JPS6366724B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention relates to an apparatus for stacking a plurality of rows of articles and providing spacing to each row of the stacked articles.

BACKGROUND ART For example, when a large number of various articles are arranged in a line and packed in a packaging box, it is often necessary to insert predetermined objects between the articles in advance. Typical examples include partition plates such as corrugated cardboard sheets, paperboards, and foamed polystyrene sheets that are inserted between articles to cushion the impact and prevent cargo from collapsing during transportation. In addition, there are pamphlets, cards, efficacy notes, and guides depending on the type and properties of the items, and there are also cases where wrapped spoons, straws, etc. are inserted between the items.

In order to insert a corrugated board sheet or other inserted object between articles in this manner, it is necessary to provide an appropriate distance between adjacent articles beforehand. As a technique to meet the above request, for example, in the invention "aligning device" disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-19999, a "guiding body 14 that forms a gap between each row of items" is provided. is disclosed.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, the guide body 14 disclosed in this publication
The guide member 14 is simply a fixed guide body disposed along the direction in which the articles in the plurality of rows arrive, and the guide body 14 does not actively operate to provide a gap between the articles. Therefore, when a plurality of adjacent rows of articles that are in close contact with each other are brought into contact with the tip of the guide body 14 and separated, depending on the shape and material of the articles, the guide body 14 may smoothly separate them. Separation is not possible,
There is a high possibility that the article may get caught in the guide body 14 and the flow of the article will be stagnated and blocked. Moreover, the items packed in packaging boxes are rarely packed in a single tier, but rather in many cases stacked in multiple tiers. At present, no technology has been proposed or disclosed for allocating a predetermined interval to each row that matches each other all at once.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks inherent in the prior art, and has been devised to suitably solve the problems. The object of the present invention is to provide a device for actively providing appropriate spacing between multiple rows of articles in order to insert objects such as corrugated cardboard sheets between these stacked articles. shall be.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to overcome the above problems and achieve the intended purpose, the present invention provides an apparatus for stacking multiple rows of articles and providing intervals to each row of the stacked articles. , is disposed above the article conveyance path, and by crossing and blocking this conveyance path, blocks the flow of multiple rows of articles arriving in close alignment with each other in a direction intersecting the conveyance direction. , a shutter that allows passage of the group of articles by releasing the blocking; and a shutter that is vertically movable up and down above the conveyance path and upstream of the shutter, and is provided with a shutter that allows the group of articles to pass through the preceding group of articles to be conveyed along the conveyance path. At the timing when the shutter blocks the shutter, it descends to grasp the group of articles, and then shifts to a rising operation to lift the group of articles, so that the subsequent group of articles is directly below the preceding group of articles that is being lifted. stacking means for releasing the grip on the preceding group of articles and allowing them to fall onto the following group of articles under their own weight at the timing when the article is blocked by the shutter; are horizontally intersecting with each other so as to be able to approach and move away from each other, the subsequent group of articles is blocked by the shutter, and the stacking means stacks the preceding group of articles on top of the subsequent group of articles. By synchronously approaching an article in the outermost row of the stacked article group and grasping the article on its side with a timing determined by the above method, and then synchronously moving away from the article, the articles in the plurality of rows are and an article spacing device that provides a required spacing between the articles.

Embodiments Next, preferred embodiments of the apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is provided with a device for arranging and supplying a predetermined number of articles as a pre-process, and a device for supplying objects to be inserted as a post-process. Since the apparatus of the embodiment also functions organically through the sequential operation of a series of devices, in connection with the explanation of the apparatus of the present invention, an outline of these aligning and supplying apparatus and insert supplying apparatus will also be explained. do.

FIG. 1 shows a composite device for processing articles in which an article alignment and supply device 10, a stacking and article spacing device 12 according to the present invention, and an interposed object supply device 14 are sequentially arranged along the transport path of articles 16. FIG. 2 is a plan view taken from the - line direction of FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the article 16 is assumed to be a square paperboard sealed carton filled with a liquid beverage, such as a milk carton, but various other articles may be used depending on the purpose, such as a drug dissolver or an ice cream container. Containers containing such materials and various other articles that are not enclosed in containers are subject to processing by the apparatus according to the embodiment.

