JPH08192918A - Goods supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the fruitless operation by controlling the shifting of a pusher, according to the detection results of the goods detector within the operation range of the pusher and the pusher in the nonoperation range of the pusher by a control means, and stopping the shifting of the pusher when the goods are not detected. CONSTITUTION: In the case that the third sensor 63 detects goods W, goods W are not supplied, but when the goods W ceases to be detected, the next goods W are placed on a roller conveyor 7. While the second sensor 62 detects the goods W, if the fifth lower sensor 65 detects the pusher 9, it is decelerated. Moreover, also when the fifth upper sensor 5 detects the pusher 9, in the case that the goods W are detected, goods W are supplied one by one. When the sixth front sensor 66 detects the pusher 9, in the case that the goods are not detected, it is decelerated. Next, also when the sixth rear sensor 66 detects the pusher 9, in the case that the goods W are not detected, the pusher 9 stops, and fruitless operation is prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article supply device,
More specifically, it relates to an article supply device in a stacking device for stacking articles on a pallet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present applicant has already provided an article receiving tray that is vertically movable and horizontally movable, a pusher that feeds an article receiving tray in a raised position, and an article that supplies an article within the operating range of the pusher. An article supply apparatus having a conveyor is proposed. In this article supply device, the articles that have been conveyed on the conveyor and supplied to the operating range of the pusher due to inertia are supplied to the article receiving tray in the raised position by the moving pushers.

[0003]

However, in this article supply device, when the articles conveyed on the conveyor are spaced apart from each other, the timing when the articles are supplied to the operation range of the pusher and the operation of the pusher are activated. Sometimes the timing to enter the range did not match well.
If this timing does not match, the article will not be supplied to the article receiving tray even if the pusher moves (hereinafter,
It is called "empty swing". ), Or two times of articles may be simultaneously supplied to the article receiving tray.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to control the movement of a pusher or the drive of a conveyor in accordance with the detection results of a plurality of detectors so that an article receiving tray by a pusher can be moved. An object of the present invention is to provide an article supply device capable of surely supplying articles accurately.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 supplies articles to an article receiving tray which is vertically movable and horizontally movable, and an article receiving tray in a raised position. A pusher, an article detector in the pusher operating range, a pusher detector in the pusher non-operating range, and a control means for controlling the movement of the pusher according to the detection results of the article detector and the pusher detector. It is an article supply device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an article receiving tray that is vertically movable and horizontally movable, a pusher that feeds articles to the article receiving tray in a raised position, and an article detector in an operating range entrance portion of the pusher are provided. An article supply device having: a pusher detector in a non-operating range of the pusher; and an article detector and control means for controlling the movement of the pusher according to the detection result of the pusher detector.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article receiving tray that is vertically movable and horizontally movable, a pusher that supplies articles to the article receiving tray in a raised position, and an article detector in an operating range of the pusher. Article supply having a conveyor for supplying articles to the operation range of the pusher, an article detector on the conveyor, and control means for controlling the drive of the conveyor according to the detection results of the article detector and the article detector on the conveyor It is a device.

[0008]

In the invention according to claim 1, the control means causes
The movement of the pusher is controlled according to the detection results of the article detector in the pusher operating range and the pusher detector in the pusher non-operating range. When the pusher is detected by the pusher detector and no article is detected by the article detector, the movement of the pusher is stopped to prevent the pusher from swinging.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the movement of the pusher is controlled by the control means in accordance with the detection results of the article detector in the operation entrance portion of the pusher and the pusher detector in the non-operation range of the pusher. When the article is detected by the article detector when the pusher is detected by the pusher detector, the article is not lifted from the bottom by the pusher by stopping the movement of the pusher, and the article can be surely detected one by one. Can be supplied.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the control means drives the conveyor in accordance with the detection results of the article detector in the pusher operating range and the article detector on the conveyor of the conveyor that supplies articles to the pusher operating range. Controlled. When the article detector detects the article when the article detector detects the article, when the article detector detects the article, the conveyor drive is stopped so that the article receiving tray can be supplied with the articles twice. To be prevented.

