Article conveyance device

Abstract

Provided is an article transport device capable of reducing the occurrence of debris. An article transport device (1) is provided with: a lifting platform (20) that can move along a support column (10); a toothed belt (30) that extends from the lifting platform along the support column; a first pulley (41) that is provided so as to be positioned on one side in the vertical direction with respect to the lifting platform (20); and a second pulley (42) that is a smooth pulley and is provided so as to be positioned on the other side in the vertical direction with respect to the lifting platform (20). And a rotary driving device (50), wherein the second pulley (42) is a smooth pulley.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an article conveying device for conveying articles. Background Art

[0002] Patent document 1 discloses an article transporting device for transporting articles. In the article transporting device, a lifting platform is suspended and supported by four rope-like objects, and the lifting platform is guided by four lifting guide columns and can be freely moved up and down. The four rope-like objects are toothed belts, which are wound around a toothed pulley independently provided at the upper end of the lifting guide column and constituting a driven rotating body, and a toothed pulley independently provided at the lower end of the lifting guide column and driven by a lifting drive device.

[0003] (Prior art literature)

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-97858 Summary of the invention

[0005] (Problems to be solved by the invention)

[0006] With regard to such an article conveying device, the inventors have clearly discovered that the toothed belt may wear out as the driving time increases, which may cause the toothed belt material to break.

[0007] An object of one embodiment of the present invention is to realize an article transporting device capable of reducing the generation of debris.

[0008] (Technical means to solve the problem)

[0009] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an article conveying device of one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a pillar whose long side direction is the up-down direction; a lifting platform, which is arranged to be movable along the pillar in the up-down direction; a toothed belt, which is stretched from the lifting platform along the pillar in the upward direction and the downward direction respectively; a first pulley, which is arranged on the pillar in a manner to be located on one direction side of the up-down direction relative to the lifting platform, wherein the toothed belt is wound around the first pulley; a second pulley, which is arranged on the pillar in a manner to be located on the other direction side of the up-down direction relative to the lifting platform, wherein the toothed belt is wound around the second pulley; and a driving device, which drives the first pulley to rotate, and the first pulley is a toothed pulley meshing with the toothed belt, and the second pulley is a smooth pulley.

[0010] (Effects of the Invention)

[0011] According to the article transport device of one aspect of the present invention, the generation of debris can be reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1This is a schematic front view of the article transport device according to the first embodiment.

[0013] Figure 2 It is a cross-sectional view near the first pulley.

[0014] Figure 3 It is a cross-sectional view near the second pulley.

[0015] <Description of Reference Numerals>

[0016] 1Item transport device

[0017] 10 Pillars

[0018] 20 Lifting platform

[0019] 30 toothed belt

[0020] 31 1st toothed belt

[0021] 32 2nd toothed belt

[0022] 41 1st pulley

[0023] 42 2nd pulley

[0024] 50 drive device

[0025] 60 weight DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] [Implementation method 1]

[0027] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. In the following description, for ease of understanding, Figure 1 The up-down direction and the left-right direction are defined as shown by the arrows in the figure. In the present embodiment, the up-down direction is equivalent to the vertical direction (gravity direction). The left-right direction is a direction perpendicular to the up-down direction. In addition, unless otherwise specified, "A to B" describing a numerical range means "above A and below B".

[0028] Figure 1 1 is a schematic front view of an article transporting device 1 according to Embodiment 1. The article transporting device 1 is a device for transporting an object in a vertical direction. Specifically, the article transporting device 1 may be an article lifting device installed in a warehouse or an automatic warehouse, or a stacking crane installed in an automatic warehouse. Figure 1 As shown, the article transport device 1 includes a support column 10, a lifting platform 20, a toothed belt 30, a first pulley 41, a second pulley 42, a drive device 50, and a counterweight 60. Furthermore, the article transport device 1 includes a known means (not shown) for controlling the lifting of the lifting platform 20.

[0029] The support 10 is a columnar member, and when the article transport device 1 is in use, the long side direction of the support 10 is the vertical direction. The article transport device 1 includes two support pillars 10. The two support pillars 10 are separated from each other in the left-right direction. However, the number of support pillars 10 included in the article transport device 1 is not limited to two. An upper frame 11 is provided above the two support pillars 10. The upper frame 11 is provided in a manner that the upper ends of the two support pillars 10 are connected to each other.

[0030] The lifting platform 20 is a component for placing the object to be transported by the article transporting device 1. The lifting platform 20 is located between the two pillars 10. The lifting platform 20 is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction along the pillars 10. Figure 1 In FIG. 1 , the lifting platform 20 moved downward within the movable range is depicted by a solid line. Figure 1 In FIG. 1 , the lift table 20 moved upward within the movable range is depicted by a dashed line.

