JP2024151649A - Conveying system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a conveying system that can operate with less power, can speed up the conveying speed, and can shorten the distance between conveyed objects, while suppressing the posture disorder of the conveyed objects at the time of merging.SOLUTION: A conveying system has a merging mechanism installed in a conveying path of conveyed objects and a feeding mechanism that can feed the objects by conveying them in a direction that is orthogonal to the conveying path. The merging mechanism has a conveying direction changing unit having a plurality of conveying rollers whose outer circumferences form a merging conveying surface, a control unit that controls the conveying direction by the conveying direction changing unit and a detection unit that detects objects to be fed. The conveying rollers are configured to be rotatable around an axis parallel to the merging conveying surface and changeable in direction around an axis perpendicular to the merging conveying surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a conveying system having an input path that joins the conveyed objects from a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveying path, a junction mechanism provided at the overlapping portion of the conveying path and the input path, and an input mechanism that can input the conveyed objects into the junction mechanism along the input path.

2. Description of the Related Art A conveying system is known in which an object is input from an input path that is substantially perpendicular to a conveying path and joined with the other path.
At the junction where the conveying path and the input path overlap, the conveying direction of the conveyed object needs to be changed to approximately a right angle, but if the conveying direction of the input object is not sufficiently changed due to the width of the conveying path, it may collide with the side wall of the conveying path, or the position of the input object may be significantly disturbed, and in some cases it may even tip over.
Therefore, a transport system is known in which a mechanism for suppressing these problems is provided at the junction (see, for example, Patent Document 1, etc.).

Patent No. 6140467

The merging mechanism of the conveying system known from the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 is configured so that, when the conveyed object is input in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveying path, the belt unit can protrude from between the conveying rollers that form the conveying path.
In this known system, although the disturbance of the posture of the transported object is suppressed, a large power is required to raise and lower the belt unit.
Furthermore, since the transport drive direction for the inserted transported object is directly switched to a substantially perpendicular direction by the descent of the belt unit, there is a limit to how fast the transport speed can be increased in order to prevent significant disturbance of the posture of the transported object.
In addition, when the transported object is fed in a direction approximately perpendicular to the transport path, there must be no other transported objects at the junction where the belt unit protrudes, so it is necessary to ensure sufficient spacing between the transported objects on the transport path and the transported objects being fed in, resulting in a problem of reduced transport efficiency.

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and provides a conveying system that operates with less power, can increase the conveying speed, and can reduce the spacing between conveyed objects while suppressing disturbance of the posture of the conveyed objects when merging.

The conveying system according to the present invention has an input path that merges the conveyed objects from a direction approximately perpendicular to the conveying paths, a merging mechanism provided at the overlapping portion of the conveying path and the input path, and an input mechanism that can input the conveyed objects into the merging mechanism along the input path, and the merging mechanism has a conveying direction changing unit having a plurality of conveying rollers whose outer circumferential surfaces form a merging conveying surface, a control unit that controls the conveying direction of the conveying direction changing unit, and a detection unit that detects the conveyed objects being input, and the conveying rollers are configured to be rotatable around an axis parallel to the merging conveying surface and change direction around an axis perpendicular to the merging conveying surface, thereby solving the above problem.

According to the conveying system of claim 1, the conveying direction of the transported object at the junction conveying surface can be changed to a direction other than the conveying direction of the conveying path and the input direction approximately perpendicular to the conveying direction, and can be changed at a timing based on the detection signal of the detection unit, so that it is possible to minimize disturbance to the posture of the transported object at the junction even if the conveying speed is increased.
In addition, since the conveying direction of the transported objects on the junction conveying surface can be changed by rotating the conveying roller about the vertical axis, it can operate with little power and at high speed, allowing for increased conveying speeds and reliable operation even when the intervals between the transported objects are small.

According to the configuration described in claim 2, the change in the conveying drive direction when the transported object first comes into contact with the merging conveying surface is made to be less than approximately right angles, and the angle is then changed to the direction of the approximately right-angled conveying path.This makes it possible to reduce the maximum value of the rotational moment about the vertical axis of the transported object that occurs due to uneven contact between the merging conveying surface and the bottom surface of the transported object, and further suppresses disturbance of the posture of the transported object at the time of merging.
According to the configuration described in claim 3, even if there are multiple transported objects on the merging transport surface, it is possible to control each of them accordingly, so that operation can be ensured even if the spacing between the transported objects on the transport path or the spacing between the transported objects being inserted is even smaller.

