Method of loading onto a cage trolley, and loading device

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for loading workpieces onto a cage trolley using robots or specialized machinery, while suppressing contact with the left and right upright members, and a loading device that can be used therefor. [Solution] A method for loading workpieces onto a cage trolley, comprising: a first step of widening the opening 11 by rotating one or both of the left and right upright members 13 and 14, which are long in the front-rear direction of the cage trolley, around their rear ends in a direction in which the front ends move outwards from the cage trolley, while releasing them from their fixation to the plate-shaped bottom member 24 of the cage trolley; a second step of placing the workpieces into the cage trolley through the widened opening 11 while the bottom member 24 is supported by the workpiece loading machine 12; and a third step of rotating the upright members 13 and 14, which were rotated in the first step, around their rear ends in a direction in which the front ends move inwards from the cage trolley, and fixing them to the bottom member 24.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for loading a work onto a cage cart and a loading device that can be used therefor.

Background Art

[0002] A work consisting of a box containing an item or the item itself (hereinafter the same) may be loaded onto a cage cart as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 and transported. The cage cart has a plate-like bottom member, lattice-shaped standing members are provided on the left, right, and rear, respectively, and the front side is open for loading and unloading the work. At least one of the left and right standing members can be fixed to and released from the bottom member (this standing member is hereinafter also referred to as a "movable standing member").

[0003] As shown in FIG. 1 of Patent Document 2, the work is loaded onto the cage cart by inserting the work into the cage cart through the front opening of the cage cart with the movable standing member fixed to the horizontally arranged bottom. In order to increase the loading capacity of the work, the work is loaded so that the gaps between the works and between the work and the side wall of the cage cart are as small as possible.

[0004] The horizontally arranged bottom member can be made vertical, and when the cage cart is not in use, as shown in FIG. 2 of Patent Document 2, the movable standing member whose fixing to the bottom member is released is moved so as to be parallel to the rear standing member, and the bottom member is made vertical, thereby achieving compactification.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005] [[ID=3,1]]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

[0006] Incidentally, when transporting carts containing workpieces on a vehicle, the carts are often secured to the vehicle using ropes or the like. This securing of the carts sometimes causes the front ends of the left and right upright members (indicated by arrows) to bend inward, as shown in Figure 4, resulting in a narrowing of the front opening. Therefore, assuming that the size of the front opening of all cage trolleys is the same, if a robot or specialized machine attempts to insert a workpiece into the cage trolley through the front opening, a problem may arise in some cage trolleys where the workpiece comes into contact with the upright members on the left and right sides of the trolley, preventing it from being inserted inside.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and aims to provide a method for loading workpieces onto a cage trolley using a robot or dedicated machine, while suppressing contact with the left and right upright members, and a loading device that can be used therefor. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A first method for loading workpieces onto a cage trolley according to the present invention, which is in line with the above objective, is a method for loading workpieces onto a cage trolley having an opening formed on its front side, comprising: a first step of widening the opening by rotating one or both of the left and right upright members, which are long in the front-rear direction of the cage trolley, around their rear end in a direction in which the front end moves outward from the cage trolley, while releasing them from their fixation to the plate-shaped bottom member of the cage trolley; a second step of placing the workpieces into the cage trolley through the widened opening with the bottom member supported by the workpiece loading machine; and a third step of rotating the upright members that were rotated in the first step around their rear end in a direction in which the front end moves inward from the cage trolley, and fixing them to the bottom member.

[0009] A second stacking device according to the present invention, in line with the above objective, is a stacking device for stacking workpieces on a cage trolley having an opening formed at the front, and having an upright member on either the left or right side, or both sides, which is long in the front-rear direction and can be fixed to and released from a plate-shaped bottom member, the device comprising: a bottom support mechanism that supports the bottom member when the upright member is released from being fixed to the bottom member; and a workpiece loading machine which rotates the upright member around its rear end in a direction that moves the front end to the outside of the cage trolley from an arrangement in which it is fixed to the bottom member, thereby loading the workpieces into the cage trolley through the widened opening. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] The method for loading workpieces onto a cage trolley according to the first invention comprises the following steps: a first step of widening the opening by rotating one or both of the left and right upright members, which are long in the front-rear direction of the cage trolley, around the rear end in a direction in which the front end moves outward from the cage trolley, while releasing them from their fixation to the plate-shaped bottom member of the cage trolley; a second step of placing workpieces into the cage trolley through the widened opening using a workpiece loading machine while supporting the bottom member; and a third step of rotating the upright members that were rotated in the first step around the rear end in a direction in which the front end moves inward from the cage trolley, and fixing them to the bottom member. Therefore, it is possible to load workpieces onto a cage trolley using a robot or a dedicated machine while suppressing contact with the left and right upright members.

