JPS591304A - Device for forming interval to plural row of article and supplying section among its interval with interposer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for providing intervals between articles in a plurality of rows and supplying objects to be inserted during the intervals.

For example, when a large number of various articles are arranged in a line and packed in a packaging box, it is often necessary to insert a predetermined insert between each article.A typical example is as,
To reduce shock and prevent cargo from collapsing while transporting goods,
These include partition plates such as cardboard sheets, paperboard, and styrofoam sheets that are inserted between items, and depending on the type and nature of the items, there are also pamphlets, cards, efficacy sheets, and information sheets, and even packaged spoons. In some cases, a straw or the like is inserted.

As a device for supplying such objects to be inserted, for example, a technology related to Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 54-42858 has been proposed as a partition sheet insertion device. have to be arranged correspondingly to the number of spaces between the articles, and because it is designed with the intention of supplying partition sheets to cylindrical articles such as bottles, rectangular tubes have been rapidly increasing recently. There are some drawbacks, such as the fact that it may not be possible to process smoothly using a carton container with a similar shape.

The present invention has been devised to solve the drawbacks of the prior art, and provides an apparatus that can quickly and reliably supply partition plates and other various objects to be inserted between articles. The purpose is to

In order to achieve this object, the device according to the present invention provides intervals between a plurality of rows of articles and feeds objects to be inserted during the intervals.
A means for holding a group of articles arriving in a plurality of rows by suction means or a clamping means to provide a predetermined interval between appropriate articles in the row direction, and a means for taking out a predetermined number of all stored objects to be inserted. means for dropping and releasing the objects; means for sequentially distributing the released objects in a plurality of directions along the falling path; and means for storing the inserted objects and releasing the inserted objects all at once when a predetermined number of stored objects is reached, and causing each inserted object to fall correspondingly during each interval of the article located below. It is characterized by

Next, the apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below by way of preferred embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition,
The "apparatus for providing intervals between articles and supplying all the objects to be inserted during the interval" according to the present invention includes, as a pre-process, an apparatus for aligning and feeding a predetermined number of articles and, if necessary, an apparatus for aligning and feeding the articles. Since the device of the present invention functions organically through the sequential operation of a series of these devices, we will first briefly explain the alignment and supply device and the stacking device. Next, we will explain the device of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows an article aligning and supplying device 102, a stacking device 12, an article spacing device 14, and an interposed object supplying device 16.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a composite apparatus for processing articles arranged sequentially along the transfer route No. 8, and FIG.

In this embodiment, the article 18 is assumed to be a rectangular paperboard sealed carton completely filled with a liquid drink, such as a milk carton, but various other articles such as medicine containers, ice cream containers, etc. may be contained therein depending on the purpose. Containers and other various articles that are not enclosed in containers are subject to processing by the apparatus according to the present invention.

In the drawing, the article alignment and supply device 10 includes a roller conveyor 20 that horizontally carries articles 18 and sequentially conveys them in the direction of the arrow.
, a clamping cylinder 22 that clamps a part of the article 187 on the roller conveyor 20 to temporarily stop conveyance, and a gripper that sends out the article 18 conveyed by the roller conveyor 20 at right angles to the conveyance direction. It basically consists of rate 24. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the roller conveyor 20 is arranged horizontally, and the articles 18, which have been filled with contents and other appropriate packaging in the previous process, are brought into close contact with each other one after another in a so-called "pressed state" and are arranged as shown by the arrows. It is designed to be transported in the direction. At this time, the leading edge of the series of articles 18 is connected to a contact plate 26 disposed in front of the roller conveyor 20.
The contact plate 26 is connected to the tip of the piston rod 30 of the pneumatic cylinder 28 and the guide rod 32, so that it can be retracted to the position shown by the broken line. In this example, the article 18 is now 3
If the supply is arranged in rows, the first item 18 (
The fourth and fifth articles 18 (indicated by (1) in the figure)
In the figure, a clamping cylinder 22 having a clamping plate 34 at the tip of the piston rod 36 is disposed close to the negative side (indicated by 41 and (5)), and a guide wall 38 is disposed on the other side. is placed upright.

Furthermore, the items 18 from the first item 18 to the third item 18 (
In the figure, the pusher plate 24 is disposed on the negative side (indicated by (1), (2), and (3)).

The pusher plate 24 is fixed to a rotating shaft 40 as shown in FIG. The slide metal 44 is rotatably supported by a slide metal 44 which is slidably inserted into the crank arm 46.As shown in FIG. The crank arm 46, which is connected to the crank arm 46, provides a reciprocating movement of sliding along the guide rod 42.The maximum movement range of the pusher plate 24 due to this is indicated by symbols a and a in FIG. It is set in advance to be the interval l shown by b.

