JPH10139163A - Stage stacking device and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stage stacking device to be miniaturized and have excellent running control performance. SOLUTION: A stage stacking device comprises a stage conveyor 1 having a plurality of work plates 6a, 6b, 6c... attached in stages to an endless rotary travel body 5 inclined forward. In each work plate of this stage conveyor 1, by repeating a supply cycle for sending in articles P placed side by side to be packaged on an array table 2 en block by a push-sending bar 3 and a movement cycle for traveling the stage conveyor 1 by an amount equivalent to one work plate for each one supply cycle, the articles to be packaged are stacked in sequence in respective work plates.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stacking apparatus and a method for automatically stacking articles to be packed in a required number of stacks as a pre-stage for stacking and packaging.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, foods such as natto, mozuku and mekabu are often packaged in so-called one-piece capacity, reflecting the recent trend toward smaller families. In general, such small-volume container-packaged products are stacked and packaged in an appropriate number for further convenience in sales at stores and convenience in purchase by consumers.

[0003] Stacked packaging is performed by winding articles to be stacked in a required number of layers with a packaging sheet. The stacking packaging line for this purpose generally includes a stacking device for automatically stacking the articles to be packed, and a packaging apparatus for stacking and packaging the articles to be stacked supplied from the stacking apparatus.

[0004] As a conventional stacking device, there is a vertical stacking type. The up-down type stacking device includes a work table that is moved up and down by, for example, an air cylinder, and a supply table provided along the work table. The stacking operation is as follows. First, the first-stage package item is supplied from the supply table onto the work table, and then the work table is lowered by one stage. Are supplied from the supply table to the second stage, and then the work table is lowered by one stage to supply the third stage to be packaged.

[0005] Such a vertical moving type stacking apparatus requires a lowering operation of the work table for each stage of the stacking.
For example, in the case of four-stage stacking, it is necessary to repeat the lowering operation four times to complete the stacking, and it is difficult to speed up and down the work table. The processing speed per target product is slower than that of the stacked packaging apparatus. For this reason, it is necessary to adjust the processing speed with the packaging device by simultaneously performing the stacking process with a plurality of rows in parallel, and it is inevitable that the device will be significantly increased in size. In addition, in the case of the vertical movement type, the supply of items to be packaged from the supply table and the gradual lowering of the worktable and the sending of items to be packaged from the worktable to the packaging device from the worktable after stacking the required number of stages are linked. Computer control is indispensable for efficient control. For this reason, the operation management of the stacking apparatus requires a technician skilled in computer control. However, in a processing plant for food or the like in which stacked packaging is performed, there are many cases where such a demand cannot be satisfied.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is capable of following a packaging device even if the processing speed per product to be packaged is high and small. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stacking apparatus and a method in which a series of processing operations can be linked with a simple mechanism and no computer control is required.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A step stacking apparatus according to the present invention comprises a plurality of work plates on which an article to be packaged can be placed in a stack, is mounted on an endless rotating traveling body arranged in a downwardly inclined forward direction. Step stairs with a step corresponding to the thickness of one step and attached at regular intervals, and the number of products to be packaged according to the required number of stacked layers are set at the work plate mounting interval on the stair conveyor. An arrangement table that can be arranged side by side at corresponding intervals, and a pushing bar that sends the items to be packaged on the arrangement table to the respective work plates of the stair conveyor by pushing together in a row while keeping the arrangement side by side. Become.

[0008] Further, for each of the number of work plates corresponding to the number of stacks, an operation of simultaneously supplying the articles to be packaged by the pushing bar from the array supply table by a pushing bar, and a step of moving the stair conveyor for each feeding operation. 1
By repeating the moving operation of controlling the individual items, the items to be packaged are sequentially stacked on each work plate.

[0009] Such a stacking apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the stacking is performed by a stair conveyor. In the stacking by the stair conveyor, as a result, the necessary number of stacks can be completed in one supply operation. That is, for example, in the case of four-stage stacking, the articles to be packaged are simultaneously supplied one by one to the four work plates while moving the work plates one by one. Therefore, an empty work plate on which a product to be packaged is not yet placed, a work plate on which one product to be packaged is placed, a work plate on which a product to be packaged is placed in a two-tier configuration, and a product plate in three-tier configuration. There will always be a work plate on it. Therefore, each time one supply operation for supplying four items to be packaged simultaneously from the array table is performed, four-stage stacking of the three-stage stacked work plate is completed. As a result, one supply operation is performed. The stacking can be completed.

