Item transport device

Abstract

To provide an article conveyance device that can convey the articles varied in orientation during carrying-in by correcting their attitudes, achieve stable supply to a subsequent stage, and improve the inspection accuracy.SOLUTION: This article conveyance device comprises a conveyance rotor 2 that is disposed below feeding means 6 for feeding a flat small lumpy article W having a small thickness and is rotated around a horizontal axis 7 to receive the article W dropped from the feeding means 6 in an outer peripheral recess 8 and conveys it downward. The recess 8 has an attitude correction part 12 that corrects the attitude of the article W pinched in an orientation in which the article W is set in a standing attitude with its thickness direction set along the horizontal axis 7.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an article transport device. [Background technology]

[0002] A solid preparation conveying device is known that conveys flat solid preparations such as disc-shaped tablets in an aligned state from a hopper that stores them randomly to a printing device, a PTP packaging device, or the like (see Patent Document 1, etc.). When transferring the solid preparations from the hopper to a first storage pocket of a supply drum, this solid preparation conveying device first aligns the solid preparations in the guide groove so that their maximum circular cross section is vertical. The guide groove is configured so that the solid preparations are transferred to the first storage pocket without changing its state, so that one first storage pocket always contains one solid preparation, and never contains two or more. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-271086 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in conventional solid preparation conveying devices, the width of the guide groove is set to be smaller than the diameter of the maximum cross-sectional area circle of the disk-shaped solid preparation, and the disk-shaped solid preparations are configured to be aligned vertically in the guide groove portion at the bottom of the hopper, but at the bottom of the hopper storing a large number of disk-shaped solid preparations, the loads of the disk-shaped solid preparations loaded above interact with each other, raising concerns about variations in posture when the disk-shaped solid preparations are transferred to the first storage pocket. If the posture varies, stable inspection accuracy may not be achieved.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and its purpose is to provide an item transport device that can correct the posture of items that are oriented in various directions when they are brought in and transport them, thereby enabling stable supply to the subsequent stage and improving inspection accuracy. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] Next, means for solving the above problems will be described with reference to the drawings corresponding to the embodiments.

[0007] The article transport device according to claim 1 of the present invention is an article transport device including a transport rotor 2 that is disposed below a supply means 6 that supplies thin, flat, small lump-shaped articles W, rotates on a horizontal shaft 7, receives the articles W dropped from the supply means 6 in a recess 8 on the outer periphery, and transports them downward, The recess 8 is characterized by having a posture correcting portion 12 that corrects the posture of the article W by clamping the article W in a direction such that the thickness direction of the article W is in an upright posture along the horizontal axis 7.

[0008] In this article transport device, the recess 8 has an attitude correcting section 12 at the portion where the article W is introduced from the conveying rotor 2. The article W passes through this attitude correcting section 12 when entering the recess 8. The attitude correcting section 12 corrects (corrects) the attitude of the article W to a predetermined direction. The article W is a flat lump such as a tablet. The flat lump may be disc-shaped, polygonal (triangle, pentagon, hexagon, etc.), or may be an R-shaped tablet with curved surfaces on both sides. The posture correcting unit 12 corrects this flat, small lump-like article W into an upright posture. An upright posture is one in which the thickness direction of the article W is along the horizontal axis 7 of the conveying rotor 2. Therefore, if the article W is disk-shaped, the axis passing through the center of the front and back circular surfaces will be in the same direction as the horizontal axis 7. In other words, the article W will be in an upright position within the recess 8. The article W will move in an upright position along the downward conveying path of the conveying rotor 2 (the right half of the conveying rotor 2, which rotates clockwise, from approximately 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock). By adopting this upright position, the article W can be transported without touching other components, and can be transferred, for example, by rolling to the next stage of the inspection means 4. As a result, in the inspection means 4, the article W is in a self-standing upright position that does not come into contact with the side walls of the recess 8, etc., and the accuracy during measurement can be improved.

[0009] The article transport apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention is the article transport apparatus according to claim 1, The posture correction portion 12 is formed at the opening portion of the recess 8 and is characterized by having a tapered portion 13 that gradually approaches the item W in the thickness direction as it enters the recess 8, and the separation distance at the closest point is greater than the thickness of the item W.

[0010] In this article transport device, the posture correcting section 12 has a tapered section 13. The tapered section 13 serves as a slope that corrects the posture of the article W as it falls. As a result, when the article W that has fallen into the tapered portion 13 hits the slope of the tapered portion 13, the thickness direction of the lower part of the article W is caught in the slit 14 in the recess 8 and falls. Because the diameter of the article W is larger than the groove width of this slit 14, the article W does not assume a prostrate position within the slit 14 with its axis perpendicular to the horizontal axis 7 of the conveying rotor 2. In this way, the article W in the recess 8, whose position has been corrected by the tapered portion 13 and the slit 14, is moved by gravity to the portion of the recess 8 on the rotational direction side where there is no tapered portion 13. In the portion of the recess 8 where there is no tapered portion 13, the narrow slit 14 opens on the outer peripheral surface of the conveying rotor 2. By moving to the portion where there is only the narrow slit 14, the article W moves from the state where it was standing up in the tapered portion 13 to a proper standing position. In other words, the portion without the tapered portion 13 functions to make the article W stand upright (to an upright position). In other words, if the tapered portion 13 is present along the entire length of the recess 8, the article W may not be able to stand upright. Furthermore, even if the article W falls from the tapered portion 13 into the slit 14 when the conveying rotor 2 is stopped, it will not reach an upright position. As the conveying rotor 2 rotates, the posture correcting section 12 moves the article W that has entered from the position of the tapered section 13 by gravity to the section with only the slit 14 in the tip direction, and at that time the posture of the article W can be corrected to an upright posture.

[0011] The article transport apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention is the article transport apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, The recesses 8 are characterized in that a plurality of recesses 8 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the conveying rotor 2.

[0012] In this article transport device, multiple recesses 8 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the transport rotor 2. Even if articles W are dropped into the recesses 8 from the supply means 6 at different times, they are pulled by gravity to the front wall 10 located at the bottom of the recesses 8, so that they can always be transferred to the next stage at the same time. The recesses 8 are formed in a predetermined length that allows the articles W to move in the direction of the outer periphery of the conveying rotor 2, so that even if the input position from the supply means 6 is shifted, the variations can be absorbed and the articles can be positioned at each recess 8 that is equally spaced and serves as a reference position. In other words, longer recesses 8 are prepared for each of the articles W that are supplied one after another, so that even if the input timing from the supply means 6 is shifted, the articles can fit properly into the recesses 8 and can be transported at the intervals of each recess 8.

