JPH04886B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a conveying device capable of conveying articles efficiently, quickly and continuously to any height, and the present invention relates to a conveying device that can convey articles efficiently, quickly and continuously to any height. It can be applied as a transport device for loading and unloading storage equipment consisting of fluidized shelves and the like having a frontage.

[Prior art] Conventional technologies related to a conveying device equipped with an oscillating conveyor include Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 47-33170 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 47-33170;
Those described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-4650 and Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-37206 are known.

To explain the conventional technology disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 47-33170 discloses that an inclined conveyor (oscillating conveyor) is installed in one inclined conveyance path connecting the height of the lowest stage receiving point and the highest stage cargo receiving point. Furthermore, each conveyor is configured to be vertically swingable centering on the carry-in side end, so that the carry-out side end of each conveyor is positioned in the path from the load receiving point of each group. A transport device is disclosed that is configured to selectively connect to.

Furthermore, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-4650, a sprocket is pivotally connected to a payout area near the starting end of the stacker crane that travels and goes up and down and near the end of the travel of the stacker crane, and a driven sprocket is pivotally connected to the step of the loading platform. However, a conveyance device is disclosed in which an endless belt is stretched around the sprocket.

Further, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-37206, a transfer device having a load transfer device that can be raised and lowered is provided, an elevating conveyor (oscillating conveyor) is provided opposite to this transfer device, and the elevating conveyor is A conveyance device is disclosed in which a swinging free end is linked to the cargo transfer device side.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-mentioned prior art had the following problems.

That is, Utility Model Publication No. 47-33170 or Utility Model Number 56-
In the device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4650, since the article discharge end of the swinging conveyor is not located below the article carry-in end of the swing conveyor, the article cannot be transported below the article carry-in end of the swing conveyor. When applied as a transport device for loading and unloading storage equipment, a dead space will be created at the bottom of the storage equipment.

In addition, the device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-4650 needs to determine the slope of the swinging conveyor within a slope that does not cause the articles to fall according to the height of the top shelf. As a result, the dispensing port must be located extremely far from the end of the storage facility, resulting in an extremely large dead space.

Furthermore, the device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-37206 connects a sliding conveyor via a pin joint provided at the free swinging end of the swinging conveyor, and connects the swinging conveyor and the sliding conveyor. However, since the structure of the swinging conveyor and movable conveyor (sliding conveyor) is limited and each conveyor cannot be an independent conveyor, it is necessary to make the swinging conveyor and sliding conveyor independent of each other. There are disadvantages such as the inability to control the drive.

In addition, in a conveyance device consisting of an oscillating conveyor and a movable conveyor disposed at least on one end of the oscillating conveyor, in order to be able to convey articles below the article loading end of the oscillating conveyor, the oscillating conveyor is It is also conceivable that the article delivery end can be moved below the article introduction end of the swinging conveyor. However, in this case, in the connecting area between the article discharge end of the swinging conveyor and the movable conveyor, which is set on a downward slope, the extension surface of the conveyor plane of the swinging conveyor is oriented at a lower level than the conveyor plane of the movable conveyor. However, this is accompanied by the inconvenience that, for example, the extended surface of the conveyor plane of the swinging conveyor hits a portion corresponding to the pulley of the movable conveyor, and the articles conveyed by the swinging conveyor cannot be reliably and smoothly transferred to the side of the movable conveyor. There is a risk.

The present invention provides for reliably and smoothly transferring articles in the connection area between the article delivery end of the swinging conveyor and the swinging conveyor even when the swinging conveyor is in any swinging posture including a downward slope. To make the slope of an oscillating conveyor relatively small without increasing the length of the oscillating conveyor.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a conveyance device comprising an oscillating conveyor and a movable conveyor disposed at an article discharge end of the oscillating conveyor, in which one end of the movable conveyor is made vertically movable. When the swinging conveyor swings downward, the end of the swinging conveyor acts as a biasing device for returning the movable end of the movable conveyor to its home position. It is designed to be pushed down against the pressure.

