JPH09272624A - Article carrying-out method and device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article carrying-out device which can group articles conveyed successively with a carrying conveyor by arbitrary quantity unit in a carrying route and carry-out the grouped articles at a prescribed carrying- out position under a stopped condition without need for any additional mechanism. SOLUTION: The carrying speed of an article 2 is regulated to the first regulating speed V1 which is lower than carrying speed Vc of a carrying conveyor 1 through the speed control of a driving means which drives respective circulating running mechanisms by an engaging member 15a fitted on one circulating running mechanism until an engaging member 17a fitted on the other circulating running mechanism is engaged with the articles 2. After the other engaging member 17a is engaged with the article 2, the article 2 is regulated to a carrying-out position in a downstream at the second regulating speed V2 which is faster than the first regulating speed V1 and slower than the carrying speed Vc of the carrying conveyor and stopped at the carrying-out position for a prescribed period of time, during which time the article 2 is carried-out by a carrying-out means 27.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to taking out articles from a conveying conveyor by grouping articles such as containers, which are continuously conveyed in a prescribed number of rows on a conveying conveyor, into a prescribed number at a prescribed take-out position. Regarding technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a means for grouping a predetermined number of articles continuously conveyed on a conveyer conveyor in a predetermined number of groups and supplying the articles to a downstream side, the conveyer conveys the articles. By providing an engaging member that engages with the front surface of the article on the chain traveling at a speed slower than the speed, and by regulating the conveying speed of the article by the engaging member,
A conventional method of grouping into a predetermined number of units is known. Further, as an improved version of the conventional method, two sets of independently drivable chains are used as means for regulating the conveying speed, and the distance between the engaging members provided on each chain is adjusted. Discloses an article supply apparatus configured to change the number of units to be grouped (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-18653). On the other hand, by incorporating two sets of transporting means configured to be able to travel independently of each other as one row of transporting path and using these two sets of transporting means to transport articles independently of each other,
While carrying out the taking-out operation of the article in one conveying means, by continuing the receiving operation of the article in the other conveying means, an article conveying and taking-out device configured to be able to continue receiving the article without interruption. It is disclosed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-278840).

In the former article supply device, although the predetermined number of units can be grouped, the articles released from the engaging members are conveyed at the conveyance speed of the conveyance conveyor, so that the articles are taken out from the conveyance conveyor. Has
It was necessary to synchronize the take-out means side with the transport speed or to newly install a stop means for stopping the article at the take-out position.

Further, the latter article transport and take-out device interrupts the acceptance of the article by continuing the article acceptance operation in the other transport means while the article acceptance operation in one of the transport means is being executed. Although it is excellent in that it is possible to take out articles at the same time while continuing without, it is not only extremely complicated in structure but also adopts a method in which the receiving operation of articles intervenes. It was not possible to immediately divert the articles that are continuously conveyed to the method of grouping them in the conveying route. Further, this article transporting / picking-up device has a big drawback that it cannot be easily dealt with when it is desired to change the unit number of groups.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the conventional circumstances as described above, and an article continuously conveyed by a conveyer conveyor can be provided in an arbitrary number of units in its conveying path. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article taking-out technique that enables grouping with the article and takes out the grouped article in a stopped state at a predetermined take-out position without adding a new mechanism. .

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a conveyor for continuously conveying articles,
At least two sets of circulating traveling mechanisms arranged in parallel with the conveying path of the conveying conveyor, and the circulating traveling mechanisms provided in each of the circulating traveling mechanisms are engaged with the front surface of the article conveyed by the conveying conveyor to remove the article. A plurality of engaging members that regulate the traveling speed of each circulation traveling mechanism, a speed controllable driving unit that independently drives each circulation traveling mechanism, and an article regulated by the engaging member. And a take-out means for taking out at a position, and is provided in the other circulating traveling mechanism by the engaging member provided in one circulating traveling mechanism via the speed control of the driving means for driving each circulating traveling mechanism. Until the engaging member engages with the article, the conveyance speed of the article is equal to or lower than the conveyance speed of the conveyance conveyor.
After being regulated to the regulation speed and the other engaging member is engaged with the article, the regulation is performed to the downstream take-out position at a second regulation speed that is faster than the first regulation speed and equal to or lower than the transport speed of the transport conveyor. At the same time, a technical means is adopted in which the article is taken out of the carrying conveyor through the taking-out means while being stopped at the taking-out position for a predetermined time.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The method and apparatus for taking out articles according to the present invention is suitable for a caser or the like for taking out articles such as containers, which are continuously conveyed on a conveyor, in groups of a predetermined number and packing them. is there. The transfer conveyor can be widely applied as long as it is a transfer means of a type that can slide relatively between the transfer surface and the article. Further, the circulation traveling mechanism may be a chain that is supported by a sprocket and that travels in a circulating manner, as long as it can travel in parallel along the transportation path of the transportation conveyor. At least two sets of this circulation traveling mechanism are installed. In this case, it is common to arrange at least two pairs of circulating traveling mechanisms on opposite sides of the conveying conveyor, but one circulating traveling mechanism is provided at the lower center of the conveying conveyor, for example. Two
A form in which more than one group is arranged is also possible. In addition, each circulation traveling mechanism is connected to a controllable driving means, and the speed is independently controlled.