(About the article alignment and supply device 10) In the drawing, the article alignment and supply device 10 includes a roller conveyor 18 that horizontally supports articles 16 and conveys them sequentially in the direction of the arrow, and a roller conveyor 18 that pinches some of the articles 16 on the roller conveyor 18. a pressure cylinder 20 that temporarily stops conveyance, and a roller conveyor 18.
The pusher plate 22 basically comprises a pusher plate 22 that sends out the incoming article 16 conveyed by the pusher plate 22 perpendicular to the conveyance direction. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the roller conveyor 18 is arranged horizontally, and the articles 16, which have been filled with contents and other appropriate packaging in the previous process, are in a so-called "pressed state" in which they are in close contact with each other, and the objects 16 are placed in the direction of the arrow. It is designed so that it is transported in the direction. At this time, the leading edge of the series of articles 16 comes into contact with an abutment plate 24 disposed in front of the roller conveyor 18, and the abutment plate 24
is connected to the tip of the piston rod 28 of the pneumatic cylinder 26 and to the guide rod 30 so that it can be retracted to the position shown by the dashed line.

In this embodiment, if the articles 16 are now arranged and supplied every three rows, then the article 16 at the top
(indicated by 1 in the figure) to one side of the fourth and fifth articles 16 (indicated by 4 and 5 in the figure),
A clamping cylinder 20 having a clamping plate 32 at the tip of a piston rod 34 is disposed, and a guide wall 36 is disposed upright on the other side.

Furthermore, on one side of the first to third articles 16 (indicated by 1, 2, and 3 in the figure),
The pusher plate 22 is provided.
That is, as shown in FIG.
A guide rod 40 is horizontally arranged in front of the conveyor 8 and perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveyor, and a rotating shaft 38 is rotatably supported by a slide metal 42 that is slidably inserted into the guide rod 40. . The pusher plate 22 is fixed to this rotation shaft 38. As shown in FIG. 1, the slide metal 42 is pivotally supported at the tip of a crank arm 44, and is given reciprocating motion to slide along the guide rod 40 by the crank arm 44, which is connected to a drive source (not shown). Ru.
Note that the maximum movement range of the pusher plate 22 due to this is set in advance to be the interval 1 indicated by symbols a and b in FIG.

Further, as described later, after the pusher plate 22 sends out the articles 16 arranged in three rows,
When retreating to a predetermined standby position, the following article 16
A mechanism is provided that swings slightly upward about the rotation axis 38 so as not to interfere with the rotation axis 38. This includes a pneumatic cylinder 46 and a rotation shaft 38.
As clearly shown in FIG. 1, the bottom of the cylinder 46 is connected by a clevis to a bracket 50 attached to the slide metal 42, and the piston rod 52 of the cylinder The tip of the lever 48 is connected to the lever 48 with a pin.

For the sake of convenience, the operation and effect of the article aligning and supplying device 10 having this configuration will be explained below.In FIG. 2, articles 16 are conveyed in a pressed state on a roller conveyor 18,
6 comes into contact with the contact plate 24 shown by the solid line, a sensor means (not shown) detects this and sends a detection signal to the control circuit system, thereby causing the clamping cylinder 20 to
is energized to stretch the pressure plate 32. Therefore, the article 16 located close to the front of the clamping plate 32
(indicated by 4 and 5 in the figure) are pinched by the pinching plate 32 and the guide wall 36 located opposite thereto, and the conveyance by the roller conveyor 18 is forcibly stopped. However, this stopped article 16
Three items 16 located further forward (1, 2, 3 in the figure)
) is the pinching plate 32 and the guide wall 36
Therefore, if another pneumatic cylinder 26 is simultaneously energized by the detection signal and the abutting plate 24 is retreated to the position shown by the broken line, the three articles 16 will be transferred to the roller conveyor 18.
The roller conveyor 18 moves forward by an amount corresponding to the retreat distance of the abutting plate 24 while keeping the top aligned, and stops (at this time, the roller conveyor 18 is continuously rotating, but the abutting plate
The three articles 16 and the pressure plate 32 that are in contact with the
and the guide wall 36.
etc. slip on the roller conveyor 18 at its bottom surface).

