WO2023068182A1

WO2023068182A1 - Article retrieval device

Info

Publication number: WO2023068182A1
Application number: PCT/JP2022/038315
Authority: WO
Inventors: 祥之岡崎; 陽太南; 敦田中; 寛斗北浦; 亮太大道
Original assignee: 株式会社京都製作所
Priority date: 2021-10-18
Filing date: 2022-10-14
Publication date: 2023-04-27
Also published as: JP2023060539A

Abstract

The present invention has an article-pushing part 42 for pushing the retrieval-direction Pu rear surface PcI of an article Pc, and an article-contacting part 42 for coming into contact with the retrieval-direction Pu front surface PcO of the article Pc. A transport shuttle 14 stops at a retrieval position from which the article Pc is to be retrieved, after which the article-pushing part 41 pushes the retrieval-direction Pu rear surface PcI of the article Pc while the retrieval-direction Pu front surface PcO of the article Pc is held by the article-contacting part 42, the article-pushing part 41 and the article-contacting part 42 are moved in the retrieval direction while the aforementioned state is maintained, and the article Pc held by the article-pushing part 41 and the article-contacting part 42 is moved to a predetermined accumulation position on an article-accumulating part 124.

Description

Article pick-up device

The present invention relates to an article pick-up device that picks up conveyed articles.

In the boxing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-145558, after assembling sheets into a box shape, the sheets are transported with the opening facing sideways, and then the articles are inserted sideways through the opening for packing. By configuring in this way, the assembly of the box and the packing of the articles can be executed as a series of operations, so that the installation space can be saved.

JP-A-2005-145558

However, in the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-145558, since the box assembled to have one opening is laid down to accommodate the articles, it may be difficult to move the articles being conveyed.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an article take-out device that can easily and reliably move an article to be conveyed toward a box.

In order to achieve the above object, an article pick-up apparatus of the present invention moves an article conveyed by a conveying shuttle that moves along a rail in a direction intersecting the conveying direction to slide the article to an article stacking section. to take out. The article pick-up device has an article pushing section that pushes the rear surface of the article in the pick-up direction, and an article contact section that contacts the front surface of the article in the pick-up direction. After the transport shuttle stops at the take-out position where the article is taken out, the article pushing section pushes the rear surface of the article in the take-out direction, and the article contact section holds the front surface of the article in the take-out direction. The article pushing section and the article contact section are moved in the take-out direction while maintaining the state, and the article held by the article pushing section and the article contact section is moved to a predetermined position in the article stacking section. to the stacking position.

In the above configuration, the stacking position is a position where the front surface of the articles in the take-out direction abuts against a wall provided in the item stacking section or a position close to the rear in the take-out direction of the pre-aggregated items. .

In the above configuration, it is possible to simultaneously take out a plurality of the articles conveyed side by side in the conveying direction.

In the above configuration, the article pushing section has a pushing arm that pushes the rear surface of each of the plurality of articles in the take-out direction.

In the above configuration, the article contact portion contacts the front surfaces of all of the plurality of articles in the take-out direction.

According to the present invention, the article to be transported is easily and reliably moved toward the box.

1 is a schematic layout diagram of an article processing apparatus; FIG. It is a functional block diagram of an article processing device. FIG. 10 is a view of a transport shuttle holding an article and a single transport shuttle moving along a linear rail, viewed from the outside; FIG. 4 is a plan view of the transport shuttle shown in the figure; It is the figure seen from the rear side of the conveyance direction of a conveyance shuttle. The figure is a view of the transport shuttle moving on the branch rail of the second transport route as seen from the rear side in the transport direction. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state in which a transport shuttle holding articles is moving on a first curved rail; FIG. 4 is a diagram of a state in which a plurality of articles are being transported by a plurality of transport shuttles, as seen from the outside. 1 is a schematic plan view of an article take-out device; FIG. It is a side view of an article take-out device. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state in which the article take-out device grabs the upper portion of the article separated from the transport shuttle; It is a figure which shows the state which moved the goods to the goods stacking part. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the operation of the article take-out device after articles have been accumulated in the article accumulation section; FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state in which the second-stage article is moved to the article stacking section; FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state in which an article on the third stage has been moved to the article stacking section;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, directions are defined with reference to the article processing apparatus A shown in FIG. In the article conveying section 10 of the article conveying apparatus 100 described later, the clockwise direction is the moving direction of the conveying shuttle 14 described later, that is, the conveying direction Tr. Furthermore, the outer side Os and the inner side Is are defined with reference to the loop of the first transport route 11 . In addition, the front side and the rear side in the movement direction of the article Pc, the transport shuttle 14, the box transport shuttle 702, and the box body Bx are defined as follows. Forward the side reaching the future with respect to the current position. Conversely, the side that was located in the past with respect to the current position is the rear side. Further, each surface of the article Pc is defined with reference to the state in which the article Pc is being conveyed by the article conveying section 10 of the article conveying apparatus 100 . That is, the front surface in the transport direction Tr is the front surface Pcf, the rear surface is the rear surface Pcr, the outer surface is the outer surface PcO, and the inner surface is the inner surface PcI. Also, the bottom surface of the article Pc is defined as a bottom surface Pct.

<Article processing apparatus A>
FIG. 1 is a schematic layout diagram of an article processing apparatus A. As shown in FIG. The article processing apparatus A conveys a substantially rectangular parallelepiped article (also referred to as an article to be conveyed) Pc, which is made of paper or the like and filled with liquid. Then, the exterior and the like are inspected while being transported. An exterior member such as a straw is attached while conveying the article Pc that has passed the inspection. After that, a predetermined number of articles Pc are accumulated and stored in a box. Then, the box Bx in which the article Pc is housed is carried out to the outside.

The article processing apparatus A includes an article conveying apparatus 100, an article delivery apparatus 200, an exterior member mounting apparatus 300, an article take-out apparatus 400, an article storage apparatus 500, a box supply apparatus 600, an article packing apparatus 700, and a control device 800 .

