JPH07206158A - Article transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] An object of the present invention is to provide an article transfer device which has excellent durability and can be compactly assembled. A guide rod is penetrated through a substrate which is moved by a traveling drive device, a suction holding member for holding an article is attached to the lower end of the guide rod, and a substrate is attached to an elevating means for vertically moving the suction holding member. A negative pressure passage for holding and holding the suction holding member is formed inside the guide rod.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article transfer device used for transferring or moving products from one product transfer line to another product transfer line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art This type of article transfer apparatus has a guide rail 108 laid from one product transfer line to another product transfer line (both not shown) as shown in FIG. The guide rods 112 are guided by the guide rails 108 by means of means, and the guide rods 112 are penetrated through the substrate 110 which reciprocates between the product transfer lines, and suction cups 114 for adsorbing and holding articles are attached below the guide rods 112. A suction hose 122 is connected to a suction port of a vacuum pump 117 that depressurizes the suction cup 114 with a suction hose 122 via a switching valve 118, and the product supplied from a product transfer line is sucked by the suction cup 11.
4, the product adsorbed on the suction cup 114 is lifted by the elevating means 111, moved to another product transport line by the traveling drive means, and then the product adsorbed on the suction disc 114 is lowered to move on another product transport line. When the suction cup 114 is released from the suction after it has been placed on, the replacement is completed.

[0003]

However, since the suction port of the vacuum pump 117, which does not move in the conventional article transfer device, and the moving suction cup are connected by the suction hose 122, the suction cup 114 is lifted up and down. Considering suction hose 122
This is because the suction hose 122 has a coil shape.
Has a problem in durability because it is liable to be worn or damaged by touching the guide rail 108 or the like at the time of lifting or starting the suction cup or being caught by the product.

A suction hose 1 formed in a coil shape
No. 22 is relatively bulky, and there is also a problem that the mounting place is limited. The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an article transfer device that has excellent durability and can be compactly assembled.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the article transfer device of the present invention is a suction holding member having a guide rod penetrating a substrate which is moved by a traveling drive device and having a suction cup below the guide rod. The substrate is provided with a lifting means for lifting and lowering the suction holding member, and a part of a negative pressure passage for depressurizing the suction cup of the suction holding member is formed inside the guide rod. .

[0006]

When the product is moved, the substrate is moved so that the holding member is located above the product, and the suction holding member is lowered to contact the product. Next, the inside of the suction cup of the suction holding member is depressurized to ensure that the product is sucked and held by the suction holding member, and then the suction holding member is raised to lift the product. In this state, when the substrate is moved to a predetermined position by the traveling drive device and the suction holding member is lowered and then the suction holding is released, the movement of the product is completed, but at this time, a negative pressure is supplied to the suction holding member. Since a part of the negative pressure passage is formed inside the guide rod, the negative pressure passage does not come into contact with other objects, rub or get caught when the suction holding member is moved up and down and the substrate is moved.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the article transfer device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a front view of an article transfer device, and FIG. 2 shows a plan view thereof, respectively, and reference numeral 1 in the figure denotes the article transfer device as a whole. The article transfer device 1 is a device for finishing a molded product, and is provided with a work table 3 on the right side of the device body 2 and a transfer mechanism 4 on the left side.

The working table 3 is provided with a working tool 5 for working a product (not shown) conveyed from the pre-processing step. In addition, the transfer mechanism 4 provided on the left side of the apparatus main body 2
Is provided with a pair of front and rear transfer conveyors 6 on the rear side of the apparatus main body 2, and a substantially gate-shaped support frame 7 is erected above the transfer conveyors 6 in a front view.
A guide rail 8 is mounted over a machining process (not shown), and a suction holding member 9 that is moved by a traveling drive device (not shown) is provided on the guide rail 8.

As shown in FIG. 3, the suction holding member 9 includes a substrate 10 slidably mounted on a guide rail 8 and a plurality of guide rods 12 surrounding an air cylinder (elevating means) 11 described later. A lift plate 1 slidably penetrated and attached to the lower end of the guide rod 12.
A suction cup 14 is disposed below the unit 3. Further, the elevating plate 13 is connected to the lower end of the piston rod 16 that advances and retreats below the substrate 10 of the air cylinder 11 whose cylinder portion 15 is fixed to the substrate 10.

