JPH11334811A - Carrying-out device for automatic housing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve safety in maintenance operations or the like while achieving a smooth springing up and rotation of a conveyor for sorting file holders with a small power. SOLUTION: A driven pulley 36 and a driving pulley 37 are attached between a pair of side frames 39, and a belt 38 is wound on both the pulley 36, 37. A motor (a motor roller) is built in the driving pulley 37. The side frames 39 are attached to the machine frame 21 with a pivot 42 so as to be rotated around the part nearer to a main conveyor 17 than the axis of the driving pulley 37. Arms 44 and a link 51 are attached to the axis 42 relatively unrotatably, and a sorting conveyor 19 is sprung up and rotated through the arms 44 by rotating the link 51 with a rotor 49. The sorting conveyor 19 returns to a horizontal state by its own weight by returning and rotating the arm 44.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic storage facility for automatically loading and unloading articles such as a file holder.
The present invention relates to a delivery device with a sorting function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a means for storing a large amount of documents such as medical charts, a hanging file holder (for example, 7-3
Automatic containment equipment using 5078) is used. That is, the automatic storage facility for this file holder
In the hangar, a shelf device provided with a large number of hangers capable of suspending a file holder and a stacker crane type transfer device running along the front surface of the shelf device are arranged, and the transfer device is driven to drive the file holder. Is put in and out of an arbitrary part of the shelf.

In this automatic storage facility, in addition to the loading / unloading means using a cart (wagon), a loading / unloading device using a conveyor is provided in parallel. A delivery device using this conveyor, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-315515, arranges a conveyor substantially horizontally along the upper front surface of a hangar, and removes a file holder taken out by a transfer device. The file holder is transferred to a conveyor, and the file holder conveyed by the conveyor is dropped and accumulated via a chute to a delivery section arranged below the end of the conveyor.

According to the configuration in which the file holders are ejected to the exit section via the conveyor as described above, the file holders can be collected from a plurality of automatic storage facilities at one place, and the plurality of automatic storage facilities are juxtaposed. In this case, the file holder can be taken out efficiently. Also, regardless of the number of the automatic storage facilities, there are many advantages such as eliminating the trouble of extracting the file holders from the cart one by one, and allowing the car to be taken out even when the cart is being dispensed.

[0005]

When a large number of file holders are taken out through a conveyor-type unloading device, the destination of the file holders is hardly one, and for example, there are many cases such as internal medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, and pediatrics. As I say, the destination is divided into many departments, and also divided by the doctor in charge. However, in the conventional retrieval apparatus, a large number of file holders are merely accumulated at one place, and therefore, there is a problem that sorting according to a destination has to be manually performed.

[0006] In this regard, the applicant of the present application has filed Japanese Patent Application No.
In 245341, it was proposed to provide a sorting function in the retrieval device. The present invention has been made for the purpose of further developing the invention of the prior application to provide a more suitable form.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, at least one sorting conveyor is provided near an end of a main conveyor which conveys articles taken out of a shelf device, and the sorting conveyor has an end near the main conveyor. In the automatic storage facility provided so that the part can be flipped up and rotated so as to move up and down the largest, the center of rotation of the sorting conveyor is deviated to the near side from the front end in the direction of transporting the articles. Is characterized by

The present invention can be applied not only to a storage facility for file holders storing documents such as medical records, but also to a storage facility for other various articles. Further, it is not necessary to store the articles by hanging them on the shelves, and the storage form and the form of the shelf device can be appropriately selected as needed.

[0009]

With this configuration, the center of rotation of the sorting conveyor can be brought closer to the center of gravity of the sorting conveyor, so that when the sorting conveyor is turned, the weight balance is improved, and the turning with small power is achieved. Can be moved. In addition, when a plurality of sorting conveyors are arranged in series, adjacent sorting conveyors can be brought close to each other so as not to interfere with each other.
There is also an advantage that the whole unloading device can be made compact.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the driving motor plays a role of a balancer when rotating the sorting conveyor, so that the sorting conveyor can be more easily rotated. is there. Further, according to the second aspect, since the sorting conveyor can be flipped up manually, there is an advantage that operations such as maintenance and inspection of the sorting conveyor and the like can be easily performed. In addition, since the sorting conveyor rotates downward by its own weight, even if the arm is rotated downward while the hand is working under the flipped-up sorting conveyor, the sorting can be performed. Since the conveyor can be held in a flipped-up state, there is also an advantage that human safety can be ensured during operations such as maintenance.

