JPS6233166B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transferring containers onto a conveyor or the like from carts loaded with containers arranged in two rows in parallel.

Generally, in a factory that simultaneously produces a wide variety of products, the products completed in the manufacturing process are classified and inspected by product type, and then packed and shipped in units of one or more products. At this time, the products are placed in containers such as designated cartons immediately after inspection, and the product classification is then done on a container-by-container basis, but the labeling and sealing processes for containers are usually done in small numbers to ensure efficient operation of work equipment. Work is done intensively by sharing the line. Therefore, it is essential to transport containers while classifying them by type between the product inspection/packing process and the sealing process. Conveyor transport has been adopted as one method for this purpose, but although it is mechanically simple, it is difficult to ensure flexibility in container classification operations to accommodate diversification of product types and changes in lot size. It's hard to say how.

On the other hand, in the trolley transportation method, the product type,
This method makes it possible to consolidate and classify lots, making it very easy to respond to diversification of product types and changes in lot size, making it suitable for high-mix, small-lot production. However, it does have its drawbacks in terms of transferring containers between processes. Ta. To solve this problem, we proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 53-37275 a method of transferring containers all at once from a cart to a conveyor at the entrance of the process, thereby improving the practicality of the cart transport method. On the other hand, for the purpose of improving the efficiency of cart transportation, in addition to simply connecting and towing the carts in series, a method of towing a large number of carts in parallel is also generally adopted. As a result, although it is possible to press and transfer containers on two parallel trolleys at once using the above-mentioned batch transfer method, the conventional container transfer method is difficult to perform in the inspection and packaging process. Depending on the number of finished products, it may not always be possible to fully fill the containers on two parallel trolleys, and if the containers on two parallel trolleys are simply transferred all at once, there will be damage to the containers and product damage. There is a high risk that it may lead to accidents such as breakdowns.

The method and apparatus of the present invention aim to provide a method and apparatus suitable for reliably transferring containers on two parallel rows of trolleys, which have such problems, to fixed conveyance means such as a conveyor. The first invention is between a truck A, a truck B, and a conveyor, in which a truck running path and a conveyor transportation path are arranged parallel to each other. When sliding a group of containers onto the conveyor, the carts A and B are placed adjacent to the conveyor so that their running directions are parallel to the conveyor, and the conveyor, the cart B closer to the conveyor, and the cart B farther from the conveyor are a first step of arranging the carts A and B so that their container mounting surfaces are successively higher; a second step of positioning and fixing both the carts A and B at least in the traveling direction; The third step is to parallelly move the cart A that is farthest from the conveyor to widen the gap between carts A and B, and to move the rows of containers on the cart B that is closer to the conveyor in parallel simultaneously using a press plate. A fourth step of sliding and loading, a fifth step of moving the farthest cart A to be adjacent to the cart B again, and a parallel movement of the rows of containers on the farthest cart A all at once by a press plate to move them to the cart B. The gist of the invention is to sequentially carry out the six steps of the sixth step of sliding and transferring onto the conveyor via , a group of containers parallel to the trolley running path placed on trolleys A and B,
The device slides and transfers onto a conveyor parallel to the bogie running path, and a transfer area is provided in an area where both bogie running paths and the conveyor transfer path are adjacent and parallel, and the area's running path and conveyance are a running rail installed perpendicularly to and spanning the road, a pressing trolley that reciprocates on the running rail and is equipped with both a pressing plate that presses the side surface of the container and a clamp that clamps the front and rear surfaces of the row of containers;
A stopper for the trolley provided at the leading end of the transfer area in the running direction, a pusher for pushing the trolley provided at the rear end of the transfer area in the running direction, and a trolley A farther from the conveyor in a direction perpendicular to the running path. A transfer mechanism is constituted by five members of a moving mechanism that causes horizontal movement, and the pusher presses the trolley A and the trolley B by the operation of the pusher,
The gist is that the truck A and the truck B are stopped in the transfer area by the operation of the truck stopper.

