WO2019093510A1

WO2019093510A1 - Conveyance device and conveyance method

Info

Publication number: WO2019093510A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/041813
Authority: WO
Inventors: 小林　正嗣
Original assignee: Ｎｅｃエンベデッドプロダクツ株式会社
Priority date: 2017-11-13
Filing date: 2018-11-12
Publication date: 2019-05-16
Also published as: JP6947396B2; JP2019089618A

Abstract

This conveyance device is provided with: a driven body; a planar gear that is provided on a surface of the driven body and that has teeth arranged in a predetermined direction; and at least one conveyance unit that has a plurality of driving gears for conveying the driven body in the predetermined direction by transmitting power to the planar gear while being engaged with the planar gear. The plurality of driving gears include first and second driving gears adjacent to each other in the predetermined direction. The positional relationship of a first backlash between the first driving gear and the planar gear is different from the positional relationship of a second backlash between the second driving gear and the planar gear.

Description

Transport apparatus and transport method

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer apparatus and a transfer method capable of transferring a workpiece by a simple method.

In a production line such as a factory, a transfer device for transferring a work which is a transferred object is installed.
For example, the conveying device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a traveling plate having rack teeth formed in a matrix on an XY plane, and a traveling gear meshed with the rack teeth of the traveling plate and driven by a drive motor. And a traveling body.
On this traveling body, traveling gears that rotate around an axis along the X direction and traveling gears that rotate around an axis along the Y direction are both installed.
The traveling body can move to any position on the traveling plate by driving the traveling gears in these different directions.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-267100

By the way, the conveyance apparatus shown by patent document 1 is a structure which installs the rack tooth which becomes a plane gear on the upper surface of the traveling board used as a traveling path, ie, the whole area | region which should be conveyed. For this reason, if it is going to provide a plane gear with a predetermined | prescribed processing precision in the whole conveyance area | region required, the increase in cost is not avoided.
Furthermore, in the conveyance device shown in Patent Document 1, the traveling gear of the traveling body is configured to advance the traveling body by meshing with the rack teeth on the traveling plate. For this reason, depending on the situation, the running gear of the running body and the rack teeth on the running plate are not meshed with each other, causing the problem that the gear rides on or the gear gets caught and rotation or running becomes impossible. Improvement was expected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances. One example of the object of the present invention is to simplify the entire configuration by not using a flat gear on a traveling plate which is a traveling path, and to carry the gear over when the traveling body moves or to lock in the gear. It is providing a conveying apparatus and a conveying method which can control generating of a run defect.

A transport apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a driven body, a flat gear provided on a surface of the driven body and having teeth arranged in a predetermined direction, and the flat gear meshed with the flat gear. And at least one transport unit having a plurality of drive gears for transporting the driven body in the predetermined direction by transmitting power. The plurality of drive gears include first and second drive gears adjacent to each other in the predetermined direction. The positional relationship of the first backlash between the first drive gear and the plane gear is different from the positional relationship of the second backlash between the second drive gear and the plane gear.

In the transfer method according to the second aspect of the present invention, the plurality of drive gears of at least one transfer unit mesh with a flat gear provided on the surface of the driven body to transmit power to the flat gear. Conveying the driving body in a predetermined direction. The plurality of drive gears include first and second drive gears adjacent to each other in the predetermined direction. The positional relationship of backlash between the first drive gear and the plane gear is different from the positional relationship of backlash between the second drive gear and the plane gear.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the overall configuration is simplified by not using the flat gear on the traveling plate which is the traveling path, and the gear rides up when the traveling body moves, or the gear is jammed and solidified, etc. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of poor driving.

