JPH021046B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is provided, for example, in a chute that is connected to a discharge port of a vibrating parts feeder in a downwardly inclined manner, and supplies all the transferred parts on the chute to the next process while aligning them in a constant posture. This invention relates to a stopper in a parts sorting device.

This type of device is known, for example, from the Japanese Patent Publication No. 1986 by the applicant.
-48527, and in these devices, the rotating body and the stopper have the configurations shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. That is, the first
In the figures and FIG. 2, a chute 1 is obliquely connected to a discharge port of a known vibrating parts feeder (not shown), and parts m slide along a transfer path 2 of the chute under the action of gravity and reach a rotating body 5. Although not shown, on the upstream side of the chute of this rotary body 5, there is a gate device for supplying the part m to one piece, and a part attitude determining device next to this device, which is provided close to the chute 1, and the part m passes through these devices. Afterwards rotating body 5
is supplied to the transfer path 6. If the component orientation determination device reads that the component m is in a posture that requires a 180° direction change within the transfer plane of the transfer path 6, the component m is After the stopper 7 descends and temporarily stops the part m, the rotating body 5 rotates 180 degrees in the plane of the transfer path 2 of the chute 1, which is in the same plane as the transfer path 6, and changes the direction of the part m. do. The stopper 7 then rises and releases this part m to the downstream side of the chute 1.

The stopper 7 is driven by an air cylinder 9 and is fixed to a rod 11 of the air cylinder 9. The air cylinder 9 is fixed to a bracket 10 erected on both side walls 3a, 3b of the chute 1, and the stopper 7 is guided in the vertical direction by a guide member 8 attached to the bracket 10. At the lowered position of the stopper 7, a rotating body 5 is attached to the part 7a that comes into contact with the component m.
The curved surface is machined concentrically with the circumferential side.

The rotating body 5 is located in a circular notch 4 formed in the chute 1 and is rotated by a rotary actuator 12 through 180 degrees.
It is fixed to the drive shaft 14 of No. 2 via a support member 15. The rotary actuator 12 is driven by compressed air, and the spacer members 13a, 13
It is fixed to the chute 1 via b.

Although the rotating body and stopper in the conventional parts conveying device are constructed as described above, they have the following drawbacks.

That is, although FIGS. 1 and 2 show the case where the stopper 7 is ideally arranged with respect to the rotating body 5, if the stopper 7 is located even slightly downstream of the chute 1 from the position shown in the figure, When the component m rotates while contacting the contact portion 7a of the stopper 7, it is attracted to the side wall portions 3a and 3b of the chute 1 and prevents the rotating body 5 from rotating. Furthermore, if the stopper 7 is located even slightly upstream of the chute 1 than the illustrated position, the abutting portion 7a of the stopper 7 will collide with the rotating body 5 when it rotates, which will also prevent the rotating body 5 from rotating. . Particularly when the part m has a complicated shape, it tends to get stuck to the side walls 3a and 3b of the chute 1. In order to prevent such a drag as much as possible, the inlet part of the transfer path 2 of the chute 1 from the rotating body 5 is made slightly wider as shown in FIG. Currently, this part is processed so that it does not occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides a stopper for a complete sorting device for parts that can easily process and assemble parts, and can reliably prevent collisions between the stopper and a rotating body. The purpose is to This purpose, according to the present invention, includes a chute for transporting parts, a part attitude determining device provided in the vicinity of this chute, and a component position determining device located downstream of the determining device within the same plane as the transport surface of the chute or perpendicular thereto. In a total part sorting device, which comprises a rotating body having a transfer surface that can rotate 180 degrees in a direction, and a stopper that can reciprocate to temporarily stop one component fed onto the transfer surface of the rotating body. , the stopper is rod-shaped, the stopper is disposed so as to be substantially aligned with the central axis of rotation of the rotating body, and when the component orientation determining device generates an output to change or reverse the direction of the component, the rotation One part supplied to the transfer surface of the body is temporarily stopped by causing the stopper to take a forward position, and the direction of the part is changed or reversed by rotating the rotating body 180 degrees. After that, the part is released from the stopper and guided to the downstream side of the chute, and when the part orientation determining device does not produce an output to change the direction or reverse the part, the part is supplied to the transfer surface of the rotating body. stopping one part in the same position by causing the stopper to take a double-movement position, or with the stopper taking a double-movement position, and without rotating the rotating body. This is achieved by means of a stopper in a total parts sorting device, which is characterized in that the parts are guided to the downstream side of the chute without any problems.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A complete parts sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9.

