JP2012162351A - Article supplying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for supplying articles carried in a state where a wider plane (first face) is put vertically to pack the articles in a box so that the articles stand by being rotated by 90 degrees.SOLUTION: The articles 2 carried by a supply conveyor 4 in a random state where the wider plane is put vertically are taken out while directions are aligned by a robot 10 and placed on placement plates. The placement plates are rotated by 90 degrees, and thereby the articles 2 stand so that a plane with smaller width (second face) is put vertically, and after an interval between the placement plates is reduced and the articles 2 are collected, the articles 2 are pushed out by a pusher which moves according to a product conveyor 16 and inserted inside a holding section 14 of the product conveyor 16.

Description

  The present invention relates to an article supply apparatus that supplies articles to a conveyor having a storage section, and more particularly to an article supply apparatus that can supply an article after changing the posture of the delivered article.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a boxing device that sucks and holds articles conveyed by a conveyor by means of a holder operated by a robot and inserts the articles into a case fed by the conveyor has been widely used. If the article to be held using the robot has a rectangular parallelepiped shape and a shape having a wide flat surface and a narrow surface, the wide surface is adsorbed and held. The surface is moved up and down (see Patent Document 1).

  When adsorbing a wide surface using a robot, a flat surface is formed by stacking the wide surface of the next article on the wide surface of the article in order to pack the article having the above shape. There is a problem that it can only deal with stacking. In order to stack each article up 90 degrees and stack wide planes in a lateral direction so as to be stacked and inserted into the case, the articles arranged in a plane with the wide surfaces positioned vertically In the past, articles were raised one by one by a standing device and accumulated.

JP-A-7-76322

  The problem to be solved is that when a standing device for raising a wide surface is used, the structure of the device is complicated and large, and the standing operation takes time. Furthermore, if the articles are conveyed while standing up sequentially, the article becomes unstable.

  The present invention provides an article supply having a conveyor having a receiving portion for storing an article, a plurality of plates placed on the side of the conveyor, and a pusher for pushing the article on the plate to the receiving portion of the conveyor. And an article delivery means for delivering an article to the plate, the article supply means, the attitude changing means for changing the attitude of the article placed by rotating the plate, and the article on each plate An expansion / contraction means for changing the interval is provided, and the posture of the article placed on the plate is changed, and after the interval is reduced, the article is pushed out to the accommodating portion.

  Moreover, 2nd invention is the said 1st invention. WHEREIN: The 1st mounting surface which supports the 1st surface of articles | goods on the said plate, The 2nd mounting surface which supports the 2nd surface of articles | goods, And the width of the first placement surface is set wider than the width of the second placement surface, and the first placement surface and the second placement surface are arranged in an approximately L shape. It is a feature.

  Further, a third invention is the article supply means according to the first invention or the second invention, wherein the article supply means is configured to be movable in synchronization with the conveyor along the conveying direction of the conveyor. The article on the plate is pushed out to the accommodating part of the conveyor by the pusher while the machine is advanced in synchronization with the conveyor.

  The article supply device of the present invention changes the posture of the article delivered from the article delivery means onto the plate of the article supply means by the posture change means, and further changes the interval by the expansion / contraction means, and then stores the product conveyor by the pusher Since the articles are pushed into the section, the articles can be collected and supplied in a simple operation and in a short time, and there is an advantage that the articles need not be conveyed in an unstable state. Furthermore, by changing the angle at which the posture is changed, it is possible to cope with various stacking modes such as flat stacking, standing upright, or oblique stacking.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall arrangement of an article supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Example 1 FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the article supply apparatus. FIG. 3 is a front view of the delivery means provided in the article supply apparatus. FIG. 4 is a plan view of article supply means provided in the article supply apparatus. FIG. 5 is a side view of the article supply means. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing expansion / contraction means provided in the article supply means. FIG. 7 is a plan view of the expansion / contraction means. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the expansion / contraction means, and shows a state where the mounting plate is expanded. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the expansion / contraction means, and shows a state in which the mounting plate is contracted. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the article supply means. FIG. 11 is a side view showing a pusher of the article supply means. FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C are views for sequentially explaining the operation of the article supply means. FIG. 13 is a view showing a connecting portion between the expansion / contraction means and the first mounting plate 26A. FIG. 14 is a view showing a connecting portion between the expansion / contraction means and the seventh mounting plate 26G. FIG. 15 is a view showing a connecting portion between the expansion / contraction means and the second mounting plate 26B. FIG. 16 is a view showing a connecting portion between the expansion / contraction means and the sixth mounting plate 26F. FIG. 17 is a view showing a connecting portion between the expansion / contraction means and the third mounting plate 26C. FIG. 18 is a view showing a connecting portion between the expansion / contraction means and the fifth placement plate 26E.