It is a top view showing the conveyance device concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view which shows the meshing location of the plane gear of a conveying apparatus shown to FIG. 1A, and a drive gear. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a conveyance device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the conveyance tray of the conveying apparatus shown in FIG. It is an enlarged plan view of the plane gear of the conveyance tray shown to FIG. 3B. It is a perspective view of a conveyance unit which constitutes a conveyance device. It is the figure which looked at the drive mechanism of the conveying apparatus of FIG. 4 from the arrow V direction. FIG. 5 is a view of a drive mechanism of the transport device of FIG. 4 as viewed in a direction of an arrow VI. It is a front view which shows the meshing location of a plane gear and a drive gear. It is a top view which shows the positional relationship of a conveyance tray and a drive gear. It is a front view which shows the meshing state of one drive gear with respect to a plane gear, and the other drive gear. It is a figure which shows the state which the plane gear mounted on the other drive gear. It is a top view which shows the arrangement pattern of drive gearwheels A and B in a conveyance unit. It is a top view which shows the arrangement pattern different from FIG. It is a figure which shows the modification 1 of embodiment, Comprising: It is a front view which shows the meshing state different from FIG. It is a figure which shows the modification 2 of embodiment, Comprising: It is a front view which shows the state which processed the plane gear partially. It is a figure which shows the modification 3 of embodiment, Comprising: It is a top view which shows the operation | movement pattern of a conveyance tray. It is a figure which shows the modification 4 of embodiment, Comprising: It is a top view which shows the dimension of a drive gear. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the modification 5 of embodiment. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows the modification 6 of embodiment. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows the modification 6 of embodiment. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows the modification 6 of embodiment. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows the modification 6 of embodiment.

The configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B.
FIG. 1A is a view showing the overall configuration of a transfer apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A shows a transport tray 1 as a driven body.
A transported object (not shown) can be placed on the upper surface of the transport tray 1. On the lower surface of the transport tray 1, a flat gear 2 is provided in which teeth 2A are arranged along a predetermined direction (arrow (α) direction).

Further, the transport tray 1 is transported in the direction of the arrow (α), which is a predetermined transport direction, by the transport unit 4 having the drive gear 3 (3A, 3B) and a drive motor (not shown) that drives the drive gear 3. Be done.
A plurality of transport units 4 are disposed adjacent to each other along the transport direction (arrow (α) direction), and the drive gears 3 (3A, 3B) provided in each are a plane surface on the transport tray 1 side. By meshing with the gear 2 to transmit power, the transport tray 1 is sequentially transported in the same direction.

Further, in this conveyance device 100, backlash 5A between one of the drive gears 3 (3A) and the plane gear 2 among the drive gears 3 (3A, 3B) adjacent to each other along the conveyance direction (arrow (.alpha.) Direction). And the backlash 5B between the other drive gear 3 (3B) of the drive gears 3 (3A, 3B) adjacent to each other and the plane gear 2 are provided at different intervals (positional relationship). That is, the positional relationship between one drive gear 3 (3A) and the plane gear 2 in the mutually meshed state is different from the positional relationship between the other drive gear 3 (3A) and the plane gear 2 in the mutually meshed state.
For example, in the transport apparatus 100 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, in two transport units 4 arranged adjacent to each other in the transport direction (arrow (α) direction), the inside of one transport unit 4 of the adjacent transport units 4 is Backlash 5A between the drive gear 3 (3A) and the plane gear 2 and backlash 5B between the drive gear 3 (3B) and the plane gear 2 in the other conveyance unit 4 of the adjacent conveyance units 4 And are provided at different intervals.
Thereby, in the transfer apparatus 100, as shown in FIG. 1B, the backlash 5A between the drive gear 3 (3A) and the plane gear 2 in one of the transfer units 4 of the transfer unit 4 is transferred in the transfer direction (arrow It is provided offset to the rear side of (α) direction). In addition, backlashes 5B between the drive gear 3 (3B) and the plane gear 2 in the other transport unit 4 of the transport units 4 are provided on the front and back sides in the same direction. By this configuration, the drive gear is set to be out of phase.

