JPH06271055A - Transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a transfer device in which subject matters can be transferred in modes in which a transfer height and a transfer direction can be changed without complicating a constitution unnecessarily. CONSTITUTION:A transfer device 10 is provided with a transfer conveyor unit 10A to transfer a subject matter of a pallet in a specified direction in a horizontal plane, an elevation mechanism part to elevate the transfer conveyor unit 10a in a mode of changing a transfer height position of the pallet, and a rotation mechanism part to rotate the transfer conveyor unit 10A about a vertical axis in a mode of changing the transfer direction of the pallet.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer device for changing the transfer height position and transfer direction of an object to be transferred.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional processing line A shown in FIG. 8 is a shuttle conveyor B as a work transfer line for transferring a pallet P on which a work W is placed and a shuttle conveyor as a pallet return line for transferring only the pallet P. C, and transfer conveyors D and E are provided between the ends of the shuttle conveyors B and C. Further, the shuttle conveyors B and C and the transfer conveyors D and E are provided.
Revolving bases F, F, ...
The shuttle conveyors B and C, the transfer conveyors D and E, and the swivel bases F, F, ...
As indicated by d, c, and e, the pallet P as the transported object
A closed-loop pallet circulation path is configured to be conveyed in a circulating manner.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional processing line A has a conveyer D forming a working zone.
(E) is lower than the shuttle conveyors B and C arranged at a high position due to the structure, that is, the worker M moves between the adjacent processing lines (not shown), The height is set to an appropriate height based on ergonomics from the floor surface so that the work W can be easily attached to and detached from the pallet P. Therefore, the above processing line A
In order to enable transfer of the pallet P between the shuttle conveyors B and C and the transfer conveyors D and E, the swivel base F in FIG. As clearly shown in a) and (b), it has a lifting function as well as a turning function. By the way, in the processing line A having the above-described configuration, in order to form the closed-loop pallet circulation path as described above, in addition to the shuttle conveyor B as a work transfer line and the shuttle conveyor C as a pallet return line, In addition to the above-mentioned transport conveyors D and E, a plurality of swivel bases F having a swivel function and a lifting function are also required. That is, in the conventional processing line A, in combination with the need for devices such as the conveyors D and E and the swivel bases F and F, which are separated from each other in units of units, the operation of each device is synchronized and synchronized. Since a means for performing mutual alignment is also required, there is a disadvantage that the configuration becomes extremely complicated. In view of the above situation, the present invention does not cause inadvertent complication of the configuration,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer device that can transfer a work in a mode in which the transfer height and the transfer direction are changed.

[0004]

In a transfer device according to the present invention, a conveyor mechanism portion for conveying an object to be conveyed in a predetermined direction on a horizontal plane, and the conveyor mechanism portion is moved up and down to move the object to be conveyed. The above object is achieved by providing an elevating mechanism section for changing the conveying height position and a swivel mechanism section for rotating the conveyor mechanism section around the vertical axis to change the conveying direction of the conveyed object. is doing.

[0005]

According to the structure of the present invention, the transfer height and the transfer direction of the transferred object can be changed only by the transfer device.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings showing one embodiment. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the transfer device according to the present invention is applied to a processing line for automobile parts in an automobile production factory.
A conveyor 2 that constitutes a work transfer line for transferring the placed pallet P in the direction indicated by arrow f;
And a conveyor 3 that constitutes a pallet return line for conveying only the pallet P in the direction indicated by the arrow r.

Further, in the above-mentioned processing line 1, the end portions on the carry-in side and the carry-out side with respect to the transfer conveyor (work transfer line) 2 and the end portions on the carry-in side and the carry-out side with respect to the transfer conveyor (pallet return line) 3 are Each of the transfer devices 10 is installed, and the above-described transfer conveyor 2, transfer conveyor 3, and each transfer device 10 ...
Thus, a closed-loop pallet circulation path for transporting the pallet P as the transported object in a circulating manner is configured.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, the transfer device 10 includes a transfer conveyor unit 1 as a conveyor mechanism for transferring a pallet (object to be transferred) P on a horizontal plane.
0A, and this transfer conveyor unit 10A
Is a conveyor base frame 11 spreading on a horizontal plane,
In addition to having a large number of conveyance rollers 13 supported by the frame 11 and rotationally driven by a drive motor 12,
The pallet stopper 14 and the pallet anti-back stopper 15 are provided, and basically, there is no difference from a general conveyor.

On the other hand, as clearly shown in FIG. 3, on the floor 1a on which the processing line 1 is constructed, a turning shaft 20a is provided.
A swivel base 20 provided with is fixedly mounted on the swivel base 20. The swivel shaft 2 extends vertically.
A body frame 30 is rotatably supported around 0a as a central axis. The bottom plate 30a of the body frame 30 is rotatably supported by a taper roller 20b provided on the swivel base 20.

Further, an air cylinder actuator 40 for raising and lowering a conveyor is attached to the main body frame 30 in such a manner that an operating axis line extends in the vertical direction. The tip of the operating rod 40a of the actuator 40 is
It is fixed to the conveyor base frame 11 in the above-described transfer conveyor unit 10A.