  A supply conveyor that continuously conveys articles in a random state with the wide plane up and down, and a product conveyor having an article storage section are arranged in parallel and run in the same direction. A camera for detecting the position, direction, etc. of the article conveyed on the supply conveyor is provided, and article delivery means such as a robot keeps the article direction aligned by the information from this camera. Article supply means is disposed between the supply conveyor and the product conveyor, and the article held by the delivery means is placed on a plurality of placement plates provided in the article supply means. The mounting plate has a wide first mounting surface and a narrow second mounting surface formed substantially perpendicular to the first mounting surface, and an article delivered from the delivery means is The wide flat surface can be placed on the first placement surface. Thereafter, all the placement plates are rotated by 90 degrees by the posture changing means, and the article is transferred onto the second placement surface in a state of being raised sideways. Moreover, the space | interval between articles | goods is shrunk | reduced by the expansion / contraction means, and an article will be in the state which mutually approached. While the article is in this state and the article supply means is moved following the product conveyor, the pusher is advanced in the direction of the product conveyor to push out the article on the mounting plate and insert it into the receiving section of the product conveyor. The object of accumulating articles in a short period of time and inserting them into the accommodating portion of the product conveyor can be realized by the above-described configuration.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the article supply apparatus according to the present invention includes supply conveyors 4, 5 for supplying articles 2, and article supply means 6, 7, 8, arranged on the side portions of the supply conveyors 4, 5. 9, article delivery means 10, 11, 12, 13 for taking out the article 2 conveyed by the supply conveyors 4, 5 and delivering it to the article supply means 6, 7, 8, 9, and the supply conveyor 4, 5 and a product conveyor 16 having an accommodating portion 14 for accommodating the article 2. The article supply means 6, 7, 8, 9 change the posture of the article 2 received from the delivery means 10, 11, 12, 13, and after accumulation, insert it into the accommodating portion 14 of the product conveyor 16. The article delivery means 10, 11, 12, and 13 are robots as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, and the circles with reference numerals in FIG. 1 indicate the movable ranges of these robots. Further, in this embodiment, in order to improve the processing capacity, the product conveyor 16 is arranged in the center, the supply conveyors 4 and 5 are arranged on both sides thereof, and further, the side of each of the supply conveyors 4 and 5 is arranged. Two article supply means 6, 8 and 7, 9 are provided, and four article delivery means 10, 11, 12, 13 are arranged corresponding to each of the article supply means 6, 7, 8, 9. Yes. However, it goes without saying that the number of the supply conveyors 4, 5, the article supply means 6, 7, 8, 9, the article delivery means 10, 11, 12, 13 and the like is not limited to this embodiment.

