Title: Conveying apparatus and conveying system
Abstract: There are disclosed a conveying apparatus and a conveying system in which a force is efficiently transmitted to an article so as to smoothly convey the article in an arbitrary direction. In each of feed portions 15 provided at a conveying apparatus 10, 11 of the invention, a twist gear 34 is mounted on a twist base 16, and is disposed below feed rollers 17, and therefore the degree of freedom of the configurations of the twist gear 34 and feed rollers 17 are higher as compared with a conventional construction in which a feed roller is provided within a twist gear. Therefore, a compact design of the twist gear 34 can be achieved, and also the feed portions 15 and 15 can be disposed closer to each other as compared with the conventional construction. And besides, a large-size design of the feed rollers 17 can be achieved, so that an area of contact of the feed rollers 17 with the article can be increased. As a result, the force can be efficiently transmitted to the article 90 from each of feed portions so as to smoothly convey the article in an arbitrary direction.
Patent Number: 6,889,815 Issued on 05/10/2005 to Kanamori, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Kanamori; Hiroshi (Seto, JP);
Yaguchi; Shoji (Hiratsuka, JP);
Komazawa; Yuichi (Tokyo, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Asahi-Seiki Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Owariasahi, JP);
Lemcos, Inc. (Tokyo, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
460297 |
| Filed:
|
June 13, 2003 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Jun 20, 2002[JP] | 2002-180202 |
| Mar 31, 2003[JP] | 2003-094064 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
198/369.4; 193/35MD; 198/436; 198/445 |
| Intern'l Class: |
B65G 047/10; B65G047/46; B65G013/00 |
| Field of Search: |
198/3694,394,436,444,445
193/35 .MD
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3174613 | Mar., 1965 | Insolio.
| |
| 4180150 | Dec., 1979 | Moore.
| |
| 5222585 | Jun., 1993 | van der Werff.
| |
| 5921374 | Jul., 1999 | Takino et al.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 1 167 245 | Jan., 2002 | EP.
| |
| 1 184 303 | Mar., 2002 | EP.
| |
| A 6-298321 | Oct., 1994 | JP.
| |
| A 2001-192116 | Jul., 2001 | JP.
| |
| B2 3228266 | Sep., 2001 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Crawford; Gene O.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oliff & Berridge, PLC
Claims
1. A conveying apparatus wherein a plurality of feed portions are arranged two-dimensionally
in a distributed manner on a conveying surface for conveying articles, and the
feed portions sequentially feed each article so as to move it to a predetermined
position on the conveying surface; said apparatus comprising:
a fixed base holding said plurality of feed portions;
a twist base which is provided at each of said feed portions, and can be rotated
about an axis perpendicular to said conveying surface;
a feed roller which is mounted at an upper portion of each of said twist bases,
and can be rotated about an axis parallel to said conveying surface;
a twist-purpose servomotor for driving said twist bases;
a feed-purpose servomotor for driving said feed rollers;
a twist gear which is fixedly mounted on each of said twist bases, and is disposed
below said feed roller, and is connected by gears to said twist-purpose servomotor;
and
a vertical shaft which extends through each of said twist gears at an axis thereof,
an upper end of said vertical shaft being connected by gears to said feed roller
while a lower end thereof is connected by gears to said feed-purpose servomotor.
2. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, in which an idle shaft is mounted
on said twist base, and is disposed below said feed roller in parallel relation
thereto, and is connected to said feed roller by gears, and said idle shaft is
connected to an upper end of said vertical shaft by bevel gears.
3. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, in which the plurality of said
feed portions are arranged linearly, and a common drive shaft is provided beneath
said feed portions, and extends in a direction of juxtaposition of said feed portions,
and a vertical shaft extends through said twist base of each feed portion at the
axis of rotation thereof, and a lower end of each of said vertical shafts is connected
to said common drive shaft by bevel gears, while an upper end of each of said vertical
shafts is connected to a rotation shaft of said feed roller by bevel gears, so
that said feed-purpose servomotor serves as a common drive source for said plurality
of feed rollers.
4. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, in which a plurality of said feed
rollers of a cylindrical shape are provided at the upper portion of each of said
twist bases in parallel relation to each other, and said plurality of feed rollers
are interconnected by an idle roller.
5. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, in which said plurality of feed
portions are divided into a plurality of groups which are driven independently
of each other.
6. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, in which upwardly-open mounting
holes are formed in said fixed base, and each of said feed portions is formed into
a unit which can be removably mounted in said mounting hole, and when said unit
is inserted into said mounting hole from an upper side, said twist gear is connected
to said twist-purpose servomotor by the gears, while said vertical shaft is kept
connected by the gears to said feed-purpose servomotor by a weight of said feed portion.
7. A conveying apparatus according to claim 6, in which each of said twist gears
is disposed at an upper side of a predetermined wall provided at said fixed base,
while the lower end portion of each of said vertical shafts is disposed at a lower
side of said wall.
8. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, in which said twist gears of the
adjacent feed portions are interconnected by an idle gear, and said twist-purpose
servomotor serves as a common drive source for a predetermined number of said feed portions.
9. A conveying apparatus according to claim 8, in which said fixed base has a
plurality of mounting portions provided around each of said feed portions, and
said idle gears, each interconnecting the adjacent twist gears, are mounted at
said mounting portions, respectively.
10. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, in which the lower ends of said
vertical shafts of the adjacent feed portions are interconnected by an idle gear,
and said feed-purpose servomotor serves as a common drive source for a predetermined
number of said feed portions.
11. A conveying apparatus according to claim 10, in which said fixed base has
a plurality of mounting portions provided around each of said feed portions, and
said idle gears, each interconnecting the lower ends of the adjacent vertical shafts,
are mounted at said mounting portions, respectively.
12. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, in which said plurality of feed
portions are arranged in columns and rows in a distributed manner.
13. A conveying apparatus according to claim 12, in which said conveying surface
has a square shape, and said plurality of feed portions are so arranged in a distributed
manner that the number of columns of said feed portions is equal to the number
of rows of said feed portions.
14. A conveying system wherein a plurality of conveying apparatuses as defined
in claim 1 are interconnected so that said article can be moved between said conveying apparatuses.
15. A conveying system according to claim 14, in which there is provided a main
controller connected to said controllers provided respectively at said plurality
of conveying apparatuses, and said main controller controls said plurality of conveying
apparatuses in a coordinated manner.
16. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, in which there is provided a
controller for said twist-purpose servomotor and said feed-purpose servomotor,
and said controller computes the position of said article on the basis of information,
relating to an initial position of said article entering said conveying surface,
and feed condition information relating to the direction and rotating amount of
said feed roller.
17. A conveying apparatus according to claim 16, in which said controller includes
article recognition means for recognizing the kind of the article, and conveying
designation-determining means for determining different conveying destinations
for different kinds of articles on the basis of recognition results of said article
recognition means.
18. A conveying apparatus according to claim 16, in which said article detection
sensors are embedded in said conveying surface.
19. A conveying apparatus according to claim 16, in which said controller causes
said article to move while changing the posture thereof if necessary.
20. A conveying apparatus according to claim 16, in which said controller includes
signal transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving information
relative to the controllers of other conveying apparatuses.
21. A conveying apparatus according to claim 16, in which there are provided
a plurality of article detection sensors each of which has a detection region,
disposed in a direction perpendicular to said conveying surface, and detects the
passage of said article, and said controller recognizes the position and/or size
and/or posture of said article on the basis of detection results of said article
detection sensors.
22. A conveying apparatus according to claim 16, in which said controller determines
a conveying path of said article on said conveying surface on the basis of the
information, relating to the initial position of said article, and information
relating to a final position indicating a conveying destination of said article.
23. A conveying apparatus according to claim 22, in which said article can enter
and exit said conveying surface at a plurality of positions, and said controller
determines a conveying path in accordance with the entry and exit position of said article.
24. A conveying apparatus according to claim 16, in which said controller includes
data storage means for storing layout data representative of conveying paths of
said article on said conveying surface, and data change means for changing said
layout data stored in said data storage means.
25. A conveying apparatus according to claim 24, in which said layout data includes
entry position data, representing a position where said article enters said conveying
surface, and exit position data representing a position where said article exits
said conveying surface.
26. A conveying apparatus according to claim 16, in which said controller computes
the position of said article by the use of a vector of a tangential velocity of
said feed roller and said article relative to each other.
27. A conveying apparatus according to claim 26, in which a center of an area
of contact between said feed roller and said article is disposed at the axis of
rotation of said twist base.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a conveying apparatus and a conveying system in which
a plurality of feed portions are arranged two-dimensionally in a distributed manner
over a conveying surface, and the feed portions sequentially feed an article so
as to move the same to a predetermined position on the conveying surface.
2. Related Art
FIG. 22 shows a feed portion
1 provided in a conventional conveying apparatus
of the type described. In this feed portion
1, a rotation shaft
3
is provided within a twist gear
2 rotatable about a vertical axis, and a
feed roller
4 and an output bevel gear
5 are fixedly mounted on the
rotation shaft
3. An input bevel gear
6 in mesh with a lower side
of the output bevel gear
5 is driven by a servomotor so as to rotate the
feed roller
4, while a spur gear
7 in mesh with the outer periphery
of the twist gear
2 is driven by a servomotor so as to rotate the twist
gear
2 (see Patent literature 1; JP-A-6-298321). With this construction,
an article is conveyed in an arbitrary direction on a conveying surface of the
conveying apparatus.
In the above conventional conveying apparatus, however, the roller
4 is
provided within the twist gear
2, and therefore the shapes of the twist
gear
2 and feed roller
4 are limited, so that the following problems
have been encountered. Namely, it is difficult to form the twist gear
2
into a compact design since this twist gear receives the feed roller
4 therein,
and the interval between the adjacent feed portions
1 and
1 becomes
large. And besides, it is difficult to form the feed roller
4 into a large
size since this feed roller
4 must be received within the twist gear
2,
and the area of contact of the feed roller
4 with the article can not be
increased, so that a force can not be efficiently transmitted from the feed roller
4 to the article. Because of these factors, it has actually been difficult
for the conventional conveying apparatus to feed the article in an arbitrary direction
on the conveying surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With the above problems in view, it is an object of this invention to provide
a conveying apparatus and a conveying system in which a force is efficiently transmitted
to an article so as to smoothly convey the article in an arbitrary direction.
