JPS6235536Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a sheet material supply device that supplies sheet materials one by one to a press device or the like.

A type of sheet material feeding device lifts the topmost sheet material stacked by a lifting device equipped with a vacuum cup, etc., and sends out the sheet material lifted to a predetermined height by a lateral delivery device. There are types that are supplied to press equipment, etc. Conventionally, in this type of feeding device, it has not been possible to accurately position the sheet material in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the feeding direction). Therefore, if it is necessary to accurately feed the sheet material to a press device or the like, it is necessary to provide a separate position correction device. However, in this case, a position correction device is required, and a space for arranging the device is also required, resulting in high equipment costs.

With this background in mind, the present invention has been developed by providing a sheet material positioning function to the feeding device itself that lifts and feeds sheet materials, thereby making it possible to accurately position sheet materials without using a dedicated positioning device. This was done for the purpose of positioning it and supplying it to a press or the like.

In order to achieve this purpose, the sheet material supply device according to the present invention includes: (1) a lifting device that sucks and lifts the topmost sheet of a plurality of stacked sheets; (2) the lifted sheet. The sheet material is configured to include a delivery device that receives the sheet material and sends it out laterally, and (3) a guide device that is disposed on both sides of the delivery device in the width direction and guides the movement of the sheet material. At least one side of the guide device includes a tapered guide roller that is rotatably supported around a substantially vertical axis by a support member and has a tapered portion whose diameter gradually increases from the bottom to the top. , by arranging a plurality of them along the delivery direction of the delivery device.

In the sheet material supply device configured in this way, if the sheet material to be lifted by the lifting device has shifted toward the guide device including the tapered guide roller, the sheet material will not be lifted by the lifting device. During the process of being lifted up, one side edge of the roller comes into contact with the tapered part of the tapered guide roller, and as it rises, the positional deviation is corrected, and when it is lifted up to the height of the delivery device, it is perfectly positioned at the normal position. Thereafter, the material is guided from both sides by the tapered guide roller and the guide device on the opposite side, and is supplied to a press device or the like by a delivery device. As described above, according to the sheet material supply device according to the present invention, since the sheet material can be accurately positioned and supplied to a press device or the like, a dedicated position correction device can be omitted. Moreover, since the position of the sheet material is corrected by using the lifting action of the lifting device, no special drive device is required for positioning, and therefore equipment costs can be significantly reduced. This is possible.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 2 is a frame, which constitutes the main body of the sheet material delivery device. This frame 2 incorporates a lifting device 4, guide devices 6, 8, and a delivery device 10. The sheet materials 12 to be supplied are stacked as shown by the double-dotted dots and conveyed below the sheet material supply device by the belt conveyor 14. Sheet material 12 carried in
is brought into contact with the lower part of the guide device 6 and stopped. The guide device 6 includes a vertical guide plate 16 that extends from directly above the conveyor 14 to slightly above the delivery device 10, and a plurality of rectangular notches 18 formed below the guide plate 16 each have a magnetic floater 20. is installed. This magnetic floater 20 is for slightly lifting each of the stacked sheet materials 12 to facilitate lifting by the lifting device 4. In addition, 21
is a positioning plate for determining the position of the front end of the sheet material 12 in the feeding direction.

The lifting device 4 includes vacuum cups 22 arranged in two rows of four vacuum cups. Vacuum cups 22 stick to the sheet material 12 simply by being pressed against it, and release the sheet material 12 when the valve is opened to communicate with the atmosphere. There is. The lifting rod 28 of each row is the second
As is clear from the figure, they are connected to each other by a connecting bar 30 at the upper end. In FIG. 1, the left lifting rod 28 is held movably up and down by a guide tube 32 fixed to the frame 2.
Each of the right lifting rods 28 is supported so as to be movable up and down by a guide tube 32 fixed to a movable beam 34 which is supported by the frame 2 so as to be movable in the horizontal direction. As is clear from FIG. 2, the movable beam 34 has rollers 38 rotatably held by bearings 36.
These rollers 38 run on rails 40 made of channel material. A rotating shaft (not shown) is disposed passing through the movable beam 34, and a pinion 42 is fixed to one end of the rotating shaft, and a pinion 42 and a handle 44 are fixed to the other end. Two pinions 46 are further rotatably attached to both ends of the movable beam 34, and these pinions 46 mesh with the pinion 42 and are connected to a rack fixed to the frame 2 via the rail 40. It meshes with 50. Therefore, when the handle 44 is rotated, the movable beam 34 is moved on the rail 40 by the action of the pinions 42, 46 and the rack 50, and is fixed to the rail 40 by the hand clamp device 51 at any position. be done.

