JPH0796172B2 - Ball drive device for Rzeppa joint - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention (Industrial field of application) The present invention, in an automatic assembly machine for a Rzeppa joint or the like, hits one ball with an opening window of a cage and a ball groove of an inner ring. It relates to a device used for packing.

(Prior Art) Fig. 14 and Fig.
A Rzeppa joint 1 as shown in Fig. 15 is used. The Rzeppa joint 1 includes an outer ring 4 having a shaft portion 2 and a bowl-shaped portion 3, a cage 5 that is swingably housed inside the outer ring 4, and an inner ring 6 that is swingably housed inside the cage 5. And six balls 7 are provided. The ball 7 is fitted into a ball groove 8 provided in the outer ring 4, an opening window 9 provided in the cage 5, and a ball groove 10 provided in the inner ring 6. The opening dimension H of the opening window 9 is a size that allows the ball 7 to be fitted therein. An inner tooth-shaped center hole 11 is provided at the center of the inner ring 6.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In order to assemble the Rzeppa joint 1 including the outer ring 4, the cage 5, the inner ring 6 and the like as described above, some kind of "knack" is required, so automatic assembly by a machine is not possible. Was considered difficult. Therefore, conventionally, the assembly work was performed manually, but the present inventors have developed an automatic assembly machine capable of automatically assembling the Rzeppa joint 1.

When assembling the Rzeppa joint 1 by hand,
After putting the inner ring 6 in the cage 5, the cage 5 is put in the outer ring 4
And the ball groove of the inner ring 6 and the opening window 9 of the cage 5
In the state where 10 and 10 are matched, one ball 7 at a time
Had been inserted into.

In order to mechanize such a ball assembling work, it is essential that the opening window 9 and the ball groove 10 are accurately aligned with each other in the step of inserting the ball 7. However, when the cage 5 is handled by a machine, even if the inner ring 6 is set at a predetermined position in the cage 5 in advance,
When the inner ring 6 is inserted into the outer ring 4, the inner ring 6 inside the cage 5 moves in the collecting direction, the positions of the opening window 9 and the ball groove 10 are displaced, and it becomes impossible to insert the ball 7 into the opening window 9. I understood it.

Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the inner ring 6 in the cage 5 from moving from a predetermined position when the cage 5 is assembled to the outer ring 4, but conventionally, a suitable device that can be used for such a special purpose is provided. Nonetheless, its development was desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a ball driving device capable of reliably holding an inner ring in a predetermined position in a cage when assembling a Rzeppa joint.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention developed to achieve the above object has a clamp mechanism that has a ball insertion portion through which a ball can pass and that holds the cage at a predetermined position. A cage holder having, and an inner ring positioning mechanism for rotating the inner ring to a position in which the ball groove of the inner ring matches the opening window of the cage, which has a portion that engages with the inner ring housed in the cage, ,
A ball press-fitting mechanism having a push rod for driving a ball into the opening window of the cage and the ball groove of the inner ring through the ball insertion portion of the cage holder is provided.

(Operation) An inner ring is previously placed inside the cage held by the cage holder, and the inner ring is rotated by the inner ring positioning mechanism in the device of the present invention to a position where the opening window of the cage and the ball groove are aligned with each other. After that, one ball is press-fitted into the opening window of the cage through the ball insertion portion of the cage holder by the push rod of the ball press-fitting mechanism. This ball fits in the opening window of the cage and the ball groove of the inner ring inside it. Since the outer diameter of the ball is such that it can be fitted into the opening window of the cage, the ball pressed into the opening window is held in the cage without being dropped while being fitted in the opening window and the ball groove. In this way, the state in which the opening window and the ball groove are completely aligned is maintained.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The ball striking device 15 shown in FIG. 1 includes a body 17 which is erected on a base plate 16 and an elevating unit 18 which can be moved up and down with respect to the body 17.
The elevating unit 18 is configured to be vertically moved by a linear actuator 21 such as an air cylinder along a pair of left and right vertical guide members 19 and 20 provided on the body 17. The lower limit stroke end of the lifting unit 18 is restricted by the stopper 22.

