Panel distribution system and panel distributing method carried out by the same

A panel distribution system for distributing panels press-formed on a transfer press, comprising:

• a conveyance line to take the panels from the transfer press;
• a plurality of delivery units disposed on said conveyance line and spaced from each other along a longitudinal direction of said conveyance line to force out the panels in a lateral direction from said conveyance line;
• and
• a plurality of loading conveyors, each associated with a corresponding one of said plural delivery units, to receive the panels delivered from the corresponding delivery units and to load the panels into a container,
• wherein said loading conveyors are disposed on a same side of said conveyance line and are aligned with the respective delivery units, said delivery units, except one delivery unit located closer to a downstream end of said conveyance line, are operative to allow the passage of the panels therethrough, and each of said delivery units includes a plate slidably movable transversely across said conveyance line to deliver the panels one at a time to the corresponding loading conveyor, said plates being vertically movable toward and away from a surface of said conveyance line.

A panel distribution system for distributing panels press-formed on a transfer press, comprising:

• a conveyance line for taking out the panels from the transfer press;
• a plurality of delivery units disposed on said conveyance line and spaced from each other along a longitudinal direction of said conveyance line to force out the panels in a lateral direction from said conveyance line;
• and
• a plurality of loading conveyors, each associated with a corresponding one of said plural delivery units, to receive the panels delivered from the corresponding delivery units and to load the panels into a container, said loading conveyors being disposed on the same side of said conveyance line and aligned with the respective delivery units, and having a two-storied construction including a pair of overlapping upper and lower loading conveyors, and
• vertical two-directional delivery conveyors, disposed between each of said delivery units and a corresponding one of said loading conveyors, for delivering the panels selectively to said upper loading conveyor and said lower loading conveyor of said corresponding loading conveyor;
• and
• wherein said delivery units, except one delivery unit located closer to a downstream end of said conveyance line, are operative to allow the passage of the panels therethrough.

A method of distributing panels from a transfer press into a first basket and a second basket via a panel distribution system including a two-directional delivery conveyor for delivering panels coming out from a transfer press into an upper position and a lower position, an upper loading conveyor and a lower loading conveyor contiguous to said upper position and said lower position, respectively, for transferring the panels, a plurality of said first baskets provided for said upper loading conveyor, and a plurality of said second baskets provided with said lower loading conveyor, said method comprising the steps of:

• determining a number of panels to be loaded from a difference between a number of panels to be produced and a number of loaded panels;
• judging whether the number of panels to be loaded is less than a predetermined number;
• reducing a production speed of the transfer press when the number of panels to be loaded is less than said predetermined number;
• fixing the position of said two-directional delivery conveyor, when the number of panels to be loaded is less than said predetermined number, to one of said upper position and said lower position, thereby delivering the panels only onto one of said upper loading conveyor and lower loading conveyor;
• and
• loading the remaining panels serially into one of said first basket and said second basket.