Article conveying device

Abstract

To provide an article conveying device capable of conveying articles by dispersing and arranging them on a branch conveying passage in an appropriate direction by suppressing cost increase and increase in maintenance frequency without making a large change to existing facilities with a simple configuration.SOLUTION: An article conveying device 100 has: a main conveying passage 110 for conveying an article W; a branch conveying passage 120 branching from the main conveying passage 110; a connecting conveying passage 130 passing the article W from the main conveying passage 110 to the branch conveying passage 120; a control unit controlling the connecting conveying passage 130; and an acceleration / deceleration mechanism for increasing / decreasing a conveying speed T1 of the connecting conveying passage 130, wherein the main conveying passage 110 has: an article carrying out mechanism 113 for carrying out the article W; and a detection unit 114 for detecting the article W, and the control unit controls the acceleration / deceleration mechanism based on detection information of the detection unit 114 to increase / decrease the conveying speed T1 of the connecting conveying passage 130.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an article transport apparatus having a main transport path along which articles are transported, and a branch transport path branching off from the main transport path and transporting articles to a next process. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, an item transport device (transport equipment) for transporting items has been disclosed in Patent Document 1, which has a main transport path (main transport route) and a branch transport path (branch transport route) that branches off from the main transport path and transports items to the next process.

[0003] The article conveying device (conveying equipment) known in Patent Document 1 is provided with a branching means at a branching point of a main conveying path (main conveying route 8), and a branched conveying path (branched conveying route 16) is formed by branching off at an acute branching angle relative to the main conveying path (main conveying route 8).

[0004] An item (transported object W) being transported on the main conveying path (main conveying route 8) is moved to the branching conveying path (branching conveying route 16) by the branching means, passes through the receiving conveyor section 12 and the width-shifting conveyor section 13, and is transported downstream by the direct conveyor section 14. In addition, an endless rotating belt 37 is arranged on the outer side of the receiving conveyor section 12 and the outer side of the width adjustment conveyor section 13, and is configured to be able to receive an article (conveyed object W) from the side.Therefore, when a corner of the front end of the article (conveyed object W) abuts against the belt 37 of the receiving conveyor section 12, a rotational force is applied to the article (conveyed object W), so that the article (conveyed object W) can be corrected to an orientation suitable for transportation and transported downstream of the branch conveying path (branch conveying route 16). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2005-082351 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, there is still room for improvement in the article transport devices known in the above patent documents and the like. In other words, the item conveying device known from Patent Document 1 has a special device composed of a belt or the like arranged on a branch conveying path, and therefore there is a risk of increased costs and maintenance frequency if it is applied to existing equipment that has wall-like, non-moving guides, etc. arranged. In addition, because the article is actively pressed against the belt to correct its orientation, there is a risk that the article may become deformed, or, depending on the material or shape of the article, it may get caught on the belt and stop the device. Furthermore, in a branch conveying path that is arranged perpendicular to the main conveying path, it is difficult to actively move articles in a direction in which they hit the belt on the side of the branch conveying path, and this requires the installation of new special equipment, which could increase costs.

[0007] The present invention aims to solve these problems and provide an item transport device that has a simple configuration, does not require major changes to existing equipment, suppresses increases in costs and maintenance frequency, and is capable of distributing and transporting items in an appropriate orientation and in a balanced manner on branch transport paths. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The item transporting device of the present invention is an item transporting device having a main transport path for transporting items within the device, a branch transport path that branches off from the main transport path and transports items to a next process, a connecting transport path that transfers items from the main transport path to the branch transport path, a control unit for controlling the connecting transport path, and an acceleration / deceleration mechanism for accelerating and decelerating the transport speed of the connecting transport path, wherein the main transport path has an item discharge mechanism capable of discharging items to the connecting transport path, and a detection unit for detecting items on the main transport path, and the control unit solves the above problem by controlling the acceleration / deceleration mechanism based on detection information from the detection unit to accelerate and decelerate the transport speed of the connecting transport path. Effect of the Invention

