JPH0141693Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The present invention is an automatic alignment and transfer device for workpieces, and more specifically, the invention is a device for automatically aligning and transferring workpieces. The present invention relates to an apparatus for aligning and transporting a large number of workpieces, which is required in the process of transporting a large number of workpieces to a press when the workpieces are pressed into a desired shape.

(Problems Solved by Conventional Techniques and Ideas) Various types of automatic alignment and transfer devices for this type of workpieces have been developed.

One example is a vibration system, in which a workpiece input container is provided, and while applying vibration to the container, the workpieces in the container are aligned and transferred to the next process.

However, this vibration method has various drawbacks, such as large noise due to vibration, decrease in alignment and transfer ability and reliability due to aging, and lack of improvement in work efficiency due to limited vibration sending ability. .

In order to eliminate such drawbacks, a product recently developed and commercialized is an endless conveyor in which receiving plates 16c each having a concave receiving portion 18c formed in the axial direction of the workpiece A are arranged in parallel, as shown in Fig. 9. 22
There is an alignment transfer device formed as a.

However, in the alignment transfer device, the hopper 7
As shown in FIG. 9B, a larger number of workpieces A than c are often placed crosswise (laterally) in the longitudinal direction of the receiving portion 18c of the receiving plate 16c, and as a result, the workpieces A are placed on the receiving portion 18c. are not inserted accurately, and the alignment of the workpieces A becomes very irregular depending on each receiving plate, resulting in a very inefficient result in that the receiving plate 16c may be transferred in an empty state.

In particular, when the workpiece is long, the above-mentioned cross-like phenomenon occurs frequently, and this has become a more fatal drawback.

In addition, there is a bottle sorting device as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 14008/1983 as a device that can eliminate such misalignment of objects to be transported such as workpieces, and it is also possible to use this device as a workpiece transfer device. It will be done. That is, this device has a pair of conveyors 29 and 31, a conveyor 29 formed by a plurality of lifting plates 28 and a conveyor 31 formed by a plurality of small plates 30, as shown in FIG. In addition, a receiving part 32 for storing bottles is formed between the lifting plates 28 and 29 and a small plate 30 behind the lifting plates 28 and 29.
By vibrating the lifting plate 28 at a predetermined position, the bottles placed on the container 8 are shaken off, and the bottles are fitted into the receiving portion 32, thereby eliminating misalignment of the bottles.

However, in such a device, the lifting plate 28 is forcibly vibrated to fit the bottles into the receiving part 32 and to transfer the bottles in an aligned manner.
A separate mechanism for vibrating is required, which complicates the overall structure of the device, and, like the vibration-type workpiece alignment and transfer device described above, there is a problem in that the alignment ability and reliability deteriorate over time.

In addition, since the top surface of the lifting plate 28 is formed flat, the object to be transported comes into surface contact with the top surface of the lifting plate 28, so even if the lifting plate 28 is vibrated as described above, it will not be received. The objects to be transported are not aligned on the lifting plate 28 before being inserted into the section 32, resulting in poor alignment efficiency.

In addition, the conveyor 2 is composed of a lifting plate 28.
9 and a small plate 30.
It has two conveyors 1 and 2, and this conveyor 2
9 and 31 are each constructed by a separate drive mechanism, which further complicates the overall structure of the device. In other words, this device not only discharges the bottles to the next process, but also requires that the bottles all be aligned in the same direction.
Before the conveyor 29 of the lifting plate 28 reaches the alignment section, it is necessary to separate the conveyor 31 of the small plate 30 from the conveyor 29 of the lifting plate 28 so as not to cause any trouble, and therefore a separate drive mechanism is required. They were forced to do so.

A further important point is that since the side wall surface of the receiving part 32 formed by the lifting plate 28 and the small plate 30 is simply formed into a flat surface, the bottle, which is the object to be conveyed, does not necessarily fit smoothly into the receiving part 32. There is a problem in that the workpiece is not carried in, and even once it is inserted, the workpiece is transferred while shaking inside the receiving part 32, or there is a risk that the bottle may fly out from the receiving part 32.

As mentioned above, conventionally, in order to eliminate the misalignment of workpieces, it had to be done forcibly by external force such as vibration, and a separate mechanism for that purpose had to be provided, making the equipment large and bulky. On the other hand, if you tried to avoid this situation, you would not be able to eliminate the misalignment of the workpieces.

This invention was developed to solve all of these problems, and it can be used to process workpieces regardless of their length, without applying any external force such as vibration, or without providing a separate mechanism to apply such force. It is possible to dramatically improve work efficiency by aligning everything accurately and working at high speed.Moreover, it is easy to insert the work into the receiving part, and once the work is inserted, there is no need for the work to accidentally pop out or play. An object of the present invention is to provide a completely new automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device that can prevent sticking.

