JPS591326A - Device for stacking and transferring article - 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 collecting and transporting articles, and more specifically, for use in, for example, collecting and transporting packaging sheets wrapped in a blister packaging machine to a cartoning machine for the next process. The present invention relates to a suitable article accumulation and transfer device.

In the process of packaging tablets and the like, a plurality of sheet-like packages, that is, packaging sheets, produced by a blister packaging machine are bundled together and packaged using a cartoning machine or a bellows packaging machine. In this case, the packaging sheets produced by the blister packaging machine are sent directly to a stacking machine in the subsequent process or a cartoning machine with a stacking function for packaging without placing them in a flopper or the like. The operation of the cartoning machine, etc. is synchronized, and even if the cartoning machine stops alone, the Prista packaging machine can continue to operate, and the packaging sheets made while the cartoning machine is stopped are transferred to the It was temporarily stored in a receiving box installed at the bottom. Therefore, in order to collect and package the packaging sheets stored in the receiving box in this way, they are checked for scratches caused by dropping, and only good products are selected. The packaging had to be manually loaded into the hopper, resulting in a decrease in packaging efficiency.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional objects, and its purpose is to receive and store items sent by the front-end equipment even if the latter-end equipment temporarily stops. Even if items are not sent at regular intervals due to removal of defective items, the specified number of items can be delivered to the downstream equipment without the aid of replenishment equipment. An object of the present invention is to provide an accumulation and transfer device that can be sent to other places.

The present invention is provided between a pre-processing device and a post-processing device to accommodate articles supplied one or several pieces from the pre-processing device, and to accumulate the articles to be sent out in a number different from the number supplied. In the transfer device, a first drive sprocket that is driven intermittently or continuously, a second drive sprocket that is driven intermittently, a pair of moving sprockets each movable along separate guides, and a pair of moving sprockets that are movable along separate guides; An endless chain that is hung around a driving sprocket and a moving sprocket and has a number of article holders attached at predetermined intervals, a detection device that detects the amount of movement of the moving sprocket, and a detection device that detects the presence or absence of articles to be supplied to the article holders. an article detection device for detecting an article, stopping the first drive sprocket to partially stop movement of an endless chain engaged with the first drive sprocket when the article is not sent from the pre-processing device; When the post-processing device temporarily stops operating, the second drive sprocket is stopped and the endless chain that engages with the second drive sprocket is partially stopped.

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

1 to 5, the accumulating and transferring device 1 of this embodiment has a substantially L-shaped main body 10, and a pair of horizontal guide rods 11 are provided in the horizontal portion of the main body at 1°0, and a pair of horizontal guide rods 11 are provided in the vertical portion of the main body. An upright guide rod 12 is provided.

Sliders 2 and 2cL are movably supported on each of the horizontal and vertical guide rods 11 and 12, respectively, and movable sprockets 3 and 3α are rotatably attached to each of the sliders 2 and 2cL via shafts 31, respectively. ing.

The sliders 2 and 2a are connected to each other by a chain 24 that is connected to a plurality of sprockets (21, 22, 23) rotatably attached to the main body 10, and when one slider 2 moves, the other slider also moves. They can move the same distance at the same time. The sprocket 21 is rotatably attached to one end of a lever 25 pivotally connected to the main body 10, and the other end of the lever 25 is pulled by a spring 26 to apply a constant tension to the chain 24.

Near the bent portion of the L-shaped main body 10, a first drive sprocket 4 is attached to a drive shaft 41 rotatably attached to the main body.
is fixed. This drive shaft 41 is also rotatably attached to the main body and is a drive shaft (not shown) of a device in the previous process.
The transmission shaft 42 and the gear 43 driven by the transmission shaft 42 and the gear 43 are connected through the clutch 44 and the gear 45 of known structure, and are continuously rotated by the transmission shaft 42 and stop rotating when the clutch 44 is released (forcibly). fixed).

In the vicinity of the bent portion, a second drive sprocket 5 further includes a drive shaft 51 rotatably attached to the main body 10.
is fixed. This drive shaft is also rotatably attached to the main body via a series of gear sets 53, an intermittent rotation mechanism 54 such as a Geneva gear, and a clutch 55 of known structure, and is connected to a drive shaft (not shown) for a subsequent process device. The intermittent rotation mechanism allows the sprocket to be intermittently rotated by several packets (to be described later) and to stop rotating when the clutch 55 is released. .

A, B and C are located close to the guide rod 11.
Detecting devices 7σ, 7b, and 7C of known structure such as magnetic type or photoelectric type are provided at the positions of . This detection device detects that the slider, and therefore the movable sprocket 3, has come to that position by detecting that the detection piece 27 attached to the slider 2 has come to that position, and sends the detection signal to the subsequent process equipment. Drive device and clutch 4
The signal is sent to an operation control circuit (not shown) such as No. 4 or 55.

As shown in FIG. 1, an endless conveyor chain 8 is hung between the pair of moving sprockets 3, 3a and the first and second drive rockets 4 and 5, and the conveyor chain 8 carries a large number of articles. Holders or packets 81 are attached at equal intervals. In this example, packaging sheets made by a PRISTA packaging machine are used as the articles to be collected and transported, so the article holder can be attached to narrowly spaced packets as shown, but depending on the shape of the articles to be handled, For example, various types of holders such as a chuck type holder can be used.

At the lower part of the vertical portion of the main body 10, there is provided an article pushing mechanism 9 for pushing out a plurality of articles in the packet 81 at once. This extrusion mechanism 9 consists of two pairs of guide rollers 91 and 92 disposed on the main body 2, aligned approximately at right angles to the traveling direction of the conveyor chain 8 passing through the extrusion position, and a pusher movably guided by the guide rollers. It has a rod 93. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide rollers 91, 92 and push rods 93 are provided on both sides of the chain 8 and the packet 810, respectively, and the tips 94 of the pair of push rods on both sides are used to push the packet from both sides. It is designed to push the edges of the protruding item.

