JPH08165025A - Step loading device for article to pallet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a step loading device preventing a load from collapsing when it is transfer loaded by a robot while efficient work can be performed in a small space, by eliminating the deed for moving the robot between a step piling device and a pallet shed. CONSTITUTION: A device has a lift tray 36 horizontally movably provided in a lifter 35, pallet base 45 made longitudinally movable on a right/left moving base 42 right/left movable in downward the lift tray 36 load a pallet P and a control means of positioning a prescribed position on the pallet P just below an article W step loaded on the lift tray 36 by horizontally moving the pallet P.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for stacking articles on pallets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following stacking devices of this type are known. That is, a stacking device for stacking articles (generally rectangular parallelepiped cardboard boxes) in the up-down direction (generally a work called bar stacking) and an article stacked by this stacking device. Having a robot or a forklift that transfers to a pallet on the yard, and supplying the articles to the pallet on the pallet yard by moving the robot or the like between the stacking device and the pallet yard Is known.

[0003]

The conventional stacking device described above has the following drawbacks. That is, since the robot is moved between the stacking device and the pallet storage area, there are drawbacks such as poor work efficiency and a collapse of the load during transfer by the robot. Further, there is a drawback that a large space is required to install the stacking device, the robot and the pallet storage area.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and can perform efficient work in a small space without moving the robot between the stacking device and the pallet yard, and can be transferred by the robot. An object of the present invention is to provide a stacking device that does not sometimes cause a load collapse.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is such that an elevating tray which is horizontally movable on an elevating body and a front and rear portion below the elevating tray.
By horizontally moving the pallet and the pallet table on which the pallet is placed, which is horizontally movable left and right,
A stacking device for articles on a pallet, which has a control means for positioning a predetermined position on the pallet directly below the articles stacked on the lifting tray.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the pallet base is provided so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction on a moving body that can move back and forth or left and right.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the pallet table is constituted by a conveyor, and the control means drives the conveyor to carry out a pallet on which a predetermined number of articles are stacked. .

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a predetermined number of articles are stacked on the elevating tray, the articles are transferred to a pallet arranged so that the predetermined position is directly below the stacked articles. .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the pallet is horizontally moved by the front-rear or left-right movement of the moving body and the movement of the pallet base in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the moving body.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when a predetermined number of articles are stacked on the pallet, the conveyor is driven and the pallet is unloaded.

[0011]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these examples without departing from the gist of the present invention. In this specification, the front means the right side in FIG. 2, the rear means the left side in the figure, the left means the upper side in FIG. 2, and the right means the lower side in the figure.

An article conveying conveyor (conveyor having a driving device) 1 is provided above the floor surface (ceiling side) of a warehouse or the like, with the conveying direction facing forward and backward. An article turning device (not shown) for changing the direction of the article W, a position regulating device (not shown) for adjusting / regulating the lateral position of the article W, etc. are installed in the middle of the article conveyor 1. At the rear end (upstream end) of the article conveyor 1, a plurality of article stations and depalletizers such as unloading robots (not shown) are provided corresponding to each article station. It is adapted to be supplied to the article conveyor 1.

An article supply device 4 is connected in front of the article conveyor 1. The article supply device 4 is provided with left and right side frames 5 connected to the left and right side frames (not shown in FIG. 1) of the article conveyor 1 and rotatably passed to the side frames 5 with their axes oriented in the left and right directions. A free roller conveyor 7 including a group of a large number of rollers 6, a slope 8 which is connected to the front of the free roller conveyor 7 and is inclined slightly downward toward the front, and the free roller conveyor 7 and the article W on the slope 8. Two pushers 9 to be forwarded, which will be described in detail later, and an article receiving tray 10 that is vertically movable and horizontally movable by means described later.
And a stopper 12 that comes into contact with the article W on the article receiving tray 10 that horizontally retracts during the descent and the descent position.

