Article take-out device

Abstract

To provide an article take-out device capable of positively taking an article concerned out of articles carried at high speed.SOLUTION: An article take-out device PU comprises a sensor 4 that detects a passage of an article concerned 2a out of a plurality of articles carried at an equal interval on a conveyor 1, a rotary disk 5 that rotates synchronously with the transport speed of the conveyor 1, pusher units 6 that are radially disposed at an equal interval on the rotary disk 5 and arranged with push shafts 6a to push the article concerned 2a detected by the sensor 4 from the conveyor 1, and a cam 7 that makes the push shaft 6a advance toward the conveyor 1 with one end thereof slide-contacted by a drive unit 11, thus making the time up to advancing the cam 7 according to a detection signal of the sensor 4 into pushing the article concerned 2a by the push shaft 6a equal to the time that the article concerned 2a upstream by the number of N is carried by the conveyor 1 and arrives at a take-out position P where it is taken from the conveyor 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an article picking device suitable for sampling articles such as those conveyed on a production line. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, in the manufacturing process of products such as paper cartons, canned beverages, PET bottles, canned goods, or industrial products, a predetermined number of products are sampled and inspected for quality. This sampling inspection involves sampling several to several tens of products from the products transported by a conveyor in the manufacturing process at predetermined intervals for quality inspection or storage. Conventionally, products have been manually sampled from the conveyor at predetermined times. While skilled workers perform this manual sampling while the line is operating, the conveyor must be temporarily stopped to ensure reliable sampling, which reduces the operating rate of the manufacturing line.

[0003] On the other hand, as a method for removing products without stopping the line, a method has been proposed, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-30287 (Patent Document 1), in which the flow of products is divided, partitioned before and after the flow to form a group of products, and the group of products is diverted to a bypass conveyor using a removal conveyor. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-35878 (Patent Document 2) discloses a method in which multiple products placed at a predetermined interval are sequentially conveyed by a conveying means 1, and when a product to be sorted reaches a predetermined position, the product is removed from the conveying means by a removal plate rotated by a servo motor. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-108924 (Patent Document 3) discloses a sampling device for removing samples from products transported by a conveyor, in which a stopper is used to stop products flowing on the conveyor, and an air cylinder is used to push one product to be sampled horizontally and perpendicular to the conveyor, and store it in a sample storage section. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 56-30287 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-35878 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-108924 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Conveyors that transport various products are being increased in speed to increase operating rates and mass-produce them. In these manufacturing processes, products must be removed from the high-speed conveyors for product inspection or sample storage. Patent Document 2, for example, discloses an apparatus that can accommodate this increased speed. This apparatus removes products from the conveyor using a removal plate rotated by a servo motor when the products to be sorted arrive at a predetermined position. However, while it takes a certain amount of time for the servo motor to be driven to remove the products, when products are transported at high speed, the servo motor must be driven at a higher speed than its limit. Furthermore, when driven at high speed, mechanisms such as the removal plate for removing the products also operate at high speed, which increases the mechanism's fatigue and wear, resulting in frequent breakdowns.

[0006] Furthermore, the device disclosed in Patent Document 3 stops products flowing on a conveyor and pushes one product off the conveyor by operating an air cylinder. However, when the conveyor is made to run at high speed, it is difficult to stop products flowing on the conveyor, and the device disclosed in Patent Document 3 has the problem of being unable to handle high-speed transport of goods.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide an article picking device that can reliably pick up a target article from among articles being conveyed at high speed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] Therefore, the item removal device of the present invention is an item removal device that removes a target item to be removed from a plurality of items transported at equal intervals on a conveyor, and is equipped with a sensor that is installed at a position N units upstream from the removal position where the target item is removed from the conveyor and detects the passage of the target item, a turntable that rotates in synchronization with the conveying speed of the conveyor, a push-out unit that is installed at equal radial intervals on the turntable and has a push-out shaft that pushes the target item detected by the sensor out of the conveyor, and a cam that is driven by a drive unit to slide one end of the push-out shaft against the cam and advance it toward the conveyor, and the gist of the device is that the time it takes for the cam to advance in response to a detection signal from the sensor and for the push-out shaft to push the target item is made the same as the time it takes for the target item N units upstream to be transported by the conveyor and reach the removal position where it is removed from the conveyor.

