JPH0840627A - Orderly piling-up device for work bodies - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a work body orderly piling-up device capable of arranging work bodies orderly and surely without necessitating troublesome labor. CONSTITUTION:IC cards WK which are transferred continuously at specified intervals by a belt conveyor 11 of a transfer device provided horizontally are delivered to a chuter 21 which is inclined by an angle of alpha in downward direction relative to horizontal direction. Also they are dropped into magazine units 24 and 25 arranged in the card discharging direction (downward direction) of the chuter 21 by the chuter 21, and placed horizontally on card loading tables 221 and 231 controlled liftedly by elevator devices 22 and 23 to piled up them in order. Thus the work bodies can be arranged orderly and surely.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aligning and stacking device for stacking workpieces such as C cards which are aligned and stacked.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the IC card manufacturing process, a work is moved between each process in magazine units. That is, the supply of the work to each device and the discharge of the work from each device are performed by exchanging each magazine. As a result, the work supply and discharge processes are reduced. However, since the IC card printing is a continuous printing method in which work is performed during high-speed conveyance of the work, it is extremely difficult to automatically align the work after printing in the magazine.

As described above, since it is impossible to pick up and align one IC card as a work, which is continuously conveyed at high speed, a device as shown in FIG. 8 is conventionally used. Was used to perform the alignment.

Specifically, the aligning device 2 formed of a low speed horizontal belt conveyor is connected to the horizontal convey path 1 formed of a high speed belt conveyor, and the upper surface of the aligning device 2 is lower than the convey path 1. IC card WK that is arranged with a step as shown below and that follows the upper end rear end of the preceding IC card WK
The lower end portions of the sheets were overlapped and further conveyed by a low-speed belt conveyor, received by the receiving portion 3 provided at the end portion, and sequentially laminated in the lateral direction.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional aligning apparatus, since the apparatus is obliquely aligned in the lateral direction, it is indispensable to refill the magazine after it is ejected from the aligning apparatus 2 and increase the number of steps. There was a problem that the work was complicated and the work efficiency was poor. Further, it is difficult to select the rubber of the belt conveyor constituting the aligning device 2 and the inclination angle of the receiving portion 3. For example, if the inclination angle is large, the IC card WK does not stand up well, and if the inclination angle is small, it spills out of the device. I will end up. Further, when the amount of IC cards WK discharged from the transport path 1 increases, there is a problem that the cards are displaced and spilled out of the apparatus.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an aligning and laminating apparatus for workpieces that can be aligned in an orderly and reliable manner without requiring troublesome work.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the apparatus for aligning and stacking workpieces according to the present invention is designed to incline a workpiece discharged from a conveying path in a slanting downward direction by inclining it by a predetermined angle with respect to the conveying direction. And a frame body that sequentially receives the workpieces discharged from the inclined guide portion and holds the workpieces stacked in a substantially vertical direction.

The apparatus for aligning and stacking workpieces according to the present invention comprises a detector for detecting that the stacking height of the workpieces in the frame has reached a reference position, and stacked workpieces when receiving a detection signal from the detector. A lowering device for lowering the body by a predetermined height.

Further, the work body aligning and laminating apparatus of the present invention has two sets of the frame body and the lowering device, and each set of frame bodies is positioned diagonally below the inclined guide portion. It has a moving device that alternately moves the frame body and the descending device.

Further, the work body aligning and laminating apparatus of the present invention has a holding device for temporarily holding the conveyed work body at the time of replacing the frame body at least in the inclined guide portion.

[0011]

According to the work body aligning and laminating apparatus of the present invention, the work body conveyed through the substantially horizontal conveyance path reaches the inclined guide portion. The work body that has reached the inclined guide portion is guided in a diagonally downward direction different from the carrying direction by a predetermined distance, falls into the frame body, and is held in the frame body in a stable state. Then, the subsequent work bodies are sequentially stacked on the already held work bodies.

Further, according to the work body aligning and laminating apparatus of the present invention, it is detected by the detecting device whether or not the stack height of the work bodies stacked in the frame has reached a predetermined reference position. It Here, when the detection device detects that the stacked height of the work bodies has reached the reference position, each of the stacked work bodies is descended by a predetermined height by the descending device based on the detection signal. Subsequent workpieces are stacked on the uppermost workpiece in the descending stacked workpiece.

Further, according to the apparatus for aligning and laminating work bodies of the present invention, when the work bodies are fully loaded in the frame body, the frame body is exchanged for an empty frame body. The work body conveyed to the inclined guide portion is temporarily held by the holding device. And when the replacement work of the frame is completed,
The holding device releases the holding state of the work body, and the work body falls into the frame body and is sequentially stacked.

