Article supply device

Abstract

To provide an article supply device configured such that an input shaft is horizontally supported on an input side of a belt conveyor, and an input gear attached to an outer end part of the input shaft and an output gear journaled on a lateral outer side of a drive case are gear-engaged together by miniaturizing a gear drive part, an interval of adjacent conveyors can be reduced, making the entire article conveyance device narrow and compact.SOLUTION: An input gear 25 of a belt conveyor is composed of a hub 25a externally fitted to an input shaft 21a and a gear part 25b externally fitted to the hub 25a, and the hub 25a is fixed to the input shaft 21a with a set screw 38 attached from an outer periphery, and the gear part 25b is fixed to the hub 25a with a bolt 39 attached from the outside in an axial direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an article supply device that uses a belt conveyor to load and transport articles to be weighed, and in particular to an article supply device that can be suitably used in an article transport structure in which multiple supply paths are arranged in parallel and close to each other. [Background technology]

[0002] As a combination weighing device equipped with an item supply device that uses a belt conveyor to load and transport items, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1, a device in which multiple belt conveyors are arranged in parallel and the end of each belt conveyor is provided adjacent to multiple weighing units is known. [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2023-175545 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] In the above combination weighing device, the belt conveyor is detachably mounted, and when it is attached to a predetermined position, the input gear of the belt conveyor is automatically engaged with the output gear of the fixedly mounted drive case via an intermediate gear.

[0004] In this case, the input gear of the belt conveyor has an outward-protruding boss, and the input gear is fixed to the input shaft by tightening a set screw from the outer periphery of the boss.

[0005] In this way, gears connected by a set screw system inevitably have a large overall width including the boss portion, which increases the width of the gear drive portion.

[0006] Therefore, when multiple belt conveyors are arranged in parallel, the width of the gear drive parts is large, which increases the interval between adjacent conveyors, and the width of the entire article conveying device increases.In particular, the more parallel belt conveyors are arranged, the larger the overall size of the article conveying device becomes.

[0007] The present invention was made with this in mind, and aims to reduce the distance between adjacent conveyors by miniaturizing the gear drive parts, thereby making the entire item transport device narrow and compact. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

[0009] (1) The article supply device according to the present invention is An article supply device configured such that an input shaft is horizontally supported on the input side of a belt conveyor, and an input gear attached to the outer end of the input shaft and an output gear journaled on the outer side of a drive case are gear-engaged and interlocked, The input gear is composed of a hub fitted onto the input shaft and a gear portion fitted onto the hub, and the hub is fixed to the input shaft with a set screw attached from the outer periphery, and the gear portion is fixed to the hub with a bolt attached from the outside in the axial direction.

[0010] With this configuration, the width of the entire input gear can be made approximately the same as the tooth width, and the gear drive portion can be made compact with a small width.

[0011] (2) In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, The head of the bolt is recessed from the lateral outer surface of the gear portion.

[0012] This configuration allows the overall width of the input gear to be further reduced.

[0013] (3) In another embodiment of the present invention, A pair of left and right bearing brackets that rotatably support the input shaft are provided on the outer lateral sides of the input side of the belt conveyor, and the input gear is attached to the input shaft that protrudes laterally outward through one of the bearing brackets.

[0014] With this configuration, the width of the belt conveyor on the input side is the distance between the outer lateral ends of the left and right bearing brackets plus the width of the input gear, so using an input gear with a small width is effective in reducing the width of the belt conveyor on the input side.

[0015] (4) In another embodiment of the present invention, The belt conveyor is detachably connected to the drive case, an intermediate gear that meshes with the output gear of the drive case is provided on the side of the drive case, and the input gear of the belt conveyor is meshed with and linked to the output gear via the intermediate gear.

[0016] According to this configuration, by changing the position of the intermediate gear, the position of the input gear can be set arbitrarily, which increases the degree of freedom in setting the assembly position of the belt conveyor.

[0017] (5) In another embodiment of the present invention, The intermediate gear is made of acetal resin.