[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 conveyor (conveyor having a driving device and referred to in the claims) 1 having a conveying direction directed in the front-rear direction is provided above the floor surface (ceiling side) of a warehouse or the like. In the middle of the article conveyor 1, an article turning device (not shown) for changing the direction of the article W and a position regulating device (not shown) for adjusting and regulating the lateral position of the article W.
Etc. are installed. At the rear end (upstream end) of the article conveyor 1, a plurality of article stations and depalletizers such as unloading robots (not shown) corresponding to the article stations are provided. Are supplied to the article transport conveyor 1.

The article conveyor 1 is included in an article supply device 4 described below. The article supply device 4 is
Left and right side frames 5 connected to the left and right side frames of the article conveyor 1
And a large number of constantly driven rollers 6 that are rotatably passed to these side frames 5 with their axes centered in the left-right direction.
A roller conveyor 7 consisting of a group of the above, and a slope 8 which is connected to the front of the roller conveyor 7 and is inclined slightly downward toward the front, and sends out the roller conveyor 7 and the article W on the slope 8 to the front. Two pushers 9, an article receiving tray 10 that can be moved up and down and horizontally by means described later, and a stopper that abuts an article W on the article receiving tray 10 that horizontally retracts during descending and at the lowest position. 12 and.

The mounting and operating mechanism of the pusher 9 will be described below. A pair of left and right wheels 16 is rotatably provided on the side frame 5 so as to be positioned above the transport surface at the rear end of the roller conveyor 7 and has its axis centered in the left-right direction. The pair of left and right wheels 16 so as to enter the notches 11 formed in the
Is rotatably provided on the side frame 5 with its axis centered in the left-right direction, and further, a pair of left and right wheels 16 is required so as to be positioned below the roller 6 of the roller conveyor 7 and below the slope 8. It is rotatably provided on the pair, side frame 5 with the axis centered in the left-right direction. The left wheel group 16 and the right wheel group 16 are chained.
Endless belts 17 made up of belts and the like are spanned, and the left and right endless belts 17 are made up of rods whose axial centers are oriented in the left-right direction so as to be located at positions bisecting the length of the endless belts 17. Two pushers 9 are stopped. 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. Further, in order to prevent the article W from colliding with or interfering with the wheel 16 and the endless belt 17, the guide portion 1 above the side frame 5 of the roller conveyor 7 is provided.
The inner end of 8 protrudes inward from the wheel 16 and the endless belt 17 (see FIG. 5). With such a configuration, after the article W is placed on the roller conveyor 7, the pusher 9 is projected from the conveyance surface of the roller conveyor 7 behind the article W, and the article W is moved forward by driving the roller 6 and moving the pusher 9 forward. Can be sent. still,
In the present specification, in the movement locus of the pusher 9, a range in which the pusher 9 is projected and moved forward from the conveyance surface of the article W, that is, a range located above the roller conveyor 7 and the slope 8 (a roller in the conveyance path of the article W The area above the conveyor 7 and the slope 8) is referred to as the "pusher operating range", and the other range of backward movement, ascent and descent is referred to as the "pusher non-operating range".

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. 8, 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. 8, 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. Further, a play 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 a connecting plate 27 which is arranged in the left-right direction at a predetermined interval and which is provided on the side frame 5 (see FIG. 6). , And has a vertical stopper portion 12b at the front end (see FIG. 7). A scratch preventing member 13 such as resin is attached to the guide portion 12a and the stopper portion 12b as a scratch preventing process. Further, the article receiving tray 10 is formed with four notches 28 for preventing the article receiving tray 10 from colliding with the stopper 12 during its movement process. That is, when the article receiving tray 10 is descending in the protruding state and when the article receiving tray 10 is horizontally retracted, the article receiving tray 1
Four notches 28 are formed in the article receiving tray 10 to prevent 0 from hitting the stopper 12. The distance from the notch 28 at the right end to the right end of the article receiving tray 10 is smaller than the distance from the notch 28 at the left end to the left end of the article receiving tray 10. This is because the normal article W is fed close to the right end on the article receiving tray 10. When the article receiving tray 10 descends in the projecting state and enters the retracting process, the stopper 12 passes through the notch 28 and projects above the article receiving tray 10, and the vertical portion at the front end is the article W. It faces the rear end wall. Incidentally, when the article receiving tray 10 moves to a position where the article receiving tray 10 enters the ascending process, the front end of the article receiving tray 10 is located behind the stopper portion 12b at the front end of the stopper 12.

