JPH06312832A - Cross-feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a compact cross-feeder, which can be arranged inside of a frame of a conveyor line and in which the number of part items is reduced to facilitate the assembling thereof and which can be driven without requiring an air source. CONSTITUTION:In a cross feeder, which is arranged in a conveyor line using a roller conveyor and which carries out or in an article, rollers 10, 11 with built-in carrying motor are arranged under two pulley trains formed of pulleys 9. Belts 25, 26 with teeth are stretched between the pulley trains and the rollers 10, 11 with built-in carrying motor. A roller 28 with built-in elevating motor and oscillating arms 29, 30 are arranged under a frame 7, and they are connected to the frame 7 by pins 40, 41.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cross feeder which is arranged on a conveyor line and carries out or carries in articles from the conveyor line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a product assembly line or a delivery place,
Conveyor lines are often used to convey articles.
For example, many conveyor lines are installed vertically and horizontally in a delivery place, and a cross feeder is arranged at a predetermined position on the conveyor line. Then, by operating the cross feeder, the article is unloaded from the original conveyor line and transferred to another conveyor line to convey the article to a desired location.

The cross feeder generally has an article conveying section and an elevating section. Normally, the top surface of the article conveying section is vertically conveyed so as not to interfere with the conveyance of articles on the conveyor line. It is stored below the transport surface of. Then, the destination of the article flowing through the conveyor line is determined by a sensor or the like, and if the article is a predetermined article, the stopper stops the article on the cross feeder. Next, the elevating part is operated to raise the article conveying section above the conveying surface of the vertical conveyer line and scoop up the article. Then, the article transport unit is operated to deliver the article to another conveyor.

Next, a specific structure of the conventional cross feeder will be described. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a conventional cross feeder. FIG. 5 shows only the article transporting unit in the configuration of the cross feeder of the related art. The cross feeder 100 of the prior art includes parallel plates 10 facing each other.
A total of 10 pulleys 1 in a frame consisting of 1,102
03, 105, 112 are attached. These pulleys 103, 105, 112 are all arranged on the same plane and are arranged in two rows, one row on the plate 101 side and the other row on the plate 102 side. And, among the pulleys 103, 105, 112 of each row, the pulley 1 at the end
05 are connected by a transmission shaft 106. Further, the transmission shaft 106 projects outside the frame plate 102. Further, a sprocket 108 is provided at the end of the transmission shaft 106.
Is attached and is coupled to the motor 110 via a chain 109.

Another pulley 11 mounted on the frame
2 is cantilevered on the plate 101 and the plate 102, and can be freely rotated.

A belt 115 is suspended between the pulleys 112 and 103. Similarly, pulleys 112 and 1
A belt 116 is suspended between 05.

Further, in the raising / lowering section of the conventional cross feeder, an air cylinder is generally employed as an actuator for raising / lowering. That is, in the cross feeder of the prior art, an air cylinder is attached to the lower end of the frame described above, and by expanding and contracting the lot of cylinders,
The article transport unit is configured to be moved up and down.

[0008]

The cross feeder of the prior art has a basic function of selectively carrying out or carrying in articles from the conveyor, but its outer shape is inevitably large. I'm dissatisfied. That is, the cross feeder 100 according to the related art is configured to rotate the pulleys 103, 105, 112 arranged in two rows synchronously so that the transmission shaft 10 is interposed between the pulleys 103, 105.
6 is attached. Therefore, in the cross feeder 100 of the related art, the pulleys 103, 105 and the transmission shaft 106 are arranged so that the transmission shaft 106 does not hit the rollers 117, the frame 118, etc. of the conveyor line when moving up and down.
Must be placed outside the conveyor line frame 118 or the like. Therefore, there is a problem that the cross feeder of the related art is inevitably larger than the frame of the conveyor 119.

Further, the prior art cross feeder 100
Is the pulley 103, 105 and the transmission shaft 10 as described above.
Since 6 must be arranged outside the frame 118 of the conveyor 119, there is a problem that the frame of the conveyor line is divided. Therefore, when the conventional cross feeder 100 is adopted, the conveyor line includes a front part 120, an intermediate part 119, and a rear part 12.
There is a problem in that the number of parts is large because the number of three parts is required.