The present invention will be explained in detail below based on examples.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a container transfer device that transfers containers on two trolleys running in parallel.The conveyor transport system of this device is connected to a supply conveyor 2 that supplies empty containers 1 and is perpendicular to the supply conveyor 2. empty container 1 to 2
For example, an alignment conveyor 3 that is placed on standby, a receiving conveyor 6 installed at a position facing the alignment conveyor 3 and sandwiching two parallel carts A4 and B5, and a receiving conveyor 6 connected orthogonally to the receiving conveyor 6. and a discharge conveyor 7 which connects to the next process via this conveyor. Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
A container pushing cart 9 is mounted on the rails 8a, 8a on the upper surface thereof so as to be movable between the alignment conveyor 3 and the receiving conveyor 6.

As shown in FIG. 1, a fixed stopper 10 and a stopper 11 that can be raised and lowered by appropriate means are provided at the connecting portion of the supply conveyor 2 and the alignment conveyor 3. It serves the purpose of stopping each individual at appropriate intervals. Also, the supply conveyor 2 for both stoppers 10 and 11
A pusher 13 operated by an air ring 12 is provided on the outer side and serves to push the empty containers 1, which are stopped on the supply conveyor 2 by both stoppers 10, 11, onto the alignment conveyor 3.

A stopper 14 is provided at the downstream end of the alignment conveyor 3 to align the empty containers 1 pushed by the pusher 13 in two rows at fixed positions. Furthermore, the position of the stopper 14 is on the trolley A4.
A position relative to the stop position of the trolley B5 is secured so that there is no problem in the container transfer work described later.

The trolley A4 and the trolley B5 are completely the same type of trolleys, which load a predetermined number of containers 1 (four in this example) in a row, and have stoppers 1 at the front and rear in the running direction.
5 and 15 are provided to prevent the container 1 from falling due to impact caused when the carriages 4 and 5 stop running. Further, couplers 16, 16 are provided at the front and rear of the bogies 4, 5, respectively, for use in towing by a towing vehicle 17 and connection between the bogies (not shown). Incidentally, the coupler 16 is a known so-called automatic coupling device that automatically connects and detaches the coupling by actuating attached levers using external togs of the carts 4 and 5 and the towing vehicle 17 (details are omitted). The carts A4 and B5, which are traveling while being towed by the above-mentioned towing vehicle 17, have their positions in the width direction regulated by the guides 18, 18, and are introduced between the alignment conveyor 3 and the receiving conveyor 6, and are stopped at their coupler just before the final stop position. 1
6 and 16 are automatically opened, and at the same time, both carts are separated into two mutually independent carts A4 and B5.
Note that the positioning mechanism for both carts 4 and 5 after the vehicle stops running will be described in detail separately.

The receiving conveyor 6 carries the container 1 from both carts 4 and 5 to 2.
Containers 1 are received in two rows, and stoppers 19, 19, which can be raised and lowered by appropriate means, are provided at the joint with the discharge conveyor 7 located downstream.
The structure is such that one piece is cut out onto the discharge conveyor 7 for each row.

The discharge conveyor 7 is provided with orthogonal converters 20, 20 for changing the direction of the containers 1 from the conveying direction of the receiving conveyor 6 to the conveying direction of the discharge conveyor 7 at right angles to the position corresponding to one row of containers in the two-row state. The container 1 is transferred from the receiving conveyor 6 to the discharge conveyor 7.
It is configured to be transferred to

Next, the container 1 is transferred from both carts 4 and 5 to the receiving conveyor 6.
Next, the mechanism for transferring from the alignment conveyor 3 to both carts 4 and 5 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

