Attitude change device

Abstract

To change an attitude of an article at high speed.SOLUTION: An attitude change device 1 includes: a plurality of buckets 10 that have a placement surface on which an article B is placed; a bucket movement device 40 that moves the plurality of buckets 10 along a circulation path 30 that circulates in a horizontal direction; and an inclination mechanism 50 that increases an inclination angle of a placement surface 11 of the bucket 10 relative to the horizontal direction in a predetermined region (hereinafter, the attitude change region 38K) of the circulation path 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a posture changing device that changes the posture of an article received from the upstream side and guides it to the downstream side. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, articles such as food, beverages, detergents, cosmetics, containers, boxes, etc. are transported in various positions during manufacturing, packaging, logistics, etc. Tall rectangular articles are physically stable when their long dimension is horizontal, so they are first handled in a horizontal position and then erected just before a packaging device by a position changing device. For example, in the case of fruit vegetables such as cucumbers and eggplants, several pieces of fruit vegetables of the same grade must be packed into one packaging bag. The fruit vegetables are transported in a position where their long dimension is horizontal, and just before the packaging device, the fruit vegetables are erected by a position changing device and then placed into a bag (see Patent Document 1).

[0003] Similarly, empty bottle-shaped containers to be filled with liquid are often transported on a conveyor belt in a sideways position. The empty containers are erected just before the filling device by a position changing device, and then filled with liquid (see Patent Document 2). Also, products (finished products) in which detergents or cosmetics are filled in bottle-shaped containers are often transported in a sideways position, for example, when labels are attached or printed on the sides or bottom. The products are then erected by a position changing device and packed into boxes such as cardboard boxes.

[0004] Conventional position change devices use a bucket conveyor with multiple buckets that circulate vertically. The buckets that contain the articles lying on their sides are raised at specific positions to change the position of the articles and transport them out. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6533610 [Patent Document 2] Patent Publication 2000-44045 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in the case of conventional position changing devices, when attempting to transport the bucket conveyor at high speed, there was a problem in that the position of the article became unstable before and after the position change.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional art, and has an object to provide a posture changing device capable of quickly changing the posture of an article. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention, which achieves the above-mentioned objective, is a posture change device comprising a plurality of buckets each having a loading surface on which items are placed, a bucket moving device which moves the plurality of buckets along a circulation path which circulates horizontally, and a tilting mechanism which increases the tilt angle of the buckets relative to the horizontal direction of the loading surface in a predetermined area of ​​the circulation path (hereinafter referred to as the posture change area).

[0009] In relation to the above-mentioned posture change device, the circulation path may include a first straight path, a first reversal path which reverses the moving direction continuously on the downstream side of the first straight path, a second straight path which continues on the downstream side of the first reversal path and is parallel to and in the opposite direction to the first straight path, and a second reversal path which reverses the moving direction continuously on the downstream side of the second straight path, and may be characterized in that the bucket, the bucket moving device and the tilting mechanism as a whole are provided with a linear motion mechanism which can move back and forth in the direction in which the first immediately preceding path extends, and an input area for transporting items to the bucket is formed on the first straight path of the circulation path, and the posture change area is formed on the second straight path of the circulation path.

[0010] In relation to the above-mentioned attitude changing device, the bucket may be moved intermittently in the carry-in area, and the bucket may be moved continuously in the attitude changing area.

[0011] In relation to the above-mentioned posture change device, when the direction perpendicular and horizontal to the circulation path is defined as the path width direction, and the inner side of the circulation path in the path width direction is defined as the inner side in the path width direction and the outer side of the circulation path in the path width direction is defined as the outer side in the path width direction, the circulation path may have an escape area downstream of the posture change area that transitions the movement direction of the bucket to the inner side in the path width direction, and the tilting mechanism increases the tilt angle of the placement surface in the posture change area so that the inner side of the path width direction of the placement surface is a high place and the outer side of the path width direction of the placement surface is a low place, and a tilt maintaining mechanism that maintains the tilted state of the placement surface by the tilting mechanism is disposed in the escape area.

[0012] In relation to the above-mentioned attitude change device, a conveyor device for transporting the article derived from the bucket may be disposed downstream of the attitude change area, and the movement of the conveyor device may be synchronized with the movement of the bucket.

[0013] In relation to the above-mentioned attitude changing device, a moving speed of the conveyor device may be greater than a moving speed of the bucket in the escape area.

[0014] In relation to the above-mentioned posture change device, when defining the surface of the item facing the storage surface as the item bottom surface, the surface of the item opposite the item bottom surface as the item top surface, the side of the item located on the lower side of the inclination direction of the storage surface as the item low side, and the side of the item located on the higher side of the inclination direction of the storage surface as the item high side, the device may be characterized in that it is provided with an item lead-out mechanism that is arranged in the posture change area of ​​the circulation path and engages with the item low side of the item sliding down from the storage surface where the inclination angle increases in the posture change area, thereby gradually leading the item out of the bucket, and when defining the low-side end of the bucket tilted by the tilt mechanism as the low end, the item lead-out mechanism has a lead-out guide that is arranged along the movement trajectory of the low end in the posture change area and engages with the item low side of the item sliding down from the storage surface, and the distance between the low end and the lead-out guide in the inclination direction of the storage surface gradually increases from upstream to downstream of the posture change area.

[0015] In relation to the above-mentioned position change device, the direction perpendicular and horizontal to the circulation path is defined as the path width direction, and the bucket has an upstream wall extending in the path width direction on the upstream side of the movement direction by the bucket moving device and engaging with the item placed on the placement surface, and a downstream wall extending in the path width direction on the downstream side of the movement direction by the bucket moving device and engaging with the item placed on the placement surface, and the tilting mechanism may be configured to increase the tilt angle of the placement surface in the position change area so that one side of the placement surface in the path width direction is a high place and the other side of the placement surface in the path width direction is a low place, and a clearance portion is formed on the other side of the downstream wall of the bucket to allow an item sliding to the lower side due to the tilt of the placement surface of the bucket to move relatively downstream in the movement direction with respect to the bucket.

[0016] In relation to the above-mentioned attitude changing device, the relief portion may be configured by displacing a part of the downstream wall downstream in the movement direction.

[0017] In relation to the above-mentioned posture change device, a conveyor device for transporting the article derived from the bucket may be arranged downstream of the posture change area, and the moving speed of the conveyor device may be greater than the moving speed of the bucket.

[0018] In relation to the above-mentioned posture change device, when the surface of the article facing the loading surface is defined as the article bottom surface, and the surface of the article opposite the item bottom surface is defined as the item top surface, the posture change device may be characterized in that it is provided with a top surface guide that is positioned opposite the loading surface in the posture change area of ​​the circulation path, and engages with the item top surface of the article stored in the bucket whose inclination angle is increasing.

[0019] To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an attitude changing device comprising a plurality of buckets each having a placement surface on which an article is placed, a bucket moving device which moves the plurality of buckets along a circulating circulation path, and a tilting mechanism which increases the tilt angle of the bucket with respect to the horizontal direction of the placement surface in a predetermined area (hereinafter referred to as attitude changing area) of the circulation path, the circulation path having a first straight path, a first reversing path which reverses the movement direction continuously with the downstream side of the first straight path, a second straight path which continues with the downstream side of the first reversing path and is parallel to and in the opposite direction to the first straight path, and a second reversing path which reverses the movement direction continuously with the downstream side of the second straight path, the attitude changing device comprising a linear motion mechanism which can reciprocate the entire buckets, the bucket moving device and the tilting mechanism in a direction in which the first previous path extends, and a loading area for loading articles into the buckets is formed on the first straight path of the circulation path, and the attitude changing area is formed on the second straight path of the circulation path.