Figures 3 and 4 are a schematic partial cross-sectional plan view and partial cross-sectional side view of the complete parts transfer device of this embodiment (in order to make the figures easier to understand, each part is not necessarily shown in the actual size ratio. ) However, in these figures, the vibrating parts feeder 20 has a spiral track wound clockwise, although not completely shown, and a chute 21 is connected to the discharge end of this track. The chute 21 is arranged to be inclined, and parts m are supplied one by one from the parts feeder 20. The part m applied to this embodiment is a flat plate-shaped part having a notch in one corner, and is supplied to the chute 21 in one of the orientations shown in row a in FIG. In other words, these parts m are supplied in four different orientations, but these parts m are corrected to the orientation shown in row c by the configuration described below and then sent to chute 2.
One piece is supplied to the next process from the lower end (not shown) of No. 1.

Although the chute 21 is schematically illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, gate devices 22,
A component orientation determination device 23, a horizontal rotation section 24, a first component passage detection device 25, a vertical rotation section 26, and a second component passage detection device 27 are provided. Although not shown, the output signals of the component orientation determination device 23 and the first and second component passage detection devices 25 and 27 are supplied to a microprocessor, and the gate device 22, the horizontal rotation section 24 and the vertical rotation section are controlled according to a predetermined program. Part 2
6 is generated from the microprocessor.

The gate device 22 consists of a gate 52 that swings around a shaft 53, and functions to collect the parts m all at once, separate them one by one, and supply them to the downstream side. The component attitude determination device 23 includes a light source 54, a printed circuit board 55, and three phototransistors 56 mounted on this circuit board 55. light source 5
Three through holes 57a and 57 are provided in the chute 21 directly below the part 4, depending on the shape of the part m whose posture is to be determined.
b, 57c are formed, and these through holes 57a, 5
Three phototransistors 56 are arranged so as to be located directly below 7b and 57c. Through hole 5
7a, 57b, and 57c are arranged so as to have a positional relationship with each component m as shown in column a of FIG. In other words, the phototransistor 56 directly below the first through hole 57a is for so-called synchronization, and it is used for the positional relationship between the other through holes 57b and 57c and the component m when the first through hole 57a is blocked by the component m. Therefore, the attitude of the part is determined. This part m has four different postures, but the part m with the posture in column a and row A
(hereinafter referred to as part m of aA; the same applies to other postures), when the through hole 57a is shielded, the other through holes 57b and 57c are also shielded at the same time. In the case of part m of aB, when the through hole 57a is shielded, the other through holes 57b and 57c are not shielded. In the case of part m of aC, when the through hole 57a is shielded, one of the through holes 5
7b is not shielded, but the other through hole 57c
is shielded. In the case of part m of aD, when the through hole 57a is shielded, one through hole 57b is shielded, but the other through hole 57
c is not shielded. The phototransistor 56 is turned on and off according to the four states described above, and this on/off signal is supplied to the microprocessor.

