JPH0727072Y2 - Automatic feeder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to an automatic feeding device that is provided in a machine tool, an automatic machine, or the like to convey and position a workpiece, a workpiece, or the like.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as a feeding device of this type, there is one that includes a tubular body having an opening extending in a longitudinal direction and a slider attached to the tubular body and reciprocating in the opening. By mounting a workpiece or workpiece on the slider and moving it appropriately, the workpiece or workpiece can be positioned at a predetermined position. By the way, in such a feeder, if the opening is left open as it is, dust and dirt enter the inside of the tubular body, and the dust and the like damage the mechanism for reciprocating the slider. Therefore, the feed accuracy deteriorates, which causes defective products.

Therefore, in the feeding device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-172545, a flexible cover for inserting the slider to cover the opening is attached to the tubular body by supporting both ends. Measures are taken to press against the cylindrical body with guide rollers attached to the front and rear ends of the slider in the moving direction. According to such a feeding device, the slider can be reciprocated without interfering with the cover, and the opening can be always covered with the cover, which causes the above-mentioned harmful effects caused by the intrusion of dust and the like. Can be suppressed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, according to the feeding device disclosed in the above publication,
At the position away from the guide roller, the cover is pressed against the tubular body only by its own tension, so that the cover cannot be lifted and it is difficult to completely prevent the intrusion of dust and the like. There was a problem that was. In addition, the opening of the cylindrical body may be laterally or downward depending on the design, but in such a case, there is a problem that the cover is bent due to its own weight and the chance of dust and the like entering further increases. . Then, such a problem becomes noticeable especially when the cover is made of cloth or long, or when the slider moves at high speed, and a fundamental countermeasure against the problem has been desired.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and the purpose thereof is to ensure that the opening is closed by the cover, thereby causing the occurrence of defects caused by the intrusion of dust and the like. It is to provide an automatic feeding device that can prevent the above.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a tubular body having an opening extending in the longitudinal direction, and a slider attached to the tubular body and reciprocating in the opening. A flexible cover, both ends of which are supported by the tubular body, is inserted through the slider to cover the opening, and a flexible cover is attached to the front and rear ends of the slider in the moving direction to press the cover against the tubular body. In an automatic feeding device including a guide roller, an engaging portion is provided on either one of at least both side edge portions of the opening of the tubular body and at least one portion corresponding to the both side edge portions of the cover. On the other hand, it is characterized in that it is configured so as to be provided with an engaged portion that is detachably engaged with the engaging portion.

(Operation) In the automatic feeder configured as described above, the cover is forcibly brought into close contact with the tubular body due to the engagement between the engaging portion and the engaged portion, so that a gap is formed between the two. Therefore, dust and the like will not enter the cylindrical body.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a rectangular tubular body, and one side surface thereof is provided with an opening 2 extending in the longitudinal direction. A pair of left and right guide rails 3, 3 are arranged in the body 1 along the opening 2, and each is fixed to the body 1 by a bolt 4. In the body 1, a rack 5 is also arranged between the pair of guide rails 2, 2 and the rack 5 also extends along the opening 2. Reference numeral 6 denotes a slider, which is roughly composed of a lower base portion 7 and an upper housing portion 8. A pair of guide blocks 9, 9 are fixed to the lower surface of the base portion 7 with bolts 10, and each guide block 9 is connected to each of the guide rails 2 described above.
It is slidably attached to. That is, the slider 6 is
By inserting the base portion 7 into the body 1 by inserting the base portion 7 through the opening portion 2, the base portion 7 is slidably supported by the guide rail 2 and can be arbitrarily moved along the opening portion 2 of the body 1.

On the other hand, in the housing portion 8 of the slider 6, a rotary shaft 11 is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the slider 6. Both ends of the rotary shaft 11 are both side walls of the housing part 8.
8a and 8b are supported via bearings 12 and 12 and are rotatable. The rotary shaft 11 also has one end extending laterally through the side wall 8a of the housing portion 8. A skirt portion 13 is integrally provided on one side wall 8a of the housing portion 8, and a motor 14 is fixed to the tip of the skirt portion 13. The output shaft 14a of the motor 14 and one end of the rotary shaft 11 are connected in the skirt portion 13 via a coupling 15, and the rotary shaft 11 is adapted to rotate freely by the forward / reverse rotation of the motor 14. The other side wall 8b of the housing portion 8
A holding plate 16 for holding the bearing 12 is fixed to the.