[0018] With this configuration, acetal resin material has excellent wear resistance and self-lubricating properties, so there is no need to lubricate the gear meshing parts with oil, making it particularly suitable for feeding and conveying food and other items.In addition, there is little meshing noise at the gear meshing parts, allowing for quiet operation with little noise.

[0019] In particular, if the output gear and input gear are made of metal and only the intermediate gear is made of acetal resin, gear wear will be concentrated on the intermediate gear, making gear replacement easier.

[0020] (6) In another embodiment of the present invention, A plurality of belt conveyors are arranged in parallel, and the end of each belt conveyor is adjacent to a multi-series weighing unit that performs combined weighing.

[0021] With this configuration, the width of the gear drive portion on the input side of each belt conveyor is small, which allows the spacing between adjacent belt conveyors to be small, making it possible to make the item supply device with multiple belt conveyors arranged in parallel compact and with a small width. [Effects of the Invention]

[0022] Thus, according to the present invention, by miniaturizing the gear drive portion, the distance between adjacent conveyors can be reduced, and the entire article transport device can be made narrow and compact. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the combination weighing device. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the combination weighing device in vertical section. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the combination weighing device with some of the components disassembled. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a belt conveyor. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the driving portion of the belt conveyor. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an input gear in the belt conveyor. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of an input portion of a belt conveyor. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is an exploded longitudinal cross-sectional view of an input portion of a belt conveyor. [Figure 9] FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a side view of the belt conveyor. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a side view showing the belt conveyor detachment process. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view for comparing gear mounting structures. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] Hereinafter, an embodiment of a combination weighing device equipped with an article supplying device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0025] FIG. 1 shows an overall perspective view of the combination weighing device, and FIG. 2 shows a schematic side view of the combination weighing device in vertical section.

[0026] This combination weighing device is installed on the floor of a tower-shaped frame or the like, and is configured such that an article supply device 3 is installed on top of a main case 1 that is fixed to the floor, and which transports the objects to be weighed to the right in the drawing by multiple belt conveyors 2 (seven in this example) arranged in parallel, and a front case 1a that protrudes from the front of the main case 1 is equipped with multiple weighing units 4 facing the transport ends of each belt conveyor 2. In the following explanation, the downstream side of the belt conveyors 2 will be referred to as the front, the upstream side as the rear, and the parallel direction of the belt conveyors 2 as the left-right direction or lateral direction.

[0027] A plurality of drive cases 5 are arranged in a horizontal row at the rear of the top surface of the main case 1, and each belt conveyor 2 is interlocked with the corresponding drive case 5 as described below.

[0028] Between the belt conveyors 2 arranged in parallel on the left and right, a cover guide 6 that closes the gap between the conveyors is detachably arranged, and a cover case 7 that covers the drive cases 5 is detachably installed on the main case 1. In addition, a flat, U-shaped supply guide 8 is detachably arranged to guide the objects to be weighed, which are manually or mechanically fed, to the starting end of the conveyor.

[0029] The weighing unit 4 is composed of a supply hopper 9 that temporarily stores the objects to be weighed dropped from the end of the belt conveyor 2 and distributes and selectively discharges the objects to the front and rear, and a pair of front and rear weighing hoppers 10 that receive the objects to be weighed distributed and discharged from each supply hopper 9 and measure their weight.

[0030] The basic configuration of the combination weighing device is as described above. The articles to be weighed, transported by the article transport device 3, are fed into the supply hoppers 9 of each weighing unit 4, and then sent to the weighing hoppers 10 where their weight is measured. Of the many weighing values ​​obtained by the group of weighing hoppers 10, a combination that results in a predetermined weight is calculated and selected. The selected multiple weighing hoppers 10 are controlled to open and discharge the articles to be weighed of the predetermined weight. These articles are collected in the center of the device via two-stage collection chutes 11a and 11b and sent to the next stage device, such as a packaging device.