[0020] The present invention, which achieves the above-mentioned object, is a posture changing device comprising a plurality of buckets each having a loading surface on which an article is placed, a bucket moving device which moves the plurality of buckets along a circulating circulation path, and a tilting mechanism which increases the inclination angle of the loading surface of the bucket in a predetermined area (hereinafter referred to as a posture changing area) of the circulation path with reference to the horizontal direction of the loading surface of the bucket, wherein when the surface of the article facing the loading surface is defined as the article bottom surface, the surface of the article opposite the item bottom surface is defined as the item top surface, the side of the article located on the lower side in the inclination direction of the loading surface is defined as the item low side, and the side of the article located on the higher side in the inclination direction of the loading surface is defined as the item high side, the posture changing device is characterized by comprising an article leading-out mechanism which is arranged in the posture changing area of ​​the circulation path and which engages with the article low side of the article sliding down from the loading surface whose inclination angle increases in the posture changing area, thereby gradually leading the article out of the bucket. Effect of the Invention

[0021] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a posture changing device that can change the posture of an article at high speed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view illustrating an overall configuration of an attitude-changing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 3A is a plan view, FIG. 3B is a left side view, and FIG. 3C is a right side view of the attitude-changing device. [Diagram 3] 3A is a front view of the attitude-changing device, and FIG. [Figure 4] 1A is an enlarged plan view of the bucket group and bucket moving device of the posture change device, FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1A, FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 1A, FIG. 1D is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. 1A, FIG. 1E is a cross-sectional view taken along the line EE of FIG. 1A, and FIG. 1F is a cross-sectional view taken along the line FF of FIG. [Diagram 5] 2A is a front view, (B) a rear view, (C) a plan view, (D) a bottom view, (E) a left side view, and (F) a right side view of the bucket of the posture changing device. [Figure 6] FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the bucket, and FIGS. 1B to 1D are front views showing transition states in which an object slides out of the bucket. [Figure 7] (A) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIIa-VIIa in FIG. 3(A), (B) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIIb-VIIb in FIG. 3(A), (C) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIIc-VIIc in FIG. 3(A), (D) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIId-VIId in FIG. 3(A), (E) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIIe-VIIe in FIG. 3(A), and (F) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIIf-VIIf in FIG. 3(A). [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG. [Figure 9] (A) is an oblique view of an item transported by the posture change device, (B) a diagram showing the item stored in a bucket, (C) a front view, (D) a rear view, (E) a plan view, (F) a bottom view, (G) a left side view, and (H) a right side view. [Figure 10] 4A and 4B are enlarged front views showing a position change area and a discharge area of ​​the position change device. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a discharge conveyor of the attitude changing device. [Figure 12] 1A is an enlarged plan view of the escape area and discharge conveyor of the position changing device, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. [Figure 13] 5A to 5D are plan views showing the control operation of the attitude-changing device. [Figure 14] FIG. 11 is a side view showing a modified example of the attitude-changing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that in this drawing and the following drawings, some components are omitted as appropriate to simplify the drawings.

[0024] <Overall composition> 1 to 4 show the overall configuration of an attitude-changing device 1 according to this embodiment. The posture change device 1 includes a plurality of buckets 10 (hereinafter, the plurality of buckets 10 may be referred to as a "bucket group") having a mounting surface 11 on which an item B is placed, a bucket moving device 40 for moving the bucket 10 along a circulation path (endless path) 30 that circulates horizontally, a tilting mechanism 50 for increasing the tilt angle of the mounting surface 11 of the bucket 10 based on the horizontal direction in a predetermined area (hereinafter, posture change area 38K) of the circulation path 30, a tilt maintenance mechanism 55 for maintaining the tilted posture of the bucket 10 tilted by the tilting mechanism 50 downstream of the tilting mechanism 50, a tilt return mechanism 85 for reducing the tilt angle of the mounting surface 11 of the bucket 10 in a predetermined area (hereinafter, posture return area 38F) downstream of the tilting mechanism 55, and an output conveyor 90 that is continuous with the downstream side of the tilting mechanism 50 and extends so as to be separated from the circulation path 30 (off the path) and outputs the item B whose posture is changed by the tilting mechanism 50.

[0025] The posture change device 1 further includes an item discharge mechanism 60 that gradually discharges the item B from the bucket 10 in the posture change area 38K, an item following mechanism 80 that is arranged in the same posture change area 38K, and an item posture maintaining mechanism 95 that stabilizes the conveying posture of the item B transferred to the discharge conveyor 90 side.

[0026] Furthermore, the attitude changing device 1 includes a linear motion mechanism 70 that can move the bucket 10, bucket moving device 40, tilt mechanism 50, tilt maintaining mechanism 55, article discharge mechanism 60, article following mechanism 80, and tilt returning mechanism 85 as a whole back and forth in a linear direction that is horizontal to the base 2. The movement direction of the linear motion mechanism 70 coincides with the longitudinal direction N1 of the circulation path 30.

[0027] <Circulation route> 4(A), the circulation path 30 has a first straight path 31, a semicircular first reversal path 32 that continues from the downstream side of the first straight path 31 and reverses the moving direction, a second straight path 33 that continues from the downstream side of the first reversal path 32 and is parallel to the first straight path 31 and moves in the opposite direction, and a semicircular second reversal path 34 that continues from the downstream side of the second straight path 33 and reverses the moving direction. As a result, the circulation path 30 has an elliptical trajectory when viewed in a plan view.

[0028] For ease of explanation, various directions based on the circulation path 30 are defined as follows: (1) The direction along the circulation path 30 is defined as the bucket movement direction F. (2) The direction perpendicular to the bucket movement direction F and horizontal is defined as the path width direction W. (3) In the path width direction W, the inner side of the circulation path 30 is defined as the path width direction inner side Win, and the outer side of the circulation path 30 in the path width direction W is defined as the path width direction outer side Wout. (4) The longitudinal direction of the elliptical locus when the entire circulation path 30 is viewed in a plane is defined as the path longitudinal direction N1. (5) The shorter side direction of the elliptical locus is defined as the path shorter side direction N2.

[0029] A plurality of areas are defined in the circulation path 30 according to their roles. Specifically, a carry-in area 38I for carrying an item B into the bucket 10 is formed in a part of the first straight path 31. An item carrying-in device such as a handling robot (not shown) is disposed in the carry-in area 38I.

[0030] A position change area 38K is formed in a portion of the second straight path 33, which increases the inclination angle of the placement surface 11 with respect to the horizontal. Further, a carry-out area 38O is formed in the second straight path 33, downstream of the position change area 38K, for carrying the articles B in the bucket 10 into the carry-out conveyor 90. The carry-out area 38O in this embodiment includes an area extending from the downstream end of the position change area 38K to the terminal end of the second straight path 33.

