JPH11180542A - Method and device for changing direction - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily perform a change in direction of an article by 90 deg.. SOLUTION: When an article 11 is fed to a second conveyor 2 by the opening and closing control of a movable stopper 4 installed on a first conveyor 1, the article 11 comes in contact with a fixed stopper 5 for stoppage. When a change in orientation is required, a straight bar 6 turns clockwise to a swing position (b) while pushing to return the article 11 so as to rotate the object 11 by 90 deg. in order to move it in the right side half area of the second conveyor 2. When a change in orientation is not required, the straight bar 6 is positioned at waiting position (a), and a feeder 7 only is slid along a roller of the second conveyor 2 so as to move the object 11 to the right side half area of the second conveyor 2 in the style of being kept unchanged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for turning a box-shaped article moving on a conveyor by 90 degrees in a horizontal direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A box-shaped article moving on a conveyor is 9
As a method and an apparatus for rotating 0 degrees, a method using a roller contact type is known. As shown in FIG. 3, one end of the article 21 that has been brought to the predetermined one side position on the conveyor 20 and brought into contact with a roller 22 or the like protruding onto the conveyor 20 is brought into contact with the end of the article 21. , A speed difference is made between the free end and the other end, and the rotational movement of the article 21 is obtained as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG.

On the other hand, the present applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 9-2936.
No. 7 has already provided an angle plate type direction changing device. This is arranged on the conveyor 20 across the direction of travel of the article 21, as shown in FIG.
The box-shaped article 21 is brought into contact with the angle plate 23 whose free end is bent to the upstream side, and the angle plate 23 is pivoted to the downstream side about the base end as shown in the upper plan view of FIG. While rotating the article 21 along the angle plate 23 and guiding the article 21 to the corner of the angle plate 23, the article 21 is rotated.

[0004]

The change of direction by the former roller contact method has the following problems. First of all,
Since the posture after turning is not directly regulated, the posture after turning is uneven.Second, it is necessary to change the contact position of the roller for articles of different sizes. Third, it is complicated and increases the manufacturing cost of the device. Third, a device for moving the article to one side in advance on the conveyor is required, and the manufacturing cost and installation space are required.

On the other hand, in the case of the latter angle plate method, although the direction can be accurately changed without variation as compared with the former method, when the angle change is completed, the articles 21 must be lifted up. Cannot be conveyed downstream, so that a vertical movement is always required between turning directions. Similarly, as is apparent from the lower front and side views of FIG. 4, it is necessary to raise the angle plate 23 so that it can pass below the angle plate 23 even when the article 24 that does not need to be turned flows. As described above, since the processing by the angle plate 23 takes a long time due to the addition of the elevating operation, the processing efficiency is low, and it is particularly remarkable when articles that need to be changed and articles that do not need to flow are mixed. In addition, since a device for controlling the elevation of the angle plate is also required, the production cost also increases.

Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 or 2 is:
With a simpler structure, regardless of the size of the article and the position at which it flows, the article can be easily and accurately placed at a fixed position at all times.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a direction changing method or a device capable of changing the direction by 0 degrees.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, as a direction changing method for achieving the above object, a turning bar provided at the downstream center of the conveyor and having a rotation center set at a base end is provided. When the side of the article reaches the position of the swivel bar, wait in a direction crossing the front of the article,
The free end of the swivel bar is swung upstream while pushing back the article until it is parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor, and the side surface of the article abutting on the swivel bar is changed to a direction parallel to the conveying direction. Wherein the article is rotated by 90 degrees. According to a second aspect of the present invention, as the direction changing device for achieving the above object, a turning bar having a rotation center set at a base end in the center of the downstream side of the conveyor, the turning bar, and a free end of the article are provided. Turning means for turning upstream from a standby position crossing the front to a turning position parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor,
When the side surface of the article reaches the turning bar at the standby position, the turning means turns the free end of the turning bar to the turning position while pushing back the article, and moves the free end of the article in contact with the turning bar. The method is characterized in that the side surface is converted to a direction parallel to the transport direction, and the article is rotated by 90 degrees. The invention according to claim 3 is, in addition to the object of claim 2, in order to enable efficient transport processing even in a case where an article requiring a direction change and an unnecessary article flow together. On the upstream side of the swivel bar on the conveyor, a traverse means for moving the article, which has reached the standby position of the swivel bar, in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction to a position exceeding the swivel position of the swivel bar while maintaining its posture. It is provided.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is an explanatory front view of a direction changing device for realizing the direction changing method of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an explanatory plan view thereof. First, the first conveyor 1 is configured by arranging a plurality of rollers that rotate by a known driving method, and is a box-shaped article (hereinafter abbreviated as “article”) 11 sent from a conveyor (not shown) connected upstream. To the second conveyor 2. Similarly to the first conveyor 1, the second conveyor 2 also includes a plurality of rollers that rotate by a known driving method, and includes a straight bar 6 and a feeder 7, which will be described later, provided on the second conveyor 2. Thus, the article 11 is transferred to the third conveyor 3 side. Similarly to the first conveyor 1, the third conveyor 3 includes a plurality of rollers that rotate by a known driving method, and sends out the articles 11 to a conveyor (not shown) connected downstream. In particular, here, the width of the second conveyor 2 is made longer (approximately twice) than the width of the other conveyors, and the first conveyor 1 connected thereto is provided.
And the third conveyor 3 are arranged so as to be staggered while being parallel to each other.

On the other hand, at the downstream end of the first conveyor 1, there is provided a movable stopper 4 which is controlled to protrude and retract from the upper surface of the first conveyor 1. The movable stopper 4 is located on the entrance side of the second conveyor 2 (the left half area of the second conveyor 2 in the drawing =
Only one article 11 in the area on the extension of the first conveyor 1)
Is a stopper that controls so as to prevent the article 11 from entering the second conveyor 2 while the article 11 protrudes (closes) from the upper side of the first conveyor 1 while the article 11 is on the entry side of the second conveyor 2. When the straight bar 6 returns to the fixed stopper 5 side of the second conveyor 2 and the feeder 7 returns to the left end, the straight bar 6 enters (opens) the first conveyor 1.

The second conveyor 2 has a fixed stopper 5
, A straight bar 6, and a feeder 7. The fixed stopper 5 stops and positions the article 11 that has entered the second conveyor 2, and the straight bar 6 is a swivel bar that rotates the article 11 that has entered the second conveyor 2 by 90 degrees. . The rotation of the straight bar 6 is controlled by a rotation drive unit 9 provided at the center of the downstream end of the second conveyor 2 as a rotation unit. The rotation control unit 9 controls the rotation by a well-known motor or gear. A central axis 10 is provided. That is, the base end of the straight bar 6 is fixed to the center shaft 10, and the free end is centered on the center shaft 10 from the standby position a in FIG. By turning right to the upstream side, turning control of 90 degrees is performed to a turning position b parallel to the transport direction as shown by a solid line. The feeder 7 serving as the lateral feed means is located on the upstream side of the straight bar 6 and is slid along the rollers of the second conveyor 2 so that the articles 1 entering the second conveyor 2 can be moved.
1 as it is, the turning position b of the straight bar 6
Is moved to the area on the right half of the second conveyor 2 which has exceeded Further, at the upstream end of the third conveyor 3, a movable stopper 8 controlled to protrude and retract from the upper surface of the third conveyor 3.
Is provided. The movable stopper 8 is a stopper for adjusting the posture of the article 11 that has moved, and is normally in a protruding (closed) state from the upper surface of the third conveyor 3, and once inside the third conveyor 3 after receiving the article 11. , The posture of the article 11 to be transferred to the third conveyor 3 is regulated so that the side surface on the movable stopper 8 side is perpendicular to the traveling direction.