[0011]

Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an automatic storage facility for file holders will be described with reference to the drawings. (1). Outline of File Holder In FIG. 1, (A) is a perspective view of a file holder F, and (B) is a perspective view of the entire automatic storage facility 1. As shown in FIG. 1A, the file holder F includes a pair of openable and closable covers F1, and a thick edge member (hanging plate) F2 is attached to the free ends of both covers. The file holder F is held in a closed state by fastening F2 by snap engagement between a projection formed on the edge member F2 and a hole (neither is shown). Documents such as medical records
It is bound in an inner pocket or binder provided on the inner surface of the file holder F.

Although not shown, a card on which a bar code (identification code) for specifying each file holder F is printed is mounted on the file holder F. (2). Outline of automatic storage facility As shown in FIG. 1 (A), in this embodiment, three units (only one unit,
(Two or four or more automatic storage facilities 1). Each of the automatic storage facilities 1 is provided with a pair of left and right entry / exit sections 1a into which the cart 2 can be inserted, and the file holder F can enter / exit using the carriage 2 and be attached to each of the automatic storage facilities 1. It is also possible to leave the warehouse by the common retrieval device 3. The present invention relates to the common retrieval device 3, but prior to the description, an outline of each automatic storage facility 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of the inside, FIG. 3 (A) is a partial perspective view, and FIG. 3 (B) is a partial plan view. Each automatic storage facility 1
A storage (main body) 4 is provided, and two shelf devices 5 for storing a large number of file holders F inside the storage 4.
Are provided opposite to each other, and a stacker crane type transfer device 6 is disposed in a passage between the two shelf devices 5. The front part of the housing 4 is formed in a convex shape in plan view.

The shelf device 5 includes an edge member F2 of the file holder F.
And a hanger group in which a plurality of hangers are juxtaposed is provided in multiple stages. The transfer device 6 includes a support 10 that travels guided by the ground rail 8 and the top rail 9, a lift 11 that is attached to the support 10 so as to be able to move up and down, and a picking device 12 that is attached to the lift 11 so that it can turn horizontally. By providing the file holder F between the picking device 12 and the shelf device 5 or the cart 2, the file holder F can be taken out or stored. An operation panel 15 is provided at an appropriate location on the front of the hangar 4.

(3) Outline of retrieval device Next, the retrieval device 3 common to the automatic storage facilities 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 (A) and FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1 (A), the retrieval apparatus 3 includes a main conveyor 17 extending across a location on the upper front of each automatic storage facility 1 and a main conveyor from inside each automatic storage facility 1.
A chute 18 for charging the file holder F to 17;
3 arranged in series in front of the main conveyor 17 in the transport direction
There are two sorting conveyors 19 and a delivery section 20 installed below the sorting conveyor 19. The file holder F transferred to the sorting conveyor 19 is conveyed in the same direction as the main conveyor 17.

The file holder F is loaded into the chute 18 of the automatic storage facility 1 by the means described in Japanese Patent Application No. 9-245341. File holder F is the edge member F2
Is transported on the main conveyor 17 in a posture facing the automatic storage facility 1. Main conveyor 17 and sorting conveyor 19
Is surrounded by a machine frame 21. 4 is a partial plan view, FIG. 5 (A) is an exploded perspective view showing a driving means of the belt 22 in the main conveyor 17, and FIG. 5 (B) is a sectional view taken along the line VB-VB of FIG. As shown, the drive pulley 23 of the main conveyor 17
Is mounted on the machine frame 21 via a bearing 24. A motor 28 with a speed reducer 27 is fixed to brackets 25 and 26 fixed to the machine frame 21, and the power from the speed reducer 27 is transmitted to the shaft 23 a of the drive pulley 23 via the coupling 29. In this case, the coupling 29 is made of rubber, and the motor 28 and the speed reducer 27 are supported by the bracket 26 via a vibration damping material 30 such as rubber. In this way, the vibration accompanying the driving of the motor 28 can be reduced gradually, and the generation of noise can be greatly suppressed.

