JPH06305533A - Pallet type accumulated stock conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transport, lift and hold a pallet in a simple and compact constitution, to automatically detect residence of a pallet on the upstream side by a simple mechanical means and to automatically block entrance of a pallet on the downstream side in an accumulate stock conveyor to transport pallets along a closed loop and hold them. CONSTITUTION:A conveyor chain is made a double chain 1, and one of chains is made a chain 1a for driving and the other a chain 1b for conveyance. A pallet P supported and guided by a roller 5 and a guide rail 3 is sandwiched by the chain 1b for conveyance, and a connection slide guide 6 conveyable along the chain 1b for conveyance is installed free to rotate. On a sprocket 2, a lifting drum 4 to lift the pallet P and a regulation drum 7 to regulate lift of the pallet P are provided. On the front of the regulation drum 7, a regulation stopper 8 to prevent biting of the connection slide guide 6 into the regulation drum 7 is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pallet type accumulation rate conveyor which can convey pallets loaded with articles and can be accumulated by an accumulation rate operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art This type of stock conveyor is designed to retain and absorb pallets loaded with articles by an accumulation rate operation when there is a difference in processing speed between a pre-process and a post-process such as an assembly line. As a conventional pallet-type accumulation stock conveyor, multiple stock conveyors that can perform accumulation operation are arranged in multiple stages, and the conveyors at each stage are used for loading and unloading goods, and for raising and lowering goods. There is a combination of lifting and lowering transport units such as line conveyors and lift devices.

In the above-mentioned conventional stock conveyor, the stock conveyor at each stage is composed of a chain conveyor consisting of a pair of left and right chains, and the pallet is placed on the ascending chain via the carrying rollers to connect the chains and the carrying rollers. By carrying by frictional force and stopping by a stopper, the carrying roller can rotate and stay with respect to the chain. Also, the stopper is operated by an air cylinder, etc., and when the upper conveyor is full of pallets, the sensor detects this and operates the stopper.
The entry of the lower pallet is blocked.

[0004]

However, in the case of the conventional stock conveyor as described above, since the slant conveyor and the lift device are used for the lifting / conveying unit, a large installation area is required, and the lifting / lowering processing time is required. There is a problem that it takes. Further, since the pallet is detected by the sensor and the stopper is operated by the air cylinder via the controller, there is a problem that the device becomes complicated and expensive.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to carry, ascend, and dwell a pallet with a relatively simple and compact structure, and to achieve a simple structure. An object of the present invention is to provide a pallet type accumulation rate stock conveyor capable of automatically detecting the accumulation of upstream pallets by mechanical means and automatically blocking the entry of downstream pallets.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a pallet type accumulating stock conveyor that conveys pallets along a closed loop conveying path constituted by chains and retains them by an accumulating operation. And one of the chains is a drive chain that is wound around a sprocket, and the other chain is a transport chain that engages the pallet so that the pallet can move and stop with respect to the chain. A slide guide that holds the chain and is movable along the transport chain is provided.

In order to move the pallet up and down at the end of the closed loop, the side of the sprocket around which the drive chain is wound rotates together with the sprocket, and the slide guide is clamped by the transport chain, so that the pallet moves along the sprocket. A lifting drum for raising or lowering in a horizontal state is provided.

Further, on the side surface of the sprocket, there is provided a regulating drum which rotates together with the sprocket and is fixed by sliding on the sprocket when a force of a certain amount or more acts, and a slide guide is provided on a side portion of the regulating drum. A storage groove is formed that allows storage and allows the pallet to enter the lifting drum.

Further, in order to prevent a part of the regulation drum and the slide guide from being caught, a regulation stopper is provided which is actuated by a cam provided on the regulation drum to prevent the pallet from entering.

[0010]

In the pallet type accumulating stock conveyor having the above-described structure, the drive chain wound around the sprocket is driven, and the transport chain integrated with the drive chain moves in the transport direction. The pallet is engaged with the transport chain via the slide guide, and in a normal state, the pallet is transported by the frictional force between the transport chain and the slide guide. When the pallet is fixed by an external force, the transport chain slides on the slide guide and the pallet can be retained. Since the chain is divided into drive and transport, and a slide guide is attached to the transport chain, the entire chain can be used to transport and retain pallets, and an accumulator stock conveyor with a compact structure can be obtained. .