[Function] According to the present invention, when the upstream swinging conveyor is connected to the downstream movable conveyor at a downward slope, the extension surface of the conveyor surface of the swinging conveyor extends beyond the lower level of the conveyor surface of the movable conveyor. Since the direction is always directed to the upper level of the conveyor surface of the movable conveyor, the extended surface of the conveyor surface of the swinging conveyor does not hit the part corresponding to the pulley of the movable conveyor, and the goods are kept away from the swinging conveyor. It will be transferred to the movable conveyor reliably and smoothly.

When the upstream swinging conveyor is connected to the downstream moving conveyor horizontally or uphill, the movable end of the moving conveyor is automatically set to the rising end level by the biasing device, and the swinging conveyor's movable end is automatically set to the rising end level by the biasing device. The extension surface of the conveyor surface is always oriented at a level above the conveyor surface of the movable conveyor, so that articles can be reliably and smoothly transferred from the swinging conveyor to the movable conveyor.

Therefore, regardless of whether the swinging conveyor is given an upward slope, a horizontal slope, or a downward slope by its swinging, the objects carried by the swinging conveyor can be reliably and smoothly moved to the side of the movable conveyor. It can be transferred to. As a result, by making the slope of the swinging conveyor relatively small without increasing the length of the swinging conveyor, it is possible to transport goods without overturning them, while reducing dead space in storage equipment, etc. I can do it.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the conveying device of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of an article handling device using the conveyance device of the present invention. In the figure, A is a storage facility, and B is a left and right side along the exit side frontage of the storage facility A. C is an article transport conveyor (hereinafter referred to as article unloading conveyor) on the exit side arranged outside the running surface of the stacker crane B, and D is storage equipment A.
A stacker crane on the warehousing side runs from side to side along the frontage of the warehousing side, E is an article transport conveyor on the warehousing side (hereinafter referred to as an article carrying conveyor) disposed outside the running surface of the stacker crane D; E-
1, E-2, E-3 are storage lines for carrying articles F, F, .
Articles F, F, ..., stored by type in 1, E-2, E-3, are supplied to the article carry-in conveyor E for each type, and are stored via the stacker crane D on the waiting warehousing side. At the same time that equipment A enters the warehouse, articles F, F, ... in storage equipment A are taken out by stack car crane B on the exit side and transported to article carrying out conveyor C.
It is constructed so that it can be carried out.

To explain each part in the embodiment in detail, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the storage equipment A is formed of a fluidized shelf having a frontage in multiple rows and multiple stages, and a pair of rails each having a large number of rollers. The frames 1, 1 are arranged at an angle for each frontage so that articles F, F, . . . placed on rollers can be moved by gravity from the storage side to the exit side. still,
The rail frame 1 can be provided with wheels instead of rollers.

In addition, the article carrying-in conveyor C and the article carrying-in conveyor E are, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 6, respectively, a stacker crane B on the outgoing side of the storage facility A and a stacker crane on the receiving side. It is located on the outside of the running surface of the storage facility A, and is arranged substantially horizontally at a height near the frontage of the center stage of the storage facility A.
The article carry-in conveyor E is configured to be able to rotate forward and reverse as appropriate, and is supplied from storage lines E-1, E-2, and E-3 through appropriate gates (not shown). Articles F, F, . . . can be transported to appropriate positions.

In addition, the above-mentioned Statzker crane B on the delivery side is
As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the crane body 3 is supported by the upper and lower rails 21 and 22 and runs left and right along the exit side of the storage facility A. 21, 22 and runs left and right along the exit side frontage of the storage facility A, and an article transfer conveyor 5 as an oscillating conveyor in the present invention that connects the crane main body 3 and the trolley 4. It is configured as a main body, and a storage facility A is equipped with a loading device 32 of an elevating section 31 provided on the crane main body 3, and the unloading device 32 is moved by the movement of the crane main body 3 and the vertical movement of the lifting section 31.
It is made to be able to travel vertically and horizontally along the frontage, and articles F, F, . It has been done.

