JP2588021B2 - Automatic loading / unloading device for vertical rotating storage - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention automatically attaches a container or the like containing articles into or out of a rotating storage by attaching it to a vertical rotation storage. The present invention relates to an entrance / exit device that can be exited.

[Conventional technology]

As disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-230409, a vertical rotary storage is configured to wind an endless chain around a sprocket provided on a pair of upper and lower horizontal shafts, and to attach an article to the endless chain. A large number of trays on which containers are stored are mounted, and the endless chain runs,
Each tray is circulated around a horizontal axis in an elliptical locus.

In such a vertical rotary storage, a pusher capable of reciprocating in the horizontal direction is provided at an appropriate position in the circulation path of the tray, and the container arriving at the take-out window is pushed out from the tray to the receiving shelf. It is like that.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned conventional one, after the unloading work of pushing out the container from the tray, and after taking out the articles in the container,
Since the loading operation for returning the containers to the original tray was performed from one extraction window, and the loading was performed manually, a large number of containers were taken out of the rotating storages in a plurality of rows and returned to the original tray. The work was complicated and time-consuming.

Also, if the previous container is pushed out to the receiving shelf,
Since the next container cannot be taken out continuously,
Be sure to return the previous container to the original tray,
Work efficiency was poor.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to greatly improve work efficiency by automatically and continuously performing the loading and unloading work of a container without manual intervention. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic entry / exit device in a vertical rotary storage.

[Means for solving the problem]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a plurality of trays are locked to an endless chain so that the trays can circulate in the vertical direction in the forward and reverse directions, and can be inserted at a certain height in the upper and lower portions of the front surface. A plurality of vertically long cubic unit storages provided with exit windows are arranged side by side and connected in a horizontal direction to form a vertical rotary storage. , And pushes the load stored in the tray, which has been moved to that position, on the rear side of one of the upper and lower window holes onto the traverse conveyor in front of the window hole. An extruder is provided, and the load sent by the traverse conveyor is provided in front of the other window hole.
By providing an extruder that pushes the tray from the window hole to the tray that has moved to the rear side of the window hole, and by connecting one end of the upper and lower horizontal feed conveyors to the upper and lower entrances of the elevating device, A transport path is formed from one of the window holes to the other window hole via an upper and lower horizontal conveyor and a lifting device.

[Action]

Of the upper and lower window holes, the one provided with the extruding device behind the tray is for outgoing, the one provided with the extruding device in front of the window hole is for incoming, and when the extruding device for outgoing is operated, the inside of the tray is A load such as a container is pushed through a window hole and onto a traverse conveyor in front of the window.

Therefore, necessary picking work and the like are performed from a container or the like, and after that, the conveyor for traverse feeding is operated,
Cargo such as containers are transported to the side from the front of the window.

Next, after the tray is rotated so that the desired tray faces the exit window, the extruder is operated in the same manner as described above, and the next load of the container or the like is taken out of the window, picking work, etc. Then, the traverse conveyor is operated to traverse the container and the like.

In this way, the unloading side can quickly and continuously take out desired loads one after another.

In addition, in the part of the window for entrance, after the load of the desired container or the like is conveyed to the front of the window by the conveyor for lateral entrance for storage, the conveyor for lateral transportation is stopped, and then the extrusion for entrance is performed. The apparatus can be operated to push its containers or the like through an entry window and into an empty tray behind it.

Next, using the empty time on the exit side, the tray is rotated, and the desired empty tray is positioned behind the entrance window, and then sent by the horizontal conveyor in the same manner as described above. The pushed containers and the like are pushed into the empty tray through the window holes by the extrusion device.

In this way, on the storage side, the load sent from the horizontal conveyor can be quickly and successively stored in the storage using the idle time on the storage side.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

The vertical rotary storage (1) is formed by connecting a plurality of unitized vertical cubic unit storages (2) in the left-right direction (three rows in the embodiment).

A pair of upper and lower sprockets (3) and (4) are provided in each unit storage (2), and an endless chain (5) is wound between the sprockets (3) and (4).

The tray (6) for placing the container (7) in which the articles are stored has a box shape with an open front and top surface, and has a base end pivotally supported at the center of the outer surface of the left and right side plates (6a). The free ends of a pair of upper and lower support arms (8) (8) forming a horizontal V-shape are pivotally supported on the endless chain (5).

On the inner guide rail (9) erected along the endless chain (5) between the upper and lower sprockets (3) and (4), guide rollers provided at the free ends of the support arms (8) are provided. Mated.