[0031] In the second reversing path 34, an escape area 38P is formed over a predetermined range from its upstream end (the downstream end of the second straight path 33). This escape area 38P is an area where the moving direction of the bucket 10 is transitioned (the trajectory is bent) from the path longitudinal direction N1 to the path lateral direction N2 (specifically, the inner peripheral side Win in the path width direction). As a result, the escape area 38P plays a role of gradually retracting only the bucket 10 in the path lateral direction N2 from the article B discharged linearly along the path longitudinal direction N1 by the discharge conveyor 90.

[0032] Further, in the second reversing path 34, a posture return area 38F is formed which is continuous with the downstream end of the escape area 38P. In the posture return area 38F, the inclination angle of the placement surface 11 with respect to the horizontal is reduced. Here, the posture return area 38F is provided so as to extend from the second reversing path 34 to the upstream side of the first straight path 31, but the present invention is not limited to this. The posture return area 38F may be provided only in one of the second reversing path 34 or the first straight path 31. The overall moving direction of the linear motion mechanism 70 coincides with the moving direction of the bucket 10 in the first straight path 31 and the second straight path 33. In FIG. 4(A), for convenience of explanation, the illustration of the article B placed in the bucket 10 is omitted.

[0033] <bucket> FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the bucket 10. The bucket 10 has a mounting surface 11, an upstream wall 12, a downstream wall 13, a relief portion 14, an outlet opening 15, and a shaft portion 18. The mounting surface 11 is a plane on which an article B is placed. The upstream wall 12 is disposed upstream of the mounting surface 11 in the bucket movement direction F. The upstream wall 12 protrudes from the mounting surface 11 in a direction perpendicular to the surface, thereby engaging with the upstream side of the article B placed on the mounting surface 11. The downstream wall 13 is disposed downstream of the mounting surface 11 in the bucket movement direction F. The downstream wall 13 protrudes from the mounting surface 11 in a direction perpendicular to the surface, thereby engaging with the downstream side of the article B placed on the mounting surface 11. Therefore, the upstream wall 12 and the downstream wall 13 face each other in the bucket movement direction F.

[0034] For ease of explanation, various directions are defined below based on the bucket 10 as follows. (1) In the bucket 10, the same direction as the bucket movement direction F is defined as the bucket width direction T. (2) In the bucket 10, the direction parallel to the mounting surface 11 and perpendicular to the bucket width direction T is defined as the bucket tilt direction C. (3) In the bucket tilt direction C, the direction that is the higher position when the mounting surface 11 tilts is defined as the bucket tilt direction high side Cup, and the direction that is the lower position when the mounting surface 11 tilts is defined as the bucket tilt direction low side Cdown. (4) In the bucket 10, the center position in the bucket tilt direction C is defined as the baguette tilt center M. (5) The direction perpendicular to both the bucket width direction and the bucket tilt direction is defined as the bucket thickness direction E.

[0035] The outlet opening 15 is an opening formed on the lower side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction of the bucket 10. An article B can be passed in and out of the bucket 10 through this outlet opening 15.

[0036] As shown in Fig. 5(C), the protruding height H of the upstream wall 12 and the downstream wall 13 in the bucket thickness direction E based on the placement surface 11 is set to be equal to or less than the height of the stored articles B in the same direction (hereinafter, the article thickness direction outer dimension BE: see Fig. 9(H)), and is desirably set to be less than the article thickness direction outer dimension BE. This prevents the upstream wall 12 from interfering with the articles B when the bucket 10 is retracted from the articles B in the relief area 38P.

[0037] The relief portion 14 is formed on the lower side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction of the downstream wall 13 of the bucket 10. This relief portion 14 serves as a marginal space that allows article B, which slides toward the lower side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction due to the inclination of the loading surface 11, to move relatively to the downstream side in the bucket width direction T with respect to the bucket 10. The downstream wall 13 is structured to be displaced in the bucket movement direction F from the higher side Cup in the bucket inclination direction toward the lower side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction.

[0038] Specifically, the downstream wall 13 has a high-side engagement surface 13A arranged on the high-side Cup in the bucket inclination direction, and a low-side engagement surface 13B arranged on the low-side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction. Both the high-side engagement surface 13A and the low-side engagement surface 13B face the upstream wall 12, which is a single plane, but the distance in the facing direction (bucket movement direction F) is smaller for the high-side engagement surface 13A and larger for the low-side engagement surface 13B. The step between the high-side engagement surface 13A and the low-side engagement surface 13B forms a spare space on the low-side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction, which becomes the escape portion 14.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 6(B), the article B stored in the bucket 10 is sandwiched between the high-side engagement surface 13A of the upstream wall 12 and the downstream wall 13. As shown in FIG. 6(C), as the loading surface 11 inclines, the article B slides (slides) toward the lower side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction, and a part of the article B is discharged from the discharge opening 15. When the article B is further discharged, as shown in FIG. 6(D), the article B comes into contact with the conveying surface 93 of the discharge conveyor 90. If the moving speed of the conveying surface 93 is set to be higher than the moving speed of the bucket 10, the frictional force between the article B and the conveying surface 93 causes the article B to enter the escape portion 14 of the bucket 10 and engage with the low-side engagement surface 13B. In other words, the escape portion 14 causes the article B to move relatively downstream in the bucket 10 in the bucket moving direction F. As a result, the article B can be separated from the upstream wall 12 by the gap S. Although details will be described later, when the bucket 10 is retracted from the article B transported by the discharge conveyor 90, this gap S makes it possible to avoid interference with the upstream wall 12. Note that an inclined surface 12A is formed at the tip of the upstream wall 12 in order to avoid interference with the article B.

[0040] Returning to Fig. 5, the shaft portion 18 is provided on the back side of the mounting surface 11. The axis of the shaft portion 18 extends in the bucket width direction T, and is rotatably supported by a bracket 46 (see Fig. 7) of the bucket moving device 40. The bucket 10 rotates or swings relative to the bracket 46, with the shaft portion 18 as the center of rotation or swing. As a result, the shaft portion 18 functions as a part of a tilting mechanism 50 that tilts the bucket 10.

[0041] The shaft portion 18 is disposed on the back surface of the placement surface 11, on the higher side Cup in the bucket inclination direction relative to the baguette inclination center M. If the end of the bucket 10 on the higher side Cup in the bucket inclination direction is defined as the higher end 10up, and the end of the bucket 10 on the lower side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction is defined as the lower end 10down, the rotation radius 18down of the lower end 10down is larger than the rotation radius 18up of the higher end 10up based on the shaft portion 18. With this structure, when the bucket 10 swings, a centrifugal force on the article B acts on the lower end 10down side. As a result, the article B is more likely to slide on the placement surface 11 toward the lower end 10down side.

[0042] The shape of the bucket 10 can be appropriately changed according to the shape of the article B. For example, the downstream wall 13 may be replaced to change the shape of the storage space of the bucket 10.

