JPH0717626A - Alignment plate and alignment transport device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide an aligning plate and an aligning / conveying device capable of stably holding and transferring a product and shortening the setup time when changing the product type and improving the machine operation rate. [Structure] The aligning plate 1 which stably holds the product 7 by the suction means 29 is fed at the pitch interval of the receiving groove 20 of the flat plate main body by the robot mechanism unit 3 having the control unit 30, the servo motor 35, etc. The aligned plates 1 arranged and stacked are fast-forwarded to the temporary frame 5 side. The temporary frame 5 is moved up and down by the temporary frame elevating device 4 and stands by at a predetermined position. The product rows that are aligned and stacked on the alignment plate 1 are introduced into the temporary frame 5 at once by the product introduction mechanism unit 6. The products 7 packed vertically and horizontally in the temporary frame 5 are inserted into the box 8 side and sent to the next process side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an aligning plate for aligning and stacking a predetermined number of products such as a cylindrical laminated tube and a predetermined number of products in a temporary frame using the aligning plate. The present invention relates to an alignment conveyance device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Tube-shaped products are housed in a box through which many products are vertically stacked and stacked side by side, and are transferred to the packaging process side in the final step of a continuous flow process. After arranging a predetermined number of products sent one by one, they are introduced into the temporary frame for each row, and after stacking a predetermined number of product rows in the temporary frame, the temporary frame is transferred to the box side. Introduced.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a conventional aligning and conveying apparatus. The product 7 is transferred from the inspection table conveyor 65 onto the lift conveyor 66, and from the counting conveyor 68 having the counter 67 onto the insertion conveyor 69. The insertion conveyor 69 is driven by a speed control motor 70, and a predetermined number of products 7 are aligned and stacked on the insertion conveyor 69.

On the other hand, the temporary frame 5 is positioned at a position opposite to the insertion conveyor 69, and is vertically fed by a lift lifting motor 71 etc. at a pitch corresponding to the height of the product. The products 7 aligned and stacked on the insertion conveyor 69 are introduced into the temporary frame 5 at once by the product insertion plate 72. Less than,
By repeating the same operation, a predetermined number of product rows are vertically and horizontally stacked in the temporary frame 5.

On the other hand, as an example of a known technique related to the present invention, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-134107. This technique discloses a method and an apparatus for packaging a hose-shaped bag in a cardboard box, and discloses a transportation means for the hose-shaped bag. This transport means is Fi
It has a positioner conveyor as disclosed in g.1 and Fig.2, and transfers the hose-shaped bag by the conveyor.

[0006]

As described above, in the prior art, the product is conveyed by the conveyer, and even when a certain amount of the product is introduced into the temporary frame, the product is introduced after being lined up on the conveyer. The method was used exclusively.

However, in the case of the conveyer using the conveyor, there are the following problems. In the case of products made of metal tubes such as aluminum tubes, adjacent tubes do not stick together. However, in the case of a laminated tube that is generally used as a tubular product, there is a problem that if there is no partition between adjacent tubes, they will stick to each other and will not be juxtaposed in the correct posture.

Therefore, it is necessary to employ a conveyor with a partition. On the other hand, not only one type of product is flown through the product transfer line, but products of similar shapes are often processed in the same transfer line. In this case, in the case of a conveyor with a partition, it is necessary to replace with a conveyor having a partition corresponding to the product each time the size of the product changes. However, exchanging the conveyor is extremely complicated and requires a work space, which not only increases the size of the apparatus but also requires a lot of setup time and reduces the machine operating rate.

Further, in the case of a conveyor, slack is likely to occur, and it is necessary to perform a folding adjustment operation occasionally, which is troublesome. Moreover, when stacking product rows in the temporary frame, it is desirable to stack them in a zigzag manner for stable packaging of products. However, in the case of a carrying-in means in which the products are fully loaded on the conveyor and introduced to the temporary frame side, it is difficult to control the position of each product line and it is difficult to introduce the product lines in a staggered manner in the temporary frame. is there.

