JPH1045238A - Article loading device to pallet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve effective use of a space by simplifying the facility layout by reducing the floor occupied area of a device. SOLUTION: A circulating pallet PC placed on a home pallet PW is supplied to the article loading position LP by a longitudinally feeding conveyor 4 and laterally feeding roller conveyors 7, 8, 9, an article is loaded on the circulating pallet PC and carried out by longitudinally conveyors 5, 6, guide rails 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 as home pallet positioning means and guide rails also serving as positioning stoppers 18, 19, 20 are provided on the sides of pallet conveying passages 1, 2, 3, a frame 10 of a robot mounting frame 11 is provided on the front stage of the article loading position LP, and a circulating pallet positioning means 12 is provided in the frame 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for loading articles such as signatures on a distribution pallet in a factory by a robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an on-site pallet is used for transporting articles inside a factory, and a distribution pallet is used in a distribution process outside the factory. This is to make it easier for various facilities in the factory to handle various distribution pallets with slight dimensional differences. Conventionally, distribution pallets are moved in a factory while being stacked on pallets in a shop. Then, the distribution pallet placed on the on-site pallet is supplied to the article loading position by the conveyor, and after the articles are loaded on the distribution pallet, the article is unloaded by the conveyor. A distribution pallet positioning means is provided in front of the article loading position, and the article loading robot is located outside the pallet transport path and is installed near the article loading position.

[0003]

By the way, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the article loading robot is installed so as to protrude outside the pallet transport path, the space occupied by the equipment is increased, and the problem of securing the path is required. There is a problem in that the equipment layout is very troublesome and the space cannot be effectively used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and has as its object to reduce the floor area occupied by the apparatus by making the robot installation space on a pallet transport path, and to facilitate equipment layout. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for loading articles onto a pallet, which can effectively utilize space and improve work efficiency.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the following technical measures have been taken to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, the present invention supplies a distribution pallet placed on an on-site pallet to an article loading position by a conveyor, loads articles on the distribution pallet, and then unloads the article by the conveyor. A pallet positioning device is provided, and an apparatus for loading articles onto a pallet in which a distribution pallet positioning device is provided at or before the article loading position, wherein the article is located in the vicinity of the article loading position above the pallet transport path. A loading platform for the loading robot is provided (claim 1).

As described above, by disposing the article loading robot above the pallet transport path, the floor space occupied by the equipment is reduced, and the robot frame does not protrude outside the pallet transport path. Easier,
A passage with good visibility can be secured, workability is improved, and space can be used effectively. Further, the present invention is characterized in that the distribution pallet positioning means and the robot mounting base are provided on a common frame (claim 2). Therefore, the whole apparatus becomes compact.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show the overall configuration of an apparatus for loading articles (signatures) on a pallet according to the present invention, and include three rows of pallet transport paths 1 arranged at the center and on both left and right sides thereof.
Pallet vertical feed conveyors provided in 2, 3
5, 6; a vertically movable roller conveyor 7, 8, 9 that is provided at the pallet loading end and orthogonal to the conveyors 4 to 6; Frame 10, a robot mounting base 11 provided on the frame 10, positioning means 12 for a distribution pallet PC provided inside the frame 10, and guidance of a pallet PW in the shop Rails 13, 1
4, 15, 16, 17 and positioning stopper / guide rails 18, 19, 20 and an article loading robot (not shown).

The central pallet transport path 1 is for loading pallets, the left and right pallet transport paths 2 and 3 are for pallet unloading, and the leading ends of the transport paths 2 and 3 are located at the loading positions LP on the distribution pallet PC. The roller conveyors 8 and 9 transfer the pallets PW received from the roller conveyor 7 onto the conveyors 5 and 6 at the position LP so that the roller conveyors 8 and 9 do not interfere with the conveyors 5 and 6 at right angles. It has become.

The conveyors 4 to 6 are roller chain conveyors, which are a plurality of rotating shafts 22 mounted on respective conveyor frames 21 in parallel with each other, and both ends of the rotating shafts 22 and a central portion in the longitudinal direction (a conveyor of the central pallet transport path 1). 4) and a sprocket wheel 23 provided on the
, And a roller chain support member 25. Conveyor 4
Roller chains 24 are provided at both left and right ends to convey empty pallets.
Is for transporting a pallet on which articles are loaded, and is provided with roller chains 24 at both left and right ends and a central portion. Each of these conveyors 4, 5, and 6 is independently operated by a separately provided drive motor (not shown).