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, when the crank arm 44 is actuated to slide the slide metal 42 in the direction of the arrow along the guide rod 40, the pusher plate 22 captures the articles 16 arranged in three rows. Then, this is passed through a delivery bed 54 provided perpendicularly to the conveyance direction of the roller conveyor 18.
It is delivered to a stacking device 12 according to the present invention, which will be described later, provided on a belt conveyor 56. At this time, the maximum moving distance of the pusher plate 22 is the distance l from point a to point b, as described above. When the three aligned articles 16 are fed to the predetermined position of the stacking device 12 in this way, the pinching cylinder 20 is reversely biased in synchronization with this, and the articles 16 ( The clamping pressure (indicated by 4 and 5 in the figure) is released. Therefore, these articles 16 whose conveyance was temporarily stopped will be conveyed again on the roller conveyor 18 until they come into contact with the contact plate 24.

That is, the pusher plate 22
After sending the articles to the stacking device 12, when the article is about to start retreating, the following article 16 has arrived on the roller conveyor 18 of the alignment and supply device 10, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. , if the pusher plate 22 is moved back, the subsequent article 16
There will definitely be interference. Therefore, when the pusher plate 22 starts retracting, the pneumatic cylinder 46 is reversely biased in synchronization with this, and the piston rod 52 is retracted into the cylinder tube.
The pusher plate 22 swings counterclockwise via the lever 48, and interference with the following article 16 is avoided. In this manner, the article aligning and supplying apparatus 10 aligns a plurality of rows of articles (three rows in this embodiment) in the horizontal direction and intermittently and sequentially supplies the articles to a predetermined position of the apparatus for the next process.

Next, a schematic configuration of the article stacking and spacing device according to the present invention, which is located in the next step, will be explained. As can be clearly seen from FIG. 1, the belt conveyor 56 is commonly installed at the installation position of the device of the present invention and the inserted object supplying device 14 located in the subsequent process. It is stretched across rollers 58, 58.

The apparatus of the present invention includes a vacuum cup 60 as a stacking device that vacuum-suctions the aligned articles 16 sent out by the pusher arm 22 and vertically raises them by a predetermined distance at once; It basically consists of a shutter 62 for blocking the articles in a fixed position, and an article spacing device to be described later.

(Regarding the stacking device) First, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 2, above the belt conveyor 56 where the device of the present invention is located, a pair of guide plates 64 are installed parallel to the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 56. , 64 are arranged facing each other at a predetermined interval, and these guide plates 64, 64 are connected to the tip of a slide rod 66, respectively. These slide rods 66, 66 are fixedly connected to a link lever mechanism, which will be described later, so that they can be moved toward and away from each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, it is preferable that two vacuum cups 60 be disposed opposite each article 16 (in this embodiment, three articles 16 are sent out in line, so These vacuum cups 60 are arranged and fixed on a base plate 68 with the opening suction portions directed downward, and this base plate 68 is fixed to the tip of a piston rod 72 in a pneumatic cylinder 70. This pneumatic cylinder 70
is the beam member 7 spanning between the upright supports 72, 72.
It is fixed upside down to a bracket 76 attached to 4.

In addition, a slide rail 78 is arranged vertically,
The lower end of the rail is fixed to the base plate 68, and the slide rail 78 is guided and held by a roller 80 rotatably disposed above the bracket 76. Thus, upon energizing the pneumatic cylinder 70, the piston rod 72 extends from the cylinder tube and vertically lowers the substrate 68 and group of vacuum cups 60, causing the cylinder 7
0 is reversely biased, the substrate 68 and the vacuum cup 6
0 goes up. In this case, the substrate 68 is
Since it is guided by the slide rail 78 which is held between the 0 and 0, smooth elevating and lowering operations are achieved.

Further, the shutter 62 for blocking the aligned articles 16 in a predetermined position is made of a flat plate having a height dimension approximately equal to the required stacking height of the articles.
Guide groove member 8 disposed upright on the opposing surfaces of 2 and 72
The vertical end portions are inserted into the respective groove portions 2 and 82, so that the device can be vertically moved up and down. And upright support 7
A pneumatic cylinder 86 is fixed upside down to a support plate 84 extending over the tops of the cylinders 2 and 72.
The shutter 6 is attached to the tip of the piston rod 88.
2 is fixed. Although not shown, each vacuum cup 60 is connected to a vacuum source through a flexible hose, so that vacuum suction and vacuum release can be performed under the opening and closing action of a vacuum valve.

