JPH0716650Y2 - Prism alignment device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to a prism aligning device for aligning right-angle prisms used in binoculars, optical instruments, etc. in a fixed direction.

[Prior Art] As is well known, a prism is made of a transparent material of a triangular prism having two or more optical planes and reflects light to change its direction, and is widely used in binoculars and optical devices. .

As a method of manufacturing a prism having such an application, generally, a molten lump is made from molten glass, put it in a mold and press-molded into a shape almost the same as a finished product, and after molding, take out from the mold and use a belt conveyor. The prism is obtained by placing it in a tunnel type cooling furnace and gradually cooling it to near room temperature. After that, each surface of this prism is mirror-polished to obtain a finished product.
Therefore, the prism manufacturing process is roughly classified into a prism material manufacturing process involving hot working from melting to press molding and cooling, and a polishing process involving cold working to polish this prism material into a finished product. It is divided into The prism material manufactured in the prism material manufacturing process is once packed in a tray and then sent to the polishing process which is the next process. The tray is a plastic container having a plurality of storage recesses having substantially the same shape as the prism material so that the prism material does not come into contact with each other during transport and storage and are not scratched.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] A prism material (hereinafter simply referred to as a prism) that emerges from the cooling oven with one side facing up and the other side facing down.
Are in different directions with respect to the carrying direction of the carrying conveyor of the cooling furnace. When the prisms with different orientations are transferred to a conveyor and packed for transportation and storage, for example, in order to efficiently and automatically pack the trays, the prism orientations can be identified and various It becomes possible only by changing the orientation prism to a desired orientation and using a robot capable of handling and transferring,
Robots that have the ability to identify the directions of prisms that are sequentially sent at high speed on a conveyor in a short time and change the desired direction to fill the tray with the eyes of a CCD camera that recognizes the direction of the prisms. , The image from this CCD camera is analyzed at a high speed, and a sophisticated control and analysis device is required to instruct the change of the prism orientation based on the result, which is a very expensive robot. there were.

However, if the prisms that are sequentially sent by the conveyor are always in the same direction, an expensive robot with advanced control and analysis equipment as described above is not necessary, and an inexpensive general-purpose robot can be used for packing the prism trays. Can be used.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in order to meet the above-mentioned demands, and its purpose is to make the orientation of the prisms cooled in the cooling furnace and transferred onto the conveyer conveyor into a simple geometric shape. It is an object of the present invention to provide a prism aligning device that is inexpensive and can correct the prism orientation so that the prism can be surely aligned in a fixed orientation by skillfully combining and using a plurality of orientation correcting means.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, and a first invention thereof is a right-angled prism, in which one of two side surfaces of the prism is placed on the other side and the other side is placed on the other side. The conveyor has a downward conveying direction and an orientation correcting surface including an inclined surface inclined by a required angle with respect to the conveying direction, and one of the two inclined surfaces of the right-angle prism orthogonal to the orientation correcting surface or the bottom surface. By contacting and moving the right-angled prism to one of three directions.
A first orientation correcting means for the next correction, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the right-angle prism whose orientation is primarily corrected by the first orientation correcting means to any one of three types of orientations, Second orientation correction means that operates based on the detection signal from the sensor and that secondarily corrects the orientation of the right-angle prism by rotating the right-angle prism that has been first-corrected by the first orientation correction means by a predetermined angle in the horizontal plane. , A plurality of guides each having an orientation correction surface and arranged in parallel in the transport direction, and rotating the right-angle prism secondarily corrected by the second orientation correction means by the orientation correction surface of each guide. Third to correct the direction to a predetermined direction
And a stopper for receiving the right-angled prism corrected to a predetermined direction by the third direction correcting means.

In addition, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a second invention is the first invention, in which the transport conveyor is a first conveyor provided with a first orientation correcting means, and is orthogonal to the first conveyor, and the starting end is the above-mentioned. A second conveyor positioned at the end of the first conveyor, and instead of the second orientation correcting means, a right-angle prism is moved in parallel in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the first conveyor to convey the first conveyor. This is a transfer means for transferring from the conveyor to the second transfer conveyor.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a third invention is a right-angled prism, in which either one of the two side surfaces of the right-angled prism is placed above,
A conveyer conveys the other side downward, an orientation correction recess having two orientation correction surfaces that are inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the transportation direction and are orthogonal to each other, and are formed continuously in the innermost portion of the orientation correction recess. A receiving portion formed of an orientation determining recess is provided, and the receiving portion receives the right-angled prism, and the orientation is one of three orientations.
First orientation correcting means for correcting the orientation to one direction, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the right-angle prism whose orientation is corrected by the first orientation correcting means, and a direction, and the first based on a signal from the sensor. Driving means for advancing and retracting the orientation correcting means with respect to the conveyor, and if the orientation of the rectangular prism corrected by the first orientation correcting means is not the prescribed orientation, the orientation of the rectangular prism is changed to the prescribed orientation. Second orientation correction means, drive means for moving the second orientation correction means forward and backward with respect to the conveyor by a signal from the sensor, and the first orientation correction means or the second orientation correction. A stopper for receiving and stopping the right-angled prism corrected in a predetermined direction by means, and the second direction correcting means includes the direction correcting surfaces. It has a plurality of guides that are arranged in parallel in the carrying direction, and these guides are simultaneously or only one of them is advanced on the carrying conveyor according to the direction of the right-angle prism and the direction of the right-angle prism is corrected to a predetermined direction. To do.