[0014]

1 and 2 are views showing an embodiment of an IC card aligning and laminating apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view and FIG. 2 is a side view. In the figure, WK indicates an IC card as a work body, 10 indicates a conveying device, and 20 indicates an aligning and laminating device.

The carrying device 10 comprises a belt conveyor 11 for carrying the IC card WK horizontally at a predetermined interval,
It is composed of guides 12 provided on both sides of the belt conveyor 11.

The aligning and laminating apparatus 20 includes a shooter 21 as an inclined guide portion, a first elevator device 22, a second elevator device 23, a first magazine unit 24 as a frame body, a second magazine unit 25, and It is composed of a cylinder unit 26.

In the shooter 21, a low-friction card conveying section 211 having a predetermined length is inclined by an angle α, for example, 35 °, with respect to the conveying direction of the conveying apparatus 10, that is, the horizontal direction, and its card input end portion 211a. Is fixed to the guide plate 12 so as to be close to the end 11a of the belt conveyor 11 of the transport device 10. Card transport section 21
Guide plates 212 and 213 are provided on both sides of 1. The card input end portion 211a side of the guide plates 212 and 213 is gradually regulated from the card input end portion 211a side so that the IC card WK carried out from the carrying device 10 can be easily guided to the card carrying portion 211. Tapered portions 212a and 213a that are narrowed are formed. Also,
As shown in FIG. 2, the card ejection end portion 214 of the shooter 21 is located on the upper left side in the drawing of the first magazine unit 24 or the second magazine unit 25.

The first elevator device 22 has a flat plate-shaped card placing table 221 and moves the card placing table 221 up and down based on a control signal from a control system (not shown). Similarly, the second elevator device 23 has a flat plate-shaped card mounting table 231 and moves the card mounting table 231 up and down based on a control signal from a control system (not shown).

The first magazine unit 24 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a) and (b), the upper and lower surfaces and one side surface have a hollow prismatic shape, and the opening side surface 24a
The card mounting table 221 of the first elevator device 22 is inserted via the
The magazine unit 24 is moved up and down. Card placement table 221 inserted in the first magazine unit 24
An unillustrated card receiving plate is placed on the top of the IC card WK discharged from the shooter 21 on the card receiving plate.
Are stacked. Further, a plurality of circular openings 241 are formed on the side surface facing the opening side surface 24a at predetermined intervals, and the above-described sensor transmission hole 242 is formed at a predetermined height position on both side surfaces 24b and 24c of the opening side surface 24a. 243 is formed. The first magazine unit 24 having such a configuration can be arbitrarily replaced with a replacement unit.

The second magazine unit 25 has a structure similar to that of the first magazine unit 24, and has a hollow prismatic shape whose upper and lower surfaces and one side surface are open. The card mounting table 231 of the elevator device 23 is inserted into the card mounting table 231.
Moves up and down in the second magazine unit 25. A card receiving plate (not shown) is placed on the card placing table 231 inserted into the second magazine unit 25, and the IC card WK discharged from the shooter 21 is stacked on the card receiving plate. Further, a plurality of circular openings 251 are formed at a predetermined interval on the side surface facing the opening side surface, and the above-described sensor transmission holes 252, 253 are formed at predetermined height positions on both side surfaces 25b, 25c of the opening side surface 25a. Are formed. The first magazine unit 25 having such a configuration can be arbitrarily replaced with a substitute unit.

As described above, the first elevator device 22 and the first magazine unit 24, the second elevator device 23 and the second magazine unit 25 form a set, respectively, on the moving stage 261 connected to the cylinder unit 26. The first elevator device 22, the first magazine unit 24, the second elevator device 23, and the second magazine unit 25 are arranged in this order. Then, the output control of the cylinder unit 26 is performed so that the upper portion of the first magazine unit 24 or the upper portion of the second magazine unit 25 is alternately positioned diagonally below the card ejection position of the shooter 21.

Further, on the upper part of the first magazine unit 24 or the upper part of the second magazine unit 25, which is moved to a position diagonally below the card ejection position of the shooter 21,
A box-shaped detachable card receiving box 27 having upper and lower surfaces opened as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 is attached so as to surround the periphery thereof.

Card mounting tables 221 and 231 of the first elevator device 22 and the second elevator device 23, respectively.
Is inserted into each magazine unit 24, 25 so as to be positioned below the card receiving box 27, and the height in the initial state is as shown in FIG.
Card discharge end 2 of card transport unit 211 of shooter 21
The elevator is controlled so that it is located 14 h below 14 h.
This h is a height at which the cards can be surely aligned without standing and without being inverted, and is 50 to 65 mm in the IC card.

