JPH09221220A - Passage ensuring conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact conveyor capable of ensuring a passage permitting the traffic of persons between machines and conveying works between machines, in work conveying equipments in a production plant. SOLUTION: A work conveying state where a mobile conveyor 3 is adjacent to the downstream part 2a of a carrying-in conveyor 2 and the upstream part of a carrying-out conveyor 4 to carry out a work W carried from the carrying-in conveyor 2 to the carrying-out conveyor 4, can be switched to a passage forming state where the mobile conveyor 3 is stored on the side part of the carrying-out conveyor 4, and a passage R is formed between the carrying-in conveyor 2 and the carrying-out conveyor 4. In the work conveying state, work guides 8, 9 for flicking out the work W to the mobile conveyor 3 are formed at the part where the mobile conveyor 3 is adjacent to the carrying-in conveyor 2, and work guides 9, 10 for flicking out the work W to the conveying-out conveyor 4 are formed at the part where the mobile conveyor 3 is adjacent to the carrying-out conveyor 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work transfer facility in a production factory or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conveyor is an example of a work transfer facility in a production factory. However, when the conveyor is installed in the factory, it is necessary to secure a passage for crossing the conveyor for the sake of convenience. As an example, the device shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is considered. In these figures, 61
Are conventional conveyors, and 62 to 64 are a carry-in conveyor, a passage forming conveyor, and a carry-out conveyor, respectively, between the carry-in conveyor 62 and the path forming conveyor 63, and between the path forming conveyor 63 and the carry-out conveyor 64. Elevator 6 for vertically transporting works in between
5,66 are installed.

These conveyors 61 operate as follows. That is, from the carry-in conveyor 62 to the elevator 6
The work fed into the No. 5 is lifted to the position of the passage forming conveyor 63 by the elevator 65, conveyed to the elevator 66 on the downstream side by the passage forming conveyor 63, and then lowered to the height of the carry-out conveyor 64 by the elevator 66 again. It is sent to the downstream side.

That is, the work is carried by these conveyors 61.
Since it is conveyed in a convex shape in a side view, by raising the position of this passage forming conveyor 63 sufficiently,
A person can pass under the passage forming conveyor 63. Alternatively, on the contrary, there is also one in which the height of the passage forming conveyor 63 is made sufficiently low so that a person can pass over the conveyor. Further, it is also implemented that the lifters vertically convey between the conveyors 62 and 63 and between the conveyors 63 and 64. In addition, arrow A in the figure indicates the direction in which the work is conveyed, and arrow B indicates the opposite direction.

FIG. 9 shows another conveyor 61 'for securing a passage.
In this drawing, a swivel conveyor 63 ′ that is swivelable is provided between the carry-in conveyor 62 and the carry-out conveyor 64. With this configuration, the swivel conveyor 63 ′ can be changed to the carry-in conveyor 62.
By arranging in a straight line between the carry-out conveyor 64 and the carry-out conveyor 64, the turning conveyor 63 ′ can send the work carried in from the carry-in conveyor 62 to the carry-out conveyor 64 on the downstream side (see FIG. 1). Also, this swiveling conveyor 63 '
By swirling, it is possible to secure a passage between the carry-in conveyor 62 and the carry-out conveyor 64 for a person to cross the conveyor.

[0006]

However, when the passage forming conveyer 63 is provided at a high position in order to form a passage in the above structure, the work is vertically conveyed to the passage forming conveyer 63. Therefore, it is necessary to use a large-scale elevator or lifter, which not only requires a very expensive device, but also the size of the device makes the visibility in the factory worse and the appearance of the device is deteriorated. Further, when the passage forming conveyor 63 is provided at a low position, there is a problem that not only is it inconvenient to pass, but also a trolley and the like cannot be passed.

Further, in the case of the structure in which the swivel conveyor 63 'is rotated, an operation range 67 for rotating the swivel conveyor 63' is required, and a lot of space must be taken in the factory.

In addition to the above-mentioned inconvenience, in the conventional conveyor, since the two conveyors to be connected are arranged in a straight line, there is always a place 68 (work transfer position) where the conveyors are interrupted at the connection place between the conveyors. Because it exists
During installation of these conveyors, it becomes extremely difficult to adjust the installation position, and this installation adjustment takes time.

