JPH08294842A - Storing device for objects to be conveyed - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a storing device for objects to be conveyed which is capable of accurate handing-over works by preventing a pallet from tilting upon getting on foreign matter existing on an object conveying surface at the time of handing over the object from the pallet to an object conveyer. CONSTITUTION: A storing device for objects to be conveyed is composed of a base 1, a pallet conveying surface 2 provided over the base, a plurality of palets 3 loaded with objects and conveyed circulatively on the pallet conveying surface, and driving means 4, 5, 6 which convey the palets, wherewith the object is handed over to an object conveyer from each pallet stopped in a specified position A on the pallet conveying surface 2. A pallet floating means installed in the position A lifts the pallet stopped in the specified position and floats from the pallet conveying surface, and in this condition, holds the pallet 3 in the horizontal attitude.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention arranges a plurality of pallets on which objects to be conveyed (hereinafter referred to as "workpieces") are placed on a pallet conveying surface and circulates the pallets to circulate and convey them on a predetermined pallet conveying surface. The present invention relates to an improvement of a transported object storage device which stops at a predetermined position and transfers a work between the pallet and the transported object transportation device at this predetermined position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of pallets on which works are placed are arranged on a pallet carrying surface, and while the pallets are cyclically carried, a predetermined pallet is stopped at a predetermined position on the pallet carrying surface. 2. Description of the Related Art There is a known transported object storage device that exchanges works between a pallet and the transported object transportation device. Further, in such an object storage device, works are stacked on the pallet in multiple stages, and the works are lifted from a pallet stopped at a predetermined position on the pallet transfer surface to a predetermined height position, Some are equipped with a lift-up device that transfers work at a height position.

However, in the above-described conventional object storage device, for example, the casters attached to the lower surface of the pallet on which the work is placed conveys the pallet while rolling on the pallet conveying surface. If foreign substances such as chips are scattered on the pallet transport surface, the casters will ride on the foreign substances and the pallet will tilt when transferring work to and from the object transfer device to ensure normal work. You may not be able to exchange. Therefore, the operator must clean the pallet transport surface to remove the foreign matter as appropriate, which poses a problem that the work burden on the operator is large and the work efficiency is reduced. Such a problem is also the same in a transported object transporting device in which a plate-shaped pallet is transported on a large number of rollers arranged on the pallet transport surface. Further, in the transported object storage device provided with a lift-up device, a driving body for raising and lowering a work and a stopper for restricting the movement of the pallet when the pallet is positioned at the predetermined position to transfer the work are provided. Since the driving body for operating the apparatus is provided separately, there is a problem in that the structure of the transported object storage device becomes complicated and the cost becomes high.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and even when foreign matter is scattered on the pallet conveying surface, the transfer of a work to and from a conveyed object conveying device is performed. A simple structure that prevents tilting of the pallet due to the casters riding on the foreign matter at a predetermined position and keeps the pallet horizontal so that accurate work transfer can be performed between the pallet and the object transfer device. An object of the present invention is to provide a transported object storage device.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the transported object storage apparatus of the present invention has a base body, a pallet carrying surface provided on the upper part of the base body, and a carried object placed thereon. Between the pallet stopped at a predetermined position on the pallet transport surface and the transported object transporting device, which comprises a plurality of pallets that are circulated and transported on the pallet transport surface and a driving unit that transports the pallet. In the transported object storage device that transfers and receives transported objects, provided at the predetermined position,
The pallet floating means is provided for floating the pallet stopped at the predetermined position from the pallet transport surface and for horizontally holding the floated pallet.

Further, it comprises an elevating member, an arm provided on the elevating member, and a driving body for elevating the elevating member, and the object to be conveyed placed on the pallet at the predetermined position is moved by the arm to a predetermined height. A lift-up device for transferring the transferred object to and from the transferred object transferring device in the vicinity of the predetermined position of the base, and the pallet floating means is provided on the elevating member. A cam, a swing lever that is swingably provided on the base body and is swingable by the cam as the lift member moves up and down, and a swing operation of the swing lever that is vertically movable on the base body. A moving body which is moved up and down through the pallet conveying surface by means of a pallet, a pallet mounting portion which is provided at the upper end of the moving body, and which mounts and lifts the pallet by the ascending movement of the moving body, and the pallet. Is formed to protrude on the placing portion, it may constitute from the engaging portion disengaging the engaging hole formed in the pallet.