[0009] The cam that slides one end of the push shaft is formed with a cam surface that slows down the push shaft when it advances and speeds up the push shaft when it retreats.

[0010] Furthermore, it is desirable to provide a push plate at the tip of the push shaft, which abuts against and pushes out the target article.

[0011] Furthermore, a plurality of removal mechanisms each consisting of the push-out unit and the cam driven by the drive unit are stacked in the axial direction of the turntable, and the circumferential spacing of the push-out shafts of each removal mechanism is arranged to be the same as the spacing between each of the target articles transported at equal intervals by the conveyor.

[0012] In addition, the multiple stacked removal mechanisms are configured into mechanism groups the same number as the N target articles, and the multiple mechanism groups are arranged at equal intervals around the circumference of the turntable, with each removal mechanism being equally spaced around the entire circumference. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the present invention, a sensor is installed at a distance N units upstream from the push-out position where the target object is pushed out from the conveyor, and the cam is advanced based on the detection signal from this sensor. The time it takes for the push shaft to push out the target object is the same as the time it takes for the target object N units upstream to be transported by the conveyor and reach the removal position where it is removed, so the operating time from when the cam is activated to when the target object is removed can be extended. Therefore, even if the target objects are transported by the conveyor at high speed, it is only necessary to operate the push shaft before N units of the target object have been transported, so the removal speed can be slowed down, and therefore even target objects transported at high speed can be reliably removed.

[0014] In addition, the cam surface of the cam that slides one end of the push-out shaft is formed so that it moves slowly when the push-out shaft advances and moves quickly when it retreats, so that when the push-out shaft is advanced to remove the target article, the target article can be removed without being deformed. Also, by quickly retreating the push-out shaft, the push-out shaft is separated from the following target article in a short time, so that unnecessary removal of the target article can be prevented.

[0015] Furthermore, by providing a push plate at the tip of the push shaft for contacting and pushing out the target article, the target article can be reliably removed from the conveyor regardless of its shape or size.

[0016] Furthermore, by stacking multiple take-out mechanisms, each consisting of a push-out unit and a cam driven by a drive unit, in the axial direction of the turntable and arranging the circumferential spacing of the push-out shafts of each take-out mechanism to be the same as the spacing of each target object transported at equal intervals by the conveyor, it is possible to continuously remove target objects transported by the conveyor. Also, by operating one take-out mechanism based on the sensor's detection signal, it is possible to remove every N target objects. Furthermore, by operating selected multiple take-out mechanisms, it is possible to remove target objects every several objects, thereby allowing any target object to be selected and removed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view showing a standby state of an article take-out device according to the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a cam of an article take-out device; [Figure 3] 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the article take-out device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the operating state of the article take-out device. [Figure 5] 5 is a timing chart showing the operation of the take-out device shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an article take-out device in which a plurality of take-out mechanisms are stacked. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a side view of the article take-out device shown in FIG. 6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an article take-out device PU according to the present invention. A plurality of articles 2 are transported at equal intervals on a conveyor 1. The conveyor 1 has a well-known configuration designed to transport articles 2, such as paper cartons, canned drinks, PET bottles, canned goods, or industrial products. A turntable 5 that rotates in synchronization with the conveying speed of the conveyor 1 is disposed adjacent to the conveyor 1. A plurality of push-out units 6 are disposed radially at equal angles on the upper surface of the turntable 5. Furthermore, a cam 7 that operates the push-out shaft and a drive unit 11 that moves the cam 7 forward and backward are disposed inside a central hole 5a of the turntable 5. The push-out units 6, the drive units, and the cams 7 constitute a take-out mechanism 3 shown in FIG. 3.

[0019] In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, five push-out units 6 are arranged at equal intervals of 72° from each other. Each push-out unit 6 is composed of a push-out shaft 6A-6E that pushes out each target article 2a from the conveyor 1, a bearing 8 that supports the push-out shaft 6A-6E so that it can move back and forth, and a spring 9 suspended between the tip end of the push-out shaft 6A-6E and the bearing 8. The push-out units 6 are arranged radially at equal angles on the top surface of the annular turntable 5.

