WO2023234010A1

WO2023234010A1 - Article conveyance device

Info

Publication number: WO2023234010A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/018320
Authority: WO
Inventors: 広衛川島; 浩光恩田; 隆秋本庄
Original assignee: オリオン機械工業株式会社
Priority date: 2022-06-01
Filing date: 2023-05-16
Publication date: 2023-12-07
Also published as: JP7398755B1; JP2023181570A

Abstract

[Problem] To provide an article conveyance device with which articles are stably conveyed even under high-speed operation, and productivity is improved. [Solution] The article conveyance device 1 comprises: a linear conveyor 4 configured such that a large number of sliders 11 that can be independently subjected to position control are movable along a base 10; a carrier 5 that receives an article W, the carrier 5 being rotatably supported by a front slider 11 of a pair of front and rear sliders 11, 11 disposed at an interval along the traveling direction; a link mechanism (coupling mechanism) that couples the carrier 5 and the rear slider 11; and a control device 7 including a control logic that controls the rotation angle of the carrier 5 via the link mechanism by controlling the distance between the pair of front and rear sliders 11, 11. Consequently, articles are stably conveyed even under high-speed operation, and productivity can be improved.

Description

Goods conveyance device

The present invention relates to an article conveying device that conveys an article, for example, an article that is a stack of multiple masks and cards.

As a conventional technology for the above-mentioned article conveyance device, Patent Document 1 discloses an article supply means for sequentially supplying the supplied aggregates to a supply position on an article conveyance route at a predetermined timing, and An article conveying means that conveys the stack along an article conveying path, a carton conveying means that sequentially conveys a carton with a cylindrical open body to an insertion area (insertion position), and an article conveying means that transports the accumulated body. A cartoner is disclosed that includes an article insertion means for inserting an article into the body of the carton in an insertion area on an article conveyance path while conveying the article. In the cartoner described in Patent Document 1, the article supply means supplies the stack to a supply position on the article conveyance path, and the article insertion means supplies the stack from the insertion area on the article conveyance path into the body of the carton. The direction of insertion is parallel to the direction of insertion.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-201409

As described above, in the cartoner described in Patent Document 1, the direction in which the stack is supplied by the article supply means is perpendicular to the direction in which the stack is conveyed along the article conveyance path by the article conveyance means. At this position, the traveling direction of the stack (the conveyance direction along the article conveyance path) changes direction at right angles. As a result, at the supply position of the stack, the previous forward speed instantaneously becomes zero, and when it reaches the article conveyance path and heads in the conveyance direction, it must be accelerated instantaneously, and when operating at high speed, The overlapping of the aggregates tends to be disordered.

In addition, in the cartoner described in Patent Document 1, the supply direction of the stack by the article supplying means to the supply position on the article conveyance path, and the direction from the insertion area of the stack on the article conveyance path to the inside of the body of the carton by the article insertion means. Since the article is configured to be parallel to the insertion direction in plan view, the space around the article conveyance path cannot be effectively utilized, resulting in poor space efficiency, and there is room for improvement. Moreover, in the cartoner described in Patent Document 1, the relative positions of the article supplying means and the article transporting means with respect to the article conveyance path are limited, resulting in poor versatility regarding installation locations. Furthermore, in article conveyance devices, it has traditionally been a major challenge to shorten the time involved in conveying articles and improve productivity.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and an object of the present invention is to provide an article conveying device that stably conveys articles even in high-speed operation and improves productivity.