The stacker crane B on the delivery side will be described in more detail based on FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. An elevating section 31 of the crane main body 3 is movable up and down by an elevating section drive device 33.
In addition to the unloading device 32, there is a roller conveyor 34 on the elevating part 31 for transferring the articles F, F, . is listed. The unloading device 32 includes a pair of extendable swinging conveyors 32a, 32a that can enter between the tips of the pair of rail frames 1, 1 of the storage equipment A and take out the articles F, F, . . . from the storage equipment A. A picking device as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-207304 is used. Also, roller conveyor 34
The rollers may be disposed perpendicularly to the conveying direction of the articles, but in this embodiment they are disposed obliquely.
The article F transferred from the roller conveyor 34 to the article transfer conveyor 5 is transported as shown by the arrow in FIG. There is. In addition, the crane main body 3 is equipped with a travel drive device 35 for self-propelling the crane main body, an elevator drive device 33, a control device 36 for controlling the travel drive device 35, and the like.

Further, the cart 4 of the above-mentioned stack car crane B on the delivery side is provided with a mounting section 41, and this mounting section 4
1, a conveyor 42 serving as a movable conveyor in the present invention and a curved conveyor 43 for carrying out the articles F from the article transfer conveyor 5 to the article carrying-out conveyor C are set at the same height as the article carrying-out conveyor C. They are located one after the other. The tip of the conveyor 43 is positioned close to the side edge of the upper surface of the article carrying-out conveyor C, and one side of the tip has a tip for smoothly discharging the article F to the article carrying-out conveyor C. A free guide roller 44 is provided upright.

Furthermore, the article transfer conveyor 5 in the above-mentioned stack car crane B on the outgoing side has one article loading end connected to the crane body 3 so as to connect the roller conveyor 34 of the crane body 3 and the conveyor 42 of the trolley 4. The crane main body 3 is rotatably supported on the fulcrum 31a of the lifting section 31, and the other end of the article discharging end is positioned at the same height as the article discharging conveyor C. While swinging due to the lifting and lowering of the lifting section 31, the articles F, F, ... are transferred from the unloading device 32 to the article unloading conveyor C on a downward slope, horizontal slope, or upward slope, and the crane main body 3 is self-propelled. Follow me, trolley 4
It has the function of towing. Note that the article transfer conveyor 5 may be short because it can swing as described above.

In addition, the stacker crane D on the warehousing side is
As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, the unloading device in the stacker crane B on the unloading side is replaced with a warehousing device, and some minor changes are made to the details to transfer the goods from the goods carrying conveyor E to the storage facility A. The unloading side is constructed in substantially the same manner as the stacker crane B described above, except that it is suitable for warehousing the following articles.

That is, the stacker crane D on the warehousing side includes a crane main body 3' supported by upper and lower rails 21' and 22' and running left and right along the entrance on the warehousing side of the storage facility A, and a crane main body 3' that is supported by upper and lower rails 21' and 22', and a crane body 3' that is supported by upper and lower rails 21' and 22', and a crane main body 3' that is supported by upper and lower rails 21' and 22'. The main body is a trolley 4' that follows through an article transfer conveyor 5' as a conveyor, and articles F,
F, ... are placed on the article transfer conveyor 5' and the lifting section 31' of the crane main body 3'.
This allows it to be supplied to any opening in the storage facility A.

To explain in more detail about the stacker crane D on the warehousing side, on the elevating section 31' that can be raised and lowered by the elevating section drive device 33' in the crane main body 3', there is an article transfer conveyor 5' in addition to the warehousing device 32'. Roller conveyors 34', 34', 34' as movable conveyors of the present invention are placed in series for transferring articles F, F, .

The warehousing device 32' is equipped with a centering guide 32'' as shown in FIG. 8.The centering guide 32'' includes the number of articles to be supplied and the supply address of the articles (the frontage of the storage facility A to which the articles are to be supplied). A pair of conveyors 6, 6 are operated by control cylinders 7, 7 that operate based on control information commands sent from a computer on the ground, such as width dimensions of articles, etc.
The distance between the two is varied to center the article from both sides.

Further, roller conveyors 34', 34', which transfer articles from the article transfer conveyor 5' to the warehousing device 32,
34' is provided to be perpendicular to the warehousing device 32', and a roller conveyor 34' in the center is attached with a conveyor 34'' for guiding the articles supplied from the article transfer conveyor 5'. .or,
In addition, the crane body 3' is equipped with a traveling drive device 35' for self-propelling the crane body, a lifting section driving device 33', a control device 36' for controlling the traveling drive device 35', and the like.