[0011] The stacking device according to the second invention includes a bottom support mechanism that supports the bottom member of the cage trolley from which the upright members have been released, and a rear end that rotates in a direction in which the front end moves outward from the cage trolley from the arrangement in which the upright members are fixed to the bottom member, thereby allowing the workpiece to be placed inside the cage trolley through the widened opening, thus enabling the stacking of workpieces onto the cage trolley while suppressing contact with the left and right upright members. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] This is an explanatory diagram of a cage trolley used in a method for loading items onto a cage trolley according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2]This is an explanatory diagram of a cage trolley with the right-side upright member fixed in place. [Figure 3] This is an explanatory diagram of a cage trolley with the front opening widened. [Figure 4] This is an explanatory diagram of a conventional cage trolley with deformed left and right upright members. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] Next, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described to facilitate understanding of the invention. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, a method for loading workpieces onto a cage trolley 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter also simply referred to as the "loading method") is a method for loading workpieces onto a cage trolley 10 having an opening 11 formed on its front side, and comprises a first step of widening the opening 11 and a second step of a workpiece loading machine 12 placing the workpieces into the cage trolley 10 through the widened opening 11.

[0014] First, a cage trolley 10 to which the stacking method of this embodiment can be applied will be described. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the cage trolley 10 has a general structure, with lattice-shaped upright members 13 and 14 on the left and right sides respectively, and a lattice-shaped upright member 15 on the rear side. Therefore, the upright member 13 constitutes the left side fence (side wall), the upright member 14 constitutes the right side fence (side wall), and the upright member 15 constitutes the rear side fence (side wall). In this embodiment, the right side will be referred to as the right side and the left side as the left side when viewing the cage trolley 10 from the front.

[0015] The upright members 13, 14, and 15 are substantially the same height, with members 13 and 14 being longer in the front-to-back direction, and member 15 being longer in the left-to-right direction. The rear end of member 13 and the left end of member 15, and the rear end of member 14 and the right end of member 15 are positioned close together. At the lower ends of the upright members 13, plate-like wheel supports 16 and 17 are respectively fixed front and rear, and casters 18 and 19 are respectively attached to the wheel supports 16 and 17. At the lower ends of the upright member 14, plate-like wheel supports 20 and 21 are also respectively fixed front and rear, and casters 22 and 23 are respectively attached to the wheel supports 20 and 21.

[0016] Furthermore, the cage cart 10 has a rectangular plate-like bottom member 24 attached to the lower end of the upright member 15. The bottom member 24 is rotatable 90 degrees with respect to the rear end (centered on a horizontal rotation axis) close to the lower end of the upright member 15, and rotates from the horizontal state supported by the lower ends of the upright members 13 and 14 and the wheel supports 16, 17, 20, and 21 to a vertical state arranged parallel to the upright member 15, and can also rotate from the vertical state to the horizontal state.

[0017] On the back side of the bottom member 24 (the side where the bottom member 24 is arranged downward in the horizontal state), as shown in FIG. 2, a bar 25 arranged in the left-right direction is attached to the bottom member 24 so as to be movable along the bottom member 24. A guide structure (not shown) for moving the bar 25 along the bottom member 24 is provided on the back side of the bottom member 24. The other ends of springs 26 and 27, each having one end fixed to the bottom member 24, are connected to the bar 25.

[0018] A hook portion 28 is fixed to the wheel support 20, and the bar 25 can be hooked on the hook portion 28 when the bottom member 24 is horizontal. The springs 26 and 27 apply an elastic force to the bar 25 hooked on the hook portion 28 to prevent the bar 25 from coming off the hook portion 28. The bottom member 24 is arranged horizontally, the bar 25 is hooked and fixed to the hook portion 28, and the bottom member 24 becomes rotatable when the hooking of the bar 25 to the hook portion 28 is released.

[0019] Further, while the standing member 13 is fixed to the standing member 15, the standing member 14 is rotatable (i.e., movable with respect to the standing member 15) about the rear end portion (centered on the vertically arranged rotation axis) as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 2, when the standing member 14 is in a state along the front-rear direction, the hook portion 28 is disposed at a position where the bar 25 can be hooked. The bar 25 is hooked on the hook portion 28, and the standing member 14 is fixed to the bottom member 24 and the standing member 15.