  Each supply conveyor 4 and 5 continuously conveys the articles 2 in a row in a random state. A product conveyor 16 is arranged in parallel with the supply conveyors 4 and 5 between the two supply conveyors 4 and 5 arranged in parallel. In the product conveyor 16, partition plates 18 are provided at regular intervals, and a space between the partition plates 18 serves as a storage portion 14 that stores a predetermined number of articles 2. The robot as the article delivery means 10, 11, 12, 13 is provided with a holding portion 22 for holding a plurality (seven in this embodiment) of articles 2 in the hand 20 (see FIG. 3). ). Each holding portion 22 is attached to a piston rod 24a of an air cylinder 24 and can be expanded and contracted by the operation of the air cylinder 24. A camera 25 provided corresponding to each robot 10, 11, 12, 13 is provided. The position, direction, etc. of the article 2 are detected by 27, 29, 31 (see FIG. 1), and the articles 2 are held one by one in the same direction. These robots 10, 11, 12, 13 hold the articles 2 conveyed by the supply conveyors 4, 5 and deliver them to the article supply means 6, 7, 8, 9. The supply conveyors 4 and 5, the robots 10, 11, 12, and 13 and the article supply means 6, 7, 8, and 9 have the same configuration, so one of them (the supply conveyor 4, the article supply means 6 and the robot) Only 10) will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the article supply means 6 has a plurality of (seven in this embodiment) elongated placements oriented in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the supply conveyor 4 and the product conveyor 16. The plate 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, 26G) and the mounting plate 26 are rotated by approximately 90 degrees around the longitudinal axis (the axis of the rotation axis described later). Posture changing means 28 (see FIGS. 8, 9, and 10) for changing the posture of 2 and expansion / contraction means 30 for reducing or expanding the interval between the seven mounting plates 26 (FIGS. 7, 8, and FIG. 9 and FIG. 10) and a pusher 32 (FIG. 10, FIG. 10) that pushes out the article 2 on the placing plate 26 and inserts it into the accommodating portion 14 of the product conveyor 16 located on the front side (upper side in FIG. 4). 11 and And a see FIG. 12). The mounting plate 26, the posture changing means 28, the expansion / contraction means 30, the pusher 32, and the like are placed on the base plate 34 and are moved forward and backward as a unit along the conveying direction A of the product conveyor 16. An actuator 36 (see FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 10) is arranged in parallel with the product conveyor 16. The base plate 34 is connected to the actuator 36 and reciprocates in the conveying direction A of the product conveyor 16 by driving a reciprocating servo motor 38. When the base plate 34 moves forward (moves in the conveying direction A of the product conveyor 16), it moves following the product conveyor 16 at a constant speed.

  Each mounting plate 26 has a substantially L-shaped cross section (see FIGS. 4 and 12A, 12B, and 12C), and has a wide first mounting surface 26a and a width. It has two placement surfaces, the narrow second placement surface 26b. When the article 2 is delivered from the robot 10, as shown in FIG. 12A, the first placement surface 26a is horizontal and the second placement surface 26b is in an upright state. Also, as shown in FIGS. 12B and 12C, the posture of the article 2 being placed with the first placement surface 26a in an upright state and the second placement surface 26b in a horizontal state. The article 2 is pushed out onto the product conveyor 16 by the pusher 32 after the interval between the placing plates 26 is reduced. The article 2 handled in this embodiment is, for example, a generally rectangular parallelepiped-shaped wide surface (first surface of the article) and a narrow surface (article), such as an ice bar wrapped in pillows. 2nd surface).

  The elongated mounting plate 26 extends from above the base plate 34 toward the product conveyor 16, and the base portion 26 c side is rotatably supported by a support cylinder 40 disposed above the base plate 34 via a ball bearing. The rotating shaft 42 is connected (see FIG. 10). By rotating the rotating shaft 42, the mounting plate 26 can be rotated to change the positions of the first mounting surface 26a and the second mounting surface 26b. A cam roller 44 is connected to the rear end portion of the rotating shaft 42 so as to be eccentric from the axis of the rotating shaft 42 (see FIGS. 8, 9 and 10). The cam roller 44 is engaged with a cam groove of a horizontal cam 50 that is connected to an actuator 48 that is operated by a posture changing servomotor 46 that is mounted upright on the base plate 34. When the horizontal cam 50 is lowered (see FIGS. 8 and 10), the first mounting portion 26a is horizontal and the second mounting portion 26b is upright (shown in FIG. 12A). Status). Further, when the horizontal cam 50 is raised and pushed up while rotating the cam roller 44 (see FIG. 9) and the rotary shaft 42 is rotated (rotated 90 degrees in this embodiment), the first mounting portion 26a is upright. In this state, the second mounting portion 26b is in a horizontal state (the state shown in FIGS. 12B and 12C).

