JPS6175711A - Conveyor expandable in conveyance plane and stepped conveyor device employing it - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make adjustable a conveyance speed of a conveyance plane by permitting a frame material to form the conveyance plane and a shaft to relatively move to absorb, in a case where an interval between adjoining shafts trained on chains and changed in a case for example of the chain being reversed at a sprocket part, said change of the intervals. CONSTITUTION:Many shafts 2 are trained in an equal interval respectively between left endless roller chains 1, 1 and between right roller chains 4, 4 disposed in parallel while spaced away, and two sets of net-shaped conveyors A, B formed by training a frame material 3 forming a conveyance plane are provided between adjoining shafts 2. The conveyor B is arranged to have its chain 4 located outwardly of the chain 1 of the conveyor A and having the shafts 2 different in their heights from each other. In addition, the frame material 3 comprises a spiral flat wire material having the front shaft 2 in a sandwiching manner. At least one of a front engagement part 3 engaging with the front shaft 2 and a rear engagement part 3b in engagement with the rear shaft 2 is provided movably longitudinally of the shaft 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a conveyor whose conveying surface is extendable and a length of the surface that supports articles at a rotating portion by utilizing the elasticity of the conveyor. The present invention relates to a stepped conveyor device in which a pair of conveyors having the same distance can be rotated at the same speed by changing the height of the conveyor.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional technique, there is a conveyor described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-34291 and a stepped conveyor device using the conveyor.

In this conventional technology, the conveying surface of one conveyor is
The two conveyors are arranged facing each other in succession, and convey the article while meandering back and forth with the article sandwiched between the opposing conveyance surfaces of both conveyors.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in such conventional technology, when the speeds of both conveyors are matched, parts that move in parallel move at the same speed, whereas in turning parts, both conveyors move at the same speed. The outer conveyor will be delayed compared to the inner conveyor. As a result, as in the prior art described above, once the opposing conveyors pass through the turning area, the conveyor on the outer side of the turn moves at the same speed while remaining behind the conveyor on the inner side. Therefore, when conveying an item with it sandwiched between both conveyors, the item and the small (
This causes problems such as slippage between the two conveyors and one conveyor, and depending on the nature of the item, the item may be damaged or the conveyance of the item may be distorted.

The present invention has been made by focusing on the problems of the prior art, and provides a conveyor whose conveying surface is expandable and retractable, and which allows one conveyor to travel from its outward path to its return path via a turning point. The object of the present invention is to obtain a stepped conveyor device in which the conveyance surfaces of the other conveyor continue to face each other in the meantime, and the opposing positions of both conveyors are always the same.

[Means for solving problems]

The first invention of this application spans a number of shafts between parallel chains, spans a frame member forming a conveyance surface between the front and rear shafts, and engages with the front shaft of the frame member. At least one of the front engaging portion and the rear engaging portion that engages with the rear shaft is formed to be movable back and forth with respect to the shaft, thereby configuring a conveyor whose conveying surface is extendable and retractable. Also, a second invention is a stepped conveyor device that utilizes the property of the conveyor of the first invention that the conveying surface is expandable and retractable, which comprises a pair of chain-driven conveyors including at least one conveyor of the first invention. are arranged with their conveying surfaces facing each other with a predetermined gap between them, and the chains of both conveyors are engaged with sprockets having the same center of rotation,
Both conveyors are configured to rotate while maintaining the predetermined distance.

[Effect]

In the first invention, when the distance between the shafts spanned between the chains changes, such as when the chain reaches the sprocket and reverses, this change in distance is applied to the front engaging portion and the rear engaging portion of the frame member. In at least one of the following, the conveyor conveyance surface is expanded and contracted by relative movement between the frame member and the shaft, thereby adjusting the speed of the conveyor conveyance surface.

Further, the second invention provides that when a pair of conveyors face each other at a predetermined interval and turn around the same center of rotation, the conveyor of the first invention is expanded and contracted at the turning portion to accommodate the outer conveyor. The conveyance surface of the conveyor and the conveyor conveyance surface inside the turn are faced continuously from beginning to end,
The facing positions of both conveyors are kept the same before and after turning, so that the articles interposed between both conveyors are always conveyed while being sandwiched at the same position of both conveyors.

〔Example〕

1 to 5 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

First, the conveyor of the first invention will be explained. In this embodiment, two conveyors of the first invention are used. That is, conveyor A and conveyor B are this.

