METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING A PLANAR BODY

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transporting plates (1), in which method the plates are removed from the conveyor by inclining the conveyor to such an extent that the plates are detached from the conveyor by the action of gravity, and are brought to a delivery station to the desired site. To transport the plates (1) from the conveyor to the delivery station and to deliver them without scratches into a neat stack, the plates (1) arriving from the conveyor are received by a gripping device (2) wherewith the plates, supported and clamped at their lower edges and resting with their side against the gripping device, are transferred to the delivery station to the desired site, whereto the plates are delivered by turning the gripping device so much that the plates fall by their own weight, whereafter the clamping at the lower edge of the plates is removed, whereupon the plates are detached from the gripping device and fall freely.

Description: Method and apparatus for transporting a planar body The invention relates to a method for transporting a planar body, such as a plate and a slab, in which method the body is removed from the conveyor by in¬ clining the conveyor to such an extent that the body is detached from the conveyor by the action of grav¬ ity, and brought to a delivery station to the desired site. The invention also relates to an apparatus for transporting a planar body, such as a plate and a slab, said apparatus comprising an inclinable con¬ veyor which can be inclined to such an extent that the body is detached from the conveyor by the action of gravity. Conveyor tracks for transporting metal plates are known, comprising a plurality of successively arranged belt conveyors. Boxes have been disposed beneath the belt conveyors whereinto the metal plates lying on the conveyor track are dropped. The removal of the metal plates from the belt conveyors has been arranged so that the belt conveyors can be separately inclined by lifting their rear edge upward so much that by the action of gravity the metal plates are dropped into the boxes beneath. When one proceeds thus, the metal plates arrive in the boxes in such a way that they are not accurately superimposed in a neat stack but are in a poor order, and the plates may easily be scratched upon falling. If different types of plates, i.e. plates of various shapes, sizes or materials, are dropped into the boxes, the plates must later be assorted manually, which is time-con¬ suming and cumbe'rsone. A further problem is that the metal plates must be dropped into boxes or equivalent containers which have sides, in order for the plates not to be scattered all over, which would occur if the plates were dropped onto pickups, such as con¬ ventional working platforms (so called pallets) transported by forklift trucks. The object of the present invention is to elim¬ inate the problems relating to the above-stated prior art. To realize this, the method of the invention is characterized in that the body arriving from the con¬ veyor is received with a gripping device wherewith the body, supported and clamped at its lower edge and resting with its side against the gripping device, is transferred to the delivery station to the desired site, whereto the body is delivered by turning the gripping device so much that the body falls by its own weight, whereafter the clamping at the lower edge of the body is removed, whereupon the body is detached from the gripping device and falls freely. It is highly expedient that the conveyor is inclined • in the lateral direction perpendicularly relative to the horizontal direction of travel of the conveyor more than 95 degrees, since in that event the plate can be supported by means of simple equipment. The apparatus of the invention is mainly char¬ acterized in that the conveyor can be inclined in the lateral direction perpendicularly to the horizontal direction of travel of the conveyor to detach the body from the conveyor so that it will fall from the conveyor against a support base in an inclined posi¬ tion and that the apparatus comprises a frame struc- ture and a gripping device resting thereon, said frame structure being displaceable along a track and rotatable about a vertical axis and said gripping device being in * an inclined position for receiving the body so that the body rests with its lower edge on the lower support of the gripping device to which clamping means are connected for clamping the lower portion of the body between them, said gripping device additionally being turnable at an angle of more than 90° relative to the frame structure for transporting the body resting with its side against the gripping device to the delivery station and for turning the body into a delivery position in a subs¬ tantially horizontal plane. The