[0010] Each roller chain 24 is provided with a pusher (not shown) for pushing the pallet in the shop. The roller conveyor 7 includes a plurality of rollers 7A parallel to the pallet carrying direction, and a plurality of rollers 7A arranged in a central conveyor frame 21.
The roller 7A is vertically movably mounted via an elevating frame 26, and each roller 7A is driven to rotate forward and backward by a driving means (not shown). The top end of the roller 7A is provided so as to be slightly lower than the upper end of the conveyor 4 at the lower position, and the upper end of the roller 7A is higher than the upper end of the conveyor 4 at the upper position. It does not come into contact with the conveyor 4.

The roller conveyors 8 and 9 have a plurality of rollers 8A and 9A parallel to the pallet unloading direction (parallel to the rollers 7A).
Each of the rollers 8 is mounted so as to be able to move up and down via lifting frames 27 and 28 by driving means (not shown).
A and 9A are driven to rotate in the direction of sending the pallet PW outward in the left or right direction.

The top of each roller 8A, 9A is
In the descending position, it is set to be at a position slightly lower than the upper ends of the conveyors 5 and 6, and in the ascending position, the upper surface of the conveyors 5 and 6 and the lower surface of the pallet PW in the shop are not in contact with the conveyors 5 and 6. Has become. A roller 7 is provided between the roller conveyors 7, 8, and 9.
Intermediate transfer rollers 29, 29 parallel to A are provided so that the pallet PW in the shop can be smoothly transferred.

The frame 10 is located at the terminal half of the pallet transport path 1 outside the central conveyor frame 21 and at a high position where the distribution pallet PC does not interfere.
0A is provided across the transport path 1, and the top end member 10A
A robot mounting base 11 is provided on the upper pallet loading side, and an article loading robot (not shown) is mounted on the base 11. This robot uses the gantry 11
A vertical articulated robot is provided on the upper end of the turning post provided upright, and can load articles into the distribution pallet PC carried into the left and right article loading positions LP.

Therefore, since there is no article loading robot disposed in front, rear, left and right of the transport paths 1 to 3, the space can be effectively used, such as by providing an ample passage, thereby improving workability and work efficiency. Can be. On both left and right outer sides of each of the conveyor frames 21, the guide rails 13, 14, and 15 are provided in parallel with each other to position the pallet PW in the left and right directions and to perform longitudinal feed guidance. These guide rails 13 to 15 are provided on the transport paths 1, 2, and 3 except for the roller conveyors 7 to 9. In addition, each article loading position L of the left and right conveyor frame 21.
Guide rails 16 and 17 for pallet lateral feeding are provided at the start end side of the P unloading direction.

At the end of the central conveyor frame 21, the guide rail 18 for positioning and serving as a lateral feed guide is provided. Outside the article loading position LP of the left and right conveyor frames 21, there are guide rails 1 for vertical feed.
Subsequent to 4 and 15, the guide rails 19 and 20 for positioning stopper of the pallet PW and for vertical feed guide are provided.

An example of loading the guide rail 13 into a pallet;
On the pallet unloading end side of the guide rails 14 and 15, photo sensors 30, 31, and
32 are provided. A pallet detecting photosensor 33 is provided at the end of the guide rail 13 and at the positioning stopper / guide rail 18. Further, pallet detecting photosensors 34 and 35 are also provided on the lateral feed guide rails 16 and 17 and the positioning stopper and guide rails 19 and 20 which are adjacent to them. The operation control of each of the conveyors 4 to 9, the positioning operation of the distribution pallet PC, and the like are performed by the photosensors 30 to 35.

4 to 10 show the distribution pallet positioning means 12. As described above, the positioning means 12 is located on the lower surface of the top plate 10A of the frame 10 before and after in the pallet loading direction, and the vertical shafts 36, 37, 38, 3
9, a pair of left and right pallet positioning arms 40, 41, 42, 43 provided rotatably in the horizontal direction
And shaft support brackets 44, 45, 46, 4 which are positioned on the lower surface of the top plate 10A in the front and rear directions in the pallet loading direction and fixed between the left and right arms 40, 41, 42, 43.
7, a pair of left and right positioning levers 50, 51, 52, 53 provided via horizontal shafts 48, 49, an arm driving fluid pressure (pneumatic) cylinder (54), and a lever driving fluid pressure. (Pneumatic) A cylinder (55), an arm and lever drive mechanism, and the like.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the vertical shafts 36 to 39. The upper ends of the vertical shafts 36 to 39 are fixed to the lower surface of the frame top plate 10A by fixing means such as bolts.
, A cylindrical boss 56 is rotatably fitted through a bush 57. The base end of each of the arms 40 to 43 is fixed to a lower end of the boss 56, and a swing lever is 58, 59, 60 and 61 are fixed.