[0020] The standing member 14 can rotate about the rear end portion when the bar 25 is not hooked on the hook portion 28. As shown in FIG. 3, the standing member 14 can rotate in a direction in which the front end portion moves outside the cage cart 10 (in this embodiment, counterclockwise in plan view), and in a direction in which the front end portion moves inside the cage cart 10 (in this embodiment, clockwise in plan view).

[0021] Further, in this embodiment, an attaching device 30 having a bottom support mechanism 31 that supports the bottom member 24 with the fixing of the standing member 14 released and a work loading machine 12 that inserts a work from the outside to the inside of the cage cart 10 is used for loading the work onto the cage cart 10. As the bottom support mechanism 31, a table-type or fork-type lifter can be adopted. As the work loading machine 12, a robot that inserts works one by one into the cage cart 10 or a dedicated machine that inserts a plurality of works stacked outside the cage cart 10 into the cage cart 10 while maintaining their states can be adopted.

[0022] An attaching method to the cage cart 10 according to this embodiment using the attaching device 30 will be described.

[0023] <Preparation step> An empty cage cart 10 with the standing member 14 fixed to the horizontally arranged bottom member 24 is moved and stopped to a position where the bottom support mechanism 31 can support the bottom member 24 as shown in FIG. 2, and the bottom member 24 is supported by the bottom support mechanism 31. Alternatively, the bottom support mechanism 31 may be moved to a location where it can support the bottom member 24 in a horizontal position.

[0024] <First step> After removing the rod 25 that was hooked onto the hook portion 28 from the hook portion 28 and releasing the fixing of the upright member 14 to the bottom member 24, as shown in Figure 3, the upright member 14 is rotated around its rear end in a direction in which the front end moves to the right (outside the cage trolley 10) while the fixing to the bottom member 24 is released, thereby widening the opening 11. Note that the support of the bottom member 24 by the bottom support mechanism 31 may begin after the opening 11 has been widened (in this case, the bottom member 24 can be supported by a person until the bottom support mechanism 31 supports the bottom member 24).

[0025] <Second step> With the bottom member 24 supported by the bottom support mechanism 31, the workpiece loading machine 12 places the workpieces into the cage trolley 10 through the widened opening 11. Whether the workpieces are placed into the cage trolley 10 one by one or multiple workpieces are placed at once depends on the functions of the workpiece loading machine 12.

[0026] <Third step> After placing the planned number of workpieces into the cage trolley 10 and stacking them on the bottom member 24, the upright member 14 is rotated around its rear end in a direction that moves the front end to the left (inside the cage trolley 10), and the rod 25 is hooked onto the hook portion 28 to fix the upright member 14 to the bottom member 24. In this embodiment, the hooking and unhooking of the rod 25 to the hook portion 28 in the first and third steps (i.e., fixing and unfixing the upright member 14 to the bottom member 24), as well as the rotation of the upright member 14, are performed by a person or a robot (an example of an opening and closing means), but the stacking device 30 may have a mechanism to perform these actions.

[0027] According to the method of loading workpieces onto the cage trolley 10 described above, since the workpieces are placed into the cage trolley 10 with the opening 11 widened in the left-right direction, even if the workpiece loading machine 12, etc. is designed to load workpieces into the cage trolley 10 from the opening 11, assuming that the front ends of the left and right upright members 13, 14 are deformed to bend inward towards the inside of the cage trolley, the workpieces can be efficiently loaded into the cage trolley 10. As a result, efficient loading of workpieces onto the cage trolley can be performed without the workpieces coming into contact with the front ends of the left and right upright members 13, 14.

[0028] Here, the stacking device 30 can be designed to have the function of rotating the upright member 14, and the function of fixing the upright member 14 when its front end has rotated in a direction that moves to the right. Furthermore, in the second step, the bottom support mechanism 31 may support the bottom member 24 by positioning it horizontally (substantially horizontal, hereafter the same), or it may support the bottom member 24 in an inclined state with respect to the horizontal by positioning the front end of the bottom member 24 higher than the rear end.

[0029] In the second step, if the bottom support mechanism 31 supports the bottom member 24 in a horizontal position, in the third step, the bottom support mechanism 31 positions the front end of the bottom member 24 higher than the rear end, tilting the bottom member 24 relative to the horizontal. Then, the upright member 14, which was rotated in the first step, is rotated around the rear end in a direction that moves the front end to the left (inside the cage trolley 10), returning the bottom member 24 to a horizontal position and fixing the upright member 14 to the bottom member 24.

