JPH0123365B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to a method for correcting the position of an article, and in particular,
When an item is placed in a container and transported, an error occurs in the stopping position of the item relative to the container due to the kinetic inertia of the item at the time of loading, resulting in the end of the item resting on the edge of the container. The position of the container is mechanically corrected so that it fits within a predetermined container.

[Conventional technology]

The manufacturing process for instant noodles includes the steps of steaming and gelatinizing the noodles by passing them through a steam chamber, and then frying them in oil. In this process, the noodles, which are gelatinized and highly elastic, are collected into one serving and are formed into a flat plate with a relatively thin thickness, and are transferred to a conveyor that passes through a frying device. While passing through, the noodles are fried in tofu.

At this time, the noodles are transferred from the conveyor in the previous process to the conveyor that passes through the frying device. are individually charged into the container of the conveyor via a chute. The conveyor of the previous process and the conveyor of the frying device are driven synchronously so that the container reaches the bottom of the chute at the same time as the noodles are delivered from the previous process. , and is placed into a container on a conveyor of a frying device.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, according to such conventional technology, the timing of the noodles leaving the conveyor in the previous process may be incorrect, or the frictional resistance on the top surface of the chute may temporarily change, causing the noodles to be transferred to the next conveyor. Frequently, the noodles are not fed to the proper position in the container and end up riding on the edge of the container.
If the noodles are transported in a deformed state in which the edges of the noodles ride on the edge of the container, there is a problem in that in the next frying process, the noodles are fried in the deformed state and hardened.

Previously, in order to prevent such a situation, a worker was placed in a position where the noodles would transfer and manually put the items that had climbed onto the edge of the container into the container. Since the atmosphere is heavily influenced by air pollution, it is not suitable for environmental hygiene if the work is done manually, and since it relies on manual labor, it is not good for food hygiene, and the work efficiency is also poor.

Furthermore, by increasing the size of the conveyor container into which the noodles are fed, even if the timing of feeding the noodles is slightly off,
Noodles are accurately placed into the container on the conveyor, but if the container is made larger, the width and length of the conveyor must be increased, and the oil lifting device that this conveyor passes through must be increased in size, as well as the need for the next process. There is also the problem that it becomes difficult to ensure accuracy in the timing of supplying items to customers.

This invention was made by focusing on the elasticity of noodles, and was made considering that it can be widely applied to other elastic items besides noodles. The purpose is to accurately and automatically store items in this container without increasing the size.

[Means to solve the problem]

In this invention, when an elastic article with a relatively small thickness is placed in a container with a relatively shallow bottom and transported, a claw is engaged with the article in the container from above, and the claw is moved against the container. By moving the item back and forth and left and right in the same direction within the container, the entire item with the end resting on the edge of the container is placed inside the container and the position of the item relative to the container is corrected. It is something.

[Effect]

Even if the item is moved within the container by the claw, since the item has elasticity, the item can be moved within the container by elastic deformation of the item. Furthermore, when the claw is separated from the item, the shape of the item is elastically restored within the container, so that the entire item is properly accommodated within the container, and is transported in this state to the next process.

〔Example〕

The drawings show one embodiment of the invention,
As item 2, noodles of the size of a single meal, which are gelatinized by steam and have high elasticity, are used. These noodles undergo post-processing to become instant noodles packaged in bags.
1 and 2 are diagrams illustrating the principle of the method of the present invention, and FIG. 1 shows a state in which a claw 1 moves an article 2 with respect to a container 3 in the front-back direction. That is, the container 3 moves in the direction shown by arrow F in FIG. 1a, and this direction is the front direction, and the opposite direction is the rear direction. The article 2 is supplied into the container 3 by sliding down the chute 4, and in the illustrated example, the article 2 is supplied with the rear end of the article 2 resting on the rear edge of the container 3.

In Fig. 1a, the claw 1 descending from above is attached to the item 2.
A state in which the claw 1 is engaged is shown, and the claw 1 is moved forward from this state. This is the state shown in Figure b, and the front end of the item 2 in front of the claw 1 hits the inside of the front of the container 3 and is bent, and the rear end of the item 2 falls into the interior from the edge of the container 3, and the item 2 The whole is housed inside the container 3. Next, the claw 1 is moved rearward as shown in FIG. 3c, and then raised to release the item 2. The item 2 then extends flatly within the item 2 due to its own elasticity and assumes a predetermined posture.

