JPH0664742A - Sorter converter for article - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve processing ability of sorting work by providing a control means for controlling a first and a second driving means in an extruding device the first and second driving means, setting an extruding part, when it is advanced from an original point position, to a rising up position and the extruding part, when it is in a process of returning to the original point position, to a lowering down position. CONSTITUTION:In a control unit 13 based on conveying information of an article, a lift pin 32 of constituting an extruding part 23 in a sorter conveyer 10 is set to a rising up position and advanced from an original point position, to sort the article 2 in a transfer conveyer 5 of a delivery part C2. After ending sorting work, when the extruding part 23 is in a process of returning to the original point position, the lift pin 32 is set to a lowering down position. Accordingly even in a halfway step after ending work of sorting the leading article 2A by the lift pin 32 of the extruding part 23 before returning to the original point position, the following article 2b can be carried in. Thus even wen continuously supplied without taking a wide space of the article, it can be sorted, to enable processing ability to markedly improve.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrying device for selecting articles to be carried based on the carrying information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, discharging and sorting an article carried in from a carry-in section to one carry-out section selected from a plurality of carry-out sections based on the carrying information is particularly related to the field of logistics. Is often done in.

Here, an example thereof will be described with reference to FIG.
In the figure, the sorting / conveying device 1 includes a carry-in section A, a sorting section B, and 2.
It is composed of individual carry-out parts C (C1, C2). The carry-in section A and the carry-out section C are composed of transfer conveyors 3, 4, and 5 that convey the article 2, and the transfer conveyors 3 and 4 are set on the same line. The sorting unit B includes a plurality of transport rollers 6 that are rotationally driven, and an extrusion plate 8 that is moved along a transport support surface 7 formed on the upper surfaces of these transport rollers 6 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the article transport direction. Have. This extruded plate 8
Is provided so as to reciprocate between an origin position shown by a solid line in FIG. 4 and a forward movement position a shown by a chain line.

Now, in such a structure, when the article 2 is conveyed by the transfer conveyor 3, the article 2 is first conveyed.
The barcode label attached to is read by a detector (not shown), and the selection destination is recognized. When the article 2 is transferred from the transfer conveyor 3 onto the transport roller 6, the rotation of the transport roller 6 causes the article 2 to move in the direction of the discharge portion C. Here, the sorting destination recognized from the barcode label is the carry-out section C.
In the case of 1, the pushing plate 8 maintains the original position in FIG. 4, and the article 2 is unloaded to the unloading section C1 as it is. On the other hand, when the sorting destination is the carry-out section C2, the articles 2 are conveyed by the conveyance rollers 6
At the stage of moving to (1), the pushing plate 8 moves to the forward position a indicated by the alternate long and short dash line to move the article 2 downward in the figure during its transportation and position it on the carry-out line of the discharge section C2. As a result, the article 2 is carried out to the carry-out section C2. After the article 2 is positioned on the carry-out line of the discharge section C2, the pushing plate 8
Returns to the origin position.