On the left and right sides of the tray (6), longitudinally elliptical outer guide rails (10) are provided symmetrically, and the pivots at the base end of the support arm (8) on the left and right side plates (6a) of the tray (6). The roller (12) at the upper end of the link piece (11), the lower end of which is pivotally connected to the outer guide rail (10), is guided.

Thus, when the endless chain (5) is rotated forward and backward, the tray (6) attached in a multi-stage manner to the endless chain (5) circulates in a forward and reverse direction with a vertically long elliptical locus while maintaining a horizontal state. I do.

An entrance window (13) for accommodating the container (7) in the tray (6) is provided near the upper front portion of each unit storage (2), and a tray (6) is provided near the lower portion as well. An outlet window (14) for discharging the container (7) placed in the container is cut out.

An operation panel (15) is provided near the exit window (14), and by operating a keyboard of the operation panel (15), the container (7) enters and exits from each storage (2) and the endless chain (5). Are controlled intensively.

Storage box (16) provided in front of the lower end of each unit storage (2)
On the upper side, a horizontally long conveyor support base (17) whose rear end is fixed to the front surface of the storage (2) is placed.

On the conveyor support (17), a lower roller conveyor (18) for transverse feeding composed of a number of rollers (18a) which is driven to rotate counterclockwise in a front view, the upper surface of which is provided with a window hole for exit. (14) The lower edge is substantially equal to the lower edge, and the left side portion of the plurality of unit bins (2) arranged side by side is extended leftward by a required length to the left of the unit bins.

(19) is a column supporting the left extension of the lower roller conveyor (18).

As shown in FIG. 1, three horizontal arms facing in the front-rear direction are nested and inserted into the lower part of the traveling locus of the tray (6) toward the exit window (14) in front of the arm. A retractable extrusion device (20) is provided.

When the motor (22) placed on the case (21) of the extrusion device (20) rotates forward, the tip arm (23) and the intermediate arm (24) are punched in the rear plate (6a) of the tray (6). The container (7) in the tray (6), which is sequentially fed forward through the through hole (25) and stopped just before the exit window (14), can be pushed out onto the lower roller conveyor (18). It has become.

A stand (2) installed on the front side of the unit storage (2)
6) On the upper side, there is provided an upper roller conveyor (27) for transverse feed, which has substantially the same shape and the same size as the lower roller conveyor (18), and has a number of rollers (27a) driven clockwise in front view. The roller (27a) is placed so that the upper surface of the roller (27a) is substantially flush with the lower edge of the storage window (13).

Above the upper roller conveyor (27), in front of each unit storage (2), a pushing-in device (28) for entry is provided.

The pushing device (28) is fixed to an endless chain (not shown) rotated by a motor (30) by fixing the upper end of an L-shaped pushing arm (29) in a right side view to a guide rail (not shown). The container (7) conveyed by the upper roller conveyor (27) after the picking operation has been completed.
Is pushed into an empty tray (6) which is stopped facing the window for storing (13).

After the picking operation, the lower roller conveyor unit (18) conveys the rear of the upper and lower roller conveyors (27) (18) projecting to the left of the vertical rotary storage (1). An elevating device (31) for sequentially transferring the containers (7) to the upper roller conveyor (27) is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lower roller conveyor (18) and the elevating device (31) are a short roller conveyor provided at the entrance (32) in the lower front surface of the elevating device (31) in the front-rear direction. (33) are linked. Doorway (32)
The container (7) transported to the roller conveyor (33) in the lifting device (3) is transferred by a chain-type transfer device (not shown) provided below the lower roller conveyor (18). , On the carrier (34).

When the carrier (34) rises and the container (7) reaches the entrance (35) provided in the upper front surface of the elevating device (31), the container (7) is provided above the entrance (35). It is pulled out onto the upper roller conveyor (27) by the drawer (36).

In this way, by linking one end of the upper and lower roller conveyors (27) and (28) with the elevating device (31), the container (2) that runs clockwise in front view between each unit storage (2). The circulation path of 7) is formed.

In the case of this embodiment, a designated number is assigned to the tray (6) in each storage (2), which is input to the control computer, and the drive means for endless chain running is provided. Drive means such as an extrusion device (20) (28), a roller conveyor (18) (27) (33), a lifting device (31),
By setting up a program in a computer so that each can be automatically controlled, a designated number of a tray (6) containing a container (7) to be unloaded is sequentially output to an operation panel (15). Just leave the window window (1
Containers (7) from 4) where the specified containers (7) have been successively taken out and picking work has been completed
Is moved through the lower roller conveyor (18), the lifting / lowering device (31), and the upper roller conveyor (27).
3) It is possible to automatically return to the original tray (6).