As described above in detail, according to the transport apparatus 100, one drive gear 3 (3A) of the drive gear 3 adjacent to each other along the transport direction (arrow (α) direction) and the flat gear 2 of the surface of the transport tray 1 The backlash 5A between them and the backlash 5B between the other drive gear 3 (3B) and the plane gear 2 are provided at different intervals.
Thereby, for example, the backlash 5A between the drive gear 3 (3A) and the plane gear 2 in one conveyance unit 4 is provided on the rear side of the conveyance direction (arrow (.alpha.) Direction) with deviation, and the other The phase shift of the drive gear can be made such that the backlash 5B between the drive gear 3 (3B) and the flat gear 2 in the transport unit 4 is directed to both the front and back of the transport direction (arrow (.alpha.) Direction).
As a result, in the transport apparatus 100, meshing failure (for example, the flat gear 2 is the other drive) when the flat gear 2 of the transfer tray 1 transfers from one drive gear 3 (3A) to the other drive gear 3 (3B) Adjustment can be made to prevent in advance the problem that the gear 3 (3B) rides on and the gear bites and solidifies, and it is possible to realize good conveyance of the conveyance tray 1.
Further, the conveying device 100 has the configuration in which the flat gear 2 is installed only at a limited place called the lower surface of the transport tray 1 and the flat gear is not installed on the entire upper surface of the transport unit 4 which is a traveling path of the transport tray 1. Because of this, the cost of installing the flat gear can be reduced, which can also contribute to the simplification of the overall configuration.

In the above example, the

backlashes

5A and 5B are set in the respective drive gears 3 (3A and 3B) of the two conveyance units 4 adjacent in the conveyance direction (arrow (α) direction), but the invention is not limited thereto.

Similar backlashes

5A and 5B may be set in two adjacent drive gears 3 in the same direction located in one transport unit 4.

(Embodiment)
The configuration according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 12.
FIG. 2 shows the entire configuration of the drive device 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the transport tray 11 as a driven body.
An object (not shown) can be placed on the storage section 11A on the upper surface of the transport tray 11. On the lower surface of the transport tray 11, a flat gear 12 in which teeth 12A are arranged in a predetermined direction is provided.

The teeth 12A of the flat gear 12 are arranged in a matrix along directions of arrows (α) and (β) orthogonal to each other, as shown in FIG. 3A.
Further, the teeth 12A of the flat gear 12 are formed in a quadrangular pyramid having a small flat tooth tip 12B at the tip end as a whole. In particular, as shown in FIG. 3B, in the row of teeth 12A 'located at the outer peripheral portion, chamfering is performed in which the corner portion of the slope forming the quadrangular pyramid is chamfered.
The chamfering process is performed to reduce the contact when the drive gears 13 and 14 mesh with each other, and is a process in which the corner of a quadrangular pyramid slope centered on one corner of the tooth top 12B is chamfered. It can be realized by machining such as cutting.

Further, the transport tray 11 is transported in the arrow (α) direction or the arrow (β) direction, which is a predetermined transport direction, by a plurality of transport units 20 having drive gears 13 and 14 whose rotational directions are different from each other.
In the present embodiment, a transport surface horizontal to the arrow (α) direction or the arrow (β) direction, which is a predetermined transport direction, is formed on a support plate 22 (described later) of the transport unit 20. The transport tray 11 is transported along the transport surface.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of transport units 20 are arranged adjacent to each other in a matrix along a predetermined transport direction (arrow (α) and arrow (β) directions). The drive gears 13 and 14 provided in each of the transport units 20 mesh with the flat gear 12 on the transport tray 11 to transmit power, thereby moving the transport tray 11 in the arrow (α) or arrow (β) direction. Transport

The specific configuration of the above-described transfer unit 20 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.
Each transport unit 20 includes a base 21 serving as a base, and a support plate 22 provided horizontally on the base 21 and having four openings 22A at each edge thereof. Each of the transport units 20 further includes four drive gears 13 and 14 rotatably supported on the pedestal 21 about the

rotation shafts

13A and 14A, and drive

mechanisms

23 and 24 for rotationally driving the drive gears 13 and 14, respectively. Equipped with

The drive gear 13 is supported rotatably around a rotation axis 13A along the direction of the arrow (β). The drive gears 13 are arranged in two sets at intervals in the arrow (α) direction in the transport unit 20. Each set of drive gears 13 has a pair of small gears 13B. The upper portion of the small gear 13B is exposed from the opening 22A of the support plate 22 and meshes with the flat gear 12 of the transport tray 11 to transport the transport tray 11 in the arrow (α) direction.
As shown in FIG. 5, the drive mechanism 23 is disposed at the lower part of the transport unit 20, that is, at a position covered by the support plate 22 in plan view and not protruding around. The drive mechanism 23 includes a drive motor 25, a conductive gear 26 for transmitting the power of the drive motor 25 to the drive gear 13, a pulley 27, and a belt 28.