[0005]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, when the articles 2 are sorted into the carry-out section C2, the pushing plates 8 move to the forward movement position a indicated by the alternate long and short dash line. Only after returning to the origin position, the next article 2 cannot be carried into the sorting section B, which causes a decrease in processing capacity.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an article sorting and conveying apparatus capable of improving the throughput of sorting work.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has an article loading section, a sorting section, and a plurality of unloading sections arranged in this order, and the sorting section has a transportation support surface for the articles. A carrying device, and an extruding device for moving the article carried in from the carrying-in section in a direction substantially orthogonal to the article carrying direction,
An article sorting and conveying apparatus configured to selectively carry out the article carried in from the carrying-in section to one of the plurality of carrying-out sections by operating the pushing-out device based on the carrying information of the article. In the extruding device, a plurality of extruding portions that are provided so as to be able to move up and down with the conveyance supporting surface as a boundary and are arranged in parallel in the article conveying direction, and a first driving means that moves the plurality of extruding portions up and down. A second reciprocating motion of the plurality of push-out parts in a direction substantially orthogonal to the article conveying direction;
Driving means and the push-out section is set to a rising position when the push-out section advances from the origin position based on the conveyance information of the article, and the push-out section is set to the descending position in the process of returning the push-out section to the origin position. And a control means for controlling the first and second drive means so as to set.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the articles carried into the sorting section from the carry-in section are sorted by the pushing-out section which is set to the elevated position above the transport support surface and advances according to the sorting destination.
After the sorting, the extruding part is set to the lower position below the transport support surface in the process of returning to the original position, so that the succeeding article is not waited for until the extruding part returns to the original position. It can be carried into the sorting section.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a sorting and conveying apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of an extruding portion in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an operation state diagram of the sorting and conveying apparatus shown in FIG. is there. The same parts as those in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the sorting and conveying apparatus 10 shown in the figure, an information detector 11 and an article detector 12 are provided near the end of the transfer conveyor 3 in the carry-in section A along the article conveying direction. This information detector 11 recognizes the sorting destination of the article by reading the barcode attached to the side surface of the article,
The article detector 12 detects the conveyed article 2 to detect the length of the article 2 in the conveyance direction, and also detects the rear end of the article 2 in the conveyance direction, so that the article 2 is conveyed by the conveyor 3
To detect the time when it is carried into the carrying roller 6 from
The respective recognition signals and detection signals are sent to the control device 13. An encoder 14 is provided on the rotating portion of the transfer conveyor 3, and a signal from the encoder 14 is also sent to the control device 13.

The sorting section B has an extrusion device 20.
Therefore, the extrusion device 20 will be described with reference to FIG. A guide rod 21 and a ball screw 22 are installed in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction a of the article 2, and a moving base 24 forming an extruding portion 23 is connected to the guide rod 21 and the ball screw 22. The moving table 24 extends in the conveying direction a of the article 2 and can reciprocate in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction a of the article 2 by a ball screw 22 driven by a motor (not shown). Further, the moving table 24 is provided with a plurality of lifting mechanisms 25 in the longitudinal direction thereof. Each lifting mechanism 25 includes a bracket 2 fixed to the moving table 24.
6. Rotating shaft 28 rotatably held in bracket 26 via bearing 27, slit plate 29 fixed to rotating shaft 28, origin detector 30, lever 31 fixed to rotating shaft 28, tip of lever 31 And a pulse motor 3 fixed to the bracket 26.
3. A pinion 34 and a gear 35 that transmit the rotational force of the pulse motor 33 to the rotary shaft 28.

Each elevating pin 32, which constitutes the pushing-out portion 23 with such a structure, is rotated between the ascending position and the descending position by the rotation of the pulse motor 33. That is, when the rotation of the pulse motor 33 rotates the gear 35 in the m direction via the pinion 34, the lifting pin 32 rotates about 90 degrees from the state shown in the figure, and the transport support surface 7 constituted by the transport rollers 6 moves. Is also set below. Further, when the pulse motor 33 is rotated in the opposite direction and the gear 35 is rotated in the n direction, the tip of the lifting pin 32 projects above the transport support surface 7. At this time, the elevating pin 32 is configured to rotate in a direction away from the article 2 in the course of movement between the ascending position and the descending position.

Further, the origin detector 30 has a slit plate 29 when the raising / lowering pin 32 is rotated by about 90 degrees from the state shown in the drawing.
Detect the notch part of. Then, the drive of the pulse motor 33 is stopped by this detection signal, and a counter (not shown) connected to the pulse motor 33 is reset, thereby eliminating the accumulated error.

In the above example, one rotary shaft 28 has one
Although one lifting pin 32 is integrated, a plurality of lifting pins 32 may be integrated. In this case, the plurality of lifting pins 32 which are integrated to form one group move up and down together. However, even if a plurality of such groups are provided and the up and down movement is controlled between the groups. Good.

