JPH0986660A - Article stacking method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Problem] Articles can be stacked while being sorted,
A stacking and sorting apparatus for articles is provided. SOLUTION: When the stopper 41 is not projected, the article placing section 14 of the sorting conveyor 10 is moved from the loading conveyor 20.
The articles P transferred to the upper side are taken out as the sorted articles P1 on the carry-out conveyor 30 by the circulation of the sorting conveyor 10. On the other hand, when the stopper 41 is projected, the advance of the article P on the article placement unit 14 is blocked. Then, the sorting conveyor 10 circulates and the gap 15
When the article P reaches the sorting section 17, the article P loses its support and falls, and is received by the lifting fork 51 as the sorted article P2. Each time the lifting fork 51 receives the article P2, it descends by the height of the article P2 and stacks the articles P2. Then, the articles P2 stacked in a predetermined number of steps are carried out by the second carry-out conveyor 70.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stacking and sorting method for articles, which is used in a collection / delivery center for collecting and shipping various articles and which stacks various articles according to a shipping destination in a predetermined number of stages. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the current distribution industry, articles such as corrugated cardboard boxes containing foods are once collected at a collection / delivery center and then the required number of ordered articles are shipped to the orderer. At this time, in order to efficiently mount the articles on the truck, it is necessary to stack the articles instructed to be shipped in a predetermined number of steps. However, it is possible to stack the articles in various types efficiently. A stacking device has been proposed.

For example, the applicant of the present invention not only can efficiently stack articles that cannot be locked with hooks, such as a corrugated cardboard box, but also that stack heights and stack widths are different. Even in such a case, a stacking device that can transfer stacked articles stably and quickly to a pallet or the like has been filed first (Japanese Patent Application No. 6-21131).
No. 7). Then, this stowage device sends out the article carried in from the carry-in path at a predetermined timing and temporarily places it on the temporary placement means, and then moves the temporary placement means while blocking the movement of the article. Thus, the article is dropped downward to be loaded on the elevating means, the elevating means is lowered by the height of the article, and then the article is repeatedly dropped onto the elevating means to repeat the predetermined article. A stacking device for stacking at a height is used.

[0004]

However, the stacking device described above is a device for simply stacking products, and does not have a function of sorting products. As a result, a sorting device and a stacking device for sorting the articles have to be separately installed, which not only requires a large installation space, but also conveys the articles between the sorting device and the stacking device. Since a conveyor is also required, there is a problem that the equipment cost is high.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art and to provide a stacking method and apparatus for stacking articles which can be stacked while sorting the articles.

[0006]

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following constitution. An article placement part (14) in which a plurality of slats (13) spanned between a pair of endless chains (12) extending in parallel with each other and rotationally driven are arranged so as to be adjacent to each other.
And the gap (1) where the slats (13) are not arranged.
Using the sorting conveyor (10) in which 5) are alternately arranged, the article supplied from the input conveyor (20) is placed on the article placing section (14) and transferred, and the traveling path of the article. The stopper (41) is projected upward to lock the article, and the article is dropped from the article placing portion (14) to be stacked, and the article is moved along the path in the retracted state of the stopper (41). A stacked sorting method for articles carried out from the sorting conveyor (10) without change.

A plurality of slats (1) bridged between a pair of endless chains (12) extending parallel to each other and driven while being wound between a plurality of pulleys (11).
3) are placed so that they are adjacent to each other.
4) and a sorting part (17) in which gaps (15) without the slats (13) are alternately arranged, and the pair of chains (12) extend horizontally, and the sorting part (17). An upper displacing portion (18) disposed adjacent to the rear of the sorting portion (17) in the conveying direction, and an upper displacing portion (18) of the chain (12) extending toward the sorting portion (17) from below. The chain (1
2) a sorting conveyor (10) having a downward displacement portion (19) extending downward from the sorting portion (17);
In accordance with the timing when the article placing section (14) of the sorting conveyor (10) reaches the sorting section (17),
A loading conveyor (20) for cutting out articles and transferring them onto the article placing section (14), and the article placing section (14) from the sorting section (17) toward the downward displacement section (19). When it is displaced, it carries out a projecting movement to and from the carry-out conveyor (30) that receives and conveys the article on the article placing section (14) and the sorting section (17), and the article placing section (1).
4) A stopper mechanism (40) having a stopper (41) for preventing forward displacement of the above article in the conveying direction, and a gap (15) of the sorting conveyor (10) which is prevented from advancing by the stopper (41). And a stacking mechanism (50) for stacking the articles by lowering the lifting fork (51) by a predetermined stroke every time the articles are received by the lifting fork (51). A stacking sorting apparatus (100) for articles, comprising:

The article stacking and sorting apparatus of the present invention comprises a sorting conveyor, a loading conveyor, a unloading conveyor, a stopper mechanism, a stacking mechanism, a transfer conveyor, and a second unloading conveyor. . When the chain of the sorting conveyor is driven and circulates, the article placing portion and the gap provided on the sorting conveyor also circulate in one direction. The loading conveyor cuts out the article at the timing when the article placing section reaches the sorting section, and transfers the article onto the article placing section. At this time, the article placement section advances from the upper displacement section located below the article toward the sorting section, so that the article placement is not hindered.

