JPH1192802A - Screening method of sintered body joined by sintering and screening apparatus used in this method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently and surely sort sintered compacts joined in a diametral direction. SOLUTION: The toric sintered compacts 1 are lined up to one row in a diametral direction and are aligned in the state that their axial directions are made horizontal by a parts feeder. The sintered compacts 1 are delivered in this state onto an inclined guide path 31. The sintered compacts 1, which are not joined, roll down on this inclined guide path 31 and, therefore, fly to a longer distance when these sintered compacts are released from the releasing part 39 at the bottom end of the inclined guide path 31. On the other hand, the sintered compacts 1 joined in the diametral direction cannot roll and, therefore, fall without flying to the long distance. The sintered compacts 1 joined in the diametral direction are sorted by differences in the falling positions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for sorting sintered bodies joined by sintering and a sorting apparatus used for the method.

[0002]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In powder metallurgy,
After compacting a green compact by compressing a raw material powder containing a metal as a main component by a powder compacting press, the compact is heated in a sintering furnace. During this sintering, the compacts may be arranged on a tray, for example, and sent into a sintering furnace in a state where they do not contact each other. In the case of a green compact produced as described above, a large number of green compacts are fed into a sintering furnace in a state of being closely adhered and laminated.

In this case, since the compacts are sintered in contact with each other, the sintered bodies formed by sintering the compacts may be joined to each other. In addition, it is necessary to separate and separate from the unjoined sintered bodies. Heretofore, this sorting and separation has been performed manually. However, it takes time and effort to manually sort the joined sintered bodies from a large number of sintered bodies,
Oversight is inevitable.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-60202 discloses a method of selecting and separating joined sintered bodies using a spiral type part feeder.
That is, the method described in the publication is to separate the sintered bodies joined to each other by the vibration of the parts feeder. In addition, a sintered body that is not separated only by vibration
While these sintered bodies are being transported while being gradually raised, they are selectively dropped by a wiper, a notch or the like provided in the transport path, and are separated by the impact of the drop. The wiper and the notch are
It functions as a barrier that allows only an object whose size and shape satisfy predetermined conditions. However, in such a sorting method using a barrier, unsintered sintered bodies are often excluded, and the efficiency of the sorting is low, and the shape of the selectable sintered bodies is limited. There is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve such a problem, and it is possible to efficiently select sintered bodies joined to each other in a radial direction, and to reduce a limitation on the shape of the selectable sintered bodies. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for sorting sintered bodies joined by a method and a sorting apparatus used in this method.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for selecting a sintered body joined by sintering, in order to achieve the above object, a method of forming a plurality of sintered bodies having an outer surface substantially in the shape of a rotating body. This is a method of selecting sintered bodies joined to each other in the radial direction from the inside, and the above-mentioned sintered bodies are placed on an inclined surface inclined with respect to a horizontal plane from above the inclined surface in a state where the axial direction is substantially horizontal. The sintered body is discharged sequentially and discharged from a discharge portion formed at a lower end portion of the inclined surface.

The sintered body sent out from the upper side to the inclined surface is
Sliding down the slope. At this time, since the outer surface of the sintered body is substantially in the shape of a rotating body and the axial direction of the sintered body is substantially horizontal, if the sintered body is not joined, it is greatly rolled on the inclined surface. It accelerates and the velocity at the time of discharge from the discharge part at the lower end of the inclined surface increases, and as a result, it flies farther and falls. On the other hand, if the sintered body is joined in the radial direction, it cannot be rolled, so it cannot be greatly accelerated due to friction with the inclined surface, and the speed at which it is discharged from the discharge portion becomes small. Fall without flying. Sorting is performed based on the difference in the drop position.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method for selecting a sintered body joined by sintering according to the first aspect of the present invention, the discharge portion has an inclined surface which is substantially horizontal or which is inclined opposite to the inclined surface. Things.

As a result, the difference in the drop position between the joined sintered body and the unsintered sintered body increases.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sorting apparatus used in the method for sorting sintered bodies joined by sintering according to the first or second aspect, wherein a transfer mechanism for transferring the sintered body by vibration; During the transfer by the transfer mechanism, the sintered bodies are arranged in a line in the radial direction and the axial direction is aligned in a substantially horizontal state, and the upper end portion is connected to the alignment guide path, and the bottom surface is parallel to the horizontal plane. It has a concave groove-shaped inclined guideway having a slanted inclined surface, and a discharge portion formed at a lower end portion of the inclined guideway.

