JPH10139006A - Container standing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably stand a container being carried in an inverted state with a simple structure. SOLUTION: The container standing apparatus includes a bucket conveyer 6 for carrying a container 2 in an inverted state, a plurality of pockets placed in parallel to an advancing direction of the bucket conveyer 6 for receiving the container 2 in a standing state and a discharging mechanism 10 for discharging the container 2 on the bucket conveyer 6 and putting it in the pocket. The discharging mechanism 10 comprises a hook 24 made of a U-shaped rod material and a back plate 26 attached behind the hook 24 to be integrally rotated. When the bucket conveyer 6 with the container 2 mounted stops in front of the pocket, the hook 24 and the back plate 26 rotate. The container 2 is raised with a head 2a of the container 2 hooked inside a narrow part at the tip of the hook 24 and is put in the pocket while being centered automatically. At this time the back plate 26 on the back interferes with the head 2a of the container 2 to regulate its position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container erecting device provided on a caser or the like for erecting a container which has been conveyed in an overturned state by a conveyor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is difficult to transport containers having unstable shapes while standing upright on a conveyor. For example,
Containers such as mayonnaise are made of a soft material such as synthetic resin and have an unstable shape, so that it is difficult to convey the container in an upright state by a conveyor. Therefore, the container is transported in a state of being turned over on a conveyor, and the container is erected by a container erecting device immediately before packing, and then the container is packed.

As shown in a simplified form in FIG. 9, a conventional container erecting device accommodates containers 102 in an overturned state in each bucket (not shown) of a bucket conveyor 100 and intermittently stores the containers 102. The container is stopped at the gripper position of the caser for laterally feeding and packing, and the head of the container 102 is kicked out by a rotating plate (dispensing means) 104 and put into an upright pocket 106 provided on a side portion of the bucket conveyor 100. Thereby, each container 102 is raised.

[0004]

In the conventional container erecting device, the dispensing means 104 for charging the container 102 into the erecting pocket 106 is plate-shaped, so that the position of the container 102 conveyed by the bucket conveyor 100 may vary. In some cases, it was not possible to stand in the correct posture. For example, if the direction of the container 102 is shifted in the bucket of the bucket conveyor 100, the upright pocket 1
In addition, there is a problem that the standing state in the inside of the container 06 is deteriorated, and since the position of the rotation center (rotation axis) 108 of the rotation plate 104 is fixed, a large variation occurs in the manner of dropping depending on the size and shape of the container 102. There was also a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and has a simple structure, and enables a container which has been conveyed in an overturned state by a bucket conveyor to be stood upright and in a correct posture. An object of the present invention is to provide an erecting device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a container erecting apparatus comprising: a conveyor for transporting containers in an overturned state; a pocket disposed adjacent to the conveyor for accommodating the containers in an upright state; Dispensing means for pressing the container in the overturned state from the head side and throwing it into the pocket, and in particular, container head holding means for hooking and holding the head of the container as the dispensing means By moving the container head holding means from below to above and from the conveyor side toward the pocket, the head of the container is hooked inside the container so that the container is put into the pocket. It was done.

Further, the container erecting device according to the second invention is characterized in that:
A regulating member capable of interfering with the head of the container is provided behind the container head holding means so as to be movable integrally with the container head holding means, and when the container is put into a pocket, the head of the container is The position of the section is regulated.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an entire robot caser provided with a container erecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This robot caser is a container 2
And a container transport conveyor 4 that continuously transports the containers 2 in the vertical direction in two rows, and a container 2 that is orthogonally disposed at the downstream end of the container transport conveyor 4 and that is received from the container transport conveyor 4,
A bucket conveyor 6 which feeds the container in a lateral direction while being overturned; a plurality (ten in this embodiment) of upright pockets 8 arranged in parallel with the side portions of the bucket conveyor 6; Mechanism (not shown in FIG. 1 and therefore FIGS. 2 and 3) for charging the bucket conveyor 6 with the bucket conveyor 6 and the upright pocket 8. The case conveyor 12 includes a case conveyor 12 running in the opposite direction, a robot 16 that holds the containers 2 aligned in the upright pocket 8 and packs the containers 2 in a case 14 on the case conveyor 12. The container erecting device according to the present invention (indicated by reference numeral 18 as a whole) includes the bucket conveyor 6,
It is constituted by the upright pocket 8, the payout mechanism 10, and the like.