[0009] In the item conveying device of claim 1, the control unit controls the acceleration / deceleration mechanism based on the detection information from the detection unit to accelerate or decelerate the conveying speed of the connecting conveying path, so that by simply accelerating or decelerating the conveying speed of the connecting conveying path, which is widely used as general existing equipment, it is possible to adjust the difference in conveying speed between the connecting conveying path and the branching conveying path, thereby correcting the orientation of the item to be suitable for conveying on the branching conveying path or adjusting the conveying position on the branching conveying path. This makes it possible, for example, if a general-purpose anti-fall guide is provided on the side of a branch conveying path, to prevent items from being transported to a position on the branch conveying path where they would interfere with the anti-fall guide, and to prevent, for example, long items from getting caught in the anti-fall guide and becoming stuck between the connecting conveying path and the branch conveying path. In addition, there is no need to replace general-purpose fall prevention guides with belts, etc., which helps prevent increased costs for equipment renewal and increased maintenance frequency. Furthermore, since the articles can be arranged in a well-balanced manner on the branch transport paths, the entire branch transport paths can be used effectively, and transport efficiency can be improved.

[0010] According to the configuration of claim 2, the acceleration / deceleration mechanism is configured to be able to adjust the conveying speed of the branch conveying path, so that the conveying position of the article on the branch conveying path can be adjusted even more efficiently and accurately. According to the configuration described in claim 3, the acceleration / deceleration mechanism is configured to accelerate and decelerate the conveying speed of an item on the connecting conveying path in at least two stages, so that the optimal conveying speed can be selected to convey an item on the connecting conveying path based on the detection information from the detection unit.

[0011] According to the configuration described in claim 4, the detection information of the detection unit is the length along the conveying direction of the item on the main conveying path, so the control unit can accelerate or decelerate the conveying speed of the item on the connecting conveying path based on the information on the length along the conveying direction of the item, to more accurately correct the orientation of the item to a suitable direction for conveyance on the branch conveying path, or more accurately adjust the conveying position on the branch conveying path. According to the configuration of claim 5, the detection unit is composed of a sensor capable of detecting the beginning and end of an article, so that the detection unit can be composed of an inexpensive and easily procured sensor, thereby reducing manufacturing costs. In addition, the length of the item can be easily and reliably recognized simply by using a sensor to detect the start and end of the item's conveying direction on the main conveying path, and the orientation of the item on the branch conveying path can be reliably corrected to the appropriate orientation by adjusting the speed of the connecting conveying path using the acceleration / deceleration mechanism of the control unit based on the information on the item's length.

[0012] According to the configuration described in claim 6, the detection information of the detection unit is the shape of the article, so that the acceleration / deceleration mechanism can be operated based on information on the three-dimensional shape, not just the length of the article along the conveying direction, to adjust the conveying speed of the article on the connecting conveying path to a more optimal speed, thereby more reliably correcting the orientation of the article on the branch conveying path to the appropriate orientation. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a top view of an article transport apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1A to 1C are explanatory diagrams showing a conveying method 1 and a conveying method 2 of an article conveying apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is an enlarged view of part A showing a conveying method 1 of an article conveying apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4]3 is an enlarged view of part B showing a first conveying method of the article conveying apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 5] 4 is an enlarged view of part A showing a conveying method 2 of the article conveying apparatus 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 6] 4 is an enlarged view of part B, showing a conveying method 2 of the article conveying apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] An article transport apparatus 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that only the main transport path 110 near the branch transport path 120 is shown.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, an item conveying apparatus 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention has a main conveying path 110 for conveying items W, a branch conveying path 120 that branches off from the main conveying path 110 and conveys items W to a next process, a connecting conveying path 130 that transfers items W from the main conveying path 110 to the branch conveying path 120, a control unit (not shown) that controls the connecting conveying path 130, and a storage area 140 downstream of the branch conveying path 120 for placing items W.

[0016] The main conveying path 110 has a main conveying conveyor 111 that conveys items W in the conveying direction of the main conveying path 110 at a predetermined conveying speed, main conveying guides 112 which are fall prevention guides provided on both sides of the main conveying conveyor 111, an item discharge mechanism 113 that can discharge items W from the main conveying conveyor 111 to the side of the main conveying conveyor 111 toward the connecting conveying path 130, and a detection unit 114 that detects items W.

