Stopper dog and conveying system

Abstract

To provide a stopper dog and a conveying system capable of reducing rattling of a carriage during conveyance by eliminating a gap between a towing attachment and the stopper dog and sufficiently preventing runaway of the carriage when a conveying conveyor decelerates or stops, or when the carriage is conveyed on an inclined section.SOLUTION: A stopper dog 110 arranged on the opposite side so as to be contactable with and detachable from a towing attachment C by opposing each other with respect to a pusher dog 150 provided on a conveying conveyor 101 or a carriage and abutting against the towing attachment C has: an abutting surface 112 which abuts on the towing attachment C; and a swing shaft 111. The abutting surface 112 has a conveying abutting portion 113 formed so that a distance from the swing center of the swing shaft 111 becomes smaller toward the maximum swing position side and a runaway prevention portion 114 provided on the maximum swing position side of the conveying abutting portion 113 and formed such that a distance from the swing center of the swing shaft 111 becomes longer toward the maximum swing position side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a stopper dog that is arranged on the opposite side of the carriage in the conveying direction to a pusher dog that is provided on a conveying conveyor or carriage and abuts against the traction attachment of the carriage or conveying conveyor, and that is capable of abutting against and disengaging from the traction attachment, and to a conveying system that has the stopper dog. [Background technology]

[0002] A known conveying system is configured to transport work carts and the like horizontally, in which a towing attachment provided on a transport conveyor arranged below the cart or the cart's transport path engages with and disengages from pusher dogs and stopper dogs provided on the transport conveyor or cart arranged on the cart's transport path, thereby towing and freeing the cart. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a transport system 500 includes a transport conveyor 501, a plurality of pusher dogs 550 that are provided on the transport conveyor 501 and come into contact with a towing attachment C provided at the bottom of the carriage, and a plurality of stopper dogs 510 that are arranged opposite the pusher dogs 550 in the transport direction of the carriage and are capable of coming into contact with and releasable from the towing attachment C.

[0003] The pusher dog 550 is configured so that a pressing surface 552 at the tip can swing up and down around a swing shaft 551, and the pressing surface 552 abuts against the towing attachment C, and the carriage is transported by driving the transport conveyor 501. The stopper dog 510 has the same shape as the pusher dog 550, and is configured so that the escape prevention part 514 at the tip can swing up and down around the swing axis 511, and prevents the traction attachment C from separating from the pressing surface 552 and causing the carriage to escape when the transport conveyor 501 slows down or stops or when transporting on an inclined section. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Publication number 07-005314 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The stopper dog 510 is designed so that the swinging trajectory of the tip end (shown by the dotted line in Figure 4) does not interfere with the towing attachment C, as it is necessary for the pushing surface 552 of the pusher dog 550 to swing upward with the runaway prevention part 514 facing the towing attachment C. During transport, a gap is formed between the towing attachment C and the stopper dog 510, and due to factors such as fluctuations in the transport resistance of the carriages on the transport conveyor, the towing attachment C is transported with rattle, making it impossible to transport stably and ensuring safe work for workers. Furthermore, there was a risk that the rattle would have a negative impact on product quality.

[0006] In order to reduce the gap, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is known to change the relative positions of the towing attachment and the stopper dog by making the transport conveyor a path that can move up and down. However, in order to smoothly move the stopper dog to the runaway prevention position, the gap cannot be reduced to zero, and there is still a risk of rattle occurring.In addition, since the stopper dog moves up and down only at specific positions on the transport conveyor, it is difficult to change the positions where the stopper dog faces and moves away from the conveyor.

[0007] As a conveying system 500b that can eliminate gaps and sufficiently suppress the occurrence of rattles, as shown in Figure 5, a conveying abutment portion 513 of the stopper dog 550b that faces the towing attachment C is made into a curved surface, and the distance from the center of the swing axis 511 is changed in the vertical direction so that the upper part can pass without interfering with the towing attachment C, and the lower part interferes with the towing attachment C. This ensures that the stopper dog 550b is in contact with the towing attachment C even if there is an error in the position or shape of the towing attachment C, and rattles caused by gaps can be sufficiently suppressed. However, with this configuration, when the towing attachment C separates from the pressure surface 552 and the carriage runs away when the transport conveyor 501 slows down or stops, there is a risk that the towing attachment C will slip in the transport direction against the transport abutment part 513 if the conveyor level in the line is affected or if the inertial force of the carriage is large, causing the stopper dog 550b to swing downward, allowing the carriage to run away.

