JPH042906Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to a vat supply device that is most suitable for use in an automatic vat placement device that utilizes vacuum suction.

Supermarkets handle large quantities of products such as meat and vegetables that are stored in styrofoam containers called trays and then stretch-wrapped. For this reason, multiple pack products of the same type are placed in a flat storage tray called a vat, and then these vats are stored on each shelf of a cart, which has multiple storage shelves. Improves handling efficiency.

However, among the above operations, the work of placing a plurality of trays on the vats and the work of storing the vats on the respective shelves of the cart are currently performed manually, which is still an inefficient work. For this reason, processing systems that mechanize these operations and do not require any human labor are being considered. In this case, an automatic batt placing device is required that automatically places empty batts one by one on a set batt mounting table. Conventionally, there is a known device in which stacked articles are placed at the bottom of the platform, and the topmost butt is lifted by vacuum suction and placed on the top of the platform, thereby automatically placing the items. For example, Tokukai Akira
50-127349).

Furthermore, according to Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 58-60627, it is equipped with a main pile lifting device and an auxiliary pile lifting device, and a pile plate that has been raised to a predetermined position by the main pile lifting device is detected and alerted, so that the operator can manually discloses a device for transferring to an auxiliary pile lifting device.

However, in the above-mentioned Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 58-60627, manual work is required to transfer from the main pile lifting device to the auxiliary pile lifting device, which interrupts continuous work, reduces work efficiency, and reduces the continuity of subsequent work. There is a problem that it is not possible to obtain

This idea was made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to continuously and reliably supply the butt to the suction position without any interruption when the two lifting devices switch, and to To provide a vat supply device which allows vat supply to be extremely simple.

The batt supply device of the present invention includes a suction device that suctions and takes out stacked bats supplied to a supply position one by one from the top stage, and a suction device that picks up stacked bats supplied to a supply position one by one from the top stage, and a suction device that is arranged at a replenishment position below the supply position and picks up the stacked bats. A batt supply device comprising a batt receiving plate on which the batts are placed, and two sets of elevator mechanisms for sequentially raising the stacked batts on the batt receiving plate to a supply position, wherein both the elevator mechanisms are arranged in parallel, Each set of elevator mechanisms has an endless chain stretched between the supply position and the replenishment position, and each chain is provided with a butt receiving pawl, and by rotating the chain, each set of butt receiving pawls can be adjusted. The suction position range of the suction device alternately engages the lower edge of the stacked bats on the bat receiving plate, raises the stacked bats to the supply position, and controls both elevator mechanisms thereof. a first detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the uppermost vat in the supply position; and a second detecting means for detecting that the remaining amount of the stacked vats in the supply position has been reduced to a predetermined number below the first detecting means. , a third detecting means for detecting the uppermost butt of the elevator mechanism moving from the replenishing position to the supply position near the second detecting means; and a third detecting means arranged near the lower part of the butt receiving plate to move the butt at the replenishing position to the supply position. and fourth detection means for detecting a butt receiving pawl of the elevator mechanism to be transported, and the elevator mechanism in the supply position is raised every predetermined distance by the detection operation of the first detection means without a butt, and a second detection means is provided.
The elevator mechanism in the replenishment position starts to rise due to the detection operation of the detection means, and stops and waits due to the detection operation of the third detection means, and when the first detection means detects that there is no butt for a certain period of time, the elevator mechanism in the replenishment position is moved to the supply position. The chain rotates toward the replenishment position so that the elevator mechanism on the side removes the butt receiving claw from the suction position, and the elevator mechanism waiting in the middle of the ascent rises to the point where the first detecting means detects the presence of a butt. to feed the stacked butt into the supply position,
When the fourth detection means detects the butt receiving claw of the elevator mechanism rotating to the supply position, the elevator mechanism is stopped, and bats are alternately supplied to the supply positions by the two sets of elevator mechanisms. do.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show a batt mounting device 10 using a batt feeding device 8 of the present invention, which is integrally arranged with a tray loader 11 by a frame 11a. The tray loader 11 is
After storing a predetermined number of products that are sequentially brought in, they are placed and stored on a vat, and are equipped with a carry-in conveyor 11b.

