JPH0444501Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <<Industrial application field>> The present invention is an article collection and transfer device for grouping continuously supplied articles to be packaged into predetermined numbers and sending them to a bag making device of an automatic packaging machine, etc. It is related to.

<<Background of the invention>> As a conventional article collection and transfer apparatus of this type, for example, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-47745 is well known. In this known device, a waterwheel-like rotating body with blades is provided in the article conveyance path, a rotating disk is attached to the shaft of this rotating body, and this rotating disk is moved by the fingers of a chain conveyor via a lever and a cam plate. It is configured to rotate intermittently in relation to the Regarding its operation, first, when the article is fed by a number corresponding to the number of blades and the rotating body with blades rotates once, the protrusion on the rotating disk acts on the lever, and the rotating disk and the rotating body with blades stop. After that, the supply of goods will be cut off. Then, while a number of articles corresponding to the number of blades are grouped and placed on the chain conveyor, fingers project onto the conveyance path and push the grouped articles forward. At the same time, the lever is moved by the action of the cam plate, and the stop of the rotating disk is released.
The articles are again passed through the bladed rotor and the next group of articles is transported in the manner described above.

In the above-mentioned known apparatus, when changing the number of articles constituting each group, it is necessary to change the number of blades on the bladed rotating body, and for this purpose, the apparatus must be temporarily stopped and the blades removed. This required troublesome work such as replacing it with a new rotating body with a different number of blades.

In addition, as shown in Utility Model Application No. 55-171493, for example, articles that are being conveyed randomly on a transfer conveyor are placed in front of the transfer conveyor in an obliquely upward direction. Some products are sequentially transferred onto an inclined conveyor with fingers. When the articles move on the inclined conveyor, the articles rise while being urged downward by gravity, and the articles are brought into contact with fingers located on the rear side, thereby aligning the articles. There is.

However, since such devices utilize natural falling due to gravity to align articles, the types of articles that can be aligned are not only limited to round bar-shaped articles as shown in the publication; There is also a risk that the articles will not fall smoothly, and it is not possible to reliably align the articles in a state where they are in contact with each other from front to back. Furthermore, space in the vertical direction must also be utilized, which increases the size of the device in three dimensions.

Furthermore, apart from this, for example,
As shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 164228, there is also an apparatus that separates and conveys articles by inserting fingers at predetermined intervals in a large number of articles that are successively conveyed in a block-like manner.

However, in such devices, the fingers are inserted between the objects that are in contact with each other, so if the contact resistance (or frictional force) between the objects is large, the fingers cannot be inserted smoothly and the separation may occur. Unable to work. Furthermore, if the article is fragile, there is a risk that the article will be damaged when the fingers are inserted, which again limits the types of articles that can be worked on. Furthermore, the fingers must be inserted between the articles with high precision, which makes positioning control between the fingers and the articles being transported complicated.

The invention of the present application was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to group continuously supplied goods into predetermined ranges without any restrictions on the types of goods. To provide an extremely simple structure of an article collection and transfer device which can surely carry out the transfer work and can easily change the number of articles forming a group as appropriate without replacing parts or the like.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the article collection and transfer device according to the present invention includes a carry-out means for sending out articles in sequence, and a counter for counting the number of articles sent out from the carry-out means. , a means for receiving a signal from the counter and stopping the delivery of articles from the delivery means; a speed-increasing conveyor belt provided horizontally in front of the delivery means; and a transfer path of the speed-increasing conveyor belt. finger conveyor means for projecting fingers from the conveyor belt and moving the fingers horizontally at a speed slower than the speed increasing conveyor belt, and the finger conveyor means is sequentially fed out onto the speed increasing conveyor belt from the conveying means and separated back and forth. The article being conveyed in this state presses against the finger located in front of it, slows down the moving speed of the article, and reduces the distance between the front and rear articles, so that a predetermined number of articles come into front-to-back abutment state. The speed difference between the speed increasing conveyor belt and the finger conveyor means was set so that they were aligned.

<<Operation>> The article is transferred from the carrying-out means onto the speed-increasing conveyor belt. Then, the article is moved at high speed on the speed-increasing conveyor belt, and the articles in front and behind the article move while being separated from each other.

Next, from the moving speed of the speed increasing conveyor belt,
Since the speed of movement of the finger belt means is slower, the leading article is controlled to abut the finger in front of it and move at a speed (the speed of movement of the accelerating conveyor belt) and move at the speed of the finger. Then, the succeeding articles catch up with the immediately preceding article, and high-speed movement is controlled.