During the transfer work of the container 1, the container pushing cart 9 is moved to the rail 8.
As shown in FIG.
1 is placed thereon, and can be moved by rotating wheels 22 via a sprocket and chain, and a support 23 is projected downward, and within the support 23 is guided by a group of guide rollers 24. A guide bar 25 that can be slid up and down is provided,
A pressing plate 26 is attached to the lower end of the container 1 to be moved by pushing the side surface of the container 1, and an air cylinder 27 is engaged between the support column 23 and the guide bar 25, whereby the pressing plate 26 can be moved up and down. It is structured as follows. By a combination of the lifting and lowering of the pressing plate 26 and the running of the container pressing cart 9, the containers on the conveyor or the cart can be freely pressed and moved. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, clamp plates 28, 28 are attached to guide rods 29,
29, and can be slid by air cylinders 30, 30. The clamp plates 28, 28 are located at the outer ends of both sides in a standby state, and when the container 1 is pressed and moved by the pressing plate 26, they move inward to clamp the container 1. The inward position of the clamp plates 28, 28 is set in accordance with the maximum dimension of the accumulated outer surface of a predetermined number of containers 1, and when the dimensions of the containers 1 are small or the number of containers is less than the predetermined number. etc., always within a certain range width (within the container solid line diagram in Figure 3)
The container 1 is regulated in such a way that the container pressing path can be defined within a certain range. Furthermore, when the clamp plates 28, 28 are in a standby state, they are configured to be widened to a width that can sufficiently absorb container position errors on both carts 4, 5 or on the alignment conveyor 3 (containers shown in Fig. 3). When in the clamped state, the distance between the clamp plates 28 and 28 is smaller than the distance between the stoppers 15 and 15 on both the bogies 4 and 5, and absorbs the error in the stopping position of both the bogies 4 and 5. It is set up so that it can be done.

Since the containers 1 are press-transferred from the alignment conveyor 3 to the receiving conveyor 6, the container conveying surfaces of the conveyor and the trolley are as shown in FIG. The configuration is such that the values decrease in sequence. Therefore, a height difference is created between the carts A4 and B5, which are the same type of carts, by making the floor surface of the cart A4 higher than the floor surface of the cart B5.

Since the cart A4 and the cart B5 run in parallel and are introduced between the two conveyors 3 and 6, the interval between the carts 4 and 5 is naturally narrow, and therefore the pressing plate 26 presses the cart B5.
This causes trouble when the upper container 1 is transferred under pressure. For this reason, as a mechanism to pull the trolley A4 toward the alignment conveyor 3 side and enable the operation of the press plate, a base plate 31 with a conveying surface slightly higher than the floor surface is installed on the running path of the trolley A4, and the base plate 31 is placed under the base plate 31. A group of small wheels 32 are provided on the carriage A4 so that it can move on the rails 33, and an air cylinder 34 is used to move the carriage A4 between the running position (shown by the solid line in Figure 2) and the retreat position (second position).
It is configured to take two positions (indicated by two-dot chain lines in FIG. 2). Further, a guide 18 for regulating the traveling position of the cart A4 is attached to the pace plate 31 and is configured to move together with the cart A4. Furthermore, between the trolley A4 side guide 18 and the alignment conveyor 3,
In order to slide the containers, a fixed span plate 35 that is fixed to the alignment conveyor 3 and a span plate 36 that is fixed to the guide 18 are provided, which can be expanded and contracted when the trolley A4 moves between the traveling position and the shelter position. A container conveying surface is configured. Further, a spanning plate 37 to the receiving conveyor 6 is provided on the guide 18 on the side of the cart B5. In addition, these spanning boards 35, 36,
37 is also maintained in relation to each adjacent device so that it becomes lower in order from the alignment conveyor 3 toward the receiving conveyor.

Next, we will discuss the positioning mechanism of both carts 4 and 5 in the fourth section.
This will be explained with reference to FIGS. As described above, the traveling positions of the carts A4 and B5 in the width direction are regulated by the guides 18, 18. A stopper arm 38 is pivotally supported by a rod 39 at the end of the guide 18 at the same level as the guide 18 at the end of the approach direction of the truck A4, and is engaged so as to be slidable in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. . Also, the lever 4 is attached to the stopper arm 38.
0 is fixed and the other end thereof is connected to a fulcrum bearing 41 on the base plate 31, and a shock absorber 42 is engaged with the intermediate portion of the lever 40. Further, an air cylinder 43 is connected to the stopper arm 38. As a result of such a configuration, the stopper arm 38 is initially waiting at the entry side position of the truck A4 (double-dashed line in FIG. 4), and
The shock absorber 42 buffers and stops the collision impact on the stopper arm 38 when the truck A4 enters, and the air cylinder 43 is configured to return the stopper arm 38 to the standby position again after the bogie A4 starts moving.