According to the present invention, there is provided a conveying apparatus
wherein a plurality of feed portions are arranged two-dimensionally in a distributed
manner over a conveying surface for conveying articles, and the feed portions sequentially
feed each article so as to move it to a predetermined position on the conveying
surface; the apparatus comprising:
a fixed base holding the plurality of feed portions;
a twist base which is provided at each of the feed portions, and can be rotated
about an axis substantially perpendicular to the conveying surface;
a feed roller which is mounted at an upper portion of each of the twist bases,
and can be rotated about an axis substantially parallel to the conveying surface;
a twist-purpose servomotor for driving the twist bases;
a feed-purpose servomotor for driving the feed rollers;
a twist gear which is fixedly mounted on each of the twist bases, and is disposed
below the feed roller, and is connected by gears to the twist-purpose servomotor; and
a vertical shaft which extends through each of the twist gears at an axis thereof,
an upper end of the vertical shaft being connected by gears to the feed roller
while a lower end thereof is connected by gears to the feed-purpose servomotor.
Preferably, an idle shaft is mounted on the twist base, and is disposed
below the feed roller in parallel relation thereto, and is connected to the feed
roller by gears, and the idle shaft is connected to an upper end of the vertical
shaft by bevel gears.
Preferably, upwardly-open mounting holes are formed in the fixed base,
and each of the feed portions is formed into a unit which can be removably mounted
in the mounting hole, and when the unit is inserted into the mounting hole from
an upper side, the twist gear is connected to the twist-purpose servomotor by the
gears, while the vertical shaft is kept connected by the gears to the feed-purpose
servomotor by a weight of the feed portion.
Preferably, each of the twist gears is disposed at an upper side of a
predetermined wall provided at the fixed base, while the lower end portion of each
of the vertical shafts is disposed at a lower side of the wall.
Preferably, the twist gears of the adjacent feed portions are interconnected
by an idle gear, and the twist-purpose servomotor serves as a common drive source
for a predetermined number of the feed portions.
Preferably, the fixed base has a plurality of mounting portions provided
around each of the feed portions, and the idle gears, each interconnecting the
adjacent twist gears, are mounted at the mounting portions, respectively.
Preferably, the lower ends of the vertical shafts of the adjacent feed
portions are interconnected by an idle gear, and the feed-purpose servomotor serves
as a common drive source for a predetermined number of the feed portions.
Preferably, the fixed base has a plurality of mounting portions provided
around each of the feed portions, and the idle gears, each interconnecting the
lower ends of the adjacent vertical shafts, are mounted at the mounting portions, respectively.
Preferably, the plurality of the feed portions are arranged linearly,
and a common drive shaft is provided beneath the feed portions, and extends in
a direction of juxtaposition of the feed portions, and a vertical shaft extends
through the twist base of each feed portion at the axis of rotation thereof, and
a lower end of each of the vertical shafts is connected to the common drive shaft
by bevel gears, while an upper end thereof is connected to a rotation shaft of
the feed roller by bevel gears, so that the feed-purpose servomotor serves as a
common drive source for the plurality of feed rollers.
Preferably, a plurality of the feed rollers of a cylindrical shape are
provided at the upper portion of each of the twist bases in parallel relation to
each other, and the plurality of feed rollers are interconnected by an idle roller.
Preferably, the plurality of feed portions are divided into a plurality
of groups which are driven independently of each other.
Preferably, the plurality of feed portions are arranged in columns and
rows in a distributed manner.
Preferably, the conveying surface has a square shape, and the plurality
of feed portions are arranged in a distributed manner so that the number of columns
of the feed portions is equal to the number of rows of the feed portions.
Preferably, there is provided a controller for the twist-purpose servomotor
and the feed-purpose servomotor, and the controller computes the position of the
article on the basis of information, relating to an initial position of the article
entering the conveying surface, and feed condition information relating to the
direction and rotating amount of the feed rollers.
Preferably, the controller determines a path of conveying of the article
on the conveying surface on the basis of the information, relating to the initial
position of the article, and information relating to a final position indicating
a conveying destination of the article.
Preferably, the controller includes data storage means for storing layout
data representative of conveying paths of the article on the conveying surface,
and data change means for changing the layout data stored in the data storage means.
Preferably, the layout data includes entry position data, representing
a position where the article enters the conveying surface, and exit position data
representing a position where the article exits the conveying surface.
Preferably, the article can enter and exit the conveying surface at a
plurality of positions, and the controller determines a conveying path in accordance
with the entry and exit positions of the article.
Preferably, the controller includes article recognition means for recognizing
the kind of the article, and conveying designation-determining means for determining
different conveying destinations for different kinds of articles on the basis of
recognition results of the article recognition means.
Preferably, the controller computes the position of the article by the
use of a vector of a tangential velocity of the feed roller and the article relative
to each other.
Preferably, a center of an area of contact between the feed roller and
the article is disposed at the axis of rotation of the twist base.
Preferably, the controller includes signal transmitting/receiving means
for transmitting and receiving information relative to the controllers of other
conveying apparatuses so that when articles enter and exit between a conveying
apparatus and another conveying apparatus, information in relation to the articles
is transmitted and received between controllers of the respective conveying apparatuses.
Preferably, there are provided a plurality of article detection sensors
each of which has a detection region, disposed in a direction perpendicular to
the conveying surface, and detects the passage of the article, and the controller
recognizes the position and/or size and/or posture of the article on the basis
of detection results of the article detection sensors.