The rear end of the push rod 93 is connected via a link 96 to an arm 95 pivotally attached to the main body 10, and is configured to perform linear reciprocating motion by swinging the arm 95. arm 95
is connected to the drive source of the post-process equipment via a mechanism not shown, and is configured to swing in synchronization with the operation of the post-process equipment.

The reference numeral 100 designates a chain-type intake conveyor that puts the articles sent from the pre-processing device into packets, and at a position above the chain-type intake conveyor, for example, a photoelectric detection device 7d is installed to detect the presence or absence of articles that should be sent by the intake conveyor. It is provided.

The accumulating and transferring device of this embodiment is installed between the pristine packaging machine and the cartoning machine.

In the above-mentioned accumulation and transfer device, under normal conditions, the drive shaft 41 and the first drive sprocket 4 are continuously rotated in the direction of the arrow X, so that the portion of the conveyor chain that is engaged with the drive sprocket is continuously fed. Also, the drive shaft 51
The second drive sprocket 5 is intermittently rotated in the direction of the arrow Y by several kerats (in other words, by a pinch of five packets), and the drive sprocket 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow Y by a pinch of five packets.
The portion of the conveyor chain that is engaged with the conveyor chain is fed intermittently. The feed of both drive sprockets is then adjusted in phase. Furthermore, the chain conveyor feed rate of the second drive sprocket 5 during a certain period of time is slightly greater than that of the first drive sprocket.

Under such conditions, the article, ie, the packaging sheet m, is transferred to the bucket of the conveyor chain by the intake conveyor 100.
At the extrusion position, the push rod 93 moves back and forth once while the conveyor chain 8 is intermittently stopped, and a plurality of packaging sheets in the packet are placed on the receiving plate 14. It is then pushed out in the direction of arrow Z so that it can be supplied to post-process equipment. Then, when the detection device #7d detects that there is no article m on the intake conveyor,
In response to the detection signal, the clutch 44 is released and the rotation of the first drive shaft is temporarily stopped, thus ensuring that the article is always fed into the packet.

While operating under such conditions, the feed rate of the first driving sprocket 4 is lower than that of the second driving sprocket, so that the flow rate between the first driving sprocket 4, the moving sprocket 3α and the second driving sprocket is lower than that of the second driving sprocket. Since the conveyor chain gradually becomes shorter, the slider 2α and the moving sprocket 3a descend, and at the same time, the slider 2 and the moving sprocket 3 move to the right (in FIG. 1).

When the detection piece 27 of the slider 2 comes to position A, the detection device 7a detects this and issues a detection signal, and the detection signal releases the clutch 55, causing the drive shaft 51 and the second drive sprocket 5 to open. Intermittent rotation is stopped. Note that when the first driving sprocket stops because no article is sent on the intake conveyor 100, the movement of the slider and the moving sprocket becomes even faster.

When the second drive sprocket 5 stops, the drive sprocket 5, the moving sprocket 3 and the drive sprocket 4
Since the conveyor chain 8 between 0 and 0 becomes shorter due to continuous feeding of the first drive sprocket, the slider 2 and the moving sprocket 3 move to the left, and the slider 2cL and the moving sprocket 3cL rise. When the detection piece 27 of the slider 2 comes to position B, the detection device 7b detects this and issues a detection signal, engages the clutch 55, and
Starts intermittent rotation of the drive sprocket and returns to normal operation.

The operation continues with the movable sprocket 3 constantly reciprocating between positions A and B.

Next, if the downstream device temporarily stops operating, the rotation of the transmission shaft 520 is also stopped, and therefore the intermittent rotation of the second drive sprocket is also stopped. Therefore, the slider 2 and moving sprocket 3 move to the left for the reasons mentioned above, and the slider moves past position B. If the operation of the apparatus for the subsequent process is not started during that time, the slider continues to move to the left, and the detection piece 27 finally reaches position C.

Then, the detection device 7C detects it and issues a detection signal,
Stop the operation of the equipment in the previous process.

Note that if the operation of the post-processing device is started while the slider 2 is moving leftward between positions B and C, the detection signal from the detection device 7b is stored, so the second driving sprocket is also activated at the same time. Start driving.

As mentioned above, according to the accumulation and transfer device of the present invention, even if the downstream process equipment stops operating for a short time, the articles sent from the upstream process equipment do not need to be stacked in bulk in receiving boxes, etc. Even when the articles are not sent temporarily, the movement of the article holder is stopped until they are sent, so that a predetermined number of articles can be reliably accumulated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the article accumulation and transfer apparatus according to the present invention, with a part of the main body removed, and FIG. 2 is a view taken along line 1t-l in FIG. 1. , FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line i-am in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view taken along the line ■-■ of FIG. 1: Collection and transfer device 10: Main body 11, 12 guide rod 2.2α
Varnish slider 3.3α: Moving sprocket 4.5: Drive sprocket 7 a l 7 b y 7 cr 7ci: Detection device 8: Chain

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Provided between a pre-process device and a post-process device, it can accommodate articles supplied one or several pieces at a time from the pre-process device, and can send out a number different from the number supplied. a first drive sprocket that is driven intermittently or continuously; a second drive sprocket that is driven intermittently; a pair of movable sprockets movable along separate guides; and an endless chain that is hung around a second driving sprocket and a moving sprocket and has a number of article holders attached at predetermined intervals, a detection device that detects the amount of movement of the moving sprocket, and a detection device that detects the amount of movement of the moving sprocket, and a detection device that is to be supplied to the article holder. An article accumulation and transfer device comprising: an article detection device for detecting the presence or absence of articles;