[0031] The toothed belt 30 is formed in a manner of being stretched upward and downward from the lifting platform 20 along the pillar 10. Specifically, the lifting platform 20 is provided with lifting frames 21 on both sides in the left-right direction. The lifting frames 21 have structures capable of clamping the ends of the toothed belt 30 at their upper and lower ends. The toothed belt 30 is stretched in the vertical direction in a manner in which its ends are clamped by the lifting frames 21. The toothed belt 30 is provided in both pillars 10. The toothed belt 30 is driven around the pillar 10, so that the lifting platform 20 is lifted and lowered along the pillar 10.

[0032] The first pulley 41 and the second pulley 42 are pulleys around which the toothed belt 30 is wound. The first pulley 41 and the second pulley 42 are provided on both pillars 10. The first pulley 41 is provided on the pillar 10 so as to be located on one side in the vertical direction relative to the lifting platform 20 (when the lifting platform 20 is used as a relative reference). The second pulley 42 is provided on the pillar 10 so as to be located on the other side in the vertical direction relative to the lifting platform 20 (when the lifting platform 20 is used as a relative reference).

[0033] Figure 2 It is a cross-sectional view of the first pulley 41 and its vicinity. Figure 3 4 is a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the second pulley 42. Figure 2 As shown in FIG. 1 , the first pulley 41 is a toothed pulley meshing with the toothed belt 30. Figure 3 As shown, the second pulley 42 is a smooth pulley.

[0034] The driving device 50 drives the first pulley 41 to rotate. The driving device 50 is provided on both pillars 10. As described above, the first pulley 41 is meshed with the toothed belt 30. Therefore, the toothed belt 30 is driven in conjunction with the rotational drive of the first pulley 41 by the driving device 50, so that the lifting platform 20 is lifted and lowered along the pillar 10.

[0035] The article conveying device 1 does not have a driving device for driving the second pulley 42 to rotate. That is, the second pulley 42 is a driven pulley that rotates by the power transmitted from the first pulley 41 via the toothed belt 30. As described above, the second pulley 42 is a smooth pulley. Therefore, the second pulley 42 rotates by friction with the tooth tops of the toothed belt 30.

[0036] Compared with the contact area between the second pulley 42 and the toothed belt 30 when the second pulley 42 is a toothed pulley meshing with the teeth of the toothed belt 30, the contact area between the second pulley 42 as a smooth pulley and the toothed belt 30 is smaller. Therefore, the wear of the toothed belt 30 caused by the friction between the toothed belt 30 and the second pulley 42 is small. As a result, the occurrence of material debris of the toothed belt 30 at the second pulley 42 due to the wear of the toothed belt 30 is reduced. In addition, by setting the second pulley 42 as a smooth pulley, the manufacturing cost of the second pulley 42 can be reduced compared with the case where the second pulley 42 is set as a toothed pulley.

[0037] In the present embodiment, the first pulley 41 is provided on the support column 10 so as to be located at the lower side relative to the lifting platform 20. In other words, the second pulley 42 is provided on the support column 10 so as to be located at the upper side relative to the lifting platform 20. Therefore, the generation of debris at the second pulley 42 is reduced, and the debris falling on the conveyed object placed on the lifting platform 20 is also reduced.

[0038] When the lifting platform 20 moves, the counterweight 60 moves along the support column 10 in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the lifting platform 20. In the article conveying device 1, the lifting platform 20, the toothed belt 30 and the counterweight 60 form a closed loop. The lifting platform 20 and the counterweight 60 are arranged at opposite positions in the loop. The opposite position mentioned here does not need to be completely opposite, as long as it can be regarded as substantially opposite.

[0039] Since the article transporting device 1 includes the counterweight 60, the energy required to move the lifting platform 20 is less than when the article transporting device 1 does not include the counterweight 60. The weight of the counterweight 60 can be appropriately determined by the designer of the article transporting device 1 based on the weight of the lifting platform 20 and the expected weight of the transported object. However, the counterweight 60 is not essential in the article transporting device 1 and can be omitted.

[0040] The toothed belt 30 may include a first toothed belt 31 and a second toothed belt 32. The first toothed belt 31 is wound around the first pulley 41, and connects the lifting platform 20 and the counterweight 60. The second toothed belt 32 is wound around the second pulley 42, and connects the lifting platform 20 and the counterweight 60. As described above, in the present embodiment, the first pulley 41 is located at the lower side relative to the lifting platform 20, and the second pulley 42 is located at the upper side relative to the lifting platform 20. Therefore, the first toothed belt 31 is stretched downward from the lifting platform 20 along the support column 10. In addition, the second toothed belt 32 is stretched upward from the lifting platform 20 along the support column 10.

