JPS6343286B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an article conveying device, and in particular, it is capable of conveying articles such as parts, units, semi-finished products, finished products, etc. in batches of several, tens, or hundreds of pieces at a time. Regarding equipment. In factories that assemble photographic equipment such as cameras and videos, and office machines such as copying machines, belt conveyor systems are often used as a means of automatically transporting items from the processing process to the assembly process. The articles sent by the belt conveyor system come in one or two rows and are sequentially taken out manually or by a take-out means such as an automatic hand, and incorporated into the equipment.

Conveyance using this belt conveyor system requires a long conveyance process, which poses a problem when planning to increase the density of each assembly machine and various processing machines in a factory, or when planning to automate the process from conveyance to assembly of articles.
An object of the present invention is to provide an article conveyance device suitable for automation of article conveyance.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a device that can prevent the length of the transport process from becoming longer and facilitate integration within a factory by storing goods in containers in batches and transporting the goods in the containers one by one to a take-out position. .

Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveying device that can convey a large amount of articles stored in the containers at one time when they are sent to an assembly process.

Furthermore, the present invention provides an apparatus equipped with a drop-off prevention means that prevents the articles from falling off during transfer or shifting the placement position of the articles when the articles are stored in a container and transferred.

Further, the present invention provides a means for preventing articles from falling off in the conveyance device to prevent the containers from falling off from the outlet during conveyance, and to prevent the containers from falling off by transporting or installing the container at a predetermined position (position for taking out articles). To provide a device whose action can be automatically released.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a magazine holding one or more articles, a container in which a plurality of the magazines are arranged in a plane, and the magazines arranged in a plane are stored in a stacked manner, It is constructed by a combination of means for transporting articles in a container and sequentially moving the container to a position for taking out the articles.One embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 a, b shows one or more articles 1a, 1
The magazine 2 holding items b and 1c is shown. The article may be a part, a semi-processed product, a semi-finished product, a finished product, or any other article. The magazine 2 contains the articles 1a, 1b, 1c.
It is necessary to prevent the mounting position from being distorted or falling from the top of the magazine during transportation, and to hold it in such a way that it can be automatically taken out with an automatic hand or the like in the process of taking out the goods. Therefore, locking pins 2b ₁ , 2b _{2 .} . . are set up on the mounting surface 2a of the magazine, and the articles are held by these locking pins. Further, the magazine 2 may hold a plurality of articles of the same kind, or may hold a plurality of articles of different kinds.

2 and 3A show a container 4 that stores the magazine 2. The edges of three sides 4a, 4b, and 4c of the four sides of one plane of the container 4 are surrounded by walls so that the magazine 2 can fall. Then, insert and remove the magazine 2 using the remaining side 4d.

In the container 4, magazines 2A, 2B, . . . , 2J are arranged in two rows, and a separation protrusion 4e is provided in the center. One end 4f of this separation protrusion 4e is removed to provide a passage for moving the magazine in the left column in the second figure to the right column by the shift cylinder 16B. Magazines 2A...2J arranged on the top storage rail of the stacked storage rails 4A...4H of the containers 4
are sequentially taken out from the 2A magazine onto the parts takeout table 17 by 16A. FIGS. 3B to 3D show means for preventing articles placed in the container from falling off. Reference numeral 3 indicates a grid-like shutter member, and this shutter member 3 consists of a frame portion 3A and each grid 3a ₁ , 3a ₂ . It is attached so that it can be moved up and down as shown by the arrow B in Figure 3. One end of a lever 3B disposed on the side surface of the container 4 is engaged with the shutter member 3, and a spring 3c causes the shutter member 3 to close the outlet of the container. 3b ₁ indicates the shaft pin of the lever 3B.

4A and 4B show means for moving the container 4. FIG.

This moving means includes support plates 8A, 8B, 8C, and 8D.
and a mounting frame 10A, 1 on which the container 4 is mounted.
A drive chain 1 that moves containers placed on 0B and the above-mentioned placement frames 10A and 10B from the lower stage to the upper stage.
2A, 12B, and further the drive chain 12A, 1
It consists of a driving means 14 for driving 2B, etc. The drive means 14 includes a gear 14A meshing with the drive chain 12, a rotating shaft 14B, a Geneva gear 14C, a gear train 14D, a drive motor 14E, and the like.

Next, the transportation of the container and the opening/closing operation of the shutter member will be described. First, the articles to be transported are held in the magazine 2, and when the magazine 2 is loaded onto the container 4, the container 4 is placed on a container mounting stand (not shown). The lever 3B is released by the shutter release pin 18a fixed to the portion 18A.
One end of the lever 3B is pushed and the lever 3B is rotated clockwise about the shaft _3b1 against the spring force of the spring 3C, and this action opens the shutter member 3. When the magazines 2 are stacked on each layer of the container, the container 4 is transferred to a predetermined transport position, and during this transfer, the shutter member 3 closes the opening of the container 4 to prevent the magazines from falling off.

