Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Conveyor having a zone of varying speed
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-08
2004-04-20
Hess, Douglas (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Conveyor having a zone of varying speed
C198S377010, C198S377020, C198S377040, C198S377070, C198S377080, C198S470100, C198S474100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06722494
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a transfer method for increasing or decreasing the transfer Velocity of a workpiece (including a material) when the workpiece moving on a transfer line is handed over to another transfer line, and a transfer apparatus having the accelerating/decelerating function.
BACKGROUND ART
Japanese Patent No. 2580493 discloses an apparatus for cutting sanitary goods, and increasing the transfer pitch of the cut sanitary goods. Specifically, the die cutter roll for cutting and transferring the sanitary goods hands over the sanitary goods to a transfer roll that rotates at a higher velocity than the circumferential velocity of the die cutter roll, whereby the transfer pitch of the sanitary goods on the transfer surface of the transfer roll is greater than the transfer pitch thereof on the transfer surface of the die cutter roll.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 63-317576 discloses a technique of cutting an elastic tape by a rotating drum, turning the cut elastic tape pieces on the rotating drum by 90° with respect to the transfer direction, and attaching the elastic tape pieces to an adherend sheet being transferred by an adherend sheet transfer apparatus. The circumferential velocity of the rotating drum is higher than the circumferential velocity of an elongation roller for feeding the elastic tape to the rotating drum, and the elastic tape, which is a continuous member, is gradually elongated while being in contact with the surface of the rotating drum, thereby increasing the interval between the cut elastic tape pieces.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 57-102427 discloses a transfer apparatus for transferring an elongate stick-shaped item such as a cigarette in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction thereof. This transfer apparatus holds each stick-shaped item in a housing having a semicircular cross section, and changes the transfer pitch of the stick-shaped items held on a linking conveyer, which is disposed between two conveyers, while the linking conveyer moves about halfway around.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,910 discloses a technique for turning a vacuum pickup shoe by 90°.
However, when transferring a soft workpiece which has a length or width such as sanitary goods, for example, by using the conventional techniques described above, the workpiece is likely to be wrinkled when it is handed over between rotating members such as rolls and drums, thereby failing to sufficiently satisfy the requirement of transferring an item stably and at a high velocity. The present invention provides a transfer method and a transfer apparatus capable of satisfying such a requirement.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
A transfer method of the present invention is a transfer method for transferring a workpiece from a preceding stage to a subsequent stage by using a transfer apparatus including at least one transfer section capable of revolving around a rotation axis, the method including: a pickup step, wherein in order for the transfer section to pick up the workpiece transferred by the preceding stage at a first transfer velocity, the transfer section moves at a pickup velocity substantially equal to the first transfer velocity in a pickup area having a width; a velocity-changing step of changing the transfer velocity of the transfer section while the transfer section is holding the workpiece which has been picked up; and a hand-over step, wherein in order to transfer the workpiece at a second transfer velocity by the subsequent stage, the transfer section moves at a hand-over velocity substantially equal to the second transfer velocity in a hand-over area having a width, wherein the pickup velocity and the hand-over velocity are different from each other.
A transfer apparatus of the present invention is a transfer apparatus, including at least one transfer section capable of revolving around a rotation axis, and a velocity-changing section for changing a transfer velocity of the transfer section, wherein: in order for the transfer section to pick up a workpiece transferred at a first transfer velocity, the transfer section holds the workpiece while moving at a pickup velocity substantially equal to the first transfer velocity in a pickup area having a width; the velocity-changing section changes the transfer velocity of the transfer section holding the workpiece; in order to transfer the workpiece at a second transfer velocity outside the transfer apparatus, the transfer section moves at a hand-over velocity substantially equal to the second transfer velocity in a hand-over area having a width; and the pickup velocity and the hand-over velocity are different from each other.
These configurations will be described with reference to the basic conceptual diagram of FIG.
1
.
A transfer apparatus
1
provided between a preceding stage C
1
and a subsequent stage C
2
picks up a workpiece X to a transfer section
3
from the preceding stage C
1
, and hands over the workpiece X to the subsequent stage C
2
after changing the transfer velocity of the workpiece X which has been picked up. Each of the preceding stage C
1
and the subsequent stage C
2
includes a drum, a conveyer, or any other transfer device, for moving the workpiece X at predetermined transfer velocities, and the configuration of each stage is not limited to any particular configuration.
The workpiece X has a predetermined length with respect to the transfer direction and a predetermined width. The predetermined length is a length that is less than or equal to the longitudinal dimension of the workpiece holding surface of the transfer section
3
, and the predetermined width is a width that is less than or equal to the widthwise dimension of the holding surface. With the configuration illustrated in
FIG. 1
, the workpiece X is transferred in the longitudinal direction in the preceding stage C
1
, and then the direction thereof is changed in the transfer plane (the revolving plane of the transfer section
3
) by means of a direction-changing section
5
provided in the transfer apparatus
1
, after which the workpiece X is transferred in the widthwise direction in the subsequent stage C
2
. Note that the direction of the workpiece X may not be changed, or may be changed from the widthwise direction to the longitudinal direction.
As for the direction-changing section
5
, the direction-changing section
5
may have a motor, for example, so that it is capable of turning the transfer section
3
. However, in order to allow a rotating member
4
to rotate at a high velocity, it is preferred that the direction-changing section
5
is provided by using a direction-changing cam groove as will be described later. This is because it is then possible to reduce the weight of the rotating member
4
. The direction-changing section
5
may alternatively be a rail such as a monorail instead of a direction-changing cam groove
48
as illustrated in FIG.
9
. The driving force for turning the transfer section
3
may be supplied from a power source for rotating the rotating member
4
.
The transfer apparatus
1
includes at least one transfer section
3
for picking up and holding the workpiece X. The transfer section
3
revolves around a rotation axis
11
. In
FIG. 1
, the transfer section
3
(
3
a
) immediately before picking up the workpiece X from the preceding stage C
1
is shown in a solid line, and the transfer section
3
(
3
b
) immediately after picking up the workpiece X is shown in a two-dot chain line. The transfer section
3
(
3
c
) immediately before handing over the workpiece X to the subsequent stage C
2
is shown in a solid line, and the transfer section
3
(
3
d
) immediately after handing over the workpiece X is shown in a two-dot chain line.
The transfer section
3
picks up the workpiece X, which is supplied from the preceding stage C
1
at a first transfer velocity (transfer velocity V
1
), in a pickup area adjoining the preceding stage C
1
and having a width. At least in this pickup area, the transfer velocity of the transfer plane is maintained at a substantia
Hess Douglas
Renner , Otto, Boisselle & Sklar, LLP
Zuiko Corporation
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