  Furthermore, an expansion / contraction means 30 is provided on the base plate 34 for reducing or expanding the interval between the mounting plates 26. The support cylinder 40 that supports the rotating shaft 42 connected to each mounting plate 26 is connected to the upper end of an upright mounting member 52 (see FIG. 10). An upstanding wall surface 54 is fixed on the end of the base plate 34 on the product conveyor 16 side (the left end in FIG. 10), and two horizontal guide rails 56 are parallel to the inside of the upstanding wall surface 54. Is fixed. One slider 58 is fixed to the side surface on the product conveyor 16 side of each attachment member 52 to which the support cylinder 40 is attached, and is engaged with one of the upper and lower guide rails 56. As will be described later, since the mounting plate 26 (26D) located at the center does not move when expanding or contracting, the slider 58 is not provided.

  On the base plate 34, a driving mechanism for expansion / contraction using three large, medium and small belts is provided. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the drive shaft 62 is rotatable between an upright wall surface 54 on the front surface side and a rear upright plate portion 60 fixed to face a part of the wall surface 54. A large-diameter drive pulley 64, a medium-diameter drive pulley 66, and a small-diameter drive pulley 68 are coupled to the drive shaft 62 so as to rotate integrally (FIGS. 4, 6, and FIG. 7). The drive shaft 62 is rotated by transmitting the drive of the servo motor 70 for expansion / contraction via the speed reducer 72. On the other hand, three large, medium and small driven pulleys 74, 76 and 78 are installed corresponding to the three large, medium and small driving pulleys 64, 66 and 68, respectively. These driven pulleys 74, 76, 78 are supported on the base plate 34 at the same height as the corresponding drive pulleys 64, 66, 68 via the columns 80, 82, 84 (see FIG. 5), respectively. Endless belts 88, 90, 92 for adjusting the spacing of the mounting plate 26 are wound around the three sets of large, medium and small driving pulleys 64, 66, 68 and driven pulleys 74, 76, 78 (see FIG. 5 and FIG. 5). (See FIG. 7).

  The seven placement plates 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, and 26G) are arranged on each of the left and right sides of the center fourth placement plate 26D. The plates 26A, 26B, 26C and 26E, 26F, 26G approach the central fourth plate 26D and are spaced apart to adjust the distance. Accordingly, the outermost first mounting plate 26A and the seventh mounting plate 26G move the most, the second mounting plate 26B and the sixth mounting plate 26F move by an intermediate movement amount, and the innermost first mounting plate 26G moves. The third mounting plate 26C and the fifth mounting plate 26E move with the smallest movement amount. In order to perform such an operation, the outermost mounting plates 26A and 26G are connected to a belt 88 that is wound around the large-diameter pulleys 64 and 74, and the innermost mounting plates 26C and 26E have a small diameter. It is connected to a belt 92 that is wound around pulleys 68 and 78, and intermediate placement plates 26B and 26F are connected to a belt 90 that is wound around pulleys 66 and 76 having a medium diameter. A guide plate 93 having substantially the same shape as the mounting plate 26 is disposed adjacent to the seventh mounting plate 26G (see the leftmost plate in FIGS. 4 and 8). The guide plate 93 guides the article 2 on the seventh placement plate 26G so as not to fall when the article 2 is transferred by the pusher 32, and the other placement plates 26A, 26B, 26C. , 26D, 26E, and 26F, adjacent mounting plates are not provided for guiding each other (see FIG. 12C).

  The support cylinders 40 that support the rotating shafts 42 connected to the mounting plates 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, and 26G) are supported by the upright mounting members 52 as described above. A slider 58 that fits to the guide rail 56 is fixed to the upright member 52, and the large, medium, and small pulleys 64, 74, 66, and 76 are connected via an L-shaped attachment plate 94. , 68, 78 is connected to any one of the belts 88, 90, 92 (see FIGS. 13 to 18).

