The present invention relates to a work sheet processing system that cuts a plurality of product work sheets from a material work sheet, processes the product work sheets, and then loads the product work sheets on a vehicle that transports the product work sheets to a next process.
Some products such as automatic vending machines and office furniture are assembled from a plurality of work sheets. Work sheet processing machines, for example, punch presses, can produce all or almost all of the work sheets constituting these products by performing various processing operations such as punching, shape forming, and cutting. In the conventional art, various product work sheets produced by the work sheet processing machine are loaded on a vehicle so as to be stacked flat. The vehicle then transports the product work sheets to a next process. The following methods are available for loading the product work sheets on the vehicle: (1) only the same type of product work sheets are collectively loaded on the vehicle, (2) the product work sheets are divided into groups corresponding to processes used, and for each of the processes, the corresponding group is loaded on the vehicle, or (3) a set of product work sheets used to assemble a final product is collectively loaded on the vehicle.
In the case (1), in a site to which the product work sheets are transported, the product work sheets need to be sorted according to the processes or final products. The sorting operation is cumbersome. Thus, the method (2) or the method (3) is desirable in terms of working efficiency. With the method (2) or the method (3), plural types of product work sheets are loaded on one vehicle. In this case, product work sheets of different sizes need to be loaded on the vehicle so as to be stacked. A work sheet loading device that can perform this operation has thus been proposed (for example, the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication (Tokkai) No. 2004-123276).
However, where the product work sheets are stacked flat on the vehicle as in the conventional art, large-sized product work sheets are disadvantageously difficult to transport to a post-process because the large-size product work sheets have large front-back lengths and lateral lengths. Furthermore, where the product work sheets are stacked flat, the product work sheets processed earlier are placed lower on the vehicle. Thus, where the product work sheets are transported by the method (2) or the method (3), the lower product work sheets must be taken out from the plural groups of product work sheets laid on top of one another like a stack. With large-sized product work sheets, this taking-out operation is very difficult to achieve.
An object of the present invention is to provide a work sheet processing system that can compactly collect a plurality of product work sheets cut by a work sheet processing machine, on a vehicle, allowing the product work sheets to be easily transported to a next process. Another object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of processing or assembly in the subsequent process. Yet another object of the present invention is to make it possible to efficiently sort and load many types of product work sheets on the vehicle and to load small-sized product work sheets on the vehicle without distributing the product work sheets.
A work sheet processing system according to the present invention comprises a work sheet processing machine that cuts a plurality of product work sheets from a material work sheet, a work sheet collecting vehicle on which the product work sheets cut by the work sheet processing machine are loaded, and a work sheet carry-out device that carries out the product work sheets from the work sheet processing machine to the work sheet collecting vehicle, the work sheet collecting vehicle having a planar placing portion on which the product work sheets are loaded so as to be laid on top of one another like a stack, and a leaning-against portion on which the product work sheets are loaded so as to lean against the leaning-against portion, the work sheet carry-out device having a traveling member that is travelable along a predetermined track, a product holder which is provided on the traveling member and which can hold the product work sheets, a tilting mechanism that can tilt the product holder according to an angle of the leaning-against portion of the work sheet collecting vehicle, and a conveyance control device that controls the traveling member, the product holder, and the tilting mechanism such that the product work sheets on the work sheet processing machine are sorted and loaded on the planar placing portion or the leaning-against portion of the work sheet collecting vehicle according to type of the product work sheets.