[0041] In the article conveying device 1, the toothed belt 30 includes a first toothed belt 31 and a second toothed belt 32. Thus, for example, the length of each single belt can be shortened compared to a case where the toothed belt 30 is a single toothed belt. Therefore, compared to a case where the toothed belt 30 is a single toothed belt, the first toothed belt 31 and the second toothed belt 32 can be purchased more easily. In addition, when one of the first toothed belt 31 and the second toothed belt 32 is worn, only the worn toothed belt needs to be replaced, so that the maintenance cost of the article conveying device 1 can be reduced compared to a case where the toothed belt 30 is replaced as a whole.

[0042] In this embodiment, the first toothed belt 31 and the second toothed belt 32 are independent components having the same shape. Therefore, it is easier to purchase components than when the first toothed belt 31 and the second toothed belt 32 have different shapes. However, the first toothed belt 31 and the second toothed belt 32 do not necessarily have to have the same shape.

[0043] Furthermore, if the second toothed belt 32 in the form of a toothed belt is replaced with a flat belt, it is necessary to perform hole drilling on the flat belt in order to attach the flat belt to the lifting frame 21 and the counterweight 60. However, in the article transporting device 1, by using the second toothed belt 32 and providing a structure for clamping the second toothed belt 32 on the lifting frame 21 and the counterweight 60, it is not necessary to perform the hole drilling required when a flat belt is used.

[0044] However, the toothed belt 30 does not necessarily have to include the first toothed belt 31 and the second toothed belt 32, and may be, for example, a single toothed belt. In this case, the counterweight 60 may be installed in a manner such that the toothed belt 30 is clamped from both sides.

[0045] (Test example)

[0046] The inventors have produced and tested article transport devices of the embodiment and the comparative example. The article transport device of the embodiment is provided with the second pulley 42 as the above-mentioned smooth wheel. The article transport device of the comparative example is provided with a toothed pulley meshing with the toothed belt 30 similar to the first pulley 41, instead of the second pulley 42 as the smooth wheel. In the test run, it is assumed that the article transport device is raised and lowered 1440 times per day, and is continuously operated for a workload equivalent to 2.5 years.

[0047] After the test run, in the article transporting device of the comparative example, debris generated by wear of the toothed belt 30 was found around the toothed pulley used instead of the second pulley 42. On the other hand, in the article transporting device of the embodiment, no debris was found around the second pulley 42. Therefore, it can be said that the article transporting device of the embodiment successfully reduced the generation of debris compared with the article transporting device of the comparative example because a smooth wheel was used as the second pulley 42.

[0048] Generally speaking, in devices driven by a transmission belt, the meandering of the transmission belt may cause problems. However, in the test run of this time, no significant meandering of the toothed belt 30 was found in the article transporting devices of the embodiment and the comparative example. In other words, the meandering of the toothed belt 30 in the article transporting device of the embodiment did not exceed the meandering of the toothed belt 30 in the article transporting device of the comparative example.

[0049] [Implementation method 2]

[0050] In the above embodiment, the first pulley 41 and the driving device 50 are provided on the support column 10 so as to be located on the lower side relative to the lifting platform 20. However, the first pulley 41 and the driving device 50 may be provided on the support column 10 so as to be located on the upper side relative to the lifting platform 20. In other words, the second pulley 42 may be provided on the support column 10 so as to be located on the lower side relative to the lifting platform 20. In this case, the generation of debris at the second pulley 42 can also be reduced.

[0051] However, unlike the second pulley 42, the first pulley 41 may also generate debris due to wear of the toothed belt 30, similar to the conventional article conveying device. When the first pulley 41 and the drive device 50 are arranged on the upper side of the lifting platform 20, the debris generated at the first pulley 41 may fall onto the conveyed object placed on the lifting platform 20. From the viewpoint of reducing the debris falling onto the conveyed object, it is preferable to arrange the first pulley 41 and the drive device 50 on the lower side of the lifting platform 20 as described in the first embodiment.

[0052] The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various changes can be made within the scope of the technical concept described in the specification. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means respectively disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An article transporting device, comprising: A pillar, the long side of which is in the up-down direction; A lifting platform, which is configured to be movable along the support in the up-down direction; A toothed belt, which is stretched upward and downward from the lifting platform along the support respectively; a first pulley provided on the support column so as to be located on one side of the vertical direction relative to the lifting platform, wherein the toothed belt is wound around the first pulley; a second pulley provided on the support column so as to be located on the other side of the up-down direction relative to the lifting platform, wherein the toothed belt is wound around the second pulley; and a driving device that drives the first pulley to rotate, Furthermore, the first pulley is a toothed pulley meshing with the toothed belt, and the second pulley is a smooth pulley.

2. The article transporting device according to claim 1, wherein: The first pulley is provided on the support column so as to be located on a lower side in the up-down direction with respect to the lifting platform.

3. The article transporting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The article transport device further comprises: a counterweight which moves in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the lift platform when the lift platform moves; The toothed belt includes: a first toothed belt wound around the first pulley and connecting the lifting platform and the counterweight; and a second toothed belt wound around the second pulley and connecting the lifting platform and the counterweight.

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