[0020] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, five push-out units 6 are arranged at equal intervals of 5 equal intervals, each at an angle of 72°. When arranged at this angle, the circumferential distance L1 between the tips of push-out shafts 6A and 6B is set to the same distance L2, which corresponds to the distance between N articles 2 transported by the conveyor 1. When the circumferential distance L1 between push-out shafts 6A-6E and the distance L2, which corresponds to the distance between N articles 2, are set to the same distance, the conveying speed of the conveyor 1 and the rotational speed of the turntable 5 are synchronized, so the time T2 required to transport N articles 2 is the same as the travel time T1 between each push-out unit 6. A sensor 4 is installed adjacent to the conveyor 1 upstream. The sensor 4 is installed at a distance L2, which is N articles upstream from the pick-up position P where the target article 2a to be picked up is picked from the articles 2 transported by the conveyor 1.

[0021] Note that N refers to the number of target articles 2a that are picked up at a predetermined interval from the conveyed articles 2, and the number of push-out units 6 varies depending on this number N. When N is large, the number of push-out units 6 increases and the angle decreases. In this case, it is necessary to arrange multiple push-out units 6 at equal angles on the turntable 5.

[0022] The base ends of the push shafts 6A to 6E of each push unit 6 are normally kept waiting around the holes 5a of the turntable 5 by springs 9. These push shafts 6A to 6E are formed in a round rod shape, and measures are taken to prevent them from rolling. The base ends of the push shafts 6A to 6E are formed in an arc or hemispherical shape so that they slide on the circumferential surface of a cam 7, which will be described later. Meanwhile, a push plate 10 is attached to the tip of each of the push shafts 6A to 6E. This push plate 10 is inclined with respect to the rotation direction of the turntable 5.

[0023] The cam 7 for pushing the push shafts 6A to 6E in the radial direction of the turntable 5 is disposed inside the central hole 5a of the turntable 5 and is formed in a roughly semicircular shape as shown in FIG. 2 . The forward cam surface 7a on the left side has a large curvature and slides when the push shafts 6A to 6E are advanced. At this time, the push shafts 6A to 6E move forward slowly due to the large curvature. Meanwhile, the backward cam surface 7b on the right side has a small curvature and slides when the push shafts 6A to 6E are retreated. At this time, the push shafts 6A to 6E move backward steeply due to the small curvature. Therefore, the push shafts 6A to 6E retreat steeply, so they quickly move away from the articles 2 being transported by the conveyor 1 and do not interfere with the transport of the articles 2. The cam 7 moves forward and backward in the radial direction by driving a cylinder 11 serving as a drive unit. The cylinder 11 is attached to a support base 13 provided inside the hole 5a of the rotating disk 5. In addition to the cylinder 11, a linear actuator or a reversible motor may also be used as the drive unit for moving the cam 7 back and forth.

[0024] Next, we will explain the operation of the article take-out device PU configured as described above to take out a target article 2a to be taken out from the articles 2 transported by the conveyor 1. As shown in Figure 1, a plurality of articles 2 are placed on the conveyor 1 and are transported from left to right at a predetermined speed. A turntable 5 rotates in synchronization with the conveyor 1, with the peripheral speed being the same as the transport speed of the conveyor 1. Furthermore, the turntable 5 rotates so that the position of one push-out unit 6 arranged on the turntable 5 coincides with the take-out position P.

[0025] When a target item 2a is to be removed from the multiple items 2 sequentially transported by the conveyor 1, the arrival of the target item 2a is detected by the sensor 4. A controller (not shown) receives the detection signal from the sensor 4 and drives the cylinder 11 to move the cam 7 forward. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the tip of the push shaft 6A slides against the cam surface 7a on the left side of the cam 7 and is gradually pushed out in the radial direction until it reaches the removal position P. As described above, the time T1 from when the cam 7 starts and when the push shaft 6A reaches the removal position P is set to be the same as the time T2 it takes for the target item 2a to reach the removal position P. Therefore, at the removal position P, the push plate 10 at the tip of the push shaft 6A pushes the target item 2a off the conveyor 1 and into the adjacent chute 12.

