JPH0146259B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a loading device for transferring a workpiece having a circular outer circumference from a standby position to a required position for processing or the like in a machine tool or the like.

(Prior Art) As a typical means for transporting workpieces having a circular outer circumference from a standby position one by one to a processing position equipped with a chuck device, etc. in a machine tool, etc., there is a downward slope in which the workpieces roll under their own weight to the standby position. A ramp is provided, the workpieces are arranged in series within the ramp by a first stopper protruding from the ramp, and then a second stopper is inserted between the lowest and next of the arranged workpieces. Then, by retracting the first stopper, only the lowest workpiece is rolled to the stop position, and at this stop position, the workpiece is scooped up with a support arm, etc. and transferred to the processing position, and the first stopper is protruded. By retracting the second stopper, the workpieces are arranged in series and moved forward by one piece within the ramp.
Since then, a method of repeating the above operations has been adopted.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, with the above-mentioned conventional means, it is necessary to provide two movable stoppers in the standby part of the workpiece and a control mechanism for moving them in and out. Since a horizontal movement mechanism along the axial direction of the workpiece and a lifting mechanism are required, the device structure is extremely complicated and equipment costs are high.In addition, it is necessary to synchronize the timing of the movement of the two movable stoppers, as well as the support arm, etc. There is a problem in that extremely strict control operations are required to set the lifting and lowering positions.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a loading device that uses a simple structure to reliably transfer workpieces one by one from a standby position to a predetermined position where they are to be processed, etc. .

(Means for Solving the Problems) For the above-mentioned purpose, the loading device according to the present invention has one end connected to the workpiece loading port pivoted to the base body, and a plurality of circular outer peripheries extending from the one end to the other end. a work waiting frame having a downwardly sloped slope in which the workpieces are rolled by their own weight and arranged in series, and the workpiece waiting frame is converted into a first posture with a small downward slope angle and a second posture with the same large downward slope angle. and a work support part that is movable in a horizontal direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the workpieces and is equipped with a horizontal pin that supports the workpieces, and the workpieces held in the workpiece support part are on standby. It is equipped with a transfer arm that transfers horizontally to a position, and when the workpieces arranged on the ramp of the workpiece standby frame in the first posture are held by the horizontal pins of the workpiece support, the workpiece standby frame is displaced to the second posture, the lowest workpiece is removed from the ramp, and when the workpiece support section holding the workpiece is separated from the standby position, the workpiece standby frame returns to the first posture. It is composed of

(Example) The present invention will be described below based on illustrated examples.

In Figures 1 to 3, 1 is the machine tool body;
2 is a chuck device provided at the processing position of the processing section 1a; 3 is a transfer arm provided on the top of the main body 1; 4 is a work standby frame attached to the front side of the main body 1; 5 is a work standby frame 4. The works arranged above, 6 is a work carry-in chute, 7 is a work carry-out chute, and 8 is an unloader which accommodates the work dropped from the chuck device 2 in a horizontally moving receiving frame 8a and drops it onto the work carry-out chute 7.

The transfer arm 3 is formed into an L-shape by a horizontal arm part 3a attached to the upper end of the vertical rotation support shaft 9 and a hanging arm part 3b fixed to the free end thereof.
A workpiece support part 10 is attached to the lower end of the hanging arm part 3b, and a position perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the workpieces 7 in the workpiece standby frame 4 and a position along the axial direction of the chuck device 2 are moved by driving the rotational support shaft 9. It is possible to horizontally rotate 90 degrees between the horizontal arm portions 3a and to move forward and backward in the radial direction by driving a cylinder 11 provided on the base end side of the horizontal arm portion 3a. As shown in FIG. 4, the workpiece support section 10 consists of a round shaft-shaped base section 12 and an insertion rod 13 that protrudes coaxially and horizontally from one end of the base section 12, and includes a hanging arm section 3b.
Insert the base part 12 horizontally into the cylindrical mounting part 3c provided at the lower end of the holder so that the tip of the insertion rod 13 faces toward the center of rotation of the transfer arm 3, and then insert the fixing screw 14 from the outside.
They are fixed together by tightening them.
The insertion rod 13 has flange portions 13b and 13c at the middle and rear end portions of the round bar portion 13a, and the rear side is connected to a concentric space 12a formed in the base portion 12.
By being inserted therein, it is attached to the base portion 12 so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and is prevented from coming off by an inward flange 12b formed at the entrance end of the space 12a. 15 is the inner end of the space 12a and the insertion rod 13
This is a coil spring loaded between the rear end flange portion 13c and the rear end flange portion 13c.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the workpiece standby frame 4 has a rear wall plate 4 with a wedge-shaped cross section attached to the front side of a strip-shaped vertical substrate 4a via connecting pins 16, 16...
b and bottom plate 4c are fixed, and bolts 18a,
18a, and is pivoted to a mounting plate 20 fixed to the machine tool body 1 with bolts 19, 19 at one end of the vertical board 4a with a pivot pin 21 so as to be rotatable in a vertical plane. . Also, mounting plate 2
A cylinder 22 is fixed to the bottom of the 0.
The workpiece standby frame 4 is supported by the tip of a telescopic rod 22a of the cylinder 22 on an L-shaped support piece 23 fixed to a vertical base plate 4a, and as the rod 22a expands and contracts, it is moved to the side of the pivot pin 21 shown by the solid line in FIG. It is configured to be displaced between a first posture with a gentle inclination with the upper position being the upper position and a second posture with a steeper inclination shown by the dashed line in the figure. However, the rear wall plate 4b of the work standby frame 4
The bottom plate 4c and the front wall plate 4d are arranged in a generally upwardly open U-shaped cross section, and a groove-shaped ramp 24 that opens upward is formed between them. The side communicates with the workpiece loading port 6a of the workpiece loading chute 6. Furthermore, the lower side of the front wall plate 4d is the front wall plate 4b and the bottom plate 4c.
As a result, the ramp 24 opens forward in the vicinity of the lower end, and at the position of the opening 24a, the fall prevention plate 4e passes through the vertical elongated hole 17b at the front end of the bottom plate 4c. It is fixed with bolts 18b. Also ramp 24
An L-shaped stopper 25 is attached to the upper end surface of the rear wall plate 4b so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction.
is in place.

