JPS58212516A - Method and apparatus for stacking and transferring articles - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reliably deliver, transport and stack the parts in a transfer apparatus for an ampul labelling machine and a packing machine by extending a chain with an article holder between the upper and lower process sprockets through a chain feed fluctuation absorbing mechanism. CONSTITUTION:The first sprocket 22 of the upper process is continuously driven, and the second sprocket 23 of the lower process is intermittently driven. This results in producing difference in feed fluctuation of a chain, which is absorbed by moving sprockets 27, 28 moving with a slider 26 on a rail 21. An article supplied to a holder 43 of a chain 30 by a delivery device 6 is transported to the sprocket 23 of the lower process 9 by the chain 30, and the second sprocket 23 is intermittently stopped to collect a fixed number of articles, which are taken out by a tranfer device 7. At this time, the sprockets 27, 28 move to absorb feed fluctuation of the chain 30. In this arrangement, articles can be delivered, transported and stacked to a fixed number reliably.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for collecting and transporting articles, which is suitable for, for example, supplying a plurality of ampoules that are continuously discharged one by one from an ampoule labeling machine to a blister packaging machine. Regarding the device.

When collecting and transporting bottles, etc., the bottles are continuously transported by a belt conveyor (or top plate, etc.), and at the end, a mechanism such as a shutter is used (to collect multiple bottles,
Generally, a method of transporting the products to the next process is adopted, but in the case of small and unstable items such as ampoules that easily fall over, the above-mentioned transport and accumulation is impossible.

On the other hand, if the ampoules are transported using packets or zippers, a new device is required to prevent the ampoules from falling during stacking, and there is also a function inside the labeling machine to check for labeling errors and automatically eject defective products. In this case, a separate device must be added to replenish the packets or chucks that do not contain ampoules, which unnecessarily complicates the device and increases costs.

Furthermore, when the labeling machine in the front process and the blister packaging machine in the second process are each driven by independent motors, it is common to provide a boolean zone in the connected conveyor, and the labeling machine in the front process or the blister packaging machine in the second process is driven by a separate motor. When it is necessary to stop either of the blister packaging machines, it can be started and stopped using a clutch. However, stopping the machine often has a negative effect on the machine's functions (for example, when molding PVC film, molding defects occur when starting up).The challenge was how to operate the machine continuously without stopping it. .

The purpose of the present invention is to reliably transport and receive articles from a pre-process device such as a labeling machine to a post-process device such as a blister packaging machine, and to reliably stack multiple articles. The object of the present invention is to provide a method and device for collecting and transporting articles, which enables continuous operation of the machine.

The first aspect of the present invention is an article transfer method in which an article sent out from a previous process is transferred to a subsequent process so as to absorb the speed difference between the delivery speed from the previous process and the intake speed of the subsequent process. With two endless chains of front-end equipment
) The first driving sprocket is driven intermittently or continuously by two driving sprockets: the first driving sprocket 1" kerato, which is driven intermittently or continuously by the second driving sprocket, and the second driving sprocket is driven intermittently by the following device. The difference in chain feed caused by intermittent or continuous feed and the intermittent feed of the second driving sprocket is absorbed by changing the chain movement path, and the amount of movement of the moving sprocket is detected, and the detection signal is used to control the movement of the chain by the first driving sprocket. Chain feed speed,
Switching control to a higher or lower speed than the feed speed of the second drive tin rocket (2. Place the articles sent out in the previous process on article holders provided at equal intervals on the endless chain, and place the articles on the holders. The holder is configured to take out the article that has been transferred to the post-processing side from the holder.

