JP6211967B2 - Flat material sorting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a flat material sorting apparatus.

  A rectangular parallelepiped paper box that accommodates food and the like is manufactured as follows. First, a part of the printed paper is glued, and a semi-finished product is produced by bending a predetermined portion. Thereafter, the contents are accommodated after a predetermined portion is bent from the semi-finished product so that the contents can be accommodated. The semi-finished product is produced by, for example, gluing the outer peripheral surfaces that become the front surface 201, the back surface 202, and both side surfaces 203, 204 of the paper box from the developed state of the paper material shown in FIG. It is an open state. However, the outer peripheral surface is in a state where a flap 205 provided adjacent to the back surface 202 is glued to the back side of one side surface 204 and is crushed. That is, the semi-finished product 100 is formed in a flat shape by bending the boundary between the front surface 201 and the one side surface 203 and the boundary between the back surface 202 and the flap 205 as shown in FIG.

  Such a semi-finished product 100 is conveyed by a conveying device such as a belt conveyor in a state of being shifted and overlapped in the horizontal direction after being glued and bent by an apparatus not shown. Then, in order to fix the glued portion, the semi-finished product is pressed from above by a pressing device on which an endless belt is stretched. As an apparatus for conveying such a semi-finished product in a state of being overlapped, there is, for example, one described in Patent Document 1.

JP 2005-89122 A

  By the way, when a plurality of semi-finished products are transported in a shifted state as described above, it is necessary to be able to determine the separation position in order to separate them at a predetermined position. For that purpose, it is necessary to apply some kind of marking to a plurality of semi-finished products.

  As a method of providing such marking, for example, there is a method shown in FIG. In this method, for a plurality of semi-finished products 100 conveyed at a predetermined interval, one semi-finished product is pushed out from the side by a pusher 500 every predetermined number, and then these semi-finished products are in a state where they are shifted and overlapped. The conveyance is carried out with a narrow interval so that Thereby, in the plurality of semi-finished products that are shifted and overlapped, a mark that becomes a delimiter for each predetermined number is provided. The step of providing such a mark is performed before the semi-finished product is pressed by the pressing device. However, when the semi-finished product is pushed out by the pusher, the height changes at a position where the pushed-out semi-finished product exists among the plurality of half-finished products that are displaced and overlapped. For this reason, the pressing device may not be able to uniformly apply a pressing force to the plurality of semi-finished products. In such a state, since a force does not act uniformly on the glued flap, there is a possibility that a gluing failure may occur. In addition, when extruding a semi-finished product to be conveyed at a predetermined interval, there is a problem in terms of space and cost.

  In addition, there is a method of inserting a tape-like piece of paper into the semi-finished product every predetermined number, but the tape-like piece of paper is mixed into the semi-finished product to be shipped without removing the tape during the packing process in the subsequent process. There's a problem.

  Note that such a problem is not a problem that can occur only in the semi-finished product as described above, but a problem that can occur in general in flat materials including sheet materials that are transported in a shifted state.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, and a flat material sorting apparatus capable of appropriately providing a mark for sorting among a plurality of flat materials conveyed in a shifted manner. The purpose is to provide.

  The flat material sorting apparatus according to the present invention includes a transport unit that transports a plurality of flat materials that are displaced in a horizontal direction, and of the flat materials that are adjacent to each other in the transport direction. In between, at least one insertion member inserted from below, a vertical movement drive unit that supports the insertion member so as to move up and down, a reciprocation drive unit that reciprocates the insertion member in the transport direction, A control unit that drives the vertical movement drive unit and the reciprocation drive unit, and the control unit is between any of the adjacent flat materials among the plurality of flat materials that are displaced and overlapped, The vertical movement drive unit is configured to raise the insertion part and advance the predetermined direction in the conveying direction with the insertion member raised to press the flat material and then lower the insertion member. And the reciprocating drive unit To.

