JP5008228B2 - Article direction control device and processing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an article direction control device and a processing device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, for articles in which beverages such as soft drinks and various foodstuffs are filled in a packaging container such as a synthetic resin container, a paper container, a metal container or a glass container, on the outer peripheral surface of the container, It is requested to perform additional processing such as display of contents, printing processing that indicates the date of manufacture and expiration date, and attachment processing that attaches accessories such as straws. In the article transporting process, an ink jet method or the like is used.
[0003]
Normally, in the transporting process, individual articles transported by an appropriate transport mechanism are in a state as they are because the front direction (for example, the direction of the surface to be the front when displaying the article) is not constant. When the additional processing is performed by the additional processing device disposed at the place facing the conveyance path, the location where the additional processing is performed on the article is not constant. For example, the location of the product name of the article Additional processing is applied to important display locations, and the display and appearance of the product are greatly impaired. Therefore, when performing additional processing, the front direction of the article is controlled. Yes.
[0004]
As an apparatus for controlling the direction of an article, for example, a rotation conveyance mechanism that transfers a plurality of conveyance stands on which articles are placed along an arcuate conveyance path, and a conveyance stand rotation mechanism that rotates the conveyance stand. There is a known configuration that controls the front direction of an article using an optical sensor.
[0005]
However, in this kind of article direction control device, the rotation conveyance mechanism and the conveyance table rotation mechanism are connected to different drive sources, which not only increases the installation area occupied by the entire device, There is a problem that the number of parts increases and it is difficult to manufacture cost-effectively.
[0006]
To solve such a problem, a fixed drive fixed to the rotary drive shaft in the rotary transport mechanism is engaged with a rotation gear fixed to each transport base in the transport base rotation mechanism, so that a common drive source A configuration in which these components can be driven is known (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-002030).
[0007]
Thus, in such an article direction control device, the rotation direction of the conveyance table is uniquely determined by the rotation direction of the rotation drive shaft in the rotation conveyance mechanism, so that the setting condition of the rotation direction is adjusted independently. This means that, in the case of arranging a plurality of conveyance lines, in addition to being greatly restricted by the arrangement pattern of the conveyance lines, the space in which the direction control device should be installed is made effective. This is a cause of the problem that it cannot be used.
[0008]
For example, in order to obtain a high processing capacity (productivity), it may be necessary to branch one transport line (conveyor line) into a plurality of parts and install an article direction control device in each transport line. In this case, since the installation location (space) can be used effectively and the workability of the maintenance work is good, the article direction control device may be arranged symmetrically on the outside of each conveyance line. Preferred (see FIG. 4).
However, when performing the additional processing, it may be necessary to change the front direction of the article by a certain angle. However, if the directional control devices having the same configuration are simply arranged symmetrically, the direction of one article may be changed. In the control device, even if the front direction of the article can be set to a desired direction with a small rotation angle, the other article direction control device is large in order to perform the desired direction control. There arises a problem that it must be rotated at a rotation angle.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made based on the circumstances as described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a rotation conveyance mechanism and a conveyance table rotation mechanism driven by a common drive source, respectively, and to properly rotate articles. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an article direction control device that can be operated in a direction, and thus can reliably control the direction of the article, and can be disposed with a small installation occupation area.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an article that can be arranged with a relatively small installation area without greatly changing the structure of each apparatus even when a plurality of transfer lines are provided. It is to provide a direction control device.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus capable of reliably performing additional processing without deteriorating the appearance of an article.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  The article direction control device of the present invention controls the front direction of the article,
  A plurality of carriages on which articles to be direction-controlled are placed;A rotating disk in which a plurality of bearing portions that rotatably hold a rotating shaft of the conveying table to which the conveying table is fixed are rotatably fixed, and the rotating disk is driven to rotate.A rotation conveyance mechanism for transferring the conveyance table along an arc-shaped conveyance path, and a conveyance table rotation mechanism for rotating each conveyance table,
  The rotating and conveying mechanism is configured such that the rotating circle is connected to the rotating circle via a power transmission system including a transmission gear fixed to a driving shaft of a driving source and a main gear meshing with the transmission gear. A revolving drive shaft supported to be driven to rotate about an axis extending perpendicular to the plate;
  The transport table rotating mechanism is supported so as to be rotationally driven through another power transmission system different from the power transmission system in the rotary transport mechanism, with the revolution drive shaft inserted therein. A rotation drive shaft arranged coaxially with the revolution drive shaft, and the other power transmission system is fixed to the revolution drive shaft in the rotary conveyance mechanism and is integrated with the main gear; Fixed to a gear train composed of a plurality of relay gears for connecting the rotation drive shaft and the interlocking gear, to the rotation drive gear fixed to the upper end of the rotation drive shaft, and to the transport base rotation shaft meshing with the rotation drive gear. And the driven gear for rotation
  Each carrier is rotated via a rotation driven gear that rotates at a rotation direction and a rotation speed determined according to the rotation speed difference between the rotation speed of the rotating disk and the rotation speed of the rotation drive shaft. RuIt is characterized by that.