<Control device 800>
Details of the control device 800 will now be described. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the article processing apparatus A. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 800 has a processing circuit 801 and a memory circuit 802 . The processing circuit 801 is a circuit for processing various information, and has arithmetic circuits such as a CPU and an MPU. Further, the processing circuit 801 is connected to the article conveying device 100, the article delivery device 200, the exterior member attaching device 300, the article take-out device 400, the article storage device 500 and the box body supply device 600 based on the processing result. to control.

The storage circuit 802 is a circuit that includes or is connected to a semiconductor memory such as a ROM and a RAM, a portable memory such as a flash memory, and a storage medium such as a hard disk. Various programs such as a control program or a processing program may be stored in the storage circuit 802, and a program corresponding to processing may be called as necessary, and the program may be operated in the processing circuit 801 to perform processing. . Elements connected to the control device 800 and their control will be explained when explaining each element.

<Article Conveyor 100>
Details of the article conveying apparatus 100 will be described. FIG. 3 is a view of the transport shuttle 14 holding the article Pc and the single transport shuttle 14 moving along the linear rail 13 as seen from the outside Os. 4 is a plan view of the transport shuttle 14 shown in FIG. 3. FIG. FIG. 5 is a view of the transport shuttle as seen from the rear side in the transport direction Tr. FIG. 6 is a view of the transport shuttle 14 moving on the branch rail 121 of the second transport route 12 as seen from the rear side in the transport direction. The article conveying apparatus 100 has an article conveying section 10 including a first conveying route 11 and a second conveying route 12 and a conveying shuttle 14 .

<First transport route 11>
The first transport route 11 has a first straight rail 111 , a second straight rail 112 , a first curved rail 113 and a second curved rail 114 . The first straight rail 111 and the second straight rail 112 are arranged side by side. In the first transport route 11, both ends of a first straight rail 111 and a second straight rail 112 are connected by a first curved rail 113 and a second curved rail 114, respectively, to form an annular shape. The first straight rail 111, the second straight rail 112, the first curved rail 113, and the second curved rail 114 have the same structure, and may be referred to as the rail 13 on behalf of them.

In the first transport route 11, the transport shuttle 14 is arranged on the surface of the outer side Os of the first straight rail 111, the second straight rail 112, the first curved rail 113 and the second curved rail 114 of the first transport route 11. . The transport shuttle 14 is movable along the annular first transport route 11 .

The first straight rail 111 and the second straight rail 112 are formed by connecting straight short rails 13s in the transport direction Tr. The lengths of the first straight rail 111 and the second straight rail 112 can be changed by changing the number of straight short rails 13s connected.

Furthermore, the first curved rail 113 and the second curved rail 114 are arc-shaped, but are not limited to this. For example, a part may be curved. Further, the curved portion is not limited to an arc shape, and may be a so-called clothoid curve shape. Also, it may have a curved shape other than these. The first curved rail 113 and the second curved rail 114 are formed by connecting the curved short rails 13c. By preparing different shapes and lengths of the curved short rails 13c and combining them in accordance with the loop shape of the article conveying section 10, it is possible to deal with various shapes.

<Rail 13>
The rail 13 has a main rail 131, a grooved rail 132, and a flat rail 133 (see FIGS. 3 and 5). The main rail 131 is a cylindrical body with a rectangular cross section cut along a plane orthogonal to the transport direction Tr. Main rail 131 may include, but is not limited to, some stainless steel, aluminum and alloys thereof, for example.

The grooved rail 132 is fixed to the top of the main rail 131 . The grooved rail 132 has a groove portion 134 recessed from the outer surface in the direction intersecting the transport direction Tr. The grooved rail 132 has two grooves 134 . The two grooves 134 are arranged vertically side by side.

The main rail 131 and the grooved rail 132 can be fixed by welding, screwing, or the like, but are not limited to this. The main rail 131 and the grooved rail 132 may be integrally formed. The groove portion 134 is arranged on the outer side Os along the entire circumference of the first transport route 11 . As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a gap 135 is formed between the main rail 131 and the grooved rail 132 .

The flat rail 133 is fixed to the lower part of the main rail 131. The main rail 131 and the flat rail 133 can be fixed by welding, screwing, or the like, but the fixing is not limited to this. The main rail 131 and the plane rail 133 may be integrally formed.

Although the first straight rail 111 and the second straight rail 112 are formed by connecting the short straight rails 13s, they may be formed by one rail. Similarly, the first curved rail 113 and the second curved rail 114 may also be formed of one rail.

<Second transport route 12>
As shown in FIG. 1 , the second transport route 12 branches off from the first straight rail 111 of the first transport route 11 , turns around, and joins the second straight rail 112 of the first transport route 11 . As shown in FIG. 1 , the second transport route 12 has branch rails 121 , merging rails 122 and return rails 123 .

The branch rail 121 and the merging rail 122 are straight and have the same configuration as the first straight rail 111 and the second straight rail 112, except that the groove 134 is arranged on the inside Is. Therefore, the detailed description of the parts having the same configuration as to the rail 13 is omitted, and the same reference numerals are given.

The rear end of the branch rail 121 in the transport direction Tr is arranged to face the outer side Os of the front end of the first linear rail 111 of the first transport route 11 in the transport direction Tr. A portion where the branch rail 121 and the first straight rail 111 face each other is a branch point P1.

The front end of the merging rail 122 in the transport direction Tr is arranged to face the outer side Os of the rear end of the second straight rail 112 of the first transport route 11 in the transport direction Tr. The portion where the merging rail 122 and the second straight rail 112 face each other is the merging point P2.

The feedback rail 123 has the same configuration as the first curved rail 113 and the second curved rail 114 . The rear end of the return rail 123 in the transport direction Tr is arranged to face the inside Is of the front end of the branch rail 121 in the transport direction Tr. Similarly, the front end of the return rail 123 in the transport direction Tr is arranged to face the inside Is of the rear end of the merging rail 122 in the transport direction Tr.

<Conveyance shuttle 14>
Next, the transport shuttle 14 will be described.

The transport shuttle 14 has a body portion 140 and an article holding portion 16 . A magnet 152 of the transport linear motor mechanism 15 is arranged in the main body 140 . Note that the magnet 152 is accommodated inside the main body 140 and faces the coil 151 arranged on the main rail 131 in a direction intersecting the transport direction Tr.