[0007]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it operates as follows. The work is placed on the pallet and intermittently circulated and conveyed on the pallet conveying surface. When performing transfer of a work between the pallet stopped at a predetermined position and an object transfer device such as a robot, the pallet is lifted by the pallet levitation means provided at the predetermined position,
The pallet emerges from the pallet transport surface. The pallet is lifted by the pallet floating means and held horizontally. Therefore, even if foreign matter such as cutting chips is scattered on the pallet transport surface, the pallet can always be kept horizontal during the transfer of the work, and the transfer of the work can be performed accurately.
In a transported object storage device having a lift-up device, a pallet loading unit moves up and down in conjunction with a lifting member by a cam provided on a lifting member of the lift-up device to load and lift a pallet, Since the engaging portion provided on the placing portion engages with the engaging hole of the pallet to accurately position the pallet, it is possible to raise and lower the elevating member, lift the pallet, and position the pallet with a single driving body. Therefore, the configuration of the transported object storage device can be simplified.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the entire transported object storage device, and FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the structure of pallet floating means according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state where the pallet floating means lifts the pallet.

The transported object storage device has a pallet transfer surface 2 on an upper part of a substrate 1, and a plurality of pallets 3 on which a work W is placed are rotated clockwise in FIG. It can be circulated and conveyed in any direction. That is, two sprockets 5 and 5 are arranged on one side and the other side of the pallet conveying surface 2, and
A chain 6 is stretched between the five. The pallets 3 are connected to the chains 6 at equal intervals, and are conveyed on the pallet conveying surface 2 as the chains 6 run. One sprocket 5 on the drive side is attached to one side of a gear 5a rotatably supported on the base body 1, and the gear 5a is a pinion rotated by a motor 4 as a drive body attached to the base body 1. It meshes with 7. The motor 4, the sprocket 5, the chain 6 and the like described above constitute a driving means for conveying the pallet 3. According to this aspect, when the motor 4 is driven, the sprocket 5 meshing with the pinion 7 rotates, the chain 6 circulates between the sprockets 5 and 5, and the pallet 3 moves on the pallet conveying surface 2 in the same direction as the chain 6 travels. Is conveyed in the direction. In FIG. 1, reference numerals C ₁ and C ₂ detect that the work W has risen to a predetermined height position, and control the drive of a drive motor S such as an inverter motor or a servo motor described later of the lift-up device 10. Is a photoelectric switch for performing the above, and is provided so as to face the upper portions of the columns 1a, 1a standing on both sides of the pallet stop position A. Also,
As shown in FIG. 2, the pallet 3 and the chain 6 are provided with a guide pin 6 vertically provided on one side edge of the pallet 3.
The roller a provided between the plates of the chain 6 is inserted, and the pallet 3 is connected to the chain 6 so as to be vertically movable along the guide pins 6a.

[0010] One of the turning portion R ₁ of the pallet carrying surfaces of two pivot portion R ₁ of the 2, R ₂ the travel direction of the chain 6 is reversed, the site where the pallet 3 is pivoted 90 degrees from the straight portion, In order to transfer the work W between the pallet 3 and an object transfer device such as a robot (not shown), the pallet 3
A pallet stop position A for positioning and stopping is provided. Further, in this embodiment, the transported object storage device is a lift-up device 1 for lifting the work W on the pallet 3 to a predetermined height position in the vicinity of the pallet stop position A.
Has 0. The lift-up device 10 includes a base 1
And a drive motor S for moving the lifting member 11 up and down.
A rack 11b that is provided in the up-down direction and that meshes with a pinion Sa that is attached to the rotation shaft of the drive motor S; and an arm 13 that is attached to the upper end of the elevating member 11 and projects to the pallet conveying surface 2. . Pallet 3
So as not to interfere with the arm 13 from the central portion of the pallet truck 3d having the casters 8 to the pallet transport surface 2
A supporting body 3b is erected at an eccentric position inward of the above, and a mounting table 3a for mounting the tray 9 is attached to the upper end of the supporting body 3b. In the initial state in which the pallet 3 has been conveyed to the pallet stop position A, the arm 13 is located between the pallet truck 3d and the mounting table 3a. The work W is placed on the tray 9, and the arm 13 moves up and down together with the tray 9 as the elevating member 11 is moved up and down by driving the drive motor S.