According to the configuration of this work sheet processing system, the work sheet carry-out device the product work sheets on the work sheet processing machine to the work sheet collecting vehicle. The work sheet carry-out device uses the product holder to hold the product work sheets on the work sheet processing machine. The work sheet carry-out device then allows the traveling member to travel along the track from the position of the work sheet processing machine to the position of the work sheet collecting vehicle with the product work sheets remaining held by the product holder. At the position of the work sheet collecting vehicle, the work sheet carry-out device cancels the holding of the product work sheets by the product holder. Thus, the product work sheets are loaded on the planar placing portion or the leaning-against portion of the work sheet collecting vehicle. Where the product work sheets are loaded on the leaning-against portion, the holding of the product work sheets is canceled with the product holder tilted according to the angle of the leaning-against portion. Thus tilting the product holder allows the product work sheets to be appropriately loaded on the leaning-against portion. The product work sheets are sorted and loaded on the planar placing portion or the leaning-against portion according to the type of each product work sheet. Consequently, plural types of product work sheets can be compactly loaded on the work sheet collecting vehicle. For example, by loading large-sized product work sheets so that the product work sheets lean against the leaning-against portion, it is possible to reduce the front-back length or lateral length of the work sheet collecting vehicle with the product work sheets loaded thereon. Thus, transportation to the next process can be easily achieved. Furthermore, where the product work sheets are loaded so as to lean against the leaning-against portion, any of the plurality of product work sheets can be easily taken out even though the product work sheets are large in size. Thus, even if product work sheets to be used earlier in the next process are loaded earlier for convenience of processing by the work sheet processing machine or the like, the product work sheets loaded earlier can be easily taken out.
Where the work sheet processing machine processes a set of product work sheets used to assemble a final product, the set of product work sheets may be loaded on the work sheet collecting vehicle. Loading the set of product work sheets on the work sheet collecting vehicle eliminates the need for the time and effort to sort the product work sheets during the subsequent process. This improves the efficiency of processing or assembly in the subsequent process.
Furthermore, desirably, the work sheet collecting vehicle has a drawer type product housing portion that can be moved in and out between a storage position where the product housing portion is stored inside the work sheet collecting vehicle and a draw-out position where the product housing portion is drawn out from the work sheet collecting vehicle, and the work sheet carry-out device performs an operation of housing the product work sheets in the drawer type product housing portion located at the draw-out position. The provision of the drawer type product housing portion allows many types of product work sheets to be sorted and loaded. In particular, small-sized product work sheets can be loaded without being distributed. Since the work sheet carry-out device also houses the product work sheets in the drawer type product housing portion, the product work sheets can be efficiently housed in the drawer type product housing portion.
The work sheet processing system according to the present invention comprises the work sheet processing machine that cuts the plurality of product work sheets from the material work sheet, the work sheet collecting vehicle on which the product work sheets cut by the work sheet processing machine are loaded, and the work sheet carry-out device that carries out the product work sheets from the work sheet processing machine to the work sheet collecting vehicle, the work sheet collecting vehicle having the planar placing portion on which the product work sheets are loaded so as to be laid on top of one another like a stack, and the leaning-against portion on which the product work sheets are loaded so as to lean against the leaning-against portion, the work sheet carry-out device having the traveling member that is travelable along a predetermined track, a product holder which is provided on the traveling member and which can hold the product work sheets, a tilting mechanism that can tilt the product holder according to an angle of the leaning-against portion or the work sheet collecting vehicle, and the conveyance control device that controls the traveling member, product holder, and tilting mechanism such that the product work sheets on the work sheet processing machine are sorted and loaded on the planar placing portion or leaning-against portion of the work sheet collecting vehicle according to type of the product work sheets. Thus, the plurality of product work sheets cut by the work sheet processing machine can be compactly collected and easily transported to the next process.
Where the work sheet processing machine processes the set of product work sheets used to assemble the final product, the set of product work sheets are loaded on the work sheet collecting vehicle. This improves the efficiency of processing or assembly in the subsequent process.
Where the work sheet collecting vehicle has the drawer type product housing portion that can be moved in and out between the storage position where the product housing portion is stored inside the work sheet collecting vehicle and the draw-out position where the product housing portion is drawn out from the work sheet collecting vehicle, and the work sheet carry-out device performs the operation of housing the product work sheets in the drawer type product housing portion located at the draw-out position, many types of product work sheets can be efficiently sorted and loaded on the work sheet collecting vehicle. Furthermore, small-sized product work sheets can be loaded without being distributed.