[0011] The sintered bodies are arranged in a line in the radial direction while being conveyed along the alignment guide path by vibration, and are aligned in a state where the axial direction is substantially horizontal. It is sent to the inclined guideway. And, by the inclined guideway whose bottom surface is an inclined surface and has a discharge part at the lower end,
Sorting is performed as described above.

[0012]

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a sintered body to be sorted. As shown in FIG. 7A, the sintered body 1 has an annular shape, and its outer surface has a substantially rotary body shape. The outer surface of the sintered body 1 does not need to have a completely rotating body shape, but may be an external gear or the like. The sintered body 1 has a relatively flat shape whose diameter is larger than the length in the axial direction. However, the following sorting method is also applicable to a sintered body whose diameter is smaller than the length in the axial direction. Applicable.
When manufacturing the present sintered body 1, a large number of green compacts are fed into a sintering furnace in a state of being closely adhered and stacked, and as a result, the sintered sintered body 1 may be joined. There are various types of bonding as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C. FIG. 7B shows a state in which the two sintered bodies 1 are joined in the radial direction, and FIG. 7C shows a state in which the two sintered bodies 1 are joined in the axial direction. In addition, there may be a case where the members are joined in a twisted positional relationship, or three or more sintered bodies 1 are joined. In particular, lateral joining is likely to occur.

Next, the structure of the sorting device will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 6 denotes a spiral type part feeder as a transfer mechanism for transferring the sintered body 1 by vibration. The part feeder 6 has a feeder container 8 movably supported on a feeder body 7; The feeder container 8 is torsionally vibrated by an electromagnetic drive source or a piezoelectric drive source (not shown) including a core and a coil incorporated in the feeder body 7. The center of this torsional vibration substantially coincides with the vertical center axis of the feeder container 8. In addition, the feeder container 8
It comprises an inner container 9 and an outer container 10.

The bottom surface inside the inner container 9 of the feeder container 8 is a loose conical receiving portion 11 whose central portion is bulged. Then, the sintered body 1 supplied from a supply device (not shown) is supplied from the supply chute 12 to the receiving portion 11. A spiral transfer path 13 rising from the receiving section 11 is provided in a peripheral portion of the inner container 9.
Are formed. The transfer path 13 is formed of a protruding piece that is inclined in a direction that descends radially outward of the feeder container 8. Further, the outlet-side portion of the transfer path 13 protrudes to the outer peripheral side of the inner container 9 at the upper part of the feeder container 8. The gutter section 14 is provided in 10.
The bottom surface of the gutter portion 14 is an inclined surface that descends toward the exit side of the transfer path 13, and the inside of the gutter portion 14 communicates with the lowermost part in the inner container 9 at the tip.

The portion of the transfer path 13 on the outlet side forms an alignment guide path 16 for arranging the sintered bodies 1 in a line in the radial direction as shown in FIG. ing. The alignment guide path 16 has a first upwardly inclined first inclined downward in a radially outward direction of the feeder container 8.
And a second upwardly directed guide surface 18 which is inclined from the lower end edge of the first guide surface 17 toward the radially outward direction of the feeder container 8. The two guide surfaces 17, 18 are orthogonal to each other. Then, FIG.
As shown in (b), from the entrance side to the exit side of the alignment guide path 16, the angle α formed by the first guide surface 17 with respect to the horizontal plane gradually approaches 90 °, and therefore, The angle formed by the guide surface 18 with respect to the horizontal plane gradually approaches 0 °. The width of the first guide surface 17 is slightly larger than the diameter of the sintered body 1, and the width of the second guide surface 18 is larger than half the axial length of the sintered body 1. Is also slightly larger.