The vertical movement mechanism of the lifting pins 32 is not limited to this mechanism, and may be, for example, a cylinder.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG.

(1) First, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the preceding article 2A is conveyed from the transfer conveyor 3, the information detector 11 reads the bar code attached to the side surface of the article 2A,
The selection destination of the article 2A is recognized. After that, the sorting destination is the discharge part C
2 will be described. Further, the article detector 12 detects the article 2A to detect the length in the carrying direction.

(2) As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the lifting pins 32 (a, b, c) used for sorting the articles 2A are selected based on the length information detected by the article detector 12. And raised. For example, the timing at which the elevating pin 32 rises is synchronized with the timing at which the article detector 12 detects the end of the article 2 in the transport direction. At this time, in the control device 13, the encoder 14 starts measuring the transport amount of the article 2A from the time when the article detector 12 detects the rear end of the article 2A, and monitors the transport position of the article 2A.

(3) As shown in FIG. 3 (c), the article 2A
When reaches the operating range of the pushing device 20, the control device 13 moves the entire pushing device 20 forward. At this time,
The succeeding article 2B is being conveyed by the transfer conveyor 3, and similarly to the preceding article 2A, the detectors 11 and 12 recognize the sorting destination and detect the length in the conveying direction.

(4) As shown in FIG. 3D, the pushing device 20 advances and the preceding article 2A being conveyed rightward in the figure is moved in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction by the elevating pin 32 in the raised position. Be moved to. When the detector (not shown) detects that the preceding article 2A has reached the conveyance line of the transfer conveyor 5 which is the sorting destination, the forward movement of the pushing device 20 is stopped as shown in FIG. 3 (e). To do. At this time, in the process of moving the article 2A by the lifting pins 32 (a, b, c), the lifting pins 32 on the upstream side that will not face the article 2A.
The setting is changed to the descending position in order from (a). Then, the succeeding article 2B is allowed to be introduced into the extra space formed above the lowered elevating pin 32 (a).

In this embodiment, the lifting pin 3 on the most upstream side is used.
2 (a) is set to the lowered position, and at the same time, the lifting pin 32 is newly opposed to the article 2A this time on the downstream side.
(D) is newly set to the raised position so that it is allowed to participate in the work for sorting the articles 2A this time, together with the other raised and lowered lifting pins 32 (b, c). This lifting pin 3
The raising and lowering control of 2 is performed based on the conveyance position of the article 2 monitored by the control device 13.

(5) When the sorting operation of the articles 2A is completed,
As shown in FIG. 2F, all the lifting pins 32 in the raised position are positioned in the lowered position. Then, the entire pushing device 20 returns to the origin position (see FIG. 2 (g)).

(6) Subsequent article 2B detected in (3)
Based on the length in the conveyance direction of the item, the raising and lowering pins 32 (a to e) used for the sorting operation of the succeeding articles 2B are selected and set to the raised position (see FIG. 3 (h)), and after that, after (3). Is performed.

When the succeeding article 2B is selected at the carry-out section C1, even when the succeeding article 2B is carried into the sorting section B, the elevating pin 32 of the pushing device 20 maintains the state shown in FIG. 3 (g). Moreover, the forward movement of the entire pushing device 20 is not performed.

In the embodiment described above, the control device 13 sets the raising and lowering pins 32 constituting the pushing-out portion 23 in the sorting and conveying device 10 to the raised position and advances them from the origin position, so that the article 2 is carried out. It will be sorted to the transfer conveyor 5 of C2. And after the sorting work,
During the process in which the push-out portion 23 returns to the original position, the lifting pin 3
2 is set to the lowered position. Therefore, even if the raising / lowering pin 32 of the push-out section 23 is in the middle of returning to the original position after finishing the sorting operation of the preceding article 2A, the succeeding article 2B
Can be brought in. This is because the elevating pin 32 of the extruding section 23 after completion of the sorting operation is set to the lower position below the transport support surface 7 and returns to the original position, so that the succeeding article 2B is introduced without interference with the elevating pin 32. Because you can.

