JPH0134739B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a transfer device used for transferring a workpiece in an automatic assembly machine or the like.

Various types of transfer devices have been proposed in the past, but all of them have complicated structures and are expensive.

The present invention was made in view of such actual circumstances,
The purpose is to provide a transfer device that is simple in construction and inexpensive.

The transfer device according to the present invention includes two or more N seats arranged at equal intervals on the upper surface, which are attached to a base so as to be movable back and forth, and which receive a workpiece at the lower end portion thereof so as to be removable upward. a rail, a first drive device for moving the transfer rail back and forth; a first drive device that is assembled to the base so as to be movable up and down and disposed above and parallel to the transfer rail; A slit is provided along the transfer rail through which the supported workpiece can pass, and a waist portion of the workpiece that is not engaged with the workpiece at the bottom dead center and is equally protruded at the waist of the workpiece when moving upward toward the top dead center. (N-1) sheets are engaged from both sides of the slit to separate the workpiece upward from the sheet of the transfer rail and support it in a suspended manner, on both sides of the slit at the same sheet spacing as the sheet spacing of the transfer rail. A hanger rail provided with a hanger rail, a second drive device for moving the hanger rail up and down, and when the hanger rail is at the bottom dead center, the first drive device is operated to direct the transfer rail forward and transfer the sheet. the second drive device is actuated to move the hanger rail upward from bottom dead center to top dead center, and then the first drive device is actuated to direct the transfer rail rearward to increase the sheet spacing. and then actuates the second drive device to move the hanger rail downward from top dead center to bottom dead center.

Therefore, according to this transfer device, when the hanger rail is at the bottom dead center, the transfer rail is moved forward by a sheet distance, and the workpiece placed on the sheet of the transfer rail is moved through the slit of the hanger rail. through the hanger rail to a position where the sheet of the hanger rail is provided, and then the hanger rail is moved upward from the bottom dead center to the top dead center so that the workpiece is separated upward from the sheet of the transfer rail. The workpiece is suspended and supported by the seat of the hanger rail, and then the transfer rail is moved backward by a seat distance, and then the hanger rail is moved downward from the top dead center to the bottom dead center, so that the workpiece is suspended from the hanger rail. The workpiece is removed from the sheet and placed on the sheet of the transfer rail, and the workpiece is sequentially and intermittently sent forward along the transfer rail.

By the way, this transfer device is composed of the above-described transfer rail, first drive device, hanger rail, second drive device, and control device, and has an extremely simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost. can. In addition, in this transfer device, the workpiece is moved up and down and sent intermittently along the transfer rail, so the up and down movement of the workpiece can be used to assemble parts onto the workpiece or perform press processing on the workpiece. You can also perform

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 show an automatic assembly machine including a transfer device according to the present invention. In this automatic assembly machine, supports 11 and 12 are erected on a base 10, and the supports 11 and 12 are slidable. A transfer rail 20 is attached to the moving member 13 and 14 so as to be movable back and forth. Further, a chute 15 is attached to the support 11 on the left side of the drawing, into which connector bodies W (works) are fed in alignment from a known vibrating bowl hopper feeder (not shown). This chute 15 is provided with a groove 15a in the vertical direction through which the protrusion Wa of the connector body W passes, and is also provided with a workpiece discharge port 15b.

As clearly shown in FIG. 3, the transfer rail 20 has seven sheets 21 and 2 on its upper surface that receive the connector main body at its lower end in a manner that allows it to be detached upwardly.
2, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27, and a stopper 28 for preventing the connector main body W in the chute 15 from falling onto a surface other than the seat 21. It is configured to move back and forth with a stroke S1. Note that Figures 1 and 2 show the transfer rail 2.
0 indicates a state where the vehicle is stopped at the rear stop position. The sheets 21 to 27 are provided at equal intervals (S1), and the sheets 21 to 26 except for the sheet 27
are formed in the same shape. Each sheet 21-2
6 consists of a convex portion into which the lower cylindrical portion Wb of the connector body W fits and a pair of claws which fit into a pair of recesses Wc of the connector body W, and a seat 27 into which the lower cylindrical portion Wb of the connector body W fits. It consists only of convex parts. Further, a guide 40 is fixed to the transfer rail 20.