The suction cup 14 has a support rod 28 having a stopper 27 at its upper end, which penetrates the elevating plate 13, pushes the support rod 28 downward by a pushing spring 24, and urges the lower end portion of the support rod 28. Attached to the suction cup 14, the negative pressure of the suction pump 17 is applied to the switching valve 1
When the pressure is supplied via 8, the inside of the suction cup 14 is depressurized, and a part of the depressurization path for depressurizing the inside of the suction cup 14 that is in contact with the product passes through the passage 19 formed inside the guide rod 12. It is supposed to pass.

That is, one guide rod 1 out of the plurality of guide rods 12 standing upright from the elevating plate 13.
A hole is made to penetrate through the inside of 2 from the upper end to the lower end, and a suction port 21 to which a communication hose 20 for supplying a negative pressure to the suction cup 14 provided at the lower end is connected is formed. A connection port 23 is formed to which the suction hose 22 is connected via the switching valve 18 (see FIG. 4).

Reference numeral 25 in FIG. 3 denotes a detection sensor attached to the elevating plate 13 via a bracket 29, and detects a stopper 27 provided at the upper end of the support rod 28 to lower the piston rod 16. It ’s about stopping,
The wiring of the detection sensor 25 is connected to a control panel (not shown) through a wiring passage 26 transparently provided in the guide rod 12 other than the guide rod 12 in which the negative pressure passage 19 is formed.

The article transfer device 1 configured as described above
When a sensor (not shown) detects that the product of the work table 3 has been processed by the processing tool 5 and that the product has been sent below the suction holding member 9 by the conveyor 6, the air cylinder is first detected by the signal of this sensor. The piston rod 6 of 11 is extended. When the piston rod 16 extends, the suction holding member 9 moves down and the suction cup 14 contacts the upper surface of the product. After that, when the piston rod 6 of the air cylinder 11 is extended, the suction cup 14 of the suction holding member 9 is left in contact with the upper surface of the product, the detection sensor 25 descends together with the elevating plate 13, and the detection sensor 25 The stopper 27 approaches.

In this way, the detection sensor 25 becomes the stopper 2.
When 7 is detected, the extension of the piston rod 6 is stopped based on this detection signal. Next, when the extension of the piston rod 6 is stopped, the suction pump 1 is passed through the switching valve 18.
7 depressurizes the inside of the suction cup 14 via the suction hose 22, the passage 19 and the communication hose 20, and the suction cup 14 reliably sucks and holds the product.

Next, when it is confirmed by, for example, a change in negative pressure or other sensor that the product is securely adsorbed and held on the suction cup 14 of the suction holding portion 9, the piston rod 16 of the air cylinder 15 is contracted. , The product is lifted.
After the substrate 10 is guided to the guide rail 8 by the traveling drive device in a state where the product is suction-held by the suction-holding unit 9 and is lifted in this way, and is sent to a predetermined position in the subsequent process,
When the piston rod 16 of the air cylinder 11 is expanded again and the product sucked and held by the suction cup 14 is lowered, and the switching valve 18 is switched to release the suction holding of the suction cup 14, the movement of the product is completed. .

Here, since a part of the path for depressurizing the suction cup 14 located at the guide rail 8 part is formed in the guide rod 12, the product sucked and held by the suction holding part 9 moves up and down, When sent to a predetermined position in the subsequent process,
The hose forming the supply path does not rub against the guide rail 8 or get caught on another object. Although the lifting means 11 is formed of an air cylinder in the above embodiment, it is of course possible to form it by a screw shaft that is rotationally driven by a hydraulic cylinder or a motor.

[0017]

As described above, according to the article transfer apparatus of the present invention, since the negative pressure passage for supplying the negative pressure to the suction holding member is formed inside the guide rod, the suction holding member can be operated. The negative pressure passage does not come into contact with, rub against, or get caught on other objects when moving up and down or moving the substrate. As a result, there is an advantage that the durability can be significantly improved without the conventional wear and damage.

Further, since a negative pressure passage for supplying a negative pressure to the suction holding member is formed inside the guide rod, it is less bulky as compared with a long suction hose curled,
It also has the advantage of being compact.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an article transfer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the article transfer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a suction holding member portion.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a guide rod portion.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a suction holding member portion according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Article transfer device 9 ... Adsorption holding member 10 ... Substrate 11 ... Elevating means 12 ... Guide rod 19 ... Passage

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A guide rod is penetrated through a substrate which is moved by a traveling drive device, a suction holding member having a suction cup is attached below the guide rod, and an elevating means for raising and lowering the suction holding member is provided on the substrate. An article transfer device, wherein a part of a negative pressure passage for depressurizing the suction cup of the suction holding member is formed inside the guide rod.