[0012]
In the article direction control device of the present invention, the transport table rotation mechanism includes a gear train composed of a plurality of gears, and is driven at a gear ratio set in advance so that the transport table is in a predetermined rotation state. It can be set as a structure.
[0013]
In the article direction control apparatus according to the present invention, the gear train includes a first relay gear and a second relay gear fixed integrally with each other, the first relay gear meshes with the interlocking gear, and the second relay gear is used for rotation. Meshed with a third relay gear fixed to the drive shaft,
It can be set as the structure by which the rotation direction of a conveyance stand is set according to the gear ratio of a 1st relay gear and a 2nd relay gear.
[0014]
The processing apparatus of the present invention includes the above-described article direction control device, and performs additional processing on the outer peripheral surface of the article in a region downstream of the direction control region in the conveyance path of the direction control device. A processing device is provided.
[0015]
In the processing apparatus of the present invention, the additional processing apparatus can be configured to be driven by a cam mechanism with a common direction control device and drive source.
[0016]
[Action]
According to the direction control apparatus for articles according to the present invention, basically, the direction control processing of a large number of articles is performed continuously without interrupting the transfer thereof, so that high time efficiency can be obtained. A dedicated drive source for the transport table rotation mechanism is not required, and the transport path is arcuate, so that the area occupied by the entire apparatus can be reduced. In addition, since the transport table rotation mechanism is driven via a separate power transmission system different from the rotation transport mechanism, the rotation direction of the transport table is set regardless of the rotation direction of the revolution drive shaft in the rotation transport mechanism. Therefore, the transport table can be operated in a state controlled to a predetermined rotation state.
[0017]
In addition, since the rotation drive shaft in the conveyance table rotation mechanism is arranged coaxially with the revolution drive shaft in the rotation conveyance mechanism, all the conveyance tables can be made without complicating the structure of the conveyance table rotation mechanism. Can be reliably operated in a predetermined rotation state, and a plurality of power transmission systems can be combined, so that the installation occupation area of the entire apparatus can be reduced.
[0018]
According to the processing apparatus of the present invention, since the direction control process of the article is reliably performed by the direction control apparatus, it is possible to reliably perform a desired additional process without impairing the appearance of the article.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this specification, the “front direction of an article” refers to a direction serving as a reference for direction control in an article to be direction-controlled for convenience of explanation. It is expressed and does not necessarily mean a direction that is uniquely determined in each actual article.
Therefore, a certain article has a direction that is naturally recognized as the front due to the nature of the article, and for example, the name of the product that is displayed on the front when displayed as a product in a store or the like is displayed large. The direction of the location is usually the front direction. In this case, the direction of the product name display location can be the front direction. However, setting the direction as the front direction is not essential in the present invention, and even if a different direction is set as the front direction, no particular problem occurs.
In addition, in an article in which there is no direction recognized as the front or an unclear article, an arbitrarily selected direction can be set as the front direction.
[0020]
FIG. 1 is a plan view for explaining the outline of the configuration of an example of the processing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view showing the outline of the configuration of the direction control device in the processing apparatus shown in FIG.
The articles W to be processed by this processing apparatus each have a frustoconical shape that gradually increases as the outer diameter increases upward, so-called cup-shaped identical outer shapes. A mark M, which is a detected portion detected by a sensor described later, is formed in advance at a specific angle with respect to the front direction. In each article W, the mark M may be formed in the front direction.
[0021]
The direction control device in this processing apparatus moves a belt conveyor 10 that moves in a predetermined direction (rightward in FIG. 1) and conveys articles W, and sequential articles W that are conveyed by the belt conveyor 10 to the belt conveyor. The screw conveyor 11 that is adjusted so as to be arranged at equal pitch intervals on the belt 10, the rotary table 20 that is disposed at a position facing the belt conveyor 10 and that performs the direction control processing of the article W, and is rotationally driven to move the article W to the screw conveyor. 11 includes an entry side star wheel 12 that sequentially supplies the rotary table 20 to the rotary table 20, and an outgoing side star wheel 13 that is driven to rotate and discharges the article W from the rotary table 20 to the belt conveyor 10.