The carry-in conveyor 11b is a horizontally driven roller conveyor, and a stopper 11c is provided at its discharge end to store packaged products in a row.A pusher 1 is installed on one side of the discharge end.
2 will be placed.

This pusher 12 discharges the stored packaged products etc. all at once in the right direction in FIG. shall be.

The batt holder 13 is provided with batt mount plates 9, 9 which can be opened and closed at its front and rear ends, and when they are in the closed state, they support the front and rear ends of the batt A, and when they are in the open state, they support the batt A. to pass through without being stopped.

The batt mounting portion 13 is provided in the batt mounting device 10, and is configured such that the batt mounting plates 9, 9 are opened and closed in conjunction with the vertical movement of the suction device 10a. That is, the batt mounting device 10 suctions and holds the batts A, . After the bat is raised to a predetermined position, the suction is released and the bat is dropped, and the bat is placed on the plates 9, 9 described above. , 9 are kept open during that time so as not to interfere with the rise of the butt.

The principle of the suction device 10a will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In the figures, reference numeral 14 denotes a suction cup, which is provided at the lower end of the cylindrical body 15. A communication passage 16 that communicates with the inside of the suction cup 14 and the atmosphere is formed in this cylinder 15, and a conical valve 1 that opens and closes the communication passage 16 is formed in the middle of the communication passage 16.
7 is provided to be movable up and down.

A coil spring 22 is provided at the lower end of the conical valve 17 to bias the communication passage 16 in a direction to close it, and an operating rod 18 is integrally provided to the conical valve 17 to push the upper end of the operating rod 18. The conical valve 17 is configured to open the communication passage 16 when this occurs. 1 in the diagram
Reference numeral 9 denotes a sliding member driven by an air cylinder or the like, and the cylinder 15 is attached to the sliding member 19 so as to move up and down along the guide rod 20. A stopper 21 is provided to push the operating rod 18 when the cylinder 15 is moved upward.

To explain the operation of the suction device, first, when the suction cup 14 is moved downward, the butt mounting plates 9, 9 are opened in conjunction with the downward movement of the suction cup 14. After the suction cup 14 attracts the batt A, it moves upward, and the batt mounting plates 9, 9
Close the door. The suction cup 14 moves up further and the working rod 18
When it comes into contact with the stopper 21, the conical valve 17 opens and the batt A is placed on the batt mounting plates 9, 9.

The adsorption device 10 of the above embodiment does not require a vacuum pump, a pneumatic control circuit, etc., and has a simple structure and is inexpensive.

The butt supply device 8 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained below. Figures 6 to 8 show its appearance, and Figures 9 to 8 show its appearance.
FIG. 14 shows its principle and operation. 1 in the diagram is the first
2 is the second elevator mechanism.

The first elevator mechanism 1 has fixed shafts 3, 3 disposed in parallel on the upper part of the device main body frame 30, and each fixed shaft 3
Sprockets 6a, 6a are rotatably provided on the main body frame 30, and first drive shafts 4, 4 are provided at the lower part of the device main body frame 30.
are arranged in parallel, and a sprocket 6 is attached to each drive shaft 4.
b, 6b are provided. And upper and lower sprocket 6
A chain 6c is stretched over each set of b and 6b, and a butt receiving claw 1a is provided on each chain 6c.

In the second elevator mechanism, sprockets 7a, 7a are rotatably provided on each of the fixed shafts 3, and second drive shafts 5, 5 are arranged in parallel at the lower part of the device main body frame 30. sprocket 7b,
7b is provided. And upper and lower sprocket 7a,
A chain 7c is stretched over each set of 7a, and a butt receiving pawl 2a is provided on each chain 7c.

Each drive mechanism of the elevator mechanisms 1 and 2 will be explained. In the figure, M is a drive motor, and pulleys P ₁ and P ₂ are provided on the rotating shaft of the motor M, and
A first pulley P ₃ and a second pulley P ₄ each having a built-in electromagnetic clutch are disposed opposite to the pulleys P ₁ and P ₂ , and are linked by bells B and B. 1st pulley
While driving the first worm reducer 31 with P ₃ ,
The output of this reducer 31 drives the first drive shaft 4 via the power transmission section 33. 2nd pulley P ₄
While driving the worm reducer 32, the output of this reducer 32 drives the second drive shaft 5 via the power transmission section 34.