The guide 40 includes a support plate 41 and guide plates 42 and 43 fixed to the upper end of the support plate 41 and extending over the transfer rail 20. Guide plate 42
As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and FIG. A U-shaped stepped notch 42a is formed to releasably receive the O-ring W2 (fitted to the neck Wd of the connector main body W) fed by the O-ring W2.
A stopper 42b is formed to prevent 2 from falling outside the stepped notch 42a. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 2, 6, and 7, the guide plate 43 is provided with caps W3 that are aligned and fed from a known vibrating bowl hopper feeder (not shown) via a chute 17 (described later). A U-shaped stepped notch 43a is formed to releasably receive a connector (to be fitted onto the top We of the connector main body W). Further, above the guide plate 42 is an outlet 16a of the chute 16 into which the O-ring W2 is carried.
is opened by overlapping with the stepped notch 42a, and above the guide plate 43, the discharge port 17a of the chute 17 into which the cap W3 is carried is opened by overlapping with the stepped notch 43a.

The chute 16 is attached to the base 10 via a block 18, and includes a presser foot 16b that stops the O-ring W2 when the O-ring W2 is assembled to the connector body W, and a presser foot 16b that stops the O-ring W2 when the transfer rail 20 moves forward and stops. Stepped notch 4 of guide plate 42
A stopper 16c is integrally provided to prevent the O-ring W2 received by the O-ring W2 from popping out. Shoot 17 has block 18 on base 10.
A presser foot 1 that holds the cap W3 when the cap W3 is temporarily inserted into the connector main body W to which the O-ring W2 is assembled.
7b, a presser foot 17c that stops the cap W3 when the cap W3 is completely inserted, and a presser foot 17c that allows the cap W3 received in the stepped notch 43a of the guide plate 43 to pop out when the transfer rail 20 moves forward and stops. Stopper 17 to prevent
d is integrally provided. Note that a holding device (not shown) is provided at the discharge port 17a of the chute 17 to hold the cap W3 without dropping it.

On the other hand, in the center of the base 10 is a hanger rail 5.
0 is assembled so that it can move up and down. The hanger rail 50 has a shape that sandwiches the transfer rail 20 from below,
That is, it is formed in a U-shape, the upper end protrudes from the transfer rail 20 by a predetermined amount, and is arranged parallel to the transfer rail 20. Also, hanger rail 50
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the upper end is not engaged with the connector main body W at the bottom dead center, and when moving upward toward the top dead center, there are contact points on both sides at the waist Wf of the connector main body W. Connector body W by engaging from
six sheets 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 that are separated (lifted) upward from the sheets 21 to 26 of the transfer rail 20 and supported in a suspended manner;
A discharge chute 1 in which a connector main body W formed by assembling a ring W2 and a cap W3 is fixed to a base 10.
The seat 2 of the transfer rail 20 has an inclined wall 57 that springs out toward the direction 9, and the sheet 2 of the transfer rail 20 when at the bottom dead center.
It has a slit 58 through which the lower end cylindrical portion Wb of the connector body W received by connectors 1 to 27 can pass, and is configured to be moved up and down by a predetermined stroke S2 by an air cylinder 60. Note that FIGS. 1 and 2 show a state in which the hanger rail 50 is stopped at the bottom dead center.