Preferably, the article detection sensors are embedded in the conveying surface.
Preferably, the controller causes the article to move while changing
the posture thereof if necessary.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a conveying
system wherein a plurality of conveying apparatuses are interconnected so that
the article can be moved between the conveying apparatuses.
Preferably, in the above conveying system, there is provided a main controller
connected to the controllers provided respectively at the plurality of conveying
apparatuses, and the main controller controls the plurality of conveying apparatuses
in a coordinated manner.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a plan view of a portion of one preferred embodiment of a conveying
system of the present invention.
FIG. 1B is a plan view of a portion of the conveying system having modified
conveying paths.
FIG. 2 is a side-elevational view of a conveying module constituting the conveying system.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a conveying module.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the conveying module, showing its
internal structure.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the conveying module, showing its
external structure.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a feed portion.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the feed portion.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A—A of FIG. 2.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an electrical construction of a controller.
FIG. 10 is a conceptual view of a vector control.
FIG. 11A is a plan view of the conveying module, showing directions of conveying
of an article.
FIG. 11B is a plan view of the conveying module, showing one example of conveying paths.
FIG. 11C is a plan view of the conveying module, showing a modified conveying path.
FIG. 12 is a conceptual view showing a method of finding a contour of the article.
FIG. 13 is a conceptual view showing a method of changing the posture of the article.
FIG. 14 is a plan view showing one example of conveying systems.
FIG. 15 is a plan view showing another example of the conveying systems.
FIG. 16 is a plan view showing a further example of the conveying systems.
FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a feed portion provided at a second embodiment
of a conveying module of the invention.
FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view showing a condition in which the feed portion
is removed from a lower wall of a fixed base.
FIG. 19 is a side-elevational view of the conveying module.
FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a support portion
for an idle gear.
FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a support portion
for an idle gear.
FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional conveying apparatus.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[First Embodiment]
A first embodiment of the present invention is now described with reference to
FIGS. 1 to
16.
As shown in FIG. 1A (which is a plan view), a conveying system
10, embodying
the present invention, comprises a plurality of conveying modules ("conveying apparatus"
of the present invention)
11 arranged in a continuous manner, and can convey
an article
90, placed on an upper surface, in a sliding manner. First, the
structure of each conveying module
11 is described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the conveying module
11 includes a table-like fixed
base
12. The fixed base
12 includes an upper wall
18 and a
lower wall
33 vertically opposed to each other. A plurality of legs
13
extend downwardly from the lower wall
33, and these legs
13 are fixed,
for example, to a floor
91 of a warehouse or the like. As shown in FIG.
3, the upper wall
18 has a generally plate-like form of a square shape,
and
36 round holes
19 are formed through this upper wall
18,
and are arranged in 6 columns and 6 rows (6×6=36) (Each column extends along
two sides of the square while each row extends along the other two sides). The
lower wall
33 has a generally plate-like form of a square shape corresponding
to that of the upper wall
18. Feed portions
15 are mounted respectively
on those portions of the lower wall
33 disposed in registry with the plurality
of round holes
19, respectively. Upper ends of the feed portions
15
project respectively through the round holes
19 slightly beyond the upper
surface of the fixed base
12. With this construction, the plurality of feed
portions
15 are arranged two-dimensionally on a conveying surface
14
of the conveying module
11.
The term "conveying surface
14" should be construed as including not only
the upper surface of the fixed base
12 but also the upper ends (more specifically,
upper portions of feed rollers
17 described later) of the feed portions
15 projecting beyond the upper surface of the fixed base
12, and
this conveying surface
14 serves as a surface for conveying an article.
The fixed base
12 is not limited to the table-like shape, but can have,
for example, a box-like shape.
As shown in FIG. 4, the feed portion
15 includes the pair of feed rollers
17 and
17 provided at an upper portion of a twist base
16
rotatable about a vertical line CL
1 perpendicular to the conveying surface
14 (not shown in FIG.
4). These feed rollers
17 are arranged
in a juxtaposed manner in a plane parallel to the conveying surface
14,
and these feed rollers
17, borne by the twist base
16, are rotated
respectively about horizontal lines CL
2 parallel to the conveying surface
14. As shown in FIG. 5, part of the two feed rollers
17 and
17
of the feed portion
15 project slightly upwardly from the round hole
19
so as to contact a lower surface of an article
90.
More specifically, mounting holes
33A are formed respectively through
those portions of the lower wall
33 at which the feed portions
15
are mounted, respectively, as shown in FIG. 6, and a bearing tubular portion
33B
extends upright from a peripheral edge of each mounting hole
33A. A bearing
32 (for example, a metal bearing) is provided on an inner peripheral surface
and upper surface of the bearing tubular portion
33B.
The twist base
16 includes a pair of opposed walls
31 and
31
formed upright on an upper end of a twist shaft body
30. The twist shaft
body
30 is stepped at its lower end portion into a smaller diameter, and
this smaller-diameter portion of the twist shaft body
30 is inserted in
the bearing tubular portion
33B, and is slidably borne by an inner peripheral
surface of the bearing
32. A step surface of the twist shaft body
30,
disposed intermediate the opposite axial ends thereof, is held in sliding contact
with the upper surface of the bearing
32.