The second invention of the present application is provided between a device in the front process and a device in the rear process, and is fed out from the front process in such a way as to absorb the speed difference between the sending speed from the front process and the intake speed of the downstream process. In an article transfer device that transfers articles to a subsequent process, a first drive sprocket that is intermittently or continuously driven by a device in the front process and a second drive sprocket that is intermittently driven by a device in the downstream process, and A pair of movable sprockets that move simultaneously at intervals, a pair of idle sprockets, and a large number of article holders that are hung on the first and second driving sprockets, the movable stripe rocket, and the idle sprocket and are arranged at predetermined intervals. It consists of an attached endless chain, a detection device that detects the amount of movement of the moving sprocket, and an article detection device that detects the presence or absence of an article to be supplied to the article holder. Place the article to be sent from , and move the article to the post-process side by moving the endless chain. It acts to absorb the speed difference between the driving tin rocket and the second driving sprocket by moving the 44-stroke sprocket.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of an article accumulation and transfer apparatus according to the present embodiment. This collection transfer bag @1 is
A chain conveyor 2 installed between a front-process device such as a labeler machine and a back-process device such as a blister packaging machine, and a delivery 1 that receives and delivers articles sent from the front-process device to the chain conveyor. ．． The device 6 is configured to include a device 6.

The Chix-7 Bear 2 has a long guide rail 21, and first and second driving tin rockets 22 and □, which are arranged symmetrically around the center of the guide rail.

and 25, a pair of idle tin rockets 24 and 25 arranged symmetrically opposite to the driving tin rocket with respect to the center of the guide rail, and a slider 26 movably provided on the guide rail 21. A pair of mobile tin rockets 27 attached to a rotating ijj function separated by a fixed interval
and 28, and a drive subrocket) 22, 25. Idle tin rockets 24 and 25 and mobile tin rockets 27 and 28
It has an endless chain 50 hung in the state shown in the figure.

A shaft 51 to which the first driving sprocket 22 is fixed is rotatably supported by a known method, and is connected to a high-speed drive of the preceding process device 8 via known means (in this embodiment, a chain 52 and a sprocket 55) and a clutch 54. Or C for low speed,
It is designed to be continuously driven by a Q-changeable drive source 81. The shaft 65 to which the second driving sprocket 26 is fixed is also rotatably supported by a known method, and is provided with known means (in this embodiment, a chain 66 and a tin rocket 37, but gears may also be used) and an intermittent drive. 1,'
1 is driven by the drive source 91 of the device 9 in the subsequent process via the device 58.

Rotatably supports idle tin rockets 24 and 25 (2
Each bearing 69 and 40 is connected to a spring 41 and 4, respectively.
2, the chain roller 0 is compressed to give tension.

As shown in FIG. 2, a large number of article holders 46 are attached to the chain 60 at predetermined intervals. In this embodiment, the article holder 45 handles ampoules as articles to be collected and transported, so it is simply configured to allow the ampoules to be placed at an angle to prevent them from falling. However, the article holder may have other shapes, such as a chuck type that can be opened and closed.

A number of rollers 44 are rotatably attached to the lower part of the chain, and the rollers 44 roll on gails 45 provided below the chain, thereby allowing the chain to move smoothly. It has become.

At one end (the left end in the figure) of the guide rod 21, there is a detection device for detecting when the slider moving the guide rod 21 approaches one end of the guide rod, that is, an acceleration proximity switch (referred to as an acceleration switch). 46a and a first stop proximity switch (hereinafter referred to as a stop switch) 47a are provided at a predetermined interval.A detection device, that is, a deceleration switch 461) and a 20th stop switch 461 are also provided at the other end of the guide 10 and the 20th stop switch 46a. switches 47b are provided at predetermined intervals.

The acceleration switch 46a detects that the slider approaches its installation position IIt and sends the signal to the two-step device to switch the speed of its drive source 81 to high speed, thereby increasing the speed of the first drive. The speed of the tin rocket 22 is now switched to a high speed. Also, the deceleration switch 46b detects that the slider approaches its installation position and sends the signal to the main process device 8 to turn on the drive source 81. The speed is switched to low speed, thereby switching the speed of the first driving tin rocket 22 to low speed.
7, the first and second stop switches 47a, 47b respectively supply signals to the devices 9.8 when the sliders approach their respective installations and their drive sources 91.81.
It is designed to stop.

