JPH0413253B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is applicable to workpieces, more specifically, when press materials of various shapes and sizes are inputted indiscriminately and individually supplied to a press machine. This invention relates to an improvement in an automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device used for.

(Prior art) The applicant filed a patent application (patent application No. 56456-56456 on March 20, 1985) relating to the basics of the application.
(Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-217422).

This application is basically a system that automatically separates, aligns, and discharges workpieces randomly placed into the drum by rotating a cylindrical drum.

As shown in FIG. 11, this structure includes a bar 28 having a substantially C-shaped cross section for receiving and holding a workpiece on the inner peripheral surface of the drum body 1, and a convex curved top surface for promoting alignment of the workpiece between the bars 28. It is provided with an auxiliary plate 29 having a shape.

(Problems with the Prior Art) However, in the automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device having the above structure, there is only one type of C-shaped bar 28 for receiving and holding the workpieces, and therefore the shape and shape of the workpieces vary within the range where the workpieces are located. This is effective when the dimensions are limited, but in the case of the recent high-mix, low-volume production system, the number of types of workpieces has increased significantly, and as a result, the C-shaped bar 28 mentioned above cannot be used with just one type. It is not possible to receive and hold the work A, and the C-shaped bar 28 has to be replaced depending on the type of work.

However, replacing this type of bar 28 cannot be easily done due to the length and weight of the workpiece, making the work extremely laborious and requiring a considerable amount of time. had to be stopped, which was extremely inefficient.

In any case, the above-mentioned prior art is effective for work within a certain shape, that is, within the range of types of workpieces that can be received and held by the approximately C-shaped bar 28; It is not possible to handle workpieces whose shapes cannot be received and held, which is a fatal problem for an apparatus for aligning and transporting a wide variety of workpieces.

The object of the present invention is to be able to easily handle workpieces of various shapes and sizes in such high-mix, low-volume production. The purpose is to provide a transfer device.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention has invented the following means in order to solve the above problems and achieve its objectives.

That is, the present invention provides a workpiece in which the bar is configured with two or more types of receiving parts having different shapes so that the bar can receive a plurality of workpieces of different shapes, and the bar is provided so that it can be turned upside down. This is an automatic alignment and transfer device.

Further, a receiving part is formed on the back surface of some of the alignment promoting plates 8, and the alignment promoting plate 8 is composed of two or more types of different receiving parts, and the alignment promoting plate 8 having this receiving part is provided so as to be reversible from front to back. I don't mind.

(Function) Since the present invention is configured as described above, when several types of workpieces of different shapes are transferred in an aligned manner, for example, when A type of workpieces are aligned and transferred, it is possible to receive A type of workpieces. A C-shaped bar having a receiving part is reversed so that the receiving part is located on the inner circumferential surface side of the drum body, and the receiving part is capable of receiving work of type B when transferring work of type B. This can be done by inverting a C-shaped bar having a C-shaped bar so that the receiving portion is located on the inner peripheral surface side of the drum body.

In this case, the receiving portion of the C-shaped bar, which has a receiving portion having a shape different from that of the workpieces to be aligned and transferred, is located on the outer peripheral surface side of the drum body and left unused.

As described above, if several types of C-shaped bar receiving parts are formed according to the shapes of various workpieces, only the workpieces with the required shape of the receiving part depending on the workpiece can be positioned on the inner circumference side of the drum body, and other The bar is used by inverting it and positioning the receiving part on the outer peripheral surface side of the drum body.

Furthermore, when the back side of some of the alignment promoting plates is formed into a substantially C-shaped cross section so as to have a receiving part different from the receiving part shape of the C-shaped bar, the alignment promoting plate is also made reversible. This can be made possible by the promotion plate for receiving and holding workpieces with shapes that cannot be received and held by a C-shaped bar, and as a result, it is possible to easily promote the alignment of a part of the workpiece that has a C-shaped bar or receiving part. By reversing the plate and C-shaped bar, it is possible to align and transfer many types of workpieces, and it is possible to transfer the workpieces in a line-up manner, which was previously only possible with one type of receiving part shape of the C-shaped bar. This product is extremely effective in aligning and transporting workpieces within a range of distances, and has become an extremely versatile and practical product that is optimal for aligning and transporting a wide variety of workpieces.