  According to this configuration, after inserting an insertion member between any adjacent flat materials for a plurality of flat materials being conveyed, the insertion member is moved at a speed higher than the conveyance speed of the flat material. The flat material is pressed forward by a predetermined distance in the conveying direction. Therefore, a large gap different from the others can be formed between the adjacent flat materials, and this gap can be used as a mark for sorting among the plurality of flat materials being conveyed.

  The sorting apparatus may further include a detection unit that detects a predetermined flat material from among the plurality of the flat materials that are conveyed, and the control unit includes the predetermined flat material, and then It is possible to control at least the drive of the vertical movement drive unit among the vertical movement drive unit and the reciprocation drive unit so that the insertion member is inserted between the flat materials adjacent to each other.

  The detection unit can detect the predetermined flat material by various methods. For example, the detection unit detects the predetermined flat material by counting the number of the flat materials conveyed. be able to. That is, the number of the flat materials can be counted, and the flat material when the predetermined number is reached can be the predetermined flat material.

  In the above sorting apparatus, there are various control methods for inserting an insertion member between adjacent flat materials. For example, the control unit drives the vertical movement drive unit to move the insertion member. When raising, the drive of the reciprocating drive unit can be controlled so that the speed of the insertion member in the transport direction is synchronized with the transport speed of the transport unit. In this way, the insertion member is raised while the traveling speed of the insertion member in the conveyance direction is synchronized with the conveyance speed of the conveyance unit, so even if the conveyance unit speed is high, the gap between adjacent predetermined flat materials is high. In addition, the insertion member can be reliably inserted.

  The said sorting apparatus WHEREIN: The said insertion member can be comprised so that the main-body part extended in an up-down direction and the protrusion piece which protrudes in the said conveyance direction from the upper end of the said main-body part may be comprised. ing. With this configuration, when the insertion member is inserted between the adjacent flat materials, the projecting piece can be engaged with the lower end portion of the flat material, so that the projecting piece is prevented from being detached. During the pressing of the flat material by the member, the flat material can be prevented from being detached from the insertion member.

  The sorting apparatus may further include a pressing member that sequentially presses the upper end portions of the plurality of flat materials downward. In this way, when the flat member is pressed by the insertion member, the pressing member presses the subsequent flat member from above, so that the subsequent flat material becomes a flat material pressed against the insertion member. It can be prevented from following, and both flat materials can be reliably separated.

  In the sorting apparatus, the positional relationship between the detection unit and the insertion member is not particularly limited. For example, the detection unit is disposed below the flat material, and the pair of insertion members are sandwiched between the detection units. Thus, it can arrange | position in the width direction of the said sheet-like member.

  According to the flat material sorting apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to provide sorting marks in a plurality of flat materials that are transported in a shifted manner without disturbing the transport.

It is a side view of the semi-finished product conveyed. It is a partial cross section figure of the sorting device concerning this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 2. It is an enlarged side view around a rocking member. It is a side view which shows operation | movement of the sorting apparatus of FIG. It is a side view which shows operation | movement of a pressing member. It is the top view (a) and side view (b) which show the other example of a sorting apparatus. It is the top view (a) and side view (b) which show the other example of a sorting apparatus. It is a side view which shows the other example of an insertion member. It is a side view which shows the other example of a sorting apparatus. It is a figure which shows the expanded view and semi-finished product of a paper box. It is a schematic plan view explaining the sorting method of the conventional semi-finished product.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the flat material sorting apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a paper box sorting apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a side view of a semi-finished product to be conveyed, FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of a sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. In the following, for convenience of explanation, the left-right direction in FIG. 2 is referred to as the conveyance direction, the downstream side where the semi-finished product moves is “front”, the opposite upstream side is “rear”, and the vertical direction in FIG. A direction perpendicular to the transport direction is referred to as a width direction.