Slide rods 16A and 16B extend downward at the left and right edges (upper and lower in FIG. 2) of the conveyor base frame 11, while at the left and right side portions of the main body frame 30. Guide blocks 31A and 31B for slidably supporting the slide rods 16A and 16B are fixedly provided.

A stopper 16Ba for restricting the upward movement of the conveyer unit 10A is attached to the lower end of the slide rod 16B, while the guide block 31A has a lock cylinder actuator as shown in FIG. 32 is attached, and the tip of the actuating rod 32a of the actuator 32 is fitted into the lock hole 16Aa formed in the peripheral surface of the slide rod 16A, whereby the transfer conveyor unit 10A is locked in the raised position. .

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the conveyor lifting air cylinder actuator 40 is retracted, the stopper pin 33 provided on the main body frame 30 and the conveyor base frame 11 of the conveyor unit 10A are connected to each other. When the provided stopper block 17 is placed in contact with the stopper block 17, the transfer conveyor unit 10A is occupied at the lowered position shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.

Main body frame 3 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5.
At 0, the turning wheel 50 has the conveyor belt unit 10A.
Is rotatably supported by a supporting shaft 50a extending in the pallet conveying direction. The turning wheel 50 is rotatably driven by a turning air motor 52 via a bevel gear pair 51 and is mounted on a turning guide rail 60 described later. The traveling conveyer unit 10A is swung by traveling.

On the other hand, a turning guide rail 60 is laid on the floor 1a via a plurality of mounts 61, 61, ..., The turning guide rail 60 is used for the turning wheels 50.
It has an arc shape that follows the turning trajectory of the.

As shown in FIG. 2, a stopper block 70A on the original position side and a stopper block 70B on the turning end side are fixed to the floor 1a, and the main body frame 30 supporting the conveyer unit 10A is fixed to the original position. The transport conveyor unit 10A comes into contact with the side stopper block 70A and the turning end side stopper block 70B, so that the transport conveyor unit 10A is in the original position in the same transport direction as the transport conveyor 2 or the transport conveyor 3, and the transport conveyor 2 or the transport conveyor 3. Will be occupied at a turning position that is oriented 90 ° laterally with respect to the conveyance direction.

Further, limit switches 71A and 7 are provided on the stopper blocks 70A and 70B, respectively.
While 1B is attached, switch dogs 34A and 34B for operating the limit switches 71A and 71B are attached to the main body frame 30 as shown in FIG.

The above-mentioned air cylinder actuator 40 for raising and lowering the conveyor and the slide rods 16A, 16
B, the guide blocks 31A and 31B, the main body frame 30 that supports the conveyor lifting air cylinder actuator 40, the turning base 20, and the like move the transfer conveyor unit 10A up and down to change the transfer height position of the pallet P. Lifting mechanism part 10 for
B is configured.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned main body frame 30 and the turning base 2 for rotatably supporting the main body frame 30.
0, the turning wheel 50, the turning air motor 52, the turning guide rail 60, the conveyor lifting air cylinder actuator 40 for supporting the carrying conveyor unit 10A on the main body frame 30, and the like, and the direction in which the pallet P is carried. A swivel mechanism portion 10C is configured to rotate the transport conveyor unit 10A about the vertical axis in order to change the position.

In the processing line 1 having the above-described structure, when the pallet P on which the work W is placed is waiting to be loaded from the transfer conveyor 2 constituting the work transfer line, the above-described transfer is performed. As shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, the transport conveyor unit 10A in the apparatus 10 is occupied at the same transport height position as the transport conveyor 2 and faces the same transport direction as the transport conveyor 2.

That is, the transfer conveyor unit 10
A is an air cylinder actuator 40 for lifting the conveyor
The operating rod 40a of the lock cylinder actuator 32 is extended and the operating rod 32a of the lock cylinder actuator 32 is fitted into the lock hole 16Aa of the slide rod 16A, so that the main body frame 30 is held at the original position. It is occupied in the original position by contacting the block 70A.

When it is detected that the pallet P has been carried into the transfer conveyor unit 10A, the operating rod 32a of the lock cylinder actuator 32 is retracted to the unlock position where it is pulled out from the lock hole 16Aa of the slide rod 16A. The lock for the vertical movement of the transfer conveyor unit 10A is released, and then the operating rod 40 of the conveyor lifting air cylinder actuator 40 is released.
a shrinks, and the transfer conveyor unit 10A shown in FIG.
To the lowered position shown in FIG.

The switch dog 3 indicates that the transport conveyor unit 10A, in other words, the main body frame 30 supporting the transport conveyor unit 10A is occupied in the original position.
4A, the limit switch 71 of the original position side stopper block 70A detects, and the operating rod 32a of the lock cylinder actuator 32 is occupied at the retracted position, and the transfer conveyor unit 10A.
When the sensor (not shown) detects that the vehicle is in the lowered position, the air valve (not shown) turns on.
Then, the driving air is supplied to the turning air motor 52,
Transport conveyor unit 10 by rotation of turning wheel 50
The turning operation of A is started.