  Of the seven placement plates 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, 26G), the first placement plate 26A (on the rightmost side in FIG. 4) located on the most upstream side in the article transport direction A The mounting plate and the slider 58A positioned on the rightmost side in FIG. 8 connected to the mounting plate 26A) are connected to the upper side of the belt 88 wound around the large-diameter pulleys 64 and 74. (See FIG. 13). 8 and 9 show the slider 58 fitted to the guide rail 56, the slider corresponding to each mounting plate 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26E, 26F, 26G). The position is described by 58 (58A, 58B, 58C, 58E, 58F, 58G). Further, the seventh mounting plate 26G (refer to the mounting plate positioned on the leftmost side in FIG. 4 and the slider 58G positioned on the leftmost side in FIG. 8) positioned on the most downstream side in the article conveying direction A has a large diameter. It is connected to the lower side of the belt 88 that is wound around the pulleys 64 and 74 (see FIG. 14).

  The second placement plate 26B located second from the upstream side in the article transport direction A (see the placement plate located second from the right in FIG. 4 and the slider 58B located second from the right in FIG. 8), It is connected to the upper side of the belt 90 that is wound around the medium-diameter pulleys 66 and 76 (see FIG. 15). Also, the sixth placement plate 26F located second from the downstream side in the article transport direction A (see the placement plate located second from the left in FIG. 4 and the slider 58B located second from the left in FIG. 8). Is connected to the lower side of the belt 90 that is wound around the medium-diameter pulleys 66 and 76 (see FIG. 16).

  The third placement plate 26C located third from the upstream side in the article transport direction A (see the placement plate located third from the right in FIG. 4 and the slider 58C located third from the right in FIG. 8), It is connected to the upper side of the belt 92 that is wound around the small-diameter pulleys 68 and 78 (see FIG. 17). Also, the fifth placement plate 26E located third from the downstream side in the article transport direction A (see the placement plate located third from the left in FIG. 4 and the slider 58E located third from the left in FIG. 8). Is connected to the lower side of the belt 92 that is wound around the small-diameter pulleys 68 and 78 (see FIG. 18). The upright mounting member 52 for connecting the mounting plates 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26E, 26F, 26G) and the slider 58 (58A, 58B, 58C, 58E, 58F, 58G) A gap is formed so as not to interfere with the slider 58.

  The article 2 transferred from the robot 10 onto the placement plate 26 of the article supply means 6 is changed in posture by rotating the placement plate 26 by approximately 90 degrees, and then the interval between the articles 2 is reduced by the expansion / contraction means 30. After that, it is pushed out from the placement plate 26 by the pusher 32 and inserted into the accommodating portion 14 of the product conveyor 16. The pusher 32 for pushing out the article is installed on a pusher plate 96 disposed above the base plate 34 (see FIGS. 4, 10, 11 and 12A). The base plate 34 is connected to the actuator 36 so that its longitudinal direction is in the transport direction A of the product conveyor 16, and moves forward and backward in the transport direction A of the product conveyor 16, and the pusher plate 96 is Is fixed on the base plate 34 in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction A of the product conveyor 16 (see FIGS. 4 and 10).

  Two sets of guide blocks 98 are fixed on the pusher plate 96 near the front end (near the product conveyor 16), and two parallel slide rods 100 are supported by the guide blocks 98 so as to be able to move forward and backward. Further, a mounting rod 102 disposed below these slide rods 100 is supported below each guide block 98 so as to be able to advance and retract. A pusher 32 is fixed to the tips of the slide rod 100 and the mounting rod 102. The pusher 32 is fixed vertically to the front end surface of each of the rods 100 and 102 so as to face downward. The pusher 32 pushes the article 2 on each placement plate 26 when the article 2 placed on the placement plate 26 is turned 90 degrees and is in a standing state and the interval is reduced. It can be put out. Therefore, when the second mounting surface 26b of the mounting plate 26 is in a horizontal and approached state, it has a comb-teeth shape that can pass between the upright first mounting surfaces 26a. (See FIG. 12 (c)).

