US-20260125223-A1 - Orientation Adjustment Apparatus

US20260125223A1US 20260125223 A1US20260125223 A1US 20260125223A1US-20260125223-A1

Abstract

An orientation adjustment conveyor is configured to cause conveyance speeds of a first conveyor part and a second conveyor part to be different from each other. The first conveyor part has a conveyance surface that is inclined in a conveyance width direction to a lower side in a vertical direction on a second conveyance width direction side at a first end portion and has an inclination angle with respect to a horizontal plane in the conveyance width direction, which inclination angle gradually decreases toward a second end portion. The second conveyor part has a conveyance surface that is inclined in the conveyance width direction to the lower side in the vertical direction on a first conveyance width direction side at a first end portion and has an inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane in the conveyance width direction, which inclination angle gradually decreases toward a second end portion.

Inventors

Kiyoshi Shiki
Shota NAKANISHI
Takashi TAKIMOTO

Assignees

DAIFUKU CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20230914
Priority Date: 20220930

Claims (6)

1 . An orientation adjustment apparatus that adjusts an orientation of a conveyance target, the orientation adjustment apparatus comprising: an orientation adjustment conveyor configured to adjust the orientation of the conveyance target while conveying the conveyance target along a prescribed conveyance direction, and wherein: the orientation adjustment conveyor comprises a first conveyor part and a second conveyor part that are disposed in parallel to be adjacent to each other in a conveyance width direction and is configured to cause the first conveyor part and the second conveyor part to have respective conveyance speeds different from each other, and the conveyance width direction is a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, the first conveyor section is disposed on a first conveyance width direction side relative to the second conveyor section in the conveyance width direction, and the first conveyance width direction side is opposite to a second conveyance width direction side, the first conveyor section and the second conveyor section each have a first end portion as a first one of an upstream end portion and a downstream end portion and a second end portion as a second one of the upstream end portion and the downstream end portion, the first conveyor part has a conveyance surface that is inclined in the conveyance width direction to a lower side in a vertical direction on the second conveyance width direction side at a first end portion and that has an inclination angle with respect to a horizontal plane in the conveyance width direction which inclination angle gradually decreases toward the second end portion, and the second conveyor part has a conveyance surface that is inclined in the conveyance width direction to the lower side in the vertical direction on the first conveyance width direction side at a first end portion and that has an inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane in the conveyance width direction which inclination angle gradually decreases toward the second end portion.
2 . The orientation adjustment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein: the first conveyor part is a roller conveyor comprising a plurality of first rollers arranged in the conveyance direction and each having a first specific area as a partial area in the conveyance width direction and a first outer area on the first conveyance width direction side relative to the first specific area, the first specific area having a surface made of a material with a friction coefficient higher than a friction coefficient of a material of a surface of the first outer area, the second conveyor part is a roller conveyor comprising a plurality of second rollers arranged in the conveyance direction and each having a second specific area as a partial area in the conveyance width direction and a second outer area on the second conveyance width direction side relative to the second specific area, the second specific area having a surface made of a material with a friction coefficient higher than a friction coefficient of a material of a surface of the second outer area, the first conveyor part comprises a first driving belt configured to drive the plurality of first rollers, the first driving belt is in contact with lower surfaces of the first outer areas of the plurality of first rollers and is configured to transmit a drive force, the second conveyor part comprises a second driving belt configured to drive the plurality of second rollers, and the second driving belt is in contact with lower surfaces of the second outer areas of the plurality of second rollers and is configured to transmit a drive force.
3 . The orientation adjustment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein; the first conveyor part is a roller conveyor comprising a plurality of first rollers arranged in the conveyance direction, each of the first rollers has a rotation axis inclined to a downstream side in the conveyance direction on the first conveyance width direction side, the second conveyor part is a roller conveyor comprising a plurality of second rollers arranged in the conveyance direction, and each of the second rollers has a rotation axis inclined downstream in the conveyance direction on the second conveyance width direction side.
4 . The orientation adjustment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein: the orientation adjustment conveyor further comprises a third conveyor part that is disposed on a downstream side with respect to the first conveyor part and a fourth conveyor part that is disposed on the downstream side with respect to the second conveyor part and that is disposed on the second conveyance width direction side with respect to the third conveyor part and is configured to cause the third conveyor part and the fourth conveyor part to have respective conveyance speeds different from each other, the third conveyor section and the fourth conveyor section each have a third end portion as a first one of an upstream end portion and a downstream end portion and a fourth end portion as a second one of the upstream end portion and the downstream end portion, the third conveyor part has a conveyance surface that is inclined in the conveyance width direction to the lower side in the vertical direction on the second conveyance width direction side at a third end portion and that has an inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane in the conveyance width direction which inclination angle gradually decreases toward the fourth end portion, and the fourth conveyor part has a conveyance surface that is inclined in the conveyance width direction to the lower side in the vertical direction on the first conveyance width direction side at a third end portion and that has an inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane in the conveyance width direction which inclination angle gradually decreases toward the fourth end portion.
