JPH0121025B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention involves transporting a cart running on a floor by engaging it with a chain via an engagement/disengagement mechanism, and also engaging the chain by coming into contact with a parked front cart, etc. The present invention relates to a tow conveyor that can be accumulated by disengaging the tow conveyor, and more particularly to a tow conveyor that can shorten its length during accumulation.

In general, tow conveyor carts have a leading portion that projects forward and a tail portion that projects rearward, in addition to the main body of the cart on which objects are placed, and are relatively long. For this reason, even when the carts are accumulated in an empty state without carrying objects, a long distance is required for a predetermined number of long carts to be lined up. In particular, as shown in FIG. 6, in an automobile painting line, a body that has passed through a drying oven D of a predetermined length on an overhead conveyor line A is transferred to a tow conveyor line B by an elevating transfer device L1. After being subjected to a predetermined process on the tow conveyor B, the tow is transferred to another overhead conveyor line C using the lifting transfer device L2, but when the line is stopped at the end of the workday, all the bodies in the drying oven D are removed. Since the tow is stopped in the discharged state, at the start of line operation, after the previous day's discharge is transferred to the tow conveyor B, new transfer to the tow conveyor B is stopped for the time required to pass through the drying oven. For this reason, a large number of empty carts will accumulate in front of the lifting/lowering transfer device L1,
Long distance (buffa distance) for these empty trolleys
I needed l.

Therefore, the present invention provides a space between the bogie main body and the leading part.
and a connecting member rotatably connected around a horizontal axis is interposed between the truck body and the tail,
These connecting members are constructed so that they can be folded into the lower inner side of the trolley body, and when the trolley body is empty and no objects are placed on it, the leading portion and the tail portion can be retracted into the inside of the trolley body, The object of the present invention is to provide a tow conveyor in which the buffing distance l is significantly shortened by shortening the length of the cart.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tow conveyor 1 has a truck 2, and the truck 2 has a leading portion protruding in front of the truck main body 5 on which a conveyed object 3 such as a white body can be placed. 6 and a rearwardly projecting tail 7. Additionally, four caster-like wheels 9 are attached to the truck body 5 so as to be rotatable around a vertical axis 10, and these wheels 9 are attached to rails 11 installed on the floor F (see Fig. 5). ). Further, the leading portion 6 is made of a rod member, and rolling wheels 12 are provided at both ends of the rod member.
13 are rotatably connected around vertical shafts 14 and 15, and these rolling wheels 12 and 13 are connected to the floor F.
It is guided by rails 16, 16 installed below the surface. A connecting member 17 is rotatably connected to the rear end of the leading rod member 6 about a horizontal axis 19. Furthermore, the connecting member 17 expands in a figure eight shape and is attached to the main body 5 of the bogie with a horizontal axis. They are rotatably connected around 20. On the other hand, the tail part 7 is also made of a rod member similar to the leading part 6, and rolling wheels 21 and 22 are connected to both ends of the rod member so as to be rotatable about vertical shafts 23 and 25. The moving vehicles 21 and 22 are guided by rails 16 and 16. A connecting member 26 similar to the connecting member 17 is connected to the tip of the tail rod member 7 so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis 27, and the tip of the connecting part 26 is rotatable about a horizontal axis 29. It is movably connected to the truck body 5.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, a pin 30 is supported by the front rolling wheel 12 in a vertically slidable manner and is biased downwardly by a spring 31. An operating piece 32 protruding forward is fixed. On the other hand, an engagement protrusion 33 is fixed to the rear rolling wheel 22 so as to protrude rearward, and the pin 30 can be moved upward when the actuation piece 32 comes into contact with the engagement protrusion 33.
Chain support rails 35, 35 are arranged below the rail 16 (see Fig. 5).
A support roller of a drive chain 36 and an engaging rolling element 37 are guided on the rail 35 . The engaging rolling elements 37 are arranged at each predetermined pitch of the chain 36, and the rolling elements 37 are provided with pushing dots 3.
9 and an overrun prevention dock 40 are arranged rotatably by pins 41 and 42, respectively, and biased by gravity into the illustrated posture, and furthermore, in a normal state, the above-mentioned The lower end of pin 30 is engaged.

On the other hand, near the lifting and lowering transfer devices L1 and L2 in the tow conveyor line B, that is, immediately after the transported object 3 is removed from the trolley body 5, and the transported object 3 is transferred to the trolley main body 5.
Immediately before being transferred, a cart folding device K1 and a folding release device K2 are provided (see FIG. 6). Folding device and unfolding device K1, K2
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the truck body 5
It consists of a lift device 43 that lifts the tail section 7 from below, a feed device 45 that moves it back and forth, and a feed device 46 for the tail section 7. The trolley body feeding device 45 has parallel links 49, 49 that are pivotally supported on the bottom surface of a recess 47 formed under the floor F, and the links 49 are connected to a hydraulic cylinder 50 installed between the sides of the recess 47. The plate 51 can be moved in the front and rear directions. Further, the lift device 43 has two parallel lifting links 52, 52 disposed on the left and right sides of the rails 16, 35, and the link 52 is slid on one end by a hydraulic cylinder 53, while the upper plate 55 can be moved up or down. Further, a mounting plate 57 is supported on the upper plate 55 via a spring 56, and the plate 57 can support the truck body 5 from below. Further, the tail feed device 46 has a rotary actuator 59, and the actuator 59
An arm 60 fixed to can abut the rear end (folding device K1) or the front end (unfolding device K2) of the tail 7 to move the tail 7 forward or backward.

