JPS6158365B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to conveyors, and more specifically to methods and apparatus for transporting successive articles onto a conveyor.

The present invention preferably relates to a method and apparatus for transferring successive articles onto a conveyor intermittently or continuously at high speeds.

Conveyors on transfer lines operating at high speeds and the surrounding equipment surrounding the conveyors must take special care to ensure that the intended transfer rate is not compromised. This consideration should be directed in particular to the transitions between machines and conveyors on the transfer line, or for example between various conveyors which are adapted to operate at different speeds for various reasons. Also, the transition between a substantially continuously operating conveyor and an intermittent or continuously operating dog conveyor belongs to the class of important transitions.

The problem solved by the invention relates to the last-mentioned category of transport, and in particular to a pine-making device.

The so-called continuous machine accessories and filling machines used in such applications, i.e. in actual matchmaking equipment, should be made to work with a small number of "parallel passages" for the inner and outer boxes, respectively. This is contrary to the operation of known devices in which several sections are provided with a large number of parallel passages or rows of 16, 24, 32, 48 or a corresponding number.

Elimination of such "multi-row equipment" also eliminates the need for on-line filling machines to provide "batch-style" lateral feeding. The term "batch style" refers to the fact that as soon as a 90° turn is made, all boxes on all 16 rows in a single batch are placed in the same position on a conveyor with 16 rows, e.g. This represents a process in which 16 boxes are fed laterally on a conveyor, and then batches of 16 boxes are transferred at an accelerated pace toward the extrusion position of the filling machine.

In a more specific sense, therefore, the aim of the invention is to eliminate this lateral feeding. This is primarily achieved by replacing conventional lateral feeding with the principle of minimizing the number of passages.

To explain this as an example of the speed of the equipment to which this invention is considered applicable, the outer box and inner box transfer machine of the Matsushi manufacturing equipment operates at a speed of about 1000 to 1200 boxes per minute. be able to.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the article to be handled is the inner box of a matchbox.

However, the invention is not limited to that embodiment, but in a broader sense provides a method for continuously transporting articles on a conveyor, the method comprising: a supply device and a conveyor; The article is characterized in that it is fed synchronously with the conveyor and uniformly at high speed by a synchronous wheel that grips the articles and feeds them directly onto the conveyor.

Preferably, the articles are substantially continuously fed inner boxes of matte boxes, which are fed onto a conveyor for further transport, e.g. to a filling position;
In this case the inner box is centered and provided with said uniform high speed feeding by a pair of opposing endless conveyor belts, and said synchronous wheels are rotatable about an axis along the direction of transport and Consists of wheels with extensions that grip each box inside.

Preferably, the aforementioned method is also characterized in that the synchronizing wheels are provided with a direction of rotation that essentially coincides with the box transport direction of the extension of the endless transport belt immediately before the conveyor.

In order to avoid deformation of the individual boxes, the extension preferably has a relief in the direction of rotation.

Advantageously, the method according to the invention can be applied when the conveyor is driven intermittently, so that the protrusions that are arranged in the movement path of the boxes and that engage with the boxes that are not yet transferred onto the conveyor can be used at a stop of the conveyor. Inside, it acts as a stop for the boxes being transferred from the endless belts and for the boxes being arranged to slide relative to the belts between the belts.

The method and apparatus according to the invention will become clearer from the following description with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 10 in FIG. 1 designates four generally vertical end portions of a box transfer device having four overall passageways. Two of the passages are for the inner box and the remaining two passages are for the outer box. In this device, the inner box is processed, and the device for the outer box is not essential, so it will not be described.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, four passage sections 10
are formed as two pairs of adjacent passages, indicated schematically by arrows 11 and 12. arrow 11
The passage indicated by 12 is the outer box passage, and the passage indicated by arrow 12 is the inner box passage. arrow 11,1
The filling machine of the matchmaking equipment is installed in the direction of 2. The paired passages 11, 12 run parallel until the inner box is filled, after which the adjacent outer and inner boxes are transported further along the paths on either side of the machine towards another processing position. extruded together.

The channel section 10 consists, for example, of the end of a so-called jet conveyor, which transports the inner boxes by means of pressurized air. The two rows of inner boxes are thus formed approximately in succession, depending on the transport conditions of the channel section 10 and the channel located behind this section. To compensate for this sometimes somewhat uneven flow of the inner box, the inner box passageway 12 is provided with a pair of opposing endless transfer belts 13. Said belt 13 rotates at a constant speed in the direction of the arrow 14', thus creating a uniform high velocity stream of boxes in the extension of the channel 12.

