JPH09290927A - Picking equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly and surely cut out stacked articles one by one successively from the lowest stage with minimum force, and to surely prevent damages such as crushes in the articles during the cutting. SOLUTION: When an article 10 in the lowest stage is cut out by a cutting- out conveyor 20, an elastic body 30 is abutted on a right side of the articles 10 from the second stage to the tenth stage in the horizontal direction in the figure 1 as an air cylinder is operated. A deformed part 32 of the elastic body 30 is pressed against the articles 10 and generates the prescribed upward deformation, and lifts the articles 10 by the prescribed quantity B corresponding to the deformation A.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a picking device for sequentially cutting articles such as stacked medicine boxes in a predetermined direction from the lowermost step, and more particularly to a structure for preventing damage to the articles due to the cutting. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a picking device provided with an A-shaped frame, articles are accommodated in a stacked state along the A-shaped frame, and among the stacked articles, the lowermost article is provided on a belt. It is cut out sequentially by pressing it with the dog. In such a picking device, the weight of the stacked articles is entirely on the lowermost article. For this reason, when the lowermost article is pressed by the dog and cut out, the frictional force between the lowermost article and the second-lower article from the bottom is large, and it is extremely difficult to perform smooth cutting stably. there were.

Therefore, as a conventional picking device capable of smoothly cutting out an article from the lowermost stage, as shown in FIG. 2, a push-up body 41 for temporarily pushing up and holding the article 40 other than the lowermost stage when the article 40 is cut out. A device having the above has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 7-315573 and 7-315574). A push-up surface 42, which is an inclined surface, is formed on the push-up body 41. Push-up body 41
Along with the movement to the side of the article 40, the pushing surface 42 is brought into contact with the lower right corner of the article 40 in the second step from the bottom in FIG. 2, and the article 40 in the second step from the bottom is moved along the pushing surface 42. And push it up. As a result, the push-up body 41 causes all the articles 40 stacked above the second row from the bottom to be moved to the bottommost article 40.
Away from the upper surface of the
Do not put the weight on.

[0004]

In the above-described conventional picking device, when the lowermost article 40 is cut out, the second-stage article 40 from the bottom is pushed up by the push-up body 41. The weight of the other article 40 has no effect. Therefore, when the lowermost article 40 is cut out, friction does not occur between the lowermost article 40 and the second-lower article 40.

However, the push-up body 41 pushes up the article 40 in the second stage from the bottom, so that all the articles 40 other than the lowest stage are held in a state of being separated from the article 40 in the lowest stage. Therefore, the weight of all the articles 40 stacked above the second step from the bottom is at the lower right corner in FIG. 2 of the article 40 in the second step from the bottom on which the push-up surface 42 of the push-up body 41 abuts. It will take a concentrated effort. Therefore, there has been a problem that damage such as a crack is unavoidable at the lower right corner in FIG. 2 of the article 40 in the second stage from the bottom.

According to the present invention, stacked articles can be cut out smoothly and surely from the lowermost step with a minimum force, and it is possible to surely prevent the articles from being damaged due to the cutting. An object is to provide a picking device that can be prevented.

[0007]

The above object of the present invention is to cut out stacked articles in order from a lowermost stage in a predetermined direction, and to cut out the lowermost articles by the cutting means except for the lowest stage. Is provided on a side surface of a predetermined article in the horizontal direction, and is provided in a portion of the elastic body that is in contact with the article, and when the elastic body is in contact with the article from the horizontal direction, the elastic body is pressed against the article. This is achieved by a picking device including a deforming portion that is lifted to generate a desired deformation and a driving unit that horizontally reciprocates an elastic body.

[0008]

In the picking device according to the present invention, the cutting means cuts the stacked articles in the predetermined direction in order from the bottom. At that time, the elastic body is brought into contact with a side surface of a predetermined article other than the lowermost one in a horizontal direction by the driving means, and the deformed portion of the elastic body is pressed against the article to cause a required deformation to flutter upward. . As a result, the predetermined articles other than the lowermost one are lifted by a predetermined amount corresponding to the deformation amount of the deforming portion.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a picking device which is an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, articles 10 such as medicine boxes are stacked on a cutting conveyor 20 in a state where the left side surface of FIG. It is cut out (on the left side in FIG. 1). When the articles 10 at the bottom are cut out, all the articles 10 stacked above the second row from the bottom (hereinafter referred to as the articles 10 at the second and above)
Are temporarily lifted and held by the elastic body 30.