advantageous embodi¬ ments of the apparatus of the invention have been set forth in the accompanying claims 4 to 11. The greatest advantages of the method and ap¬ paratus of the invention reside in that the plates to be transported can be transferred from the conveyor to the delivery station and delivered thereat to the desired site in a neat stack without risk of damage to the plates. The construction of the apparatus which offers significant advantages in comparison with the prior art is relatively simple, and the in¬ vention enables swift transport of plates of varying sizes without changes in the settings. It is to be noted that the plates to be transported in accord¬ ance with the invention must have a certain stiff¬ ness (thickness of metal plate preferably more than 0.5 mm), which is easily understood from the descrip- tion of the invention hereinbelow. The invention can be successfully implemented for instance in the plate working industry wherein plates cut with a corner punching machine are stacked onto working platforms proceeding to a high storage. In the following, the invention will be ex¬ plained by means of one advantageous embodiment, with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein in Figure 1 _the apparatus has been presented from the side, in Figure 2 the apparatus has been presented in the direction of the arrow of Figure 1, and Figures 3 to 8 present the operation of the apparatus. In Figure 1, the apparatus has been shown from the side. The conveyor which is part of the apparatus has been omitted from the Figure for simplicity, but it is to be seen in Figure 3. The body to be trans¬ ported, which comprises a bundle of metal plates of a size of 800 x 1300 x 8 mm, is denoted with the refer- ence numeral 1. The bundle 1 rests with its lower edge against the lower support 3 of a gripping device which has been generally denoted with the reference numeral 2, so that it is clamped between a claw 4 of the lower support 3 and clamping plate 5, whereupon the bundle rests with its side against the support plate 6 of the gripping device, which has been dis¬ posed above the clamping plate. The lower edge of the clamping plate 5 is displaceable away from the claw 4 of the lower support 3 and toward it by means of pneumatic bellows or a pneumatic cylinder (not shown). The gripping device 2 is turnable by means of a pneumatic cylinder 7 about an axle 21 approximately 110° from the angle shown in the figure so that the gripping device will have substantially the direction of the horizontal plane. The turning is effected about positioning rolls 22 arranged at the axle 21. The cylinder 7 is fixed with its one end to the body 8 of the gripping device and with its other end to the support plate 6. For carrying the bundle of plates 1 resting against the gripping device 2 to the delivery sta¬ tion, the gripping device rests against a frame structure 9 which j Ls secured at its upper end to a vertical guide (not shown) and is displaceable along a track so that it moves in the plane X-Y and is fur- ther movable in elevation Z. The frame structure 9 and therewith the gripping device 2 are further rotatable about a vertical axis, to enable the deliv¬ ery of the bundle 1 from the gripping device 2 from different directions, which in practice means that the working platforms can be loaded from both ends: from the side and from the end. The support plate 6 is turnable in relation to the body 8 of the gripping device 2 by means of a pneumatic cylinder 10. The cylinder 10 is fixed with its one end to the frame structure 9 and with its other end to the support plate 6. The purpose of the support plate 6 is to provide support even for large-sized plates when these are transported on the gripping device, and the purpose of the turnability of the support plate is to turn the bundle 1 into a position wherein the bundle no longer rests or is supported against the support plate. The reference numeral 11 shows a detector dis- posed at the lower end of the gripping device 2, the purpose of which is to indicate the exact location of the delivery station. When the detector 11 contacts the stack whereinto the bundle of plates 11 is to be delivered, the support plate 6 and the gripping device 2 as well as the clamping plate 5 and the lower support 3 appertaining thereto are moved as set forth hereinbelow. The detector 11 is turned to the side by means of a pneumatic cylinder 12. The de¬ tector is a detector based on contact, but it may alternatively be for instance a photoelectric detector. Figure 2 shows the arrangement of Figure 1 viewed from the * rear, that is, in the direction of the arrow. It is apparent from the figure that two gripping device - support plate - detector units or halves have been adjacently disposed. The units can be manoeuvred separately from one another so that two smaller bundles of plates which