At the elevating end of the closed loop, the slide guide is sandwiched between the elevating drum and the conveying chain, and the pallet moves up and down in a horizontal state by the rotational driving of the elevating drum integrated with the sprocket. The pallet can be raised and lowered by a simple and compact mechanism.

When the pallet slide guide comes into contact with the regulation drum that rotates together with the sprocket and the pallet stops, the trailing pallet is stopped from moving up and down until the preceding pallet finishes moving up and down. A large area can be taken. Further, when the pallet stays on the upstream side and becomes full, the regulating drum is slidably fixed to the sprocket by the pallet, and the vertical movement of the pallet on the downstream side is automatically prevented.

By the regulation stopper which operates in conjunction with the regulation drum, it is possible to prevent the pallet from entering the regulation drum when the storage groove of the regulation drum approaches, and between the regulation drum and the guide rail. The slide guide is prevented from being caught.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to an illustrated embodiment. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 are perspective views showing the basic structure of the pallet type accumulation rate stock conveyor of the present invention, a side view, a transverse sectional view, a partially enlarged sectional view, and FIG. FIG. 7, a partially enlarged sectional view, FIG. 7 is a side view showing a regulation drum and a regulation stopper, FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing movement of the regulation drum, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an effective area on a pallet, and FIG. 10 is a regulation stopper. FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing the movement of FIG. 1, FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing various lines of the present invention, and FIG.
2 is a schematic side view showing an example of a line buffer.

FIGS. 1 to 4 show an example of a single-stage pallet type accumulation rate stock conveyor according to the present invention, which is mainly wound around a sprocket 2 endlessly to form a closed loop R and a pallet P. A double chain 1 for conveying, a guide rail 3 for supporting and guiding the pallet P, an elevating drum 4 for elevating and lowering the pallet P at the end of the closed loop R, a traveling roller 5 and a slide guide 6 provided on the pallet P, It is composed of a restriction drum 7 and a restriction stopper 8 that restrict the entry of the pallet P.

The double chain 1 is an integrated two-row roller chain, and is arranged in a pair of left and right with the pallet P interposed therebetween. The outer chain of the two rows is sprocket 2
The drive chain 1a is wound around and the inner chain is a transport chain 1b to which the pallet P is connected via the slide guide 6. The slide guide 6 has a U-shaped member 6a for holding the roller portion of the carrying chain 1b from above and below at the tip, and normally the pallet P is transferred by the friction force between the U-shaped member 6a and the carrying chain 1b. When it is connected to 1b and towed and conveyed, and a force in a conveying direction above a certain level acts, the U-shaped member 6a slides on the conveying chain 1b, and the pallet P can be retained.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sprocket 2 has a rotary shaft 11 and a rotary shaft 11 on the inner side surfaces of a pair of left and right device side plates 10.
As shown in FIG. 2, one of a pair of sprockets 2 is used as a drive sprocket in the transport direction, and a drive motor 14 is connected thereto via a chain transmission mechanism 13 as shown in FIG. The pair of left and right drive sprockets are rotationally driven via the rotary shaft 15. Further, if the double chain 1 hangs between the sprockets 2, it hinders the transportation of the pallet P. Therefore, a guide 16 having a U-shaped cross section for supporting and guiding the drive chain 1a is arranged between the sprockets 2 (FIG. 4). reference).

The elevating drum 4 rotates together with the sprocket 2, and holds the U-shaped member 6a of the slide guide 6 with the conveying chain 1b to elevate the pallet P. As shown in FIG. The mounting ring 4a is fixed to the inner side surface of the bolt 2 by bolts, and the urethane rubber ring 4b is mounted on the outer periphery of the mounting ring 4a.

The traveling rollers 5 are wheels having flanges on both ends. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a pair of mounting shafts 17 are arranged on the pallet P at intervals in the carrying direction. The shaft 17 is rotatably attached to both ends protruding from the pallet P to make a total of four. A pair of cushion rubbers 18 are provided on the end surface of the pallet P in the conveying direction so as to absorb the impact when the pallet stays.