(4) Outline of Sorting Mechanism FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an outline of the flow of the file holder F.
File holders F are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the sorting conveyor 19 in a plan view at a total of four places, that is, three places below each sorting conveyor 19 and below a part in front of the sorting conveyor 19 located at the end. Conveyors 32 for transporting the same. Further, as shown in FIG.
Are formed with four booths 33 corresponding to the four relay conveyors 32. Each of these booths 33 has an integrated wagon.
34 can be inserted. One booth 34 is located below one relay conveyor 32.

As shown by the dashed line in FIG. 6, each of the sorting conveyors 19 can be freely flipped up and turned so that the end near the main conveyor 17 rises greatly. When the conveyor 19 is flipped up and turned,
The file holder F falls on the relay conveyor 32 located below the sorting conveyor 19 that has flipped up and rotated.
In a state where each of the sorting conveyors 19 is not rotated, the file holder F falls through the respective sorting conveyors 19 to the relay conveyor 32 at the end.

The file holder F that has fallen on the relay conveyor 32 is thrown into a chute 35 partially shown in FIG. Therefore, the file holders F transported by the main conveyor 17 can be sorted into the same number of groups as the number of relay conveyors 32. In addition,
Needless to say, it is not necessary to use the accumulation wagon 34, and at least one sorting conveyor 19 is sufficient, and the file holder F is directly chute (or a guide member) without using the relay conveyor 32. You may let it fall.

(5) Folding Mechanism of Sorting Conveyor Next, the structure of the sorting conveyor 19 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10 in addition to FIG. 8, (A) is an entire perspective view, (B) is a partial perspective view, and FIG.
X-IX cutaway view, FIG. 10 is a view showing an operating state. Fig. 8 (A)
As clearly shown in FIG. 2, each of the sorting conveyors 19 includes a driven pulley 36 located near the main conveyor 17 and a driving pulley 37 located farther from the main conveyor 17;
Endless belt 38 wrapped around 36,37 and pulley 3
6, 37 are provided with a pair of side frames 39 to be attached. The drive pulley 37 has a built-in motor. In other words, the drive pulley 37 itself is a motor roller. Reference numeral 40 denotes a reinforcing bar, and reference numeral 41 denotes an intermediate pulley. Although not shown, the tension of the belt 38 can be adjusted by moving the driven pulley 39 to and away from the driving pulley 37 by a movement adjusting means (not shown).

A pivot 42 is rotatably penetrated through a portion of the side frame 39 which is located slightly closer to the main conveyor 17 than the drive pulley 37, and the pivot 42 is rotatably attached to the left and right machine frames 21. . Therefore, the sorting conveyor 19 can be flipped up and rotated around the pivot 42. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 9, both machine frames 21 are provided with stopper pins 43 for holding the side frames 39 in a horizontal state.

An arm 44 extending in the direction of the main conveyor 17 is fitted and mounted on a portion of the pivot 42 inside the left and right side frames 39 so as to be relatively non-rotatable. Protrusions (pins) 45 that contact from below are provided. Therefore, when the pivot 42 is rotated, the sorting conveyor 19 can be flipped up and rotated via the arm 44. The arm 44 may be attached to the pivot 42 by screwing or the like.

As an example of a driving means for the pivot 42, a motor 48 with a speed reducer 47 is attached to a bracket 46 provided near the pivot 42 in the machine frame 21, and a rotor 49 attached to the main shaft of the reducer 47. In the direction of the sorting conveyor 19.
A pin 50 extending parallel to the pivot 42 is protruded from a portion of the rotor 49 near the outer peripheral edge.
The lower end of a vertically extending link 51 is attached to the part near it so that it cannot rotate relatively.
The pin 50 of the rotor 49 is fitted into 52. Link 51
Is located outside the machine casing 21, and for this reason, for example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the bracket 46 has an escape hole 53.

(6) Operation Since the link 51 rotates integrally with the pivot 42, as shown in FIG. 10, when the rotor 49 is reciprocally rotated by half a revolution or rotated by half a revolution in the same direction, The link 51 reciprocates and the pivot 42 also rotates forward and backward by a certain angle, and the forward and reverse rotation of the pivot 42 causes the sorting conveyor 19 to flip up and rotate or return to a horizontal state and rotate. By controlling the flip-up rotation of each of the sorting conveyors 19, the file holder F conveyed from the main conveyor 17 is transferred to an arbitrary relay conveyor 32, and the desired stacking wagon 34 is
Can be dropped.