(Means for solving the problem) The present invention was made to solve the above problem in order to achieve the above purpose, and the means to solve the problem is to At least the transfer side 8b is aligned in the transfer direction by the plurality of receiving plates 16, . One endless conveyor 8 is formed by sloping upward, and the conveyor 8
A hopper 7 for charging a large number of works A is provided on the receiving side 8a of the works A, and the top surface 19 of the alignment auxiliary plate 17 is formed in a shape capable of point contact with the works A, and the receiving plate 16 The receiving portion 18 of
A notch 21 is formed in the upper part of the wall surface on the lower side with respect to the upward transport direction of the conveyor, and a protrusion 20 capable of locking the workpiece A is formed directly below the notch 21.

(Function) In the automatic alignment and transfer device having such a configuration, the workpieces A inputted from the hopper 7 are transferred from the receiving side 8a of the conveyor 8 to the transfer side 8.
It will be transported to b.

At this time, since the top surface 19 of the alignment auxiliary plate 17 constituting the conveyor 8 is formed in a shape that can make point contact with the work A, the work A rolls on the top surface 19 of the alignment auxiliary plate 17. As a result, it can be smoothly inserted into the receiving plate 18. Moreover, in this case, since the notch 21 is formed at the upper part of the wall surface of the receiving part on the lower side with respect to the upward transport direction of the conveyor, it becomes easier to fit the workpiece A into the receiving part 18, and the notch Since the protrusion 20 is formed directly below the part 21, the workpiece A once inserted into the receiving part 18
is retained by the protrusion 20 and transferred without wobbling, and also does not inadvertently jump out of the receiving portion 18.

(Example) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described according to an example shown in the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of an automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device as an embodiment. In the figures, 1 is a workpiece A loading box provided on a pedestal 2 and tilted in one direction. Workpiece A is sent from the input box 1 to the next shooter 4 via the opening/closing plate 3, and then
The input side of the workpiece A is configured such that the workpiece A is inputted into the next hopper 7 through a gate valve 6 which can be opened and closed by a lever 5 provided on the outlet side of the hopper.

8, the receiving side 8a of the work A is the hopper 7.
A chain conveyor 8 is provided on a pedestal 9 so as to be located directly below the chain conveyor 8, and the transfer side 8b of the chain conveyor 8 is provided on the pedestal 10 so as to be inclined upward with respect to the transfer direction as shown in FIG. , and the pedestal 10 is provided with a transfer conveyor 11 for transporting the workpiece A discharged from the conveyor 8 in a direction perpendicular to the conveyor 8 to the next process.

Reference numeral 12 indicates a motor that rotates the drive shaft 1 of the conveyor 8, and 14 indicates a driven shaft of the conveyor 8.

Next, to explain the structure of the conveyor 8 in more detail, the conveyor 8 consists of endless chains 15, 15 on both sides, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
and a large number of receiving plates 16 fixed to the attachments 24 of the chains 15 on the receiving rails 23 as shown in FIG. 3D between the endless chains 15, 15.
. . . and two alignment auxiliary plates 17 fixed between the receiving plates 16 and .

The receiving plate 16 has a receiving portion 18 which is a recessed portion having a predetermined length in the axial direction of the workpiece A, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
A notch 21 is formed on one wall side of the receiving portion 18, that is, on the lower wall surface with respect to the upward transport direction of the conveyor 8, and makes point contact with the workpiece A. A protrusion 20 capable of locking A is formed directly below the notch 21. Further, two alignment auxiliary plates 17 are provided between the receiving plates 16, 16 as shown in FIG. The top surface width l formed by the two top surfaces 19 is longer than the length l' of the workpiece A.

Next, to explain the operation of the automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device constructed as described above, first, a large number of workpieces A are placed in the workpiece A by tilting the input box 1.
flows out to the shooter 4 side through the opening of the opening/closing plate 3,
When the gate valve 6 opens, the liquid is sequentially fed into the next hopper 7.

When the workpiece A is loaded into the hopper 7, the receiving plate 1 on the workpiece receiving side 8a of the rotating conveyor 8
6 and the alignment auxiliary plate 17, the work A is placed in an indiscriminate posture, and at the same time, by the movement of the conveyor 8, it is first placed parallel to the alignment auxiliary plate 17 as shown in FIG. The workpiece A comes into point contact with the top surface 19 of the alignment auxiliary plate 17 formed into an arcuate convex surface, and therefore rolls forward or backward at the same time as it is placed and is fitted into the receiving part 18 of the receiving plate 16. The Rukoto.
At this time, even if other workpieces A are placed on the receiving part 18 of the receiving plate 16 in an intersecting manner as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, in order to push the workpiece A away, the intersecting state will be destroyed, and the workpiece A is smoothly fitted into the receiving portion 18 of the receiving plate 16.