The speed control of each circulating traveling mechanism is executed as follows. That is, from the state in which the engagement member attached to one of the circulation traveling mechanism is engaged with the article on the transport conveyor, the engagement member attached to the other circulation traveling mechanism is attached to the article on the transport conveyor. Until engaged
The traveling speed of the circulation traveling mechanism is controlled to the first regulation speed equal to or lower than the transportation speed of the transportation conveyor via the speed control of the drive means. As a result, the transportation speed of the article is reduced to the first regulation speed. The other circulating traveling mechanism is controlled so that a predetermined interval corresponding to the unit number of grouping is formed between the engaging members. That is, the first
In relation to the regulation speed, at the timing when a target unit number of articles have passed, the other engagement member is controlled so that it can engage with the article on the conveyor. Therefore, the unit number of groups can be changed very easily by adjusting the relative distance between the circulation traveling mechanisms through the speed control of the drive means without adding any new mechanism.

However, after the engaging member attached to the other circulating traveling mechanism engages with the article on the conveyor, the one circulating traveling mechanism reaches the take-out position.
Through the speed control of the drive means, the speed is controlled to a second regulation speed that is higher than the first regulation speed and equal to or lower than the transportation speed of the transportation conveyor. As a result, the articles on the downstream side of the engagement member attached to the other circulation traveling mechanism are accelerated to the second regulation speed, and as a result, a space is formed between the articles and the articles on the rear side to perform grouping. Then, when the engagement member on the other side reaches the take-out position, it is stopped for a predetermined time, and the take-out operation is performed during the stop. The second regulation speed does not always have to be a constant speed, but may be controlled so as to be gradually increased and then gradually decelerated and stopped. The point is that grouping is possible and the stop time required for the take-out operation can be taken. The take-out means may be of a type that takes out an article from above or a type that pushes out in a direction perpendicular to the carrying direction of the carrying conveyor.

As described above, the feature of the present invention is that the unit number of groups can be set by controlling the relative relationship between the engaging members operating on the transfer surface of the transfer conveyor. The point is that a space for grouping is formed, and further, it is possible to take out articles in a stopped state. That is, the unit number of groups is set by the relative distance between the rear engagement member and the front engagement member at the time when the rear engagement member engages with the article on the transport conveyor, and thereafter,
By increasing the moving speed of the former engaging member, the interval between both engaging members is expanded to form an interval for grouping, and further, by stopping the former engaging member for a predetermined time at the take-out position, it is stopped. The feature of the present invention is that the series of operations for enabling the taking out of the article in the state are realized only by controlling the relative relationship between the engaging members.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a main part of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged AA sectional view thereof. In the figure, 1
Is a conveyer conveyor, and 2 is an article such as a container conveyed by the conveyer conveyor 1. In this embodiment, the conveyer is configured to be conveyed in three rows. On both sides of the transport conveyor 1, a suitable circulation traveling means 5 including a chain configured to circulate between the sprockets 3 and 4 and a chain configured to circulate between the sprockets 6 and 7 are formed. The first circulation traveling mechanism configured by a pair with the appropriate circulation traveling means 8 and the appropriate circulation traveling means 11 and the sprocket 12, which include a chain configured to circulate between the sprockets 9 and 10. There is provided a second circulation traveling mechanism constituted by a pair with an appropriate circulation traveling means 14 composed of a chain or the like configured to circulate between 13 portions.

