Turning device for flat materials and turning methods

Abstract

Turning device for flat material (3), in particular for a flat floor covering, with a rotary unit (2) for selectively rotating the flat material (3) about a rotation axis (D) extending perpendicular to a conveying direction (F), wherein the rotary unit (2) has two opposing gripping means, between which a slot (14) is formed for at least partially receiving the flat material (3), with a rotary drive unit (18) for rotating the rotary unit (2) about the rotation axis (D) and with a control unit (19) for controlling the rotary drive unit (18), characterized in that the gripping means of the rotary unit (2) are designed as driveable conveying means (13) which extend between a feed conveying device (4) arranged upstream in the conveying direction (F) and a discharge conveying device (5) arranged downstream in the conveying direction (F), - that the feed conveying device (4) has an endless belt (6) guided over a conveying roller (7) with an upper run (6') on which the plate-shaped material (3) rests, - that the discharge conveying device (5) has an endless belt (8) guided over a conveying roller (9) with an upper run (8') on which the plate-shaped material (3) rests, - that the upper run (6') of the feed conveying device (4) and the upper run (8') of the discharge conveying device (5) extend in a common conveying level (12), - that the conveying drive unit (16) can be controlled in such a way, - that the good (3) is transferred linearly from the feed conveying device (4) to the discharge conveying device (5) in a non-reversing position of the rotary unit (3) while maintaining an equal sequential distance (a) of the good (3) and, - that the good (3) is rotated by 180° in a reversing position of the rotary unit (2) and is transferred from the feed conveying device (4) to the discharge conveying device (5) while maintaining an equal sequential distance (a) of the good (3).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a turning device according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for turning flat-shaped material, wherein the flat-shaped material is selectively rotated by 180° about a rotation axis running transversely to the conveying direction by means of a rotary unit.

[0003] From US Patent 2006 / 0180432 A1, a turning device for flat materials is known, which has a rotary unit arranged on a lateral edge of a conveying device. This rotary unit has two opposing flat gripping elements that form a slot through which the material can pass along a linear conveying path in a non-turning position of the rotary unit without being turned. A rotary drive unit is associated with the two gripping elements, by means of which the parallel gripping elements are rotated 180° in a turning position in which the material to be turned is located between the two flat gripping elements. Such a rotation without a height compensation movement is only feasible if a rigid material is to be turned at a relatively low conveying speed.If the item to be turned is a long, flexible item, there is a risk that the item cannot be turned properly.

[0004] From US Patent 2003 / 0188954A1, a turning device for a stack of sheets is known, which is turned 180°. The turning device has an actuator, clamping means, and a telescopic slide to rotate the stack 180°. The known turning device has no means so that the stacks are conveyed sequentially at a constant distance within the conveying process.

[0005] US Patent 6,527,100 B2 discloses a turning device for a sheet-like material, in particular sheets, which is arranged between a feed conveyor and a discharge conveyor. To turn the material, the endless belts of the feed conveyor and the discharge conveyor must be raised, which disrupts the conveying process and does not ensure that the sheet-like material—whether turned or not—can be transported with a constant sequential spacing.

[0006] The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a turning device and a turning method for plate-shaped material in such a way that selective turning of the material is ensured in a safe manner at a relatively high conveying speed.

[0007] To solve this problem, the turning device according to the invention has the features of claim 1.

[0008] According to the invention, a rotary conveying unit is provided, by means of which long-term stable and reliable selective turning of flat-shaped goods is enabled. A rotary drive unit and a conveying drive unit of the turning device are controlled such that the goods are transferred from a feed conveying device to a discharge conveying device either in a linear direction without turning through a slot formed by driven conveying elements, or turned by rotating the driven conveying elements that grip the goods to be turned. The basic concept of the invention is to design driven conveying elements to be rotatable about a rotary axis extending transversely to a conveying direction or conveying path, so that selective conveying of turned and unturned goods is ensured.Because the material is guided and held between two opposing conveying devices, even a flexible or pliable, flat-shaped material can be turned safely.

[0009] According to the invention, the conveying drive unit can be controlled such that, in a non-reversing position of the rotary unit, the material is transferred linearly from the feed conveying device to the discharge conveying device while maintaining a uniform sequential distance between adjacent items. In the non-reversing position, the conveying speed of the endless belts of the rotary unit is equal to the conveying speed of the endless belts of the feed and discharge conveying devices.