[0026] The article take-out device PU shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 takes out every N target articles 2a and places them into the chute 12. To continuously take out every sixth target article 2a, as shown in the timing diagram of FIG. 5, the turntable 5 is continuously rotated, and the push-out shafts 6A-6E of the push-out units 6 sequentially take out the target articles 2a. As described above, the five push-out units 6 are radially arranged at equal angles on the turntable 5, and the circumferential spacing L1 between each unit is the same as the spacing L2 between the six articles 2. Therefore, after the sensor 4 detects the target article 2a, the turntable 5 is continuously rotated with the cam 7 advanced, and the push-out shafts 6A-6E sequentially advance to the take-out position P, and the sequentially transported target articles 2a are continuously taken out. When the predetermined number of target articles 2a have been taken out, the cylinder 11 is driven to retract the cam 7, thereby retracting each push-out shaft and stopping the push-out operation of the target articles 2a.

[0027] As described above, when the sensor 4 detects the target item 2a and the cam 7 advances to advance the pick-up shafts 6A-6E, the time it takes for one pick-up shaft 6A to pick up the target item 2a is the total time it takes for six items 2 to be transported. Recently, to increase operating efficiency, items 2 are transported at high speeds. In this case, the time between each item 2 is, for example, 0.1 seconds. In this case, the time from when the sensor 4 detects the target item 2a to when the pick-up shaft 6A picks up the target item 2a is the time it takes for six items 2 to be transported, i.e., six times the time between each item 2. Incidentally, in this embodiment, when picking every sixth item 2a, the pick-up shaft 6A operates in 0.6 seconds. This ensures that the selected target item 2a can be reliably picked up from the items being transported at high speed on the conveyor 1. As a result, the above-described pick-up device PU for the item 2a can accommodate faster transport of items 2a.

[0028] In the above-described embodiment, the sensor 4 is installed at a position spaced apart by L2 upstream from the pick-up position P to detect the passage of the target item 2a, but the sensor can also be used to detect items that have been determined to be defective by an inspection device installed further upstream on the conveyor 1, to detect one type of item from among multiple types of items, or to detect the first item to be sampled. When randomly sampling items transported by the conveyor 1, the detection of the passage of the target item 2a may be used as a trigger signal to generate a timing for driving the cylinder 11 to advance the cam 7.

[0029] FIG. 6 shows an embodiment in which a predetermined number of articles conveyed by a conveyor 1 can be continuously removed as target articles. This embodiment can also be used when the intervals between articles are narrow. The take-out device PU, including the turntable 5, push-out unit 6, cam 7, cylinder 11, and sensor 4, is the same as in the previously described embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. The take-out device PU shown in FIG. 6 has six take-out mechanisms 3, the first take-out mechanism 3a through the sixth take-out mechanism 3f, stacked in the axial direction of the turntable 5, as shown in FIG. 7. The first through sixth take-out mechanisms 3a through 3f are arranged in the same manner as the take-out device PU shown in FIG. 1, with five push-out units 6 arranged at five equal intervals, each at an angle of 72° circumferentially. The take-out mechanisms of the first through sixth take-out mechanisms 3a through 3f are stacked with a 12° circumferential offset so that the circumferential spacing of the push-out shaft is the same as the spacing of the articles 2 being conveyed. By arranging them in this manner, the take-out mechanisms 3 are arranged all around the circumference of the turntable 5 at equal intervals of 12°, as shown in FIG.

[0030] Furthermore, the cylinders 11 of the first to sixth take-out mechanisms 3a to 3f are attached to support bases 13 provided inside the holes 5a of the turntable 5, and the push-out shafts 6A are supported by bearings 8 disposed on the turntable 5 so as to be freely movable forward and backward. When the take-out mechanisms 3 are disposed at intervals of 12° in this manner, adjacent push-out units 6 may come into contact with each other and interfere with their operation. To prevent such contact, as shown in FIG. 7, the six take-out mechanisms 3 are overlapped in the axial direction of the turntable 5 to prevent contact beforehand. Meanwhile, push-out plates 10 are attached to the tips of the push-out shafts 6A to 6E, respectively. Push-out plates 10 are attached to the tips of the push-out shafts 6A of the first to sixth take-out mechanisms 3a to 3f, and these push-out plates 10 are inclined with respect to the rotation direction of the turntable 5.

