JPH0444503Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a pallet locator that can quickly transport pallets transported by a chain conveyor or the like to stopping positions at each station without impact.

Conventionally, when a heavy pallet is placed on a chain conveyor that operates at a constant speed and is conveyed by the frictional force with the chain, it is stopped at the index stop position of each station. There is one that allows you to stop the machine and use a locating pin to perform accurate indexing. Then, when a pallet is placed on a moving chain conveyor and begins to be carried out from a stopped position of a station to the next station, there is a problem that the pallet cannot immediately start moving due to the inertia of the pallet.

The object of the present invention is to provide a new pallet locator that solves the problems of the conventional pallet locators.

That is, the present invention provides a speed regulating member before the index stop position on the conveyor to stop the pallet from a steady speed so that the pallet can be decelerated quickly on a cosine curve without impact, and an air cylinder is installed at the index stop position. The pallet is stopped by a latch member on the piston rod of the pallet, and when the pallet is to be carried out, the pallet is quickly pulled out with an air cylinder without impact.
It is designed to be placed on the flow of a continuously running conveyor.

Embodiments of the pallet locator of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A pallet P is placed on a chain conveyor C consisting of two chains 1, and this pallet is quickly stopped at the index stop position i of each station ST by the pallet locator PR of the present invention without impact. , and be promptly transported.

The pallet locator PR is equipped with a speed regulating member G in front of the indexing stop position i on the central upper surface of the base frame 3 connected to the frame body (not shown) of the chain conveyor C. A pallet latch member K is provided near the upper chain 1 on one side.

First, the details of the speed regulating member G will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

4 is a flat box-shaped housing mounted on the top surface of the base frame 3. Inside this housing 4 is an input connected to an external drive source (the chain 1 may be the drive source) and a wrapped conduction band 5. It includes a shaft 6 and an output shaft 7, which are connected by gears 8 and 9.

The upper end 7a of the output shaft 7 protrudes from the upper surface of the housing 4, and as shown in FIG. When the control arm rotates clockwise, it is connected to the one-way clutch OC, so that the swing speed of the control arm can be regulated so as not to exceed the angular velocity of the output shaft 7. A curved braking arm 10 is connected to the output side flange of the one-way clutch OC, and a roller 11 is pivotally supported above the tip of the braking arm 10.
A pin 12 is implanted on the lower side of the tail end. The roller 11 is connected to a chain conveyor C as shown in FIG.
It is in polar contact with the back surface of the pallet P placed on top, and is engaged with the protruding piece 13 protruding from the back surface of the pallet in the sections A to B.

A through hole 10a is bored in the roller 11 side of the brake arm 10, and a pin 14 floated by a spring provided on the upper surface of the housing 4 engages with the through hole 10a, thereby allowing the brake arm 10 to pivot. The supported roller 11 is stopped at a standby position A. A stop pin 15 is attached to one corner of the upper surface of the housing 4 to stop the brake arm 10 of the roller 11, which is in the release position C, from rotating further counterclockwise as shown in FIG. The brake arm 10 is limited in its rotation within a range of about 120° between the standby position A and the release position C, and when the circumferential speed of the roller 11 of the brake arm collides with the pallet, the pallet loading speed increases. The output shaft 7 is rotated counterclockwise to prevent this from occurring. As a result, the brake arm 10, which has a very large mass compared to the brake arm 10, collides with the carrying-in pallet, without being blown off at a speed higher than the pallet's carrying-in speed due to the collision with the pallet.
Between A and B, the roller 11 can regulate the pallet loading speed without separating from the protruding piece 13. That is, the control arm 10 can freely rotate regardless of the rotation of the output shaft 7 due to an external force in the clockwise direction, and the brake arm 10 can rotate around the output shaft at a speed equal to or higher than the angular velocity of the output shaft due to an external force in the counterclockwise direction. When the control arm 10 starts to turn, the one-way clutch OC is engaged to limit the turning speed of the control arm 10 about the output shaft. This moves the roller 11 in the standby position A to the projecting piece 1 of the pallet.
3, the velocity component in the advancing direction of the pallet at the beginning of the collision changes the conveying speed of the pallet in a cosine curve, thereby decelerating and braking the pallet P.

Next, a description will be given of the latch member K that restrains the movement of the pallet in the front and back direction when the pallet reaches the index stop position i and stops.

Reference numeral 20 denotes an elongated support plate, which is fixed to one corner of the upper surface of the housing 4 and extends in the same direction as the chain 1. Reference numeral 30 denotes an air cylinder of the actuator, which is attached to one corner of the tip of the support plate 20, and has a piston rod 21 extending to the vicinity of the middle of the support plate 20. Reference numeral 22 denotes a guide plate attached to the tip of the piston rod 21, which is placed on the upper surface of the support plate 20 and moves forward and backward in the direction of movement of the pallet P as the piston rod 21 moves forward and backward. Reference numerals 23 and 24 are two plates arranged side by side, and the midsection and one end of the plates are supported by brackets 22a and 22b of the guide plate 22.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a chevron-shaped cam, which is fixed on the support plate 20 between two plates 23 and 24 at the index stop position i.