may be of a different type are handled thereby. This arrangement makes it possible to bring plates to different destinations separately. The reference numeral 13 indicates a cyl¬ inder wherewith the movement of adjacently disposed support plates can be achieved in a synchronized man¬ ner in the transport of large plates or bundles of plates. The turning of the lower support 3 (Figure 1) in relation to the body 8 of the gripping device 2 is effected by means of pneumatic cylinders 14. In the following, the operation of the appar- atus will be explained with reference to Figures 3 to 8 wherein the reference numerals are the same as in Figures 1 and 2 for the same parts. When the bundle of plates 1 is removed from the conveyor 15 which is part of the apparatus and is indicated with a dotted line, the procedure is that the gripping device 2 is driven in the direction of the arrow A toward the conveyor so that the positioning rolls 22 of the gripping device go into positioning slots 16 on the body of the conveyor. The conveyor 15 is inclined in the direction of the arrow B from the horizontal position into a position wherein it is at an angle of approximately 70° to the horizontal. Upon inclination, the bundle of plates 1 glides along the upper sur¬ face of the conveyor 15 onto a support base 17 which is approximately perpendicular to the plane of the conveyor (arrow C). The support base 17 is displace¬ able relative to the upper plane of the conveyor. Figure 4 shows i;hat the support base 17 is withdrawn from under the bundle of plates 1 in the direction of the arrow D, whereafter the bundle of plates is sup- ported from beneath by the lower support 3. In accordance with Figure 5, the conveyor is turned further approximately 40° in the direction of the arrow E; the gripping device 2 is turned to a sim- ilar extent. After the turning, the bundle of plates 1 rests entirely on the gripping device 2. The bundle of plates 1 has been turned about 110°C in all; how¬ ever, in principle it would suffice that the bundle of plates is turned more than 90° in all and in prac- tice more than about 95° in order for the entire bundle of plates to rest on the gripping device 2. The conveyor 15 is turned back into the horizontal position (arrow F) to await the next bundle of plates, and the clamping plate 5 of the gripping means is turned in the direction of the arrow G about the axle 18 so that the lower edge of the clamping plate presses together the lower edges of the plates in the bundle 1 toward the claw of the lower support 3. The gripping device 2 is removed from the posi- tioning slots 16 of the conveyor (arrow H). In this "upright position" (approximately 110°) the bundle of plates 1 is transported to the delivery station. The detector (part 9 in Figure 1) of the gripping device indicates how near the stack of plates 19 shown in Figure 7 one can drive. The delivery of the bundle of plates 1 takes place so that the bundle of plates is given an initial push of about 40° by means of the support plate 5 (and cylinder 10) (arrow I), during which push the body of the gripping device 2 is simultaneously turned. The push is continued with the body 8 of the gripping device 2 (and cylinder 7) for a further 70° (arrow J), whereupon the bundle of plates 1 will fall by its own weight so that the free end of the bundle of plates encounters the upper sur- face of the stack of plates 19. Thereafter in accord- ance with Figure 8 the grip of the clamping plate 5 of the lower edge of the bundle of plates 1 is re¬ moved (arrow K) and the lower support 3 is turned about the axle 20 away from the clamping plate 5 (arrow L), upon which the bundle of plates 1 falls freely on top of the stack 19. In the foregoing, the invention has been illus¬ trated by means of one example only, and therefore it is emphasized that the invention may be realized in many ways within the scope of the appended claims. Thus it can be contemplated that the clamping plate (5) of the gripping device is replaced with a clamp¬ ing element and the claw (4) of the lower support (3) with a support surface, which clamping element and support surface would operate like the clamping plate and claw so that they would clamp the lower edge of the plate or bundle of plates (8) between them. The cylinders (7, 10, 12, 13, 14) may naturally be hydr¬ aulic cylinders instead of pneumatic cylinders. It can even be contemplated that the apparatus does not comprise a support base (17) on the body of the con¬ veyor (15), but the support base would be constituted by a support base fitted to the gripping device (2), and the lower support (3) shown could serve as such. It can also be contemplated that there is no support plate (6) above the clamping plate, but instead there would be support means of another kind, for instance pushing jaws, which would provide support for the bundle of plates (1).

