JPH08277026A - Chain for conveying article - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To constitute a conveyance direction change device for article such as assorting device inexpensively. CONSTITUTION: In a chain 10 for conveying article, a support body 15 is provided integrally with an outer link plate 11 on a chain outer peripheral side of the outer link plate 11. An opposing support section 16 protrudes and is provided on the chain outer peripheral side in each support body 15. A roller 17 on which an article can be put is rotatably supported between the opposing support sections 16 in each support body 15. A rotary shaft 18 of the roller 17 forms a predetermined angle θ for a direction orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction (right and left directions) when viewed on plane.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article conveying chain formed by connecting a large number of link plates to each other by connecting pins, and more specifically, an article conveying direction changing device such as a sorting device is inexpensively constructed. For the structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for sorting articles, as shown in FIG.
9 is conveyed upward in FIG. 9 along with the movement of the conveyor chain 60, and at the predetermined sorting position, the sorting wheel 62 is rotated in a state in which the sorting wheel 62 is projected upward from the transport chain 60, whereby the articles 61 are predetermined. There is one that sorts in the direction (left and right direction in FIG. 9) (actual Kaihei 4-1).
No. 07724). The sorting wheel 62 is rotatably supported together with the friction wheel 64 at the tip of the swing arm 63, and rotates in conjunction with the friction wheel 64. The swing arm 63 is swingably supported on both sides in the moving direction of the transport chain 60. Sorting wheel 62 and friction wheel 6
Reference numeral 4 denotes the transport chain 6 as the swing arm 63 swings.
It is displaced from a position where it does not project above 0 to a position where it projects.

In such a sorting device, the friction wheel 64 is displaced upward by engaging a pop-up rail 65 provided at a predetermined sorting position, and is rotated as the transport chain 60 moves. It By the upward displacement and rotation of the friction wheel 64, the sorting wheel 62 projects upward from the transport chain 60 to support the articles 61, and
It rotates in conjunction with the friction wheel 64. The rotation of the sorting wheel 62 changes the transport direction of the articles 61 and carries them out in a predetermined sorting direction.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional sorting apparatus, on both sides of the transport chain 60 in the moving direction,
Friction wheel 64 and sorting wheel 62
Is provided so as to be vertically displaceable via the swing arm 63. For this reason, the structure of the transport chain 60 is complicated and the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are increased, and it is necessary to considerably increase the spacing between the rows of the transport chain 60, that is, the spacing in the direction orthogonal to the chain moving direction. . Therefore, for example, when an existing chain roller type conveyor or the like is used to configure the sorting apparatus, it is necessary to change the arrangement of each row of the transport chain 60, and it is also necessary to review the layout of the entire conveyor. There is a risk that When reviewing the conveyor layout, there is a problem that a great amount of labor and time are required and the cost becomes high.

The object of the present invention can be easily applied to, for example, an existing chain roller type conveyor or the like without changing the conveyor layout or the like, whereby an article conveying direction changing device such as a sorting device can be inexpensively manufactured. An object of the present invention is to provide an article transporting chain that can be configured.

[0006]

The above object of the present invention can be achieved by the following constitutions. In an article conveying chain (10) formed by connecting a large number of link plates (11, 12) to each other with a connecting pin (14), the chain is provided on the outer circumference side of each link plate (11). A support (15) and each support (15) with a rotating shaft (1
And 8) rotatably supported so as to form a predetermined angle (θ) in a plan view with respect to a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the chain, and rollers (17) on which articles can be placed. A chain (10) for conveying articles, characterized by:

A large number of link plates (21, 23,
In the article transport chain (20, 30) formed by connecting 35) to each other by connecting pins (21, 32), the rollers (24, 31) on which articles can be placed are virtual centers that serve as rotation axes. The connecting pins (21, 32) are rotatably provided so that the lines (25, 34) form a predetermined angle (θ) in a plan view with respect to a direction orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction. A chain for carrying goods.