The present invention solves the above problems, in which the products are stably aligned, the product is efficiently conveyed,
An object of the present invention is to provide an aligning plate and an aligning / conveying device capable of shortening a setup time at the time of changing a product, improving a machine operation rate, and capable of arbitrarily setting a staggered alignment posture.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a flat plate main body having a large number of receiving grooves for holding products arranged in parallel on the upper surface side at a predetermined pitch, and a lower surface side of the flat plate main body. A slider that forms a female screw portion that is detachably fixed to the feed screw shaft, and the flat plate body is formed with an air flow hole that communicates with the receiving groove. is there.

Further, as an aligning / conveying device, an aligning / conveying device which conveys an aligning plate on which products are aligned and stacked to a temporary frame side and stacks a predetermined number of product rows in the temporary frame, wherein the aligning plates are arranged in a horizontal direction. A robot mechanism that reciprocates along a temporary frame and a product that introduces a row of products that are aligned and stacked on an alignment plate in a temporary frame that is vertically fed by a temporary frame elevating device at a pitch that corresponds to the product height. The robot mechanism section includes an introduction mechanism section, the robot mechanism section pitch-feeds the alignment plate at a pitch corresponding to a product interval, and a slider mechanism section that fast-forwards and fast-returns the alignment plate, and detects product introduction to the alignment plate. And an adsorbing means for adsorbing the introduced product in the receiving groove of the aligning plate, and a control section for automatically controlling the above-mentioned respective elements.

[0013]

The products transferred from the previous process line to the alignment plate side are arranged one by one in the receiving groove of the alignment plate. The detection means detects the introduction of the product into the receiving groove and sends a detection signal to the control section of the robot mechanism section. The introduced product is stably held in the receiving groove by the suction means engaging with the air circulation holes of the alignment plate. The alignment plate is pitch-fed by automatic control of the slider mechanism of the robot mechanism until the product is loaded in the receiving groove, and when loaded, the alignment plate is fast-forwarded to the temporary frame side. The product is introduced into the temporary frame from the aligning plate for each row by the product introducing mechanism, the empty aligning plate is quickly returned, and the same operation as described above is repeated. On the other hand, the temporary frame is pitch-fed in the vertical direction by the temporary frame elevating device, and waits for the next row of product to be carried in by the alignment plate. By controlling the introduction position of the alignment plate to the temporary frame side by the robot mechanism, the staggered introduction of the product into the temporary frame can be performed relatively easily. On the other hand, when the product is changed, the slider of the aligning plate and the flat plate main body may be separated and replaced with a flat plate main body suitable for the product size, which is extremely easy and can be performed in a short time.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing the overall schematic structure of the alignment and transport apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall structure around the alignment plate, the temporary frame, and the box, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the robot mechanism section. 4 is a perspective view of the alignment plate, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view showing an engagement state between the receiving groove of the alignment plate and the product.

First, the outline of the engaging structure of the aligning plate 1, the aligning / conveying device 2 and the box 8 will be described with reference to FIG. The product 7 is introduced onto the aligning plate 1, and the aligning plate 1 is fast-forwarded and fast-returned between the temporary frames 5 while being pitch-fed by the robot mechanism portion 3 in the horizontal direction. The temporary frame 5 is pitch-fed in the vertical direction by the temporary frame lifting device 4. The single product row stacked on the alignment plate 1 is introduced into the temporary frame 5 by the product introduction mechanism section 6.

The product introduction mechanism 6 includes a push plate 9,
The upper holding plate 10 and the stopper plate 11 are included. The product groups arranged and stacked side by side in the temporary frame 5 are inserted into the through box 8 set in the through box straightening device 12 by the pushing plate 13 or the like.
The box 8 is carried in and out at a predetermined position by the box conveyors 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Next, the alignment plate 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 4, the aligning plate 1 includes a flat plate-shaped flat plate main body 18 and a base plate 6 detachably fixed to the lower surface side thereof.
It consists of 8. One product 7 is placed on the upper surface of the flat plate body 18.
A large number of rows of receiving grooves 20 for holding (FIG. 6) are arranged.