(Regarding the device for providing spacing between articles) Next, the configuration of the device for providing spacing between the articles 16 will be explained. As shown in the schematic plan view of FIG. 4, this functions to provide a spacing S between the plurality of rows of aligned articles 16 during their transportation. That is, above the belt conveyor 56, the vacuum cups 90 are spaced apart from each other in parallel with the conveying direction of the conveyor 56, and these opposing vacuum cups 90 are moved close to each other by a predetermined distance by appropriate means. It is configured like this.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a total of four vacuum cups 90 are attached to rectangular support frames 92, two sets of upper and lower vacuum cups on each side, and these support frames 92 are connected to a link lever mechanism described later. are connected to each other so that mutual movement toward and away from each other is applied. Details of the link lever mechanism are shown in the partially cutaway diagram of FIG. At a level below the upper conveying surface of the belt conveyor 56, the side wall member 9
A pair of metal bushes 96, 96 are inserted and fitted into the metal bushes 4, 94, respectively, at predetermined intervals, and a slide shaft 98 is slidably inserted and supported between these metal bushes 96, which face each other. A connecting plate 100 is fixed to one end of each slide shaft 98,
A spline guide 1 is attached to one end of this connecting plate 100.
02 is fixed, and the other slide shaft 98 is slidably but non-rotatably inserted into and supported by this spline guide 102. In addition, the connecting plate 100
A support frame 92 is fixed via a connecting rod 106 to a column 104 which is arranged upright.

In addition, two beam members 1 are provided between the side wall members 94 and 94.
08 and 108, and a lever member 112 is connected to the pin 11 on a support plate 110 that connects these beam members.
It is pivotably supported via 4. This lever member 112 is attached to each pin 116 on the two slide shafts 98, 98 in a positional relationship as shown in FIG.
One end of the lever member 112 is connected to the piston rod 12 of the pneumatic cylinder 118.
Connected to 0. This pneumatic cylinder 118
is connected to one side wall member 94 by a clevis at its bottom, and a pin 11 is connected to the lever member 112.
It is designed to be able to give a turning motion around 4. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, if a connecting rod 122 with the pin 116 as one common shaft fulcrum is connected to each slide shaft 98, the link operation described later can be made more smoothly. suitable.

Further, the guide plates 64, 64 are connected to the same mechanism as the reciprocating link lever mechanism of the vacuum cup 90 described in connection with FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, a circular hole 130 of a predetermined diameter is bored in 64, and the position is set so that the vacuum cup 90 can be advanced and retracted through this circular hole 130.

(Regarding the inserted object supply device) Returning to FIGS. 1 and 2, the post-process of the stacking and article spacing device 12 according to the present invention includes:
An insertion object supply device 14 is provided. This device 1
4 functions to drop and supply a partition plate or other desired object 132 to be inserted into a predetermined gap S provided between the articles 16 in the previous step. In this embodiment, a partition plate made of a thick cardboard sheet is used as the inserted object 132, but it is not limited to this, and can be used for pamphlets, cards, other efficacy books, ice cream spoons, etc. Of course, objects can be inserted depending on the intended use. In this supply device 14, the objects 132 to be inserted are taken out one by one from a large number of stacked and stored objects 132, and as they are released and dropped, they are distributed to a plurality of temporary storage locations, and once stored, the objects are It is dropped and inserted into the gap between the articles. Therefore, this inserted object supply device 14
The following is a sequential explanation of the following blocks, which are necessary to achieve each of the above-mentioned functions: an insertion object storage section, an insertion object extraction section, an insertion object distribution section, and an insertion object temporary storage section. do.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inserted object supply device 14
consists of a tower-shaped facility arranged vertically above a belt conveyor 56, and as is clear from FIG. 5, which shows the cross section AA in FIG. It is set up. The bottom of this storage case 134 is completely open, and a belt conveyor 136 is stretched horizontally close to the bottom so that it moves slowly in the direction of the arrow. The aligned and housed partition plates 132 (that is, objects to be inserted) are placed on the belt conveyor 136 and sent out toward the opening of the storage case.

In front of the opening of the storage case 134, an insertion object removal mechanism is provided. This includes a pusher 138 for pushing out the partition plates 132 one by one and a pneumatic cylinder 140 for urging this.
It basically consists of That is, two guide rods 146, 146 are vertically arranged between a horizontal upper stay 142 and a lower stay 144 at a predetermined interval, and a slide metal 148 is attached to each guide rod 146.
is slidably inserted therethrough, and a support plate 150 is horizontally fixed between these slide metals 148, 148. A bracket 152 is attached to this support plate 150, and this bracket 15
The tip of the piston rod 154 of the pneumatic cylinder 140 is fixed to the piston rod 2.

