CONVEYING APPARATUS WITH INDEPENDENTLY MOVABLE PROTUBERANCES FOR FEEDING AND/OR ALIGNING WORKPIECES

Abstract

The invention relates to a conveying apparatus (100) for conveying in particular plate-shaped workpieces (1), comprising a workpiece rest (11), which is designed to allow horizontal movement of a workpiece (1) resting thereon, first protuberances (9), which are spaced apart in a direction transverse to the conveying direction (X) and can be moved independently of one another, can be moved in the conveying direction (X) and are designed to displace the workpiece (1) while bearing against the rear edge (8) thereof, and drive units (20), which are designed to move the first protuberances (9).

Claims

1. Conveying apparatus for conveying workpieces in a conveying direction, comprising: a workpiece rest, which is designed to allow movement of a workpiece resting thereon, first protuberances, which are spaced apart in a direction transverse to the conveying direction, can be moved in the conveying direction and are designed to displace the workpiece while bearing against the rear edge thereof, and drive units, which are designed to move the first protuberances, wherein the first protuberances can be moved independently of one another.

2. Conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying apparatus further comprises: second protuberances, which are spaced apart in a direction transverse to the conveying direction, can be moved in the conveying direction and are designed to clamp the workpiece by the second protuberances bearing against the front edge thereof and the first protuberances bearing against the rear edge thereof, wherein the second protuberances can be moved independently of one another, and independently of the first protuberances.

3. Conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying apparatus in each case comprises a plurality of first and/or second protuberance pairs.

4. Conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying apparatus further comprises: a first sensor for determining a position of a workpiece.

5. Conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying apparatus further comprises: a second sensor for determining a position of one or more protuberances.

6. Conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive units have linear motors with movable magnets.

7. Conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first protuberances and/or the second protuberances can be moved in a position-controlled and/or force-controlled manner.

8. Conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first protuberances and/or the second protuberances are further designed to align the workpiece.

9. Conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying apparatus is designed to receive workpieces from an infeed device by the workpieces being clamped on a conveyor belt or a conveyor chain in a vertical direction, and moved along at a defined speed.

10. Conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying apparatus is designed to feed workpieces to a wood machining device.

11. Method for aligning and conveying workpieces, comprising the steps of moving the first protuberances until they bear against the rear edge of the workpiece, independently moving the first protuberances so as to align the workpiece, and moving the first protuberances in a synchronized manner so as to displace the aligned workpiece in the conveying direction.

12. Method according to claim 11, wherein the workpiece is aligned at the front edge, by the first protuberances being moved in a force-controlled manner and the second protuberances being moved in a position-controlled manner, and the first protuberances hitting the rear edge of the workpiece and the workpiece being displaced and/or rotated in such a way that the front edge of the workpiece bears against the position-controlled second protuberances, while the force-controlled first protuberances bear against the rear edge of the workpiece and clamp said workpiece.

13. Method according to claim 11, wherein the workpiece is aligned at the rear edge, by the first protuberances being moved in a position-controlled manner and the second protuberances being moved in a force-controlled manner, the first protuberances hitting the rear edge of the workpiece and the workpiece being displaced and/or rotated in such a way that the rear edge of the workpiece bears against the position-controlled first protuberances, while the force-controlled second protuberances bear against the front edge of the workpiece and clamp said workpiece.

14. Method according to claim 11, wherein a position of a workpiece is detected by a first sensor and the protuberances are moved as a function of the detected position.

15. Method according to claim 11, wherein a position of one or more protuberances is detected by a second sensor and the protuberances are moved as a function of the detected position.

16. Method according to claim 11, wherein a plurality of workpieces is simultaneously conveyed in succession and the protuberances are moved in such a way that there is a constant spacing between the individual workpieces.

17. Conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece rest is a roller conveyor, roller rail or air cushion device.

18. Conveying apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the magnets can be moved in a circulating manner, and the position of the protuberances in relation to the magnets is adjustable.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0047] Further features and advantages of an apparatus, a use and/or a method are revealed by the following description of embodiments with reference to the enclosed drawings.