As shown in FIG. 6, the receiving groove 20 is formed in a tapered shape and restrains the movement of the product 7 in the groove. An air passage hole 21 is formed through the flat plate body 18 so as to communicate the inside of the receiving groove 20 with the lower surface thereof. A positioning hole 22 and a screw hole 23 are formed in the flat plate body 18. The flat plate body 18 is provided with screw holes 72 for connecting the positioning holes 22 and the base plate 68. Further, the base plate 68 has a screw hole 73 for connecting the positioning pin 25 fitted into the positioning hole 22 and the slider 19. The slider 19 is a feed screw shaft 33 (not shown) of the robot mechanism unit 3 (FIGS. 3 and 5).
It consists of a block body which penetrates and forms the internal thread part 24 (FIG. 5) screwed together.

The slider 19 is fixed to the base plate 6 by screws 69.
8, the base plate 68 is fixed to the flat plate body 18 by tightening the pin 25 and the screw 26. In addition, product 7
The flat plate main body 18 having the receiving groove 20 corresponding to the type can be easily replaced only by attaching and detaching the screws 26.

Next, the schematic structure of the aligning and conveying device 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. The aligning / conveying device 2 transfers the aligning plate 1 and a product introducing mechanism part 6 (which introduces the product line loaded on the aligning plate 1 into the temporary frame 5 that is moved up and down by the temporary frame elevating device 4). 2) etc.

As shown in FIG. 3, the robot mechanism section 3 has a slider mechanism section 27 for reciprocating the aligning plate 1, and a detecting means 28 for detecting the introduction of the product 7 from the previous process line to the aligning plate 1 side. It comprises a suction means 29 for stably holding the product in the receiving groove 20, a control section 30 for automatically controlling these, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1, the structure of the pre-process line for introducing the product 7 to the aligning plate 1 is composed of a bucket conveyor 31 and a vacuum drum 32. The product 7 adsorbed on the vacuum drum 32 is released from the adsorption and aligned. Board 1 receiving groove 2
It is introduced within 0.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the slider mechanism portion 27 is arranged along the moving direction (horizontal direction) of the aligning plate 1 by being screwed with the female screw portion 24 of the slider 19 of the aligning plate 1. The feed screw shaft 33, a support base 34 that supports both ends of the feed screw shaft 33 and is fixed to the stationary side of the mounting, and a servo motor 35 that is fixed to the support base 34 and is connected to the feed screw shaft 33. A rotary encoder 36 is attached to the servo motor 35 and is connected to the control unit 30.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the detecting means 28 is composed of a product 7 falling from the vacuum drum 32 and a contactless sensor arranged between the receiving groove 20 of the aligning plate 1 holding the product 7, Detect introduction of 7. The detecting means 28 is connected to the control unit 30.

The suction means 29 is arranged below the alignment plate 1 with its opening facing. The adsorption means 29 arranged at a position facing the air circulation hole 21 is connected to the control unit 30 to control ON / OFF of the vacuum device.

The control section 30 is for automatically controlling each component in the robot mechanism section 3. As shown in FIG.
The control unit 30 includes a CPU 37, a RAM 38, a storage device 39 such as a ROM, a driver 40, a power supply 41, and the like.
An external sequencer (or personal computer) 42 is connected to the U37 via an interface (I / F board) 43, and an operation box 44 is connected to the U37.

Further, the CPU 37 is connected with the detection means 28 and the suction means 29. Necessary information about various products 7 to which this product line is applied is stored in advance in the RAM 38 and the ROM 39, and the pitch feed amount, the fast feed amount, the fast return amount of the servo motor 35 when the product 7 flows in the line, and the alignment plate 1. Performs zigzag feed position control. Also,
PID operation control is performed to correct the difference between the calculated value and the actual value to improve the positioning accuracy and reduce the control time.

