JPS636102Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention has a trolley-pulled conveyor chain suspended between a driving shaft and a driven shaft, with the forward path facing upward and the reversed return path facing downward. This invention relates to a monorail type double-acting conveyor branching/merging unit that has outgoing tracks on both sides of the upper side and return tracks on both sides of the lower side.

A conventional double-acting conveyor conveys the cart only on its upper surface, and its lower surface is simply the return path of the conveyor, so when transporting the cart backwards, it is necessary to either make a U-turn on the conveyor within the floor plane, or Alternatively, a pair of double-acting conveyors running in opposite directions are provided in parallel on the floor plane, and a traverser is provided between the pair of double-acting conveyors. However, in the former case, the curvature radius of the U-chain cannot be made small because the conveyor makes a U-turn within a plane, requiring an excessive amount of floor space; is reversed, and in known carts with storage functions attached to the front and rear of the cart, there is a drawback that even if the storage function to prevent rear-end collisions works when moving forward, the storage function to prevent rear-end collisions is completely absent when moving backwards. .

In order to eliminate this drawback, a double-acting conveyor is suspended between a driving chain wheel and a driven chain wheel with the forward path facing upward and the backward path facing downward, and the cart is reversed from the forward path and conveyed also on the downward path. A so-called monorail type double-acting conveyor has been developed, in which the cart is conveyed without changing its front and back relationship on both the outbound and return trips, and the storage function to prevent rear-end collisions can operate on both the outbound and return trips, and the conveyor Since the return route is located below the outbound route, the floor area occupied by the conveyor can now be minimized.

Furthermore, the monorail type double-acting conveyor described above can be divided into single-function conveyor units such as a linear conveyor unit, a vertically curved conveyor unit, a horizontally curved conveyor unit, and a reversing conveyor unit, and the arrangement of each unit can be arbitrarily determined. By selecting and connecting them, a desired monorail type double-acting conveyor can be formed.

The present invention relates to a conveyor unit having a branching/merging function for conveyor lines.

That is, the perspective view shown in FIG. 1 shows a monorail double-acting conveyor in which a reversing conveyor unit A, a linear conveyor unit B, a vertically curved conveyor unit C, and a horizontally curved conveyor unit D are arbitrarily arranged and connected, and the branching according to the present invention. - An array of merging conveyor units E, each conveyor unit is provided with a driving chain wheel and a driven chain wheel,
Conveyor chains 1, 2, 3, and 4 are suspended with the outward path facing the top of the conveyor unit and the return path facing the bottom, and the cart 5, which is pulled by pushers provided at equal pitches on the conveyor chain, is indicated by the arrow. It travels on the monorail in both directions, and on the return trip, it is towed in an inverted position without changing the front-back relationship of the bogie.

That is, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the linear conveyor unit B when it is towed by a trolley, and at the top of both sides of the unit B there are outbound rails R ₁ and R ₁ that guide the running wheels 6 of the towing truck 5, and At the bottom of both sides, return rails R ₂ and R ₂ are provided, respectively, and guide flanges are provided with which the anti-lateral vibration rollers 7 provided on the truck come into contact. And the running wheels 6 of the trolley
Outbound rails R ₁ , R ₁ and return rails R ₂ , which guide
Both ends of _R2 are connected to the respective ends of the outgoing rail and the incoming rail of bogie running wheels provided on other adjacent monorail type double-acting conveyor units. Furthermore, the outgoing rail R ₃ of the conveyor chain 3 is located at the center of the top surface of the conveyor unit B, and the return rail R ₄ of the conveyor chain 3 is located at the center of the bottom surface of the conveyor unit B.
are arranged respectively, and guide grooves G ₁ and G ₂ for anti-floating blades provided on the conveyor chain are provided on the outbound rail R ₃ and the return rail ₄ , and a rotation shaft 8 rotatably mounted on the trolley 5 is provided. A pair of hook rods 9, 9' are fixed thereto, and the hooks formed at the lower ends of the hook rods 9, 9' engage with a bushing 10 attached to the conveyor chain. An engaging/disengaging operation rod 11 is fixed, and its front end protrudes forward from the front end of the truck 5. Further, behind the rear end of the truck 5, a cam rod (not shown) is fixedly installed to lift the hook engaging/disengaging lever of the following truck and to detach the hook from the pusher. Furthermore, the hook 9,
The upper end of 9' interlocks a pair of hook rods rotatably provided at the rear of the cart (the hook rods are used for pushing when the cart is transferred from one conveyor unit to the next conveyor unit). One end of the connecting rod 12 is connected.

3 and 4 are a plan view and a front view of the branching/merging unit E according to the present invention, and there is a linear conveyor unit upstream of the branching/merging unit E.
B ₁ and downstream a linear conveyor unit.
_B2 are respectively arranged in series, and another linear conveyor unit _B3 is arranged parallel to the downstream conveyor unit _B2 .

A driving chain wheel W ₁ and a driven chain wheel W ₂ connected to a motor M via a reduction gear are attached to the branching/merging unit E, and a conveyor chain with a pusher is suspended and tensioned like the other units. has been done.
The branch/merging unit E is provided with a movable frame F that secures a space that does not obstruct the running of the trolley 5 on the return trip, and the movable frame F is arranged below the conveyor unit in a direction perpendicular to the conveyor unit. The movable frame F is guided to run within the rail R, and is connected to a cable 13 suspended between a pair of pulleys P ₁ and P ₂ along the rail R.
It travels back and forth within the rail R by driving P ₁ and P ₂ in forward and reverse directions.