The operation of the direction changing device configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First,
There is no article 11 on the entrance side (left half) of the second conveyor 2,
When the straight bar 6 is at the standby position a and the feeder 7 is at the left end in FIG. 1, the movable stopper 4 of the first conveyor 1 is opened (step 1). Accordingly, the article 11 sent from the upstream conveyor (not shown) enters the first conveyor 1 (step 2), passes over the movable stopper 4 which is continuously opened, and enters the second conveyor 2 (step 3). ). When the article 11 enters the second conveyor 2 in this way, the movable stopper 4 of the first conveyor 1 is closed, and the article 11 sent from the upstream side thereafter is prevented from entering the second conveyor 2 (step 4). Next, the second conveyor 2
The article 11 that has entered moves straight until the side surface hits the fixed stopper 5, and stops there (step 5). Here, when the article 11 that has entered the second conveyor 2 needs to change direction, the straight bar 6 turns until it reaches the turning position b as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Rotate 90 degrees while pushing back, and move to the carry-out exit side (right half) of the second conveyor 2 (steps 6, 7, 9). On the other hand, when the article 11 entering the second conveyor 2 does not need to change its direction, the straight bar 6 does not turn, and the feeder 7 does not rotate.
Only the article 11 moves to the right side, and the article 11 is moved to the carry-out side (right half) of the second conveyor 2 in the same posture (steps 6, 8, and 9). When the movement of the article 11 is completed, the straight bar 6 or the feeder 7 returns to the original position, where the movable stopper 4 of the first conveyor 1 is opened (steps 10 and 11). At the same time, the movable stopper 8 of the third conveyor 3 is opened, and the article 11 is sent out to the downstream conveyor (not shown) via the third conveyor 3, and then the movable stopper 8 is closed again (steps 12, 13, 1).
4).

As described above, according to the embodiment, the article 11 is turned by the straight bar 6 arranged at the center of the downstream side of the second conveyor 2, so that the article 11 can be transferred to the entrance side of the second conveyor 2. Even if the size and the flowing direction of the article 11 vary, the straight bar 6
Is corrected at the time of turning by turning, and when the turning is completed, the side surface of the article 11 abutting on the straight bar 6 is always at a position along the straight bar 6 at the turning position b, and the exit side from there. It will flow to the third conveyor 3. Therefore, regardless of the size of the article or the position where the article flows, the article can be easily and accurately turned 90 degrees at a constant position. In addition, since the direction change can be achieved by a simple operation of turning the straight bar 6, there is no time loss due to the preparation of the straight bar 6, and the response of the straight bar 6 when performing a continuous direction change is quick, The transfer process can be performed efficiently in a short time. Furthermore, the device can be simply constructed and the production costs are reduced. Furthermore, since the feeder 7 is also provided, articles that do not require a change in direction as described above can be transported together. At this time, the straight bar 6 does not hinder the flow of an article that does not require a change in direction, and does not require an operation for avoiding it. Therefore, no time loss occurs here and the processing efficiency does not decrease.

The turning bar can be used to change the direction of the article by turning, such as a straight bar 6 as described in the above embodiment, or an angle plate having a tip bent at a right angle as described in the prior art. The shape is not limited as long as it is a simple bar shape. However, the length needs to be long enough to be able to rotate while contacting the side surface of the article and pushing it back. Therefore, the longer the object, the larger the object. The same applies to the lateral feeding means. In place of the feeder 7, a belt that is controlled to protrude and retract from between the conveyors of the second conveyor 2 can be used as long as it is a means for moving the article in parallel. is there.
The structures of the movable stoppers 4 and 8 are not limited to the form of protruding and retracting from the inside of the conveyor, but may be of various forms as long as they can control the flow of articles, such as moving up and down from above, or falling down on the conveyor. Can be adopted. Further, in the above embodiment, each conveyor is always driven, and the flow of the article 11 is controlled by the movable stoppers 4 and 8. However, these stoppers are omitted, and a photoelectric sensor or the like is arranged at a connection portion of each conveyor, and the downstream is provided. The flow of the articles 11 may be controlled by stopping the driving of the conveyor by detecting the article.