[0031] Next, the detailed structure of the article supplying device 3 that uses a plurality of belt conveyors 2 to transport the objects to be weighed in parallel will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0032] A drive motor 12 is connected vertically to the underside of a drive case 5 attached to the top of the main body case 1, and an output shaft 14 supported horizontally on the drive case 5 and a motor output shaft 12a protruding upward from the drive motor 12 are meshed and linked by bevel gears 14, 15. One end of the output shaft 14 protrudes to the side of the case, and an output gear 16 for driving the conveyor is fixedly connected to this end. In addition, an intermediate gear 17 that meshes with the output gear 16 from the front is axially supported and rotatably mounted on the side of the drive case 5.

[0033] The belt conveyor 2 includes a rear drive roller 21 which is the starting point of the conveyance, a front driven roller 22 which is the end point of the conveyance, a conveyor belt 23 wound around both rollers 21, 22, and a conveyor frame 24 which is long from front to back and supports the drive roller 21 and driven roller 22.

[0034] The conveyor frame 24 is constructed by bridging a pair of opposing left and right side plates spaced a fixed distance apart using stays or the like, and the input shaft 21a of the drive roller 21 is freely rotatably supported across a pair of left and right bearing brackets 24a, 24b connected to the rear of the frame. The driven roller 22 is supported by a tension bracket 24c attached to the front of the frame so that its position can be adjusted back and forth. The input shaft 21a of the drive roller 21 protrudes laterally outward from one of the bearing brackets 24a, and an input gear 25 is attached to the protruding portion of the input shaft 21a.

[0035] The conveyor frame 24 is detachably supported by a pair of left and right conveyor support frames 26 erected on the upper surface of the main body case 1. That is, a forward-facing engagement recess 27 and a downward-facing engagement recess 28 are provided at the bottom of the conveyor frame 24, and flanged engagement pins 29, 30 are provided at the front and rear of the outer surface of the conveyor support frame 26. By engaging the forward-facing engagement recess 27 and the downward-facing engagement recess 28 of the conveyor frame 24 with the front and rear engagement pins 29, 30, respectively, the belt conveyor 2 is positioned front to back and up and down on the main body case 1 and installed.

[0036] Flanged engagement pins 31 protrude from multiple locations on the front and rear of the outer surface of the conveyor frame 24, and by engaging and connecting the cover guide 6 from above across the opposing engagement pins 31 of adjacent belt conveyors 2, the cover guide 6 is able to close the gap formed between adjacent belt conveyors 2.

[0037] Furthermore, cover case 7, which covers the group of drive cases 5, is bolted to an appropriate location on the top of main case 1. Supply guide 8, which guides the articles to be weighed to the conveyor start end, is equipped with transport guide section 8a that surrounds the lateral outside of belt conveyor 2 at the lateral outermost end, and mounting pieces 32 protrude from the lateral outside of transport guide section 8a. Meanwhile, mounting seats 34 are installed near both left and right ends of the top of main case 1 via arched frames 33, and supply guide 8 is fixed in a predetermined position on main case 1 by placing mounting pieces 32 on mounting seats 34 and connecting them with bolts.

[0038] One bearing bracket 24a of the belt conveyor 2 extends rearward from the bearing portion, and a connecting bracket 36 is connected to the inner surface of the extending portion by bolts. This connecting bracket 36 is equipped with a connecting knob 37 that can be rotated about a vertical axis, and the lower end of the connecting knob 37 is provided with an engaging portion of a different diameter. Although not shown, a connecting hole is formed in the upper cover 5a of the drive case 5, into which the lower end engaging portion of the connecting knob 37 can be engaged and disengaged. The connecting bracket 36 of the belt conveyor 2 is placed on the upper surface of the drive case 5, and the lower end engaging portion of the connecting knob 37 is inserted into the connecting hole. Then, by rotating the connecting knob 37 approximately 90 degrees, the connecting bracket 36 is tightened and fixed to the upper part of the drive case 5, and the belt conveyor 2 can be positioned and fixed.

[0039] According to the above configuration, when attaching the belt conveyor 2 to the drive case 5, first, as shown in Fig. 11, the belt conveyor 2 is placed in a rearward upward tilted position, the forward-facing engagement recess 27 is engaged with the front engagement pin 29, and the belt conveyor 2 is swung downward around this engagement point. As the belt conveyor 2 sways downward, the downward-facing engagement recess 28 engages with the rear engagement pin 30 from above, and this engagement determines the positioning of the belt conveyor 2 in the front-rear and up-down directions.