In addition, the pusher plate 24 rotates the rotation shaft 40 so as not to interfere with the following articles 18 when retreating to a predetermined standby position after sending out the articles 18 arranged in three rows as will be described later. A mechanism is provided that swings slightly upwards from the center. This is composed of a pneumatic cylinder 48 and a lever 50 fixed to the rotation shaft 40. As clearly shown in FIG. The bottom of the cylinder is connected to the clevis, and the tip of the piston rod 54 of the cylinder is connected to the lever 50 with a pin.

For the sake of convenience, the functions and effects of the article alignment and supply device 10 configured as described above will be explained below.In FIG. When the contact plate 26 comes into contact with the contact plate 26, a sensor means (not shown) detects this and sends a detection signal to the control circuit system, whereby the clamping cylinder 22 is energized and the clamping plate 34 is extended. Therefore, the article 18 ((4) in the figure) is located close to the front of the clamping plate 34.
) and (5)) are pinched by the pinching plate 34 and the guide wall 38 located opposite thereto, and the conveyance by the roller conveyor 20 is forcibly stopped.

However, three articles 18 in front of this stopped article 18 (indicated by (11, (2), (3) in the figure)
is not receiving the pinching pressure from the pinching plate 34 and the guide wall 38, so the detection signal simultaneously energizes another pneumatic cylinder 28'f to move the abutting plate 26 back to the broken line position. If so, the three articles 18 move forward by an amount equivalent to the retraction distance of the contact plate 26 while maintaining their alignment on the conveyor 20 (at this time, the roller conveyor 20 is continuously rotating). , the three articles 18 that are in contact with the abutment plate 26 and the articles 18 that are pinched by the pinching plate 34 and the guide wall 38 are placed in a slipping state with respect to the roller conveyor 20 on the bottom surface)
. Next, as shown in FIG. 1, when the crank arm 46 is actuated to slide the slide metal 44 in the direction of the arrow along the guide rod 42, the pusher plate 24 captures the articles 18 arranged in three rows. , a delivery ped 5 which is provided perpendicularly to the conveying direction of the roller conveyor 2o.
6, the stacking device 1 provided on the belt conveyor 58
2 (described later). At this time, the maximum moving distance of the pusher plate 24 is the distance t from point a to point b, as described above. In this way three aligned articles 1
8 to a predetermined position of the stacking device 12, the clamping cylinder 22 is reversely biased in synchronization with this, and the clamping plate 34 and the guide wall 38 move the article 18 ((41,
Since the clamping pressure (indicated by (5)) is released, these articles whose conveyance was temporarily stopped will be conveyed again on the roller conveyor 20 until they come into contact with the contact plate 26. That is, when the pusher plate 24 is about to start retracting after delivering the articles 18 to the stacking device 12,
As shown in FIG. WJ1 and FIG. 2, the subsequent articles 18 have arrived on the roller conveyor 20 of the alignment and supply device 10,
If the pusher plate 24 is moved backward as it is, it will definitely interfere with the following article 18. Therefore, when the pusher plate 24 starts to retreat, the pneumatic cylinder 48tl is reversely biased in synchronization with this, and the piston rod 54 is reversely biased.
When the pusher plate 24 is retracted into the cylinder tube, the pusher plate 24 swings counterclockwise via the lever 50, and interference with the following article 18 is avoided. In this way, the article aligning and supplying device can handle multiple rows of articles (three in this example).
rows) are arranged in the horizontal direction and are intermittently and sequentially supplied to a predetermined position in the equipment for the next process.

Next, the general configuration of the stacking device 12 located in the next process will be explained. However, the stacking device 12 itself is functionally optional, and there is no need to stack articles in multiple stages. Of course, if this is the case, the arrangement can be omitted. It should be noted that, as clearly seen from FIG. 1, the stacking device 12. Article spacing device 14 and inserted object supply device 16
In common, the belt conveyor 58 is stretched across the rows 260 and 60i so as to be freely movable in the direction of the arrow.

The stacking device 12 uses a vacuum cup 62 for vacuum suctioning the aligned articles sent out by the pusher arm 24 and vertically raising them a predetermined distance at once, and for blocking the aligned articles 18 at a fixed position on the belt conveyor 58. It basically consists of a shutter 64. First, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 2, above the belt conveyor 58 where the stacking device 12 is located, a pair of guide plates 66 and 66 are arranged parallel to the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 58. These guide plates 66.
66 are configured so that they can be moved relatively close to each other via a slide rod 68, respectively.