The elevating unit 18 includes bases 25 and 26 extending in the horizontal direction. An inner ring positioning mechanism 30 is provided on the bases 25 and 26, and a ball press-fitting mechanism 90 is provided on the base 26 on the lower side in the drawing.
Is provided.

First, the inner ring positioning mechanism 30 will be described.

Bearing assemblies 32 and 33 that receive loads in the radial direction and the thrust direction are provided on the base bodies 25 and 26, and a hollow spindle 34 is rotatably supported by the bearing assemblies 32 and 33 about a vertical axis.

The spindle 34 is connected to an output shaft 36 of a rotary actuator 35. Actuator 35 is a spindle
34 is reciprocally rotated about the vertical axis within an angle range of 60 ° or more, for example, 90 °. This rotation range is defined by the protrusion member 37 and the pair of stoppers 3 shown in FIG.
It is regulated by 8,39 and. As shown in FIG.
A pair of sensors 40 and 41 are provided on the upper part of the actuator 35.
It has become possible to know that has reached the stroke end of the above-mentioned rotation range.

A claw unit 45 is provided below the spindle 34.
The claw unit 45 includes a cylindrical retainer 46 that rotates integrally with the spindle 34, a connecting shaft 47 that is vertically movable inside the retainer 46, and a claw member that is vertically movable by a horizontal pin 48. 49, and a first compression coil spring 50 for urging the claw member 49 in a downward direction.

The pin 48 is a large diameter portion 51 provided at the lower end of the connecting shaft 47.
Is inserted in the radial direction. Pin 48 is retainer 46
It is fitted in a vertical long hole 52 provided in the. Therefore, the claw member 49 rotates integrally with the retainer 46 around the vertical axis. The descending stroke end of the pawl member 49 with respect to the retainer 46 is restricted by the pin 48 hitting the lower end wall of the elongated hole 52. The first spring 50 is provided between the spring seat 53 provided on the upper portion of the retainer 46 and the large diameter portion 51 of the connecting shaft 47 in a compressed state.

A pair of claws 54, 55 that can be fitted into the ball grooves 10, 10 of the inner ring 6 are provided at the lower end of the claw member 49 so as to project. The lower end portion 46a of the retainer 46 is formed in a tapered shape so as to be easily inserted into the center hole 11 of the inner ring 6. A flange portion 56 along the circumferential direction is provided at an axially intermediate portion of the retainer 46.

The claw unit 45 is held on the spindle 34 by an index plunger 60 provided at the bottom of the base 26. The tip portion 61 of the index plunger 60 is engaged with the lower surface side of the flange portion 56, and the operation portion 62 is pulled to pull the tip portion.
By retracting 61, the pawl unit 45 can be removed from the spindle 34.

Inside the spindle 34, a slider 63 is provided above the connecting shaft 47. The slider 63 is the spindle 34
It can be moved up and down in the axial direction. The slider 64 is fixed with the pin 64 penetrating in the radial direction. Both ends of the pin 64 penetrate through vertical elongated holes 65 provided in the spindle 34 and project to the outer surface side of the spindle 34. The lower end of the slider 63 is in contact with the upper end of the connecting shaft 47.

A second compression coil spring is provided between the slider 63 and the spring seat 70.
71 are provided. This spring 71 urges the slider 63 in the direction of lowering it.

A member 73 having a flange 72 is pinned to the slider 63.
Installed by 64. The member 73 moves up and down together with the slider 63 via the pin 64. Flange
In the vicinity of 72, the flange 72 has descended to a predetermined position,
That is, a sensor 75 is provided for detecting that the claw portions 54, 55 are fitted in the ball grooves 10, 10.

The cage holder 80 for holding the cage 5 has a clamp mechanism 81. As shown in FIG. 7, the clamp mechanism 81 is provided with clamp claws 82 provided at a plurality of positions in the circumferential direction at equal intervals, and by the clamp claws 82, the cage 5 is placed in a posture with the end surface 5a facing upward. It is designed to be held in place. A ball insertion portion of a size that allows the ball 7 to be inserted into one position in the circumferential direction of the cage holder 80.
83 is provided. As shown in FIG. 1, an outer ring holder 84 and an inner ring holder 85 are provided next to the cage holder 80.