The cut-out conveyor 20 cuts out only the lowermost article 10 of the stacked articles 10 onto the chute 11 on the downstream side (left side in FIG. 1). That is, in the cutout conveyor 20, the conveyor belt 21 is wound between the pair of belt rollers 22, and the conveyor belt 21
1 is moved counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by driving one belt roller 22 by a motor (not shown) or the like. A plurality of dogs 23 (two in FIG. 1) are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the conveyor belt 21 at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction.

The cutout conveyor 20 is controlled by a motor (not shown) of a controller (not shown) to control the belt roller 22.
And convey belt 21 is moved. As a result, the slicing conveyor 20 pushes the lowermost article 10 to the left side in FIG. 1 by the dog 23 and carries it out to the downstream side.

The elastic body 30 is made of resin or the like and has a required elasticity. The elastic body 30 is fixed to the tip of a cylinder rod 31 of an air cylinder (not shown), and is linearly reciprocated in the horizontal direction as the air cylinder operates. The elastic body 30 has a vertical dimension (about 10 times in FIG. 1) larger than the vertical dimension of the article 10 in FIG. When the cutout conveyor 20 cuts out the article 10 at the lowermost stage, the elastic body 30 is cut by the air cylinder.
1 is horizontally moved to the 0 side (left side in FIG. 1) and abutted on the right side surface in FIG. The above items 10 are lifted.

That is, when the article 30 is lifted, the air cylinder operates from the position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1 (hereinafter referred to as the retracted position) to the position shown by the solid line (hereinafter referred to as the contact position). 1 is moved horizontally to the left in FIG. 1 and hits the right side in FIG. 1 of the plurality of articles 10 (in FIG. 1, the nine articles 10 from the second to the tenth row from the bottom) from the horizontal direction. Contacted. Further, the elastic body 30 is horizontally moved to the right in FIG. 1 from the abutting position to the retracted position in accordance with the operation of the air cylinder, and is separated from the side surface of each article 10, so that each article 10 in the second or higher stage is moved. To descend by its own weight.

Deformation portions 32 are provided in a plurality of steps (12 steps in this embodiment) along the horizontal direction on the tip end surface of the elastic body 30 which is in contact with the article 10. The deforming section 32 is
It is formed in a sawtooth shape in a side view. That is, each deformation unit 32
The upper surface 33 is cut substantially horizontally, and the lower surface 34 is cut obliquely downward about 45 degrees from the horizontal plane.

When the elastic body 30 is brought into contact with the article 10, each of the deformed portions 32 is pressed against the article 10 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 and flutters upward on the side of the horizontally cut upper surface 33, that is, upward. Produces the required deformation. The amount of deformation at this time is A
Then, each deforming unit 32 lifts each article 10 in the second stage or more from the upper surface of the article 10 in the lowermost stage by the predetermined amount B corresponding to the deformation amount A.

The front plate 12 is provided at a position opposed to the elastic body 30 with the article 10 interposed therebetween, and is provided between the lower end portion in FIG. 1 and the conveyor belt 21 of the cutting conveyor 20.
1 is arranged so that a predetermined interval C slightly larger than the vertical dimension in FIG. The front plate 12 is a side surface of the article 10 opposite to the contact surface of the elastic body 30 (see FIG.
1 against the left side in FIG. 1 to resist the movement of the article 10 in the horizontal direction against the pressure of the elastic body 30 to the left in FIG.

The operation of this embodiment will be described. Articles 10 stacked on the conveyor belt 21 of the cutting conveyor 20
Are sequentially cut out on the chute 11 from the lowermost stage by the cutting conveyor 20. When the article 10 is cut out by the cutout conveyor 20, the elastic body 30 is horizontally moved from the retracted position to the contact position in accordance with the operation of the air cylinder, and at the contact position, the second to tenth stages from the bottom are moved. The right side surface of the article 10 in FIG. At this time, the deformable portion 32 of the elastic body 30 is pressed against the article 10 and undergoes a required deformation such as fluttering upward. As a result, each of the articles 10 in the second stage and above is lifted from the upper surface of the article 10 in the lowermost stage by the predetermined amount B corresponding to the deformation amount A of the deforming portion 32.

Next, the picking method will be described. First, by operating the air cylinder, the elastic body 30 is horizontally moved from the retracted position to the contact position to the left in FIG.
The elastic body 30 is brought into contact with the right side surface in FIG. 1 of the article 10 from the second stage to the tenth stage from the bottom in the horizontal direction. At this time, the deformable portion 32 of the elastic body 30 is pressed against the article 10 to cause a required deformation such as fluttering upward, and each of the articles 10 in the second stage and above is deformed by a predetermined amount corresponding to the deformation amount A of the deformable portion 32. Only B is lifted from the upper surface of the lowermost article 10.

