JPS6347219A - Operation control device for article conveyer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To aim at always conveying a required set number of articles with a high degree of accuracy, by directly detecting the number of articles on passing, conveyed by a conveyer, and by controlling the operating speeds of conveyer motors so that the number of the articles on passing is substantially coincident with a set number. CONSTITUTION:A great number of containers 1 are conveyed from a conveyer 2 to an inlet conveyer 6 for a container collecting device 5 in random plural rows, and are pushed out by a guide 3 onto a conveyer collecting conveyer 7. Further, they are arranged in one row on a conveyer 24, and the spaces therebetween are decreased finally. Further, they are conveyed in one row on a conveyer 26. The containers 1 conveyed on the conveyer are detected, for the number thereof on passing, by a star wheel of a detector 40. Thus detected number is delivered to a control means 41 together with a set number from a setting unit 46 for setting a number of the container to be conveyed per unit time. Further, the operating speeds of conveyer motors 32-35 are controlled so that the number of containers on passing is coincident with the set number.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to an article conveyor that conveys articles, and more particularly to an operation control device that controls its operating speed.

``Prior Art'' Conventionally, when a required amount of articles is conveyed by an article conveyor, the conveyance speed of the conveyor is set to a required speed corresponding to the required amount. In this case, in order to convey a more accurate amount,
- Not only does it drive the motor that drives the article conveyor with predetermined current and voltage values, but it also detects the rotation speed of the motor or the rotation speed of the sprocket of the article conveyor driven by it. However, the number of rotations is controlled to a required number of rotations.

``Problems to be Solved by the Invention'' However, conventional article conveyor operation control devices only control the conveyance speed of the article conveyor to the required speed, so even if the conveyor speed of the article conveyor is precisely set to the required speed, Even if control is possible, it is not always possible to ensure the accurate conveyance of a predetermined number of articles due to the relative deflection that occurs between the articles and the article conveyor, and it is difficult to always accurately convey the predetermined number of articles. was difficult.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides an article conveyor for conveying articles, a motor for driving the article conveyor, and a control means for controlling the operating speed of the motor. An operating speed control device for an article conveyor, comprising: a setting device for setting the number of articles conveyed per unit time by the article conveyor; and a setting device for detecting the number of articles passing on the article conveyor per unit time. and a capability detector for inputting the detection signal from the capability detector and the signal from the setting device to the control means so that the number of passages substantially matches the set number. The operating speed of the motor is controlled.

"Operation" If the number of passing articles conveyed by the article carrying conveyor is directly detected in this way, and the operating speed of the motor is controlled by the control means so that the number of passing articles substantially matches the set number, Even if relative slippage occurs between the articles and the article conveyor, the article conveyor can always convey a predetermined number of articles with high precision.

``Example'' Below, an example in which the present invention is applied to a container collection device will be described. In FIG. Conveyed in multiple rows, the conveyor 2
From there, they are guided by a pair of left and right guide members 3.4 and delivered to the entrance conveyor 6 of the container collection device 5.

The container gathering device 5 is equipped with a total of 16 rows of conveyors 11 to 2B arranged in parallel to each other, among which four rows of conveyors 11 to 14 on the most upstream side and one row of conveyors on the lower stream side adjacent thereto. The entrance conveyor 6 is constituted by five rows of conveyors including a short row of conveyors 15. Further, the next 10 rows of conveyors 18 to 25 constitute a collection conveyor 7, and the last row of conveyors 26 constitutes an exit conveyor as an article transport conveyor according to the present invention.

A pair of guide members 3.4 disposed on the left and right sides of the transport conveyor 2 diagonally cross the intermediate collecting conveyor 7 from positions on both sides of the entrance conveyor 6 to positions on both sides of the exit conveyor 2B located on the most downstream side. It's growing.

Of the pair of guide members 3.4, the guide member 3 on the downstream side, that is, on the guide side of the container 1 in the diagonally crossing portion, moves from one side of the conveyor 11 constituting the entrance conveyor 6 at the same speed as this. It is set to cross at a relatively large angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor in the range up to the front position of the conveyor 15 on the other side, which is run by the conveyor 15 on the other side. This allows for relatively rapid extrusion toward the adjacent collection conveyor 7.

Further, from a position in front of the conveyor 15, the guide member 3 successively crosses the collection conveyor 7 while gradually decreasing the angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor, and finally extends to one side of the exit conveyor 26. There is.

In contrast to the guide member 3, the other guide member 4 is disposed along the conveyor 14 so as not to impede the smooth movement of the container l when the guide member 3 guides the container l in an oblique direction. It is arranged to cross the conveyor 15 and the collection conveyor 7 at a sufficient distance from the guide member 3, and finally extends to the other side of the exit conveyor 26 mentioned above. Therefore, this guide member 4 can be omitted within the range from when the containers 1 are pushed out laterally from the inlet conveyor 6 until they are collected in a line on the outlet conveyor 26.