The drive gear 14 is rotatably supported about a rotation axis 14A along the direction of the arrow (α). The drive gears 14 are arranged in two sets at intervals in the arrow (β) direction in the transport unit 20. Further, each set of drive gears 14 has a pair of small gears 14B. The upper portion of the small gear 14 B is exposed from the opening 22 A of the support plate 22 and meshes with the flat gear 12 of the transport tray 11 to transport the transport tray 11 in the arrow (β) direction.
The drive mechanism 24 is disposed below the transport unit 20 as shown in FIG. The drive mechanism 24 includes a drive motor 29, a conductive gear 30 for transmitting power of the drive motor 29 to the drive gear 14, a pulley 31, and a belt 32.

In the transport unit 20 as described above, any of the drive gears 13 or 14 can be rotationally driven by driving the

drive mechanisms

23 and 24 arbitrarily. As a result, the transport tray 11 on the support plate 22 can be transported in the direction of the arrow (α) or the arrow (β) through the drive gears 13 and 14 and the flat gear 12 meshing with these.
In the transport unit 20, as shown in FIG. 7, when the transport tray 11 is transported in the direction of the arrow (.alpha.) Or the arrow (.beta.) By the rotational drive of the drive gears 13, 14, flat teeth of the flat gear 12 are obtained. By sliding the tip (indicated by reference numeral 12 B) with the upper surface of the support plate 22, the transport tray 11 is guided in the arrow (α) or arrow (β) direction.

Further, in the transfer device 101, one of the drive gears 13/14 of the moving gears 13/14 adjacent to each other along the transfer direction (arrow (.alpha.) Or (.beta.) Direction) in order to prevent the buildup or clumping of the gears. The backlash 15A between the flat gear 12 and the backlash 15B between the other drive gear 13/14 and the flat gear 12 are adjusted to have different intervals.
For example, in the conveyance device 101 shown in FIG. 8, in the two conveyance units 20 disposed adjacent to each other in the conveyance direction (arrow (α) direction), the drive gear 13 (which is a driving gear A in one conveyance unit 20). Backlash between the flat gear 12 and the back gear 15B between the drive gear 13 (this is called drive gear B) and the flat gear 12 in the other transport unit 20 at different intervals. ing.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the backlash 15A between the drive gear 13 (drive gear A) and the plane gear 12 in one of the transport units 20 is in the transport direction (arrow (.alpha.) Direction). It is provided offset to the rear side of). The backlashes 15B between the drive gear 13 (drive gear B) and the plane gear 12 in the other transport unit 20 are provided at substantially equal intervals on the front and back sides in the same direction (arrow (α) direction).

The

backlashes

15A and 15B are formed at positions corresponding to the reference pitch circle of the drive gear 13, and mechanically adjust the relative rotation angle of the adjacent drive gear 13 or control the rotation of each drive gear 13. To realize.
Then, in the transport apparatus 101 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 described above, the phase shift of the drive gear 13 is realized, and as shown in FIG. 10, the flat gear 12 is used as the other drive gear 13 (drive gear B). It is possible to prevent the occurrence of the situation where the vehicle rides on or the gears are firmly meshed and become inoperable.

The

backlashes

15A and 15B of the drive gears A and B shown in FIG. 9 are formed by two conveyance units 20 arranged adjacent to each other in the conveyance direction (arrow (α) direction). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and one of the drive gears 14 (referred to as a drive gear A) and the plane gear 12 may be used in two conveyance units 20 arranged adjacent to each other in the conveyance direction (arrow (β) direction). The backlash 15A between them and the backlash 15B between the drive gear 14 (referred to as a drive gear B) and the flat gear 12 in the other transport unit 20 may be provided at different intervals.