Further, on the loading section 41' of the cart 4' of the stack car crane D on the storage side, there is a conveyor 43' having a curved shape for transferring articles from the article carrying-in conveyor E to the article transfer conveyor 5'; conveyor 4
2' are positioned at the same height as the article carry-in conveyor E, and are sequentially provided. And conveyor 4
3' is located close to the side edge of the upper surface of the article carry-in conveyor E, and on one side of the tip is a guide conveyor 43'' that smoothly introduces articles into the conveyor 43'. is provided to protrude above the article carry-in conveyor E.

Furthermore, the article transfer conveyor 5' in the stack car crane D on the warehousing side has an article discharge end at one end so as to connect the roller conveyor 3' of the crane body 3' and the conveyor 42' of the trolley 4'. The fulcrum 31 of the lifting section 31' of the crane body 3'
a', and the other end of the article carrying-in end is located at the same height as the article carrying-in conveyor E, and is rotatably supported on the fulcrum 41a' of the loading section 41' of the trolley 4'. be.

Next, a description will be given of the work of loading and unloading articles using the conveyance device of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 8.

In a state where articles F, F, ... are stored by type in each storage line E-1, E-2, E-3, articles F, F, ... on any storage line, for example, storage line E-1, When the gate is opened to put ... into the storage facility A, the opened storage line E-1's articles F, F,
... is transported to storage facility A by article carrying conveyor E.
It is transported to the front side of the entrance on the storage side. In front of the entrance on the storage side of the storage facility A, a stacker crane D on the storage side operates a storage device 32' that can move upward, downward, horizontally, and horizontally to any direction of the storage facility A based on a command from its control device 36'. The articles F, F, . are sequentially introduced into the conveyor 42',
The article is placed on the warehousing device 32' via the roller conveyor 34' of the elevating section 31' by the article transfer conveyor 5'. Articles F, F,... transferred to the warehousing device 32'
... are supplied by the storage device 32' to the corresponding frontage of the storage facility A while being centered by the centering guide 32''.

In addition, goods F from storage line E-1,
When the final article A in F, ... is carried into the stacker crane D on the receiving side, the gate of the next storage line E-2 is opened by the detector that confirms this, and the article F on the storage line E-1 is transferred to the storage line E-1. ，
Articles F, F, . . . on the storage line E-2 are supplied to the stacker crane D on the warehousing side in preparation for warehousing into the storage facility A.

When the supply of articles F, F, ... from storage line E-1 to storage facility A is completed, articles F, F, ... from storage line E-2 are transferred to stacker crane D on the receiving side. In the state in which the warehousing device 32' is loaded, the warehousing device 32' moves to the next storage opening in the storage facility A by traveling in the left-right direction of the stacker crane D itself on the warehousing side or raising and lowering its elevating section 31'. , for this frontage, article F from storage line E-2,
F,... is supplied. At the same time, the articles F, F, ... on the storage line E-3 are transported by the article carry-in conveyor E, are packed in front of the guide conveyor 43'' of the stacker crane D on the storage side, and are sent to the storage facility A. In preparation for the arrival of

In addition, in the above-mentioned warehousing work, the next storage line E-2 of the stacker crane D on the warehousing side
The warehousing device 32' is run with the articles F, F, .
However, the next storage line E
The articles F, F, ... from -2 are not loaded on the stacker crane D on the warehousing side, but are kept waiting on the article carry-in conveyor E, and after the warehousing device 32' completes running or moving up and down, the next storage line is loaded. Articles F, F, ... from E-2 are transferred to the stacker crane D on the receiving side.
This can also be done by changing the control design. In this case, when the stacker crane D on the warehousing side travels upstream of the article carry-in conveyor E, the article carry-in conveyor E is reversed and the stacker crane D on the warehousing side moves to the next storage line E- It is preferable to move the articles F, F, . . . from 2 to the upstream side of the article carry-in conveyor E.