In addition, in the state shown in figure b, raise the claw 1 and remove the item 2.
may be released. The reason is that the item 2 is fed from the rear side of the container 3 by the chute 4, and the front end of the item 2 is fed into the container 3 by sliding on the bottom surface of the container 3. Therefore, the front end of the item 2 is unlikely to ride on the front edge of the container 3, so move the claw 1 backwards and remove the item 2.
This is because there is no need to pull the front end of the Therefore, if the means for supplying the article 2 into the container 3 does not use the chute 4 as described above, and there is a possibility that the front end of the article 2 may ride on the edge of the container 3, the above-mentioned Assume that the claw 1 is moved backward as shown in Figure 1c.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the claw 1 moves the article 2 in the left-right direction with respect to the container 3. A large number of containers 3 are connected in the left and right direction, and each container 3
move forward in a horizontal line. Incidentally, a large number of these are connected in the front and rear direction to constitute the conveyor 5 shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 2a shows a state in which the side edge of the article 2 rests on the right or left edge of the container 3, and the claw 1 is lowered and engaged with such an article 2.

The claw 1 is moved to either the left or right in FIG. In the illustrated example, the item 2 in the adjacent container 3
The claws 1, which are engaged with the respective ones, are arranged to move in left and right directions opposite to each other. At this stage b in the same figure,
Since the item 2 is moved to either the left or right, the item 2 falls into the container 3 on the rear side in the direction of movement.

Next, the claw 1 is moved in either the left or right direction, which is opposite to the direction described above (FIG. 2b), and the item 2 is moved in the same direction. Then, the rear side of the item 2 in the moving direction falls into the container 3. This is the state shown in figure c. At this stage, the article 2 is moved alternately in the left and right directions within the container, and both its left and right ends fall into the container 3, so that the entire article 2 is contained within the container 3.

In addition, in the case where the item 2 moves from side to side,
When the front end of the article 2 in the moving direction is already inside the container 3, the front end of the article 2 in the moving direction is elastically deformed and bends as shown in the figure. When claw 1 rises in stage, item 2
Since it is released from the claw 1, the elastic restoring force of the item 2 causes it to extend flat within the container 3 and assume a predetermined posture. Furthermore, although the same is true in the case of FIG. 1, the hole in the item 2 that is formed when the claw 1 is pushed into the item 2 is also eliminated by the elastic restoring force of the item 2 as the claw 1 rises. . Depending on the properties of the item 2, the shape and structure of the claw 1 may be changed to avoid degrading the quality of the item 2.

FIG. 3 and subsequent figures show the drive mechanism of the claw 1. In FIGS. 3 and 4, 5 is a conveyor, and this conveyor 5 carries a plurality of units of containers 3 connected in the width direction as shown in FIG. 2 between parallel chains 6. erect a large number along the direction,
A plurality of units of containers 3 connected in the width direction are connected endlessly by a chain 6. 7 is conveyor 5
horizontal frame, 8 is an angle member fixed to horizontal frame 7, 9
is a rail supported by an angle member 8, and the conveyor 5 is operated by the chain 8 traveling along the rail 9. Although the left half of the conveyor 5 is omitted in FIG. 3, the left half of the conveyor 5 is configured symmetrically to the illustrated state.

An elevating and retracting drive device A is installed on the horizontal frame 7.
This elevating and retracting drive device A lowers the claws 1 supported by the frame 10 into the container 3 of the conveyor 5 by raising and lowering a frame 10, which will be described later, and moving it forward and backward as the conveyor 5 advances. The container 3 is moved forward together with the conveyor 5 in the above-mentioned state, and is moved back in the opposite direction to the conveyor 5 while the container 3 is being raised. After the claw 1 moves forward by a predetermined stroke, it is moved backward and the subsequent container 3 is similarly treated by the claw 1 repeatedly. According to this embodiment, the items 2 in the containers 3 of the conveyor 5 are first moved back and forth and then left and right.

That is, to explain the elevating and retracting drive device A,
Two machine frames 14, 14 are fixed to the horizontal frame 7 and erected at positions along the moving direction of the conveyor 5, and a holding rod 14a is fixed across between both machine frames 14, 14. An input rotation shaft 11 is provided at 14 in parallel with the moving direction of the conveyor 5, and is rotatably supported. A chain sprocket 11a and a cylindrical cam 12 are fixed to the input rotating shaft 11, and
The plate cams 13, 13, which are centered on the input rotating shaft 11 and serve as a drive shaft, are individually fixed at positions in contact with both end surfaces of the cylindrical cam 12, so that the cylindrical cam 12 and the plate cams 13, 13 are input. They are configured to rotate together by a rotating shaft 11.