In particular, when a work is conveyed in the vertical direction by an elevator or a lifter, there are many work transfer points 68 between the elevators and lifters 65 and 66 and the conveyors 62 to 64. There was a high possibility that the work was stopped at the location 68 due to the work being caught in the work. Also, when the swivel conveyor 63 ′ is used, the swivel conveyor 63 ′ is also used.
In order to install the conveyor so as to be rotatable, a gap is inevitably formed between the conveyors 62 to 64, which makes it more difficult to adjust the conveyor during installation.

When the transfer of the work is stopped at the work transfer point 68, the worker hears an alarm buzzer notifying that an abnormality has occurred in the flow of the work, and the worker performs a work to eliminate the jam of the work. The need arises, leading to a reduction in work efficiency.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and secures a passage through which a person can pass between machines in a work transfer facility in a production factory, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact conveyor that enables the transfer of works between machines.

[0012]

That is, the passage securing conveyor of the present invention comprises a carry-in conveyor, a carry-out conveyor, and a moving conveyor capable of bridging between the two conveyors. The moving conveyor is downstream of the carry-in conveyor. Adjacent to the part and the upstream part of the carry-out conveyor, the work carried in from the carry-in conveyor is moved horizontally without changing the height position and carried out to the carry-out conveyor. It is possible to switch to a path forming state in which a path is formed between the moving conveyor and the carry-out conveyor, and in the work transporting state, a portion where the moving conveyor and the carry-in conveyor are arranged in parallel is a work. To form a work guide that sends out from the carry-in conveyor to the move conveyor, and the move conveyor and carry-out conveyor are arranged in parallel. In part, it forms a work guide for feeding the workpiece from moving conveyor unloading conveyor.

With the above construction, the work can be always moved in the horizontal direction, and the vertical conveyance can be eliminated.
There is no need for a large-scale device such as an elevator or a lifter, the passage securing conveyor can be downsized and the price can be reduced, and the prospect in the factory can be improved and simplified. Further, since the height position of the work does not change when the work is transferred between the conveyors, the impact on the work can be minimized, and the occurrence of troubles such as the stop of the transportation can be suppressed.

When the bearings of the driving pulley and the driven pulley interlocking with the motor for driving the moving conveyor are cantilevered, the gap between the moving conveyor and the conveying and carrying-in conveyors adjacent thereto is Since it can be made as small as possible, even a small work can be prevented from being sandwiched between adjacent conveyors.

Further, when the work transfer speed of the moving conveyor is made higher than the work transfer speed of the other conveyors, the time when the work is on the moving conveyor becomes shorter, and the moving conveyor is moved horizontally accordingly. The time for forming the passage between the conveyors can be extended.

In addition, when a limit switch for detecting the position of the moving conveyor in the work carrying state is provided and the work carrying of the moving conveyor is stopped when the limit switch is in the off state, the moving switch is moved. Since the work does not flow when the conveyor is not in the work transfer state, it is possible to prevent an accident from occurring in advance.

[0017]

1 to 5 show an example of an embodiment of a passage securing conveyor according to the present invention. In these drawings, 1 is a passage securing conveyor, and this passage securing conveyor 1 has at least a carry-in conveyor 2, a moving conveyor 3 and a carry-out conveyor 4. The movable conveyor 3 is movable in the horizontal direction parallel to the work transfer direction, and is switched between the work transfer state shown in FIG. 1 and the passage forming state. The perspective view of FIG. 3 shows the moving state of the moving conveyor 3.

In the work transfer state shown in FIG. 1, the upstream portion 3a of the moving conveyor 3 is adjacent to the downstream portion 2a of the carry-in conveyor 2, and the downstream portion 3b of the moving conveyor 3 is adjacent to the upstream portion 4a of the carry-out conveyor 4. ing. Then, the work W carried in from the carry-in conveyor 2 can be moved in the horizontal direction and carried out to the carry-out conveyor 4 without changing its height position.