Further, a return slope 19 descending from the upper edge of the first guide surface 17 to the upper edge of the peripheral wall of the inner container 9 is formed at the entrance side of the alignment guide path 16.
On the other hand, at the exit side portion of the alignment guide path 16, an opening 20 is formed between the upper end edge of the first guide surface 17 and the peripheral wall of the inner container 9. In the vicinity of the start end position of the opening 20, a step portion 21 is formed on the second guide surface 18 so as to descend from the entrance side to the exit side of the alignment guide path 16. A guide plate 22 is fixed to the first guide surface 17 by bolts 23 at a position above the step portion 21. This guide plate 22
Is to form a gap between the second guide surface 18 and the second guide surface 18, which is slightly larger than the diameter of the sintered body 1, so that the position can be adjusted. The alignment guide path 16 gradually rises from the step 21 to the exit.

The exit of the alignment guide path 16 is shown in FIG.
It is connected to the entrance of the inclined guideway 31 as shown by. This inclined guide path 31 is formed in a concave groove shape opened upward by a base plate 32 fixed to the outer peripheral side of the feeder container 8 and an inner peripheral side wall 33 and an outer peripheral side wall 34 erected in parallel on the base plate 32. The bottom surface formed by the upper surface of the base plate 32 is an inclined surface 35 inclined at a predetermined angle β with respect to the horizontal plane. The direction of the inclination is a direction descending from the entrance of the inclined guide path 31. The outer peripheral side wall 34 has a plurality of projecting pieces 36 provided below the outer peripheral side wall 34.
The base plate 32 is attached to the base plate 32 by being fixed to the base plate 32 with bolts 37, respectively. The bolt 37 passes through a long hole 38 formed in the projecting piece 36 and extending in the radial direction of the feeder container 8, whereby the distance between the inner peripheral side wall 33 and the outer peripheral side wall 34 can be adjusted. . Further, the distal end of the base plate 32, which forms the lower end of the inclined guide path 31, has a discharge portion that is substantially horizontal and slightly inclined in the direction in which the inclined surface 35 rises in the direction in which the sintered body 1 advances. It is 39.

Further, a discharge chute 41 is provided in front of the discharge section 39. The entrance of the discharge chute 41 and the discharge section 39 are spaced at a predetermined interval in the horizontal direction, and the gap between the entrance of the discharge chute 41 and the discharge section 39 is located above the gutter section 14. It is located in. The outlet of the discharge chute 41 is located above the storage container 42 (FIG. 2).

Next, a sorting method using the sorting device will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, a large number of sintered bodies 1 are put into the inner container 9 of the feeder container 8 from the supply chute 12. The sintered body 1 put in the inner container 9 rises along the transfer path 13 from the receiving part 11 by the torsional vibration of the feeder container 8 as shown by an arrow a. Since the sintered body 1 has a shape whose diameter is larger than the length in the axial direction, the sintered body 1 has a posture in which the axial direction is substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the transfer path 13.

Further, the sintered body 1 reaches the alignment guide path 16 and is transported along the alignment guide path 16. In this alignment guide path 16, the sintered body 1 is in a state where the end face rests on the first guide face 17 and the outer peripheral face rests on the second guide face 18 (FIG. 4).
). At the same time, the width of the first guide surface 17 is slightly larger than the diameter of the sintered body 1, and the sintered bodies 1 can be placed only in one row.
Are aligned in a line in the alignment guide path 16.
If the sintered body 1 overflows when entering the alignment guide path 16, the sintered body 1 slides down the return slope 19 and is collected in the inner container 9. Further, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the first guide surface is moved in the direction in which the sintered body 1 is transferred.
The angle α formed by the first guide surface 17 with respect to the horizontal plane gradually approaches 90 °, and the angle formed by the second guide surface 18 with respect to the horizontal plane gradually decreases to about 15 °. During this, the sintered body 1 gradually approaches the horizontal in the axial direction.