[0022]
The pitch of the article holding portion 12 </ b> A of the entry side star wheel 12 and the pitch of the article holding portion 13 </ b> A of the exit side star wheel 13 are set to coincide with the pitch of the transport table 50 transferred by the rotary table 20.
Both the entry side star wheel 12 and the exit side star wheel 13 are rotationally driven in the same direction (clockwise in the illustrated example) at a constant speed, and the rotary table 20 is a constant speed corresponding to the star wheels 12 and 13. Thus, it is rotationally driven in a direction different from these directions (counterclockwise in the illustrated example), and an arcuate conveyance path R is formed.
[0023]
  As shown in FIG. 2, the turntable 20 has a cylindrical shape extending in the vertical direction and rotatably supported by an upwardly extending cylindrical support member 16 fixed to a horizontal substrate 15 constituting the machine frame.Upper end portion of revolution drive shaft 21A rotating disk 22 that is fixed to the horizontal substrate 15 and extends parallel to the horizontal substrate 15ByIt is configured.
[0024]
A plurality of, for example, twelve bearing portions 23 are provided at equiangular intervals on the outer peripheral edge portion of the rotating disk 22, and a conveyor base rotating shaft 51 extending in the vertical direction rotates on each of the bearing portions 23. It is held freely.
A transport table 50 on which one article W is placed is fixed to the upper end of the transport table rotation shaft 51.
[0025]
The rotary table 20 includes a rotary transport mechanism that rotates the rotary disk 22 around a rotation center axis C that extends in the vertical direction and revolves each of the transport tables 50 around the rotation center axis C, and each of the transport tables 50. There are provided two drive mechanisms of a transport table rotation mechanism that rotates the carrier.
[0026]
The rotary transport mechanism meshes with the drive gear 60 as a drive source disposed so that the drive shaft 61 extends upward, the transmission gear 30 fixed to the drive shaft 61 of the drive motor 60, and the transmission gear 30. The revolving drive shaft 21 includes a main gear 31 provided at a lower end portion of the revolving drive shaft 21 and a revolving drive shaft 21.
[0027]
The transport table rotating mechanism is coaxial with the interlocking gear 40 fixed to the revolving drive shaft 21 in the rotating transport mechanism and integrated with the main gear 31, and with the revolving drive shaft 21 inserted therein. Are fixed integrally to the upper end of the rotation drive shaft 41 and a gear train 42 composed of a plurality of relay gears connecting the rotation drive shaft 41 and the interlocking gear 40. The rotation driving gear 43, the rotation driven gear 44 fixed to the conveyance table rotating shaft 51 that meshes with the rotation driving gear 43, the clutch 45 supported at the lower portion of the bearing portion 23, and the conveyance table 50. And a direction maintaining mechanism 46 for maintaining the posture of the article W placed on the rotation drive shaft 41. The rotation drive shaft 41 is separated from the revolution drive shaft 21 by a drive motor 60 common to the rotation conveyance mechanism. Different from each other It is supported so as to be rotated via the power transmission system.
[0028]
The gear train 42 includes a plurality of, for example, three relay gears, that is, a first relay gear 42A that meshes with the interlocking gear 40 that is rotatably supported by an upwardly extending fixed shaft 17 that is fixed to the horizontal substrate 15, and the first relay gear. 2A, a second relay gear 42B fixed integrally with 42A, and a third relay gear 42C fixed to the lower end of the rotation drive shaft 41 and meshing with the second relay gear 42B. In the example shown in FIG. The diameter of the first relay gear 42A is set larger than that of the second relay gear 42B.
[0029]
The clutch 45 is in a connected state in which the driven gear 44 for rotation and the carriage rotating shaft 51 are coupled in the direction of rotation by a control circuit described later, and a disconnected state in which the connection state is released and the both are free. Can be switched between.
[0030]
The direction maintaining mechanism 46 is fixed to and supported by the rotating disk 22 in a state parallel to the rotating disk 22 at a lower level of the rotating disk 22, and the direction maintaining mechanism 46. A sliding plate 48 fixed to the lower end of each of the transport table rotation shafts 51 so as to frictionally slide with respect to the upper surface, and a spring (not shown) that elastically contacts the sliding plate 48 with the support substrate 47. And a friction material 48A made of a brake lining material such as leather having a large coefficient of friction with respect to the support substrate 47 is provided on the lower surface portion of the sliding plate 48.
[0031]
On the upper surface of the rotating disk 22, a sensor 62 that detects the mark M of the article W placed on the conveying table 50 corresponding to each of the conveying tables 50 includes a center position of the conveying table 50 and the rotating disk. In addition to being disposed on a straight line connecting the center position of 22 (see FIG. 1), an overturn prevention material 63 for the article W is disposed in correspondence with each of the transport bases 50.
