JP2001080725A - Transfer device and transfer method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a transport device and a transport method capable of avoiding the busyness of an operator working on the downstream side in the transport direction, and capable of transporting a transported article so that the transport amount per unit time does not largely fluctuate. provide. A transport device (12) increases a transport speed when a separation dimension (L) between a downstream part in a transport direction of a starting cargo (20A) and a late transporting product (20B) exceeds a set value, and transports the starting transported material. At least one of speed control and deceleration control for reducing the transport speed when the separation dimension L is smaller than the set value and transporting the preceding transported object is performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer apparatus and a transfer method, and more particularly, to a transfer apparatus irrespective of the length of a transfer object in a transfer direction.
The present invention relates to a transport apparatus and a transport method capable of transporting a fixed number of articles at a predetermined interval per unit time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, at a cargo collection site, a large number of cargoes are transported to a sorting device via a transporting device having a belt conveyor and driving means for driving the belt conveyor. In the sorting apparatus, information based on a label attached to each cargo is manually input by an operator on the downstream side in the transport direction of the transport device, and each cargo is individually sorted according to this information.
Therefore, it is desirable that the transport device can transport the cargo so as to pass in front of the worker at appropriate intervals.

[0003]

By the way, in order to maximize the sorting capability of the sorting apparatus, the applicant of the present application has set the interval between articles having different sorting destinations to be equal to or greater than a set value, and has the same sorting destination. An article sorting method in which the distance between articles is equal to or less than a set value has been proposed (Japanese Patent No. 2622146: Conventional Example 1). According to the first conventional example, the number of articles that can be sorted per unit time is increased while corresponding to the sorting destination of each article, whereby an extremely excellent effect that the sorting operation by the sorting apparatus can be made more efficient can be obtained. . However, the conventional example 1 has a disadvantage that, when applied to a transport device in which an operator who manually inputs information intervenes because the interval between articles having the same sorting destination is equal to or less than a set value, the operator becomes busy. is there.

[0004] In order to cope with such inconvenience, there is a method of measuring the interval between each conveyed object by an appropriate measuring means and increasing or decreasing the conveying speed of the conveyed article based on the measurement value obtained by the measuring means (conventional method). Example 2). In the second conventional example, when the measured value obtained by the measuring means is less than the set value, that is, when the interval between the starting transported article and the subsequent transported article is smaller than the desired interval, the transport speed is increased. In this case, the first transported object is unloaded early, or the transport speed is reduced, and the late transported item is unloaded lately, so that the interval between the transported objects approaches the desired interval.

[0005] Therefore, according to the above-mentioned conventional example 2, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience of making the operator who manually inputs information downstream of the transport line busy. However, in Conventional Example 2, although the busyness of the worker can be avoided, the transport speed is adjusted based on the interval between the transported objects, so that the number of transported objects per unit time is not constant, and the transport efficiency is not improved. The problem arises that the image quality deteriorates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has as its object to avoid busy workers working downstream in the transport direction and to prevent the transport amount per unit time from fluctuating greatly. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transport device and a transport method capable of transporting a transported object.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transporting apparatus for transporting a large number of articles, comprising: a belt conveyor; A transport device having a driving unit that drives a conveyor, and a control unit that controls the driving unit and adjusts a transport speed of each of the transported products, wherein a first transported product and a late transported product of each of the transported products are provided. Measuring means for measuring a separation dimension between the one end portions in the conveyance direction, wherein the control unit increases the conveyance speed when the separation dimension exceeds a set value and unloads the advance conveyed object. Control, and if the separation dimension is less than a set value, at least one of deceleration control to reduce the transport speed and unload the advance transported object is performed such that the driving unit does not stop. Is

Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to convey a large number of conveyed articles, the control section controls a driving means of a belt conveyor to convey each of the conveyed articles. A transport method for adjusting the speed, wherein a distance between one end of the first transported article and the later transported article in the transport direction of each of the transported articles is measured by a measuring unit,
The control unit does not stop the driving unit, so that when the separation dimension exceeds a set value, the transport speed is increased to increase the transport speed and transport the advance transported object, and the separation dimension is set. When the value is less than the value, at least one of deceleration control for reducing the transport speed and transporting the preceding transported object is performed.

[0009] Here, the present invention provides a method for collecting and retrieving data at a collection site.
It is not only applicable to sorted cargo, but for a large number of articles sequentially conveyed to perform predetermined processing, the number of articles to be conveyed per unit time and the interval between each article are set to predetermined values. Applicable in cases. And
In these inventions, the separation dimension between one end in the conveyance direction is the separation dimension between the upstream ends in the conveyance direction of the starting conveyed article and the subsequent conveyance article adjacent to each other, or the separation dimension between the downstream ends in the conveyance direction. Yes, it may be selected appropriately for implementation.

