Conveying / aligning system

Abstract

To provide a conveying / aligning system that can suppress a dropped conveyed article from contacting a conveyed article below the dropped conveyed article, so that the number of conveyed articles per unit time can be increased.SOLUTION: The conveying / aligning system comprises a conveying conveyor 110 on which a number of conveyed articles 200 are taken out from a conveyed article storage part 101 that can store the conveyed articles 200 and then are conveyed to a conveying-out mechanism part 102 provided above the conveyed article storage part. The conveying conveyor 110 has a conveying surface 111 comprising a support bar 112 on which a plurality of conveyed articles 200 are supported in a width direction. The support bar 112 has a forward protruding part 131 extending in a direction in which the part separates from the conveying surface 111, at a tip side of a supporting surface 121 on which the conveyed articles 200 are held.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a conveying and aligning system having a conveying mechanism for conveying a large number of conveyed objects, such as a large number of caps for closing the mouths of containers, in an aligned state. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in factories equipped with filling lines that fill and package bottle-shaped containers with beverages and other contents, caps are supplied in a sequential order according to the number of filled containers being transported in order to seal the mouths of the containers. In such a filling line, a large number of caps are first supplied to a transported article storage section, and then the caps are removed from the transported article storage section and supplied in an aligned state. Recently, filling lines have become faster, and there is a demand for a system that can quickly remove and align caps from the transported goods storage section.

[0003] As an example of such a conveying and aligning system, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, a conveying and aligning system 500 is known, which conveys a large number of caps C stored in a conveying object storage section 501 upward in rows using a conveying conveyor 510 having a conveying surface 511 with support bars 512 in the width direction, and then discharges them to the side using a blowing mechanism 550 above, thereby aligning them in a single row. In this conveying system, the center of gravity of the caps C is located on the top wall side when viewed in the axial direction, and the height of the support bars 512 is made lower than the height of the caps C, so that when the caps are removed one row at a time upward from the transported item storage section 501 by the support bars 512 on the transport surface 511, only the caps C whose top wall faces the transport surface 511 side are supported by the support bars 512 and transported upward, and the caps C whose open side faces the transport surface 511 side fall off and return to the transported item storage section 501 because their center of gravity is located outside the support bars 512.

[0004] When the caps C are conveyed to the discharge mechanism 502 , they are pressure-fed toward the alignment path 560 by the airflow generated by the blow mechanism 550 . At this time, since the conveying surface 511 is continuously driven, the caps C located farther from the alignment path 560 enter the alignment path 560 from above, so the alignment path 560 has a vertical width that is multiple of the spacing between the support bars 512, and the alignment path 560 is configured so that its vertical width becomes smaller toward the discharge path 570 so that the caps are aligned in a row in the discharge path 570. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4917038 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 3876201 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the conveying and alignment systems known in Patent Documents 1 and 2, etc., the conveyor is operated continuously, so even if the open side faces the conveying surface, the object will be lifted up by the support bars to a certain height and then fall off. When falling off, there is a risk that the object will come into contact with an object supported by a support bar below, causing an object that should be supported normally below with its top wall facing the conveying surface to fall off. In order to prevent such falling off, it was necessary to slow down the speed of the conveyor. This inevitably led to a decrease in the number of items transported per unit time.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a conveying and aligning system that can prevent falling objects from coming into contact with objects below, thereby increasing the number of objects that can be conveyed per unit time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention solves the above problem by comprising a transport item storage section capable of storing a large number of transport items, and a transport conveyor that removes the transport items from the transport item storage section and transports them to an unloading mechanism section located above, wherein the transport conveyor is a transport alignment system having a transport surface with support bars that can support multiple transport items in the width direction, and the support bars have a forward protrusion extending away from the transport surface at the tip side of the support surface that holds the transport items, and the forward protrusion has an upper surface that includes a portion that is lower in the vertical direction than the support surface. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the conveying and alignment system of the invention of claim 1, the support bar has a forward protrusion that extends away from the conveying surface at the tip side of the support surface that holds the conveyed object.Therefore, when the conveyed object falls off after being lifted up to a certain height by the support bar, the forward protrusion causes the object to move away from the conveying surface and fall off, thereby preventing the conveyed object from coming into contact with objects below, and making it possible to increase the number of items conveyed per unit time.