The first and second elevator mechanisms 1,
2, each chain 6c and 7c is a sprocket 6
a, 6b and 7a, 7b, the bat claws 1a and 2a move up and down, and when the bat claws 1a and 2a are in the upper stage, they constitute an upper stage elevator mechanism on the bat supply side, and when they are in the lower stage, Sometimes it constitutes the lower elevator mechanism on the butt supply side.

Next, the sensors S ₁ , S ₁ and the micro switches M ₁ , M ₂ , M ₃ , M ₄ will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 to 14. The transmission type optical sensor _S1 is installed at the top of the batt supplying device 8 (batt adsorption position) and detects whether or not there is a batt at the batt suction position. This raises the elevator mechanism that supports the stacked butts. 1st and 2nd micro switch
M ₁ and M ₂ indicate that the butt receiving claws 1a and 2a of each elevator mechanism 1 and 2 have reached the vicinity of the butt suction position;
That is, it is used to detect that the number of stacked bats remaining in the supply is decreasing.The micro switch _M1 is for the dot receiving claw 1a, and the micro switch _M2 is for the dot receiving claw 1b. When it is detected that the remaining vats currently being supplied are running low, the other elevator mechanism, for example, micro switch _M1
When the micro switch M2 is activated, the second elevator mechanism 2 is driven, and when the micro switch _M2 is activated, the first elevator mechanism 1 is driven to start raising the stacked replenishment hat.

The transmission type optical sensor S ₂ is connected to the micro switch mentioned above.
It is installed slightly below the operating part of M ₁ and M ₂ .
When the stacked replenishment vats are raised, the topmost stage of the replenishment stacked vats is detected and the elevator mechanism is stopped. The detection signal of this sensor _S2 is valid only while the micro switch _M1 or _M2 is on, and is invalid while the micro switch _M1 or _M2 is off.

Incidentally, a replenishment vat receiving plate 29 is provided at the lower part of the apparatus main body frame 30. This vat receiving plate 29 is for placing stacked vats for replenishment.

The third and fourth micro switches M ₃ and M ₄ are provided near the bottom of the butt receiving plate 29, and the butt receiving claws 1a and 2a of each elevator mechanism 1 and 2 are located near the bottom of the butt receiving plate 29. Detect what happened.

The operation of the butt supply device of this embodiment is described in the ninth section.
This will be explained with reference to FIGS.

First, the first elevator 1 is raised and the sensor S ₁
The system will stop when it detects a bump. Each time the suction device 10a suctions and raises bats one by one, the first elevator 1 is raised so that the topmost bat is always located at the bat suction position (FIG. 9).

In this case, the second elevator 2 is stopped with its bat receiving claw 2a located near the bottom of the replenishing bat receiving plate 29.

While the first elevator 1 is repeating the above operation, if the micro switch M ₁ detects that the number of stacked bats being supplied is running low, the second elevator 2 is raised and the sensor S ₂ is activated to replenish the supply. When the topmost step of the butt is detected, the second elevator mechanism 2 stops moving up (FIG. 10).

In this state, sensor S ₁ detects that there is no bat at the bat suction position, and sensor S ₁ does not turn on even though a certain period of time has passed since the first elevator mechanism 1 was raised. In this case, it is determined that the bat that is locked to the butt receiving pawl 1a is no longer present (Fig. 11), and the first elevator mechanism 1 is driven to release the batt receiving pawl 1a, and the second elevator mechanism Drive 2. When the sensor _S1 detects the top of the stacked bats, the second elevator mechanism 2 is stopped and the bat supply operation is continued by the second elevator mechanism 2 (FIG. 12).

The first elevator mechanism 1 has its butt receiving pawl 1a.
When it is located near the lower part of the replenishing bat receiving plate 29, it is detected by the micro switch _M3 and stopped (FIG. 13).

While the second elevator mechanism 2 is performing the vat supply work, the operator places the next replenishment stacked vat A, A, etc. on the replenishment vat receiving plate 29 (14th figure).

The above operations are repeated, and the operations of the first elevator 1 and the second elevator 2 are repeated alternately.

In the above embodiment, the sensors S ₁ and S ₁ are the first detection means, the micro switches M ₁ and M ₂ are the second detection means, the sensors S ₂ and S ₂ are the third detection means, and the micro switches M ₃ and M ₄ constitutes the fourth detection means.