In this state, the conveyor belt 21 of the cutting conveyor 20 is moved in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1 by a predetermined amount, and the lowermost article 10 is pressed leftward in FIG. Carry out on 11.

By operating the air cylinder again, the elastic body 30 is horizontally moved to the right in FIG. 1 and returned from the contact position to the retracted position. Each of the articles 10 in the second stage and above released from the elastic body 30 descends onto the conveyor belt 21 of the cutting conveyor 20 by its own weight. Thereafter, through the same process as described above, each article 10 is sequentially cut out from the lowermost stage to the downstream side.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, when the lowermost article 10 is cut out by the cutting conveyor 20, the elastic body 30 has the second to tenth articles from the bottom in FIG. The deformable portion 32 of the elastic body 30 is pressed against the right side surface in the horizontal direction and is pressed against the article 10 to cause the required deformation to flutter upward, and the article 10 is lifted by a predetermined amount B corresponding to the deformation amount A. . Therefore, the stacked articles 10 can be smoothly and surely cut out sequentially from the bottom with a minimum force.

Moreover, since the elastic body 30 is abutted so as to straddle the side surfaces of the plurality of articles 10 and the deformed portion 32 of the elastic body 30 has a sawtooth shape in side view, the elastic body 30 exerts a pressure on the article 10. Can be widely dispersed on the side surface of each article 10. In addition, since the elastic body 30 has the required elasticity, an unnecessary force does not act on the article 10. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent damage to the corners and the like of the article 10 due to shaving due to the cutting.

Further, by changing the number and shape of the deformable portions 32 of the elastic body 30, it is possible to adjust the pressure contact area of the deformable portions 32 with respect to the article 10. This makes it possible to easily deal with articles 10 of various weights and shapes.

In the above embodiment, one set of the elastic body 30 and the air cylinder is provided, and the elastic body 30 and the article 1 are provided.
The front plate 12 is provided at a position facing each other across the
Although the elastic body 30 contacts the right side surface of FIG. 1 in FIG. 1 and the front plate 12 contacts the left side surface of each article 10 in FIG. 1, the invention is not limited to this. That is, in place of the front plate 12, another set of elastic bodies (not shown) and air cylinders (not shown) are provided, and each elastic body has each article 10 respectively.
1 may be configured to abut on both left and right side surfaces.

In the above embodiment, the elastic body 30 shown in FIG.
The vertical dimension in the middle is approximately 10 times the vertical dimension in FIG. 1 of the article 10 so that the elastic body 30 contacts the right side surface in FIG. 1 of the article 10 from the second stage to the tenth stage from the bottom. Although configured, it is not limited to this. That is, the dimension of the elastic body 30 in the vertical direction in FIG. 1 may be larger than the dimension of the article 10 in the vertical direction in FIG. 1, and the value may be appropriately determined by taking into consideration the pressure applied from the elastic body 30 to each article 10. It may be decided by. In other words, by changing the dimension of the elastic body 30 in the vertical direction in FIG. 1, it is possible to adjust the pressure applied from the elastic body 30 to each article 10.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the lowermost article is cut out by the cutting means, the elastic body is brought into contact with the side surface of a predetermined article other than the lowermost step from the horizontal direction, and The deformable portion of the elastic body is pressed against the article to cause a desired deformation that flutters upward, and lifts the article by a predetermined amount corresponding to the amount of deformation. Therefore, the stacked items are
It is possible to smoothly and surely cut out from the lowermost step with a minimum force, and it is possible to surely prevent damage such as chipping from occurring on the article due to the cutting out.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a picking device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a conventional picking device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 articles 11 chute 12 front plate 20 cutting means (cutting conveyor) 21 cutting means (conveying belt) 22 cutting means (dog) 30 elastic body 31 driving means (cylinder rod) 32 deforming portion

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cutting means (20) for sequentially cutting the stacked articles (10) from a lowermost step in a predetermined direction, and a lowermost step when the lowermost article (10) is cut by the cutting means (20). The elastic body (30) abutting from the horizontal direction on the side surface of the predetermined article (10) other than the above, and the elastic body (30) provided at the portion of the elastic body (30) abutting the article (10). ) Is brought into contact with the article (10) in the horizontal direction, the elastic member (30) and the deformable portion (32) that is pressed against the article (10) and causes the required deformation to flow upward are reciprocally moved in the horizontal direction. Driving means (3
1) A picking device comprising: