JPH0314729B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a pallet exchange device that automatically exchanges a full pallet loaded with products with an empty pallet.

[Prior Art] The basic functions of a pallet changing device, commonly called a palletizer, include a function to temporarily store a first empty pallet, a function to pull out a second empty pallet one by one to a product loading position, There are four functions: the third function is to exchange a pallet full of products with an empty pallet at the product input position, and the fourth function is to temporarily store the fully loaded pallets in a form that is easy to transport, such as by stacking them.

Conventional palletizers use a large number of drive devices such as cylinders and motors for each of the above functions and for each location where pallets are transported. Therefore, there was a problem that the entire device became large and expensive. Conventional palletizers are expensive, so they could only be introduced in cases where the labor-saving effect was extremely high, such as in completely unmanned systems.
However, there is a great demand for small and inexpensive palletizers at factory sites because, for example, if a palletizer can be introduced into the pallet into which injection molded products are placed, the operating rate of the molding machine, etc. can be greatly increased.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to perform operations that were conventionally performed using a large number of drive units with a single drive unit. The object of the present invention is to provide a small and inexpensive pallet exchange device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] For this reason, the present invention provides a low way that is rotatably supported substantially at the center, is swingable about the supporting part, and has a pallet slidable on its upper surface. and a driving means for swinging the roller way into a horizontal position, a raised position at one end, and a raised position at the other end; The other empty pallets are lifted upward by following the rise of one end of the roller way, and the empty pallets in the lowermost group are slid down on the roller way to reach the full pallet at the other end of the roller way. an empty pallet lifting means that abuts and slides the pallet to a product loading position in the center of the roller way; a full pallet lifting means that follows the rise of the other end of the roller way to lift the pallet on the other end of the roller way; an empty pallet positioning means for holding the lowest empty pallet at a product loading position in the center of the rollerway when the other end is raised; and a holding means for holding the fully loaded pallet lifted by the fully loaded pallet lifting means so that it does not fall down. Provided is a pallet exchange device comprising:

[Function] According to the above configuration, first, when the roller way is in a horizontal position, the empty pallet at the central product loading position is filled with products. When the roller way is swung by the driving means and one end thereof is raised, one of the lowest empty pallets stacked at one end of the roller way is left on the roller way and the other empty pallets are lifted by the empty pallet lifting means. The empty pallet at the bottom is lifted up, and one end rises and it rides on the sloping rollerway, sliding on the upper surface of the rollerway due to its own weight and moving to the product loading position in the center. In this way, one empty pallet can be pulled out from the empty pallets stacked at one end of the rollerway to the product loading position. On the other hand, a fully loaded pallet full of products placed at the product loading position in the center of the roller way is moved by its own weight to the other end of the roller way in accordance with the slope of the roller way with one end raised. Next, when the roller way is tilted in the opposite direction and the other end is raised by the driving means, the fully loaded pallet that has been moved onto the other end of the roller way is lifted by the fully loaded pallet lifting means.

When the other end of the roller way is raised by the driving means, the empty pallet at the lowest stage, which has been pulled out to the product loading position at the center of the roller way, is moved to the product loading position at the center of the roller way by the empty pallet positioning means. It stays in the loading position. The fully loaded pallet moved onto the other end of the roller way and lifted by the fully loaded pallet lifting means is held by the holding means. If the previous full pallet is already held in the holding means, the full pallet is pushed up and held, so that the full pallets are stacked. Next, the roller way is returned to the horizontal position by the driving means, and returns to the initial horizontal position. Then, the empty pallet at the product loading position in the center of the rollerway is filled with products. In this way, a fully loaded pallet placed at the product loading position in the center of the rollerway can be exchanged with an empty pallet by using the weight of the pallet by swinging the rollerway using the only driving means. can.

[Example] An example of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a barretizer according to the present invention. Two roller ways 4, 4' are supported by a shaft 3 supported by a bearing 2 provided in the center of the base 1.
is supported so that it can swing freely like a seesaw. A cab stan 5 attached to the base 1 is used to facilitate movement of the balletizer within the factory.

The two roller ways 4, 4' are connected at both ends by rods 6 and swing as one. The roller ways 4, 4' are connected via a connecting rod 30 to a piston rod 8 of an air cylinder 7 attached to the base 1 and a link rod 9, and are driven to swing. The roller ways 4, 4' are in a horizontal position due to the forward end, backward end, and intermediate positions of the piston rod 8.
The tilted posture is controlled so that the left end is raised, and the tilted posture is controlled so that the right end is raised.

A connecting rod 30 is fixed between the roller ways 4 and 4' on the right side of the center, one end of the link rod 9 is rotatably connected to the connecting rod 30, and the other end of the link rod 9 is rotatably connected to the connecting rod 30. It is rotatably connected to the tip of the piston rod 8.

An empty pallet mounting table 10 is fixed to the base 1 and installed near the left end of the base 1 between the two roller ways 4, 4'. The height of the top surface of the empty pallet table 10 is set to be approximately equal to the height of the roller surfaces of the roller ways 4, 4' when they are horizontal.

A box-shaped empty box stock frame 11 with one side open facing the product loading position at the center of the roller ways 4, 4' is fixed to the base 1 so as to surround the empty pallet table 10. This empty box stock frame 11 is a frame for guiding empty pallets placed on the empty pallet table 10. A bracket 12 is provided to surround three sides of the empty box stock frame 11. The bracket 12 is movable up and down while being guided by the empty box stock frame 11, and one end of the bracket 12 is connected to the left end of the roller ways 4, 4' by a pin 13.
It moves up and down according to the swinging movement of 4'.

Two long grooves 14 are formed on both sides of the empty box stock frame 11. On the other hand, the bracket 12 is provided with a through hole 15 at a position corresponding to the through groove 14.
The groove 14 and the hole 15 are configured so that they face each other and communicate with each other when the tube 2 is raised. Further, a lifting pawl 17 is fastened to the outside of the bracket 12 so that the pawl portion 16 is always inserted into the through hole 15.
The lifting claw 17 is made of a spring material and is connected to the through groove 14.
When the bracket 12 is lowered so that the through holes 15 do not face each other, the pawl portion 16 of the lifting pawl 17 engages the through holes 15.
It is in contact with the outer walls of both side surfaces of the empty box stock frame 11 via , and is always urged inward by its own spring elasticity. Then, when the bracket 12 rises and the through groove 14 and the through hole 15 communicate with each other, each claw part 16 of the lifting claw 17 projects from the through groove 14 to the inside of the empty box stock frame 11 due to the elasticity of the lifting claw 17. By further raising the bracket 12, the collars of the pallets stacked inside the empty box stock frame 11 engage with the claws 16 to lift the pallets. At this time, empty pallet placement table 1
The position of the lower end of the through groove 14 is determined so as to engage the collar of the second pallet from the bottom of the stacked pallets.

Near the right end of the base 1 is a fully loaded box stock frame 2 which is approximately box-shaped and has a pallet introduction window.
0 is fixed. Fully loaded box stock frame 2
0 is a frame that guides the pallets loaded with products when stacking them. A channel portion 21 is provided at the rear end of the fully loaded box stock frame 20. The channel portion 21 is guided by rollers 22, and the lifting platform 23
is supported by a fully loaded box stock frame 20 so as to be able to move up and down. The lifting platform 23 is a roller way 4,
It is connected to the right end of the roller way 4' by a pin 24, and moves up and down while maintaining a horizontal posture as the roller ways 4 and 4' swing.

Two through holes 25 are formed in each side of the fully loaded box stock frame 20, and the pallet holding claws 27 are fastened to the fully loaded box stock frame 20 by inserting the claws 26 into the through holes 25. has been done. The pallet holding claws 27 are made of spring material,
It is always urged inward by its own spring elasticity. Each claw part 26 of the pallet holding claw 27 has a triangular shape with a horizontal upper side and an oblique lower side, and projects into the inside of the fully loaded box stock frame 20. Then, when the pallet is pushed up from below, the pallet presses the lower side of the claw portion 26, causing the claw portion 26 to escape outward and allowing the pallet to pass upward. The pushed up pallet is supported and held by the horizontal upper side of each claw portion 26.

FIGS. 2 to 6 are front views for explaining the operation.

First, in the initial state shown in FIG. 2, the piston rod 8 of the air cylinder 7 is at the forward end, and the link rod 9 pulls down the center right side of the roller way 4 to maintain the roller way 4 in a horizontal position on the base 1. be done. Empty pallets 30 are stacked on the empty pallet table 10 on the left side of the roller way 4, and products are loaded from, for example, a molding machine (not shown) onto the pallet 31 placed at the product loading position in the center of the roller way 4. be done. When the pallet 31 is fully loaded, the air cylinder 7 is driven to replace the pallet.

At the intermediate position where the air cylinder 7 is driven and the piston rod 8 moves toward the backward end, as shown in FIG.
The roller way 4 is moved by the link rod 9 standing upright.
leans to the left. At this time, the pallet 31 tries to move to the left, but is blocked by the end of the empty pallet table 10 and remains in the center.

When the piston rod 8 further retreats and reaches the retreat end, the link rod 9 pulls down the center right side of the roller way 4, causing the roller way 4 to tilt to the right and the left end of the roller way 4 to rise. At this time, the fully loaded pallet 31 in the center
moves to the right end due to its own weight. On the other hand, the bracket 12 that follows the swinging of the roller way 4 rises,
Each claw part 16 of the lifting claw 17 provided on the bracket 12 engages with the collar part of the second pallet 33 from the bottom of the pallets 30 stacked on the empty pallet table 10, and the lowermost pallet 32 is lifted up by the rollers. Leave it on way 4 and lift the other pallets. The bottom pallet 32 rides on the rollerway 4,
It moves to the right due to its own weight and is pulled out to the product loading position in the center of the roller way 4. As a result, the fully loaded pallet 31 is moved to the top of the lifting table 23 at the right end of the roller way 4, and the empty pallet 32 is pulled out to the central product loading position for pallet exchange.