The body portion 140 of the transport shuttle 14 has a first surface 144 and a second surface 145 . Further, the body portion 140 has a convex portion 143 . The protrusion 143 fits into a gap 135 formed between the main rail 131 and the grooved rail 132 . By fitting the convex portion 143 into the gap 135, displacement of the main body portion 140 is suppressed.

Two upper rollers 141 are arranged on the body portion 140 . The two upper rollers 141 are rotatably supported by the body portion 140 . More specifically, the upper roller 141 is rotatably arranged around a rotation axis that is orthogonal to the transport direction Tr and parallel to the outer surface of the rail 13 . The two upper rollers 141 are separated in the transport direction Tr and arranged at different positions in the vertical direction. In the main body part 140 of the present embodiment, the upper roller 141 (see FIG. 3) on the front side in the transport direction Tr is arranged upward.

Two lower rollers 142 are arranged on the main body part 140 . The two lower rollers 142 are rotatably supported by the body portion 140 . The lower roller 142 is cylindrical. The two lower rollers 142 are separated in the transport direction Tr and arranged at different positions in the vertical direction. In the main body part 140 in this embodiment, the lower roller 142 (see FIG. 3) on the front side in the transport direction Tr is arranged downward.

The article holding portion 16 is fixed to the upper portion of the main body portion 140 . The article holding portion 16 has a holding plate portion 161 , an article engaging portion 162 and an article supporting portion 163 . The holding plate portion 161 has a plate shape, is arranged inside Is of the main body portion 140, and extends upward. The front side of the holding plate portion 161 in the transport direction Tr has an inclined surface 164 inclined inward toward the front side. Further, the holding plate portion 161 has through holes 1611 and concave portions 1612 provided at both ends in the transport direction Tr. The recesses 1612 are arranged in the transport direction below the through holes 1611 .

The article holding portion 16 has two article engaging portions 162, which are arranged vertically and fixed to the holding plate portion 161. One of the article engaging portions 162 is arranged above the holding plate portion 161 , and the other penetrates through the through hole 1611 and protrudes outward Os from the holding plate portion 161 .

The article engaging portion 162 has a rear surface pressing portion 165 provided at the front portion in the conveying direction and a front surface pressing portion 166 provided at the rear portion in the conveying direction. The rear surface pressing portion 165 and the front surface pressing portion 166 have curved surface shapes in which intermediate portions in the projecting direction bulge in the transport direction Tr (see FIG. 4 and the like).

The article support portion 163 is fixed to the holding plate portion 161 . The article support portion 163 has a rear support portion 167 and a front support portion 168 . The rear support portion 167 is arranged on the front side of the rear surface pressing portion 165 in the transport direction Tr. Also, the front support portion 168 is arranged on the rear side of the front pressing portion 166 . The upper surfaces of the rear support portion 167 and the front support portion 168 are at the same height. Note that the rear support portion 167 and the front support portion 168 may be integrally formed. The transport shuttle 14 has the shape shown above.

<Conveyance linear motor mechanism 15>
In the article conveying apparatus 100 , the plurality of conveying shuttles 14 are independently driven by the conveying linear motor mechanism 15 . The transport linear motor mechanism 15 has a plurality of coils 151 , magnets 152 and linear drivers 153 . The plurality of coils 151 are arranged inside the rails 13 forming the first transport route 11 and inside the rails 13 forming the second transport route 12 .

The magnet 152 is a permanent magnet and is arranged on the main body 140 of the transport shuttle 14 . As shown in FIG. 5, the magnet 152 is arranged inside the body portion 140 . The body portion 140 is made of a material that does not attract magnets. Therefore, the magnetic force of the magnet 152 leaks to the outside of the body portion 140 . The magnet 152 is arranged so as to be able to apply magnetic force to the coil 151 . A linear motor is formed by the magnets 152 arranged on the main body 140 and the plurality of coils 151 arranged inside the rail 13 .

A linear driver 153 is connected to each coil 151 (see FIG. 2). The linear driver 153 is connected to a power supply circuit (not shown). The linear driver 153 is a circuit that controls power supplied to the coils 151 and includes circuits such as an arithmetic processing circuit and a power supply circuit that adjusts the voltage and current supplied to each coil 151 . Linear driver 153 supplies an appropriate current to each coil 151 based on instructions from control device 800 .

The control device 800 can move the transport shuttle 14 independently. Note that the control device 800 can operate a plurality of transport shuttles 14 individually, and can also operate them synchronously. The controller 800 can also acquire the position of the transport shuttle 14 .

In the transport shuttle 14 , the article holding section 16 is arranged above the main body section 140 . Accordingly, no constituent members are arranged inside the first surface 144 and outside the second surface 145 of the body portion 140 . Therefore, the radial outer edges of the upper roller 141 and the lower roller 142 protrude to the inner side Is of the first surface 144 and to the outer side Os of the second surface 145 .

Thereby, in the first transport route 11, the transport shuttle 14 can move along the outer side Os of the first straight rail 111, the second straight rail 112, the first curved rail 113 and the second curved rail 114. Further, the transport shuttle 14 can move along the inner surfaces of the branch rail 121 and the merging rail 122 on the second transport route 12 . Further, the transport shuttle 14 can move along the outer surface of the return rail 123 on the second transport route 12 .

More specifically, the transport shuttle 14 can move along the outer side Os of the rails 13 on the first transport route 11 . The body portion 140 is attracted to the outside Os of the rails 13 of the first transport route 11 by the magnetic force of the magnet 152, for example. The rail 13 may be provided with an attracting portion made of metal such as iron that attracts a magnet, or may be attracted by the magnetic force between the iron core provided in the coil 151 and the magnet 152 .

In the first transport route 11, the upper roller 141 and the lower roller 142 contact the rail 13, so that the first surface 144 of the main body 140 is arranged with a certain gap from the outer surface of the rail 13. That is, the main body part 140 is movably supported on the outer surface of the rail 13 by the upper rollers 141 and the lower rollers 142 .