[0008]

In the article conveying chain according to the present invention, a large number of link plates are connected to each other by connecting pins to form an endless shape. The support body is provided on the outer peripheral side of the chain in each link plate. The roller is rotatably supported by each support so that the rotation axis forms a predetermined angle in a plan view with respect to the direction orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction, and an article can be placed on the roller. It is preferable that the support is detachably fitted to the outer peripheral side of the chain in each link plate.

In the article conveying chain according to the present invention, the plurality of link plates are connected to each other by connecting pins. The rollers are rotatably supported by the respective connecting pins such that the virtual center line serving as the rotation axis forms a predetermined angle in a plan view with respect to the direction orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction, and the articles are placed on the rollers. It is possible.

[0010]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.
1 and 2 are views showing a part of an article carrying chain 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a plan view, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing rollers and a support. In the article transport chain 10, a large number of outer and inner link plates 11 and 12 are partially overlapped in the moving direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1) and are orthogonal to the moving direction (FIG. The guide rollers 13 are arranged in two rows at predetermined intervals in the left and right direction.
The article transport chain 10 includes link plates 1 in each row.
By connecting the guide rollers 1 and 12 together with the guide roller 13 by the connecting pin 14, the end rollers 1 and 12 are formed endlessly along the moving direction.

Supports 15 are respectively provided on the outer peripheral sides (upper side in FIG. 2) of the chains of the outer link plates 11 in each row.
The support member 16 is provided integrally with the outer link plate 11, and each support member 15 is provided with a support portion 16 facing each other so as to project to the outer peripheral side of the chain. Rollers 17 on which articles can be placed are rotatably supported between opposing support portions 16 of each support body 15. The rotation shaft 18 of the roller 17 forms a predetermined angle θ (about 45 ° in this embodiment) in a plan view with respect to a direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 1) orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction. The guide roller 13 has a connecting pin 14
Are rotatably supported between the inner link plates 12 in each row, and the guide rollers 13 are appropriately engaged with the guide rails 19 so that the article transport chain 10 can be moved along a predetermined path along the guide rails 19. invite.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views showing a part of the article conveying chain 20 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
Is a plan view, and FIG. 4 is a view taken in the direction of arrow B in FIG. In these drawings, the outer link plates 21 in each row are not provided with the supports as in the first embodiment, and instead of the supports, the inner links in each row in the central part of each connecting pin 22 are replaced. Bushings 24 are fitted between the plates 23 such that they cannot rotate relative to each other. Roller 25 on which articles can be placed
Are rotatably supported by the respective connecting pins 22 via the bushes 24. The virtual center line 26, which is the rotation axis of the roller 25, forms a predetermined angle θ (about 30 ° in the present embodiment) in a plan view with respect to the direction orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction (the horizontal direction in FIG. 3). . Guide rollers 27 are rotatably supported at both ends of each connecting pin 22, and the guide rollers 27 are appropriately engaged with the guide rails 28 so that the article transport chain 20 can be guided. Follow a predetermined route along.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are views showing a part of the article carrying chain 30 according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
Is a plan view, and FIG. 6 is a view taken in the direction of arrow C in FIG. In these drawings, the roller 31 on which the article can be placed is shown by the respective connecting pins 3
It is rotatably supported by each connecting pin 32 via bushes 33 fitted to both ends of the shaft 2 so as not to rotate relative to each other. The virtual center line 34, which is the rotation axis of the roller 31, has a predetermined angle θ (about 25 ° in this embodiment) in a plan view with respect to the direction orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction (the horizontal direction in FIG. 5).
Make In addition, guide rollers 36 are rotatably supported between the inner link plates 35 of each row in the central portion of each connecting pin 32, and the guide rollers 36 are appropriately engaged with the guide rails 37. ,
The article carrying chain 30 is guided to a predetermined path along the guide rail 37.