  An endless belt 104 that moves the pusher 32 back and forth is disposed between two parallel slide rods 100. A drive pulley 110 is connected to an output shaft 108 of a pusher drive servo motor 106 installed at the rear end (end portion on the supply conveyor 4 side) of the pusher plate 96, and the drive pulley 110 and the front end portion of the pusher plate 96. The endless belt 104 is wound around a driven pulley 112 installed above. The slide rod 100 is connected to the belt 104 via a connecting member 116. The belt 104 travels by driving the servo motor 106, and the pusher 32 moves forward and backward through the slide rod 100 and the mounting rod 102. The pusher 32 is located at the front end of the mounting plate 26 from a position behind the first and second mounting portions 26a and 26b on which the article 2 is mounted on the mounting plate 26 (the position shown in FIG. 10). It moves back and forth between positions (positions shown in FIG. 11) where the article 2 can be pushed out onto the product conveyor 16.

  The operation of the article supply apparatus according to the above configuration will be described. The articles 2 are continuously conveyed in a random state by the supply conveyor 4. A camera 25 that detects the position, direction, etc. of the article 2 is installed slightly upstream of the position where the article supply means 6 and the robot 10 as the article delivery means are installed. Shoot one by one. A robot hand 20 having seven holding units 22 according to information from the camera 25 sequentially holds the articles 2 while aligning the articles 2 in the same direction. The robot 10 that holds the seven articles 2 in the holding unit 22 places these articles 2 on the placement plates 26 of the article supply means 6. At this time, the mounting plate 26 has the first mounting portion 26a having a large width in a horizontal state and the second mounting portion 26b having a narrow width in an upright state, and the article 2 has a wide surface (first surface). ) Is placed on the first mounting portion 26a.

  The posture of the article 2 placed on the placement plate 26 is changed by the posture changing means 28. The mounting plate 26 is configured such that a rotating shaft 42 connected to the base side of the mounting plate 26 can rotate within the support tube 40, and is eccentric from the axis of the rotating shaft 42 at the rear end portion of the rotating shaft 42. By raising the connected cam roller 44, the mounting plate 26 can be rotated by approximately 90 degrees. The cam roller 44 is fitted into the cam groove of the horizontal cam 50, and the actuator 48 is operated by the attitude changing servo motor 46 to raise the horizontal cam 50, thereby rotating the cam roller 44 to a predetermined height. . As the cam roller 44 moves up, the rotating shaft 42 rotates, and the mounting plate 26 connected to the rotating shaft 42 rotates. When the article 2 is placed from the holding part 22 of the robot 10, the placement plate 26 has a wide first placement part 26 a in a horizontal state as shown in FIG. The narrow second mounting portion 26b is in an upright state. When the mounting plate 26 is rotated 90 degrees, as shown in FIG. 12 (b), the first mounting portion 26a becomes upright and the second mounting portion 26b becomes horizontal. Accordingly, in the article 2 placed on the first placement portion 26a with the wide surface (first surface) positioned vertically, the wide surface is located on both sides, and the second placement surface 26b The narrow surface (second surface) is positioned vertically.

  Subsequently, the articles 2 in a state where the narrow surface (second surface) is raised up and down on each second placement portion 26 b are brought close to each other by the expansion / contraction means 30. Of the seven mounting plates 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, and 26G), the central mounting plate 26D is fixed so as not to move at that position, and the other six mounting plates 26 are mounted. The mounting plates 26A, 26B, 26C, 26E, 26F, and 26G are respectively positioned at predetermined positions of belts 88, 90, and 92 wound around the large-diameter pulleys 64 and 74, the medium-diameter pulleys 66 and 76, and the small-diameter pulleys 68 and 78, respectively. (See FIGS. 13 to 18). Therefore, by rotating the large, medium and small driving pulleys 64, 66 and 68 connected to the driving shaft 62 by the expansion / contraction servomotor 70, the outermost mounting plates 26A and 26G (corresponding to FIGS. 8 and 9). The sliders 58A and 58G) move most inward, and the inner mounting plates 26B and 26F (see the sliders 58B and 58F in FIGS. 8 and 9) are smaller than the outer mounting plates 26A and 26G. The innermost mounting plates 26C and 26E (see sliders 58C and 58E in FIGS. 8 and 9) move the smallest distance, and all the mounting plates 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, and 26G) approach each other at approximately the same distance (the state shown in FIG. 12C).