Further, the prior art cross feeder 100
However, there is also a problem that a member such as a chain tensioner is necessary because it is necessary to raise and lower the article transfer unit while maintaining the fitting of the sprocket and the chain.

In addition, the prior art cross feeder 100
However, since it uses an air cylinder for the lifting unit, it has a drawback that an air source is essential for driving. Therefore, there is a problem that it cannot be installed in a place without an air source.

Focusing on the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention is compact, can be arranged in the frame of a conveyor line, has a small number of parts, is easy to assemble, and does not require an air source. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cross feeder that can be driven.

[0013]

A feature of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object is to provide an article conveying section and an elevating section in a cross feeder arranged on a conveyor line to carry out or carry in articles from the conveyor line. The article transporting unit comprises a plurality of pulleys and a transporting motor-equipped roller having a motor and a speed reducer housed in a cylinder supported by a frame, and the plurality of pulleys are arranged in two or more rows in the same plane. The rollers with built-in motors have a length equal to or greater than the distance between the pulley rows and are arranged on a plane different from that of the pulley rows. A belt is suspended between the rollers with built-in motors, and the lifting unit is centered on the rollers with built-in motors for built-in lifting motors and speed reducers. The frame of the article transporting unit has a swinging arm capable of swinging, and the frame of the article transport unit is connected to a roller with a built-in motor for raising and lowering of the raising and lowering unit and a swinging arm, respectively, to a cross feeder. is there.

[0014]

In the cross feeder of the present invention, a plurality of pulleys are arranged in two or more rows in the same plane, and the plane formed by the highest portion of each pulley is used as the contact surface of the article via the belt. To work. The roller with a built-in motor for transportation arranged on a plane different from that of the pulley row has a length equal to or greater than the interval between the pulley rows, so that the portion with the roller with a built-in transport motor is located parallel to one of the pulley rows.
The other part of the rollers with a built-in motor for conveyance is arranged in parallel with the other pulley row. Since the belts are suspended between the respective pulley rows and the rollers with a built-in transportation motor, the belts suspended by the respective pulley rows are driven by a common roller with a built-in transportation motor.

Further, since the frame of the article conveying section is connected to the lifting motor built-in roller and the swing arm via the fulcrum of rotation, respectively, the lifting motor built-in roller, the frame, and a supporting member for these members are connected to form a series. It constitutes a rotary chain mechanism. Therefore, when the raising / lowering motor built-in roller is rotated, the supporting point of the frame swings around the shaft center of the raising / lowering motor built-in roller and one end of the swing arm.
As a result, the frame moves vertically.

The cross feeder of the present invention is arranged in the conveyor line so that the belt is oriented in a direction other than parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor line. When carrying out an article from the conveyor line using the cross feeder of the present invention, first, the roller with a built-in motor for lifting is rotated to raise the article carrying section. Then, when the article conveying section protrudes from the conveyor line, the rotation of the lifting and lowering motor built-in roller is stopped. At this time, the articles on the conveyor line are
It is picked up by the article feeder of the cross feeder.

Next, the roller with a built-in motor for carrying in the article carrying section is rotated. Then, the belt hung on at least two parts of the roller with the built-in motor for conveyance runs, and this belt rotates around the respective pulley rows. As a result, the articles on the belt are carried out of the conveyor line.

[0018]

EXAMPLES Specific examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cross feeder according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of a cross feeder according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a cross feeder according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the motorized roller.

In the drawings, reference numeral 1 shows a cross feeder according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. Cross feeder 1 of the present invention
Is used as a cross feeder of a conveyor line based on a roller conveyor, and is roughly divided into an article conveying section 2 and an elevating section 3.

Sequentially explaining, the article conveying section 2 has eight pulleys 9 on a frame 7 having two parallel plate-shaped portions 5 and 6 (the plate-shaped portion 6 is not shown in FIG. 1). And two rollers 10 and 11 with a built-in motor for conveyance are attached. The frame 7 has two parallel plate-shaped portions 5 and 6, and both ends on the lower side project outward from the plate-shaped surface to form a projecting portion 16. Further, the bottom portions of the plate-shaped portions 5 and 6 are joined by the two connecting plates 35 and 36, and the parallel state is maintained. Plate-shaped mounting portions 37 are provided at both ends of the lower surface of the connecting plate 35. The mounting portion 37 is provided with a hole. Further, mounting portions 38 having the same shape as the mounting portion 37 are provided on both end portions of the lower surface of the other connecting plate 36. Therefore, a total of four mounting portions 37 and 38 are provided on the lower surface of the frame 7. The cylindrical member 12 shown in FIG. 2 is provided so that the sensor can easily detect the vertical position of the frame 7.