The workpiece 5 has a short cylindrical shape with a circular outer periphery and a circular hole 5a in the center, and is in a posture in which the axial direction is horizontal from the workpiece loading port 6a of the workpiece loading chute 6 to the ramp 24 of the workpiece waiting section 4. Then, due to the downward inclination of the ramp 24, it automatically rolls into the ramp, and then rolls inside the ramp 24 and stops when it comes into contact with the stopper 25, and multiple pieces that have rolled in the same way enter the ramp. They are arranged in series and waiting in the channel 24.
However, in the first posture of the workpiece standby frame 4, the position of the lowest workpiece 5 arranged on the ramp 24 and the workpiece processing position of the chuck device 2 are set at the same height. However, the orientation of the workpiece 5 in both positions differs by 90 degrees, and the processing position is set slightly closer to the center of rotation of the transfer arm 3 than the standby position.

In the above configuration, in order to transfer the workpiece 5 in the standby position to the processing position, first, as shown in FIG. 13 is arranged so as to face the circular hole 5a of the lowest workpiece 5 arranged on the ramp 24 in the horizontal direction. Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the transfer arm 3 is moved forward by driving the cylinder 11, and
From a, insert the insertion rod 13 into the circular hole 5a of the lowest workpiece 5.
Insert into. Next, as shown in FIG. 8, when the rod 22a of the cylinder 22 is retracted and the workpiece standby frame 4 is displaced to the second position, only the lowest workpiece 5 is moved to the workpiece support, as shown in FIG. 1
While the workpieces 5, 5, etc. in the rampway 24 are vertically arranged, they roll due to their own weight and move forward by one workpiece. do. Next, as shown in FIG. 10, the transfer arm 3 is moved backward to the original position while holding the workpiece 5, and then the entire transfer arm 3 is horizontally rotated by 90 degrees to be placed in the processing section 1a, and the transfer arm 3 is moved again. As shown in FIG. 11, the workpiece 5 is positioned between the open gripping claws 2a, 2a... of the chuck device 2, and the workpiece 5 is moved to the processing position by driving the gripping claws 2a, 2a... After the workpiece 5 is held and fixed, the transfer arm 3 is moved backward to remove the insertion rod 13 from the workpiece 5. Subsequently, the transfer arm 3 is horizontally rotated by 90 degrees to return to the arrangement shown in FIG. 6, and the workpiece standby frame 4 is returned to the first posture. The above operations may be repeated.

When the workpiece 5 is gripped by the chuck device 2, the transfer arm 3 is further advanced after the end surface of the workpiece 5 abuts against the chuck device 2, as shown from the dashed line to the solid line in FIG. As a result, work 5
is brought into pressure contact with the chuck device 2 under the elastic force of a coil spring 15 built into the workpiece support, thereby ensuring reliable positioning.