Truck A4 is stopped by the above mechanism, but
It cannot take a fixed position in the direction of travel. Therefore, a pusher 44 is installed to push the truck A4 from behind after the truck A4 has stopped. The rod 55 supporting the pusher 44 is slidably and rotatably attached to the bearing 4 at the entry side end of the carriage A4 of the guide 18.
5,45. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, a lever 46 is attached to the rod 55 of the pusher 44.
The lever 46 is rotatably fitted between the rings 47 and 47 fixed to the rod 55 to determine its axial position, and one end of the lever 46 is engaged with an air cylinder 48. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the arm 49 of the pusher 44 is configured to loosely fit into a slit 50 at the end of the guide 18 and to be able to slide from side to side in FIG.
serves to prevent the pusher 44 from rotating. Furthermore, the end portion 18 of the guide 18 is in the standby position (two-dot chain line in FIG. 4) where the pusher 44 does not press the cart A4.
The upper part of the slit 50 is cut out, and the arm 49 of the pusher 44 fits into the slit of the fork 51 in the standby state, and when the fork 51 rotates, it stands upright as shown in FIG. in a state.

Note that the fork 51 is rotatably supported by bearings 52, 52, and is connected to an air cylinder 54 via a lever 53.

As mentioned above, in the standby position, the pusher 44 is disengaged from the slit 50 of the guide 18 and engaged with the fork 51, and the position where the pusher 44 presses the trolley A4 by the action of the air cylinder 54 and the original position where it does not interfere with the approach movement of the trolley A4 are maintained. It rotates between the standby position (two-dot chain line in Fig. 5). At the pressing position of the truck A4, the stopper arm 38 presses the truck A4 by the action of the air cylinder 48 (FIG. 4) until it reaches the stroke end, and continues clamping until the container transfer operation is completed.

Although the positioning mechanism of the cart A4 has been described above, the positioning mechanism of the cart B5 also has the same structure, so the explanation will be omitted. In addition, the stopper arm 38 is attached to both the bogies 4,
Although it functions as a stopper for the towing vehicle 17, it is mounted in a position that does not interfere with the towing vehicle 17.

This completes the explanation of the device structure of the embodiment of the present invention, and the operation of the device will be subsequently explained.