[0043] <Goods> FIG. 9 shows an example of an item B to be transported in this embodiment. The item B is, for example, a spray bottle filled with a liquid such as detergent. For convenience of explanation, the six surfaces of the item B are defined as follows, based on the state in which the item B is laid down in the bucket 10 (the state in which the long dimension direction is horizontal). (1) The surface of the item B that faces the loading surface 11 when the item B is placed on the bucket 10 is defined as the item bottom surface B1. (3) The surface of the item B opposite to the item bottom surface B1 is defined as the item top surface B2. (3) The surface of the item B placed on the loading surface 11 that faces the high side Cup in the bucket inclination direction is defined as the item high side surface B3. (4) The surface of the item B placed on the loading surface 11 that faces the low side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction is defined as the item low side surface B4. (5) The surface of the item B placed on the loading surface 11 that faces the upstream wall 12 is defined as the item upstream side surface B5. (6) When the article B is placed on the placement surface 11, the surface facing the downstream wall 13 is defined as the downstream side surface B6 of the article.

[0044] Furthermore, for ease of explanation, the outer dimensions of item B stored in bucket 10 are defined as follows: (1) For item B, the maximum outer dimension in the bucket inclination direction C is defined as item inclination direction outer dimension BC. (3) For item B, the outer dimension in the bucket width direction T is defined as item width direction outer dimension BT. (3) For item B, the outer dimension in the bucket thickness direction E is defined as item thickness direction outer dimension BE.

[0045] When the article B is changed to an upright position by the position changing device 1, the lower side B4 of the article becomes the bottom surface, the higher side B3 of the article becomes the top surface, and the bottom surface B1 of the article and the top surface B2 of the article become the front surface or the back surface. Note that, while Fig. 9 illustrates an example in which the article B is a spray bottle, Fig. 6 illustrates an example in which the article B is a replacement bottle for the main body of the spray bottle (with the spray part omitted).

[0046] <Bucket posture in the circulation path> As shown in FIG. 4(B), the bucket 10 in the carry-in area 38I is in a position where the inclination angle of the placement surface 11 relative to the horizontal is small (small inclination position). In this embodiment, the placement surface 11 in the small inclination position is horizontal. As shown in FIG. 4(C), the bucket 10 in the position change area 38K is in a position where the inclination angle of the placement surface 11 relative to the horizontal is larger than the small inclination position. In the position change area 38K, the inclination angle of the bucket 10 is increased until it becomes a first large inclination position, which will be described later. As shown in FIG. 4(D), the bucket 10 in the carry-out area 38O is in a position where the inclination angle of the placement surface 11 relative to the horizontal is larger than the small inclination position (first large inclination position). In this embodiment, the inclination angle of the placement surface 11 in the first large inclination position is 90 degrees (vertical).

[0047] As shown in FIG. 4(E), the bucket 10 in the relief region 38P is in a position (second large inclination position) in which the inclination angle of the placement surface 11 with respect to the horizontal is larger than that of the small inclination position. In this embodiment, the inclination angle of the placement surface 11 in the second large inclination position is 90 degrees (vertical). Note that, in this embodiment, the inclination angles of the placement surface 11 in the first large inclination position and the second large inclination position are made the same, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4(E), the inclination angle of the second large inclination position can be made larger than that of the first large inclination position, so that the placement surface 11 can be inclined to an angle exceeding 90 degrees (position in which the placement surface 11 faces vertically downward).

[0048] As shown in Fig. 4(F), in posture return region 38F, bucket 10 assumes a posture in which the inclination angle with respect to the horizontal on placement surface 11 is smaller than the first and second large inclination postures. In posture return region 38F, the inclination angle of bucket 10 is reduced to the small inclination posture. Note that, in the present embodiment, the small inclination posture is 0 degrees (horizontal) and the first large inclination posture is 90 degrees (vertical) as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other angles may be set.

[0049] <Bucket moving device> 4(A), the bucket moving device 40 has a chain 42 arranged along the circulation path 30, a pair of sprockets 44 that rotate the chain 42, a drive motor (not shown) that rotates the sprockets 44, and brackets 46 fixed to the chain 42 at regular intervals so as to correspond to each bucket 10. The brackets 46 support the shafts 18 of the buckets 10 so as to be able to rotate freely.

[0050] <Tilt mechanism> As shown in FIG. 7, the tilting mechanism 50 includes a shaft portion 18 provided on the bucket 10 and a tilting guide 52 provided on the back side of the bucket 10 in the attitude changing region 38K. The tilting guide 52 is a rod-like or plate-like member extending in the bucket moving direction F, and supports a contact area 53 on the back side of the bucket 10. When the bucket 10 is moved by the bucket moving device 40, the contact area 53 on the back side slides on the tilting guide 52. As shown in the end face state of FIG. 7(A), the tilting guide 52 is located at approximately the same height as the shaft portion 18 and on the outer circumferential side Wout in the path width direction compared to the shaft portion 18 in order to support the back side of the bucket 10 in a small tilted attitude. Thereafter, as can be seen from the transition of the end face state in FIG. 7(B) to FIG. 7(E), the tilting guide 52 gradually moves from the upstream to the downstream of the attitude changing region 38K in a lower position compared to the shaft portion 18, while gradually moving to the inner circumferential side Win in the path width direction. As a result, the inclination angle of the mounting surface 11 gradually increases so that the inner circumferential side Win in the path width direction of the mounting surface 11 becomes a higher place and the outer circumferential side Wout in the path width direction of the mounting surface 11 becomes a lower place. When the downstream end of the attitude change region 38K is reached, the inclined guide 52 is located directly below the shaft portion 18, and the bucket 10 is in a large inclined attitude, as shown in the end face state of Fig. 7(E). As a result of the above transition, the inclined guide 52 has a spiral shape.

[0051] <Tilt maintenance mechanism> As shown in Fig. 8, the inclination maintaining mechanism 55 includes a shaft portion 18 provided on the bucket 10, and a pair of inclination maintaining guides 57 provided on the back surface of the bucket 10 in the relief region 38P. The inclination maintaining guides 57 are rod- or plate-shaped members extending in the bucket moving direction F, and support the back surface of the bucket 10. In other words, the bucket 10 slides against the inclination maintaining guides 57 when moved by the bucket moving device 40. As shown in Fig. 8, the pair of inclination maintaining guides 57 are always positioned directly above and directly below the shaft portion 18, and are configured to maintain the large inclination posture when the bucket 10 swings along the second reversing path 34.

[0052] <Tilt return mechanism> As shown in FIG. 8, the tilt return mechanism 85 includes a shaft portion 18 provided on the bucket 10 and a tilt return guide 87 provided on the back side of the bucket 10 in the posture return area 38F. The tilt return guide 87 is a rod-like or plate-like member extending in the bucket moving direction F, and supports the back side of the bucket 10. That is, the bucket 10 slides against the tilt return guide 87 when moved by the bucket moving device 40. The tilt return guide 87 starts directly under the shaft portion 18, and moves gradually from a low place to a high place from the upstream to the downstream of the posture return area 38F, while gradually moving to the outer circumferential side Wout in the path width direction. That is, the tilt return guide 87 draws a transition locus that is almost opposite to that of the tilt guide 52. The end point of the tilt return guide 87, although not particularly shown, is located at approximately the same height as the shaft portion 18 and on the outer circumferential side Wout in the path width direction compared to the shaft portion 18. As a result, the bucket 10 returns to the small tilt posture.