Claims: Claims : 1. A method for transporting a planar body (1), such as a plate and a slab, in which method the body is removed from the conveyor (15) by inclining the conveyor to such an extent that the body is detached from the conveyor by the action of gravity, and brought to a delivery station to the desired site, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the body (1) arriving from the conveyor (15) is received with a gripping device (2), wherewith the body, supported and clamped at its lower edge and resting with its side against the gripping device, is transferred to the delivery station to the desired site, whereto the body is delivered by turning the gripping device so much that the body falls by its own weight, where¬ after the clamping at the lower edge of the body is removed, whereupon the body is detached from the gripping device and falls freely. 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i z e d in that the conveyor (15) is inclined in the lateral direction perpendicularly relative to the horizontal direction of travel of the conveyor more than 95 degrees. 3. An apparatus for transporting a planar body (1), such as a plate and a slab, said apparatus com¬ prising an inclinable conveyor (15) which can be inclined to such an extent that the body is detached from the conveyor by the action of gravity, c h a r - a c t e r i z e d in that the conveyor (15) can be inclined in the lateral direction perpendicularly to the horizontal direction of travel of the conveyor to detach the body * (1)_ from the conveyor so that it will fall from the conveyor against a support base (17) in an inclined position and that the apparatus comprises a frame structure (9) and a gripping device (2) rest¬ ing thereon, said frame structure being displaceable along a track and rotatable about a vertical axis and said gripping device being in an inclined position for receiving the body so that the body rests with its lower edge on the lower support (3) of the grip¬ ping device to which are connected clamping means (4, 5) for clamping the lower portion of the body bet¬ ween them, said gripping device additionally being turnable at an angle of more than 90° relative to the frame structure for transporting the body, resting with its side against the gripping device, to the delivery station and for turning the body into a delivery position in a substantially horizontal plane. 4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the support base (17) is disposed adjacent to the conveyor (15), ap¬ proximately perpendicularly to the plane of the con- veyor, and it can be turned to the side so that it does not support the body (1) when the body is in an inclined position. 5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the clamping means comprises a clamping element (5) and a stop face (4), which clamping element can be clamped against the stop face to clamp the lower edge of the body (1) therebetween, in which event the lower support (3) can be turned away from the clamping element to detach the body from the stop face and to deliver it to the desired site. 6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, c h a r a c t e r iz e d in that the clamping ele¬ ment is constituted by a clamping plate (5) and the stop face is constituted by a claw (4) provided in the lower support (3). 7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the gripping device comprises a support plate (6) arranged above the clamping plate (5), said support plate (6) being turnable relative to the body (8) of the gripping device (2) to turn the body (1) into a position wherein it no longer rests against the support plate. 8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the support plate (6) is turnable by means of a pressure cylinder (10) which is fixed with its one end to the frame struc¬ ture (9) and with its other end to the support plate. 9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the gripping device (2) is turnable by means of a pressure cylin¬ der (7) attached thereto, said pressure cylinder (7) being fixed with its one end to the support plate (6), the turning axle (21) being constituted by posi- tioning rolls (22) which are adapted to be fitted into positioning slots (16) on the body (8) of the conveyor. 10. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 3 to 9, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that it comprises a detector (11) disposed beneath the gripping device (2) to start the turning of the gripping device when the gripping device is in the delivery position. 11. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 7 to 10, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the gripping device (2) comprises two separ¬ ately manoeuverable clamping means (4, 5) and two separately turnable support plates (6).

Inventors: HARTTA MATTI, PELTOMAEKI TERO, TIAINEN KARI, HARTTA, MATTI, PELTOMAEKI, TERO, TIAINEN, KARI
Applicants: CIMCORP OY
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B65G47
IPC codes: B65G47, B65G57, B65G61, B65H29