On the other hand, when taking out the articles F, F, ... from the storage facility A, the stacker crane B on the outgoing side moves in the left and right direction based on the command from its control device 36, and its elevating section 31 moves up and down. After the unloading device 32 is located at an arbitrary frontage of the storage facility A, an arbitrary number of articles F, F, . Items above F, F,...
... are sequentially transferred by the article transfer conveyor 5 to the article transport conveyor C via the conveyor 42 and the conveyor 43 of the trolley 4, and the transferred articles F, F, .
is carried out by the article carrying-out conveyor C.

After completing the removal of the articles F, F, ... from a predetermined opening in the storage facility A, the removed articles F, F, ... are carried out to the article delivery conveyor C via the article transfer conveyor 5. Meanwhile, the unloading device 32 moves to the next frontage, and an arbitrary number of articles F, F, . . . are unloaded from this frontage again.

In the above-mentioned unloading operation, while the unloading device 32 is moving to the next frontage in the storage facility A, the articles F, F, ..., which have already been taken out from the storage facility A, are transferred to the article unloading conveyor C. However, this transfer may be stopped until the unloading device 32 reaches the next frontage. Also, before the unloading device 32 arrives at the next frontage, the stacker crane B on the unloading side is run to a predetermined position (load delivery position),
Articles F, F,... taken out at this predetermined position
It is also possible to transfer the goods to the article carry-out conveyor C, and after the completion of the transfer, move the unloading device 32 to the next frontage to carry out the next unloading.

However, in the above-mentioned conveying device of the present invention,
The above-mentioned article transfer conveyor 5 on the article delivery side as a swinging conveyor in the present invention and the conveyor 42 as a movable conveyor in the present invention are shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, FIG. 10, and FIG. 11. They are connected in a similar structure.

That is, the article discharging end of the article transfer conveyor 5 is swingably supported by the mounting section 41 of the trolley 4 via the fulcrum 41a as described above, whereas the article discharging end of the article transfer conveyor 5 is The movable end of the conveyor 42 connected to the loading section 41 is resiliently supported upward by a resilient spring 101 as a biasing mechanism interposed between the movable end of the conveyor 42 and the loading section 41. A receiving roller 102 provided on the frame is pressed and held downward by a push-down piece 103 provided at the article delivery end of the article transfer conveyor 5. As a result, the movable end of the conveyor 42 is set at the rising end level under the longest state of the resilient spring 101 when the article transfer conveyor 5 is located in a horizontal state as shown in FIGS. 9A and 13A. When the article transfer conveyor 5 is located on a downward slope as shown in FIGS. 9B and 13C, it is pushed down by the push-down piece 103 and set below the above-mentioned rising end level. The movable end of the conveyor 42 is set at the rising end level when the article transfer conveyor 5 is located on an upward slope as shown in No. 13b, under the longest state of the resilient spring 101 as described above.

Hereinafter, the article unloading operation by the article transfer conveyor 5 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 13A to 13C.

As shown in FIG. 13A, the article transfer conveyor 5
When the conveyor 3 is set in a horizontal position,
Since conveyor planes 4, 5, and 42 are arranged on the same plane, articles are transported from the upstream conveyor 34 to
They are smoothly transferred to the conveyors 5 and 42 on the downstream side one after another.

As shown in FIG. 13B, the article transfer conveyor 5
When the upstream conveyor 34 is set to have an upward slope, the extension surface of the conveyor plane of the upstream conveyor 34 is oriented on the conveyor plane of the downstream conveyor 5, and the extension surface of the conveyor plane of the upstream conveyor 5 is also oriented. Because it is oriented on the conveyor plane of the conveyor 42 on the downstream side,
The articles are sequentially and smoothly transferred from the upstream conveyor 34 to the downstream conveyors 5 and 42.

As shown in FIG. 13C, the article transfer conveyor 5
is set in a downward slope state, the extension surface of the conveyor plane of the upstream conveyor 34 is oriented on the conveyor plane of the downstream conveyor 5, and the article is transferred from the upstream conveyor 34 to the downstream conveyor 5. will be smoothly transferred to At this time, the resilient spring 101,
Assuming that the receiving roller 102 and the push-down piece 103 are not present, the conveyor plane of the upstream conveyor 5 is directed below the conveyor plane of the downstream conveyor 42, and hits a portion corresponding to the pulley. However, in the present invention, as described above, the elastic spring 101, the receiving roller 102, the pressing piece 103
Because the movable end of the conveyor 42 is pushed down, the conveyor plane of the upstream conveyor 5 is also oriented on the conveyor plane of the downstream conveyor 42, and the articles are transferred from the upstream conveyor 5 to the downstream side. It is smoothly transferred to the conveyor 42.