As described above, according to the first to third embodiments,
The rollers 17, 25, 31 on which articles can be placed are rotatably supported by each support 15 (first embodiment) or each connecting pin 22, 32 (second and third embodiment).
Rotating shaft 18 of roller 17 (first embodiment) or roller 2
Since the virtual center lines 26 and 34 (second and third embodiments) serving as the rotation axes of 5, 31 form a predetermined angle θ with respect to the direction orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction in plan view, for example, existing It can be easily applied as a chain for conveying articles such as a chain roller type conveyor without changing the conveyor layout or the like. As a result, it is possible to inexpensively configure an article conveying direction changing device such as a sorting device.

Incidentally, the article conveying chain 10 of the first embodiment.
Is a chain with an existing attachment (not shown)
It can also be configured using. That is, the roller is rotatably supported by a support made of resin or the like, and the support supporting the roller is detachably fitted to an attachment provided on the outer link plate of the chain. That is, the support body unitized by supporting the roller is fitted into the attachment from the outer peripheral side of the chain. According to this, existing chain roller type conveyors using chains with attachments can be easily modified into an article conveying direction changing device such as a sorting device, so that the sorting device can be constructed at an extremely low cost. You can

7 and 8 are views showing a part of a sorting apparatus 40 to which the article conveying chain 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view and FIG. 8 is a conveying diagram. It is the figure seen along the direction A. In these figures, the articles 41 placed on the rollers 17 of the article conveying chain 10 are shown.
Is conveyed in a predetermined conveying direction (direction of arrow A) as the article conveying chain 10 moves, and is prevented from moving by the elevating stopper 42 at a predetermined sorting position to change the course to a substantially right angle in plan view. Then, it is moved to the right in FIG. 7 and transferred onto a predetermined branch chute 43.

The article-conveying chains 10 are provided in four rows in parallel in a direction orthogonal to the article-conveying direction (direction of arrow A) at predetermined intervals. The article transport chains 10 in each row are wound around a pair of sprockets 44, and the sprocket 44 at the upper end in FIG. 7 is driven by a motor 47 or the like via a connecting shaft 45 and a gear 46. As it rotates, it rotates in a predetermined direction. As a result, the article conveying chain 10 is moved to the guide roller 13
Chain guide 4 provided on the conveyor frame 48
While being guided by 9, it is moved along a predetermined route.

In the lifting stopper 42, the carrying direction A
The comb-like stopper frame 50 is supported by the conveyor frame 48 so as to be able to move up and down. The stopper frame 50 includes a plurality of (four in FIG. 8) stopper rollers 51.
Is rotatably supported about a substantially vertical rotation axis (not shown). The elevating stopper 42 is moved up and down on the stopper frame 50 by an actuator 52 such as an air cylinder provided on the conveyor frame 48, and the stopper roller 51 is raised to a raised position E above the upper surface of the roller 17 and a descent without protruding. It is displaced with respect to the position F. That is, when the conveyed article 41 is transferred onto the branch chute 43, the lift stopper 42 is moved by the actuator 52 to the stopper roller 51.
Is moved from the lowered position F to the raised position E, and the article 41 is transferred onto a predetermined branch chute 43.

The operation of the sorting device 40 will be described below.
The article carrying chain 10 carries the article 41 placed on the roller 17 in the carrying direction A as the article 41 moves along a predetermined path. The lift stopper 42 is used for the article 4 on the roller 17.
1 is transferred onto the branch chute 43,
The stopper roller 51 is displaced to the raised position E, and the article 41
Is engaged with the stopper roller 51 to prevent movement in the transport direction A. The article 41 that has been prevented from moving produces a predetermined frictional force with the roller 17, and as the article transporting chain 10 moves, the upper surface of the roller 17 moves in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the article transporting chain 10 ( The roller 17 is rotated in the direction of arrow G in FIG. As a result, the article 41 moves rightward in FIG. 7 along the stopper frame 50 while rotating the stopper roller 51 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 7, and is transferred onto the predetermined branch chute 43. Thereafter, the article 41 is conveyed on the branch chute 43 while being guided by the fixed guide 53.