[0032]
A cylindrical shaft member 25 is supported on the support member 16 via a bearing provided on the inner peripheral surface thereof so as to be rotatable about the rotation center axis C. The shaft member 25 includes a rotating disk. An encoder (not shown) for detecting the rotational angle state of 22 is provided. The encoder is connected to a control circuit 26 disposed below the shaft member 25, and the detected rotation angle data of the rotating disk 22 is supplied to the control circuit 26.
The lead wires of the sensors 62 on the rotating disk 22 extend downward through the shaft member 25 and are connected to the control circuit 26.
[0033]
The control circuit 26 has a function of recognizing the position of each carrier 50 in the arcuate conveyance path R based on the rotation angle data from the encoder.
In the transport path R, the direction control region α is set in advance over a predetermined angle range from a position on the downstream side by a slight angle from the starting point position (see FIG. 1), but the control circuit is configured by the transport base 50. Is transferred and reaches the direction control region α, and has a function of connecting the clutch related to the transport table 50 and a function of operating the sensor 62 related to the transport table 50, and The sensor 62 has a function of disengaging the clutch when it detects the mark M of the article W placed on the transport table 50.
[0034]
The screw conveyor 11, the entry star wheel 12, and the exit star wheel 13 are connected to each other by a drive force transmission mechanism such as a flexible shaft or a gear so as to be commonly driven by a drive motor 60.
[0035]
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, a star wheel drive gear 36 that meshes with the main gear 31 in the rotary conveyance mechanism is provided on the rotation shaft 35 of the entry side star wheel 12 that penetrates the horizontal substrate 15 and extends in the vertical direction. Thus, the power from the common drive motor 60 is transmitted to the entry-side star wheel 12 via the main gear 31, and the star wheel 12 is rotationally driven.
The rotary shaft 35 is provided with a sub-transmission gear 37A at a level below the horizontal substrate 15. The sub-transmission gear 37A is connected to a screw conveyor drive gear 39 via a driven gear 37B and a belt transmission mechanism 38. Thus, the power from the common drive motor 60 is transmitted to the screw conveyor 11 and the screw conveyor 11 is driven.
[0036]
In the above, a specific numerical example of each gear constituting the transport table rotation mechanism is shown, for example, the gear ratio of the interlocking gear 40 and the first relay gear 42A is 1: 1, the second relay gear 42B and the third relay gear 42C. The gear ratio between the rotation drive gear 43 and the rotation driven gear 44 is 5: 1, and the gear rotation ratio between the main gear 31 and the rotation driven gear 44 is 1: 4. .
[0037]
In this processing apparatus, an additional processing apparatus disposition area is set in the conveyance path R of the direction control apparatus between the end point on the downstream side of the direction control area α, and in this additional processing apparatus disposition area, Further, an additional processing device 90 that performs appropriate additional processing on the article W to be transferred is provided.
[0038]
The additional processing device 90 is not particularly limited, and specific examples thereof include a labeler for attaching a label to the outer peripheral surface of the article W, and an accessory such as a straw or spoon attached to the outer peripheral surface of the article W. Alternatively, an applicator to be attached, an ink jet printer that prints a predetermined display on the outer peripheral surface of the article W, or a printing processing device such as a laser marker can be used.
As an applicator, for example, a hot melt spraying device that sprays an adhesive that is cooled and solidified onto a predetermined portion of an article, or a cutter device that divides a plurality of accessories supplied in a connected state into individual accessories In addition, a sticking device for sticking the accessory to the place where the adhesive adheres is included.
[0039]
The additional processing device 90 is driven by a cam mechanism (not shown) through an additional processing device drive gear 64 fixed to the drive shaft 61 of the drive motor 60, sharing the direction control device and the drive motor 60. Is done.
[0040]
Hereinafter, the operation of the direction control device will be described.
When the drive motor 60 is operated, the screw conveyor 11, the respective star wheels 12 and 13, and the rotary table 20 are driven, and each of the articles W sequentially conveyed by the belt conveyor 10 is input by the screw conveyor 11. After the pitch is adjusted to an equal pitch that matches the pitch of the article holding portions 12A of the side star wheel 12, the rotary table 20 that is held by the entry side star wheel 12 and rotates at a constant speed at the starting point of the transport path R Supplied to the transport table 50, the transport table 50 is transported along the circular transport path R integrally with the rotating disk 22 with the article W placed thereon.