Furthermore, in the conveying device of the present invention, the article transfer conveyor 5' on the article storage side as the swinging conveyor in the present invention described above and the conveyor 34' as the movable conveyor in the present invention are
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, they are connected in the same structure as on the article delivery side. 10
1' is a resilient spring, 102' is a receiving roller, and 103' is a push-down piece.

Hereinafter, the warehousing operation of articles by the article transfer conveyor 5' will be explained with reference to FIGS. 14A to 14C.

As shown in FIG. 14A, when the article transfer conveyor 5' is set in a horizontal state, the conveyor planes of the conveyors 42', 5', and 34' are arranged on the same plane, so the article is the upstream conveyor 4
From 2' to conveyors 5' and 34' on the downstream side, they are smoothly transferred one after another.

As shown in FIG. 14B, when the article transfer conveyor 5' is set on a downward slope, the extension surface of the conveyor plane of the upstream conveyor 42' extends above the conveyor plane of the downstream conveyor 5'. The articles are smoothly transferred from the upstream conveyor 42' to the downstream conveyor 5'. At this time, if the resilient spring 101', receiving roller 102', and push-down piece 103' are not present, the upstream conveyor 5'
The extended surface of the conveyor plane is the conveyor 3 on the downstream side.
4' is directed below the plane of the conveyor and hits the portion corresponding to the pulley. However, in the present invention, as described above, due to the presence of the resilient spring 101', the receiving roller 102', and the push-down piece 103',
Since the movable end of the conveyor 34' is pushed down, the extension surface of the conveyor plane of the upstream conveyor 5' is also oriented on the conveyor plane of the downstream conveyor 34', and the articles are transferred from the upstream conveyor 5'. It is smoothly transferred to the conveyor 34 on the downstream side.

As shown in FIG. 14C, when the article transfer conveyor 5' is set in an upward slope state, the extension surface of the conveyor plane of the upstream conveyor 42' is on the conveyor plane of the downstream conveyor 5'. Oriented to
Since the extended surface of the conveyor plane of the upstream conveyor 5' is also oriented on the conveyor plane of the downstream conveyor 34', the articles are transported from the upstream conveyor 42'.
They are smoothly transferred to the conveyors 5' and 34' on the downstream side one after another.

FIG. 15 shows another example of the stacker crane B on the delivery side. In this illustrated stacker crane B, the cart 4 is not supported by the upper rail 21, but only by the lower rail 22. There is no structure for traveling, and between the crane main body 3 and the trolley 4,
By rotatably supporting the connecting rods 51, which constitute a link mechanism together with the article transfer conveyor 5, at both ends thereof, it is possible to prevent the trolley 4 from falling due to the traveling method, and further, The stack car crane B on the exit side shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 is different from the one shown in FIGS. It is configured in the same way.

Although not shown, the stacker crane D on the warehousing side can also have a structure similar to that shown in FIG. 15. Also, in relation to Fig. 15, the crane bodies 3, 3' of the stacker cranes D and B on the loading and unloading sides are different from those in Figures 2, 3 and 4, and the lower It may consist of a cart with a lift that runs on the rail 22, or
It can also be configured with a suspended crane that travels.