At the free ends of the arms 40 to 43, abutment rollers 63 are respectively rotatably attached to the distribution pallet PC via vertical pins 62 extending downward. Pallet transport path 1
To position the distribution pallet PC in the left-right direction. Note that the pallet PW in the shop is positioned by the guide rail 13 and the positioning / guide rail 18 described above.
C will be positioned with respect to the pallet PW in the shop.

The swinging levers 58 to 61 are connected to one end of swinging rods 64, 65, 66, 67 which can be extended and contracted via vertical pins 68 so as to be relatively rotatable. The left and right vertical shafts 3 are provided on the lower surface of the top plate 10A of the frame 10.
The vertical shafts 69 and 70 for attaching the lever are fixedly located between 6 37 and 38 39. This vertical axis 69,7
9, a cylindrical boss 71 as shown in FIG.
Is rotatably fitted through a bush 72, and a drive lever 73 or 74 is fixed to the lower end of the boss 71,
Two interlocking levers 75 or 7 are provided at the upper end of the boss 71, respectively.
6 is fixed at a target position with respect to the axis, and the left and right opposing ends of the swinging rods 64 to 67 are relatively rotated to the free ends of the interlocking levers 75 and 76 via vertical connecting pins 77 and 78. It is movably connected.

The free ends of the front and rear drive levers 73 and 74 are linked by a link rod 81 which can be extended and contracted via vertical connecting pins 79 and 80. In addition,
The outer end piece 82 of the rod of the arm driving fluid pressure cylinder 54 is pivotally connected to the rear drive lever 74 together with the interlocking rod 81 by the interlocking pin 80.
(See FIG. 9) Therefore, by the operation of the cylinder 54, the respective arms 40 to 43 are simultaneously reciprocated in the direction shown by the arrow A in the figure, thereby positioning the fluid pallet PC in the left-right direction. it can.

The hydraulic cylinders 54 and 55
As shown in FIGS. 4, 7, and 8, brackets 83, 84 fixed to the lower rear surface of the frame top plate 10A are provided.
Are swingably mounted via bearings 85 and 86 and pivot connection pins 87 and 88. At the left and right free ends of the front-rear direction positioning levers 50 to 53, contact bars 89 and 90 for pushing the distribution pallet are horizontally fixed, and the bars 89 and 90 are moved forward and backward in the carrying direction of the distribution pallet PC. Is to be positioned. Further, rocking levers 91 and 92 are fixed to the horizontal shafts 48 and 49, respectively.

The upper horizontal member 1 of the frame 10 is a precedent.
The lower bearings 9B are provided on the lower surface of the left and right bearings 9 via mounting plates 93, respectively.
4, and a horizontal swing shaft 95 is supported by the bearings 94, 94. The swing shaft 95 and the horizontal shaft 4
Drive levers 96 and 97 are fixed to the position 9 corresponding to the cylinder 55. The distal ends of the drive levers 96 and 97 are linked by a link rod 100 via link pins 98 and 99.

A rod outer end fitting 101 of the lever driving fluid pressure cylinder 55 is pivotally connected to the tip of the rear drive lever 97 by the pin 99 together with the interlocking rod 100. At the corresponding position between the horizontal shaft 48 and the swing shaft 95 on the front side, levers 102 and 103 are fixed in the same direction (rearward) and in parallel, and the outer ends of both levers 102 and 103 are connected via connecting pins 104 and 105. Are connected by a rod 106 to form a parallelogram link.

Therefore, by the operation of the fluid pressure cylinder 55, the contact bars 89, 90 swing back and forth as shown by the arrow B in FIG. It is possible to position the pallet PC in the front-rear direction with respect to the pallet PW in the shop. In the above embodiment, when loading articles on the distribution pallet PC,
First, the distribution pallet PC is loaded into the pallet PW by a forklift or the like, and the pallet PW is loaded on the pallet transport path 1 of the apparatus of the present invention at a predetermined position on the entrance side and on the start end of the conveyor 4. Then, the pallet PW in the shop is detected by the photosensor 30, and the operation of the conveyor 4 is started by the detection signal, and the pallet PW is fed vertically and carried in.