Also, although the installation state is not clear in the drawing, the two kickers 138, 138 are separated for a predetermined period,
The kicker 138 is fixed to the bracket 152, and as shown in FIG. The plates 132 are captured one by one.
However, by adjusting the height of the stepped portion, it is possible to capture a predetermined number of two or more sheets. In addition, a pneumatic cylinder 140 is arranged upside down in the center of the upper stay 142, and an L-shaped upper guide 156 is fixed to the stay 142, and is attached to the upper part of a large number of partition plates 132 in the storage case 134. It touches lightly. Similarly, a stopper 158 is fixed to the lower stay 144 to prevent the partition plate 132 from falling naturally. Therefore, cylinder 14
0 and lowers the kicker 138, as shown in FIG.
38 and pushed out downward from the storage case 134 one by one, for example.

Below the inserted object removal mechanism consisting of the above-mentioned picker 138 and pneumatic cylinder 140, there is a
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, an insertion object distribution mechanism is provided, and a temporary insertion object storage mechanism is provided below the insertion object distribution mechanism. That is, in FIG. 1, two stays 162, 162 are suspended and fixed horizontally between two upright walls 160 with a predetermined distance apart, and guide plates 164, 164 are attached to these stays 162. are fixed upright facing each other. Further, a pair of elongated guide plates 166, 166 are arranged and fixed to each guide plate 164 via stays 168 at a predetermined interval as shown in FIG.

Bearing metals 170 are fixed to predetermined corresponding positions of the upright walls 160, 160, respectively, and a rotating shaft 172 is horizontally and rotatably supported by the bearing metals 170 (see FIG. 1). This rotation axis 172
In this case, pine needle-shaped dampers 174 shown in FIG. 5 are fixed at two identical angles and slightly spaced apart in the axial direction. As shown in FIG. 1, one end of the rotation shaft 172 projects outward from the upright wall 160 and is connected to a piston rod 178 of a pneumatic cylinder 176 that is supported upside down on the wall 160 via a swing lever 180. connected. Therefore, this cylinder 17
6, the rotation shaft 172 swings in an arc shape at a predetermined center angle, as shown in FIG.
The damper 174 also swings within the range indicated by the solid and broken lines. Therefore, the pneumatic cylinder 176 for the delivery movement of the pusher 138 and the rotation of the damper is
By synchronously controlling the energization of the partition plates 132, the partition plates 132 sent out by the kicker 138 in a predetermined number, for example, one by one, will come into contact with the damper 174, and will be placed in either of the pair of elongated guide plates 164, 164. will be assigned to the side of

The elongated guide plates 164, 164 constitute a part of an insertion object temporary storage mechanism described below. That is, between the elongated guide plates 164 and 164 and slightly below the swing damper 174, two rotation shafts 182 and 182 are arranged horizontally and spaced apart by a predetermined distance. These rotation axes 182, 182
are rotatably supported by bearing metals 184 fixed to opposing portions of the upright walls 160, 160, respectively, and furthermore, two claw members 186, 186 are provided at predetermined intervals in the axial direction of each rotation shaft 182. They are fixed in the positional relationship shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. One end of these pivot shafts 182 protrudes outward from the upright wall 160 and is connected to a mechanism shown in FIG. 6 to impart rocking motion.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion observed in the direction of line B--B in FIG. 1, and is composed of one type of toggle link mechanism. That is, a pair of upper and lower guide metals 188 are provided on the upright wall portion 160,
Two sets of guide metals 190 are arranged and fixed at a predetermined interval, and slide shafts 192, 192 are slidably inserted and supported vertically through a pair of upper and lower guide metals 188, 190, respectively. A stay 194 is installed horizontally between both slide shafts, and a pneumatic cylinder 1 is fixed upside down to the upright wall 160 via a bracket 196.
98 piston rods 200 are fixed to the stay 194.

