JPH08143111A - Loader & unloader equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the space efficiency in a temperature control region, and to keep the time of stay of an object in a warehouse at a constant value. CONSTITUTION: A rotary rack type automatic warehouse to be circulated at the constant pitch of time consists of a loader 1 to arrange a plurality of objects 3 together in the vertical direction and load them into a rack 6 and an unloader 2 to carry out a plurality of objects 3 together from the rack 3 and take them one by one. The objects 3 taken in from the lower side by the loader 1 are taken out from the upper side by the unloader 2 to observe the order of throw-in and taking-out. The time of stay inside is strictly specified by the synchronous control of the time interval of take-in by the loader 1 and the time interval of take-out by the unloader 2. The function to be realized by a conventional long conveyor line can be realized by an automatic warehouse and the loader and the unloader, and the space efficiency can be greatly improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a loader / unloader for loading and unloading articles into a warehouse or the like, and more particularly to a loader / unloader for loading and unloading articles in an automatic storage such as an automatic warehouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The use of a temperature-controlled automatic warehouse for a frozen product thawing warehouse or a fermenter or incubator is a very effective means from the viewpoint of improving space utilization efficiency and automating loading and unloading. It is still used today. In the case of such a use method, it is important to strictly keep the time from carrying in to carrying out.

[0003] When a certain amount of articles to be carried in is supplied (for example, a rotary rack type automatic warehouse),
If a rack is made to go around at a fixed time pitch, one rack is carried in from the carry-in entrance, and one rack is taken out from the carry-out entrance, the internal residence time becomes constant and the purpose can be achieved.

However, in the case where the parts to be carried in are supplied one by one and the property is such that the parts are not allowed to stay even at room temperature (for example, bread dough, pharmaceuticals, etc. in which the reaction proceeds even at room temperature), a certain amount is put together. Since this is not allowed, conventionally, a method of moving a long conveyor line at a constant speed and controlling the temperature of a certain section of the conveyor line has been adopted.

[0005]

The conventional conveyor type temperature control device requires a long conveyor proportional to the carry-in speed and the storage time, resulting in poor space efficiency and high cost. If you want to use an automated warehouse, if you supply one item at a time, you need to carry in a certain quantity of them all at once, and then take them out one by one. It was difficult to make the resin stay exactly for a certain period of time.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, a plurality of objects are provided for an automatic storage device such as an automated warehouse equipped with a rack capable of storing a plurality of objects. There is provided a loader device for loading the rack into the rack and an unloader device for loading the plurality of racks out of the rack.

[0007]

A plurality of objects are put into and taken out of the automated warehouse by a loader device and an unloader device. As a result, space efficiency can be enhanced and the residence time in the warehouse can be controlled to be constant.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall view of an embodiment of a loader / unloader device according to the present invention attached to a rotary rack type automatic warehouse.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a loader for carrying in an object 3, 2 denotes an unloader for carrying out the object 3, and 7 denotes a rotary rack type automatic warehouse for storing the rack 6 while circulating it. In the embodiment, the object 3 is a tray on which articles to be conveyed and stored are placed. The temperature inside the loader 1, the unloader 2, and the rotary rack type automatic warehouse 3 is controlled.

[0010] The object 3 is transport means (belt conveyor or the like).
The loader 21 is carried one by one from the inlet 4 of the loader 1 at regular intervals, stored in the rack 6 and makes a round in the warehouse 7 (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1).
Is carried out from the carry-out port 5 and is sent to the next step by the carrying means (belt conveyor or the like) 22. The rack 6 circulates in the automatic warehouse 3 at a constant time pitch, and a plurality of objects 3 are vertically arranged in the rack 6.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration of the loader, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view thereof. The loader 1 includes a retracting mechanism (belt conveyor or the like) 10 for retracting the target object 3 into the loader 1, an up-and-down mechanism 9 for stacking the retracted target objects 3 one by one upward, and a plurality of up-and-down mechanisms 9 accommodated therein. Rack 6 for all objects 3
And a pushing mechanism 8 for pushing into. The up-and-down mechanism 9 includes a pair of endless belts 91, 91, and the endless belts 91, 91 are suspended by a pair of rotating rollers 93, 93, respectively. Further, long plates 35 extending in the width direction of the belt are attached to the respective endless belts at equal intervals, and the object 3 is supported between the two endless belts 91, 91 by placing both ends on the long plate 35. Has become.

The pushing mechanism 8 is composed of a plurality of objects 3 placed vertically in the vertical mechanism 9 and a pushing plate 81 in the rack 6 and a cylinder 83 which is a driving source of the pushing plate 81. .

In the rack 6, as shown in FIG. 3, a plate 61 is attached to the inside of the side plate at the same interval as the long plate 35 of the up-and-down mechanism 3, and the object 3 is placed on both sides of the plate 61 in the rack 6. Both ends are placed on top and supported. The rack 6 is guided by the guide 71 and circulates in the automatic warehouse.