Of the lifting rods 28 in each row, the two central ones are driven by a lifting drive device 52. The lifting drive device 52 includes an air cylinder 54 fixed to the frame 2, and the air cylinder 54 is connected to a rack 56 supported by the frame 2.
slide. A pinion 62 fixed to a spline shaft 60 rotatably supported by the frame 2 via a bearing 58 is meshed with the rack 56 . Further pinions 64 are mounted on the spline shaft 60 so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and these pinions 64 mesh with racks formed on the lifting rod 28. Therefore,
When air cylinder 54 is actuated, rack 56, spline shaft 60 and pinions 62, 64
The lifting rod 28 is raised and lowered via the shaft. As a result, the vacuum cup 22 attached to the lower end of the lifting rod 28 is also raised and lowered between a raised position slightly higher than the feeding device 10 shown in FIG.

The guide device 8 is also assembled to the movable beam 34. The guide device 8 includes four brackets 66 fixed to the side surfaces of the movable beam 34, and each bracket 66 supports two tapered guide rollers 6.
8 is held rotatably about a vertical axis.
Each tapered guide roller 68 consists of a tapered part whose diameter increases upward from the lower end, and a straight part whose maximum diameter part has the same diameter. The portion is held in a cantilevered manner by a bracket 66. These tapered guide rollers 68 are arranged in a plane parallel to the guide plate 16 of the guide device 6.
arranged in columns.

The delivery device 10 includes a magnetic carrier 72 and a sheet material drive 74. The magnetic carrier 72 attracts the sheet material 12 with magnetic force while movably supporting it with a large number of rollers 76. As is clear from FIG. It is located in Further, the sheet material driving device 74 includes a driving roller 82 driven by an electric motor 78 via a chain 80.
and an idle roller 84 that presses the sheet material 12 against this drive roller. A plurality of idle rollers 84 are rotatably supported by a shaft 86 disposed parallel to the drive roller 82, and are disposed at positions corresponding to each of the magnetic carriers 72. This shaft 86 is connected to a shaft 90 rotatably attached to the frame 2 by a bracket 88.
It is spanned between the tips of levers 92 and 94 fixed to both ends of the lever. In FIG. 1, the lever 94 on the left side is provided with an arm extending in the opposite direction from the arm on the side to which the shaft 86 is fixed, and an air cylinder is attached to the tip of this arm, as is clear from FIG. 96 piston rods are connected. Therefore, by this air cylinder 96, the lever 9
2, 94 indicates a position where the sheet material 12 is moved between a retracted position away from the ascending trajectory of the sheet material 12 as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. It is rotated between a narrowing working position and a narrowing working position. 98 is a guide device for the sheet material 12.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

A plurality of sheet materials 12 are stacked and transported to a sheet material supply device by a belt conveyor 14.
is stopped at the position where it contacts the guide plate 16. These sheet materials 12 are stacked with their positions in the width direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 1) substantially aligned, but their positions in the width direction are not exactly aligned. Therefore, whenever the stacked sheet materials 12 are brought into contact with the guide plate 16,
Sheet material 12 that is actually brought into contact with guide plate 16
The number of sheets 12 is small, and most of the sheet materials 12 are separated from the surface of the guide plate 16 and are stopped slightly to the right in FIG. 1 from their normal positions.
Note that this sheet material supply device is configured to be able to supply sheet materials of various sizes, and therefore,
Prior to the start of feeding, the hand clamp device 51 is released and the movable beam 34 is moved by rotating the handle 44, and the tapered guide roller 68 and vacuum cup 22 on the movable side are moved to suit the size of the sheet material to be fed. It is necessary to move it to the correct position and fix it. Incidentally, the position in the length direction (the feeding direction of the sheet material) is determined so that the leading edge contacts or approaches the positioning plate 21 shown in FIG. 2, regardless of the size. With the above steps, the preparation for supplying the sheet material is completed.

