JPH08151111A - Trolley conveyer for hanger sorter or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide at least two times transfer speed while enabling trolley conveyance by providing a traveling means having a guide rail and traveling roller disposed thereon and a movable means having two conveying wires mounted thereon parallel to the guide rail to transfer conveyed bodies. CONSTITUTION: A wire rope type trolley conveyer is constituted to stretch at least two parallel conveying wires 11 on a traveling support plate 10 for mounting a trolley conveyer 1 on a guide rail 8 and traveling rollers 8 to roll on a guide rail 6 and traveling roller 8 rolling on the guide rail. Thus, the conveyer speed can be increased to at least two times prior speed only by increasing the speed of the conveying wire 11 movable with high speed so that conveyed bodies hung down from the traveling support plat 10 can be transferred. If the conveyed body is a hanger for a suit of clothes, a hook part is hooked on a slip rail 16 parallel to the guide rail 6 to push the hook part with a press body surface laterally projecting in the lower part of the traveling support plate 10, so that the conveyed body can be smoothly slidably transferred to enable fast trolley conveyance.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a trolley conveyor such as a hanger sorter installed in an apparel distribution center.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, sorting of products has become more efficient with the development of identification means such as bar codes and mechanical reading devices. For example, even in the apparel industry that handles clothes, etc., adopt a shipping system that automatically carries in and out work to and from a specified distribution center (distribution warehouse, etc.) by hanging a product on a hanger and appropriately attaching an identification code. Is becoming In this case, clothes and the like are classified as hanger products by being hung on the hangers and classified by delivery destination or sales floor. Currently, as a transfer device for this hanger product, because the product has a predetermined length, a trolley conveyor, which is an overhead type in the building, is used, and the hanger with the product hanging is sequentially hung and It is moved to a desired position along with the movement and fed to various storages or shipping chutes. As the transport mechanism (trolley conveyor), a hook portion is projected from the chain conveyor body, which is normally housed in a frame-shaped rail (box), using this link plate, and the clothes hanger is directly suspended on the hook portion. There are types, such as a type in which clothes hangers hooked on sliding rails laid separately in parallel are pushed and moved by the hooks to switch at a predetermined position, but in any case, the basic structure of the transport mechanism is a so-called chain conveyor. The mainstream is to adopt the method.

[0003]

However, in the trolley conveyor structure of the chain conveyor system, due to the use of chains, the drive speed is limited in view of noise, vibration, etc., and the transfer speed is slow (for example, The transfer speed is at most 30-50 m / min), and it is an inefficient hanger sorter. Further, in the conventional trolley conveyor system, the clothes hangers are grasped by suspending the hangers as one addressed to the hook portion which has reached a predetermined position with a separate boarding means, and when the predetermined sorting position is reached, the separate picking means faces. The hook will be unlocked and the clothes hanger will be lifted and put into the chute for storage or shipment (consignment) for automatic feeding. That is, the movement of the hanger requires a so-called transfer operation at a so-called point and requires an extremely complicated structure. In addition, since the hanger has a predetermined shoulder width in this case, it is not possible to arrange a large number of hooks because the hanger has a predetermined shoulder width, and the sorting ability is limited.

Further, a problem is that the hangers in Japan have various shapes. There is a need for a mechanism that can handle various hangers, ranging from the standard type in which both shoulders simply have a gentle curve to the special shape in which both shoulders are raised. Therefore, for example, in a configuration in which the hook portion of the hanger is moved to the sliding rail, the chute rail arranged at the switching position of the sliding rail is directed directly from the axis of the sliding rail toward the shipping (load receiving) chute side. In the configuration of inclining, when using a hanger or the like having a raised portion (convex portion) on both shoulders, when the hanger moves to the shoot rail side, both shoulder portions contact the shoot rail and smooth downhill is not possible, Since the hanger of the next stage sent by the sliding rail collides with it while it is a little stagnant, the switching work is not easy and there is a risk of causing a clogging phenomenon (see FIG. 11B). New development is awaited.

In view of the above situation, the present invention uses a carrier wire rope which can follow the structure of the driving main body at a high speed as the main body of the trolley conveyor, and through the traveling roller which rolls the carrier wire on the guide rail. It is an object of the present invention to provide a trolley conveyor such as a hanger sorter that solves the above drawbacks by using a simple mechanism in combination with a traveling support plate that moves.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a traveling means in which a guide rail having a constant width along a conveying path fixed to a predetermined support and traveling rollers opposed to the upper and lower surfaces thereof are arranged at appropriate intervals, and At least two endless transport wires, which are rotated by a separate drive mechanism stretched in parallel with the guide rails, are attached to the upper and lower positions in the middle portion of the traveling support plate that extends between the shaft portions of the vertically opposed traveling rollers. And a transport means for transporting the transported object under the traveling support plate.