Other features, elements, processes, steps, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
The work sheet processing machine 1 comprises a function of cutting a plurality of product work sheets from the material work sheet W0 on a table 5 by means of punching or the like. The work sheet processing machine 1 is composed of a punch press, a laser processor, or the like. In this example, the work sheet processing machine 1 is a punch press, and comprises a processing portion 7 that elevates and lowers a punch tool (not shown in the drawings) with respect to a die tool (not shown in the drawings) for processing, and a work sheet feeding mechanism 8 that moves the material work sheet W0 on the table 5 forward and backward (Y direction) and rightward and leftward (X direction).
The work sheet collecting vehicle 3 is a vehicle on which transports product work sheets processed by the work sheet processing machine 1 and carried out by the work sheet carry-out device 2, to a next process.
The product work sheets W3, shown by solid lines in
As shown in
The work sheet carry-out device 2 is a device that carries out the product work sheets W1 to W4 processed by the work sheet processing machine 1, to the work sheet collecting vehicle 3 or to the palettes 9 in the work sheet stocker 4. The work sheet carry-out device 2 comprises two tracks 11 installed parallel to each other between the work sheet processing machine 1 and a stop position of the work sheet collecting vehicle 3 and facing in the lateral direction, two traveling members 13 that are independently travelable along the tracks 11, and product holders 20 provided on the respective traveling members 13.
The two tracks 11 are integrally coupled together at the opposite ends thereof. The tracks 11 are supported by a lateral pair of forward-backward moving frames 16. The front-back moving frames 16 each have an upper end fixed to the rear track 11 and are coupled together via a horizontal frame 16. The lateral pair of frontward-backward moving frames 16 is movable along forward-backward moving rails 18 and can be moved forward and backward by a forward-backward movement driving source 16a (
The product holder 20 is composed of a pad support frame 21 extending in the forward-backward direction and a plurality of suction pads 22 attached to the pad support frame 21. In this embodiment, the two pad support frames 21 are provided on the right and left sides, respectively, of the product holder 20. Four suction pads 22 are attached to each of the pad support frames 21. The product holder 20 thus comprises a total of eight suction pads 22. For example, the small-sized product work sheet W3 is sucked and held using one suction pad 22 as shown in
As shown in the partly enlarged view in
Even though some of the unit suction pads 22a are out of contact with a suction target such as any of the product work sheets W1 to W4, the suction pad 22 can suck the product work sheet. The suction pad 22 as a whole may constitute a single negative pressure portion instead of being formed into a bundle as described above.
The product holder 20 can be elevated and lowered with respect to the traveling member 13. In the present embodiment, a vertically long elevating and lowering member 24 is fitted into the traveling member 13. The pad support frame 21 is attached to a lower end of the elevating and lowering member 24. An elevating and lowering driving source 25 (
As shown in
With reference to
The arithmetic control section 42 of the conveyance control device 40 issues an output instruction to the driving sources for the work sheet carry-put device 2. The driving sources include the forward-backward movement driving source 16a for the forward-backward moving frame 16, the traveling driving source 19 for the traveling member 13, the elevating and lowering driving source 25 for the product holder 20, the tilt driving source 28 for the product holder 20, and (a suction driving source for) the product holder 20.
In the conveyance control device 40, the arithmetic control portion 42 and the conveyance control program 41 constitute function achieving means shown in
The conveyance control device 40 exchanges information with a work sheet processing control device 50 that controls the work sheet processing machine 1. The control sections 43, 44, 45 perform control in accordance with information from the work sheet processing control device 50. That is, when the work sheet processing machine 1 processes the large-sized product work sheet W1, the leaning-against portion control section 43 controls the work sheet carry-out device 2. When the work sheet processing machine 1 processes the medium-sized product work sheet W2, the planar placing portion control section 44 controls the work sheet carry-out device 2. When the work sheet processing machine 1 processes the small-sized product work sheet W3, the drawer type product housing portion control section 45 controls the work sheet carry-out device 2.
