JPH07330160A - Device and method for discharging container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a discharging equipment suitable for automation by facilitating the transferring and taking-out works of a container into a holding frame and the fixing and releasing works to/from the holding frame. CONSTITUTION:A first receiving table 18 and a second receiving table 19 are provided on the lower end part and the upper end part of a reversible and movable holding frame 3 respectively, and a longitudinal cylinder 26 extending downward is provided on the upper end part of the holding frame 3 at the reversing starting position. The space D1 between receiving surfaces 18a, 19a of the respective receiving tables 18, 19 is set wider than the space between upper and lower supported surfaces of a container C by the prescribed value d1. A stopper part 20 is provided on one side at the right and left of the holding frame and lateral cylinders 27 to press the container to the stopper part side are provided on the other hand. The vertical cylinders 26 are actuated after the lateral cylinders 27 are actuated both in fixing the container and in releasing the container.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container discharging device and a discharging method for inverting a container filled with contents such as powder or granular material so that the discharge port faces downward to discharge the contents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technology of this type of container discharging apparatus, there is one disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-7193, and in the prior art described in this publication, as means for fixing the container to a holding frame. , Equipped with a manual toggle clamp mechanism. That is, after transferring the container into the holding frame, an operator manually operates the toggle clamp to fix the container laterally and vertically with respect to the holding frame, and then reverse the holding frame to move the container. After the contents are discharged, the toggle clamp mechanism is manually released and the contents are transferred to the outside of the holding frame.

[0003]

However, it takes a lot of time and labor for a worker to manually fix the container to the holding frame and release the container from the holding frame after the discharging work. The work cost is also high.

Further, since the container is carried by being loaded on a truck or the like, the external dimension accuracy is relatively rough in terms of durability and cost, and the container is flexed due to vibration or shock during transportation. Often deforms. As described above, when a large number of containers having a large variation in size are sequentially fixed in the discharge device and fixed by the toggle clamp mechanism when the discharge work is performed, the following problems also occur. In other words, in a container that is likely to lack dimensions,
On the other hand, for containers with insufficient tightening force and slightly oversized,
Excessive toggle mechanism operating force is required for the tightening work, which may make the fixing state unstable or damage the container itself.

[0005]

The invention according to claim 1 of the present application comprises a holding frame for accommodating and holding a container, and a rotary drive device for reversibly supporting the holding frame,
A container ejection device that ejects contents by reversing the holding frame from the inversion start position to the inversion end position, changing the container from an upward position with the discharge port facing upward to a discharge position with the discharge port facing downward. In the above, at the lower end of the holding frame at the reversal start position, a first pedestal protruding upward is provided, and at the upper end of the holding frame at the reversing start position a second pedestal protruding downward, A vertical cylinder that presses the upper supported surface of the container in the upward posture downward is provided, and the space between the first receiving surface of the first receiving table and the second receiving surface of the second receiving table is set to the vertical direction of the container. The spacing is set to be wider than the spacing between the supported surfaces by a certain amount, and a stopper portion with which the side edge of the container abuts is provided on one side of the holding frame, and the container is pressed toward the stopper portion on the other side. A horizontal cylinder is provided.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the container discharging device according to the first aspect, the distance from the rotation center of the holding frame to the plane including the first receiving surface and the second receiving surface from the rotation center are included. By making the distance to the plane the same,
The height from the floor surface to the first receiving surface at the inversion start position,
The height from the floor surface to the second receiving surface at the inversion end position is set to be the same.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the step of transferring the container onto the first pedestal in the holding frame at the reversing start position in the upward posture in which the discharge port faces upward, and the side portion of the holding frame. The horizontal cylinder presses the side surface of the container and presses it against the stopper on the opposite side to position and fix in the left-right direction, and the vertical cylinder at the upper end of the holding frame presses the upper supported surface of the container downward. To fix the container in the vertical direction by rotating the holding frame to the reversing end position by the rotation driving device to change the container to a discharge posture in which the discharge port faces downward, and to release the horizontal cylinder. , The step of transferring the container to the second pedestal located below by releasing the vertical cylinder, the step of discharging the contents, and the container holding frame after discharging. A method for discharging consisting step of taking out the container.

[0008]

Before the container is transferred, the holding frame is maintained at the reverse start position, and the vertical cylinder and the horizontal cylinder are maintained in the contracted state (standby state).

With the lift claw of a working machine such as a moving vehicle, the container in the upward posture is inserted into the holding frame from the front,
By lowering it, it is placed on the first receiving surface of the first receiving table. That is, with the first supported surface at the lower end of the container raised to a position slightly higher than the first receiving surface, the container is inserted from the front into the holding frame and lowered in the holding frame, so that the container is placed on the first pedestal. Put.