The delivery device 6 rotates i+++6 as shown in FIG.
1 ・Oil O-0 to the vertical line χ・1 and C specified angle 0 (
In this embodiment, the L-star wheel 6 is inclined at an angle of 15°.
Consists of 0. The star wheel 6° has a plurality of notches 62 formed at equal intervals on the outer periphery to receive the product, and the notches can be shaped to suit the shape of the product, and in this embodiment, the shape is suitable for transporting ampules. It has become. An annular groove 65 is further formed around the entire circumference of the star wheel 6o, and a guy 1 member 64 is provided in the annular groove 65 at a delivery position to the chain conveyor 2, and a guy 1 member 64 is provided in the notch 62. The receiver reliably transfers the article, ie, the ampoule m, onto the article holder of the chain conveyor 2.

There is a notch 62 in the star wheel 6o near the delivery position.
A known detection device 65 is provided to detect the presence or absence of an article inside.

This delivery device 6 receives the articles delivered one by one by the screw 82 of the processing device 8 into a notch 62, and transfers them to the article boulder 45 of the chain conveyor.

In the article accumulation and transfer apparatus configured as described above, the first driving sprocket 22 is continuously rotated by the driving source 81 of the lifting device 8 via the clutch 54. ,-TA
The driving tin rocket 26 of No. 2 is the driving source 91 of the lower process equipment 9.
is intermittently driven via an intermittent drive mechanism 58.

Therefore, there is a speed difference between the chain 50 on the first movable sprocket 22 side and the second drive sprocket (239111), but this speed difference
8 is absorbed by moving along the gail 21 together with the slider 26. That is, while the second driving sprocket 26 is intermittently stopped, the chain from the second driving sprocket 26 to the first electric sprocket via the moving sprocket 28 and the idle sprocket 24 is connected to the first driving sprocket. The movable sprocket moves to the right because it is fed by the continuous stoppage of the rocket 22. However, when the second drive sprocket 26 rotates intermittently, the first
The moving sprocket 27,28 is moved to the left because the chain from the driving sprocket 22 of do.

Under such conditions, the notch 6 of the star wheel 60
When the detection device 65 detects that there is no article in the sprocket 2, the detection signal releases the clutch filter 4, stopping the rotation of the first drive sprocket 220, and stopping the feeding of the chain 50 in this part. , in this way the goods must be inside the chain goods boulder? supply.

The articles supplied into the article holder 43 from the delivery device 6 are sent to the second drive sprocket 26 side by movement of the chain in the direction of arrow X, and while the chain is intermittently stopped due to the intermittent stop of the second drive sprocket. Then, a plurality of them are collectively transferred to a downstream device by a known transfer device 7.

Next, when the operating speed of the first heating device 8 is slower than the operating speed of the lower opening device, the feeding speed of the first driving sprocket 22 is also lower than the feeding speed of the driving sprocket 25 of the second driving strip 1. Since the supply speed from the heating device cannot keep up with the supply speed to the lower opening device, the movable sprockets 27 and 28 are moved to the slider 26.
At the same time, the slider 26 is moved leftward L7 and the slider 26 is detected by the acceleration switch 46a.

In response to this signal, the speed of the drive source 81 of the milling device 8 is switched to the high speed side, and this time it becomes faster than the speed of the lower process device 9, so the slider 26 gradually moves to the right. Finally, when the deceleration switch 461 detects the slider 26, the speed of the device changes to a low speed (tlll i), which becomes higher than the speed of the lower process device 9, so the slider 26 moves to the left again. move from place to place.

In this way, the lower processing device and the lower processing device are stopped.

You can continue driving without having to worry about it.