A twist gear
34 is fixedly secured to the lower end surface of the twist
shaft body
30. This twist gear
34 is in the form of a spur gear,
and is received in a lower end portion of the bearing tubular portion
33B,
and is opposed to an inner step surface of the bearing tubular portion
33B,
thereby retaining the twist base
16 against withdrawal from the bearing
tubular portion
33B.
A through hole
35 is formed vertically through the twist shaft body
30
of the twist base
16 along a centerline (axis) thereof, and a vertical shaft
36 is rotatably borne by bearings fitted respectively in opposite end portions
of the through hole
35, and an upper end portion of this vertical shaft
36 projects into a space formed between the opposed walls
31 and
31.
An idle shaft
38 extends between and are rotatably borne by lower end
portions
of the opposed walls
31 and
31 of the twist base
16. The idle
shaft
38 perpendicularly intersects the axis of rotation of the twist base
16, and this idle shaft
38 is connected to the upper end of the vertical
shaft
36 by a pair of bevel gears
37A and
37B.
The feed rollers
17 and
17 extend between and rotatably borne by
the upper end portions of the opposed walls
31 and
31. These feed
rollers
17 and
17 are disposed symmetrically with respect to a plane
including the axis of rotation of the idle shaft
38 and the axis of rotation
of the twist base
16. A constricted portion is formed at one end portion
of each feed roller
17, and a spur gear
39 of a small diameter is
mounted on this constricted portion. The spur gears
39 of the two feed rollers
17 are connected to an idle gear
40 fixedly mounted on the idle shaft
38. With this construction, when the vertical shaft
36 is powered
to be rotated, the idle shaft
38 rotates through the connected bevel gears
37A and
37B, and when the idle shaft
38 thus rotates, the
two feed rollers
17 and
17 rotate in the same direction through the
connected spur gears
39 and
40.
In the conveying module
11 of this embodiment, a plurality of twist bases
16 can be mechanically interconnected into a group. More specifically, as
shown in FIG. 7, the twist gears
34 and
34, each fixedly secured
to the lower surface of the corresponding twist base
16, are connected together
by idle gears
41, thereby forming the group in which these twist bases
16
make the same rotational motion in an interlocked manner. For canceling the grouping,
the idle gears
41 are removed.
Similarly, a plurality of feed portions
15 can be formed into a
group by mechanically interconnecting their feed rollers
17. More specifically,
as shown in FIG. 7, a common drive shaft
42 is provided beneath the feed
portions
15, and extends to perpendicularly intersect the axis of rotation
of each of the twist bases
16, and is rotatably supported. Bevel gears
43A,
fixedly mounted on the intermediate portion of the common drive shaft
42,
are connected respectively to bevel gears
43B fixedly mounted respectively
on lower end portions of the vertical shafts
36 of the feed portions
15.
With this construction, there is formed the group in which the feed rollers
17
of the feed portions
15 make the same rotational motion in an interlocked
manner. Also, when the common drive shafts
42 and
42 of the adjacent
rows are connected together by a timing belt
44 and pulleys
45 as
shown in FIG. 2, the number of the feed rollers
17 for making the same rotational
motion can be increased. The grouping can be canceled by removing the bevel gears
43A and
43B or by providing the timing belts
44 separately.
As shown in FIG. 6, the twist base
16 of the feed portion
15 is
driven by a twist-purpose servomotor
46. The feed rollers
17 are
driven by a feed-purpose servomotor
47. One twist-purpose servomotor
46
is provided for each group of feed portions
15, and a drive shaft of the
twist-purpose servomotor
46 is connected to each of the idle gears
41
interconnecting the twist bases
16 of the same group. With this construction,
the plurality of twist bases
16 of the same group are driven by one twist-purpose
servomotor
46 serving as a common drive source, and therefore the cost is
reduced as compared with the case where such grouping is not achieved.
One feed-purpose servomotor
47 is provided for each group of feed portions
15. As shown in FIG. 2, a pulley
48 is fixedly mounted on a drive
shaft of the feed-purpose servomotor
47, and this pulley
48 is engaged
with part of the timing belt
44 interconnecting the common drive shafts
42 and
42. With this construction, the plurality of feed rollers
17 of the same group are driven by one feed-purpose servomotor
47
serving as a common drive source, and therefore the cost is reduced as compared
with the case where such grouping is not achieved.
Incidentally, one twist-purpose servomotor
46 can be provided
for the twist base
16 of each feed portion
15, and one feed-purpose
servomotor
47 can be provided for the feed rollers
17 of each feed
portion
15. With this construction, the degree of freedom with respect to
the direction of conveying of the article
90 increases, and increased variations
of conveying paths can be obtained.
As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of article detection sensors
49 are embedded
in the upper wall
18 of the fixed base
12. For example, when imaginary
latticed lines are depicted on the conveying surface
14 in such a manner
that each feed portion
15 is surrounded by corresponding portions of these
lines, the article detection sensors
49 are located respectively at intersections
of these lines. Each of these article detection sensors has a detection region
disposed in a direction perpendicular to the conveying surface
14, and detects
the passage of the article
90 (for example, this sensor is turned on (or
activated) upon passage of the article). Each article detection sensor
49
can comprise a proximity switch, a laser sensor or the like.
A controller
50 includes, for example, a CPU
61 as shown in FIG.
