JP7357332B2 - Goods transfer device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an article transfer device.

When packaging a plurality of articles in a stacked state, a group of articles in the stacked state is formed upstream of the packaging machine body, and the packaging process is performed on the group of articles in the packaging machine body. As a device for forming such a group of articles, there is, for example, an article reloading device disclosed in Patent Document 1. Such an article reloading device includes a first conveyor, a second conveyor disposed downstream of the first conveyor, and a robot disposed between the two conveyors. The first conveyor conveys N rows of articles. The second conveyor conveys M rows (M>N) of articles. The robot transfers the packages conveyed by the first conveyor to the second conveyor. The robot moves the articles from the first conveyor to the second conveyor so that the N rows of articles on the first conveyor become M rows on the second conveyor, and two or more articles are stacked one on top of the other on the second conveyor. Configure to perform transshipment.

Patent No. 6371494

The article reloading device disclosed in Patent Document 1 stacks two or more articles one above the other, but in the illustrated embodiment, two articles are stacked with a partial shift back and forth. For example, as the number of items stacked increases, the items may collapse when the robot stacks them on top of an item or group of items on the second conveyor, or items may collapse during transportation even if they are stacked neatly. There is a high possibility that Particularly, in the case of a group of articles such as a sashimi platter in which a plurality of articles are stacked one on top of the other while being partially shifted, the articles shift in the direction of the shift and the whole group of articles tends to spread out. Furthermore, when the article is a bag-like package, the surface is a packaging film and is therefore slippery, and when the outer shape is irregular or deformable, the above-mentioned problem is more likely to occur.

Therefore, various restrictions arise, such as reducing the number of stacked stacks (for example, 2), using non-slip packaging film, and packing by hand. This also becomes a bottleneck in high-speed support.

The above-mentioned problems are described as independent ones, and the present invention does not necessarily need to be able to solve all of the described problems, but only needs to be able to solve at least one problem. We also have the intention to acquire rights to a structure to solve this problem through divisional applications, amendments, etc.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the article transfer device of the present invention (1) holds an article moving on an upstream conveyance path, moves the held article, and supplies it to a downstream conveyance path; The transfer device main body includes a processing device for temporarily making the surface of the article non-slip, and the transfer device main body transfers the article to the downstream conveyance path via the processing device. and a function of overlapping and feeding the previously fed articles when feeding them to the downstream conveyance path.

In this way, the article moving on the upstream conveyance path is held by the transfer device main body and transferred to the downstream conveyance path via the predetermined movement path. At this time, if there is an article supplied earlier on the downstream conveyance path, the article is supplied so as to be stacked on top of that article. As a result, an article group in which a plurality of articles are piled up is formed on the downstream conveyance path. In the present invention, while the article is being moved from the upstream conveyance path to the downstream conveyance path, the surface of the article is temporarily rendered non-slip by the processing device. Therefore, when stacking the articles on the downstream conveyance path, the non-slip surface of the articles is brought into contact with the surface of another article to be stacked, thereby suppressing side-slipping. By temporarily creating a non-slip state, for example, a group of articles subsequently being moved along the downstream conveyance route can be conveyed without causing the load to collapse. Then, the overlapping articles are not fixed to each other by, for example, an adhesive, and after a predetermined period of time has passed, the non-slip condition is eliminated, and the individual articles can be separated and separated from each other without any restrictions. Therefore, even if, for example, the number of stacked articles is increased, the articles are stacked in a form that is easy to collapse (for example, in the shape of shims in the embodiment), or the conveyance speed on the downstream conveyance path is increased, it is possible to prevent the articles from collapsing. can do. As a result, it is possible, for example, to improve productivity and to package arrays of articles that were previously impossible to manufacture.

The process to make the item less slippery is, for example, the process to temporarily make the surfaces of the article adhere and adhere to each other. Compatible with liquid adhesion and spray processing. As shown in the embodiments, articles may be stacked vertically, such as stacking the articles directly on top of each other without shifting laterally, or stacking the articles while shifting them laterally.