[0013] The article transport apparatus according to claim 4 of the present invention is the article transport apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The conveying rotor 2 is characterized in that it receives the item W from the supply means 6 parallel to the horizontal axis 7 and above a horizontal plane including the horizontal axis 7, and discharges the item W circumferentially downstream in the conveying direction from the receiving position.

[0014] In this article conveying device, the conveying rotor 2 receives articles W from the supply means 6 parallel to the horizontal axis 7 and above a horizontal plane including the horizontal axis 7. For example, in the case of a conveying rotor 2 that rotates clockwise, this receiving range is approximately the upper half of the range, from approximately the 9 o'clock position to the 3 o'clock position. This makes it easy to feed articles W onto the outer circumferential surface of the conveying rotor 2 by utilizing gravity. Furthermore, the discharge position of the articles W is downstream in the conveying direction from the above-mentioned receiving position in the circumferential direction of the conveying rotor 2. In other words, it can be located approximately in the lower half of the range, from the 3 o'clock position to the 9 o'clock position. This makes it easy to discharge the articles W from the outer circumferential surface of the conveying rotor 2 by utilizing gravity to correct the posture of the articles W in the recesses 8.

[0015] The article transport apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention is the article transport apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The conveying rotor 2 is provided along its outer periphery to close the opening of the recess 8, and together with the recess 8 forms a conveying chamber 16, the end position 17 of which is the discharge position for the item W, and is characterized by having a guide wall 3.

[0016] In this article conveying device, the posture corrector 12 corrects the posture of the flat, small lump-shaped article W to an upright position, and the article W stands upright in the recess 8. The upright article W moves in the upright position along the downward conveying path of the conveying rotor 2 (the right half of the conveying rotor 2 rotating clockwise, approximately from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock) by gravity while contacting the front wall 10 and guide wall 3 that make up the recess 8 in the conveying chamber 16. The article W moves in the upright position along the downward conveying path of the conveying rotor 2 (the right half of the conveying rotor 2 rotating clockwise, approximately from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock). This makes it possible to correct the posture of the article W in the recess 8 by utilizing gravity, transport it along the guide wall 3, and easily discharge the article W from the terminal position 17.

[0017] The article transport apparatus according to claim 6 of the present invention is the article transport apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The object W is discharged from the conveying rotor 2 to an inspection means 4.

[0018] In this article transport device, articles W are discharged from the transport rotor 2 to the inspection means 4. The articles W are stored in a transport chamber 16 formed by the guide wall 3 and the recessed portion 8 of the transport rotor 2, and sent to the inspection means 4. The articles W are transferred to the inspection means 4 while in contact with the front wall 10 of the recessed portion 8 that forms the transport chamber 16. The front walls 10 are provided at equal intervals on the outer circumferential surface of the transport rotor 2. Therefore, the conveying rotor 2 rotates at a constant rotational speed, and the articles W are sent to the inspection means 4 at a constant discharge timing. The articles W are also sent to the inspection means 4 in an upright position. By sending the articles W at regular intervals, the inspection means 4 can inspect the stationary articles W after damping the fluctuation of the articles W.

[0019] The article transport apparatus according to claim 7 of the present invention is the article transport apparatus according to claim 6, A sorting unit 5 that sorts the items W based on the inspection results of the inspection means 4 is provided next to the inspection means 4.

[0020] In this item conveying device, when inspection of item W is completed by inspection means 4, rear wall 11 of recess 8 pushes out item W, and item W is sent from inspection means 4 to sorting unit 5. Before item W arrives from inspection means 4, inspection results from inspection means 4 are input to sorting unit 5. Upon receiving these inspection results, sorting unit 5 switches the discharge path for item W, for example, to a good item path or a bad item path, using a sorting mechanism before item W arrives. Items W that arrive at sorting unit 5 are sorted to a good item path or a bad item path based on the inspection results. [Effects of the Invention]

[0021] According to the item conveying device of claim 1 of the present invention, items that are oriented in various directions when brought in can be conveyed by correcting their posture, and the items can be discharged to the next stage in an upright position, etc., thereby realizing stable supply and improving inspection accuracy.

[0022] According to the article transport device of the second aspect of the present invention, flat, small lump-shaped articles can be adjusted to an upright position by the tapered portion.

[0023] According to the item conveying device of claim 3 of the present invention, items whose falling position into the recess is not fixed can be conveyed at regular intervals through multiple equally spaced recesses, and the orientation of the items when discharged to the next level in the recesses can always be kept the same, allowing them to be handed over to the next level.

[0024] According to the item transport device of claim 4 of the present invention, gravity acting on the items is utilized to receive items from the supply device onto the transport rotating body, and each item is corrected to an upright position so that it can be discharged from the transport rotating body to the next stage, i.e., the position of the items on the next stage can always be kept constant.

[0025] According to the item transport device of claim 5 of the present invention, items that are oriented in different directions can be transported by correcting their posture, and by utilizing gravity within the transport chamber, the items can be oriented in an upright position, etc., so that they can be stably supplied to the subsequent stage.

[0026] According to the item conveying device of claim 6 of the present invention, items with corrected posture can be discharged to the inspection means at regular intervals regardless of the timing of insertion into the conveying rotor, and high-precision inspection can be achieved by always ensuring that the items are always in correct posture.