In addition, each slide shaft 192 has a link lever 2.
One end of the link lever 202 is pivotally attached via a pin 204, and the other end of the link lever 202 is fixed to a protruding end of the rotation shaft 182. Furthermore, each slide axis 1
92, a key-shaped slide guide 206
is fixed via a horizontal bar 208. Therefore, if the cylinder 198 is energized to extend the piston rod 200, the slide shafts 198, 19
8 is lowered as shown in FIG.
6, 186 are positioned vertically, and the slide guides 206, 206 are simultaneously lowered. Furthermore, when the cylinder 198 is reversely biased, the slide shafts 192, 192 rise along the guide metal, tilting the claw members 186, 186 outward, respectively, as shown in FIG. Slide guides 206, 206 are raised simultaneously.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the inserted object supply device 1
4, a stopper 210 is disposed at a predetermined position above the belt conveyor 56 at right angles to the conveying direction of the conveyor, and as described later, the stopper 210 is in contact with the stopper 210 and the inserted object 1
The goods 16 supplied by 32 are sent to the pusher 21
2, it is sent out towards the bed 214 under the action of 2. The pusher 212 is fixed to a piston rod 218 of a horizontally arranged pneumatic cylinder 216.

Effects of the Embodiment The effects of the apparatus according to the embodiment configured as described above will be described below. As already explained,
In the article alignment and supply device 10, articles 16a (hereinafter referred to as first
group) is delivered to the apparatus according to the invention under the pushing action of the pusher plate 22, and in synchronization with this, the pneumatic cylinder 86 is actuated to lower the shutter 62 and lower it onto the belt conveyor 56. The article transport path is shut off (while another pneumatic cylinder 70 retracts the piston rod 72 into the cylinder tube to hold the vacuum cup 60 in the uppermost position). The first group of articles 16a sent out by the pusher plate 22 is blocked by a shutter 62 on the belt conveyor 56 and remains at a predetermined position directly below the substrate 68 on which the vacuum cup 60 is disposed.

Next, the link lever mechanism described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 is operated to bring the pair of guide plates 64, 64 close to each other, and after the first group of articles 16a is held between the two guide plates and their position is regulated. By energizing the pneumatic cylinder 70, the substrate 68 and the vacuum cup 60 are vertically lowered, and the vacuum cup 60 is pressed against the first group of articles 16a to begin vacuum suction. Thereafter, the link lever mechanism is reversely operated to separate the pair of guide plates 64, 64 from each other, and the pneumatic cylinder 70 is reversely biased, thereby raising the substrate 68 and the vacuum cup 60. Along with this, the first group of articles 16a also
It rises while being held under suction by the vacuum cup 60 (see Figs. 7, 1 to 3).

After the first group of articles 16a has been suctioned up, the second group of aligned articles 16b is fed by the biasing action of the pusher plate 22, and is brought into contact with the shutter 62 and blocked. Check the timing and use the vacuum cup 60
When the vacuum is released, the first group of articles 16a
will fall on top of the second group of articles 16b and be stacked (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

Then, in FIG. 3, the pneumatic cylinder 118
When the lever member 112 is energized and the piston rod 120 is retracted into the cylinder tube, the lever member 112 swings clockwise about the pin 114, causing the slide shafts 98, 98 to slide in the direction of the arrow. Thus, as shown in FIG. 42, the vacuum cup 90
and vacuum holds each article 16 in the outer row. Thereafter, when the cylinder 118 is reversely biased, the piston rod 120 extends and swings the lever member 112 counterclockwise, thereby opening the vacuum cup 90.
move away from each other. For this reason, each of the articles 16 in the outer row held by the vacuum cup 90 is brought into contact with the guide plate 64, and a predetermined distance S is provided between them and the article 16 in the center (see FIG. 4, 3).
If the vacuum of the vacuum cup 90 is released here, the fourth
As shown in FIG. 4, a group of articles in two stages and three rows with a predetermined distance S from each other is conveyed on a belt conveyor 56, and is stopped at a stopper 210 provided at a location of the inserted object supply device 14. Abut and align the tips with the tips aligned as shown in FIG.

In addition, in the inserted object supply device 14, as shown in FIG. It collides with the damper 174, is distributed in the direction of inclination of the damper 174 (for example, the solid line position in FIG. 5), hits the elongated guide plate 166, and is guided downward. At this time, the claw members 186, 186 are tilted as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. and is temporarily stored at that location.

