JPH0940174A - Article sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform constantly reliable delivery of articles regardless of a kind of an article by a method wherein diverter operation is controlled according to a kind of an article. SOLUTION: In an article W conveyed over an input conveyor, a length in a conveyance direction of the article W is detected from the shield time of a photoelectric sensor and a conveyance speed of the input conveyor. Thereafter, the article W a sorting destination of which is recognized from the reading result of a bar code reader is moved aside to the diverter 12 side corresponding to the sorting destination and conveyed over a main conveyor 10 along a side wall 11. When the article W on the main conveyor 10 reaches in a given position, corresponding to length in a conveyance direction, at the side of a given diverter 12, the diverter 12 is oscillated at a given speed toward the inside around a vertical shaft 16. As a result of the diverter 12 oscillating to the inside being protruded on the conveyance surface of the main conveyor 10, the advancing direction of the article W is varied to an oblique front in such a manner to move along the inner side of the article contact part 13 of the diverter 12, and delivered to a branch passage 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article sorting apparatus for swinging a diverter to change the traveling direction of an article on a main conveyor and to dispense the article to a branch path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an article sorting device for sorting a large number of conveyed articles for each customer, a plurality of diverters swingable about a vertical axis are arranged to face a main conveyor and a diverter. It is known to have a branch path connected to the side of the main conveyor at the position. In this article sorting apparatus, when the article being conveyed on the main conveyor reaches a predetermined position, the diverter swings inward so as to push the article from the side, and the article is projected on the conveying surface of the main conveyor. The direction of travel is changed along the diverter and it is delivered to the branch road.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional article sorting apparatus as described above, the diverter operation such as the swing start timing and the swing speed is constant for all the articles, so that it depends on the type of article. There was a case where he couldn't reliably pay to the branch road. That is, when the front end of an article reaches a certain position on the main conveyor, the diverter was oscillated at a constant oscillating speed, so that an article with a particularly long length in the transport direction or an especially heavy article can be reliably delivered to the branch path. There was nothing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an article sorting apparatus capable of always reliably delivering articles regardless of the type of the articles.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 changes the traveling direction of an article on a main conveyor by swinging a diverter to make the article a branch path. An article sorting apparatus for paying out, which has a control device for controlling the diverter operation according to the type of article.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control device comprises:
The operation start timing of the diverter is controlled based on the length of the article in the transport direction of the main conveyor.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the control device comprises:
The operation speed of the diverter shall be controlled according to the type of article.

The present invention has the following functions. By controlling the diverter operation such as the operation start timing and operation speed according to the type of article, it is possible to perform the optimal diverter operation according to the article, and ensure that the branch path is always maintained for any article. Can be paid out. For example, the start timing of the diverter operation can be changed according to the length in the carrying direction, or the operation speed of the diverter can be changed according to the weight of the article.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples without departing from the gist of the present invention. 1 is a schematic plan view schematically showing an article sorting apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a payout portion, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the payout portion, and FIG.
Is a simplified plan view showing the diverter operation start timing, and FIG. 5 is a block configuration diagram showing a conceptual configuration of the control device.
In this specification, the front is the lower side of FIG. 1, the rear is the upper side of the same figure, the right is the left side of FIG. 1, and the left is the right side of the same figure.

The article sorting apparatus includes a carry-in conveyor 1 composed of a belt conveyor, a main conveyor 10 connected to the downstream side (front side) of the carry-in conveyor 1, and a plurality of branches connected to the sides of the main conveyor 10. And the road 20. The supply of articles to the carry-in conveyor 1 is performed by an article supply device 30 including a robot (not shown) installed upstream thereof.

In the middle of the carry-in conveyor 1, there is provided a photoelectric sensor 2 composed of a pair of a light emitting / receiving device which is shielded by the passage of the article W. The photoelectric sensor 2 is for detecting the length in the carrying direction of each article W carried on the carry-in conveyor 1. Further, on the downstream side of the photoelectric sensor 2 in the middle of the carry-in conveyor 1, a bar code reader 3 for reading the bar code attached to the upper surface of the article W is provided above the carry-in conveyor 1. The barcode reader 3 is for recognizing a sorting destination and determining an operation speed of the diverter 12 described later for each article W conveyed on the carry-in conveyor 1.
The barcode may be attached to any surface of the article W,
The barcode reader 3 is installed according to this position. The carry-in conveyor 1 is driven by the rotation of the drive motor 5, and the belt feed amount of the carry-in conveyor 1 is detected by the encoder 6.

