CN101284603A - Roller unit for conveying sheet-like material and sheet-like material conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a thin-plate-shaped material conveying device that conveys thin-plate-shaped materials such as glass substrates with an air conveyor, and when changing the conveying direction by 90°, can perform direction switching at high speed and reliably without using guide rollers. The sheet-shaped material conveying device (10) has a direction-changing pneumatic conveyer (16) for changing the conveying direction of the conveyed glass substrate (12) by 90° between the first and second straight air conveyers (14, 18) , the direction-changing pneumatic conveyor (16) has a plurality of direction-changing roller units (30) between the pneumatic table units (20), and the direction-changing roller unit (30) uses negative pressure to attract the glass substrate through the suction pipe (32) (12) and it is contacted with conveying roller (34), and the rotating shaft (34A) of conveying roller (34) can change posture in certain range in horizontal plane, and can carry out 90 ° conversion to conveying direction.

Description

Roller unit for conveying sheet-like material and sheet-like material conveying device

technical field

The present invention relates to a sheet-shaped material conveying device capable of changing the shape at right angles when conveying a sheet-shaped material such as a large and thin glass substrate used in a flat panel display (FPD) such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a plasma display (PDP). A conveying path, and a preferable roller unit for sheet-shaped material conveying used in the sheet-shaped material conveying device.

Background technique

Even small flaws or dust on the glass substrates of flat-panel displays such as liquid crystal displays and plasma displays will greatly affect the quality. Therefore, it is required to keep the substrates close to each other without flaws or foreign matter attached to the surface during transportation. Planar shape, and convey smoothly along the specified conveying surface.

There is a roller conveyor as one of such transportation methods. When the transportation path turns at a right angle, a conveyor that advances in a right-angled direction is arranged between two straight roller conveyors. When changing the direction of the glass substrate at a right angle, The conveyor is raised, and the pass line of the glass substrate is raised by about 20 to 50 mm to convey it.

In addition, there are methods of providing a mechanism for lifting and rotating the glass substrate at the intersection of two straight roller conveyors arranged at right angles, or by rotating the whole straight roller conveyor. There is a problem that, along with the increase in size of glass substrates in recent years, the structure has also become larger, the power for operation and manufacturing costs have also increased significantly, and it has been difficult to shorten the tact time.

In addition, there is known a conveying device that uses an air table instead of a roller conveyor to float a glass substrate and drives it by air pressure to convey it without contact (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-139160).

In the case of this kind of pneumatic table, it is difficult to control the behavior of the glass substrate on the pressure air by changing the conveying direction or rotating the glass substrate itself while the glass substrate is floating. The roller guides the edge of the floating glass substrate. However, in the 8th generation, for example, the thickness of the glass substrate is about 0.5 to 0.7mm compared with the area of W2200mm×L2500mm, and the edge of the glass substrate is moved by inertia. There is a problem that it is very easy to break in the case of collision with the guide roller. Therefore, conventionally, high-speed conveyance, high-speed direction change, and high-speed rotation of glass substrates have not been possible.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a sheet-shaped material conveying device, and a sheet-shaped material conveying roller unit used therefor, which supports and conveys a sheet-shaped material in a non-contact manner using an air table unit, and can be used without Guide rollers and the like perform high-speed switching or high-speed rotation of the conveying direction of the sheet-shaped material.

The above-mentioned problems can be solved by the following embodiments.

(1) A roller unit for conveying a sheet-shaped material, characterized in that it has: a suction pipe composed of a cylindrical body having an opening at the upper end; The inside of the pipe is used, and the upper end can be slightly protruded from the opening of the upper end of the above-mentioned suction pipe; and a negative pressure source that applies negative pressure to the above-mentioned suction pipe.

(2) The roller unit for conveying a sheet-shaped material according to (1), wherein a conveying direction changing device is provided, and the conveying direction changing device supports the conveying roller so that its rotation axis is within the horizontal plane, Angular displacements are free over a range of at least 90° about a vertical axis passing through the apex of the conveyor roller.

(3) The roller unit for conveying a sheet-shaped material according to (1) or (2), which is characterized in that a vertical movement device is provided to support the conveying roller so that its upper end can reach the sheet-shaped material. Displacement between the delivery position of the passing line and the standby position lower than the passing line; and a negative pressure control device that turns on and off the negative pressure applied from the negative pressure source to the suction tube.