[0017] The branch conveying path 120 has a branch conveying conveyor 121 that conveys the item W in the conveying direction of the branch conveying path 120 (in Figure 1, a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the main conveying path 110) at a predetermined conveying speed, and a branch conveying guide 122, which is a fall prevention guide provided on both sides of the branch conveying conveyor 121. The connecting conveying path 130 has a connecting conveying conveyor 131 that conveys the item W conveyed from the item discharge mechanism 113 to the branch conveying path 120 at an arbitrary conveying speed, a connecting conveying guide 132 which is a fall prevention guide provided on the side of the connecting conveying conveyor 131, an acceleration / deceleration mechanism (not shown) that switches the conveying speed of the connecting conveying conveyor 131 between two modes: a low speed mode and a high speed mode which is faster than the low speed mode, and a control unit (not shown) that controls the acceleration / deceleration mechanism (not shown). The control unit (not shown) is configured to be able to communicate with the detection unit 114, and based on information about the items W (W1, W2) obtained from the detection unit 114 (hereinafter referred to as detection information), can instruct the acceleration / deceleration mechanism (not shown) to switch the conveying speed T1 of the connecting conveyor 131 between a low-speed mode and a high-speed mode.

[0018] The main conveyor 111, the branch conveyor 121, and the connecting conveyor 131 are not particularly limited in configuration as long as they are each capable of conveying the item W in a predetermined conveying direction, and may be, for example, a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor.

[0019] Next, a method for transporting an item W1 and a large item W2, the sides of which are longer than those of the item W1, using the item transport apparatus 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0020] First, a method for conveying the item W1 (hereinafter referred to as conveying method 1) will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an article W1 on the main transport conveyor 111 is transported at a predetermined transport speed Tm on the main transport conveyor 111 and passes a detection unit 114 provided upstream of the article discharge mechanism 113. At this time, if the detection unit 114 is a sensor with a simple configuration, such as a reflective sensor, the start and end of the article W1 in the conveying direction can be detected and acquired as detection information. Furthermore, if the detection unit 114 is a camera or the like, the shape of the item W1 and its detailed position and orientation on the main transport conveyor 111 can be easily detected and acquired as detection information.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 4, the item W1 that has passed the detection unit 114 is transported by the item discharge mechanism 113 from the main conveying path 110 to the connecting conveying path 130 at a predetermined discharge speed, and travels on the connecting conveying conveyor 131 along the connecting conveying guide 132. At this time, by operating the article discharge mechanism 113 at a predetermined timing based on the detection information of the article W1, the article W1 can be discharged in an aligned position along the connecting transport guide 132 on the connecting transport conveyor 131. The specific configuration of the item discharge mechanism 113 is not particularly limited, and for example, the item W1 may be discharged to the connecting conveying path 130 by multiple diverting rollers that can freely switch the turning direction, or the item discharge mechanism 113 may be configured so that the side opposite to the adjacent part to the connecting conveying path 130 is raised to form a slope that slopes toward the connecting conveying path 130, thereby sliding the item W1 down to the connecting conveying path 130, or the item may be discharged in a direction different from the running direction of the connecting conveying path 130.

[0022] Since item W1 is sufficiently small relative to the width of the branch conveying conveyor 121 and is transferred from the item discharge mechanism 113 to the branch conveying conveyor 121 in a short time, the control unit (not shown) recognizes, based on the detection information of the shape of item W1 obtained from the shape detection unit 114, that the length of the side of item W1 along the connecting conveying guide 132 is suitable for conveying in high-speed mode, and by using an acceleration / deceleration mechanism (not shown) to set the conveying speed T1 of the connecting conveying conveyor 131 to high-speed mode, item W1 can be quickly conveyed toward the branch conveying path 120. After being quickly conveyed on the connecting conveyor 131 in high-speed mode, the article W1 is carried out onto the branch conveyor 121 of the branch conveyor path 120 and conveyed on the branch conveyor 121 at a conveying speed T2.