- If the operation of the sumo wrestler process equipment 8 or the lower process equipment 9 is temporarily stopped for some reason, for example, the operation of the lower process equipment is temporarily stopped (for supplying packaging film, etc.)
In this case, the second driving tin rocket 26 also stops and the intermittent feeding of the chain also stops, but since the first driving sprocket is rotating, the second driving tin rocket 25 passes through the moving sprocket 28 to the second driving sprocket. Only the chain up to the first drive sprocket is fed by the rotation of the first drive sprocket. Therefore, the slider 26 moves to the right, and the deceleration switch 46b detects this first.
- [The device 8 switches to low speed. deer! - If the lower process device 9 is stopped, the slider 26 continues to move to the right while being switched to a low speed. If the operation of the lower/uplift device 9 is restarted before the slider reaches the second stop switch 47b, the slider 26 will return to the left at that point, but if the operation cannot be resumed, the stop switch 47b will finally move to the position of the slider 26. 26 is detected, and the drive of the soil engineering equipment is also stopped based on the electric signal.

When it is possible to restart the operation of the lower process equipment, only the lower process equipment starts operating first, and the slider 26 is moved to the left, and the second stop switch 47b is pressed.
When the position is reached where no rice 26 is detected, the operation of the upper process equipment is restarted.

The above is a case where the operation of the lower process equipment is stopped, but conversely, the operation of the lower process equipment is stopped in the same way as in -L due to a signal indicating that the operation of the upper process equipment must be stopped. When the earth processing equipment is turned on once, the lower processing equipment also starts operating at the same time.

As is clear from the above description, the present invention can provide the following effects.

(a) By cleverly using switches on the transfer conveyor between the front-process equipment and the post-process equipment, continuous and smooth conveyance can be achieved even if the front-process and post-process are driven separately.

(b) It is possible to detect the presence or absence of an article, and if there is no article, the clutch automatically stops feeding the article holder and replenishes the conveyor continuously with the article. There is no need to prepare articles or install equipment.

(c) In the same chain saw/pair, one can be fed continuously at a constant speed and the other can be fed intermittently, with the moving tin rocket as the boundary, making it possible to carry out integrated transfer.

2) If either the downstream process equipment or the soil engineering equipment stops for a certain period of time, the other will automatically stop, allowing safe operation.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the first driving tin rocket is continuously rotated, but when the pre-processing equipment items are sent out one by one by intermittent driving, intermittent driving may be performed accordingly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an article accumulation and transfer device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a chain, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of an article delivery device. 22, 25: Drive sprocket 24, 25: Idle sprocket 27. 28: Moving sprocket 50: Chain

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An article transfer method in which an article sent out from a previous process is transferred to a subsequent process so as to absorb the speed difference between the delivery speed from the previous process and the intake speed of the subsequent process, The endless chain is driven by two driving tin rockets, a first driving sprocket that is intermittently or continuously driven by a device in the front process, and a second driving sprocket that is intermittently driven by a device in the downstream process, and the first driving tin The difference in chain feed caused by the intermittent or continuous feed of the rocket and the intermittent feed of the second driving tin rocket is absorbed by changing the movement path of the chain, and the amount of movement of the movable sprocket is detected, and the detection signal is used to The chain feed speed by the second drive sprocket is controlled to be higher or lower than the feed speed of the second drive sprocket, and the articles sent out in the previous process are placed on article holders provided at equal intervals on the endless chain. A method for collecting and transporting articles, characterized in that the articles placed on the holder and sent to a post-processing side are taken out from the holder. 2. A device is installed between the equipment in the previous process and the equipment in the post process to absorb the speed difference between the delivery speed from the previous process and the intake rate of the post process, so that the article sent from the previous process is transferred to the post process. In a transfer device for an article to be transferred, a first driving sprocket that is intermittently or continuously driven by a device in a preceding process and a second driving sprocket that is intermittently driven by a device in a subsequent process move simultaneously while maintaining a constant distance from each other. a pair of movable sprockets, a pair of idle sprockets, the first and second driving sprockets, an endless chain attached to the movable sprocket and the idle sprocket, and having a number of article holders attached at predetermined intervals. and a detection device that detects the amount of movement of the moving tin rocket; and an article detection device that detects the presence or absence of an article to be supplied to the first driving tin rocket. An article accumulation and transfer device characterized in that it is stopped by a detection signal from an article detection device.