[0008] The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by providing a stopper dog and a conveying system that eliminates the gap between the towing attachment and the stopper dog, thereby reducing rattling during conveying of the cart, and can sufficiently prevent the cart from running away when the conveyor slows down or stops or when conveying on an inclined section. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The stopper dog of the present invention is provided on a transport conveyor or a carriage, and is arranged opposite to a pusher dog that abuts against the towing attachment of the carriage or transport conveyor, so as to be able to abut against and disengage from the towing attachment, and has an abutment surface that abuts against the towing attachment, and a swing shaft that swings the abutment surface between a standby position and a maximum swing position, the abutment surface having a transport abutment portion and a runaway prevention portion provided on the maximum swing position side of the transport abutment portion, the transport abutment portion being formed so that the distance from the swing center of the swing shaft becomes smaller toward the maximum swing position side, and the runaway prevention portion being formed so that the distance from the swing center of the swing shaft becomes longer toward the maximum swing position side, thereby solving the above problem. Furthermore, the conveying system according to the present invention is a conveying system having a conveying conveyor, a plurality of pusher dogs provided on the conveying conveyor or a carriage and abutting against a towing attachment of the carriage or conveying conveyor, and a plurality of stopper dogs arranged opposite the pusher dogs so as to be able to abut against and detach from the towing attachment, and the plurality of stopper dogs include the stopper dogs described above, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the stopper dog of claim 1 and the conveying system of claim 5, the conveying abutment portion of the abutment surface of the stopper dog is formed so that the distance from the swing center of the swing shaft becomes smaller toward the maximum swing position, and the runaway prevention portion of the abutment surface of the stopper dog is formed so that the distance from the swing center of the swing shaft becomes longer toward the maximum swing position, resulting in a structure in which the conveying abutment portion approaches the towing attachment as the conveyor swings toward the maximum swing position, making it possible to reduce or eliminate the gap between the towing attachment and the stopper dog, reducing rattling during conveyance of the cart, and even if the towing attachment slips in the conveying direction relative to the conveying abutment portion when the conveyor slows down or stops or when conveying on an inclined section, the runaway prevention portion can abut against the towing attachment to prevent runaway.

[0011] According to the configuration of claim 2, the runaway prevention part has a flat surface that abuts against the towing attachment, and thus can receive the force of the towing attachment in the runaway direction, thereby reliably preventing runaway. According to the configuration of claim 3, the transport abutment portion has a portion on the maximum swing position side that allows the push dog to pass through without interfering with the towing attachment when it is in contact with the towing attachment, and a portion on the standby position side that interferes with the towing attachment when it is in contact with the towing attachment of the carriage when it is in contact with the towing attachment of the carriage, thereby reliably eliminating any gap between the towing attachment and the stopper dog. According to the configuration of claim 4, the escape prevention section is formed so that it can swing to pass through the towing attachment without interfering with it when the push dog is in contact with the towing attachment as a whole, and therefore the stopper dog can be swung upward until the transport contact section reliably comes into contact with the towing attachment when transport begins. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is an explanatory diagram of a conveyance system having a stopper dog according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the stopper dog of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of a transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional conveyance system. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of another transport system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a conveying system 100 having a stopper dog 110, which is one embodiment of the present invention, includes a conveying conveyor 101, a pusher dog 150 that is attached to the conveying conveyor 101 and abuts against a towing attachment C attached to the bottom of a carriage (not shown), and a stopper dog 110 that is arranged opposite the pusher dog 150 in the conveying direction of the carriage and can abut against and be released from the towing attachment C. Multiple sets of push dogs 150 and stop dogs 110 are provided for the transport conveyor 101, and the transport system 100 is configured to transport multiple carts at appropriate intervals along the transport path on which the transport conveyor 101 is installed.