The conveyor A has a large number of shafts 2 installed at equal intervals between an endless roller chain 1 on the left side in the direction of travel and an endless roller chain on the right side (not shown), which are parallel to each other, and two shafts in front and behind each other. A frame member 3 forming a conveyance surface is spanned between the conveyor belt 2 and the conveyor belt 3 forms a net conveyor shape as a whole.

The shaft 2 is attached to the chain 1 by fixing the end of the shaft 2 to a bracket 1b that is individually integrally molded to the roller link 1a and bottle link lc of the chain 1. The same applies to the chain on the right side (not shown). Thus, a large number of shafts 2 are arranged at equal intervals in the front-rear direction.

The frame member 3 is made of a flat spiral wire that encloses the front shaft 2 and the rear shaft 2, and has a front engaging portion 3a that engages with the front shaft 2 and a rear shaft 2. At least one of the rear engaging portions 3b that engages with the rear engaging portion 3b is movable back and forth with respect to the shaft 2, so as to allow a change in the distance between the front and rear shafts 2.

Further, the spiral frame member 3 extends in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 2, and its length corresponds to the width dimension of the conveying surface. Although not shown, the ends of the frame members 3 are formed in an annular shape to prevent the ends of the wire rods from protruding. It goes without saying that the shape of the shaft 2 is not linear and may be appropriately deformed, such as having a concave portion where the frame member 3 engages.

Thus, between the chain 1 on the left side and the chain on the right side, the frame member 3 is continuous in a band shape in the continuous direction of the chains 1, and the conveyor A is constructed as a whole.

Conveyor B, like conveyor A, has a large number of shafts 2 installed at equal intervals between an endless roller link on the left side and an endless roller link on the right side (not shown) that are parallel to each other. A frame member 3 forming a conveying surface is spanned between the two shafts 2, and the whole conveyor has the shape of a net conveyor. Chains 1 and 4 have the same pitch,
Moreover, they are installed at the same height position.

The difference between conveyor B and conveyor A is that the shaft 2 of conveyor B is longer than that of conveyor A.
Therefore, the chain 1 is located outside the chain 4, and the height position of the shaft 2 is different. That is, the position where the shaft 2 is attached to the chain 4 on the conveyor B is the roller link 4a and pin link 4 of the chain 4.
This is done by fixing the end of the shaft 2 to a bracket 4b that is individually molded integrally with the platen C, and the bracket 4b is located in the opposite position from the platen lb in the vertical direction. The same applies to the chain on the right side (not shown). The relationship between the shaft 2 and the frame member 3 and the shape of the frame member 3 are the same as those of the conveyor A described above. Therefore, parts of conveyor B that are the same as those of conveyor A are shown with the same symbols as those of conveyor A.

Both conveyors A and B are arranged one above the other, with the chains 1 and 4 at the same height, and with a predetermined gap between them to interpose the articles, with the conveying surfaces formed by the frame members 3 facing each other. Also, chain 1 of both conveyors A and B. 4,
Sprockets 5 and 6 of the same diameter fixed to the same rotating shaft 7
The conveyors A and B are configured to rotate while maintaining the predetermined distance by engaging the conveyors A and B individually.

A notch 6a is formed in the sprocket 6 to which the inner chain 4 is fitted to avoid interference with the shaft 2 of the conveyor A.

In this way, the conveyors A and B are configured so that the straight portion and the turning portion are repeated in the direction of travel, and the articles are conveyed in a meandering manner.

Next, the operation of this first embodiment will be explained. When the sprockets 5 and 6 rotate together with the rotating shaft 7, the chains 1 and 4 that are engaged with the sprockets are driven, and the conveyors A and B move forward. At this time, in the part where conveyors A and B go straight before reaching sprocket 5.6, the frame members 3 of both A and B are
A predetermined distance is maintained between the conveying surfaces of the conveyors, and the conveyor surfaces advance at the same speed.

Therefore, the items caught between the conveyor surfaces are transferred to conveyor A.

It moves together with B and reaches the turning area by sprockets 5 and 6. The relationship between the frame member 3 and the shaft 2 here is such that in both conveyors A and B, the front end of the front engaging portion 3a of the frame member 3 is located in front of the shaft 2, and the front end between the inner sides of the frame member 3 is The distance between the outer sides of the front and rear shafts 2 is smaller than the distance between the two, and the length of the conveying surfaces of the conveyors A and H is medium. In addition, in this straight section, chain 1
4, its rollers ld and 4d are guided by the upper surface of a rail (not shown).