Since this embodiment has the above-described configuration, when the object 3 is placed on the trolley body 5 and the trolley 2 is transported, the trolley 2 is in an extended state as shown in FIG. There is. That is, the connecting members 17 and 23 extend outside the truck body 5 and are connected to the leading portion 6 and the tail portion 7, so that the truck 2 is slightly longer than the total length of the transported object. Then, the pin 30 of the front rolling wheel 12 engages between the pushing and overrun prevention dots 39 and 40 of the engaging rolling element 37 which is linked to the drive chain 36, and the rolling wheel 1
2 Therefore, the trolley 2 is driven by the drive chain 36.
It's driving. Further, in the work process on the tow conveyor line B, when the preceding cart is stopped, the front rolling wheel 12 of the following cart 2 approaches the rear rolling wheel 22 of the preceding cart and protrudes forward. Engagement protrusion 3 from which actuating piece 32 protrudes rearward
3, the actuating piece 32 moves upward together with the pin 30 against the spring 31, disengaging the pin 30 from the engagement between the two docks 39 and 40. As a result, the cart 2 is stopped and accumulated at that position. Further, when the preceding truck moves, the actuating piece 32 is disengaged from the engagement protrusion 33, and the pin 30 is again connected to the spring 31.
The overrun prevention dot 40 of the moving engagement rolling element 37 is tilted by its slope, the pin 30 is engaged with the push dot 39, and the bogie 2 is run and driven again. .

Then, the trolley 2 reaches the lifting/lowering transfer device L2 of the tow conveyor line B, transfers the transported object 3 of the trolley body 5 to the overhead conveyor line C, and when the trolley 2 becomes empty, the trolley 2 moves to the folding device L2. It is folded at K1. That is, in the folding device K1, when the cart 2 is positioned on top of the folding device K1, the upper plate 55 of the lift device 43 is raised in parallel by the hydraulic cylinder 53.
Further, the mounting plate 57 is raised via the spring 56 to lift the truck body 5, and in this state, the hydraulic cylinder 50 moves the feeding device 45 forward to send the truck body 5 forward, and the tail portion feeding device The arm 60 of 46 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4 to send the tail 7 forward. As a result, trolley 2
is folded as shown in FIG. That is, the leading part connecting member 17 is folded around the horizontal axes 19 and 20 so as to be located on the lower inner side of the truck main body 5, and the leading part 6 is retracted in the direction of the truck main body 5.
The tail connecting member 26 is folded around the horizontal shafts 27 and 29 so as to be located inside the lower part of the truck body 5,
The tail portion 7 is retracted in the direction of the truck body 5. As a result, the length of the bogie 2 becomes twice as long as the connecting members 17 and 26, and in this state, the empty bogie runs and is driven, and as described above, it is stopped and driven again by the vertical movement of the pin 30. Ru. Then, in the folding release device K2 immediately before the conveyed object is placed on the trolley body 5,
Acting in the opposite direction to that previously described, the carriage 2 is returned to the extended position shown in FIG.

As explained above, according to the present invention, by folding the connecting members 17, 26 connecting the truck body 5, the leading portion 6, and the tail portion 7 to the lower inner side of the truck body, the truck 2 can be moved. Since the length can be significantly shortened, the buffer distance l for running and accumulating empty carts can be set significantly short, and the total length of the tow conveyor line B can be shortened. Conveyor line A associated therewith,
The design of C is also facilitated. In addition, the connecting members 17, 2
The overall length of the trolley 2 can be adjusted by simply changing the length of the trolley 6. Even if the length of the transported object changes due to a change in vehicle model, etc., it can be easily accommodated without changing the entire trolley, and the buffer distance can be adjusted. Coupled with the ability to provide a margin for l, the versatility of the conveyor line B can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a side view of the trolley with objects placed on it, Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the front and rear rolling wheels, and Figure 3 is the trolley in its folded state. 4A is a side view showing the truck folding (releasing) device, B is a plan view showing its tail feeding device, FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view thereof, and FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the conveyor line. . DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Tow conveyor, 2... Carriage, 3... Transported object, 5... Car body, 6... Leading part, 7... Tail part, 17... Connecting part, 19, 20... Horizontal axis, 2
6... Connection portion, 27, 29... Horizontal axis, B... Tow conveyor line.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a tow conveyor equipped with a cart having a leading part in front of the main body on which conveyed objects can be placed and a tail part in the rear thereof, the main part of the cart and the leading part are each connected rotatably about a horizontal axis. A connecting member is interposed between the truck body and the tail portion, and a connecting member rotatably connected around a horizontal axis is interposed between the truck body and the tail, and these connecting members can be folded downward and inwardly of the truck body. The constructed tow conveyor.