[0027] According to the item transport device of claim 7 of the present invention, items discharged from the inspection means can be sorted into OK items, NG items, etc. by the sorting section immediately after measurement based on the measurement results of the inspection means. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0028] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a main part of an article inspection device including an article transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the conveying rotor shown in FIG. [Figure 3] 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the conveying rotor shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the examination table shown in FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a side view of the examination table shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the recess shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 7] 10A is a diagram illustrating the operation when an article is supplied to the conveying rotor, and FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating the operation after rotation of FIG. [Figure 8] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the state of an article being supplied from a supply means to a conveying rotor. FIG. [Figure 9] 9A is a diagram illustrating the operation of an article before it hits the tapered portion at the AA cross section position in FIG. 8, and FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating the operation of an article whose posture has been corrected by the tapered portion at the same position. [Figure 10] 10 is a partially cutaway explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of a conveying rotor that conveys articles together with a guide wall. FIG. [Figure 11] 11 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 10 taken along line B-B. [Figure 12] 10A and 10B are explanatory diagrams illustrating the operation of articles being conveyed at equal intervals by the conveying rotor. [Figure 13]10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of an article at which weighing begins on the inspection table. FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional side view of the main part of the inspection table after weighing has been completed. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a main part illustrating a situation during inspection in which an object is placed in a recess. [Figure 16] 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along CC in FIG. 15. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of a main part of the inspection table when the discharge of the article has started. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of a main part of the inspection table in the middle of discharging an article. [Figure 19] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of a sorting unit into which an article is fed. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0029] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of an article inspection device 1 including an article transport device according to this embodiment. The article inspection device 1 according to this embodiment includes an article transport device, as well as an inspection means 4 and a sorting unit 5. The article transport device includes a transport drum 2 as a transport rotating body, and a guide wall 3.

[0030] The conveying drum 2 is disposed below a supply device 6 as a supply means for supplying articles W, and is rotated on a horizontal shaft 31 to receive articles W dropped from the supply device 6 in a recess 8 on the outer periphery.

[0031] In this embodiment, the supply device 6 is described as being drum-type, but the supply device 6 is not limited to this. The supply device 6 may also be, for example, a magazine type or a linear feeder type. In the supply device 6 of this embodiment, a supply drum 9 rotates around a horizontal axis 31, and the items W are adsorbed onto the outer surface of the supply drum 9 by negative pressure and transported at predetermined intervals. The supply device 6 releases adsorption directly above the transport drum 2, and then drops the items W onto the transport drum 2. The supply drum 9 rotates in the opposite direction to the transport drum 2 so that the drop position of the items W coincides with the recess 8. When the transport operation begins, the transport drum 2 and supply drum 9 rotate at the same speed.

[0032] The objects W to be inspected by the object inspection device 1 are relatively small objects W, including objects W with an outer diameter φ of several mm to several tens of mm that can be transported individually without packaging, bite-sized objects W, objects W of a predetermined shape manufactured by existing manufacturing equipment or manufacturing equipment without inspection functions, and molded products, particularly objects W whose shape does not change during transportation. Examples of such objects W include tablets, capsules, lozenges, drops, and other pharmaceutical preparations, candy, chocolate, etc. Below, the object W to be inspected will be described using as an example an R-tablet or round tablet, which is circular in plan view, has a small, flat lump shape with a height (thickness) smaller than its diameter, has a cylindrical circumferential surface with bulging spherical surfaces on both sides, and is circular in shape.

[0033] Furthermore, in the case of an article W that is a small, flat lump that is circular in plan view, the posture of the article W during transportation is referred to as an upright posture when the axis passing through the center of the front and back surfaces faces horizontally, and as a prostrate posture when the axis passing through the center of the front and back surfaces faces vertically. Furthermore, the thickness of the article W is the distance in the axial direction of the article W.

[0034] The recess 8 is formed in the shape of a slit of a predetermined length that allows the article W to move in the outer circumferential direction along the rotation direction of the conveying drum 2. The recess 8 has a front wall 10 that the article W hits on the front side in the direction of movement of the article W due to gravity, and a rear wall 11 that pushes the article W out of the inspection means 4 on the rear side in the direction of movement of the article W. A plurality of recesses 8 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the conveying drum 2.

[0035] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the conveying drum 2 shown in FIG. 1. The recess 8 has a posture correcting portion 12 that corrects the posture of the article W by sandwiching it in a direction in which the thickness direction of the article W is in an upright posture along the horizontal axis 7. The posture correcting portion 12 is formed at the opening portion of the recess 8 and has a tapered portion 13 that gradually approaches in the plate thickness direction of the article W entering the recess 8 and the separation distance at the closest portion is larger than the thickness of the article W.

[0036] FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of the conveying drum 2 shown in FIG. 2. The posture correcting portion 12 is composed of this tapered portion 13 and a slit 14 engraved radially inward of the conveying drum 2 than the tapered portion 13. The slit 14 is recessed along the outer peripheral surface of the conveying drum 2 over the extending direction of the recess 8. That is, the slit 14 can be, for example, a curved groove along the outer peripheral surface. The groove width of this slit 14 is smaller than the diameter of the article W (including the R tablet) formed in a substantially disk shape of a flat small piece. Also, when the article W is a substantially polygon such as a triangle, pentagon, and hexagon without corners, the groove width of the slit 14 is smaller than the diameter of the circumscribed circle thereof.

[0037] The tapered portion 13 is provided on the opening side (the outer peripheral surface side of the conveying drum 2) of this slit 14 (see FIG. 2). The tapered portion 13 is provided in almost the entire extending direction of the slit 14, but is not provided in a part on the rotation direction side of the conveying drum 2. Therefore, in this part, only the slit 14 is opened to the outer peripheral surface. That is, the length Lt of the tapered portion 13 in the rotation direction of the conveying drum 2 is shorter than the length Ls of the slit 14 in the same direction (Lt < Ls). Also, it is preferable that the length (Ls - Lt) of the part where the tapered portion 13 is not provided is slightly longer than the radius d of the article W (d < (Ls - Lt)). Thereby, the part where the tapered portion 13 is not provided can make the article W stand more surely (upright posture) in the recess 8 compared to the case where it is shorter than the radius d of the article W (d > Ls - Lt).

[0038] The tapered portion 13 has a distance between its inlet openings on the outer peripheral surface of the conveying drum 2 that is greater than the diameter D of the article W (see FIG. 9(a) described later). The tapered portion 13 gradually approaches the inclined surface as it is carved, and the distance between the tapered portions 13 eventually matches the width of the slit 14. That is, the distance between the tapered portions 13 that matches the width of the slit 14 is set to be greater than the thickness of the article W. The groove width interval of the slit 14 is set to, for example, approximately 1.4 to 2 times the thickness of the article W. Therefore, the slit 14 has a clearance for the thickness of the article W. The depth of the recess 8, which is the sum of the slit 14 and the tapered portion 13, is greater than the diameter D of the article W, and the depth from the lower edge of the tapered portion 13 to the bottom of the slit 14 is set to be slightly greater than the radius of the article W. The tapered portion 13 of the posture correcting unit 12 may be a stepped portion with a gradually narrowing distance.