[Operation] In the first invention, the orientation correcting surface of the first orientation correcting means makes the orientation of the right angle prism such that one of two inclined surfaces and a bottom surface of the prism which are orthogonal to each other makes contact with each other. Narrow down by type. The second orientation correcting means rotates the rectangular prism whose orientation has been corrected by the first orientation correcting means by a predetermined angle to further correct the orientation. The third orientation correcting means further rotates the rectangular prism whose orientation has been corrected by the second orientation correcting means by a required angle to correct the orientation to a predetermined orientation.

In the third invention, the receiving portion of the first orientation correction means includes an orientation correction recess having two orthogonal orientation correction surfaces and an orientation determination recess formed continuously at the innermost portion of the orientation correction recess. According to the above configuration, the right-angled prism is oriented such that two slanting surfaces of the prism which are orthogonal to each other both contact the two orientation correcting surfaces, and the bottom surface contacts one of the two orientation correcting surfaces. In case of or contact with the other, narrow down to three types of directions. The second orientation correcting means operates when the orientation of the right-angle prism narrowed down by the first orientation correcting means is not a predetermined orientation, and the prism is rotated by a required angle and aligned in the predetermined orientation.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a prism alignment device according to the present invention. 2 and 3 are a perspective view and a plan view of the prism.

First, the structure of the prism will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. The prism 1 is formed of glass or the like into a triangular prism, so that the prism 1 has two inclined surfaces 1a and 1b intersecting at a right angle and a bottom surface. 1c and a side surface consisting of two right-angled isosceles triangles that intersect each other at right angles and face each other.
A right-angle prism is formed by having 1d and 1e. Assuming that the length of the bottom surface 1c of the rectangular prism 1 is 2A, the height from the bottom surface 1c to the apex B is A, and the lengths of the slopes 1a and 1b are Becomes An angle formed by the bottom surface 1c and each of the slopes 1a and 1b, that is, a base angle α is 45 °. C and D are vertices.

In such a right-angle prism 1, the light L incident at a right angle to the bottom surface 1c strikes the inclined surfaces 1a and 1b, is reflected at a right angle, and is emitted in the same direction as the incident direction from the bottom surface 1c by changing the direction by 180 °. .

In the prism aligning device 4 shown in FIG. 1, the right-angled prism 1 is viewed from a state in which its vertex B is oriented in the transport direction 3 of the transport conveyor 5, and the center line M of the right-angled prism 1 (the vertex B of the right-angled prism 1 is (A line that intersects the bottom 1c of the street at a right angle)
FIG. 1 shows an example in which they are aligned in a direction rotated by 135 ° clockwise (225 ° counterclockwise). The transfer conveyor 5 for transferring the right-angle prism 1 cooled by the cooling furnace is shown in FIG. I have it.

The transport speed of the transport conveyor 5 is about 7.0 m / min. The right-angled prism 1 is sequentially supplied onto a conveyor 5 with one of the both side surfaces 1d and 1e facing up and the other side facing down (in this embodiment, the side surface 1d faces up).
The direction is different from the transport direction 3 of the transport conveyor 5.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a first direction correcting means which is fixedly arranged on the right side wall plate 5A of the transfer conveyor 5 so as to project above the transfer conveyor 5, and which firstly corrects the direction of the rectangular prism 1. The correcting means 7 is formed of a plate body having a trapezoidal shape in plan view having an appropriate plate thickness, and its front end face is a slope 9a inclined by a predetermined angle (eg, 25 °) with respect to the transport direction 3, and the rear end of this slope 9a. Numeral 10 is located near the center in the width direction of the conveyor 5, and a straight surface 9b parallel to the conveyor direction 3 that is continuous with the rear end 10 forms an orientation correction surface 9. In the vicinity of the straight surface 9b, a transfer section 12 for transferring the right-angle prism 1 to a second direction correcting means 13 described later is formed.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a sensor for detecting the presence / absence of the right-angled prism 1. The sensor 11 is composed of a light reflection type optical fiber sensor or the like, and the probe 11A thereof passes through the insertion hole provided in the first direction correcting means 7 and the delivery section. Facing twelve.

The second orientation correcting means 13 is the first orientation correcting means 7
This is for secondarily correcting the orientation of the right-angle prism 1 that has been firstly corrected by means of which the base portion 15a is rotatably and vertically movable in a horizontal plane, and the tip portion 15b is above the transport conveyor 5. And a motor for rotating the rotating arm 15 in the front-rear direction of the conveyor 5 by a predetermined angle, for example β = 90 °, by being driven based on a detection signal from the sensor 11. And the like, and a suction plate 17 provided on the lower surface of the tip portion 15b of the rotating arm 15. The driving means 16 is disposed on the same side as the first orientation correcting means 7, and the rotating arm 15
In the counterclockwise direction in the figure, that is, when the conveyor arm 5 is rotated by the maximum angle toward the starting end side, the rotating arm 15 moves in the conveying direction 3.
The suction plate 17 is tilted at 45 ° and the suction plate 17 is positioned above the transfer unit 12. Next, when the rotating arm 15 is lowered in this state, the suction plate 17 comes into contact with the upper surface of the right-angled prism 1 sent to the transfer section 12 along the direction correcting surface 9 and vacuum-sucks it. Upon vacuum suction, the rotating arm 15 rises to the original height and rotates 90 ° in the transport direction 3, whereby the direction of the right-angle prism 1 that has been primarily corrected by the first direction correcting means 7 is changed to the secondary direction. Fix it. Then, when it stops at the rotated position and descends, the rectangular prism 1
Is released from the suction plate 17 and returned to the conveyor 5. Therefore, the orientation of the right-angled prism 1 is corrected by 90 ° clockwise.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a third orientation correcting means for finally correcting the orientation of the rectangular prism 1 secondarily corrected by the second orientation correcting means 13 to a predetermined orientation and aligning it. Is provided with first and second guides 21 and 24 arranged in parallel in the transport direction 3 of the transport conveyor 5.