The carry-in conveyor 2, the carry-out conveyor 4 and the moving conveyor 3 convey the work W in the directions (direction of arrow A shown) in which the conveyor chains 5 and 7 and the conveyor belt 6 are parallel to each other. Work guides 8, 9, and 10 are provided above the conveyors 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Therefore, the work W carried by the chain 5 of the carry-in conveyor 2 is
As indicated by the arrow C, the work guides 8 and 9 guide the chain 5 in an oblique direction with respect to the moving direction of the chain 5, and the work guides 8 and 9 repel the belt 6 of the moving conveyor 3. Similarly, the work W conveyed by the moving conveyor 3 is ejected to the carry-out conveyor 4 while being guided by the work guides 9 and 10 in an oblique direction with respect to the moving direction of the belt 6, as shown by an arrow D in FIG. After that, it is carried by the carry-out conveyor 4.

As described above, the work W is conveyed to the conveyors 2 and 3 at the work transfer positions between the carry-in conveyor 2 and the move conveyor 3 and the move conveyor 3 and the carry-out conveyor 4 which are adjacent to each other in parallel. By using the work guides 9 and 10 to move the work W obliquely with respect to the conveyance direction, the work W can be moved in the horizontal direction and transferred between the conveyors 2, 3 and 4. That is, in order to transfer the work W between the conveyors 2, 3 and 4, it is necessary to provide a device for performing a complicated shift operation for pushing the work W from the lateral direction with respect to the conveying direction of the conveyors 2 and 3. Not only is there no stopping of the flow of the work W, but it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of troubles at the work transfer point.

Further, a conveyor 2 for conveying the work W
Since there is no place where the conveyor is interrupted at the connecting point between 3 and 4, and the work W is always supported by any one of the conveyors 2, 3 and 4, it is possible to ensure the transport at the connecting point between the conveyors 2, 3 and 4. And excellent in stability. Further, since it is not necessary to use an elevator or a lifter for conveying the work W in the vertical direction, the passage securing conveyor 1 can be formed in a smaller size, the visibility in the factory is improved, and the safety can be further improved.

Next, the structure of each part of each conveyor 2-4 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the structure of the carry-in conveyor 2 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, the carry-in conveyor 2 has a basic frame 21 fixed on the mounting table 20 and a basic frame in the downstream portion 2 a of the carry-in conveyor 2. 21 is a cantilevered drive pulley 22, a drive motor (not shown) for driving the drive pulley 22, the endless conveyor chain 5 hung on the drive pulley 22, and the tension of the chain 5 is adjusted. Meanwhile, a driven pulley (not shown) on which the chain 5 can be hung on the upstream portion of the carry-in conveyor 2, and a projecting work guide 8a and a side work guide 8b which are arranged on the upper side of the downstream chain 5 and fixed to the basic frame 21 (see FIG. 1 and 3) (in the above description, these work guides 8a and 8b are collectively referred to as the work guide 8).
And

Similarly, the construction of the carry-out conveyor 4 is as shown in FIG.
3 and 4, the carry-out conveyor 4 is a mounting table 40.
The basic frame 41 fixed on the top and the carry-out conveyor 4
A drive pulley 42 (shown in FIG. 4) and a motor 43, which are supported in a cantilevered manner on the basic frame 41 in the downstream portion 4b of the motor, and a driven member which is paired with the drive pulley 42 to adjust the tension of the conveyor chain 7. Pulley 44 (FIG. 1,
(Shown in FIG. 3), and the rebound work guide 10a arranged on the upper side of the chain 7 and fixed to the basic frame 41.
And a side work guide 10b (in the above description, the work guides 10a and 10b are collectively referred to as the work guide 10).

Next, the most important moving conveyor 3 in the present invention.
The configuration will be described mainly with reference to FIG. That is, the moving conveyor 3 is fixed to the basic frame 30, the sliding guide rails 31 mounted in the longitudinal direction of the basic frame 30, and the sliding guide rails 31 fixed to the mounting table described above in the conveying direction of the work W. A pair of rail holding members 32 for guiding while being limited to the horizontal direction parallel to
A drive pulley 33 and a motor 34 that are cantilevered by the basic frame 30 of the downstream portion 2a, the conveyor belt 6 that is hung on the drive pulley 33, and a belt that enables tensioning of the conveyor belt 6 to be stretched. 6, a driven pulley 35 on which the belt 6 is hung, the work guide 9 that guides the work W on the upper portion of the belt 6, a cable bear 36 configured to be bendable for transmitting a driving force to the motor 34, and a basic frame 30. And a handle 37 which is locked to the slide conveyor 3 to slide the moving conveyor 3. Reference numeral 47 shown in FIG. 4 denotes a tray attached to the mounting table 40 for holding the cable bear 36.