As a result, the articles in front and behind are successively gathered together in abutting state.

<<Embodiments>> Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the entire apparatus according to the present invention, and a continuously rotating pool conveyor apparatus 1 is shown at the left end, onto which articles 2 such as canned goods are fed and pooled. An article feeding device 3 serving as a carrying-out means is disposed extending forward from the upper front end of the pool conveyor device 1. The article feeding device 3 is composed of a pair of left and right conveyor belts 3a-3a, which can hold articles between them and transport them forward. The distance between the pair of conveyor belts a3-3a can be adjusted by rotating a screw 4, so that the widths of various articles can be adjusted. Further, a drive pulley (not shown) is connected to the conveyor belt 3a-3a, and a clutch and a brake are further connected to this drive pulley. A phototube 5 is provided close to the front end of the article feeding device 3, and this phototube 5 is connected to a counting circuit to control the rotation of the drive pulley when the number of articles that have crossed the phototube 5 reaches a predetermined value. Connected to stop.

A speed-increasing conveyor belt 6 that moves horizontally is provided in front of the article feeding device 3, and this speed-increasing conveyor belt 6 is continuously driven at a faster speed than the conveyor belts 3a-3a of the article feeding device 3.
Articles 2 sequentially sent from an article feeding device 3 are separated at predetermined intervals and conveyed forward. and,
This speed increasing conveyor belt consists of a pair of left and right endless belts, and is driven by the rotational force of the pulley 7.

A finger conveyor 8 that runs continuously at a slower speed than the speed increasing conveyor is provided in the front part of the speed increasing conveyor belt 6. It is located between a pair of left and right endless belts in the section. The finger conveyor 8 is arranged to move in substantially the same direction as the speed increasing conveyor belt 6, and specifically, an endless chain 10 is wound around a driven sprocket 9a and a driving sprocket 9b. Fingers 11 are attached at predetermined intervals to push the article 2 from behind. Above this endless chain 10, the speed increasing conveyor belt 6
A pair of left and right guide frames 12-12 with separated central portions are arranged immediately before the guide frames 12-12, and the separated central portions of the guide frames 12-12 are connected to the fingers 1.
1 protrudes upward.

A bag making machine 13 is disposed in front of the finger conveyor belt 8, and a packaging film 14 is supplied from above to the bag making machine 13 and made into a cylindrical bag. The articles on the finger conveyor 8 are pushed into the container by the fingers 11, and thereafter known horizontal pillow packaging is performed by vertical sealing means and horizontal sealing means (not shown).

Next, we will mainly discuss the case where the articles 2 that are continuously sent, such as canned goods, are grouped into groups of four and transferred into the packaging film 14 in the bag making machine 13 using the above-mentioned apparatus of the present invention. This will be explained with reference to the drawings.

First, articles 2 are sequentially sent at irregular intervals onto the pool conveyor device 1 from a supply device or a production line (not shown), and the articles 2 are conveyed forward by the pool conveyor device, and the front end of the article 2 is conveyed forward by the pool conveyor device. The article is then fed between the conveyor belts 3a-3a of the article feeding device 3.

The conveyor belts 3a-3a of the article feeding device 3 are driven intermittently.
-3a, a large number of articles 2 sent from the pool conveyor device 1 are lined up in a line, abutting each other back and forth. This conveyor belt 3a-3a
This is done by activating a micro switch (not shown) when the finger 11a of the finger conveyor 8 located in front rotates around the driven sprocket 9a and protrudes from the top surface of the speed increasing conveyor belt 6. (Figure 4A). When this conveyor belt 3a-3a is started, the articles are sent out one after another across the phototube 5 in front of it and onto the speed increasing conveyor 6 (FIGS. 4B, C, D).
Since the speed-increasing conveyor 6 is driven at a considerably higher speed than the finger conveyor 8, the articles 2 sent onto the speed-increasing conveyor 6 move at high speed, and at this time, the articles 2 in front and behind gradually separate from each other. I will do it.

Next, the article 2 at the forefront is transferred to the finger 11 of the finger conveyor 8 that runs at low speed in front of it.
a, the finger 11a is forcibly decelerated, and thereafter moves at the moving speed of the finger 11a.