On the other hand, when handling workpieces 5 with different diameters, the positions of the front wall plate 4d and fall-off prevention plate 4e of the workpiece standby frame 4 are adjusted using the long holes 18 and 18, depending on the diameter.
Adjust within the range of a, 18b, and stopper 25
At the same time, adjust the position of the first workpiece standby frame 4.
The posture and the inclination angle of the second posture may be adjusted by the amount of expansion and contraction of the rod 22a of the cylinder 22. The inclination angle can be adjusted by forming a bolt portion 26 at the tip of the rod 22a of the cylinder 22, screwing the tip cap 22b onto the bolt portion, and screwing the locking nut 22c onto the bolt portion 26, as shown in FIG. By doing so, the length of the rod 22a can be changed by keeping the amount of expansion and contraction of the rod 22 constant by the cylinder 22 itself, and adjusting only the degree of screwing of the tip cap 22b.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the workpiece is short cylindrical is explained, but for example, when the workpiece is a cylindrical workpiece 27 without holes as shown in FIG. Parallel support pins 28, 28 may be installed horizontally, and the workpiece 27 at the lowest position of the ramp 24 may be supported between the support pins 28, 28.

On the other hand, in the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the orientation of the workpiece differs by 90 degrees between the standby position and the processing position, but even if this orientation is other than 90 degrees, the rotation angle of the transfer arm may be changed accordingly. Further, when the orientation of the workpiece at both positions is the same, a transfer arm having a horizontal movement function between the two positions may be used instead of a rotation function.

Incidentally, the loading device of the present invention can be applied to various applications other than machine tools, and can be used in all cases where workpieces having a circular outer circumference are transferred one by one from a standby position to a desired position.

(Effects unique to the invention) The workpiece loading device according to the invention has the following features:
The work standby frame is placed in the first and second postures with different inclination angles.
By simply changing the posture to the first posture, the transfer arm can reliably take out the waiting workpieces with a circular outer circumference one by one using the transfer arm.Moreover, when taking out the workpieces, the workpiece support of the transfer arm is moved horizontally and the horizontal pin moves the workpieces to the first posture. The work support frame receives the first work at the second position.
It is only necessary to horizontally move the transfer arm in the opposite direction when the transfer arm is in the posture, eliminating the need for two movable stoppers in the standby section and its control mechanism, as well as the need for an elevating mechanism and a position setting mechanism for the transfer arm. Moreover, there is no need for any special operation or separation device to separate the leading workpiece from the array before taking it out.
The device structure is simplified, equipment cost is low, and control operations are easy. Further, according to the present invention, since the workpiece is taken out from the ramp of the workpiece standby frame under the first posture with a small downward slope angle, the vertical direction between the lowest workpiece and the next workpiece arranged in series is While the overlap is small and the lowest workpiece can be removed from the ramp with less force, the next workpiece is moved forward in the second posture with the large angle mentioned above after the workpiece has been removed, which prevents rolling due to the workpiece's own weight. This has the advantage of making it easier to locate the array and increasing the accuracy of the array position.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show embodiments of the invention,
Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of the machine tool with a loading device installed, Figure 2 is a schematic front view of the same, Figure 3 is a schematic right side view of the machine tool, and Figure 4 is a broken side view of the main part of the workpiece support of the transfer arm. 5 is a front view of the work standby section in the first posture, FIG. 6 is a side view showing the arrangement of the work standby frame and the lower part of the transfer arm, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are views of the workpiece in the standby position. Fig. 9 is a front view of the workpiece standby frame in the second posture; Fig. 10 is a longitudinal side view showing the state in which the transfer arm holds the workpiece; Fig. 11 is a longitudinal side view showing the workpiece being held in the transfer arm; Vertical side view showing workpiece transfer operation, 1st
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the main part of the cylinder for tilting the workpiece standby frame, and FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the operation for taking out a workpiece of another shape. 1... Machine tool main body (base body), 3... Transfer arm, 4
... Work waiting frame, 5... Work, 6a... Work loading port, 10... Work support, 13... Fitting rod (horizontal pin), 22... Cylinder (drive mechanism), 24... Ramp, 27... Work, 28... Bearing pin (horizontal pin).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A workpiece having a downward slope ramp in which one end connected to the workpiece entrance is pivoted to the base body, and a plurality of workpieces having a circular outer circumference roll from the one end side to the other end side and are arranged in series by rolling due to their own weight. a standby frame; a tilting mechanism for converting the workpiece standby frame into a first posture with a small downward slope angle and a second posture with the same large angle; The workpiece has a workpiece support section equipped with a horizontal pin that supports the workpiece, and a transfer arm that transfers the workpiece held in the workpiece support section from a standby position to a desired position by horizontal movement, and the workpiece is in a first posture. When the workpieces arranged on the ramp of a certain workpiece standby frame are held by the horizontal pins of the workpiece support,
When the workpiece standby frame is displaced to the second posture, the lowest workpiece is removed from the ramp, and the workpiece support section holding the workpiece is separated from the standby position, the workpiece standby frame returns to the first posture. A workpiece loading device configured to return.