JPH09202437A - Sorting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the installation space in the right-to-left direction by providing at least two sorting lines out of a plurality of sorting lines which are different in the height of the carrying surface from each other and have an overlapped part in the height direction. SOLUTION: A sorting system is provided with two sorting lines 1, 1 which are arranged in the vertical direction, a large number of chute parts 3 provided on the right and left sides of two sorting line groups, and a branch passage 2 arranged between the sorting line 1 and the chute part 3, and the upper and lower sorting lines 1, 1 are different in height of the carrying surface, and are completely overlapped in the height direction. The branch passage 2 to the left of right chute part 3 of the upper sorting line 1, and the branch passage 2 to the right or left chute part 3 of the lower sorting line 1 are on the same line when viewed in an plane.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a sorting system having a plurality of sorting lines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, articles sequentially conveyed on two sorting lines arranged side by side on the left and right are selectively delivered to a plurality of chute portions on the left and right via a branch passage connected to the sorting line. Sorting systems are known. As such a sorting system, the articles on the two conveying lines are preliminarily sorted to a predetermined sorting line on the right or left, then the articles on the right sorting line are placed on a predetermined chute on the right side, and the articles on the left sorting line are placed on the left side. However, when the ratio of the number of articles paid out to the right or left chute is imbalanced, the efficiency is very poor. Therefore, in order to make it possible to pay out directly to both the left and right chute parts from each sorting line,
The two sorting lines are arranged side by side with the same height of the transport surface, and the branching route from the left sorting line to the right chute and the branching route from the right sorting line to the left chute are front and back (left and right). There is a sorting system that is arranged in a staggered manner in the conveying direction of the sorting line).

[0003]

However, in such a sorting system, two sorting lines are arranged side by side at the same conveyance surface height and the left sorting line to the right chute portion is arranged. Since the branch road and the branch road from the right sorting line to the left chute part are offset from each other, a large space was required to install the sorting system.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a sorting system capable of efficiently sorting in a small installation space.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a sorting system having a plurality of sorting lines, which is located on the left and right sides of a sorting line group consisting of a plurality of sorting lines. At least two of a plurality of sorting lines, each of which has a chute portion provided in the sorting line and a branch path arranged between the sorting line and the chute portion.
Each of the sorting lines is a sorting system in which the heights of the transport surfaces are different from each other and there are overlapping portions in the height direction.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, at least two sorting lines having the same conveying direction among the plurality of sorting lines, one sorting line is located substantially directly above the other sorting line.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, with respect to two sorting lines having different heights of the conveying surfaces and having overlapping portions in the height direction, a branch path to the left or right chute portion of the sorting line above is provided. And the branching path to the right or left chute of the sorting line below is on a straight line when seen in a plan view.

The present invention has the following functions. In the invention according to claim 1, since at least two sorting lines of the plurality of sorting lines have different heights of the transport surfaces and have overlapping portions in the height direction, the installation space of the entire system is set. Can be made smaller.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In this specification, the front means the upper side of FIG. 1, the rear means the lower side of the figure, the right means the right side of FIG. 1, and the left means the left side of the figure.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 1 and 1 are vertically arranged in parallel.
These are sorting lines, each of which is composed of a steel belt conveyor whose front and rear direction is the conveying direction. The upper sorting line 1 (upper sorting line 1) and the lower sorting line 1 (lower sorting line 1) completely overlap vertically, and the entire apparatus of the upper sorting line 1 (steel belt drive mechanism, etc.) The height difference between the lower end of (including) and the transport surface of the lower sorting line 1 is at least the height of the article W to be transported. However, in FIGS. 1 to 3, the drive mechanism of the steel belt and the like are not shown.

A large number of branch lines 2 are connected to the left and right sides of both sorting lines 1 and 1. Left and right sorting line 1,
The first branch path 2 is provided at equal intervals in the front-rear direction, and the corresponding branch paths 2 (for example, the frontmost branch path 2 of the upper sorting line 1 and the frontmost branch path 2 of the lower sorting line 1). ) Is on a straight line when seen in a plane. Each of the branch passages 2 is set as a set of two from the front, and merges with a large number of chute portions 3 arranged along the front-rear direction on the left and right sides of the two sorting line groups.

When the branch lines 2 connected to the sorting line 1 are first, second ... From the front, the odd numbered branch lines 2a are on the right side of the upper sorting line 1 and the lower sorting line 1.
Connected to the left side of the upper sorting line 1 and the even numbered branch lines 2b to the right side of the lower sorting line 1.