An engager 24a is provided in the cam groove 12a of the cylindrical cam 12.
are slidably engaged with each other, and this engaging element 24a is fixed to an advancing/retracting member 24, and this advancing/retracting member 24 is connected to an advancing/retracting guide provided parallel to the input rotation shaft 11 between the machine frames 14, 14. 15 and is slidably fitted on the outside. The advancing/retracting member 24 is guided by the cam groove 12a by the rotation of the cylindrical cam 12 and moves back and forth along the advancing/retracting guide 15 in a direction parallel to the conveyor 5.

Also, the advancing and retracting member 24 has a pillar 1 that advances and retreats integrally with it.
6 and a vertical guide 25 are erected, and an elevating member 26 is engaged with the column 16 and the vertical guide 25 so as to be movable up and down. Between the lifting member 26 and the vertical guide 25,
A bush 17 fixed to the elevating member 26 side is interposed to smooth the elevation and lowering of the elevating member 26. Although not shown, a slight gap is provided between the lifting member 26 and the pillar 16 to reduce frictional resistance.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a rotatable support shaft provided between the machine frames 14, 14, to which the base end of the swing arm 29 is fixed. In the middle of the swing arm 29, there is a plate cam 1.
A roller 19 placed on the upper side of the third circumferential surface is rotatably attached, and a roller 21 for pushing up an elevating rail 20, which will be described later, is rotatably attached to the tip of the swing arm 29 in contact with the lower surface of the elevating rail 20.

The lifting rail 20 is parallel to the input rotating shaft 11, engages with a vertical shaft 22 installed on each of the machine frames 14, 14, and is guided by this vertical shaft 22. 23 is
This is a bushing that smoothes the sliding movement of the lifting rail 20 with respect to the vertical shaft 22.

A guide groove 20a is formed in the elevating rail 20 in the longitudinal direction, and an engaging element 26a of the elevating member 26 is inserted into the guide groove 20a.
are engaged with each other so that the elevating member 26 is moved up and down by the elevating rail 20.

The elevating member 26 is configured to move forward and backward in the axial direction of the input rotating shaft 11 (in other words, in a direction parallel to the conveyor 5) by the moving member 24, and to be moved up and down by the swinging arm 29, and the movement of the moving member 26 is controlled by the moving member 24. The trajectory and timing are determined by the shape of the cam groove 12a of the cylindrical cam 12 and the shape of the plate cams 13, 13. In this embodiment, the conveyor 5 is
The conveyor 5 moves in the same direction and at the same speed, then moves upward while moving in the opposite direction to the conveyor 5, then descends again while moving in the opposite direction, and when it finishes descending, it moves again in the same direction as the conveyor 5. It is designed to have a suitable trajectory and timing. Therefore, the claws 1 move together with the containers 3 of the conveyor 5 when in the lowered state.

The elevating and retracting driving device A thus constructed is installed symmetrically on both the left and right sides of the conveyor 5 (in FIG. 3, the left half of the conveyor 5 is shown with respect to the traveling direction). The conveyor 5 is installed so as to proceed to the left in FIG. 4 and in a direction perpendicular to the figure in FIG. In addition, there is a gap between the machine frames 14 and a column 16 between each lifting/lowering drive device A on both sides of the conveyor 5.
A frame body 10 is installed above the conveyor 5 between each elevating member 26 in both elevating and retracting drive devices A. has the same behavior as the above-mentioned behavior of the lifting member 26.

The frame body 10 has two rotation shafts 3 extending in the width direction of the conveyor 5 in the latter half of the direction of movement of the conveyor 5.
0 is rotatably constructed, and two supporting members 31 extending in the width direction of the conveyor 5 are fixed to the front half of the conveyor 5 in the traveling direction. A large number of rotating shafts 32 extending in the direction of movement of the conveyor 5 are rotatably installed between both supporting members 31, and a chain sprocket 33 is fixed to the end of each rotating shaft 32.

A back and forth swinging rod 34 is fixed to the rotation shaft 30, and a claw 1 is fixed to the lower end of this back and forth swinging rod 34. Further, a left and right swinging rod 35 is fixed to the rotation shaft 32, and a claw 1 is fixed to the lower end thereof, and the swinging of both swinging bars 34 and 35 causes the claw 1 to move as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Moving.

Further, a drive motor 36 is installed in the frame 10,
A reciprocating rod 38 is connected to the output shaft via an eccentric mechanism 37, and a rotating shaft 30 is connected to the retracting rod 38.
A swing arm 39 is fixed, and a drive motor 36 causes the swing shaft 30 to swing back and forth. The two rotation shafts 30 are connected at a position not shown and rotate as one unit. The connection between the forward/backward rod 38 and the swing arm 39 is such that the forward/backward rod 38 passes through the upper end of the swing arm 39 and swings by two coil springs fitted onto the forward/backward rod 38 on both sides of the swing arm 39. Arm 39 is supported.