10 rows of conveyors 16 ~ that constitute the above-mentioned collection conveyor 7
25, the running speed of the conveyor 16 adjacent to the conveyor 15 of the entrance conveyor 6 to the conveyor 24 one place before the last conveyor 25 is sequentially increased by a required ratio compared to the entrance conveyor 6. 24 is the maximum speed conveyor.

The conveyor 25 on the downstream side of the collection conveyor 7 adjacent to the conveyor 24 having the maximum speed has a running speed lower than that of the conveyor 24 having the maximum speed, and the exit conveyor 26 adjacent thereto has a running speed even lower than that. I am able to drive.

The running speed of the exit conveyor 26 is set at a speed that corresponds to the amount of containers 1 supplied from the inlet conveyor 6 on the most upstream side and allows the containers 1 to be arranged in a line with almost no gaps. There is.

In other words, the conveyor 24 with the maximum speed has a speed that allows the containers I supplied from the inlet conveyor 6 to be conveyed in one line at predetermined intervals.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the four rows of transport conveyors 2
is driven by a first motor 31, and the five rows of entrance conveyors 6 are driven by a second motor 32 so that they can run at the same speed. In addition, the upstream 7 of the collection conveyor 7
The conveyors 16 to 22 in the row are driven by the third motor 33, and the conveyors 23 to 25 in the three rows on the downstream side of the collecting conveyor 7 are driven by the fourth motor.
The motor 34 further moves the exit conveyor 26 to ff15.
Each of them can be driven by a motor 35.

Therefore, on the exit conveyor 2c, there is a ladder force detector 40 for detecting the number of containers passing therethrough per unit time.
A detection signal from the running force detector 40 is inputted to a control means 41 including a microcomputer.

The ability detector 40, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
A star wheel 42 that rotates in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis, a plurality of pockets 43 formed at equal intervals on the outer circumferential surface of the star wheel 42, and a detection body 44 provided adjacent to each pocket 43, It is provided with a proximity switch 45 which is disposed and fixed on two sides of the star wheel 42 to detect each detection body 44, and which sequentially engages the containers 1 conveyed by the exit conveyor 2B in each pocket 43 to The star wheel 42 is rotated, and its rotation can be detected by a proximity switch 45 that detects the detection body 44.

The control means 41 includes a setting device 48 for setting the number of articles conveyed per unit time by the exit conveyor 26.
The control means 41 is adapted to input signals from the proximity switch 45, that is, the ability detector 40.
The number of passes per unit time on the exit conveyor 2B is calculated and detected from the detection signal from the detection signal, and the number of passes is compared with the number of conveyances set by the setting device 48, and the number of passes is determined to be the set number. The operating speed of each of the motors 32 to 35 is controlled so as to substantially match the speed.

Further, a fifth motor rotatably drives the exit conveyor 26.
The drive shaft of the drive shaft 35 has a speed detector 4 that detects its rotation speed.
7, and on the two-liquid side of the capacity detector 40, there is a mutually contacting contact extending from a downstream device such as a labeler (not shown) at a position where the containers 1 from the collection conveyor 7 are pushed out to the exit conveyor 2G. An operation stop detector 48 for detecting the rear end of the continuous containers is provided, and a deceleration detector for detecting the rear ends of the continuous containers is provided between the operation stop detector 48 and the capacity detector 40. A container 48 is provided.

Further, the inlet conveyor 6 is provided with detectors 50, 51, and 52 from the upstream side to the downstream side, respectively, for detecting the presence or absence of containers on the inlet conveyor 6''. A detection signal from the sensor is inputted to the control means 41. In addition, the above-mentioned operation stop detector 48
A capacitive proximity switch can be used as the deceleration detector 49, and phototubes can be used as the detectors 50-52.

In the above configuration, when a large number of containers 1 are transported from the transport conveyor 2 to the entrance conveyor 6 of the container collection device 5 in a plurality of random rows, the containers are transported by a guide member diagonally across the front of the entrance conveyor 6. 3 toward the adjacent collecting conveyor 7. Above entrance conveyor 6
The containers l pushed out from the container l to the collecting conveyor 7 are sequentially pushed out to the conveyors 16 to 24 while always being urged toward the re-guiding member 3 by the forward force of each conveyor 18 to 25 making up the collecting conveyor 7. is accelerated according to

Therefore, due to the acceleration of each container 1, a gap is formed before and after the container 1 that is conveyed in contact with the guide member 3, and thereby, the container 1 that is conveyed in contact with the guide member 3 is formed. The container being conveyed while being separated from the guide member 3 is pushed into the gap by the forward force of each conveyor mentioned above, and comes into contact with the guide member 3! It will now be transported using a system.

As described above, the maximum speed conveyor 24 has a speed that allows the containers 1 supplied from the inlet conveyor 6 to be conveyed in one line with a predetermined gap, so that the containers 1 are When passing through the conveyor 24, all the containers supplied from the conveyor 6 mentioned above are brought into contact with the guide member 3 and gathered in one line.