[0040] Next, the connecting knob 37 is turned to fasten and connect the connecting bracket 36 to the upper part of the drive case 5. The belt conveyor 2 can be removed from the drive case 5 by performing the above-mentioned installation procedure in reverse.

[0041] When the belt conveyor 2 is assembled to the drive case 5 in this manner, the input gear 25 is engaged with the intermediate gear 17, and the conveyor can be driven by the drive motor 12.

[0042] Here, the output gear 16 and input gear 25 used to drive the conveyor are made of metal material, while the intermediate gear 17 is made of acetal resin material.

[0043] Acetal resin materials have excellent wear resistance and are self-lubricating, so that there is no need to lubricate the gear meshing portions with oil.

[0044] As shown in Figures 6 to 8, the input gear 25 attached to the input shaft 21a of the drive roller 21 of the belt conveyor 2 is composed of a hub 25a that is fitted onto the outside of the support shaft 21a and fixed with a set screw 38, and a gear portion 25b that is fitted onto the outside of the hub 25a and fixed by tightening a bolt 39 from the axial direction, and the bolt tightening seat surface 25c of the gear portion 25b is recessed so that the head of the bolt 39 is recessed from the outer end of the gear portion 25b.

[0045] This allows the gear drive unit of the belt conveyor 2 to be configured compactly in the axial direction.

[0046] That is, as shown in FIG. 12(b), in which the boss portion protruding from the side of the gear 25' is fixed to the input shaft 21'a with a set screw 38', the configuration in FIG. 12(a), in which the gear portion 25b is fitted into the hub 25a fixed to the input shaft 21a and fastened with a bolt 39 from the axial direction, can be configured to be narrower in the axial direction, and adjacent belt conveyors 2 can be arranged in parallel with a narrow gap between them.

[0047] Other Examples The present invention can also be implemented in the following forms.

[0048] (1) A counterbore may be formed in the gear portion 25b of the input gear 25 for each bolt 38, so that the bolt heads can be individually recessed and attached.

[0049] (2) Not only the intermediate gear 17, but also the output gear 16 and the input gear 25 may be made of acetal resin material. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 2. Belt conveyor 4 Weighing Unit 5 Drive case 16 Output gear 17 Intermediate gear 21a Input shaft 24a Bearing bracket 24b Bearing bracket 25 Input gear 25a hub 25b Gear section 38 set screws 39 volts

Claims

1. An article supply device configured such that an input shaft is horizontally supported on the input side of a belt conveyor, and an input gear attached to the outer end of the input shaft and an output gear journaled on the outer side of a drive case are gear-engaged and interlocked, The input gear is configured to include a hub fitted onto the input shaft and a gear portion fitted onto the hub, and the hub is fixed to the input shaft with a set screw attached from the outer periphery, and the gear portion is fixed to the hub with a bolt attached from the outside in the axial direction. An article supply device characterized by:

2. The head of the bolt is recessed from the lateral outer surface of the gear portion. The article supply device according to claim 1 .

3. A pair of left and right bearing brackets for rotatably supporting the input shaft are provided on the outer lateral sides of the input side of the belt conveyor, and the input gear is attached to the input shaft that protrudes laterally outward through one of the bearing brackets. The article supply device according to claim 1 .

4. The belt conveyor is detachably connected to the drive case, an intermediate gear meshing with the output gear of the drive case is provided on a side portion of the drive case, and the input gear of the belt conveyor is meshed with the output gear via the intermediate gear. The article supply device according to claim 3 .

5. The output gear and the input gear are each made of a metal material, and the intermediate gear is made of an acetal resin material. The article supply device according to claim 4.

6. A plurality of belt conveyors are arranged in parallel, and the end of each belt conveyor is adjacent to a multi-series weighing unit that performs combined weighing.

6. An article supplying device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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