When the sintered bodies 1 joined to each other in the axial direction or the sintered bodies 1 joined to each other in a twisted positional relationship in the alignment guide path 16, as described above, the second guide surface is formed.
When the angle between the horizontal guide 18 and the horizontal plane approaches 15 °, the width of the second guide surface 18 is slightly larger than half the axial length of the sintered body 1, The stability of the sintered body 1 deteriorates. Therefore, the bonded sintered body 1
As shown in FIG. 5, the water drops from the alignment guide path 16 to the gutter section 14 due to the vibration of the feeder container 8, and is collected from the gutter section 14 into the inner container 9. After this screening, the second
The angle formed by the guide surface 18 with respect to the horizontal plane is 0 °, and the guide (not shown) prevents the sintered body 1 from falling. Also, a second guide surface is provided in the middle of the alignment guide path 16.
When passing through the stepped portion 18, a part of the bonded sintered body 1 is removed by the guide of the guide plate 22 facing the stepped portion 21, and falls into the gutter 14 through the opening 20. . But,
For the sintered bodies 1 joined in the radial direction and arranged in the traveling direction, the selection by setting the angle and width of the second guide surface 18 and the selection by the step portion 21 and the guide plate 22 are sufficiently effective. Does not work. The sintered bodies 1 joined in the radial direction and arranged in the traveling direction are sorted by the inclined guide path 31 as described below.

That is, the sintered body 1 transferred through the alignment guide path 16 is sequentially sent out from the outlet of the alignment guide path 16 to the inclined guide path 31. At this time, the axial direction of the sintered body 1 is substantially horizontal. Then, the sintered body 1 is
At the lower end of the inclined guideway 31
Released from 39. At this time, since the sintered body 1 has an annular shape and the axial direction is substantially horizontal, if the sintered body 1 is not joined, it rolls on the inclined surface 35 on the bottom surface of the inclined guide path 31. As a result, the speed is greatly accelerated, and the speed at the time of discharge from the discharge unit 39 increases, and as shown by an arrow b in FIG. As a result, the sintered body 1 jumps over the gap between the discharge section 39 and the entrance of the discharge chute 41, falls on the discharge chute 41, slides down the discharge chute 41 and is stored in the storage container 42. You.
On the other hand, if the sintered body 1 is joined in the radial direction, it cannot be rolled, so that it cannot be greatly accelerated due to friction between the inclined surface 35 and the speed at which the sintered body 1 is discharged from the discharge portion 39. As shown by an arrow c in FIG. 1, the robot 1 falls without flying far. As a result, the sintered body 1 cannot reach the discharge chute 41, falls into the gutter 14 from the gap between the discharge part 39 and the inlet of the discharge chute 41, and is collected in the inner container 9. . Thus, the sintered bodies 1 joined in the radial direction are sorted out.

If the unsintered sintered body 1 follows the radially joined sintered body 1 in the inclined guide path 31, the sintered body 1 is braked by the sintered body 1 and accelerated too much. Without discharging from discharge section 39, discharge chute
Since it cannot reach 41, it falls to the gutter section 14. However, the erroneously selected sintered body 1 is accommodated in the container 42 as the unjoined sintered body 1 while the transfer in the parts feeder 6 is repeated. vice versa,
The bonded sintered body 1 is not erroneously stored in the storage container 42.

The bonded sintered bodies 1 are separated from each other by the vibration of the feeder container 8 or the impact when the feeder container 8 is sorted and dropped. While the transfer in the parts feeder 6 is repeated in this manner, the joined sintered bodies 1 are also separated, and are accommodated in the storage container 42 as unjoined sintered bodies 1.

As described above, according to the configuration of the embodiment, the unsintered sintered body 1 and the radially joined sintered body 1 have different accelerations when sliding down the inclined guide path 31. Therefore, the sorting is performed by utilizing the fact that the falling positions after being discharged from the discharging unit 39 are different, so that erroneous sorting can be prevented, and the sorting can be performed efficiently and reliably. For example, about 10 processes per second are possible.

In the case of the sintered body 1 having a relatively small axial length as shown in this embodiment, when the parts are fed by the parts feeder 6, the axial direction of the sintered body 1 is orthogonal to the transfer direction. In a sorting method using a phenomenon of becoming a state, for example, a sorting method performed by providing a barrier portion that allows only an object whose size and shape satisfies predetermined conditions during transfer by the parts feeder 6, is joined in a radial direction. Sintered body 1
Cannot be reliably sorted out. On the other hand, according to the present invention, as described in the above embodiment, even if the sintered body 1 has a relatively small axial length, the sintered body 1 joined in the radial direction can be selected. Of course, the present invention can be applied to the selection of a sintered body having an axial length larger than a diameter. Therefore, restrictions on the shape of the selectable sintered body 1 are reduced.