In FIG. 1, an empty container 1 is placed on a supply conveyor 2.
The leading empty container 1 is stopped at a fixed stopper 10, and the following empty container 1 is stopped at a stopper 11. Thereafter, the pusher 13 is moved by the operation of the air cylinder 12 to push the two empty containers 1 stopped by the stoppers 10 and 11 onto the alignment conveyor 3. On the alignment conveyor 3, the empty containers 1 are separated into two parts and stopped by a stopper 14 to wait. Repeat the above operation and move both trolleys 4 and 5.
Conveyance is continued until the number of empty containers to be supplied is reached (four each in this example), and finally empty containers are arranged in exactly the same shape as the containers arranged on both carts 4 and 5, that is, two rows of empty containers in series. One group is prepared. (FIG. 7) Next, the carts A4 and B5 are towed by the tractor 17 and enter between the alignment conveyor 3 and the receiving conveyor 6 while being regulated by the guides 18, 18. The coupler 16 of both bogies 4 and 5 is automatically removed just before they come into contact with the stopper arm 38, and the forced running by the towing vehicle 17 shifts to free running. Thereafter, both carriages 4 and 5 come into contact with the stopper arm 38 shown in FIG. 4 and are stopped by the action of the shock absorber 42. Pushya 44 was still in the standby position.
is rotated through the fork 51 by the action of the air cylinder 54 to the pressed state (horizontal state in FIG. 6, shown by the chain line), and the action of the air cylinder 48 pushes the rear surfaces of both bogies 4 and 5, causing the stopper arm 38 to complete its stroke. Bring it to the point where it reaches the end. As a result, the work of positioning both carts 4 and 5 to their regular positions is completed. Further, the pusher 44 continues to press, and clamps both carts 4 and 5 until the entire container transfer operation is completed. (Fig. 8) When the clamping of both carts 4 and 5 is completed, one of the carts A4 is moved by the air cylinder 34 as shown in Fig. 2.
is placed on the base plate 31 and moved to the alignment conveyor 3 side, thereby widening the gap between both carts 4 and 5. (Fig. 9) During the above work, press plate 2
6 is waiting just above the fixed span plate 35 between the alignment conveyor 3 and the trolley A4. (Figs. 7 to 9) When the movement of cart A4 is completed, the pressing plate 26 is positioned between both carts 4 and 5 due to the movement of the container pressing cart 9, and by the action of the air cylinder 27, it reaches the container pressing height on the cart B5. descend. (10th
(Figure) Thereafter, the container pressing cart 9 is moved again to bring the pressing plate 26 into contact with the container 1 on the cart B5. At the same time, the clamp plates 28, 2 at both ends of the press plate 26
8 into container 1 by the action of air cylinders 30, 30.
The containers are brought into contact with each other from the side to clamp the containers in the longitudinal direction, completing the regulation of the container 1 position. Next, the container pressing cart 9 is moved again to press and transfer the container 1 to a predetermined position on the receiving conveyor 6. (1st
(2-dot chain line in Figure 0) After that, the clamp plates 28, 28 are returned to the standby position to unclamp the container 1, and the press plate 26 is raised to a height where it does not interfere with the container 1 and moved to the upper part of the fixed span plate 35. In parallel with the above operation, the cart A4 is returned to the running position, and the relative positions of the alignment conveyor 3, the cart A4, the cart B5, and the receiving conveyor 6 are returned to the initial state. (Fig. 11) Next, press plate 26 and clamp plate 2 as before.
8, 28, etc. are operated to press and transfer the container 1 on the cart A4 to a predetermined position on the receiving conveyor 6 via the cart B5. (Fig. 12) Furthermore, by the same operation, one row of empty containers in the front row (in the direction of movement) on the alignment conveyor 3 is placed on cart B5 (Fig. 13), and one row of empty containers in the rear row is placed on cart A4 ( Figure 14) Press and transfer.

As a result of the above operation, the pressing plate 26 is moved to the fixed span plate 35.
The empty container 1 on the alignment conveyor 3 is placed on both carts 4 and 5, and the container 1 on both carts is returned to the standby position directly above.
are transferred onto the receiving conveyor 6, completing a series of container transfer operations. (Fig. 15) After that, both carts 4,
The pusher 44 clamping the fork 51 is moved backward by the air cylinder 48 to engage the fork 51, and is rotated by the air cylinder 54 to return to the standby position. In this state, the towing vehicle 17 connects both the carts 4 and 5 in the opposite direction to the approach direction, transports the empty container 1 to a predetermined process, and transfers the container containing the product from the process to the carts 4 and 5. The container is loaded onto the container, returns to the container transfer device again, and repeats the series of operations described above.

On the other hand, the first group of containers on the receiving conveyor 6 remains in two rows, and after confirming their position by once stopping the downstream stoppers 19, 19, the orthogonal converter 20, one container per row,
It is cut out into 20 pieces, transferred onto the discharge conveyor 7, and conveyed to the next process. Incidentally, if it becomes necessary to handle a group of containers in units of transport vehicles due to the production lot, it is also possible to perform lot sorting work by operating the stopper 19 and orthogonal converter 20 for each row of containers.

The above operations complete a series of container transfer operations including dropping the containers 1 on the carts 4 and 5 onto the receiving conveyor 6 and supplying empty containers 1 from the alignment conveyor 3 to the carts 4 and 5.