FIG. 16 shows another embodiment of an article handling device using the conveyance device of the present invention, and in this embodiment, a stacker crane is constructed as a type that can be used for both loading and unloading. In other words, the stack car crane G, which can be used both for loading and unloading, is capable of traveling between a pair of storage facilities A and A, and the loading and unloading device 37 of the lifting section 31 of the crane body 3 is connected to the article transfer conveyor 5. It is configured to be connected to the article transport conveyor H via. The storage/unloading device 37 is a storage facility A,
A picking device 37a facing each
37b as the main body, a roller conveyor 38 is disposed between them, and a pusher 39 is disposed at a position facing the article transfer conveyor 5 with the roller conveyor 38 in between, and is brought close to one picking device 37a. and the other picking device 37b
The stopper 38b for the article taken out by one picking device 37a is moved closer to the other picking device 37b, and the stopper 38a for the article taken out by one picking device 37a is moved to the respective roller conveyor 38.
It is configured to be retractable and retractable between the rollers. Therefore, according to the article handling device of FIG.
After being stopped by the stopper 38a or 38b, the article can be pushed out to the article transfer conveyor 5 by the pusher 39 and carried out by the article conveyor H. In addition, when entering the warehouse, pusher 3
9 can function as a centering guide for the articles, and the articles transferred from the article transport conveyor H to the roller conveyor 38 by the article transfer conveyor 5 are transferred to the roller conveyor 38 by the pair of retractable swinging conveyors 37a of the picking devices 37a and 37b. By reversing ', 37b', it is possible to supply to either storage facility A, A. Furthermore, if one of the picking devices 37a is reversely rotated to function as a supply device, and the other picking device 37b is rotated forward to function as a pick-up device, it is possible to move from one storage facility A to the other storage facility A. It is also possible to transfer goods to Note that the storage facilities A and A in this embodiment are not formed of fluidized shelves but are formed of ordinary fixed shelves. In addition, the article conveyor H is
It is not necessary to reach the ends of the storage facilities A and A as shown in the figure.

FIG. 17 shows yet another embodiment of the article handling device using the conveying device of the present invention.The article handling device of this embodiment differs from the embodiment shown in FIG. The stacker crane D on the storage side and the stacker crane B on the exit side are configured to run outside the article carry-in conveyor E and article discharge conveyor C, respectively. In the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, the stage of the storage facility A corresponding to the height of the article carrying-in conveyor C and the article carrying-in conveyor E (not shown in FIG. 18) is located at the storage facility 32. It is preferable to use a dead space because it is difficult to take out articles from the warehouse and to supply articles using a warehousing device (not shown in FIGS. 17 and 18). Further, it is preferable that the warehousing device in this embodiment is configured to be extendable and retractable like the picking device that constitutes the warehousing device 32.

19 and 20 show another example of the article transfer section from the article transfer conveyor 5 of the stack car crane B on the exit side to the article carry-out conveyor C, and the illustrated transfer section is as follows: At the tip of the conveyor 42 of the truck 4, a chute 45 is provided to protrude above the article carrying conveyor C in place of the conveyor 43 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In addition, this transfer section can also be constructed by, for example, protruding the conveyor 42 of the cart 4 onto the article carrying-out conveyor C.

The features of the embodiments of the conveying device of the present invention and the article handling device using the same described above are listed below.

The running of the stacker cranes without installing the article transport conveyors such as the article loading conveyor E and the article carrying out conveyor C on the running path of the stacker cranes such as the stacker crane D on the warehousing side and the stacker crane B on the exit side. Since the article transfer conveyor can be installed parallel to the storage facility and at the intermediate level of the storage facility, the article transfer conveyor can be used with an upward slope, horizontal slope, downward slope, etc. Dead space can be reduced by shortening the overall length of the crane.

Since the article transfer conveyor and the article transport conveyor are separate bodies, it is possible to individually start, stop, or control the speed of each, thereby controlling the loading and unloading of articles over a wide range.

Further, according to the above embodiment, the article transfer end of the article transfer conveyor as a swinging conveyor can be positioned below the article carry-in end, so that articles can be transported below the article transfer end of the article transfer conveyor. ,
It is possible to make the slope of the article transfer conveyor relatively small without increasing the length of the article transfer conveyor.

Furthermore, when the article transfer conveyor serving as a swinging conveyor conveys articles on a downward slope, the movable end of the movable conveyor disposed on the article delivery end side of the article transfer conveyor can be moved by the swinging of the swinging conveyor. , the movable conveyor is pushed down against a biasing mechanism for returning it to its normal position. Therefore, when the upstream oscillating conveyor is connected to the downstream movable conveyor at a downward slope, the extension surface of the conveyor surface of the upstream oscillating conveyor is at the level below the conveyor surface of the downstream movable conveyor. Since the object is always oriented at the upper level of the conveyor surface of the downstream movable conveyor, the articles are reliably and smoothly transferred from the upstream swinging conveyor to the downstream movable conveyor. becomes.