The positional relationship between the drive gears A and B between the arrow (α) direction and the arrow (β) direction as described above is summarized as shown in FIG.
That is, in the transport device 101 shown in FIG. 11, the drive gears A and B are shown by the drive gears 13 and 14 adjacent to each other in the transport unit 20 arranged in the arrow (α) and (β) direction matrix. By providing the

backlashes

15A and 15B, the meshing failure between the flat gear 12 and the drive gears 13 and 14 is prevented.

As described above in detail, according to the transport apparatus 101 shown in the embodiment, one drive gear 13 of the drive gears 13 and 14 adjacent to each other along the transport direction (arrow (α) or arrow (β) direction) The backlash 15A between the flat gear 12 on the surface of the transport tray 11 and the backlash 15B between the other drive gears 13 and 14 and the flat gear 12 are provided at different intervals.
Thus, for example, in the conveying device 101, the backlash 15A between the drive gears 13 and 14 and the flat gear 12 in one of the conveying units 20 is moved rearward in the conveying direction (arrow (.alpha.) Or arrow (.beta.) Direction). The backlash 15B between the drive gears 13 and 14 and the flat gear 12 in the other transport unit 20 is provided offset to the side and both front and rear sides in the transport direction (arrow (α) or arrow (β) direction) It is possible to shift the phase of the drive gear.

As a result, in the conveyance device 101, meshing failure (for example, the flat gear 12 is the other drive) when the flat gear 12 of the transfer tray 11 transfers from one

drive gear

13, 14 to the

other drive gear

13, 14. Adjustment can be made to prevent in advance the problem that the

gears

13 and 14 ride on and the gears get stuck and solidify, and it becomes possible to realize good conveyance of the conveyance tray 11.
Further, in the conveyance device 101 of the present embodiment, the plane gear 12 is installed only at a limited place called the lower surface of the conveyance tray 11 and the entire top surface of the conveyance unit 20 which becomes the traveling path of the conveyance tray 11 is It is not installed. For this reason, the cost concerning installation of a plane gear can be held down, and it can contribute also to simplification of the whole composition.

In the conveyance device 101, the

backlashes

15A and 15B are respectively generated by the drive gears 13 and 14 (drive gears A and B) of two conveyance units 20 adjacent in the conveyance direction (arrow (.alpha.) Or arrow (.beta.) Direction). It is set. The present invention is not limited thereto, and as shown in FIG. 12, two drive gears 13 and 14 (drives) located in one transport unit 20 and adjacent in the transport direction (arrow (α) or arrow (β) direction)

Similar backlashes

15A and 15B may be set between the gears A and B).
Further, in the conveyance device 101 shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the recessed portion 33 is provided at the edge of the conveyance unit 20 near the drive gear A so that the arrangement of the drive gears A and B becomes as set, and the drive gear A convex portion 34 may be provided at the edge of the transport unit 20 near B, and the regular arrangement of the drive gears A and B may be realized by fitting the concave portion 33 and the convex portion 34. Here, the backlash of the drive gears A and B of the transport unit 20 can be easily achieved by providing only the concave portion 33 in the transport unit 20 corresponding to the drive gear A and only the convex portion 34 in the transport unit corresponding to the drive gear B. Can be recognized from the outside. Then, by alternately arranging the transport unit 20 having the concave portion 33 and the transport unit 20 having the convex portion 34, a predetermined backlash can be set between the transport units 20 in the entire transport region.
In addition, since the transport unit 20 arranges the drive mechanism 23 in a range overlapping with the support plate 22 in a plan view, there are no components that protrude around the support plate 22. Therefore, a continuous conveyance surface can be configured by laying the conveyance units 20 all over the area to be conveyed without gaps.