The moving conveyor 3 having the above structure can be slid in the direction of arrow AB in the drawing very easily, and by sliding in the direction of arrow B, the conveyor 1 can be brought into the work transfer state. On the contrary, by sliding in the direction of arrow A, it is possible to secure the passage R between the carry-in conveyor 2 and the carry-out conveyor 4 through which people and carts pass.

In addition, the pulleys 33 of the moving conveyor 3,
All of the pulleys 35 are cantilevered on the basic frame 30, and these pulleys 33 and 35 are arranged so as to face the pulleys 44 and 22 of the carry-in conveyor 2 and the carry-out conveyor 4 as shown in FIG. It is arranged. Therefore, the distance between conveyors 2 and 3 and conveyors 3 and 4
Can be made as close as possible to the gap, and the gap d between the chain 5 and the belt 6 and the belt 6 and the chain 7
The gap between and can be made as small as possible. Therefore, the work W is not caught in the gap d,
The occurrence of troubles such as the stop of the work W conveyance is extremely reduced.

Further, the transfer speed of the moving conveyor 3 is about twice as high as that of the carry-in conveyor 2 and the carry-out conveyor 4. Therefore, the time during which the work W is on the moving conveyor 3 is shorter than that of the other conveyors 2 and 4, and the time when the worker horizontally moves the moving conveyor 3 to form the passage R between the conveyors 2 and 4. Can be lengthened.

A positioning roller 38 is formed at the lower end of the upstream portion 2a of the moving conveyor 3, and the positioning table 38 is used.
At 0, a plate 23 for engaging the positioning roller 38 and positioning the height of the moving conveyor 3 at the height position of the carry-in conveyor 2 is formed. Therefore, since the height of the moving conveyor 3 is the same as the height of the carry-in conveyor 2 when the moving conveyor 3 is in the work conveying state, when the work W is repelled from the conveyor chain 5 to the conveyor belt 6, Since the height position of the workpiece W does not change, unnecessary force is not applied to the work W, and the occurrence of trouble can be dramatically suppressed. Furthermore, since about half of the load of the moving conveyor 3 is applied to the mounting table via the positioning roller 38, an unreasonable force is not applied to the rail holding member 32.

A limit switch 24 is attached to the mounting table 20 so as to project above the mounting table 20,
A protrusion 39 is formed at the lower end of the moving conveyor 3 so that the limit switch 24 is turned on when the moving conveyor 3 is in the work conveying state. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the moving conveyor 3 is in the work carrying state by the state of the limit switch 24, and when the moving conveyor 3 is not in the work carrying state, the carrying of the work W by the respective conveyors 2, 3 and 4 is stopped. By doing so, the work W does not jump out of the carry-in conveyor 2 while the worker is opening the moving conveyor 3, and the safety of the conveyor 1 can be secured.

In addition, a plate 45 for engaging the positioning roller 38 in the passage forming state is formed on the upper end portion of the mounting table 40 on the upstream side. Therefore, when the operator operates the handle 37 to slide the moving conveyor 3 in the direction of arrow A, the sliding movement of the moving conveyor 3 is prevented when the position of the moving conveyor 3 becomes the path forming state. In addition, since the position is lightly held in the fully opened state, the moving conveyor 3 does not slide against the intention of the operator.

More specifically, the work guides 9 are arranged on the left and right above the belt 6 of the moving conveyor 3 and work guides 9a, 9b for guiding the work W.
And the work guide 9c connected to the lower surface of the work guide 9a in the upstream portion 3a of the moving conveyor 3 to receive the work W bounced from the carry-in conveyor 2 and the work guide 9a in the downstream portion 3b of the moving conveyor 3.
And a work guide 9d which is connected to the bottom surface of the work guide 9 and bounces the work W onto the carry-out conveyor 4. Each of the work guides 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d and the work guides 8 and 10 is formed of a material that will not be broken even if the work W collides, and that does not damage the work W. In the present embodiment, for example, the work W is used as an engine part, and thus the work guides 8, 9, 10 are formed of, for example, iron plates. The present invention is not limited to this, and the work guide 9 may be made of synthetic resin, for example.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the movement of the moving conveyor 3 is all performed manually, the operator himself / herself must check the flow of the work W before opening / closing the moving conveyor 3. As a result, the moving conveyor 3 does not move unintentionally by the worker, and the work safety can be secured.

