JPS6133428A - Method of transferring article and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten a required time per working process and to minimize the number of drive parts in each working area, by dividing a guide shaft for transferring articles into two shafts to allocate necessary functions to respective shafts so that article transferring operations which are individually associated with each other are carried out, simultaneously in parallel with each other. CONSTITUTION:A slider 12 and an elevator 17 are movably disposed respectively on horizontal and vertical shafts 2, 3 serving as two guide shafts and disposed in a device body, and are provided with support mechanisms 16, 19 for articles 30, respectively. Further, the article 30 which is carried by one article transferring members 4 is at first transferred upwards by means of the elevator 17 on the vertical shaft 3 through the intermediary of the support mechanism 19. Then the article 30 is received by the slider 12 on the horizontal shaft 2 to be fed transversely. Then, the article 30 is lowered with its horizontal posture being maintained, and then the article 30 which has been supported by the support mechanism 16 on the slider 12 is released to be set on the other article transferring member 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a product transfer method and device for transferring products at high speed by linking two product transfer guide shafts.

In recent years, between product conveyors such as conveyors and transfer carts,
Automatic machines, generally called robots, perform transfer operations such as transferring and loading arbitrary products. According to this conventional automatic machine, the tip working part that supports the product continuously moves in two or three axes, so it can automatically handle all transfer positions of the product and automatically transfer the product. Although it has the advantage that it can be carried out continuously, since the tip working section moves back and forth between the two specified product conveyors, it takes time to move back and forth between the two specified product conveyors, and it takes a long time to move back and forth between them. The disadvantage is that it takes a long time. Moreover, since the tip working section moves in multiple axes, a plurality of drive sections must be provided in the tip working section, which increases the weight of the tip working section and makes it difficult to control the movement of the working section quickly and accurately. It has an entry point.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and when transferring a product between predetermined product conveyors, the guide shaft for transferring the product is divided into two and the functions of each are distributed. By simultaneously carrying out product transfer operations that are linked individually using guide shafts, the time required for each operation is shortened, and the number of drive units in each work section is minimized to reduce weight. This paper proposes a product transfer method that quickly and accurately controls the movement of a working unit that supports the product, and its electrical production.

In order to achieve the above object, the product transfer method and its device of the present invention include installing a plurality of guide shafts intersectingly between two product conveyors, and mutually linking sliders provided on each guide shaft. By sliding the product, the product is delivered and transferred.

The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1.

In each of the above figures, the product transfer device of the present invention has a main body 1
is provided with two guide shafts, a horizontal shaft 2 and a vertical shaft 3, and a slider 12 is installed on the horizontal shaft 2, and an elevator 17 is installed on the vertical shaft 3.
are provided movably, respectively, and support mechanisms 16 and 19 for the product 30 are provided on the slider 12 and the elevator 17, respectively.

The device main body 1 is installed in a factory or the like facing an arbitrary product carrier, and is formed in the shape of a vertically long case.
It is equipped with a control section 20 that controls the driving section of each axis.

As shown in the enlarged view of the main part in FIG. 3, the horizontal shaft 2 provided in the device main body 1 can be raised and lowered in a horizontal cantilevered manner via a lifting mechanism 10 provided in the device main body 1. A slider 12 is provided which slides via a horizontal guide 13 provided in the longitudinal direction. The elevating mechanism 10 has a vertical guide 14 provided longitudinally on the front surface of the main body 1 of the apparatus, and a linking tool 11 provided at the base of the horizontal shaft 2, which is connected to the vertical guide 14, and a drive section (not shown) moves the linking tool 11 up and down. This allows the horizontal shaft 2 to be vertically adjustable. Further, the horizontal shaft 2 is provided with a long member extending horizontally forward from the main body 1 of the device, and a horizontal guide 13 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is provided on this horizontal shaft 2 to allow sliding The child 12 can be moved between the proximal end and the distal end of the horizontal shaft 2. The slider 12 is attached by engaging the grip portion 15 with the horizontal guide 13.

Next, the device body 1 is provided with three vertical shafts, and an elevator 17 that is raised and lowered via a vertical guide 14 provided perpendicularly to the device body 1 is provided. In the embodiment, the vertical guide 14 shares the same guide as the lifting mechanism 10 for the horizontal shaft 2, thereby simplifying the structure. Of course, it is also possible to form both guides separately. As shown in FIG. 5, the elevator 17 has a grip part 18 held against the vertical guide 14, and can be raised and lowered by a drive part (not shown), and the slider 17 is moved up and down at the L-shaped intersection with the horizontal axis. 12
It is designed to confront and cooperate with. Here is the L-shaped intersection.
The vertical position changes as the horizontal shaft 2 moves up and down.

