Wheel conveyor receptacle and gravity conveyor using thereof

Abstract

To provide a wheel conveyor receptacle that enables easy insertion of a wheel conveyor into an insertion slot and smooth insertion work, and a gravity conveyor using thereof.SOLUTION: Wheel conveyor receptacle 1 attaches a wheel conveyor 10, which is passed along between horizontal bars 23, to the horizontal bars 23. It consists of a hook portion 7 that can be hung on the horizontal bars 23 and an insertion portion 2 into which an end portion of the wheel conveyor 10 is inserted. The wheel conveyor insertion side of the insertion portion 2 is notched so that the wheel conveyor 10 can be inserted into the insertion portion 2 while touching the upper or lower end of the insertion opening 6.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a receiver for a wheel conveyor and a gravity conveyor using the same.

Background Art

[0002] There are known conveyor sliding frame receivers (receivers for wheel conveyors) 4 and 10 for installing a long roller holding frame 2, in which a plurality of rollers (wheels) 1 are rotatably attached at a certain pitch, in a conveyor frame 3 (see Patent Document 1). The sliding frame receiver is configured by attaching, by welding or the like, a connecting tool 12 having a C-shaped cross-section for holding the end of the roller holding frame 2 to one or both sides of a main body 11 having a C-shaped or hat-shaped cross-section for installation on the conveyor frame 3.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, all of the end faces on the insertion port side of the connecting tool 12 having a C-shaped cross-section are arranged on the same plane.

[0005] Therefore, in order to facilitate the insertion of the roller holding frame 2 into the insertion port of the connector 12, it is necessary to insert the upper surface of the roller holding frame 2 against the upper end of the insertion port or the lower surface of the roller holding frame 2 against the lower end of the insertion port. However, when attempting to insert in such a manner, there is a problem that it is difficult to perform the insertion operation easily because when one side abuts, the other side interferes. Also, it becomes difficult to insert unless the roller holding frame 2 is initially aligned with the insertion port of the connector 12, so it has been taking time to construct a gravity conveyor (a conveyor without a driving source for rotating the rollers).

[0006] In addition, in the conventional sliding frame receiver of the conveyor, since it was configured to use auxiliary members such as set screws for fixing to a horizontal bar such as a conveyor frame, the number of parts increased, and an increase in cost became a problem due to the recent rise in material prices.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to create a receiver for a wheel conveyor that can easily insert the end portion of a roller holding frame into an insertion port and can reduce costs by eliminating the need for auxiliary members for fixing, and a gravity conveyor using the same, in order to solve the problems in the above-described conventional technology.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0008] Among the means for solving the above problems, the first main means of the present invention is a receiver for a wheel conveyor that attaches a wheel conveyor passed along between horizontal bars to the horizontal bars, comprising a hook portion provided so as to be capable of being hooked on the horizontal bar and an insertion portion into which an end portion of the wheel conveyor is inserted, characterized in that by making the wheel conveyor insertion side of the insertion portion into a notch shape, the wheel conveyor can be inserted into the insertion portion while abutting against the upper end or the lower end of the insertion port. In the first main means of the present invention, when the wheel conveyor is inserted with one end (upper end or lower end) of the insertion port as a guide, interference at the other end is eliminated, so that the insertion work can be carried out smoothly.

[0009] Another means of the present invention is that, in the main means of the present invention described above, the insertion portion includes a bottom wall portion, a pair of side wall portions disposed opposite to both left and right sides of the bottom wall portion, and upper pieces respectively formed on upper portions of the pair of side wall portions, and an insertion port into which the wheel conveyor is inserted is formed at least in front of these, It is added with a means in which a dimensional difference is provided in the length dimensions of the bottom wall portion and the upper piece extending from the rear to the front of the insertion portion. In the above means, it is possible to achieve the concretization of the notch shape of the insertion portion.

[0010] Another means of the invention is that, in the above means, the hook portion has a connecting wall and a pair of opposing walls disposed opposite to both front and rear sides of the connecting wall, and is formed in a substantially U-shaped opening in side view, It is added with a means in which protrusions with which the pipes constituting the horizontal crossbar abut are respectively provided on inner walls of the pair of opposing walls. In the above means, an auxiliary member for fixing can be made unnecessary, so that cost reduction can be achieved by reducing the number of parts.

[0011] The second main means of the present invention is a gravity conveyor characterized by using the receiver for the wheel conveyor described in any of the above. In the second main means of the present invention, a gravity conveyor that is easy to assemble and enables cost reduction can be achieved.