In this example, the container transfer state is shown in which two trolleys are arranged in parallel, but the same effect can be obtained by transferring containers when multiple sets of two parallel trolleys are connected in series. can. Furthermore, in this case, if the loaded containers or contents are different for each cart or for each of two parallel carts, it is also possible to separate them by type and control them for cutting to the next process.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the trolley A4 moves to the retreat position, a method is shown in which the spanning boards 35 and 36 are overlapped and extended, but the spanning board is rotated and flipped up to avoid interference with the trolley A4 etc. It is also possible to adopt a method of preventing this.

Further, the container of this embodiment is used as a carton box, and a box manufacturing process is carried out upstream of the supply conveyor 2, and a discharge conveyor 7 is carried out.
If the labeling and sealing processes are connected downstream, it is possible to increase the compatibility with multi-product production.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, by moving one of two parallel rows of trolleys in parallel and controlling the interval between both rows of trolleys, it is possible to press and transfer containers for each row of trolleys. This makes it possible to perform very smooth and stable transfer operations even when the number of containers on two parallel trolleys is different, and it is also possible to position and fix both rows of trolleys prior to parallel movement of the row of trolleys. Therefore, the position of the trolley train before and after the parallel movement can be stably secured, which is very advantageous for stabilizing the container transfer operation, and completely eliminates the drawbacks of the conventional methods and devices as described at the beginning.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a container transfer device that implements the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line M-M in FIG. 1, and FIG.
4 is a plan view showing the cart positioning mechanism, FIG. 5 is a front view of the pusher section of the cart positioning mechanism, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the main parts, and FIG. 7 to 15 are explanatory diagrams sequentially showing the transfer steps. 1... Container, 2... Supply conveyor, 3... Alignment conveyor, 4... Cart A, 5... Cart B, 6...
Receiving conveyor, 7... Discharge conveyor, 9... Container pressing cart, 13... Pusher, 20... Orthogonal converter, 26... Pressing plate, 28... Clamp plate, 31... Base plate, 38... Stopper arm, 42...Shock absorber, 44...
Putsiya, 51... Folk.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Between the trolley A, the trolley B, and the conveyor, which are arranged parallel to each other, the trolley running path and the conveyor transport path are placed on both the trolleys A and B, respectively. When sliding a group of parallel containers onto the conveyor, the carts A and B are placed adjacent to the conveyor so that their running directions are parallel to the conveyor, and the conveyor, the cart B that is closer to the conveyor, A first step of arranging the carts A and B so that their respective container placement surfaces are successively higher in the order of the farthest cart A, and a second step of positioning both carts A and B at least in the traveling direction and fixing them. , by moving the cart A farther from the conveyor in parallel to the carts A and B.
The third step is to widen the distance between the containers, the fourth step is to simultaneously move the rows of containers on the closer cart B in parallel using a press plate and slide them onto the conveyor, and the fourth step is to move the farther cart A. and a sixth step in which the rows of containers on the farthest cart A are simultaneously moved in parallel by a pressing plate and then slid onto the conveyor via the cart B. A container transfer method characterized by sequentially carrying out the following steps. 2 A device that slides and transfers a group of containers placed on trolleys A and B parallel to the trolley running path onto a conveyor parallel to the trolley running path, which includes both trolley running paths and a conveyor transport path. A transfer area is established in an area in which three parties are adjacent to each other, and a running rail is constructed to intersect with and straddle the running path and conveyance path in the area, a pressing plate that presses the side of the container, and the front and rear surfaces of the row of containers are installed. A push cart that is provided with both clamps for clamping and reciprocates on the traveling rail, a stopper for the cart provided at the leading end of the transfer area in the traveling direction, and a cart press provided at the rear end of the transfer area in the traveling direction. A transfer mechanism is constituted by five members: a pusher for transport, and a moving mechanism for laterally moving the cart A that is farther from the conveyor in a direction perpendicular to the traveling path, and the pusher presses the carts A and B by the operation of the pusher. A container transfer device characterized in that the container A and B are stopped in a transfer area by actuation of the truck stopper.