<1. Outline Configuration of Paper Box Sorting Device>
The paper box sorting apparatus according to this embodiment is provided on the downstream side of a paper box manufacturing apparatus (not shown), and the paper box manufacturing apparatus performs pasting and folding on the developed flat paper material. After the flat semi-finished product 100 is manufactured, the semi-finished product 100 is conveyed to the sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment. As for the semi-finished product 100, the one shown in FIG. In this way, the semi-finished product 100 manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus is transported in a state of being shifted and overlapped in the transport direction as shown in FIG. At this time, the plurality of semi-finished products 100 are arranged such that each of the semi-finished products 100 is inclined forward and arranged at a predetermined interval in the transport direction. And a level | step difference is formed in a lower end part.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a transport unit 1 that transports a plurality of semi-finished products 100 in a state where they are overlapped. The transport unit 1 includes a pair of belt conveyors, that is, a first conveyor 11 and a second conveyor 12, and the conveyors 11 and 12 are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval. Since the conveyors 11 and 12 have the same configuration, only the first conveyor 11 will be described here. The first conveyor 11 includes a first roller 111, a second roller 112, a third roller 113, and a fourth roller 114 that are arranged from the front side to the rear side in the transport direction and are rotatably supported. A first endless belt 115 is stretched around the rollers 111 to 114. The first roller 111 and the fourth roller 114 are disposed at the front end portion and the rear end portion of the transport unit 1, and the second roller 112 and the third roller 113 are disposed therebetween. Among these, the first and fourth rollers 111 and 114 are disposed at the same height, the third roller 113 is disposed slightly below these rollers 111 and 114, and the second roller 112 is disposed further below. ing. The first endless belt 115 is stretched across the upper surface of the first roller 111 and the upper surface of the fourth roller 114, and the semi-finished product passes through this portion. Further, the first endless belt 115 is stretched from the front side of the first roller 111 to the lower surface of the second roller 112, passes through the upper surface of the third roller 113, and passes through the lower surface of the fourth roller 114. It is being handed over.

  Further, the rotation shafts of the second roller 112 and the third roller 113 are connected by a connecting member 110, and the connecting member 110 can rotate around the third roller 113. Thereby, the tension of the first endless belt 115 can be adjusted.

  A first motor 116 is disposed below the first conveyor 11, and a second endless belt 118 is stretched between a pulley 117 attached to a rotation shaft of the first motor 116 and a first roller 111. ing. Thereby, when the first motor 116 rotates, the first roller 111 rotates via the second endless belt 118. As a result, the first endless belt 115 moves in the transport direction, and the semi-finished product on the first endless belt 115 is transported.

  A base 2 extending in the transport direction is disposed in a lower space between the conveyors 11 and 12. On the base 2, a moving member 31 is disposed so as to be able to reciprocate in the transport direction, and is connected to a linear servo actuator 21 disposed at the tip of the base 2. Therefore, the moving member 31 is reciprocated by the linear servo actuator 21. A plate-like support member 33 is disposed on the upper surface of the moving member 31. The support member 33 extends toward the rear in the transport direction on the upper surface of the moving member 31. A swing member 4 that swings in the vertical direction is disposed on the upper surface of the support member 33.

  FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view around the swing member. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the swinging member 4 includes a base 41 having a rectangular shape in plan view supported on the front end side of the support member 33 and the support member 33 from both sides of the rear end of the base 41. And a pair of support pieces 42 extending rearward and formed in a U-shape in plan view as a whole. The base 41 of the swing member 4 is fixed to a shaft member 34 extending horizontally in the width direction on the upper surface of the support member 33, and the rear end side of the swing member 4, that is, with the shaft member 34 as the swing center, that is, The support piece 42 swings in the vertical direction.