Further, a synchronous ring 14 is provided in an extension of the passage 12, and the flow of the inner box 15 is guided with respect to this synchronous ring 14. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the boxes 15 are supplied with their wide sides in contact with the synchronous wheels 14. In order to grip the inner box 15, the synchronous ring 1
4 has a protrusion 16. Notches 17 are formed between adjacent protrusions 16, and these notches 1
Both side parts 18 and 19 of the inner box are accommodated within the inner box. Moreover, the top 20 of the protrusion 16 is provided with a relief and smoothed, for example by making the area of the top smaller than the cross-sectional area of the bottom, so that the inner box 15
6, the front side portion 18 is prevented from being unnecessarily deformed. This escape is inner box 1
5 without deforming it, that is, a supply that is not necessarily regular in time or quantity, can be easily performed without the need for precise synchronization.

The synchronous ring 14 performs intermittent motion in the direction of the arrow 21. This intermittent movement is directly synchronized with the movement of the conveyor 22 which is moved intermittently by the drive wheels 23.
The intermittent movement of the drive wheels 23 is indicated by arrows 24. A dog (not shown) is arranged on the conveyor 22 which advances the inner box 15 as soon as it is fed onto the conveyor 22 by the projection 16 on the synchronizing wheel 14.

As mentioned above, it is necessary that the inner box 15 be uniformly fed to the synchronous ring 14 at a high speed.
For this purpose, a pair of endless belts 13 are provided. However, this belt 13 must be able to slide relative to the inner box 15. The reason for this is that the drive wheel 23 and the synchronizer wheel 14 perform an intermittent movement depending on the desired number of boxes to be fed into the filling machine. When such a desired number of boxes has been fed, the drive wheel 23 and the synchronizing wheel 14 stop, which means that the flow of boxes in the channel 12 is temporarily stopped. In this connection, the inner box should be able to slide relative to the respective belt 13 as soon as the first inner box 15 has stopped. Also, since the pitch of the synchronous ring is larger than the width of the inner box, each box must be temporarily slid as the inner box collides with each protrusion of the synchronous ring during normal feeding motion. This can be done, for example, by arranging a spring between the transfer belts 13. Second
This spring is designated by the reference numeral 25 in the figure. The spring 25 is also adapted to compensate for deformations in the width of the box.

During normal operation of the device, closely abutting boxes are always placed between the pairs of belts 13. This means that the boxes are, as it were, automatically gripped by the corresponding projections 16 on the synchronous wheels 14 and conveyor 2
It is meant to be supplied directly between each dock (not shown) on 2. This greatly reduces the number of reasons why boxes may fail to be transferred.

Having described a preferred apparatus of possible embodiments,
It is understood that the inventive idea described in the claims above is applicable not only to that device but more broadly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a schematic side view of a feeding device for inner and outer boxes adapted to be fed by an intermittently operated conveyor to the filling and extrusion positions of a filling machine; FIG. FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the device, and FIG. 3 is an end view of a portion of the device. 13: Transfer belt, 14: Wheels, 15: Inner box,
16: Protrusion.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. The inner box 15 of the matsuri box is centered and fed uniformly at high speed by a pair of opposing endless transfer belts 13, and then the inner box is moved laterally in the transfer direction. A wheel 1 that can rotate around an axis and is equipped with a protrusion 16 that grips the inner box from above and inside.
4. A method for transferring a substantially continuous supply of inner boxes of matchboxes onto a conveyor 22, characterized in that the inner boxes of the matchboxes are fed substantially continuously onto the conveyor 22. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion 16 has a gripping function and a function of temporarily stopping a series of randomly supplied boxes. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein a relief is formed in the rotational direction of the protrusion so that the box is not deformed. 4 around an axis transverse to the transport direction with a pair of opposing endless transfer belts 13 that center the inner box 15 and provide uniform high-speed feeding, and with protrusions 16 that grip the inner box from above inwardly; characterized by having wheels 14 that can be rotated to
A device that transfers the inner boxes of Matchboxes, which are supplied almost continuously, onto a conveyor. 5. Apparatus according to claim 4, in which the protrusion 16 has a stop surface for temporarily stopping a succession of randomly supplied boxes. 6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the protrusion 16 has a relief 20 in the direction of rotation.