[0053] <Goods delivery mechanism> As shown in Fig. 7, the article discharge mechanism 60 includes a pair of discharge guides 62A, 62B provided near the low end 10down of the bucket 10 in the position changing region 38K. Specifically, the pair of discharge guides 62A, 62B are adjacent to the low side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction with respect to the low end 10down (discharge opening 15). The discharge guides 62A, 62B are rod-shaped, cylindrical or plate-shaped members extending along the bucket movement direction F. In the position changing region 38K, the inclination angle of the bucket 10 gradually increases from upstream to downstream, so that the discharge guides 62A, 62B have a spiral shape that follows the movement trajectory of the low end 10down (discharge opening 15).

[0054] The pair of lead-out guides 62A, 62B are arranged side by side at the low end 10down in the bucket thickness direction E. A pair of edges on the low end 10down side of the pair of lead-out guides 62A, 62B are connected to form a virtual support line 64. This support line 64 engages with the lower article side surface B4 of the article B in the bucket 10.

[0055] As shown in Fig. 7(A) to Fig. 7(F), the distance between the low end 10down and the support wire 64 is closest on the upstream side of the position changing area 38K and gradually increases downstream. As a result, as shown in Fig. 10(A), in the position changing area 38K, as the inclination angle of the placement surface 11 increases, the article B changes from a lying position to an upright position, and the lower article side B4 of the article B sliding down from the placement surface 11 is received, and the article B is gradually guided out from the bucket 10. In other words, in the position changing device 1 of this embodiment, the tilt mechanism 50 and the article guide mechanism 60 operate simultaneously to simultaneously perform an operation of changing the position of the article B to gradually stand it up, and an operation of gradually ejecting (a part of) the article B from the bucket 10.

[0056] Furthermore, the article discharge mechanism 60 includes a tilt table 63 at the downstream end of the discharge guides 62A and 62B. The tilt table 63 is a tilted surface that fills the height difference between the support wire 64 of the discharge guides 62A and 62B and the conveying surface 93 of the discharge conveyor 90. The article B slides on the tilt table 63, so that it is smoothly guided to the discharge conveyor 90. As shown in FIG. 7(F) and FIG. 10(A), in order to increase the stability of the posture of the article B when it is transferred to the discharge conveyor 90, the maximum discharge distance D of the part B by the article discharge mechanism 60 (i.e., the distance between the low end 10down of the bucket 10 and the conveying surface 93 of the discharge conveyor 90) is preferably set to 2 / 3 or less of the outer dimension BC of the article B in the article inclination direction, and is set to 1 / 2 or less here. For convenience, the article following mechanism 80 is omitted in FIG. 10(A).

[0057] In this embodiment, a pair of lead-out guides 62A, 62B is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, there may be one lead-out guide or three or more lead-out guides. In addition, the lead-out guide is not limited to a rod-shaped member, and may be a strip-shaped plate material or the like. It may be divided into multiple parts in the longitudinal direction.

[0058] <Item tracking mechanism> 7, 10(B), and 11, the article following mechanism 80 includes a pair of top surface guides 82A, 82B provided in positions facing the placement surface 11 of the bucket 10 in the attitude changing region 38K and the discharge region 38O. The top surface guides 82A, 82B are rod-like or plate-like members extending in the bucket movement direction F. Specifically, the pair of top surface guides 82A, 82B are close to the tips of the upstream wall 12 and the downstream wall 13. In the attitude changing region 38K, the inclination angle of the bucket 10 gradually increases from upstream to downstream, so that the top surface guides 82A, 82B have a spiral shape that follows the movement trajectories of the tips of the upstream wall 12 and the downstream wall 13.

[0059] The pair of top surface guides 82A, 82B are arranged in parallel in the bucket inclination direction C. A pair of edges on the bucket 10 side of the pair of top surface guides 82A, 82B are connected to form a virtual support line 84. This support line 84 engages with the article top surface B2 of the article B in the bucket 10. The support line 84 is arranged offset to the lower side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction with respect to the bucket 10.

[0060] As shown in Fig. 7(A) to Fig. 7(F), the distances between the upstream wall 12 and the downstream wall 13 and the support wire 84 are substantially constant in the position change area 38K and the discharge area 38O. As shown in Fig. 10(B), in the position change area 38K, the article B changes from a lying position to an upright position as the inclination angle of the placement surface 11 increases. At this time, the lower side Cdown of the placement surface 11 in the bucket inclination direction swings vertically downward, and the article B tries to move away from the placement surface 11 due to the inertial force acting on the article B. The top surface guides 82A and 82B receive the article top surface B2 of the article B that tries to float up from the placement surface 11, and forcibly store the article B in the bucket 10. In other words, the article following mechanism 80 has a function of applying an external force so that the inclination angle of the article B also follows the change in the inclination angle of the bucket 10. Furthermore, due to the biasing force acting on the article B by the article following mechanism 80, a centrifugal force in the bucket inclination direction C acts on the article B, so that the article B slides along the placement surface 11 to the lower side Cdown in the bucket inclination direction. As shown in FIG. 11, the top surface guides 82A, 82B extend to the discharge area 38O. In the discharge area 38O, the article B is transferred to the discharge conveyor 90 in an upright position, and the top surface guides 82A, 82B continue to support the article top surface B2, preventing the article B from tipping over due to the inertial force during the upright movement. For convenience, the article discharge mechanism 60 is omitted from FIG. 10(B).

[0061] In this embodiment, a pair of top guides 82A, 82B is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, one top guide or three or more top guides may be used. Furthermore, the top guide is not limited to a rod-shaped member, and may be a band-shaped plate material or the like.

[0062] <holding frame> As shown in Fig. 1, the tilt guide 52 of the tilt mechanism 50, the tilt maintaining guide 57 of the tilt maintaining mechanism 55, the tilt return guide 87 of the tilt return mechanism 85, the lead-out guides 62A and 62B of the article lead-out mechanism 60, and the top guides 82A and 82B of the article following mechanism 80 are held by a tower-structured holding frame 20. This holding frame 20 is fixed to the bucket moving device 40. For convenience, the holding frame 20 is omitted in the drawings other than Fig. 1.

[0063] <Linear motion mechanism> As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the linear motion mechanism 70 has a linear guide 72 installed on the base 2, a drive mechanism 74 for driving the linear guide 72, and a side guide 76. As shown by the chain line in Fig. 1, the linear guide 72 moves the bucket group, the bucket moving device 40, the tilt mechanism 50, the tilt maintaining mechanism 55, the article discharge mechanism 60, the article following mechanism 80, and the tilt returning mechanism 85 in a reciprocating manner in the path longitudinal direction N1 of the circulation path 30. The side guides 76 (not shown except in Fig. 1) are disposed on both outer sides of the bucket group in the path short direction N2, and serve as plates extending in the path longitudinal direction N1. The side guides 76 are disposed in the first linear path 31, the first reversing path 32, and the second linear path 33, except for the carry-in area 38I and the carry-out area 38O. The side guides 76 block the lead-out openings 15 of the bucket group moved by the linear guide 72, thereby preventing the articles B from falling. The linear motion mechanism 70 allows the posture changing device 1 to also function as a horizontal servo loop conveyor, providing a buffer function that absorbs the speed difference between the carry-in side and the carry-out side when the article B is transported while changing its posture from the carry-in area 38I to the carry-out area 38O. The details of this buffer function will be described later.