Further, a guide rail having a constant width along a conveying path fixed to a predetermined support, a traveling means in which traveling rollers opposed to the upper and lower surfaces thereof are arranged at appropriate intervals, and shaft portions of the vertically opposed traveling rollers. In the middle part of the running support plate that was placed in between,
A moving means having at least two endless transport wires attached to the upper and lower positions, which are rotated by a separate drive mechanism stretched in parallel with the guide rail, and laterally project a certain length provided at the lower portion of the traveling support plate. The pressing body comprises a hanger feeding means that is movable from a side of the support column on a slide rail for hanging a hanger supported by a fixed support arm that projects.

Further, a guide rail having a constant width along a conveying path fixed to a predetermined support, a traveling means in which traveling rollers opposed to the upper and lower surfaces thereof are arranged at appropriate intervals, and shaft portions of the vertically opposed traveling rollers. In the middle part of the running support plate that was placed between
A moving means having at least two endless transport wires attached to the upper and lower positions, which are rotated by a separate drive mechanism stretched in parallel with the guide rail, and laterally project a certain length provided at the lower portion of the traveling support plate. And a hanger feeding means that can move freely on a hanger suspension slide rail supported by a fixed support arm projecting from the strut side, and a switching sorter portion at a branch position of the slide rail, a base portion. Is a bending switching chute rail having a flat portion parallel to the slide rail and a tip end portion being an inclined portion directed toward the star side, and a hanger branched from the slide rail is slid by a constant lateral width by a pressing body to shoot.

[0009]

As described above, a wire rope type trolley in which at least two transport wires are stretched in parallel on a guide rail having a constant width in the trolley conveyor body and a traveling support plate attached to a traveling roller rolling on the guide rail. Because of the conveyor configuration, the conveyor speed can be more than doubled compared to the conventional chain type trolley conveyor simply by increasing the speed of the transport wire that can rotate at high speed. It is possible to directly or indirectly transfer the suspended object. When the transported object is a clothes hanger, the hook portion is directly hooked on a slide rail parallel to the guide rail, and the hook portion is pushed by a pushing body surface laterally protruding (with an offset) to the lower portion of the traveling support plate. Therefore, the sliding transfer can be performed smoothly. Further, since the switching sorter portion which is directed to the chute portion arranged at the predetermined branch position of the slide rail is a bending switching chute rail formed on the flat portion and the inclined portion which are horizontal to the slide rail, the clothes hanger pressed by the pressing body. The hook part slides a certain width laterally (outward) from the axis of the slide rail and then slides down, so even if a deformed clothes hanger comes, it does not hit the shoot rail and the following clothes hanger also It can be delivered smoothly without collision.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings of the embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a trolley conveyor using a clothes hanger type hanger sorter provided in an apparel distribution center and using two transport wires. Reference numeral 1 denotes a trolley conveyor in which a predetermined transport path 2 is installed. The structure of the conveyor main body is a support plate 5 that is attached to a pillar 3 mounted on a support side of a body having a structure of hanging or self-supporting with a bracket 4.
A guide rail 6 having a constant vertical width and fixed along the conveying path 2, and a synthetic resin groove provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the guide rail 6 so as to face each other at a predetermined interval to the synthetic resin cushioning cover portion 7. The traveling rollers 8 and the die traveling rollers 8 serve as traveling means, and a sandwiching metal fitting type traveling supporting plate 10 made of two metal plates is attached to one end of the shaft portion 9 of each traveling roller 8 which is vertically opposed to the traveling rollers 8 and is supported. The endless transfer wires 11 are inserted into and locked by the split wire gripping parts 10a provided at the upper and lower positions of the middle part of the plate 10, respectively.
The entire unit 1 is stretched so as to be parallel to the guide rail 6 to serve as a moving unit. Reference numeral 12 is a stopper that integrates the two traveling support plates 10. Reference numeral 13 denotes an L-shaped pressing body which is attached to a lower end portion of the traveling support plate 10 and which is laterally projected (projected outward at a right angle), and a receiving plate for supporting the guide rail 6 is provided at a lower portion of the front side of the pressing body 13. 5, a slide rail 15 for hanging a hanger fixed to a support arm portion 14 projecting from the side of the support column 3 integrated with 5, and a hook portion 16a of a clothes hanger 16 slidably slid on the upper surface of the slide rail 15 is provided with the pressing body. The side surface of 13 is pressed and transferred to serve as hanger feeding means. 17
Is a synthetic resin cushion cover portion that covers the hanger suspension slide rails 15. A switching means 18 is provided at the branch position a of the slide rail 15 for hanging the hanger in the transport path 2 and includes a switch sorter portion 21 that is connected to the movable branch portion 15a and is directed to the chute 20 as appropriate. The base portion is a flat portion 21a that is horizontal to the slide rail 15, and the bending switching chute rail 21 'is formed with an inclined portion 21b that inclines the tip portion toward the star side. Reference numeral 22 is a hanger bounce prevention rail which is arranged in parallel above the hanger suspension slide rail 15.