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.

The first to seventh sensors 61 to 67 for detecting the article W, pusher 9 and article receiving tray 10 will be described below. It should be noted that each sensor is a photoelectric sensor composed of a set of a light emitter and a light receiver. The first sensor 61 is installed in the left and right side frames of the front part (near the roller conveyor 7) of the article carrying conveyor 1 so as to sandwich the article carrying path from the left and right, and detects the article W carried on the conveyor 1. The second sensor 62 sandwiches the article conveyance path from the left and right in the side frame 5 of the operating range entry portion of the pusher 9 (the portion where the pusher 9 switches from the non-operating range to the operating range near the rearmost upper wheel 16). It is installed so that the article conveyor 1
W at the front end of the roller and the rear end of the roller conveyor 7.
To detect. The third sensor 63 is installed on the side frame 5 slightly above the slope 8 within the operating range of the pusher 9 so as to sandwich the article conveyance path from the left and right, and detects the article W on the slope 8. The fourth sensor 64 is installed in the side frame 5 slightly above the article receiving tray 10 at the uppermost position, and detects the article on the article receiving tray 10 at the uppermost position.
The fifth sensor 65 is installed on the side frame 5 between the rearmost two upper and lower wheels 16 within the non-operating range of the pusher 9 so as to sandwich the movement trajectory of the pusher 9 from the front and the rear, and detects the pusher 9 during the upward movement. To do. The fifth sensor 6
Reference numeral 5 is composed of two sets of sensors, which are spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction. The lower side is a deceleration sensor and the upper side is a stop sensor. The sixth sensor 66 is installed on the side frame 5 between the two lowermost front and rear wheels 16 within the non-operating range of the pusher 9 so as to sandwich the movement trajectory of the pusher 9 from above and below, and detects the pusher 9 moving backward. To do. The sixth sensor 66 is composed of two sets of sensors that are slightly spaced apart from each other in the front and rear, and the front side is a deceleration sensor and the rear side is a stop sensor. 7th sensor 6
7 are the two lower wheels 1 of the rear endless belt 22.
The article receiving tray 10 is installed on the side frame 5 between 6 so as to sandwich the movement trajectory of the article receiving tray 10 from above and below, and detects the article receiving tray 10 which is moving in and out at the lowest position.

An elevating body 35 is movably provided on the mast 31 by a known elevating drive mechanism. Lifting body 3
5 moves up and down by the rotation of a servo motor (not shown), and the height is detected by detecting the number of rotations by an encoder (not shown). A shield plate 35a is attached to the right side surface of the lifting / lowering body 35, and a lifting / lowering tray 36 is provided below the lifting / lowering body 35 with the article receiving tray 1 in a protruding state.
As if projecting below 0 or entering or leaving
It is installed so that it can be horizontally moved back and forth. This lifting tray 36
Is operated by a known horizontal actuator (not shown).

Further, a stopper 37 is provided on the upper and lower parts of the elevating body 35 so as to be positioned above the elevating tray 36 so as to be horizontally movable back and forth. This stopper 37
It has a contact surface 37a for contacting the article W on the elevating tray 36, and is operated by a known horizontal actuator (not shown).

The stopper 37 is provided with a contact detection sensor 38 (see FIG. 11). The contact detection sensor 38 is
Normally, a contact plate 38a protruding from the contact surface 37a of the stopper 37, a detected plate 38c attached to the contact plate 38a via a spring 38b, and a proximity sensor 38d for detecting the approach of the detected plate 38c. Have and. When the stopper 37 horizontally moves and the contact plate 38a comes into contact with the article W on the elevating tray 36, the spring 38b contracts, and the detected plate 38c approaches the proximity sensor 38d as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. The contact is detected by.
When the contact between the stopper 37 and the article W is released, the contact plate 38a is returned to the normal position (the position protruding from the contact surface 37a) by the urging force of the spring 38b.