[0064] <Exit conveyor> 11, the discharge conveyor 90 has a conveyor belt 92 and a belt drive device 94. The conveyor belt 92 is disposed below the attitude changing area 38K and the discharge area 38O in the circulation path 30, and extends in the path longitudinal direction N1. The conveyor belt 92 extends downstream of the second straight path 33 so as to deviate from the circulation path 30.

[0065] A transport surface 93 of the conveyor belt 92 moves in the same direction in synchronization with the bucket movement direction F. The synchronized speed of the transport surface 93 during this synchronization is set to be higher than the moving speed of the bucket 10.

[0066] For convenience of explanation, various directions based on the discharge conveyor 90 are defined as follows: (1) The moving direction of the conveyor belt 92 is defined as the article discharge direction U. (2) A direction that is perpendicular to the article discharge direction U and horizontal is defined as the conveyor width direction V. (3) In the conveyor width direction V, the side where the circulation path 30 exists is defined as the belt width direction inner side Vin, and the side opposite the circulation path 30 in the conveyor width direction V is defined as the belt width direction outer side Vout.

[0067] <Relationship between discharge conveyor and relief area> 12(A), in the escape area 38P in the circulation path 30, the bucket movement direction F gradually transitions from the path longitudinal direction N1 to the path short direction N2. As a result, the escape area 38P plays a role in retracting only the bucket 10 to the path short direction N2 (the inner peripheral side Vin in the belt width direction) from the article B that is discharged linearly along the path longitudinal direction N1 (article discharge direction U) by the discharge conveyor 90.

[0068] Specifically, in the escape area 38P, the bucket 10 is in the second large inclination posture by the inclination maintaining mechanism 55, and rotates along the second reversing path 34 while maintaining that posture. As a result, the downstream wall 13 of the bucket 10 separates from the article B first, and then, after a time lag, the upstream wall 12 separates from the article B. As already described, the moving speed of the conveying surface 93 of the conveyor belt 92 is greater than the moving speed of the bucket 10. The article B increases its moving speed at the moment the downstream wall 13 is released from the engaged state, and moves forward so as to separate from the downstream wall 13. Thereafter, when the upstream wall 12 separates from the conveying surface 93, a gap is formed between the upstream wall 12 and the article B, so that interference between the article B and the upstream wall 12 can be prevented. In particular, the inclined surface 12A is formed at the tip of the upstream wall 12, so that interference between the article B and the upstream wall 12 is further suppressed.

[0069] <Object posture holding mechanism> 11 and 12, the article posture maintaining mechanism 95 includes an inner guide 96 and an outer guide 97 arranged along the article discharge direction U. The inner guide 96 is fixedly arranged on the inner side Vin in the belt width direction of the conveyor belt 92, and the outer guide 97 is fixedly arranged on the outer side Vout in the belt width direction of the conveyor belt 92. The inner guide 96 comes into contact with the bottom surface B1 of the article B discharged by the discharge conveyor 90 to prevent the article B from falling over. The outer guide 97 comes into contact with the top surface B2 of the article B discharged by the discharge conveyor 90 to prevent the article B from falling over.

[0070] The inner guide 96 has a first inner guide 96A and a second inner guide 96B. As shown in FIG. 12B, the article discharge mechanism 60 provides a maximum discharge distance D between the low end 10down of the bucket 10 and the conveying surface 93. The first inner guide 96A is disposed directly below the low end 10down of the bucket 10, utilizing a space (gap) secured by the maximum discharge distance D. This allows the first inner guide 96A to be disposed over substantially the entire area of ​​the discharge conveyor 90, including the discharge area 38O. In the discharge area 38O, the position of the article B is likely to become unstable due to the gap formed by the maximum discharge distance D, but the position of the article B is stabilized by filling the gap with the first inner guide 96A. In addition, since the linear motion mechanism 70 reciprocates the unloading area 38O along the path longitudinal direction N1, the first inner guide 96A is disposed to cover the entire reciprocating range of the unloading area 38O. In Fig. 11, the unloading area 38O is shown moving downstream by the linear motion mechanism 70, so the first inner guide 96A advances into the position change area 38K.

[0071] The second inner guide 96B is disposed above and parallel to the first inner guide 96A, and is therefore located downstream of the unloading area 38O of the unloading conveyor 90 and in a location that does not interfere with the bucket 10. The second inner guide 96B serves to further stabilize the position of the article B after the bucket 10 has been evacuated from above the unloading conveyor 90.

[0072] As shown in FIG. 11, the outer periphery guide 97 has a first outer periphery guide 97A and a second outer periphery guide 97B that are parallel to each other in the vertical direction. The outer periphery guide 97 is disposed so as to include the range beyond the downstream end of the top surface guides 82A, 82B of the article following mechanism 80. The downstream ends of the top surface guides 82A, 82B extend to the discharge area 38O and support the article top surface B2 of the article B. After the downstream ends of the top surface guides 82A, 82B, the outer periphery guide 97 supports the article top surface B2 instead of the top surface guides 82A, 82B. Since the downstream ends of the top surface guides 82A, 82B are reciprocated along the path longitudinal direction N1 by the linear motion mechanism 70, the outer periphery guide 97 is disposed so as to cover the entire range of reciprocating movement of the downstream ends of the top surface guides 82A, 82B. Figure 11 shows the state in which the downstream ends of the top surface guides 82A, 82B have been moved to the most downstream side by the linear motion mechanism 70, so that the outer circumferential guide 97 overlaps with the top surface guides 82A, 82B by the stroke of the linear motion mechanism 70.

[0073] <Buffer function> Buffer control by a control device (not shown) of the posture changing device 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 13. The buffer control combines circulation control of the bucket 10 by the bucket moving device 40 and linear motion control by the linear motion mechanism 70. As a result, when viewed from an outside worker G, the bucket 10 moves intermittently in the carry-in area 38I and moves continuously in the unloading area 38O. In other words, the buffer function is a function that absorbs the speed difference between the movement speed of the bucket 10 on the carry-in side and the movement speed of the bucket 10 on the unloading side.

[0074] FIG. 13(A) shows the initial state. Here, it is assumed that the article feed-in device 100 feeds a plurality of (here, five) parts B arranged in a row in the feed-in area 38I into a plurality of (here, five) buckets 01-05. In the initial state, when viewed from the worker G, the five empty buckets 01-05 are stopped in the feed-in area 38I. Meanwhile, the five buckets 11-15 in which the articles B have already been placed are located in the posture change area 38K and immediately before it. The five parts B that were just brought in by the article feed-in device 100 are also placed in the intermediate buckets 06-10. The bucket group is moved at a low speed in the direction of the arrow Y1 by the linear motion mechanism 70, while the bucket moving device 40 circulates the bucket group in the normal direction at a low speed. As a result, the buckets 11-15 are constantly moving at a constant speed in the path longitudinal direction N1 as viewed by the worker G, at a combined speed J of the moving speed of the linear motion mechanism 70 and the low-speed circulation of the bucket moving device 40. Note that, although Fig. 13(A) illustrates an example in which the item feed-in device 100 feeds a plurality of parts B into the bucket all at once, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, like the items B shown by the dotted lines, the item feed-in device 100 may feed the parts B in a line into the bucket one by one in order.