4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of the card receiving box 27 when it is mounted in the magazine unit. FIG. 4A is a horizontal sectional view and FIG. 4B is a vertical side sectional view. As shown in FIG. 4, the card receiving box 27 has a box shape with upper and lower surfaces opened, and four upper side portions are formed with taper portions 271 that open to the outside. Further, on the side surface on the one long side, the opening side surface 24 (2
5) A fitting portion 272 that fits into the opening portion of a and has a substantially flat inner surface side of the opening side surface 24 (25) a of the first and second magazine units 24 and 25 is formed. Due to the presence of the fitting portion 272, the IC card WK discharged from the shooter 21 is smoothly and surely stored in the magazine unit 24 (25).

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when the card receiving box 27 is attached to the magazine unit 24 (25), the magazine unit 24 is provided near the lower end thereof.
The sensor transmission holes 242 and 243 of (25) are located, a light emitting element 28a is provided outside the magazine unit at a position facing the transmission hole 242, and a light receiving element 28b at a position facing the transmission hole 243. Is provided. That is, the light emitting element 28a and the light receiving element 28b are
The light emitted from a is arranged in such a positional relationship that it can pass through the transmission holes 242 and 243 and be received by the light receiving element 28b. Then, the card placement table 221
The IC is mounted on the card receiving plate 29 placed on (231).
When the cards WK are sequentially stacked and the stack height reaches a position where the sensor transmission holes 242 and 243 are closed,
Light emitted from the light emitting element 28a is emitted from the stacked IC cards WK.
Therefore, the light is not received by the light receiving element 28b. The detection signal of the light receiving element 28b at this time is analyzed by a control system (not shown), and the first or second elevator device 22, 23 is detected.
Is controlled to descend by a predetermined distance.

In this case, since the thickness of the IC cards WK to be stacked and the initial positions of the card mounting tables 221 and 231 are known in advance, for example, from the top surface of the uppermost IC card WK in the stacked state, the shooter The descending control is performed so that the height of the card 21 up to the card ejection end portion 214 becomes approximately h. When this operation is repeated and a lower end sensor (not shown) of the first or second elevator device 22, 23 is turned on, it means that the IC cards WK are loaded in the magazine units 24, 25, and the magazine unit and the elevator device Alternation control is performed by the cylinder unit 26.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. First, for example, if the first magazine unit 24 is the shooter 2
The position is controlled by the cylinder unit 26 so as to be positioned diagonally below 1. A card receiving box 27 is attached to the upper part of the first magazine unit 24. At this time, in the elevator device 22, the upper surface of the card receiving plate 29 of the elevator 22 is the card transport portion 211 of the shooter 21.
It is controlled to move up and down so that it is located only h below the card discharge end 214.

In this state, the transfer device 1 installed horizontally
The IC card WK continuously conveyed at a predetermined interval by the belt conveyor 11 of 0 reaches the entrance portion of the shooter 21. The IC card WK that has reached the entrance of the shooter 21 has its trajectory corrected by the taper portions 212a and 213a so that the card transport portion 211 is slanted downward by a predetermined angle α different from the transport direction (horizontal direction) of the transport device 10. Is ejected from the card ejecting section 214 and falls into the card receiving box 27. At this time, the taper portion 2 formed on the card receiving box 27
71 and the fitting portion 272 ensure that the IC card WK ejected from the shooter 21 is securely attached to the magazine unit 24 (2
5) It is placed and stored on the card placing table 221 in a substantially horizontal state, and on the card receiving plate 29 actually placed on the card placing table 221. Subsequent IC cards WK follow the path described above and are stacked in an aligned state on the IC card WK held in a substantially horizontal state.

Then, I is placed on the card mounting table 221.
When the C cards WK are sequentially stacked, and the stack height reaches a position where the sensor transmission holes 242 and 243 are closed, the emitted light of the light emitting element 28a is blocked by the stacked IC cards WK and the light receiving element 28b. Is not received by. The detection signal of the light receiving element 28b at this time is analyzed by a control system (not shown), and the first elevator device 22 detects the shooter from the upper surface of the uppermost IC card WK in a stacked state by a predetermined distance. The height of the card 21 up to the card discharge end 214 is controlled to be approximately h.

By repeating the above operation, the light receiving element 28
When the detection signal of b is not released, the control system (not shown) determines that the first magazine unit 24 is loaded with the IC cards WK, and the replacement control by the magazine unit and the cylinder unit 26 of the elevator device is performed. The card stacking process for the second magazine unit 25 is performed by the same process as described above. Also, the first
I stacked in the magazine unit 24 in an aligned state
The C card WK is pulled out for each magazine unit, and an empty magazine unit is set.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
An IC card W which is continuously conveyed at a predetermined interval on a belt conveyor 11 of a horizontally arranged conveying device 10.
K is carried out to the shooter 21 which is inclined obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction by an angle α, and the shooter 21 shoots the K 2
1 is dropped into the magazine units 24 and 25 arranged in the card ejection direction (obliquely downward direction), and the elevator device 2
Card mounting table 221, which is controlled to move up and down by 2, 23
Since the work pieces are placed horizontally on the 231 and are sequentially stacked, the work bodies can be arranged in an orderly and sure manner without any troublesome work. Further, since the card receiving box 27 is mounted on the magazine units 24 and 25, the ICs discharged from the shooter 21
The card WK can be reliably stored in the magazine unit 24 (25).