[0041]
When the rotary disk 22 is rotationally driven, the bearing 23, the rotation driven gear 44, and the direction maintaining mechanism 46 that are integrally fixed to the rotation disk 22 include the rotation drive gear 43 and the rotation drive shaft. 41, the planetary gear structure is revolved around the rotation center axis C. At this time, the rotation driven gear 44 and the rotation drive gear 43 are rotatably supported by the rotation drive shaft 41. Therefore, the rotational force of the rotating disk 22 is practically unaffected.
On the other hand, when the main gear 31 is rotated, the rotation drive shaft 41 is driven via the interlocking gear 40, the first relay gear 42A, the second relay gear 42B, and the third relay gear 42C. When there is a difference between the rotation speed V1 of the plate 22 and the rotation speed V2 of the rotation drive shaft 41 rotated via the interlocking gear 40 and the gear train 42, the rotation speed and the rotation direction corresponding to the difference are different. The driven gear 44 for rotation is rotated in a controlled state.
[0042]
However, since the clutch 45 is in the disconnected state, the rotational force of the driven gear 44 for rotation is not transmitted to the transport table rotation shaft 51, and the sliding plate 48 at the lower end of the transport table rotation shaft 51 is supported with respect to the support substrate 47. Since rotation is prohibited by the frictional engagement, the driven gear 44 for rotation simply idles around the conveyance table rotation shaft 51. At this time, the sensor 62 transferred together with the transfer table 50 is in an inoperative state.
[0043]
Then, the rotation angle state of the turntable 20 is monitored by an encoder provided on the shaft member 25. When a certain conveyance table 50 reaches the direction control region α, the rotation table 20 receives a rotation angle data from the control circuit. In response to the command signal, the clutch 45 related to the transport table 50 is brought into a connected state, and as a result, the transport table rotating shaft 51 is integrally coupled to the driven gear 44 for rotation via the clutch 45, and The rotational force of the driven gear 44 for rotation caused by meshing with the drive gear 43 is transmitted to the transport table rotation shaft 51. However, since the rotational force by the driven gear 44 for rotation is so-called forced, the transport table rotating shaft 51 rotates while sliding the sliding plate 48 at the lower end thereof with respect to the support substrate 47, thereby The transport table 50 rotates while being transported along the transport path R.
Then, at the same time as the clutch 45 is brought into the connected state, the sensor 62 related to the transport table 50 is brought into the activated state by the control circuit.
[0044]
As described above, the article W placed on the conveyance table 50 rotates due to the rotation of the conveyance table 50 transferred in the direction control region α, but the mark M of the article W reaches the position facing the sensor 62. Then, the sensor 62 detects this mark M, and the clutch 45 is disengaged by a signal generated from the control circuit 26 in response to this mark detection signal. As a result, the transport base rotating shaft 51 is free from the driven gear 44 for rotation. Thus, the rotation of the transport table rotation shaft 51 is stopped by the frictional engagement between the sliding plate 48 and the support substrate 47, whereby the rotation of the transport table 50 is stopped. Here, in the article W on the transport table 50, the mark M faces the sensor 62, that is, the mark M faces the center direction of the turntable 20, and the front direction of the article W is the transport path R. On the other hand, the direction is controlled in a rotational state directed in a specific fixed direction.
[0045]
Thereafter, the transport table 50 is transported along the transport path R by the rotary table 20 in a state in which the rotation of the transport table 50 is prohibited by the action of the direction maintaining mechanism 46 and the front direction is controlled. After the appropriate processing is performed by the additional processing device 90 in the additional processing device disposition area, it is received by the article holding portion 13A of the exit side star wheel 13 at the end point of the conveying path R and is received by the belt conveyor 10. Discharged.
[0046]
According to the direction control device as described above, basically, the direction control processing of a large number of articles W is continuously performed without interrupting the transfer thereof, so that high time efficiency can be obtained, A dedicated drive source for the transport table rotation mechanism is not required, and the transport path R has an arc shape, so that the area occupied by the entire apparatus can be reduced. In addition, since the transport table rotation mechanism is driven via a separate power transmission system different from the rotation transport mechanism, the transport table 50 can be operated regardless of the rotation state of the revolution drive shaft 21 in the rotation transport mechanism. it can.