[0010] According to the invention, the conveying drive unit and the rotary drive unit can be controlled such that, in a reversing position of the rotary unit, the material is rotated by 180° and transferred from the infeed conveying device to the discharge conveying device while maintaining the same sequential distance. Advantageously, by coordinated driving of the conveying elements of the rotary unit and the rotation of the conveying elements themselves, it can be achieved that the reversed and / or unrotated material transferred to the discharge conveying device is transported at the same distance as in the infeed conveying device. Advantageously, the reversing device according to the invention does not cause any change in the distance between adjacent materials transported in the conveying direction.

[0011] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the driven conveying means are formed by a first endless belt and a second endless belt, wherein the material is held in the slot formed by the facing belt sections of the first and second endless belts. Advantageously, the material is guided along a linear conveying path within the turning device, so that reliable turning and further conveying of the material is achieved.

[0012] According to a further development of the invention, the driven conveying means of the rotary unit are arranged transversely to the conveying direction, either continuously or distributed at such a distance from one another that an elongated material can be grasped and rotated along its entire length and conveyed laterally. The driven conveying means thus form a separate conveying module, which is arranged in the conveying direction between a feed conveying device and a discharge conveying device and enables the safe onward conveying and / or turning of the material.

[0013] According to a further development of the invention, a position sensor is arranged in the area of ​​a transfer point between the feed conveyor and the rotary unit. The turning process can be initiated based on the signal from the position sensor. Furthermore, the material can be picked up at a predetermined sequential distance from the feed conveyor, so that the turning process can be initiated based on a calculation within the control unit. In this case, the position sensor serves only as a check for the presence of the corresponding material.

[0014] To solve the problem, the method according to the invention has the features of method claim 10.

[0015] The turning method according to the invention for flat materials enables safe and reliable selective turning of the material, particularly enabling turning at relatively high conveying speeds. The method according to the invention enables reliable turning of flat materials by reversing the conveying direction in a manner that is coordinated with the rotation of the conveying means. The flat material can be rigid or flexible. The turning result is always the same, as the material is securely held between two opposing conveying means.

[0016] Further advantages of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims.

[0017] An embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0018] They show: Fig. 1. A side view of a reversing device with a rotary unit in a non-reversing position and a schematically represented control system. Fig. 2 a side view of the turning device with the rotary unit in a turning position, wherein the material to be turned is rotated by 90° in an intermediate position, and Fig. 3 A side view of the turning device with the rotating unit in the turning position, in which the material is rotated by 180°.

[0019] A turning device 1 for flat-shaped goods can be used in particular for turning rigid or flexible flat-shaped goods, such as floor coverings like laminate-coated panels or plastic strips.

[0020] The turning device 1 has a rotary unit 2, which is arranged as a rotary conveying module in the conveying direction F between a feed conveying device 4 conveying the material 3 and a discharge conveying device 5.

[0021] The feed conveyor 4 guides the plate-shaped material 3 at a predetermined distance a from adjacent material 3 onto an upper run 6' of an endless belt 6 of the rotary unit 2, which is guided over a conveyor roller 7.

[0022] The discharge conveyor 5 receives the sheet-shaped material 3 onto an upper run 8' of an endless belt 8 guided by conveyor rollers 9 and transfers it to another endless belt 10, which is deflected by conveyor rollers 11. The upper run 6' of the feed conveyor 4 and the upper run 8' of the discharge conveyor 5 extend in a common conveying plane 12, along which the sheet-shaped material 3 can be conveyed. The feed conveyor 4 and the discharge conveyor 5 are preferably driven at the same predetermined conveying speed.

[0023] The rotary unit 2 of the turning device 1 has two opposing conveying means 13 as receiving elements, between which a slot 14 is formed for at least partial receiving of the plate-shaped material 3 in a turning position and further passage in a non-turning position of the rotary unit 2. The conveying means 13 are formed by a first endless belt 13' and a second endless belt 13'', with the opposing sections of the endless belts 13', 13'' forming the slot 14. The first endless belt 13' and the second endless belt 13'' are designed to be driven. For this purpose, a drive roller 15 of the first endless belt 13' or the second endless belt 13'' is coupled to a conveying drive unit 16 via coupling means (not shown). The drive roller 15 of the first endless belt 13' or of the second endless belt 13'' is at a distance from one of the corresponding endless belt 13' or .13'' deflecting deflecting roller 17 arranged, wherein the distance between the drive roller 15 and the deflecting roller 17 is greater than a width b of the elongated goods 3. In a . Fig. In the non-reversing position of the rotary unit 2 shown in Figure 1, the slot 14 extends into the conveying plane 12 of the feed conveying device 4 and the discharge conveying device 5.