5 . The orientation adjustment apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein: the first end portion is the downstream end portion of each of the first conveyor part and the second conveyor part, the second end portion is the upstream end portion of each of the first conveyor part and the second conveyor part, the third end portion is the upstream end portion of each of the third conveyor part and the fourth conveyor part, and the fourth end portion is the downstream end portion of each of the third conveyor part and the fourth conveyor part.
6 . The orientation adjustment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first end portion is the upstream end portion of each of the first conveyor part and the second conveyor part, and wherein the second end portion is the downstream end portion of each of the first conveyor part and the second conveyor part.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is the United States national phase of International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2023/033569 filed Sep. 14, 2023, and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-158631 filed Sep. 30, 2022, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an orientation adjustment apparatus that adjusts the orientation of a conveyance target. Description of Related Art An example of such an orientation adjustment apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-100398 (JP 2010-100398). JP 2010-100398 discloses an orientation adjustment apparatus that adjusts the orientation of a rectangular or square conveyance target by making speeds on right and left sides of a conveyance direction of an orientation adjustment conveyor different from each other with respect to a rectangular or square conveyance target. Although the apparatus described in JP 2010-100398 is on the assumption that adjustment of the orientation of a conveyance target of which a bottom surface has a planar shape is performed, it may be necessary to adjust the orientations of a plurality of types of conveyance targets of which bottom surfaces are different from each other in shape although depending on the purpose of use of the orientation adjustment apparatus. However, in the case of the orientation adjustment apparatus described in JP 2010-100398, no particular consideration has been given to such a point. Therefore, although depending on the shape of a bottom surface, there is a case where the orientation is changed insufficiently even when the speeds on the right and left sides of the conveyance direction are made different from each other. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, there is a demand for realization of a technique with which it is possible to appropriately perform orientation adjustment of conveyance targets having various bottom surface shapes. In view of the description as above, there is provided an orientation adjustment apparatus that adjusts an orientation of a conveyance target, the orientation adjustment apparatus including: an orientation adjustment conveyor configured to adjust the orientation of the conveyance target while conveying the conveyance target along a prescribed conveyance direction, in which the orientation adjustment conveyor includes a first conveyor part and a second conveyor part that are disposed in parallel to be adjacent to each other in a conveyance width direction and is configured to cause the first conveyor part and the second conveyor part to have respective conveyance speeds different from each other, the conveyance width direction being a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, the first conveyor section is disposed on a first conveyance width direction side relative to the second conveyor section in the conveyance width direction, the first conveyance width direction side being opposite to a second conveyance width direction side, the first conveyor section and the second conveyor section each have a first end portion as a first one of an upstream end portion and a downstream end portion and a second end portion as a second one of the upstream end portion and the downstream end portion, the first conveyor part has a conveyance surface that is inclined in the conveyance width direction to a lower side in a vertical direction on the second conveyance width direction side at a first end portion and that has an inclination angle with respect to a horizontal plane in the conveyance width direction which inclination angle gradually decreases toward the second end portion, and the second conveyor part has a conveyance surface that is inclined in the conveyance width direction to the lower side in the vertical direction on the first conveyance width direction side at a first end portion and that has an inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane in the conveyance width direction which inclination angle gradually decreases toward the second end portion. According to the present configuration, in a case where a bottom surface of the conveyance target is bent to protrude to the lower side in the vertical direction, a large area of contact between the bottom surface of the conveyance target and a conveyance surface of the orientation adjustment conveyor is able to be more easily ensured when the conveyance surface of the orientation adjustment conveyor is inclined to be on the lower side in the vertical direction in the vicinity of a boundary between the first conveyor part and the second conveyor part. Meanwhile, in a case where the bottom surface of the conveyance target is planar or almost planar, a large area of contact between the bottom surface of the conveyance target and the conveyance surface of the orientation adjustment conveyor is able to be more easily ensured when the conveyance