When the stopper is not projected onto the sorting section, the article transferred onto the article placing section advances together with the article placing section. Then, as the article placement section advances from the sorting section toward the downward displacement section, the articles are transferred onto the carry-out conveyor. On the other hand, when the stopper is projected onto the sorting section, the article on the article placing section comes into contact with the stopper and its advance is blocked. Then, when the article placing section of the sorting conveyor moves forward and the gap reaches the lower side of the article instead, the article loses its support and falls downward from the gap, and is received by the lifting fork of the stacking mechanism.

The elevating fork descends according to the height of the article every time it receives the article falling from the sorting section. As a result, the articles that fall from the sorting unit next are sequentially placed on the articles on the lifting forks, and the articles are stacked on the lifting forks. Then, the articles stacked on the lifting fork are transferred to the second carry-out conveyor by the transfer conveyor and carried out. That is, according to the article stacking method and apparatus of the present invention, articles can be sorted into two routes depending on whether or not the stopper is projected. Then, the articles sorted on one of the paths can be stacked.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A first embodiment of a stacking / sorting apparatus for articles according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. As shown in FIG. 1, an article stacking sorting apparatus 100 according to the first exemplary embodiment includes a sorting conveyor 10, a loading conveyor 20, an unloading conveyor 30, and a stopper mechanism 40.
The stacking mechanism 50, the transfer conveyor 60, and the second carry-out conveyor 70.

The sorting conveyor 10 includes a plurality of pulleys 11 which are rotationally driven, a pair of endless chains 12 which are wound around the pulleys 11 and extend parallel to each other, and a plurality of which are bridged between the chains 12. And the rod-shaped slats 13 of. The slats 13 are arranged so as to be adjacent to each other, and form an article placing portion 14. The article placing section 14 can place and convey an article in a portion where the chain 12 extends horizontally. On the other hand, the part where the slats 13 are not provided is the gap 1
5 and in this part the article is a pair of chains 12
You can pass between.

On the other hand, the sorting conveyor 10 includes a chain 12
A horizontally extending sorting section 17, an upper displacing section 18 disposed adjacent to the rear of the sorting section 17 in the transport direction and extending from the lower side toward the sorting section 17 of the chain 12.
The chain 12 has a downward displacing portion 19 which is disposed adjacent to the front of the sorting portion 17 in the conveying direction and extends downward from the sorting portion 17. As a result, the article placing unit 14 moves the upper displacing unit 18 upward while the sorting unit 1
7, the loading conveyor 20 does not hinder the transfer of the article onto the article placing section 14. Similarly, when the article placing unit 14 passes through the sorting unit 17, the downward displacement unit 19 is displaced downward, so that the sorting unit 17
There is no hindrance when the articles are transferred from the article placement section 14 located at the position to the carry-out conveyor 30.

The loading conveyor 20 is a conveyor having a plurality of conveyor rollers which are driven to rotate, and at the front end in the carrying direction thereof, articles are placed at the timing when the article placing section 14 of the sorting conveyor 10 reaches the sorting section 17. A cutting device (not shown) that cuts out and transfers the product P onto the product placement unit 14 is provided. The carry-out conveyor 3
Reference numeral 0 is a conveyor having a plurality of conveyor rollers that are driven to rotate, and is adapted to receive and convey the sorted articles P1 transferred from the article placing portion 14 of the sorting conveyor 10.

The stopper mechanism 40 causes the stopper 41 to be projected and retracted on the sorting section 17 of the sorting conveyor 10 in response to an instruction from a control device (not shown). And the sorting section 1
The stopper 41 projecting above 7 comes into contact with the article placed on the article placing section 14 to prevent its advance. The stacking mechanism 50 has a lifting fork 51 that moves up and down in response to an instruction from a control device (not shown). The lifting fork 51 ascends to just below the sorting unit 17 of the sorting conveyor 10 and receives the falling articles from the sorting unit 17. Further, the lifting fork 51 descends by the height of the sorted articles P2 each time the articles are received, and the articles to be received next are sequentially placed on the received articles P2 on the lifting forks 51 to stack the articles. Pile up. Then, when the articles P2 are stacked by a predetermined number of steps, the lifting fork 51 descends to the lowermost position, and the stacked articles P2 are transferred to the transfer conveyor 6
Place on 0.