[0048] In these drawings:

[0049] FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of an embodiment of a conveying apparatus according to the invention.

[0050] FIG. 2a shows an enlarged section for illustrating the alignment of a workpiece at the front edge.

[0051] FIG. 2b shows an enlarged section for illustrating the alignment of a workpiece at the rear edge.

[0052] FIG. 3 shows an enlarged section for illustrating the fixing of the protuberances onto the magnets.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0053] Identical reference numbers specified in different figures designate identical, corresponding or functionally similar elements.

[0054] FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of an embodiment of the conveying apparatus 100 according to the invention. This comprises a workpiece rest 11 in the form of two roller conveyors arranged in parallel, on which long, plate-shaped workpieces 1 rest transversely and can be moved in a conveying direction X. Located laterally outside of the workpiece rest 11 are two drive units 20, which each comprise circulating linear motors 21 with a conveying area 14 and a return area 16 as well as a plurality of magnets 22 guided in a circulating manner, which can be moved along the respective linear motors 21 independently of one another. Provided on each of the magnets 22 is a protuberance 9, 7, the position of which on the magnets 22 can be set in advance (see FIG. 3).

[0055] Upstream of the conveying apparatus 100 is an infeed device 2 in the form of an inclined roller conveyor, via which the workpieces 1 are provided to the conveying apparatus 100, wherein the workpieces 1 can also be aligned in an inclined manner on account of tolerances. Although the roller conveyor in the present embodiment is configured to be inclined, it can also be flat.

[0056] The provided workpieces 1 are clamped on a conveyor belt or a conveyor chain 3 from above, with clamp rollers 4. If there is a jam, the backed-up workpieces 1 can be separated again with the help of a timing guide 19 or alternatively with the help of a cam belt which runs along the conveyor belt or conveyor chain 3.

[0057] If a first sensor 5 detects the front edge 6 of a workpiece 1, the protuberances 7 in front, which will be referred to in the following as second protuberances or counterholders, will be accelerated and moved in the conveying direction X with defined spacing from the front edge 6 of the workpiece 1. As soon as the first sensor 5 detects the rear edge 8 of the workpiece 1, the protuberances 9 behind, which will be referred to in the following as first protuberances or pushers, move toward the rear edge 8 of the workpiece 1 and synchronize themselves in a position-controlled manner to the second protuberances 7, as a result of which the workpiece 1 is aligned straight at the rear edge 8. Alternatively, the workpiece can also be aligned at the front edge 6 (see FIGS. 2a and 2b).

[0058] This sets a constant gap 10 between the (rear) first protuberances 9 of a first workpiece 1 and the (front) second protuberances 7 of a second, subsequent workpiece 1, which gap is referred to in the following as intermediate spacing.

[0059] Before a workpiece 1 is pushed under the top roll pressure unit, it is aligned during transport in a direction transverse to the conveying direction X with the help of aligning stations 12 so as to provide a substantially identical machining allowance on both sides. Subsequently, the workpiece 1 is clamped between the two first protuberances 9 and the two second protuberances 7.

[0060] Downstream of the conveying apparatus 100 is a machining device 13, which takes the aligned workpieces 1. Once a workpiece 1 has been passed to the device 13, the second protuberances 7 accelerate away from the front edge 6 into the return area 16. If the rear edge 8 of the workpiece 1 has also left the conveying area 14, the first protuberances 9 also move into the return area 16. In order to ensure a continuous flow, further protuberances are located in the return area 16. In addition, the first and second protuberances 9, 7 can be individually referenced on both sides with the help of a second sensor 18 so as to synchronize them.

[0061] The conveying apparatus 100 can also be designed for single-sided workpiece machining. For this, a plurality of circulating drive units 20 arranged side-by-side is required, wherein the travel movement of the protuberances 9, 7 is preferably not horizontal but vertical.