(2) Preferably, the processing device is an electrostatic generation device, and the process of temporarily making the surface non-slippery includes charging the surface. In this way, the articles can be charged with a simple process, the articles that come into contact with each other can be easily adhered and attracted by static electricity, and it is possible to reliably prevent stacked articles from collapsing. Static electricity is good because it disappears naturally over time. For example, when the surface of the article is made of a material that is easily charged with static electricity, such as a film or plastic material, the function may be more pronounced.

(3) The electrostatic generation device has a function of discharging static electricity upward, and the transfer device main body is configured to charge a lower surface of the article in a conveyance state with the static electricity discharged by the function of discharging static electricity upward. It is preferable that the article is moved so as to be electrically charged. In this way, for example, the article 3 can be moved from the upstream conveyance path to the downstream conveyance path without being turned upside down, and the lower surface can be charged during the movement.

(4) The processing device may temporarily make different surfaces of the article less slippery. This makes it difficult to slip on different surfaces, so it is possible to suppress slipping between corresponding articles on a plurality of surfaces.

(5) The article may be a wrapping bag. For example, the packaging may not have a flat surface or be made of a slippery material such as film or plastic, but even in such cases, it can be temporarily made non-slip by processing with a processing device. Can be stacked in a stable position.

(6) The transfer device main body may be a robot that moves the held article to an arbitrary position in a three-dimensional space. In this way, with a simple configuration and control, it is possible to transfer and stack articles, and to perform predetermined processing in the processing device.

(7) It is preferable to include a transfer device main body that charges the held articles during movement and positions and supplies them onto the film moving on the conveyance path. In this way, the article can be positioned and fed onto the moving film, and the article placed on the film is positioned and fixed to the film by being charged. Therefore, even if the film moves, the article moves stably together with the film. Feeding onto a moving film is not necessarily limited to feeding onto a moving film, and may also include, for example, feeding onto a temporarily stopped film. In other words, it is preferable to include a method in which the article is positioned and supplied on a film that moves after being supplied. Even if the film is temporarily stopped, if the film is to be moved after that, supplying a charged object may cause the object to move together with the moving film.

(8) A transfer device main body that holds an article moving on an upstream conveyance path, moves the held article and supplies it to a downstream conveyance path, and temporarily maintains the surface of the article in a non-slip condition. It is preferable that the transfer device main body is provided with a charging device for moving the stacked products on the upstream transportation route to the downstream transportation route via the charging device.

According to the present invention, it is possible, for example, to stack and transport a group of articles without changing their posture, or to stably position and supply articles on a film, for example.

(a) is a plan view showing a preferred embodiment of the article transfer device according to the present invention, and (b) is a side view of the main part thereof. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a stacked article group 4. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a stacked article group 4. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a stacked article group 4. FIG. It is a figure which shows another form of a downstream conveyance route.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. Note that the present invention is not to be construed as being limited thereto, and various changes, modifications, and improvements can be made based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1 etc., the article transfer device 10 of the present embodiment is disposed between a first conveyor device 1 on the upstream side and a second conveyor device 2 on the downstream side. 1 is transferred to a second conveyor device 2. In this embodiment, the first conveyor device 1 and the second conveyor device 2 are not arranged in the same straight line but are arranged in parallel with each other by a predetermined distance. Here, various conveyance devices such as a belt conveyor, a finger conveyor, a plate conveyor, and a bar conveyor can be applied to the first conveyor device 1 and the second conveyor device 2, for example. The first conveyor device 1 and the second conveyor device 2 do not necessarily have to be the same type of conveyor device, and may be the same or different.

The first conveyor device 1 conveys the articles 3 one by one in a line. In this embodiment, the article 3 is a bag-shaped package, for example, a pillow package. Then, it is transported in a posture in which the top seal portions 3a are located at the front and back in the transport direction. The first conveyor device 1 conveys articles 3 continuously or intermittently.