In addition, in the above embodiment, since the article 11 conveyed to the second conveyor 2 abuts on the straight bar 6 at the standby position a together with the fixed stopper 5, the article conveyed without the fixed stopper 5 is omitted. The straight bar 6 may serve as both the stop and positioning of 11. vice versa,
It is possible to add another configuration such as providing a fixed stopper on the right side edge of the second conveyor 2 to correct the posture of the article moved by the straight bar 6 or the feeder 7 again. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the first conveyor 1 is connected to one end so as to have a width approximately half that of the second conveyor 2.
In this case, the article 11 is transported almost exactly to the straight bar 6 at the standby position a, which is a desirable form. However, if the transport direction toward the straight bar 6 is maintained, the width becomes the fourth. It may be the same as the two-conveyor 2. The same applies to the third conveyor 3, and the same width as that of the second conveyor 2 may be used as long as the third conveyor 3 is provided at least on the outlet side of the second conveyor 2. The technique of controlling the flow of articles by employing the movable stoppers 4 and 8, the fixed stopper 5, the photoelectric sensor, and the like has been described. If these stoppers are provided, it is desirable to ensure the conveyance process, and it is desirable. However, in the present invention, these stoppers are omitted, and the conveyance process is performed only by the transverse feed means such as the turning bar and the feeder, and This is intended to include a configuration in which the transfer control is performed only for the articles that need to be changed, and the transfer processing is performed using only the swivel bar without traversing the feeding means.

[0015]

According to the direction changing method and the apparatus according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the article can be easily and accurately turned in a 90-degree direction at a constant position regardless of the size of the article or the position where the article flows. Can be switched. In addition, since the direction change can be achieved by a simple operation of turning the swivel bar, no time loss occurs due to the preparation of the swivel bar, and the response to the continuous change of direction is quick, and the transfer is efficiently performed in a short time. Processing can be performed. Furthermore, the device can be simply constructed and the production costs are reduced. According to the invention set forth in claim 3, claim 2 is provided.
In addition to the effects described above, the provision of the lateral feed means enables the conveyance process even in a case where articles that need to be changed in direction and articles that do not need to flow are mixed. Also in this case, since the turning lever is operated only at the time of the direction change, it does not hinder the flow of an article that does not require the direction change, and can quickly respond to the next direction change. Therefore, no time loss occurs here and the processing efficiency does not decrease.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is an explanatory front view of a direction change device. (B) It is a plane explanatory view of a direction change device.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a transfer processing control by the direction changing device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, first conveyor, 2, second conveyor, 3, third conveyor, 4, movable stopper, 5, fixed stopper,
6, straight bar, 7 feeder, 8 movable stopper, 9 turning drive unit, 10 center shaft, 11
Box-shaped articles.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A box-shaped article conveyed from an upstream side,
A direction change method of rotating 90 degrees in a horizontal direction on a conveyor, provided at a center on the downstream side of the conveyor, and a turning bar having a rotation center set at a base end is made to stand by in a direction crossing the front of the article, When the side surface of the article reaches the position of the swivel bar, the free end of the swivel bar is swung upstream while pushing back the article until it is parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor, and the swivel bar contacts the swivel bar. A direction changing method comprising: converting a side surface of an article to a direction parallel to the transport direction; and rotating the article by 90 degrees. 2. A box-shaped article conveyed from an upstream side,
A turning device for rotating a conveyor by 90 degrees in a horizontal direction, comprising a swivel bar having a center of rotation set at a base end in the center of the downstream side of the conveyor, and a swivel bar having a free end in front of the article. Turning means for turning upstream from a traversing standby position to a turning position parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor, wherein when the side surface of the article reaches the turning bar at the standby position, the turning means Rotating the free end of the swivel bar to the swivel position while pushing back the article, converting the side surface of the article abutting on the swivel bar into a direction parallel to the transport direction, and rotating the article by 90 degrees. A turning device characterized by the following. 3. The article reaching the standby position of the swivel bar on the conveyor upstream of the swivel bar is moved in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction to a position exceeding the swivel position of the swivel bar in its posture. 3. The direction changing device according to claim 2, further comprising a traversing means for moving.