The inner ring 6 is formed by an inner ring assembly device (not shown).
It is taken out from 85 and set in the cage 5. Each holder 80, 84, 85 is provided on a turntable 86 (only a part of which is shown in FIG. 1) that rotates intermittently.

Next, the ball press-fitting mechanism 90 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 8, a ball passage is formed on the lower surface side of the base body 26.
A housing 92 having 91 is provided. Ball passage
A ball take-out port 93 having a size capable of taking out the balls 7 one by one is provided on the lower end opening side of 91. The ball take-out port 93 is a ball insertion part of the cage holder 80 when the lifting unit 18 descends to a position where it hits the stopper 22.
Located just opposite 83. A ball receiving member 94 is provided below the ball ejection port 93. A ball supply pipe (not shown) is connected to the upper opening 95 of the ball passage 91.

A guide block 96 is provided near the ball outlet 93. A push rod 98 for pushing the balls 7 one by one is inserted through a horizontal through hole 97 formed in the guide block 96 so as to be movable in the axial direction.
The tip portion 99 of the push rod 98 can reciprocate from the standby position shown in FIG. 10 to the forward movement position shown in FIG. The rear end of the push rod 98 is connected to the first end 102 of the drive member 101 via the pin 100. The drive member 101 is rotatable around a shaft 103.

The second end 104 of the driving member 101 is connected to the rod 107 of the linear actuator 106 by the pin 105. An example of the actuator 106 is an air cylinder, but a drive source other than that may be used. In FIG. 9, when the rod 107 of the actuator 106 is driven downward in the drawing, the driving member 101 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 103 and the push rod 98 advances.

A ball stopping mechanism 110 is provided to temporarily stop the ball 7 at the ball take-out port 93.
As shown in FIG. 10 and the like, the ball stopping mechanism 110 has a shaft 111.
It includes a stopper member 112 rotatable about the center and a spring 113 such as a spring plunger for urging the stopper member 112 counterclockwise in the drawing. On the tip side of the stopper member 112, a convex portion 114 for preventing the ball 7 from jumping out.
Is provided. On the rear end side of the stopper member 112, an adjuster member 11 protruding toward the side surface of the push rod 98 is provided.
Five are provided.

On the side surface of the push rod 98 facing the adjuster member 115, a length L is provided behind the position of the adjuster member 115.
A recess 116 is provided that extends across. Push rod 98
10 moves in the forward direction from the position shown in FIG. 10, the tip of the adjuster member 115 enters the recess 116, and the elastic force of the spring 113 rotates the stopper member 112 to the position shown in FIG. It is like this. Ball outlet
In the vicinity of 93, for example, a photoelectric sensor 117 for detecting the presence or absence of the ball 7 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sensors 121, 122, 123 are provided near the rod extension 120 protruding above the actuator 106.
Is provided. The first sensor 121 detects that the push rod 98 is in the standby state before hitting the ball shown in FIG. The second sensor 122 detects that the push rod 98 has advanced to the ball driving position shown in FIG. The third sensor 123 is the push rod 9
This is for overrun detection when 8 exceeds the normal driving position.

Next, the operation of the embodiment apparatus 15 having the above configuration will be described.

The cage 5 is transferred to a position right below the pawl unit 45 while being held by the cage holder 80. Moreover, this cage 5
Is preliminarily positioned in the rotational direction by a rotary positioning mechanism (not shown) so that the opening window 9 faces the ball insertion portion 83. The inner ring 6 is previously placed inside the cage 5 by an inner ring assembly device (not shown).

The rotation of the turntable 86 is stopped when the cage 5 is transferred to a position right below the pawl unit 45. Then, the temperature raising unit 18 is lowered to the position regulated by the stopper 22, so that the retainer as shown in FIG.
The lower end 46a of 46 enters the center hole 11 of the inner ring 6. At this time, if the ball grooves 10, 10 of the inner ring 6 are located directly below the claws 54, 55, the claws 54, 55 fit into the ball grooves 10, 10 as they are. However, if the ball grooves 10, 10 are not located directly below the claws 54, 55, the lowering of the claw member 49 is stopped with the lower ends of the claws 54, 55 in contact with the end surface 6a of the inner ring 6.