[0075] FIG. 13(B) shows the mid-way state of loading. Here, the item loading device 100 is in the middle of loading five parts B into the five stopped buckets 01-05. Meanwhile, the five buckets 11-15 on which the items B are already placed have entered the posture change area 38K, and the posture of the items B is changed to an upright position. The linear motion mechanism 70 moves the bucket group at a low speed in the direction of the arrow Y1, while the bucket moving device 40 circulates the bucket group at a low speed in the forward direction. As a result, the buckets 11-15 are constantly moving at a constant speed in the path longitudinal direction N1 as viewed by the worker G, at a combined speed J of the moving speed by the linear motion mechanism 70 and the low-speed circulation by the bucket moving device 40.

[0076] FIG. 13(C) shows the loading completion state. Here, the item loading device 100 has loaded five parts B into the five stopped buckets 01-05. Meanwhile, the five buckets 11-15 on which the item B has already been loaded are in the posture change area 38K, and the posture of the item B is changed to an upright position. The linear motion mechanism 70 moves the bucket group at a low speed in the direction of the arrow Y1, while the bucket moving device 40 circulates the bucket group at a low speed in the forward direction. As a result, the buckets 11-15 are constantly moving at a constant speed in the path longitudinal direction N1 as seen by the worker G, at a combined speed J of the moving speed by the linear motion mechanism 70 and the low-speed circulation by the bucket moving device 40.

[0077] FIG. 13(D) shows the next mode of returning to the initial state. Here, the linear motion mechanism 70 moves the bucket group in the direction of the arrow Y2 at high speed, while the bucket moving device 40 circulates the bucket group in the forward direction at high speed. As a result, the five buckets 01-05 on which the article B is placed move in the downstream direction, while the new empty buckets 91-95 quickly enter the carry-in area 38I and stop. Meanwhile, some of the five buckets 11-15 on which the article B is already placed enter the carry-out area 38O, and each article B is transferred to the carry-out conveyor 90. These buckets 11-15 always move at a constant speed J in the path longitudinal direction N1 as viewed by the worker G, as the high-speed movement in the direction of the arrow Y2 by the linear motion mechanism 70 and the high-speed circulation by the bucket moving device 40 are offset. The five buckets 06-10 on which the article B is already placed move to the posture change area 38K or just before it.

[0078] As described above, the posture changing device 1 of this embodiment changes the posture of the article B by disposing the tilt mechanism 50 on the circulation path 30 that circulates horizontally and increasing the tilt angle of the bucket 10. This allows, for example, the posture of the article B in a lying state to be inverted 180 degrees horizontally and further changed to an upright posture. As a result, various posture changes can be realized for the article B. Note that, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4(A), a case is illustrated in which the first straight path 31 along which the article B is carried in and the second straight path 33 along which the article B is carried out are parallel, but the first straight path 31 and the second straight path 33 may be made non-parallel (for example, perpendicular) to rotate the article B horizontally by a predetermined angle and change it to an upright posture.

[0079] In particular, the present position changing device 1 is provided with an escape area 38P in the circulation path 30 as shown in FIG. 12(A). This allows the bucket 10 in a large inclined position to be retracted horizontally from the article B, so there is no need to drop the entire article B from the bucket 10 and transfer it to the discharge conveyor 90. This allows the article B to be transferred smoothly to the discharge conveyor 90 in the discharge area 38O. Furthermore, in the present position changing device 1, as shown in FIG. 6, an escape portion 14 is formed inside the bucket 10, so that the article B can be moved relatively to the downstream wall 13 side even within the bucket 10. As a result, the article B actively moves away from the upstream wall 12 of the bucket 10, so that interference between the upstream wall 12 and the article B can be suppressed when the bucket 10 is retracted in the escape area 38P.

[0080] Furthermore, the posture changing device 1 includes a linear motion mechanism 70 that moves the entire bucket group back and forth in a linear direction, enabling so-called horizontal servo loop conveyance. As a result, as shown in Fig. 13, the bucket 10 on the carry-in area 38I side can be fed intermittently, while the bucket 10 in the carry-out area 38O can be fed continuously. As a result, the article B can be transferred to the carry-out conveyor 90 at high speed in the carry-out area 38O. For example, if the bucket 10 in the carry-out area 38O is moved intermittently, the posture of the article B is likely to become unstable due to the inertial force of the intermittent movement.

[0081] In this posture changing device 1, the moving speed of the output conveyor 90 is set higher than the moving speed of the continuously fed bucket 10 in the input area 38I, so that as the bucket 10 retreats in the escape area 38P, the moving speed of the output conveyor 90 for the article B increases at the same time, as shown in Fig. 12(A). As a result, interference between the bucket 10 and the article B can be suppressed.

[0082] 10, in this posture changing device 1, the tilting mechanism 50 and the article discharge mechanism 60 operate simultaneously to simultaneously perform an operation of changing the posture of the article B to gradually stand it up, and an operation of gradually discharging (a part of) the article B from the bucket 10. Note that by discharging a part of the article B from the bucket 10 in advance, it becomes possible to maintain the posture of the article B by the article posture maintaining mechanism 95, which becomes the fixed side, when transferring the article B to the discharge conveyor 90.

[0083] In particular, in this posture changing device 1, since the posture changing area 38K is provided with the article following mechanism 80, the posture of the article B is forced to follow the tilting operation of the bucket 10. This makes it possible to increase the tilt changing speed of the article B. Furthermore, by utilizing the centrifugal force generated during this following, it is possible to quickly discharge the article B from the bucket 10. For example, if the article B is dropped from the bucket 10 after it has completely stood upright inside the bucket 10, the falling speed of the article B depends only on the weight of the article B. In this case, unless a drop force is applied to the article B using a separate pusher or the like, it is difficult to quickly transfer the article B to the discharge conveyor 90.

[0084] In this embodiment, the circulation path 60 extends horizontally, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in Fig. 14, the circulation path 60 may extend vertically. In this case, the article B carried into the bucket 10 on the upper straight path is turned upside down when it reaches the lower straight path and is then erected by the bucket 10.

[0085] As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and technical concept of the present invention. For example, the attitude changing device 1 may be a conveying mechanism that circulates the bucket 10 using a linear motor. [Explanation of symbols]

[0086] 1. Posture change device 2 Base 10 Buckets 10down low end 10up high end 11 Placement surface 12 Upstream wall 12A Slope 13 Downstream wall 13A High-place engagement surface 13B Low side engagement surface 14 Relief 15 Entrance / exit opening 18 Shaft 18down turning radius 18up turning radius 20 Holding Frame 30 Circulation Route 31 First Straight Path 32 First reversal path 33 Second Straight Path 34 Second reversal path 38F Posture return area 38I Loading area 38K Attitude change area 38O Unloading area 38P Relief area 40 Bucket moving device 42 Chain 44 Sprocket 46 Bracket 50 Tilt mechanism 52 Inclined Guide 53 Contact area 55 Tilt maintenance mechanism 57 Tilt Maintenance Guide 60 Goods delivery mechanism 62A, 62B Derivation Guide 63 Tilting Table 64 Support line 70 Linear motion mechanism 72 Straight Guide 74 Drive mechanism 76 Side guide 80 Item Tracking Mechanism 82A, 82B Top guide 84 Support line 85 Tilt return mechanism 87 Tilt return guide 90 Discharge Conveyor 92 Conveyor Belt 93 Transport surface 94 Belt drive 95 Article posture holding mechanism 96 Inner guide 96A First inner guide 96B Second inner guide 97 Outer guide 97A First outer guide 97B Second outer guide 100 Goods loading device B Goods B1 Bottom of article B2 Top of item B3 Goods high side B4 Lower side of article B5 Upstream side of article B6 Downstream side of article BC Outer dimensions of the inclined direction of the goods BE Outer dimensions in the thickness direction of the item BT Outer dimensions of item width C Bucket tilt direction Cdown Bucket tilt direction low side Cup Bucket inclination direction high side D Maximum derivation distance E Bucket thickness direction F Bucket movement direction G. Worker M Baguette tilt center N1 Route longitudinal direction N2 Route short side S Gap T Bucket width direction U Goods unloading direction V Conveyor width direction Vin Belt width direction inner circumference Vout Belt width direction outer periphery W Path width direction Win: Inner circumference side in the path width direction Wout Outer circumference of path width direction