The mounting and operating mechanism of the pusher 9 will be described below. The pair of left and right wheels 16 are positioned so as to be located above the transport surface at the rear end of the free roller conveyor 7.
Is rotatably provided on the side frame 5 with its axis centered in the left-right direction, and the pair of left and right wheels 16 is inserted into the notches 11 formed on the left and right portions of the front end of the slope 8 so that the pair of left and right wheels 16 can be installed. Is rotatably provided with the axis centered in the left-right direction, and further, a pair of left and right wheels 16 are positioned below the roller 6 of the free roller conveyor 7 and below the slope 8 to form a required pair, side. The frame 5 is rotatably provided with its axis centered in the left-right direction, and an endless band 17 composed of a chain, a belt or the like is stretched over the left wheel group 16 and the right wheel group 16, and these left and right wheels are grouped. The endless belt 17 is positioned so as to divide the length of the endless belt 17 into two equal parts.
Two pushers 9 consisting of a rod with its axis oriented to the left and right
Has been handed off. It should be noted that no member is projected in the movement trajectory drawn when the pusher 9 moves along with the driving of the endless belt 17. Also, the article W collides with the wheel 16 and the endless belt 17.
Side frame 5 of free roller conveyor 7 so as not to interfere
The inner end of the guide portion 18 at the upper part of the wheel extends beyond the wheel 16 and the endless belt 17 (see FIG. 5).
With such a configuration, after the article W is placed on the free roller conveyor 7, the pusher 9 is projected from the transport surface of the free roller conveyor 7 behind the article W, and then the pusher 9 is moved forward to remove the article W. With the pusher 9, it can be fed forward.

The mounting / operating mechanism of the article receiving tray 10 will be described below. The pair of wheels 21 on the left and right direct the axis to the left and right side frames 5 in the left and right direction so that they are positioned at the corners of two virtual rectangles of the same shape drawn before and after the left and right side frames 5. In this way, it is rotatably provided, and the chain is attached to the four wheels 21 on the left side
An endless band 22 made of a belt or the like is stretched, and four wheels 21 on the left side and four right sides of the rear side are chained with an endless band 22 made of a chain belt or the like. Then, in a state where the article receiving tray 10 is horizontal, the front left and right portions of the article receiving tray 10 are pivotally attached to the front left and right endless belts 22, and the rear left and right portions of the article receiving tray 10 are rear left and right endless belts. It is pivotally attached to the belt 22. With such a configuration, the front endless belt 22
By synchronously operating the endless belt 22 on the rear side in the clockwise direction in FIG. 4, the article receiving tray 10
Is a horizontal projection to the front at the top position or slightly below it, a descending in the projection state, a horizontal retreat to the rear at the bottom position or slightly above it, and an ascent in the horizontal retreat state. Is.

As shown in FIG. 7, the endless belt 17 and the endless belt 22, that is, the pusher 9 and the article receiving tray 10 are interlocked by a single motor 24. In FIG. 7, 25 is a gear for transmitting the rotation of the motor 24. The sizes of the wheel 16, the wheel 21, and the gear 25 are adjusted so that the endless belt 17 and the endless belt 22 are driven at the same speed. An idle gear 25 is interposed at a predetermined position so that the endless belt 17 and the endless belt 22 are driven clockwise in FIG. As described above, since the pusher 9 and the article receiving tray 10 operate synchronously, the length of the endless belt 17 is twice the length of the endless belt 22 (since there are two pushers 9), and The meshing state of the gear 25 is adjusted so that when the pusher 9 pushes the article W completely out of the slope 8, the article receiving tray 10 is located at the forefront end slightly below the uppermost position.
It is needless to say that the article W does not collide with or interfere with the wheel 21, the gear 25, and the endless belt 22.

The four stoppers 12 are attached to the connecting plate 27 which is arranged in the left-right direction at a predetermined interval and passed over the side frame 5 (see FIG. 6). And a vertical portion (see FIG. 4). The article receiving tray 10 includes the article receiving tray 10
There are four notches 28 formed to prevent the bumps from colliding with the stopper 12 in the course of its movement. That is, during the descent of the article receiving tray 10 in the protruding state and the horizontal withdrawal,
Four notches 28 are formed in the article receiving tray 10 to prevent the article receiving tray 10 from hitting the stopper 12. In addition, when the article receiving tray 10 descends in a protruding state and enters a retreat process, the stopper 12
Passes through the notch 28 and projects above the article receiving tray 10, and the vertical portion of the front end faces the rear end wall of the article W. The front end of the article receiving tray 10 is located rearward of the front end of the stopper 12 when the article receiving tray 10 moves to the position where it enters the ascending process.