[0014] The push dog 150 is configured so that a pressing surface 152 at the tip can swing up and down around a swing axis 151 from a standby position to a maximum swing position, and the pressing surface 152 abuts against the towing attachment C, and when the transport conveyor 101 is driven, the pressing surface 152 of the push dog 150 pushes the towing attachment C, thereby transporting the cart. The stopper dog 110 is arranged opposite the pusher dog 150 that abuts against the traction attachment C of the carriage from the opposite side of the carriage's conveying direction so as to be able to abut against and detach from the traction attachment C, and has an abutment surface 112 that abuts against the traction attachment C, and the abutment surface 112 at the tip is configured to be able to swing up and down around a swing shaft 111.

[0015] The contact surface 112 has a transport contact portion 113 and an escape prevention portion 114 provided above the transport contact portion 113 (towards the maximum swing position), and the transport contact portion 113 is formed so that the distance from the swing center of the swing shaft 111 decreases toward the top, while the escape prevention portion 114 is formed so that the distance from the swing center of the swing shaft 111 increases toward the top.

[0016] In this embodiment, the uppermost part of the transport abutment part 113 follows the trajectory R2 shown by the dotted line in Figure 2, and has a part at the top that can pass through without interfering with the towing attachment C by swinging when the push dog 150 abuts against the towing attachment C, and the lowermost part of the transport abutment part 113 follows the trajectory R3 shown by the dotted line in Figure 2, and has a part at the bottom (towards the standby position) that can interfere with the towing attachment C by swinging when the push dog 150 abuts against the towing attachment C.

[0017] In addition, in this embodiment, the runaway prevention section 114 has a flat section 115 that abuts against the traction attachment C of the carriage, and the uppermost part of the runaway prevention section 114 follows the trajectory R1 shown by the dotted line in Figure 2, and is formed so that when the pusher dog 150 abuts against the traction attachment C of the carriage, it can pass through without interfering with the traction attachment by swinging. In this embodiment, multiple sets of pusher dogs 150 and stopper dogs 110 are provided above the conveying conveyor 101, and a towing attachment C is provided below the cart (not shown), but the positional relationship between the conveying conveyor and the cart is not limited to this. In addition, a set of pusher dogs 150 and stopper dogs 110 may be provided on each carriage, and a plurality of traction attachments C may be provided on the transport conveyor so as to protrude toward the carriage, and the pusher dogs 150 may be pushed and transported by the traction attachments C provided on the transport conveyor.

[0018] The operation of the transport system 100 having the stopper dog 110 according to one embodiment of the present invention configured as described above when transporting a carriage will be described below. With both the pusher dog 150 and the stopper dog 110 of the transport conveyor 101 swinging upward, the transport conveyor 101 is driven to the left as shown in FIG. 3, approaches the towing attachment C attached to the bottom of the carriage, and first comes into contact with the stopper dog 110. Then, the stopper dog 110 is pushed by the pulling attachment C and swings downward, and the transport conveyor 101 is driven leftward in the drawing until the pulling attachment C abuts against the pressing surface 152 of the pusher dog 150.

[0019] The uppermost part of the runaway prevention section 114 follows the trajectory R1 shown by the dotted line in Figure 2, and the runaway prevention section 114 is formed so that it can pass through without interfering with the towing attachment C of the cart by swinging when the pusher dog 150 is in contact with the towing attachment C, so that the towing attachment C can get over the runaway prevention section 114 before it comes into contact with the pressing surface 152 of the pusher dog 150. Furthermore, the uppermost part of the conveying contact part 113 follows the trajectory R2 shown by the dotted line in Figure 2, and has a part above it that can pass through without interfering with the towing attachment C by swinging when the push dog 150 is in contact with the towing attachment C. Therefore, by the time the towing attachment C comes into contact with the pressing surface 152 of the push dog 150, the towing attachment C can also get over the upper part of the conveying contact part 113.

[0020] On the other hand, the lowest part of the conveying contact part 113 follows the trajectory R3 shown by the dotted line in Figure 2, and has a part below it that interferes with the pulling attachment C due to the swinging movement when the push dog 150 is in contact with the pulling attachment C. Therefore, when the pulling attachment C is in contact with the pressing surface 152 of the push dog 150, as shown in Figure 1, the pulling attachment C comes into contact with the conveying contact part 113, resulting in no gap. In this state, the towing attachment C is pushed by the pressing surface 152 of the pusher dog 150 and is transported in the left direction in the figure by the driving of the transport conveyor 101, so that rattles during transport of the carriage can be reduced. Furthermore, even if there is an error in the dimensions of the towing attachment C, an error in the vertical position, etc., the stopper dog 110 can be reliably swung upward to the position where it comes into contact with the conveying contact portion 113.