[0031] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7, the push-out plate 10 has a length approximately equal to the height of the first to sixth take-out mechanisms 3a to 3f, so that when any of the push-out shafts 6A of the overlapping take-out mechanisms is activated, the article 2 is pushed out of the conveyor 1 and placed into the adjacent chute 12.

[0032] Next, a description will be given of the operation of the embodiment shown in Fig. 6. This embodiment is an embodiment in which it is assumed that six target articles are continuously pushed out from articles 2 transported by a conveyor 1. As in the previous embodiment, the turntable 5 is synchronized with the conveyor 1 and rotates at the same peripheral speed as the transport speed of the conveyor 1. The turntable 5 is also rotated so that the position of one push-out unit 6 arranged on the turntable 5 coincides with the take-out position P.

[0033] When six articles 2 are to be consecutively removed from the first article 2 to be removed among the articles 2 transported by the conveyor 1, the arrival of the first article 2 is detected by the sensor 4. Upon receiving the detection signal from the sensor 4, the cylinders 11 of the six stacked first through sixth take-out mechanisms 3a through 3f are simultaneously driven to advance their respective cams 7. The push shafts 6a of the first through sixth take-out mechanisms 3a through 3f are spaced apart at intervals equal to the intervals between the articles 2 being transported. Therefore, as the turntable 2 rotates, the cams 7 advance, pushing the push shafts 6a in sequence. At the take-out position P, the six articles 2 are consecutively pushed out of the conveyor 1 by the push shafts 6a and placed into the adjacent chute 12. At this time, the length of the push plate 10 is set approximately equal to the height of the first through sixth take-out mechanisms 3a through 3f, so the articles 2 are pushed out of the conveyor 1 regardless of the position of the push shafts 6a. Then, the cylinders 11 of the six first to sixth take-out mechanisms 3a to 3f are reversed to move the cams 7 backward, thereby causing the push-out shafts 6a to move backward and completing the take-out of the articles 2.

[0034] Furthermore, when three articles 2 are to be taken out consecutively, the first article 2 is detected by the sensor 4, and the three cylinders 11 of the first to third take-out mechanisms 3a to 3c are simultaneously driven to advance their respective cams 7. As the cams 7 advance, the push-out shafts 6a of the take-out mechanisms 3a to 3c are pushed out sequentially in response to the rotation of the turntable 2, and the three articles 2 are placed into the chute 12 at the take-out position P. After the three articles 2 have been taken out, the cylinders 11 of the three take-out mechanisms 3a to 3c are reversed to retract each of the cams 7, thereby retracting the push-out shafts 6a and completing the take-out of the articles 2.

[0035] Furthermore, when 10 items 2 are to be taken out consecutively, the first to sixth take-out mechanisms 3a to 3f are operated to take out the six items 2 mentioned above, and then the first to fourth take-out mechanisms 3a to 3d are operated consecutively to take out four items 2, thereby allowing a total of 10 items 2 to be taken out consecutively.

[0036] In this way, by overlapping the first to sixth take-out mechanisms 3a to 3f so that the intervals between the articles 2 being conveyed are the same, any N number of articles 2 can be taken out consecutively, but it is also possible to take out one article 2 detected by the sensor 4. In this case, since the first take-out mechanism 3a is the same as the take-out mechanism 3 shown in FIG. 1 above, it is possible to take out one article 2 in the same way. In addition, it is also possible to take out N number of articles 2 at intervals, such as every other article or every third article, and by sequentially operating the first to sixth take-out mechanisms 3a to 3f in accordance with the intervals between the articles 2 to be taken out, any article 2 being conveyed by the conveyor 1 can be selected and taken out.