Next, the lateral cylinder is extended and the container is pressed from one side surface and pressed against the stopper portion on the opposite side. From this, positioning is performed in the left-right direction and fixing is performed.

Then, the vertical cylinder is extended to press the second supported surface at the upper end of the container downward, thereby fixing the container on the first receiving surface.

The rotation driving device rotates the holding frame by 180 ° from the inversion start position to the inversion end position.
As a result, the container changes to the discharge posture with the discharge port facing downward.

The horizontal cylinder is released and then the vertical cylinder is released. In the process of releasing the vertical cylinder, the container is lowered together with the vertical cylinder in the discharge posture and placed on the second receiving surface of the holding frame.

The opening / closing lid at the lower end of the container is opened, the contents are discharged, and after the discharge, the lid is closed.

The lift claw is again inserted into the space below the container in the discharge position from the front, and the container is in the discharge position slightly lifted by raising it, and taken out from the holding frame to the front.

[0016]

1 is a front view of a container discharging apparatus to which the present invention is applied, showing a state in which a holding frame 3 is at a reversing start position. In FIG. 1, a pair of left and right support rollers 2 are provided in front and rear at the same height position on the base frame 1 installed on the floor surface F. The holding frame 3 includes a pair of front and rear ring-shaped members and a plurality of connecting rods 1.
5 (FIG. 3) is connected to the coaxial center O, and is supported on the left and right support rollers 2 so as to be rotatable around the axis O.

An air brake 7 having an air cylinder is arranged between the left and right support rollers 2, and the brake 7 is provided.
The holding frame 3 is braked by press-contacting the brake pad with the outer periphery of the holding frame 3.

On the lower part of the holding frame 3, four first pedestals 18 projecting upward by a certain height are fixed at the four corner positions of the rectangle when viewed from above, and the upper ends of the respective first pedestals 18 are fixed. The first receiving surfaces 18a are aligned on the same horizontal plane.
On the first receiving surface 18a of the first pedestal 18 on the right side, a guide / stopper portion 20 that is inclined rightward at a steep angle is fixed. The first pedestal 18 on the left side is arranged at a position spaced apart from the left side frame member 12 by a certain distance.

Four second pedestals 19 projecting downward are fixed to the upper end of the holding frame 3 at the four corner positions of the rectangle when viewed from above, and the second pedestals 19 at the lower ends of the respective second pedestals 19 are fixed. The receiving surfaces 19a are aligned on the same horizontal plane. Each second receiving surface 19
Inclined guides 22 are formed on the respective a. The left slant guide 22 is slanted to the left, and the right slant guide 22 is slanted to the right. Left and right tilt guide 22
The interval W1 of the narrowest part between them is set to an interval substantially corresponding to the left-right width W2 of the container C.

The distance D1 between the first receiving surface 18a and the second receiving surface 19a has a certain distance d1 with respect to the width D2 between the upper and lower supported surfaces 23, 24 of the container C, for example, about 10 cm. In addition, the distance from the rotation center 0 of the holding frame 3 to the plane including the first receiving surface 18a and the distance from the rotation center O to the plane including the second receiving surface 19a are set to be the same. As a result, the height H1 from the floor surface F to the first receiving surface 18a at the inversion start position is increased.
Then, the heights H2 up to the second receiving surface 19a at the reversing end position in FIG. 2 are made the same.

A structure for fixing the container C will be described. For example, six vertically oriented vertical cylinders 26 are provided at the upper end of the holding frame 3 at the inversion start position in FIG. 1, and the rods of each vertically oriented cylinder 26 extend downward. ing. Each vertical cylinder 26 retracts at least above the second receiving surface 19a when the rod is contracted, and when the rod is contracted to the maximum extent, the upper end second supported surface 24 of the container C is extended.
It has a stroke that allows it to project further downward. The vertical cylinders 26 are arranged at positions corresponding to the left and right ends of the container C, respectively.

On the other hand, at the left end portion of the holding frame 3, there are provided, for example, six horizontal cylinders 27 facing rightward, and the rods of each horizontal cylinder 27 extend rightward. Each lateral cylinder 27 has a stroke capable of retracting at least to the left of the left side surface of the container C when contracted as shown in FIG. 1 and projecting to the right of the left end surface of the container C at the maximum extension. The horizontal cylinders 27 are arranged at positions corresponding to the upper and lower ends of the container C, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 1. The vertical cylinders 26 and the horizontal cylinders 27 are arranged in three rows in the front-rear direction. In addition, each cylinder 2
Reference numerals 6 and 27 are connected to an air control mechanism through a pipe or the like (not shown). The air control mechanism is connected to a controller and each cylinder 26, 27 is connected based on a signal input from various detection devices.
Also, the rotational drive of the geared motor 33, which will be described later, and the rotational direction thereof are controlled.