The measuring means may be, for example, a photoelectric tube sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or the like. However, a mechanical structure or the like in which a measuring element is brought into contact with a conveyed object and a switch is operated may be employed. Since it is operationally certain that such a mechanical structure is arranged so as to operate as the conveyed object passes, the distance between the downstream ends of the conveyed objects in the conveying direction is measured. Suitable for the case.

The installation position of the measuring means is calculated in advance by calculating the sum of the maximum length in the transport direction that can be considered as a transported object and the length in the transport direction of the interval to be formed between each transported object. It is preferable that the distance from the downstream end of the apparatus in the transport direction to the upstream side in the transport direction be equal to or greater than the sum. If the measuring means is installed in such a position, when the measuring means completes the measurement, it is not before the original transported material is unloaded from the transport device, so it is necessary to start increasing or decreasing the transport speed from this state. Thus, the transport speed adjusted for the starting transported object can be reliably reflected. Further, as the installation position of the measuring means, until the control unit starts increasing or decreasing the transport speed based on the measurement value of the measuring means,
Further, it is preferable to set the transport speed further upstream in the transport direction in consideration of the time lag until the completion of speed increase or deceleration of the transport speed to a desired speed.

Further, when the measured value of the measuring means is different from the set value, the control unit may increase or decrease the transport speed based on a value obtained by performing an arithmetic process for each measured value, The transport speed may be increased or decreased by obtaining a value corresponding to the measured value from the table. The set value is a standard length in the conveyance direction of the conveyed object (standard length)
And a desired interval length (standard interval).

The control unit may perform only one of the speed-up control and the deceleration control, or may perform both. It is necessary to continue these speed-up control or deceleration control until the starting transported material and the interval adjacent to the advanced transported product are unloaded from the transport device. Therefore, the speed increasing or decelerating control is performed until the measuring unit obtains the next measured value. It is preferable to maintain the adjusted transport speed.

In such a transfer apparatus and transfer method, the measuring means measures, for example, the distance between the downstream end of the preceding transfer in the transfer direction and the downstream end of the subsequent transfer in the transfer direction. In this case, in other words, the sum (measured value) of the transport direction length of the starting transported product and the transport direction length of the interval following the advanced transported product is used as the transporting direction length of the advanced transported product for convenience. In other words, in these transport devices and transport methods, when the separation length is different from the set value of the standard length and the standard interval described above as a set, the transport speed of the starting transported material is increased or decreased, and the transport is performed. For example, compared to a case in which the transport speed is increased or decreased only based on the interval between each transported object, it is possible to avoid the busyness of the worker working on the downstream side in the transport direction,
The transported object can be transported so that the transport amount per unit time does not greatly change.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transport method according to the third aspect, wherein the measuring means detects the downstream end of the advanced transport in the transport direction and the downstream end of the late transport in the transport direction. And measuring a distance between them. According to such a transport method, the measuring unit measures the sum (measured value) of the transport direction length of the starting transported product and the transport direction length of the interval subsequent to the advanced transported product. The transport speed can be adjusted from the foremost transported object.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a pickup place 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. At the collection site 10, a large number of cargoes 20 are fed into the sorting device 11 via the transport device 12 and the induction conveyor 13. Sorting device
At 11, on the downstream side in the transport direction of the induction conveyor 13, information based on a label attached to each cargo 20 is manually input by an operator 14, and each cargo 20 is individually sorted according to this information. Here, the induction conveyor 13
The transport speed of each cargo 20 can be arbitrarily set, whereby each cargo 20 is transported so as to pass in front of the worker 14 at a predetermined constant speed.

The conveying device 12 controls a belt conveyor 16 having an endless belt 15 stretched between a pair of rollers 14, 14, a driving unit 17 such as a motor for driving the belt conveyor 16, and a driving unit 17. Control unit that adjusts the transport speed of each transported item 20
18 and is comprised. And this transport device 12
In order to carry out the interval between the cargoes 20 appropriately and individually with respect to the induction conveyor 13,
It has a measuring means 19 provided on the downstream side in the transport direction, and the control unit 18 controls the driving means 17 based on the measured value obtained by the measuring means 19 so that the transport speed can be adjusted one by one.