The transfer conveyor 60 is arranged so as to extend into the space between the comb-shaped forks 52 of the lifting fork 51 when the lifting fork 51 is lowered to the lowermost position. It is composed of a belt conveyor 61. Then, the stacked articles P2 are lifted by the lifting fork 51.
When the articles P2 are transferred from the second transfer conveyor 70, the stacked articles P2 are transferred to the second carry-out conveyor 70 by operating in accordance with an instruction from a controller (not shown). The second carry-out conveyor 70 is a conveyor having a plurality of conveyor rollers that are rotationally driven, and receives the stacked articles P2 transferred from the transfer conveyor 60 and conveys them to the shipping section.

Next, the operation of the stacking / sorting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment having the above-mentioned structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6. First, the operation when the stopper 41 of the stopper mechanism 40 is not projected will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the article placing portion 14 of the sorting conveyor 10 circulates and reaches the sorting portion 17 while displacing the upward displacement portion 18 extending between the pulley 11a and the pulley 11b upward, the loading conveyor 20 moves The article P is transferred onto the article placing section 14 at the same timing. At this time, the article placement unit 1
Since 4 reaches the sorting section 17 through the upper displacement section 18 located below the article P, the transfer of the article P is not hindered. When the article placing section 14 further advances, the article P on the article placing section 14 moves forward without being blocked by the stopper 41 as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, when the article placing section 14 advances from the sorting section 17 to the downward displacement section 19 extending between the pulley 11 c and the pulley 11 d, the article P on the article placing section 14 is carried out by the carry-out conveyor 30. Reprinted on top. At this time, the article placing section 14 advances to the downward displacement section 19 and retracts below the article P, so that the article P is not hindered from being transferred.

Next, the operation when the stopper 41 is projected will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the article P that advances together with the article placement unit 14 of the sorting conveyor 10 contacts the stopper 41, and the advancement thereof is blocked. On the other hand, when the sorting conveyor 10 circulates and the article mounting unit 14 further advances, and the gap portion 15 of the sorting conveyor 10 is positioned below the article P, the article P loses its support and falls, as shown in FIG. Thus, it is received by the lifting fork 51. Then, the lifting fork 51 that receives the article P falling from the sorting unit 17
While descending by the height of the received article P,
Next, the article P falling from the sorting unit 17 is received on the article P previously received. As a result, the articles P dropped from the sorting section 17 are stacked on the elevating forks 51 as sorted articles P2.

That is, in the stacking sorting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, the sorted articles P1 can be taken out onto the carry-out conveyor 30 when the stopper 41 is not projected. On the other hand, when the stopper 41 is projected, the sorted articles P2 can be taken out on the carry-out conveyor 70 in a stacked state. Therefore, according to the stacking and sorting apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, the stacking work can be performed while sorting the articles by controlling the appearance of the stopper 41 in accordance with the shipping instruction of the articles.

Next, an article stacking and sorting apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 7
As shown in FIG. 2, the stacking sorting apparatus 2 for articles according to the second embodiment.
In 00, the length of the sorting section 117 of the sorting conveyor 110 is extended to about 3 times the length of the sorting section 17 of the stacking sorting apparatus 100 for articles of the first embodiment shown in FIG. There is. Then, the three stopper mechanisms 40 are arranged in parallel in the sorting section 117, and the individual stopper mechanisms 40 are arranged.
A stacking mechanism 50, a transfer conveyor 60, and a second carry-out conveyor 70 are arranged corresponding to the above.

As a result, when all the stoppers 41 are not projected, the articles P loaded by the loading conveyor 20 are carried out as the sorted articles P1 by the unloading conveyor 3.
0 is taken out. On the other hand, by selecting the stopper 41 to be projected, the articles P which are the articles P are sorted.
2 or article P3 or article P4 can be taken out in a stacked state on any of the second carry-out conveyors 70.

That is, in the article stacking / sorting apparatus 200 of the second embodiment, the length of the sorting section 117 of the sorting conveyor 110 is extended, and a plurality of stopper mechanisms 40 are arranged in parallel in the sorting section 117. Further, since the stacking mechanism 50, the transfer conveyor 60, and the second unloading conveyor 70 are arranged in correspondence with each stopper mechanism 40, the articles loaded by the loading conveyor 20 are referred to as "the stopper mechanism 40 It is possible to sort into the number of sorting destinations of "number + 1".