The mast 31 is positioned on the front left side of the movement path of the article receiving tray 10 so as to hang down on a support frame 32 erected on the floor so as not to collide with or interfere with a pallet table 45 described later. It is provided. That is, the mast 31
The lower end of is not connected to any member so as not to collide with or interfere with the pallet P on the pallet table 45.

An elevating body 35 is movably provided on the mast 31 by a known elevating drive mechanism.
An elevating tray 36 is provided in the lower part of the above so as to be horizontally movable back and forth so as to project below the article receiving tray 10 in the projecting state and to retreat therefrom. The elevating tray 36 is operated by a known horizontal actuator (not shown). In addition, on the upper part of the lifting body 35, a lifting tray 36
A stopper 37 is provided so as to be located above the above so as to be horizontally movable back and forth. The stopper 37 is operated by a known horizontal operating device (not shown).

A fixed base frame 39 is provided on the floor below the mast 31, and the fixed base frame 39 is moved left and right along a pair of guide rails 40 provided on the upper surface of the fixed base frame 39 with the longitudinal direction oriented in the left-right direction. A table 42 is provided so as to be movable left and right, and a pallet table 45 is provided so as to be movable forward and backward along a pair of guide rails 43 provided on the left and right moving table 42 with the longitudinal direction thereof facing the front-back direction. The left-right moving table 42 and the pallet table 45 are operated by a well-known horizontal operating device (not shown). With such a configuration, the pallet base 4
5 can be moved back and forth and left and right.

The pallet table 45 is composed of a driving roller conveyor whose conveying direction is the front-rear direction. Further, a device (not shown) for positioning and locking the pallet P mounted on the pallet table 45 on the pallet table 45.
Is provided. Then, the movement ranges of the left and right moving table 42 and the pallet table 45 are set so that an arbitrary position of the pallet P placed on the pallet table 45 can be located below the horizontally protruding lift tray 36. .

At the position where the pallet P on the pallet table 45 completely comes out from the lower side of the mast 31 to the left and is further moved to the front, the carry-out conveyor 47 (in FIG. 1, is connected to the pallet table 45). (Omitted) is provided on the floor.

Next, the control configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The control means 48 is the endless belt drive means 4
9, the rotation of the motor 24 for driving the endless belts 17, 22 is controlled, and the horizontal movement device for horizontally moving the stopper 37 back and forth is controlled via the horizontal stopper movement device 50. An elevating tray drive mechanism for raising and lowering the elevating body 35 is controlled via 51, and an elevating tray 3 is operated via an elevating tray horizontal operation means 52.
A horizontal movement device 42 for horizontally moving the pallet 6 and a horizontal movement table 42 and a pallet table 45 for horizontally moving the pallet P back and forth and left and right through the pallet table horizontal operation means 53.
And controls the driving of the pallet base drive roller conveyor via the pallet base conveyor drive means 54. That is, the control means 48 comprehensively controls each operation in the stacking apparatus.

[0024]

Operation of the Embodiment Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described. When the article W conveyed on the article conveyor 1 is placed on the free roller conveyor 7, the pusher 9 projects from the rear of the free roller conveyor 7 from the conveyance surface of the free roller conveyor 7 and moves forward to move the article W forward. Push. Thereafter, the article W is placed on the article receiving tray 10 that is moving forward in synchronization with the pusher 9 at the uppermost position from the front end of the slope 8. After that, when the article W is completely placed on the article receiving tray 10, the pusher 9 pushing the article W enters below the slope 8. Then, the article receiving tray 10 descends to the lowest position. During the descent, the article W on the article receiving tray 10 is guided to a predetermined position on the article receiving tray 10 with its orientation corrected by the front lower end portion sliding on the inclined portion of the stopper 12. During,
The empty elevating tray 36 rises and projects to the uppermost position (a position approaching the article receiving tray 10 at the lowermost position). In that state, since the article receiving tray 10 retreats,
The article W, the movement of which is restricted by the stopper 12, is transferred onto the elevating tray 36. That is, the article receiving tray 10 performs both operations of receiving and delivering the article W in one cycle of the circulation movement. After that, the elevating tray 36 descends by the height of the article W. Thereafter, the same operation as described above is repeated to stack the required number of articles W on the elevating tray 36 (stacking).