As shown in
A specific description will be given of the control of the leaning-against portion loading control section 43 and the operation of the work sheet carry-out device 2. The leaning-against portion loading control section 43 issues an output instruction to the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to cause the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to move the traveling member 13 located at a home position (not shown in the drawings) to a position above the work sheet processing machine 1. The leaning-against portion loading control section 43 then issues an output instruction to the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to cause the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to lower the product holder 20. The leaning-against portion loading control section 43 then issues an output instruction to the product holder 20 to cause the product holder 20 to suck and hold the product work sheet W1 using the suction pads 22. At this time, all the suction pads 22 of the product holder 20 are used to suck and hold the product work sheet W1. The leaning-against portion loading control section 43 then issues an output instruction to the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to cause the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to elevate the product holder 20. The leaning-against portion loading control section 43 then issues an output instruction to the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to cause the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to move the traveling member 13 to a position above the leaning-against portion 31 of the work sheet collecting vehicle 3. The leaning-against portion loading control section 43 then issues an output instruction to the tilting driving source 28 to cause the tilting driving source 28 to tilt the product holder 20 such that the tilt angle of the product holder 20 is almost the same as that of the leaning-against surface 31b of the leaning-against portion 31 (
A specific description will be given of the control of the planar placing portion loading control section 44 and the operation of the work sheet carry-out device 2. The planar placing portion loading control section 44 issues an output instruction to the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to cause the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to move the traveling member 13 located at the home position (not shown in the drawings) to the position above the work sheet processing machine 1. The planar placing portion loading control section 44 then issues an output instruction to the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to cause the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to lower the product holder 30. The planar placing portion loading control section 44 then issues an output instruction to the product holder 20 to cause the product holder 20 to suck and hold the product work sheet W2 using the suction pads 22. At this time, a plurality (for example, two) of the suction pads 22 of the product holder 20 are used to suck and hold the product work sheets W1. The planar placing portion loading control section 44 then issues an output instruction to the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to cause the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to elevate the product holder 20. The planar placing portion loading control section 44 then issues an output instruction to the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to cause the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to move the traveling member 13 to a position above the planar placing portion 32 of the work sheet collecting vehicle 3. The planar placing portion loading control section 44 then issues an output instruction to the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to cause the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to lower the product holder 20. The planar placing portion loading control section 44 then issues an output instruction to the product holder 20 to cause the product holder 20 to cancel the suction and holding of the product work sheet W2 by the suction pads 22. Thus, the product work sheet W2 is loaded horizontally on the planar placing portion 32 of the work sheet collecting vehicle 3. Subsequently, the planar placing portion loading control section 44 issues an output instruction to the driving sources 16a, 19, 25, 28 to return the work sheet carry-out device 22 to the original condition.
A specific description will be given of the control of the drawer type product housing portion loading control section 45 and the operation of the work sheet carry-out device 2. The drawer type product housing portion loading control section 45 issues an output instruction to the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to cause the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to move the traveling member 13 located at the home position (not shown in the drawings) to the position above the work sheet processing machine 1. The drawer type product housing portion loading control section 45 then issues an output instruction to the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to cause the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to lower the product holder 20. The drawer type product housing portion loading control section 45 then issues an output instruction to the product holder 20 to cause the product holder 20 to suck and hold the product work sheet W3 using the suction pad 22. At this time, one of the suction pads 22 of the product holder 20 is used to suck and hold the product work sheets W3. The drawer type product housing portion loading control section 45 then issues an output instruction to the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to cause the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to elevate the product holder 20. The drawer type product housing portion loading control section 45 issues an output instruction to the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to cause the forward-backward movement driving source 16a and the traveling driving source 19 to move the traveling member 13 to a position above the drawer type product housing portion 34 of the work sheet collecting vehicle 3. The drawer type product housing portion loading control section 45 then issues an output instruction to the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to cause the elevating and lowering driving source 25 to lower the product holder 20. The drawer type product housing portion loading control section 45 issues an output instruction to the product holder 20 to cause the product holder 20 to cancel the suction and holding of the product work sheet W3 by the suction pads 22. Thus, the product work sheet W3 is dropped into the drawer type product housing portion 33 of the work sheet collecting vehicle 3. Subsequently, the drawer type product housing portion loading control section 45 issues an output instruction to the driving sources 16a, 19, 25, 28 to return the work sheet carry-out device 22 to the original condition. In the present embodiment, the operations of drawing out and returning the drawer type product housing portion 34 are manually performed.