In addition, in the above embodiment device, the adsorption device 10
In this case, the elevator is driven every time one bat is suctioned and raised by the suction device 10a, and the uppermost stage of the stacked bats is always located at a predetermined bat suction position. Therefore, in cases where the batts are thin, it is conceivable to configure the elevator so that the elevator is driven each time a plurality of batts are suctioned and raised.

In addition, the word "butt" used in the specification of this application is used as a general term for all storage containers that have a flat storage part and can be stacked with multiple sheets. It is also used to include what is also called.

In addition, as soon as the replenishment operation of the bats on the replenishing bat receiving plate 29 is completed, it may be raised directly below the bat being supplied, and the supply side and the replenishment side may be moved at the same time.

In the above embodiment, the suction device 10a uses a suction cup, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if the butt is made of a material that is attracted to a magnet, an electromagnet may be used instead of the suction cup.

Furthermore, although the embodiment has been described using the first and second elevator mechanisms, the present invention is not limited to this number of elevator mechanisms.

According to the present invention, the upper elevator mechanism on the vat supply side and the lower elevator mechanism on the vat supply side are controlled by the first to fourth detection means to start and stop in a timely manner, and in particular, the second and third detection means When the remaining capacity of the stacked butts in the upper elevator mechanism decreases due to the operation of When it is detected that the butt has disappeared, the lower elevator mechanism is quickly raised to a predetermined upper position.

Therefore, when the supply of stacked upper batts by the upper and lower elevator mechanism is switched, the suction device can be automatically and continuously supplied without stopping the suction device, and the work efficiency can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the device incorporating the butt feeding device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 4 is a cross section showing the principle of the adsorption device of the embodiment. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a front view showing the butt supply device of the embodiment, FIG. 7 is a side view of the same, FIG. 8 is a plan view of the same, and FIG. 9 is an implementation Front sectional views showing the principle of the butt supply device and the arrangement of sensors and microswitches, FIGS. 10 to 1
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of FIG. 9, respectively. In the figure, 1...first elevator, 2...second elevator, 10a...adsorption device, _S1 ...sensor, A...butt, _M1 , _M2 , _M3 , _M4 ...micro Switch, S ₂ ...Sensor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] a suction device that sequentially suctions and takes out the stacked bats supplied to the supply position one by one starting from the top stage;
a bat receiving plate disposed at a replenishment position below the supply position and on which the stacked bats are placed; and 2, for sequentially raising the stacked bats on the bat receiving plate to the supply position.
In the butt supply device equipped with a set of elevator mechanisms, both of the elevator mechanisms are arranged in parallel, and each set of elevator mechanisms spans an endless chain between the supply position and the replenishment position. A butt receiving pawl is provided on the chain, and by rotating the chain, each set of batt receiving pawls alternately engages with the lower edge of the stacked bats on the bat receiving plate, thereby supplying the stacked bats. In order to control both elevator mechanisms, a first detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the uppermost butt within the suction position range of the suction device; a second detection means for detecting that the remaining amount of the stacked vats has decreased to a predetermined number; and a third detection means for detecting the topmost vat of the elevator mechanism moving from the replenishment position to the supply position near the second detection means. and a fourth detecting means for detecting a butt receiving claw of an elevator mechanism disposed near the bottom of the butt receiving plate and transporting the butt at the replenishment position to the supply position, The detection operation causes the elevator mechanism in the supply position to rise every predetermined distance, the detection operation of the second detection means causes the elevator mechanism in the replenishment position to start rising, and the detection operation of the third detection means stops the elevator mechanism. When the first detecting means detects the absence of a butt for a certain period of time, the elevator mechanism on the supply position side rotates the chain toward the supply position so that the butt receiving claw is removed from the suction position, and the chain waits in the middle of the ascent. The elevator mechanism moves up until the first detecting means detects the presence of a butt and supplies the stacked butts into the supply position, and the fourth detecting means moves the butt receiving pawl of the elevator mechanism to rotate to the supply position. 1. A batt supply device characterized in that, upon detection, the elevator mechanism is stopped and batts are alternately supplied to a supply position by two sets of elevator mechanisms.