JPH06115696A - Sheet supplying device for palletizer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To insert a sheet at a size larger than a setting pattern of a palletizer between box materials to be stacked. CONSTITUTION:A sheet supplying device for palletizer is provided with a sheet magazine 36 arranged under a box material supplying part B, a sheet take-out mechanism 40 for taking out sheets 32 one by one from the upper surface of the sheet magazine 36, and a sheet transferring conveyor 42, which is arranged under a pattern forming part C so as to be inclined and which receives the sheet 32 and transfers it. The end of the sheet 32 is fed out by the conveyor 42 so as to be projected between the pattern forming part and a stacking part, and thereafter, a patterned box material is moved from the pattern forming part to the stacking part. When the sheet 32 is sent out with the movement of the box material, the box material and the sheet 32 are placed on the stacking part under the condition that the sheet is laid under the box material, and stacked on a pallet 24. A sheet 32 larger than the pattern size can be thereby used without generating the interference with a guide or the like.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a palletizer in which articles are arranged in a predetermined pattern and are stacked on a pallet in plural stages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a palletizer arranges articles such as boxes in a predetermined pattern in a pattern forming section, supplies the articles onto a stacking means such as a running roller or a shutter plate by a pusher, and pallets. In the upper stacking section, articles are sequentially stacked on a pallet by moving and retracting the running rollers while the articles are stopped by a stopper.

In the palletizer having the above-mentioned structure, sheets, usually called interleaving sheets, are interposed in each stage or every arbitrary number of stages so that stacked articles such as boxes do not become misaligned. In order to supply this sheet, conventionally, a sheet magazine is arranged adjacent to the stowage section of the palletizer, and it is capable of moving up and down above the stow section and the sheet magazine and reciprocating between them. A sheet feeding device provided with a suction means is provided, the boxes are stacked in a predetermined number of stages, and then the sheets are fed from above.

[0004]

The above palletizer has the following problems.
A case guide for supporting the side surface of the patterned box body is provided slightly above the stacking means such as a running roller arranged in the stacking section. Therefore, a sheet larger than the size of the stacking pattern cannot be used because it cannot be positioned due to interference with the case guide. Further, when the sheet thickness is thin and light, there is a problem that the sheet is displaced or dropped due to wind pressure when the running roller moves. Furthermore, in order to feed the sheet, the sheet feeding device has to reciprocate between the stacking portion of the palletizer and the sheet magazine, which makes it difficult to increase the speed.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and it is possible to use a sheet larger than the size of the stacking pattern, and the sheet is not displaced when the running roller rotates. Moreover, the present invention provides a sheet feeding device for a palletizer that can achieve high performance.

[0006]

A sheet supply device for a palletizer according to the present invention is provided in a palletizer for moving articles arranged in a predetermined pattern in a pattern forming section to a stacking section and stacking them on a pallet. And a sheet magazine for accumulating sheets, a sheet take-out means for taking out the sheets one by one from the upper surface of the sheet magazine, and a sheet transfer means for receiving and transferring the sheets from the sheet take-out means. The sheet is sent out while moving the article from the pattern forming unit to the stacking unit with the end portion of the sheet protruding between the pattern forming unit and the stacking unit.

[0007]

In the above sheet feeding device, the sheet transfer means sends out the end portion of the sheet so as to project between the pattern forming section and the stacking section, and then the article is transferred from the pattern forming section to the stacking section. When moved, the sheet and the sheet are laid on the lower surface side of the article, and the article and the sheet are both conveyed to the stacking unit and stacked on the pallet.

[0008]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a palletizer equipped with a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the palletizer. In the figure, 2 is a conveyer conveyor that conveys the longitudinal direction of the box 4 forward and backward, and A is a direction changing portion provided on the supply conveyer 6 connected to the downstream end of the conveyer conveyor 2. By the engaging member 8 protruding and retracting on the 6 side, the direction of the predetermined box body 4 is changed according to a preset pattern.

Reference numeral B denotes a box supply unit for stopping and patterning a row of boxes 4 oriented in the same direction by a stopper plate 10. The box 4 for a row stopped by the stopper plate 10 is By the pusher 12 provided on the side of the box body supply section B, the pusher 12 is extruded onto the layer conveyor 14 of the auxiliary pattern forming section C. Layer conveyor 1
The box body 4 advanced by 4 is stopped by a swingable stopper 16 arranged above the downstream end of the conveyor 14. In addition, the stopper plate 1 of the box body supply section B
The reference numeral 0 extends to the auxiliary pattern forming portion C and a palletizing portion D which will be described later, and constitutes a guide for supporting the side portion of the box body 4 at both portions C and D. In addition,
On the other side portions (left side in FIG. 1) of the auxiliary pattern forming portion C and the palletizing portion D, other guide members 18 and 19 are provided.

When the boxes 4 for one row are supplied to the auxiliary pattern forming section C, the boxes 4 in different directions from the boxes 4 are sequentially sent to the box supplying section B from the direction changing section A. When the boxes 4 for the next row are stopped by the stopper plate 10 and aligned, the boxes 4 are again supplied to the auxiliary pattern forming portion C by the pusher 12.