Next, the container 4 is placed on the moving means 14 shown in FIG. 4A, and is moved to the step of transporting the article to a take-out position. The container 4 is placed on the placement frames 10A and 10B of the moving means 14. This mounting frame 10
As shown in FIG. 4B, shutter release pins 10a and 10b are fixed to A and 10B, and the lever 3B opens the rotary shutter member 3B at the same time as the container 4 is placed.

The magazine 2 on the container placed on the moving means 14 is installed at a position (height) at which the magazine 2 can be automatically taken out by an automatic hand. The magazine on the container is moved to the wall surface 4 by the magazine shift cylinder 16A of the storage rail 4A at the top of the container 4.
2E, 2D, 2 through the hole (not shown) provided in b.
It is taken out from 2A by pressing C, 2B.

When the magazine 2A is taken out, the shift cylinders 16A, 16B, 16C shown in FIG. 2 move the magazines 2B, 2C, . . . on the storage rail 4A. That is, when the first magazine 2A at the top is taken out, the shift cylinder 16A pushes the magazine 2D, and the magazine 2B comes to the removal position of the storage rail at the top (the position of the removed magazine 2A) and is taken out. . When the magazine 2D in the top right row is pushed in the direction of arrow A by the shift cylinder 16A, the space for the magazine 2D becomes empty, and the magazine 2F is moved by the shift cylinder 16B through a hole (not shown) provided in the wall surface 4a. is pushed out from the left column to the right column (arrow B) through the passage 4f on the storage fence. Next, the left column magazine 2J is pushed in the direction of arrow C by the shift cylinder 16C. Then, magazine 2B is taken out, and magazine 2C is pushed out to the takeout position above the container by the action of shift cylinders 16A, 16B, and 16C. Thereafter, the magazines 2A to 2I on the storage rails of the container are sequentially transferred in the directions of arrows A, B, and C to be removed by the pushing action of the shift cylinders 16A, 16B, and 16C. When all the operations for taking out the top magazines 2A to 2J in the container 4 are completed, a power supply circuit (not shown) of the drive motor 14E of the drive means 14 operates to supply power to the motor and rotate the Geneva gear 14C via the gear train 14D. and rotating shaft 14
B, the gear 14A rotates by a predetermined angle and the drive chain 2
1A and 12B to push up the container 4 to a predetermined height and move the second storage rail 4B to the magazine removal position (X). The magazine on the storage rail 4B that has been moved to the take-out position is taken out in the same manner as described above, and the magazine shift is repeated to process the second-stage magazine. Thereafter, the container 4 is moved and the magazines in the container 4 are sequentially transported to the take-out position.

As described above, the present invention uses a magazine holding one or a plurality of articles, and a container in which a plurality of magazines are arranged in a plane and stored in a stacked manner, and the container is moved by a moving means to take out the magazine. Configure to move sequentially to positions. This eliminates the inconvenience and disadvantage of using a belt conveyor as in the past by holding the article in a magazine during the article processing process, placing it in a container, and transporting the container to the next article processing or assembly process. be able to. Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to transport a large amount of articles at once from the article processing step to the next step, so it is possible to effectively utilize the site area within the factory. Containers can be moved vertically, rather than horizontally, to make better use of space within the factory.

Furthermore, in the present invention, a container for transporting articles is provided with means for preventing articles from falling out, so that the opening of the container is automatically opened when loading and unloading articles, and the opening is closed when transporting the container to prevent articles from falling out. It was possible to obtain a conveyance device that can prevent the above-mentioned problems and that does not cause the article to lose its posture while being conveyed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1a and 1b are explanatory views of articles held in a magazine. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the shifting state of the magazine when it is placed in the container. FIG. 3A is a partially cutaway perspective view of the container. FIGS. 3B and 3C are diagrams illustrating opening and closing of the shutter member. FIG. 3D is a perspective view of the shutter member 3. FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a main part of a container moving means. FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating the shutter release operation of the container. 2, 2A...2J...Magazine, 3A...Shutter member, 4...Container, 4A, 4B, 4C
... Container storage fence, 14 ... Means of transportation, 16
A, 16B, 16C...Shift cylinder.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A container in which storage shelves for placing magazines holding articles are stacked and each storage shelf is provided with an opening in one direction for taking articles in and out; A falling-off preventing member is provided to be movable to open and close the opening, and a moving device is provided for placing the container and transporting the storage shelf to an article retrieval position, and when the container is placed, the falling-off preventing member is movable to open and close the opening. 1. An article conveying device comprising: a release means for moving the item to release the drop-off prevention function.