In the transport shuttle 14, the upper roller 141 and the lower roller 142 arranged in the transport direction Tr are vertically displaced. Therefore, even when the transport shuttle 14 approaches in the transport direction Tr, the upper rollers 141 or the lower rollers 142 are less likely to interfere with each other. Therefore, the transport shuttle 14 can be arranged close to each other in the transport direction Tr, and can be moved in a close state.

As shown in FIG. 6, the transport shuttle 14 can move along the inside Is of the branch rail 121 and the merging rail 122 on the second transport route 12 . The body portion 140 is attracted to the inner surfaces of the branch rail 121 and the merging rail 122 by the magnetic force of the magnet 152 arranged inside. The rail 13 may be provided with an attracting portion made of metal such as iron that attracts a magnet, or may be attracted by the magnetic force between the iron core provided in the coil 151 and the magnet 152 .

When the upper roller 141 and the lower roller 142 contact the branch rail 121 and the merging rail 122, the second surface 145 of the main body 140 is arranged to face the inner surfaces of the branching rail 121 and the merging rail 122 with a certain gap. be done. That is, the main body part 140 is movably supported on the inner surfaces of the branch rails 121 and the merging rails 122 by the upper rollers 141 and the lower rollers 142 .

With such a configuration, it is possible to branch the transport shuttle 14 at the branch point P1 by controlling the coils 151 arranged on the first straight rail 111, the second straight rail 112, the branch rail 121, and the merging rail 122. Together, they can merge at the confluence point P2. That is, it is possible to branch and merge the transport shuttle 14 with a simple configuration and simple control.

That is, the control device 800 can branch the moving direction of the transport shuttle 14 moving on the first straight rail 111 to either the first curved rail 113 or the branch rail 121 at the branch point P1. Further, the control device 800 can merge the transport shuttle 14 moving on the merging rail 122 of the second transport route 12 with the second straight rail 112 at the merging point P2.

<Holding of article Pc by transport shuttle 14>
Next, holding of the article Pc by the transport shuttle 14 will be described. The article Pc is held from the front and back in the transport direction Tr by two transport shuttles 14 arranged side by side in the transport direction Tr.

The front support part 168 of the transport shuttle 14 arranged on the front side in the transport direction Tr supports the inside of the front part of the bottom surface of the article Pc, and the front pressing part 166 presses the front surface Pcf of the article Pc. A rear support portion 167 of the transport shuttle 14 arranged on the front side in the transport direction Tr of the article Pc supports the inside of the rear portion of the bottom surface Pct of the article Pc, and a rear surface pressing portion 165 presses the rear surface Pcr of the article Pc. At this time, the inner surface PcI of the article Pc contacts the holding plate portion 161 .

Here, when the article Pc has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape filled with a liquid content, the front face Pcf of the article Pc is pressed by the front face pressing portion 166 and the intermediate portion is recessed. Similarly, the rear surface Pcr of the article Pc is pressed by the rear surface pressing portion 165 and the intermediate portion is recessed. In this manner, the front surface Pcf and Pcr are depressed by being pressed by the front surface pressing portion 166 and the rear surface pressing portion 165, respectively, thereby restricting the movement of the article Pc to the outside Os. In addition, since the inner surface PcI of the article Pc comes into contact with the holding plate portion 161, the movement of the article Pc to the inner side Is is also restricted. Thereby, the two transport shuttles 14 can firmly hold the article Pc. In addition, the transport shuttles 14 arranged before and after the article Pc in the transport direction Tr have the same shape.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state in which the transport shuttle 14 holding the articles Pc is moving on the first curved rail 113. FIG. Since the rear surface pressing portion 165 and the front surface pressing portion 166 each have a substantially curved shape that protrudes outward, the front surface Pcf and the rear surface Pcr of the article Pc are appropriately pressed even when the projecting directions of the article engaging section 162 are not parallel. can. Therefore, even when moving along a curved portion such as the first curved rail 113 as shown in FIG. 7, the transport shuttle 14 can hold the article Pc. The curvature of the curved portion where the transport shuttle 14 can move while holding the articles Pc changes depending on the shape of the rear surface pressing portion 165 and the front surface pressing portion 166 .

FIG. 8 is a view of a state in which a plurality of articles Pc are being transported by a plurality of transport shuttles 14, viewed from outside Os. FIG. 8 shows a state in which two articles are held by three transport shuttles 14 aligned in the transport direction Tr. As shown in FIG. 8, the front support portion 168 of the transport shuttle 14 on the front side in the transport direction Tr supports the inside of the front portion of the bottom portion of the front article Pc, and the front pressing portion 166 supports the front surface Pcf of the front article Pc. press . Further, the rear support portion 167 of the transport shuttle 14 at the center in the transport direction Tr supports the inside of the rear portion of the bottom of the front article Pc, and the rear surface pressing portion 165 presses the rear surface Pcr of the front article Pc. Thereby, the article Pc on the front side is held.

Further, the front support part 168 of the transport shuttle 14 at the center in the transport direction Tr supports the inside of the front part of the bottom of the article Pc on the rear side, and the front pressing part 166 presses the front surface Pcf of the article Pc on the rear side. . Further, the rear support portion 167 of the transport shuttle 14 on the rear side in the transport direction Tr supports the inside of the rear portion of the bottom of the rear article Pc, and the rear surface pressing portion 165 presses the rear surface Pcr of the rear article Pc. Thereby, the article Pc on the rear side is held. As shown in FIG. 8, three transport shuttles 14 are arranged in the circumferential direction to hold two articles Pc. Note that the number of articles Pc that can be held is not limited to two, and may be three or more. That is, a plurality of articles Pc can be held by preparing the transport shuttles 14 equal to the number of articles Pc+1.

In the article processing apparatus A, when on the branch rail 121 of the second conveying route 12, a plurality of conveying shuttles 14 can hold a plurality of articles Pc and move in the conveying direction Tr. In addition, when on the first linear rail 111 of the first transport route 11, a plurality of transport shuttles 14 may hold a plurality of articles Pc. Also, when moving from the first transport route 11 to the second transport route 12 at the branch point P1, a predetermined number of articles Pc may be put together. Combining one or a small number of items Pc is called aggregating. As shown in FIG. 1, in the article conveying apparatus 100, a consolidated area Ar1 is set in a portion between a branch point P1 of the branch rail 121 and an article stacking section 124, which will be described later.