[0039] The recess 8 is formed with a predetermined length that allows the article W to move in the outer circumferential direction along the rotation direction of the conveying drum 2. The inner wall of the recess 8 on the side facing the rotation direction of the conveying drum 2 serves as a front wall 10. The front wall 10 has a flat surface portion Fs that is parallel to the radial direction of the conveying drum 2. Furthermore, the inner wall of the recess 8 on the side opposite the rotation direction of the conveying drum 2 serves as a rear wall 11.

[0040] The article transport device is arranged so as to face the guide block 15 shown in Fig. 1 outside the area where the rotation direction of the transport drum 2 is substantially downward. In this embodiment, the guide block 15 faces the transport drum 2, which rotates clockwise, in the range from 1 o'clock to 5 o'clock, as an example. Note that in this specification, for ease of understanding, the rotational position of the rotating body may be explained using the position of the numbers on the dial of a clock with hour and minute hands as an example.

[0041] A guide wall 3 is formed on the surface of this guide block 15 facing the transport drum 2, following the outer circumferential surface of the transport drum 2. The guide wall 3 is provided along the outer periphery of the transport drum 2, and together with the recess 8, forms a transport chamber 16 (see FIG. 7). In other words, the opening of the recess 8 of the transport drum 2 is closed by the guide wall 3 as the transport drum 2 rotates, thereby forming the transport chamber 16, which is an enclosed space. The end position 17 of the guide wall 3 shown in FIG. 1 (i.e., approximately the 5 o'clock position in the above example) is the discharge position for the article W.

[0042] The conveying drum 2 receives the article W from the supply device 6 parallel to the horizontal axis 7 and above a horizontal plane including the horizontal axis 7, and discharges the article W circumferentially downstream in the conveying direction from the receiving position. In the article inspection device 1, the destination of the article W from the conveying drum 2 is the inspection means 4.

[0043] The inspection means 4 is disposed below the conveying drum 2. The inspection means 4 receives the article W from the terminal position 17 of the guide wall 3. In this embodiment, the inspection means 4 is a weighing scale. However, the inspection means 4 is not limited to a weighing scale. In the article inspection device 1, the inspection means 4 may perform other inspections, such as external inspection using a camera or the like.

[0044] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the examination table 18 shown in FIG. The inspection means 4 has an inspection table 18 onto which the article W discharged from the transport chamber 16 is transferred. If the inspection means 4 is a mass inspection scale, this inspection table 18 serves as a weighing table. The inspection table 18 has a concave curved surface 19 that rolls the article W due to the inertia of the moving article W. The concave curved surface 19 conforms to the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 2. In other words, the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 2 conforms to the concave curved surface 19 of the inspection table 18. In other words, the concave curved surface 19 and the guide wall 3 form a substantially continuous curved surface with the terminal position 17 in between.

[0045] On the concave surface 19, a depression 20 is formed in the middle of the rolling direction of the article W. The depression 20 consists of a gentle inclined surface 21 on the rotation direction side of the conveying drum 2 (the rolling direction side of the article W) across the deepest part, and a steep inclined surface 22 on the opposite side of the rotation direction of the conveying drum 2 (the side opposite to the rolling direction of the article W). Further, the gentle inclined surface 21 and the steep inclined surface 22 are set such that the included angle is an obtuse angle.

[0046] FIG. 5 is a side view of the inspection table 18 shown in FIG. 4. Here, consider a vertical line 23 passing through the horizontal axis 7 of the conveying drum 2. This vertical line 23 passes through the central point 24 in the conveying direction of the article W on the concave surface 19 of the inspection table 18. The deepest part of the depression 20 intersects with the radial extension line 25 obtained by slightly rotating the vertical line 23 around the horizontal axis 7 by a displacement amount δ. That is, the depression 20 is provided offset to the rotation direction side of the conveying drum 2 from the central part of the concave surface 19 corresponding to the lowermost part of the conveying drum 2.

[0047] Consider the tangent line at the point where this extension line 25 intersects the concave surface 19. When this tangent line is translated parallel to intersect the deepest part of the depression 20 to obtain a tangent line 26, let the angle formed by the tangent line 26 and the gentle inclined surface 21 be U, and the angle formed by the tangent line 26 and the steep inclined surface 22 be Q. At this time, the gentle inclined surface 21 and the steep inclined surface 22 satisfy the relationship U < Q. Also, the relationship U + Q ≧ 90° holds. The article W is supported in a standing posture by contacting only two places, the gentle inclined surface 21 and the steep inclined surface 22, in the depression 20 of this inspection table 18 (see FIG. 16). <(

[0048] FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of the depression 20 shown in FIG. 5. The article inspection device 1 is provided with a sorting unit 5 that sorts articles based on the inspection results of the inspection means 4 at the subsequent stage of the inspection means 4. The concave portion 8 has a rear wall 11 that pushes the article W toward the sorting unit 5 on the rear side in the moving direction of the article W. As shown in FIG. 6, the rear wall 11 has a scraping inclined surface 28 where the inclined lower end 27 abuts below the vertical center of the article W when the article W is in a standing posture with the thickness direction along the horizontal axis 7.

[0049] Next, the operation of the article inspection device 1 will be described.

[0050] FIG. 7(a) is an explanatory diagram of the operation when articles are supplied to the conveying drum 2, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of the operation after the rotation of (a). In the article inspection device 1, when the transport of an article W begins, the transport drum 2 rotates (clockwise rotation in FIG. 7, for example). The article W is fed (dropped by gravity) onto the transport drum 2 from the supply device 6, which rotates synchronously, when the tapered portion 13 of each recess 8 reaches the upper end. This operation is performed continuously as the transport drum 2 rotates for the recesses 8, which are provided at equal intervals around the circumference of the transport drum 2. Therefore, the transport drum 2 stores the article W in the recesses 8 in the range from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock (the range in the right half of the figure).

[0051] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of the articles W being supplied from the supply device 6 to the conveying drum 2. As shown in FIG. As shown in Fig. 1, the supply device 6 transports the articles W by suction, holding them by their sides with their axis horizontal so that both the front and back surfaces can be seen from the front. However, as shown in Fig. 8, the articles W may be suctioned to the outer circumferential surface of the supply drum 9, for example, with their axis oriented in the radial direction of the supply drum 9. Therefore, the articles W are in a prone position at the bottom end of the supply drum 9 that supplies the articles W to the transport drum 2. The articles W fall into the recessed portion 8 of the transport drum 2 while remaining in this prone position.