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

Reference numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical drum body, and on its outer circumferential surface, a rotational drive belt 2 is connected to a drive wheel 4 linked to a motor 3.
The drum main body 1 is configured to be freely rotatable by rotating through the .

Reference numeral 5 indicates a shutter provided on the side of the workpiece A input port 6 of the drum body 1, and reference numeral 7 indicates a discharge conveyor for transferring the workpiece A discharged from the discharge station B above the drum body 1 to the next process.

Next, FIG. 2 shows the structure of the inner circumferential surface inside the drum body 1. In the figure, reference numeral 8 denotes a lid body 9 having a gently convex curved surface 8a, a body 10 having a V-shaped cross section, and a lid body 10 having a V-shaped cross section. Sound absorbing material 1 installed between bodies 9 and 10
1 and 2 of the alignment promoting plates make up a set.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a bar having a substantially C-shaped cross section that is reversibly provided between the alignment promoting plates 8 and 8, and has a concave receiving portion with an opening on the top surface formed on the front side and the back side of the bar that is reversibly provided between the alignment promoting plates 8 and 8. It is formed as a gently convex curved surface 24 similar to the convex curved surface 8a.

Furthermore, three types of bars 12a, 12b, and 12c with different shapes of the receiving portions 13 are arranged so that the workpiece A can be received and held according to the shape of the workpiece A. That is, the receiving part 13a of 12a is 100φ
To receive the workpiece, the receiving part 13b of the bar 12b is
For receiving a 60φ workpiece, the receiving part 13c of the bar 12c
is formed to be optimal for receiving 200φ workpieces.

Next, FIG. 3 shows the bars 12a, 12b, 12c.
In the figure, reference numeral 14 denotes a support shaft protruding from a U-shaped hole 16 in a side plate 15 at an opening on one side of the drum body 1 via a bearing 17. One end is fixed to one side of 12c. 18 is a key 2 at one end of the support shaft 14.
This is a reversing tool having an arm 19 that is fixed by inserting a
A cam follower 23 is pivotally supported and guided by a groove-shaped cam 22 formed between a pair of guide rails 21a and 21b.

Next, how to use the embodiment having the above configuration will be explained.

First, the C-shaped bar 12 is changed according to the shape of the workpiece A to be input.

For example, workpiece A that is introduced in the state shown in Figure 2 is
If the bar is 60φ, the bar 12b will be used, and the other bars 12a and 12c will be left unused. That is, only the receiving part 13b of the bar 12b is directed toward the inner circumferential surface of the drum body 1, and the bar 12a and 1
The bars 12a and 12a are reversed so that the receiving portions 13a and 13c of the drum body 1 are located on the outer peripheral surface side of the drum body 1, respectively.

This reversal corresponds to the bar 1 in the posture shown in Figure 3 A.
2a and 12c, the outer guide rail 21
Since a has a certain width and can be removed via a hinge,
After removing the guide rail 21a, the bars 12a and 12c can be easily rotated by rotating the reversing tool 18 via the arm 19 to the position shown in FIG. After reversing, the guide rail 21a is attached again so that the cam follower 23 is positioned between the guide rails 21a, 21b.

In this way, when it is reversed, only the receiving part 13b on the back side of the C-shaped bar 12b faces into the drum body 1, as shown in FIG. will face outward, and the convex curved surface 24 on the back side will face into the drum body 1.

After setting up the drum body 1 in this way, when the workpieces of approximately 60φ are loaded from the shooter 5, a large number of works A are stacked on the bottom of the drum body 1 as shown in FIG. 6A.

At this time, since the drum body 1 is rotating counterclockwise at a low speed via the drive belt 2, many works A are initially in a bridging state and try to be lifted counterclockwise. As shown in FIG. 6A, an alignment promoting plate 8 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the drum body 1, and C-shaped bars 12a, 12 are provided.
Since the back side of C is located, the workpiece A will slide down one by one due to the arcuate curved surface 8a of the lid 9 of the promotion plate 8 and the convex curved surfaces 24 of the bars 12a and 12c, but a part of the workpiece A will slide down from C. The workpiece A that has been fitted into the semicircular receiving portion 13b of the letter-shaped bar 12b attempts to fall when the drum body 1 rotates and is transferred in the counterclockwise direction. The sixth bar 12b is locked by a locking portion 26 protruding from the rear side wall 25 of the bar 12b.
As shown in Figure (B), the drum body 1 is transferred counterclockwise as the drum body 1 rotates without falling.