  A swing drive unit 9 for swinging the swing member 4 is attached to the rear end side of the support member 33. The swing drive unit 9 is fixed to the rear end of the support member 33 and includes a housing 91 having a built-in solenoid, a rod-like lifting member 92 that protrudes upward from the housing 91 and can be moved up and down. It has. The lifting member 92 is in contact with the lower surface of the base 41 of the swing member 4 at the initial position, and when in the initial position, the swing member 4 extends in the horizontal direction. And if the raising / lowering member 92 is moved upwards by this solenoid from this position, the rear-end side of the rocking | swiveling member 4 will rock | fluctuate upwards in connection with this. That is, it inclines so that the rear end side of the swinging member 4 faces upward.

  The insertion members 5 are disposed at the rear end portions of the support pieces 42 of the swing member 4. Each insertion member 5 is disposed so as to protrude upward from the upper surface of the support piece 42, and has a pressing surface 51 extending vertically toward the front in the transport direction, and downward from the upper end of the pressing surface 51 toward the rear. And an inclined surface 52 that is inclined to the right. These insertion members 5 are adjusted so that the upper ends thereof are substantially the same height as the first endless belts 115 of the conveyors 11 and 12 when the swinging member 4 is in the initial position. 5 does not contact the semi-finished product 100.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a known photoelectric sensor 6 that detects the lower end portion of the semi-finished product 100 is provided below the swing member 4. More specifically, the photoelectric sensor 6 is disposed between the support pieces 42 of the swing member 4, and irradiates the laser 61 from between the support pieces 42 toward the upper semi-finished product, and the reflected light thereof. The number of the semi-finished products 100 conveyed on the first and second conveyors 11 and 12 is counted while detecting the lower end portion of the semi-finished product 100 by receiving the light. At this time, the irradiation position of the laser 61 is directly above the upper end portion on the front side of the insertion member 5.

  On the other hand, a pair of rod-shaped guides 7 extending in the transport direction are provided above the conveyors 11 and 12, as shown in FIG. The guides 7 are arranged at intervals in the width direction and are arranged to extend in the horizontal direction. Then, the semi-finished product 100 on the conveyors 11 and 12 is conveyed while the height is adjusted between the guide 7 and the conveyors 11 and 12. Further, the rear end portion 71 of each guide 7 extends so as to incline upward, thereby making it easy for the semi-finished product 100 to enter below the guide 7.

  Furthermore, a sheet-like pressing member 8 that can be elastically deformed is disposed behind the guide 7. The pressing member 8 is disposed so as to extend obliquely downward toward the front from a fixed portion 81 disposed on the rear side of the guide 7, and a front end portion of the pressing member 8 is provided on the rear end portion 71 of the guide 7. Along the inclined surface of the lower surface, the guide 7 extends downward, and the upper end of the conveyed semi-finished product 100 is sequentially pressed downward. Such a pressing member 8 can be formed of various materials, but needs to be pressed to such an extent that the conveyance of the semi-finished product 100 on the conveyors 11 and 12 is not disturbed. Therefore, for example, the frictional force between the semifinished product 100 and the pressing member 8 needs to be smaller than the frictional force between the first endless belt 115 of the conveyors 11 and 12 and the semifinished product 100. Moreover, when the insertion member 5 is inserted between the adjacent semi-finished products 100, the front-end | tip part of the press member 8 is arrange | positioned in the position which presses the upper end vicinity of these semi-finished products 100, as mentioned later. .

  Control of the operation of the above sorting apparatus is performed by a control unit (not shown). The control unit is configured by a known computer or the like, and is electrically connected to the photoelectric sensor 6. For example, the linear servo actuator 21 and the solenoid are driven based on a detection signal from the photoelectric sensor 6. The operations of the other sorting apparatuses are also performed by the control unit unless otherwise specified.