[0052] Figure 9(a) is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the object W before it hits the tapered portion 13 at the AA cross section position in Figure 8, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the object W whose posture has been corrected by the tapered portion 13 at the same position. The article W that has fallen from the supply drum 9 hits the tapered portion 13 of the posture correcting section 12 in any posture. The article W that hits the tapered portion 13 is guided so that only the lower portion enters the slit 14, and the posture is corrected to an almost upright position.

[0053] FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway explanatory diagram of the operation of the conveying drum 2 that conveys the article W together with the guide wall 3. The article W, whose posture has been corrected to a nearly upright position, falls due to gravity and hits the front wall 10 in the downward rotation region of the conveyor drum 2 (for example, the range from 1 o'clock to 5 o'clock).

[0054] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. Furthermore, in the range from 3 o'clock to 5 o'clock, the article W hits the front wall 10 and the guide wall 3. That is, the article W, under the action of gravity, descends while being supported by the front wall 10 and the guide wall 3. Particularly in this range, the load supporter for the article W shifts from the front wall 10 to the guide wall 3. At a position near 5 o'clock shown in FIG. 10, the load supported by the guide wall 3 for the article W becomes greater than the load supported by the front wall 10. That is, the article W rolling on the guide wall 3 leans against the front wall 10.

[0055] FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the articles W being conveyed at equal intervals on the conveying drum 2. In FIG. When the article W reaches the terminal position 17 of the guide wall 3, it rolls due to gravity onto the inspection table 18, which has the same curvature. In the article inspection device 1, the distance between the two front walls 10 where two adjacent articles W in the rotational direction abut each other just before the article W rolls onto the inspection table 18 is the transport interval Hk of the articles W that supply the articles W to the inspection means 4. In other words, the recess 8 is set so that the distance between the front walls is this transport interval Hk, which is the timing for discharging the articles W from the terminal position 17.

[0056] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of an article W at which weighing begins on the inspection table. After rolling onto the concave curved surface 19 of the inspection table 18, the item W passes through the recess 20, then changes direction and returns in the opposite direction to the rolling direction, stopping at the recess 20. At this time, the item W does not come into contact with either the front wall 10 or the rear wall 11. In this state, the mass inspection scale operates to complete weighing before the next item W is placed on the inspection table 18.

[0057] FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional side view of the main part of the inspection table 18 after weighing has been completed. When the inspection is completed, the rear wall 11 of the conveying drum 2, which is rotating at a constant speed, approaches the article W located in the recess 20 from behind in the conveying direction. At this time, the next front wall 10, which is located behind the rear wall 11 approaching the article W, moves to the concave curved surface 19 of the inspection table 18. As a result, the next article W rolls onto the concave curved surface 19 of the inspection table 18.

[0058] FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of a main part showing a state during inspection in which the article W is placed in the recess 20. In the article inspection device 1, the length Ls of the slit 14 in the rotation direction of the conveyor drum 2 is set to a length that prevents the rear wall 11 of the rotating conveyor drum 2 from coming into contact with the article W being weighed.

[0059] In the article transport device, an article W is loaded into the transport chamber 16, moved along the guide wall 3 while still contained within the space, and sent to the inspection table 18. At the inspection table 18, the article W is measured on the inspection table 18 while being placed between the front wall 10 and rear wall 11 of the transport chamber 16 in a state where it is not in contact with the wall. The article W is then discharged from the inspection table 18 by the rear wall 11. The article inspection device 1 performs these operations at regular intervals. "Regular intervals" does not refer to the distance between the front wall 10 and rear wall 11, but rather refers to the regular intervals at which the articles are discharged by the respective rear walls 11 of each transport chamber 16. If the first article W and the second article W get too close, sorting will not be possible in time. In other words, an accurate judgment result will not be obtained, and sorting will not be possible. Therefore, in the article inspection device 1, the article W moving on the concave curved surface 19 hits the front wall 10, thereby achieving transport at regular intervals.

[0060] FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along CC in FIG. The article W being weighed does not come into contact with the groove inner wall surface 29 of the slit 14, the tapered portion 13, or the opposing inner wall surface 30 of the recess 20, even in a cross section parallel to and including the axis. In other words, the article W stands upright with its lowest part in line contact only with the recess 20 of the inspection table 18. The article W makes line contact with two points in the recess 20, the gentle inclined surface 21 and the steep inclined surface 22, allowing it to be weighed in a stable, stationary state.

[0061] FIG. 17 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the main part of the inspection table 18 when the discharge of the article W has begun. As the conveying drum 2 rotates, the lower inclined end 27 of the inclined surface of the rear wall 11 of the weighed article W comes into contact with the rear of the weighed article W in the conveying direction. At this time, the next article W is in contact with the front wall 10 of the next recess 8 formed at the back of the rear wall 11.

[0062] FIG. 18 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of a main part of the inspection table 18 when the article W is being discharged. The inclined lower end 27 pushes the article W below the center of the article W, scraping it out of the recess 20. The rear wall 11 pushing the article W pushes the article W up against the gently inclined upward surface 21, and then ejects the article W from the concave curved surface 19 of the inspection table 18.

[0063] FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the sorting unit 5 to which the article W has been fed. The item W discharged from the inspection table 18 is sent to the sorting unit 5. When the sorting unit 5 receives the inspection results from the inspection means 4, it switches the discharge path for the item W connected to the inspection table 18, for example, to a good item path or a bad item path, using a sorting mechanism before the item W arrives. As a result, the item inspection device 1 sorts the item W that has arrived at the sorting unit 5 into good items and bad items based on the inspection results, and completes the inspection of one item W.

[0064] Next, the operation of the above-described configuration will be described.

[0065] In the article transport device according to this embodiment, an article W is supplied from a supply device 6 to a recess 8 in the transport drum 2. The article W stored in the recess 8 is moved downward by the rotation of the transport drum 2, and while hitting the front wall 10 on the front side in the direction of travel due to gravity, it is discharged along the guide wall 3 to the inspection means 4 for the next process.