Next, workpiece A is aligned with the auxiliary plate 1 as shown in Figure 4 (b).
7, the workpiece A rotates as shown in FIG. However, the orientation is changed to be parallel to the alignment auxiliary plate 17 and inserted between the alignment auxiliary plates 17 and 17 or into the receiving portions 18 of the front and rear receiving plates 16.

Therefore, from the hopper 7, a large number of works A,...
Even if the workpiece A is thrown in, the workpiece A rolls or falls on the top surface 19 of the alignment auxiliary plate 17, and is even rotated, and its posture is aligned in a direction parallel to the receiving part 18 of the receiving plate 16.
As a result, the posture is maintained so that the workpiece A can be inserted into the front and rear receiving plates 16, or, if the workpiece A is already fitted into the front and rear receiving plates 16, so that it can be inserted into the receiving part 18 of the outer receiving plate 16. It is.

The large number of workpieces A thrown in in this way are aligned on the alignment auxiliary plate 17, but since the large number of workpieces A are thrown in from the hopper 7 at the same time, the workpieces A are in an uneven state as shown in FIG. , many of them are piled up. However, as the conveyor 8 moves in the transfer direction, the transfer side 8b is inclined upward with respect to the transfer direction. The other works A are successively shaken off due to the inclination as shown in the figure. Back plate 1
Only the works A fitted into the receiving portions 18 of No. 6 are smoothly aligned and transferred in the transfer direction.

Particularly, since a protrusion 20 that can make point contact with the workpiece A is formed on the lower wall surface of the receiving part 18 with respect to the upward movement direction of the conveyor 8, the workpiece A once inserted into the receiving part 18 is The workpiece A is stopped by the protrusion 20, and therefore, when the conveyor 8 transfers the workpiece A.
This has the effect that it can be transferred smoothly without any wobbling or the like. Moreover, since the workpiece A is locked by the protrusion 20, the workpiece A will not accidentally jump out from the receiving part 18.

Furthermore, since the receiving part 18 is formed with a notch 21, the workpiece A that is not fitted into the receiving part 18 will not get caught on the upper part of the receiving part 18 and become in a bridging state. It will roll smoothly and quickly.

When the next transferred workpiece A passes through the upper part of the conveyor 8, it is discharged onto the next transfer conveyor 11 in a normal posture and is transferred to a press machine (not shown) for the next process.

As in the above embodiment, the posture of the workpiece A introduced through the hopper 7 is controlled by the action of the top surface 19 of the alignment auxiliary plate 17 so that it becomes parallel to the receiving part 18 of the receiving plate 16. The workpiece A is inserted into the receiving part 18 very smoothly, instead of being transferred in a criss-crossed position on the receiving part of the receiving plate as in the prior art.

In the above embodiment, the top surface 19 of the alignment auxiliary plate 17
Although it is formed as an arcuate convex surface, it may also be formed as the apex of a triangle as shown in FIG. You may. The point is that the top surface 19 of the alignment auxiliary plate 17 only needs to be formed in a shape that can make point contact with the workpiece A.

Further, in the above embodiment, the alignment auxiliary plate 17 is connected to the receiving plate 1.
Two pieces are provided between 6 and 16, but the number may be one as shown in FIG. 6C, and the number is not limited.

Further, in this embodiment, the width l of the top surface between the receiving plates 16, 16 is made larger than the maximum length l' of the workpiece A, but the width of the top surface may be longer than the width of the workpiece A.

Furthermore, the shape of the receiving part 18 of the receiving plate 16 is not limited to the above embodiment, and the point is that a notch 2 is formed on the wall surface of the receiving part 18 on the lower side with respect to the upward movement direction of the conveyor 8.
1 is formed, and a protrusion 20 capable of locking the workpiece A is formed directly below the notch 21. Furthermore, FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which not only the transfer side 8b but also the receiving side 8a of the conveyor 8 is tilted. This is larger than in the above embodiment. In other words, the workpieces that are placed in an incorrect posture will immediately fall due to the inclination of the receiving side 8a, and only the workpieces in the normal posture (parallel to the receiving section) will fall into the inclined receiving section 18.
This is because it becomes easy to get stuck. As a result, the feed speed of the conveyor 8 is increased to significantly improve work processing, which has the advantage of very good workability. In addition, if the shape of work A is rod-shaped, it is round;
The shape of the receiving portion 18 of the receiving plate 16 changes depending on the shape of the workpiece, although it does not matter whether it is square or oval. or,
The length of work A can be long or short, and
There is no question of material or purpose.