The front and rear support rollers 2 have the same rotary shaft 28.
The rotary shaft 28 is rotatably supported by front and rear bearings 29. One of the left and right rotary shafts 29 (for example, the right rotary shaft in FIG. 1) 28 is interlockingly connected to a geared motor 33 with a reduction / reverse gear via a joint, and a drive gear 34 is fixed. . The drive gear 34 meshes with a large-diameter gear 35 fixed to the rear holding frame 3. The geared motor 33 is connected to the above-mentioned controller. By driving the geared motor 33, the holding frame 3 is rotated via the gears 34 and 35, and the support roller 2 on the right side is also rotated in the same direction as the drive gear 34 via the rotation shaft 28. There is.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the state of the reversing end position, and the base frame 1 has a photo beam in which the detection light beam passes beneath the discharge port 50 of the container C so that the discharge of the contents can be detected. A sensor 37 is provided.

FIG. 4 shows an outline of a case where the discharge device of the present invention is applied to an automated system. A track 41 for a moving vehicle is laid on the floor surface, and a track 41 for storing filled containers is installed along the track 41. A shelf 43, a discharging device 44, and a shelf 45 for storing discharged containers are sequentially arranged. On the track 41, a moving vehicle 51 provided with lift claws 55 that can move up and down and move back and forth in the front-rear direction is arranged so that it can travel automatically. A large number of filled containers C in an upward posture are placed on the shelves 43 for storing filled containers.

The operation will be described. The overall flow of the automated system of FIG. 4 will be briefly described. The fork claw 55 of the moving vehicle 51 takes out the filled container C from the filled container storage shelf 43, moves to the front of the discharge device 44, and moves upward. The container C is transferred in the discharge device while keeping the posture.

In the discharging device 44, the container C is inverted to be in a discharging posture, and the contents are appropriately discharged into a container or a transfer device.

After discharging, the container is taken out by the lift claw 55 of the moving vehicle 51 in the discharged posture, moved to the discharged container storing shelf 45, and transferred to the shelf 45.

Of the above-mentioned series of operations, the steps from transfer to removal in the discharging device 44 are carried out as follows. Figure 1
In the above, before the container C is stored in the holding frame 3, the holding frame 3 is at the inversion start position where the first pedestal 18 is located on the lower side, and the vertical cylinder 26 and the horizontal cylinder 27 both contract. It is maintained in the state (standby state).

The filled container C in the upward posture, which is held by the lift pawls of the moving vehicle, is inserted into the holding frame 3 from the front and placed on the first receiving surface 18a of the first receiving table 18. More specifically, the container C is lifted so that the first supported surface 23 thereof is located slightly higher than the first receiving surface 18a,
In that state, it is inserted into the holding frame 3 from the front side, the front-rear direction is positioned by an appropriate stopper piece formed in the holding frame, and the lift claws are lowered in the frame 3, whereby the first cover of the container C is lowered. The support surface 23 is placed on the first pedestal 18. When the container C is lowered, for example, if the container C is displaced to the right from the predetermined left-right position, the guide / stopper portion 20 automatically corrects the predetermined position as the container C is lowered. If it is displaced to the left, place it at that displaced position for the time being,
It is corrected by the horizontal cylinder 27 described later.

In this transfer operation, since the first pedestal 18 has a certain height above the lower end of the holding frame 3, it is sufficient to insert the lift pawl below the first receiving surface 18a. Space S1 is secured, and the first and second spaces
Since the gap D1 between the receiving surfaces 18a and 19a is set to be larger than the width D2 between the supported surfaces 23 and 24 of the container C by a constant gap d1, it collides with the holding frame 3 when the container C is inserted from the front. There is no such thing. Further, the descending stroke in the holding frame 3 is sufficiently ensured.

When the container C is placed on the first pedestal 18, it is detected by a detection mechanism such as a pressure switch or a limit switch and is input to the controller, and the horizontal cylinder 27 is first extended by the controller's instruction. Then, the left side surface of the container C is pressed rightward, and the container C is pressed against the lower end of the stopper portion 20. This allows the container C
The final positioning in the left-right direction is performed. Further, even if the container C is displaced to the left side as described above, it is moved to the right side by the operation of the horizontal cylinder 27 and is corrected to a predetermined position.