An intermediate shaft 40 is supported by the frame 10 so as to extend in the left-right direction of the conveyor 5, and chain sprockets 41 and 42 are fixed to the intermediate shaft 40. A chain 44 connected at one end to the swinging arm 39 and connected to the frame 10 at the other end via a spring 43 is hung on the chain sprocket 41, so that the swinging arm 39 swings. The intermediate shaft 40 is rotated back and forth. Then, the chain sprocket 42 also rotates together, causing the chain 45 hooked on the chain sprocket 42 to advance and retreat.

The chain 45 has one end connected to the frame 10 via a spring 46.
The other end is also fixed to the frame 10 via a spring 47, and the chain sprocket 42
It can be multiplied by 48. Both chain sprocket 4
2 and 48 have their rotational axes at right angles, so the chain 45 is twisted 90 degrees in the middle as shown in FIG. That is, the chain 45 has a connecting fitting 49 interposed in the middle, which causes a 90 degree twist as described above to rotate both chain sprockets 42 and 48.

From the chain 44 to the chain sprocket 48
The power transmission path up to the chain sprocket 48
A rotating shaft 32 to which is fixed is rotated in synchronization with a swinging arm 39 and a rotating shaft 30. Therefore, one rotation shaft 32 among the many rotation shafts 32
is rotated in synchronization with the two rotation shafts 30.

Further, a chain sprocket 33 is fixed to both the rotating shaft 32 to which the chain sprocket 48 is fixed and the other rotating shafts 32, and a chain 49 is installed on each chain sprocket 33. Both ends of the chain 49 are fixed to the frame 10 via springs 50, so that the rotation of the rotation shaft 32 to which the chain sprocket 48 is fixed is transmitted to the other rotation shafts 32. Further, the chains 49 are arranged alternately on the upper and lower sides of each chain sprocket 33, so that the rotating directions of the adjacent rotating shafts 32 are reversed. 1 move adjacent to each other at the timing in the left and right direction as shown in FIG.

The position correction method described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 is carried out by the claw 1 fixed to the lower ends of the longitudinal swing rod 34 and the left/right swing rod 35, which are thus swung. The method shown in FIG. 1 is carried out by the longitudinal swinging rod 34, and at this time, the two left and right claws 1 engage with one item 2. Also, left and right swing rod 3
5, the method shown in FIG. 2 is carried out, and at this time two claws 1, front and rear, engage one item 2. It is also possible to vary the number of pawls 1 that engage the item 2.

By the action of the elevating and retracting drive device A, the item 2 advanced by the conveyor 5 is first moved in the front and back direction by the claw 1, and then moved in the left and right direction by the claw 1, and is placed inside the container 3. It fits in a certain position.

In the illustrated case, the two containers 3 at the front and rear are moved in the same direction at the same time, and the elevating and retracting drive device A moves the frame 10 up and down at the pitch of the two containers 3 at the front and back. let

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, by using the elasticity of the item to move the item within the container using the claw, and dropping the end of the item that has rested on the edge of the container into the container, Since the entire item is placed in the container, the item can be accurately and automatically stored in the container and its position can be corrected without increasing the size of the container that receives the item. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of a conveyor, etc. that continuously forms a large number of containers, and to automate the position correction of articles.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view showing how an item is moved in the front-rear direction; Figure a shows a state in which the claw is engaged with the item, Figure b shows a state in which the claw is moved forward, and Figure c shows the state in which the claw is moved forward.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the claw has been moved backward. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing how an item is moved in the left-right direction; Fig. 2a shows a state where the claw is engaged with the item, Fig. 2b shows a state where the claw has moved to one of the left and right sides, and Fig. 2c shows a state where the claw is moved to one side. This is a state in which the claws have been moved to the left and right. 3 is a front cross-sectional view of the device directly used for carrying out the present invention, FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a power transmission path of the mechanism for moving the pawl, and FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view of the chain. 1...nail, 2...item, 3...container, 5...conveyor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When an elastic article with a relatively small thickness is placed in a container with a relatively shallow bottom and transported, a claw is engaged with the article in the container from above, and the claw is inserted into the container. By moving the item back and forth and left and right within the container, the entire item with the end resting on the edge of the container can be placed inside the container, and the position of the item relative to the container can be adjusted. A method for correcting the position of an article, the method comprising: correcting the position of an item. 2. Prepare claws that move forward and backward relative to the container and those that move left and right, and place both types of claws separately on the upper and lower sides in the transport direction. 2. A method for correcting the position of an article according to claim 1, wherein the correction is performed in one of the front-back and left-right directions, and then the correction is performed in the other direction.