Thereafter, the lifting tray 36 is moved to the pallet table 45.
After descending to a position approaching the locked pallet P supplied above, the stopper 37, which has been retracted until now, is projected to hit the side surface of the article W, and then the lifting tray 36
And the stacked articles W are placed on the pallet P.

After that, the pallet table 45 is horizontally moved as described later, and the stacking position of the next pallet P is positioned below the protruding tray 36. At the same time, the elevating tray 36 rises to the uppermost position and horizontally projects. Further, the stopper 37 is retracted. Thereafter, the same operation as described above is repeated, and the required number of articles W are stacked on the pallet P. The articles W are stacked on the pallet P in the order of numbers (1) to (10) in FIG. That is,
The transfer of the articles W from (1) to (5) is performed by intermittently moving the pallet P in the direction of arrow a, and then the pallet P is quickly returned in the direction of arrow b and moved in the direction of arrow c. The transfer of the article W from (6) to (10) is
The pallet P is intermittently moved in the direction of arrow D.

For the pallet P on which the articles W are stacked, after the pallet table 45 is connected to the unloading conveyor 47, the pallet P is unlocked, and then the driving roller conveyor of the pallet table 45 and the unloading conveyor 47 are driven, Carry-out conveyor 47
To carry out.

[0028]

[Modifications, etc.] Modifications will be described below. (1) The article supply device 4 may be a simple drive conveyor. (2) The stopper 37 may be a fixed one that does not move horizontally. (3) The pallet table 45 may be a simple table.

[0029]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, since the articles are transferred from the elevating tray to the pallet at the same position at all times, the robot is not necessary and the transfer mechanism is simple, which is small. You can work efficiently in a space and there is no load collapse. Further, by preliminarily waiting the pallet at the predetermined position, the transfer operation to the pallet can be performed immediately after the stacking on the elevating tray is completed, so that the transfer time is shortened.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the pallet is moved horizontally by moving the moving body back and forth or left and right and by moving the pallet base in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the moving body, the pallet can be moved horizontally with a simple structure. You can move.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when a predetermined number of articles are stacked on the pallet, the conveyor is driven and the pallet is carried out. Therefore, the stacked articles are transferred from the lifting tray to the plurality of pallets. Can be continuously and efficiently performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a simplified plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of part A of FIG.

5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line VV of FIG.

6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a power system diagram of the article receiving tray and the pusher.

8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the transfer order of articles on a pallet.

FIG. 10 is a control block diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W article P pallet 4 article supply device 9 pusher 10 article receiving tray 12 stopper 17 endless band 22 endless band 35 lifting body 36 lifting tray 37 stopper 45 pallet base 48 control means 50 stopper horizontal actuating means 51 lifting tray lifting means 52 lifting tray horizontal Operating means 53 Pallet stand horizontal operating means 54 Pallet stand conveyor drive means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An elevating tray provided on an elevating body so as to be horizontally movable, and a pallet table on which a pallet is placed, which is horizontally movable below and below the elevating tray.
An apparatus for stacking articles on a pallet, which has a control means for moving a pallet horizontally to position a predetermined position on the pallet directly below the articles stacked on the lifting tray. 2. The apparatus for stacking articles on a pallet according to claim 1, wherein the pallet base is provided on a movable body that can be moved back and forth or left and right so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction. 3. The pallet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pallet base is constituted by a conveyor, and the control means drives the conveyor to carry out a pallet on which a predetermined number of articles are stacked. Stacking device for other goods.