[0021] When the transport conveyor 101 decelerates or stops or when transporting on an inclined portion, a force in the transport direction is applied from the traction attachment C to the transport contact portion 113 of the stopper dog 110 due to the inertial force and gravity of the carriage. If this force is large, the traction attachment C and the conveying contact portion 113 slip, the stopper dog 110 swings downward, and the traction attachment C leaves the pressing surface 152 of the pusher dog 150 and moves further to the left in the figure than the conveyor 101. However, the towing attachment C immediately comes into contact with the flat surface 115 of the runaway prevention portion 114 of the stopper dog 110, and receives a force in the direction of swinging the stopper dog 110 upward, so that the towing attachment C does not move beyond that position, and runaway of the carriage can be reliably prevented.

[0022] In the above embodiment, the lowest part of the conveying contact part 113 follows the trajectory of R3 shown by the dotted line in Figure 2, and has a part below which interferes with the towing attachment C when the pusher dog 150 is in contact with the towing attachment C and swings. However, if R3 shown by the dotted line in Figure 2 at the lowest part of the conveying contact part 113 is larger than R2 shown by the dotted line in Figure 2 at the top part of the conveying contact part 113, the upper part can reliably pass over the towing attachment C when swinging, and the gap between the towing attachment C and the lower part can be made extremely small. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the runaway prevention section 114 is provided with a flat section 115, but any shape may be used as long as a component force that causes the stopper dog 110 to swing downward is not generated when the towing attachment C and the conveying abutment section 113 slip and the stopper dog 110 swings downward and the towing attachment C abuts against the runaway prevention section 114, or the shape does not allow the towing attachment C and the runaway prevention section 114 to slip. Furthermore, the operation is similar even when a set of pusher dogs 150 and stopper dogs 110 is provided at the bottom of each of the aforementioned carriages with the lower end being the maximum swing position, and multiple traction attachments C are provided on the transport conveyor so as to protrude upward. [Explanation of symbols]

[0023] 100, 500...Transport system 101, 501...Transport conveyor 110, 510 ··· Stopper Dog 111, 511..... Oscillating shaft 112... Contact surface 113, 513 ··· Transfer contact part 114, 514... Escape prevention section 115 ··· Flat part 150, 550 ··· Pusha Dog 151, 551 ··· Oscillating shaft 152, 552 ··· Pressing surface C. Towing attachment

Claims

1. A stopper dog is provided on a transport conveyor or a carriage, and is disposed opposite a pusher dog that contacts a towing attachment of the carriage or transport conveyor, so as to be able to contact and separate from the towing attachment, and has a contact surface that contacts the towing attachment and a swing shaft that swings the contact surface between a standby position and a maximum swing position, the contact surface has a transport contact portion and a runaway prevention portion provided on the maximum swing position side of the transport contact portion, the transport contact portion is formed so that the distance from the swing center of the swing shaft decreases toward the maximum swing position, The stopper dog is characterized in that the runaway prevention portion is formed so that the distance from the swing center of the swing shaft increases toward the maximum swing position.

2. 2. The stopper dog according to claim 1, wherein the runaway prevention portion has a flat portion that abuts against a towing attachment.

3. 2. The stopper dog according to claim 1, wherein the transport contact portion has a portion on the maximum swing position side that allows the push dog to pass through without interfering with the towing attachment when the push dog is in contact with the towing attachment, and a portion on the standby position side that interferes with the towing attachment when the push dog is in contact with the towing attachment when the push dog is in contact with the towing attachment.

4. 2. The stopper dog according to claim 1, wherein the runaway prevention portion is formed so that the pusher dog can pass through the towing attachment without interfering with the towing attachment by swinging when the pusher dog is in contact with the towing attachment as a whole.

5. A conveying system comprising: a conveying conveyor; a plurality of pusher dogs provided on the conveying conveyor or a carriage and contacting a towing attachment of the carriage or the conveying conveyor; and a plurality of stopper dogs arranged opposite the pusher dogs so as to be able to contact and separate from the towing attachment, 5. A conveyance system, wherein the plurality of stopper dogs include the stopper dog according to claim 1.

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