  A state in which the articles 2 placed on the respective placement plates 26 are brought close to each other and accumulated by bringing the placement plates 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, 26G) closer by the expansion / contraction means 30. After that, these articles 2 are pushed out by the pusher 32 and moved to the accommodating portion 14 of the product conveyor 16. The product conveyor 16 is continuously running, and the articles 2 are moved by the pusher 32 while moving the entire article supply means 6 installed on the base plate 34 in the conveying direction A following the running of the product conveyor 16. I try to push it out.

  The base plate 34 is connected to and moved by an actuator 36 that is operated by a reciprocating servomotor 38. Further, during the movement of the base plate 34, the pusher 32 is activated to insert the article 2 into the accommodating portion 14 of the product conveyor 16. The pusher 32 is located behind the placing plate 26 on which the article 2 is placed when the operation is started (see FIG. 10). The pusher 32 is advanced toward the product conveyor 16 by driving the pusher driving servo motor 106. The article 2 on the placement plate 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, 26G) is pushed into the accommodating portion 14 (the pusher 32 moves to the position shown in FIG. 11). The pusher 32 is configured so that each of the mounting plates 26 (26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, 26G) is changed in posture and the interval is contracted. 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, and 26G) (see FIGS. 12A and 12C) without interfering with the mounting plate 26. You can move forward smoothly. The accommodating part 14 provided in the product conveyor 16 is partitioned by a partition plate 18 in the front and rear in the conveying direction, and the accommodated article 2 is in a state where the narrow surface (second surface) is placed up and down. It can be transported stably.

  After the article 2 is inserted into the accommodating portion 14 of the product conveyor 16, the pusher 32 is retracted to the rear side of the placing plate 26, the base plate 34 is retracted to the upstream side of the product conveyor 16, and the next article 2 is the robot. Wait until it is delivered by 10. In the above-described embodiment, the posture of the article 2 is changed by rotating the mounting plate 26 by 90 degrees. However, it is not necessarily limited to the state in which the article 2 is raised by rotating 90 degrees, and other rotation amounts. You can also change your posture. For example, each article 2 may be obliquely overlapped sequentially. In this case, attachment parts such as the pusher 32 need to be changed. Moreover, in the said Example, although the partition plate 18 was provided in the product conveyor 16 and it was set as the structure which has the some accommodating part 14 at equal intervals, the structure which pushes an article into the carton which was conveyed by the carton conveyor It may be.

2 article 6 article supply means 10 delivery means (robot)
14 container 16 conveyor (product conveyor)
26 plate (mounting plate)
28 Posture changing means 30 Enlarging / contracting means 32 Pusher

Claims (3)

A conveyor having an accommodating portion for accommodating an article, an article supply means disposed on a side of the conveyor, and having a plurality of plates for placing the article and a pusher for pushing the article on the plate to the accommodating portion of the conveyor, An article delivery means for delivering an article to the plate;
The article supply means is provided with attitude changing means for changing the attitude of the article placed by rotating the plate, and expansion / contraction means for changing the interval between the articles on each plate,
The article supply apparatus characterized by changing the posture of the article placed on the plate and reducing the distance between the articles, and then pushing the article to the accommodating portion.   A first placement surface that supports the first surface of the article and a second placement surface that supports the second surface of the article are formed on the plate, and the width of the first placement surface is set to a second width. 2. The article supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the article supply device is set wider than a width of the placement surface, and the first placement surface and the second placement surface are arranged in an approximately L shape.   The article supply means is configured to be movable in synchronization with the conveyor along the conveying direction of the conveyor, and the article on the plate is received by the pusher while the article supply means is advanced in synchronization with the conveyor. The article supply apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the article supply apparatus is extruded to a section.

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