Next, the pneumatic cylinder 176 for swinging the damper shown in FIG. 1 is operated to move the damper 174 to the fifth position.
It is oscillated to the position indicated by the broken line in the figure, and the succeeding partition plate 132 is again dropped toward the damper 174 by the kicker 138. As a result, the succeeding partition plate 132 is distributed toward the other claw member 186 which is also in the closed state, and is temporarily stored and held by this claw member 186.

When the partition plate 132 is stored and held in each of the two claw members 186, 186 in this way, a predetermined space S is provided below the claw members from each other, as shown in FIGS. A group of articles 16 in two rows and three rows with a ? at this point
As shown in FIG. 6, the cylinder 198 is energized and the pawl members 186, 18 are moved under the action of the toggle link.
6 are allowed to hang down all at once (this is called the "open state"), each partition plate 132 that was temporarily stored will be
It loses its support and falls, and a predetermined number of sheets, for example one sheet at a time, are inserted into the interval S. At this time, since the slide guides 206, 206 also descend along the fixed guide plate 164, the fallen partition plate 132 does not bounce on the conveyor surface and deviate from the interval S.

Next, the pusher cylinder 216 is operated, and the pusher 212 presses the two rows of three rows of articles with the partition plates 132 interposed therebetween, bringing them into close contact with each other, while pushing the articles into the bed provided perpendicularly to the belt conveyor 56. 214 and repeat the cycle thereafter.

Note that a modification of the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown in FIG. 8. This is intended to integrate the vacuum cup and the guide plate, and instead of the vacuum cup, a vacuum box 91 forming a vacuum chamber is provided, which is connected to a support frame 92, and the guide plate 64 is integrally attached to the front surface of the vacuum box 91. A predetermined number of vacuum suction holes 93 are bored in the front surface of the vacuum box 91, and the vacuum box 91 is connected to a vacuum source via a vacuum hose (not shown). Therefore, when the link mechanism described in detail in connection with FIG. 2 is actuated, the guide plate 64
The vacuum box 91 then moves forward and backward toward the article 16. In this case as well, the articles 16 are fed and come into contact with the shutter 62, and when they stop, the guide plate 64 and the vacuum box 91 move forward to perform vacuum suction, and then move back to create a gap between the articles.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the apparatus according to the present invention, articles that are arranged and supplied in a plurality of rows in the horizontal direction are stacked in a plurality of stages, and a predetermined interval is maintained between the stacked articles. It is possible to quickly and reliably accomplish the task of applying the information in a fully automatic manner. Moreover, in the present invention, since the article suction means is configured to actively move toward and away from the group of articles, a gap can always be provided reliably without being affected by the shape or material of the articles. , there will be no confusion due to stagnation in the transportation of goods.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a composite device for article processing including the device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view seen from the - line direction of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a link shown in FIG. 2. A partially cutaway view showing the details of the lever mechanism, FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing the article spacing process over time, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is FIG. Fig. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the stacking process over time, and Fig. 8 is a schematic plan view of a modification of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2. It is. 16... Article group, 56... Article conveyance path, 60...
...Stacking means, 90...Article spacing device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Arranged above the article conveyance path 56, by intersecting and blocking this conveyance path 56, a plurality of rows arriving in close alignment with each other in a direction intersecting the conveyance direction can be a shutter 62 that blocks the flow of the group of articles 16 and releases the blockage to allow the group of articles 16 to pass;
The transport path 5 is provided on the upstream side so that it can be vertically raised and lowered.
At the timing when the shutter 62 blocks the preceding group of articles 16 being conveyed, the shutter 62 descends to grip the group of articles 16, and then shifts to a rising operation to lift the group of articles 16, and then lifts the group of articles 16 to move the following articles. At the timing when the group 16 comes directly under the preceding group of articles 16 during the lifting and is blocked by the shutter 62, the grip on the preceding group of articles 16 is released and the weight is placed on the following group of articles 16. Stacking means 60 for dropping are disposed on both sides of the conveyance path 56, horizontally intersecting the conveyance path 56, and facing each other so as to be able to approach and separate from each other, and the subsequent article group 16 is placed on both sides of the conveyance path 56.
2, and the stacking means 60
When the preceding article group 16 is stacked on the succeeding article group 16, the articles 16 are synchronously approached and placed in the outermost column of the stacked article group 16. Grip it on the side,
Next, the article spacing device 90 provides a required spacing between the articles 16 in the plurality of rows by moving them apart synchronously. A device that gives spacing to each row of articles.