When the on-site pallet PW comes into contact with the positioning stopper / guide rail 18 at the end of the pallet transport path 1, the pallet PW is detected by the photo sensor 33 and the conveyor 4 is stopped.
Is started, the contact rollers 63 and the contact bars 89, 90 contact the front, rear, left and right side surfaces of the in-park pallet PW, and the distribution pallet PC is positioned with respect to the in-park pallet PW.

When the positioning of the distribution pallet PC is completed, at the same time as the roller conveyor 7 is raised, the left or right (vertical direction in FIG. 1) roller conveyor 9 or 8 is raised, and the rollers 7A and 9A or 8A are moved in the same direction ( The rollers 8A and 9A are driven to rotate in one direction (left and right directions outward), and the pallet PW in the shop is laterally fed from the roller conveyor 7 onto the adjacent roller conveyor 8 or 9. The lateral pallet PW is fed to the empty article loading position LP.

The pallet PW in the shop is guided by the guide rails 16 or 17, and is used as a positioning stopper and guide rail 1.
At the same time that the roller conveyor 7, 8 or 9 is stopped by the photosensor 34 or 35, the roller conveyor 7, 8 or 9 descends and is placed on the conveyor 5 or 6 of the pallet transport path 2 or 3. Can be Next, the articles are loaded into the distribution pallet PC by the robot provided on the robot mounting base 11.

When the loading of the articles is completed, the operation of the conveyor 5 or 6 is started, and the distribution pallets PC loaded with the articles together with the on-site pallets PW are vertically fed toward the outlets of the pallet transport paths 2 and 3. And the photo sensor 31
Or 32, when the pallet PW in the shop is detected, the conveyor 5 or 6 is stopped by the detection signal. On-site pallet PW stopped at the exit of pallet transport path 2 or 3
Is carried out to a predetermined place by a forklift or the like together with the distribution pallet PC.

During loading of the goods on the distribution pallet PC, the on-site pallet PW loaded with another distribution pallet PC
Is carried into the pallet transport path 1 by the above-mentioned operation, the distribution pallet PC is positioned with respect to the pallet PW in the shop by the positioning means 12, and the pallet PW in the shop is laterally fed to the empty article loading position LP. Preparation for loading articles is performed.

Therefore, when the loading at one of the article loading positions LP is completed, the other article loading position L
It is possible to load articles at P, thereby increasing the operation rate of the robot and improving the article loading efficiency.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, in addition to the vertical and horizontal feed conveyors being other types of conveyors, the frame of the robot mounting base is integrated with the conveyor frame, and the distribution pallet positioning is further performed. The design can be changed as appropriate such as disposing the means at the article loading position.

[0032]

According to the apparatus for loading articles onto a pallet according to the present invention, since the mounting base of the article loading robot is provided above the pallet transport path and near the article loading position, the robot installation floor is provided. By omitting the area, the floor area occupied by the apparatus (equipment) can be reduced, the equipment layout can be easily made, and the effective use of space and the improvement of work efficiency can be achieved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the distribution pallet positioning means and the robot mounting base are provided on a common frame, the structure is simplified and the equipment cost can be reduced. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an overall plan view of the distribution pallet positioning means in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a right side view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a left side view of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view taken along line AA of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a view taken along line BB of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line DD in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 pallet transport path 2 pallet transport path 3 pallet transport path 4 pallet vertical feed conveyor 5 pallet vertical feed conveyor 6 pallet vertical feed conveyor 7 pallet horizontal feed roller conveyor 8 pallet horizontal feed roller conveyor 9 Roller conveyor for pallet lateral feed 10 Frame 11 Article loading robot mounting table 12 Distribution pallet positioning means 13 Guide rail 14 Guide rail 15 Guide rail 16 Guide rail 17 Guide rail 18 Pallet stopper / guide rail 19 Pallet stopper / guide rail 20 Pallet Stopper and guide rail LP Goods loading position CP Distribution pallet PW Pallet in the shop

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A distribution pallet placed on an on-site pallet is supplied to an article loading position by a conveyor, articles are loaded on the distribution pallet, and then conveyed out by the conveyor. An apparatus for loading articles on a pallet provided with a positioning means and provided with a distribution pallet positioning means at or before the article loading position, wherein the article loading is performed in the vicinity of the article loading position above the pallet transport path. An apparatus for loading articles on a pallet, comprising a mounting table for a robot. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distribution pallet positioning means and the robot mounting base are provided on a common frame.