Next, the product introduction mechanism 6 will be described with reference to FIG. The support base 34 of the alignment plate 1 is arranged on the back side of the temporary frame 5 in the drawing, and the alignment plate 1 on which the products 7 are aligned and stacked stops at a position facing the temporary frame 5. The pushing plate 9 is provided behind the support base 34.
Are arranged so as to face the product row on the alignment plate 1, and are reciprocated by the pushing cylinder 45. Further, a stopper plate 11 is arranged on the front surface side of the temporary frame 5 so as to face the pushing plate 9. The stopper plate 11 is operated by the stopper cylinder 46.

On the upper side of the support base 34, there is arranged an upper restraining plate 10 which restrains the alignment of the uppermost row in the temporary frame 5 from above. The upper restraint plate 10 is moved forward by the cylinder 65 to the upper portion of the temporary frame 5, and is further moved up and down by the cylinder 47. Further, a push-out plate 13 for pushing out all the products in the temporary frame 5 to the box passing correction device 12 side at a time is arranged on the rear side opposite to the temporary frame 5, and the moving cylinder 48 pushes the push-out plate 13. Operate. Reference numeral 49 is an upper pressing plate, and reference numeral 50 is a rotary actuator.

Next, the schematic structure of the temporary frame lifting device 4 will be described with reference to FIG. Frame 5 facing each other on base 51
2,52 stand upright. Guide rails 53, 53 are fixed to the frames 52, 52 in parallel with the frames 52. A rotary shaft 54 is installed in the frames 52, 52,
Pinion gears 55, 55 are fixed to the rotary shaft 54.
A pulley 56 is fixed to one end of the rotary shaft 54. On the other hand, a lifting motor 57 is fixed to the frame 52, and the pulley 58 and the pulley 56 are connected by a pulley belt 59.

The temporary frame 5 having a space for vertically and horizontally stacking and stacking the products 7 is housed between the guide rails 53, 53,
A rack 60 engaging with the pinion gear 55 is provided at both ends thereof.
Is fixed. In addition, the rack 60 has a guide rail 53.
The guide roller 61 that moves along is fixed. Further, one end of a chain 62 is connected to the temporary frame 5, the chain 62 is wound around a chain wheel 63 fixed to the frame 52, and a balance weight 64 is connected to the other end.

With the above structure, when the lifting motor 57 is operated, the pinion gear 55 rotates and the temporary frame 5 moves up and down via the rack 60 meshing with the pinion gear 55. By feeding the lifting motor 57 at a pitch corresponding to the height of the products 7, the temporary frame 5 is positioned at a position corresponding to the product rows on the alignment plate 1. Further, the temporary frame 5 is held in the posture during vertical movement by the engagement of the guide rail 53 and the guide roller 61, and moves smoothly, and the balance weight 64 can reduce the load of the lifting motor 57 during movement.

Next, the product 7 lowered to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line.
The through box 8 having the product 7 delivered from the temporary frame 5 full of is transferred to the outside of the frame 52 and sent to the next process side.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. Product 7
Are sequentially arranged side by side on the bucket conveyor 31, are attracted to the vacuum drum 32 one by one, and are rotated on the alignment plate 1,
The adsorption is released one by one. Initially, the alignment plate 1 descends to the most retracted position when the product 7 is empty. When the product 7 is dropped and introduced into the most advanced receiving groove 20 from the vacuum drum 32 side, a detection signal from the detection means 28 is sent to the control unit. On the other hand, the product 7 in the receiving groove 20 is adsorbed and stably held in the receiving groove 20 by the vacuum of the adsorbing means.