The second conveyor device 2 conveys an article group 4 in which a predetermined number (in this embodiment, three) of articles 3 are stacked one above the other. In this embodiment, the second conveyor device 2 conveys the plurality of articles 3 in a neatly stacked state without shifting them laterally. The second conveyor device 2 may be operated continuously or intermittently at a lower conveyance speed than the first conveyor device 1, for example. The article transfer device 10 stacks the articles 3 while it is temporarily stopped. Further, in order to prevent the vertically stacked articles 3 from collapsing, side guides 5 are arranged on both left and right sides in the conveyance direction. The side guide 5 may be, for example, in the form of a flat plate, or may be a rotating endless belt.

The article transfer device 10 includes a transfer device main body 11 that holds the article 3 on the first conveyor device 1 as described above, moves along a predetermined trajectory, and supplies the article to the second conveyor device 2; A static electricity generating device 12 is provided for charging the article 3 being moved by the transfer device main body 11. The transfer device main body 11 is preferably a robot such as a parallel robot, a scalar robot, or an articulated robot. The transfer device main body 11 includes a suction holder 15 at the tip of a robot manipulator 14 . The manipulator 14 of this embodiment operates to move the suction holder 15 attached to the tip in an arbitrary trajectory in three-dimensional space. The base of this manipulator 14 is preferably insulated. The suction holder 15 can be suctioned from the suction surface at the tip. When the article 3 is suctioned while in contact with the suction surface, the article 3 is held on the suction surface, and when the suction is released, the holding is released.

The static electricity generator 12 is arranged with the discharge needle 12a that outputs static electricity facing upward. The discharge needle 12a is arranged on the shortest movement path of the article 3 by the transfer device main body 11. Then, the discharge needle 12a of the static electricity generator 12 when the article 3 is in operation discharges toward the article 3, and when the surface of the article 3 approaches the discharge needle 12a, the surface of the article 3, etc. is charged.

The article transfer device 10 configured as described above operates as follows. First, the transfer device main body 11 operates the manipulator 14 to position the suction holder 15 above the first article 3 conveyed by the first conveyor device 1, and The suction surface is brought into contact with the surface of the article 3. The transfer device main body 11 suctions the article 3 in this contact state and suction-holds the article 3 on the suction holder 15 . Next, the suction holder 15 and, by extension, the article 3 are moved along a predetermined movement path. During the movement, the article 3 is brought close to the discharge needle 12a of the static electricity generator 12, which is discharging toward the article 3. During this approach, static electricity is discharged from the discharge needle 12a, and the surface of the article 3, such as the contact surface, is charged. The charging process accompanying this approach may be performed while the article 3 is moving, or may be performed while the article 3 is temporarily stopped.

The transfer device main body 11 moves the thus charged article 3 onto the second conveyor device 2 as it is, and transfers it onto the conveyance surface of the second conveyor device 2 or when the article 3 is already placed. is placed on top of the item 3 and the suction is stopped. At this time, preferably, the suction is stopped and the air is caused to flow in the opposite direction so that the air is jetted outward from the suction surface. In this way, the article 3 is separated from the suction surface more reliably by the air injection, and the state in which the article 3 is held by the suction holder 15 is released.

The currently charged article 3 is placed on top of the article 3 that has already been transferred onto the second conveyor device 2. Then, at least the lower surface of the article 3 to be transferred this time is charged due to the discharge from the discharge needle 12a as described above, and the charged lower surface of the article 3 comes into contact with the upper surface of another article 3. It becomes a state. Then, due to the charged static electricity, the upper surface of the lower article 3 and the lower surface of the transferred article 3 stick together in a state of contact, and the article 3 moves relatively in the direction of the upper surface/lower surface. Keep the items neatly stacked vertically and flatly. Even if three or more articles are stacked, the vertically adjacent articles 3 will be adhered to each other due to the adhesive force using static electricity.