The first guide 21 is formed of a rectangular plate, and is fixedly arranged on the left side wall plate 5B of the conveyor 5 so as to project to near the center of the conveyor 5 in the width direction. The first guide 21 has a front surface 22a orthogonal to the transport direction 3 and a straight surface 22b orthogonal to the front surface 22a.
have. The front end of the front surface 22a extends to the vicinity of the substantially central portion in the width direction of the conveyor 5, and the linear surface 22
The front end of b is connected. Also, the front surface 22a and the straight surface 22b
At the front end of the first guide 21, the central corner of the conveyor 5 is cut obliquely at an appropriate angle with respect to the conveying direction 3, for example, γ = 45 °, to form a slope 23. .

However, the front surface 22a is not limited to one that intersects the conveyance direction 3 at a right angle, and may be a slope inclined with respect to the conveyance direction 3, and the slope 23 is not always necessary.

Like the first guide 21, the second guide 24 is formed of a rectangular plate body, and is fixedly arranged on the right side wall plate 5A of the transport conveyor 5 so as to project to near the center in the width direction of the transport conveyor 5. . And, this second guide 24 is in the transport direction 3
A front surface 25a orthogonal to the front surface 25a, and first and second linear surfaces orthogonal to the front surface 25a, parallel to the transport direction 3 and displaced in the transport direction 3
It has an orientation correction surface 25 composed of 25b and 25c and an inclined surface 25d that is inclined by an angle γ (= 45 °) with respect to the transport direction 3 that connects the two straight surfaces 25b and 25c. The front end of the front surface 25a extends to the vicinity of the central portion in the width direction of the conveyor 5, and the front end of the first straight surface 25b is connected to this front end. Second
The straight surface 25c is located closer to the center of the conveyor 5 than the first straight surface 25b. At the front end of the second guide 24, the central corner portion of the conveyor 5 is cut obliquely at an appropriate angle with respect to the conveying direction 3, for example, γ = 45 ° to form a slope 26.

However, the front surface 25a is not limited to the one that intersects the conveyance direction 3 at a right angle, and may be a slope inclined with respect to the conveyance direction 3, and the slope 26 is not always necessary.

30 is a conveyor 5 behind the third orientation correcting means 20.
The stopper 30 is arranged at the end of the conveyor so as to traverse the conveyor 5, and the stopper 30 is formed of a plate, and has a triangular shape for receiving and stopping the right-angled prisms 1 aligned in a predetermined direction at the center of the front end surface thereof. A receiving recess 31 is formed. The receiving recess 31 has a first wall 31a that is parallel to the transport direction 3 and forms substantially the same plane as the second linear surface 25c of the second guide 24, and the front end is on the left side wall plate 5B side of the transport conveyor 5. The second wall 31b is located and has a slanted second wall 31b whose rear end intersects and connects with the rear end of the first wall 31a at an angle of 45 °. The orientation of the receiving recess 31 matches the final orientation of the rectangular prism 1.

Reference numeral 33 is a robot for handling the right-angled prism 1 stopped by the receiving recess 31 of the stopper 30 and packing it in a tray (not shown).

Next, the aligning operation of the right-angled prism 1 by the prism aligning device 4 having the above configuration will be described.

The right-angle prisms 1 supplied to the conveyer 5 have different directions and are not constant, but when they come into contact with the first direction correcting means, one of the two inclined surfaces 1a and 1b and the bottom surface 1c which are orthogonal to each other. The surface moves along the slope 9a of the orientation correcting surface 9. Therefore, the right-angled prism 1 is oriented in three directions defined by the angle θ (= 25 °) of the slope 9a, that is, the contact between the slope 1a and the slope 9a of the orientation correction surface 9 causes the center line M to move in the transport direction 3. For clockwise 110
Due to the rotation direction and the contact between the slope 1b and the slope 9a of the orientation correction surface 9, the center line M is 20 ° clockwise with respect to the transport direction.
By the contact between the rotated direction and the bottom surface 1c and the inclined surface 9a of the orientation correcting surface 9, the center line M is 115 counterclockwise with respect to the transport direction.
° Corrected to one of the rotated orientations.

Therefore, first, the alignment operation is performed when the center line M is rotated 115 ° counterclockwise with respect to the transport direction due to the contact between the bottom surface 1c of the right-angled prism 1 and the inclined surface 9a of the orientation correction surface 9. It will be described with reference to the drawings.