<2. Operation of the sorting device>
Next, the operation of the paper box sorting apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the photoelectric sensor 6 irradiates the semi-finished product 100 to be conveyed with a laser 61 from below, receives the reflected light, and detects the lower end edge of the semi-finished product 100 so that the semi-finished product 100 passing therethrough is detected. Count the number. When the count reaches a predetermined number, the insertion member 5 is inserted from below between the semi-finished product 100 and the semi-finished product 100 arranged behind the semi-finished product 100, and the semi-finished products 100 are sorted. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, a position where the insertion member 5 is inserted is referred to as an insertion position. At the insertion position, a semi-finished product disposed in front of the adjacent semi-finished products is referred to as a front semi-finished product 101, The semi-finished product arranged in the rear is referred to as a rear semi-finished product 102. 5 and 6, the front semi-finished product 101 is colored for distinction.

  Hereinafter, the sorting of the semi-finished product 100 will be described in detail. First, at the initial position of FIG. 5A, the photoelectric sensor 6 irradiates a laser 61 and counts the semi-finished products. Here, the position where the laser 61 is irradiated by the photoelectric sensor in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the count by the photoelectric sensor 6 reaches a predetermined number, the control unit drives the linear servo actuator 21 as shown in FIG. Is moved forward in the conveying direction. At this time, when the moving member 31 is accelerated and the advance speed of the insertion member 5 reaches the conveying speed of the conveyors 11 and 12, the acceleration is stopped and the solenoid is driven as shown in FIG. The elevating member 92 is raised. Thereby, the swing member 4 swings upward, and the insertion member 5 is inserted between the front semi-finished product 101 and the rear semi-finished product 102.

  At this time, since the inclined surface 52 of the insertion member 5 is inclined downward, it follows the inclination of the rear semi-finished product 102. Therefore, the insertion of the insertion member 5 can prevent problems such as the rear semi-finished product 102 being excessively pressed and the conveyance being disturbed. There is also an advantage that the rear semi-finished product 102 can be prevented from being damaged when the insertion member 5 is pushed up. On the other hand, the pressing surface 51 of the insertion member 5 faces the lower end portion of the front semi-finished product 101. Thus, when the insertion member 5 is inserted, the control unit drives the linear servo actuator 21 to accelerate the moving member 31 as shown in FIG. Thereby, since the insertion member 5 moves toward the front faster than the conveyance speed of the conveyors 11 and 12, the insertion member 5 moves, pushing the front semi-finished product 101 ahead. At this time, it moves on the conveyors 11 and 12 while the front semi-finished product 101 and a plurality of semi-finished products 100 ahead of the semi-finished product 101 are also pushed. Then, as shown in FIG. 5 (f), when a gap of a predetermined length is formed between the front semi-finished product 101 and the rear semi-finished product 102, the solenoid is operated while stopping the advancement of the moving member 31. Driven to lower the swing member 4. That is, the engagement state between the insertion member 5 and the front semi-finished product 101 is released, and the insertion member 5 descends below the conveyors 11 and 12. Thereafter, the control unit drives the linear servo actuator 21 to move the moving member 31 backward, and waits at the initial position.

  While the moving member 31 and the insertion member 5 are driven as described above, the photoelectric sensor 6 continues to count the semi-finished product 100, and after the moving member 31 returns to the initial position, the count of the semi-finished product 100 is predetermined. When the number reaches the number, the same operation as described above is performed, and a gap is formed between the plurality of semi-finished products 100 that are shifted and overlapped. In this way, large gaps different from others are formed in the plurality of semi-finished products 100 every predetermined number.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6A, the pressing member 8 sequentially presses the upper end portion of the conveyed semi-finished product 100. As shown in FIG. After being inserted between the semifinished product 101 and the rear semifinished product 102, the pressing member 8 presses the upper end portion of the rear semifinished product 102 when moving forward. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6C, the rear semi-finished product 102 moves away from the front semi-finished product 101 without following the front semi-finished product 101. Therefore, the gap can be formed reliably.

  Further, when the insertion member 5 moves forward and the front semi-finished product 101 is pressed, the front semi-finished product 100 including the front semi-finished product 101 may be pushed upward. Is provided with a guide 7 and regulates the upward movement of the semi-finished product 100. Therefore, the semi-finished product 100 can be prevented from floating upward, and the conveyance is not disturbed.