The distance between the two guide plates is set to such a size that the aligned articles 18 (three rows in this embodiment) can be held in substantially close contact with each other without difficulty. Note that the slide rod 68°68 is connected to a side wall member 72.7 disposed on an upright support 70.70 arranged oppositely.
It is slidably inserted and supported by a support plate 74°74 fixed to 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, it is preferable to arrange two vacuum cups 62 corresponding to each article 18 (in this embodiment, three articles 18 are sent out in line, so The number of vacuum cups 62 is six), these vacuum cups 6
2 are arranged and fixed on a base plate 76 with the opening suction portion directed downward, and this base plate 76 is fixed to the tip of a piston rod 80 of a pneumatic cylinder 78. This pneumatic cylinder 78 is fixed upside down to a bracket 84 attached to a beam member 82 that spans between the upright columns 70, 70. Further, a slide rail 86 is arranged vertically, the lower end of the rail is fixed to the substrate 76, and the slide rail 86 is guided and held by a roller 88 rotatably arranged on the upper part of the bracket 84. ing. Thus, energizing the pneumatic cylinder 78 causes the piston rod 80 to extend from the cylinder tube to vertically lower the substrate 76 and the group of vacuum cups 62; It is understandable that 62 will rise. In this case, the substrate 76 is guided by the slide rails 86 held by the rollers 88, so that smooth elevating and lowering operations are achieved.

Also, a shutter 6 that blocks the aligned articles 18 in a predetermined position
4 is a flat plate having a height approximately equal to the required stacking height of the articles, and the vertical end is inserted into each groove of the guide groove member 90°90, which is disposed upright on the opposite surface of the upright support 70°70. It is configured so that it can be vertically raised and lowered by inserting it. and,
A pneumatic cylinder 94 is fixed upside down to a support plate 92 that extends over the top of the upright column 70, 70, and the shutter 64 is fixed to the tip of a piston rod 94 of this cylinder. Although not shown, each vacuum cup 62 is connected to a vacuum source through a flexible hose, so that vacuum suction and vacuum release can be performed by opening and closing a vacuum valve.

Regarding the effects of the stacking device 12 configured in this way,
For convenience, when the articles 18 arranged in three rows (hereinafter referred to as the first group) as shown in FIG. 2 are sent toward the stacking device 12 under the pushing action of the pusher plate 24, In synchronization with this, the pneumatic cylinder 94 operates to lower the shutter 64 and block the article conveyance path on the belt conveyor 58 (at this time, another pneumatic cylinder 78 retracts the piston rod 8o into the cylinder tube, (The vacuum cup 62 is in the highest position) The first group of articles 18 sent out by the pusher plate 24 are blocked by a shutter 64 on the belt conveyor 58, and are surrounded by guide plates 66.
As a result of being restricted by the vacuum cup 66, the vacuum cup 62 is stagnated at a predetermined position directly below the substrate 76 on which the vacuum cup 62 is disposed. Then,
Pneumatic cylinder 78 is energized to vertically lower substrate 76 and vacuum cup 62, forcing vacuum cup 62 against the first group of articles 18 and initiating vacuum suction. Thereafter, the pneumatic cylinder 78 is reversely biased to raise the substrate 76 and the vacuum cup 62, and accordingly, the first group of articles 1
8 also rises while being sucked and held by the vacuum cup 62 (
FIG. 3 (see 11 to (3)). After the first group of articles 18 are suctioned up, the second group of aligned articles 18 is supplied, and when the second group of aligned articles 18 comes into contact with the shutter 64 and is blocked, the vacuum in the vacuum cup 62 is released. , the first group of articles 18 will be stacked on top of the second group of articles 18 (Fig. 3 (4),
(5) span). After that, if the pneumatic cylinder 94 is reversely energized and the shutter 64 is raised, the stacked articles 18 (three rows and two stacks) are stacked, as shown in FIG. 3(6).
Next, the configuration of the article spacing device 14, which is conveyed on the belt conveyor 58 and moved to the next process, will be explained. As shown in the schematic plan view of FIG. 4, this functions to provide a spacing S between a plurality of rows of aligned articles during their transportation. That is, above the belt conveyor 58, the vacuum cups 96 are spaced apart from each other in parallel with the conveying direction of the conveyor, and these opposing vacuum cups 96't are moved close to and separated from each other by a predetermined distance by appropriate means. Figures 1 and 2 are configured as follows.
In the embodiment shown in the figure, a total of four vacuum cups 96, two sets of upper and lower vacuum cups 96, are attached to rectangular support frames 98 on each side, and these support frames 98 are connected to a link lever mechanism to be described later. Approach-separation motion is now applied. The reason why we decided to provide two sets of upper and lower vacuum cups 96 on each side in this embodiment is because the stacking device 12 is installed in the previous process.
0 Therefore, if the stacking device 12i is not installed as an option,
A total of two pieces, one set of single stage, is sufficient. Furthermore, when the stacking device 12 is provided and has the function of stacking three or more stages, it goes without saying that the number of stages of vacuum cups 96 corresponding to the number of stages is provided.