When the bottom surface 1c of the right-angled prism 1 that has been conveyed along the right side wall plate 5A on the conveyor 5 hits the slope 9a of the direction correction surface 9, the direction of the right-angled prism 1 is gradually corrected while proceeding along the slope 9a. (Primary correction), the entire bottom surface 1c comes into contact with the slope 9a of the orientation correction surface 9, and in this state, when it proceeds along the slope 9a and reaches the straight surface 9b, the rear end 10 of the slope 9a is centered. Rotate clockwise clockwise and rotate 25 ° to bottom 1c
Comes into contact with the straight surface 9b. In this state,
The right-angle prism 1 is corrected such that the center line M is rotated 90 ° counterclockwise with respect to the transport direction. When the right-angled prism 1 reaches the transfer section 12, it is fixed to the probe 11 of the sensor 11.
The second direction correction means 13 detected by A and based on the signal
To drive. Then, the rotating arm 15 of the second direction correcting means 13 that has stopped at the initial position rotated by the maximum angle in the counterclockwise direction descends and the right-angle prism 1 passing through the transfer portion 12 is moved.
After being sucked by the suction plate 17, the rotating arm 15 ascends and at the same time rotates clockwise by 90 ° to stop, and further descends to bring the right-angle prism 1 to the position in front of the first guide 21 at the center of the conveyer conveyor 5. return. As a result, the right-angled prism 1 is changed in the clockwise direction by 90 ° (secondary correction), the center line M is parallel to the transport direction 3, and the apex B faces the transport direction. When the right-angle prism 1 whose direction is changed by the second direction correcting means 13 advances on the conveyor 5, the slope 1a comes into contact with the slope 23 of the first guide 21 and is gradually rotated counterclockwise to 45 °. When rotated, the slope 1a becomes a straight surface of the first guide 21.
It contacts 22b and travels along a straight surface 22b. Then, when proceeding in this state, the slope 1 is attached to the front surface 25a of the second guide 24 this time.
Since the b abuts, the right-angled prism 1 is rotated 45 ° clockwise to contact the slope 26, and further rotated 45 ° clockwise to contact the slope 1b with the first straight surface 25b. By contacting the slope 25d, the slope 1a contacts the slope 25d when further rotated clockwise by 45 °, and subsequently rotates 45 ° clockwise, the slope 1a contacts the second straight surface 25c. . As a result, the right-angled prism 1 is aligned in a predetermined direction in which the center line M is rotated by 135 ° in the clockwise direction with respect to the transport direction, and the second direction is kept as it is.
Of the receiving recess 3 of the stopper 30.
It is inserted into the inside of 1 and stopped, and the robot 33 grips this, takes it out from the receiving concave portion 31, and stores it in the tray.

Next, the slope 1a of the right-angle prism 1 is the slope 9a of the orientation correcting surface 9.
The aligning operation of the right-angled prism 1 in the case of contacting with will be described with reference to FIG.

When the slope 1a of the right-angle prism 1 that has been conveyed along the right side wall plate 5A on the conveyor 5 hits the slope 9a of the direction correction surface 9, the direction of the right-angle prism 1 is gradually corrected while proceeding along the slope 9a. As a result of (primary correction), the entire slope 1a comes into contact with the slope 9a of the orientation correction surface 9, and when the slope 9a is advanced to reach the straight surface 9b in this state, the rear end 10 of the slope 9a is centered clockwise. The sloping surface 1a comes into contact with the straight surface 9b when it is rotated by 25 °. In this state, the center line M of the right-angled prism 1 is 135 degrees clockwise with respect to the transport direction.
° It is rotating. When the right-angled prism 1 reaches the transfer unit 12, the probe 11A of the sensor 11 detects it and drives the second orientation correcting unit 13 based on the signal. Then, the rotating arm 15 of the second orientation correcting means 13 which has stopped at the initial position descends and the right-angled prism 1 passing through the transfer section 12 is adsorbed and held by the adsorbing plate 17, and then, is moved upward and clockwise. It rotates by 90 ° and stops, and further descends to return the rectangular prism 1 to the position immediately in front of the first guide 21 at the center of the conveyor 5. As a result, the right-angle prism 1 moves 90 degrees clockwise.
° The direction has been changed (secondary correction), and the center line M
Is rotated 225 ° (counterclockwise 135 °) with respect to the transport direction 3. When the right-angle prism 1 whose direction is changed by the second direction correcting means 13 advances on the conveyor 5,
The apex D of the right-angled prism 1 abuts on the front surface 22a of the first guide 21 and is gradually rotated counterclockwise, and when it is rotated 90 °, the bottom surface 1c contacts the slope 23 of the first guide 21, and when it is further rotated 45 °. The bottom surface 1c is in close contact with the straight surface 22b of the first guide 21 and advances along the straight surface 22b. Then, when proceeding in this state, the sloping surface 1a comes into contact with the sloping surface 26 of the second guide 24 this time, so that the right-angle prism 1 is rotated by 45 ° in the clockwise direction and the sloping surface 1a comes into contact with the first straight surface 25b. The orientation of the rectangular prism 1 in this state coincides with the final orientation. Then, in this state, the vertex C of the right-angled prism 1 has a slope 25d.
When it hits, the right-angled prism 1 rotates 45 ° in the counterclockwise direction and when the slope 1a comes into close contact with the slope 25d, it makes a turn and rotates 45 ° in the clockwise direction so that the slope 1a contacts the second straight surface 25c.
It returns to the same direction as that of the first straight surface 25b.
As a result, the right-angled prism 1 is aligned in a predetermined direction, advances along the second straight surface 25c in this direction, is inserted into the receiving recess 31 of the stopper 30, and stops. Then, the robot 33 receives this, takes it out from the concave portion 31, and stores it in the tray.

Next, the slope 1b of the right-angled prism 1 is the slope 9a of the orientation correcting surface 9.
The alignment operation of the right-angled prism 1 in the case of contact with the will be described with reference to FIG.