[0047]
In other words, the conveyance platform 50 has a rotational speed difference between the revolution speed of the conveyance platform 50 (the rotation speed of the rotating disk 22) and the rotation speed of the rotation drive shaft 41 rotated through the interlocking gear 40 and the gear train 42. Rotation is performed via a rotation driven gear 44 that rotates at a rotation direction and a rotation speed determined according to the rotation. For example, when the rotation speed of the rotation drive shaft 41 is set to be smaller than the revolution speed of the conveyance table 50, the rotation direction of the conveyance table 50 is the rotation direction of the conveyance table 50 (the rotation of the rotating disk 22). Direction), and the rotation speed of the rotation drive shaft 41 is set to be larger than the revolution speed of the conveyance table 50, the rotation direction of the conveyance table 50 is the revolution direction of the conveyance table 50. It will be in a different direction. Further, the rotation speed of the transport table 50 increases as the difference from the revolution speed of the transport table 50 increases.
[0048]
Accordingly, the rotation state of the carriage 50, such as the rotation speed and the rotation direction, is determined according to the configuration of the gear transmission mechanism including the gear train 42, for example, the gear ratio. The degree of freedom in selecting the rotation condition setting such as is increased. In addition, the rotation direction of the transport table 50 can be changed without significantly changing the structure of the direction control device.
[0049]
For example, in the direction control device of the illustrated example, the diameter of the first relay gear 42A is set larger than the diameter of the second relay gear 42B, whereby the rotation drive shaft 41 is rotated via the interlocking gear 40 and the gear train 42. As a result, the conveyance table 50 is rotated in a direction (clockwise) different from the rotation direction of the rotary disk 22.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the diameter of the first relay gear 42A is set smaller than that of the second relay gear 42B, the rotational speed of the rotation drive shaft 41 rotated through the interlocking gear 40 and the gear train 42 is increased. However, as a result of being relatively smaller than the rotational speed of the rotating disk 22, the transport table 50 can be rotated in the same direction (counterclockwise) as the rotating direction of the rotating disk 22. Here, a specific numerical example of each gear in the transport table rotation mechanism configured as shown in FIG. 4 is shown. For example, the gear ratio between the interlocking gear 40 and the first relay gear 42A is 1.8: 1, and the second relay gear. The gear ratio between the gear 42B and the third relay gear 42C is 1: 1, the gear ratio between the rotation drive gear 43 and the rotation driven gear 44 is 5: 1, and the gear rotation ratio between the main gear 31 and the rotation driven gear 44. Is 1: -4.
[0050]
Further, since the degree of freedom in selecting the condition setting for the rotation speed of the carriage 50 is large, for example, when the carriage 50 is rotated at a gear ratio set to increase the rotation speed, a small rotation angle by the main gear 31 is achieved. In addition to being able to perform direction control with high time efficiency, the direction control region α in the arcuate conveyance path R can be reduced, so the setting of the conveyance path R, For example, it is possible to secure a sufficiently large additional processing apparatus installation area without changing the diameter and the length according to the size and number of the transport tables 50 to be provided, and a plurality of additional processing apparatuses. It is also possible to set the processing device arrangement area.
[0051]
Further, according to the above-described direction control device, the revolution drive shaft 21 and the rotation drive shaft 41 are arranged on the same axis, so that all the carriages 50 are rotated by one rotation drive gear 43. Therefore, all the conveyance bases 50 can be operated in a controlled state so as to be in a predetermined rotation state without complicating the structure of the conveyance base rotation mechanism. In addition, the power transmission system in the rotation conveyance mechanism and the power transmission system in the conveyance table rotation mechanism can be combined, whereby the main gear 31 in the rotation conveyance mechanism and the interlocking gear 40 in the conveyance table rotation mechanism can be combined. By fixing them integrally, the transmission gear 30 can be shared by the two power transmission systems and can be driven by the common drive motor 60, and the area occupied by the entire apparatus can be reduced.
[0052]
As described above, in this direction control device, in the direction control region α, each of the transport bases 50 on which individual articles W are placed is rotated while being transported, and the sensor 62 provided on the rotary table 20 performs the rotation. By detecting the mark M of the article W and stopping the rotation, and maintaining the state by the action of the direction maintaining mechanism 46, the front direction of the sequential articles W is directed in a specific direction with respect to the conveyance path R. Can be aligned.
[0053]
Therefore, according to the processing apparatus in which the additional processing apparatus 90 is disposed downstream of the direction control region α in the conveyance path R of the direction control apparatus, for the sequential articles W in which the front direction is aligned in a certain direction, The target additional process can be reliably executed on the target portion having a fixed angular relationship with the front direction of the article W. Therefore, the article W subjected to the additional process is always fixed It can have an external form.
[0054]
The above direction control device can be configured such that the direction adjustment region is set on the downstream side in the transport direction in the transport path R by a slight angle from the direction control region α. In this case, when the transport platform 50 on which the article W for which direction control has been achieved in the direction control region α reaches the direction adjustment region, based on the rotation angle data from the encoder, the signal from the control circuit 26 is used. While the clutch 45 is in the connected state and is transferred through the direction adjustment region, a direction adjustment process is performed in which the front direction of the article W is changed by a certain angle as in the case of the above-described embodiment.