<3. Features>
As described above, according to the present embodiment, after inserting the insertion member 5 between the predetermined adjacent semi-finished products 101 and 102 for the plurality of semi-finished products 100 being conveyed, the insertion member 5 is conveyed. Since the semi-finished product 100 is pressed forward by a predetermined distance in the direction, a large gap different from the others can be formed between the adjacent semi-finished products 101 and 102. Therefore, this gap can be used as a mark for sorting among the plurality of semi-finished products 100 being conveyed.

  In particular, when the insertion member 5 is inserted between the adjacent semi-finished products 101 and 102, the insertion member 5 is moved forward while being synchronized with the conveyance speed of the semi-finished product 100, so that the conveyance speed of the semi-finished product 100 is high. Even so, it is possible to insert the insertion member 5 accurately. Various methods have been proposed for conveying semi-finished products, and it is possible to convey semi-finished products in a standing state. Since the extending direction of the gap between them is the same, there is a surface that is difficult to damage the semi-finished product, but the gap between the adjacent semi-finished products becomes small, so that sorting in high-speed conveyance becomes difficult. At the same time, there is a problem in that it is difficult to carry out a process of standing up the half-finished products that are shifted and overlapped in terms of space and cost.

<4. Modification>
As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible unless it deviates from the meaning.

<4-1>
In the above embodiment, the mark for sorting is formed by pressing the semi-finished product in the transport direction by the insertion member 5, but in addition to this, the semi-finished product is pressed in the width direction by the pusher to provide a clearer mark. It can also be formed. This point will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in this example, the pusher 500 is arranged at a position facing the vicinity of the lower end of the semi-finished product on the side of the transport unit. The pusher 500 can press the vicinity of the lower end of the semi-finished product in the width direction. Further, the pusher 500 is disposed slightly ahead of the position where the insertion member 5 has advanced to press the semi-finished product. Accordingly, after the gap is formed between the semi-finished products 101 and 102 by the insertion member 5, that is, at the timing before and after the insertion member 5 descends after the advancement, the lower end of the semi-finished product arranged in front of the gap. By pressing the vicinity of the portion in the width direction, as shown in FIG. 7A, the semi-finished product ahead of the gap is displaced in the width direction, so that a clearer mark can be formed.

  Further, the position where the pusher 500 is disposed is not limited to this, and may be as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 8, a pusher is disposed at a position facing the vicinity of the upper end of the semi-finished product 100 on the side of the transport unit. The pusher 500 can press the vicinity of the upper end of the semi-finished product in the width direction. Further, the pusher 500 is disposed slightly ahead of the position where the insertion member 5 has advanced to press the semi-finished product. Therefore, after the gap is formed between the semifinished products 101 and 102 by the insertion member 5, that is, at the timing before and after the insertion member 5 descends after the advancement, the upper end of the semifinished product arranged behind the gap. By pressing the vicinity of the portion in the width direction, as shown in FIG. 8A, the semi-finished product behind the gap is displaced in the width direction, so that a clearer mark can be formed.

<4-2>
In the sorting apparatus, when the insertion member 5 is raised by driving the solenoid, the linear servo actuator 21 is driven so that the speed of the insertion member 5 in the transport direction is synchronized with the transport speed of the conveyors 11 and 12. However, even when the speed of the conveyors 11 and 12 is high, the insertion member 5 can be reliably inserted between predetermined adjacent semi-finished products 101 and 102. However, as long as the insertion member 5 can be inserted between adjacent predetermined semi-finished products, it is not always necessary to synchronize the speed of the insertion member 5 in the transport direction with the speed of the conveyors 11 and 12. For example, when the conveyance speed of the conveyors 11 and 12 is slow, or the gap between the semi-finished products is large, the solenoid is simply driven to insert the insertion member 5 between the semi-finished products 101 and 102, and then the linear servo The insertion member 5 may be advanced by driving the actuator 21. Alternatively, in the case of a mechanism that can raise the insertion member 5 very quickly, there is no need to synchronize.