Moreover, the conveyor belt 3a- of the article feeding device 3
The article 2 successively sent out onto the speed-increasing conveyor belt 6 from 3a is moved at high speed in the same way as the article 2 ahead of it, hits the article 2 ahead of it, and is sent forward in line with it (front and back). Figure 4E). after that,
The third and fourth articles are fed in the same manner and arranged in a line against the rear surface of the previous article (FIGS. 4F and 4G). When this fourth article is sent out from the conveyor belt 3a-3a and crosses the phototube 5, the counting circuit counts a predetermined number of articles, and a signal from the counting circuit causes the article feeding device or brake to be activated. As a result, the conveyor belt 3a-3a stops.

Further, when the fourth article comes into contact with the rear surface of the third article, the next succeeding finger 11b of the finger conveyor 8 rotates around the driven sprocket 9a and stands up on the speed increasing conveyor 6. It's coming. Then, the article feeding device 3 is driven again, and the four grouped articles are arranged in contact with each other in the same manner as described above, with the succeeding finger 11b at the beginning. When the front finger 11a advances beyond the front pulley 7 of the speed increasing conveyor 6, the four grouped articles are
The conveyor 6 rides on the guide frame 12 in front of the conveyor 6 and stops there. Then, as soon as the front finger 11a moves away from the front ends of the four grouped articles, the following finger 11b hits the rear end surfaces of the four grouped articles, and these four grouped articles 2 along the guide frame 12 (FIG. 4H), and then pushed into the cylindrical film 14 in the bag making device 13 in the same manner as in the conventional method.

In the above description, an example was described in which four articles 2 are grouped, but the number of articles to be grouped can be any number of articles greater than or equal to two. however,
Of course, the number of counts of the counting circuit is adjusted according to the number of items to be grouped.
In addition to this, the relative speed between the speed increasing conveyor 6 and the finger conveyor 8 is adjusted, and from the state where the finger 11 of the finger conveyor 8 stands up on the speed increasing conveyor belt 6, the succeeding finger 11 is placed on the speed increasing conveyor belt 6. Before it rises, all the items that make up the group move to the front finger 11.
They are lined up in a line with the two at the top and in contact with each other.

<<Effects>> As described above, in the article collection and transfer device according to the present invention, the article conveyance path by the speed-increasing conveyor belt and the article conveyance path by the finger conveyor are partially overlapped, and the relative moving speed of both conveyors is reduced. By making adjustments, it is possible to group and transport a desired number of articles, so to change from grouping a certain number of articles to grouping other articles, the relative This work is extremely easy and can be done automatically, since all you have to do is change the speed.

Furthermore, since the articles are grouped using a speed-increasing conveyor belt, the grouping can be carried out quickly and the operating rate of the apparatus can be improved.

Furthermore, by bringing objects that are separated back and forth and moving at high speed into contact with the fingers in front of them, the high-speed movement of the objects is forcibly suppressed, ensuring that the objects are lined up reliably regardless of their type. can do.

In addition, since the fingers are inserted between the articles that are being conveyed separately on the speed-up conveyor belt, the position of the fingers can be controlled relatively roughly, and the fingers move the articles from below to above when they are inserted. bias toward (push up)
This allows for smooth insertion and there is no risk of damaging the item.

Furthermore, when the counter detects that a predetermined number of articles have been transferred to the speed-increasing conveyor belt, the delivery of the articles is stopped, so that the articles can be reliably separated into the desired number.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an overall schematic diagram of the device according to the present invention, Figure 2
1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view sequentially showing the operating states of the main parts of the device according to the present invention. 1... Pool conveyor device, 2... Goods, 3...
...article feeding device, 3a...conveyor belt, 5...
...Phototube, 6... Speed-increasing conveyor belt, 8... Finger conveyor, 10... Endless chain, 11... Finger, 12... Guide frame, 13... Bag making machine.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A carry-out means for sequentially sending out articles, a counter for counting the number of articles sent out from the carry-out means, a means for stopping feeding of articles from the carry-out means in response to a signal from the counter, and a front side of the carry-out means. A speed increasing conveyor belt provided horizontally in the speed increasing conveyor belt, and a finger conveyor means for projecting fingers into a transfer path of the speed increasing conveyor belt and horizontally moving the fingers at a speed slower than the speed increasing conveyor belt. and the articles being sequentially sent out from the carrying-out means onto the speed-increasing conveyor belt and conveyed back and forth in a separated state press against the fingers located in front of the fingers, reducing the moving speed of the articles. A speed difference between the speed-increasing conveyor belt and the finger conveyor means is set so that a predetermined number of articles are aligned in front-back abutment by reducing the distance between the front and rear articles. Equipment for gathering and transporting goods.