(4) The roller unit for conveying a sheet-shaped material according to (1), wherein the negative pressure source is an exhaust blower, and the suction port of the exhaust blower is connected to the lower end opening of the suction pipe. In the above-mentioned suction pipe, at least a motor is arranged in the driving device and the conveying direction changing device. The driving device includes a motor for driving the above-mentioned conveying roller; Displacing between a conveying position that reaches the passing line of the sheet-shaped material and a standby position below the passing line, and supporting the conveying roller so that its rotation axis is within the horizontal plane and passes through the conveying The vertical axis of the apex of the roller is free to angularly displace within a range of at least 90°.

(5) A thin-plate-shaped material conveying device, characterized in that it includes: a straight-moving pneumatic conveyer for conveying the thin-plate-shaped material in a straight line in a state of being floated by air; and a direction-changing pneumatic conveyer facing the The end of the conveying direction of the straight pneumatic conveyor is arranged to receive the thin plate-shaped material conveyed by the straight pneumatic conveyer, and to convert the traveling direction of the received thin plate-shaped material in the horizontal plane; the above-mentioned direction-changing pneumatic conveyer is constituted as , including: a plurality of pneumatic table units having a plurality of air supply holes on a flat surface; and a plurality of sheet-shaped materials described in one of the above (2) to (4) arranged between the plurality of pneumatic table units Roller unit for conveyance: The roller unit for sheet material conveyance is arranged around the center point of the direction changing air conveyer.

(6) The thin-plate-shaped material conveying device according to (5), wherein the direction-changing pneumatic conveyer has a conversion center pole provided at the position of the center point so as to be freely rotatable around a vertical axis , and at the upper end, there is a placing tray capable of placing the above-mentioned sheet-shaped material, and the height of the above-mentioned placing tray is set so that a negative pressure is applied to the above-mentioned suction pipe of the above-mentioned plurality of sheet-shaped material conveying roller units, and the sheet-shaped material When the material is sucked downward, the above-mentioned placing plate is in contact with the lower surface of the sheet-shaped material, and becomes non-contact when the negative pressure is released.

(7) The thin-plate-shaped material conveying device according to (5) or (6), wherein a pair of the straight-travel pneumatic conveyers are arranged on the direction-changing pneumatic conveyer so that the conveying direction is perpendicular to each other, and the conveying direction is perpendicular to each other. The extension lines of the widthwise centers of the passage lines of the pair of straight air conveyors intersect at the above-mentioned center point.

(8) The thin-plate-shaped material conveying device according to (7), wherein a plurality of the thin-plate-shaped material conveying units are arranged at positions equidistant from the center point.

(9) The thin-plate-shaped material conveying device according to (7), wherein one unit for conveying the thin-plate material is disposed.

According to the present invention, the sheet-like material conveying roller unit sucks the sheet-like material floated and conveyed by the air table unit or the like by the negative pressure applied to the suction pipe, and the sheet-like material can be brought into contact with the conveying roller to carry out the transportation of the sheet-shaped material. High speed delivery. At this time, by angularly displacing the rotation axis of the conveying roller in the horizontal plane, it is possible to switch the conveying direction or rotate the sheet-shaped material in contact with the conveying roller at high speed without providing guide rollers.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a sheet-shaped material conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a pneumatic table unit of a straight air conveyer of the sheet material conveying apparatus.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the air table unit.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a partial cross section of a direction changing unit used in the direction changing air conveyer of the sheet material conveying apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the direction changing roller unit in a state where the suction tube is removed.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state of a conveyance position where a conveyance roller contacts a glass substrate in the direction changing roller unit.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 6 , showing the state of the transport roller in a standby position.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 6 schematically showing a state in which the conveying rollers of the direction changing roller unit are changed by 90°.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a straight roller unit used in the straight air conveyor of this embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a plan view schematically showing a first process of switching the conveying direction of the glass substrate by 90° by the sheet material conveying device.

FIG. 11 is a plan view schematically showing the second process.

FIG. 12 is a plan view schematically showing the third process.

Fig. 13 is a plan view schematically showing a first process in which a glass substrate is rotated by 90° on the way and conveyed by the sheet material conveying device.

FIG. 14 is a plan view schematically showing the second process.

FIG. 15 is a plan view schematically showing the third process.

Fig. 16 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the direction-changing conveyor of the sheet material conveying apparatus.