In this way, in the work receiving zone O around the circumference of the drum body 1, a large number of works A are loaded.
are individually received by the C-shaped bar 12b while being aligned due to the rotation of the drum body 1 and the action of the alignment promotion plate 8 and the back side shape of the C-shaped bars 12a and 12c, and are transferred to the next holding zone without falling. It is transferred to P. (See Figure 4).

The workpiece A transferred from the alignment zone O to the holding zone P in this way is reliably transferred to the discharge station Q side by the holding posture caused by the change in the rotation angle of the C-shaped bar 12b. In front of the station Q, the guide rail 21
Since a and 21b have a track lb bent outward, the posture of the C-shaped bar 12b via the arm 19 by the cam follower 23 becomes the ejection posture, and at the ejection station Q, it is completely reversed and the bar is The receiving portion 13b of the workpiece 12b shifts to a downward discharge position, and the workpiece A falls from the discharge station Q onto the discharge conveyor 7 directly below and is discharged.

The workpiece A discharged onto the discharge conveyor 7 is
It is then transferred to a work station, such as a press, via a transfer conveyor.

Therefore, a large number of workpieces inputted from the input port 6 are sorted in the alignment zone O, and each workpiece A is received into the C-shaped bar 12b and aligned.In the next holding zone P, the workpieces Since the posture of A is maintained and the workpiece A is reliably transferred to the discharge station Q without falling, each workpiece A is sequentially discharged from the station Q.
This makes the work in the next process extremely easy.

The C-shaped bar 12b, which has been reversed at the ejection station Q, is now empty and is returned to its original position while moving through the return zone R, returning to the original alignment zone O, and repeating the above operation. This will happen again and again.

As the drum body 1 rotates in this manner, the workpiece A is transferred while repeating alignment, holding, and discharge around the half circumference of the drum body 1 in sequence.

Next, a workpiece having a different shape from the workpiece A, for example,
When aligning and transporting 200φ workpieces, it is necessary to change the bar setup again.

That is, in this case, the bars 12b and 12c are reversed from the state shown in FIG. 5, resulting in the state shown in FIG. 7.

By changing the setup to this state, the receiving part 13c is optimal for receiving and holding the 200φ workpiece.
The bar 12c having the bar 12c assumes a standby position, and the back side of the bar 12b is positioned on the inner circumferential surface side of the drum body. The subsequent operation is performed by the bar 12b.
The same is true for .

As described above, in the above embodiment, there are three types of receiving parts 13a, 13b, 13 depending on the shape of the workpiece.
Three types of bars 12a, 12b, 12c with c
By providing a bar and making each bar reversible, it is possible to align and transport workpieces of various shapes. Furthermore, the above-mentioned receiving section is not only capable of receiving workpieces having the diameter dimensions of the workpieces shown in the examples, but is not limited to three types because the receiving section can receive various types of workpieces within the range according to the shape. It's not something you can do.

In the case of the above embodiment, the alignment promotion plate 8 is fixed, but the arrangement is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. In addition, the alignment promoting plate 8 may also be made reversible. In this case, as shown in the same figure, the C-shaped bar 1
2 may be one type.

As described above, the embodiments of the present invention include all of the following aspects.

When the C-shaped bar receiving part is formed into several shapes depending on the form of the workpiece, and several types of bars can be reversed, and the alignment promoting plate is fixed. (First embodiment, FIG. 2) An alignment promoting plate in which one type of C-shaped bar and one or more receiving parts for receiving works that cannot be received by the receiving part of the bar have different shapes depending on the form of the workpiece. , and both the alignment promotion plate and the bar are made reversible. (Second example,
Figure 8. ) A case in which the bar is composed of several types of C-shaped bars and an alignment promoting plate with several types of receiving parts formed on the back side, and both of them are made reversible. (Third embodiment, combination of FIG. 2 and FIG. 8) In this way, only the C-shaped bar or the C-shaped bar and a part of the alignment promotion plate can be reversed, and the bar can be shaped like the receiving part. A feature of the present invention is that it is possible to extremely easily align and transport workpieces of various shapes by constructing the plate with several types of different types or by forming a receiving portion on the back side of the alignment promoting plate.