According to the configurations described in claims 4 and 5, the timing at which the front end portion of the transported object being inserted contacts the transport roller with a different transport direction can be delayed, shortening the time until the entire bottom surface of the transported object contacts the transport roller, shortening the duration of the rotational moment of the transported object around the vertical axis, and suppressing disturbance of the posture of the transported object.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to set the entire bottom surface of the loaded object to come into contact with the transport rollers at approximately the same time, and furthermore, it is possible to prevent the position of the loaded object from being disturbed.
According to the configuration described in claim 7, the operation of the conveying direction changing unit can be controlled according to the conveyed object being input, enabling more optimal operation and also making it possible to control the widthwise position of the conveyed object on the conveying path after merging.

1 is a plan view of a transport system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of part A in FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the confluence portion of FIG. 1 . FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of part B in FIG. 3 . FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a first procedure of joining and conveying by the conveying system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is an enlarged view showing a joining and conveying procedure 2 by the conveying system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is an enlarged view showing a joining and conveying procedure 3 by the conveying system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is an enlarged view showing a joining and conveying procedure 4 by the conveying system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is an enlarged view showing a fifth step of joining and transporting by the transport system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A transport system 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.
The conveying system 100 has a main conveying path consisting of a main conveying conveyor 101, a junction mechanism 110 provided at the overlapping portion of the main conveying path with an input path, and an input mechanism 120 which inputs the conveyed object W from an input path that is approximately perpendicular to the conveying direction of the main conveying path into the junction mechanism 110.
The merging mechanism 110 has a conveying direction changing unit 111 (QuickSort: registered trademark) having a plurality of conveying rollers 112 whose outer peripheral surfaces form a merging conveying surface 114, a control unit (not shown) that controls the conveying direction of the conveying direction changing unit 111, and a detection unit 113 that detects the conveyed object being inserted.
The feeding mechanism 120 also has a feeding conveyor 121 .
The conveying roller 112 of the conveying direction changing unit 111 is configured to rotate around an axis parallel to the junction conveying surface 114 to generate a conveying driving force, and to be able to change the conveying direction by changing direction around an axis perpendicular to the junction conveying surface 114.
A wall member 115 formed along the transport direction of the main transport conveyor 101 is provided behind the surface of the junction mechanism 110 that faces the input mechanism 120 .

In this embodiment, in the conveying direction changing unit 111, a row having seven conveying rollers 112 in the width direction of the main conveying path and a row having eight conveying rollers 112 are arranged alternately in the conveying direction.
In addition, in this embodiment, two rows of conveying rollers 112 in the conveying direction each form a set, and the conveying rollers 112 (112a, 112b, 112c, 112d, 112e) in each set are configured to simultaneously change direction around a vertical axis, and five sets are arranged in the conveying direction, with each set being configured to be able to change direction independently.
In addition, in this embodiment, the direction change around the vertical axis of the conveying roller 112 is performed by switching between two positions: a normal position in which the conveying drive direction is the conveying direction of the main conveying path, and a junction position in which the conveying drive direction is 35° away from the conveying direction of the main conveying path to the opposite side of the input mechanism 120.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the input conveying surface 122 of the input conveyor 121 of the input mechanism 120 is positioned so that its extension line is higher than the junction conveying surface 114 formed by the conveying rollers 112 on the conveying direction changing unit 111.
In this embodiment, the input conveying surface 122 is configured so that the height difference d1 between the end of the input conveyor 121 on the conveying direction change unit 111 side and the merging conveying surface 114 is set to 4 mm, and the angle r between the merging conveying surface 114 and the input conveying surface 122 is inclined by 3.2°, so that the height difference d2 between the extension line of the input conveying surface 122 and the end of the merging conveying surface 114 on the input conveyor 121 side is set to 2.9 mm.
In addition, the relationship between the input conveying surface 122 and the merging conveying surface 114 is not limited to the above numerical values, and can be changed as appropriate as long as the extension line of the input conveying surface 122 is positioned higher than the merging conveying surface 114.

The operation of the conveying system 100, which is one embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, when the conveyed object W2 joins will be described with reference to Figures 5 to 9.

First, the transported object W2 placed on the input conveyor 121 is transported so as to approach the junction mechanism 110 side, and eventually reaches the vicinity of the end of the input transport surface 122.
At this time, the detection unit 113 monitoring the input conveying surface 122 detects the approach of the transported object W2 and transmits information such as the position of the transported object W2 to a control unit (not shown).
The method of detecting the transported object W2 by the detection unit 113 is not particularly limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the position and size of the transported object W2 may be detected at the timing when the reflected light of the laser light L irradiated onto the transported object W2 is received, or the position and size may be detected by image recognition.

