JPH11343031A - Automatic picking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic picking device to perform smooth and stable feed even when a work has a high surface friction factor. SOLUTION: In an automatic picking device 1 to feed, in order, from the lower end of box-form works 2 stacked on a support table 3 along a vertically extending lane 4, the picking device comprises a lift means 15 to elevate the support table 3; and a work clamp means 18 arranged above the support table 3 and grasping the work 2 in a given height position and holding the work 2 thereabove.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic picking device for sequentially cutting a box-shaped work stacked on a support base along a vertically extending lane from the lower end thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 5, a conventional automatic picking device 51 is provided with a support table 53 on which small box-shaped works 52 are stacked, and a lane 54 extending vertically above the support table 53. Have been. At the lower part of the support table 53, there is provided cutting means 55 for sequentially cutting the stacked works 52 from the lower end thereof.

The cutting means 55 includes sprockets 56 provided before and after in the cutting direction of the workpiece 52, and a chain 57 wound around each of the sprockets 56 endlessly.
And the work 52 at the lower end attached to the chain 57
And a pusher 58 that cuts out the same. Further, a drive chain 61 connected to a motor 59 is stretched over one sprocket 56.

[0004] A slit (not shown) is formed in the support table 53 along the cutting direction, and a pusher 58 moves along the slit. A cut work 52 is provided at the lower end of the lane 54.
Is formed through which a passage 62 is passed. In the figure,
63 is a tray for storing the cut work 52, 64
Reference numeral denotes a chute for guiding the work 52 to the tray 63, and reference numeral 65 denotes a fall prevention fitting for preventing the stacked work 52 from falling.

That is, as the chain 56 rotates, the stacked workpieces 52 are sequentially pushed one by one from the lower end thereof by the pushers 58 and cut out in the direction of the tray 63.

[0006]

By the way, the entire load of the work 52 in the lane 54 acts on the work 52 at the lower end of the stacked work 52. Previously, work 52
Has been wrapped with paper or the like, so that the coefficient of friction between the work 52 at the lower end and the work 52 thereon is not large,
Even if the entire load of the works 52 in the lane 54 was applied, the frictional force between the works 52 was not so large, and there was no particular problem in cutting.

However, in recent years, the surface of the work 52 is wrapped by shrink processing or the like, and the surface of the work 52 often has a large friction coefficient. Due to the increase in the friction coefficient of the surface of the work 52, when the load of the stacked works 52 is large, the frictional force between the works 52 increases, so that the cutting is not performed smoothly, the apparatus stops, or the work 52 is stopped. There was a problem of being damaged.

For this reason, at present, the stacking amount of the workpieces 52 is reduced to reduce the load. However, in this case, the number of times the workpieces 52 are supplied increases, which is troublesome, and the work efficiency is deteriorated. It was not a fundamental solution.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic picking device capable of performing smooth and stable cutting even for a work having a large surface friction coefficient.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an automatic picking method for sequentially cutting a box-shaped workpiece stacked on a support base along a vertically extending lane from the lower end thereof. In the apparatus, there are provided lift means for moving the support table up and down, and work clamp means provided above the support table for gripping a work at a predetermined height and holding the work above the work.

[0011] According to this, the work above the work can be held by the work clamping means, so that the load applied to the work at the lower end can be reduced. Therefore, even when the friction coefficient of the surface of the workpiece is large, the frictional force between the workpieces does not increase, and smooth and stable cutting can be performed.

Also, above the work clamping means,
It is preferable to provide a remaining amount detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the work, and a control means for controlling the gripping of the work by the work clamping means according to the presence or absence of the work.

[0013]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic picking device according to the present invention. (A) is a rear view as viewed from the rear in the cutting direction, and (b) is a side view as viewed from the side in the cutting direction.

As shown in the figure, the automatic picking apparatus 1 is provided with a support base 3 on which small box-shaped works 2 are stacked, and a lane 4 extending vertically above the support base. At the lower part of the support 3, there is provided cutting means 5 for sequentially cutting the stacked works 2 from the lower end thereof. Note that the work 2 is stacked further up than that shown in the figure.