As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of engaging members 15 that engage with each article 2 on the front surface are provided between the circulation traveling means 5 and 8 constituting the first circulation traveling mechanism. Two sets of traveling support plates 16 provided for three rows are installed. Similarly,
Each circulation traveling means 1 constituting the second circulation traveling mechanism
Also between 1 and 14, there are two running support plates 18 provided with three rows of pairs of engaging members 17 that engage with each article 2 on the front side.
It is built up. That is, as shown in the functional conceptual diagram of FIG. 3 functionally showing the main part of the embodiment, the first and second circulation traveling mechanisms are provided with the engaging members 15a installed on the opposite sides, respectively. And 15b or engaging member 17a
And 17b are provided, and are configured to exert a predetermined action based on the related operation therebetween as described later.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sprockets 4 and 7 are rotatably supported by the drive shaft 19, and the gear portions 20 and 21 attached to the sprockets 4 and 7 are fixed to the drive shaft 22. Intermediate gears 23,2
4 is in mesh with 4 and is connected to a first drive means such as an electric motor (not shown) capable of speed control via a drive gear 25 fixed to the drive shaft 22. As a result, the pair of circulation traveling means 5 constituting the first circulation traveling mechanism 5,
8 is driven by the first driving means to move the engaging member 15
It is possible to cause the a and 15b to travel in the same direction as the conveyor 1 at a predetermined speed. On the other hand, the sprocket 1
0 and 13 are fixed to the drive shaft 19 and are connected via a drive gear 26 fixed to the drive shaft 19 to a second drive means such as an electric motor (not shown) capable of speed control. As a result, the pair of circulation traveling means 11 and 14 which also constitutes the second circulation traveling mechanism are driven by the second drive means, and the engaging members 17a and 17b are moved in the same direction as the transport conveyor 1 at a predetermined speed. It becomes possible to drive.

Next, the operation method of this embodiment will be described with reference to the operation explanatory diagrams of FIGS. Explaining the state of FIG. 4, the engagement member 15a attached to the first circulation traveling mechanism engages with the front surface of the article 2 and moves the article 2 to the first regulation speed equal to or lower than the transport speed Vc of the transport conveyor 1. V
_With the speed reduced to ₁ , just the unit number of grouping is 8
By the number, the engaging member 17a attached to the second circulation traveling mechanism is inserted between the 8th and 9th articles at the same time, and the engaging member 17a is the same as that of the 9th article 2. It shows a state in which the front surface is engaged. In this case, as described above, by controlling the insertion timing of the engagement member 17a and adjusting the relative distance between the engagement members 15a and 17a, the unit number of groups can be increased and decreased very easily. It is possible.

As described above, after the engaging member 17a is inserted between the articles and engaged with the front surface of the leading article 2 in the rear group, the engaging member 17a remains at the first regulation speed V _{1 as it} is. The engagement member 15a on the other side is maintained by the first
The speed is increased to the second regulation speed V ₂ which is higher than the regulation speed V ₁ and is equal to or lower than the conveyance speed Vc of the conveyor 1. Then, when a predetermined time, for example, about 0.6 seconds elapses, as shown in FIG.
And a space S ₁ is formed between the last article 2 of the group regulated by the front engagement member 15a and the first article 2 of the group regulated by the rear engagement member 17a. And thus grouping is performed. FIG. 6 shows a state in which a predetermined time has elapsed under the same operating conditions, and shows a state in which the grouping further progresses and the interval between the articles 2 between the groups is expanded to S ₂ .

FIG. 7 shows a state in which a predetermined period of time has passed from the state of FIG. 6 under the same operating condition. In this state, the interval between the groups is further expanded to S ₃ and at the same time, Of the engaging member 15a reaches the take-out position directly below the take-out means 27. Thus, when the engaging member 15a reaches the take-out position, the first driving means is stopped and the engaging member 15a is stopped immediately below the take-out means 27 for a predetermined time.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a state in which a predetermined time has further elapsed. As shown in FIG. 8, the take-out means 27 is first lowered and the article 2 is grasped by the respective grasping portions 28. Then, as shown in FIG.
Is lifted and further transferred to a predetermined place (not shown), so that the take-out operation is executed. During this time, the engaging member 1
5a holds the stopped state, and the other engaging member 1
7a continues the operation at the first regulation speed V ₁ as it is. Therefore, the spacing S between the groups is gradually reduced in the meantime. It should be noted that as the above-mentioned interval S ₃ in FIG. 7, it is necessary to secure an interval corresponding to the above take-out operation time.