The slide guide 6 is rotatably attached to the tip portion 17a of the attachment shaft 17 so that the pallet P can be raised and lowered in a horizontal state. Further, a base roller 6c with which a regulating drum 7 described later contacts is attached to the base shaft 6b. The slide guides 6 are provided at both ends of the pallet P, but if they are provided on the same line, the pallet P can be moved up and down.
Since it is inclined, place it in a diagonal position. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the sprocket 2, the lifting drum 4, etc. are arranged so as to be offset from side to side.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the guide rail 3 includes a lower horizontal rail 3a and an upper horizontal rail 3b for supporting and guiding the traveling roller 5 of the horizontally moving pallet P from above and below, and at the elevating end portion. Semi-circular rail 3 that guides a pallet P in a horizontal state in which it is swung up and down by a lifting drum 4.
c, a guide plate 3d, and an arc rail 3e.

As for the regulation drum 7, the trailing pallet P is moved up and down by the lifting drum 4 until the leading pallet P is completely lifted.
Is a member for stopping the rotation of the pallet P that has accumulated in the upper part and is filled with the pallet P that is full in the upper part to stop the subsequent pallet P in the lower part.
The sprocket 2 is attached to the rotary shaft 11 of the sprocket 2 by sandwiching it with a pair of mounting discs 20 having sliding plates 20a, one mounting disc 20 is fixed to the rotating shaft 11, and the other mounting disc 20 is mounted.
Is pressed against the regulation drum 7 by the disc spring 21. In a normal state in which the pallet P naturally flows, the regulation drum 7
Rotates with the sprocket 2, and when a certain force acts, it slides on the mounting disc 20 and stops rotating.

A cutout groove 22 for accommodating the base roller 6c of the slide guide 6 is formed at one location on the outer peripheral portion of the regulation drum 7 (see FIG. 7). This regulation drum 7
Does not move the pallet P up and down, but normally rotates together with the sprocket 2, and when the base roller 6c is housed in the cutout groove 22, the pallet P is transferred by the transport chain 1b to the lifting drum 4. Allow to bite. On the other hand, when the pallet P is fixed by staying while the base roller 6c is engaged with the notch groove 22, the regulation drum 7 is slid and fixed to the sprocket 2.

The restricting stopper 8 has a certain probability that the notch groove 2
The base roller 6 is provided between the convex portion 22a of No. 2 and the guide rail 3.
c is a member that prevents troubles such as being caught (see FIG. 10) and stopping the device. When the cutout groove 22 approaches the guide rail 3, the base roller 6c is prevented from entering.
The control drum 7 is operated so that the approach is permitted when the distance is increased, and the operation timing is set.

As shown in FIG. 7, the regulation stopper 8 is constructed such that a stopper bracket 31 is tiltably attached to a mounting plate 30 fixed to the apparatus side plate 10 via a shaft 32, and a regulation drum of the substantially triangular stopper bracket 31 is provided. The cam roller 33 is provided at the side corner and the locking portion 34 is provided at the opposite corner. Further, the stopper bracket 31 urges the cam roller 33 toward the regulating drum 7 by the coil spring 35 and limits the urging movement of the cam roller 33 by the stop member 36, thereby setting the lower limit position of the locking portion 34.

On the other hand, on the outer peripheral surface of the regulation drum 7, a cam surface 40 is formed in front of the cutout groove 22 in the rotational direction. The cam surface 40 is an arc having a diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the regulation drum 7,
Further, it is formed so as to be continuous from the notch groove 22 to the outer peripheral surface.
When the notch groove 22 approaches the guide rail 3 from the upper state, the cam surface 40 and the coil spring 3 are approached.
5, the stopper bracket 31 tilts counterclockwise in FIG. 7, the locking portion 34 locks the base roller 6c, and the base roller 6c is prevented from entering. When the notch groove 22 passes the cam roller 33, the stopper bracket 31 returns to the original position against the biasing force of the coil spring 35 by the outer peripheral surface of the regulation drum 7, and the base roller 6c can enter.