26 and 27 are two hook claws that oppose each other in a horizontal position, and the two plates 23,
It is pivoted within the gap of 24. Then, the pins 30' and 31 are engaged with the elongated holes 26a and 27a near the tips of the hooking claws 26 and 27 as shown in FIGS.
The hooking pawl 26 on the cylinder 30 side
is constantly pushed downward as shown in FIG. 7, and is always pushed upward by the hook 27 on the opposite side of the cylinder.

The hook 26 on the cylinder 30 side assumes a horizontal position in which the piston rod 21 is pushed up by the inclined surface 25a of the cam 25 as shown in FIG. 5 at the waiting position at the forward end a.

In the above state, when the pallet P is placed on the chain conveyor C and carried into the index stop position i, another protrusion 34 protruding from the back side of the pallet steps on the hook 27 on the side opposite to the cylinder and pushes it down. As shown in the figure, the protruding piece 3 that falls within the space between the two hooking claws 26 and 27
4 is sandwiched between them. When the piston rod 21 is retreated toward the cylinder 30, the hook 27 pushes the protrusion 34 of the pallet P in the flow direction of the conveyor C, and the hook 26 pushed up by the cam 25 moves as shown in FIG. It is in such a relationship that it descends and comes off from the protruding piece 34.

Finally, the piston rod 21 of the cylinder 30
A configuration will be described in which the brake arm 10 in the release position C is returned to the standby position A in conjunction with the forward and backward movement of the brake arm 10.

35 is a hook attached to the tip of the guide plate 22, and the hook 35 is attached to the end of the guide plate 22, and the hook 35 is attached to the end of the guide plate 22.
The forward end a of the piston rod 21 is opposed to the pin 12 on the lower side of the tail end of the piston rod 21 with a distance X1 therebetween.

During this time, X1 is the piston rod 2 of the cylinder 30.
1 begins to move backward from the forward end a to send out the pallet P, and when the hook 26 comes off the cam 25, the hook 35 is almost set to the dimension where it comes into contact with the pin 12, and when it is further retreated by X2 from there,
As shown in Figure 9, the timing relationship is such that the roller 11 enters the rear side of the protruding piece position 3 at the sending-out position.

Note that the retreating end b of the piston rod 21 is set to a stroke that causes the roller 11 of the brake arm 10 to rotate back to the standby position a.

The pallet locator PR of the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and its operation will be explained below.

First, before carrying in the pallet P, brake arm 1 is
0 roller 11 is placed in the standby position A, and the through hole 10
The pin 14 is engaged with the pin 14 to stop the rotation of the output shaft 7 in the counterclockwise direction, and the one-way clutch OC is in an idle state.

The other piston rod 21 is at the forward end a and in a standby position with the two hooking claws 26 and 27 raised.

Here, when the pallet P loaded with workpieces (not shown) is transferred from the upstream side of the chain conveyor C to the station ST, the protrusion 13 on the back surface of the pallet collides with the roller 11 as shown in FIG. , a force is applied to rotate the brake arm 10 counterclockwise.

When the braking arm 10 receives a counterclockwise force due to a collision, resulting in a turning speed greater than the angular velocity of the output shaft, the one-way clutch provided on the output shaft engages, and the braking arm 10 moves toward the output shaft. It rotates together with the output shaft under the constraints of the angular velocity of 7. As a result, the roller 11, which initially had only a velocity component in the direction of pallet movement, is now connected to the output shaft 7 and the roller 1.
The pallet loading speed is reduced by a cosine curve with a radius of 1, and the pallet P is brought to a buffer stop.

That is, when the roller 11 turns from the standby position A to the stop position B (θ=90°), it turns while receiving the kinetic energy of the pallet P, but since the turning speed is limited to the angular velocity of the output shaft, the pallet As the conveyance speed approaches the stop position B, the speed changes along a cosine curve, and the pallet P decelerates to a stop.

Now, set the pallet loading speed to V0 and brake arm 1.
When the angular velocity ω is 0, the braking speed V of the pallet is V
= V0 COSωt, and the motor decelerates to a stop quickly without impact on a cosine curve.

When the pallet P approaches the index stop position i, another protrusion 34 pushes down the hook 27 and climbs over it, as shown in FIG. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6, the projecting piece 34 comes into contact with the opposing claw 26, and then is held between the two hooking claws 26 and 27.
To surely stop a pallet P at an index stop position i. Incidentally, at this time, the chain conveyor C continues the transfer operation.