Detailed ways

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the sheet-shaped material conveying device 10 of this embodiment includes: a first straight air conveyer 14 , which moves, for example, a large LCD glass substrate (sheet-shaped material) from left to right in FIG. 1 . 12. Conveying non-contact along the linear horizontal passage line (represented by the centerline P1 in the width direction); the direction conversion pneumatic conveyor 16 is connected to the right end of the first straight pneumatic conveyor 14 in FIG. 1; The 2nd straight-running pneumatic conveyor 18 is connected to the upper end of the direction-changing pneumatic conveyor 16 in FIG. P2 conveys the glass substrate 12 linearly.

In FIG. 1 , reference numeral 29 denotes positioning (alignment) rollers arranged on both sides in the width direction of the passage lines P1 and P2 for suppressing movement to the outside in the width direction during conveyance of the glass substrate 12 , and arranged on Reversing positioning rollers on the outside of the pneumatic conveyor 16 .

The first straight air conveyor 14 and the second straight air conveyor 18 are composed of a combination of a plurality of air table units 20 and straight roller units 22, respectively. In addition, the direction-changing air conveyor 16 is composed of a combination of a plurality of air table units 20 and a direction-changing roller unit 30 similar to those described above.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the air table unit 20 is configured to include: an air table 26 for supplying air (gas) to the underside of the glass substrate 12 and supporting the glass substrate 12 in a non-contact manner; and a positive pressure generating device. 28 is used to supply positive pressure air to the pneumatic table 26, for example, it is composed of a blower.

The air table 26 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box-shaped body whose upper surface 27 is substantially flat, and a plurality of air supply holes 27A for supplying air to the lower surface of the glass substrate 12 are formed on the upper surface 27 .

The first and second straight air conveyors 14 and 18 are configured so that 2 to 4 pneumatic tables 26 are arranged in one row along the longitudinal direction, and 5 rows are arranged side by side in the lateral direction (CV-1A to CV-1E, CV -2A to CV2E). Further, straight roller units 22 are disposed between the air table units 20 in the columns CV-1A, CV-1E, CV-2A, and CV-2E on both outer sides in the width direction among the five columns.

The direction conversion pneumatic conveyor 16 is connected with the column CV-1A and CV-1E of the pneumatic table unit 20 on both sides of the width direction of the conveying direction of the first straight pneumatic conveyor 14, and is provided with 2 columns (CV-3A, CV - 3E) Pneumatic table unit 20. The rows CV-3A and CV-3E each have two air table units 20 and direction changing roller units 30 respectively provided between the air table units 20 .

And between the two rows of CV-3A and CV-3E, six rows of pneumatic table units 20A to 20F are arranged in parallel with the row of the pneumatic table unit 20 of the second linear pneumatic conveyor 18, on the left side of FIG. Between the first row and the second row of pneumatic table units 20A and 20B, and between the fifth and sixth row of pneumatic table units 20E and 20F on the side (the side of the first straight pneumatic conveyor 14), direction-changing rollers are arranged Unit 30. Moreover, the air table unit 20 is also arrange|positioned outside the column CV-3E of the air table unit 20 (it is a lower side in FIG. 1), and can make it float when the glass substrate 12 rotates.

The four direction-changing roller units 30 of the direction-changing pneumatic conveyor 16 are arranged such that the intersection of the extension lines of the passage lines P1 and P2 of the first and second straight-traveling pneumatic conveyors 14 and 18 is the center point CR, and the distance The center points CR are equidistant, ie on the same circumference.

Hereinafter, the detailed configuration of the direction changing unit 30 will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the direction changing roller unit 30 is configured to have: a vertical suction pipe 32 provided with an opening 33A at the upper end; Inside the suction pipe 32 , the upper end can protrude slightly from the upper end opening 33A of the suction pipe 32 ;

The suction pipe 32 includes: a small-diameter portion 32A surrounding the vicinity of the conveying roller 34 ; In addition, four brackets 32C are integrally formed on the upper portion of the large-diameter portion 32B of the suction pipe 32, and the front ends of the brackets 32C are fixed on the lower side than the transport surface of the passage lines P1 and P2 including the glass substrate 12. position (illustration omitted).

The direction changing roller unit 30 has a transport roller up and down moving device 38 . The conveying roller up and down moving device 38 supports the conveying roller 34 so that it can reach the conveying position (referring to Figs. The glass substrate 12 is displaced between the non-contact standby positions (see FIG. 4 and FIG. 7 ).

The transport roller vertical movement device 38 is arranged in the large diameter portion 32B of the suction pipe 32 and is composed of a solenoid device provided on the base plate 40 fixed on the upper surface of the blower 36 .