The conveying direction changing unit 111 changes the direction of each set of conveying rollers 112 under the control of a control unit (not shown).
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, based on the information detected by the detection unit 113, except for the set of conveying rollers 112e currently conveying the transported object W1, a control unit (not shown) selects the set of conveying rollers from the sets of conveying rollers 112a, 112b, 112c, 112d, and 112e that needs to have its orientation changed, and changes it from the normal position to the junction position.

The transported object W2 that has reached the input transport surface 122 is transferred onto the junction mechanism 110 side by the momentum of the input conveyor 121.
At this time, the input conveying surface 122 is positioned so that its extension is at a position higher than the merging conveying surface 114 formed by the conveying rollers 112 on the conveying direction changing unit 111, and the height difference d2 between the extension line of the input conveying surface 122 and the end of the merging conveying surface 114 on the input conveyor 121 side is set to be 2.9 mm, so that even if the conveyed object W2 begins to advance toward the merging conveying surface 114, there will be no contact between the bottom surface of the conveyed object W2 and the merging conveying surface 114 for a while.
When the transported object W2 has advanced a predetermined distance toward the junction conveying surface 114, the transported object W2 tilts toward the junction conveying surface 114 due to its own weight, with the end of the input conveying surface 122 as a fulcrum, and the bottom surface of the transported object W2 comes into contact over a wide area with multiple conveying rollers 112 (conveying roller sets 112a, 112b) on the junction conveying surface 114 that have already been turned to the junction position.
By transferring from the input conveyor 121 to the junction conveying surface 114 in this manner, the duration of the rotational moment of the transported object W2 around the vertical axis can be shortened, preventing the occurrence of a situation in which only the end of the transported object W2 comes into contact with the transport roller 112 facing the junction position, suppressing rotation of the transported object W2 on the junction conveying surface 114, and suppressing disturbance of the posture of the transported object W2.

The transported object W2 that has moved toward the junction conveying surface 114 is transmitted a force to move in the rotation direction of the junction position (hereinafter referred to as the guide direction) by the rotation of the sets of transport rollers 112a, 112b. However, since the momentum gained when advancing from the input conveying surface 122 to the junction conveying surface 114 is gradually released as the transported object moves on the transport direction change unit 110, the direction of movement is gradually changed from the transport direction of the input conveyor 121 to the guide direction.

As the transported object W2 progresses, the set of transport rollers 112a, which has released contact with the transported object W2, switches from the merging position to the normal position, as shown in Figure 7, and accepts the transported object W3 proceeding from the upstream side of the main transport conveyor 101.
This allows the transported object W3 to be received by the transport rollers 112 which have been sequentially switched from the junction position to the normal position without waiting for the transported object W2 transferred from the junction transport surface 114 side to completely separate from the transport direction changing unit 111, thereby shortening the transport intervals of the transported objects and improving the transport efficiency.

As shown in FIG. 8, the transported object W2 moves along the guide direction while being transferred to the set of transport rollers 112b, 112c, 112d, and 112e rotating at the joining position.
At this time, by switching the rotation direction of the sets of conveying rollers 112d, 112e from the junction position to the normal position while the conveyed object W2 is in contact with the sets of conveying rollers 112d, 112e, the movement direction of the conveyed object W2 can be gradually changed from the guide direction to the conveying direction of the main conveyor, and the movement direction of the conveyed object W2 can be changed to the conveying direction of the main conveyor without disturbing the posture of the conveyed object W2, as shown in Figure 9.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, after the transported object W2 reaches the set of transport rollers 112d, 112e, the set of transport rollers 112d, 112e on which the transported object W2 is placed is switched from the junction position to the normal position as shown in FIG. 9. However, the timing of switching from the junction position to the normal position may be changed depending on conditions such as the size and weight of the transported object, and the timing of switching from the junction position to the normal position may be changed in order to change the input position of the transported object W2 in the width direction of the main transport conveyor.
In other words, the time for transport at the joining position can be changed as appropriate.
Furthermore, even if the momentum of the transported object W2 when it moves to the junction transport surface 114 is strong, the set of transport rollers 112a, 112b, 112c, 112d, and 112e causes the transported object W2 to gradually change its transport direction while abutting against the wall member 115, thereby safely and reliably changing the movement direction of the transported object W2 to the transport direction of the main transport conveyor without giving a large impact to the transported object W2.