When the above take-out operation is completed, the advance of the engaging member 15a is restarted via the first driving means, as shown in FIG. In the meantime, the operation of the engaging member 17a by the other second drive means continues the forward movement at the first regulation speed V ₁ . Further, the engaging member 17a continues the forward movement operation at the first regulation speed V ₁ as it is, and the state of FIG. 11 every time a predetermined time elapses, and further the state of FIG. 12 corresponding to the state of FIG. 4 at the beginning of the description. Leading to. In the meantime, the engaging member 15a is the next
The first driving means is controlled so that the engaging members 15b to be inserted between each other can be inserted at a timing suitable for the unit number of groups.

As described above, after returning to the state shown in FIG. 12, that is, the operating state corresponding to the original state shown in FIG. 4, the engaging member 17a, which has become the former engaging member, and the rear engaging member. The same control as described above is performed with the coupling member 15b, and subsequently, similar control is repeated between the engaging members 15b and 17b, and between the engaging members 17b and 15a, and While repeating the grouping operation, at the same time,
The removal work will continue without interruption. In this case, the engaging members 15a and 15b attached to the first circulation traveling mechanism
Since the front-rear relationship between and the engaging members 17a and 17b attached to the second circulation traveling mechanism changes for each series of operations, the control pattern for the first driving means and the control pattern for the second driving means are alternately changed accordingly. It goes without saying that they will be replaced.

[0020]

According to the present invention, articles continuously conveyed by the conveyor can be grouped into a predetermined number of units, and the grouped articles can be taken out from the conveyor in a stopped state. A stable take-out operation can be easily obtained, and at the same time, the unit number of the grouping can be easily changed at the same time, and a series of grouping and stopping operations for realizing those functions can be performed by each circulation traveling mechanism. It is possible to obtain an excellent effect that it can be easily executed only through speed control for each driving means to be driven.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a main part of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic AA sectional view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a functional conceptual diagram functionally showing a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... transport conveyor, 2 ... articles, 3,4 ... sprocket,
5 ... Circulating traveling means, 6, 7 ... Sprocket, 8 ... Circulating traveling means, 9, 10 ... Sprocket, 11 ... Circulating traveling means, 12, 13 ... Sprocket, 14 ... Circulating traveling means,
15 ... Engaging member, 16 ... Travel support plate, 17 ... Engaging member,
18 ... Travel support plate, 19 ... Drive shaft, 20, 21 ... Gear part, 22 ... Drive shaft, 23, 24 ... Intermediate gear, 25, 26
... drive gear, 27 ... take-out means, 28 ... gripping part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A conveyor for continuously conveying an article, at least two sets of circulation traveling mechanisms arranged in parallel with a conveyance path of the conveyor, and each circulation traveling mechanism provided in the conveyor. A plurality of engaging members that engage with the front surface of the article conveyed by the conveyor to regulate the article to the traveling speed of each circulation traveling mechanism, and speed control that independently drives each of the circulation traveling mechanisms And a take-out means for taking out the article regulated by the engaging member at a take-out position, and provided in one circulation traveling mechanism through speed control of the drive means for driving each circulation traveling mechanism. Until the engaging member provided on the other circulation traveling mechanism engages with the article by the provided engaging member, the conveying speed of the article is regulated to the first regulation speed equal to or lower than the conveying speed of the conveyor. After the other engaging member engages with the article, it is regulated to a downstream take-out position at a second regulation speed that is faster than the first regulation speed and is equal to or lower than the conveyance speed of the conveyor, and the ejection is performed. A method for taking out an article, comprising: stopping at a position for a predetermined time, during which the article is taken out from a conveyor via the taking-out means. 2. A conveyor for continuously conveying an article, at least two sets of circulation traveling mechanisms arranged in parallel with a conveyance path of the conveyor, and each of the circulation traveling mechanisms provided with the conveyor. A plurality of engaging members that engage with the front surface of the article conveyed by the conveyor to regulate the article to the traveling speed of each circulation traveling mechanism, and speed control that independently drives each of the circulation traveling mechanisms Drive means, speed control means for controlling those drive means, and take-out means for taking out the article regulated by the engaging member at the take-out position, and the speed control means controls the respective drive means for the circulation. The traveling speed of the traveling mechanism is controlled to be the first regulation speed equal to or lower than the transportation speed of the transportation conveyor until the engagement member provided on the other circulation traveling mechanism engages the article, and the like. After one of the engaging members engages with the article, it is controlled to the downstream take-out position such that the second regulating speed is faster than the first regulating speed and equal to or lower than the conveying speed of the conveying conveyor, An article take-out device which controls to stop at a take-out position for a predetermined time, and takes out an article from the conveyor via the take-out means during the stop.