The movable part 38A of the conveying roller up-and-down moving device 38 as a solenoid device can move up and down within a certain range relative to the base plate 40, and a support plate 39 is supported on the upper end of the movable part 38A. The lower side of the roller is adjacent to the roller up and down moving device 38 and supports the conveying roller attitude control device 42 .

The conveying roller posture control device 42 has a posture control shaft 43 passing through the central axis 32CL in the vertical direction of the apex of the conveying roller 34, and has a built-in device such as a cam mechanism (not shown), as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 . The attitude control shaft 43 in the vertical direction can be swung around the central axis 32CL within a range of at least 90° while maintaining the vertical state.

The attitude control shaft 43 penetrates through the center of the support plate 39 and protrudes upward, and the roller support 44 and the drive motor 46 are supported at the upper end.

The roller support body 44 has a disk-shaped support stand 45 provided at a position higher than the drive motor 46 , and the rotation shaft 34A of the transport roller 34 is horizontally supported on the support stand 45 .

The conveying roller 34 is a magnetic roller, and is driven in a non-contact state by a driving magnetic roller 35 rotatably supported on a support table 45 at a position in front of the conveying roller 34 .

The rotation shaft 35A of the magnetic roller 35 is directly connected to the drive shaft 46A of the drive motor 46 , and is rotationally driven by the drive motor 46 .

This direction changing roller unit 30 can make the conveying roller 34 protrude slightly from the upper end surface 33B of the suction pipe 32 at the conveying position (refer to FIGS. The shown upper end moves up and down between falling down and the standby position below the upper end surface 33B.

In addition, the position of the glass substrate 12 can be adjusted within an angular range of at least 90° around the central axis 32CL by the conveying roller attitude control device 42, so that it can be carried out in a plane parallel to the passage line P1 as shown in FIG. 7 . The posture of rotation, and the posture of rotation in a plane parallel to the passage line P2 as shown in FIG. 8 .

As shown in FIG. 9 , the straight roller unit 22 used in the first and second straight air conveyors 14 and 18 is configured to have a straight conveying roller 22A that can rotate in a vertical plane parallel to the respective passage lines P1 and P2. ; the upper end surface is slightly lower than the upper end of the straight conveying roller 22A, the suction pipe 22B in the vertical direction is arranged; the blower 22C connected to the air supply hole is connected to the lower end of the suction pipe 22B; A magnetic driving roller 22D of the straight-running conveyance roller 22A; a motor 22E for driving the magnetic driving roller 22D.

Hereinafter, the process of transporting the glass substrate 12 from the first straight air conveyer 14 through the direction changing air conveyer 16 by the above-mentioned sheet-shaped material conveying apparatus 10 and conveying it without rotating it will be described below. to the 2nd pneumatic conveyor 18.

First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 10 , the direction-changing roller unit 30 of the direction-changing pneumatic conveyor 16 is preliminarily made so that the rotating surface of the conveying roller 34 is parallel to the passage line P1 of the first straight conveyor 14 . The glass substrate 12 on the first linear pneumatic conveyer 14 is floated by the positive pressure air ejected from the pneumatic table 26, and at this time, when the blower 22C of the linear roller unit 22 is driven, the glass substrate 12 is drawn from the suction pipe 22B to the glass substrate 12. A negative pressure acts on the lower surface of the substrate 12 to attract the glass substrate 12 so as to be brought into contact with the upper end of the straight conveying roller 22A located at the conveying position.

Therefore, if the straight transport roller 22A is driven by the magnetic drive roller 22D, the glass substrate 12 can be transported reliably and at high speed in the direction from left to right in FIG. 1 in a state floating on the air table 26 .

When positive-pressure air is supplied in advance from the air table 26 of the direction changing air conveyor 16 , the glass substrate 12 moves smoothly on the direction changing air conveyor 16 . At this time, when a negative pressure is applied from the blower 36 to the suction pipe 32 of the direction changing roller unit 30 , the glass substrate 12 is attracted toward the conveying roller 34 rotated by the driving magnetic roller 35 and reliably conveyed by its contact pressure.

In addition, in the direction changing roller unit 30 , the conveying roller 34 is provided in advance by the conveying roller vertical movement device 38 so that its upper end becomes a conveying position slightly protruding from the upper end surface 33B of the suction tube 32 .

When the glass substrate 12 moves onto the direction-changing roller conveyor 16, the conveying of the conveying roller 34 is stopped, and then the application of negative pressure is stopped, and the conveying roller 34 is lowered to the standby position by the conveying roller up-and-down moving device 38 .