As a means for solving the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 is an article conveying device for conveying articles, in which a number of sliders whose positions can be controlled independently of each other are movable along a base. a linear conveyor, a conveyor that is rotatably supported by one of the pair of front and rear sliders arranged at intervals along the traveling direction and receives the article, and the conveyor and the other slider. a control device that includes a connection mechanism that connects the slider and a control logic that controls the rotation angle of the conveyor through the connection mechanism by controlling the distance between the pair of front and rear sliders; It is characterized by having
In the invention of claim 1, in the control device, by controlling the distance between the pair of sliders, the rotation angle of the conveying body can be controlled via the coupling mechanism, so that the supply of articles to the conveying body can be controlled. The direction and the direction in which the article is carried out from the carrier can be freely controlled. As a result, the orientation of the articles can be changed over time, so if the articles are stacked, for example, the overlapping of the articles will not be disturbed and high-speed operation will be possible. Moreover, since the direction in which the article is supplied to the conveyor and the direction in which the article is taken out from the conveyor can be freely controlled, the installation space for the article supply means, the article carry-out means, etc. can be effectively utilized. . In addition, since the relative positions of the article supply means, article discharge means, etc. with respect to the article conveyance path (linear conveyor) are not limited, versatility regarding the installation location is excellent.

In the invention set forth in claim 2, in the invention set forth in claim 1, the control device gradually changes the distance between the pair of front and rear sliders while the pair of front and rear sliders moves along the base. The present invention is characterized in that it includes control logic for rotating the carrier.
In the invention of claim 2, the conveyance body moves while rotating in accordance with the movement of the pair of sliders, so that the direction of the article is changed over time with respect to conveyance of the article. Goods can be transported stably without any significant loss.

The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention described in claim 1, the base is configured in an endless shape.
In the invention of claim 3, instead of reciprocating the conveyor connected to the pair of sliders between the article carry-in position and the article carry-out range on the article conveyance route, a large number of conveyors are moved on a base. By moving it in one direction along the line and circulating it, it can be moved to the article carry-in position and the article carry-out range. As a result, there is no time loss or structural complexity, and the article can be stored in the conveyor at the article carry-in position, and the article can be carried out within the article carry-out range by rotating the conveyor at a predetermined rotation angle. The series of operations for carrying out the article from the conveyor can be repeated smoothly and without any time loss in the article carrying range.

The invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that, in the invention described in claim 1, the direction in which the article is supplied to the carrier and the direction in which the article is carried out from the carrier are orthogonal in plan view. It is something to do.
According to the invention of claim 4, the entire article conveying device including the article supply means and the article carrying means can be made much more compact in plan view than the conventional cartoner (cartoner described in Patent Document 1), and the occupied space is further reduced. can be reduced, making space efficiency very good.

In the invention set forth in claim 5, in the invention set forth in claim 1, the control device controls a plurality of the articles to be continuously supplied to the plurality of conveyance bodies that continuously move on the linear conveyor. The present invention is characterized in that it includes control logic for simultaneously carrying out articles from each conveyance body while being carried in continuously, while the plurality of conveyance bodies are stopped.
In the invention of claim 5, in particular, since each article is simultaneously carried out from each conveyor while the plurality of conveyors are stopped, the production speed can be increased, and productivity can be improved.

With the article conveyance device according to the present invention, articles can be stably conveyed even in high-speed operation, productivity can be improved, and space can be used effectively.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall image of an article conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing how an article is carried into a conveyor from an article supply means of an article conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the peripheral structure including the transport body of the article transport device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a peripheral structure including a transport body of an article transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing how the transport body of the article transport device according to the embodiment of the present invention rotates. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing how the transport body of the article transport device according to the embodiment of the present invention rotates.

Hereinafter, an article conveying device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on FIGS. 1 to 6.
The article conveyance device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is for conveying an article W which is an accumulation, for example, an article W which is an accumulation of a plurality of masks, cards, etc., over a predetermined distance. Referring to FIG. 1, an article conveyance device 1 according to the present embodiment includes an article supply means 18 and an article carry-out means (not shown), and includes an article W carried in by the article supply means 18 at an article carry-in position. The article W is conveyed to an article carry-out range, and the article W is carried out to the next process by an article carry-out means in the article carry-out range.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the article conveyance device 1 according to the present embodiment is particularly constructed of a linear conveyor in which a large number of sliders 11 whose positions can be controlled independently of each other are movable along a base 10. 4, a transport body 5 which is rotatably supported by the front slider 11 of a pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 arranged at intervals along the traveling direction and receives the article W; By controlling the distance between the link mechanism 6 that connects the slider 11 on the rear side and the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11, a control logic that controls the rotation angle of the carrier 5 via the link mechanism 6 is implemented. A control device 7 including the control device 7 is provided. As will be described in detail later, the control device 7 particularly controls the position of each

slider

11, 11 of the linear conveyor 4 based on detection signals from various detection sensors (not shown) including a linear scale described later. be. The link mechanism 6 corresponds to a coupling mechanism.