Since the maximum stroke of the horizontal cylinder 27 is set so as to project rightward from the left side surface of the container C at a predetermined position, that is, it is set larger than the gap d2 in FIG. After being fixed in a predetermined left-right position, air is further pressed into the horizontal cylinder 27, so that the container C is held with a constant damper pressure.
Will be fixed. Further, even if there is some error in the lateral dimension of the container C, it can be fixed with sufficient pressing force.

After the horizontal position of the container C is fixed by the horizontal cylinder 27, the vertical cylinder 26 is expanded.
The second supported surface 24 at the upper end of the container C is pressed downward, whereby the first supported surface 23 at the lower end of the container C is pressed and fixed onto the first pedestal 18.

Also in this case, as in the case of the horizontal cylinder 27, the maximum extension stroke of the vertical cylinder 26 is set to a size having a margin larger than the gap d1, so that the inside of the vertical cylinder 26 is It can be fixed with a constant pressing force by increasing the air pressure. Further, even if there is some error in the vertical dimension of the container C, it can be fixed with sufficient pressing force.

When the left and right and upper and lower fixations are detected by an appropriate detection mechanism, the geared motor 33 rotates in the direction of arrow R1 in FIG. 1, thereby rotating the holding frame 3 about the rotation center O from the inversion start position to the arrow P1. Rotate in the direction.

When rotating from the position of FIG. 1 and approaching the reversing end position of FIG. 2, the brake 7 starts to be applied to brake the holding frame 3, and at the reversing end position rotated by 180 °,
The holding frame 3 stops as the geared motor 33 stops.

At the reverse end position in FIG. 2, the container C is
The discharge port 50 is held in a discharge posture in which the discharge port 50 faces downward.

The horizontal cylinder 27 contracts, and then the vertical cylinder 26 contracts. As the vertical cylinder 27 contracts, the container C descends in the discharge posture and is placed on the second pedestal 19. At this time, even if the position of the container C in the left-right direction is slightly displaced, it is corrected to a predetermined position by the guide 22 of the second pedestal 19.

When the lid of the container C is opened, the contents are discharged to the storage container arranged below or the supply port of the transfer device.

The discharging operation is detected by the photo sensor 37 or the like.

Next, the lift pawl of the moving vehicle is attached to the second receiving surface 19
The container C is lifted from the second pedestal 19 by inserting it in the space S2 below a and raising it a little, and
Take it out forward.

In this case, the height H2 of the second receiving surface 19a from the floor surface at the reverse end position is the same as the height H1 of the first receiving surface 18a at the reverse start position in FIG. When the pawl is inserted from the front, the height of the lift pawl is maintained at the same height as the height extracted when the pawl is transferred into the holding frame, and the space S below the container C is maintained.
2 can be easily inserted. Also, the lift stroke of the lift claws may be increased in the same stroke as the lower stroke during transfer into the holding frame 3.

After the container C is taken out, the brake 7 is released and the geared motor 33 rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow R2 direction, so that the holding frame 3 rotates from the state shown in FIG. 2 to the arrow P2 direction. Then, the brake 7 is applied and the geared motor 33 is stopped.
Then wait for the next container to be transferred.

In this embodiment, since air cylinders are used as the vertical cylinder 26 and the horizontal cylinder 27,
The damper function can be easily achieved when the container is fixed, and the weight can be reduced.

[0047]

[Another embodiment]

(1) As the vertical cylinder and the horizontal cylinder, hydraulic cylinders can be used in addition to the air cylinder.

(2) As the rotation drive device for rotating the holding frame 3, it is possible to use, for example, a device using a winding transmission mechanism using a sprocket and a chain. In FIG. 1, a sprocket or a gear portion is formed on one of the supporting rollers 2, and a chain that meshes with the sprocket is wound around and fixed to the outer periphery of the holding frame 3, or a holding gear that meshes with the gear portion is provided. The holding frame may be rotated.

[0049]

【The invention's effect】

(1) Since the vertical cylinder 26 and the horizontal cylinder 27 are used to position and fix the container in the up-down direction and the left-right direction with respect to the holding frame 3, even if the container has a dimensional error or some deformation, it is always appropriate. The pressing force can securely hold the container. Further, it is possible to prevent an excessive pressing force from being applied to the container itself, and the container will not be deformed. These are convenient for automating the discharging work. Particularly, when the air cylinder is used, the above error and the like can be easily absorbed by the compression of the air itself, and also the damper function is achieved, so that the container holding state is further stabilized.

