Conveyance device

Abstract

To provide a conveyance device capable of resolving the twist of a laminate.SOLUTION: A conveyance device includes: conveyance parts 11, 12 for conveying a laminate 20 which includes a first layer 21 and a second layer 22; a twist detection part 30 for detecting twist and a twist direction of the laminate 20; a pair of holding parts 41, 42 for sandwiching the laminate 20 from both of front and rear surface sides to hold it; a rotation part 50 for rotating the pair of holding parts 41, 42 with an axis R1 along the conveyance direction of the laminate 20 by the conveyance parts 11, 12 as the rotation axis; and a control part 80. When twist of the laminate 20 is detected by the twist detection part 30, the control part 80 stops the conveyance of the laminate 20 with the conveyance parts 11, 12, and then, while holding the laminate 20 with the pair of holding parts 41, 42, rotates the pair of holding parts 41, 42 to the opposite side to the twist direction of the laminate 20 detected by the twist detection part 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The technology disclosed in this specification relates to a conveying device. [Background technology]

[0002] A conventional conveying device is described in the following Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 describes a configuration in which a laminate (tile carpet) is conveyed by a conveyer belt and heated, and then the surface layer and the backing resin layer are separated, recovered, and reused. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2010-69083 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the configuration for transporting the laminate as in Patent Document 1, there is a risk that the laminate may be twisted during transport. If the laminate is twisted, it will hinder the work of separating the layers. For this reason, it is necessary for an operator to visually check the laminate for twists, and if twisted, to rotate the laminate to eliminate the twist.

[0005] The technology disclosed in this specification was developed based on the above circumstances, and has an object to provide a conveying device capable of eliminating twisting of a laminate. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] As a means for solving the above problem, the conveying device disclosed in this specification comprises a conveying unit that conveys a laminate having a first layer and a second layer, a twist detection unit that detects the twist and twist direction of the laminate, a pair of holding units that hold the laminate by sandwiching it from both the front and back sides, a rotation unit that rotates the pair of holding units around an axis that is a rotation axis along the conveying direction of the laminate by the conveying unit, and a control unit, wherein when a twist of the stack is detected by the twist detection unit, the control unit stops the conveying of the stack by the conveying unit, and then, while holding the stack with the pair of holding units, rotates the pair of holding units in the direction opposite to the twist direction of the stack detected by the twist detection unit.

[0007] By rotating the pair of holding parts using the rotating part while the stack is held by the pair of holding parts, the stack can be rotated in the direction opposite to its twisted direction, thereby eliminating the twist in the stack.

[0008] In addition, the rotating section may include a circular guide rail arranged to surround the laminate around an axis along the conveying direction of the laminate by the conveying section, and a pair of slide sections that move along the guide rail and are arranged opposite each other, and each of the pair of holding sections may be attached to each of the pair of slide sections so as to be able to advance and retreat along the radial direction of the guide rail.

[0009] By moving the pair of sliding parts along the guide rails, the pair of holding parts can be rotated around an axis along the longitudinal direction of the stack as the rotation axis, and the stack can be held and released by moving the pair of holding parts forward and backward relative to each of the pair of sliding parts.

[0010] The laminate may further include a peeling section disposed rearward of the pair of holding sections in a conveying direction of the laminate by the conveying section and configured to peel the first layer from the second layer. After the twist of the laminate is eliminated by the pair of holding sections, the first layer can be peeled off from the second layer.