In the support frame 32 near the right side of the lifting body 35,
An upper limit sensor 55, a protrusion sensor 56, a protrusion return sensor 57, an origin sensor 58, and a lower limit sensor 59 are installed from the top at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction (see FIG. 12). These sensors are photoelectric sensors (normally called “horseshoe-shaped photoelectric sensors”) each having a pair of a light emitter and a light receiver, and when the lifting / lowering body 35 reaches a height position corresponding to each sensor, the shield plate is provided. The light emitting / receiving device is shielded by 35a. The upper limit sensor 55 and the lower limit sensor 59 are for the purpose of emergency indicating the upper limit position and the lower limit position of the lift 35, and are not normally shielded by the shield plate 35a. When the upper limit sensor 55 and the lower limit sensor 59 are shielded, the lifting / lowering of the lifting / lowering body 35 is immediately stopped. The protrusion sensor 56 is for protruding the stopper 37 with respect to the article W on the elevating tray 36, and the protrusion return sensor 57 is for causing the elevating tray 36 to protrude and return when the elevating body 35 is raised. The height of the protrusion sensor 56 and the protrusion return sensor 57 can be adjusted by a known height adjusting mechanism (not shown). In this embodiment, the height of the upper surface of the article W on the elevating tray 36 of the protrusion sensor 56 is the stopper 37.
It is adjusted so as to be shielded when the elevating body 35 is positioned at a height exceeding the height of the upper surface of the. Accordingly, when the article W is supplied onto the elevating tray 36, it is possible to prevent the article W from interfering with the upper surface of the stopper 37 and causing a load collapse. Further, the protrusion return sensor 57 is used for the lift tray 36.
Is adjusted to be shielded by the shield plate 35a when the elevating body 35 is positioned at a height that is substantially the same as or slightly higher than the maximum height of the stacked articles transferred to the pallet P. This prevents the tip of the elevating tray 36 from interfering with the stacked articles on the pallet P and causing the load collapse when the elevating tray 36 is returned to the protruding state. The protrusion sensor 56 and the protrusion return sensor 57 may be adjusted to the optimum height according to the height and size of the articles W to be stacked. The origin sensor 58 is for initializing an encoder that detects the number of rotations of the servo motor for raising and lowering the lifting body 35 when the power is turned on. When the power is turned on, the elevating body 35 moves to a position where the origin sensor 58 is shielded, and then performs a predetermined elevating operation.

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-rear 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 forefront, 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.
Of the article conveying conveyor 1 is controlled by the pallet table conveyor driving means 54, and the pallet table driving roller conveyor is controlled by the pallet table conveyor driving means 54. Further, the control unit 48 is connected to the contact detection sensor 38, the upper limit sensor 55, the protrusion sensor 56, the protrusion return sensor 57, the origin sensor 58, and the lower limit sensor 59, and also connected to the first to seventh sensors 61 to 67. Then, each of the above means is controlled according to the detection results of these sensors.

[0028]

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 roller conveyor 7, the pusher 9 projects from the rear side of the roller conveyor 7 from the conveyance surface of the roller conveyor 7, and the article W is driven by driving the roller 6 and moving the pusher 9. It is transported forward. When the first sensor 61 detects the article W transported on the article transport conveyor 1,
When the sensor 63 detects the article W on the slope 8, the rollers of the article conveyor 1 are stopped to prevent the article W on the article conveyor 1 from being supplied onto the roller conveyor 7. It When the article W is no longer detected by the third sensor 63, the roller driving of the article conveyor 1 is immediately started and the next article W is placed on the roller conveyor 7. When the next article W is placed on the roller conveyor 7, while the article W is detected by the second sensor 62, if the lower fifth sensor 65 detects the pusher 9 that is moving upward, Is slowed down. When the article W is detected by the second sensor 62 even when the pusher 9 is detected by the upper fifth sensor, the pusher 9 is immediately stopped to push up the article W from below, or the pusher 9 Without protruding forward from the article W,
The articles W are supplied one by one. Further, when the article W on the slope 8 is not detected by the third sensor when the pusher 9 is detected by the sixth sensor 66 on the front side, the pusher 9 is decelerated. And the sixth on the rear side
Even when the pusher 9 is detected by the sensor 66, when the article W on the slope 8 is not detected by the third sensor 63, the pusher 9 is stopped and the idling is prevented. The right side walls of the articles W are arranged in advance on the transport conveyor 1 or the roller conveyor 7 by a known lateral aligning device. 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. At this time, the right side wall of the article W is substantially aligned with the right end of the article receiving tray 10.