The bucket conveyor 6 is provided with buckets 20 (see FIGS. 2 and 3 showing the container erecting device 18) at regular intervals for receiving the containers 2 laterally with respect to the traveling direction thereof. Since the container transport conveyor 4 on the upstream side transports the containers 2 in two rows, the containers 2 are simultaneously supplied into two buckets 20 of a large number of continuous buckets 20, and the two containers 20 are supplied. It runs intermittently every distance. In addition, on the front side (the right side in FIG. 1) of the container transfer section from the transport conveyor 4 to the bucket conveyor 6,
A stopper 7 is provided to regulate the position of the head 2a of the container 2 to be supplied. At the downstream end (upper part in FIG. 1) of the bucket conveyor 6, there is provided detection means for detecting that the leading container 2 conveyed by the bucket conveyor 6 has reached the downstream end. When 2 is detected, the payout mechanism 10 operates.

The bucket conveyor 6 running intermittently
Is temporarily stopped, the payout mechanism 10 is operated, and the container 2 on the bucket conveyor 6 is thrown into the upright pocket 8 and rises. In this example, ten upright pockets 8 are provided in parallel with the bucket conveyor 6, and ten containers 2 on the bucket conveyor 6 are simultaneously put into the upright pockets 8 and stand up, and are raised by the grippers of the robot 16. It is held and accommodated in the case 14.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are a side view and a front view, respectively, showing a dispensing mechanism 10 for charging the container 2 on the bucket conveyor 6 which has been temporarily stopped into the upright pocket 8.
The dispensing mechanism 10 is provided on the head 2a side of the container 2 transported by the bucket conveyor 6 in the overturned state, and an upright pocket 8 (not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) is provided on the bottom 2b side of the container 2. Are located. The payout mechanism 10 includes a rotating shaft 22 disposed above the head 2 a of the container 2 conveyed by the bucket conveyor 6 in parallel with the traveling direction of the bucket conveyor 6, and a rotating shaft 2.
And ten hooks (container head holding means) 24 attached at equal intervals and rotating, and attached to the rear side (far side from the bucket conveyor 6) of each hook 24 and rotated integrally with the hook 24. Back plate (restriction member)
26. The rotating shaft 22 is rotatably supported by frames 28 on both sides via bearings 30, and is rotated by a motor 32 fixed to the frames 28.

Each hook 24 is formed of a round bar that is curved in a U-shape, and its tip 24a is bent rearward. The head 2a of the container 2 is hooked inside the narrowed portion 24a of the tip bent backward. The back plate 26 attached to the rear side has a size substantially equal to the area of the inner portion of each hook 24, and interferes with the head 2a of the container 2 hooked on the hook 24, and Is regulated.

Next, the structure of the upright pocket 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 4 shows bucket conveyor 6
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 6 described later) of one of the ten upright pockets 8 arranged in parallel. Each standing pocket 8
Fixed pocket member 3 arranged on bucket conveyor 6 side
4 and a movable pocket member 36 arranged opposite to the fixed pocket member 34. As shown in FIG. 4, the fixed pocket member 34 has a central portion 34a in the width direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 4) that is recessed in an arc shape, and the fixed pocket member 34 is formed as shown in FIG. ,
In the vertical direction, a central portion 34b protrudes in an arc shape.