The main conveyor 10 is composed of a steel belt conveyor whose front-rear direction is the carrying direction, and has side walls 11 provided on both left and right sides along the carrying direction. The left and right side walls 11 have a plurality of discontinuous portions that are paired left and right at front and rear at predetermined intervals. The left and right discontinuous parts forming this pair are located substantially opposite to each other with the transport surface interposed therebetween,
A plate-shaped diverter 12 made of a rigid body such as metal is provided at one discontinuous portion, and a branch passage 20 is connected to the other discontinuous portion.

The diverter 12 includes an article contact portion 13 and a bent portion 14 bent outward from the article contact portion 13 toward the rear.
Is provided, and is rotatable about the vertical shaft 16 at the rear end of the bent portion 14 by the rotation of the drive motor 15 (servo motor). In the standby state of the diverter 12, the inner side surface of the article contact portion 13 is flush with the inner side surface of the side frame 11, and the bent portion 14 is bent outward, so that the passing article W passes through the diverter 12. Never get caught in. Further, since the diverter 12 including the article contact portion 13 is made of metal or the like having a small friction coefficient, the passing article W is also prevented from being rubbed and damaged by the diverter 12. Incidentally, in this embodiment, the article W is the side (right or left side) where the corresponding diverter 12 is in advance.
The impact on the article W due to the operation of the diverter 12 is reduced, and the article is accurately and surely discharged to the branch path 20.

Entry part of the main conveyor 10 (upstreammost part)
Is provided with a photoelectric sensor 17 including a pair of a light emitter and a light receiver that are shielded by the passage of the article W. The photoelectric sensor 17 is for determining the operation start timing of the diverter 12 for each article W conveyed on the main conveyor 10. Main conveyor 1
0 is driven by the rotation of the drive motor 18 (servo motor), and the belt feed amount of the main conveyor 10 is detected by the encoder 19.

The branch path 20 is composed of a roller conveyor whose left-right direction is the carrying direction, and has side walls 21 provided on both front and rear sides along the carrying direction. That is, the branch passage 20 has a large number of rollers 22 provided between the front and rear side walls 21 so as to be rotatable left and right at predetermined intervals. The transport surface of this roller conveyor is the main conveyor 1
Roller 2 tilts down as it moves away from 0
The article W is conveyed in the branch path 20 by its own weight without the driving mechanism of No.2. Of the rollers 22, the one closest to the main conveyor 10 (first one) is a drive roller, and the articles W paid out from the main conveyor 10 can be reliably drawn into the branch passage 20 by this drive roller. In addition, all branch paths 20 are the main conveyor 1
It may be provided only on the right side or the left side of 0, and in such a case, the diverter 12 is all arranged along the side wall 11 on the left side or the right side.

In the vicinity of the main conveyor 10, the front-rear width of the branch passage 20 gradually expands rearward as it approaches the main conveyor 10. The side wall 21 of the branch 20
Are formed continuously with the side wall 11 of the main conveyor 10.

Next, the conceptual configuration of the control device 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The main control unit 101 controls the rotation of the motors 5, 18, 15 that drive the carry-in conveyor 1, the main conveyor 10 and the diverter 12 via the motor driving units 103 to 105 based on the detection results of the detectors. .

First, the transfer speed control of the main conveyor 10 will be described. The main control unit 101 includes the carry-in conveyor 1
The transport amount per unit time is calculated from the operating condition of the article supply device 30 that supplies the article W to the motor 18, and the motor 18 is driven via the motor drive unit 104 to drive the main conveyor 10 at a predetermined speed based on the transport amount. To rotate. Specifically, the transport speed of the main conveyor 10 can be switched between low speed and high speed, and when the transport amount per unit time is below a predetermined value, the normal transport speed is switched from high speed to low speed. ing.

Next, the operation control of the diverter 12 will be described. The length detection unit 102 detects the detection results of the photoelectric sensor 2 and the encoder 6, that is, from the rotation speed (pulse value) of the encoder 6 during the time when the photoelectric sensor 2 is shielded, the length of the article W on the carry-in conveyor 1 in the conveyance direction. To detect
The main control unit 101 recognizes the number of rotations of the encoder 19 at the time when the photoelectric sensor 17 detects that the article W has entered the main conveyor 10, the length of the article W in the conveying direction, and the reading result of the barcode reader 3. An encoder 19 that selects a predetermined diverter 12 based on the sorting destination of the articles W and the diverter 12 should start operating.
Calculate the rotation speed of. Further, the main control unit 101 calculates the operation speed of the diverter 12 based on the weight of the article W recognized from the reading result of the barcode reader 3. In addition, the calculation of these rotation speeds and operating speeds is performed by the main conveyor 1
It is performed in consideration of the transport speed of 0 (high speed or low speed in this embodiment). Then, when the predetermined rotation speed calculated by the encoder 19 is reached, the motor 15 is rotated via the motor drive unit 105 so that the diverter 12 operates at the predetermined speed calculated.