(2) Since the pedestals 19 and 18 provided at the upper and lower ends of the holding frame 3 are formed so as to project toward the center of rotation, respectively, at the time of transferring the container to the holding frame 3 and taking it out. In either case, the insertion spaces S1 and S2 for the lift claws for container transfer can be easily secured.

(3) The distance D1 between the first receiving surface 18a and the second receiving surface 19a facing the first receiving surface 18a is set wider than the width D2 between the upper and lower supported surfaces 23, 24 of the container C by a constant distance d1. Therefore, there is little concern that the container C will collide with the holding frame 3 both when the container C is inserted from the front by the lift claw and when it is taken out forward. Further, the lifting stroke for transferring from the lift claw to the first receiving table 18 or from the second receiving table 19 to the lift claw can be sufficiently secured, and the transfer and take-out work becomes easy.

(4) As in the second aspect of the invention, the height H1 from the floor surface F to the first receiving surface 18a at the reversal start position and the floor surface F to the second receiving surface 19 at the reversal end position.
If the heights H2 up to a are the same, the heights of the lift claws are changed in the work of inserting the container C into the holding frame 3 from the front by the lift claw and the work of taking out the container C from the front in the holding frame 3. You can do those tasks without. That is, if the height of the fork pawl is maintained at the height that is pulled out forward after inserting the container, when inserting the fork pawl again after discharging the contents, it is easy to move to the lower side of the container at the same height as above. Can be inserted into the container without damaging the container.

(5) According to the method of claim 3, the same effect as the above effect (1) can be obtained, and the following effect is also obtained. (5-1) In the process of fixing the container with the cylinder,
After horizontally fixed by the horizontal cylinder 27, the vertical cylinder 26 presses the container C from the upper side to vertically fix the container C. Therefore, the holding cylinder is pressed by the horizontal cylinder 27 and the stopper portion 20 is locked. Positioning of the container in the left-right direction can be automatically and easily performed within the container 3, which is convenient for automation. (5-2) In the step of releasing the container after the reversal is completed, after releasing the horizontal cylinder 27, the vertical cylinder 26 located below is released to lower the container C to the second pedestal 19. As a result, the container C can be released from the fixed state without being impacted, and can be released from the fixed state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a reversing start position of an ejection device to which the inventions according to claims 1 and 2 of the present application are applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the same discharging device as in FIG. 1 showing a state of a reversal end position.

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

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of an automated system including an ejection device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 holding frame 18 1st receiving surface 18a 1st receiving surface 19 2nd receiving surface 19a 2nd receiving surface 20 Guide and stopper part 23 1st supported surface 24 2nd supported surface 26 Vertical cylinder 27 Horizontal cylinder 33,34 , 35 gear motor, drive gear, ring gear (rotary drive) C container

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A holding frame for accommodating and holding the container, and a rotation drive device for reversibly supporting the holding frame, wherein the holding frame is reversed from an inversion start position to an inversion end position to eject the container. In a container discharging device that discharges contents by changing a discharge posture in which an outlet faces upward to a discharge posture in which a discharge outlet faces downward, a first protrusion protruding upward at a lower end portion inside a holding frame at a reversal start position. A pedestal is provided, and a second pedestal projecting downward is provided at the upper end of the holding frame at the inversion start position, and a vertically oriented cylinder that pushes downward the upper supported surface of the container in the upward posture. Is provided, and the distance between the first receiving surface of the first receiving table and the second receiving surface of the second receiving table is set to be wider than the distance between the upper and lower supported surfaces of the container by a predetermined distance, and The side edge of the container A container discharging device, characterized in that a stopper portion is provided in contact therewith, and a lateral cylinder that presses the container toward the stopper portion is provided on the other side. 2. The container discharging device according to claim 1, wherein the distance from the rotation center of the holding frame to the plane including the first receiving surface is the same as the distance from the rotation center to the plane including the second receiving surface. The container is characterized in that the height from the floor surface to the first receiving surface at the inversion start position and the height from the floor surface to the second receiving surface at the inversion end position are the same. Discharge device. 3. The step of transferring the container onto the first pedestal in the holding frame at the reversing start position with the discharge port facing upward, and the lateral side cylinder of the side of the holding frame. And press it against the stopper on the opposite side to position and fix in the left and right direction, and by pressing the upper supported surface of the container downward by the vertical cylinder at the upper end of the holding frame to move the container vertically. The process of fixing, the process of changing the container to the discharge posture with its discharge port facing downward by reversing the holding frame to the reversal end position by the rotation drive device, the process of releasing the horizontal cylinder, and the release of the vertical cylinder. The process of moving the container to the second pedestal located below, the process of discharging the contents, and the process of taking the container out of the holding frame after discharging. How to discharge the container.