Further, the control device 13 passes the front of the lifting pin 32 by the carrying force of the carrying roller 6 among the lifting pins 32 which have been set to the elevated position for the sorting of the products 2A this time, and the articles 2A. The raising / lowering pins 32 that have not come into contact with each other, that is, the raising / lowering pins 32 that are no longer necessary for the sorting operation of the preceding articles 2A, are sequentially changed to the lowered position. For this reason,
The preceding article 2A moves to the downstream side in the transport direction and the transport roller 6
When there is a margin on the upstream side of the
Without waiting for the 3 to return to the origin position, at the same time when this extra space is generated, it is introduced toward the extra space where there is no protruding lift pin 32.

From the above, in the above-described embodiment, the sorting can be performed even if the articles conveyed adjacent to each other are continuously supplied without widening the interval, and the processing capacity is higher than that of the conventional one. It is possible to greatly improve.

In the above embodiment, an example of selecting in two directions has been described, but it can be applied to a case of selecting in three or more directions.

Further, although the sorting destination of the article is recognized from the bar code attached to the side of the article, other means, for example, the control device 13 may be set in advance.

[0031]

According to the present invention, the throughput of the sorting work can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a sorting and conveying apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a push-out section in FIG.

3 is an operation state diagram of the sorting and conveying apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a conventional sorting and conveying device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A carry-in section B sorting section C carry-out section 2 articles 7 transport support surface 10 sorting / transporting apparatus 13 control apparatus 20 push-out apparatus 23 push-out section 25 lift mechanism 32 lift pins

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 2, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 4]

[Figure 5]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 6]

[Figure 7]

[Figure 8]

[Figure 9]

[Figure 10]

FIG. 11

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] Brief description of the drawing

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a sorting and conveying apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a push-out section in FIG.

3 is an operation state diagram of the sorting and conveying apparatus shown in FIG.

4 is an operation state diagram of the sorting and conveying apparatus shown in FIG.

5 is an operation state diagram of the sorting and conveying apparatus shown in FIG.

6 is an operation state diagram of the sorting and conveying apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an operation state diagram of the sorting and conveying apparatus shown in FIG.

8 is an operation state diagram of the sorting and conveying apparatus shown in FIG.

9 is an operation state diagram of the sorting and conveying apparatus shown in FIG.

10 is an operation state diagram of the sorting and conveying apparatus shown in FIG.
It

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a conventional sorting and conveying device.

[Explanation of Codes] A carry-in section B sorting section C carry-out section 2 articles 7 transport support surface 10 sorting / transporting apparatus 13 control apparatus 20 pushing apparatus 23 pushing section 25 lifting mechanism 32 lifting pins

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An article carry-in section, a sorting section, and a plurality of carry-out sections are arranged in this order, and the sorting section has a carrying device having a carrying support surface for the article, and carries articles carried from the carry-in section. A pushing device that moves in a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction, and the pushing device operates the pushing device on the basis of the conveyance information of the article so that the article carried in from the carrying-in section is placed in one of the plurality of carrying-out sections. In the sorting and conveying device for articles to be selectively carried out, the pushing device,
A plurality of push-out portions that are provided so as to be able to move up and down with the transport support surface as a boundary and that are arranged in parallel in the article transport direction; a first drive unit that moves the plurality of push-out portions up and down; and a plurality of the push-out portions. Second drive means for reciprocating in a direction substantially orthogonal to the article transporting direction, and when the push-out section advances from the origin position based on the article transport information, the push-out section is set to the raised position and the push-out section is set. And a control means for controlling the first and second driving means so as to set the push-out portion to the lowered position in the process of returning to the original position. 2. The article sorting and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of push-out sections are individually moved up and down.