After taking out the goods from any opening of the storage facility, the goods are simply sent to the goods transfer conveyor via the goods transfer conveyor, so that easy and highly efficient unloading is possible. Further, even when the stacker crane is running, the articles on the article transfer conveyor that have already been taken out from the storage facility can be transferred to the article transfer conveyor, so that the efficiency of unloading is good.

Articles can be stored in the storage facility simply by receiving the articles sent from the article transport conveyor as they are on the article transfer conveyor and transferring them to the warehousing device.

In the past, loading and unloading was carried out by moving the stacker crane back and forth between the loading station and the frontage of the storage facility, so the stacker crane was always empty during one trip. Therefore, in addition to being inefficient, the reciprocating distance of the stacker crane is long, which wastes more time. However, in the present invention, the goods are constantly transported on the side of the running surface of the stacker crane. Since there is a conveyor and the article transport conveyor can be used in place of the loading station, there is no need to move the stacker crane back and forth between the loading station and the frontage of the storage facility. In other words, in the present invention, the article transport conveyor is used like a moving loading station, and articles can be delivered to the vicinity of the stacker crane, for example, by type, despite the movement of the stacker crane.

Note that the article handling device using the conveyance device of the present invention may be applied to either warehousing or unloading of a storage facility, and can also be applied to warehousing or unloading of a single product type. However, the invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, even when the swinging conveyor is in any swinging posture including a downward slope, the articles in the connection area between the article delivery end of the swinging conveyor and the movable conveyor are can be transferred reliably and smoothly, and the slope of the swinging conveyor can be made relatively small without increasing the length of the swinging conveyor.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing an embodiment of an article handling device using the conveyance device of the present invention;
FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan views, front views, and side views of each device on the exit side, and FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are plan views of each device on the storage side,
8 is a plan view showing the main parts of Fig. 5; Figs. 9A and B are front views showing the main parts of Fig. 3; and Fig. 10 is a plan view showing the main parts of Fig. 9. A is a plan view, FIG. 11 is a view along the line XI-XI of FIG. 9A, FIGS. 12A and B are front views showing the main parts of FIG. 6, and FIGS. 13A and B are , C are schematic diagrams showing the operating states of the main parts in Fig. 3, Fig. 14 A, B, and C are schematic diagrams showing the operating states of the main parts in Fig. 6, and Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram showing the operating states of the main parts in Fig. 6. FIG. 16 is a plan view schematically showing another embodiment of the article handling device using the conveying device of the present invention, and FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the article handling device using the conveying device of the present invention. A plan view schematically showing another embodiment, FIG. 18 is a front view of the device on the exit side, and FIGS. 19 and 20 are plan views of the transfer section from another transfer conveyor to the article delivery conveyor, respectively. FIG. 3 is a diagram and a front view. 5, 5'... Swinging conveyor (goods transfer conveyor), 34... Conveyor, 34'... Movable conveyor (conveyor), 42... Movable conveyor (conveyor),
42'... Conveyor, 101, 101'... Resilient spring (biasing mechanism), 102, 102'... Receiving roller, 103, 103'... Pushing down piece.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a conveyance device comprising an oscillating conveyor and a movable conveyor disposed at an article delivery end of the oscillating conveyor, one end of the movable conveyor has a movable end that is movable up and down. , the swinging conveyor swings downhill, so that the end of the swinging conveyor pushes down the movable end of the movable conveyor against the biasing device for returning the movable conveyor to its home position. A conveying device characterized by: 2 The article loading end of the swinging conveyor is placed on a lifting device, and as the lifting device goes up and down, the swinging conveyor swings around the article loading end. The conveyance device according to item 1. 3. A patent claim in which the article delivery end of the swinging conveyor and the movable conveyor are placed on a lifting device, and the swinging conveyor swings around the article delivery end as the lifting device goes up and down. range 1
Conveying device as described in section. 4. The conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the swinging conveyor is a belt conveyor.