Effects of the Invention

[0012] In the present invention, since the wheel conveyor (roller holding frame) can be easily inserted into the insertion port, the time required for the insertion work and the time required to construct the gravity conveyor can be shortened. In addition, since the fixing of the receiver for the wheel conveyor to the cross bar can be performed using the protrusions projecting from the pair of opposing walls constituting the hook portion, it is possible to reduce the cost by reducing the auxiliary members.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a receiver for a wheel conveyor showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In the following, the direction in which the wheel conveyor 10 described later extends (the direction in which the luggage moves) is defined as the longitudinal direction, one of the longitudinal directions is defined as the front, and the other is defined as the rear. In Fig. 1, the direction that horizontally intersects the longitudinal direction is defined as the left-right direction, the direction that vertically intersects is defined as the up-down direction, one of the left-right directions is defined as the left side, the other is defined as the right side, one of the up-down directions is defined as the upper side, and the other is defined as the lower side for explanation.

[0015] First, the configuration of the receiver for the wheel conveyor will be described. As shown in Fig. 1, the receiver 1 for a wheel conveyor according to the present invention is formed by, for example, pressing a metal plate material. An insertion portion 2 is provided at the front position into which an end portion of a wheel conveyor 10 described later is inserted, and a hook portion 7 for hooking onto a cross bar 23 described later is provided at the rear position.

[0016] The insertion portion 2 has a flat bottom wall portion 3 horizontally disposed downward, a pair of side wall portions 4 erected on both left and right sides of the bottom wall portion 3, and upper pieces 5 bent in a direction approaching each other at the upper portions of the pair of side wall portions 4. When viewed from the side, the wheel conveyor insertion side (front) is formed in a notch shape, and an insertion opening 6 is formed at the front position thereof. Note that a pair of holes 4a are formed in the pair of side wall portions 4 at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction, but a configuration without the pair of holes 4a may also be adopted.

[0017] When viewed from the side (when the side wall portion 4 is seen from one side in the left - right direction), the rear end portion of the side wall portion 4 is linearly formed along the vertical direction. As a result, the rear end portion of the bottom wall portion 3 and the rear end portion of the upper piece 5 are located on the same straight line. On the other hand, a dimensional difference is provided between the length dimension of the bottom wall portion 3 extending from the rear to the front of the insertion portion 2 and the length dimension of the upper piece 5. In the first embodiment, the front end portion of the bottom wall portion 3 protrudes forward of the front end portion of the upper piece 5, so that the front end 4A of the side wall portion 4 is formed in an upward - inclined shape toward the rear.

[0018] The hook portion 7 has a flat connecting wall 8 horizontally disposed at the upper position and a pair of opposing walls 9 bent on both front and rear sides of the connecting wall 8, and is formed in a substantially U - shaped shape when viewed from the side. It is formed by disposing one of the opposing walls 9 at the rear position of the insertion portion 2. Protrusions 9a protruding in a direction approaching each other are integrally provided at the central portions of the inner walls of one of the opposing walls 9. Also in the first embodiment, a cost reduction is achieved by reducing the material by drilling an opening 8a at the central portion of the connecting wall 8, but a configuration without the opening 8a can also be adopted.

[0019] The bottom wall portion 3 of the insertion portion 2 and the opposing wall 9 on the front side of the hook portion 7 may be integrally formed by bending a metal plate, or may be a configuration in which the separately formed insertion portion 2 and hook portion 7 are connected by a method such as welding.

[0020] Next, the attachment of the wheel conveyor receiver to the wheel conveyor will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the wheel conveyor 10 shown in the present embodiment has a roller holding frame 11 having a rectangular shape in plan view extending along the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of rollers (wheels) 12 having a rotation axis extending along the left-right direction. The plurality of rollers 12 are arranged in the roller holding frame 11 so as to be rollable along the longitudinal direction at a constant pitch.

[0021] As shown in FIGS. 2(a) to (e), the end portion of the wheel conveyor 10 (which is also the end portion of the roller holding frame 11) is inserted into the insertion portion 2 of the wheel conveyor receiver 1 for attachment. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2(a), the insertion portion 2 side is set to an inclined posture with the upper side facing upward (working procedure 1). Next, as shown in FIG. 2(b), in this inclined posture state, first, the front end portion 3a of the bottom wall portion 3 is brought into contact with the lower end portion 11a of the roller holding frame 11 (working procedure 2). Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 2(c) and (d), the hook portion 7 side is lifted to shift the wheel conveyor receiver 1 to a horizontal posture, and the end portion of the roller holding frame 11 and the insertion port 6 are made to face each other (working procedure 3). Finally, as shown in FIG. 2(e), the wheel conveyor receiver 1 is slid along the longitudinal direction and approached to a position where the front opposing wall 9 contacts the end portion of the roller holding frame 11, and the end portion of the wheel conveyor 10 (roller holding frame 11) is inserted into the insertion port 6 for attachment (working procedure 4). In this way, by performing the insertion work according to working procedures 1 to 4, the attachment of the wheel conveyor receiver 1 to the end portion of the wheel conveyor 10 is completed. In addition, the same wheel conveyor receiver 1 as described above is also attached to the other end portion in the longitudinal direction of the wheel conveyor 10.