When the slope 1b of the right-angle prism 1 that has been conveyed along the right side wall plate 5A on the conveyor 5 hits the slope 9a of the direction correction surface 9, the direction of the right-angle prism 1 is gradually corrected while proceeding along the slope 9a. As a result of (primary correction), the entire slope 1b comes into contact with the slope 9a of the orientation correction surface 9, and when the slope 9a is advanced to reach the straight surface 9b in this state, the rear end 10 of the slope 9a is centered clockwise. The sloping surface 1b comes into contact with the straight surface 9b when rotated by 25 °. In this state, the center line M of the rectangular prism 1 is 45 ° clockwise with respect to the transport direction.
It's spinning. When the right-angled prism 1 reaches the transfer unit 12, the sensor 11 detects this and the second
The direction correction means 13 is driven. Then, the rotating arm 15 of the second orientation correcting means 13 which has stopped at the initial position descends and the right-angled prism 1 passing through the transfer section 12 is adsorbed and held by the adsorbing plate 17, and then, is moved upward and clockwise. Then, the right angle prism 1 is returned to the position immediately in front of the first guide 21 at the center of the conveyer 5 by further rotating 90 ° to stop. As a result, the right-angled prism 1 is secondarily corrected in the clockwise direction, and the center line M is 135 degrees relative to the transport direction.
° It will be rotated. When the right-angle prism 1 whose direction is changed by the second direction correcting means 13 advances on the conveyor 5, the bottom surface 1c contacts the slope 23 of the first guide 21 and is gradually rotated counterclockwise to 45 °. When rotated, the bottom surface 1c comes into contact with the linear surface 22b of the first guide 21 and advances onto the conveyor 5 along the linear surface 22b. The direction of this right-angled prism 1 is the fifth
In the figure, the orientation is the same as that of the rectangular prism 1 corrected by the first guide 21. Therefore, the subsequent movement of the right-angle prism 1 is the same as that described above, and the description of the correction operation thereafter is omitted. Then, the right-angled prism 1 corrected to the final predetermined direction by the second guide 24 stops when it passes through the second guide 24 and is inserted into the receiving recess 31 of the stopper 30, and the robot 33 grips this. Then, it is taken out from the receiving concave portion 31 and stored in a tray.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a modification of the above embodiment. In this embodiment, the transport conveyor 5 is divided into a front stage and a rear stage, and the first and second conveyors in which the transport directions 41 and 43 are orthogonal to each other.
It is composed of 40 and 42.

The rectangular prism 1 is supplied from the cooling furnace to the starting end of the first conveyor 40, and the first orientation correcting means 7 and the sensor 11 are provided to the ending end thereof.
And a transfer means 45 are provided. The transfer means 45 is provided in place of the second orientation correction means 13 in the above-mentioned embodiment, and reciprocates between the transfer section 12 of the first conveyor 40 and the start end of the second conveyor 42 in parallel with the transport direction 43. , Holding the right-angled prism 1 that has advanced to the transfer section 12,
Transfer to the conveyor 42. Therefore, since the conveyance directions 41 and 43 of the right angle prism 1 are orthogonal to each other, the second conveyor
When it was moved to 43, the direction was corrected by 90 °.

The second conveyor 42 includes a third orientation correcting means 20 and a stopper 30.
And the start end is located on the left side surface of the end portion of the first conveyor 40 in correspondence with the delivery section 12.

Other configurations are the same as those in the above embodiment.

Even in such a configuration, the right-angle prisms 1 having different directions can be surely aligned in a predetermined direction as in the above embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the center line M is aligned in the direction rotated by 90 ° clockwise with respect to the transport direction. In the figure, reference numeral 50 designates a first orientation correcting means which is arranged on the transport conveyor 5 across the conveyor 5.
The reference numeral 50 is made of a plate, and the central portion of the front end of the rectangular prism 1 receives and temporarily stops the rectangular prism 1.
A receiving portion 51 that corrects to any one of the orientations of the types is provided as a recess. Then, the first orientation correcting means 50 is configured to temporarily stop the right-angled prism 1 and then move up and away from the conveyor 5 by an appropriate driving means 54 to release the right-angled prism 1.

In this case, the first direction correcting means 50 is not limited to the one that is raised, and as shown in FIG. 9, it is divided into left and right parts at the center, and the divided pieces 50A and 50B are orthogonal to the conveying direction 3 by the driving means 54. You may make it reciprocate in the direction.

The receiving portion 51 is inclined by 45 ° with respect to the transport direction 3 and has two inclined direction correction surfaces 52 that intersect each other at a right angle.
An isosceles right triangle orientation correction recess 52 having a and 52b,
A V-shaped orientation determining recess 53 is formed continuously in the innermost portion of the orientation correcting recess 52.

The orientation correction recess 52 is formed to be sufficiently larger than the right-angle prism 1 and is open in the direction opposite to the transport direction.

The orientation determining recess 53 is the orientation correcting surface 52 of the orientation correcting recess 52.
It is formed along the modified surface at the deepest part of a,
A first plane that is flush with the direction correction surface 52a, is orthogonal to the direction correction surface 52b, and is inclined 45 ° with respect to the transport direction 3.
4 with respect to the surface 53a and the first surface 53a and the orientation correcting surface 52b
Second surface 5 parallel to the conveying direction 3 intersecting at an angle of 5 °
3b and the opening is clockwise with respect to the transport direction 3.
It is open in the direction rotated by 135 °. The length A of the first surface 53a and the width of the opening of the orientation determining recess 53 are both substantially equal to the height A of the right-angle prism 1, and the length of the second surface 53b is equal to that of the second surface 53b. Is the length of the slopes 1a and 1b of the rectangular prism 1. Is equal to Therefore, the orientation determining recess 53 is smaller than the rectangular prism 1.