The operation of the present embodiment configured as above will be described. First, the articles W having a bar code indicating the information including the sorting destination and the weight attached to the upper surface are sequentially supplied to the carry-in conveyor 1. Then, the article W conveyed on the carry-in conveyor 1 shields between the light emitter and the light receiver of the photoelectric sensor 2,
The length of the article W in the carrying direction is detected based on the shielding time and the carrying speed of the carry-in conveyor 1. Thereafter, the articles W pass below the barcode reader 3 on the further downstream side, and the sorting destination and the weight of the articles W are recognized from the reading result of the barcode reader 3. The articles W of which the sorting destination is recognized are moved to the diverter 12 side (right or left side) corresponding to the sorting destination and supplied to the main conveyor 10, and the main conveyor 1 is moved along the side wall 11 on the pushed side.
0 is carried.

The transport speed of the main conveyor 10 is set to high speed or low speed according to the transport amount per unit time,
The article W on the main conveyor 10 is a predetermined diverter 12
When reaching a predetermined position corresponding to the length in the carrying direction, the diverter 12 swings inward around the vertical shaft 16 at a predetermined speed. As shown in FIG. 4, the operation start timing of the diverter 12 differs depending on the length of the article W in the conveyance direction. That is, as the length of the article W in the conveyance direction increases, the feed amount of the main conveyor 10 from when the photoelectric sensor 17 detects the front end of the article W to when the diverter 12 starts to operate increases. The operation speed (rocking speed) of the diverter 12 is changed so as to be proportional to the weight of the article W in consideration of the transfer speed of the main conveyor 10.

The diverter 12 swinging inward is projected on the conveying surface of the main conveyor 10, whereby the traveling direction of the article W is changed obliquely forward along the inner side surface of the article contact portion 13 of the diverter 12. It is paid out to the branch road 20. At this time, the article W is drawn into the branch passage 20 by the first drive roller 22 in the branch passage 20 without remaining on the main conveyor 10. The articles W delivered to the branch path 20 are transported to the end of the branch path 20 by their own weight and then sent to the next step.

[0023]

[Modifications, etc.]

(1) The main control unit 101 may recognize the transportation status including information on whether or not the article W is a broken article based on the operation status of the article supply device 30, and control the motors 15 and 18 based on the transportation status. That is, when a large number of broken pieces are continuous, the conveyance speed of the main conveyor 10 and the operation speed of the diverter 12 may be reduced to prevent the article W from being damaged. (2) You may make it incorporate the information on whether it is a crack or not in the barcode. (3) In order to measure the weight of the article W, the carry-in conveyor 1
A weight measuring device may be provided midway. (4) The weight of the article W may be estimated from the detected length in the transport direction. (5) The weight information may be preliminarily stored in the control device 100 or may be recognized from the operation status of the article supply device 30 without writing the weight information in the barcode. (6) The photoelectric sensors 2 and 17 may be photoelectric sensors other than the light emitting and receiving type or sensors other than the photoelectric sensor. (7) The carry amount per unit time may be recognized by the photoelectric sensor 2.

[0024]

The present invention is configured as described above.
The following effects are obtained. In the invention according to claim 1,
By performing the optimum diverter operation according to the type of the article, it is possible to always reliably dispense the article to the branch road regardless of the article. By stabilizing the moving direction of the discharged articles, the width of the branch path can be narrowed to the minimum necessary and the installation space of the article sorting apparatus can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the failure of payout to the branch path by setting the optimum operation start timing of the diverter according to the length of the article on the main conveyor in the conveying direction. In particular, even articles having a long length in the transport direction can be accurately dispensed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by setting the optimum operation speed of the diverter according to the weight of the article, it is possible to prevent the failure of the delivery to the branch path, and to reliably deliver even a particularly heavy article. be able to. Further, in the case of a broken article, the operation speed of the diverter can be reduced to prevent the article from being damaged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view schematically showing an article sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a payout unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a payout unit.

FIG. 4 is a simplified plan view showing diverter operation start timing.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W article 1 carry-in conveyor 10 main conveyor 12 diverter 20 branch path 30 article supply apparatus 100 control apparatus 101 main control section 102 length detection section

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An article sorting device for swinging a diverter to change a traveling direction of an article on a main conveyor and delivering the article to a branch road, and controlling the diverter operation according to the type of the article. An article sorting device having a control device. 2. The article sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the operation start timing of the diverter based on the article length in the transport direction of the main conveyor. 3. The article sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the operation speed of the diverter according to the type of article.