The measuring means 19 scans in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction by a detector 19A such as a photoelectric tube or an ultrasonic wave, and the cargo 20 (20A, 20B, 20C) is cut by disconnection of the scanning line.
In addition to detecting the downstream end and the upstream end in the transport direction, the transport speed of the transport device 12 is detected from the pulse signal of the motor that is the driving means 17 at that time, and the advance cargoes 20A adjacent to each other are detected from these detected signals. And late cargo 20
The distance L between the downstream end portions in the conveying direction at B is obtained.
The installation position of the detector 19A is calculated in advance by calculating the total value of the maximum transport direction length that can be considered as the cargo 20 and the transport direction length of the interval to be formed between the cargoes 20. The distance from the downstream end in the transport direction to the upstream side in the transport direction is equal to or greater than the sum.

When the distance L is different from a predetermined set value, the control unit 18 selects a speed-up control for increasing the transfer speed of the transfer device 20 and a deceleration control for reducing the transfer speed of the transfer device 20. It is supposed to be done. These speed-up control and deceleration control are performed steplessly so that the driving means 17 does not stop. The set value is a sum C of the standard length A (standard length) in the transport direction of the cargo and the desired interval length B (standard interval) (see the upper part in the figure). In such a transport device 20, when the separation dimension L exceeds the set value (L> C), the advance transported object 20A is quickly carried out to the induction conveyor 13 by performing speed-up control, and the separation dimension L is increased. When L is less than the set value (L <C), the advance conveyed product 20A is unloaded to the induction conveyor 13 late by performing deceleration control.

According to the above-described embodiment, the starting cargo 20A
In addition, to measure the distance L between the downstream ends of the subsequent cargo 20B in the transport direction, and to increase or decrease the unloading speed of the advance cargo 20A according to the magnitude of the clearance L with respect to the set value, for example, only the interval between the cargoes 20 Worker working on the downstream side in the transport direction compared to when increasing or decreasing the transport speed based on
It is possible to avoid the busyness of 14 and to transport the cargo 20 so that the transport amount per unit time does not fluctuate greatly. In particular, according to this embodiment, since the separation dimension L between the downstream end of the starting cargo 20A in the transport direction and the downstream end of the subsequent cargo 20B in the transport direction is used, many cargoes 20 are transported. In this case, the transfer speed can be adjusted from the top cargo 20.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate modifications and improvements can be made.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the speed increase control and the deceleration control are both used.However, the present invention can be applied to only the speed increase control if the interval between the respective articles to be fed into the transfer device can be secured to a certain value or more. Alternatively, if the length of each conveyed material in the conveyance direction is substantially constant, only the deceleration control may be performed.

In addition, the shape, size, form, number, location, etc. of the conveyed material, belt conveyor, driving means, control section, measuring means, etc. exemplified in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved. And is not limited.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the distance between one end in the transport direction of the first transported article and the second transported article is set. In order to perform at least one of the speed-up control for increasing the transport speed and the deceleration control for reducing the transport speed when the value is different, it is possible to avoid the busyness of the operator working downstream in the transport direction and In addition, the transported object can be transported so that the transport amount per unit time does not greatly change.

According to the present invention, as described in claim 3, the measuring means measures the separation dimension between the downstream ends in the transport direction of the first transported article and the late transported article.
When a large number of articles are conveyed, the conveyance speed can be adjusted from the topmost article.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 Conveying device 16 Belt conveyor 17 Drive means 20 Cargo (conveyed material) 20A Incoming cargo (incoming cargo) 20B Incoming cargo (incoming cargo) L Separation dimensions

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A belt conveyor, a driving unit for driving the belt conveyor, and a control unit for controlling the driving unit to adjust a conveying speed of each of the conveyed objects, in order to convey a large number of conveyed objects. A transport device having: a measuring unit that measures a separation dimension between one end in a transport direction of a starting transported article and a subsequent transported article of each of the transported articles, wherein the control unit is configured to set the distance to a set value. A speed-up control for increasing the transport speed to unload the advanced transport object when the speed exceeds the speed limit, and a deceleration for reducing the transport speed to unload the advanced transport object when the separation dimension is smaller than a set value. A transport device, wherein at least one of the control and the control is performed so that the driving unit does not stop. 2. A conveying method for adjusting a conveying speed of each of the conveyed objects by controlling a driving unit of a belt conveyor by a control unit in order to convey a large number of conveyed objects. The separation dimension between the one end portion in the conveyance direction of the starting conveyance product and the subsequent conveyance product is measured by a measuring unit, and the control unit does not stop the driving unit so that the separation size exceeds a set value. Speed-up control for increasing the transport speed to transport the advanced transported material, and deceleration control for reducing the transport speed and transporting the advanced transported product when the separation dimension is less than a set value. A transport method comprising performing at least one of the steps. 3. The measuring device measures a distance between a downstream end of the preceding conveyed product in the conveying direction and a downstream end of the subsequent conveyed product in the conveying direction. 2. The transport method described in 2.