In the state of this standby position, in the direction changing roller unit 30, the conveying roller attitude control device 42 is operated, and the rotating shaft 34A of the conveying roller 34 is rotated by 90° around the central axis 32CL through the attitude control shaft 43, as shown in FIG. 11 As shown, the rotation plane of the conveyance roller 34 is made parallel to the rotation plane of the straight conveyance roller 22A of the second straight air conveyor 18 and the passage line P2.

In addition, at this time or before and after, the center of the glass substrate 12 is aligned with the center of the width direction of the first and second straight air conveyors 14, 18 (travel lines P1, P2) and the direction switching air conveyor 16 by the positioning rollers 19. The center point CR matches.

Then, the conveying roller 34 is raised to the conveying position by the conveying roller up-and-down moving device 38 , and at the same time, the blower 36 is started to apply negative pressure to the glass substrate 12 , and the glass substrate 12 is brought into contact with the upper end of the conveying roller 34 . In this state, the conveyance roller 34 is driven so that the glass substrate 12 may be moved in the direction of the 2nd straight air conveyer 18.

The second straight air conveyer 18 drives the straight conveying roller 22A in the conveying position in advance in the conveying direction, and applies a negative pressure to the suction pipe 22B by the blower 22C.

Driven by the conveying roller 34, the glass substrate 12 moves from the direction conversion pneumatic conveyor 16 to the 2nd straight pneumatic conveyor 18, and passes through the 2nd straight pneumatic conveyor 18 along the passage line P2 to Fig. 1 and Fig. 11 Move above the middle, and end the delivery as shown in Figure 12.

The conveying process of the glass substrate 12 described above changes the conveying direction by 90° without rotating the glass substrate 12 , and the process of conveying the glass substrate 12 by rotating it by 90° on the direction-changing pneumatic conveyer 16 will be described below.

Since the process of conveying the glass substrate from the state shown in FIG. 1 to the state shown in FIG. 10 is the same as described above, description thereof will be omitted.

When the glass substrate 12 is rotated on the direction changing air conveyor 16, in the state shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 13 , only the rotating surface of the conveying roller 34 on the passage line P1 on the direction-changing air conveyer 16 is rotated by 90° by the conveying roller attitude control device 42 (see FIG. 14 ). In the same manner as above, the above-mentioned transport roller 34 rotated by 90° is brought to the standby position, and the application of the negative pressure is stopped.

After 90° of rotation, the application of negative pressure is started, and the conveying roller 34 is placed in the conveying position. In this state, as shown in FIG. To make the glass substrate 12 rotate counterclockwise. Then, the glass substrate 12 is rotated around the center point CR of the direction changing air conveyor 16, and when it rotates 90 degrees counterclockwise, the rotation of the glass substrate 12 is stopped.

Then, the pair of conveying rollers 34 on the passing line P2 of the direction-changing pneumatic conveyer 16 are rotated by each conveying roller attitude control device 42 so that the rotation plane becomes a vertical plane parallel to the passing line P2 (refer to FIG. 15 ). At this time, similarly to the above, the conveyance roller 34 is placed at the standby position, and the application of the negative pressure is stopped.

After the 90° rotation, negative pressure is applied, and the conveying roller 34 is placed at the conveying position. When the conveying roller 34 is rotated in this state, the glass substrate 12 is transferred from the direction-changing pneumatic conveyer 16 to the second straight line. Pneumatic conveyor 18, and be conveyed directly.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 16 , in the direction conversion roller 16, a conversion center rod 48 may be freely rotatable around a vertical axis at the position of its center point CR, and a movable center rod 48 may be provided at the upper end of the conversion center rod 48 The mounting tray 48A on which the glass substrate 12 is mounted.

In this case, the height of the mounting tray 48A is set so that when a negative pressure is applied to the suction pipe 32 of the plurality of direction changing roller units 30, the glass substrate 12 is sucked and the lower surface of the glass substrate 12 is in contact with the conveyance roller 34. The placing tray 48A is in contact with the underside of the glass substrate 12 and is not in contact with the underside of the glass substrate 12 when the negative pressure is released.

In this way, the glass substrate 12 is rotated about the center point CR by the direction change air conveyor 16, and positioning after rotation is unnecessary.

And, in the case of using the above-mentioned conversion center pole 48, the direction conversion roller unit 30 of the direction conversion pneumatic conveyor 16 may not be four, but three or two, or even one.