[0010] According to the configurations of claims 2 to 8, contact between conveyed objects and objects below can be further suppressed, making it possible to increase the number of conveyed objects per unit time. According to the configurations described in claims 9 to 12, if the transported object has a protrusion on part of its side, even if the protrusion comes into contact with the support bar and the posture of the transported object changes, the part where the protrusion does not exist will be supported by the protruding rib of the support bar with only a slight posture change, thereby suppressing large posture changes of the transported object and making it possible to increase the number of items transported per unit time. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view of a conveying and aligning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a front view of a conveying and aligning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 1 is a top view of a conveying and aligning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] Three-view of the support beam. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a cap as a transported item. [Figure 6] An explanatory diagram of when the flange of the cap is positioned below the support bar. [Figure 7] 1A and 1B are front and side views of a conventional conveying and aligning system. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a carry-out mechanism of a conventional conveying and aligning system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Example]

[0012] As shown in Figures 1 to 3, a conveying and alignment system 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention has a transport item storage section 101 that can store a large number of caps 200, which are transport items, and a transport conveyor 110 that removes the caps 200 from the transport item storage section 101 and transports them to an ejection mechanism section 102 located above. The transport conveyor 110 has a transport surface 111 provided with support bars 112 capable of supporting a plurality of caps 200 in the width direction.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 5, the cap 200, which is the transported item in this embodiment, is a hinge cap consisting of a main body 210 having a top wall 211 and a cylindrical skirt wall 212 hanging down from the periphery of the top wall 211, and an upper lid 220 connected to the main body 210 via a hinge 222 and having a flange 221 for opening and closing, and the outer periphery of the upper lid 220 and the outer periphery of the skirt wall 212 of the main body 210 are formed into a continuous cylindrical shape, and the flange 221 and the hinge 222 exist as protrusions from the cylindrical outer periphery.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 4, the support bar 112 has a protruding ridge 122 that protrudes upward from the tip end of a support surface 121 that holds the cap 200. In this embodiment, the protruding ridge 122 is formed so that its height from the support surface 121 is lower than the height of the flange 221 or hinge 222 of the top cover 220 provided on the cap 200 (the protruding height from the outer periphery of the skirt wall 212). The protruding ridges 122 may be provided intermittently as shown in the figure, or may be provided continuously.

[0015] The support surface 121 has a forward protruding portion 131 at the tip of the protruding ridge portion 122 that extends in a direction further away from the conveying surface 111 . In this embodiment, the upper surface of the forward protrusion 131 is an inclined surface 132 formed so as to move downward away from the support surface 121 as it approaches the tip, is discontinuous in the vertical direction with the tip of the support surface 121, and is located at a lower position than the support surface 121.

[0016] The operation of the conveying and aligning system 100 configured as above will now be described. When the transport conveyor 110 is driven with a large number of caps 200 placed in the transport object storage section 101, the caps 200 are transported upward one row at a time by the support bars 112 on the transport surface 111. The center of gravity of the caps 200 is located closer to the upper lid than half the position in the overall height direction, and the length from the conveying surface 111 of the support bar 112 to the tip side of the protruding rib portion 122 is formed so that the center of gravity of the caps 200 is less than half the overall height, so that when the caps are removed one row at a time upward from the transported item storage section 101 by the support bar 112 on the transporting surface 111, only the caps 200 with their upper lid side facing the conveying surface 111 are supported by the support bar 112 and transported upward, and the caps 200 with their open side facing the conveying surface 111 have their center of gravity located outside the support bar 112 and fall off and return to the transported item storage section 101. At this time, when the cap 200 with its open side facing the conveying surface 111 falls off and returns to the transported object storage section 101, the forward protrusion 131 causes the cap 200 to move away from the conveying surface 111 and fall off, thereby preventing the falling cap 200 from coming into contact with the cap 200 supported by the lower support bar 112.

[0017] In this embodiment, the most upright surface of the transport surface 111 is angled at 85° with respect to the horizontal so that the caps 200 can be transported upward stably even at high speed. In this embodiment, the height of the cap 200 is smaller than the diameter, and the length from the conveying surface 111 of the support bar 112 to the tip of the protruding rib portion 122 is less than half the diameter of the cap 200, so that all caps 200 in a position where the upper surface or its opposite surface of the upper cover 220 faces the support surface 121 of the support bar 112 will fall off.

[0018] When the caps 200 are removed one row at a time upward from the transported item storage section 101 by the support bar 112, if the parts other than the protruding flange 221 or hinge 222 face the support surface 121 of the support bar 112, they are lifted upward as is and the above-mentioned operation is performed. If the protruding part, that is, the hinge 222, faces the support surface 121 of the support bar 112, even if the upper cover 2 side faces the conveying surface 111, depending on the posture, a force will be exerted on the cap 200 to move in the longitudinal direction of the support bar 112, which may cause the cap 200 to lose its posture and fall off, or may cause other adjacent caps 200 to fall off. However, the presence of the protruding ridge 122 makes it possible to receive the force that moves the cap 200 in the longitudinal direction of the support bar 112 over a short distance, thereby stabilizing the position.