This method of charging and supplying (stacking) the articles 3 includes, for example, positioning the charged article 3 or a group of articles by bringing them into contact with the uncharged article 3, a group of articles, or the packaging film 22. A specific example is as follows. For example, the first article is charged, and the second and subsequent articles are not charged. By charging the first article, for example, if it sticks to the conveying surface or the entire object is charged, the top surface will also be charged, so even if the next article that is not charged is stacked on top of it, the first article will still be charged. They stick together using static electricity. In another embodiment, for example, only the last article may be charged. In this way, for example, it is possible to prevent the first article from collapsing forward. Also, for example, it is preferable to stack a plurality of charged articles or groups of articles on top of the previous article or group of articles, or to stack an uncharged article or a group of articles on top of a plurality of charged articles or groups of articles placed on top of each other. . Further, for example, a group of articles that are not charged may be stacked on top of a group of charged articles, and a group of charged articles may be stacked on a group of articles that are not charged.

In particular, in this embodiment, the discharge needle 12a that is discharging toward the article 3 is brought close to the lower surface of the article 3 that is being transferred, and the lower surface is brought into a charged state. Since the lower surface becomes a contact surface with the articles 3 placed on the second conveyor device 2, the transferred articles 3 are firmly adhered to each other.

As a result, for example, even if the article 3 is a bag-shaped package, the outer surface shape is not rectangular like a box but an irregular shape, and the outer surface is made of a packaging film and is slippery, the adhesive force due to the static electricity By integrating the articles 3, it is possible to prevent mutual lateral displacement of the articles 3. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, for example, even if the articles are stacked vertically in three or even more layers, the stacked articles 4 do not disturb their posture and do not collapse. . Even when such a group of articles 4 is conveyed by the second conveyor device 2, the group of articles 4 is conveyed without collapsing, and is supplied to the next stage of the packaging machine main body or the like. Incidentally, the static electricity charged on the article 3 disappears naturally after that without any special static electricity removal treatment. Therefore, for example, when a package manufactured by packaging the group of articles 4 is delivered to an end user and the package is opened to take out the articles 3, the individual articles 3 are not glued together. , the individual articles 3 can be easily taken out.

In the embodiment described above, it is not necessary to perform the charging process on the lowest article 3 among the plurality of stacked articles 3, that is, the article 3 placed on the conveyance surface of the second conveyor device 2. When the charging process is not performed, preferably the article 3 reaches the second conveyor device 2 through a different route than when the charging process is performed, and when the article 3 takes a different route, the article 3 is preferably connected to the static electricity generating device 12. It is best to move to an area far away from the area. This is good because the static electricity generating device 12 can continue to generate static electricity at all times. On the other hand, if all the articles 3 to be transferred are charged, the transfer device main body 11 and the static electricity generator 12 can perform the same operation repeatedly, so that control and operation can be simplified. Furthermore, when the lower surface of the lowest article 3 is charged, it sticks to the conveyance surface of the second conveyor device 2 due to the action of static electricity, which is good.

In the above-described embodiments and modified examples, the plurality of articles 3 are neatly stacked vertically and stacked flat, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the plurality of articles 3 are stacked one on top of the other, like a sashimi platter. It is also possible to form a group of articles 4 (see FIG. 3) in a sashimi-like state in which the articles are overlapped while being shifted. At this time, the total length of the article group can be arbitrarily changed by changing the degree of overlap between the articles (overlap length).

Furthermore, in the embodiments and modifications described above, the discharge needles 12a are arranged upward, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be arranged in various orientations, such as downward, sideways, or inclined. However, when it is turned upward as in the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1(b), by moving the suction-held article 3 while maintaining a horizontal posture, the discharge needle 12a is moved to the lower surface of the article 3. This is good because the approach and charging process can be easily performed.

