Work sheet conveying device

Abstract

The present invention provides a work sheet conveying device having a traveling member with a compact work sheet holder, making it possible to improve work sheet conveying speed and to reduce the time required for acceleration and deceleration, the work sheet conveying device further making it possible to improve the efficiency with which small work sheet's are conveyed. The work sheet conveying device includes a plurality of traveling members 13, 14 that can travel independently along a plurality of tracks 11, 12 installed parallel to one another between a work sheet processing machine 1 and a work sheet placement portion. Each of the traveling members has a work sheet holder 19, 20 that holds a work sheet. A part of the work sheet holder 19, 20 is configured as an expanding portion 26 the position of which can be changed to a traveling area R1, R2 for the traveling member traveling along the adjacent track. The device selectively performs an individual conveying operation of allowing each of the traveling member to hold and individually convey the work sheet using the work sheet holder 19, 20 and a cooperative conveying operation of allowing the plurality of traveling members 13, 14 to hold and convey the same work sheet using the respective work sheet holders 19, 20 with the position of the expanding portion 26 changed.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001]The present invention relates to a work sheet conveying device which carries a material work sheet into a work sheet processing machine and which carries out a product work sheet processed by work sheet processing.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002]In some work sheet conveying devices of this kind, a traveling member traveling along a predetermined track has a plurality of suction pads. These work sheet conveying devices thus convey a work sheet by using the suction pads to suck and hold the work sheet. In general, the suction pads are arranged so as to be able to handle the largest work sheet. As a special type, a work sheet conveying device is known which changes the intervals between the suction pads in association with the size or shape of the work sheet (for example, the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication (Tokkai) No. 2000-117373.[0003]To stably convey a work sheet, it is preferable to use the suction pads to suck the vicinity of each...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems to provide a work sheet conveying device having a traveling member with a compact work sheet holder, making it possible to improve work sheet conveying speed and to reduce the time required for acceleration and deceleration, the work sheet conveying device further making it possible to improve the efficiency with which small work sheets are conveyed. Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily switch between a state in which work sheet holders of a plurality of traveling members hold the same work sheet and a state in which the work sheet holder of each of the traveling members individually holds a work sheet. Yet another object of the present invention is to, where the work sheet holders of the plurality of traveling members hold the same work sheet, allow the work sheet holders to hold as large a work sheet as possible.

[0008]With this configuration, the position of the expanding portion of the work sheet holder is changed to the traveling area for the traveling member traveling along the adjacent tracks so that the work sheet holders of the plurality of traveling members can hold the same large work sheet with the vicinity of each edge of the work sheet fixed. Thus, the plurality of traveling members can cooperate with one another in stably conveying the large work sheet. Furthermore, with the position of the expanding portion of the work sheet holder not changed to the traveling area for the traveling member traveling along the adjacent track, the two traveling members traveling along the adjacent tracks can pass each other without having the work sheet holders interfere with each other. Thus, the individual traveling members can independently convey relatively small work sheets. Since the plurality of traveling members cooperate with one another in conveying the large work sheet, the size of the work sheet holder of each traveling member can be reduced, enabling an increase in the speed of the traveling member and a reduction in the time required for acceleration and deceleration. Furthermore, since each of the traveling members individually travels the relatively small work sheets, it is possible to improve the efficiency with which the relatively small work sheets are conveyed.

[0009]The expanding portion of the work sheet holder preferably changes the position thereof by turning around a central shaft extending in a vertical direction. Where the expanding portion is configured to turn around the central shaft extending in the vertical direction, it is possible to easily switch between the state in which the work sheet holders of the plurality of traveling members hold the work sheet and the state in which the work sheet holder of each of the traveling members individually holds the work sheet.

[0011]The work sheet conveying device according to the present invention comprises the plurality of tracks installed parallel to one another between the work sheet processing machine and the work sheet placement portion, and the plurality of traveling members that can travel independently along the respective tracks. Each of the traveling members has the work sheet holder that holds the work sheet, and a part of the work sheet holder comprises the expanding portion the position of which can be changed to the traveling area for the traveling member traveling along the track adjacent to the track along which the above-described traveling member having the work sheet holder travels. The device selectively performs the individual conveying operation of allowing each of the traveling members to hold and individually convey the work sheet using the work sheet holder, and the cooperative conveying operation of allowing the plurality of traveling members traveling along the adjacent tracks to hold and convey the same work sheet using the respective work sheet holders with the position of the expanding portion changed. Thus, the traveling members travel along the parallel different tracks, and the two adjacent traveling members can pass each other without having the work sheet holders interfere with each other. Furthermore, the work sheet holders of the traveling members can stably hold the same large work sheet. This makes it possible to make the work sheet holder of each traveling member compact, allowing the improvement of a work sheet conveying speed and a reduction in the time required for acceleration and deceleration. Additionally, the efficiency with which small work sheets are conveyed can be improved.

[0012]Where the expanding portion of the work sheet holder is configured to change the position thereof by turning around the central shaft extending in the vertical direction, it is possible to easily switch between the state in which the work sheet holders of the plurality of traveling members hold the same work sheet and the state in which the work sheet holder of each of the traveling members individually holds the work sheet.

Problems solved by technology

With the large-scale work sheet holder, the weight of the device itself makes it difficult to increase the speed of the traveling member and to reduce the time required for acceleration and deceleration.

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