FIGS. 10 (a), (b), and (c) are views showing three kinds of directions of the right-angle prism 1 which are corrected by the receiving portion 51 of the first direction correcting means 50. In FIG. 1A, the center line M of the right-angle prism 1 is oriented in the direction of the conveyance direction, the slope 1a covers the opening of the orientation determination recess 53, and the slope 1b is the orientation correction surface of the orientation correction recess 52. Close to 52a. Further, a part of the slope 1a is in close contact with a part of the orientation correction surface 52b. In the same figure (b), the center line M of the right-angled prism 1 is oriented in a direction rotated by 225 ° clockwise (135 ° counterclockwise), and the apex D is inserted into the orientation determination concave portion 53,
1b is in close contact with the second surface 53b, and the bottom surface 1c is in close contact with the orientation correction surface 52a and the first surface 53a. In the same figure (c), the center line M of the right-angled prism 1 is oriented clockwise by 90 °, the apex C is inserted into the orientation determining recess 53, and the slope 1a is the orientation correction surface 52a and the first surface. Close to 53a, bottom surface 1c is the second surface
Close to 53b.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 55 indicates whether or not the right-angled prism 1 is present in the receiving portion 51 of the first orientation correcting means 50, and at the same time, the right-angled prism 1 corrected by the receiving portion 51.
This sensor 55 includes a first probe 55A located inside the direction correction recess 52 and a second probe 55B located inside the direction determining recess 53, and either one of When the probe detects the right-angled prism 1, the driving means 54 is driven based on the detection signal, and the first orientation correcting means 50 is made to exit from the conveyor 5. The arrangement position (area) of the first probe 55A can be detected correspondingly to the right-angle prism 1 in the orientation shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 10 (b), and FIG. The right angle prism 1 having the orientation shown in FIG. There are three types of combinations of the detection signals of the right-angle prism 1 by these two probes depending on the arrangement positions of the first and second probes 55A and 55B.
The orientation of the rectangular prism 1 corrected by 51 can be accurately determined.

That is, when the orientation is corrected as shown in FIG.
The probe 55A detects the right-angled prism 1, and the second probe 5
5B cannot detect it, and determines that the center line M of the rectangular prism 1 is oriented in the transport direction. In the case of the orientation shown in FIG. 3B, both the first and second probes 55A and 55B detect the right-angle prism 1, and it is determined that the center line M of the right-angle prism 1 is rotated 225 ° clockwise. The first probe in the case of FIG.
55A cannot detect the right-angled prism 1, only the second probe 55B detects it, and the center line M of the right-angled prism 1 moves 90 degrees clockwise.
° Judge as the rotated direction.

Here, in the case of the orientation of FIG. 2B, when the vertex D enters the orientation determining recess 53, the vertex D passes under the probe 55A, so the probe 55A is momentarily earlier than the probe 55B.
Is detected (same in the case of FIG. Therefore,
The orientation of the right-angle prism 1 of the sensor 55 is momentarily determined to be the orientation shown in FIG. 11A, and then the orientation shown in FIG. Therefore, in order to prevent the sensor 55 from determining the orientation of FIG.
(The longer the transport speed is, the longer it becomes.) The direction of the right angle prism 1 is determined when the detection signal of the right angle prism 1 is received from the probe.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 58 designates a second orientation correcting means for correcting the orientation of the right-angle prism 1 to a predetermined orientation when the orientation of the right-angle prism 1 corrected by the first orientation correcting means 50 is not a predetermined orientation. The second direction correcting means 58 is composed of first and second guides 59 and 60 arranged in parallel in the transport direction 3.

The first guide 59 is formed in the same shape as the second guide 24 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 so that it has the same orientation correction surface 25. Therefore, the same reference numerals as in FIG.
The description is omitted. Then, the first guide 59 is moved forward and backward by the driving means 61 arranged on the right side of the conveyor 5 and driven based on the signal from the sensor 55.
When the direction of the right-angle prism 1 corrected by the receiving portion 51 is the direction shown in FIG. 10 (a), it advances to the conveyor 5 and the other parts exit from the conveyor 55. ing.

The second guide 60 is formed in the same shape as the first guide 21 in the embodiment of FIG.
have. Therefore, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are used and the description thereof is omitted. And this second guide 60
Is moved forward and backward by the driving means 62 arranged on the left side of the conveyor 5 and driven based on the signal from the sensor 55, and the orientation of the rectangular prism 1 corrected by the receiving portion 51 is shown in FIG. ) And (b), it is configured to advance onto the conveyor 5 and exit from the conveyor 55 in other cases.

A stopper 64 is arranged at the end of the conveyor 5 so as to cross the conveyor. A triangular receiving concave portion for receiving and stopping the right-angled prisms 1 aligned in a predetermined direction is provided at the center of the front end surface of the stopper 64. 66 is formed. The receiving recessed portion 66 is parallel to the transport direction 3 and forms substantially the same plane as the straight surface 22b of the second guide 60.
7a and the front end are located on the right side wall plate 5A side of the conveyor 5,
The rear end is formed of a slanted second wall 67b that intersects and connects with the rear end of the first wall 67a at an angle of 45 °.
The receiving concave portion 66 has a right angle prism 1 oriented in the direction shown in FIG.
° Store the right angle prism 1 in the rotated direction.

Next, the aligning operation of the right-angled prism 1 by the prism aligning device 4 having the above configuration will be described.

The right-angle prisms 1 supplied to the transport conveyor 5 have different directions and are not fixed, but when they enter the direction correction concave portion 52 of the first direction correction means 50, two orthogonal slopes 1a and 1b.
And any two surfaces of the bottom surface 1c face the direction correction recess 52
It is pressed against the orientation correction surfaces 52a and 52b, and the orientation is corrected to any one of the three orientations shown in FIG.

Therefore, first, the orientation shown in FIG. 10 (a), that is, the orientation correction surface of the inclined surfaces 1a and 1b of the right-angle prism 1 and the orientation correction recess 52 is shown.
The alignment operation in the case where the center line M faces the transport direction 3 due to contact with 52a and 52b will be described with reference to FIG.