[0022] The receiver 1 for the wheel conveyor shown in the first embodiment is configured such that the front end portion 3a of the bottom wall portion 3 protrudes forward of the front end portion 5a of the upper piece 5 as described above. Therefore, in the above-described insertion operation, even if the front end portion 3a of the bottom wall portion 3 comes into contact with the lower end portion 11a of the roller holding frame 11, it is possible to avoid the front end portion 5a of the upper piece 5 from coming into contact with the upper end portion 11b of the roller holding frame 11. For this reason, unlike the conventional case, one does not interfere with the other when one comes into contact, and since the receiver 1 for the wheel conveyor can be smoothly shifted from the inclined posture to the horizontal posture, the insertion operation can be easily performed. Also, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to align the end portion of the roller holding frame 11 with the insertion port 6 from the first stage of the work procedure, and it is sufficient to align it from the above-described work procedure 3. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the time required for the insertion operation and further the time required to construct the gravity conveyor 20 described later.

[0023] Next, the gravity conveyor 20 using the wheel conveyor 10 with the receivers 1 for the wheel conveyor attached to both ends in the longitudinal direction will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the entirety of the gravity conveyor using the receiver for the wheel conveyor, FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where the wheel conveyor is attached to the cross bar.

[0024] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the gravity conveyor 20 shown in the present embodiment includes a plurality of X pipes 22 extending in the longitudinal direction, a plurality of Y pipes 23 (hereinafter referred to as "cross bars 23") extending in the left-right direction to form the cross bars 23, a Z pipe 24 extending in the vertical direction, and a plurality of joints 25 for connecting these, and is assembled into a conveyor frame 21 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a plurality of wheel conveyors 10 installed between a pair of cross bars 23 facing each other on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor frame 21, and the above-described receiver 1 for the wheel conveyor.

[0025] The front Y - pipe 23 and the rear Y - pipe 23 that constitute the pair of cross - bars 23 have a height difference at their mounting positions. That is, the Y - pipe 23 on the feeding side (rear) of the luggage moving on the wheel conveyor 10 is mounted at a position higher than the receiving side (front) Y - pipe 23. As a result, when the luggage is placed on the wheel conveyor 10, the luggage tries to slide down linearly from the feeding side (rear) to the receiving side (front) on the wheel conveyor 10, and the rollers 12 automatically roll. Therefore, it is possible to freely move the luggage without having a drive source.

[0026] The wheel conveyor 10 is installed by inserting the cross - bars 23 between a pair of opposing walls 9 that constitute the hook portion 7 of the wheel - conveyor receiver 1, respectively. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the protrusions 9a respectively protruding from the inner walls of the pair of opposing walls 9 that constitute the hook portion 7 sandwich and latch the cross - bar 23 from both sides in the front - rear direction, so that it is possible to prevent the hook portion 7 from accidentally falling off the cross - bar 23. Thus, in the present invention, without using auxiliary members such as set screws as in the prior art, the cross - bar 23 can be fixed by the pair of protrusions 9a provided on the hook portion 7, so that cost reduction can be achieved by reducing the number of parts.

[0027] Figures 6(a) - (f) are perspective views of a wheel - conveyor receiver showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 6(a), by protruding the front end of the upper piece 5 further forward than the front end of the bottom wall portion 3, the front end 4A of the side wall portion 4 is formed in an inversely inclined shape (the front end 4A is inclined downward toward the rear) with respect to the first embodiment. Therefore, the direction in which the wheel - conveyor receiver 1 is inclined in the working procedure is reversed. That is, in working procedure 1, the insertion - part 2 side is set to an inclined posture facing downward. In working procedure 2, first, the front - end part 5a of the upper piece 5 is brought into contact with the upper - end part 11b of the roller - holding frame 11. In the subsequent working procedure 3, by pushing down the hook - portion 7 side and shifting the wheel - conveyor receiver 1 to a horizontal posture, the end of the roller - holding frame 11 and the insertion port 6 are made to face each other. After that, the last working procedure 4 is performed in the same manner as above.