[0024] Preferably, several first endless belts 13' and second endless belts 13'' are arranged horizontally, transverse to the conveying direction F, so that the elongated material 3 can be grasped by the conveying means 13, 13', 13'' along its entire length. The same applies to the endless belts 6, 8 of the feed conveying device 4 and the discharge conveying device 5, respectively.

[0025] Furthermore, the turning device 1 has a rotary drive unit 18 by means of which the rotary unit 2 with the conveying means 13, 13', 13'' can be rotated by 180° about a rotational axis D extending transversely to the conveying direction F and preferably in a horizontal direction. The rotary drive unit 18 is arranged at the end face of the rotary unit 2 and is designed as a stepper motor, which is rotationally fixed to a bearing of the rotary unit 2 via a drive shaft (not shown).

[0026] The rotary drive unit 18 and the conveying drive unit 16 can be controlled via a common control unit 19, which may also be used to control the feed conveying device 4 and / or the discharge conveying device 5.

[0027] In a non-reversing position of the rotary unit 2, the conveying means 13 are located in a Fig. The position is shown in Figure 1. The plates 3, sequentially fed by the feed conveyor unit 4 of the turning device 1, are inserted via an infeed slot 20 into a conveyor track 21 of the rotary unit 2, which is bounded by the facing sections of the first continuous belt 13' and the second continuous belt 13''. They are then transported further by means of the continuous belts 13', 13'' moving in a first direction of rotation 22 and transferred via an outfeed slot 23 to the discharge conveyor 5. The infeed slot 20 is located on a side of the rotary unit 2 facing the feed conveyor 4, and the outfeed slot 23 is located on a side of the rotary unit 2 facing the discharge conveyor 5. The transport of the plates 3 within the rotary unit 2 is linear and maintains the same sequential distance a between adjacent plates 3.For this purpose, the conveying drive unit 16 is controlled by the control unit 19 in such a way that the plates 3 are transported within the rotary unit 2 at the same conveying speed as in the feed conveying device 4 and the discharge conveying device 5. The endless belts 13', 13'' are driven continuously.

[0028] One application of the turning device 1 could be, for example, that every second plate 3 provided by the feed conveyor 4 is to be turned 180°, so that the discharge conveyor 5 alternately transports a plate 3 with a front side A facing upwards and a back side B facing upwards. The turning process of the plate 3' is described below using the Fig. 2 and Fig.3 explained in more detail. The plate 3' to be turned is transferred – as in the non-turning position – from the feed conveyor 4 to the rotary unit 2, whereby the plate 3' to be turned is only partially inserted into the insertion slot 20. Before the plate 3' to be turned is fully received between the first continuous belt 13' and the second continuous belt 13'' of the conveyor 13, the conveyor drive unit 16 is switched off and the rotary drive unit 18 is switched on, so that the rotary unit 2 is rotated in the pivot direction 24. As soon as the rotary unit 2 has been pivoted by 180°, the rotary drive unit 18 is switched off and the conveyor drive unit 16 is switched on in a second direction of rotation 25 opposite to the first direction of rotation 22.The inverted plate 3' can thus be transferred to the discharge conveyor 5 via the inlet slot 20, which also serves as an outlet slot. In the transfer position, the plate 3' is partially positioned between the endless belts 13', 13'' on the one hand and on the upper run 8' of the endless belt 8' of the discharge conveyor 5 on the other. The inverted plate 3' can now be transported further in the conveying direction F, with its rear side B oriented upwards, by driving the endless belts 13', 13'' of the rotary unit 2 and the endless belt 8 of the discharge conveyor 5.

[0029] While the turned plate 3' is being transported further, the next upstream plate 3 is inserted into the rotating unit 2. To ensure that this subsequent plate 3 has the same distance to the turned plate 3' as the preceding plates 3, the plate 3' to be turned was only inserted into the conveyor track 21 of the rotating unit 2 to such an extent that the intended distance a to the subsequent, non-turned plate 3 could be maintained.

[0030] In the area of ​​a transfer point 26 between the feed conveyor 4 and the rotary unit 2, a position sensor 27 is arranged. The sensor signal from this sensor indicates to the control unit 19 when a lateral edge of the plate 3, located at the front in the conveying direction F, is ready for transfer to the rotary unit 2. Since the plates 3 are already conveyed on the feed conveyor 4 at a predetermined distance a, the position sensor 27 essentially serves to identify the first and last plates 3 to be conveyed.

[0031] Preferably, the rotary unit 2 is always rotated about the same pivot direction 24 to perform the turning operation. Because the direction of rotation of the endless belts 13', 13'' of the rotary unit 2 changes with each turning operation, a relatively small distance a between the sequentially conveyed plates 3 can be ensured.

