JPS6250367B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sorting device that utilizes a sorting conveyor that is equipped with diverters on both the left and right sides for discharging loads to the opposite side. To provide a sorting device that can reduce the amount of shock applied to loads and sort them safely.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described above based on the attached illustrative drawings. In FIG. 1, 1 is a sorting conveyor, and on both sides of the conveyor, sorting chute 2a, 2b, . . . are arranged alternately on the left and right at regular intervals. Diverters 3a, 3b, . . . are arranged substantially at right angles, and are arranged to face each chute 2a, 2b, . This diverter is a known one, including a dispensing arm 4, a driving rotary lever 5 that supports the arm base, a driving reciprocating body 6, and a dispensing arm 4.
It is constructed of links 7 and the like that are continuous with each other, and discharges the load to the chute on the opposite side when moving from the standby position shown by the solid line to the delivery position shown by the imaginary line.

Reference numerals 8a and 8b are conveyors for carrying in that are arranged in parallel, and a load position correction conveyor 9 is interposed between these conveyors and the sorting conveyor 1. This conveyor 9 includes a first wide conveyor 10 that takes over the loads from the carry-in conveyors 8a and 8b at one end, and an extension path of the other carry-in conveyor 8b on which the loads from one carry-in conveyor 8a are transferred on this conveyor 10. A first side shift conveyor 11 that moves the loads to the side, a second wide conveyor 12 that takes over the load from the first wide conveyor 10, and a second wide conveyor 12 that shifts all the loads on this conveyor 12 to one side of the conveyance path width of the sorting conveyor 1. and a second side shift conveyor 13 that guides the sorting conveyor 1 onto the sorting conveyor 1.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a side shifter, which is disposed at the starting end of the sorting conveyor 1 on the same side as the side on which the loads sent from the load position correction conveyor 9 are shifted, and moves it in and out in parallel with the shift bar 15. It is composed of a driving lever 16 to

Reference numeral 17 denotes a limited reflection type photo switch as means for detecting the width of the load, and as shown in FIG.
A wide load 19c is disposed on the opposite side to the one side and has a certain range D from the side guide 18 on the same side as the detection range, and has a width such that a part of it falls within the detection range D. Detected when passing. W is the minimum detectable load width.

Next, the method of use and operation will be explained.
are all fed onto the sorting conveyor 1 by the load position correction conveyor 9 in a state where they are shifted to one side in the path width direction of the sorting conveyor 1. Of this load 19, the load 19 can be discharged onto the chute 2b by the diverter 3b on the opposite side to the side where it has been shifted.
b operates the side shifter 14 when the load 19b passes in front of the side shifter 14 to side shift it to the side where the diverter 3b is located;
Other loads, that is, loads 1 to be discharged onto the chute 2a by the diverter 3a on the same side as the side that has been shifted
When passing through 9a, the side shifter 14 is not operated and is allowed to pass in that position. load 19
When a and 19b reach their respective predetermined sorting destinations,
The load 19a is discharged onto the chute 2a by the diverter 3a, and the load 19b is discharged onto the chute 2b by the diverter 3b.

In the above-described sorting operation, each load 19 is checked by the limited reflection type photo switch 17 at a position in front of the side shifter 14 to see if its width is equal to or larger than the minimum detectable load width W. Minimum detectable load width W
When the wide load 19c is detected as described above, even if the wide load 19c is the load 19b that should be side-shifted by the side shifter 14, the load 19c is not side-shifted and is passed through as it is. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the side shifter 14 outputs a side shift command signal 20 (which is output depending on whether the sorting destination is on the left or right side).
and the home position arrival signal 21 output from the detector when the corresponding load 19b reaches a predetermined position in front of the side shifter are obtained at the same time. A side shift command canceling means 23 is interposed to cancel the side shift command by the wide load detection signal 22 from the side shifter 14, so that when the load 19b to be side shifted is a wide load 19c as described above, the side shift command is canceled by the side shifter 14. control to prevent this from happening.

The sorting destination command signal including the side shift command signal 20 can be generated by automatically reading an information card such as the sorting destination attached to the load 19 by a known method, or by supporting the steel conveyor belt of the sorting conveyor. By reading information magnetically recorded at a certain position relative to the load being transported,
This kind of information reading position can be obtained from the side shifter 14 and each diverter 3a, 3b...
The side shifter 14 and each diverter 3a, 3b, . . . are controlled according to the read result.

The present invention can be implemented as described above,
Regardless of the sorting direction, that is, the direction of discharging by the diverter, all the loads are first shifted to one side of the sorting conveyor and fed onto the conveyor, and then discharged by the diverter on the opposite side from the shifted side. Among the loads to be loaded, only loads with a certain width or less are shifted to the side where the diverter is located by the side shifter, so that the gap between the load and the diverter dispensing arm can be maintained even when dispensing with either the left or right diverter. By reducing the number of loads, the sorting work can be carried out safely and in a state where the shock applied to the load is always small when the diverter is in operation. Moreover,
When all the loads to be discharged by the diverter on the side opposite to the side that has been shifted are side-shifted by the side shifter, regardless of the width, the side shifter should be adjusted in consideration of the side shift of the load with the maximum width. Whereas the shift stroke must be set small, wide loads like the present invention, which are wide and have a relatively small gap between them and the diverter on the opposite side and have a small shock when dispensing, even if they do not have to be shifted to the side, can be moved from the side. When side-shifting only a load of a certain width without shifting, set the shift stroke of the side shifter to a large value to sufficiently shift the narrow load to the opposite side and ensure the desired cushioning effect. It is possible to do things.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a plan view, FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a portion where the load width detection means is provided, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the side shifter control means. 1... Sorting conveyor, 2a, 2b... Sorting chute, 3a, 3b... Diverter, 8a, 8
b... Carrying-in conveyor, 9... Load position correction conveyor, 10, 12... Wide conveyor, 11, 13...
...Side shift conveyor, 14...Side shifter, 17...Limited reflection type photo switch (load width detection means).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Between a sorting conveyor equipped with diverters on both left and right sides that direct the loads to the opposite side, and multiple carry-in conveyors, all of the incoming loads are brought to one side and sent onto the sorting conveyor. A position correction conveyor is interposed, and at the starting end of the sorting conveyor there is a side that shifts the loads that are gathered on one side to the other side by a diverter placed on the other side. A shifter is provided, and a load width detection means is provided above the side shifter, and based on the detection signal from the load width detection means and the delivery direction designation signal, a certain number of loads to be delivered by the diverter on the other side is determined. The sorting device is configured to control the side shifter so that the side shifter does not shift the load when the width of the load is larger than the width of the load.