The control unit 30 operates the servo motor 35 by inputting the detection signal to move (advance) the aligning plate 1 by one pitch of the receiving groove 20. The products 7 are aligned and stacked on the alignment plate 1 by repeating the same pitch feeding.
In this state, the control unit 30 controls the servo motor 35 to fast-forward, and fast-forwards the alignment plate 1 to a predetermined position on the temporary frame 5 side.
On the other hand, in this state, the temporary frame 5 is positioned by the operation of the temporary frame elevating device 4 at a position facing the product row on the alignment plate 1 and stands by. The push-out cylinder 45 of the product introduction mechanism section 6 operates, and the press plate 9 pushes and inserts the product row on the alignment plate 1 into the temporary frame 5 at a stretch.

In this case, in order to make the height of the upper surface of the product row in the temporary frame constant and facilitate the entry of the next product row, the upper pressing plate 10 operates the cylinders 47 and 65 to keep the upper surface of the product row at a constant height. In addition, the pressing plate 9 is operated by the cylinder 45 in order to correct the protrusion of the product line from the temporary frame. The empty aligning plate 1 is fast-returned by the control operation of the controller 30 and returns to the most retracted original position. At the same time, the temporary frame elevating device 4 lowers the temporary frame 5 by an amount corresponding to the height of one product 7, and waits for the insertion of the next product row.

As described above, the raising and lowering and pitch feeding of the temporary frame raising and lowering device 4 are performed by the raising and lowering motor 57 and smoothly by the guide rollers 61 guided by the guide rails 53. By repeating the same operation, the temporary frame 5 is loaded with products 7 vertically and horizontally. In this state, the product in the temporary frame 5 is introduced into the box 8 at once by the pushing plate 13 through the box straightening device 12 shown in FIG.

The pushing plate 13 is operated by a moving cylinder 48.
The upper pressing plate 49 by the rotary actuator 50 functions to prevent the product 7 in the temporary frame 5 from collapsing at the time of introduction. The box 8 on which the product 7 is loaded is sent to the next process side via the box conveyors 15 and 17, and a new box 8 is introduced into a predetermined position by the box conveyors 14 and 16.

As shown in FIG. 3, since the servo motor 35 is operated by the CPU 37 and the driver 40 of the control unit 30, the pitch feed corresponding to the product 7 can be performed by storing the operation data suitable for the product 7 in the CPU 37 in advance. In addition to being performed accurately, the feedback of the rotary encoder 36 enables highly accurate positioning.

Data input to the CPU 37 side is arbitrarily performed by the external sequencer 42 or the like. In addition, the temporary frame 5
In order to stack the product rows in a zigzag manner, the products 7 may be moved to the temporary frame 5 side by shifting the product 7 by one pitch for each row, which is desired by the operation of the CPU 37 using the operation box 44. This is easily performed by instructing the servo motor 35 side for position control of.

Next, the setup change around the alignment plate 1 when the type of the product 7 changes will be described. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the flat plate main body 18 is released by loosening the screw 26.
Can be easily removed from the slider 19. Slider 1
9 can be used as it is even if the type of product 7 changes.

Next, the flat plate body 1 suitable for the new product 7
The flat plate body 18 may be fixed to the slider 19 with the screw 26 while fitting the positioning hole 22 of No. 8 with the positioning pin 25 on the guide member 19 side. By replacing the operation data in the control unit 30 with the change of the new aligning plate 1, the servo motor 35 can operate in accordance with the new product 7. As described above, the setup for the change of the product 7 can be performed very easily, and the product can be fed with high accuracy.

In the above description, the detailed structure of the alignment plate 1 and the internal structure of the control unit 30 are not limited to those of the embodiment.