The sheets 51 to 56 are provided at equal intervals S1, and the sheets 51, 52, and 54 are formed in the same shape, and the sheets 55 and 56 are formed in the same shape.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, each of the seats 51 to 56 includes a pair of arcuate recesses in which the waist portion Wf of the connector body W is seated, and a protrusion Wa of the connector body W.
consists of a notch into which the sheets 51, 52, 5 fit.
4 is formed the deepest, sheets 55 and 56 are formed the shallowest, and the sheet 53 is formed at an intermediate depth between the sheets 51 and 55. The hanger rail 50 also has an outlet 16a for the chute 16.
The O-ring W2 fed to the guide plate 42
A leaf spring 71 for pushing into the stepped notch 42a of
Then, the cap W3 fed to the discharge port 17a of the chute 17 is inserted into the stepped notch 43 of the guide plate 43.
A plunger 72 is attached for pushing into the a. The plunger 72 has the shape shown in FIG. 10 and is biased downward by a spring 73. When the plunger 72 is at a dead center on the hanger rail 50, it closes the discharge port 17a of the chute 17 and the cap W3 is discharged. When the hanger rail 50 is at the top dead center, the outlet 17a of the chute 17 is opened and the cap W3 is prevented from being fed to the outlet 17a.
is fed to the discharge port 17a.

In addition, in this embodiment, the air cylinder 3
0 and 60 are configured to be controlled by a control device 80. The control device 80 is composed of an electromagnetic switching valve, a timer, a limit switch, etc., and operates the air cylinder 30 when the hanger rail 50 is at the bottom dead center to move the transfer rail 20 forward by a stroke S1 (seat interval). Next, the air cylinder 60 is operated to remove the hanger rail 5.
0 up to stroke S2, then actuate the air cylinder 30 to move the transfer rail 20 backward by stroke S1 (seat interval), then actuate the air cylinder 60 to move the hanger rail 50 down to stroke S2. let

In this embodiment configured in this way, when the transfer rail 20 and the hanger rail 50 are in the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the transfer rail 20
The connector body W is placed on the sheets 21, 22, 23, the connector body W with the O-ring W2 assembled is placed on the sheets 24, 25, and the O-ring is placed on the sheet 26.
A connector main body W with a ring W2 assembled and a cap W3 temporarily assembled is mounted on the seat 27, a connector main body W with an O-ring W2 and a cap W3 assembled on the seat 27 is mounted, and each chute 15,1
If the connector body W, O-ring W2, and cap W3 are fed sequentially to ports 6 and 17,
It works as follows.

First, the transfer rail 20 is moved forward by a stroke S1 by the air cylinder 30 and then stopped. At this time, the O-ring W2 contained in the stepped notch 42a of the guide plate 42 and the cap W3 contained in the stepped notch 43a of the guide plate 43 are sent forward in the stroke S1. Further, the connector main body W in the chute 15 is prevented from falling by the stopper 28, and the O-ring W2 in the chute 16 is prevented from falling by the stopper 42b of the guide plate 42.

Next, the hanger rail 50 is moved upward by the stroke S2 by the air cylinder 60 and stops at the top dead center. At this time, the transfer rail 20
The connector body W on the seats 21 to 26 is lifted from the seats 21 to 26 and suspended from the seats 51 to 56 of the hanger rail 50,
The connector main body W on the seat 27 is pushed out into the discharge chute 19 by the inclined wall 57. The neck Wd of the connector main body W suspended and supported by the seat 53 of the hanger rail 50 is inserted into the stepped notch 42a of the guide plate 42 and is sent directly above the seat 53 by the movement of the transfer rail 20. The O-ring W2 is fitted by the upward movement of the presser foot 16b and the hanger rail 50, and is inserted into the stepped notch 43a of the guide plate 43 on the top We of the connector main body W suspended from the seat 55. The cap W3, which has been sent directly above the sheet 55 by the movement of the transfer rail 20, is temporarily inserted by the upward movement of the presser foot 17b and the hanger rail 50, and then the connector main body W suspended and supported by the sheet 56 and the cap are W
3 is completely inserted by the upward movement of the presser foot 17c and the hanger rail 50. Note that while the hanger rail 50 is stopped at the top dead center, the cap W3 is fed to the outlet 17a of the chute 17, and is held in the outlet 17a by the holding device.