Therefore, when the movable frame F is at the solid line position in FIGS. 3 and 4, the branching/merging unit E is also at the solid line position and is transferred from the upstream conveyor unit _B1 on the outbound side of the conveyor chain. Transfer the cart 5 to the downstream conveyor unit _B2 ,
When the movable frame F moves to the right in FIG. 4 due to the drive of the cable 13, the frame F moves to the right position shown by the chain line in FIG. The cart moved to a position connected to unit B ₃ and transferred from upstream conveyor unit B ₁ to the other downstream conveyor unit.
Transfer to _B3 . The upstream conveyor unit, the downstream conveyor unit, and the branching/merging unit are each provided with a stopper (not shown) at the connecting end thereof, which is collapsed when connected and protrudes when disconnected. The following carriage on the side conveyor unit is stopped by the stopper without running away, and the carriage on the branching/merging unit is also branched on the conveyance route without fear of running off from above the unit due to the stoppers at both ends of the unit.

Further, by arranging a plurality of conveyor units on the upstream side and a single conveyor unit on the downstream side and moving the branching/merging unit E in the same manner as described above, the merging of the conveying paths is performed.

The above description has been about the branching and merging operations on the outbound side of the conveyor chain, but the branching and merging of the conveyance routes is also performed for the carts running on the reverse and return side of the conveyor chain by the above-mentioned operations.

Figures 5 and 6 show a branch/merging unit E' in which a straight conveyor unit B' and a horizontally curved conveyor unit D' are arranged side by side.
B′ and D′ are movable frames that have secured a space that does not obstruct the running of the cart being towed on the return path of the conveyor chain.
The frame frame F' is integrally connected at F', and the frame frame F' is connected to a piston rod of the cylinder device 14, and reciprocates within the guide rail R' by the expansion and contraction of the piston rod. This reciprocating motion causes the branch/merging unit to
Straight conveyor unit B' on E' is connected to upstream and downstream conveyor units _B1 and _B2 as shown in the figure, and horizontally curved conveyor unit D' is in the disconnected position and straight conveyor unit B' is connected to the upstream and downstream conveyor units B1 and B2 as shown in the figure. The horizontal curved conveyor unit D' is moved to the left and separated from the upstream and downstream conveyor units _B1 and _B2 , and the horizontal curved conveyor unit D' is separated from the upstream horizontal curved conveyor unit ^D1 , which is arranged parallel to the upstream conveyor unit _B1 , and downstream. Therefore, on the upper side of the conveyor chain, the carts sent from the upstream conveyor unit B ₁ and the upstream side curved conveyor unit _{D 1} are connected to the downstream side. On the other hand, on the return side of the lower surface of the conveyor chain, the moving direction of _the chain is opposite to the outgoing side, so the carts sent from conveyor unit _B2 are transferred to conveyor unit _B2 and side-curved conveyor unit D. ₁ and send a branch. Of course, it is easily understood that if the driving direction of the conveyor chain is reversed, the directions will diverge on the outbound side and merge on the inbound side. Note that M' is a motor that drives drive chain wheels W' ₁ and W 1 of linear conveyor unit B' and horizontal curved conveyor unit D ₁ , and W' ₂ and _{W 2 are} driven chain wheels, respectively. The aforementioned stopper (not shown) is provided at the end of each conveyor unit. Further, the branching/merging unit is not limited to the above embodiment, and it goes without saying that it may be constructed of double-acting conveyor units with different functions or a combination thereof.

As described above, the present invention is a branching/merging unit for a monorail type double-acting conveyor that can transport carts back and forth using the upper and lower surfaces of the conveyor unit. Merging conveyance can be performed simultaneously, that is, branching conveyance on the upper surface outward path becomes merged conveyance on the lower surface return path, and merged conveyance on the upper surface outward path becomes branching conveyance on the lower surface return path.
Branching and merging can be performed simultaneously, and the branching and merging operations of the trucks can be performed quickly and continuously in a small space.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the arrangement of a monorail type double-acting conveyor unit; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a linear conveyor unit when towed by a bogie; and Fig. 3 is a branching/merging conveyor unit. FIG. 4 is a plan view of one embodiment of the unit, FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a plan view of another embodiment of the branch/merging unit, and FIG. 6 is a front sectional view of FIG. 5. be. W ₁ , W′ ₁ , W ₁ ... Drive chain wheel, W ₂ , W′ ₂ , W ₂ ...
...Followed chain wheel, 1, 2, 3, 4... Conveyor chain, 5... Dolly, 13, 14... Movement drive means,
E, E'... Branch/merging unit, F... Moving frame.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A bogie conveyor chain is suspended between a driving chain wheel and a driven chain wheel with the outward path facing upward and the returning path facing downward, and a pusher provided on said chain. The outgoing track of the bogie to be towed is provided on the upper side, and the return track is provided on the lower side. A monorail type double acting conveyor having a monorail type double acting conveyor unit having both ends connected to each other is fixed to a movable frame, and has a driving means for moving the movable frame in a direction intersecting the moving direction of the conveyor chain. Branch/merging unit. (2) The branching/merging unit according to claim 1, wherein the monorail type double-acting conveyor unit has a straight path. (3) The branching/merging unit according to claim 1, wherein the monorail type double-acting conveyor unit has a curved path. (4) The branching/merging unit according to claim 1, wherein the monorail double-acting conveyor unit is a combination of a straight path unit and a horizontally curved path unit.