In addition, although article 3 has been described using an example of a pillow package, it can be applied to various packages such as shrink packages and deep-draw packages, and is not necessarily limited to bag-like packages, such as , a small box, etc. The small box is preferably made of a material whose surface is easily charged, such as one made of plastic or whose surface is wrapped in a film. Although small boxes have a more regular shape than bag-like ones and are easier to stack, if the bottom area of the small boxes is small or the boxes are lightweight, there is a risk of the cargo collapsing during transportation on the second conveyor device 2. However, by charging the surface of the small box as the article during transfer as in the present invention, it is possible to prevent the cargo from collapsing. However, it is more preferably in the form of a bag, and is particularly suitable for use with pillow packages, shrink packages, etc., which have surfaces that are not flat, irregular, or easily deformed.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments and modifications, the article 3 transferred by the transfer device main body 11 is a single item, but the present invention can also be applied to a case where a plurality of articles 3 are transferred at the same time. In such a case, for example, a plurality of static electricity generators 12 or a plurality of discharge needles 12a may be provided to charge the plurality of articles 3 at the same time, or one static electricity generator 12 may be provided during the movement. A plurality of articles 3 may be sequentially charged. The plurality of articles 3 may be simultaneously supplied to a predetermined position (on the conveyance surface/on the articles, etc.) on the second conveyor device 2, or may be supplied in multiple batches.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments and modified examples, one static electricity generation device 12 is provided to charge the lower surface that comes into contact when stacking, but for example, a plurality of It is preferable to charge the article 3 from different directions by passing the article 3 that is being transferred through the area where the static electricity generating device 12 is provided. For example, if the lower and upper surfaces of the article 3 are charged, the adhesion and adhesion between the transferred article and the article placed on top of the transferred article will become stronger. For example, when the lower and side surfaces of the articles 3 are charged, for example, as shown in FIG. In the arrayed article group 4, the side surfaces of horizontally adjacent articles 3 may also be bonded to each other. In the case of a configuration in which the electrodes are arranged horizontally as well, it is not necessarily necessary to charge the side surfaces, but it is more preferable to charge the opposing side surfaces as in the above modification.

Further, in the embodiment and modification described above, the static electricity generating device 12 is arranged on the shortest path from the first conveyor device 1 to the second conveyor device 2, but the placement position is arbitrary. However, it is preferable to arrange it on the shortest path as in the embodiment because charging can be performed efficiently and transferred in a short time.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments and modified examples, the first conveyor device 1 shows an example in which the articles 3 are conveyed one by one in a line, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of articles 3 are conveyed in a flat manner. A group of articles accumulated in a stacked state, a sashimi-like state, or a piece-wise state may be conveyed.

The suction holder 15 holding an article or a group of articles may be moved along an arbitrary trajectory in three-dimensional space to charge any location or arbitrary surfaces of the article or group of articles. At this time, the static electricity generator 12 may be turned on and off to intermittently discharge discharge from the discharge needle 12a, for example.

Further, in the above-described embodiments and modified examples, the second conveyor device 2 is used as the downstream conveyance path for transferring the article 3, and the article 3 is directly supplied to the conveyance surface of the second conveyor device 2. However, instead of using such an independent conveyance device, for example, as shown in FIG. It may be applied to a direct-on type. This packaging machine 20 includes a film supply and conveyance device 21 upstream of a bag making machine 24, and continuously supplies a band-shaped packaging film 22 to the bag making machine 24. By passing through this bag making machine 24, the wrapping film 22 for the band fabric is made into a cylindrical bag. Then, by forming the bag into a cylindrical shape, both side edges 22a of the packaging film 22 are brought into contact with each other, and in this state, the bag is center-sealed by passing through the center sealing device 25. Although not shown, this packaging machine 20 has a top seal device disposed downstream of the center seal device 25, and seal-cuts a cylindrical packaging film in the transverse direction to produce a package. In this case, the articles do not have to be stacked. That is, the article 3 in transit may be charged by the transfer device main body 11, and the charged article 3 may be placed on the band-shaped packaging film 22 of the supply conveyance device 21. It is possible to prevent the article 3 on the band-shaped or cylindrical packaging film 22 from moving during transportation and being caught by a top sealing device in a subsequent process. Moreover, the packaging machine 20 may be a four-sided seal packaging machine or a horizontal three-sided seal packaging machine.