(Modification 1)
In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the backlashes 15B between the other drive gear 13/14 (drive gear B) and the plane gear 12 are provided at substantially equal intervals on both the front and back sides in the arrow (α) direction. I did it.
The present invention is not limited to this, and in the first modification, as shown in FIG. 13, the backlash 15B between the other drive gear 13/14 (drive gear B) and the plane gear 12 can be It may be provided at different intervals on both sides.
At this time, the backlash 15B (15B1) on the front side of the drive gear 13/14 (drive gear B) is set to a size larger than the backlash 15B (15B2) on the rear side of the drive gear 13/14 (drive gear B). It is good.
Then, in the first modification, by forming the backlash 15B (15B1) on the front side of the drive gear 13/14 (drive gear B) larger, the drive gear 13/14 (drive) after meshing with the plane gear 12 is realized. The movable range of the gear B) can be secured, and the occurrence of a situation where the gears become solid and become inoperable can be prevented.

(Modification 2)
In the second modification, as shown in FIG. 14, with respect to the teeth 12 located at the front side (arrow (α) direction side) end of the flat gear 12 meshing with the drive gear 13/14, the front edge of the tooth tip 12B You may provide the chamfer 12C which chamfered.
Then, in such a chamfered portion 12C, when the drive gear 13/14 (drive gear B) meshes with the plane gear 12, the gears collide with each other, and the plane gear 12 rides on the other drive gears 13 and 14. You can avoid the situation in advance.

(Modification 3)
In the conveyance device 101 of the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, the conveyance tray 11 is an arrow (see FIG. 15) through the flat gear 12 meshing with the drive gears 13 and 14 by selectively driving the drive gears 13/14. α) or transport in the arrow (β) direction.
In addition to this, in the conveyance device 101, the conveyance tray 11 may be conveyed in the oblique direction indicated by the arrow a direction or the arrow b direction by simultaneously driving the drive gears 13 and 14 in the predetermined direction.

(Modification 4)
In the above embodiment, the conveyance unit 20 has a square shape, and the pair of drive gears 13 and 14 in the conveyance unit 20 are arranged at positions symmetrical to the center point O (or center line) of the conveyance unit 20. doing.
It is not limited to this configuration. In the fourth modification, as shown in FIG. 16, the outer dimensions (L1, L1 ′) of the transport unit 20, the distance (L2, L2 ′) of the drive gears 13 or 14 in the transport unit 20, the drive gears 13 or 14 The width (L3, L3 ') of the above may be set as appropriate, and the interval (L4) between the drive gears 13 of the adjacent conveyance units 20 may be set as appropriate.
At that time, the outer shape of the transport unit 20 is set to have an integer ratio to the circumferential length of the pitch circle diameter of the drive gears 13 and 14 in the corresponding direction (arrow (α) or arrow (β) direction). Thus, the control of the transport unit 20 may be simplified.
A ball caster (not shown) rolling on the upper surface of the support plate 22 of the transport unit 20 may be provided in the vicinity of the lower surface corner of the transport tray 11. Part of the weight of the transport tray 11 may be received by the support plate 22 via the ball caster, and the load on the drive mechanism including the teeth 12 and the drive gears 13 and 14 may be reduced.

(Modification 5)
In the conveyance device 101 shown in the above embodiment, the drive gears 25 and 29 in the same direction are driven to interlock with each other via the

belts

28 and 32 by the

drive motors

25 and 29, but such a configuration It is not limited to. Motors can be individually connected to the drive gears 13 and 14 in each row, and the same effect can be obtained even if the motor control is performed to shift the phase in a pseudo manner.
Further, as shown in FIG. 17, the control unit C for controlling the

drive motors

25 and 29 is disposed outside the case 40 of the transport apparatus 101, and operated by an operation signal from the personal computer P similarly installed outside. You may.

(Modification 6)
In the above embodiment, the transport units 20 provided with two drive gears A and B having different backlash amounts are arranged in a matrix. It is also effective to change the orientation of the transport unit 20 according to the transport direction of the transport tray 11. This modification 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIGS. 18-21, the drive gear A is disposed on the left side and the lower side, and the transport unit on which the drive gear B is disposed on the right side and the upper side is denoted by reference numeral 20A. The transport unit 20A is rotated 90 degrees to drive the gear A is placed on the left side and the upper side, and a transport unit on which the drive gear B is placed on the right side and the lower side is denoted by reference numeral 20B.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show an example in which only the transport units 20A are arranged in a matrix. In this example, when moving in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction in the drawing, the transport tray 11 is delivered between the gears A and B having mutually different phases between the transport units 20A adjacent to each other. At the time of this delivery, the drive gears B are aligned in the left-right direction and the drive gears A are aligned in the vertical direction. That is, since the drive gears A and B not related to delivery are arranged in the same phase, it is difficult to cause biting and the like in delivery in different directions, and can be transported smoothly. On the other hand, since the transport tray 11 is delivered between the lower left drive gear B and the upper right drive gear A in the oblique direction indicated by the arrow (γ) in the figure, the phases are different. Smooth transport is difficult.