Layer conveyor 1 of auxiliary pattern forming section C
The boxes 4 for two rows in different directions are sequentially supplied onto the four to form a one-step pattern (the formed pattern is not limited to that shown in the figure). Then, the swing stopper 16 is rotated upward, and the box body 4 is conveyed to the palletizing section (stacking section) D on the downstream side. The palletizing section D is provided with a pallet elevating mechanism 20 arranged below and a running roller 22 circulating around the pallet elevating mechanism 20. The pallet raising / lowering mechanism 20 is configured to raise and lower by placing the pallet 24 supplied from the pallet supply unit E, and at the time of stacking, the box body 4 for one stage is placed on the pallet 24 via the running roller 22. Then, the pallets 24 on which the boxes 4 are placed are lowered by the height corresponding to the one step, and a predetermined number of steps are stacked.
Are discharged by the discharge conveyor 26.

A case stopper 28 for pressing and stopping the box body 4 which is moved by the running roller 22 is fixedly arranged on the downstream side of the palletizing section D, slightly above the path along which the running roller 22 runs. Further, a sheet stopper 30 is integrally provided below the case stopper 28. The sheet stopper 30 is located on the downstream side of the case stopper 28 and is located on the sheet 3 side.
2 is to be stopped. As shown in FIG. 1, when the running roller 22 is located above the pallet elevating mechanism 20 of the palletizing portion D, the auxiliary pattern forming portion C supplies the box body 4 for one step, and then the case By running the box body 4 and the sheet 32 while pressing the box body 4 and the sheet 32 by the stopper 28 and the sheet stopper 30, the box body 4 and the sheet 32 are retracted from below and stacked on the pallet 24 mounted on the pallet lifting mechanism 20. I do.

Below the box body supplying section B and the auxiliary pattern forming section C, there is provided a sheet supplying apparatus 34 for supplying a sheet 32 between the box bodies 4 of the respective stages which are stacked in a pattern as described above. It is provided. Sheet feeding device 34
Is a sheet magazine 36 for accumulating and accommodating a large number of sheets 32, a sheet elevating mechanism 38 for elevating the sheet magazine 36, a sheet take-out mechanism 40 for taking out the sheets 32 one by one from the sheet magazine 36, and this sheet The sheet transfer conveyor 42 is provided for sending the sheet 32 taken out by the take-out mechanism 40 between the auxiliary pattern forming section C and the palletizing section D.

The sheet take-out mechanism 40 has two arms 48 and 50 supported by a bracket 46 fixed to a machine frame 44 so as to be swingable about different shafts 48a and 50a as fulcrums.
A sheet take-out head 52 connected to the swinging ends of both arms 48 and 50, and a suction cup 5 attached to the sheet take-out head 52 and connected to a vacuum source (not shown).
4, the suction surface of the suction cup 54 becomes horizontal when the two arms 48, 50 swing to a substantially horizontal position (position in FIG. 1), and the top of the sheet magazine 36 is provided. When the seat 32 is sucked up and swung in a substantially upright state,
The suction surface of the suction cup 54 is inclined so as to substantially coincide with the sheet transfer conveyor 42, and the sheet 32 is delivered to the sheet transfer conveyor 42.

In this embodiment, the sheet transfer conveyer 42 is arranged so as to be inclined at an angle of approximately 45 degrees, and the extension line above the conveying surface is the layer conveyer 14 of the auxiliary pattern forming portion C and the palletizing portion. D running roller 2
It is arranged so as to reach the connection portion with 2. And
A sheet guide 56 is provided between this connecting portion and the upper end of the lower sheet transfer conveyor 22. Two engaging members 42 a and 42 b are attached to the sheet transfer conveyor 42, and the suction cup 54 of the sheet take-out mechanism 40 is attached.
The sheet 32 delivered from the sheet transfer conveyor 42 to the sheet transfer conveyor 42 is sent upward by the engaging members 42a and 42b, guided by the sheet guide 56, and connected between the layer conveyor 14 and the running roller 22 described above. The sheet is sent out onto the transport surface of the box body 4.

Next, the operation of the palletizer having the above structure will be described. The box body 4 carried by the carrying conveyor 2 is passed through the direction changing section A as it is or is changed in direction by 90 degrees and is sent to the box body supplying section B depending on the pattern to be formed. In the box body supply unit B, when the stopper plates 10 are stopped to align the rows of boxes 4 with each other, the pushers 12 push the boxes 4 in the lateral direction (upward in FIG. 2) to form an auxiliary pattern. It is supplied to the forming unit C. A swing stopper 16 is provided above the downstream end of the auxiliary pattern forming portion C, and the boxes 4 in the first row are stopped on the layer conveyor 14 by keeping the stopper 16 facing downward. Next, the box supply section B
The next one row of boxes 4 are fed upward in a predetermined direction and stopped by the stopper plate 10. These boxes 4
Is pushed onto the layer conveyor 14 of the auxiliary pattern forming section C by the pusher 12 and stopped by hitting the back surface of the box 4 in the first row already stopped by the swing stopper 16 to form a pattern for one step. To be done.