When the conveyors A and B reach the turning site, the chain 1 of the conveyor A is engaged with the sprocket 5, and the chain 4 of the conveyor B is engaged with the sprocket 6, and the conveyors turn. During this rotation, the distance between the shafts 2 of the conveyor A widens, and the distance between the shafts 2 of the conveyor B narrows.

That is, since the chains 1.4 are at the same height when viewed from the horizontal direction and mesh with sprockets 5 and 6 having the same diameter, the chains 1 and 4 rotate with the same curvature. On the other hand, the bracket 1b that attaches the shaft 2 to the chain 1 is on the inside of the chain 1 body when turning, and the bracket 4b that attaches the shaft 2 to the chain 4 is on the outside (11 JI) of the chain 4 when turning. The radius of the trajectory of shaft 2 of conveyor B is chain 1,
4 larger than the radius of the movement trajectory of the main body, and conveyor A
The radius of the locus along which the shaft 2 moves is smaller than the radius of the locus of movement of the chains 1 and 4 bodies. Therefore, at the turning site, the distance between the shafts 2 of the conveyor A becomes narrower, and the distance between the shafts 2 of the conveyor B becomes wider.

Then, at the turning site, as shown in FIG. 4 in particular, the shaft 2 is located at the front end of the front engaging part 3a and the rear end of the rear engaging part 3b of the frame member 3 of the conveyor B, and the shaft 2 The distance between the shafts 2 increases as the length increases, and as a result, the length of the conveying surface of the conveyor B increases. In addition, in the frame member 3 of the conveyor A, the shaft 2 engages with the rear end of the rear engaging portion 3b and the rear end of the front engaging portion 3a, respectively, so that the front and rear frame members 3 overlap in the lateral direction. becomes larger, and as a result, the length of the conveying surface of conveyor A is shortened and becomes smaller.

Also, at this time, the chains 1 and 4 of the opposing shafts 2 of the conveyors A and B are sprockets 5 and 5 of the same diameter.
6, the conveyors A and B are always on the same radius and have the same rotation angle within a unit time. Therefore, the opposing conveyor A,
The picture frame 3 of B rotates while keeping its relative position always the same. Then, when the conveyors A and B pass through the turning part and reach the straight-moving part again, the lengths of the conveying surfaces of the conveyors A and B return to the intermediate length, as in the straight-going part before the turn.

In Figures 1 and 3, the upper half of the turning part, that is, the process of moving from the straight-ahead part to the turning part, is illustrated, but the lower half appears in the opposite direction to the movement of the upper half, so the movement from the turning part to the straight-ahead part is illustrated. The process can be easily understood from the figure.

(Then, when conveyors A and H pass through the turning area, the distance between the conveyor surfaces of conveyors A and B is always maintained the same, and the opposing frames 3 are always facing each other, so there is no space between the conveyor surfaces. The items were conveyed while being sandwiched between three identical frame members.
This will lead to the next straight section. In the next straight section that follows this, the article is conveyed in the same manner as in the straight section, so in the end, in this stepped conveyor device, the article is sandwiched at the same position on both conveyors A and B from beginning to end. The goods are conveyed while being conveyed, and no misalignment occurs between the goods and the conveyance surface.

In this way, the conveyors A and B alternate between a straight section and a turning section in the direction of travel, and the articles are conveyed along a meandering trajectory. This meandering may be a form in which it meanders sequentially from top to bottom, a form in which it meanders sequentially from bottom to top, or a form in which straight sections are oriented in the vertical direction. Of course, this is a good thing.

Note that in this first embodiment, the conveyor A.

The shaft 2 is designed to move relatively within the front engaging portion 3a of the frame member 3 at the straight-moving portion of conveyor B and the turning portion of conveyor A, but the relative movement between the frame member 3 and the shaft 2 is as follows.
This may be performed at either the front engaging portion 3a or the rear engaging portion 3b, or may be performed at both.

Further, at the turning site, the conveyance surface of conveyor A is contracted and the conveyance surface of conveyor B is expanded, but one of conveyors A and H may be of a type that expands and contracts, and the other does not. . The telescopic conveyor in this case constitutes the conveyor of the present invention, and the non-retractable conveyor is directly connected to the pin of the chain and spanned by a shaft that has the same trajectory as the chain. Equipped with a net. A telescopic conveyor is disposed on the outside or inside of the conveyor that does not extend or contract at the turning site.