[0037] The example in Figure 6 described above describes an example in which six removal mechanisms having the same configuration as the article removal device PU shown in Figure 1 are stacked in the axial direction of the turntable 5, but as a modified example, as described below, a group of removal mechanisms 3 consisting of the same number of mechanisms as the N number of articles 2 may be arranged adjacent to each other on the circumference of the turntable 5.

[0038] That is, in the take-out mechanism 3 of the modified example in FIG. 6, five mechanism groups U1 to U5 are arranged adjacent to each other at an angle of 72° on the circumference of the turntable 5, with the number of mechanisms equal to the number of N articles. In the modified example shown in FIG. 6, since N is set to six, each mechanism group has six take-out mechanisms 3, and these six take-out mechanisms 3 are overlapped with a circumferential offset of 12° so as to be spaced apart at intervals equal to the intervals between the articles 2 being conveyed. By arranging the mechanism groups U1 to U5 configured in this manner on the circumference of the turntable 5, the push-out shafts 6A to 6E of the push-out unit 6 are arranged around the entire circumference at intervals of 12°, as shown in FIG. 6. Furthermore, push-out plates 10 are attached to the tips of each of the push-out shafts 6A to 6E, as in the above-described example.

[0039] In this modification, the push-out plate 10 has a height in the axial direction that is approximately the same as the height of the group of overlapping mechanisms, since the six take-out mechanisms 3 are overlapped. By making the push-out plate 10 tall in this way, articles can be pushed out at the take-out position P even when the push-out shaft of any one of the six take-out mechanisms 3 is activated.

[0040] Next, the operation of the above-mentioned modified example will be described. First, the operation of continuously removing items 2 from the items 2 transported by the conveyor 1 will be described. As in the above-mentioned embodiment, the turntable 5 is synchronized with the conveyor 1 and rotates at the same peripheral speed as the transport speed of the conveyor 1. In addition, the turntable 5 is rotated so that the position of one push-out unit 6 arranged on the turntable 5 coincides with the removal position P.

[0041] When a predetermined number of articles 2 to be removed from the first article 2 to be removed from among the articles 2 transported by the conveyor 1 are to be removed, the arrival of the first article 2 is detected by the sensor 4. Upon receiving the detection signal from the sensor 4, the cylinder 11 of the first removal mechanism 3a is driven to advance the cam 7. As a result, as in the example described above, the tip of the push-out shaft 6A is gradually pushed out by the cam 7 and arrives at the removal position P. Since the time from when the cam 7 starts until the push-out shaft 6A arrives at the removal position P is the same as the time it takes for the first article 2 to arrive at the removal position P, at the removal position P the push-out plate 10 at the tip of the push-out shaft 6A pushes the article 2 out of the conveyor 1 and places it into the adjacent chute 12.

[0042] Thereafter, the controller drives the cylinder of the adjacent second take-out mechanism 3b to advance the cam, causing the tip of the push-out shaft 6B to slide against the cam 7 and be pushed out, and the second subsequent article 2 is pushed out of the conveyor 1 at take-out position P and placed into the chute 12. Furthermore, when a third article 2 is to be continuously pushed out of the conveyor 1, as in the case of the second article, the controller drives the cylinder of the adjacent third take-out mechanism 3c to advance the cam, causing the tip of the push-out shaft 6B to slide against the cam 7 and be pushed out, and the second subsequent article 2 is pushed out of the conveyor 1 at take-out position P and placed into the chute 12.

[0043] If, for example, ten articles are to be taken out consecutively, the controller sends a detection signal from the sensor 4 to sequentially drive the cylinders of the fourth takeout mechanism 3d through the fifth takeout mechanism 3e and the sixth takeout mechanism 3f, advancing the cam 7 and pushing out the push shaft 6, repeating this process until the sixth article 2 is placed into the chute 12 at the takeout position P. The takeout operation of the articles 2 is then handed over to the mechanism group U2, and once four articles 2 have been taken out consecutively by the first through fourth takeout mechanisms of the mechanism group U2, the controller causes the cam 7 to retract, ending the operation. In this way, by interlocking the mechanism groups U1 and U2, ten articles 2 can be taken out consecutively. If more than ten articles 2 are to be taken out, any number of articles 2 can be taken out by sequentially operating the mechanism groups U1 through U5.