The present invention is not limited to manually opening and closing the moving conveyor 3. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, an infrared sensor 50 is installed in a portion of a passage R between the carry-in conveyor 2 and the carry-out conveyor 4, and a drive for electrically opening and closing the moving conveyor 3 by a motor. The mechanism 51 may be provided. The moving conveyor 3 may be automatically opened when the worker is standing in the passage R and the work W is not being conveyed by the conveyor 1.

In this case, even when the operator cannot open / close the moving conveyor 3, the sensor 50 detects the passerby so that the conveyors 2 and 3 are automatically operated. The passage R can be formed, and the worker can easily pass through the passage R. After that, when the sensor 50 no longer detects the presence of the worker in the passage R, the moving conveyor 3 may be closed. Needless to say, a switch or the like may be used instead of the sensor 50 to open / close the moving conveyor 3.

[0035]

According to the present invention, since the work is always moved in the horizontal direction and the work is not conveyed in the vertical direction, the need for a large-scale device such as an elevator or a lifter is eliminated, and a passage securing conveyor is provided. The size and cost of the machine can be reduced, the visibility in the factory can be improved and simplified, and the height position does not change when the work is transferred between conveyors, so the impact on the work is minimized. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of troubles such as the stop of the transportation.

Further, the bearings of the driving pulley and the driven pulley which are interlocked with the motor for driving the moving conveyor are cantilevered, and the gap between the moving conveyor and the conveying and carrying-in conveyors adjacent thereto is minimized. By making it small, even a small work is not fitted between adjacent conveyors.

Further, when the work transfer speed of the moving conveyor is made higher than the work transfer speed of the other conveyors, the time when the work is on the moving conveyor becomes shorter, and the moving conveyor is moved horizontally accordingly. The time for forming the passage between the conveyors can be extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an entire example of the configuration of a passage securing conveyor of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a main part of the conveyor.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a configuration on the downstream side of the conveyor.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a configuration on the upstream side of the conveyor.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an overall view of a modified example of the passage securing conveyor of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a configuration of a conventional conveyor capable of forming a passage.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the conveyor.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing another example of a conventional conveyor capable of forming a passage.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Passage securing conveyor, 2 ... Carry-in conveyor, 3 ... Moving conveyor, 4 ... Carry-out conveyor, 8, 9, 10 ... Work guide, 24 ... Limit switch, 33 ... Drive pulley, 34
... motor, 35 ... driven pulley, 51 ... motor, d ... gap, R ... passage, W ... work.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Ishii 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kinji Ando, 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A carry-in conveyor, a carry-out conveyor, and a moving conveyor capable of bridging between the two conveyors, the moving conveyor being adjacent to a downstream portion of the carry-in conveyor and an upstream portion of the carry-out conveyor. A work transfer state in which the work to be carried in from the conveyor is moved horizontally to the carry-out conveyor by moving it horizontally without changing its height position, and a path is provided between the carry-in conveyor and the carry-out conveyor when the moving conveyor moves in the horizontal direction. It is possible to switch to a path forming state to be formed, and in the work conveying state, in a portion where the moving conveyor and the carry-in conveyor are arranged in parallel, a work guide for sending the work from the carry-in conveyor to the moving conveyor is formed, At the part where the moving conveyor and the unloading conveyor are arranged in parallel, the work is sent from the moving conveyor to the unloading conveyor. A passage securing conveyor characterized in that a work guide is formed. 2. The bearings of a drive pulley and a driven pulley that are interlocked with a motor for driving the moving conveyor are cantilevered, and a gap between the moving conveyor and an adjacent conveying and loading conveyor is made as small as possible. The passage securing conveyor according to claim 1. 3. The work transfer speed of the moving conveyor is
The passage securing conveyor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the speed is higher than that of the other conveyors. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a limit switch for detecting the position of the moving conveyor in the work transfer state, and stopping the work transfer on the moving conveyor when the limit switch is in the off state. The passage securing conveyor described in Crab.