Then, by the rotation actuator 35 operating,
The spindle 34 rotates, and the claw unit 45 rotates together with the spindle 34. Then, the lower surfaces of the claw portions 54, 55 rotate while sliding on the end surface 6a of the inner ring 6, and fit into the ball grooves 10, 10 during the rotation. When the claws 54 and 55 are fitted into the ball grooves 10 and 10, the sensor 75 detects this when the flange 72 is lowered to a predetermined position, and the claws 54 and 55 are detected by the ball grooves 10 and 10.
You can know that it has been fitted to.

In this way, the pawl unit 45 rotates to a predetermined angle regulated by the stopper 39 and stops, whereby the inner ring 6 is set at a predetermined rotational position, that is, the ball groove 10 faces the opening window 9. Since the opening window 9 of the cage 5 is opposed to the ball insertion portion 83 in advance, the ball insertion portion 83, the opening window 9 and the ball groove 10 are aligned on a straight line.

With the inner ring 6 set at a predetermined position through the above steps, the ball driving actuator 106 operates to move the push rod 98 forward. When the push rod 98 moves forward, the stopper member 112 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 111 as shown in FIG. 11, so that the ball 7 that has been waiting in the ball take-out port 93 until then is released. Then, it is pushed by the tip end portion 99 of the push rod 98, passes through the ball insertion portion 83, and is driven into the opening window 9 of the cage 5 and the ball groove 10 of the inner ring 6.

Since the opening dimension H of the opening window 9 is such that the balls 7 can be fitted exactly, the balls 7 pressed into the opening window 9 are sandwiched by the edges 9a and 9b of the opening window 9 as shown in FIG. It will be held in the open state. The position of the inner ring 6 with respect to the cage 5 in the circumferential direction is regulated by the one ball 7. This state is maintained even when the cage 5 is taken out from the cage holder 80, and the relative positional relationship between the cage 5 and the inner ring 6 is maintained.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, one of the six balls used in the Rzeppa joint can be utilized to reliably hold the inner ring at a predetermined circumferential position with respect to the cage. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 is a side view showing a ball driving device in a partial cross section, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section showing an inner ring positioning mechanism used in the device shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the ball driving device, Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view showing a stopper, and Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views showing different operating states of the inner ring positioning mechanism, respectively. The figure is a plan view of the cage holder, FIG. 8 is a front view of the ball press-fitting mechanism, FIG. 9 is a side view showing a part of the ball press-fitting mechanism in section, and FIG. 10 is a part of the ball press-fitting mechanism in section. A plan view, FIG. 11 is a plan view of the ball press-fitting mechanism showing a state in which the ball is driven in a partial cross section, FIG. 12 is a side view showing a state in which the ball is driven in a partial cross section, and FIG. 13 is a ball Fig. 14 is a perspective view of a cage that is driven into, Fig. 14 is a perspective view of a Rzeppa joint, and Fig. 15 is a zep joint. It is an exploded perspective view of the path joint. 1 ... Rzeppa joint, 5 ... Cage, 6 ... Inner ring, 9 ... Opening window, 10 ... Ball groove, 15 ... Ball driving device, 30 ... Inner ring positioning mechanism, 45 ... Claw unit,
80 …… Cage holder, 81 …… Clamp mechanism, 83 …… Ball insertion part, 90 …… Ball press-fitting mechanism, 98 …… Push rod.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hamabe Lighting 5-3-8 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo Inside Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (72) Inventor Yuichi Hasaki 1 Nakasiri, Hashime-cho, Okazaki-shi, Aichi Mitsubishi Motors Engineering Co., Ltd. Okazaki Plant (56) References JP 62-37520 (JP, A) JP 1-210234 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device for driving a ball into a ball groove of an inner ring housed inside a cage of a Rzeppa joint and an opening window of the cage, wherein the ball can be passed through. A cage holder having an insertion portion and a clamp mechanism for holding the cage at a predetermined position, and a ball groove of the inner ring having a portion for engaging an inner ring housed in the cage. An inner ring positioning mechanism that rotates the inner ring to a position that matches the opening window of, and a ball press-fitting mechanism having a push rod that drives a ball through the ball insertion portion of the cage holder into the opening window of the cage and the ball groove of the inner ring. A ball striking device of a Rzeppa joint characterized by being provided.