Details of the horizontal rotating section 24 are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and the rotating section 24 mainly consists of a horizontal rotating body 31 and a stopper 38a. The horizontal rotating body 31 is supported by a bearing 35, is loosely engaged with a circular through hole 28 formed in the chute 21, and is connected to a rotary shaft fixed to the chute 21 via a pair of spacer members 33a and 33b.
It is rotated by 180 degrees by the drive shaft 34 of the actuator 32. Further, a groove 31a having the same width as the transfer path 30 of the chute 21 is formed on the upper surface of the horizontal rotating body 31, and the bottom surface of this groove 31a is on the same level as the transfer path 30 of the chute 21. The positions of the rotating bodies 31 are regulated so that they are aligned and stopped as shown in the figure. The groove 31a also constitutes a part of the transfer path 30 of the chute 21, but has a length slightly larger than twice the length of the part m, and has a length slightly larger than the length of the part m1 in relation to the stopper 38a.
is configured to temporarily accommodate individuals. The stopper 38a is rod-shaped, and its tip is loosely engaged with a hole formed in the center of the rotating body 31, and is driven vertically by the air cylinder 36. That is, a drive rod 37 of the air cylinder 36 is fixed to a stopper body 38, and the above-mentioned stopper 38a is integrally formed as a rod portion of this body 38. Although not shown, the air cylinder 36 is fixed to a bracket fixed on the pair of side walls 29a and 29b of the chute 21, and a guide member 40 for guiding the vertical movement of the stopper 38a is also fixed to the bracket. Urethane rubber 39 is adhered to the stopper body 38, thereby reducing the impact when the stopper body 38 collides with the guide member 40. That is, the guide member 40 also functions to restrict the lowering position of the stopper 38a.

The first and second component passage detection devices 25 and 27 include light sources 58 and 61 and printed circuit boards 59 and 6, respectively.
It consists of phototransistors 60 and 63 fixed on the chute 21 directly below the light sources 58 and 61.
Through holes 64 and 65 are formed in the through holes 64 and 65, and phototransistors 60 and 63 are arranged so as to be located directly below these through holes 64 and 65. Therefore, when the component m passes over these through holes 64 and 65, the phototransistors 60 and 63 are turned on and off, but
This on/off signal is supplied to the microprocessor.

7 and 8 show details of the vertical rotating section 26, which mainly consists of a rotating body 44 and a stopper 49, and the rotating body 44 is a rotary
It is rotated by 180° by the actuator 42,
The stopper 49 is reciprocated by an air cylinder 47 in a direction perpendicular to the transfer path 30 of the chute 21 .

A component reversing guide member 41 is fixed to the chute 21, and a pair of slit-shaped notches 41a and 41b are formed in this guide member 41 in alignment with the transfer path 30 of the chute 21. The rotating body 44 is slidably disposed in the inner hole of the guide member 41, and has a slit-shaped groove 46 formed in its radial direction. The width of this groove 46 is approximately equal to the width of the transfer path 30 of the chute 21, and the rotating body 44 is rotated by 180 degrees perpendicularly to the transfer path 30 of the chute 21. The position of the rotating body 44 is regulated so that the grooves 46 are aligned and stopped as shown in the figure. The groove 46 also constitutes a part of the transfer path 30 of the chute 21, but has a length slightly larger than twice the length of the part m, and in relation to the stopper 49, the part m1 is temporarily moved. It is configured to accommodate.

The rotating body 44 is fixed to the drive shaft 43 of the rotary actuator 42 at its boss portion extending perpendicularly to the transfer path 30 of the chute 21, and the bearing 4 fixed to the component reversing guide member 41 is fixed to the drive shaft 43 of the rotary actuator 42.
It is rotatably supported by 5.

The stopper 49 is rod-shaped and is fixed to the drive rod 48 of the air cylinder 47 via a nut 51, and is guided by a guide member 50 in a direction perpendicular to the transfer path 30 of the chute 21. It is assumed that the air cylinder 47 and the guide member 50 are fixed to brackets fixed to both side walls 29a and 29b of the chute 21, although not shown. The forward movement position of the stopper 49 is regulated by the contact between the nut 51 and the guide member 50. Note that the nut 51 may be made to have urethane rubber adhered to the guide member 50 in the same manner as in the above-mentioned horizontal rotating portion 24 to alleviate the impact.

A pair of arc-shaped grooves 44a and 44b are formed in the longitudinal center of the groove 46 of the rotating body 44 in a direction perpendicular to the transfer path 30 of the chute 21, and a groove 44a and 44b is movable between these grooves 44a and 44b. A rod-shaped stopper 49 is inserted.