9, and this CPU
61 executes a main program, stored in a ROM
62, at
predetermined periods, and feeds a drive command to a servo amplifier
80
for the servomotors
46 and
47 to drive the feed portions
15
so as to convey the article
90 along a predetermined conveying path. Details
are described in the following.
The CPU
61 computes the position of the article
90 on the basis
of the initial position of the article
90 and a vector of a tangential velocity
of the article
90 and the feed rollers
17 relative to each other.
Here, the vector of the tangential velocity is also a vector of a travel speed
of the article
90, and starts from the axis of rotation of the twist base
16 of each feed portion
15, and is directed in the direction of juxtaposition
of the two feed rollers
17 and
17, and has a scalar proportional
to the rotational speed of the feed rollers
17. Therefore, the vector of
the tangential velocity is specified by the direction and rotational speed of the
feed rollers
17.
For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a vector V
1, interconnecting the origin
P
0 (set in a predetermined position on the conveying surface
14)
and an initial position P
1 of the article
90, is found, and the sum
of a vector V
2 of a travel speed of the article
90 at the initial
position P
1 (i.e., a vector of the tangential velocity of the article relative
to the feed rollers
17) and the vector V
1 is found. Therefore, a
vector V
3, interconnecting the origin P
0 and an arrival position
P
2, is found as the sum of the vectors V
1 and V
2. Therefore,
coordinates of the arrival position P
2 of the article
90 (at which
the article
90 is located upon lapse of a unit time after this article is
located at the initial position P
1) is calculated. Further, an arrival position
P
3 after another unit time is found by the sum of a vector V
4 of
the travel speed of the article
90 at the arrival position P
2 and
the vector V
3. Then, similarly, the conveying path, interconnecting passage
points of the article
90, is found. Therefore, in the CPU
61, the
conveying path is beforehand determined by the initial position and final position
of the article
90, and a vector of the travel speed of the article
90
at each of passage target points, obtained by dividing this conveying path, is
computed. The servomotors
46 and
47 for the feed portions
15
are driven on the basis of these vectors. Therefore, the article
90 can
move along the conveying path.
For example, an EEPROM
63 (corresponding to "data storage means" of the
present invention), storing layout data relating to conveying paths of the article
90, is provided in the controller
50. The layout data includes entry
position data, representing a position where the article
90 enters the conveying
surface
14, and exit position data representing a position where the article
90 exits the conveying surface
14, and a conveying path is formed
by interconnecting the entry position and exit position of the article
90
by a line of a predetermined form. FIG. 11A shows one specific example of conveying
path layouts, and in this case, an upper left portion of the conveying surface
14 is the entry position of the article
90, and a lower right portion
thereof is the exit position, and these entry and exit positions are stored respectively
as the entry position data and exit position data of the layout data.
FIG. 11B shows one example of conveying paths interconnecting the entry position
and the exit position, and in this case the conveying path extends obliquely from
the entry position at an intermediate position in a main conveying direction (left-right
direction in FIG.
11B), and then extends in the same direction as the main
conveying direction. FIG. 11C shows another example of conveying paths, and in
this case the conveying path of the article
90 first extends in a direction
perpendicular to the main conveying direction, and then extends in the same direction
as the main conveying direction. Here, the conveying path does not always need
to be the one along which the article
90 is moved continuously toward one
side, and for example the conveying path can be the one along which the article
90, while repeatedly moved back and forth on the conveying surface
14,
is conveyed to a predetermined position as when a car is put into a garage.
The controller
50 includes a console
65 (corresponding to "data
change means" of the present invention) for inputting the layout data. By operating
this console
65, the layout data, stored in the above data memory, can be renewed.
The CPU
61 of the controller
50 executes, for example, an article
recognition program (corresponding to "article recognition means" of the present
invention), stored in the ROM
62, at predetermined periods, and by doing
so, the position, size and posture of the article
90 can be recognized in
accordance with detection results of the article detection sensors
49. More
specifically, among the plurality of article detection sensors
49, a group
of article detection sensors
49 over which the article
90 is disposed
are activated, and the shape of the article
90 can be recognized by these
activated article detection sensors
49. At this time, the group of activated
article detection sensors
49 shift in accordance with the movement of the
article
90. Therefore, the position, size and posture of the article
90
can be detected on the basis of the time of movement of the article
90,
the position and activation time of the activated article detection sensor group.
When the article
90 is one of a simple shape such as a corrugated cardboard
box, a contour line of the article
90 can be detected by activation of at
least two article detection sensors
49 located respectively at different
positions, as shown in FIG.
12. And, a region, surrounded by four contour
lines L
1 to L
4, can be detected as the shape of the article
90.
Incidentally, the centroid is found from the thus obtained plane figure of the
article
90, and this centroid can be used as a representative point of the
article
90.
Recognition results of the article recognition program are inputted into
the main program, and a deviation between the set entry position (obtained by the
layout data) and the actual entry position is calculated by this main program.
If such a deviation is found, the conveying path of the article
90 and the
conveying posture thereof are corrected. Further, the main program functions to
move the article
90 while changing the posture thereof, if necessary. For
changing the posture of the article
90, the rotational speed of those feed
rollers
17, contacting one of the opposite side edges of the lower surface
of the article
90, is made different from the rotational speed of those
feed rollers
17 (which are spaced from the first-mentioned feed rollers
17 in a direction perpendicular to the main conveying direction (left-right
direction in FIG.