On the other hand, the brake arm 10 uses its inertia energy to swing the roller 11 from the stop position B to the release position C, where it is removed from the protrusion 13, and is stopped by a stop pin 15. Next, put pallet P on the station
To carry out the ST from the index stop position i to the downstream side of the chain conveyor C, the piston rod 21 is moved back from the forward end a to the backward end b. The hook 27 connected to the piston rod 21 is now
A pulling force is transmitted to the pallet P via a protruding piece 34, and the pallet P is quickly carried out on the flow of the chain conveyor C without slipping between the pallet P and the chain conveyor C. The operation of pulling out the pallet P by the latch member K of the piston rod 21 is performed in the seventh step.
As shown in the figure, when the pallet is pulled out, the hook 26 comes off the cam 25 and escapes downward, causing the protrusion 3
Release the grip of 4.

On the other hand, when the piston rod 21 begins to retreat from the forward end a and the hook 26 comes off the cam 25, the hook 35 comes into contact with the pin 12 and the brake arm 10 begins to rotate clockwise.

When the protrusion 13 of the pallet P moves from the stop position i to the delivery position, the roller 11, which was at the release position C, moves the protrusion 1 at the stop position B, as shown in FIG.
3, and the rod returns the roller 11 to the standby position (a), indicated by the chain line in FIG. 1, at the backward end (b).

Thereafter, the piston rod 21 immediately returns to the forward end a, and waits with the two hooking claws 26 and 27 raised in preparation for stopping the next pallet P from being carried in.

It goes without saying that the pallet locator of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and the design can be changed within the scope of the invention.

According to the present invention, a speed regulating member is provided before the indexing stop position of the pallet conveyed by the conveyor to change the speed from the pallet loading speed in a cosine curve and stopping the pallet, and at the same time, the pallet is stopped at the indexing stop position. A latch member arm is provided on the rod of the actuator for completely stopping and feeding the brake arm, and a one-way clutch is connected to the output shaft which rotates at an angular velocity that allows the circumferential speed of the roller section pivotally supported by the brake arm to rotate at the loading speed of the pallet. A brake arm is provided which rotates within the pallet transport plane, and the roller at the tip of the brake arm receives the loading of the pallet and prevents the angular velocity from exceeding the output shaft angular velocity by the one-way clutch while the pallet rotates from the standby position to the stop position. It is regulated as follows.

Furthermore, since the brake arm is configured to return to the standby position in conjunction with the backward movement of the actuator rod, when the pallet is stopped at the indexing stop position of the station, the speed regulating member causes the pallet to move along the cosine curve. Change the loading speed with
In addition to being able to quickly decelerate to a stop without receiving any shock, the latch member on the piston rod of the air cylinder at the index stop position allows the pallet to be completely stopped with high stopping position accuracy. It can be pulled out and placed on the flow of the conveyor, and the movement of the piston rod in the cylinder can be used to return the brake arm, making it an excellent pallet locator.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the pallet locator of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a pallet locator. An enlarged view showing the stopping mechanism, Figs. 5 to 7 are action views showing pallet latching and feeding, Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the pallet braking action, and Fig. 9 is a plan view showing the pallet feeding action. be. C...Chain conveyor, P...Pallet, ST
...Station, PR...Palette locator,
G... Speed regulating member, K... Latching member, A... Standby position, B... Stop position, C... Release position, i...
... Index stop position, ... Feeding position, a ... Forward end, b ... Retreat end, 4 ... Housing, 6 ...
Input shaft, 7...Output shaft, 10...Brake arm, 1
1...Roller, 12, 14...Pin, 13, 34
... protrusion, 15 ... stop pin, OC ... one-way clutch, 20 ... support plate, 21 ... piston rod, 25 ... cam, 26, 27, 30 ... cylinder, 35 ... hook.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A speed regulating member is provided before the index stop position of the pallet carried in by the conveyor to regulate the speed of the pallet so that the speed changes from the carry-in speed to the cosine curve. A latch member for stopping and unloading is provided on the rod of the actuator, and the one-way clutch is attached to an output shaft rotating at an angular velocity such that the circumferential speed of the roller portion of the speed regulating member in contact with the pallet is approximately equal to the conveying speed of the pallet. A brake arm is provided which rotates within the pallet conveyance plane through the brake arm, and when the roller at the tip of the brake arm receives the loading of the pallet and rotates from the standby position of the brake arm to the pallet stop position, the one-way clutch generates an output. By rotating around the output shaft at a speed regulated by the angular velocity of the shaft, the pallet is decelerated and stopped so that the velocity component in the advancing direction of the pallet changes in a cosine curve than the carrying-in speed, and the pallet is A pallet locator with a mechanism that returns the brake arm to the standby position in connection with the backward movement.