A transfer device main body that holds an article moving on an upstream conveyance path and supplies the held article onto a film that moves on a downstream conveyance path; It is preferable to have a function of charging the article while the article is being moved, positioning the article on the film, and supplying the article.

Furthermore, in the embodiments and modifications described above, the upstream conveyance path and the downstream conveyance path partially overlap in the conveyance direction, are shifted laterally, and are arranged parallel to each other. The arrangement of the transport paths is not limited to this, and the arrangement of each conveyance path is arbitrary, for example, they may be arranged in series on the same straight line, or they may be arranged orthogonally.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments and modified examples, the static electricity generator 12 is provided to charge the surface of the article 3, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the surface of the article 3 is temporarily prevented from slipping. For example, it is preferable to provide a spraying device such as a mist sprayer to spray a liquid such as alcohol or water onto the surface of the article 3. In this way, the liquid adhering to the surfaces of the articles stacked on the downstream conveyance path is present between the mutual contact surfaces. When another item is placed on top of the item that was placed on the transport path in the previous process, the liquid attached to the bottom of the other item is sandwiched between the two items and spreads, causing the surface tension to cause the liquid to spread between the two items. Glue and integrate items.

In the first conveyor device 1, the articles 3 may be conveyed irregularly with respect to the conveyance direction and a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction. Further, the suction holder may also be used as a gripping means. Furthermore, the conveyance direction of the article group 4 is arbitrary; for example, the conveyance direction of the above-described embodiment may be changed by 90 degrees.

Although various aspects of the present invention have been described above using embodiments, these embodiments and explanations are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, but are intended to contribute to an understanding of the present invention. I would like to add that this is what was provided. The scope of the present invention is not limited to the configuration or manufacturing method explicitly described in the specification, but also includes combinations of various aspects of the invention disclosed herein. Of the present invention, the structure for which a patent is sought has been specified in the attached claims, but at present, even if the structure is not specified in the claims, it is not disclosed in this specification. I would like to state this just to be sure that there is a possibility that I may file a patent claim for this configuration in the future.

1: First conveyor device 2: Second conveyor device 3: Article 3a: Top seal section 4: Article group 5: Side guide 10: Article transfer device 11: Transfer device main body 12: Static electricity generator 12a: Discharge Needle 14: Manipulator 15: Suction holder 20: Packaging machine 21: Supply conveyance device 22: Packaging film 24: Bag making device 25: Center sealing device

Claims (6)

a transfer device main body that holds an article moving on an upstream conveyance path, moves the held article and supplies it to a downstream conveyance path;
Equipped with an electrostatic generation device for temporarily making the surface of the article non-slip,
The process to temporarily make the surface non-slip is to charge the surface,
The transfer device main body has a function of moving the article to the downstream conveyance path via the electrostatic generation device , and a function of moving the article to the downstream conveyance path without passing through the electrostatic generation device. and a function of supplying the article overlappingly with the previously supplied article when supplying to the downstream conveyance route ,
An article transfer device characterized in that the electrostatic generation device is configured to constantly generate static electricity, and to switch whether or not the article is charged by changing the path of the article. The present invention is characterized in that the lowest article among the plurality of stacked articles is moved to the downstream transport path without passing through the electrostatic generator and is not subjected to charging processing. The article transfer device according to claim 1. The electrostatic generation device has a function of discharging static electricity upward,
2. The transfer device main body moves the article so that the lower surface of the article in a conveyed state is charged with the static electricity discharged by the function of discharging static electricity upward. 2. The article transfer device according to 2. The article transfer device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the electrostatic generation device temporarily makes different surfaces of the article less slippery. The article transfer device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the article is a packaging body. The article transfer device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the transfer device main body is a robot that moves the held article to an arbitrary position in a three-dimensional space.

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