The above-mentioned 12 sliders and 17 elevators, each with 30 products
A support mechanism 16, 19 is provided for supporting the product 30 and transferring the product 30 at the axis intersection. First, slider 12
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the support mechanism 16 is composed of a suction cup using vacuum, and is adapted to suction the upper surface of the product 30. In addition, the support mechanism 19 of elevator/descendator]7
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, it is composed of two gripping arms that expand and contract in the lateral direction, and is adapted to grip the sides of the product 30. The above-mentioned gripping arm can also grip a plurality of products 30 at the same time by having a structure that expands widely in the lateral direction.

Further, as another support mechanism, a structure may be adopted in which the lower surface of the product is supported by an arm member in the shape of a five-figure fork. Furthermore, as a support mechanism, it does not directly support the product.
It may also be configured to support trays, pallets, pedestals, etc. for transporting products.

The slider 12 having the above-mentioned support mechanism 16 has a horizontal axis 2
The product 30 is transferred between the elevator 17 and one of the product carriers 5 by sliding back and forth between the tip end and the axis intersection part.

In addition, the elevator 17 having the support mechanism 19 has the vertical shaft 3
The product 30 is delivered and transferred between the other product carrier 4 and the slider 12 by moving up and down between the lower end and the upper axis intersection of the vertical guide 14 composing the vertical guide 14 .

The slider 12 mentioned above. Each drive mechanism of the elevator 17 and the horizontal shaft 2 is constituted by a rotating mechanism such as a rack or screw, or a traction mechanism such as a chain or cable, and each drive unit provided individually receives a signal from the control unit 20. each slider 12
etc. to make it work. Also, the horizontal axis 2 mentioned above
All of its operating parts are located at the bottom of the shaft and do not protrude upward.

Product carriers 4 and 5 shown as an embodiment of the present invention described above
are each constituted by a conveyor that is continuously driven in the horizontal and longitudinal direction, and one product conveyor 4 that extends in the horizontal and longitudinal direction
The main body 1 of the apparatus is installed in front of the horizontal shaft 2, and the other product carrier 5 is placed at the front lower part of the horizontal axis 2. They are transferred and loaded onto the carrier 5. Of course, as a reverse operation to the above, the product 30 conveyed by the product conveyor 5 can also be transferred onto the product conveyor 4 by the device of the present invention.

One of the product conveyance bodies 4 shown as an example above constitutes a product manufacturing line, as shown in FIG. The product 30 conveyed from 21 is transferred onto the interlocking table 22 and lifted upward by the elevator 17 of the vertical shaft 3. In the embodiment, a plurality of products 30 on the conveyor 21 are placed on a mounting table 24 and conveyed, and when the mounting table 24 is transferred onto the linking table 22, it is moved laterally by the mover 23, and the products 30 are moved horizontally by the mover 23. The product 30 to be lifted is moved to a position facing the elevator 17, and then the mounting table 24 on which all the products 30 have been moved upward is transferred onto the other conveyor 21 by the mover 23.

In the above embodiment, the products 3° on the mounting table 24 are lifted up one by one by the elevators 17, but it is also possible to lift them up in multiple rows or in multiple columns. In this case, for multiple rows, the slider 1
2 may be provided with a support mechanism 16 consisting of a plurality of suction cups, or may be provided with an oblong gripping arm. On the other hand, it is also possible to lift the mounting table 24 or other trays and the like and transfer it to the other product carrier 5, or it is also possible to adopt a method in which the mounting table 24 is not used at all.

Next, the other five product carriers constitute a product carry-out line, and its mechanism is substantially the same as that of the one product carrier 4 described above. That is, a transfer table 27 is installed so as to be able to move laterally on a rail 26 laid between two conveyors 25, 25, and a loading table 28 is transferred from one conveyor 25 onto this moving table 27. When a predetermined number of products 30 are loaded by the slider 12 of the horizontal shaft 2, the laminated products 30 are transferred to the other conveyor 25 together with the mounting table 28. A plurality of rows of products 30 are loaded on the mounting table 28, and the movement of the moving table 27 is controlled so that the row in which the products 30 are loaded is always directly below the slider 12. Note that the product conveyance body 5 may be configured by a simple moving cart instead of the conveyor system.