Further, an outer peripheral wall portion forming the inclined guide portion 31
By adjusting the position of 34 and adjusting the groove width of the inclined guide portion 31, the same sorting device can be used for the sintered bodies 1 having different axial lengths. Further, since the position of the guide plate 22 is also adjustable, it is possible to cope with the difference in the radial dimension of the sintered body 1.

The discharge section 39 is substantially horizontal and has an inclined guide path.
Since the inclined surface 35 is slightly inclined in the direction in which the sintered body 1 ascends in the direction of travel of the sintered body 1, the difference in the drop position between the joined sintered body 1 and the unjoined sintered body 1 is different. Becomes larger. Thereby, sorting can be performed more efficiently and reliably.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example,
The shape of the sintered body 1 to be sorted is not limited to the one shown in the drawing, and the present invention can be applied to sintered bodies of various shapes as long as the outer surface has a substantially rotary body shape. In the above-described embodiment, the helical parts feeder 6 is used to arrange the sintered bodies 1 in a line in the radial direction and to align the sintered bodies 1 in a state where the axial direction is horizontal. It is not limited to that. Further, the discharge section at the lower end of the inclined guide section may be horizontal, or may be inclined in a direction descending toward the discharge direction of the sintered body. However, the inclination should be gentler than the inclination of the inclined surface on the bottom surface of the inclined guide portion.

[0030]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of selecting sintered bodies joined to each other in a radial direction from a large number of sintered bodies having an outer surface substantially in the shape of a rotating body. Since the sintered body is sequentially fed from the upper side in a state where the axial direction is substantially horizontal, and the sintered body is discharged from the discharge portion at the lower end of the inclined surface, it is not joined that can be rolled on the inclined surface Since the sintered body and the bonded sintered body that cannot be rolled on the inclined surface have different drop positions after being released from the discharge part, the bonded sintered body can be sorted out, and
This sorting can be performed efficiently and reliably. In addition, restrictions on the shape of the selectable sintered body can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, since the discharge portion is formed to be substantially horizontal or a slope inclined opposite to the slope, the bonded sintered body is formed. The difference in the drop position from the sintered body that has not been joined to the sintered body increases, so that the sorting can be performed more efficiently and reliably.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the transfer mechanism for transferring the sintered body by vibration, the sintered bodies are arranged in a line in the radial direction during the transfer by the transfer mechanism, and the axial direction is substantially horizontal. A sorting device comprising: an alignment guideway to be aligned in a state; a groove-shaped inclined guideway connected to the alignment guideway and having a sloped bottom surface; and a discharge portion formed at a lower end portion of the inclined guideway. Thus, the sorting method according to the first aspect of the present invention can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a sorting method using an inclined guideway according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the entire sorting device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of an alignment guide path of the sorting device.

4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of the alignment guide path, in which FIG. 4A illustrates a position on the entrance side of the alignment guide path, and FIG. 4B illustrates a position on the exit side of the alignment guide path.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a sorting operation in the same alignment guide path.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of an inclined guideway of the sorting device.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are perspective views of a sintered body, wherein FIG. 7A shows a non-joined state, FIG. 7B shows a radially joined state, and FIG. 7C shows an axially joined state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sintered body 6 Parts feeder (transfer mechanism) 16 Alignment guideway 31 Inclined guideway 35 Inclined surface 39 Discharge part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for selecting sintered bodies joined to each other in a radial direction from a large number of sintered bodies whose outer surfaces are substantially in the shape of a rotating body, the method comprising the steps of: The sintered body is sequentially fed from the upper side of the surface in a state where the axial direction is substantially horizontal, and the sintered body is discharged from a discharge portion formed at a lower end portion of the inclined surface. For sorting sintered compacts. 2. The method for sorting sintered bodies joined by sintering according to claim 1, wherein the discharge portion is formed to be substantially horizontal or a slope inclined in a direction opposite to the slope. 3. A sorting device used in the method for sorting sintered bodies joined by sintering according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transferring mechanism transfers the sintered body by vibration, and transferring by the transferring mechanism. An alignment guideway for arranging the sintered bodies in a line in the radial direction and aligning the sintered bodies in a state in which the axial direction is substantially horizontal, and an inclined surface having an upper end connected to the alignment guideway and a bottom surface inclined with respect to a horizontal plane And a discharge section formed at a lower end of the inclined guide path.