[0055]
According to such a configuration, the direction adjustment control for rotating (spinning) the article W by an arbitrary angle is performed on the article W whose front direction has been once controlled, so that the front of the article W is practically used. The direction can be set to a desired direction in the entire range of 360 degrees, so that, for example, any circumferential position on the entire circumference of the article W is directed outward in the radial direction of the turntable 20. Therefore, it is possible to perform a desired additional processing on any circumferential location of the article W by an additional processing device arranged at a location on the outer peripheral side of the conveyance path R. It becomes.
[0056]
As shown in FIG. 5, in the case where one conveyance line is branched into a plurality of (two in the illustrated example) conveyance lines, and the direction control device for articles is symmetrically arranged in each conveyance line, the direction control region α 2 is used as the one of the direction control devices when the direction adjustment processing is required to change the article W for which the direction control has been achieved in step 1 by a certain angle. 4 and the other direction control device having the configuration shown in FIG. 4 as the other direction control device, respectively, the carrier table 50 rotates (rotates automatically) in different directions in each direction control device. Therefore, in any of the direction control devices, an arbitrary circumferential position on the entire circumference of the article W can be set in a state of facing the radially outward direction of the turntable 20 with a small rotation angle. That. Therefore, the desired processing can be performed with high time efficiency, and the direction adjustment region in the arcuate conveyance path R can be reduced, so that a sufficiently large additional processing device installation region can be secured. can do.
[0057]
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications as shown below can be added, for example.
(1) In an actual direction control device, the specific configuration of each part, for example, the size of the rotary table, the rotation speed thereof, the number of transfer tables, the gear ratio of the gears constituting the transfer table rotation mechanism, etc. are particularly limited. However, it can be appropriately selected according to the type and size of the article to be subjected to the direction control process, other conditions, or according to the purpose. However, in the direction control region α of the transport path R, the transport base needs to be able to rotate over an angle range of 360 degrees or more.
[0058]
(2) The sensor may be any sensor as long as it can detect the mark formed on the article, while the mark is not particularly limited as long as it can be detected by the sensor. Absent. In general, the mark is made of a figure having a specific shape different from the ground part of the display area, and a light reflection type sensor is used as the sensor. However, for example, it is possible to use a magnetic sensor as a sensor by forming a mark with a magnetic material, and when using an optical sensor as the sensor, it is possible to use a display with a specific color as the mark, It is also possible to use a specific deformed portion such as a protrusion formed on the surface as a mark or instead of the mark.
[0059]
(3) The article targeted by the apparatus of the present invention is not particularly limited, and may have any shape.
[0060]
【The invention's effect】
According to the direction control apparatus for articles according to the present invention, basically, the direction control processing of a large number of articles is performed continuously without interrupting the transfer thereof, so that high time efficiency can be obtained. A dedicated drive source for the transport table rotation mechanism is not required, and the transport path is arcuate, so that the area occupied by the entire apparatus can be reduced. In addition, since the transport table rotation mechanism is driven via a power transmission system different from the rotation transport mechanism, the rotation direction of the transport table can be set regardless of the rotation direction of the revolution drive shaft in the rotation transport mechanism. As a result, the carriage can be operated in a state controlled to a predetermined rotation state.
Therefore, it is possible to reliably control the direction of the article within a predetermined area, and even if a plurality of transfer lines are provided, the comparison can be made without drastically changing the structure of each apparatus. It is possible to arrange with a small installation occupation area.
[0061]
In addition, since the rotation drive shaft in the conveyance table rotation mechanism is arranged coaxially with the revolution drive shaft in the rotation conveyance mechanism, all the conveyance tables can be rotated by one rotation drive gear. Without complicating the structure of the transport table rotation mechanism, it is possible to reliably operate all the transport platforms in a state controlled to a predetermined rotation state, and to combine a plurality of power transmission systems. Therefore, the installation occupation area of the entire apparatus can be reduced.
[0062]
Further, by driving the transport table rotation mechanism at a gear ratio set in advance so that the transport table is in a predetermined rotation state, the rotation of the transport table can be performed by an extremely simple change such as changing the configuration of the gear train. It is possible to reliably adjust the state setting conditions, and therefore it is possible to operate all the carriages in a state controlled to a predetermined rotation state.