On the other hand, in the sheet feeding device 34 provided below the box feeding unit B and the auxiliary pattern forming unit C, the two arms 48 and 50 of the sheet take-out mechanism 40 are moved in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. The uppermost sheet 32 of the sheet magazine 36 is swung to the state shown in the figure.
Adsorb and remove. In this embodiment, the right end of the sheet 32 is sucked. After that, both arms 48 and 50 are swung clockwise. The sheet take-out head 52 connected between the swinging ends of the arms 48 and 50 has an inclination substantially equal to that of the sheet transfer conveyor 42, and at this position, a suction cup 54 is provided.
And the sheet 32 is separated and placed on the sheet transfer conveyor 42. The suction cup 54 sucks and holds the right end of the sheet 32, and the sucked portion is transferred to the upper side of the sheet transfer conveyor. Therefore, the sheet 32 is placed over almost the entire length of the transfer belt. To be done. The engaging members 42a and 42b moved by the traveling of the sheet transfer conveyor 42 are engaged with the lower end side of the sheet 32 to push the sheet 32 obliquely upward. Sheet 3
The sheet 2 passes between the sheet guides 56, and its tip is sent out from the connecting portion between the layer conveyor 14 and the running roller 22 onto the surface on which the box body 4 is conveyed.

By opening the rocking stopper 16 at the timing of feeding the sheet 32, the layer conveyor 14 is used to form the box body 4 having a pattern of one step.
Is conveyed to the running roller 22. When the box body 4 is transferred from the layer conveyor 14 to the running roller 22, the sheet 32 sent out by the lower sheet transfer conveyor 42 is also transferred onto the running roller 22 and is laid on the lower surface of the box body 4. It should be noted that the sheet transfer conveyer 42 is continuously driven to adjust the swing stopper 16 in synchronization with the movement of the sheet 32 sent out.
May be opened to start the movement of the box body 4, or the sheet transfer conveyor 4 may be moved with the tip of the sheet 32 protruding between the layer conveyor 14 and the running roller 22.
2 is once stopped, and the sheet transfer conveyor 42 is driven again in synchronization with the movement of the box body 4 to move the sheet 3
2 may be sent out.

Box 4 mounted on running roller 22
Is advanced as the running roller 22 advances, and its front surface comes into contact with the case stopper 28 and stops. At this time, the lower sheet 32 that is advanced together with the box body 4 passes through the lower surface of the case stopper 28 and reaches the sheet stopper 30 to be positioned. The boxes 4 and the sheets 32 for one stage are held by the case stopper 28 and the sheet stopper 30, respectively, and the running roller is advanced as it is and retracted from below, so that the boxes 4 and the sheets 32 are placed on the pallet 24. Then, they are dropped on the boxes 4 already stacked and stacked. Then, the pallet elevating mechanism 20 lowers the pallet 24 by the height of the box body 4. By repeating the above operation, a predetermined number of stages are stacked on the pallet 24.

In the apparatus of the above embodiment, the sheet (interleaving paper) 3
Since 2 is inserted into the lower surface side of the box body 4 in which the patterns are assembled, the sheet 32 larger than the pattern size can be supplied without interfering with the guide 10 or the like provided in the palletizing portion D. . Further, since the sheet 32 is always below the box body 4, there is no risk that the sheet 32 will be displaced or fall when the running roller 22 moves. Further, since the sheets 32 taken out from the sheet magazine 36 can be continuously supplied by the sheet supply conveyor 42, the speed can be increased and the sheets can be supplied between the respective stages of the box body 4.

The layout of the direction changing portion A, the box body supplying portion B, the pattern forming portion C, the stowage portion D and the like is not limited to the above embodiment, and the stowage means is the running roller 22. Other means can also be used. Further, the sheet 32 is not limited to be supplied for each stage as in the above embodiment, but may be supplied for each arbitrary number of stages. Needless to say, the structure / arrangement of the sheet take-out mechanism 40 and the configuration of the sheet supply conveyor 42 such as the inclination are not limited to those shown in the drawings.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to supply a sheet having a size larger than the pattern size, and the sheet may be displaced or dropped during stacking. It is also possible to increase the capacity without any problem.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a palletizer including a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the palletizer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C pattern forming part (auxiliary pattern forming part) D stacking part (palletizing part) 4 articles (box) 24 pallet 32 sheets 34 sheet supply device 36 sheet magazine 40 sheet take-out means (sheet take-out mechanism) 42 sheet transfer means (sheet) (Transfer conveyor)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A palletizer for moving articles arranged in a predetermined pattern by a pattern forming section to a stacking section and stacking them on a pallet, and between the articles on one stage and the articles on another stage. In a sheet feeding device of a palletizer for feeding intervening sheets, a sheet magazine for accumulating sheets, a sheet take-out means for taking out sheets one by one from the upper surface of the sheet magazine, and a sheet transfer for receiving and transferring the sheets from the sheet take-out means Means for moving the article from the pattern forming section to the stacking section in a state in which the end portion of the sheet is sent out so as to project between the pattern forming section and the stacking section by the sheet transfer means. Thus, a sheet feeding device for a palletizer, wherein a sheet is laid on the lower surface side of a patterned product.