[0028] In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 6(b), the front ends 4A of the side wall portions 4 on both the left and right sides are in the same state as in the first embodiment (upwardly inclined rearward), but are formed in a curved shape. In the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 6(c), a large opening is formed in the central portion of the connecting wall 8, and the central portion is extended upward from the rear facing wall 9. In the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 6(d), only the front facing wall 9 is extended upward to provide a height difference between the insertion portion 2 and the hook portion 7. In the sixth embodiment shown in FIG. 6(e), insertion portions 2 are respectively provided on both sides in the front-rear direction of the hook portion 7. In this embodiment, the wheel conveyor 10 can be connected and extended in the longitudinal direction. In the seventh embodiment shown in FIG. 6(f), the hook portion 7 is provided on the lower surface of the insertion portion 2, so that the insertion port 6 opens forward and backward.

[0029] As described above, the configuration of the present invention and its operation and effects have been described according to the embodiments. However, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, the aspect of the wheel conveyor 10 constituting the gravity conveyor 20 is illustrated in the case where there is a dimensional difference between the width dimension in the left-right direction and the width dimension in the up-down direction. However, even in the case where there is no dimensional difference, the corresponding insertion portion 6 may be the width dimension of the wheel conveyor 10. In addition, the case of a rectangular shape in plan view extending along the longitudinal direction has been shown and described. However, the wheel conveyor 10 may have a curved configuration.

[0030] In addition, the gravity conveyor 20 may be in a rack shape in which a plurality of wheel conveyors 10 are arranged in multiple stages.

[0031] Furthermore, the case where the Y-pipe constituting the cross bar 23 has a circular cross section (see FIG. 5) has been shown and described. However, the cross bar 23 may have a polygonal cross section.

[0032] In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which one protrusion 9a is disposed at the center of the inner wall of the pair of opposing walls 9 has been described. However, a configuration in which a plurality of protrusions 9a are formed on each inner wall of the opposing walls 9 with a predetermined interval in the left-right direction may also be used. Furthermore, the protrusion 9a may be formed over the entire inner wall of each opposing wall 9, or may be formed continuously via the connecting wall 8. The size of the protrusion 9a may be large or small as long as it can fix the horizontal bar 23. Alternatively, the opposing wall 9 may serve as the protrusion 9a, that is, the opposing wall 9 may be in contact with the horizontal bar 23, or may be formed in a rounded bend together with the connecting wall 8, that is, formed along the horizontal bar 23.

Industrial Applicability

[0033] The present invention can further expand the application development in the field of wheel conveyor receivers and gravity conveyors using the same in a wider area.

Explanation of Signs

[0034] 1: Wheel conveyor receiver 2: Insertion part 3: Bottom wall part 4: Side wall part 4A: Front end 4a: Hole 5: Upper piece 6: Insertion port 7: Hook part 8: Connecting wall 8a: Opening 9: Opposing wall 9a: Protrusion 10: Wheel conveyor 11: Roller holding frame 11a: Lower end part of roller holding frame 11b: Upper end part of roller holding frame 12: Roller 20: Gravity conveyor 21: Conveyor frame 22: X pipe 23: Y pipe (horizontal bar)​ 24: Z-pipe 25: Joint

Claims

1. A wheel conveyor receiver (1) for attaching a wheel conveyor (10) passed along between cross bars (23) to the cross bars (23), comprising a hook portion (7) provided so as to be capable of being hooked on the cross bar (23), and an insertion portion (2) into which an end portion of the wheel conveyor (10) is inserted, The wheel conveyor receiver is characterized in that by forming the wheel conveyor insertion side of the insertion portion (2) in a notch shape, the wheel conveyor (10) can be inserted into the insertion portion (2) while being brought into contact with the upper end or the lower end of the insertion port (6).

2. The insertion portion (2) includes a bottom wall portion (3), a pair of side wall portions (4) disposed opposite to both left and right sides of the bottom wall portion (3), and upper pieces (5) respectively formed on upper portions of the pair of side wall portions (4), and an insertion port (6) into which the wheel conveyor (10) is inserted is formed at least in front of these, The wheel conveyor receiver according to claim 1, characterized in that a dimensional difference is provided in the length dimensions of the bottom wall portion (3) and the upper piece (5) extending from the rear to the front of the insertion portion (2).

3. The hook portion (7) has a connecting wall (8) and a pair of opposing walls (9) disposed opposite to both front and rear sides of the connecting wall (8), and is formed to be open in a substantially U shape in side view, The wheel conveyor receiver according to claim 2, characterized in that protrusions (9a) with which a pipe constituting the cross bar (23) abuts are respectively provided on inner walls of the pair of opposing walls (9).

4. A gravity conveyor, characterized in that the wheel conveyor receiver (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is used.

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