<4-3>
The shape of the insertion member 5 is not particularly limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a protrusion (protrusion piece) protruding forward can be provided at the upper end. The example of FIG. 9A forms a protrusion (projection piece) 53 by forming a recess 56 on the front surface of the insertion member 5, and the example of FIG. 9B shows a protrusion 54 that extends obliquely upward. Is provided. Further, in the example of FIG. 9C, a 90 ° step portion is formed by projecting the protrusion (projection piece) 55 horizontally. At this time, the portion of the insertion member 5 that extends upward and the protrusion is formed corresponds to the main body of the present invention. By providing such protrusions 53, 54, and 55, the semi-finished product 100 can be hooked on the insertion member 5, and is prevented from coming off when the semi-finished product 100 is pressed. That is, when the insertion member 5 is pressing the semi-finished product 100, the semi-finished product 100 can be prevented from moving upward along the front surface of the insertion member 5 and being detached from the insertion member 5. Moreover, since the semi-finished product 100 can be hooked on the insertion member 5, it is not necessary to increase the ascending stroke of the insertion member 5 so that the semi-finished product 100 is not detached upward. Therefore, since the semi-finished product 100 can be sorted even if the rising stroke of the insertion member 5 is reduced, it is possible to flexibly cope with high-speed conveyance.

<4-4>
In order to prevent the semi-finished product from being detached from the insertion member 5, for example, as shown in FIG. In this example, the friction member 40 having a large frictional force is disposed on the upper surface of the support piece 42 of the swing member 5 and swings to a position where the friction member 40 contacts the lower end of the semi-finished product when the insertion member 5 is raised. The member 5 is swung. The friction member 40 can be formed of, for example, a rubber sheet having an uneven surface. Thus, when the insertion member 5 is raised, the friction member 5 comes into contact with the lower end portion of the semi-finished product 100 and moves forward in this state, so that the semi-finished product 100 is detached upward from the support piece 42 by the frictional force with the friction member 40. Can be prevented. In addition to the friction member 40, the insertion member 5 can be configured as shown in FIG.

<4-5>
In the above embodiment, the photoelectric sensor is used to detect the lower end portion of the semi-finished product, but a non-contact optical sensor in general can be used. In addition to this, for example, when the conveyance speed is low, the pitch of the semi-finished products that are shifted and stacked is wide, or the thickness of the semi-finished product (flat material) is thick, a contact type sensor such as a micro switch Can be used. In addition to counting the number of semi-finished products, it is also possible to detect marks provided on semi-finished products every predetermined number. Further, the photoelectric sensor may not be provided, and the control unit may drive the solenoid and the linear servo actuator 21 at an appropriate timing.

  Further, after the photoelectric sensor is arranged on the downstream side of the insertion member 5 and the count of the semi-finished products 100 is completed, the position of the semi-finished product 100 to be sorted can be predicted and the insertion member 5 can be inserted. However, when the photoelectric sensor is arranged on the upstream side as in the above embodiment, the following advantages are obtained. That is, if the semi-finished product 100 is transported in a state of being overlapped, the pitch between the semi-finished products 100 may change. Therefore, if the insertion of the insertion member 5 is performed by prediction, it may not be inserted at the correct position. On the other hand, when the photoelectric sensor is arranged on the upstream side of the insertion member 5, the insertion member 5 can be inserted after confirming the sorting position, so that an insertion error can be prevented.

<4-6>
In the above embodiment, two insertion members 5 are provided, but one or three or more may be used. And the position which provides these insertion members may be other than the both ends of the width direction, and is not specifically limited. In addition, although the two insertion members 5 are arranged so as to sandwich the photoelectric sensor 6, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be appropriately arranged.