Although the article stacking and sorting apparatus according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the article stacking and sorting apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. It goes without saying that various modifications can be made based on the gist of the present invention. For example, the form of the sorting conveyor can be changed as shown in FIG. That is, in the above-described first and second embodiments, the chain of the sorting conveyor is arranged so as to extend above the sorting section. On the other hand, the sorting conveyor 210 of the article stacking sorting apparatus 300 shown in FIG.
The lower ends of the lower displacing portion 219 and the lower displacing portion 219 are extended downward, and the chain is arranged so as to circulate through the lower side of the lifting fork 51 and the transfer conveyor 60 at the lowermost position. As a result, this stacking sorting device 3
In 00, since the sorting section 217 is the highest portion, there is an advantage that the total height of the stacking sorting apparatus 300 can be kept low.

[0024]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Since the article stacking method and apparatus of the present invention are configured as described above, in addition to stacking the articles, it is possible to sort the articles and ship the articles. The work to do can be performed efficiently. Also,
Since the sorting conveyor, the stopper mechanism, and the stacking mechanism are stacked on top of each other, the space for installing equipment can be minimized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a stacking and sorting apparatus for articles according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view of an essential part for explaining the operation of the stacking sorting apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view of an essential part for explaining the operation of the stacking sorting apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front cross-sectional view of an essential part for explaining the operation of the stacking sorting apparatus shown in FIG.

5 is a front sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation of the stacking sorting apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a front cross-sectional view of an essential part for explaining the operation of the stacking sorting apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an overall perspective view of a stacking sorting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front sectional view of a main part of another embodiment of the stacking sorting device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Sorting Conveyor 11 Pulley 12 Chain 13 Slat 14 Mounting Part 15 Gap 17 Sorting Part 18 Upper Displacement Part 19 Lower Displacement Part 20 Loading Conveyor 30 Unloading Conveyor 40 Stopper Mechanism 41 Stopper 50 Stacking Mechanism 51 Lifting Fork 52 Fork 60 Transfer Means 70 Second unloading conveyor 100 Stacking sorting apparatus for articles of first embodiment 110 Sorting conveyor for second embodiment 200 Stacking sorting apparatus for articles of second embodiment 210 Sorting conveyor 300 for other embodiments Stacking and sorting apparatus for articles of embodiment

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An article placing section (14) in which a plurality of slats (13), which are extended between a pair of endless chains (12) extending in parallel with each other and rotatably driven, are arranged so as to be adjacent to each other. Using the sorting conveyor (10) in which the gaps (15) in which the slats (13) are not arranged are alternately arranged, the articles supplied from the input conveyor (20) are loaded into the article placement section (14). The article is placed and transferred, the stopper (41) is projected on the traveling path of the article to lock the article, and the article is dropped from the article placement part (14) to be stacked.
Further, a stacking sorting method for articles, wherein the articles are carried out from the sorting conveyor (10) without changing the course of the articles when the stopper (41) is in the retracted state. 2. A plurality of slats (13) bridged between a pair of endless chains (12) extending parallel to each other and driven while being wound between a plurality of pulleys (11).
Article placement part (14) in which the parts are arranged next to each other
And the gap (1) where the slats (13) are not arranged.
5) are alternately arranged and the pair of chains (1
2) a horizontally extending sorting section (17), and the sorting section (1)
7) an upper displacing portion (18) disposed adjacent to the rear of the sorting direction (17) and extending toward the sorting section (17) from below, and a sorting direction of the sorting section (17). The chain (12) arranged adjacent to the front side
A sorting conveyor (10) having a downward displacement portion (19) extending downward from the sorting portion (17), and the article placing portion (14) of the sorting conveyor (10) including the sorting portion (17). ) According to the timing to reach
A loading conveyor (20) for cutting out articles and transferring them onto the article placing section (14), and the article placing section (14) from the sorting section (17) toward the downward displacing section (19). When being displaced, the carry-out conveyor (30) that receives and conveys the article on the article placing section (14), and the projecting portion so as to be able to appear in and out on the sorting section (17), on the article placing section (14) Mechanism (40) having a stopper (41) for preventing forward displacement of the article in the conveying direction, and downward movement from the gap portion (15) of the sorting conveyor (10) which is prevented from advancing by the stopper (41). A stacking mechanism (50) for stacking the articles by receiving the articles falling onto the stack by the lifting forks (51) and lowering the lifting forks (51) by a predetermined stroke each time the articles are received. A stacking and sorting apparatus for articles (10
0).