Then, the article W is completely transferred to the article receiving tray 1.
When placed on 0, the pusher 9 pushing the article W enters below the slope 8. And the article receiving tray 1
0 descends to the lowest position. Article receiving tray 1 while descending
The posture of the article W on 0 is slidably brought into contact with the guide portion 12a of the stopper 12 and the posture of the article W is guided to a predetermined position on the article receiving tray 10.
That is, even when the article W is tilted by the pusher 9 and supplied onto the article receiving tray 10, the lower end rear end of the article W descends along a virtual surface including the guide portions 12a of the four stoppers 12. Thus, the rear end wall of the article W is guided so as to be parallel to the virtual surface including the stopper portions 12b of the four stoppers 12 (see FIG. 7). still,
The guide portion 12a has an appropriate inclination angle depending on the descending speed of the article receiving tray 10, the weight of the article W, and the like. The article W that is descending along the guide portion 12b is
The damage prevention member 13 attached to b prevents damage. Meanwhile, the lift tray 36 became empty.
Rises to the uppermost position (position approaching the article receiving tray 10 at the lowest position) and projects.

In this state, the article receiving tray 10 retreats, so that the article W, the movement of which is restricted by the stopper 12, has the stopper portion 1 of the stopper 12 having four rear end walls.
The sheets are aligned on a virtual surface including 2b and transferred onto the elevating tray 36. Also at this time, the article W is protected from the impact at the time of the collision by the scratch preventing member 13 attached to the stopper portion 12b.
Are protected. 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. The lifting tray 36 has a memory of the sequence in which the pusher 9 and the article receiving tray 10 have moved, and when the article W on the article receiving tray 10 at the uppermost position is detected by the fourth sensor 64, the seventh sensor 67
The article receiving tray 10 descends when the retreat movement of the article receiving tray 10 is detected, so that the article W only descends when the article W is reliably transferred from the article receiving tray 10.

During the loading operation of the articles W on the elevating tray 36, when the descending elevating / lowering body 35 reaches the position corresponding to the protrusion sensor 56, the stopper 37 causes the ejecting operation toward the articles W on the elevating tray 36. Start (see FIG. 13). Then, when the contact detection sensor 38 detects the contact with the article W, the projecting operation of the stopper 37 is stopped. Since the projecting operation of the stopper 37 is completed before the stacking on the elevating tray 36 is completed, the transfer operation to the pallet P can be performed immediately after the stacking is completed. In addition, the projecting operation of the stopper 37 is performed at a low speed so that the article W does not move due to an impact at the time of contact.
In addition, the proximity sensor 38d in the contact detection sensor 38
Is a non-contact sensor that detects contact with the plate to be detected 38c, and does not detect contact, so that it is not consumed. After that, the same operation as described above is repeated, and required articles W are stacked on the elevating tray 36 so that the rear end wall and the right side wall are aligned.

Thereafter, the lifting tray 36 is moved to the pallet table 45.
After descending to a position approaching the pallet P that is supplied and locked, the elevating tray 36 is retracted at high speed, and the stacked articles W are placed on the pallet P. At this time, immediately after the elevating tray 36 retreats, the stopper 37 also retreats at high speed.

After that, the pallet table 45 is horizontally moved as described later so that the stacking position of the next pallet P is positioned below the protruding tray 36. At the same time, the elevating tray 36 rises toward the uppermost position. Since the stopper 37 is retracted during the raising and lowering of the elevating tray 36, there is no interference even if there is an article W protruding forward in the stacked articles. Then, the lifting / lowering body 35 is used as the protrusion return sensor 5.
When the height corresponding to 7 is reached, the elevating tray 36 starts a horizontal projecting operation (projection returning operation) (see FIG. 14). Since the horizontal protruding operation of the elevating tray 36 is completed before reaching the uppermost position, after the elevating tray 36 reaches the uppermost position,
The next article W can be supplied immediately.