<Article delivery device 200>
As shown in FIG. 1 , the article delivery device 200 has an article supply section 20 , an article delivery section 21 , and a transfer lane 22 . The article Pc is carried into the article processing apparatus A by the article supply section 20 from a previous process such as a content filling process. The article supply unit 20 is a conveyor that conveys a substantially rectangular parallelepiped article Pc. The article Pc moves along the article supply section 20 by moving the article Pc placed on the upper surface of the article supply section 20 . The moving direction of the article Pc in the article supply section 20 is defined as the supply direction Ts.

The article supply unit 20 can use a general transport conveyor such as a belt conveyor or a top chain conveyor. Here, the article supply section 20 has a supply conveyor 201 using a belt conveyor (see FIG. 1, etc.). The article supply section 20 and the supply conveyor 201 are connected to the control device 800 and driven according to instructions from the control device 800 . Normally, the supply conveyor 201 is driven so as to convey articles at a constant speed.

The article delivery section 21 is arranged at the front end of the article supply section 20 in the conveying direction Tr. The article delivery section 21 has a plurality of nip rollers 211 arranged in pairs and a transfer lane 22 . As shown in FIG. 1, the nip rollers 211 are arranged in pairs in a direction orthogonal to the supply direction Ts of the article supply section 20, and come into contact with the side surfaces of the article Pc (here, the inner surface PcI and the outer surface PcO). The surface of the nip roller 211 is made of a material that increases friction with the surface of the article Pc. In the article delivery section 21, three pairs of nip rollers 211 are arranged side by side along the supply conveyor 201 at regular intervals.

The nip roller 211 is rotated by a roller motor 212 (see FIG. 2) connected to the control device 800. The controller 800 controls the rotation of the roller motor 212 to adjust the rotation speed of the nip roller 211 . As a result, the article Pc is accelerated or decelerated in the supply direction Ts. The article Pc accelerated and decelerated by the pair of nip rollers 211 moves to the transfer lane 22 .

The article Pc moves on the transfer lane 22 in the supply direction Ts. The front end of the transfer lane 22 in the supply direction Ts is a transfer section R1. The article Pc is held by the transport shuttles aligned in the supply direction Ts at the transfer section R1. The article Pc is conveyed along the first conveying route 11 while being held by the conveying shuttle 14 .

<Exterior member mounting device 300>
The exterior member attaching device 300 is arranged on the outer side Os of the article conveying section 10 of the article conveying device 100, and attaches the exterior member Th to the outer surface PcO of the article Pc (see FIG. 3). Although the exterior member Th is a straw here, it is not limited to this. The exterior member attaching device 300 is attached to the outer surface PcO of the article Pc while being housed in a resin bag. The exterior member mounting device 300 is arranged on the outer side Os of the first linear rail 111 of the first transport route 11 . Then, the exterior member Th is attached (attached) to the outer surface PcO of the article Pc held by the transport shuttle 14 that moves along the first straight rail 111 .

The exterior member mounting device 300 has an inspection section 30 and a mounting section 31 . The inspection unit 30 inspects the state of the article Pc. For example, the inspection unit 30 acquires a captured image with an imaging unit (not shown), and determines whether the state of the article Pc is acceptable based on the image processing result of the captured image. When the article Pc is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container made of a paper base material, the inspection unit 30 checks the state of the bonded portion, scorching due to heating during bonding, and the like.

The mounting portion 31 has a drive motor 310 (see FIG. 2) that drives the device. The exterior member attachment device 300 attaches the exterior member Th to the side surface of the outer side Os of the moving article Pc by the operation of the drive motor 310 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the inspection section 30 and the drive motor 310 of the exterior member mounting device 300 are connected to the control device 800 . The control device 800 operates the drive motor 310 so as to attach the exterior member Th only to the articles that pass the inspection section 30 . Also, the control device 800 acquires the position of the transport shuttle 14 based on information from the linear driver 153, for example. Drive motor 310 is driven based on the position of transport shuttle 14 . Thereby, the control device 800 drives the drive motor 310 in synchronization with the speed of the transport shuttle 14 in the transport direction Tr. As a result, the exterior member Th can be attached while maintaining the moving speed of the transport shuttle 14, that is, the article Pc.

The control device 800 acquires the position of the article Pc, in other words, the moving speed, and operates the drive motor 310 based on the position of the article Pc. It is not necessary to reduce the transport speed of Pc. Thereby, the decline in the production efficiency of the article processing apparatus A can be suppressed.

The article Pc determined to be defective by the inspection unit 30 is transferred from the branch point P1 to the second straight rail 112 via the first curved rail 113 while maintaining the state of being sandwiched between the transport shuttles 14. transport. Then, a defective product recovery unit (not shown) arranged close to the second straight rail 112 recovers the product determined to be defective. An article Pc that is determined to be defective can be collected by being dropped downward, but the present invention is not limited to this.

<Box feeding device 600>
The box Bx for storing the article Pc is formed by folding a paper sheet Sh such as corrugated cardboard. The box body supply device 600 forms the box body Bx by adhesively fixing the sheet Sh while folding it. At this time, a surface other than the surface on the side of the branch rail 121 in the extraction direction Pu is formed. The surface of the box Bx on the side of the branch rail 121 is a storage surface for storing the articles Pc.

The box supply device 600 has a sheet storage section 61 , a sheet take-out section 62 , a forming section 63 , a sheet feeding section 64 and a box movement section 65 . Sheets Sh are accumulated in the sheet accumulation unit 61 . The sheet storage section 61 is moved by the sheet rails 610 . Sheets Sh accumulated in the sheet accumulation portion 61 are taken out by the sheet take-out portion 62 . Then, the sheet Sh is sent to the shaping section 63 by the sheet sending section 64 . In the shaping section 63, a part of the sheet Sh is folded and glued to form a box body Bx in which walls other than the wall near the article stacking section 124 are formed. Then, the box body Bx formed by the molding section 63 is sent by the box moving section 65 to a later-described storage area 70s of the article packing device 700 .