The eight pulleys 9 are all toothed pulleys and have a built-in ball bearing and the like.
It can freely rotate around. Each of the eight pulleys 9 is fixed in a cantilever manner to the inside of the plate-shaped portions 5 and 6 of the frame 7 near the upper end, and four pulleys each. Therefore, two pulley rows are formed by eight pulleys. Here, the four pulleys 9 forming each pulley row are all arranged in parallel. Further, even if the two pulley rows are seen from each other, they are in a positional relationship parallel to each other. In addition, the tops of all pulleys are coplanar.

The rollers 10 and 11 with a built-in motor for conveyance are
Toothed pulleys 50 are mounted at two positions respectively. The fixed shaft 23 of the rollers 10 and 11 with a built-in motor for conveyance,
24 is integrally fixed to the projecting portion 16 of the frame 7. Here, the rollers 10 and 11 with a built-in motor for conveyance adopted in this embodiment will be described. The rollers 10 and 11 with a built-in motor for conveyance have a motor 20 and a planetary gear in a cylindrical roller body 18 as shown in FIG. 4, for example. The speed reducer 22 consisting of a row is built in.

In the rollers 10 and 11 with a built-in motor for conveyance,
The fixed shafts 23 and 24 protruding from the roller body 18 do not rotate at all. When the motor 20 is rotated, the rotational force of the motor 20 passes through the speed reducer 22 and the roller body 18
Be transmitted to. As a result, when the motor 20 is rotated, the outer roller body 18 is decelerated and rotated.

Roller 1 with a built-in conveying motor having the above construction
In 0 and 11, the total length of the roller body 18 is 2 of the frame 7.
It is longer than the distance between the plate-shaped portions 5 and 6 of the sheet. The roller 10 with a built-in motor for conveyance is arranged at a position directly below one end of the pulley row so that its axis is parallel to the pulley 9.
Further, the roller 11 with a built-in motor for conveyance is arranged at a position just below the other end of the pulley row so that its axis is parallel to the pulley 9.

Then, the pulley 9 attached to the plate-like portion 5 of the frame 7 and the two rollers 1 with a built-in motor for conveyance.
A toothed belt 25 is suspended between the toothed pulleys 50 mounted on the wheels 0 and 11. Similarly, between the pulley 9 attached to the plate-like portion 6 of the frame 7 and the toothed pulley 50 of the two rollers 10 and 11 with built-in motors for conveyance,
Similarly, the toothed belt 26 is suspended.

The elevating part 3 includes a roller 28 with a motor for raising and lowering.
And rocking arms 29, 30 and a fixed shaft 31. The internal mechanism of the roller 28 with a built-in motor for raising and lowering is almost the same as that of the roller 10 with a built-in motor for conveyance described above. The raising / lowering motor built-in roller 28 is different from the transporting motor built-in roller 10 in that the outer diameter of the roller body 34 is larger than that described above. Further, the roller 28 with a built-in lifting motor has a reduction gear ratio of 700: 1.
A very high degree is used. Therefore,
The roller body 34 rotates very slowly.

Ring-shaped mounting ribs 32 are provided near both ends of the roller body 34 of the roller 28 with built-in motor for raising and lowering.
33 is integrally fixed by welding. Further, the mounting ribs 32 and 33 are provided with holes, respectively.

The swing arms 29 and 30 are plate-like members having an elliptical shape, and are provided with a large diameter hole and a small diameter hole. The length between the large diameter hole and the small diameter hole of the swing arms 29, 30 is equal to the length from the center of the ring-shaped mounting ribs 32, 33 to the hole. The swing arms 29 and 30 are
A large-diameter hole is rotatably inserted in the fixed shaft 31.

A pin 40 is connected to the holes formed in the ring-shaped mounting ribs 32 and 33 of the roller 28 with built-in motor for elevation and the hole formed in the mounting portion 37 of the frame 7. Therefore, the lifting motor built-in roller 28 and the frame 7 are coupled to each other through the two rotation fulcrums. Similarly, the holes of the swing arms 29 and 30 and the mounting portion 3 of the frame 7
A pin 41 is communicated with the hole of 8, and both are connected via two rotation fulcrums.