[0043]

According to the present invention, the following remarkable effects can be obtained. 1) By adopting a structure in which the alignment plate is connected to the slider by screw connection, and the slider is connected to the servo motor and the control section for controlling the same through the feed screw shaft, it is possible to simply change the type of product. The setup can be changed only by removing and installing the alignment plate. Therefore, the setup time is extremely shortened and the machine operating rate can be improved. 2) The aligning plate has a receiving groove for stably supporting the product, and the air communication hole communicating with the receiving groove engages with the suction means, so that the product is sucked and held in the receiving groove. 3) Control data corresponding to the shape of the product is stored in advance in the control unit, so that pitch feed, fast forward, fast return and positioning control suitable for the product are performed. Also, CP
The automatic control of the servomotor by U makes it easy to control the stop position of the alignment plate, so that it is easy to stack the product rows in a staggered manner in the temporary frame. 4) The alignment plate is made up of receiving grooves arranged side by side so that the products do not interfere with each other. Therefore, the laminated tube products can be stably aligned. 5) When a conveyor is used as in the prior art, it is necessary to adjust the tension of the belt, but since the present invention uses an aligning plate, such adjustment is unnecessary.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an overall configuration around an alignment plate and a temporary frame of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a divided exploded perspective view for explaining an outline of a line structure until a product mounted on an alignment plate is introduced into a case.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing the entire structure of a robot mechanism unit that controls the movement of the alignment plate of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alignment plate of this embodiment.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4 showing the connection structure between the alignment plate and the slider of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view showing a receiving groove of the alignment plate of the present embodiment and products held in the receiving groove.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a conventional aligning and conveying apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Alignment Plate 2 Alignment Conveying Device 3 Robot Mechanism 4 Temporary Frame Lifting Device 5 Temporary Frame 6 Product Introduction Mechanism 7 Product 8 Passing Box 9 Pressing Plate 10 Upper Pressing Plate 11 Stopper Plate 12 Passing Box Correcting Device 13 Pushing Plate 14 Passing Box Conveyor 15 Passing box conveyor 16 Passing box conveyor 17 Passing box conveyor 18 Flat plate body 19 Slider 20 Receiving groove 21 Air circulation hole 22 Positioning hole 23 Screw hole 24 Female screw part 25 Positioning pin 26 Screw 27 Slider mechanism part 28 Detection means 29 Adsorption means 30 Control part 31 Bucket conveyor 32 Vacuum drum 33 Feed screw shaft 34 Support stand 35 Servo motor 36 Rotary encoder 37 CPU 38 RAM 39 Storage device (ROM) 40 Driver 41 Power supply 42 External sequencer 43 Interface (I / F board) ) 44 Operation button Box 45 Cylinder 46 Stopper cylinder 47 Cylinder 48 Moving cylinder 49 Upper presser plate 50 Rotary actuator 51 Base stand 52 Frame 53 Guide rail 54 Rotating shaft 55 Pinion gear 56 Pulley 57 Lifting motor 58 Pulley 59 Pulley belt 60 Rack 61 Guide roller 62 Chain 63 Chain wheel 64 Balance weight 65 Cylinder 66 Screw 68 Base plate 69 Screw 70 Screw mounting hole 71 Screw hole 72 Screw hole 73 Screw hole

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Toshiaki Tsuchiko 4-14-12 Koishikawa, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo Kyodo Printing Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A flat plate main body in which a plurality of receiving grooves for holding products are arranged side by side on the upper surface side at a predetermined pitch, and a female screw portion which is detachably fixed to the lower surface side of the flat plate main body and is screwed to a feed screw shaft. And an air flow hole communicating with the receiving groove is formed through the flat plate body. 2. An aligning and conveying apparatus for transferring an aligning plate on which products are aligned and stacked to a temporary frame and stacking a predetermined number of product rows in the temporary frame, wherein the aligning plates are horizontally arranged. A robot mechanism that reciprocates and a product introduction mechanism that introduces the product rows that are aligned and stacked on the alignment plate into the temporary frame that is vertically pitched by the temporary frame elevating device at a pitch that corresponds to the product height. The robot mechanism section includes a slider mechanism section that pitch-feeds the alignment plate at a pitch corresponding to a product interval, fast-forwards and fast-returns the alignment plate, and detection means that detects product introduction into the alignment plate. An aligning and conveying apparatus comprising at least a suction means for sucking the introduced product into a receiving groove of an aligning plate, and a control section for automatically controlling each of the elements.