6 and 7 show a second embodiment, in which the frame member 3 is a perfectly circular rear engaging portion 3b that fits onto the shaft 2, and the front engaging portion 3a is an oval shape. This front engaging part 3
The frame member 3 is designed to be movable relative to the shaft 2 at point a. A single wire is formed between the engaging portions 3a and 3b, and this constitutes the conveyance surface of the conveyors A and B. Thus, in this embodiment, although the length of the wire rods forming the frame members 3 is short, the number of frame members 3 spanned between the two shafts 2 forming the front and back is the same in the width direction of the conveyors A and B. A large number of them are required. Other configurations and operations are the same as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a third embodiment, in which the front engaging portion 3a and the rear engaging portion 3b of the frame member 3 are oval, which allows the frame member 3 to move relative to the shaft 2. That's how it is. and both engaging portions 3a.

Between 3b and 3b is made up of a single wire, which is used for conveyors A and B.
The construction of the conveyance surface is the same as in the second embodiment.

Other configurations and operations are the same as in the first embodiment.

In addition, instead of the frame material 3 in each embodiment, the frame material 3 may be constituted by an oval ring-shaped wire rod, or it is also possible to use materials such as plates or wire rods instead of wire rods. can be,
Furthermore, if the frame member 3 of each of the above embodiments is made to have the same curvature as the locus of the frame member 3 at the turning site between the front engaging portion 3a and the rear engaging portion 3b, the conveyor A at the turning site, The conveying surface of H can also be configured to form an arc centered on the rotating shaft 7.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the conveyor of the first invention, when the distance between the shafts spanned between chains changes, such as when the chain reaches the sprocket and reverses, this change in distance is By relatively moving between the frame member and the shaft in at least one of the rear engaging part and the rear engaging part, the conveyor conveyance surface expands and contracts to absorb the absorption, thereby adjusting the speed of the conveyor conveyance surface. be able to. Therefore, when this conveyor is operated in synchronization with other conveyors, etc., it is possible to perform the synchronized operation at a speed matching the operating speed of the other conveyors at the turning portion.

Further, according to the stepped conveyor device of the second invention, when the pair of conveyors face each other at a predetermined interval and turn around the same center of rotation, the conveyor of the first invention expands and contracts the conveying surface at the turning part. By this, the conveyance surface of the conveyor on the outside of the turn and the conveyance surface of the conveyor on the inside of the turn are faced continuously from beginning to end, and the opposing positions of both conveyors are made to be the same throughout before and after the turn, so that there is no interference between the two conveyors. This allows items to be conveyed while being sandwiched at the same position on both conveyors at all times. Therefore, even when goods are continuously conveyed on the outward and return journeys, there is no misalignment between the goods and both conveyors, and damage to the goods can be prevented even if the goods are on their knees. There is an effect that can be done. Furthermore, according to the present invention, since the items are conveyed in a state where they are always sandwiched between the pair of conveyors, when the straight portion is in the horizontal direction, the items are transported from top to bottom or from bottom to top. Items can be conveyed in a meandering manner, and items can also be lifted by moving the straight section vertically.

Another advantage is that it can be transported while repeatedly descending.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of the first embodiment, Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the cross-sectional line in Figs. A front view showing the shaft and the frame material, No. 5
The figure is a partial plan view of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a front view showing the shaft and frame of the second embodiment, FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a partial plan view of the third embodiment. It is a front view showing a shaft and a frame member.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) Bridge multiple shafts between parallel chains,
A frame member forming a conveying surface is bridged between the front and rear shafts, and a front engagement part of the frame member engages with the front shaft, and a rear engagement part of the frame member engages with the rear shaft. A conveyor with an expandable conveyor surface, characterized in that at least one of the conveyance surfaces is movable back and forth with respect to the shaft. (2) The conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the frame member is made of a flat spiral wire rod that encloses a front shaft and a rear shaft. (3) Bridge multiple shafts between parallel chains,
A frame member forming a conveying surface is bridged between the front and rear shafts, and a front engagement part of the frame member engages with the front shaft, and a rear engagement part of the frame member engages with the rear shaft. A pair of chain drives including at least one conveyor, at least one of which is formed to be movable back and forth with respect to the shaft, and the interval between the front and rear shafts is variable to configure a conveyor whose conveying surface is extendable and retractable. conveyors are arranged with their conveying surfaces facing each other with a predetermined distance between them, and the chains of both conveyors are engaged with sprockets having the same center of rotation to maintain both conveyors at the predetermined distance. A stepped conveyor device characterized in that it is configured to rotate while moving. (4) The stepped conveyor according to claim 3, wherein the chains of both conveyors are engaged with sprockets of the same diameter attached to the same rotating shaft, so that both conveyors are driven at the same speed. Device.