The rotor 49 is not limited to be rotated by the motor 38, but may be rotated by another driving means such as a rotary solenoid. Further, instead of using the rotor 49, the link 51 may be directly rotated by an electromagnetic solenoid, a pneumatic cylinder, or the like. Further, the pivot 42 may be rotated by other driving means. Since the center of rotation of the sorting conveyor 19 is located closer to the main conveyor 17 than the drive pulley 37, the drive motor built in the drive pulley 37 plays the role of a balancer, and the center of rotation of the sorting conveyor 19 is As a result, the weight of the sorting conveyor 19 is balanced, and the sorting conveyor 19 can be easily flipped up and rotated with small power.

Further, since the sorting conveyor 19 can be easily flipped up and rotated by hand, maintenance and the like can be easily performed. Even if is turned downward, the sorting conveyor 19 can be held as it is, so that safety during work can be ensured. Furthermore, as can be easily understood from FIG. 10, the adjacent sorting conveyors 19 can be approached without causing interference, so that the entire unloading device 3 can be made compact.

When the pivot 42 is rotated using the pivotable link 51 as in the embodiment, the rotor 49 is
Therefore, there is an advantage that a large rotational torque can be applied to the pivot 42 by a driving means such as a small motor 48 or the like. Further, in the embodiment, since one pivot 42 serves both as the attachment of the sorting conveyor 19 and as the rotation drive shaft, there is an advantage of being compact. When the pivot 42 is located below the belt 38,
Since the arm 44 can be arranged on the inner surface of the side frame 39,
The whole can be made compact.

(7) Others Although the above embodiment is applied to an automatic storage facility for a file holder, the present invention can be applied to an automatic storage facility for other articles. What is necessary is just to make the structure of a storage part differ according to the form of goods. Further, a plurality of main conveyors may be arranged in parallel. Furthermore, without using a trolley,
An article such as a file holder can be stored in a shelf device by an overhead traveling system or the like, and can be retrieved by the retrieval device of the present invention using a conveyor.

Further, the main conveyor and the sorting conveyor are not limited to the belt type, but may be the roller type.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic file holder storage facility.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the inside of the automatic storage facility.

3A is a partial perspective view of the automatic storage facility, and FIG. 3B is a partial plan view of the inside of the automatic storage facility.

FIG. 4 is a partial plan view of the retrieval device.

5A is an exploded perspective view showing a driving means of the main conveyor, and FIG. 5B is a sectional view taken along line VA-VA of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the flow of a file holder.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a delivery unit.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a flip-up structure of a sorting conveyor.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway view taken along the line IX-IX of FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an operation state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 F File holder as an example of goods 1 Automatic storage equipment 2 Cart 3 Outgoing device 5 Shelf device 17 Main conveyor 18 Sorting conveyor 20 Outgoing section 21 Machine frame 32 Relay conveyor 34 Stacked wagon 39 Drive pulley 39 Side frame 42 Axis 44 Arm 48 Arm 48 Motor 49 Rotor 51 Link

Claims (2)

[Claims] At least one sorting conveyor is provided near an end of a main conveyor for transporting articles taken out of a shelf device so that an end of the sorting conveyor near the main conveyor moves up and down most greatly. An automatic storage facility, wherein the center of rotation of the sorting conveyor is deviated to a side closer to a front end than a front end portion in a direction in which articles are transported. Equipment delivery equipment. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sorting conveyor is rotatably disposed between a pair of side frames extending along a transfer direction of the articles and between a front end portion and a rear end portion of the left and right side frames. A pair of pulleys, and a belt wound around the two pulleys, and a driving pulley located forward of the two pulleys in the direction of transporting the articles, and a motor for rotating and driving the pulleys is built in; The both side frames are pivotally attached to the machine frame so as to rotate around a position on the near side toward the transfer direction of the article with respect to the drive pulley, and further attached to the pivot by rotating the pivot to the side. An unloading device for automatic storage equipment, wherein an arm for pushing up and rotating the frame from below is mounted, and a driving means for a pivot is provided on the machine frame.