertically movable along the back plate 31 by an electric motor 34. Article posture correction plate 33
Is driven by the air cylinder 35 and corrects the posture of the article D so that the posture of the article D becomes a predetermined position with respect to the back plate 31. Incidentally, reference numeral 36 in the figure denotes a lifting ball screw. In other words, the pretreatment device E positions the relay stand 32 at a position facing the end portion of the transport line 2 so that the relay stand 32 receives the article D discharged from the end portion (feed conveyor 23) of the transport line 2. It is constructed so that it can be raised and lowered.

The control device A switches the height of the article receiving position of the relay stand 32 with respect to the terminal end of the transfer line 2 to set the loading posture of the article D on the relay stand 32 to the vertical posture e.
And the horizontal attitude f. That is, when it is desired to transfer the article D to the relay table 32 in the vertical posture e, the height of the article receiving position of the relay table 32 (that is,
When there is no article D on the relay stand 32, the height of the relay stand 32, and when the articles D are stacked on the relay stand 32, the height of the uppermost article D) is set to the position Ra.
When it is desired to transfer the article D to the relay table 32 in the horizontal posture f, the height of the article receiving position of the relay table 32 is set to the position of Rb so that the article D is relayed in the desired mounting posture. It can be transferred onto the table 32. The controller A is configured to adjust the heights Ra and Rb of the article receiving position of the relay stand 32 at this time according to the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the article D to be transferred.

Further, the controller A transfers the article D to the relay stand 32.
Since they are transferred in a stacked state on the upper side, the height of the relay stand 32 is sequentially lowered. That is, the height of the top of the uppermost article D is R
The relay table 32 is moved down to the position of a or Rb based on the vertical and horizontal dimensions and the mounting posture of the article D on the relay table 32. The operation is repeated until a predetermined number of articles D are placed, and when the operation is completed, the relay stand 32 is moved to the lowest position (the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 6B).

Therefore, the pretreatment device E functions as an article transfer means for transferring the article D conveyed on the conveyance line 2 onto the relay stand 32, and the control device A serves as an article transfer means. It functions as a control means for controlling the operation of the pretreatment device E.

The post-processing transfer device F includes a transfer device 4 for pushing and moving the articles D stacked on the relay table 32 from the relay table 32 to the table 51, and the articles D on the table 51 on the pallet P. And a transfer device 5 that transfers and transfers the data.

As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the transfer device 4 includes an article pushing tool 41 for pushing the article D and an article pushing tool 4
It is composed of an air cylinder 42 for switching 1 to an article pushing position and a retracted position for retracting the article existing area of the relay table 32, and an electric motor 43 for laterally reciprocating the article pushing tool 41. That is, the traverse ball screw 44 is driven by the electric motor 43 to drive the article pushing tool 41.
Is configured to reciprocate between the relay stand 32 and the stand 51 and to drive the air cylinder 42 to switch the article pushing tool 41 between the article pushing action position and the retracted position.

Then, the control unit A has the article pushing tool 41.
Is switched to the article pushing action position prior to the article pushing operation, and is switched to the retracted position when the article pushing operation is completed. Reference numeral 50 in the figure is provided between the relay stand 32 and the stand 51, and when the articles D stacked on the stand stand 32 are sent to the stand 51, the article 50 between the stand stand 32 and the stand 51 is shown. It is a feed guide for assisting the delivery of D.

The transfer device 5, as shown in FIG.
1, a back plate 52, an air cylinder 53 for pushing and driving the back plate 52, an air cylinder 54 for changing the inclination angles of the base 51 and the back plate 52, an electric motor 55 for moving the base 51 and the back plate 52 onto the pallet P, And auxiliary plate 5
It is composed of 6.

Therefore, when the articles D stacked on the table 51 are transferred onto the pallet P, first, the table 51 and the back plate 52 are moved in the front-rear direction by the electric motor 55 and moved onto the pallet P. Let Then, the platform 51 and the back plate 52 are made horizontal by the air cylinder 54, and the air cylinder 53 is driven to push the back plate 52 to push the article D onto the pallet P. Incidentally, the auxiliary plate 56
Is for holding the article D so that the article D does not move unnecessarily when the article D is pushed out by the back plate 52, and when the article D is placed, the article D moves upward. It is configured.