Note that such a restriction stopper 8 may be disposed on one of the pair of left and right restriction drums 7, as shown in FIG. 2, and the end portion side where the pallet P is raised and the pallet P are lowered. One is arranged at each of the entrances on the end side.

The above-described structure operates as follows. (1) The double chain 1 is driven to rotate, and the article is carried into the pallet P manually or by a carry-in robot or the like at an appropriate supply position. (2) The pallet P on which the article is placed is transferred by the frictional force between the transport chain 1b and the slide guide 6.

(3) Pallet P reaching the entrance of the rising end
Means that the base roller 6c of the slide guide 6 has the regulating drum 7
Is inserted into the notch groove 22 and rotates with the sprocket 2 by the rotation of the regulating drum 7 and the carrying force of the carrying chain 1b to enter the lifting drum 4, and the base roller 6c is moved by the lifting drum 4 and the carrying chain 1b. Sandwiched,
While turning horizontally, it turns up (see FIGS. 8 (i) and 8 (ii)).

(4) The pallet P which has completed the turning and lifting is separated from the notch groove 22 by the carrying chain 1b and horizontally carried. The pallet P that follows is stopped by the base roller 6c hitting the outer peripheral surface of the regulating drum 7 (FIG. 8 (ii)).
reference). Here, as shown in FIG. 9, in the case of a known technique in which a pallet is fixed to a chain via a support pin, the effective area A ′ for pallet loading is reduced to a shape as shown in FIG. 9 (b). However, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 9A, the succeeding pallet P ₂ is the preceding pallet P ₁
The effective area A can be increased without overlapping with each other, and a bulky article can be mounted. Further, when the same article is conveyed, the distance between the pallets must be increased in the above-mentioned known technique, which is not necessary in the present invention.

(5) As shown in FIG. 8 (iii), when the upstreammost pallet P is stopped due to a delay in the previous process and the pallet P is accumulated on the upstream side and becomes full, the pallet P at the rearmost part is stopped. By locking the base roller 6c in the cutout groove 22 of the restriction drum 7, the rotation of the restriction drum 7 is stopped, and the base roller 6c of the lower pallet P hits the restriction drum 7 and the supply to the upper part is stopped. . When the stop of the pallet P on the most upstream side is released, the horizontal conveyance / rotation and ascent of the pallet P is restarted. The mechanical means of the restriction drum 7 can detect the pallet stay and automatically stop the pallet.

(6) Further, when the notch groove 22 approaches the regulation stopper 8 as shown in FIG. 10 (ii) while the pallet P is naturally flowing, the locking portion of the regulation stopper 8 is engaged. 34 descends, and the base roller 6c of the slide guide 6 is blocked from entering. Thereby, the convex portion 22 of the notch groove 22
Since a does not get caught in the base roller 6c, troubles such as damage or stop of the device can be prevented. In addition,
As shown in FIG. 10 (iii), when the cutout groove 22 passes through the restriction stopper 8, the locking portion 34 is returned to the ascending position, and the base roller 6c can enter.

The pallet type accumulation rate conveyor as described above can be used as a buffer or a stock in, for example, a food production line, a high speed packaging machine line or an assembly line. FIG. 11 shows various examples of such a line configuration, (a) is an example of a work assembly line, (b) is an example of expanding a stock line, and (c) to (e) are examples of line buffers.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a line buffer. A single unit composed of a sprocket, a lifting drum, a restriction drum, a restriction stopper and the like similar to the apparatus of FIG. And the double chain 1 is endlessly wound around them to form a closed loop R. An automatic supply device is arranged on one step to supply the articles onto the pallet P, and an automatic transfer device or the like is arranged on the other step to take out the article.

[0035]

As described above, in the pallet type accumulation rate stock conveyor according to the present invention, the chain forming the closed loop is a multi-row chain consisting of driving and carrying, and the pallet supported and guided by the guide rail is carried. The chain is connected to the chain via a slide guide, and at the lifting end of the closed loop, the pallet is moved up and down by the lifting drum, the pallet is blocked by the restriction drum, and the slide guide is not caught by the restriction stopper. As a result, the following effects are achieved.