The right-angle prism 1 enters the orientation correction recess 52, and the slopes 1a and 1b
When the center line M is corrected to the direction in which it is conveyed by the contact between the direction correcting surfaces 52a and 52b, only the probe 55A of the sensor 55 detects this, and the right angle prism 1 is detected by the detection signal from the sensor 55. It is determined that the center line M has been corrected in the direction parallel to the transport direction 3, and the driving means 54, 61, 62 are driven by a signal from the control unit based on the correction. Then, the first direction correcting means 50 is withdrawn from the conveyor 5 by the driving of the driving means 54 and releases the right-angle prism 1. On the other hand, the drive means 61, 62 drive the first,
The second guides 59, 60 advance to near the center of the conveyor 5. When the right-angled prism 1 released from the first orientation correcting means 50 advances on the conveyor 5, the slope 1b comes into contact with the slope 26 of the first guide 59 and is gradually rotated clockwise.
When rotated 45 °, the slope 1b turns into the first straight surface 25 of the first guide 59.
It comes into contact with b and travels along this straight surface 25b. And
When proceeding in this state, the apex B abuts the slope 25d this time, and the right-angled prism 1 is further rotated clockwise, so that 90 °
When rotated by °, the inclined surface 1a comes into contact with the second linear surface 25c.

As a result, the right-angle prism 1 is corrected so that the center line M is rotated clockwise by 135 ° in the transport direction. Then, the right-angled prism 1 advances on the conveyor in this direction, and when the bottom surface 1c comes into contact with the slope 23 of the second guide 60,
When it is rotated counterclockwise and rotated by 45 °, the bottom surface 1c is brought into close contact with the linear surface 22b of the second guide 60, and the center line M is corrected to be rotated by 90 ° in the clockwise direction with respect to the transport direction. As a result, the right-angled prism 1 is aligned in a predetermined direction, advances along the straight surface 22b in this direction, is inserted into the receiving recess 66 of the stopper 64, and stops. Then, the robot 33 receives this and takes it out from the concave portion 66 and stores it in the tray.

Next, the orientation shown in FIG. 10 (b), that is, the slope 1b of the right-angle prism 1 is in close contact with the second surface 53b of the orientation determining recess 53, and the bottom surface 1c or the orientation correction surface 52a and the first surface 53a are in close contact with each other. Then
The alignment operation when the center line M is rotated counterclockwise by 135 ° will be described with reference to FIG.

The right-angled prism 1 enters the orientation correction concave portion 52, and the center line M is counterclockwise with respect to the transport direction due to the close contact between the inclined surface 1b and the second surface 53b, the bottom surface 1c, the orientation correction surface 52a and the first surface 53a.
When corrected to the direction rotated by 5 °, this is corrected by the sensor 5
Since both probes 55A and 55B of 5 detect,
The right-angle prism 1 has its center line M detected by the detection signal
Is determined to be rotated in the counterclockwise direction by 135 ° with respect to the transport direction 3, and the driving means 54 and 62 are driven by a signal from the control unit based on the correction. Then, the first direction correcting means 50 is withdrawn from the conveyor 5 by the driving of the driving means 54 and releases the right-angle prism 1. on the other hand,
The second guide 60 is advanced to approximately the center of the conveyor 5 by the drive of the drive means 62. First orientation correcting means 50
When the right-angled prism 1 released from the above advances on the conveyor 5, the apex D of the right-angled prism 1 is located at the front surface 22 of the second guide 60.
When it abuts on a and is gradually rotated counterclockwise, when it rotates 45 °, the bottom surface 1c contacts the slope 23 of the second guide 60, and when it rotates further 45 ° counterclockwise, the bottom surface 1c moves to the second guide 60. Since it is in close contact with the straight surface 22b, the right-angle prism 1 is corrected so that the center line M is rotated 90 ° clockwise with respect to the transport direction. As a result, the right-angle prism 1 is aligned in a predetermined direction, and the straight surface is maintained in this direction.
Proceeding along 22b, it is inserted into the receiving recess 66 of the stopper 64 and stopped. Then, the robot 33 receives this and takes it out from the concave portion 66 and stores it in the tray.

Next, in the orientation shown in FIG. 10 (c), that is, the inclined surface 1a of the rectangular prism 1 is in close contact with the orientation correcting surface 52a and the first surface 53a, and the bottom surface 1c is in close contact with the second surface 53b of the orientation determining recess 53. Then
The alignment operation when the center line M is rotated by 90 ° in the clockwise direction will be described with reference to FIG.

The right-angled prism 1 enters the direction correction concave portion 52, and the center line M is rotated by 90 ° clockwise with respect to the transport direction due to the close contact between the inclined surface 1a and the direction correction surface 52a, and the bottom surface 1c and the first surface 53a. Once corrected to orientation, this is the sensor 55's probe 55
Since only B is detected, it is determined by the detection signal from the sensor 55 that the center line M of the right-angled prism 1 has been corrected to a direction rotated by 90 ° in the clockwise direction with respect to the transport direction 3, and based on that, the control unit determines. Drive means 54 by the signal of
To drive.

In this case, since the orientation of the right-angled prism 1 coincides with the final prescribed orientation, it is not necessary to correct the orientation by the second orientation correction means 58, and the first and second guides 59, 60 are the conveyors. Has been withdrawn from 5.

When the first direction correcting means 50 retreats from the conveyor 5 by driving the driving means 54 and releases the right-angle prism 1,
The right-angled prism 1 is conveyed by the conveyor 5 without its orientation being corrected, and is received by the receiving concave portion 66 of the stopper 64. And this right angle prism 1 is a robot
It is grasped by 33, taken out from the receiving concave portion 66, and stored in a tray.