When the positional relationship of the pins 40, 41, etc. is seen from the front as shown in FIG. 2, the center of the lifting motor built-in roller 28, the fixed shaft 31 to which the swing arms 29, 30 are attached, and the pins 40, 41. The figure connecting 41 is a parallelogram, forming a series of four-bar rotation chains.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cross feeder 1 of the present embodiment is used by being arranged inside a vertical feed conveyor line 45. The conveyor line 45 has a large number of rollers including a motor built-in roller arranged in a single frame, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. Then, the conveyor line 45 has two portions where the distance between the rollers is set wide, and the row of pulleys of the cross feeder 1 is arranged in the portion. Further, both ends of the fixed shaft 43 of the roller 28 with built-in motor for lifting in the lifting unit 3 are integrally fixed to the frame 46 of the conveyor line 45 (fixing structure is not shown). Similarly, both ends of the fixed shaft 31 to which the swing arms 29 and 30 are attached are also integrally fixed to the frame 46 of the conveyor line 45 (fixing structure is not shown).

Next, the operation of the cross feeder 1 of this embodiment will be described. In the cross feeder 1, normally, the line connecting the pin 40 and the center of the lifting motor built-in roller 28 is
The roller with built-in motor 28 for elevation is stopped at a position inclined at about 45 ° with respect to the horizontal. Also, the straight line connecting the center of the roller 28 with built-in motor for raising and lowering, the fixed shaft 31 to which the swing arms 29 and 30 are attached, and the pins 40 and 41 is a parallelogram, forming a series of four-bar rotation chain. Since it is formed, the swing arms 29 and 30 are also inclined to about 45 °. Therefore, the article feeder 2 of the cross feeder 1
In the lowered state, the pulley 9 and the toothed belts 25 and 26 of the article conveying unit 2 are sunk between the rollers of the conveyor line 45. Therefore, the article carried by the conveyor line 45 is smoothly carried downstream without hitting the article carrying section 2.

When a sensor (not shown) detects that a specific article has been conveyed on the conveyor line 45, a stopper (not shown) protrudes to stop the article at a position just above the cross feeder 1. Next, the raising / lowering motor built-in roller 28 is rotated by about 45 ° in one direction so that the pin 40 moves the raising / lowering motor built-in roller 2 as shown in FIG.
Roller 2 with built-in motor for raising and lowering at a position directly above the center of 8
Stop 8. Then, the article feeder 2 of the cross feeder 1
Rises, and the back surfaces of the toothed belts 25 and 26 project above the uppermost portions of the rollers of the conveyor line 45. Therefore, the article is picked up from below by the article conveying unit 2 of the cross feeder 1 and separated from the rollers of the conveyor line 45. In the cross feeder 1 of the present embodiment, the stop signal for the roller 28 with built-in motor for raising and lowering is generated when the sensor detects the position of the cylindrical member 12 provided on the frame 7.

Next, the rollers 10 and 11 with a built-in motor for conveyance are rotated. Then, the rollers 10 and 11 with a built-in motor for conveyance are provided.
The toothed belts 25 and 26 suspended by the two run synchronously, and the articles move and are unloaded from the conveyor line 45. Then, the articles are transferred to the branch conveyor line 47 arranged in a direction perpendicular to the conveyor line 45.

When the articles are moved and carried out from the conveyor line 45, the roller 28 with built-in motor for lifting is rotated about 45 ° in the direction opposite to the above-mentioned direction. And pin 40
And the line connecting the center of the lifting motor built-in roller 28 is inclined by about 45 ° from the horizontal, the lifting motor built-in roller 2
8 is stopped, the article conveying section 3 is lowered, and the article is submerged in the conveyor line 45.

In the embodiments described above, the toothed belt is used as the conveyor belt. This configuration is recommended because of less belt meandering. However, the present invention is not limited to the toothed belt as the conveyor belt, and a known belt such as a flat belt, a V-belt, or a V-ribbed belt can be adopted.