13)) contacting the other side edge of the lower surface
of the article
90, as shown in FIG. 13, and by doing so, that side (upper
side in FIG. 13) of the article, contacting the feed rollers
17 of higher
rotational speed, can be turned clockwise (FIG. 13) so that the article
90
can be directed in the main conveying direction.
There can be provided a program (corresponding to "conveying designation-determining
means" of the present invention) which determines different conveying destinations
for different kinds of articles
90 on the basis of the recognition results
of the article recognition program. More specifically, when the articles
90
can be judged such that the articles
90 can be classified into a large size,
a medium size and a small size as shown in FIG. 1B, these articles can be conveyed
to a left end portion, a central portion and a right end portion with respect to
the main conveying direction according to the size of the articles.
As shown in FIG. 9, the controller
50 includes an I/O port
66 (corresponding
to "signal transmitting/receiving means" of the present invention) for transmitting
and receiving information relative to the controllers
50 of other conveying
modules
11. A plurality of controllers
50 for conveying modules
11
can be connected together so that communication can be effected between their controllers
50, as shown in FIG.
1A. With this construction, for example, when
the article
90 moves forward or backward from one conveying module
11
to another conveying module
11, information such as the delivery timing,
posture, direction and size of the article
90, is fed, for example, from
the controller
50 of the upstream conveying module
11 to the controller
50 of the downstream conveying module
11. As a result, the delivery
of the article
90 can be effected smoothly.
The foregoing is the description of the construction of the single conveying
module
11. The conveying system
10 comprises a plurality of conveying
modules
11 combined into a predetermined form and the controllers
50
of these conveying modules
11 connected together. FIGS. 1 and 14 to
16
show examples of conveying systems
10 in which the conveying modules
11
are freely arranged lengthwise and/or breadthwise into desired forms, so that these
conveying systems
10 have different width, length and configuration. Here,
each of the conveying modules
11 has a square shape, and the length and
breadth thereof are equal to each other. Therefore, when the conveying modules
11 are arranged either lengthwise or breadthwise, the corresponding sides
of the conveying modules
11 are disposed flush with each other, and the
installation can be carried out easily.
The controllers
50 of all of the conveying modules
11, forming
the conveying system
10, can be connected to a main controller (not shown
in a drawing), in which case this main controller collectively controls the operations
of all of the conveying modules
11. In this case, the conveying system
10
corresponds to "the conveying system" of the present invention, and also corresponds
to "the conveying apparatus" of the present invention. When the conveying system
10 is construed as forming "the conveying apparatus" of the present invention,
the main controller corresponds to "the controller" of the present invention. Furthermore,
the controllers
50 of the conveying modules
11 are not connected
together, and each conveying module can be controlled by the individual conveying
system
10.
Next, the operation and function of this embodiment of the above construction
are described.
In this embodiment, the conveying module
11 can freely convey the article
90 in all directions, that is to say, the conveying direction is not limited
to the front, back, left and right directions. Therefore, a desired number of conveying
paths can be set on the conveying system
10 without providing any physical
obstacle. More specifically, in the conveying system
10 in which the conveying
modules
11 are arranged linearly as shown in FIG. 14, the articles
90
can be collected at lateral collecting places at a desired position in the longitudinal
direction of the conveying system
10 as indicated by arrows in FIG.
14.
Also, the articles
90 can be discharged toward hoppers
81 branching
off from the conveying system
10 in directions inclined relative to the
longitudinal direction thereof. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1A, the direction
of the article
90 can be changed by turning (angularly moving) it, and the
distance between the two articles
90, arranged in the conveying direction,
can be changed by making the rotational speed of the feed rollers
17, contacting
one of the two articles
90, different from the rotational speed of the feed
rollers
17 contacting the other article
90. By doing so, the distance
between the adjacent articles
90 can be reduced to a minimum, so that the
conveying operation can be carried out efficiently.
As shown in FIG. 15, a plurality of articles
90 can be simultaneously
moved
respectively along conveying paths K
1, K
2 and K
3 in parallel
relation to one another, and these conveying paths K
1, K
2 and K
3
can be joined midway, and then this joined path can be divided.
For example, at a flat site, the conveying modules can be arranged into a conveying
form suited for conveying articles by a fork lift truck. Namely, as shown in FIG.
16, the conveying modules
11 are arranged to form a conveying area of a
size sufficiently large for the articles
90, and a plurality of branching
conveying paths are set on this conveying area, and by doing so, a plurality of
kinds of articles can be collected at predetermined positions in the conveying
area. And besides, the conveying system is so constructed that the articles
90
can enter and exit the conveying area at a plurality of positions as shown in FIG.
16, and by doing so, the efficiency of conveying of the articles into and out of
the conveying area can be enhanced. In all of the above cases, merely by changing
the layout data stored in the controllers
50, the layout of the conveying
paths can be easily effected.
As described above, in the conveying system
10 and the conveying module
11 of this embodiment, by driving the twist base
16 and the feed
rollers
17 respectively by the servomotors
46 and
47, the
article
90 can be moved to a desired position, and the degree of freedom
for determining the conveying path increases. And besides, by operating the console
65, the layout data of the conveying path can be changed, and the layout
of the conveying path can be easily changed without the need for moving the facilities.