The cutting means 5 comprises two sprockets 6 provided before and after in the cutting direction of the workpiece 2 as in the prior art.
And a chain 7 wound around these sprockets 6 endlessly, and a pusher 8 attached to the chain 7 to cut out the work 2 at the lower end. The pusher 8 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface side of the chain 7, and its tip end surface in the rotation direction is formed in a planar shape having a height slightly lower than the height of one work 2.

A drive device such as a motor 9 is provided below the chain 7.
1 and is connected to one of the sprockets 6.

The support table 3 is composed of two support legs 12 extending in parallel in the cutting direction and a connecting portion 14 connecting the support legs 12. The support legs 12 are arranged on both sides of the upper chain 7 among the endlessly wound chains 7. The connecting portion 14 passes through the inside of the endless chain 7 and connects the lower side of each support leg 12.

That is, the chain 7 and the pusher 8 pass through the slit 16 formed between the two support legs 12.

A telescopic cylinder 15 which is a lift means for raising and lowering the support table 3 is provided below the connecting portion 14 so as to be offset from the position of the chain 7.

The lane 4 is formed to have a U-shaped cross section that opens rearward in the cutting direction, and the works 2 are stacked inside the lane 4. At the lower end of the lane 4 in the cutting direction, a passage 17 through which the cut work 2 passes is formed. The passage opening 17 has a size that allows one work 2 to pass through.

Above the support 3, the work 2 is positioned at a predetermined height, for example, at the position of the work 2 at the sixth level from the lower end.
And a work clamping means 18 for holding the work 2 thereabove. Work clamp means 18
Is a direction perpendicular to the cutting direction of the work 2 and
Gripping portions 19 for sandwiching the
And two telescoping cylinders 21 that make the workpiece 2 approach and separate from the work 2.

The work clamp means 18 is connected to control means (not shown) for controlling the movement of each part such as the cutting means 5, the lift means, the work clamp means 18, and the like.

In the vicinity of the upper part of the work clamping means 18,
A remaining amount detecting unit 22 for detecting the presence or absence of the work in that portion is provided. A photoelectric switch is used for the remaining amount detecting means 22, and a light emitting device 24 and a light receiving device 25 are provided to face each other with the work 2 interposed therebetween. The control means described above is connected to the remaining amount detection means 22. When the remaining amount detecting means 22 detects that there is no work 2 in the portion, the control means receives the signal and stops the work clamping means 18 from gripping the work 2.

In the vicinity of a chute 27 for guiding the cut work 2 to a tray (not shown), cut detection means 28 for confirming that the work 2 has been cut is provided. A photoelectric switch is used as the cutout detecting means 28, and the light emitting device 24 and the light receiving device 25 are provided to face each other across the path of the work 2 to be cut out. The cut-out detecting means 28 is connected to the control means, and counts the number of cut-out works 2. When the number of the cut-out workpieces 2 reaches a predetermined number, the control unit 3
And the gripping of the workpiece 2 by the workpiece clamping means 18 is released.

At a position at a predetermined height further above the remaining amount detecting means 22, a remaining amount detecting means 26 of the same type as the remaining amount detecting means 22 is provided. This remaining amount detecting means 26
When it is detected that there is no work 2 at that position, a new work 2 is automatically supplied to the lane 4 or the signal is notified to the worker by a lamp or the like, and the worker This is provided to supply the work 2 to the lane 4.

The automatic picking device 1 is shown in FIG.
In the same manner as the conventional automatic picking device 51 shown in FIG. 1, the upper part is arranged slightly inclined forward in the cutting direction.

Next, the operation of the automatic picking apparatus 1 according to the embodiment will be described along the cutting procedure.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the works 2 are stacked in the lane 4. At this time, the support base 3 is raised so that the upper end thereof is slightly higher than the position of the upper chain 7.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the work 2 is gripped by the work clamping means 18 to hold the work 2 thereabove. Thereafter, the telescopic cylinder 15 serving as a lifting means is retracted, and the support base 3 is lowered so that the upper end thereof is at the same height as the position of the upper chain 7.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the motor 9 is driven, the cutting means 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, and the pusher 8 is rotated.
The work 2 at the lower end is pushed out to the chute 27 side.