The box supply device 600 is connected to the control device 800 . The container supply device 600 operates based on instructions from the control device 800 . For example, when the control device 800 confirms that there is no box Bx in the forming section 63, the control device 800 operates the sheet taking-out section 62 to take out the sheet Sh, and operates the sheet feeding section 64 to transfer the sheet Sh to the forming section 63. , and the forming unit 63 is operated to form the box Bx. After a later-described box conveying shuttle 702 of the box conveying section 70 moves to the storage area 70s, the box moving section 65 is operated to move the box Bx in the forming section 63 to the storage area 70s.

An article stacking section 124 arranged adjacent to the branch rail 121 is provided on the outer side Os of the branch rail 121 . Articles Pc conveyed along the branch rail 121 are arranged in the article stacking section 124 . A plurality of articles Pc are temporarily stored in the article stacking section 124 . The operation of collecting and temporarily storing a plurality of articles Pc in this manner is referred to as accumulation of articles. The article stacking section 124 has a guide wall section 1241 and a retaining wall section 1242 .

The guide wall portion 1241 extends along the take-out direction Pu for taking out the article. The guide wall portion 1241 is arranged in the article stacking portion 124 and is movable in the conveying direction and can be fixed. The retaining wall portion 1242 is arranged at the rear end of the article stacking portion 124 in the take-out direction Pu. .

<Article pick-up device 400 and article storage device 500>
The article pick-up device 400 moves the articles Pc arranged in the transport direction Tr in the take-out direction Pu intersecting the transport direction Tr and stacks them in the article stacking unit 124 . In addition, in the article processing apparatus A, the take-out direction Pu is outward perpendicular to the transport direction Tr.

The article pick-up device 400 has an article pushing section 41 and an article contact section 42 . The article pushing portion 41 contacts the inner surface PcI of the article Pc, and the article contacting portion 42 supports the article Pc in contact with the outer surface PcO of the article Pc. In this manner, the article pushing portion 41 and the article contacting portion 42 move in the take-out direction Pu while maintaining the state of supporting the article Pc. That is, the article pick-up device 400 moves the accumulated and conveyed articles Pc from the branch rail 121 to the article stacking section 124 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the article pick-up device 400 is connected to a control device 800. Article pickup device 400 operates based on instructions from control device 800 . For example, the control device 800 operates the article pickup device 400 after confirming that the transport shuttle 14 has reached the pickup position on the branch rail 121 . Note that the control device 800 may operate the article pick-up device 400 based on information other than the position of the transport shuttle 14 .

The article storage device 500 collects a certain number of articles Pc accumulated in the article accumulation section 124 and moves them to the box Bx. The operation of collectively moving a plurality of articles Pc to the box Bx is referred to as article storage.

The article storage device 500 has a rear contact portion 51 , a side contact portion 52 and a front contact portion 53 . The rear contact portion 51 contacts the inner surface PcI of the article Pc arranged on the innermost side Is. The side contact portion 52 contacts the front surface Pcf of the article Pc arranged at the front end in the conveying direction Tr of the article Pc and the rear surface Pcr of the article Pc arranged at the rear end. The front contact portion 53 contacts the outer surface PcO of the article Pc arranged on the outermost side Os of the front end.

The rear contact portion 51, the side contact portion 52, and the front contact portion 53 contact the outer surface PcO of the article Pc at the outer end, the front surface Pcf of the article Pc at the front end, and the front surface Pcf of the article Pc at the front end while the adjacent articles Pc are in contact with each other. It maintains contact with the rear surface Pcr of the article Pc at the end and the inner surface PcI of the article Pc at the inner end, and moves in the unloading direction Pu. As a result, a plurality of stacked articles Pc are accommodated in the box Bx.

As shown in FIG. 2, the article storage device 500 is connected to the control device 800. Article storage device 500 operates based on instructions from control device 800 . For example, the control device 800 operates the article storage device 500 after confirming that a predetermined number of articles Pc have been accumulated in the article accumulation section 124 based on the operation of the article pickup device 400 . More specifically, the article pickup device 400 may move the articles Pc to the article stacking section 124 a predetermined number of times, and after the article pickup device 400 is retracted, the article storage device 500 may be operated. Note that the control device 800 may operate the article storage device 500 based on the operation information of the article pickup device 400 .

The article processing apparatus A has one or more article stacking units 124 . One article pick-up device 400 and one article storage device 500 are arranged in each article stacking section 124 .

The holding wall portion 55 contacts the front end portion of the box Bx in the take-out direction Pu to suppress the movement of the box Bx when storing the article Pc. The holding wall portion 55 is vertically movable.

9 is a schematic plan view of the article take-out device 400. FIG. FIG. 10 is a side view of the article take-out device 400. FIG. As shown in FIG. 10 , in the article take-out device 400 , the article pushing section 41 and the article contact section 42 are attached to the main body section 40 . The article pushing portion 41 and the article contacting portion 42 are swingably supported by the body portion 40 . The lower part of the article pushing part 41 is rotated forward in the take-out direction Pu by the control device 800 . At this time, the article pushing part 41 applies force to the article Pc.

The article pushing section 41 of the article take-out device 400 has a pushing plate section 410 and a pushing arm 411 . The pushing plate portion 410 is an elongated plate member. The backing plate portion 410 is swingably attached to the main body portion 40 so that the direction in which the articles Pc are arranged, here, the conveying direction Tr, is the longitudinal direction. The booster arm 411 is rod-shaped and extends from the booster plate portion 410 .

The article pushing section 41 and the control device 800 rotate forward in the take-out direction Pu. As a result, the backing plate portion 410 contacts the upper portions of the inner surfaces PcI of all the articles Pc arranged side by side at the same time. At this time, the boosting arm 411 comes into contact with a wide area of the inner surface PcI of the article Pc. As a result, when the article Pc is taken out, concentration of force on a part of the article Pc can be suppressed, and deformation of the article Pc can be suppressed.