The device for fully aligning parts according to the embodiment of the present invention is constructed as described above. Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

Now, when the part m of aA in FIG. 9 is separated by the gate device 22 and supplied to the component orientation determining device 23, this device 23 determines that it is in the correct orientation, and this determination signal is sent to the microprocessor. supplied to As a result, the air cylinders 36, 47 and the rotating bodies 31, 44 of the horizontal rotating section 24 and the vertical rotating section 26 do not operate, and the stopper 38a,
49 remains in the backward movement position (the forward movement position is shown in all figures). Therefore, part m
The material passes through the grooves 31a and 46, which are also the transfer paths of the horizontal rotating section 24 and the vertical rotating section 26, as it is, and is supplied from the lower end of the chute 21 in the desired attitude.

When a component passes through the first component passage detection device 25, a component passage signal is supplied to the microprocessor, which activates the gate device 22.
Part orientation determination device 23 that separates the next m1 parts
supply to. The posture of part m at this time is shown in Figure 9.
If aB, this is determined by the device 23,
This discrimination signal is supplied to the microprocessor. As a result, the stopper 38a in the horizontal rotating section 24 first descends and assumes the forward movement position as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The part m supplied to the groove 31a of the rotating body 31 is inserted into the stopper 3 as shown in the figure.
It comes into contact with 8a and stops. The rotating body 31 then rotates clockwise in FIG. 5 and through 180 DEG in the plane of the transfer path 30 to change the direction of the part m. That is, part m assumes the attitude bB in FIG. Before this part m is discharged from the horizontal rotating section 24, the vertical rotating section 26
The stopper 49 moves forward and assumes the position shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Note that the drive of the rotating body 31 in the horizontal rotating section 24 and the vertical rotating section 2
The stopper 49 is driven in step 6 after the second component passage detection device 27 detects that the previous component has passed.

When the part m of bB is supplied to the vertical rotating part 26, the stopper 4
It hits point 9 and stops temporarily. Next, the rotating body 44
is rotated by 180° in a plane perpendicular to the transfer path 30 of the chute 21. As a result, the part m of bB is turned upside down and is fed from the lower end of the chute 21 in the attitude of cB, that is, the desired attitude.

Note that when component m of bB passes the first passage detection device 25, the gate device 22 further separates the next component m1 pieces based on this passage signal and supplies them to the component orientation determination device 23. If the attitude of this component m is aC, this is determined by the device 23, and the stopper 38a of the horizontal rotating section 24 is raised. Therefore, part m of aC is the horizontal rotating part 2.
Pass 4. At this time, the previous component cB has already been ejected from the vertical rotating section 26. Next, the part m of aC supplied to the vertical rotation unit 26 is temporarily stopped by the stopper 49, and then turned upside down by the rotation of the rotating body 44 by 180 degrees, and vertically rotates while taking the posture of cC, that is, the desired posture. It is discharged from the section 26.

Next, if the attitude of the part m supplied from the gate device 22 is aD, this is the attitude of the part attitude determining device 23.
The stopper 38a of the horizontal rotating portion 24 is lowered to take the position shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Therefore, part m of aD is horizontal rotating part 2
4, it is stopped by a stopper 38a. Next, the direction is changed by rotating the rotating body 31 by 180°, and the position is set to bD, that is, the desired position.
Before the part m of bD is ejected from the horizontal rotating part 24, the stopper 49 in the vertical rotating part 26 has moved back from the position shown, so that the part m of bD
passes through the vertical rotating section 26 as it is, and the chute 2
1 is supplied from the lower end.

The embodiment of the present invention performs the above-mentioned functions, but also has the following effects.

That is, according to this embodiment, when the component m is changed direction or reversed, the stopper 38a,
It rotates 180 degrees in the horizontal or vertical direction together with the rotating bodies 31 and 44 while contacting the stopper 49, but after that, it can be released from the stoppers 38a and 49 without having to raise the stopper each time as in the conventional case. Therefore, the processing time for parts is shortened by the time it takes for the stopper to rise. Therefore, parts supply efficiency can be improved. If the component orientation determination device 23 reads that the next component m to be supplied to the rotating body does not need to be changed direction or reversed, the previous component m is released from the rotating body. After that, the stoppers 38a and 49 rise. Therefore, the next part m passes directly through the rotating body. Note that after the previous part m passes through the second passage detection device 27, the next part may be separated by the gate device 22, and this is determined by a program according to the distance between each device.