When feeding, the piston rod of the air cylinder 54 is first retracted, and the vacuum cup 22 attached to the lower end of each lifting rod 28 is lowered all the way, and the vacuum cup 22 is pressed against the upper surface of the uppermost sheet material 12 stacked. Then, the sheet material 12 is sucked. Subsequently, the piston rod of the air cylinder 54 is extended, and the sheet material 12 adsorbed to the vacuum cup 22 is lifted accordingly. If one side edge of the sheet material 12 to be lifted is in contact with the guide plate 16, the sheet material 12 remains as it is on the guide plate 16.
If the sheet material 1
If the position of 2 is offset to the right in FIG. 1, the offset in position is corrected by the tapered guide roller 68 during the lifting process. That is, the sheet material 12 that is attracted to the vacuum cup 22 and rises first passes through the tapered guide roller 6.
The sheet material 12 is moved to the left in FIG.
When the upper end of the tapered part is reached, the position in the width direction is corrected to the normal position, and then it is raised along the straight part of the tapered guide roller 68,
It is then held by the magnetic carrier 72. At this time, the valve of the vacuum cup 22 comes into contact with an opening member (not shown) and is opened, air flows in, and the vacuum cup 22 is separated from the sheet material 12.

Next, the piston rod of the air cylinder 96 is extended, and the idle roller 84 is moved from the retracted position to the active position. The idle roller 84 that has moved to the active position contacts the lower surface of the sheet material 12 held by the magnetic carrier 72 and presses this sheet material against the drive roller 82. As a result, the driving force of the drive roller 82 is transmitted to the sheet material 12, and the sheet material 12 is sent out toward the press device via the guide device 98. At this time, since the sheet material 12 is sent out with its widthwise position being regulated from both sides by the guide plate 16 and the tapered guide roller 68, there is no fear that the once corrected widthwise position will be deviated. Moreover, the taper guide roller 6
The sheet material 12 whose position has been corrected by 8 is sent out while being guided mainly by the tapered guide roller 68, but since the contact between the tapered guide roller 68 and the sheet material 12 is rolling contact. The sheet material can be fed out easily. After the sheet material 12 is sent out, the piston rod of the air cylinder 96 is contracted, the idle roller 84 is returned to the retracted position, and one cycle of sheet material supply is completed. Thereafter, the same operation is repeated and the sheet materials 12 are fed one by one.

In this embodiment, in order to guide the sheet material 12 in the width direction, guiding devices 6 and 8 are provided on both sides of the sheet material, as is clear from the above description.
Only one of the guide devices 8 is provided with a plurality of tapered guide rollers 68. As described above, most of the sheet material 12 that is conveyed by the belt conveyor 14 and stopped by contacting the guide plate 16 is slightly away from the guide plate 16, and the center position in the width direction is on the side of the guide device 8. Therefore, the object of the present invention can be almost completely achieved by providing the tapered guide roller 68 only on the guide device 8 side. However, it goes without saying that the guide device 6 side can also have a similar configuration to the guide device 8 side. That is, the upper part of the guide plate 16 is removed, and in its place a tapered guide roller is arranged so that the outer peripheral surface of the large diameter part is located slightly inside the inner surface of the guide plate 16. In this way, the sheet material fed out by the feeding device is guided by the guide rollers on both sides, so that feeding can be carried out more easily. Furthermore, as a suction means for lifting the sheet material, a magnetic chuck can be used in place of the vacuum cup, and the configuration of each part of the lifting device 4, guide devices 6 and 8, and delivery device 10 can also be changed. Of course, the present invention can be implemented with various improvements and modifications based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view (partially sectional) of a sheet material supplying device which is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the same device. 2: Frame, 4: Lifting device, 6, 8: Guide device, 10: Delivery device, 14: Belt conveyor, 1
6: Guide plate, 22: Vacuum cup, 28: Lifting rod, 34: Movable beam, 52: Lifting drive device,
66: Bracket, 68: Taper guide roller,
72: Magnetic carrier, 74: Sheet material drive device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A sheet material supply device that feeds sheet materials one by one to a press device, etc., and a lifting device that sucks and lifts the topmost sheet of a plurality of stacked sheets; a delivery device that receives the lifted sheet material and sends it out in a lateral direction; and a guide device that is disposed on both sides of the delivery device in the width direction to regulate the direction of movement of the sheet material; At least on one side,
A plurality of tapered guide rollers are rotatably supported around a substantially vertical axis by a support member and have a tapered portion whose diameter gradually increases from the bottom to the top. A sheet material supply device characterized in that the sheet material supply device is arranged in an array.