[0062] Furthermore, the conveying apparatus 100 can also be designed to convey workpieces longitudinally. For this, all of the protuberances 9, 7 are parked in the return 16 and the aligning stations 12 are deactivated. With the help of inclined, driven rollers 15, when moving in the conveying direction X the workpiece 1 is simultaneously pushed laterally against a guide 17 and is thereby aligned.

[0063] Moreover, the workpieces 1 can be fed not only from the front via an upstream infeed device 2 but also from the side via a magazine, for example. In this case, the protuberances 9, 7 extract the workpiece 1 from a stack. To machine folded parts, the protuberances 9, 7 can also be configured to be variable in height.

[0064] FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b show enlarged schematic plan views of a conveying apparatus according to the invention to illustrate the alignment of a workpiece at the front/rear edge.

[0065] In the case of the front edge alignment as shown in FIG. 2a, the first protuberances 9 switch from position-controlled to force-controlled. The workpiece is pushed to the second, position-controlled protuberances 7 and is thereby clamped between the first protuberances 9 and the second protuberances 7. In the example shown, the second protuberances 7 are moved to the same extent in the conveying direction X and the first protuberances 9 are moved in the conveying direction X until the front edge 6 of the workpiece 1 bears against the second protuberances 7 and the resulting counterforce on the first protuberances 9 increases to a defined value. If the front edge 6 and the rear edge 8 of the workpiece 1 are not parallel to one another, the first protuberances 9 are therefore moved to varying extents in the conveying direction X.

[0066] In the case of the rear edge alignment shown in FIG. 2b, the first protuberances 9 already bear against the rear edge 8 of the workpiece 1 in a position-controlled manner. The second protuberances 7 bear against the front edge 6 of the workpiece 1 in a force-controlled manner, such that the workpiece 1 is clamped between the first and second protuberances 9, 7. In the example shown, the first protuberances 9 are moved to the same extent in the conveying direction X and the second protuberances 7 are moved at a slower speed until they bear against the front edge 6 of the workpiece 1 and the resulting counterforce increases to a defined value. If the front edge 6 and the rear edge 8 of the workpiece 1 are not parallel to one another, the second protuberances 7 are therefore moved to varying extents in the conveying direction X or are moved in the opposite direction.

[0067] FIG. 3 shows an enlarged schematic plan view of a conveying apparatus 100 according to the invention to illustrate the fixing of the protuberances 9, 7 onto the magnets 22. The magnets 22 have a plurality of fixing means (e.g. holes) for fixing the protuberances 9, 7. Thus, the position of the protrusion on the magnet 22 can be varied as required. In the case of particularly narrow workpieces 1, it may, for example, be advantageous to position the (rear) first protuberances as far forward as possible and to position the front second protuberances 7 as far back as possible on the respective magnets 22. The relative position of the protuberances 9, 7 in relation to the magnets 22 can, for example, be detected automatically via a second sensor 18 and can therefore be taken into account for movement control. The first (rear) protuberances can also be positioned further back in the conveying direction and the second (front) protuberances can also be positioned further back in the conveying direction. For other workpieces, further protuberance positions are also conceivable.

[0068] It is clear to the person skilled in the art that individual features described in different embodiments can also be implemented in a single embodiment, provided they are not structurally incompatible. Similarly, various features described in the context of a single embodiment can also be provided in several embodiments, either individually or in any suitable sub-combination.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0069] 1 Workpiece [0070] 2 Infeed device [0071] 3 Conveyor belt/chain [0072] 4 Clamp roller [0073] 5 First sensor [0074] 6 Front edge [0075] 7 Second protuberances [0076] 8 Rear edge [0077] 9 First protuberances [0078] 10 Intermediate spacing [0079] 11 Roller conveyor [0080] 12 Aligning station [0081] 13 Machining device [0082] 14 Conveying area [0083] 15 Inclined, driven rollers [0084] 16 Return area [0085] 17 Alignment guide [0086] 18 Second sensor [0087] 19 Timing guide [0088] 20 Drive unit [0089] 21 Linear motors [0090] 22 Magnet