  In addition, when the two insertion members 5 are provided as in the above embodiment, when the semi-finished product is inclined with respect to the transport direction, particularly when the pitch between the semi-finished products is narrow and the transport speed is fast, There is a possibility that the two insertion members 5 are inserted into gaps between different semi-finished products. Therefore, a plurality of insertion members that can be independently moved are provided, and the same number of sensors are provided in the vicinity of each insertion member. Thereby, since each insertion member can be raised at the detection timing of each sensor, it is possible to prevent the insertion member from being inserted into different gaps. It is also possible to provide an additional insertion member near the center in the width direction, raise the insertion member first to slightly widen the pitch between the semi-finished products, and then insert another insertion member between the semi-finished products.

<4-7>
The linear servo actuator 21 in the above embodiment corresponds to a reciprocating drive unit of the present invention, and the swing drive unit 9 corresponds to a vertical movement drive unit. However, the method of reciprocating or vertically moving the insertion member 5 is not particularly limited. For example, in the above embodiment, the insertion member 5 is fixed to the rocking member 4 and the rocking member 4 is rocked to move the insertion member 5 up and down. It may be.

<4-8>
Although the example which sorts the semi-finished product of a paper box was shown in the said embodiment, it is not limited to this, This invention is applicable to the flat material generally conveyed by shifting. For example, it can be applied to a sheet-like cardboard, a resin sheet, and the like.

1 Transport unit (transport section)
21 Linear servo actuator (reciprocating drive unit)
5 Insertion member 6 Photoelectric sensor (detection unit)
8 Pressing member 9 Oscillating drive unit (vertical drive unit)

Claims (10)

A transport section for transporting a plurality of flat materials that are horizontally displaced and overlapped;
Among the plurality of flat materials, at least one insertion member inserted from below between the flat materials adjacent in the transport direction;
A vertical movement drive unit that supports the insertion member so as to be movable up and down;
A reciprocating drive unit for reciprocating the insertion member in the transport direction;
A controller that drives the vertical drive unit and the reciprocating drive unit;
With
The control unit may include a gap between a first flat material on the downstream side of the adjacent transport direction and a second flat material on the upstream side in the transport direction among the plurality of flat materials that are displaced and overlapped. to the raising the insertion member to form a gap by pushing the second flat material, the conveying direction of the first flat material while forming the gap by raising the insertion member A flat material sorting device that drives the vertical movement drive unit and the reciprocation drive unit so that the insertion member is lowered after being pressed a predetermined distance downstream . The flat material sorting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a detection unit configured to detect the first flat material from among the plurality of flat materials conveyed. The flat material sorting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the detection unit detects the first flat material by counting the number of the flat materials conveyed.   When the control unit drives the vertical movement drive unit to raise the insertion member, the reciprocation drive unit is configured to synchronize the speed of the insertion member in the conveyance direction with the conveyance speed of the conveyance unit. The flat material sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the driving is controlled.   The said insertion member is provided with the main-body part extended in an up-down direction, and the protrusion which protrudes in the said conveyance direction from the upper end of the said main-body part, The classification of the flat material in any one of Claim 1 to 4 apparatus.   The flat material sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a pressing member that sequentially presses the upper ends of the plurality of flat materials to be conveyed downward. The detector is disposed below the flat material,
The flat material sorting apparatus according to claim 2 or 3 , wherein the pair of insertion members are arranged in a width direction of the flat material so as to sandwich the detection portion.
  8. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the insertion member so as to form the gap by changing an inclination angle of the first flat material and an inclination angle of the second flat material. The flat material sorting apparatus according to any one of the above.   9. The flat material sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the insertion member has an inclined surface along an inclination of the second flat material on a side facing the second flat material. 10. .   10. The flat material sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the insertion member has a pressing surface that presses the first flat material on a side facing the first flat material. 10.