The containers 1, which are thus collected in one line and conveyed in contact with the guide member 3, are sequentially decelerated by the two downstream conveyors 25, 26, and the gap between each container 1 is narrowed. The output conveyor 28 is then conveyed to the downstream equipment by the exit conveyor 28.

During operation of the container gathering device 5, the number of conveyances per unit time is inputted to the control means 41 from the setting device 46, and the control means 41 inputs the number of conveyances per unit time from the setting device 46, and the control means 41 inputs the number of conveyances per unit time from the set conveyance number and the output conveyor obtained from the capacity detector 40. 26, and the operating speed of the fifth motor 35 is controlled so that the number of containers passed substantially matches the number of containers conveyed. The operating speed of the fourth motors 32 to 34 is also controlled.

As a result, if the above number of passes substantially matches the set number,
Thereafter, the container collection device 5 including the outlet conveyor 26 is basically operated at a constant speed. The operating speed of the exit conveyor 26 at that time is detected by the speed detector 47, and the control device causes the value to be displayed on a display (not shown).

In this way, the number of passages of the exit conveyor 26 can be made to substantially match the set number set by the setting device 46 by the capacity detector 40 and the control means 41, so that the motor of the exit conveyor 26 can be By using an inexpensive inverter motor whose operating speed varies depending on the size of the load, it becomes possible to manufacture the exit conveyor 26 at low cost.

Next, while the exit conveyor 2B is operating with the number of passages substantially equal to the set number, the most upstream detector 50 provided on the entrance conveyor 6 detects that the container 1 is missing. Then, the control means 41 controls the exit conveyor 2.
Switch the operating speed of B from high speed to medium speed. That is, the fifth mork 35 is set such that the number of passages decreases at a predetermined rate
is controlled to switch the operating speed of the exit conveyor 26. At the same time, the control means 41 controls the second to fourth motors 32 to
The operating speed of 34 is also reduced at a predetermined rate, thereby switching the entire container gathering device from high-speed operation to medium-speed operation.

Furthermore, when the detector 51 on the downstream side of the detector 50 detects that the containers 1 are gone, the control means 41 switches the operating speed of the container collection device from medium speed to low speed, and When the detector 52 detects that there is no more container l, the control means 41 stops the operation of the container collection device 5.

Thereafter, when containers are supplied and detected by each of the detectors 50 to 52, the control device 41 operates the container gathering device 5 at a speed according to the signals from each of the detectors 50 to 52. At this time, when restarting the operation of the container gathering device 5 from a stopped state, the control means 41 always gradually increases the speed of the container gathering device 5 from the low-speed operating state to return to the normal operating speed.

Furthermore, when the exit conveyor 26 is operating with the number of passages substantially equal to the set number, the rear end portions of containers extending from the downstream equipment and continuous in contact with each other are connected to the deceleration detector 48. When detected, the control means 41 reduces the operating speed of the fifth motor 35 at a predetermined rate, and accordingly reduces the operating speed of the second to fourth motors 32 to 34 at a predetermined rate. .

Due to this, the number of containers passing through the exit conveyor 26 becomes less than the set number, so that it is possible to prevent the rear end of the containers described above from extending beyond the deceleration detector 49 into the container collection device 5. become. Even if the operating speed of the container gathering device 5 is decelerated at a predetermined rate in response to the signal from the deceleration detector 49, the rear end of the containers extending from the downstream equipment will reach the operation stop detector 48. When the motor is extended, the control means 41 receives a signal from the operation stop detector 48 and stops the operation of the first to fourth motors 31 to 34.

Thereafter, when the rear end of the container is no longer detected by the operation stop detector 48, the control means 41 controls the container collecting device 5.
gradually return to the original operating speed from a low-speed operating state.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, in the present invention, the number of passing articles conveyed by the article conveying conveyor is directly detected, and the control means controls the motor so that the number of passing articles substantially matches the set number. Since the operating speed of the conveyor is controlled, even if a relative slip occurs between the articles and the article conveyor, the desired number of articles can be reliably conveyed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a performance detector 40. As shown in FIG. 1... Container (article) 5... Container gathering device 26.
・・Exit conveyor (goods Jiff conveyor) 35・
...Motor 40...Capacity detector 41...
Control means 42... Star wheel 44...
Detector 45...Detector 46...Setting device

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an article conveyor operating speed control device comprising an article conveyor that conveys articles, a motor that drives the article conveyor, and a control means that controls the operating speed of the motor, the article conveyor A setting device for setting the number of articles to be conveyed per unit time and a capacity detector for detecting the number of articles to be conveyed per unit time on the article conveyor are provided, and a detection signal from the capacity detector and a detection signal from the capacity detector are provided. A signal from the setting device is input to the control means, and the control means controls the operating speed of the motor so that the number of passes substantially matches the set number. Driving speed control device. (2) A patent claim characterized in that the capacity detector comprises a star wheel that is driven to rotate by contacting a container conveyed by the article conveyor, and a detector that detects the rotation of the star wheel. An operation control device for an article conveyor according to item 1.