[0023] The article W1 discharged onto the branch transport conveyor 121 is discharged to the storage area 140 at a transport speed T2. In addition, by switching between high-speed mode and low-speed mode and accelerating or decelerating the conveying speed T1 of the connecting conveying conveyor 131, it is possible to adjust, for example, the momentum of the item W1 being conveyed from the connecting conveying conveyor 131 to the branch conveying conveyor 121, thereby adjusting the position at which the item W1 is conveyed on the branch conveying conveyor 121. This allows the articles W1 to be distributed on the branch transport conveyors 121 and transported efficiently. Furthermore, for example, if the accumulation state of items in the storage area 140 can be confirmed by the control unit, the items W can be transported to any position on the branch transport conveyor 121 by adjusting the conveying speed T1 by switching between high-speed and low-speed modes using an acceleration / deceleration mechanism (not shown) so that the items W can be accumulated in a balanced manner in the storage area 140.

[0024] Next, a method for conveying item W2 (hereinafter referred to as conveying method 2) will be described. Note that some of the explanations that overlap with the method for transporting item W1 will be omitted. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the article W2 on the main transport conveyor 111 is transported at a predetermined transport speed Tm on the main transport conveyor 111 and passes through a detection unit 114 provided upstream of the article discharge mechanism 113.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 6, item W2 that has passed through detection unit 114 is transported by item discharge mechanism 113 from main conveying path 110 to connecting conveying path 130 at a predetermined discharge speed, and travels on connecting conveying conveyor 131 along connecting conveying guide 132. At this time, by operating the article discharge mechanism 113 at a predetermined timing based on the detection information of the article W2, the article W2 can be discharged in an aligned position along the connection transport guide 132 on the connection transport conveyor 131.

[0026] If item W2 is larger than item W1 and the difference between the length of the side (long side) of item W2 along the connecting conveying guide 132 and the width of the branch conveying conveyor 121 is small, if the conveying speed T1 of the connecting conveying conveyor 131 is set to the high-speed mode as when conveying item W1, there is a risk that item W2 will come into contact with the branch conveying guide 122 at a position opposite the connecting conveying conveyor 131 of the branch conveying conveyor 121 and be damaged.

[0027] However, the present invention recognizes, based on the detection information of item W2 obtained by shape detection unit 114, that the long side of item W2 is of a length suitable for transportation in low speed mode, and by using an acceleration / deceleration mechanism (not shown) to set the transport speed T1 of the connecting transport conveyor 131 to low speed mode, it is possible to ensure time for the long side of item W2 to be gently corrected to align with the transport direction of the branch transport conveyor 121 when transferring from the connecting transport conveyor 131 to the branch transport conveyor 121. This allows the item W2 to be reliably transported to the storage area 140 without coming into strong contact with the branch conveying guide 122. In addition, by setting the conveying speed T1 in the low-speed mode to a slower speed, the direction of the article W2 can be changed so that the long side of the article W2 is reliably aligned with the conveying direction of the branching conveyor 121.

[0028] As described above, as long as an item can be transported on the main conveying conveyor 111, regardless of its shape or size, the length of the side of the item W along the connecting conveying guide 132 can be determined from the detection information, and the control unit (not shown) can operate an acceleration / deceleration mechanism (not shown) to switch the conveying speed T1 of the connecting conveying conveyor 131 to a low speed mode or a high speed mode to adjust the speed difference with the conveying speed T2 of the branch conveying conveyor 121.This allows the item W to be corrected to the correct orientation on the branch conveying conveyor 121 without the item being hit hard against or caught on the branch conveying guide 122, and can be transported safely and reliably without deforming or damaging the item, and the item W can be transported quickly to the downstream side of the branch conveying path 120. Furthermore, since the orientation of the item W can be adjusted simply by adjusting the timing of the item W being discharged by the item discharge mechanism 113 and the conveying speed T1 of the connecting conveyor 131 by operating the acceleration / deceleration mechanism (not shown) using a control unit (not shown), the equipment itself can be configured in the same way as before, and there is no need to replace, for example, the connecting conveying guide 132, which is a fall prevention guide for the connecting conveying path 130, with a special configuration such as a belt with moving parts, thereby suppressing increases in costs required for equipment renewal and increases in maintenance frequency.