[0066] The recesses 8 are formed in the shape of slits with a predetermined length that allows the articles W to move in the outer circumferential direction of the conveying drum 2. That is, the articles W stored in the recesses 8 can move in the longitudinal direction of the recesses 8 due to gravity, and as a result of this movement, the articles W come into contact with the front wall 10 located on the front side in the movement direction and stop moving within the recesses 8 (i.e., are supported). As a result, the articles W are positioned at a plurality of reference positions in the circumferential direction of the rotating conveying drum 2, i.e., at each of the front walls 10.

[0067] The support position (stop position within the recess 8) is adjusted so that the article W can be discharged at regular intervals by moving any distance from the drop position to the front wall 10 in each recess 8. As a result, the article W can be inspected at regular intervals regardless of the timing of its introduction.

[0068] In this article transport device, multiple recesses 8 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the transport drum 2. Even if articles W are dropped into the recesses 8 from the supply device 6 at different times, they are pulled by gravity to the front wall 10 located at the bottom end of the recesses 8, so that they can always be transferred to the next inspection table 18 at the same time.

[0069] The recesses 8 are formed with a predetermined length in the direction of the outer periphery of the conveying drum 2 so that the articles W can move, and therefore, even if the insertion position from the supply device 6 is shifted, the variation can be absorbed and the articles can be positioned on the front wall 10, which serves as the reference position. In other words, longer recesses 8 are provided for each of the articles W that are successively supplied, so that even if the insertion timing from the supply device 6 is shifted, the articles W will fit neatly into the recesses 8. As a result, the articles W are supported by gravity on the front wall 10 of the recesses 8, and so even if the articles W are supplied randomly and their drop positions are not fixed, they can be transported at regular intervals and handed over to the next inspection means 4.

[0070] Furthermore, in this article transport device, a flat surface Fs parallel to the radial direction of the transport drum 2 is formed on the rotational direction side of a recess 8 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 2. The end of the flat surface Fs on the outer peripheral surface side of the transport drum 2 moves in sliding contact with or facing the guide wall 3. The article W is moved to the inspection means 4 by gravity while in contact with the flat surface Fs and the guide wall 3, with its relative position in the rotational direction with respect to the transport drum 2 being constant.

[0071] Because the flat surface Fs is parallel to the radial direction of the conveying drum 2, gravity can continue to act on the article W stored in the recess 8 in the direction of impact with the front wall 10 in the half of the conveying drum 2 that is in the rotation direction (the half from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock in the clockwise direction) in the direction of impact with the front wall 10. As a result, the recess 8 can position the article W by biasing it in the conveying direction. In other words, because the flat surface Fs is flat, it can support the article W in the most stable orientation given its external shape, and this allows the orientation of the article W to always be the same when it is discharged to the next level.

[0072] In the article inspection device 1, the inspection means 4 is a mass inspection scale. The article W is accommodated in a transport chamber 16 formed by the guide wall 3 and the recess 8 of the transport drum 2, and is sent to the mass inspection scale. The article W is transferred to the mass inspection scale while in contact with the front wall 10 of the transport chamber 16. The front walls 10 are provided at equal intervals around the circumference of the transport drum 2.

[0073] Therefore, the transport drum 2 rotates at a constant rotational speed, and the objects W are sent to the mass inspection scale at a constant discharge timing. By sending the objects W at regular intervals, the mass inspection scale can dampen the fluctuation of the objects W and then weigh the stationary objects W with high precision. As a result, all of the objects W handed over from the transport drum 2 can be individually inspected for weight, such as whether they are heavy, light, or correct.

[0074] Furthermore, in this item inspection device 1, once inspection of item W is completed by the inspection means 4, the item W is sent from the inspection table 18 to the sorting unit 5. The sorting unit 5 receives the inspection results from the inspection means 4 before the item W arrives from the inspection table 18. Upon receiving these inspection results, the sorting unit 5 switches the discharge path of the item W, for example, to a pass / fail item path or a fail / fail item path, using a sorting mechanism before the item W arrives. The item W that arrives at the sorting unit 5 is sorted to either the pass / fail item path or the fail / fail item path based on the inspection results. As a result, the item W discharged from the inspection means 4 at the rear wall 11 can be sorted into a pass / fail item or a fail / fail item by the sorting unit 5 immediately after measurement based on the measurement results of the inspection means 4.

[0075] Furthermore, in this article conveying device, the recess 8 has an attitude correcting section 12 at the portion where the article W is introduced from the conveying drum 2. The article W passes through this attitude correcting section 12 when entering the recess 8. The attitude correcting section 12 corrects (corrects) the attitude of the article W to a predetermined direction.

[0076] The article W is a flat lump such as a tablet. The flat lump may be disc-shaped, polygonal (triangle, pentagon, hexagon, etc.), or may be an R-shaped tablet with curved surfaces on both sides.

[0077] The posture correcting unit 12 corrects this flat, small lump-like article W into an upright posture. An upright posture is one in which the thickness direction of the article W is along the horizontal axis 7 of the conveying drum 2. Therefore, if the article W is disk-shaped, the axis passing through the center of the front and back circular surfaces will be in the same direction as the horizontal axis 7. In other words, the article W will be in an upright position within the recess 8. Due to gravity, the upright article W will move in an upright position along the downward conveying path of the conveying drum 2 (the right half of the conveying drum 2, approximately from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock, as the conveying drum 2 rotates clockwise) while in contact with the front wall 10 of the recess 8 and the guide wall 3.

[0078] By adopting this upright position, the article W can be transferred to the inspection means 4 while rolling without touching other components. This allows the inspection means 4 to adopt an independent upright position where the article W does not come into contact with the side walls of the recess 8, improving the accuracy during measurement. As a result, the article W, which is in a random orientation when being carried in, can be transported with its orientation corrected, thereby achieving stable inspection accuracy.

[0079] In this article transport device, the posture correcting section 12 has a tapered section 13. The tapered section 13 serves as a slope that corrects the posture of the article W as it falls. As a result, when the article W that falls into the tapered portion 13 hits the slope of the tapered portion 13, the thickness direction of the lower part of the article W is pinched between the slits 14 and falls. Because the diameter of the article W is larger than the groove width of the slits 14, the article W does not assume a prone position within the slits 14 with its axis perpendicular to the horizontal axis 7 of the conveying drum 2.