Referring to FIG. 1, the linear conveyor 4 uses a linear motor as a drive source to move a large number of

sliders

11, 11, respectively, along rails laid on a base 10. Note that a so-called moving magnet type linear motor is applied as the linear motor. Specifically, in this movable magnet type linear motor, an electromagnet (armature) is fixed on a base 10 as a linear motor stator, a permanent magnet is fixed on each slider 11 as a linear motor mover, and the electromagnet Propulsive force is given to each slider 11 by controlling the current supply to the coils that constitute the slider. Then, a linear scale including a scale fixed to each slider 11 and a plurality of sensors arranged on the base 10 side is incorporated. Based on the position detection by this linear scale, the current supply to the coils is controlled, thereby making it possible to move each slider 11 to a specific position. In short, in the linear conveyor 4, the control device 7 can independently control the positions, speeds, etc. of the

many sliders

11, 11.

Referring to FIG. 1, the base 10 of the linear conveyor 4 is connected to a pair of semicircular

arcuate parts

14, 14 whose external shapes are opposite in side view, and a pair of semicircular

arcuate parts

14, 14, which are opposite to each other. It is configured in an endless shape having an oval shape and consisting of a pair of

linear portions

15, 15. In this embodiment, the base 10 has an endless shape with an oval outer shape when viewed from the side; however, the base 10 has an oval outer shape when viewed from above. It may be configured to be endless. The distal end of the article supply means 18 on the discharge side is disposed directly above the upper straight portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4 on the upstream side in the conveyance direction (left side in FIG. 1). The direction in which the article W is supplied by the article supply means 18 coincides with the longitudinal direction of the linear portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4 .

The position of the linear conveyor 4 where the discharging end of the article supply means 18 (a pair of upper and lower belt units 20, 20) is arranged is the article carry-in position where the article W is carried into the conveyor 5 by the article supply means 18. Become. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the article supply means 18 generally includes a pair of upper and

lower belt units

20, 20. The pair of upper and

lower belt units

20, 20 are configured such that the pair of upper and lower endless belts face each other within a predetermined range. The pair of upper and

lower belt units

20, 20 are configured to move so that the pair of upper and lower endless belts circulates in one direction by the rotation of each drive roller (not shown). The pair of upper and

lower belt units

20, 20 are arranged to be inclined downward toward the article loading position of the linear conveyor 4.

Out of the pair of upper and

lower belt units

20, 20, the distal end of the lower belt unit 20 on the discharge side is connected to a pair of conveyors 5, which will be described later, on the

sliders

11, 11 that have reached the article loading position of the linear conveyor 4. It is arranged between the

posture holding members

24, 24 and between the pair of

stopper members

25, 25. Then, the pair of

belt units

20, 20 are operated by the driving rollers, so that a large number of articles W are moved between the pair of upper and

lower belt units

20, 20 at a distance from each other, and the output side thereof is moved. The

sliders

11, 11, which have reached the article carrying position of the linear conveyor 4 one after another from the tip end, are carried onto a pair of

support members

26, 26 between a pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 of the conveyor 5, which will be described later. Ru.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the carrier 5 is rotatably supported by the front slider 11 of a pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 arranged adjacently at intervals along the traveling direction. Ru. The carrier 5 is connected to the rear slider 11 of the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 via the link mechanism 6. One conveyor 5 is provided for each pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 arranged along the base 10 and adjacent to each other along the traveling direction. The transport body 5 includes a pair of

attitude holding members

24, 24 having an L-shaped cross section and arranged at a distance from each other, and

stopper members

25, 25 that respectively close the forward ends of the pair of

attitude holding members

24, 24 in the advancing direction.

Support members

26, 26 are provided that stand up from the bottom ends of the pair of

posture holding members

24, 24, respectively, and support the article W from below.

The pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 are arranged at intervals along the width direction of the article W. The pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 are arranged so that their bottoms are close to each other and face each other. The distance between the pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 is appropriately set according to the width of the article W. The height of the posture holding member 24 is also appropriately set corresponding to the height of the article W. A notch recess 28 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) that spans between the pair of

attitude holding members

24, 24 is formed at the rear end in the traveling direction of the bottom of the pair of

attitude holding members

24, 24. The stopper member 25 closes the front end of the posture holding member 24 in the advancing direction.

The support members 26 are erected from mutually opposing ends at the bottoms of the pair of

posture holding members

24, 24, respectively. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the upper end of each

support member

26, 26 is bent toward the side of the

posture holding member

24, 24, respectively. Referring to FIG. 3, an accommodation space 47 in which the article W is accommodated is formed between the pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 of the transport body 5 and on the pair of

support members

26, 26. The pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 hold the stack of articles W without disturbing them in the width direction. As described above, the lower belt unit 20 constituting the article supply means 18 is placed between the pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 of the conveyor 5 and between the pair of

stopper members

25, 25. The unloading side tip is inserted.

2 to 4, a rotating cylinder member 39, which will be described later, is provided on the upper surface of the front slider 11 of the front and rear pair of

sliders

11, 11, and a rear side of the front and rear pair of

sliders

11, 11. It is connected to the slider 11 by a link mechanism 6. The link mechanism 6 includes a first link 31 and a second link 32 rotatably connected to the tip of a link portion 36 of the first link 31. The first link 31 includes an annular portion 35 (see also FIG. 6) and a link portion 36 that projects radially outward from the outer peripheral surface of the annular portion 35. The second link 32 is formed into a rod shape. Further, a support cylinder member 38 is fixed to the upper surface of the front slider 11 of the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11. A cylindrical rotating cylinder member 39 is rotatably supported within the support cylinder member 38 via a bearing 40 with respect to the support cylinder member 38 . An annular portion 35 of the first link 31 is fixed to the upper end surface of the rotating cylinder member 39.

Referring also to FIG. 6, a pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 are integrally connected. The intermediate member 41 is formed into a block shape. The pair of

intermediate members

41, 41 are arranged along the same direction as the pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 with an interval therebetween. The distance between the pair of

intermediate members

41, 41 and the distance between the pair of

support members

26, 26 of the carrier 5 are approximately the same. The inner diameter of the annular portion 35 of the first link 31 and the inner diameter of the rotating cylinder member 39 substantially match. The tip of the link portion 36 of the first link 31 and one axial end of the second link 32 are rotatably connected to each other by a first connecting pin 44 . The first connecting pin 44 extends along the vertical direction.

On the other hand, the other axial end of the second link 32 is rotatably connected to a second connecting pin 45 erected from the upper surface of the slider 11 on the rear side. Referring to FIGS. 4 to 6, as the first link 31 of the link mechanism 6 rotates, the rotating cylinder member 39 rotates with respect to the support cylinder member 38, and the carrier 5 also rotates. move. As a result, by changing the distance between the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 adjacent to each other at intervals along the traveling direction, the rotary cylinder member is arranged on the front slider 11 via the link mechanism 6. 39 rotates around the radial center of the support cylinder member 38, and the conveyor 5 rotates around the radial center of the support cylinder member 38.

Referring to FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, at the article loading position of the linear conveyor 4, the distance between the front and rear pair of

sliders

11, 11 is set to a predetermined maximum distance, and the pair of posture holding members constituting the conveyor 5 The orientation of the pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 of the conveyor 5 is such that the longitudinal direction of the accommodation space 47 (see FIG. 3) between the

conveyors

24, 24 coincides with the longitudinal direction of the linear portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4. controlled. On the other hand, in the article carrying range (described later) of the linear conveyor 4, the distance between the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 is set as a predetermined minimum distance, and the accommodation space 47 (see Fig. The pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 of the conveyor 5 are arranged so that the longitudinal direction (see 3) coincides with the direction (width direction) orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the linear portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4 in plan view. Orientation is controlled. Note that the article delivery range is the upper straight portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4, and is on the downstream side in the conveyance direction (the right side in FIG. 1).