[0011] The laminate may be an end piece generated when cutting out a vehicle interior material from a plate material. When cutting out a vehicle interior material from a plate material, stress is applied. For this reason, the end piece may have a tendency to bend due to the stress at the time of cutting out, making it prone to twisting. The above configuration can eliminate twisting of the laminate, and is therefore more suitable when the laminate is an end piece of a vehicle interior material. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a conveying device capable of eliminating twists in a laminate. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a side view showing a front half of a conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] A side view showing the rear half of the conveying device. [Diagram 3] Cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a laminate [Figure 4] A front view showing the state in which the vehicle interior material is cut out from the plate material. [Diagram 5] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the front half of the conveying device; [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a side view showing the front half of the conveying device in a state where the laminate is twisted. [Figure 7] Rear view of the rotating part in the conveying direction (corresponding to the cross section taken along line VII-VII in Figure 1) [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state in which a stack is held by a pair of holding parts. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state in which the pair of holding parts are rotated by the rotating part. [Figure 10] A block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a conveying device. [Figure 11] A diagram explaining the method for detecting the twist direction of a laminate (corresponding to the cross-section along line XI-XI in Figure 5) [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a method for detecting the twist direction of a laminate (twist in the opposite direction to that in FIG. 11). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 12. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, a conveying device 10 of this embodiment includes conveying units 11, 12 that convey a longitudinal laminate 20 along the longitudinal direction of the laminate 20, a twist detection unit 30 that detects the twist and twist direction of the laminate 20, a pair of holding units 41, 42 that sandwich and hold the laminate 20 from both the front and back sides, a rotating unit 50 that rotates the pair of holding units 41, 42, a pair of rollers 61, 62, and a peeling unit 70.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 3, the laminate 20 includes a first layer 21, a second layer 22, a third layer 23, and a fourth layer 24. The first layer 21 has a function of absorbing vibrations such as sound well (more than the other layers 22 to 24), and is sometimes called a backing layer. The second layer 22 has a function of absorbing vibrations that the first layer 21 cannot absorb. The third layer 23 has a function as an adhesive for bonding the second layer 22 and the fourth layer 24 together. The fourth layer 24 is a layer that constitutes the skin of the vehicle interior material (described in detail later) that is the basis of the laminate 20. The fourth layer 24 can improve the texture, touch, design, etc. of the surface of the laminate 20. The first layer 21 and the fourth layer 24 have different colors.

[0016] The first layer 21 to the fourth layer 24 are made of a thermoplastic resin. For example, polyethylene (PE) can be used as the thermoplastic resin making up the first layer 21 and the third layer 23, and for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) having a higher melting point than PE can be used as the thermoplastic resin making up the second layer 22 and the fourth layer 24. The thermoplastic resin making up each of the layers 21 to 24 can be changed as appropriate, and in addition to the above-mentioned thermoplastic resins, for example, polypropylene (PP), polylactic acid (PLA), etc. can be used.

[0017] As shown in Fig. 4, the laminate 20 is an offcut generated when cutting out a vehicle interior material 26 from a plate material 25 having the same cross-sectional configuration as the laminate 20. Specifically, when a vehicle interior material 26 (such as a floor carpet) is manufactured by cutting a rectangular plate material 25 using a forming die or the like, a frame-shaped offcut 27 is generated. By cutting this offcut 27 at a predetermined location (the dashed dotted line in Fig. 4), a plurality of longitudinal (strip-shaped) laminates 20 can be obtained.

[0018] The conveying units 11 and 12 are each configured with a belt conveyor. As shown in Fig. 1, the conveying units 11 and 12 are arranged at a distance from each other in the conveying direction of the laminate 20, and the rotating unit 50, the twist detecting unit 30, and the pair of holding units 41 and 42 are arranged between the conveying units 11 and 12 in the conveying direction.

[0019] The twist detection unit 30 includes a pair of color recognition sensors 31, 32 for recognizing the color of the laminate 20, and a pair of color recognition sensors 33, 34 (see FIG. 5) for recognizing the color of the laminate 20. The pair of color recognition sensors 31, 32 are provided to sandwich the laminate 20 from both the front and back sides as shown in FIG. 1. The pair of color recognition sensors 33, 34 are provided to sandwich the laminate 20 from both sides as shown in FIG. 5. The color recognition sensors 31 to 34 are configured to be able to detect the color of the surface of the laminate 20 by, for example, irradiating the laminate 20 with visible light and detecting the ratio of RGB (red, green, blue) of the reflected light.

[0020] The rotating unit 50 is configured to be capable of rotating the pair of holding units 41, 42 around an axis R1 that is aligned with the conveying direction of the laminate 20 by the conveying units 11, 12. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotating unit 50 includes an annular guide rail 51 that is arranged to surround the laminate 20 with the axis R1 (axis aligned with the longitudinal direction of the laminate) as the center, and a pair of slide units 52, 53 that are attached so as to be movable along the guide rail 51. The pair of slide units 52, 53 are arranged opposite each other with the axis R1 in between. The pair of slide units 52, 53 are capable of moving on the guide rail 51 by a driving device (such as a hydraulic cylinder or an electric motor) not shown.