Next, the air cylinder 7 is driven again to move the piston rod 8 forward. At the intermediate position, as shown in FIG. 5, the link rod 9 stands upright, so that the roller way 4 tilts to the left again and the right end rises. At this time, since the bracket 12 is lowered and the position of the lifting claw 17 is below the lower end of the through groove 14, the lifting claw 17
Each of the claws 16 is pushed out of the empty box stock frame 11, and the stacked empty pallets 30 fall onto the empty pallet table 10. Further, the empty pallet 32 pulled out to the product loading position at the center of the roller way 4 tries to return to the left, but is blocked by the end of the empty pallet table 10 and remains in the center. The end of the empty pallet table 10 serves as empty pallet positioning means.

On the other hand, the fully loaded pallet 31 that has moved to the right end is lifted upward by the lifting table 23 because the upper surface of the lifting table 23 is higher than the roller surface of the inclined roller way 4. At this time, fully loaded pallet 3
1 presses the lower side of the claw portions 26 of the pallet holding claws 27 to push each claw portion 26 outward and lift it above each claw portion 26. Moreover, if the pallet 40 is already held by the pallet holding claw 27,
The pallet 40 is also pushed up and stacked at the same time.

When the piston rod 8 moves further forward and reaches the forward end, the link rod 9 pulls down the center right side of the roller way 4, as shown in FIG. Return to position. At this time, the fully loaded pallet 31 is supported by each claw part 26 of the pallet holding claw 27 and does not fall.

In this way, the fully loaded pallet placed in the center of the roller ways 4, 4' can be replaced with an empty pallet in the empty box stock frame 11, and the fully loaded pallets can be stacked in the fully loaded box stock frame 20. .

In the embodiment described above, the lifting pawl 17 biased by a spring was used to lift an empty pallet, and the pallet retaining pawl 27 biased by a spring was used to hold a fully loaded pallet, but in both cases a cylinder or the like is used. It is also possible. Further, although the air cylinder 7 is used for swinging drive, it is of course possible to use a motor or the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention has the above configuration, and exchanges empty pallets with fully loaded pallets by tilting the swingably supported roller way and utilizing the weight of the pallets. Because it is a thing, there is only one
A function to temporarily store empty pallets by swinging the rollerway using two drive units, a function to pull out empty pallets one by one to the product loading position, a function to exchange a full pallet with an empty pallet, and a function to temporarily store a full pallet. It has the excellent effect of being able to achieve all the functions of a barretizer, such as the ability to do things, and being small and relatively inexpensive to manufacture. For this reason, the number of locations in the factory where pallet exchange equipment can be introduced has expanded, and the ripple effect is significant.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the pallet exchange device according to the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a perspective view and FIGS. 2 to 6 being front views for explaining the operation. 4, 4'...Roller way, 7...Air cylinder, 9...Link rod, 10...Empty pallet stand,
11...Empty box stock frame, 12...Bracket, 14...Through groove, 15...Through hole, 17...Lifting claw, 20...Full box stock frame, 23
... Lifting stand, 27 ... Pallet holding claw, 30 ~
33...Palette.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A roller way that is rotatably supported substantially at the center, is swingable about the supporting portion, and has a pallet slidable on its upper surface, and the roller way is placed in a horizontal position. , a driving means for swinging the pallets into a raised position at one end and a raised position at the other end; and a driving means for swinging the empty pallets into a raised position at one end and a raised position at the other end; Following the rise of one end of the roller way, the pallet is lifted upward, and the empty pallet at the lowest stage is slid down on the roller way to come into contact with the fully loaded pallet at the other end of the roller way, and the product in the center of the roller way is loaded. an empty pallet lifting means for sliding the pallet to a position; a full pallet lifting means for following the rise of the other end of the roller way to lift the pallet on the other end of the roller way; A pallet changing device comprising: empty pallet positioning means for holding the lower empty pallet at a product input position in the center of the rollerway; and holding means for holding the pallet lifted by the fully loaded pallet lifting means so that it does not fall down. . 2. The pallet exchange device according to claim 1, wherein the driving means is a cylinder and a link mechanism connected to the cylinder. 3. The empty pallet lifting means is supported by a fixed empty box stock frame so as to be freely raised and lowered, and also includes a bracket connected to one end of the roller way to be driven, and a bracket attached to the bracket and biased by a spring to lift the pallet. Claim 1, characterized in that it has a lifting claw that can be engaged with the flange of the
The pallet changing device described in Section 1. 4. The fully loaded pallet lifting means is a lifting platform that is supported by a fixed fully loaded box stock frame so as to be able to rise and fall, and is connected to the other end of the roller way to be driven. The pallet exchange device according to item 1. 5. The pallet exchange according to claim 1, wherein the holding means is a pallet holding claw that is attached to a fixed full box stock frame and is biased by a spring and can engage the pallet. Device.