A movable pocket member 36 disposed opposite to the fixed pocket member 34 has an upright flat portion 3 facing the fixed pocket member 34 at the center in the width direction.
6a and, on both sides of the flat portion 36a, side portions 36 opened in a C shape toward the fixing pocket member 34 side.
b. The movable pocket member 36 is mounted on a bracket 38, and can move forward and backward toward the fixed pocket member 34 by the operation of the cylinder 40. Further, a bottom plate 42 is attached to the bottom of the movable pocket member 36. The bottom plate 42 is bent such that the tip of a rising portion 42 a provided on the fixed pocket member 34 side is directed obliquely upward, and the container 2 put into the pocket 8 is positioned below the fixed pocket member 34. It is not allowed to enter.

A pair of horizontal guide bars 44 for positioning the upper portion of the container 2 placed in the pocket 8 by pressing the upper portion of the container 2 from both sides are arranged on both upper sides of each upright pocket 8. These guide bars 44 will be described with reference to FIGS. These pair of guide bars 44, 45
The movable pocket member 36 can be opened and closed (close to or separated from each other) by moving in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the movable pocket member 36. When the container 2 is put into the pocket 8, as shown by a solid line in FIG. Then, the container 2 is retracted to a position separated from each other, and after the container 2 is put into the pocket 8, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Positioning in the left-right direction (left-right direction in FIG. 4) is performed.

The guide bars 44 and 45 are horizontally fixed to upper ends of upright arms 46 and 47, respectively.
Each of the arms 46 and 47 is
8 and 49 are attached to the side surfaces. One pocket 8
One of the pair of guide bars 44, 45 corresponding to
A normal pinion gear 48 having teeth formed on the entire circumference is attached via an arm 46, and the other 45 is attached via a second arm 47 to a partial gear 49 having teeth only partially. , These two gears 48, 49 mesh with other adjacent sets of other gears 49, 48, respectively. For example, the leftmost pair of guide bars 44 and 4 in FIG.
Of the two gears 48, 49 to which the fifth gear 5 is attached, the partial gear 49 located on the right side of the drawing has the second pair of guide bars 44, 45 from the left located next to it attached thereto. Out of the two gears 48, 49 that are engaged with the pinion gear 48 located on the left side in the figure. Similarly, each pinion gear 48 and a partial gear 49 located next to each other mesh with each other.

Further, a rack 50 is disposed below the gears 48 and 49 so as to be able to move forward and backward.
0 is engaged with each pinion gear 48. As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 7, the partial gear 49 is provided with teeth only on the side that meshes with the pinion gear 48, and does not directly mesh with the rack 50. Therefore, when the rack 50 moves in the longitudinal direction, this rack 50
, The pinion gear 48 rotates, and the partial gear 49 rotates in the opposite direction to the pinion gear 48 via the pinion gear 48. Thus, the pinion gear 4
8 and the partial gear 49 rotate in the opposite direction, so that both gears 4
8 and 49, both guide bars 4
4, 45 move in opposite directions, approaching or separating from each other.

A robot 16 for inserting the container 2 into the case 14 is provided near a position where the container conveyor 18 including the bucket conveyor 6, the plurality of upright standing pockets 8 and the payout mechanism 10 is provided. (See FIGS. 1 and 8). Although the robot 16 has a conventionally well-known configuration and a detailed description thereof is omitted, a plurality of (ten in this embodiment) grippers 52 are provided at the tip of the robot hand 16a, and the robot hand 16a stands up from the bucket conveyor 6. The container 2 put in the pocket 8 is gripped by these grippers 52 and inserted into the case 14 on the case conveyor 12 running parallel to the bucket conveyor 6 and in the opposite direction.

Next, the operation of the caser provided with the container erecting device 18 will be described. The container 2 which has fallen with the head 2a facing forward in the traveling direction is transported in two rows by the container transport conveyor 4. The first two containers 2 transported to the downstream end (the right end in FIG. 1) of the container transport conveyor 4 having the two rows of transport surfaces are temporarily stopped by the bucket conveyor 6 arranged orthogonally in front of the two containers. While falling, it falls into two buckets 20, respectively. A stopper 7 is disposed in front of the container transfer section of the bucket conveyor 6, and the head 2 a of the container 2 dropped from the container transport conveyor 4 is regulated by the stopper 7 so that the bucket 2
It is stored in a predetermined position within 0.