The operation of the apparatus of the present invention constructed as described above will be explained below. First, the lifter 17 of the vertical shaft 3 picks up the product 30 transported by one of the product transporters 4 by its support mechanism 19 and transports it upward, and the slider 12 that was waiting at the upper bearing difference part receives the product 30 and moves laterally, and the horizontal shaft 2 descends to lower the slider 12 to a suitable height position on the other product carrier 5, where the slider 12 is attached to its support mechanism 16. The product 30 that was being supported loosely is placed on the mounting table 28. After completing each operation, the elevator 17, slider 12, and horizontal shaft 2 return to their original positions and perform the above-described operations continuously.

The product 30 on one mounting table 28 can also be transferred onto the other mounting table 24 by substantially the same operation as described above. Note that the elevator 17 that has transferred the product 30 to the slider 12 starts its operation separately while the slider 12 is transferring the product 30 onto the mounting table 28 and starts the transfer operation of the next product 30. Before moving on, multiple operations are performed simultaneously and in parallel.

As described above, the present invention divides the guide shaft for product transfer into two parts, distributes the functions of each part, and allows each guide shaft to carry out individually linked product transfer operations in parallel. While one working section is carrying out product loading work, the other working section can perform the return operation for product transfer at the same time, significantly shortening the time required for each product transfer. I can do it. Moreover, since each of the above-mentioned working parts only moves in a predetermined straight line, the number of driving parts can be minimized to make it lightweight, so the movement of each working part can be quickly controlled, and the weight is also reduced. Therefore, there is an effect that the inertia can be reduced and positioning, etc. in controlling the movement of the working part can be performed accurately.

Furthermore, the device of the present invention can be used in factories with low ceilings where the horizontal shaft is housed, since all operating parts are located below the horizontal shaft and no operating parts protrude above the shaft. effective.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a side view of the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the main part of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is an AA of Fig. 3.
5 is a BB sectional view of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is an enlarged CC view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged DD view of FIG. 1. l...Equipment body 2...Horizontal axis 3 ・
...Vertical axis 4.5...Product conveyor 12...
・Slider 16.19...Support mechanism 17...
・Elevator 30...Product applicant Motoda Electronics Co., Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A product transfer method characterized by having the following requirements for transferring an arbitrary product from one product carrier to another product carrier. (a) Product transfer work is carried out individually via two guide shafts intersecting each other in a substantially L-shape. (b) By raising and lowering the horizontal shaft serving as one of the guide shafts relative to the main body of the apparatus and sliding the slider, the product is transferred between one of the product carriers and the intersection of the guide shafts. (c) The product is transferred between the other product carrier and the guide shaft intersection by raising and lowering the elevator on the vertical shaft provided in the main body of the apparatus. (d) By facing each other at the intersection of the guide shafts, the slider and the lifter transfer the supported products, and each moves individually to transfer the products. (2) A product transfer device characterized by having the following requirements for transferring an arbitrary product via a guide shaft. (a) Two guide shafts, a horizontal shaft and a vertical shaft, are provided in the main body of the device so as to intersect in a substantially L-shape. (b) The horizontal shaft is raised and lowered in a horizontal cantilevered manner via a lifting mechanism provided on the main body of the apparatus, and is provided with a slider that slides via a horizontal guide provided in the horizontal longitudinal direction. (c) The vertical axis is provided with an elevator that is raised and lowered via a vertical guide provided perpendicularly to the main body of the apparatus. (d) The slider and the elevator are provided with a support mechanism that supports the product and transfers the product at the intersection. (3) A product transfer device characterized by having the following requirements for transferring products between a plurality of product carriers. (a) The main body of the apparatus, which has two guide shafts, a horizontal axis and a vertical axis, arranged in a substantially L-shaped cross shape, is installed facing the product conveyance body. (b) The horizontal shaft is raised and lowered in a horizontal cantilevered manner via a lifting mechanism provided on the main body of the apparatus, and is provided with a slider that slides via a horizontal guide provided in the horizontal longitudinal direction. (c) The vertical axis is provided with an elevator that is raised and lowered via a vertical guide provided perpendicularly to the main body of the apparatus. (d) The above-mentioned slider and elevator have a support mechanism that supports the product, and the elevator is connected between one product conveyor and the slider, and the slider is connected to the other product conveyor. Products are transferred between the body and the elevator.