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of the unloader 2, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view thereof. The unloader 2 includes an extrusion mechanism 13 that collectively extrudes the objects 3 from the rack 6, an up-down mechanism 14 that moves the extruded objects 3 upward, and an up-down mechanism 14.
It is provided with a take-out mechanism 12 for taking out the object 3 from the. The up-and-down mechanism 14 is provided with a pair of endless belts 141 and 141, similarly to the up-and-down mechanism 9.
1 and 141 are a pair of rotating rollers 143 and 143, respectively.
Are hung on. Also, long plates 145 are attached to each endless belt at equal intervals, and the object 3 is supported with its end placed on the plate 145 between the endless belts.

The extruding mechanism 13 includes an extruding plate 131 for extruding a plurality of objects 3 placed in the rack 6 in a vertical direction into the up-and-down mechanism 14, and a cylinder 133 for driving the extruding plate 131.

The take-out mechanism 12 includes an arm portion 121 that comes into contact with an end portion of the object 3 and pulls out the object 3, and an arm portion 121.
123 for driving the cylinder in the horizontal direction, and the cylinder 12
3 and a cylinder 125 for moving both arms vertically.

The operation timing of each component of the loader 1 is controlled by the timing control unit 11, and the operation timing of each component of the unloader 15 is controlled by the timing control unit 15.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described. The object 3 is sent to the loader 1 by the transport means 21 and is drawn into the loader by the drawing mechanism 10. Then, the up-and-down mechanism 9 is driven to raise the object 3 by one pitch, and the next object 3 is drawn into the loader 1 by the drawing mechanism 10. By repeating this, the objects 3 are stacked in the vertical mechanism 9. The pushing mechanism 8 pushes the object 3 in the vertical mechanism 9 into the rack 6 in the automatic warehouse 7 in synchronization with the pitch feed time of the rack 6 in the warehouse 7. The pitch feed time t of the rack 6 is determined by t = T / N where T is the residence time in the automatic warehouse 7 and N is the number of racks from the loader 1 to the unloader 2. The pull-in time interval tp of the target 3 is controlled by the timing control unit 11 and is variable according to the supply capability of the target 3. The number of stacking stages n in the loader 1 is determined by n = t / pt.

Next, the rack 6 is sent from the position of the loader 1 to the position of the unloader 2 in the warehouse 7 and the object 3
The pushing mechanism 13 is synchronized with the pitch feed time of the rack 6.
Are pushed out of the automatic warehouse 7 and moved to the vertical mechanism 14. The up-down mechanism 14 raises the accommodated object 3 to the uppermost stage as shown in FIG. 5, and the object 3 is thereafter taken out by the take-out mechanism 12. The above operation is repeated until all the objects 3 in the vertical mechanism 14 are taken out. When the object 3 is pushed out of the rack 6 by the pushing mechanism 13, the arm 121 of the unloading mechanism 12 is retracted upward. Take out.

In the above operation, while the loading position of the loader 1 (drawing port 4) is at the lower position of the loader 1, the unloading position of the unloader 2 (outlet 5) is at the upper position of the unloader 2. Yes, and the first object 3 is taken out first (first in / first out). The take-out time interval of the unloader 2 is the same as the pull-in time interval of the loader. As a result, the residence time in the temperature management region is strictly observed for each of the objects 3.

As described above, according to the above embodiment, a plurality of objects 3 can be arranged up and down, so that the space efficiency is improved and the residence time of each object 3 in the warehouse is kept constant. Can be. Further, by controlling the temperature of the entire device, it can be used as a constant temperature bath in continuous production.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention,
This has the effect of increasing the space efficiency in the temperature control area and keeping the residence time of the object in the warehouse constant.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of an embodiment of a loader / unloader device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a loader according to an embodiment.

3 is a perspective view of the device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an unloader according to an embodiment.

5 is a perspective view of the device of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Loader 2 Unloader 3 Object 4 Inlet 5 Outlet 6 Rack 7 Rotary rack type automatic warehouse

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An automatic storage device such as an automatic warehouse having a rack capable of storing a plurality of objects, and a loader device for loading the plurality of objects into the rack, and an accommodating device housed in the rack. And a unloader device for unloading a plurality of the plurality from the rack.
Unloader device. 2. The loader device includes means for pulling the objects one by one to temporarily accommodate a plurality of objects, and means for collectively pushing the objects accommodated in the means into the rack. The loader / unloader device according to claim 1. 3. The unloader device includes means for collectively taking out the plurality of objects from the rack and temporarily storing them, and means for taking out the plurality of objects one by one stored in the means. The loader / unloader device according to claim 1 or 2.