Accordingly, the processing speed per one article to be packaged can be greatly increased. For example, the conventional stacking apparatus has a structure in which two work tables and supply tables are provided in parallel.
In contrast to the limit of 40 pieces per minute, the stacking apparatus according to the present invention allows more than 60 pieces per minute with only one set of stair conveyor and arrangement table.

The operations in the stacking apparatus according to the present invention, that is, the supply of articles to be packaged from the supply table to the stair conveyor and the traveling of the stair conveyor are controlled by timing control using a limit switch or the like, or by shifting from a common motor. It is possible to interlock by a combination of gears. Therefore, there is no need to use computer control, and simple mechanical adjustments, such as changing the inclination of the stair conveyor, can be used to respond to changes in the number of stacked layers and the height of one step, that is, the thickness of the article to be packaged. .

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. One embodiment of the present invention relates to an apparatus of a type which can be incorporated into a series of production lines for successively stacking and packaging natto into small containers and capable of stacking up to four layers. Specifically, the stacking apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a stair conveyor 1, an arrangement table 2, and a pushing bar 3 as shown in FIG. 1.

The stair conveyor 1 includes a chain conveyor 4
Are formed using a pair (or one), and the work plate 6 (6a, 6
b, 6c) are attached. The work plate 6 has a mounting surface 7 so that the product P to be packaged (in this example, a small container packaged product of natto) can be stably mounted in a stacked state, as shown in FIG. And the rising surface 8 are formed in an L-shape. These work plates 6 are mounted on the chain conveyor 4 inclined forward and downward so that the mounting surface 7 is kept horizontal. The mounting interval is fixed, and a gap of about 1 cm is provided between each work plate. On the other hand, the inclination angle of the intangible rotating body is such that the level of the mounting surface of the rear work plate between the adjacent work plates is the same as the thickness of the article to be packaged with respect to the level of the front work plate mounting surface. The angle becomes higher. That is, the work plates are arranged stepwise at a step corresponding to the height of one step of the article to be packaged.

The arrangement table 3 is formed in a belt conveyor structure using a wide conveyor belt 10. The arrangement table 3 is arranged along the stair conveyor 1 so that the conveyor belt 10 runs in the same direction as the running direction of the stair conveyor 1. Also, the height level is set so that the upper surface of the conveyor belt 10 is at the same level as the upper surface of the apparatus surface portion 7a of the work plate 60a, which is the highest position on the stair conveyor 1.

The pushing bar 3 has a structure in which four pushing edges 12 are attached to the bar member 11 at the same intervals as the intervals at which the work plates 6 are attached to the stair conveyor 1. The pushing bar 3 has a pair of chain conveyors 13 provided along the front and rear ends of the array table 2 and separately provided from the array table 2 to support the left and right ends of the bar member 11. Such traveling and rotation.
Each time the chain conveyor 13 makes one rotation, the pushing bar 3 also makes one rotation. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Are arranged, the rotation speed of the chain conveyor 13 is set so that the pushing bar 3 comes to the front side Q of the article to be packaged P and can be pressed. By doing so, every time the four packaging target articles P are arranged, they are pushed forward by the pushing bar 3. Thus, the rotation of the chain conveyor 13 causes the pushing bar 3 to become the product P to be packaged.
Is extruded over the entire surface. The four work plates 6 (6a, 6b, 6c, 6c) of the stair conveyor 1
d) rotates so as to face each other at the time of extrusion (coordination with the rotation speed of the stair conveyor 1 and the chain conveyor 13)
By doing so, the four packaging target products P are pushed out and stored in the corresponding work plates 6 (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d). In other words, the articles to be packaged arranged side by side in an array table can be pushed together toward the stair conveyor. Note that it is reasonable to make a pair of such pushing bars 3 so that one pushing operation can be performed by the half rotation of the chain conveyor 13. For this purpose, for example, two pushing bars may be provided on the chain conveyor 13 at equal intervals.