In the above-described embodiment, the direction changing roller unit 30 is configured such that the conveying roller 34 moves up and down with respect to the upper end surface 32B of the suction pipe 32, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the conveying roller 34 and the suction pipe 32 may be moved up and down. 32 move up and down together.

Also, the rotating surface of the conveying roller 34 is rotated around the central axis 32CL by the conveying roller posture control device 42, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and if necessary, the rotating shaft 34A of the conveying roller 34 can be rotated in a horizontal plane so as to make it It is only necessary to switch the conveying direction by 90°, and therefore, the conveying roller 34 and its rotating shaft 34A may be rotated together with the suction tube 32 .

In addition, the configurations of the conveying roller vertical movement device and the conveying roller posture control device of the conveying roller posture control device 42 are not limited to the example of the embodiment, and may be other configurations. For example, cam mechanisms, rotary solenoids, and pneumatic actuators can also be used.

Claims (9)

1. A roller unit for conveying sheet-shaped materials, characterized in that it has: A suction tube consisting of a cylindrical body with an opening at the upper end; The conveying roller is freely rotatably supported on the inner side of the suction pipe around the rotation axis in the horizontal plane, and the upper end may protrude slightly from the opening of the upper end of the above-mentioned suction pipe; and A negative pressure source for applying negative pressure to the suction tube. 2. The roller unit for conveying a sheet material according to claim 1, wherein: A conveying direction changing device is provided which supports the conveying roller so that its axis of rotation is freely angularly displaceable in the horizontal plane within a range of at least 90° about a vertical axis passing through the apex of the conveying roller. 3. The roller unit for conveying sheet-like material according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is provided with: an up and down moving device supporting the conveying roller so that its upper end can be displaced between a conveying position reaching the passing line of the sheet material and a standby position lower than the passing line; and A negative pressure control device that turns on and off the negative pressure applied from the negative pressure source to the suction tube. 4. The roller unit for conveying a sheet material according to claim 1, wherein: The above-mentioned negative pressure source is an exhaust blower, and the suction port of the exhaust blower is connected with the lower end opening of the above-mentioned suction pipe, In the above-mentioned suction pipe, at least a motor is arranged in the driving device and the conveying direction changing device; The driving device has a motor for driving the above-mentioned conveying roller; The conveying direction changing device supports the conveying roller so that its upper end can be displaced between a conveying position reaching the passing line of the sheet-shaped material and a standby position lower than the passing line, and The roller is supported so that its axis of rotation is free to angularly displace within the range of at least 90° around a vertical axis passing through the apex of the conveying roller in the above-mentioned horizontal plane. 5. A sheet-shaped material conveying device, characterized in that it has: Straight-moving pneumatic conveyors that convey sheet-like materials straight in a state of being buoyed by air; and The direction-changing pneumatic conveyor is disposed facing the end of the conveying direction of the straight-running pneumatic conveyer, receives the thin-plate-like material conveyed by the straight-running pneumatic conveyer, and switches the travel direction of the received thin-plate-like material in a horizontal plane , The above-mentioned direction-changing pneumatic conveyor is configured to have: a plurality of air table units having a plurality of air supply holes on a flat upper surface; A roller unit for conveying sheet-like materials, The roll unit for conveying the sheet-shaped material is disposed so as to surround the center point of the direction-changing pneumatic conveyer. 6. The sheet-shaped material conveying device according to claim 5, wherein: The above-mentioned direction-changing pneumatic conveyor has a conversion center pole, and the conversion center pole is freely rotatable around a vertical axis at the position of the above-mentioned center point, and has a loading plate on the upper end that can place the above-mentioned sheet-shaped material, The height of the placing tray is set so that when negative pressure is applied to the suction pipes of the plurality of sheet-shaped material conveying roller units and the sheet-like material is sucked downward, the distance between the placing tray and the sheet-shaped material contact below, and become non-contact when the negative pressure is released. 7. The sheet-shaped material conveying device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: A pair of the straight air conveyors are arranged on the direction changing air conveyor so that the conveying direction is perpendicular to each other, and the extension lines of the widthwise centers of the passage lines of the pair of straight air conveyors intersect at the center point. 8. The sheet-like material conveying device according to claim 7, wherein: A plurality of the above-mentioned thin-plate-shaped material conveying units are arranged at positions equidistant from the above-mentioned central point. 9. The sheet-shaped material conveying device according to claim 7, wherein: One unit for conveying the above-mentioned sheet material is disposed.

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