Therefore, the shapes of the receiving parts formed on the C-shaped bar and the alignment promoting plate are not limited to the embodiments, but may be formed according to the shapes of various workpieces as shown in FIG. It is.

Although the C-shaped bar is formed by forming a concave receiving part on the front side and a convex curved surface on the back side as in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. Furthermore, the bar may be constructed by forming concave receiving portions on each surface of the square prism, and its shape is not particularly limited. Further, the surface of the alignment promoting plate is not limited to a convex curved surface as in the embodiment, but may be a flat surface.

Furthermore, the arrangement of the C-shaped bar and the alignment promotion plate is as follows:
In principle, it is preferable to provide promotion plates on both sides of the bar, but their arrangement is not necessarily specified, and the reversing means is by no means limited to the embodiment. Two arms may be provided on both sides, or the arms may be foldable.

Note that the first receiving portion 13 formed in the C-shaped bar is
As shown in Figure 0, if the auxiliary jig 27 is removably attached so that the workpiece can be accurately received by the receiving part 13 according to the workpiece, an additional advantage is that one type of receiving part can receive many types of workpieces. There is.

(Effects) As described above, the present invention has two or more types of bars with different shapes of receiving parts for receiving workpieces, and the bars are provided so that they can be turned over. Compared to the case of aligning and transferring workpieces, this system can handle the alignment and transfer of workpieces of various shapes, making it extremely versatile.

Moreover, when changing the setup, there is no need to replace the C-shaped bar as in the conventional method, and the setup can be changed simply by reversing the bar, making the setup change extremely efficient and dramatically improving work efficiency. improved.

Furthermore, by forming a receiving part on the back side of the alignment promotion plate and making it reversible, it can be used in combination with a C-shaped bar to handle many types of workpieces.
The range of workpieces that can be handled has become extremely wide, resulting in particularly excellent practical effects.

In any case, the fact that the setup change for workpieces of various shapes as described above has become exceptionally good is an effect unique to the present invention, which is completely new and highly useful.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a drum in an automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway schematic sectional view showing the inner peripheral surface of the drum body. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the reversing mechanism, with A showing before reversing and B showing after reversing.
FIG. 4 is a front view showing the trajectory of the guide rail. Fifth
The figure is a partially cutaway sectional view of the drum in an inverted state. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of main parts showing the state of workpiece transfer.
FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are partially cutaway sectional views of a drum showing another embodiment. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing examples of various works. FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the bar receiving portion. FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway explanatory diagram of a drum showing a conventional example. 1...Drum body, 12, 12a, 12b, 1
2c... Bar, 13a, 13b, 13c... Receiving part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Automatic alignment and transfer of workpieces, in which a bar with a substantially C-shaped cross section for receiving and holding the workpieces and an alignment promotion plate for promoting alignment of the workpieces are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the rotary drum body. In order to make it possible to align and transfer a plurality of workpieces of different shapes in the apparatus, the bar 12 is configured with two or more types of receiving parts 13 for receiving workpieces having different shapes, and is provided so as to be reversible. Features: Automatic alignment and transfer device for workpieces. 2. A receiving part for receiving a workpiece is formed on the back surface of some of the alignment promoting plates 8, and in order to be able to align and transfer a plurality of workpieces with different shapes, the alignment promoting plate 8 has two or more types of receiving parts with different shapes. 2. The automatic workpiece alignment and transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alignment promoting plate 8 having a receiving portion is provided so as to be freely reversible. 3. The automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the back side of the bar 12 has a convex curved surface in the inner circumferential direction of the drum body 1. 4. The automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the front side of the alignment promoting plate 8 has a convex curved surface in the inner circumferential direction of the drum body 1. 5. The automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device according to claim 1, wherein an auxiliary jig 27 is detachably provided in the receiving portion 13 of the bar 12 to facilitate receiving of the workpiece according to the shape of the workpiece. 6. The automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device according to claim 2, wherein an auxiliary jig 27 is removably provided in the receiving portion of the alignment promotion plate 8 to facilitate receiving of the workpiece according to the shape of the workpiece.