The control sections 43, 44, 45 perform control such that the work sheet carry-out device 2 performs the above-described operations. Thus, the set of product work sheets W1 to W3 processed by the work sheet processing machine 1 are sorted and loaded on the leaning-against portion 31, the planar placing portion 32, and the drawer type product housing portion 34. The order in which the work sheet processing machine 1 processes the product work sheets W1 to W3 is not particularly limited. However, product work sheets W1 to W3 used earlier during a subsequent process are desirably processed later. Processing in this order allows the product work sheets W1 to W3 to be loaded on the leaning-against portion 31, planar placing portion 32, and drawer type product housing portion 34 of the work sheet collecting vehicle 3 so that product work sheets W1 to W3 used earlier during the subsequent process are located higher on these portions. This allows any of the product work sheets W1 to w3 to be easily taken out during the subsequent process.
According to this work sheet processing system, the product work sheets W1 to W3 are sorted and loaded on the leaning-against portion 31, planar placing portion 32, and drawer type product housing portion 34 of the work sheet collecting vehicle 3 according to the type of each product work sheet. The plural types of product work sheets W1 to W3 can thus be compactly loaded. The large-sized product work sheets W1 are loaded on the leaning-against portion 31b so as to lean against the leaning-against portion 31b. This enables a reduction in the front-back length of the work sheet collecting vehicle 3 with the product work sheets W1 loaded thereon. The work sheet collecting vehicle 3 can thus easily transport the product work sheets W1 to W3 to the next process. Furthermore, when the product work sheets W1 are loaded on the leaning-against portion 31 so as to lean against the leaning against portion 31, any of the plurality of product work sheets W1 can be easily taken out even though the product work sheets W1 are large in size. In particular, in the present embodiment, the grooves 35 are formed in the work sheet placement surface 31b of the leaning-against portion 31 to create a gap between the product work sheets W1. This further facilitates the operation of taking out any of the product work sheets. Thus, even if product work sheets W1 to be used earlier during the subsequent process are loaded earlier for convenience of processing by the work sheet processing machine 1 or the like, the product work sheets W1 loaded earlier can be easily taken out. Moreover, the set of the product work sheets W1 to W3 to be used to assemble the final product are loaded on the one work sheet collecting vehicle 3. This eliminates the need for the time and effort to sort the product work sheets W1 to W3 during the subsequent process. This improves the efficiency of processing or assembly in the subsequent process. Moreover, in addition to the leaning-against portion 31, the planar placing portion 32 and the drawer type product housing portion 34 are provided to allow many types of product work sheets W1 to W3 to be sorted and loaded. In particular, the small-sized product work sheets W3 can be loaded without being distributed, by housing the product work sheets W3 in the drawer type product housing portion 34.
In the present embodiment, the operations of drawing out and returning the drawer type product housing portion 34 are manually performed. However, these operations may be performed utilizing the product holder 20 of the work sheet carry-out device 2. For example, a hook-like member may be provided on the pad support frame 21 of the product holder 20. The hook-like member can be hooked in the hand placing hole 34a in the drawer type product housing portion 34 to draw out the drawer type product housing portion 34. Alternatively, the pad support frame 21 can be used to push and return the drawer type product housing portion 34. When the work sheet carry-out device 2 performs the operations of drawing out and returning the drawer type product housing portion 34, the operator's burden is reduced, allowing the product work sheets to be efficiently carried out.
The work sheet collecting vehicle 3 according to the above-described embodiment has the only one drawer type product housing portion 34. However, the work sheet collecting vehicle 3 may have two drawer type product housing portions 34 as shown in
While the present invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed invention may be modified in numerous ways and may assume many embodiments other than those specifically set out and described above. Accordingly, it is intented by the appended claims to cover all modifications of the present invention that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-115160 | Apr 2007 | JP | national |