Furthermore, the article
90 is moved while its posture is changed if necessary,
and therefore the conveying efficiency is enhanced as compared with the case where
the posture change and the movement are effected separately.
In the feed portion
15 of the conveying module
11 of this embodiment,
the twist gear
34 of the twist base
16 is disposed below the feed
rollers
17, and therefore the degree of freedom of the configurations of
the twist gear
34 and feed rollers
17 is higher as compared with
the conventional construction in which the feed roller is provided within the twist
gear. Therefore, a compact design of the twist gear
34 can be achieved,
and the adjacent feed portions
15 can be disposed closer to each other as
compared with the conventional construction, and besides a large-size design of
the feed rollers
17 can be achieved, so that the area of contact of each
feed roller
17 with the article can be increased. With this construction,
the force can be efficiently transmitted from each feed portion
15 to the
article
90 so as to smoothly convey the article
90 in an arbitrary direction.
The idle shaft
38 is connected to the feed rollers
17 and the vertical
shaft
36 by the gears, and the bevel gear
37A is mounted on the idle
shaft
38. Therefore, a bevel gear does not need to be mounted on the rotation
shaft of each feed roller
17, and the degree of freedom of the configuration
of the feed rollers
17 and
17 increases. With this construction,
the pair of feed rollers
17 and
17 can be provided, and this also
increases the area of contact of the feed rollers
17 with the article. And
besides, the plurality of (two in this embodiment) feed rollers
17 are provided
for each feed portion
15, and this also increases the area of contact between
the feed rollers
17 and the article
90.
[Second Embodiment]
This embodiment is shown in FIGS. 17 to
21. Only those portions of this
embodiment different in construction from the first embodiment will be described
below, and those portions identical in construction to the first embodiment will
be designated by identical reference numerals, respectively, and repeated description
thereof will be omitted.
As shown in FIG. 17, a lower wall
33′ of a fixed base
12,
provided at a conveying module
11′ ("conveying apparatus" of the
present invention), is in the form of a flat plate, and has a plurality of idle
gear-mounting holes
33F provided around each mounting hole
33A in
which a feed portion
15′ is mounted. An upper surface of the lower
wall
33′ and inner surfaces of the mounting holes
33A are
covered with a sliding metal
32M. For example, the idle gear-mounting hole
33F is disposed between any two mounting holes
33A and
33A
adjacent to each other in a lengthwise direction, and also the idle gear-mounting
hole
33F is disposed between any two mounting holes
33A and
33A
adjacent to each other in a breadthwise direction. A gear support shaft
41S
is inserted into the idle gear-mounting hole
33F from the upper side, and
is mounted therein, and an idle gear
41′ is rotatably mounted on
an upper end portion of the gear support shaft
41S, while an idle gear
43D
is rotatably mounted on a lower end portion of the gear support shaft
41S.
A twist base
16′, provided at the feed portion
15′
of this embodiment, has a U-shape, and an end surface of a twist gear
34′
is held against and fixedly secured to a bottom wall of the twist base
16′.
The twist gear
34′ has such a construction that a twist shaft body
34B projects downwardly from a lower end surface of a spur gear portion
34G. The twist shaft body
34B is rotatably fitted in the mounting
hole
33A. The lower end surface
34A of the spur gear portion
34G
is slidably held against an upper peripheral edge portion of the mounting hole
33A by the weight of the feed portion
15′. With this construction,
the feed portion
15′ is held in position on the lower wall
33′.
A spur gear
43C, which is smaller in outer diameter than the twist shaft
body
34B, is fixedly secured to a lower end portion of a vertical shaft
36 extending vertically through the twist gear
34′. As appreciated
from the comparison between FIGS. 17 and 18, the feed portion
15′
can be releasably mounted in the mounting hole
33A in the lower wall
33′
from the upper side without effecting a screw-fastening operation or the like.
In the conveying module
11′ of this embodiment, merely by inserting
the feed portion
15′ into the mounting hole
33A, the spur
gear portion
34G of the twist gear
34′ is brought into meshing
engagement with the idle gears
41′ on the upper side of the lower
wall
33′, and is connected to a twist-purpose servomotor
46
(see FIG.
19), and at the same time the spur gear
43C is brought
into meshing engagement with the idle gears
43D on the lower side of the
lower wall
33′, so that the vertical shaft
36 is kept connected
by the gears to a feed-purpose servomotor
47 (see FIG. 19) by the weight
of the feed portion
15′. With this construction, the feed portion
15′ can be releasably mounted on the fixed base
12 in easy
manner, and the efficiency of a maintenance operation for the feed portion
15′,
as well as the efficiency of an operation for changing the layout of the feed portions
15′, can be enhanced.
The gear connecting mechanism for connecting the twist gear
34′
to the twist-purpose servomotor
46 and the gear connecting mechanism for
connecting the lower end portion of the vertical shaft
36 to the feed-purpose
servomotor
47 are disposed separately on the upper and lower sides of the
lower wall
33′ of the fixed base
12, respectively, and therefore
each of the gear-connecting mechanisms is simplified in construction.
And besides, in the fixed base, the plurality of idle gear-mounting holes
33F
are provided around each of the feed portions
15′, so that the degree
of freedom of arrangement of the idle gears
41′ and
43D increases,
and therefore the degree of freedom of combination of the feed portions
15