Furthermore, in the horizontal rotation section 24 and the vertical rotation section 26, the stoppers 38a and 49 are connected to the rotation bodies 31 and 4.
4, that is, the drive shafts 34 and 43 of the rotary actuators 32 and 42, these collide due to the rotation of the rotors 31 and 44 and the reciprocating motion of the stoppers 38a and 49. There was no problem, and the stoppers 38a, 49
is located at the center of the rotating bodies 31, 44, so when the component m changes direction or reverses while contacting the stoppers 38a, 49, the rotating body 29a, 29b of the transfer path 30 of the chute 21 rotates. If the component m gets caught between the rotary body and the chute 21 due to the interference, the above-mentioned phenomenon will disappear.

Furthermore, as is clear from the above description, the stoppers 38a and 49 do not need to be strictly aligned with the rotation axes of the rotating bodies 31 and 44, but may be aligned to the extent that they do not interfere with the rotation of the rotating bodies 31 and 44. Therefore, assembly is much easier than before. For example, in the horizontal rotating part 24, the tip of the stopper 38a fits loosely in a hole formed in the center of the groove 31a of the rotating body 31, but even if it deviates within the radius of this hole, the above-mentioned effect cannot be achieved. It is clear that there is no impact.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is of course not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiments, a horizontal rotating section and a vertical rotating section are provided, but one of them can be omitted depending on the shape of the part to which it is applied.

Further, although the stopper has a circular cross-sectional shape, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is also applicable to a rectangular cross-sectional shape, for example.

As described above, in the parts feeding device of the present invention, the stopper is arranged so as to be substantially aligned with the rotation center axis of the rotating body, so assembly and processing of the device is easier than before, and the rotating body Collision with the chute and jamming of parts at these connections are reliably prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional plan view of a horizontal rotating section in a conventional parts sorting device, FIG. 2 is a partially sectional side view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a parts sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. , FIG. 4 is a side view of the same device, FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing details of the horizontal rotating portion of the same device, FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the horizontal rotating portion of the same device, and FIG. 7 is a vertical view of the same device. FIG. 8 is a partially sectional plan view showing the details of the rotating part, FIG. 8 is a partially sectional side view of the vertical rotating part, and FIG. This is a flowchart. In the figure, 21... shoot, 23...
Component orientation determination device, 24...Horizontal rotating section, 26...
...Vertical rotation part, 38a, 49...Stopper, 3
1, 44... Rotating body, 31a, 46... Groove, 3
2,42...Rotary actuator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A chute for transferring parts, a component attitude determining device installed in the vicinity of this chute, and can be rotated 180 degrees in the same plane as the transferring surface of the chute or in a direction perpendicular to this on the downstream side of the determining device. In a complete conveyance device for parts, the device comprises a rotating body having a conveying surface, and a stopper capable of reciprocating to temporarily stop a single component fed onto the conveying surface of the rotating body. A stopper is disposed so as to be substantially aligned with the central axis of rotation of the rotating body, and when the component orientation determining device generates an output to change or reverse the direction of the component, the stopper is supplied to the transfer surface of the rotating body. One part is temporarily stopped by causing the stopper to take the forward movement position, the direction of the part is changed or reversed by rotating the rotating body 180 degrees, and then the part is removed from the stopper. one part to be released and directed downstream of the chute, and to be fed to the transfer surface of the rotating body when the part orientation determining device does not produce an output to redirect or reverse the part. To the downstream side of the chute by causing the stopper to take the backward movement position or while the stopper is in the backward movement position and without rotating the rotating body and stopping the part in the same position. A stopper in a complete conveyance device for parts, characterized in that the stopper is adapted to guide the user.