Details of the link lever mechanism are shown in Figure 2. At a level below the upper conveyance surface of the belt conveyor 58, a pair of metal bushings 100 and 100 are inserted and fitted into the side wall members 72 and 72 at regular intervals, respectively, and a slide shaft is inserted between these metal bushings 100 facing each other. 102 are each slidably inserted and supported by a shaft. A connecting plate 104 is fixed to one end of each slide shaft, and one of the connecting plates 104
A spline guide 106 is fixed to the end, and the other slide shaft 102 is inserted and supported in a slidable but non-rotatable manner through the spline guide 106. In addition, connecting plate 1
A support frame 98 is connected to a column 105 arranged upright at 04.
l! 107. Also side wall member 72.7
Two beam members 108, 108 are hung between the two, and a lever member 112 is attached to the support plate 110 that connects these beam members.
is rotatably supported via a pin 114. This lever member 112 is connected to the two slide shafts 102, 102 via pins 116 in a positional relationship as shown in FIG. It is connected to the piston rod 120 of the cylinder 118. This pneumatic cylinder 118 is connected to one side wall member 72 by a clevis at its cylinder bottom, so that it can impart a pivoting motion about the pin 114 to the lever member 112. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, if a connecting rod 122 is connected to each slide shaft 102, with the pin 116 as a common shaft fulcrum, the link operation described later can be made more smoothly. suitable.

Note that above the belt conveyor 58 where the article spacing device 14 is located, a pair of guide plates 124, 124 are arranged facing each other at a predetermined distance in parallel to the conveyance direction of the belt conveyor. It is set up. Each guide plate 12
4 is slidably disposed on a support plate 128 via a slide rod 126, and the distance between the two guide plates is adjusted by moving them closer to each other. As shown in FIG. 1, this guide plate 124 is provided with a circular hole 130 having a predetermined diameter, and the vacuum cup 96 is configured to move forward and backward through this circular hole 130.

With this configuration, the vacuum cup 96 performs the continuous operations shown in FIGS. 4(1) to (4) to provide a predetermined spacing S to the aligned articles 18, as will be explained later in connection with the effects. do. However, in this configuration, Fig. 4 (3),
As can be seen from (4), the vacuum-suctioned article 18
The tips of the articles 18 and the center article 18 that are not vacuum-suctioned are uneven, and it is necessary to align the tips by bringing them into contact with a stopper 132, which will be described later.

Therefore, when providing intervals during the transportation of goods,
If the vacuum cup 96 itself is also moved a certain distance in the article transport direction, the tips of each article will be aligned and spaced at the same time.

An example of such a mechanism is shown in FIG. This is a support plate 134'f to which a vacuum cup 96 is attached, and a pair of rotary disks 136 and 136 are each pivoted through pins 138, and this mechanism is arranged oppositely with the aligned articles 18 in between. Then, these vacuum cups 96 draw trajectories shown in FIG. 6 (11), and the above-mentioned intended purpose is achieved.
It may be configured to provide a rotation locus shown in FIG. (3).

As a mechanism for circulating the vacuum cup 96 in this manner, various types of connecting cables such as chains and ropes, cranks, levers, and other cam mechanisms are assumed. Figure 7 is Cheno 14
0 and the tin rocket 142, the vacuum cup 96 is made to travel in circulation, and the mechanism for giving reciprocating motion to the vacuum cups 96 to move them closer to each other may be other than the structure shown in FIG. For example, the mechanism shown in FIG. 8 is preferably used.