Next, the transfer rail 20 is connected to the air cylinder 30
It is moved backward by the stroke S1 and stops. At the stop position, the connector body W within the chute 15 falls and rests on the seat 21 of the transfer rail 20.

Next, the hanger rail 50 is moved downward by a stroke S2 by the air cylinder 60 and stops at the bottom dead center. At this time, the connector main body W, which was suspended and supported by the sheets 51 to 56 of the hanger rail 50, is removed from the sheets 51 to 56 and placed on the sheets 22 to 27 of the transfer rail 20.
In addition, the leaf spring 71 causes the discharge port 1 of the sheet 16 to
The O-ring W2 fed into the inside of the chute 17 is pushed into the stepped notch 42a of the guide plate 42, and the cap W3 fed into the discharge port 17a of the chute 17 by the plunger 72 is pushed into the stepped notch 42a of the guide plate 43. It is pushed into the notch 43a.

The above-mentioned operations are repeated, and the connector body W is sequentially and intermittently fed along the transfer rail 20, during which the O-ring W2 and the cap W3 are automatically assembled to the connector body W.

By the way, in this embodiment, the transfer device includes the above-described transfer rail 20, air cylinder 30, hanger rail 50, air cylinder 60,
and a control device 80, and since the configuration is extremely simple, it can be manufactured at low cost.

In the above embodiment, an air cylinder is used as the drive device, but a cam mechanism may also be used as the drive device. Further, in the above embodiment, the transfer device according to the present invention includes the chute 15, 16, 17, 19 and the guide 4.
0, a leaf spring 71, a plunger 72, etc. are attached,
The connector body W was conveyed along the transfer rail 20 while automatically assembling the O-ring W2 and the cap W3 to the connector body W.
1. Attachments such as the plunger 72 and each sheet 21 of the transfer rail 20 and hanger rail 50
27 and 51 to 56 may be modified as appropriate depending on the shape of the workpiece to be transported along the transfer rail and the shape of the parts to be assembled thereto.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a front view of an automatic assembly machine including a transfer device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, Fig. 3 is a front view of a transfer rail, and Fig. 4 is a guide plate on the left side of Fig. 1. The plan view of FIG. 5 is V- of FIG.
6 is a plan view of the right guide plate in FIG. 1, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a front view of the hanger rail. 9 is a plan view of the same, and FIG. 10 is a front view of the plunger. Explanation of symbols, 10...Base, 20...Transfer rail, 21-27...Seat, 30...Air cylinder (first drive device), 50...Hanger rail,
51-56...Sheet, 58...Slit, 60
...Air cylinder (second drive device), 80...Control device, W...Connector body (work).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A transfer rail that is assembled to a base so as to be movable back and forth, and has two or more N sheets arranged at equal intervals on the upper surface, and that receives a workpiece at its lower end so that it can be moved upwards.This transfer rail can be moved back and forth. a first drive device that is assembled to the base so as to be movable up and down, and is disposed above and parallel to the transfer rail, and passes a workpiece received on a seat of the transfer rail when the drive device is at the bottom dead center; A slit is provided along the transfer rail, and is not engaged with the workpiece at the bottom dead center, and when moving upward toward the top dead center, engages from both sides with the equal extension of the waist of the workpiece. A hanger rail comprising (N-1) sheets on both sides of the slit with the same sheet spacing as the sheet spacing of the transfer rail, for suspending and supporting a work by separating the workpiece upward from the sheet of the transfer rail. The second part that moves the hanger rail up and down.
A drive device is provided, and when the hanger rail is at the bottom dead center, the first drive device is operated to move the transfer rail forward by a sheet interval, and then the second drive device is operated to move the hanger. The rail is moved upward from the bottom dead center to the top dead center, and then the first drive device is actuated to move the transfer rail rearward by a seat interval, and then the second drive device is actuated to move the transfer rail toward the hanger rail. A transfer device equipped with a control device that moves the machine downward from top dead center to bottom dead center.