Above the rack 11b, there is a taper portion 14a which inclines downward toward the base 1 side, and this taper portion 14
a straight part 14 which is continuous with a and is parallel to the elevating direction of the elevating member 11.
A cam 14 composed of b and b is provided. Also, the base 1
A guide member 16 is attached to the side of the first guide member 16, and an inner peripheral portion 16a of a bearing 18b, 18b such as an oilless bearing, a sliding bearing, a rolling bearing, or the like is inserted through the guide member 16.
A moving body 18 is provided. This first moving body 18
The bearings 18b and 18b can move back and forth on the same axis as the inner peripheral portion 16a. On the other hand, a guide member 17 is attached to the guide member 17 through the pallet conveying surface 2 at a position not interfering with the casters 8 of the pallet 3 passing through the pallet stop position A, at substantially the center of the pallet stop position A. A bearing 17b similar to the bearings 18b, 18b is provided in the vertical direction, and a second moving body 20 is provided by inserting an inner peripheral portion 17a of the bearing 17b. The second moving body 20 is vertically movable on the same axis as the inner peripheral portion 17a by the bearing 17b. A disk-shaped pallet mounting portion 21 for mounting the pallet 3 on the lower surface of the pallet truck 3d is provided on the upper part of the second moving body 20, and the peripheral portion is formed at the center of the pallet mounting portion 21. The engagement portion 21 formed in a tapered shape is provided in a protruding manner. Also, pallet truck 3d
An engaging hole 27 that is engageable with and disengageable from the engaging portion 21 is formed substantially at the center.

A spring 25 is fitted in the inner peripheral portion 17a, and a lower end of the spring 25 is engaged with a spring receiving member 24 provided at a lower portion of the second moving body 20. That is,
The second moving body 20 is constantly urged downward by the spring 25. An inverted L-shaped swing lever 23 is arranged between the first moving body 18 and the second moving body 20, and is swingably provided on a mounting member 19 mounted on the base body 1 with a shaft 22 as a fulcrum. ing. The swing lever 23 is used for the first moving body 1.
8 and the second moving body 20 can swing in the same plane,
Both ends of the swing lever 23 are always in contact with the first moving body 18 and the second moving body 20. Then, the swing lever 23
When the first moving body 18 moves inward of the base body 1, it can swing in the direction of the arrow J in FIG. 2 to push up the second moving body 20.

The roller 26 rolls along the cam 14 as the lifting member 11 moves up and down to move the first moving body 18 forward and backward. However, the roller 26 causes the taper portion 14 of the cam 14 to move.
When the vehicle has reached the end of a (when the state shown by the phantom line in FIG. 2), the first moving body 18 moves to the innermost side of the base body 1 and pushes up the second moving body 20 to the highest position, and the pallet is placed. The pallet 3 is lifted by the placing section 21. Also, the casters 8 float up from the pallet transport surface 2. As in this embodiment, the swing lever 23 having an inverted L shape is used, and
Alternatively, by appropriately selecting the portions where the second moving bodies 18 and 20 come into contact with the swing lever 23, the vertical moving amount of the second moving body 20 relative to the horizontal moving amount of the first moving body 18 can be adjusted. The ratio can be arbitrarily selected.

Next, the operation of the transported object storage device having the above structure will be described. When the motor 4 is driven and the chain 6 circulates between the sprockets 5 and 5, each pallet 3 arranged on the pallet conveying surface 2 is pulled by the chain 6 and conveyed in the clockwise direction in FIG. When the predetermined pallet 3 is conveyed to the pallet stop position A provided on the revolving unit R ₁ , the driving of the motor 4 is stopped and the conveyance of the pallet 3 is stopped. At this time, the engagement hole 27 formed in the center of the pallet truck 3d is located almost directly above the second moving body 20. Next, the work W on the pallet 3
When the drive motor S is driven to lift the arm 13 by the arm 13, the elevating member 11 ascends in the direction of arrow H in FIG. At this time, the roller 26 of the first moving body 18 comes into contact with the tapered portion 14a of the cam 14, and the roller 26 rolls along the tapered portion 14a, so that the first moving body 18 is moved to the base 1
Move inward. Since the first moving body 18 is in contact with the swing lever 23 and pushes the swing lever 23, the swing lever 23 swings around the shaft 22 in the direction of arrow J in FIG. Push up. In the pallet 3, the engaging portion 21a is inserted into the engaging hole 27, fine positioning is performed by the taper portion formed on the peripheral edge of the engaging portion 21a, and the pallet 3 is placed on the pallet placing portion 21 and lifted. .

As a result, the casters 8 are floated from the pallet conveying surface 2, and the pallet 3 is placed on the pallet placing portion 21 and held in a horizontal state. Therefore, even if foreign matter such as chips is scattered on the pallet transport surface 2, the caster 8 can prevent the inclination of the pallet 3 due to the foreign matter, and the accurate workpiece W can be transferred to and from the transported object transporting device. You can give and receive. Even if the pallet 3 is lifted, the pallet 3 can be raised together with the guide pin 6a with respect to the chain 6 and the sprocket 5, so that the chain 6 and the sprocket 5 are not overloaded.