The article spacing mechanisms previously explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8 function to provide spacing while the articles 18 are being transported. For example, a structure may be adopted in which the article is blocked by a shutter or the like and a gap is provided while the article is stopped. When the transport of articles is temporarily stopped in this manner, the above-described article stacking step can be performed simultaneously with the provision of article spacing. Therefore, regarding the mechanism that stops the article and provides a gap,
This will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

This is because an optional stacking device is also installed, and each member is almost the same as the member explained in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, so the same reference numerals are used for the same parts. shall be instructed. In this mechanism, the first
A shutter 64 similar to that used in the stacking device 12 shown in the figure is disposed at a predetermined position of the article spacing device, and a pneumatic cylinder 94 is actuated by a predetermined control command to cause the shutter 64 to
can be raised and lowered vertically. Also, guide plate 1
24 is a connecting rod 107 having exactly the same mechanism as the link lever mechanism for reciprocating the vacuum cup 96 described in connection with FIG.
Two guide plates 124 facing each other and connected via a
are configured so that they can be spaced close to each other. The functions and effects of the mechanism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 constructed in this manner will be described later.

Returning to FIGS. 1 and 2, an interposed object supplying device 16 is disposed in the downstream of the article spacing device 14. This device 16 functions to drop and supply the partition plate and other desired objects 146 to be inserted into the predetermined gap SK1 provided between the articles 18 in the previous step. In this embodiment, a partition plate made of a thick cardboard sheet is used as the inserted object 146, but it is not limited to this, and can be used for various purposes such as pamphlets, cards, other movement books, and ice cream spoons. Of course, objects can be inserted depending on the intended use. In this supply device 16, one by one, for example, is taken out from a large number of objects to be inserted 146 that are stacked and stored, and as they are released and dropped, they are distributed to a plurality of temporary storage locations, and after being once docked, It is dropped and inserted into the gap between articles at the right time. Therefore, regarding this inserted object supplying device 16, the following functions are required to achieve the above-mentioned functions: Each block of the first insert storage section will be explained below in sequence.

As shown in FIG. 1, the object supplying device 16 consists of a tower-shaped facility arranged upright above a belt conveyor 58.
As is clear from FIG. 11, which shows the AA cross section of FIG. 1, the inserted object storage case 148 is arranged horizontally. The bottom of this storage case 148 is completely open, and a belt conveyor 150 is stretched horizontally close to the bottom so that the belt conveyor 150 moves slowly in the direction of the arrow. Stored partition board 146
(that is, the object to be inserted) is placed on the belt conveyor 150 and delivered toward the opening of the storage case.

In front of the opening of the storage case 148, an insert removal mechanism is provided. This basically consists of a pusher 152 for pushing out the partition plates 146i one by one and a pneumatic cylinder 154 for urging the pusher. That is, two guide rods 160, 160 are vertically arranged between a horizontal upper stay 156 and a lower stay 158 at a predetermined interval, and a slide metal 162 is slidably inserted into each guide rod 160, and these slides metal 16
The support plate 164 is horizontally identified between 2.162 and 162.

A placket 166 is attached to this support plate 164, and the tip of a piston rod 168 of the pneumatic cylinder 154 is fixed to this placket 166. Also, although the installation condition is not clear from the drawing, two Kiku Car 152
, 152 are spaced apart for a predetermined period, and the placket 166
This kicker 152 faces the opening of the partition plate storage case 148, as shown in FIGS.
70 captures the partition plates 146 one by one. However, by adjusting the height of the stepped portion, it is possible to capture a predetermined number of two or more sheets. In addition, the upper stay 15
A pneumatic cylinder 154 is arranged upside down in the center of the storage case 156, and an L-shaped upper guide 172 is fixed to the stay 156, and lightly abuts the upper part of a number of partition plates 148 in the storage case 148. ing.

Similarly, a stopper 174 is fixed to the lower stay 158 to prevent the partition plate 148 from falling naturally.

Therefore, when the cylinder 154 is energized and lowered to the kicker 152', the partition plate 146 is captured by the stepped portion 170 of the kicker 152, as shown in FIG. It will be appreciated that it is pushed downwardly from the case 148.