[0063]
In addition, since the rotation direction of the transfer table is set according to the gear ratio in the transfer table rotation mechanism, the rotation direction of the transfer table can be set without drastically changing the structure of the direction control device. For example, in the case where one conveyance line is branched into a plurality of parts and an article direction control device is provided in each of the conveyance lines, the direction in which the predetermined direction control is achieved is further changed by a certain angle. When adjustment processing is required, a small directional control device is provided in each directional control device by disposing a directional control device that is driven with a gear ratio that is set so that the rotation directions of the transport table are different from each other. A desired direction adjustment process can be performed on the article at the rotation angle. Therefore, the desired processing can be performed with high time efficiency, and the direction adjustment region in the arcuate conveyance path R can be reduced, so that a sufficiently large additional processing device installation region can be secured. can do.
[0064]
According to the processing apparatus of the present invention, since the direction control process is reliably performed on the article to be subjected to the direction control process by the direction control apparatus, the desired additional process is reliably performed without impairing the appearance of the article. be able to.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view showing an outline of a configuration in an example of a processing apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a direction control device in the processing apparatus shown in FIG.
3 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a direction control device in the processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in relation to a belt conveyor.
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an outline of a configuration in another example of the direction control device.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the direction control device for an article of the present invention is disposed symmetrically on each of a plurality of conveyance lines.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Belt conveyor
11 Screw conveyor
12 Entering star foil
12A article holding part
13 Outgoing star foil
13A article holding part
15 Horizontal board
16 Support member
17 Fixed shaft
20 Rotating table
21 Drive shaft for revolution
22 Rotating disc
23 Bearing part
25 Shaft member
26 Control circuit
30 Transmission gear
31 Main gear
35 Rotating shaft
36 Starwheel drive gear
37A Sub-transmission gear
37B driven gear
38 Belt transmission mechanism
39 Screw conveyor drive gear
40 interlocking gear
41 Drive shaft for rotation
42 Gear train
42A-42C Relay gear
43 Drive gear for rotation
44 Driven gear for rotation
45 clutch
46 Directional maintenance mechanism
47 Support substrate
48 Sliding plate
48A friction material
50 Transfer platform
51 Conveyor rotation axis
60 Drive motor
61 Drive shaft
62 sensors
63 Fall prevention member
64 Additional processor drive gear
90 Additional processing equipment
α direction control area
W goods
M mark
R transport path

Claims (5)

An article direction control device for controlling the front direction of an article,
A plurality of transfer platforms on which articles to be subjected to direction control processing are placed ; a rotating disk in which a plurality of bearing portions that rotatably hold a transfer table rotation shaft to which each transfer table is fixed are fixed; and rotation A rotation conveyance mechanism for rotating the disk to transfer the conveyance table along an arc-shaped conveyance path, and a conveyance table rotation mechanism for rotating each conveyance table,
The rotating and conveying mechanism is configured such that the rotating circle is connected to the rotating circle via a power transmission system including a transmission gear fixed to a driving shaft of a driving source and a main gear meshing with the transmission gear. A revolving drive shaft supported to be driven to rotate about an axis extending perpendicular to the plate;
The transport table rotating mechanism is supported so as to be rotationally driven through another power transmission system different from the power transmission system in the rotary transport mechanism, with the revolution drive shaft inserted therein. A rotation drive shaft arranged coaxially with the revolution drive shaft, and the other power transmission system is fixed to the revolution drive shaft in the rotary conveyance mechanism and is integrated with the main gear; Fixed to a gear train composed of a plurality of relay gears for connecting the rotation drive shaft and the interlocking gear, to the rotation drive gear fixed to the upper end of the rotation drive shaft, and to the transport base rotation shaft meshing with the rotation drive gear. And the driven gear for rotation
Each carrier is rotated via a rotation driven gear that rotates at a rotation direction and a rotation speed determined according to the rotation speed difference between the rotation speed of the rotating disk and the rotation speed of the rotation drive shaft. direction control device of the article, characterized in that that. 2. The article direction control device according to claim 1, wherein the transport table rotation mechanism is driven at a gear ratio set in advance so that the transport table is in a predetermined rotation state . The gear train includes a first relay gear and a second relay gear fixed integrally with each other. The first relay gear meshes with the interlocking gear, and the second relay gear meshes with the third relay gear fixed to the rotation drive shaft. And
The direction control device for an article according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rotation direction of the carrier is set according to a gear ratio between the first relay gear and the second relay gear . An article direction control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is provided, and an additional process is performed on the outer peripheral surface of the article in a region downstream of the direction control region in the conveyance path of the direction control device. An additional processing device is provided for performing processing. The processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the additional processing apparatus is driven by a cam mechanism having a common direction control device and a driving source.

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