 An example of the operation at that time will be described.

For example, when a specific tray (6) is designated, the endless chain (5) runs until the tray (6) is located behind the exit window (14), and the tray (6) When it reaches that position, the endless chain (5) stops and then the extruder (20) operates to push the designated container (7) onto the lower roller conveyor (18).

At this point, when necessary operations such as taking out, exchanging or storing necessary articles from the container (7) and pressing the end button of the operation panel (15), the lower roller conveyor (18) operates,
The container (7) is transported to the left by a predetermined distance.

Next, containers (7) designated after the second are sequentially taken out from the exit window (14) in the same manner as described above.

The container (7) sent to the left by the lower roller conveyor (18) is sequentially conveyed to the upper roller conveyor (27) by the lifting / lowering device (31), and then to the right by the upper roller conveyor (27). Conveyed.

On the way, it was pasted on the container (7) in advance,
For example, information about the designated number and the like stored in a storage means such as a barcode or a magnetic tape is read by an appropriate reading means, and the container (7) is stored in a specific unit storage of the original tray (7). Window (1) for the warehouse (2)
It is transported to the front of 3) and stopped at that position.

Next, the endless chain (5) is rotated by using the idle time on the exit side until the original tray (7) is positioned behind the entrance window (13), and the tray (7) is moved to the position. When the position is reached, the endless chain (5) is stopped and then the extruder (28) is activated to push the container (7) back into the tray (7).

The containers (7) taken out after the second are also automatically returned to the original tray (6) in the same manner as described above.

In the above embodiment, the roller conveyors (18), (27) and the like may be of another type, such as a belt conveyor, or the upper window of the storage may be used for exit and the lower window may be used for entrance. You can also.

〔The invention's effect〕

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the loading and unloading work of the load of containers etc. is carried out automatically with little manual intervention, and the container for unloading from the window on the unloading side, and the unloading from the window for loading. Can be continuously put in and taken out of each container, and the work efficiency can be greatly improved.

In addition, one end of the upper and lower conveyors is connected to the upper and lower entrances of the elevating device, and a transport path is formed from one exit window hole to the other entrance window hole via both conveyors and the elevating device. Because of this, it is possible to smoothly manage the loading and unloading of loads in the vertical rotary storage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a vertical rotary storage provided with an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the right, FIG. 2 is a schematic front view thereof, FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view of a main part. (1) Vertical rotary storage, (2) Unit storage (3) (4) Sprocket, (5) Endless chain (6) Tray, (6a) Side plate (7) Container, (8) Support arm (9) Inner guide rail, (10) Outer guide rail (11) Link piece, (12) Roller (13) Window for entry, (14) Window for exit (15) Operation panel, (16) Storage box (17) Conveyor Support base, (18) Lower roller conveyor (18a) Roller, (19) Column (20) Extruder, (21) Case (22) Motor, (23) Tip arm (24) Intermediate arm, (25) Through hole ( 26) Stand, (27) Upper roller conveyor (27a) Roller, (28) Extruder (29) Extruder arm, (30) Motor (31) Elevator, (32) Doorway (33) Roller conveyor, (34) Carrier (35) Doorway, (36) Drawer

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-135028 (JP, A) JP-A-62-140905 (JP, A) JP-A-63-230409 (JP, A) JP-A-49-49 21227 (JP, A) Fully open 63-93311 (JP, U) Fully open 61-25309 (JP, U) Fully open 63-173106 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of trays are locked on an endless chain,
A plurality of vertically long cubic unit storage boxes, which can be circulated in the vertical direction and are provided with window holes for entry and exit at a certain height in the upper and lower parts of the front side, are connected side by side in the left and right direction and connected. To form a vertical rotary storage, and provide upper and lower horizontal feed conveyors in front of and below the upper and lower window holes, respectively, and move to the position behind one of the upper and lower window holes. An extruder is provided for extruding the load stored in the tray onto the traverse conveyor in front of the window, and the load fed by the traverse conveyor is provided in front of the other window. By providing an extruder that pushes the tray into the tray that has moved to the rear side of the window from the window, and connecting one end of each of the upper and lower horizontal conveyors to the upper and lower entrances of the elevating device. Either top or bottom window hole Et al., The upper and lower transverse feed conveyor and through the lifting device, an automatic goods movements apparatus in a vertical rotary storages obtained by forming a transport path to the other of the window opening.