1 and 11 below the inserted object removal mechanism consisting of the above-mentioned picker 152 and pneumatic cylinder 154.
As shown in the figure, a mechanism is provided for distributing objects to be inserted, and further below the mechanism, a temporary storage mechanism for objects to be inserted is provided. That is, the two upright walls 17 facing each other in FIG.
Two stays 178 and 178 are horizontally spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance and fixed across the space between these stays 178.
Guide plates iso and iso are fixed upright and facing each other. Each guide plate 180 also has a pair of elongated guide plates 182.18 at predetermined intervals as shown in FIG.
2 is arranged and fixed via a stay 184. Bearing metals 186 are fixed to predetermined corresponding positions of the upright wall portions 176 and 176, respectively, and the rotation shaft 18 is fixed to the bearing metals 186.
8 is horizontally and rotatably supported (see Fig. 1). This rotation shaft 188 has a pine needle-shaped damper 1 shown in FIG.
90 are fixed at the same angle with a slight distance in the axial direction. As shown in FIG. 1, one end of the rotation shaft 188 protrudes outward from the upright wall 176, and the piston rod 194 of the pneumatic cylinder 192 is supported upside down on the wall 176.
is connected to via a swing lever 196. Therefore, by energizing this cylinder 192, the rotation shaft 188 swings in an arc shape at a predetermined central angle, and the damper 190 also swings within the range indicated by the solid and broken lines as shown in FIG. do. Therefore, if the feeding movement of the kicker 152 and the energization of the pneumatic cylinder 192 for rotating the damper are synchronously controlled, the inner partition plates 146 that are fed out by the kicker 152 in a predetermined number, for example, one by one, can be Damper 19
0, the pair of elongated guide plates 182, 182
It is understandable that the parties could be assigned to one side or the other.

The elongated guide plates 182, 182 constitute a part of a temporary storage mechanism for objects to be inserted, which will be explained from now on. That is, between the long guide plates 182, 182 and slightly below the swing damper 190, two rotation shafts 198, 198 are arranged horizontally and spaced apart by a predetermined distance. These rotation axes 1
98 and 198 are rotatably supported by bearing metals 200 fixed to the upright wall portions 176 and 176, respectively, and are further provided with two claw members 2 at predetermined intervals in the axial direction of each rotation shaft 198.
02.202 is fixed in the positional relationship shown in FIGS. 1 and 11. One end of these pivot shafts 198 protrudes outward from the upright wall 176 and is connected to the mechanism shown in FIG. 13 to impart rocking motion.

This FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of the portion seen and observed in the direction of line C--C in FIG. 1, and is composed of a type of toggle link mechanism. That is, as shown in FIG. 13, two pairs of upper and lower guide metals 204, 206 are arranged and fixed at a predetermined interval on the upright wall 176, and slide shafts 208, 206 are attached to each pair of upper and lower guide metals 204, 206, respectively. 208 is slidably inserted and pivoted. A stay 210 is installed horizontally between both slide shafts, and a pneumatic cylinder 214 is fixed upside down to the upright wall 176 via a bracket 212.
A piston rod 216 is fixed to the stay 210. Also, each slide shaft 208 has a link lever 2.
One end of the link lever 218 is pivoted through a pin 220, and the other end of the link lever 218 is fixed to the protruding end of the pivot shaft 198. Further, at the lower end of each slide shaft 208, a key-shaped slide guide 222 is attached to a horizontal bar 224.
has been fixed through. Therefore, when the piston rod 216 is extended using the cylinder 214, the slide shafts 208, 208 will be lowered as shown in FIG. 222.222 will be lowered simultaneously. When the deflection cylinder 214 is reversely biased, the slide shafts 208 and 208 rise along the guide metal, as shown in FIG. 13(1), and the claw members 202 and 202 are tilted outward. It will be appreciated that the slide guides 222, 222 can be raised at the same time.

As shown in FIG. 2, a stopper 132 is disposed at a predetermined position above the belt conveyor 58 at right angles to the conveyance direction of the conveyor at the location where the inserted object supply device 16 is disposed. The article 18 that has come into contact with this stopper 132 and has been supplied with the inserted object 146 is sent out toward the bed 228 under the action of the pusher 226. The pusher 226 is horizontally arranged (piston rod 232 of the pneumatic cylinder 230).
is fixed to.

The operation and effects of the device according to the present invention configured as described above will be explained below. As already explained, the articles 18 arranged in two stages and three rows by the article aligning and supplying device 10 and the optional stacking device 12 are carried by the belt conveyor 58 and conveyed to the article spacing device 14. (See Fig. 4 (1)). Therefore, in FIG. 2, if the pneumatic cylinder 118 is energized and the piston rod 120 is retracted into the cylinder tube, the lever member 112
swings clockwise around the pin 114 and slides the slide shafts 102, 102 in the direction of the arrow.
As shown in Figure (2), the vacuum cup 96 is connected to the guide plate 124.
The outer row of articles 18 is held by vacuum suction.

Next, when the cylinder 118 is reversely biased, the piston rod 120 is extended and the lever member 112 is swung counterclockwise, thereby retracting the vacuum cups 96 away from each other.