Further, the structure of the conveyor 8 is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be a belt conveyor 25 as shown in FIG. That is, the top surface 19 consisting of an arcuate convex surface may be integrally formed on the belt 26 itself to serve as the alignment assisting plate 17, and the receiving plate 16 may be attached to an opening 27 provided in the belt 26.
Therefore, the type of conveyor is not limited to a chain conveyor.
7 may be formed separately or integrally with the conveyor.

(Effect of the invention) As mentioned above, the present invention includes a receiving plate having a receiving part,
Since the conveyor is formed by paralleling a large number of alignment auxiliary plates whose top surfaces are in point contact with the workpieces, the posture of the workpieces input from the hopper is controlled to be in a normal position by the alignment auxiliary plates. The workpieces are inserted into the receiving part of the receiving plate, or are in a normal position where they can be inserted, and the alignment efficiency is very good. It is easier to align the parts, and there is no bridging like in the past, and even if a bridging occurs, it will be shaken off by another work, so there will be no empty receiving parts, and the workpiece will fit into each receiving part reliably and smoothly. A remarkable effect was obtained.

In particular, the alignment auxiliary plate is formed in such a shape that its top surface can make point contact with the workpiece.
The workpiece rolls on the top surface of the alignment auxiliary plate, fits into the receiving part of the receiving plate, and is automatically aligned in the correct posture without applying external force such as vibration as in the past. Therefore, there is no need to separately provide a vibrating mechanism as in the past, and the structure of the device is significantly simplified. Moreover, unlike when applying external force such as vibration, it is difficult to align and transfer due to aging. There is an advantage that accurate and automatic alignment and transfer effects can always be obtained without deterioration of performance and reliability.

Furthermore, since the conveyor for transfer is one conveyor composed of an alignment auxiliary plate and a receiving plate, each conveyor is This has the great advantage that a drive mechanism is not required for each device, and thus the overall structure can be further simplified compared to this conventional device.

Another important point is that a notch is formed in the wall surface of the receiving part on the lower side with respect to the upward movement direction of the conveyor, and a protrusion that can lock a workpiece is formed directly below the notch. Therefore, the workpiece does not get caught in the upper part of the receiving part and becomes in a so-called bridge state, and is smoothly inserted into the receiving part by the notch. The workpiece can be transferred smoothly without wobbling during transfer by the conveyor, and the projecting part prevents the workpiece from accidentally jumping out from the receiving part, which is a particularly remarkable effect. We have come to have this.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic alignment and transfer device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the device seen from the conveyor side.
Figure 3 shows the structure of the conveyor, A is a plan view of the main part, B is an end view of the main part, C is an end view taken along the line B-B of A,
D is a CC line end view of A. FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams of the operation at the time of loading the workpiece, and FIG. 4C is a plan view showing the rotating state of the workpiece. FIG. 5A is a side view of the main part of the conveyor, illustrating the operation during work transfer, and FIG. 5B is an enlarged side view of the main part of A. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an alignment auxiliary plate showing another embodiment. FIG. 7 is a side view of main parts showing another embodiment of the conveyor. FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the conveyor, in which A is a plan view of the main part and B is a sectional view of the main part. FIG. 9 shows a conventional conveyor, in which A is a side view and B is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between the work and the receiving plate. FIG. 10 is a schematic side view showing another conventional example. 7... hopper, 8... conveyor, 16... receiving plate, 17... alignment auxiliary plate, 18... receiving part, 19...
...Top surface, 20...Protrusion, 21...Notch.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. A plurality of receiving plates 16, . 17,
... thereby forming one endless conveyor 8 with at least the transfer side 8b inclined upward in the transfer direction, and the work A of the conveyor 8.
A hopper 7 for charging a large number of works A is provided on the receiving side 8a of the hopper 7, and the top surface 19 of the alignment auxiliary plate 17 is formed in a shape capable of making point contact with the works A, and the receiving portion of the receiving plate 16 No. 18, a notch 21 is formed in the upper part of the wall surface on the lower side with respect to the upward transport direction of the conveyor, and a protrusion 20 capable of locking the workpiece A directly below the notch 21.
1. An automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device characterized in that: 2. The automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the top surface 19 of the alignment auxiliary plate 17 is an arcuate convex surface.