[0032] The conveyor drive unit 16 can either have two separate electric motors for driving one drive roller 15 of the conveyor 13 each, or only a single electric motor for the common drive of the endless belts 13', 13''.

Claims

[1] Turning device for flat material (3), in particular for a flat floor covering, with a rotary unit (2) for selectively rotating the flat material (3) about a rotation axis (D) extending perpendicular to a conveying direction (F), wherein the rotary unit (2) has two opposing gripping means between which a slot (14) is formed for at least partially receiving the flat material (3), with a rotary drive unit (18) for rotating the rotary unit (2) about the rotation axis (D) and with a control unit (19) for controlling the rotary drive unit (18), characterized by , that the receiving means of the rotary unit (2) are designed as driven conveying means (13) which extend between a feed conveying device (4) arranged upstream in the conveying direction (F) and a discharge conveying device (5) arranged downstream in the conveying direction (F), - that the feed conveying device (4) has an endless belt (6) guided over a conveying roller (7) with an upper run (6') on which the plate-shaped material (3) rests, - that the discharge conveying device (5) has an endless belt (8) guided over a conveying roller (9) with an upper run (8') on which the plate-shaped material (3) rests, - that the upper run (6') of the feed conveying device (4) and the upper run (8') of the discharge conveying device (5) extend in a common conveying level (12), - that the conveying drive unit (16) can be controlled in such a way, - that the good (3) is transferred linearly from the feed conveying device (4) to the discharge conveying device (5) in a non-reversing position of the rotary unit (3) while maintaining an equal sequential distance (a) of the good (3) and, - that the good (3) is rotated by 180° in a reversing position of the rotary unit (2) and is transferred from the feed conveying device (4) to the discharge conveying device (5) while maintaining an equal sequential distance (a) of the good (3). [2] Turning device according to claim 1, characterized by , that the conveying means (13) are formed by a first endless belt (13') and a second endless belt (13''), wherein the plate-shaped material (3) is held in the conveying path (21) formed by the facing belt sections of the first endless belt (13') and the second endless belt (13''). [3] Turning device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by , that the first endless belt (13') and the second endless belt (13'') of the rotary unit (2) each run around a drive roller (15) and a deflection roller (17) arranged at a distance from the same. [4] Turning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by, that the drive roller (15) of the first endless belt (13') and the second endless belt (13'') is coupled to a conveyor drive unit (16). [5] Turning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by , that the conveying means (13) of the rotary unit (2) extend transversely to the conveying direction (F) so far or are arranged at such a distance transversely to the conveying direction (F) that an elongated good (3) can be grasped along its entire length and, if necessary, rotated. [6] Turning device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by , that the rotary drive unit (18) is arranged coaxially to the axis of rotation (D). [7] Turning device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by , that the rotary drive unit (18) and the conveying drive unit (16) and the drive unit of the feed conveying device (4) and / or the discharge conveying device (5) can be controlled by the same control unit (19). [8] Turning device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by , that in the area of ​​a transfer (26) between the feed conveying device (4) and the rotary unit (2) a sensor (27) for position detection of the goods (3) is arranged. [9] Turning device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by , that the drive roller (15) and the deflection roller (17) assigned to the first endless belt (13') and the second endless belt (13'') have a distance between them that is greater than a width (b) of the material (3). [10] Method for turning flat material (3) wherein the flat material (3) is selectively rotated by 180° about a rotation axis (D) extending transversely to the conveying direction (F) by means of a rotary unit (2), characterized by , that the good (3) optionally - in a non-reversing position of the rotary unit (2) via conveying means (13) driven in a first direction of rotation (22) along a linear conveying path (21) from an upstream feed conveying device (4) to a downstream discharge conveying device (5) and that - in a reversing position of the rotary unit (3), the material to be turned (3') is partially received via an inlet slot (20) of the conveying means (13) driven in the first direction of rotation (22), and that the conveying means (13) are driven in an opposite second direction of rotation (25) after the rotary unit (2) has rotated 180° with respect to the axis of rotation (D) to transfer the turned material (3') from the inlet slot (20) to the discharge conveying device (5), that in the reversing position of the rotary unit (3), the material to be turned (3') is only inserted into the conveying track (21) of the rotary unit (2) to such an extent that, after rotation, a material (3) subsequently fed to the rotary unit (2) is conveyed at a predetermined equal distance along the linear conveying track (21) of the rotary unit (2), that the material (3) is in the inlet slot (20) of the conveying means during its 180° rotation (13) is recorded.

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