When the main body frame 30 comes into contact with the turning end side stopper block 70B by the turning of the conveyer unit 10A, the switch dog 34B provided on the main body frame 30 turns the limit switch 71 on.
When the N operation is performed, an air valve (not shown) is turned off, the supply of the drive air to the turning air motor 52 is stopped, the turning wheel 50 is braked, and the conveyor unit 10A stops the turning operation. 1 to occupy the turning position shown by the chain line in FIG.

By the way, in the conventional processing line A shown in FIG. 8, in order to rotate the swivel base F, a drive source composed of an air cylinder actuator or a combination of a motor and a gear is adopted. It is difficult for the air cylinder actuator to obtain a sufficient applied force for rotating the swivel base F, and when a drive source composed of a motor and gears is adopted, for example, in order to position the swivel base F, It is necessary to detect the number of rotations of the motor and to rotate / stop the motor based on the detected value, which is a disadvantage in that electric control becomes complicated.

On the other hand, in the transfer device 4 in the embodiment, since the turning wheels 50, which are rotationally driven by the turning air motor 52 as described above, are run on the turning guide rails 60, the transfer conveyor unit 10A. It is possible to obtain a sufficient driving force to rotate the conveyor conveyor unit 10A, so that the conveyor unit 10A can easily and surely rotate.

In the transfer device 4 of the embodiment, the main body frame 30 is brought into contact with the stopper block 70A on the original position side or the stopper block 70B on the turning end side to position the conveyor unit 10A in the turning direction. Since the electric control is greatly simplified, the operation is stabilized and the cost is reduced. Further, since the air motor is used as the drive source for rotating the transfer conveyor unit 10A,
Even if a little load is applied, the probability of failure is low, which also makes it possible to achieve stable operation.

As described above, the transfer conveyor unit 10A of the transfer device 10 provided on the unloading side of the transfer conveyor 2.
When the robot is occupied by the turning position,
As shown in (b) and FIGS. 7 (a), (b), and (c),
The transfer conveyor unit 10A of the transfer device 10 provided on the carry-in side of the transfer conveyor 3 is also occupied at the turning position,
The pallet P is transferred between the two transfer conveyor units 10A, 10A. Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, both the transfer conveyor units 10A are lowered to a position lower than the transfer conveyors 2 and 3, so that the worker 1
00 allows the work W to be detached from the pallet P being conveyed in a comfortable posture.

When the pallet P is transferred from the transfer device 10 provided on the carry-out side of the transfer conveyor 2 to the transfer device 10 provided on the carry-in side of the transfer conveyor 3, both transfer devices 10
The carrier conveyor unit 10A in FIG. 1 turns to the origin position and then moves to the raised position.
The transfer device 10 provided on the unloading side of the pallet is in a standby state in preparation for the next loading of the pallet P, and the transfer device 10 provided on the unloading side of the transfer conveyor 3 transfers the pallet from the transfer conveyor unit 10A. Send to.

The transfer device according to the present invention is widely applied in various industrial fields as a constituent element of not only the automobile parts processing line shown in the embodiment but also a transfer facility for transferring various articles. It goes without saying that you can do it.

[0031]

As described above in detail, in the transfer apparatus according to the present invention, the conveyor mechanism portion for conveying the object to be conveyed in the predetermined direction on the horizontal plane, and the conveyor mechanism portion are moved up and down. It comprises an elevating mechanism section for changing the conveying height position of the conveyed object, and a turning mechanism section for rotating the conveyor mechanism section around the vertical axis to change the conveying direction of the conveyed object. Since it is possible to change the conveying height and the conveying direction of the conveyed object only by the transfer device, without inadvertently complicating the configuration,
It has become possible to transfer the object to be transferred by changing the transfer height and the transfer direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are an overall plan view and an overall side view conceptually showing a processing line including a transfer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall plan view showing a transfer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an overall side view showing a transfer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line aa of FIG. 3 showing a transfer device according to the present invention.

5 is an end view of the transfer device according to the present invention as viewed from the left in FIG.

FIG. 6b of FIG. 2 showing a main part of a transfer device according to the present invention.
-B line sectional drawing.

7 (a), (b) and (c) are conceptual diagrams showing an operation mode of a transfer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual overall plan view showing a conventional processing line.

9A and 9B are conceptual end views showing an operation mode of a swivel base in a conventional processing line.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Processing line, 2, 3 ... Conveyor, 10 ... Transfer device, 10A ... Conveyor conveyor unit (conveyor mechanism part), 10B ... Elevating mechanism part, 10C ... Swivel mechanism part, 20 ... Swivel base, 20a ... Swirl Shaft, 30 ... Main frame, 40 ... Air cylinder actuator for raising / lowering conveyor, 50 ... Wheel for turning, 52 ... Air motor for turning, 60 ... Guide rail for turning, W ... Work, P ... Pallet (transport target).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A conveyor mechanism section for conveying a conveyed object in a predetermined direction on a horizontal plane, and an elevating mechanism section for vertically moving the conveyor mechanism section in a mode of changing a conveying height position of the conveyed object, A transfer device, comprising: a swivel mechanism section for rotating the conveyor mechanism section around a vertical axis in a mode in which the transport direction of the transported object is changed.