A diverter 4 which is swingable about a vertical axis at the front end is provided at a position facing the branch path 2 with the transport surface of each sorting line 1 in between. Predetermined diverter 4
Swings inward at a predetermined timing and projects onto the conveying surface of the sorting line 1, so that the articles W on the sorting line 1 can be paid out to the opposing branch path 2.

FIG. 2 shows the sorting line 1, the branch path 2 and the chute section 3 at positions corresponding to the even-numbered branch paths 2.
Note that, in FIG. 2, the portion indicated by the alternate long and short dash line is an odd numbered branch path 2a. The branch path 2 of both the upper and lower sorting lines 1 is composed of a belt conveyor having the conveyance direction as the left-right direction. The branch path 2 of the upper sorting line 1 has a horizontal portion where the conveying surface is horizontal and an inclined portion where the conveying surface is inclined downward. Incidentally, the branch path 2 of the lower sorting line 1 does not have an inclined portion, and the transport surface is entirely horizontal.

The height of the lower end of the inclined portion in the branching line 2 of the upper sorting line 1 is the same as the height of the conveying surface of the lower sorting line 1 (the height of the conveying surface of the branching passage 2 of the lower sorting line 1). And odd-numbered branch 2a and even-numbered branch 2
Two b's merge into one chute unit 3.

A photoelectric sensor (not shown) for detecting the passage of the article W is provided at the downstream ends of the branch paths 2a and 2b, and the branch path 2 of the lower sorting line 1 is provided in accordance with the detection result. The conveyance speed is adjusted to control the timing of cutting out from both branch paths 2 to the chute section 3. Since the transport speed of the branch path 2 whose transport surface is horizontal is adjusted, the cutting timing can be easily controlled.

In the sorting system according to this embodiment,
The articles W sequentially conveyed on the upper and lower sorting lines 1 and 1 at a predetermined interval are selectively delivered to the corresponding chute section 3 by swinging a predetermined diverter 4 at a predetermined timing. be able to. Since the transport surfaces of the two sorting lines 1 and 1 have overlapping portions in the height direction and the corresponding branch passages 2 are in a straight line when seen in a plan view, the installation space of the entire sorting system can be reduced. .

Although the sorting system having the two sorting lines 1 and 1 has been described above, all the sorting lines 1 have three or more sorting lines 1, and the heights of the conveying surfaces are different from each other and the heights thereof are different from each other. You may make it have an overlapping part in a direction. Further, it is possible to have three or more sorting lines 1 and only two of them have overlapping portions in the height direction.

[0019]

The present invention is configured as described above.
The following effects are obtained. According to the first aspect of the invention, at least two sorting lines of the plurality of sorting lines have different heights of the transport surfaces and have overlapping portions in the height direction. Installation space can be reduced. Further, restrictions on the installation position and the inclination angle of the branch passage due to the interference with the other sorting line are reduced, and the installation space in the front-rear direction can be reduced to enable efficient sorting. According to the second aspect of the present invention, at least two sorting lines of the plurality of sorting lines that have the same transport direction are disposed so that one sorting line is located substantially directly above the other sorting line, The degree of freedom of the installation position and the inclination angle becomes greater, and the installation space can be made smaller. According to the third aspect of the present invention, regarding two sorting lines having different heights of the conveying surfaces and having overlapping portions in the height direction, a branching path to the left or right chute portion of the upper sorting line is provided. The installation space in the front-rear direction can be reduced because the sorting line located below the branch line to the right or left chute is in a straight line when seen in a plan view.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a part of a sorting system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a position corresponding to an even-numbered branch path.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a sorting system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W goods 1 sorting line 2 branch path 3 chute section 4 diverter

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sorting system having a plurality of sorting lines, wherein a chute section is provided on the left and right sides of a sorting line group consisting of a plurality of sorting lines, and is arranged between the sorting line and the chute section. A sorting system having a branch path, and at least two sorting lines of the plurality of sorting lines have mutually different heights of transport surfaces and have overlapping portions in the height direction. 2. The sorting system according to claim 1, wherein at least two sorting lines having the same conveying direction among the plurality of sorting lines, one sorting line is located substantially directly above the other sorting line. 3. As to two sorting lines having different heights on the conveying surfaces and having overlapping portions in the height direction, a sorting path to the left or right chute of the sorting line above and a sorting line below. The sorting system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the branch path to the right or left chute portion of the line is on a straight line when seen in a plan view.