[0080] In this way, the article W, whose posture has been corrected by the tapered portion 13 and the slit 14, is moved by gravity to the portion of the recess 8 on the rotational direction side where the tapered portion 13 is not present. In the portion of the recess 8 where the tapered portion 13 is not present, a narrow slit 14 opens on the outer peripheral surface of the conveying drum 2. As the article W moves to the portion where only the narrow slit 14 is present, it stands upright from the state where it was standing upright in the tapered portion 13. In other words, the portion without the tapered portion 13 functions to make the article W stand upright (establish an upright posture). In other words, if the tapered portion 13 is present along the entire length of the recess 8, the article W may not be able to stand upright. Furthermore, even if the article W falls from the tapered portion 13 into the slit 14 while the conveying drum 2 is stopped, it will not assume an upright posture. With the posture corrector 12, the article W that entered from the tapered portion 13 moves by gravity to the portion of the conveying drum 2 where only the slit 14 is present toward the tip, and at that time, the posture corrector 12 corrects the posture of the article W to an upright posture.

[0081] Furthermore, in this article conveying device, the conveying drum 2 receives articles W from the supply device 6 parallel to the horizontal shaft 7 and above a horizontal plane including the horizontal shaft 7. For example, in the case of a conveying drum 2 that rotates clockwise, this receiving range is approximately the upper half of the conveying drum 2, from approximately the 9 o'clock position to the 3 o'clock position. This makes it easy to feed the articles W onto the outer circumferential surface of the conveying drum 2 by utilizing gravity. Furthermore, the discharge position of the articles W is downstream in the conveying direction from the above-mentioned receiving position in the circumferential direction of the conveying drum 2. In other words, it can be located approximately in the lower half of the conveying drum 2, from the 3 o'clock position to the 9 o'clock position. This makes it easy to discharge the articles W from the outer circumferential surface of the conveying drum 2 by utilizing gravity. As a result, by utilizing gravity acting on the articles W, the articles W can be received by the conveying drum 2 from the supply device 6 and discharged from the conveying drum 2 to the inspection means 4.

[0082] In the article inspection device 1, the article W is discharged from the conveying drum 2 to the inspection means 4. The article W is stored in a conveying chamber 16 formed by the guide wall 3 and the recess 8 of the conveying drum 2, and sent to the inspection means 4. The article W is transferred to the inspection means 4 while in contact with the front wall 10 of the conveying chamber 16. The front wall 10 is provided at equal intervals on the outer circumferential surface of the conveying drum 2.

[0083] Therefore, the transport drum 2 rotates at a constant rotational speed, and the articles W are sent to the inspection means 4 at a constant discharge timing. By sending the articles W at regular intervals, the inspection means 4 can inspect the stationary articles W after damping the fluctuation of the articles W. As a result, regardless of the timing of insertion into the transport drum 2, the articles W can be discharged to the inspection means 4 at regular intervals, enabling highly accurate inspection.

[0084] In this article inspection device 1, the inspection means 4 has an inspection table 18 with a concave curved surface 19. This concave curved surface 19 has a depression 20 formed midway in the rolling direction of the article W. If the inspection table 18 is configured as it is with the concave curved surface 19, the article W, which is formed into a small, flat lump and in an upright position, rolling into one end of the concave curved surface 19, will move in a pendulum motion (damped vibration) that moves back and forth in the direction of travel. This damped vibration, such as a pendulum motion, will also be referred to as swing in this specification. If the article W continues to move in this pendulum motion, it will take time for it to dampen.

[0085] In the article inspection device 1, if the goal is to increase the mass inspection accuracy, and if the device waits until the pendulum motion converges, high capacity (increased number of inspection processes) cannot be achieved. Also, if the goal is to increase capacity, and inspection begins before the pendulum motion converges, the mass inspection accuracy cannot be increased.

[0086] Therefore, the article inspection device 1 is designed so that the inspection table 18 has a recess 20 on the concave curved surface 19 to converge and stop the movement.

[0087] That is, the depth, shape and angle of the inclined surface of the recess 20 dampen the inertial energy of the article W. The position and shape of the recess 20 of the inspection table 18 have been devised. The article W having inertial energy can be dropped into the recess 20, and the damped vibration can be quickly reduced to zero, so that the article W can be stopped precisely in the recess 20. The inspection table 18 can quickly converge the oscillation of the article W. As a result, the article W that is about to transition to pendulum motion can be quickly stopped and inspected.

[0088] In this article inspection device 1, the recess 20 is not provided in the center of the inspection table 18, but is positioned slightly off to the side in the rotation direction of the transport drum 2 (the side in the direction in which the article W travels). Note that the center of the inspection table 18 is the position of the inspection table 18 that corresponds to the lowest part of the transport drum 2. In other words, it is the position directly below the center of rotation of the transport drum 2.

[0089] If a depression 20 is provided in the center of the concave surface 19, the object W rolling on the concave surface 19 will move back and forth more (the amplitude of the pendulum motion is less likely to decrease). If the depression 20 is located in the center, the effect of gravity on damping will be weak. Furthermore, if the depression 20 is deep, an external force will be applied to the inspection table 18 when the object W is removed. On the other hand, if the depression 20 is located slightly beyond the center, the object W will fit snugly into the depression 20 due to the force of gravity when its rolling speed decreases from its maximum, resulting in almost no back and forth movement. This allows the inspection table 18 to eliminate the swaying of the object W and quickly stabilize the object W. As a result, the force of gravity acting on the object W can be used to more quickly stop the swaying of the object W. Note that, although "rolling" is used as an example of one mode of movement of the object W in this specification, "sliding" may also be used as a mode of movement for an object W having a triangular shape without corners, for example.

[0090] Furthermore, in this article transport device, the transport drum 2 is a so-called drum type. The outer peripheral surface of the drum-type transport drum 2 has a curvature that approximately matches the concave curved surface 19 of the inspection table 18 so that it fits along the concave curved surface 19. In other words, the center of the radius of curvature of the concave curved surface 19 of the inspection table 18 is the horizontal axis 7 of the transport drum 2. A small gap is provided between the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 2 and the concave curved surface 19 of the inspection table 18 to prevent interference between them.

[0091] As a result, the conveying drum 2 can send the article W stored in the recess 8 from one end side (upstream side in the conveying direction) of the concave curved surface 19 to the inspection table 18, and roll the article W, which is not in contact with the recess 8, to the other end side (downstream side in the conveying direction) of the concave curved surface 19. As a result, the article W in an upright position received from the conveying drum 2 can be rolled by gravity from one end side of the concave curved surface 19, and then rolled against gravity toward the other end side, thereby quickly dissipating inertial energy and bringing the article to a standstill.