Thereafter, the same operation as described above is repeated,
A required number of articles W are stacked on the pallet P. It should be noted that the packing of the articles W on the pallet P is performed from (1) to (1
The order is 0). 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 the direction of arrow c. The transfer of the articles W from (6) to (10) is performed by intermittently moving the pallet P 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 the driving roller conveyor of the pallet table 45 and the unloading conveyor 47 are driven to carry out the pallet. It is carried out by the conveyor 47.

[0036]

[Modifications, etc.] Modifications will be described below. (1) The pallet table 45 may be a simple table. (2) The guide portion 12a may be a curved surface. (3) The stopper portion 12b may be a curved surface. (4) The protrusion of the stopper 37 and the protrusion return of the elevating tray 36 may be performed based on the detection result of the encoder. (5) The first to seventh sensors 61 to 67 may be reflective photoelectric sensors or contact sensors that detect when the article W contacts.

[0037]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the movement of the pusher is controlled according to the detection results of the article detector in the operating range of the pusher and the pusher detector in the non-operating range of the pusher. , When the pusher is detected by the pusher detector and no article is detected by the article detector, the movement of the pusher is stopped to prevent idling, so wasteful movement of the pusher and article receiving tray is prevented. Efficient work can be performed by eliminating the loss.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the movement of the pusher is controlled in accordance with the detection results of the article detector in the working entry portion of the pusher and the pusher detector in the non-operating range of the pusher, and the pusher detector detects the pusher movement. If an article is detected by the article detector when it is detected, make sure that the article is not pushed up from below by the pusher by stopping the movement of the pusher or the pusher does not project in front of the article. Items can be supplied one at a time.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the drive of the conveyor is controlled according to the detection result of the article detector in the pusher operating range and the article detector on the conveyor of the conveyor that supplies the article to the pusher operating range, When the article detector detects the article when the article detector detects the article, when the article detector detects the article, the conveyor drive is stopped so that the article receiving tray can be supplied with the articles twice. Preventing and reliable article supply is 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 of 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 perspective view of an article receiving tray and a stopper.

FIG. 8 is a power system diagram of the article receiving tray and the pusher.

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

FIG. 10 is a control block diagram.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a stopper and a contact detection sensor.

FIG. 12 is a front view for explaining the height detection of the lifting tray.

FIG. 13 is a side view for explaining the protrusion operation of the stopper.

FIG. 14 is a side view for explaining a protrusion return operation of the lifting tray.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W article P pallet 1 article transport conveyor 4 article supply device 5 side frame 10 article receiving tray 45 pallet stand 48 control means 49 endless belt drive means 60 article transport conveyor drive means 61 first sensor 62 second sensor 63 third sensor 64 64th 4 sensor 65 5th sensor 66 6th sensor 67 7th sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An article receiving tray that is vertically movable and horizontally movable, a pusher that feeds articles to the article receiving tray in a raised position, an article detector in an operating range of the pusher, and a non-operating range of the pusher. An article supply apparatus having a pusher detector, and an article detector and a control unit that controls movement of the pusher according to a detection result of the pusher detector. 2. An article receiving tray that is vertically movable and horizontally movable, a pusher that supplies articles to the article receiving tray in a raised position, an article detector in an operating range entry portion of the pusher, and a non-operation of the pusher. An article supply device having a pusher detector in a range, and an article detector and a control means for controlling movement of the pusher according to a detection result of the pusher detector. 3. An article receiving tray that is vertically movable and horizontally movable, a pusher that supplies articles to the article receiving tray in a raised position, an article detector in an operating range of the pusher, and an article in the operating range of the pusher. An article supply apparatus having: a conveyor for supplying the product; an article detector on the conveyor; and control means for controlling the drive of the conveyor according to the detection results of the article detector and the article detector on the conveyor.