The operation will be described. First, the clothes hanger 16 on which clothes with identification labels (not shown) appropriately fed through the carry-in climbing path 23 are hung is a known cam type 1
The slide rail 1 of the trolley conveyor 1 which serves as a hanger sorter device via the transfer device 25 from the feeding device 24 for individual pieces.
It is assumed that the hook portion 16a is hooked on the charging opening portion of No. 5 in FIG.

Here, the carrier wire 11 which serves as the carrier means of the trolley conveyor 1 is rotated by the rotation of a drive pulley 27 'equipped with a motor 26 on which the carrier wire 11 is stretched. The pressing body 13 attached to the carrier wire 11 at a predetermined interval moves and pushes the hook portion 16a of the clothes hanger 16 hung on the slide rail 15 by this side surface to transfer (see FIG. 7). In this case, the two (two) transport wires 11 themselves travel while the upper and lower traveling rollers 8 of the traveling support plate 10 roll on the upper and lower surfaces of the guide rail 6, so that stable rotation without shaking occurs, Moreover, since it is a wire rope tow type, high speed is obtained. In addition, the transport path 2
In the configuration of the pulley 27 installed in the corner portion of the disk-shaped pulley main body 27a, a large number of rolling rollers 28 are provided upright on the peripheral edge of the disk-shaped pulley body 27a, and two rolling receiving grooves 28a provided around the rolling roller 28 are provided. Since it has a structure in which the two transport wires 11 are hooked up and down (see FIG. 5), it swings during rotation,
The carrier wire 11 does not come off without causing twisting or the like. At the location where the pulley 27 is provided, the guide rail 6 laid in parallel at the front position is cut off, and the traveling roller 8 rolling on the guide rail 6 is temporarily moved at the pulley 27 position. Although it is in a floating state, since the traveling roller 8 is integrated with the two conveying wires 11 with the traveling support plate 10, the traveling roller 8 moves at a constant interval even if the guide rail 6 is disengaged, and the conveying wire 11 moves the pulley 27. After passing through the guide rail 6, the traveling roller 8 smoothly enters the upper and lower surfaces of the guide rail 6 and rolls in a predetermined manner to return to normal traveling. Of course, since the transport wire 11 on the pulley 27 is stretched and supported by the groove 28a of the rolling roller 28 as described above, there is no possibility of bending.

Next, when the moved clothes hanger 16 reaches the branch position of the slide rail 15, the cylinder 29 of the switching means 18 arranged on the side of the slide rail 15 is actuated to move the rod 29a. Branch part 15a is fulcrum 1
5b as a starting point, and laterally pivoted at a predetermined angle,
Of the bending switch chute rail 21 ′ serving as the switching sorter portion 21 is exposed to the flat portion 21 a. The clothes hanger 16 that has linearly moved from the slide rail 15 automatically slides laterally by a certain width from the branch portion 15a to the flat portion 21a of the curved branch chute rail 21 'in accordance with the pressing movement of the pressing body 13, and then shoots. It moves to the inclined portion 21b toward the side and slides down.

In this case, since the pressing body 13 moving on the slide rail 15 has an L-shaped laterally protruding shape and a large pressing margin is set, the hook portion 16a of the clothes hanger 16 moves from the branch portion 15a to the flat portion 21a. In order to surely slide laterally by a certain width, and then slide down, the end of the clothes hanger 16 that branches and moves does not immediately hit the inclined portion 21b, and the subsequent clothes hanger 16 that linearly shifts the slide rail 15 is Smooth branching is done without collision.

After that, the hook portion 16a of the clothes hanger 16 that has come to the flat portion 21a of the bending switching chute rail 21 '.
Moves to the inclined portion 21b at the tip, slides down, and is fed to a predetermined chute 20 position.

Hereinafter, the carrier wire 1 is moved on the slide rail 15.
The clothes hanger 16 that is pushed and moved by the pressing body 13 integrated with 1 is gathered on a predetermined chute 20 from the branch position that operates according to the identification signal, through the switching sorter portion 21.

The trolley conveyor 1 has been described with reference to a mode in which the object to be conveyed (clothes hanger or the like) is slid on the slide rails 15 parallel to the guide rails 6. It is also possible to arrange a proper gripping mechanism (not shown) to directly suspend an appropriate transported object. In addition, 2 transfer wires
Although it has been described as the present use, it goes without saying that a plurality of two or more may be used.