In addition, in FIG. 1, the slope 25d of the second guide 24 is inclined 45 ° with respect to the conveying direction. This angle γ is 45 ° ± 10 °
It is preferably in the range of. The reason for this is that when the angle is 35 ° or less, when the right-angled prism 1 moves in the direction shown in FIG. 4, that is, when the inclined surface 1b thereof is in a state of being in close contact with the first straight surface 25b of the second guide 24, Slope 25 with vertex B first
Since it travels along d, the right-angle prism 1 has a first straight surface 2
The direction does not change when moving from 5b to the second straight surface 25c. If the angle is 55 ° or more, as shown in FIG. 5, when the inclined surface 1a of the right-angled prism 1 advances in a state of being in contact with the straight surface 25b of the second guide 24, the vertex C of the right-angled prism 1 has an inclined surface 25d.
It hits and turns clockwise and the direction changes.

Further, in the above embodiment, the third correcting means 20 is constituted by the first and second guides 21 and 24, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the second guide 24 may be divided into front and rear parts before the slope 25d. The number may be two or more. Other changes,
Deformation is possible.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, according to the prism aligning apparatus of the present invention, the right angle prism is rotated mainly by the simple geometrical direction correcting means, and the direction is corrected to a predetermined direction. Because I tried to align, advanced control,
It is possible to perform tray packing by an inexpensive robot without the need for an analyzer, etc., and its practical effect is extremely large.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a prism aligning device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a right angle prism, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a right angle prism, and FIGS. 7 is a plan view showing a modification of the prism orientation, FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the orientation correcting means of FIG.
(C) is a diagram showing three types of orientations of the right-angle prism corrected by the first orientation correcting means, and FIGS. 11 to 13 are views for explaining the orientation correction operation of the right-angle prism. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Right angle prism, 1a, 1b ... Slope, 1c ... Bottom, 3 ... Conveyance direction, 5 ... Conveyor, 7 ... 1st direction correction means, 9
... Orientation correction surface, 11 ... Sensor, 12 ... Transfer part, 13 ... Second
Direction correction means, 15 ... Arm, 20 ... Third direction correction means, 21 ... First guide, 22 ... Orientation correction surface, 24 ... Second guide, 25 ... Orientation correction surface, 30 ... Stopper, 31 ... Receiving concave portion , 33 ... Robot, 40 ... First conveyor, 42 ... Second conveyor, 45 ... Transfer means, 50 ... First orientation correcting means, 51 ... Receiving portion, 52 ... Orientation correcting recessed portion, 53 ... Orientation determination recessed portion, 55 …
Sensor, 54 ... Driving means, 59 ... First guide, 60 ... Second guide, 61, 62 ... Driving means, 64 ... Stopper, 66 ... Receiving recess.

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A right-angle prism having a conveyor for conveying one of its two side surfaces upward and the other side downward, and an orientation correcting surface including an inclined surface inclined at a required angle with respect to the conveying direction. Then, one of the two inclined surfaces of the right-angled prism orthogonal to each other or the bottom surface is brought into contact with this orientation correction surface to move the orientation of the right-angled prism to one of the three types of orientations. First orientation correction means for performing a primary correction, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the right-angle prism whose orientation has been primarily corrected by the first orientation correction means, and an operation based on a detection signal from the sensor, The first
Second direction correcting means for secondarily correcting the direction of the right-angle prism by rotating the right-angle prism, which has been first-corrected by the direction correcting means, in the horizontal plane by a predetermined angle; A third direction which is composed of a plurality of guides arranged, and which rotates the right-angle prism which is secondarily corrected by the second direction correction means by the direction correction surface of each guide to correct the direction to a predetermined direction. A prism aligning device comprising: a correction unit; and a stopper that receives the right-angled prism corrected in a predetermined direction by the third direction correction unit. 2. The transport conveyor according to claim 1,
The second conveyor includes a first conveyor provided with the first orientation correcting means and a second conveyor which is orthogonal to the first conveyor and has a starting end located at an end of the first conveyor. A prism aligning device comprising, instead of the means, a transfer means for moving a right-angle prism in a direction orthogonal to a transfer direction of the first transfer conveyor and transferring it from the first transfer conveyor to the second transfer conveyor. 3. A conveyer conveys a right-angle prism with one of its two side faces up and the other side down, and two orientation corrections that are inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the convey direction and are orthogonal to each other. There is provided a receiving portion composed of an orientation correcting concave portion having a surface and an orientation determining concave portion formed continuously at the innermost portion of the orientation correcting concave portion. The receiving portion receives the right-angle prism and has three types of orientations. A first orientation correction means for correcting the orientation to any one of the orientations; a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the right-angle prism and the orientation of which the orientation is corrected by the first orientation correction means; and a signal from this sensor Drive means for moving the first direction correction means forward and backward with respect to the transport conveyor based on the above, and for the rectangular prism corrected by the first direction correction means. Second orientation correction means for setting the orientation of the rectangular prism to a predetermined orientation when the orientation is not the predetermined orientation, and the second orientation correction means is moved forward and backward with respect to the transport conveyor based on a signal from the sensor. And a stopper for receiving and stopping the right-angled prism corrected to a predetermined direction by the first direction correction unit or the second direction correction unit, and the second direction correction unit. It consists of a plurality of guides arranged in parallel in the transport direction, each having an orientation correction surface, and these guides are moved simultaneously or only one of these guides moves on the transport conveyor to change the orientation of the right-angle prism. A prism aligning device characterized by correcting to a predetermined orientation.