Claims

1. A plurality of buckets each having a placement surface on which an article is placed; a bucket moving device that moves the plurality of buckets along a circulation path that circulates in a horizontal direction; a tilting mechanism that increases the tilt angle of the bucket relative to the horizontal direction of the loading surface in a predetermined area of ​​the circulation path (hereinafter referred to as the attitude change area),

2. The circulation path is A first linear path; a first reversing path that continuously reverses the moving direction downstream of the first linear path; a second straight path that is continuous with the first reversing path on the downstream side and is parallel to and in an opposite direction to the first straight path; A second reversing path that continuously reverses the moving direction downstream of the second straight path, a linear motion mechanism capable of reciprocating the bucket, the bucket moving device, and the tilting mechanism as a whole in a direction in which the first immediately preceding path extends, an input area for inputting an article into the bucket is formed on the first linear path of the circulation path; The posture change area is formed on the second straight path of the circulation path. The attitude changing device according to claim 1 .

3. The bucket is intermittently moved in the loading area, and is continuously moved in the attitude changing area. The attitude changing device according to claim 2 .

4. A direction perpendicular to and horizontal to the circulation path is defined as a path width direction, When defining the inner circumferential side of the circulation path in the path width direction as the inner circumferential side in the path width direction and the outer circumferential side of the circulation path in the path width direction as the outer circumferential side in the path width direction, The circulation path has an escape area downstream of the attitude change area for transitioning a moving direction of the bucket to an inner periphery in the path width direction, the tilting mechanism increases an inclination angle of the placement surface in the position changing region so that an inner periphery side of the placement surface in the path width direction is a higher place and an outer periphery side of the placement surface in the path width direction is a lower place, a tilt maintaining mechanism for maintaining the tilted state of the placement surface by the tilt mechanism, disposed in the relief area; The attitude changing device according to claim 1 .

5. a conveyor device that conveys the article delivered from the bucket is disposed downstream of the position changing area; The movement of the conveyor device and the movement of the bucket are synchronized. The attitude changing device according to claim 4.

6. The conveyor device is characterized in that the moving speed is faster than the moving speed of the bucket in the relief area. The attitude changing device according to claim 5 .

7. When defining the surface of the article facing the placement surface as the bottom surface, the surface of the article opposite the bottom surface as the top surface, the side surface of the article located on the lower side of the inclination direction of the placement surface as the lower side of the article, and the side surface of the article located on the higher side of the inclination direction of the placement surface as the upper side of the article, an article discharge mechanism is provided in the position change area of ​​the circulation path, and the article discharge mechanism engages with a lower article side surface of the article that slides down from the placement surface, the inclination angle of which increases in the position change area, thereby gradually discharging the article from the bucket; When defining the low end of the bucket tilted by the tilt mechanism, The article discharge mechanism includes: a lead-out guide disposed along a moving trajectory of the low end in the position change area and engaging with the low-position side surface of the article sliding down from the placement surface; A distance between the low end and the placement surface of the lead-out guide in a direction of inclination gradually increases from the upstream to the downstream of the position change area. The attitude changing device according to claim 1 .

8. A direction perpendicular to and horizontal to the circulation path is defined as a path width direction, the bucket has an upstream wall extending in the path width direction on the upstream side of the movement direction of the bucket moving device and engaging with the article placed on the placement surface, and a downstream wall extending in the path width direction on the downstream side of the movement direction of the bucket moving device and engaging with the article placed on the placement surface, the tilt mechanism is configured to increase an inclination angle of the placement surface so that one side of the placement surface in the path width direction becomes a higher place and the other side of the placement surface in the path width direction becomes a lower place in the posture change area, a relief portion is formed on the other side of the downstream wall of the bucket, which allows an article sliding toward a lower position due to an inclination of the loading surface of the bucket to move relatively downstream in the moving direction of the bucket. The attitude changing device according to claim 1 .

9. The relief portion is configured by displacing a part of the downstream wall downstream in the moving direction. The attitude changing device according to claim 8.

10. a conveyor device that conveys the article delivered from the bucket is disposed downstream of the position changing area; The moving speed of the conveyor device is faster than the moving speed of the bucket. The attitude-changing device according to claim 8 or 9.

11. When the surface of the article on the side of the placement surface is defined as the bottom surface of the article, and the surface of the article opposite to the bottom surface of the article is defined as the top surface of the article, The bucket is provided with a top surface guide that is disposed in a position facing the placement surface in the posture change area of ​​the circulation path and engages with the top surface of the article stored in the bucket whose inclination angle is increased. The attitude changing device according to claim 1 .

12. A plurality of buckets each having a placement surface on which an article is placed; A bucket moving device that moves the plurality of buckets along a circulating circulation path; a tilting mechanism that increases a tilt angle of the bucket relative to a horizontal direction of the placement surface in a predetermined region (hereinafter, a posture changing region) of the circulation path, The circulation path is A first linear path; a first reversing path that continuously reverses the moving direction downstream of the first linear path; a second straight path that is continuous with the first reversing path on the downstream side and is parallel to and in an opposite direction to the first straight path; A second reversing path that continuously reverses the moving direction downstream of the second straight path, a linear motion mechanism capable of reciprocating the bucket, the bucket moving device, and the tilting mechanism as a whole in a direction in which the first immediately preceding path extends, an input area for inputting an article into the bucket is formed on the first linear path of the circulation path; The posture change area is formed on the second straight path of the circulation path. Position change device.

13. A plurality of buckets each having a placement surface on which an article is placed; A bucket moving device that moves the plurality of buckets along a circulating circulation path; a tilting mechanism that increases a tilt angle of the bucket relative to a horizontal direction of the placement surface in a predetermined region (hereinafter, a posture changing region) of the circulation path, When defining the surface of the article facing the placement surface as the bottom surface, the surface of the article opposite the bottom surface as the top surface, the side surface of the article located on the lower side of the inclination direction of the placement surface as the lower side of the article, and the side surface of the article located on the higher side of the inclination direction of the placement surface as the upper side of the article, A posture change device characterized by having an article removal mechanism that is arranged in the posture change area of ​​the circulation path and gradually removes the article from the bucket by engaging with the lower article side of the article that slides off the loading surface whose inclination angle increases in the posture change area.

Images