The article contact portion 42 of the article pick-up device 400 is plate-shaped, and the lower portion thereof is rotated rearward in the pick-up direction Pu by the control device 800 . The article contact portion 42 contacts the upper portions of the outer surfaces PcO of all the arranged articles Pc at the same time.

In this way, the article pushing portion 41 and the article contacting portion 42 move in the take-out direction Pu while sandwiching all the arranged articles Pc from the front and rear, so that a plurality of articles Pc are arranged and It is moved to the article stacking section 124 and the articles Pc are stacked. Since the inner surface PcI of the article Pc is pushed while the outer surface PcO of the article Pc is supported when the article Pc is moved, it is possible to prevent the article Pc from falling or slipping.

Next, a procedure for moving a plurality of articles Pc in the take-out direction Pu and stacking them in the article stacking section 124 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which the article pick-up device 400 grabs the upper portion of the article Pc separated from the transport shuttle 14. As shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state in which the articles Pc are moved to the article stacking section 124. As shown in FIG. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing the operation of the article pick-up device 400 after the articles Pc have been accumulated in the article accumulation section 124. FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state in which the article Pc on the second stage has been moved to the article stacking section 124. As shown in FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a state in which the article Pc on the third stage has been moved to the article stacking section 124. As shown in FIG. The operation of article pick-up device 400 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 15. FIG.

The control device 800 controls so that the body portion 40 is placed above the articles Pc which are transported by the transport shuttle 14 and whose holding by the transport shuttle 14 is unlocked (see FIG. 10). At this time, the lower portion of the article pushing portion 41 is positioned rearward in the removal direction Pu, and the lower portion of the article contact portion 42 is positioned forward in the removal direction Pu.

Then, after the body portion 40 reaches a predetermined position above the article Pc, the control device 800 rotates the lower portion of the article pushing portion 41 forward in the take-out direction Pu to take out the lower portion of the article contact portion 42. Rotate backwards in direction Pu. As a result, the pushing plate portion 410 of the article pushing portion 41 contacts the upper portions of the inner surfaces PcI of all the articles Pc at the same time. Also, the boosting arm 411 contacts the vicinity of the center of the nail surface PcI of each article Pc (see FIG. 11). In addition, the article contact portion 42 simultaneously contacts the outer surfaces PcO of all the articles Pc in the take-out direction Pu (see FIG. 11).

Then, the control device 800 moves the plurality of articles Pc in the removal direction Pu from the front and rear in the removal direction Pu while holding them with the article pushing portion 41 and the article contact portion 42 . Thereby, the article Pc is taken out from the transport shuttle 14 and moved to the article stacking section 124 . By removing the articles Pc from the transport shuttle 14 in this manner, the transport shuttle 14 is separated from the articles Pc. Then, the control device 800 operates the transport linear motor mechanism 15 to move the transport shuttle 14 from which the article Pc has been separated along the branch rail 121 in the transport direction. Then, the control device 800 brings the outer surface PcO of the article Pc into contact with the retaining wall portion 1242 to stack the article Pc in the article stacking section 124 (see FIG. 12).

After the articles Pc are stacked in the article stacking section 124, the control device 800 rotates the article pushing section 41 away from the articles Pc and moves the body section 40 upward. After the article contact portion 42 moves above the article Pc, the control device 800 rotates the lower portion of the article contact portion 42 forward in the removal direction Pu (see FIG. 13). After that, the body portion 40, the article pushing portion 41 and the article contacting portion 42 are moved in the removal direction Pu.

By repeating such an operation, the articles Pc are stacked in the article stacking section 124 in two stages (see FIG. 14) and three stages (see FIG. 15) in the take-out direction Pu. After a certain number of articles Pc are stacked in the take-out direction Pu in this case, the article storage device 500 stores the articles Pc in the boxes Bx.

In the article pick-up device 400 of the present embodiment, an example is described in which four articles Pc arranged in the conveying direction Tr are taken out simultaneously in the picking-up direction Pu. may be arranged other than four. This case can be dealt with by changing the article pushing portion 41 and the article contacting portion 42 . The article pushing portion 41 and the article contacting portion 42 may be changed, for example, by deforming them, or they may be replaced with respect to the main body portion 40 . Also, the guide walls 1241 of the article stacking section 124 may be arranged according to the number of articles Pc in the transport direction Tr. At this time, the guide wall portion 1241 may be moved by sliding, or may be fixed at a predetermined position after being removed once.

<Article packing device 700>
The article processing apparatus A has an article packing apparatus 700 . The article packing device 700 packs the articles Pc stacked in the article stacking section 124 into the boxes Bx. Packing refers to the operation from the time a predetermined number of articles Pc are housed in the box Bx until the box Bx is completed.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the article packing device 700 has a box conveying section 70 , an article pick-up device 400 , an article storage device 500 , a box feeding device 600 and a box delivery section 7 .

The box supply device 600 folds the sheet Sh to form the box Bx, and supplies the box Bx to the box conveying section 70 . The box conveying unit 70 is arranged on the outer side Os of the branch rail 121 . The box conveying section 70 has a configuration using a box linear motor mechanism, and has a linear rail 701 and a box conveying shuttle 702 .

In the box conveying section 70, the direction in which the linear rails 701 extend is the conveying direction of the box Bx, that is, the box conveying direction Tb. At least a portion of the linear rail 701 is arranged parallel to the branch rail 121 .

The box transport shuttle 702 holds the box Bx from the front and rear sides in the box transport direction Tb and moves in the box transport direction Tb, thereby transporting the box Bx in the box transport direction Tb. The box conveying section 70 has box guide rails 76 arranged along the box conveying direction Tb (see FIG. 1). The self-container conveying section 70 has a plurality of box guide rails 76 , and the boxes Bx are arranged on the upper portion of the box guide rails 76 . The box Bx is slidably arranged on the box guide rail 76 when it is transferred to the box transfer shuttle 702 . That is, the box guide rails 76 support the box Bx from below.