FIGS. 20 and 21 show an example in which the transport units 20A and the transport units 20B obtained by rotating the disposition of the drive gears A and B by 90 degrees are alternately arranged in a matrix. In this example, when moving in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction in the drawing, the transport tray is delivered between the gears A and B having different phases between the transport units 20A adjacent to each other. At this time, the transport tray 11 is delivered between the lower left drive gear B and the upper right drive gear B in the oblique direction indicated by the arrow (γ) in the drawing, so that the phases become the same. Therefore, it can be transported smoothly.

As described in the sixth modification, the arrangement shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 or the arrangement shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 can be appropriately selected depending on whether the conveyance tray 11 should be conveyed in the vertical and horizontal directions or in the oblique direction. Smooth meshing of the drive gears A and B can be realized.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and design changes and the like within the scope of the present invention are also included.

This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-218643 filed on Nov. 13, 2017, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a transport apparatus and a transport method applied to work transport on a production line, container transport on a distribution warehouse, and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 conveyance tray 2 plane gear 2A tooth 3 drive gear

3A drive gear

3B drive gear 4 conveyance unit 5A backlash 5B backlash 11 conveyance tray 12 plane gear 12A tooth 13 drive gear 14 drive gear 15A backlash 15B backlash 15 conveyance unit 100 conveyance device 101 conveyance device 101 conveyance apparatus

Claims

A driven body,
A flat gear provided on the surface of the driven body and having teeth arranged in a predetermined direction;
And at least one transport unit having a plurality of drive gears for transporting the driven body in the predetermined direction by meshing with the flat gear and transmitting power to the flat gear.
The plurality of drive gears include first and second drive gears adjacent to each other in the predetermined direction, and a first backlash positional relationship between the first drive gear and the plane gear is the second And a second backlash positional relationship between the drive gear and the plane gear.
2. The conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the first backlash is deviated to the rear side in the predetermined direction, and the second backlash exists on both the front side and the rear side in the predetermined direction.
The second backlash includes a backlash positioned on the front side in the predetermined direction, and a backlash positioned on the rear side in the predetermined direction and having substantially the same size as the backlash positioned on the front side. The conveyance apparatus as described in.
The second backlash may include a backlash positioned on the front side in the predetermined direction, and a backlash positioned on the rear side in the predetermined direction and having a size different from that of the backlash positioned on the front side. Transport device as described.
The at least one transport unit is arranged in a matrix and includes a plurality of transport units adjacent to each other,
5. The conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein each of the plurality of conveying units has at least two sets of first and second drive gears whose rotational directions are different from each other.
The transport apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first drive gear and the second drive gear are provided in the same transport unit.
The at least one conveyance unit includes a first conveyance unit provided with the first drive gear, and a second conveyance unit provided with the second drive gear and adjacent to the first conveyance unit. The transport apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which comprises
The at least one transport unit includes a support plate for guiding the driven body, and a drive motor provided immediately below the support plate and driving at least one of the plurality of drive gears. The transfer device according to any one of to 7.
The conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a tip of a tooth located at an end of the flat gear in front of the predetermined direction is chamfered.
The plurality of drive gears of at least one conveyance unit are engaged with a plane gear provided on the surface of the driven body to transmit power to the plane gear, thereby conveying the driven body in a predetermined direction,
The plurality of drive gears include first and second drive gears adjacent to each other in the predetermined direction, and a positional relationship of backlash between the first drive gear and the plane gear is the second drive. A conveying method different from a positional relationship of backlash between a gear and the plane gear.