[0019]

As described above, in the trolley conveyor such as the hanger sorter of the present invention, the conveyor body is mounted between the guide rail and the traveling roller which rolls up and down, and between the pair of traveling rollers. Since the wire rope drive system is combined with the moving means in which at least two fixed transport wires are stretched along the transport path to the traveling support plate, the transfer speed is more than double that of the conventional chain drive system. The trolley can be transported with high efficiency.
Moreover, since two or more transport wires are used, they are strong against twisting, and each rail surface is equipped with a synthetic resin cover, and the running rollers themselves are also made of synthetic resin, so there is little vibration as a whole and it is quiet. It will be suspended and transferred. Further, the trolley conveyor moves the object to be transported, and the hanger slides between the pressing bodies that are attached to the conveying wire at regular intervals.Therefore, it is sufficient to feed the hanger onto a slide rail of a certain length that is the distance between the pressing bodies. That is, it is a so-called linear boarding, and unlike the conventional boarding using a gripping mechanism, no special delivery means or the like is required and the structure is simplified. Furthermore, the switching sorter part (bending switching chute rail) that branches into the chute is
Since the so-called offset discharge is performed in which the specified width is slid sideways with the pressing body and then the slanted shoot is performed from the axis of the hanger transfer, even if there are various hanger shapes, the subsequent hanger does not collide and discharge smoothly. It has the effect of being able to. Although the trolley conveyor has been described with respect to the clothes hanger, the object to be conveyed is not limited to the clothes hanger, and the object can be applied to an apparatus suitable for conveying automobile parts, home electric appliances, and other general products.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an entire trolley conveyor showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a main part.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the same.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a transport wire.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a pulley on which a transport wire is hooked.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a relationship between a rolling roller of the pulley and a transport wire.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of hanging a clothes hanger on a slide rail.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a slide rail switching unit.

FIG. 9 shows a bent branch rail of the switching means,
(A) is a plan view and (B) is a front view.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a portion to be put into the trolley conveyor.

FIG. 11 shows a clothes hanger running on a slide rail,
(A) is explanatory drawing provided with the branch rail with an offset of this invention, (B) is explanatory drawing equipped with the conventional branch rail without offset.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Conveyance path 6 Guide rail 8 Traveling roller 10 Traveling support plate 11 Conveying wire 13 Pushing body 15 Sliding rail 18 Switching means 21 Switching sorter part 21a Flat part 21b Inclined part 21 'Bending switching chute rail

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A guide rail having a constant width along a conveying path fixed to a predetermined support, a traveling means in which traveling rollers facing the upper and lower surfaces of the guide rail are arranged at appropriate intervals, and shaft portions of the vertically opposing traveling rollers. And a moving means having at least two endless carrier wires attached to the upper and lower positions, which are rotated by a separate drive mechanism stretched in parallel with the guide rails, are provided at an intermediate portion of the traveling support plate which is interposed between the moving means. A trolley conveyor such as a hanger sorter, characterized in that an object to be conveyed is transferred under a traveling support plate. 2. A guide rail having a constant width along a conveying path fixed to a predetermined supporting column, a traveling means in which traveling rollers opposed to the upper and lower surfaces are arranged at appropriate intervals, and shaft portions of the vertically opposed traveling rollers. A moving means having at least two endless carrier wires attached to the upper and lower positions, which are rotated by a separate drive mechanism stretched in parallel with the guide rails, are provided at an intermediate portion of the traveling support plate interposed therebetween, and the traveling support. The hanger feeding means provided on the lower part of the plate and laterally projecting a certain length is composed of a hanger feeding means which is freely movable on the hanger hanging slide rail supported by the fixed support arm projecting from the strut side. Trolley conveyors such as hanger sorters. 3. A guide rail having a constant width along a conveying path fixed to a predetermined support, a traveling means in which traveling rollers facing the upper and lower surfaces thereof are disposed at appropriate intervals, and shaft portions of the vertically opposing traveling rollers. A moving means having at least two endless carrier wires attached to the upper and lower positions, which are rotated by a separate drive mechanism stretched in parallel with the guide rails, are provided at an intermediate portion of the traveling support plate interposed therebetween, and the traveling support. A hanger feeding means provided on the lower part of the plate for laterally projecting a certain length, and a hanger feeding means capable of moving freely on a hanger hanging slide rail supported by a fixed support arm projecting from the strut side; The switching sorter part of the branch position of the slide rail is a bending switch chute rail whose base part is a flat part parallel to the slide rail and the tip part is an inclined part facing the star side. A trolley conveyor such as a hanger sorter characterized by sliding a constant width and shooting it.