Further, the card mounting table 221 (23
1) The IC cards WK are sequentially stacked on top of each other, and the stack height is the transmission holes 242, 24 of the magazine unit 24 (25).
When the light emitted from the light emitting element 28a is blocked by the stacked IC cards WK and is not received by the light receiving element 28b, the light receiving element 28b is received.
Is detected by a control system (not shown), and the first or second elevator device 22, 23 is controlled to descend by a predetermined distance. Therefore, control of the elevator device and the IC card WK in the magazine units 24, 25 There is an advantage that the stacked state can be managed easily and surely, and eventually the working efficiency can be improved.

In the present embodiment, the example in which the elevator device is arranged on the side of the magazine unit has been described, but it is needless to say that the same effect as described above can be obtained with the structure arranged below. Further, in this embodiment, the IC cards WK are vertically stacked and aligned on the card mounting table 221 (231) whose upper surface is formed in a substantially horizontal state in the magazine unit 24 (25). , But is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, even if the upper surface of the card mounting table 221 (231) is tilted at a predetermined angle and is stacked on the card receiving plate 29 mounted thereon, the above-described effect is obtained. The same effect as can be obtained.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the conveyance of the IC card WK is stopped during the alternation control by the magazine unit and the cylinder unit 26 of the elevator apparatus. However, as shown in FIG. A step is provided in the card transport unit 211, and the stopper cylinder 30 as a holding device prevents the IC card WK from dropping on the transport surface of the step unit 211a, and the IC card WK transported from above is stocked at that position. , Magazine unit and cylinder unit 2 of elevator device
After the replacement control by 6 is completed, the stopper cylinder 30
Alternatively, the stock IC card may be dropped in the replaced magazine unit by canceling the output state of.
By doing so, there is an advantage that the magazine unit can be replaced without stopping the printing process in the preceding stage.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Workpieces can be arranged in an orderly and reliable manner without complicated labor. Further, a detection device for detecting that the stacked height of the work bodies in the frame has reached the reference position, and a lowering device for lowering the stacked work bodies by a predetermined height when receiving a detection signal from the detection device are provided. As a result, there is an advantage that the stacked state of the workpieces can be managed easily and surely, and the working efficiency can be improved. In addition, without stopping the processing process of the first stage,
There is an advantage that the magazine unit can be replaced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of an IC card aligning and laminating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an embodiment of an IC card aligning and laminating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a magazine unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a card receiving box according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a detection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the IC card stacking method.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an IC card holding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional IC card alignment device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Conveying device 11 ... Belt conveyor 20 ... Aligning / laminating device 21 ... Shooter 211 ... Card conveying part 212a, 213a ... Tapered part 214 ... Card discharge end part 22 ... First elevator device 221 ... Card mounting table 23 ... Second Elevator device 231 ... Card placement table 24 ... First magazine unit 25 ... Second magazine unit 26 ... Cylinder unit 27 ... Card receiving box 271 ... Tapered portion 272 ... Fitting portion 28a ... Light emitting element 28b ... Light receiving element 29 … Card receiving plate 30… Stopper cylinder

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An aligning and stacking device for stacking flat plate-like workpieces which are continuously conveyed at a predetermined interval on a substantially horizontal conveying path, and which is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a conveying direction. An inclined guide portion for guiding a work body carried out from the conveyance path in a diagonally downward direction by a predetermined distance, and a frame body for sequentially receiving the work bodies discharged from the inclined guide portion and holding them in a state of being stacked in a substantially vertical direction. An apparatus for aligning and stacking workpieces having. 2. A detection device for detecting that the stack height of the work bodies in the frame has reached a reference position, and when the detection signal from the detection device is received, the stacked work bodies are lowered by a predetermined height. The apparatus for aligning and stacking workpieces according to claim 1, further comprising a lowering device. 3. The frame and the descending device are provided in two sets, and the frame and the descending device of each set are alternately moved so that the frame of each set is located diagonally below the inclined guide portion. The apparatus for aligning and stacking workpieces according to claim 2, further comprising a moving device. 4. The apparatus for aligning and stacking workpieces according to claim 1, further comprising a holding device for temporarily holding the conveyed workpiece at least when the frame is replaced in the inclined guide portion.