Thereafter, the arm 13 holds the work W in the tray 9
The work is transferred to and received from an object transfer device (not shown) by lifting the entire work piece and raising it to a work transfer position of a predetermined height. The drive of the drive motor S is controlled by the support 1a. This is performed by the detection signals of the photoelectric switches C ₁ and C ₂ provided in 1a. After the transfer of the work W to and from the object-to-be-conveyed device is completed, the arm 13 descends to mount the tray 9 on the mounting table 3a. The arm 13 further descends and returns to the initial position between the mounting table 3a and the pallet truck 3d. On the other hand, the second moving body 20, the swing lever 23, and the first
Since the moving body 18 is constantly urged downward by the spring 25, the roller 26 of the first moving body 18 completely descends the taper portion 14a of the cam 14 in the process of lowering the elevating member 11 to move the first and second movements. Body 18, 20, rocking lever 23
Returns to the initial state. After that, the above operation is repeated.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.
For example, although the transported object storage device having the lift-up device 10 has been described as an example in the above embodiment, the present invention may be applied to other transported object storage devices not having the lift-up device 10. It is possible. In this case, a driving body such as a cylinder or a driving motor for operating the pallet floating means 15 is required, but since the engaging portion 21a formed on the second moving body 20 serves as a stopper, There is no difference in that the pallet 3 can be lifted and lifted by a single driving body and the device can be simplified. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the lift-up device 10 lifts and lowers the arm 13 by combining the drive motor S and the photoelectric switch, but the arm 13 may be lifted and lowered only by the drive motor S.
Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the pallet 3 having the casters 8 is explained as being conveyed on the flat pallet conveying surface 2, but the pallet is arranged on the rollers arranged in large numbers on the pallet conveying surface 2. It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to a transported object transporting device.

[0018]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. Since the pallet is lifted by the pallet levitation means and held horizontally at a predetermined position where the work is transferred to and from the object-to-be-conveyed device, foreign matter such as chips is scattered on the pallet conveying surface. Also, it is possible to accurately transfer the transferred object with the transferred object transfer device. Therefore, it is not necessary for the worker to properly clean the pallet transport surface, the work load on the worker is reduced, and the work efficiency is also improved. Further, in the transported object transporting apparatus having the lift-up device, the pallet floating means can be operated in conjunction with the operation of the lift-up device lifting the transported object on the pallet to lift the pallet. The drive body of the apparatus and the drive body of the pallet floating means can be unified, and a transported object storage device having a simple structure can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a transported object storage device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view from the direction of arrow I-I of FIG. 1 for explaining the configuration of the pallet floating means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state where a pallet is lifted by a pallet floating means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Base 2 Pallet Conveying Surface 3 Pallet 4 Motor (Drive) 5 Sprocket 6 Chain 6a Guide Pin 9 Tray 10 Lift-up Device 11 Lifting Member 11b Rack 13 Arm 14 Cam 14a Tapered Part 14b Straight Part 15 Pallet Floating Means 16, 17 Guide Members 16a, 17a Inner peripheral portion 18 First moving body 19 Mounting member 20 Second moving body 21 Pallet mounting portion 21a Engaging portion 23 Swing lever 24 Spring receiving member 25 Spring 26 Roller 27 Engaging hole S Drive motor (drive) body)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of bases (1), a pallet transfer surface (2) provided on the upper part of the base, and an object (W) to be transferred are circulated and transferred on the pallet transfer surface. Pallet
(3) and drive means (4,5, 6) for transporting this pallet, and the pallet stopped at the predetermined position (A) on the pallet transport surface and the transport device for the transported object. In the transported object storage device for transferring and delivering a transported object, the pallet (3) provided at the predetermined position (A) and stopped at the predetermined position is levitated from the pallet transport surface, and the pallet is floated. A transported object storage device, characterized in that it has a pallet floating means for holding it horizontally. 2. An elevating member (11), an arm (13) provided on the elevating member, and a driving body for elevating the elevating member.
(S), and the object to be transferred (W) placed on the pallet (3) at the predetermined position (A) is lifted to a predetermined height position by the arm and is transferred to and from the object transfer device. A lift-up device (10) for transferring and receiving the transported object is provided near the predetermined position (A) of the base body, and the pallet floating means is a cam (14) provided on the elevating member (11), A swing lever (23) swingably provided on the base body and swingable by the cam as the lift member moves up and down; and a swing operation of the swing lever provided on the base body so as to move up and down. A moving body (20) which is moved up and down through the pallet conveying surface (2) by means of the pallet and a pallet mounting section which is provided at the upper end of the moving body and which mounts and lifts the pallet by the ascending movement of the moving body. (21) and an engagement hole (3b) formed on the pallet mounting portion so as to project therefrom and formed on the pallet. It comprised of engagement disengaging the engaging portion and (21a), the transported object storage device according to claim 1, wherein the.