The bucket conveyor 6 intermittently travels. When two buckets 2 are received while the bucket conveyor 6 is stopped, the bucket conveyor 6 advances by two containers and stops again. The bucket conveyor 6 travels, and two empty buckets 20 next to the two buckets 20 to which the containers 2 were supplied last time are stopped in front of the container transport conveyor 4. The next containers 2 are delivered into the two buckets 20 from the container transport conveyor 4 that transports the containers 2 in two rows. By repeating this operation, the containers 2 are sequentially supplied into each bucket 20 of the bucket conveyor 6, and the leading container 2 is placed at the end of ten standing pockets 8 arranged in parallel with the bucket conveyor 6 (see FIG. 1). (Upper end of the bucket conveyor 6) is detected by detection means such as a photoelectric switch, and the payout mechanism 10 is operated while the traveling of the bucket conveyor 6 is temporarily stopped.

A payout mechanism 10 is provided on the head 2a side of the container 2 at a position where the bucket conveyor 6 is stopped, and a motor 32 drives a U-shaped hook 24 and a back plate (restriction member) 26 behind it. Rotates. When the U-shaped hook 24 rotates, the head 2 of the container 2
a engages with the inside of the distal end portion 24a of the hook 24 (position A in FIG. 2), and the head 2 of the container 2
The side a is raised (state B in FIG. 2). Hook 24
Is bent toward the rear side, so that
As it rotates, the tip 24a is directed downward, and the head 2a is securely held until the container 2 is put into the pocket 8. Further, since the hook 24 is U-shaped, the head 2 of the container 2 is placed in a narrow portion of the tip 24a.
Since a is held, the head 2a of the container 2 is automatically centered. With the rotation of the hook 24, the container 2 gradually rises, and the bucket 2 of the bucket conveyor 6
It slides down from 0 and is thrown into the pocket 8.

A guide plate 26 is attached to the rear of the hook 24 so as to rotate integrally therewith. As the hook 24 rotates, the guide plate 26
Strikes the head 2a of the container 2 and regulates the position of the head 2a of the container 2 to be constant. The guide plate 26 is movable with respect to the rotating shaft 22. The engagement position of the hook 24 with the container head 2a can be changed by changing the mounting position according to the size of the container 2 to be processed. It can be adjusted to the optimal position.

When the head 2a of the container 2 is hooked by the hook 24 of the dispensing mechanism 10 and thrown into the pocket 8, the movable pocket member 36 of the pocket 8 is moved away from the fixed pocket member 34 by the cylinder 40. The guide bars 44 and 45 provided above each pocket 8 are moved while the rack 50 is moved.
Are opened as shown in FIG. As described above, the container 2 is placed in the pocket 8 which is larger than the size of the container 2.
Is inserted into the pocket 8 smoothly without being caught even when the container 2 is covered with a bag. On the lower side of the pocket 8, there is provided a bottom plate 42 in which the upper part of the rising portion 42 a on the fixed pocket member 34 side is widened, so that even if the pocket 8 has room,
There is no possibility that the bottom 2b of the container 2 enters the lower side of the fixed pocket member 34.

When the container 2 is put into the pocket 8, the movable pocket member 36 is first advanced by the cylinder 40 toward the fixed pocket member 34. Fixed pocket member 3
4 is formed on the front side (movable pocket member 36 side) with an arc-shaped concave portion in which a central portion 34a in the width direction is recessed (see FIG. 4). A concave portion is formed by the side portion 36b opened in the shape of a letter, and the container 2 is held by the two pocket members 34, 36, so that the inclination of the container 2 in the front-rear direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4) can be eliminated. .