[0021] A pair of cylinders 54, 55 are attached to each of the pair of slide portions 52, 53. A holding portion 41 is attached to the tip of a piston rod in the cylinder 54, and a holding portion 42 is attached to the tip of a piston rod in the cylinder 55. As a result, when each of the cylinders 54, 55 is driven, each of the pair of holding portions 41, 42 can advance and retreat along the radial direction of the guide rail 51 relative to each of the pair of slide portions 52, 53.

[0022] 7, the holding portion 41 has a plate shape that is elongated in the width direction of the laminate 20, and is disposed opposite the front surface 20A of the laminate 20. The holding portion 42 has a plate shape that is elongated in the width direction of the laminate 20, and is disposed opposite the back surface 20B of the laminate 20.

[0023] 1, the pair of rollers 61, 62 are disposed behind the twist detection unit 30 in the transport direction of the laminate 20. The pair of rollers 61, 62 are disposed opposite each other with a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the laminate 20, and can hold the laminate 20 from both the front and back sides. This makes it possible to prevent the portion of the laminate 20 behind the pair of rollers 61, 62 (to the right in FIG. 1) from rotating when eliminating the twist of the laminate 20 (described in detail later).

[0024] As shown in FIG. 2, the peeling unit 70 is disposed above the rear of the conveying unit 12. The conveying unit 12 is disposed rearward of the pair of holding units 41, 42 in the conveying direction of the laminate 20 by the conveying units 11, 12. That is, the peeling unit 70 is disposed rearward of the pair of holding units 41, 42 in the conveying direction of the laminate 20 by the conveying unit 12. The peeling unit 70 has a function of peeling the first layer 21 from the second layer 22. Note that in FIG. 2, a portion of the laminate 20 consisting of the second layer 22 to the fourth layer 24 is illustrated in a simplified manner. In the following description, the portion of the laminate 20 consisting of the second layer 22 to the fourth layer 24 is referred to as a portion 28 of the laminate 20.

[0025] The peeling unit 70 includes a cylindrical cylinder body 71 and a plurality of blades 72 formed on the surface (outer circumferential surface) of the cylinder body 71. The plurality of blades 72 are formed, for example, by winding a metallic wire around the surface of the cylinder body 71. The cylinder body 71 can be rotated by a driving device (such as an electric motor) not shown.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 2, a heater 73 is provided inside the conveying section 12. The heater 73 is disposed in front of the peeling section 70 in the conveying direction of the laminate 20. The surface of the belt conveyor constituting the conveying section 12 is made of, for example, stainless steel. A roller 74 is provided above the conveying section 12 at a position corresponding to the heater 73. The roller 74 has a built-in heater, and is capable of hot pressing the laminate 20. A laser irradiation section 75 is provided below the conveying section 12. The laser irradiation section 75 is capable of irradiating a laser onto the boundary between the surface of the conveying section 12 and the first layer 21.

[0027] 10, the conveying device 10 includes a control unit 80 and a storage unit 81. The control unit 80 is mainly composed of a CPU, for example, and the storage unit 81 is composed of a ROM, a RAM, etc. The storage unit 81 and each device constituting the conveying device 10 (conveying units 11 and 12, twist detection unit 30, rotation unit 50, cylinders 54 and 55, peeling unit 70, heater 73, roller 74, laser irradiation unit 75) are electrically connected to the control unit 80. The control unit 80 executes a program stored in the storage unit 81 to control each device electrically connected to the control unit 80.

[0028] The storage unit 81 prestores color information (e.g., R value, G value, and B value) of both the front and back surfaces of the laminate 20. The control unit 80 determines that the color of the front surface (or back surface) of the laminate 20 has been detected when the R value, G value, and B value of the color information detected by the color recognition sensors 31-34 are within the respective ranges of the R value, G value, and B value of the color information of the laminate 20.

[0029] Next, the processing of the control unit 80 will be described. In a state in which the laminate 20 is normally (without twisting) conveyed by the conveying units 11 and 12, as shown in Fig. 2, the laminate 20 is heated by the heater 73 and the roller 74 and pressed against the surface of the conveying unit 12 by the roller 74. This causes the first layer 21 to be welded to the surface of the conveying unit 12. The heating temperature of the laminate 20 at this time is set to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting points of the first layer 21 and the third layer 23 (melting point of PE) and lower than the melting point of the second layer 22 and the fourth layer 24 (melting point of PET).