The moving speed of the article 41 along the stopper is mainly the moving speed V (m / m) of the article conveying chain 10.
Minute) and the rotation axis 18 of the roller 17 makes an angle θ with respect to a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the article conveying chain 10 (that is, the conveying direction A). That is, referring to FIG. 7, the force F1 that attempts to move the article 41 to the right in FIG. 7 is one component of the force F2 that acts on the article 41 by the rotation of the roller 17 in the direction of arrow G in FIG. is there. The other component of the force F2 is the force F3 acting in the opposite direction to the conveyance direction, which acts on the article 41 whose movement is blocked by the lift stopper 42.
Is.

Therefore, when the moving speed of the article conveying chain 10 is V, the rotation speed of the roller 17 in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 7 is represented by V / cos θ, and the rotation speed of the article 41 shown in FIG.
The moving speed to the center right is (V / cos θ) sin θ = V
-Represented by tan θ. Further, the relative speed between the article 41 and the article transport chain 10 is equal to the moving speed V of the article transport chain 10. For example, when θ = 45 °, the moving speed of the article 41 to the right in FIG. 7 is V · tan 45 °.
= V, and the article 41 moves to the right in FIG. 7 at the moving speed V.

The chain 10 for conveying articles according to the first embodiment.
Instead of this, the article transporting chain 20 of the second embodiment or the article transporting chain 30 of the third embodiment can be used to configure a sorting device similar to that described above. Further, in the above embodiment, the branching direction is perpendicular to the carrying direction, but the branching direction is not limited to the direction perpendicular to the carrying direction, and the branching direction may be an acute angle or an obtuse angle with the carrying direction.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the support is provided on the outer peripheral side of the chain in each link plate, and the roller on which the article can be placed has the rotation axis orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the chain. Since each support is rotatably supported so as to form a predetermined angle with respect to the direction in plan view, the conveyor layout or the like is changed, for example, as an article transport chain such as an existing chain roller conveyor. The present invention can be easily applied without the need for a device, and thus an article conveying direction changing device such as a sorting device can be constructed at low cost. According to the invention,
The roller on which the article can be placed is rotatably supported by the respective connecting pins such that the virtual center line serving as the rotation axis forms a predetermined angle in a plan view with respect to the direction orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction. Therefore, for example, it can be easily applied as an article conveying chain such as an existing chain roller type conveyor without changing the conveyor layout and the like, and thereby an article conveying direction changing device such as a sorting device can be configured at low cost. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a part of an article carrying chain that is a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a roller and a support.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a part of an article carrying chain that is a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view on arrow B of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a part of an article carrying chain that is a third embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a view on arrow C of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing a part of a sorting device to which the article carrying chain of the present invention is applied.

8 is a view of the sorting apparatus of FIG. 7 as viewed in the transport direction A. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a conventional sorting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 20, 30 Article transport chain 11, 21 Outer link plate 12, 23, 35 Inner link plate 14, 22, 32 Connecting pin 15 Supporting body 17, 25, 31 Roller 18 Rotating shaft 24, 33 Bushing 26, 34 Rotation Virtual center line serving as axis 40 Sorting device 42 Lifting stopper θ Predetermined angle (angle formed by the rotation axis of the roller or its virtual extension line with the direction orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction) A Conveying direction G Rolling direction of roller

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An article-conveying chain (10) formed by connecting a large number of link plates (11, 12) to each other by connecting pins (14) to form an endless chain, wherein the chain outer periphery of each link plate (11) The support (15) provided on each side, and a predetermined angle (θ) in plan view with respect to the direction in which the rotation axis (18) is orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction on each support (15).
An article-conveying chain (10), comprising: rollers (17) rotatably supported so that articles can be placed thereon. 2. A large number of link plates (21, 23, 3)
In the article conveying chain (20, 30) formed by connecting 5) to each other by connecting pins (21, 32), the rollers (24, 31) on which the articles can be placed are the virtual centers that serve as rotation axes. The connecting pins (21, 32) are rotatably provided so that the lines (25, 34) form a predetermined angle (θ) in a plan view with respect to a direction orthogonal to the chain longitudinal direction. A chain for carrying goods.