In the box conveying section 70, the box conveying shuttle 702 is stopped at the storage area 70s for receiving the box Bx. With the box conveying shuttle 702 stopped, the boxes Bx from the box feeding device 600 are sent to the storage area 70s. Then, the box transport shuttle 702 transports the box body Bx in the box transport direction Tb while holding the front and back in the box transport direction Tb. The box conveying shuttle 702 stops so that the boxes Bx are arranged in the receiving area 70 t adjacent to the article stacking section 124 .

In the box conveying section 70 , a plurality of box conveying shuttles 702 are independently driven by the box linear motor mechanism 72 . As shown in FIG. 2 and the like, the box linear motor mechanism 72 has a plurality of coils 721 , magnets 722 , and a box transport linear driver 723 . A plurality of coils 721 are arranged inside the linear rail 701 in the box conveying direction Tb. The control device 800 is connected to the box transfer linear driver 723 , and the control device 800 controls the box transfer linear driver 723 . As a result, the box transport shuttle 702 moves along the linear rails 701 . Note that the control device 800 can control each of the box transport shuttles 702 independently.

The article pick-up device 400 and the article storage device 500 are arranged near the article stacking section 124 . The article pick-up device 400 moves the article Pc conveyed to the branch rail 121 to the article stacking section 124 and stacks the article Pc. The article storage device 500 stores the articles Pc stacked in the article stacking section 124 in the box Bx moved to the receiving area 70t.

<Lid Folding Portion 77>
The article packing apparatus 700 has a lid folding section 77 for folding the lid section of the box Bx on the side of the article stacking section 124 . The door of the box Bx is closed by the box closing mechanism 127 when the article Pc is completely stored. The door portion is a portion integrally formed with the side wall and bent inward. The box Bx is moved along the box conveying section 70 with the door closed. The box body Bx with the door portion closed moves to the lid folding portion 77 . The lid folding part 77 folds the lid part to the outside of the door part and adheres the door part and the lid part to complete the package Cx in which the article Pc is packed. The lid folding portion 77 pushes the lid portion of the box Bx from below to fold it and adhere the lid portion to the door portion.

<Box delivery unit 7>
The box delivery section 7 is arranged in an unloading area 70x at the rear end of the box conveying section 70 in the box conveying direction Tb. The box delivery section 7 has an extrusion section 78 . The completed package Cx is inspected by the lid folding section 77, and if it passes the inspection, the outside Os of the package Cx is pushed by the pushing section 78 and sent to the OK side (upper in FIG. 1). If the package fails the inspection, the inside Is of the package Cx is pushed by the pushing part 78 and sent to the NG side (lower side in FIG. 1). The package Cx sent to the OK side is carried out to the next process.

In the inspection of the box delivery unit 7 in the article processing apparatus A, the inspection of the box and the state of the articles Pc are mainly inspected. The article Pc itself has passed the exterior member attaching device 300 . In other words, even if the inspection of the box delivery section 7 fails, the stored article Pc itself is often an accepted article. Therefore, even when the package Cx is delivered to the NG side, it is handled so as not to damage the article Pc in the package Cx.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this content. Various modifications can be made to the embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the invention.

A Article processing apparatus Bx Box Cx Package Pc Article Pcf Front surface Pcr Rear surface 100 Article conveying apparatus 11 First conveying route 111 First straight rail 112 Second straight rail 113 First curved rail 114 Second curved rail 12 Second conveying route 121 branch rail 122 confluence rail 123 return rail 124 article stacking section 13 rail 131 main rail 132 grooved rail 133 flat rail 134 groove section 135 gap 13c curved short rail 13s straight short rail 14 conveying shuttle 140 body section 141 upper roller 142 lower roller 143 Convex portion 144 Inner surface 145 Outer surface 15 Transport linear motor mechanism 151 Coil 152 Magnet 153 Linear driver 16 Article holding portion 161 Holding plate portion 1611 Through hole 1612 Concave portion 162 Article engaging portion 163 Article supporting portion 164 Inclined surface 165 Rear pressing portion 166 Front surface Section 167 Rear Support Section 168 Front Support Section 200 Article Delivery Device 20 Article Supply Section 21 Nip Roller 211 Roller Motor 22 Transfer Lane 300 Exterior Member Mounting Device 30 Inspection Section 31 Mounting Section 310 Drive Motor Th Straw 400 Article Pick-up Device 41 Article Rear Pushing portion 410 Backing plate portion 411 Backing arm 42 Article abutment portion 500 Article storage device 51 Rear abutment portion 52 Side abutment portion 53 Front abutment portion 600 Box feeding device 61 Sheet accumulation portion 610 Seat rail 62 Sheet take-out part 63 Forming part 64 Sheet feeding part 65 Box moving part Sh Sheet 700 Article packing device 70 Box conveying part 701 Linear rail 702 Box conveying shuttle 70s Storage area 70t Receiving area 7 Box sending part 800 Control device 801 Processing circuit 802 memory circuit

Claims

An article pick-up device for taking out an article conveyed by a conveying shuttle that moves along a rail in a direction intersecting the conveying direction and sliding the article to an article stacking section,
an article pushing portion that pushes the rear surface of the article in the take-out direction;
an article contact portion that contacts the front surface of the article in the take-out direction;
After the transport shuttle stops at the take-out position where the article is taken out, the article pushing section pushes the rear surface of the article in the take-out direction, and the article contact section holds the front surface of the article in the take-out direction. The article pushing section and the article contact section are moved in the take-out direction while maintaining the state, and the articles held by the article pushing section and the article contact section are moved to a predetermined position in the article stacking section. An article pick-up device that moves to a stacking position.
2. The stacking position is a position where a front surface of the articles in the take-out direction abuts against a wall portion provided in the article stacking section, or a position close to the rear in the take-out direction of the pre-aggregated articles. Article retrieval apparatus as described.
The article pick-up device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a plurality of articles conveyed side by side in the conveying direction can be taken out at the same time.
The article pick-up device according to claim 3, wherein the article pushing section has a pushing arm that pushes the rear surface of each of the plurality of articles in the pick-up direction.
The article pick-up device according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the article contact portion contacts the front surface of all the articles in the pick-up direction.