Referring to FIG. 1, an article delivery means (not shown) is disposed on the upper straight portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4, on the downstream side in the conveyance direction (on the right side in FIG. 1). The range of the linear conveyor 4 where this article carrying-out means is arranged becomes the article carrying-out range in which the articles are carried out from each conveyor 5 by the article carrying-out means. When a plurality of carriers 5 (five in FIG. 1) corresponding to the pair of front and rear sliders 11 are stopped at intervals in the article carrying range, the article W is removed from each carrier 5 by the article carrying means. The conveyor 5 is slightly raised to avoid the

stopper members

25, 25 of each conveyor 5, and conveyed in a direction (width direction) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the linear portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4 in plan view. In short, the direction in which the article W is carried out by the article carrying means coincides with the direction (width direction) orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the linear portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4 in plan view. Further, the article carrying out means simultaneously carries out a plurality of articles W corresponding to the number of conveyors 5 stopped in the article carrying range.

In particular, the control device 7 shown in FIG. 1 controls the position of each slider 11 of the linear conveyor 4, that is, each conveyor 5, the distance between the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 corresponding to the conveyor 5, and the operation of the article delivery means. etc. are controlled based on detection signals from various detection sensors (not shown) including the linear scale. The control method by the control device 7 will be explained in detail when explaining the operation of the article conveyance device 1 according to the present embodiment, which will be described later.

Next, the operation of the article conveyance device 1 according to this embodiment will be explained. In addition, as described above, the position of each

slider

11, 11 of the linear conveyor 4, that is, each conveyor 5, the distance between the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 corresponding to the conveyor 5, and the article delivery, which will be explained below. The operation of the means is controlled by a control device 7.
1 and 2, the distance between the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 having the carrier 5 is a predetermined maximum distance, and the carrier 5 is When the longitudinal direction of the storage space 47 is aligned with the longitudinal direction of the linear portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4 (the rotation angle of the conveyor 5 is 0°), the belt unit 20 on the lower side of the article supply means 18 is placed on the discharge side. The distal end is located between the pair of posture holding members 24, 24 (between the pair of stopper members 25, 25) and continuously moves to the article loading position.

Referring to FIG. 2, at the timing when the article W is carried out from the discharging side tips of the pair of

belt units

20, 20 of the article supply means 18, the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 having the conveyor 5 are moved. Upon reaching the article loading position, the article W from the distal end portions of the pair of

belt units

20, 20 on the discharge side is loaded between the pair of

posture holding members

24, 24 of the conveyor 5. Then, the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 having the conveyor 5 that has received the article W moves forward without stopping, while maintaining the distance between them, that is, while the conveyor 5 maintains its state, and supplies the article. It slips out from the belt unit 20 below the means 18. By repeating this operation, a large number of articles W that are continuously carried out (with very small intervals between them) from the discharging side tips of the pair of

belt units

20, 20 of the article supplying means 18 are transferred to the linear conveyor. The articles are received one after another by a large number of pairs of front and

rear sliders

11, 11's carriers 5 (a pair of posture holding members 24, 24) that continuously move on the bases 10 of 4, and each carrier 5 receives the articles without stopping. Move towards the removal area.

Next, referring to FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 corresponding to the carrier 5 that has received the article W moves forward on the linear portion 15 on the upper side of the base 10. As the distance between the pair of front and rear sliders 11 gradually decreases, the rotary cylinder member 39 disposed on the front slider 11 moves around the radial center of the support cylinder member 38 via the link mechanism 6. In FIG. 1, the carrier 5 rotates counterclockwise in a plan view, and the carrier 5 rotates in the same direction about the radial center of the support cylinder member 38. Then, when approaching the article carrying range, the distance between the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 having each carrier 5 becomes a predetermined minimum distance, so that the carrier 5 is moved between the pair of

posture holding members

24, 24. is rotated until the longitudinal direction of the accommodation space 47 coincides with the direction orthogonal to the linear portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4 in plan view (the rotation angle of the conveyor 5 is 90°).