(1) Since the chain is divided into the drive chain and the transport chain, and the pallet is connected to the transport chain via the slide guide, the pallet can be transported and retained using the entire chain, The accumulation rate stock conveyor can be made compact. (2) At the raising / lowering end of the closed loop, the slide guide is clamped by the raising / lowering drum and the conveying chain, and the pallet is raised / lowered by the rotation drive of the raising / lowering drum integrated with the sprocket. To
It does not require a large installation area at all, and can be made simple and compact.

(3) By the regulation drum, the lifting of the trailing pallet is stopped until the leading pallet finishes lifting, so that the effective loading area on the pallet can be increased. Further, when the pallet stays on the upstream side and becomes full, the regulating drum is slidably fixed to the sprocket by the pallet, and the vertical movement of the pallet on the downstream side is automatically prevented. Without using a conventional sensor, stopper, or control device, it is possible to detect stagnation by a cheap and simple structure and automatically stop lifting. (4) The regulation stopper that works in conjunction with the regulation drum can prevent the pallet from entering the regulation drum and prevent the slide guide from being caught between the regulation drum and the guide rail. Yes, equipment damage,
Trouble such as stoppage can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a basic structure of a pallet type accumulation rate conveyor according to the present invention.

2A is a side view showing a left side portion of the pallet type accumulation rate stock conveyor of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a side view showing a right side portion.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the pallet type accumulation rate stock conveyor of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a pallet.

6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a regulation drum and a regulation stopper.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the movement of the regulation drum.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an effective area on a pallet,
(A) shows the present invention, (b) shows a method of fixing a conventional pallet to a chain, and (c) shows a comparison between the two.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing the movement of the restriction stopper.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing various conveyor lines of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic side view showing an example in which the present invention is applied to a line buffer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 P Pallet 1 Double chain 1a Drive chain 1b Transport chain 2 Sprocket 3 Guide rail 3a Lower horizontal rail 3b Upper horizontal rail 3c Semi-circular rail 3d Guide plate 3e Circular rail 4 Elevating drum 5 Running roller 6 Sliding guide 6a Character-shaped member 6b Base shaft 6c Base roller 7 Control drum 8 Control stopper 10 Device side plate 11 Rotating shaft 12 Bearing 13 Chain transmission mechanism 14 Drive motor 15 Rotating shaft 16 Guide 17 Mounting shaft 18 Cushion rubber 20 Mounting disk 21 Disc spring 22 Notch groove 30 Mounting Plate 31 Stopper Bracket 32 Shaft 33 Cam Roller 34 Locking Part 35 Coil Spring 36 Stopping Member

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pallet-type accumulation rate stock conveyor that conveys pallets along a closed-loop conveyance path composed of chains and retains them by an accumulation rate operation, wherein the chain is a multi-row chain, and one chain is a sprocket. In addition to being a drive chain that is wound, the other chain is a transport chain in which the pallet is engaged with the chain so that the pallet can move and stop. The pallet holds the transport chain and transports it. A pallet-type accumulation rate stock conveyor characterized by having a slide guide that can move along the chain. 2. The pallet type accumulated rate conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the side surface of the sprocket is rotated together with the sprocket, and a slide guide is sandwiched between the sprocket and a conveying chain so that the pallet is in a horizontal state along the sprocket. A pallet-type accumulation rate stock conveyor, which is equipped with a lifting drum for raising or lowering. 3. The pallet type accumulation rate stock conveyor according to claim 2, wherein a side surface of the sprocket is provided with a restriction drum which rotates together with the sprocket and slides on the sprocket when a certain force is applied thereto. A pallet type accumulation rate stock conveyor characterized in that a slide groove is formed on the side of the drum to form a storage groove that allows the pallet to enter the lifting drum. 4. The pallet type accumulation rate stock conveyor according to claim 3, wherein a part of the regulating drum is actuated by a cam provided on the regulating drum to prevent the pallet from entering so as not to be caught in the slide guide. A pallet type accumulation rate conveyor that is equipped with a regulation stopper.