[0030] The control unit 80 rotates the peeling unit 70 clockwise in FIG. 2, and hooks the blades 72 on a portion 28 (the second layer 22 to the fourth layer 24) of the laminate 20, thereby peeling the first layer 21 from the portion 28. Since the laminate 20 has been heated in advance, the adhesive force between the first layer 21 and the second layer 22 is weakened, and the first layer 21 can be easily peeled off. The adhesive force between the first layer 21 and the surface of the conveying unit 12 is set to be greater than the adhesive force between the first layer 21 and the second layer 22. To achieve this, the first layer 21 and the surface of the conveying unit 12 may be made of a material that is more easily adhesive to each other.

[0031] The first layer 21 peeled off from the portion 28 of the laminate 20 is transported to the bottom of the transport section 12 while being welded to the surface of the transport section 12. Then, a laser is irradiated from the laser irradiation section 75 to the boundary between the surface of the transport section 12 and the first layer 21, thereby melting the surface of the first layer 21. This allows the first layer 21 to be removed from the surface of the transport section 12, and the first layer 21 to be collected.

[0032] Next, a process of the control unit 80 when the laminate 20 is twisted will be described. If the twist detection unit 30 detects a twist of the laminate 20 during transport of the laminate 20, the control unit 80 stops transport of the laminate 20 by the transport units 11 and 12. As shown in Fig. 1, when the laminate 20 is being transported in a normal state, the upper color recognition sensor 31 detects the color of the front surface 20A (front surface of the fourth layer 24) of the laminate 20, and the lower color recognition sensor 32 detects the color of the back surface 20B (front surface of the first layer 21) of the laminate 20.

[0033] 5 and 6, when the laminate 20 is twisted, the back surface 20B of the laminate 20 faces upward at the twisted portion. Therefore, the upper color recognition sensor 31 detects the color of the back surface 20B of the laminate 20, and the lower color recognition sensor 32 also detects the color of the back surface 20B of the laminate 20. Therefore, the control unit 80 determines that the laminate 20 is twisted when the color of the back surface 20B is detected by both of the pair of color recognition sensors 31, 32.

[0034] Also, when the laminate 20 is twisted, one of the two side ends in the width direction rises. As shown in FIG. 11, when the laminate 20 is twisted clockwise as viewed from the rear in the conveying direction, the left side end 20D of the laminate 20 rises. Therefore, the left color recognition sensor 33 detects the color of the back surface 20B of the laminate 20, and the right color recognition sensor 34 detects the color of the front surface 20A of the laminate 20. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, when the laminate 20 is twisted counterclockwise as viewed from the rear in the conveying direction, the right side end 20E of the laminate 20 rises. Therefore, the left color recognition sensor 33 detects the color of the front surface 20A of the laminate 20, and the right color recognition sensor 34 detects the color of the back surface 20B of the laminate 20. Therefore, the control unit 80 can detect the twist direction of the laminate 20 by referring to the detection results of the color recognition sensors 33 and 34.

[0035] Next, as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 8, the control unit 80 drives the cylinders 54, 55 to sandwich and hold the stack 20 between the pair of holding units 41, 42. Thereafter, as shown in Fig. 9, the control unit 80 drives the slide units 52, 53 while holding the stack 20 with the pair of holding units 41, 42, thereby rotating the pair of holding units 41, 42 by 180 degrees in the direction opposite to the twist direction of the stack 20 detected by the twist detection unit 30. This eliminates the twist of the stack 20. Then, after the twist of the stack 20 is eliminated, the control unit 80 causes the conveying units 11, 12 to resume conveying the stack 20.

[0036] Next, the effect of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, in a state where the stack 20 is held by the pair of holding parts 41, 42, the pair of holding parts 41, 42 are rotated by the rotating part 50, whereby the stack 20 can be rotated in the direction opposite to the twisting direction thereof, and the twisting of the stack 20 can be eliminated.

[0037] In addition, the rotating unit 50 is equipped with a circular guide rail 51 arranged to surround the laminate 20 centered on an axis R1 along the conveying direction of the laminate 20 by the conveying units 11 and 12, and a pair of slide portions 52 and 53 that move along the guide rail 51 and are arranged opposite each other, and each of the pair of holding portions 41 and 42 is attached to each of the pair of slide portions 52 and 53 so as to be able to advance and retreat along the radial direction of the guide rail 51.