[0030] In the second step, if the front end of the bottom member 24 is positioned higher than the rear end and the bottom member 24 is supported in an inclined state, in the third step, the upright member 14 that was rotated in the first step is rotated around the rear end in a direction that moves the front end to the left (inside the cage trolley 10), and then the bottom support mechanism 31 lowers the front end of the bottom member 24 to position the bottom member 24 horizontally and fixes the upright member 14 to the bottom member 24.

[0031] Alternatively, a cage trolley may be used in which the right-side upright member is fixed and the left-side upright member is rotatable, or a cage trolley may be used in which both the left and right upright members are rotatable. In the case of a cage trolley in which the right-side upright member is fixed and the left-side upright member is rotatable, in the first step, the left-side upright member of the cage trolley is rotated around its rear end in a direction in which the front end moves outward from the cage trolley, thereby widening the opening.

[0032] In the case of a cage trolley in which both the left and right upright members are rotatable, in the first step, the cage trolley is rotated so that one or both of the left and right upright members are rotated around their rear end in a direction in which the front end moves outward from the cage trolley, thereby widening the opening. In all of the above cases, the upright member that was rotated in the first step is rotated in the third step around its rear end in a direction that moves its front end inward towards the inside of the cage trolley, and is fixed to the bottom member.

[0033] From the above description, the loading device 30 corresponding to the method of loading onto a cage trolley according to the present invention is a device for loading workpieces onto a cage trolley having an opening formed on the front side, and having an upright member on either the left or right side or both sides that is long in the front-rear direction and can be fixed to and released from a plate-shaped bottom member, and comprising a bottom support mechanism 31 that supports the bottom member from which the upright member has been released, and a workpiece loading machine 12 that rotates around its rear end in a direction in which the front end of the upright member moves to the outside of the cage trolley from an arrangement in which the upright member is fixed to the bottom member, thereby loading the workpiece into the cage trolley through the widened opening.

[0034] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described forms, and any changes to the conditions, etc., that do not depart from the gist of the invention are all within the scope of application of the present invention. For example, a cage trolley may have five or more casters, and the front ends of the left and right upright members do not need to be curved inward.

[0035] The cage trolley may be designed so that neither of the left or right upright members rotates around the rear end in a direction that moves inward towards the cage trolley. Furthermore, the stacking device may be an integrated unit consisting of a workpiece loading machine and a bottom support mechanism. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0036] 10: Cage trolley, 11: Opening, 12: Work loading machine, 13, 14, 15: Erecting members, 16, 17: Wheel support, 18, 19: Caster, 20, 21: Wheel support, 22, 23: Caster, 24: Bottom member, 25: Rod, 26, 27: Spring, 28: Hook part, 30: Stacking device, 31: Bottom support mechanism

Claims

1. A method for loading workpieces onto a cage trolley having an opening formed on the front side, The first step involves widening the opening by rotating one or both of the left and right vertical members, which are long in the front-rear direction of the cage trolley, around the rear end in a direction that moves the front end outward from the cage trolley, while the fixing of the cage trolley's plate-shaped bottom member is released. With the bottom member supported, the work loading machine performs a second step of placing the workpiece into the cage trolley through the widened opening, A method for loading onto a cage trolley, comprising a third step of rotating the upright member, which was rotated in the first step, around its rear end in a direction in which the front end moves inward of the cage trolley, and fixing it to the bottom member.

2. In the second step described above, the bottom member is positioned and supported horizontally, The method for loading onto a cage trolley according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the third step, the bottom member is positioned so that its front end is higher than its rear end and is inclined with respect to the horizontal, the upright member that was rotated in the first step is rotated around its rear end in a direction that moves its front end towards the inside of the cage trolley, the bottom member is returned to the horizontal, and the upright member that was rotated in the first step is fixed to the bottom member.

3. In the second step described above, the front end of the bottom member is positioned higher than the rear end, and the bottom member is supported in an inclined position relative to the horizontal. The method for loading onto a cage trolley according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the third step, the upright member that was rotated in the first step is rotated around its rear end in a direction in which the front end moves inward of the cage trolley, the front end of the bottom member is lowered to position the bottom member horizontally, and the upright member that was rotated in the first step is fixed to the bottom member.

4. A stacking device for a cage trolley having an opening at the front, wherein an upright member is provided on either the left or right side, or both sides, that is long in the front-to-back direction and can be fixed to and released from a plate-shaped bottom member, and the cage trolley has an opening at the front, A bottom support mechanism that supports the bottom member from which the fixing of the upright member has been released, A stacking device comprising a workpiece loading machine, wherein the upright member is rotated around its rear end in a direction that moves its front end outward from the cage trolley, from an arrangement in which it is fixed to the bottom member, and the workpiece is placed into the cage trolley through the widened opening.

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