In this way, even if the transported object is fed from the input conveyor to the merging mechanism at high speed, the transport path-ra 112 can be switched between two stages, the merging position and the normal position, so that the traveling direction of the transported object can be gradually changed to the transport direction of the main transport conveyor, thereby minimizing the disturbance of the posture of the transported object when the transport direction is changed.
In addition, since the conveying direction of the transported objects on the junction conveying surface can be changed by rotating the conveying roller 112 about the vertical axis, the device can operate with little power, and can operate at high speed, allowing for increased conveying speeds and reliable operation even when the distance between the transported objects is small.
Furthermore, if the detection unit 113 is configured to be able to identify the shape and position of the transported object W2 in detail, the operation of the transport direction change unit 111 can be controlled according to the size of the transported object W2 to be input and its position on the input transport surface 122, enabling even more optimal operation and also making it possible to control the widthwise position of the transported object W2 on the transport path after merging.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various design changes can be made without departing from the invention described in the claims.

In the above-described embodiment, the conveying roller is described as being capable of changing its orientation between two positions, the junction position and the normal position; however, the configuration of the conveying roller is not limited to this, and may be configured, for example, to be capable of changing to three or more positions, or may be configured to be capable of adjusting its orientation in a stepless manner.
In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the conveying rollers are configured to have two rows of conveying rollers in each set in the conveying direction, and the conveying rollers in each set are configured to simultaneously change direction around a vertical axis, and five sets are arranged in the conveying direction so that each set can change direction independently. However, the configuration of the conveying rollers is not limited to this, and one set may be one row of conveying rollers in the conveying direction, or the number of conveying roller sets may be four or less, or six or more.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, it has been described that a wall member formed along the conveying direction of the main conveyor is provided behind the surface of the merging mechanism facing the feeding mechanism, but the configuration of the merging mechanism is not limited to this, and for example, the wall member may not be present.
Furthermore, the position of the detection unit is not limited to that in the embodiment, and may be on another side, above, or below as long as the transported object can be detected.

100: Transport system 101: Main transport conveyor 110: Merging mechanism 111: Transport direction changing unit (quick sort)
112: Conveying rollers 112a, 112b, 112c, 112d: Set of interlocking conveying rollers 113: Detection unit 114: Merging conveying surface 115: Wall member 120: Input mechanism 121: Input conveyor 122: Input conveying surface W (W1, W2, W3): Conveyed object d: Height difference between the end of the input conveying surface on the conveying direction changing unit side and the merging conveying surface r: Angle between the input conveying surface and the merging conveying surface L: Laser light irradiated from the detection unit

Claims (7)

A conveying system having an input path that joins conveyed objects from a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveying path, a junction mechanism provided in an overlapping portion of the conveying path and the input path, and an input mechanism that can input conveyed objects to the junction mechanism along the input path,
the merging mechanism includes a conveying direction changing unit having a plurality of conveying rollers whose outer circumferential surfaces form a merging conveying surface, a control unit that controls the conveying direction of the conveying direction changing unit, and a detection unit that detects an input conveyed object;
The conveying system is characterized in that the conveying roller is configured to be rotatable about an axis parallel to the junction conveying surface and to be changeable in direction about an axis perpendicular to the junction conveying surface. The conveying system according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit is configured to set the conveying direction of the conveying rollers to face the opposite side to the conveying mechanism at a predetermined angle with respect to the direction of the conveying path before the conveyed object inserted from the insertion mechanism contacts the merging conveying surface, and to set the conveying direction of the conveying rollers to the direction of the conveying path after the conveyed object contacts the merging conveying surface. the conveying direction changing unit is configured to change the direction of the plurality of conveying rollers at different timings along the conveying path direction;
3. The conveying system according to claim 2, wherein the control unit is configured to be able to change the direction of the plurality of conveying rollers at different times along the conveying path direction. The conveying system according to claim 1, characterized in that the loading mechanism is arranged so that an extension line of the loading conveying surface in at least the section immediately before the merging mechanism is at a position higher than the merging conveying surface on the conveying direction changing unit. The conveying system according to claim 4, characterized in that the input conveying surface is inclined upward toward the merging conveying surface. The conveying system according to claim 1, characterized in that the insertion mechanism is arranged so that the insertion conveying surface of the insertion mechanism is higher than the merging conveying surface on the conveying direction changing unit. The conveying system according to claim 1, characterized in that the detection unit is arranged near the input mechanism and is configured to be able to detect at least the start and end of the conveying direction of the conveyed object on the input conveying surface.

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