[0029] In addition, the conveying speed T1 of the connecting conveyor 131 does not need to be limited to two types, a low-speed mode and a high-speed mode, but may, for example, have three modes by providing a medium-speed mode that is faster than the low-speed mode and slower than the high-speed mode, and may be configured to be continuously adjustable to a predetermined conveying speed suitable for conveying the item W to the branch conveying path 130 according to the size of the item W. Furthermore, if the acceleration / deceleration mechanism (not shown) is configured to be able to accelerate or decelerate the conveying speed T2 of the branch conveying conveyor 121, the speed difference between the conveying speeds T1 and T2 can be more flexibly adjusted to match the size of the item W without excessively accelerating or decelerating the conveying speed T1. Furthermore, if an article alignment mechanism is provided that can adjust the article W to a predetermined orientation on the main conveying path 110 in advance, for example, the longitudinal direction of the article W on the main conveying path 110 can be align- ed with the conveying direction of the main conveying path 110 by the article alignment mechanism, thereby enabling the shape detection unit 114 to more reliably detect the beginning and end of the longitudinal direction of the article W, and the conveying speed T1 can be adjusted more accurately.

[0030] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various design modifications can be made without departing from the present invention described in the claims.

[0031] In the above embodiment, the conveying direction of the branch conveying path is described as being perpendicular to the conveying direction of the main conveying path, but the conveying direction of the branch conveying path is not limited to this. In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the main conveying path, the branch conveying path, and the connecting conveying path are each described as being provided with a fall prevention guide, but the configuration of the main conveying path, the branch conveying path, and the connecting conveying path is not limited to this, and for example, there may be no fall prevention guide, and a fall prevention guide may be provided only on one side of the main conveying path or the branch conveying path.

[0032] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, a storage area is provided downstream of the branch conveying path, but the configuration downstream of the branch conveying path is not limited to this, and for example, the branch conveying path may be directly connected to the next process from downstream, or may be configured so that an operator receives items directly from the end of the branch conveying path. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 100 Article transport device 110 Main conveyor path 111 Main transport conveyor 112 Main transport guide (fall prevention guide) 113... Goods delivery mechanism 114 Detector 120 Branching conveying path 121 Branching conveyor 122 Branching transport guide (fall prevention guide) 130 Connecting conveyor path 131 Connecting conveyor 132 Connection transport guide (fall prevention guide) 140 Storage area W(W1, W2) ··· Goods Tm: Transport speed of the main transport conveyor T1: Transport speed of the connecting conveyor T2: Transfer speed of the branch transfer conveyor

Claims

1. An article transport device having a main transport path for transporting articles within the device, a branch transport path branching off from the main transport path for transporting articles to a next process, a connection transport path for transferring articles from the main transport path to the branch transport path, a control unit for controlling the connection transport path, and an acceleration / deceleration mechanism for accelerating and decelerating a transport speed of the connection transport path, the main transport path includes an article discharge mechanism capable of discharging an article to the connecting transport path side, and a detection unit that detects an article on the main transport path, The control unit controls the acceleration / deceleration mechanism based on detection information from the detection section to accelerate or decelerate the conveying speed of the connecting conveying path.

2. 2. The article transport device according to claim 1, wherein the acceleration / deceleration mechanism is configured to be able to adjust the transport speed of the branch transport path.

3. 2. The article transport device according to claim 1, wherein the acceleration / deceleration mechanism is configured to be able to accelerate and decelerate the transport speed of the connecting transport path in at least two stages.

4. The article transport apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the detection information from the detection unit is a length along a transport direction of the article on the main transport path.

5. 5. The article transport device according to claim 4, wherein the detection unit is configured with a sensor capable of detecting a start end and a finish end of an article.

6. The article transport apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information detected by the detector is a shape of an article.

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