Next, referring to FIG. 1, each rotated conveyance body 5 (a pair of front and rear sliders 11, 11) moves forward while maintaining this state without stopping, and waits in front of the article carrying range. be done. Subsequently, if the number of carriers 5 in the article carrying range is less than a predetermined number, the waiting carriers 5 are advanced to a predetermined position in the article carrying range. Referring to FIG. 1, in the article carrying range, a predetermined number of carriers 5 containing articles W, five carriers 5 in this embodiment, are arranged at predetermined positions spaced apart from each other. When this is detected, the article delivery means is activated.

Then, when the article carrying out means is operated, the article W (five articles W) is slightly raised from each conveying body 5 (five conveying bodies 5) by the article conveying means, and the stopper of each conveying body 5 is raised. While avoiding the

members

25, 25, they are carried out in a direction (width direction) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the linear portion 15 of the linear conveyor 4 in plan view. Subsequently, referring to FIG. 1, when each article W is carried out from each carrier 5 in the article carrying range, the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 having each empty carrier 5 are The object moves along the semicircular arc portion 14 of the base 10 (the semicircular arc portion 14 on the right side in FIG. 1) while maintaining the distance at a predetermined minimum distance. Note that after each article W is discharged from each conveyance body 5 by the article discharge means, each empty conveyance body 5 and the article discharge means do not interfere with each other, so that each empty conveyance body 5 is transported by the article discharge means. It can be moved without waiting until it returns to the initial position, and the takt time for unloading can be made faster.

Subsequently, when the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 having each empty carrier 5 reach the lower linear portion 15 of the base 10, the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 having each carrier 5, While moving forward on the lower linear portion 15 of the base 10, the distance between the pair of front and rear sliders 11 gradually increases, and as shown in FIG. When the rotating cylinder member 39 disposed on the rotating cylinder member 11 rotates, the carrier 5 also rotates in the same direction.

Then, when the distance between the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 having the empty carrier 5 becomes a predetermined maximum distance, the empty carrier 5 can be stored in the accommodation space 47 between the pair of

posture holding members

24, 24. The longitudinal direction of the linear conveyor 4 coincides with the longitudinal direction of the linear part 15 of the linear conveyor 4, and the linear part 15 and the semicircular arc part 14 on the lower side of the base 10 (the semicircular arc part 14 on the left side in FIG. ) and wait in sequence in front of the article loading position.

As explained above, in the article conveyance device 1 according to the present embodiment, the linear conveyor 4 is configured such that a large number of sliders 11 whose positions can be controlled independently of each other are movable along the base 10, and A transport body 5 rotatably supported by the front slider 11 of a pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 arranged at intervals along the line and receiving the article W, and the transport body 5 and the rear slider 11. A control device 7 including a control logic that controls the rotation angle of the carrier 5 via the link mechanism 6 by controlling the distance between the link mechanism 6 that connects the sliders 11 and the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11; It is equipped with

In this way, the article conveyance device 1 according to the present embodiment particularly employs the linear conveyor 4, and controls the link mechanism 6 by controlling the distance between the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 by the control device 7. Since the rotation angle of the conveyor 5 can be controlled through the media, the direction in which the article W is supplied to the conveyor 5 by the article supply means 18 and the direction in which each article W is carried out from each conveyor 5 by the article discharge means can be controlled. Can be set freely. As a result, the direction of the conveyor 5, that is, the direction of the articles W, can be changed over time, so even during high-speed operation, the articles W, which are stacks, are stably conveyed without being disturbed. It becomes possible to do so. In addition, the article supply means 18, the article transport means, etc. can be installed appropriately in accordance with the limited layout of the installation location, and the space can be used effectively. In other words, the relative positions of the article supplying means 18, article carrying means, etc. with respect to the linear conveyor 4 are not limited, so the versatility regarding the installation location is excellent.