At this time, since the work 2 located above the work clamp means 18 is held by the work clamp means 18, the load applied to the work 2 at the lower end is lower than the work clamp means 18. 2 weights only. Therefore, even when the friction coefficient of the surface of the work 2 is large, the frictional force generated between the work 2 at the lower end and the work 2 immediately above the work 2 can be reduced, and smooth and stable cutting can be performed.

Furthermore, the stacking amount of the works 2 in the lane 4 can be increased, and the number of times of supplying the works 2 can be reduced, so that the cutting efficiency can be improved.

As shown in FIG. 4, the work 2 cut out here passes through the chute 27, the cut-out detecting means 28 confirms the cut-out, and the control means counts the number of cut-outs. The work 2 that has passed through the chute 27 is sent to a tray (not shown).

Thereafter, the cutting means 5 is rotated until all the works 2 located below the work clamping means 18 are cut.

The number of cutouts is a predetermined number (five in the present embodiment) by the cutout detecting means 28 and the control means.
After the counting, the control unit raises the support table 3 to the position shown in FIG. 1, releases the gripping of the work 2 by the work clamping means 18, and returns to the state shown in FIG.

By repeating the above steps, the work 2 is automatically cut out. As described above, while cutting is performed, the work 2 in the lane 4 decreases,
When the work 2 at the upper end is lowered to the position of the upper remaining amount detecting means 26, the remaining amount detecting means 26 detects that there is no work 2 at that position. This signal is
The new work 2 is automatically sent to the lane 4
Or the worker is notified of the signal by a lamp or the like, and the worker supplies a new work 2 to the lane 4.

Further, when the cutting has progressed and the work 2 to be supplied has run out, the work 2 at the upper end in the lane 4 is
It descends to the position of the remaining amount detecting means 22 on the lower side. At this time, the remaining amount detecting means 22 detects that there is no work 2 at that position, and this signal is sent to the control means,
The gripping of the work 2 by the work clamp means 18 is stopped.

In this case, since the amount of stacking of the works 2 in the lane 4 is small, even if the gripping of the works 2 by the work clamping means 18 is stopped, the load applied to the work 2 at the lower end is small, and the work 2 at the lower end is small. And the work 2 immediately above it can be reduced in frictional force, and smooth and stable cutting can be performed.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can take various other forms. For example, in the above embodiment, the work clamping means 18 is arranged at the position of the sixth work 2 from the work 2 at the lower end, but the height can be changed depending on the type of the work 2. It is.

Further, the position of the remaining amount detecting means 26 is not limited to the present embodiment.

[0042]

In summary, according to the present invention, smooth and stable cutting can be performed even for a work having a large surface friction coefficient, and the cutting efficiency can be improved without damaging the work. Demonstrates excellent effects.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A shows an embodiment of an automatic picking device according to the present invention, wherein FIG.
(B) is a side view showing the side view in the cutout direction.

FIG. 2A is a rear view of the automatic picking device, illustrating a second working process of the automatic picking device, viewed from the rear in the cutting direction;
(B) is a side view showing the side view in the cutout direction.

FIG. 3 (a) is a rear view of the automatic picking device viewed from the rear in the cutting direction, for illustrating a third working process;
(B) is a side view showing the side view in the cutout direction.

FIG. 4A is a rear view of the automatic picking device when viewed from the rear in a cutting direction, for illustrating a fourth working process;
(B) is a side view showing the side view in the cutout direction.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a conventional automatic picking device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic picking device 2 Work 3 Support stand 4 Lane 15 Telescopic cylinder (lift means) 18 Work clamp means 22 Remaining amount detection means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic picking apparatus for sequentially cutting a box-shaped workpiece stacked on a support base along a vertically extending lane from a lower end thereof, a lift means for lifting and lowering the support base, and the support means An automatic picking device, comprising: a work clamping means provided above a table for holding a work at a predetermined height and holding the work above the work. 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising: a remaining amount detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the work, and a control means for controlling the gripping of the work by the work clamp means in accordance with the presence or absence of the work. The automatic picking device according to claim 1.