[0019] Furthermore, if the flange 221, which is the protruding part of the cap 200, is located on the tip side of the top cover 220 and faces the support surface 121 of the support bar 112, as shown in the conventional example on the right side of Figure 6, without the protruding rib 122, the cap 200 will tilt towards the tip side of the support bar 112J, and a momentum will be generated in the direction of falling off, causing the cap to fall off due to this momentum, or the center of gravity will reach the outside of the support bar 112J and cause the cap to fall off, or even if it stops there, a sliding force will be generated due to the influence of vibration, etc., causing the cap to fall off easily. However, as shown in the present embodiment on the left side of Figure 6, the presence of the protruding rib portion 122 makes it possible to minimize the inclination of the cap 200 toward the tip of the support bar 112, thereby minimizing the force of movement, and preventing the center of gravity from reaching the outside of the support bar 112J, thereby suppressing the generation of a sliding force.

[0020] In this embodiment, the width of the protruding ridge 122 is set to 1 mm, and the height from the support surface 121 is set to 1 mm. The width and height of the protruding ridge 122 from the support surface 121 can be set according to the size of the cap 200 to be transported and the height of the protruding portion, and for a typical hinge cap, a width of 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm and a height of 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm are suitable. In addition, in this embodiment, the forward protrusion 131 is provided with a length of 7 mm from the tip of the protruding rib portion 122, and the upper surface of the forward protrusion 131 is composed of an inclined surface 132 that slopes downward at an angle of 25° from a position 2 mm lower than the support surface 121 toward the tip. The dimensions of the forward protruding portion 131, such as the length of each portion and the angle of inclination, may be set according to the cap 200 to be transported.

[0021] When various types of hinge caps with heights ranging from 20 to 31 mm, diameters ranging from 32 to 37 mm, flange protrusions ranging from 0 to 2.6 mm, and hinge protrusions ranging from 0 to 2.7 mm were aligned using this embodiment, which could not be sorted and aligned using conventional conveying and alignment systems, it was possible to align more than 360 caps per minute. [Explanation of symbols]

[0022] 100, 500...Transport and alignment system 101, 501...Transported object storage section 102, 502... Unloading mechanism section 110, 510...Transport conveyor 111, 511...Transport surface 112, 512 ··· Support beam 121... Support surface 122...Protruding stripe 131... forward protrusion 132... Slope 550 ··· Blow mechanism 560 ··· Queue aisle 570 ··· Discharge passage C ··· Cap (transported item) 200 ··· Hinge cap (transported item) 210 Main body 211 ··· Top wall 212 ··· Skirt wall 220...Top lid 221 Tsuba (protruding part) 222 Hinge (protrusion)

Claims

1. A conveying and aligning system including: an object storage unit capable of storing a large number of objects; and a conveyor that removes the objects from the object storage unit and transports them to a discharge mechanism unit provided above the object storage unit, wherein the conveyor has a conveying surface equipped with support bars that can support a plurality of objects in a width direction, A conveying and alignment system characterized in that the support bar has a forward protrusion extending in a direction away from the conveying surface at the tip side of the support surface that holds the transported object, and the forward protrusion has an upper surface that includes a portion that is lower in the vertical direction than the support surface.

2. The conveying and aligning system according to claim 1 , wherein the entire upper surface of the forward protrusion is lower than the support surface in the vertical direction.

3. 2. The conveying and aligning system according to claim 1, wherein the length of the support bar from the conveying surface to the tip of the support surface is equal to or less than half the dimension of the object in the short direction.

4. 2. The conveying and aligning system according to claim 1, wherein the forward protrusion has an inclined surface formed so as to be inclined downward away from the support surface toward the tip.

5. 4. The conveying and aligning system according to claim 3, wherein the inclined surface of the forward protrusion has an inclination of 20 degrees or more and 50 degrees or less with respect to the support surface.

6. 4. The conveying and alignment system according to claim 3, wherein the upper surface of the forward protrusion is vertically discontinuous with the tip of the support surface, and the conveyed object storage section is located at a position lower than the support surface.

7. 2. The conveying and aligning system according to claim 1, wherein the support bar is configured so that the support surface supports and conveys a surface of the conveyed object that extends in the direction of its shorter dimension.

8. 2. The conveying and aligning system according to claim 1, wherein the conveying surface is configured to convey the object in contact with a side of the object that is closer to the center of gravity.

9. 2. The conveying and aligning system according to claim 1, wherein the support bar has a protruding ridge that protrudes upward on the tip end side of the support surface that holds the conveyed object.

10. 10. The conveying and aligning system according to claim 9, wherein the protruding ridge is formed so that its height from the support surface is lower than the height of the protrusion of the conveyed object.

11. 11. The conveying and aligning system according to claim 10, wherein the protruding ridge portion is formed so that its height from the support surface is lower than the height of a flange or hinge of an upper cover provided on a hinge cap, which is the conveyed object.

12. 12. The conveying and aligning system according to claim 11, wherein the center of gravity of the hinge cap is located closer to the upper cover than a half position in the height direction of the entire hinge cap.

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