Further, the article conveying device 1 according to the present embodiment employs the linear conveyor 4, so that while the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11 are moved along the base 10 by the control device 7, the pair of

sliders

11, 11 of the front and rear , 11 can be gradually changed to rotate the carrier 5. As a result, the conveyor 5 can move while rotating in accordance with the movement of the pair of front and

rear sliders

11, 11, so it is possible to eliminate time loss in conveying the article W, and as a result, productivity can be improved. can be improved. Furthermore, since the orientation of the articles W is changed over time, even during high-speed operation, it is possible to stably transport the articles W as a stack without disturbing the overlapping of the articles W.

Furthermore, by employing the linear conveyor 4, the article conveyance device 1 according to the present embodiment allows the control device 7 to rotate the conveyor 5 up to a predetermined rotation angle and then move it forward and backward without stopping. It becomes possible to move the carrier 5 forward while maintaining the distance between the pair of

sliders

11, 11. As a result, even if the conveyance distance is long, the article W can be quickly conveyed to a predetermined article carry-out range, and productivity can be further improved.

Furthermore, in the article conveyance device 1 according to the present embodiment, by employing the linear conveyor 4, the direction of the conveyor 5 can be changed while the article W is conveyed by the conveyor 5, and as a result, the article The direction in which the article W is supplied to the carrier 5 by the supply means 18 and the direction in which the article W is carried out from the carrier 5 by the article carry-out means can be made orthogonal in plan view. The article supply means 18 can be placed directly above the base 10 of the linear conveyor 4. As a result, the entire article conveying device 1 including the article supplying means 18 and the article carrying means can be made much more compact in plan view than the conventional cartoner (the cartoner described in Patent Document 1), and the occupied space can be reduced. This makes it possible to achieve very good space efficiency.

Furthermore, in the article conveying device 1 according to the present embodiment, the control device 7 controls the control device 7 to control the control device 7 so that a large number of articles W continuously supplied by the article supply means 18 are continuously moved on the base 10 of the linear conveyor 4. The control logic includes a control logic in which the articles W, W are continuously carried into the conveying body 5, while the articles W, W are simultaneously conveyed out from the respective conveying

bodies

5, 5 while the plurality of conveying

bodies

5, 5 are stopped. This makes it possible to increase production speed and, in turn, improve productivity.

In the article conveying device 1 according to the present embodiment, the conveying body 5 and the rear slider 11 are connected by the link mechanism 6. In order to rotate the carrier 5 by changing the rotational speed, a gear mechanism such as a rack and pinion mechanism that replaces linear motion with rotational motion, or other linear motion rotation conversion mechanism may be used instead. Although it is difficult to employ a gear mechanism such as this rack and pinion mechanism in the endless linear conveyor 4 including the

semicircular arc parts

14, 14, it is difficult to apply it to the linear conveyor 4 that does not include the

semicircular arc parts

14, 14. It becomes possible to adopt.

1 Article conveyance device, 4 Linear conveyor, 5 Conveyor, 6 Link mechanism (connection mechanism), 7 Control device, 10 Base, 11 Slider, 18 Article supply means, W Article

Claims

An article conveying device that conveys articles,
A linear conveyor configured with a large number of sliders whose positions can be controlled independently of each other and which are movable along a base;
a conveying body rotatably supported by one of the pair of front and rear sliders arranged at intervals along the traveling direction and receiving the article;
a connection mechanism that connects the conveyor and the other slider;
a control device including a control logic that controls a rotation angle of the carrier via the coupling mechanism by controlling a distance between the pair of front and rear sliders;
An article conveyance device comprising:
The control device includes control logic that rotates the carrier by gradually changing the distance between the pair of front and rear sliders while the pair of front and rear sliders moves along the base. The article conveying device according to claim 1.
The article conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the base is configured in an endless shape.
The article conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the direction in which the article is supplied to the conveyor and the direction in which the article is taken out from the conveyor are orthogonal in plan view.
The control device may be arranged such that the plurality of continuously supplied articles are continuously carried into the plurality of conveyance bodies that continuously move on the linear conveyor, while the plurality of conveyance bodies are stopped. The article conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control logic for simultaneously unloading each article from each conveyor.