For this reason, each of the 18 articles in the outer row held by the vacuum cup 96 is brought into contact with the guide plate 124, and the 18 articles in the center
8, a predetermined interval S is provided between them (see FIG. 4 (3)). Next, when the vacuum in the vacuum cup 96 is released, the two cups are separated by a predetermined distance S from each other, as shown in FIG. 4(4).
The three rows of articles are conveyed on a belt conveyor 58, and the articles are conveyed through a conveyor belt 58.
2 and align the tips with the tips aligned as shown in FIG.

In addition, in the inserted object feeding device 16, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the pneumatic cylinder 154 is operated, and the cutter 1b2 sends out the partition plates 146 downward one by one.
The partition plate 146 collides with the damper 190 during the fall, and the partition plate 146 collides with the damper 190 in the direction of inclination of the damper 190 (for example, the 11th
(solid line position in the figure), and is guided downward by hitting the elongated guide plate 182. At this time, the claw members 202, 2
02 is tilted as shown in FIGS. 11 and 13 (1) (this is called the "closed state", so the middle partition plate
6 is held by one claw member 202 and temporarily stored at that location. Next, the pneumatic cylinder 192 for swinging the damper shown in FIG. 1 is operated, and the damper 190
is swung to the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. As a result, the succeeding partition plate 146 is distributed toward the other claw member 202 which is also in the closed state, and is temporarily stored and held by this claw member 202 for 91 hours.

When the partition plate 146 is stored and held in each of the two claw members 202 and 202 in this way, a predetermined distance S is provided below the claw members from each other as shown in FIGS. 2 and 11. A group of two rows and three rows of articles are waiting for their arrival (note that this interval S is, of course, set to be larger than the thickness of the inserted object 146). at this point
As shown in FIG. 13(2), the cylinder 214 is energized,
When the claw members 202, 202 are allowed to hang down all at once under the action of the toggle link (this is referred to as the "open state"), the partition plates 146, which were temporarily stored, lose their support and fall, causing the above-mentioned A predetermined number of sheets, for example, one sheet, are inserted in the interval S.

At this time, since the slides 122 and 122 also descend along the fixed guide plate 180, the fallen partition plate 14
6 will not bounce on the conveyor surface and deviate from the spacing S.

Next, the cylinder 230 for the bushing is operated, and the two-stage, three-row group of articles with the partition plate 146 inserted is moved to the bushar 2.
26 to bring them into close contact with each other, and extrude them onto a bed 228 provided perpendicularly to the belt conveyor 58, and this cycle is repeated thereafter.

In the above configuration shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, after the shutter 64 is lowered to block the article conveyance path, the pair of guide plates 124 and 124 move forward toward each other until they are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance. However, at the same time as the first group of three rows of articles 18 are fed, the nine stacking cups 62 descend to stack the first group of articles 18.
Hoist a group of items while vacuum suction is applied. A second group of three rows of articles is fed below, and when the vacuum of the vacuum cup 62 is released, the articles of the first group are fed into the second group.
Stacked on top of the group of items in an orderly manner.

Next, the vacuum cup 96 is advanced from the side to vacuum the articles 18 in the outer row, and the vacuum cup 96 and the side plate 124 are synchronously retreated, so that the articles in the two rows and three rows are spaced apart from each other. Granted. At this point, if the vacuum in the vacuum cup 96 is released and the shutter 64 is raised, a group of articles whose tips are aligned and are spaced apart from each other will be obtained. Note that a modification of the configuration shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is shown in FIG. 14. This is intended to integrate the vacuum cup and the guide plate, and instead of the vacuum cup, a vacuum box 97 forming a vacuum chamber is provided, which is connected to a support frame 98, and the guide plate is also connected to the vacuum box 97. 125 is integrally attached to the front surface of the vacuum box 97. In addition,
A predetermined number of vacuum suction holes 99 are formed in the front surface of the vacuum box 97, and the vacuum box 97 is connected to a vacuum source via a vacuum hose (not shown). Therefore, when the link mechanism described in detail in connection with FIG. 2 is operated, the guide plate 125
The vacuum box 97 then moves forward and backward toward the article 18 . In this case as well, the article 18 is supplied and the shutter 6
4, the guide plate 125 and the vacuum box 97 move forward to perform vacuum suction, and then move back to provide a space between the articles.

In addition, in the present invention, the removal of the inserted object 146 and the temporary storage are performed by the mechanism shown in FIG.
The mechanisms shown in FIGS. 5 and 16 can also be suitably used. For example, in FIG. 15, the vacuum cup 234 is connected to the swing arm 236.
The cylinder 23 is attached to the falling trajectory of the inserted object 146.
8, a receiving plate 240 that can move forward and backward is arranged,
In FIG. 16, objects 146 to be inserted are stacked and stored in a hopper 242, and a picker 244 that reciprocates horizontally moves the objects 146 into one layer, for example.
A mechanism for transmitting data one by one is shown.