A drive gear 16 is integrally provided in the middle of the rotary shaft 11, and the drive gear 16 is meshed with an intermediate gear (pinion) 17 rotatably mounted in the base portion 7. The intermediate gear 17 is supported by a shaft 18 fitted on the base portion 7 via a bearing 19 and is also meshed with the rack 5. That is, the rotation of the motor 14 is transmitted to the intermediate gear 17 via the rotary shaft 11 and the drive gear 16, whereby the intermediate gear 17 rolls on the rack 5, and the slider 6 moves along the opening 2 of the body 1. Self-propelled. A workpiece or a workpiece (not shown) is mounted on the upper surface of the housing portion 8 of the slider 6, and these are appropriately conveyed and positioned at predetermined positions by the movement of the slider 6.

Reference numeral 20 is a first guide roller mounted on the rotary shaft 11 with the drive gear 16 interposed therebetween. The first guide roller 20 is attached to the rotary shaft 11 via a bearing 21 to be rotatable, and guides a cover 25 described later. A pair of second guide rollers 22 and 22 are arranged in the hugging portion 8 of the slider 1 at the front and rear ends in the moving direction (second portion).
Figure). Each of the second guide rollers 22 is attached to shafts 23, 23 bridged between both side walls 8a, 8b of the housing portion 8 via bearings 24, 24 to be rotatable, and similar to the first guide roller 20. Guide the cover 25 described later.

The cover 25 is made of a thin steel plate (for example, 13% Cr-based stainless steel plate) and has a sufficient length and width capable of covering the opening 2 of the body 1. Cover 25
Is extended by passing through the through hole A (FIG. 2) in the housing portion 8 of the slider 6 with the first and second guide rollers 20, 22 as a guide. Further, the cover 25 is fixed to the lids 1a, 1a closing both end openings of the body 1 by a mounting plate 26 and bolts 27 so that the whole cover maintains a tension state.

Then, belt-shaped magnets 28 are arranged on both side edges of the opening 2 of the body 1. The magnet 28 is fixed to a support plate 29 fixed to the upper surface of the body 1, and its installation height is adjusted so that it can contact the cover 25. Cover 25
Are attracted to the magnet 28 in the front and rear directions of the slider 6, while being forcibly separated from the magnet 28 in the slider 6 portion. The second guide roller 22 also plays a role of pressing the cover 25 against the magnet 28, and the cover 25 is strongly pressed toward the magnet 28 by the second guide roller 22 at the exit end of the through hole A. As a result, the close contact between the cover 25 and the magnet 28 is maintained outside the outlet end. Brackets 29, 29 are fixed to the slider 6 so as to close the outlet end of the through hole A.
Scrapers 30, 30 are attached to the. The scraper 30 has its tip abutted against the cover 25, whereby dust and the like are removed from the upper surface of the cover 25.

The operation of the feeding device having the above structure will be described below.

When the motor 14 is rotated forward / reversely, the rotating shaft 11 and the drive gear 16
The intermediate gear 17 rolls on the rack 5 via the
Reciprocates along the opening 2 of the body 1. At this time, the cover 25 is bent and guided by the first and second guide rollers 20 and 22 into the through hole A in the housing portion 8, and the through hole A is relatively moved.
Move in. That is, the slider 6 can freely reciprocate without interfering with the cover 25. Thus, the cover 25 is provided with a magnet in the front / rear direction of the slider 6.
It is adsorbed by 28 and completely closes the opening 2. Moreover, the cover 25 is pressed by the magnet 28 by the second guide roller 22 at the exit end of the through hole A, and there is no gap between the cover 25 and the magnet 28 outside the exit end. That is, the opening 2 is closed by the cover 25 over its entire length, so that dust and the like will not enter the body 1.

In the above embodiment, the scrapers 30, 30 are provided especially at the outlet end of the through hole A.
As a result, dust and the like are wiped off from the upper surface of the cover 25, and as a result, dust and the like that may enter the body 1 via the slider 6 can be completely removed. Moreover, the scraper 30 keeps the cover 25 clean and improves its durability.