The rack 50 is moved to the left in FIGS. 6 and 7 after the front and rear sides of the container 2 are sandwiched between the concave portion of the fixed pocket member 34 and the concave portion of the movable pocket member 36 to eliminate the front and rear inclination of the container 2. Let it. By the movement of the rack 50, each pinion gear 48 rotates clockwise, and the partial gear 49 meshing with the pinion gear 48 rotates counterclockwise. Then, these two gears 48, 49
A pair of guide bars 44, 45 attached to the container 2 via the arms 46, 47 approach each other and approach the container 2 from both sides.
Hold the top of the As a result, even if the head 2a of the container 2 is tilted in the left-right direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 4), the head 2a is straightened and stands upright. Thus, the pocket 8 is formed by the movable pocket member 36 and the fixed pocket member 34.
The container 2 inserted into the inside of the container is corrected in the front-back direction, and the pair of guide bars 44, 45 corrects the left-right inclination of the container 2, so that the container 2 is completely upright at the center position of the pocket 8. Stand up.

The container 2, which is in an upright position in each pocket 8, is gripped by the gripper 52 attached to the hand 16 a of the robot 16 and inserted into the case 14. Since the container 2 is accurately positioned in the pocket 8, it is possible to securely grip and pack the container without causing a grip error.

In the above embodiment, the payout mechanism 10
(Container head holding means) 24 and a back plate (restriction member) 26 are configured to rotate. However, the present invention is not limited to this. What is necessary is just to be able to move the head 2a obliquely upward from below to upward and from the bucket conveyor 6 side to the pocket 8 side.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, a conveyor for transporting containers in an overturned state, a pocket arranged adjacent to the conveyor and for accommodating containers in an upright state, A container erecting device comprising: a dispensing unit that presses a container in an overturned state from the head side and puts the container into a pocket, wherein the container head holding unit that hooks and holds the container head as the dispensing unit. By moving the container head holding means from below to above and from the conveyor side toward the pocket,
By hooking the head of the container inside the container and throwing the container into the pocket, it is possible to reliably hold the head until the container is thrown into the pocket,
In addition, since the head of the container is held in the narrow part of the tip of the container head holding means, the center of the container is automatically centered, and the container is positioned at the correct position in the pocket and in the correct posture. Can be erected.

Further, in the second invention, a regulating member capable of interfering with the container head is provided behind the container head holding means so as to be movable integrally with the container head holding means. Since the restricting member regulates the position of the head of the container when the container is put into the pocket, even containers having different sizes and shapes can be uniformly dropped without variation and can be raised in the correct posture.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an entire caser provided with a container erecting device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a bucket conveyor and a payout mechanism constituting the container erecting device.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a part of a bucket conveyor and a payout mechanism constituting the container erecting device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a pocket constituting the container erecting device.

5 is a cross-sectional view of a pocket constituting the container erecting device, showing a cross section taken along line VV in FIG. 6;

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a drive mechanism of a guide bar provided in a pocket constituting the container erecting device.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.
Is a view in the direction of arrow A, and the right side is a view in the direction of arrow C.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing a robot for packing the caser in a box.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a simplified configuration of a conventional container erecting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Container 2a Container head 6 Conveyor (bucket conveyor) 8 Pocket 10 Payout means (payout mechanism) 18 Container erecting device 24 Container head holding means (hook) 26 Regulator (back plate)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A conveyor for transporting containers in an overturned state,
A pocket is provided adjacent to the conveyor and accommodates the container in an upright state, and a dispensing unit that presses the container, which is overturned on the conveyor, from the head side and throws the container into the pocket. In the container erecting device, container head holding means for hooking and holding the head of the container is provided as the payout means, and the container head holding means is provided,
A container erecting device characterized in that a container head is hooked inside the container by moving the container from the lower side to the upper side and from the conveyor side toward the pocket, and the container is put into the pocket. 2. The container erecting device according to claim 1, wherein a regulating member capable of interfering with the head of the container is movable behind the container head holding means integrally with the container head holding means. A container erecting device for regulating the position of the head of the container when the container is put into a pocket.