[0044] Furthermore, when removing items 2 at any interval from one to several tens of items, as described above, the removal mechanisms 3 are arranged on the turntable 5 at the same intervals as the intervals between items 2 transported by the conveyor 1, so that any N number of items 2 can be selected and removed by controlling the removal mechanisms of the mechanism group U1 to U5 using a controller based on a signal from the sensor 4.

[0045] In the above-described modified example, the conveying speed of the turntable 5 is the same as that of the conveyor 1, and the circumferential interval L1 between the multiple push-out units 6 arranged radially at equal angles on the turntable 5 is the same as the interval L2 between the push-out units 6 installed N units upstream to detect the target items 2a, so that the distances L1 and L2 are the same. In the object pick-up device PU of the present invention, the target items can be picked up in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment by slowing down the rotational speed of the turntable 5 to a fraction of the conveying speed of the conveyor 1 and synchronizing them. That is, to make the time T2 required for the interval L2 for the target items 2a N units upstream to be transported to the pick-up position P the same as the time required for the push-out units 6 to rotate at the circumferential interval L1, twice as many push-out units 6 are arranged circumferentially at equal intervals on the turntable 5, and the rotational speed of the turntable 5 is synchronized with that of the conveyor 1 at half the speed, so that the time T1 required for the push-out units 6 to rotate at the circumferential interval L1 is the same, so that the target items 2a can be picked up in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment. In this way, when the rotation speed of the turntable 5 is reduced to one-fifth of a factor, it is preferable to apply it to a conveyor that transports articles at a relatively low speed.

[0046] While the present invention has been specifically described above based on the embodiments, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. The conveyor that transports the articles may be a curved conveyor or a circular conveyor. Furthermore, the take-out mechanism that overlaps the axial direction of the turntable may be an appropriate number of overlapping units, two or more, depending on the intervals and number of articles to be taken out. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1 conveyor 2 Goods 2a Target items 3. Ejection mechanism 4 sensors 5 Turntable 6 Ejection unit 6a Ejection shaft 7 Cam 7a Forward cam surface 7b Retraction cam surface 10 Removal plate 8. Bearings 9 Spring 11 Cylinder (drive unit) P Removal position L1 interval L2 interval T1 time T2 time Item removal device PU

Claims

1. An article picking device that picks out an article to be picked from a plurality of articles transported at equal intervals on a conveyor, a sensor that is installed at a position N units upstream from a take-out position where the target article is taken out from the conveyor and that detects the passage of the target article; a turntable that rotates in synchronization with the conveying speed of the conveyor; push-out units, each of which is disposed at equal intervals radially on the rotating disc and has a push-out shaft for pushing out the target article detected by the sensor from the conveyor; a cam that causes one end of the push shaft to slide against the cam by a drive unit, and moves the push shaft forward in the direction of the conveyor; This article removal device is characterized in that the time it takes for the cam to advance in response to the detection signal from the sensor and for the target article to be pushed out by the push shaft is the same as the time it takes for the target article N positions upstream to be transported by the conveyor and reach the removal position from the conveyor.

2. 2. The article take-out device according to claim 1, wherein the cam that slides the one end of the push-out shaft is formed with a cam surface that slows down the push-out shaft when it advances and speeds up the push-out shaft when it retreats.

3. 2. The article take-out device according to claim 1, wherein a push-out plate that abuts against and pushes out the target article is provided at the tip of the push-out shaft.

4. The object removal device of claim 1, wherein a plurality of removal mechanisms each consisting of the push-out unit and the cam driven by the drive unit are stacked in the axial direction of the turntable, and the circumferential spacing of the push-out shafts of each removal mechanism is arranged to be the same as the spacing of each of the target objects transported at equal intervals by the conveyor.

5. The object removal device described in claim 4, wherein the multiple stacked removal mechanisms are configured into mechanism groups equal in number to the N number of target objects, the multiple mechanism groups are arranged at equal intervals around the circumference of the turntable, and each of the removal mechanisms is equally spaced around the entire circumference.

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