[0092] In this article conveying device, an article W is accommodated and conveyed between a front wall 10 (front side in the direction of travel) and a rear wall 11 (rear side in the direction of travel) of a recess 8 in the rotating drum. More specifically, the article W is supported by gravity while in contact with the guide wall 3 and the front wall 10 and conveyed. The recess 8 is formed with a predetermined length that allows the article W to move in the outer circumferential direction. The recesses 8 are formed at equal intervals around the circumference of the conveying drum 2. Therefore, the article W transferred to the inspection table 18 by the front wall 10 rolls on the inspection table 18 while contacting the front wall 10 that moves in the rotation direction, and comes to rest in a depression 20 of the inspection table 18. When inspection on the inspection table 18 is completed, the rear wall 11 of the same recess 8 approaches and abuts the stationary article W as the conveying drum 2 rotates, and is pushed and discharged to the sorting section 5 as the rear wall 11 moves. As a result, the timing for supplying the product to the inspection means 4 is determined by the front wall 10 of the recess 8 of the rotating conveyor drum 2, and the timing for discharging the product from the inspection means 4 is determined by the rear wall 11, thereby determining the time for inspection.

[0093] Furthermore, in this article conveying device, the rear wall 11 has a scraping inclined surface 28 whose inclined lower end 27 abuts below the vertical center of the article W. The rear wall 11 inserts the inclined lower end 27 of the scraping inclined surface 28 into the circumferential lower side (between 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock clockwise) of the article W that is stationary in the recess 20 of the inspection table 18, thereby scraping the article W up and ejecting it from the inspection table 18. As a result, by inserting the inclined lower end 27 of the rear wall 11 into a position below the center of the article W that has stuck in the recess 20, an ejection force can be applied to lift the article W, thereby reducing impact and load on the scale and the article W.

[0094] In the inspection means 4 of this article inspection device 1, the recess 20 is made up of a gently inclined surface 21 on the side of the deepest part in the direction of rotation and a steeply inclined surface 22 on the side opposite the direction of rotation.

[0095] When the inspection means 4 is a mass inspection scale, the inspection table 18 is a weighing table. In a mass inspection scale, the less vibration the item W has, the more accurate the mass inspection can be. One way to reduce vibration is to slow down the rotation speed of the conveying drum 2. Extending the time it takes for the item W to hit the front wall 10 of the recess 8 against the rear wall 11 will improve accuracy, but will also reduce processing capacity (number of items per minute). In contrast, there is a demand for the item inspection device 1 to maintain capacity while also improving accuracy. To achieve this, it is necessary to stop the vibration of the item W as quickly as possible.

[0096] That is, it is desired to quickly converge the pendulum-like oscillation (also called swing) of the article W going back and forth in front of and behind the concave curved surface 19.

[0097] As described above, the object W on the concave curved surface 19 rolls along the concave curved surface 19 from the position where it was transferred, undergoing pendulum motion (damped oscillation) that swings back and forth on the concave curved surface 19. Gravity eventually reduces the amplitude of the movement to zero, but we want to accelerate this damping. Providing a depression in the concave curved surface 19 can obstruct the amplitude of the object W's movement and reduce its amplitude. However, if the depression is located in the center of the concave curved surface 19, the effect of gravity makes it difficult to reduce the amplitude. On the other hand, if the depression 20 is located slightly beyond the center, the object W will hardly swing back and forth. In other words, an external force other than that of gravity will be applied to the pendulum motion, accelerating damping. Additionally, by providing a gently inclined surface 21 in the direction of travel of the object W, the object W will experience an uphill slope relative to the curve of the concave curved surface 19, thereby consuming its inertial energy. Furthermore, by providing a steep inclined surface 22 on the side opposite the rotation direction of the recess 20, the article W can be received as it descends the concave curved surface 19 and returns. The article W can be made to fit snugly into the recess 20 by the force of these two inclined surfaces and gravity. The back-and-forth pendulum motion of the article W can be quickly stopped. This allows the inspection table 18 to eliminate the swaying of the article W and quickly stabilize the article W. As a result, by making the angle between the gentle inclined surface 21 and the steep inclined surface 22 an obtuse angle, the article W can be allowed to roll, and by providing the gentle inclined surface 21 on the side in the rotation direction (front side) of the conveying drum 2 and the angled steep inclined surface 22 on the side opposite the rotation direction (rear side) of the conveying drum 2, the convergence of the swaying article W can be accelerated and stopped. [Explanation of symbols]

[0098] 2...Transportation rotating body (transportation drum) 3...Guide wall 4. Inspection methods 5...Sorting department 6... Supply means (supply device) 7…Horizontal axis 8...Recess 12…Posture correction department 13...Tapered section 16...Transportation room 17...End position W…Goods

Claims

1. An article transport device comprising a transport rotor (2) disposed below a supply means (6) for supplying thin, flat, small lump-shaped articles (W), the transport rotor (2) being rotated on a horizontal shaft (7) to receive the articles dropped from the supply means in a recess (8) on the outer periphery and transport the articles downward, The article transport device is characterized in that the recess has a posture correction section (12) that corrects the posture of the article by clamping it so that the thickness direction of the article is in an upright posture along the horizontal axis.

2. The article transport device described in claim 2, characterized in that the posture correction portion has a tapered portion (13) formed at the opening portion of the recess, which gradually approaches the article in the thickness direction as it enters the recess, and the separation distance at the closest point is greater than the thickness of the article.

3. 3. The article transport device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the recesses are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the transport rotor.

4. An item transport device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the transport rotating body receives the item from the supply means above a horizontal plane parallel to the horizontal axis and including the horizontal axis, and discharges the item circumferentially downstream in the transport direction from the receiving position.

5. An article transport device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it has a guide wall (3) that is provided along the outer periphery of the transport rotating body to close the opening of the recess, and together with the recess forms a transport chamber (16), the terminal position (17) of which is the discharge position for the article.

6. 5. The article transport device according to claim 1, wherein the destination of the article from the transport rotor is an inspection means (4).

7. 7. The article transport device according to claim 6, further comprising a sorting section (5) provided next to the inspection means for sorting the articles based on the inspection results of the inspection means.

Images