Further, FIG. 17 shows an embodiment in which a suction means or a clamping means (for example, a grip hand) is lowered from above to create a space between articles. In this embodiment, the sliders 250 and 250 are inserted and screwed into a threaded shaft 24B having male threads 246a and 246b, respectively, which are threaded in the middle portion and rotate in opposite directions, and the threaded shaft 248 is rotated by the motor 252. Both sliders 250 are arranged close to each other and separated from each other. Each slider 250 has a pneumatic cylinder 254 arranged upside down, for example, a vacuum cup 25
6 can be driven up and down, thereby making it possible to provide spacing between articles.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 18 (1), the case is not limited to the case where the outermost articles are moved centering on the articles in the center row to create a space between them;
), it goes without saying that the spacing may be provided by moving the articles from one row of articles to the other side as a reference.

As described above, according to the apparatus according to the present invention, the supply is arranged in multiple rows in the horizontal direction (in some cases stacked in multiple stages).
A device that can fully automatically, quickly and reliably achieve the task of providing a predetermined interval between articles to be inserted, and then correspondingly inserting partition plates and other objects to be inserted in the interval at once. It is. Moreover, in the present invention, even when there are multiple intervals between the articles to be inserted and supplied, one article storage case (or hopper) is always sufficient, and the given article interval Since the number of objects to be inserted are temporarily stored in a predetermined location and then supplied at the same time at the same time, the processing speed is significantly improved compared to a configuration in which they are supplied sequentially at intervals. are doing.

Furthermore, by stocking the inserted object at the 1 o'clock intermediate position and then releasing it, the impact when it falls is alleviated, and the risk of unexpected troubles such as it jumping up and falling off is completely avoided. In addition, in the step of providing gaps to the articles, the gaps may be added while the articles are being transported, or the flow of the articles may be temporarily interrupted with a shutter or the like, and the gaps may be added during this time. Of course, it is also possible to do so.

As mentioned above, preferred embodiments of the apparatus according to the present invention have been presented and explained in detail with reference to the attached drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and is within the scope of the spirit of the invention. Many improvements and changes can be made within.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a composite device for processing articles including the device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view taken from the direction of line ■-■ in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 shows the stacking process. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the article spacing process over time; FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a vacuum cup circulation mechanism for imparting spacing to articles; FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the vacuum cup circulation movement mechanism; FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the vacuum cup reciprocating mechanism; FIG. 9 is a partial side view of a mechanism for temporarily stopping the transport of articles using a shutter to provide spacing between the articles, showing a state in which a stacking device is also installed, and FIG. 10 is a partial side view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 9. A partial plan view, FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 1, and FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along line C-c in FIG.
Figure 14 is a diagram of the operating state of the toggle link mechanism that was observed.
0 is a schematic plan view of a modified example of the mechanism shown in FIG. 0, FIGS. 15 and 16 are schematic explanatory views showing another example of the mechanism for taking out the inserted object and temporarily storing it, and FIG. 17 is a schematic plan view of a modification of the mechanism shown in FIG. FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the applicator, and is a schematic explanatory diagram of a method for imparting spacing to articles.0 Patent Applicant: Fuji Kikai Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (1), 13 FIG, 15 FIG, 16 FIG 18 Procedural amendment (spontaneous) July 19, 1980 Director-General of the Patent Office Kazuo Wakasugi 1, Indication of case Patent Application No. 101664 of 1981 2, Invention Name: Apparatus 3 for providing spacing between articles in multiple rows and supplying objects to be inserted during the spacing; Relationship with the amended case Patent applicant address: IO, 2-14 Kamejima, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya Name: Fuji Machinery Co., Ltd. Representative Ikkoku Samurai 4, Agent 〒460 (2) Official drawings

Claims (1)

[Claims] means for holding a group of articles arriving in a plurality of rows by suction means or clamping means to provide a predetermined interval between appropriate articles in the row direction; means for taking out and dropping the inserted object; means for sequentially distributing the ejected object in a plurality of directions along the falling path; Means for storing a predetermined number of inserted objects and, when the predetermined stored number is reached, releasing these inserted objects all at once, and causing each inserted object to fall correspondingly during each interval of the article located below. A device for providing intervals between a plurality of rows of articles and feeding objects to be inserted into the intervals.