Although the first guide roller 20 in the slider 6 for guiding the cover 25 is supported by the rotary shaft 11 in the above embodiment, instead of this, the first guide roller 20 is separated from the rotary shaft 11. It may be independently provided. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention having such a guide roller. The rotary shaft 11 and each second guide roller 22 are shown in FIG.
A first guide roller 20 'is rotatably attached to shafts 31, 31 provided between the first and second guide rollers.

Further, in the above embodiment, the rack and pinion mechanisms 5 and 17 are used as the mechanism for driving the slider 6, but this driving mechanism is arbitrary, and for example, a ball screw mechanism, a belt driving mechanism or the like can be used.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show another embodiment of the present invention using such a ball screw mechanism. The same parts as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, a ball screw 41 is rotatably disposed in the body 1 with both ends supported, and the ball screw 41 is attached to the base portion 7 of the slider 6.
A female screw member 42 that is screwed into is internally provided, a motor 43 is fixed to one end of the body 1, and an output shaft 43a of the motor 43 and one end of the ball screw 41 are connected by a coupling 44. In the feeding device having such a configuration, when the motor 43 is rotated in the normal / reverse direction, the ball screw 41 is rotated, the female screw member 42 is screwed back and forth on the ball screw 41, and the slider 6 is moved to the opening 2 of the body 1. Reciprocate along.

7 and 8 show another embodiment of the present invention using a belt drive mechanism. Here, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts, and the description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, a pair of pulleys (timing pulleys) 51, 51 are arranged at both ends of the body 1, and both ends of a belt (timing belt) 52 spanned between the pair of pulleys are attached to the base of the slider 6. It is connected to the portion 7 and one of the pulleys 51 is directly connected to the motor 53. In the feeding device having such a configuration, when the motor 53 is normally or reversely rotated, one of the pulleys 51 directly connected to the motor 53 is rotated, and the belt 52
Is rotated, the slider 6 reciprocates along the opening 2 of the body 1.

In the above-described embodiments, the magnets 28 are fixed to both side edges of the opening 2 of the body 1, but instead of this, the magnets may be provided on the cover 25 side. In this case, the cover 25 need not be made of magnetic metal,
It can be made of cloth, plastic or rubber. Further, in each of the above embodiments, the cover 25 is made of a thin steel plate, but if a metal plate having magnetism is attached to the widthwise edge portion of the cover corresponding to the magnet 28, a cloth is used instead of the thin steel plate, A plastic sheet, a rubber sheet or the like can be used. Further, the present invention replaces the use of the magnet 28 with a touch-close type fastener (velcro tape).
May be used.

(Effect of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the automatic feeder according to the present invention, the cover is forcibly brought into close contact with the cylindrical body by the engagement between the engaging portion and the engaged portion. Since this is done, dust and the like will not enter the cylindrical body, and the durability and reliability of the device will be significantly improved. In addition, the close contact between the cover and the cylindrical body can be stably maintained regardless of the orientation of the opening of the body, the material and size of the cover, or the moving speed of the slider. There is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an automatic feeding device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the feeding device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a modified example of the forward feeding device, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention in which the slider driving mechanism is changed. 6 and 6 are sectional views taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention in which the slider driving mechanism is also changed, and FIG. Is
It is sectional drawing which follows the VIII-VIII arrow line of FIG. 1 ... Cylindrical body, 2 ... Aperture 3 ... Guide rail, 5 ... Rack 6 ... Slider, 7 ... Base part 8 ... Housing part, 9 ... Slide block 11 ... Rotation shaft, 14 , 43,53 …… Motor 16 …… Drive gear, 17 …… Intermediate gear 20,20 ′, 22 …… Guide roller 25 …… Cover (attached part), 28 …… Magnet (attached part) 30… … Scraper, 41 …… Ball screw 51 …… Pulley, 52 …… Belt

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A tubular body having an opening extending in the longitudinal direction, a slider mounted on the tubular body and reciprocating in the opening, and both ends of the tubular body supported by the slider. An automatic feeding device comprising a flexible cover for covering the opening and guide rollers attached to front and rear ends of the slider in a moving direction of the slider to press the cover against the cylindrical body. Of at least one of the side edges of the opening and at least a portion of the cover corresponding to the side edges,
An automatic feeding device, characterized in that each of the other is provided with an engaged portion which is detachably engaged with the engaging portion.