The operation of the above-described stacking apparatus is as follows.
It is as follows. The items P to be packaged which are continuously sent from a small container packaging device (not shown) are supplied to the arrangement table 2 via the supply conveyor 14. At that time, the product to be packaged P
Is controlled on the arrangement table 2 by controlling the supply conveyor 14 and the conveyor belt 10 of the arrangement table 2 with respect to their respective traveling speeds and traveling / stop timings.
The work plates 6 are arranged side by side at intervals corresponding to the arrangement intervals of the work plates 6 on the stair conveyor 1. When such an array operation cycle ends, a supply operation cycle starts. In the supply operation cycle, the pushing bar 3 operates as described above,
As a result, the four products P to be packaged side by side are pushed together and the four work plates 6a in the stair conveyor 1 are pushed.
To 6b. According to such a supply operation cycle, the first stage of the work plate 6a is located at the highest position, and the next work plate 6b is located at the highest position. 2 on top of the supplied first packaging target
The product to be wrapped in the third row is the work plate 6 at three more positions.
In c, this work plate is supplied at the highest position or the next position, and is placed on the packaged product already stacked in two stages.
The third stage of the packaging object is further placed on the work plate 6d at the four positions. The work plate is supplied at the highest position, the next position, and the three positions. The items to be packaged in the fourth tier are supplied respectively.

Following the supply operation cycle, the movement operation cycle starts. In the moving operation cycle, stair conveyor 1
Travels for one work plate. As a result, the position of each work plate 6 is lowered by one step, and a new empty work plate appears at the highest position. On the other hand, the work plates for which stacking has been completed up to four levels are sequentially advanced forward by the repetition of the movement cycle to reach the discharge position indicated by the arrow Y. At the discharge position, a pusher (not shown) operates to discharge the four-tiered product to be packaged on the work plate to the next step, the supply line for the stacked packaging target product.

According to the above embodiment, the stacking is possible only by coordinating the rotational speeds (including the supply conveyor 14) of the stair conveyor 1, the chain conveyor 13 and the belt conveyor 10. It became. Such speed control is possible without using a computer such as a microcomputer, and has an advantage that operation management becomes easy.

Although the above description has been made with a four-layer stack, it is of course possible to apply the present invention to a three-layer stack, a two-layer stack, or a five-layer stack. In addition, although the number is one at a time, there may be an example in which two pieces are stacked at a time. In order to accurately sort the four workpieces into the four work plates at the time of pushing (dropping or feeding) the four items to be packaged into each work plate, it is necessary to coordinate the rotation speeds of the chain conveyor 13 and the stair conveyor 4. However, for further assurance, it is preferable to provide a sorting guide on the side of the transport entrance to the four work plates. In addition, when stacking the target products having different heights per package, an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the entire height of the stair conveyor 4 is provided, and the high target product is set at a low position, and the high target product is set at a low position. The height may be adjusted so that the article is at a high position. Further, the supply conveyor 14 is suitable for the example of transporting the packaging target products one by one, but four parallel transports or the like may be performed at one time.

[0020]

As described above, the step stacking device according to the present invention has the stair conveyor structure, and therefore the article to be packaged 1
The processing speed per unit can be increased, and the size of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a main part of a stacking device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a stair conveyor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stair conveyor 2 Arrangement table 3 Pushing bar 4 Endless rotating traveling body 5 Work plate

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A stacking apparatus for stacking and supplying articles to be packaged to a packaging apparatus for stacking packaging, wherein a plurality of work plates capable of placing the articles to be packaged in a stack are lowered forward. To the endless transfer line arranged on the slope,
A stair conveyor that is attached in a stepwise manner with a step corresponding to the thickness of the product to be packed at one step and is attached at regular intervals. An array plate that can be arranged side by side at an interval corresponding to the installation interval, and a push bar that feeds the packaged items on the array plate to the respective work plates of the stair conveyor by pushing the batch-wise items together in the horizontal direction. A stacking device, comprising: 2. The step stacking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stair conveyor has an adjusting mechanism capable of adjusting the entire height in the vertical direction. 3. A plurality of work plates on which articles to be packaged can be placed one on top of the other are provided with a step corresponding to the thickness of one step of the articles to be packaged to an endless transfer line arranged at a downward slant in the forward direction. An arrangement in which stair conveyors that are attached in a stepwise manner at a constant interval and articles to be packaged in a number corresponding to the required number of stacked layers can be arranged side by side at an interval corresponding to the attachment interval of the work plate on the stair conveyor. A stacking device comprising a plate and a pushing bar for pushing the articles to be packed on the array plate into the work plates of the staircase conveyor by pushing the items to be packaged side by side in a batch. For each of the number of work plates, a supply operation is performed to simultaneously supply the items to be packaged by pushing with a pushing bar from the array table. Stage overlapping method is characterized in that by running a bare by repeating the moving operation of moving the workpiece plate one by one minute, go to overlapping stages sequentially packaged goods for the each work plate.