[0038] By moving the pair of sliding portions 52, 53 along the guide rail 51, the pair of holding portions 41, 42 can be rotated around the axis R1 along the longitudinal direction of the stack 20 as the rotation axis, and the pair of holding portions 41, 42 can be moved forward and backward relative to each of the pair of sliding portions 52, 53 to hold and release the stack 20.

[0039] In addition, a peeling unit 70 is provided that is disposed rearward of the pair of holding units 41, 42 in the conveying direction of the laminate 20 by the conveying units 11, 12 and peels the first layer 21 from the second layer 22. After the twist of the laminate 20 is eliminated by the pair of holding units 41, 42, the first layer 21 can be peeled off from the second layer 22.

[0040] Moreover, the laminate 20 is an end piece 27 generated when the vehicle interior material 26 is cut out from the plate material 25. When the vehicle interior material 26 is cut out from the plate material 25, stress is applied. For this reason, the end piece 27 may have a tendency to bend due to the stress at the time of cutting out, making it prone to twisting. The above configuration can eliminate twisting of the laminate 20, and is therefore more suitable when the laminate 20 is an end piece of the vehicle interior material 26.

[0041] <Other embodiments> The technology disclosed in this specification is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, and for example, the following embodiments are also included within the technical scope. (1) In the above embodiment, the twist detection unit 30 is configured with four color recognition sensors 31 to 34, but only the color recognition sensor 31 may be used to detect the twist of the laminate 20, and only the color recognition sensor 33 may be used to detect the twist direction of the laminate 20. However, by using the four color recognition sensors 31 to 34, the detection accuracy of the twist and the twist direction can be improved. (2) When the laminate 20 is twisted as shown in Fig. 6, the laminate 20 partially overlaps and the thickness increases. For this reason, the twist of the laminate 20 may be detected by measuring the thickness of the laminate 20. The thickness of the laminate 20 may be measured, for example, by using a pair of distance sensors that sandwich the laminate 20 in the thickness direction. In addition, the accuracy of detecting the twist of the laminate 20 may be improved by using a pair of color recognition sensors 31, 32 and a pair of distance sensors in combination. (3) The color of the surface of the laminate 20 may be recognized by photographing the surface of the laminate 20 with a camera and processing the image. (4) The surface of the transfer section 12 may be made of an easily peelable material (such as Teflon (registered trademark)) to make the first layer 21 easier to remove from the surface of the transfer section 12. (5) The laminate is not limited to being elongated, and may be, for example, square. (6) In the above embodiment, the laminate has a four-layer structure, but the laminate is not limited to this. The laminate may have at least two layers. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] Reference Signs List 10... conveying device, 11, 12... conveying section, 20... laminate, 21... first layer, 22... second layer, 25... plate material, 26... vehicle interior material, 27... scrap material, 30... twist detection section, 41, 42... holding section, 50... rotating section, 51... guide rail, 52, 53... sliding section, 70... peeling section, 80... control section

Claims

1. a conveying section that conveys a laminate including a first layer and a second layer; A twist detection unit that detects the twist and twist direction of the laminate; A pair of holding parts that sandwich and hold the laminate from both the front and back sides; a rotating unit that rotates the pair of holding units about an axis along a conveying direction of the stack by the conveying unit; A control unit, When a twist of the stack is detected by the twist detection unit, the control unit stops the transport of the stack by the transport unit, and then, while holding the stack with the pair of holding units, rotates the pair of holding units in the direction opposite to the twist direction of the stack detected by the twist detection unit.

2. The rotating part is a circular guide rail arranged to surround the laminate about an axis along a conveying direction of the laminate by the conveying unit; a pair of slide parts that move along the guide rail and are disposed opposite each other, The conveying device according to claim 1 , wherein each of the pair of holding portions is attached to each of the pair of sliding portions so as to be movable forward and backward along a radial direction of the guide rail.

3. The conveying device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a peeling section disposed rearward of the pair of holding sections in a conveying direction of the laminate by the conveying section, the peeling section peeling the first layer from the second layer.

4. 3. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the laminate is an offcut generated when a vehicle interior material is cut out from a plate material.

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