Further, in the present embodiment, the constitution in which the rollers 10 and 11 with built-in motors for conveyance are provided directly below both ends of the pulley train is disclosed. That is, in the cross feeder 1 of the present embodiment, the article conveying section 2 is provided with two rollers each having a conveyance motor. The reason for this is to use two rollers with a built-in conveyance motor to obtain a larger conveyance force. Instead of the configuration of the present embodiment, it is possible to use only one roller with a built-in conveyance motor.

In the cross feeder 1 of this embodiment, the frame 7 is provided with the cylindrical member 12, and the sensor detects the cylindrical member 12 so that the stop signal of the roller 28 with built-in motor for lifting is issued. did. Instead of this, it is also recommended that a limit switch is built into the roller 28 with a built-in lifting motor, and the internal limit switch is switched when the rotation angle of the roller body reaches a fixed position.

In the explanation of the operation of the present embodiment, as a measure for stopping the article on the conveyor line 45 at a position just above the cross feeder 1, a method of sticking out a stopper has been illustrated. The method described in the present embodiment is the most commonly used method, but when a roller with a built-in motor is used as a drive source of the conveyor line 45, that is, in some of the rollers forming the conveyor line 45. In a conveyor line configured to use motorized rollers and idle rollers for the other rollers, the articles on the conveyor line 45 can be stopped at a position directly above the cross feeder 1 by a simpler and more reliable method. You can When the conveyor line configured as described above is adopted, when the article comes directly above the cross feeder 1, the cross feeder 1
The motorized rollers of the conveyor line 45 around the are stopped. By doing so, the article loses its moving power and stops right above the cross feeder 1.

As a preferable measure which is a further development of this structure, it is recommended that a roller with a built-in motor having a braking function is used as the roller 51 sandwiched between the belts 25 and 26 of the cross feeder 1. When an article to be passed over the cross feeder 1 arrives, the roller 51
On the other hand, when an article to be discharged by the cross feeder 1 arrives, the brake function is activated to activate the roller 5
Stop 1

[0041]

In the cross feeder of the present invention, the belts suspended around the respective pulley rows are driven by the common rollers with a built-in motor. Further, the roller with a built-in motor for conveyance is arranged on a plane different from the pulley row. Therefore, when the article transport unit is moved up and down, it does not interfere with the frame of the conveyor line or the like, and a shaft for transmitting power between pulleys, which has been essential in the past, is unnecessary. Therefore, the cross feeder of the present invention does not need to dispose a transmission shaft or the like outside the conveyor line. Further, since the cross feeder of the present invention generates all the power for driving the belt and raising and lowering the article transporting section inside the cross feeder, it is not necessary to obtain power from a chain or the like from an external motor or the like.
Therefore, the cross feeder of the present invention has the effect of reducing the size. For the same reason, the cross feeder of the present invention has an effect that the structure is simple and the assembly and maintenance are easy.

Further, since the cross feeder of the present invention does not need to provide any member outside the conveyor line, it is not necessary to divide the conveyor line, and the structure of the conveyor line can be simplified.

Further, the cross feeder of the present invention can be used even in a place where there is no air source, and has an effect of wide application.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cross feeder according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a cross feeder according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a cross feeder according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a roller with a built-in motor.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a conventional cross feeder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cross feeder 2 Article conveyance part 5, 6 Plate part 7 Frame 9 Pulley 10, 11 Conveyor motor built-in roller 25, 26 Toothed belt 28 Elevating motor built-in roller 29, 30 Swing arm 40, 41 pin

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cross feeder arranged in a conveyor line for carrying out or carrying in articles from the conveyor line, comprising an article conveying section and an elevating section, wherein the article conveying section comprises a plurality of pulleys, a motor and a speed reducer in a cylinder. A roller with a built-in motor for transportation having a built-in roller is supported by a frame, the plurality of pulleys are arranged in two or more rows in the same plane and individually rotatable, and the roller with a built-in motor has a roller of the pulley row. It has a length equal to or greater than the interval and is arranged on a plane different from that of the pulley rows, and a belt is suspended between each of the pulley rows and the rollers with a built-in motor for conveyance. A frame with a built-in speed reducer and a built-in motor for raising and lowering, and a swing arm capable of swinging about an axis, A cross feeder characterized in that it is connected to a roller with built-in motor for raising and lowering and a swinging arm of the raising and lowering section respectively via rotation fulcrums.