In the figure, 57 is a traveling ball screw for traveling the base 51 and the back plate 52, and 58 is an air cylinder for vertically moving the auxiliary plate 56. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the above-described pretreatment device E is provided at two places on the left and right, and the posttreatment transfer device F is provided on the table for loading the articles D from the two pretreatment devices E on the left and right. It is configured so as to be collectively placed on the pallet 51 and transferred to the pallet P.

The articles D (Da, Da, transferred onto the pallet P)
Db) is in the mounted state as shown in FIG. 8 (a), but the partition plate 61 is inserted into the mounted state shown in FIG. 8 (a) so that the state as shown in FIG. 8 (b) is obtained. Then, both sides are clamped by the final package correcting machine 7 to obtain the final package as shown in FIG. 8C (see FIGS. 1 and 2).
Incidentally, when the partition plate 61 is inserted between the articles D, the partition plate traverser 6 holds the partition plate 61 at the center on the chain conveyor 91 for carrying out the actual pallet and drives the chain conveyor 91 in that state. Then, the articles D are provided on both sides of the partition plate 61.
The pallet P in the state shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, 62 is a partition plate traverser 6
, 63 is a partition plate stocker, 71
Is an air cylinder for driving the final package shape correcting machine 7, 8 is an empty pallet magazine, 92 is a chain conveyor for loading an empty pallet, and 93 is a chain conveyor that can move up and down.
Therefore, the conveyors 92 and 93 are driven in a state where the chain conveyor 93 is raised to move the empty pallet P to the conveyor 9
2 to the conveyor 93, and then, with the chain conveyor 93 lowered, the conveyor 91 is driven to convey the empty pallet P toward the transfer device, and after the transfer of the article D is completed, the conveyor 91 is moved. Drive the mounting pallet P
Is conveyed toward the final package correction machine 7. The mounting pallet P in the final packing form is loaded on a truck or the like by a forklift and shipped.

[Other Embodiment] In the above embodiment, the post-processing apparatus F collects the articles D stacked on the relay stand 32 in an adjacent state on the stand 51,
Although it is configured to be transferred onto the pallet P, the articles D stacked on the relay table 32 may be configured to be pushed and moved directly onto the pallet P. In the above embodiment, each of the pretreatment devices E is provided at the end of each of the two rows of the transfer lines 2, but the number of them is not limited to two, and various changes can be made. In the above-described embodiment, the height of the relay stand 32 is changed to switch the height of the article receiving position of the relay stand 32 with respect to the end portion (feed conveyor 23) of the transport line 2, but the height of the feed conveyor 23 is changed. You may change the one. In the above-described embodiment, the end portion of the transport line 2, that is, the end portion of the feed conveyor 23 is composed of a belt conveyor having a large pulley diameter, but it may be composed of a roller conveyor having a large roller diameter. In the above embodiment, when the articles D are stacked on the relay stand 32, the same articles D are placed and stacked in the same placement posture, but this placement state is changed variously. be able to. For example, different types of articles D may be stacked, or as shown in FIG. 9C, the articles D in the lower row are placed in a horizontal position and the articles D in the upper row are placed. You may make it mount in a vertical posture. The air cylinder, electric motor, chain conveyor, etc. used in the above embodiment can be variously changed to other methods.

It should be noted that reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structures of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an article transfer device.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the article transfer device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a transfer line

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a transfer line

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of an article pushing means.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a pre-processing transfer device and a post-processing transfer device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a post-processing transfer device.

[Figure 8] Package diagram

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a state where the article is placed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 conveyor lines 32 units 235 article pushing means A control means E article transfer means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Article transfer means (E) for transferring an article conveyed on a conveyor line (2) onto a table (32), and control for controlling the operation of the article transfer means (E). Means (A)
An article transfer device provided with, wherein the article transfer means (E) receives the article discharged from the terminal end of the transport line (2) at the table (32), The platform (32) is provided so as to be movable up and down at a position facing the terminal end of the transfer line (2), and the control means (A) includes the platform for the terminal end of the transfer line (2). (32)
By changing the height of the article receiving position of the
The article transfer device configured to switch the article mounting posture in 2) between a vertical posture and a horizontal posture. 2. The article transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the end of the conveying line (2) is constituted by a belt conveyor having a large pulley diameter or a roller conveyor having a large roller diameter. 3. Near the end of the transfer line (2),
The article transfer device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising article pushing means (235) for pushing the article located at the end of the transport line (2) onto the table (32).