JPS6315209B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention grasps work pieces such as bearing assemblies sent through a predetermined manufacturing process one by one, transports them to a work storage position, and further stores them in multiple rows and stages at that position. This invention relates to a workpiece stacking device that stacks and aligns workpieces.

In one transport, the workpieces B, which have been sent to the workpiece chuck position a through a predetermined manufacturing process as shown in Fig. A workpiece stacking device for stacking and aligning workpieces in tiers has a finger body f having a finger e for a workchuck at the tip thereof, which can be slid horizontally on a guide rail d constructed between a workchuck position a and a work storage position c. , and has a structure that allows it to be raised and lowered in the vertical direction.

Then, the workpiece b conveyed to the workpiece chuck position a is chucked with the finger e of the finger body f, and after rising at that position, the finger body f is slid on the guide rail d to the top of the workpiece storage position c. Workpiece b is transported. In this state, the finger body f is lowered to place the workpiece b being chucked by the finger e of the finger body f at the workpiece storage position c.

By the way, when the above-mentioned apparatus stacks and aligns the workpieces b in multiple rows and stages at the workpiece storage position c, the position of the lowered position of the finger body f is detected by the following method.

That is, a plurality of micro switches corresponding to the number of stages when stacking workpieces b are installed in the machine frame, and a dog corresponding to the microswitch is provided on the finger body f, and when stacking workpieces b. The lowering of the finger body was stopped when the micro switch corresponding to each stage outputs an output.

However, if the above method is used to control the lowering stop position of the finger body f when stacking workpieces b, the electrical control mechanism becomes very complicated, and at the same time, the type of workpieces b to be stacked changes. , when the thickness of workpiece b changes, or when workpiece b
When the number of stacked stages changes, the mounting position of the dog and the mounting position of many micro switches must be changed each time to match the workpiece B, which makes setup work very frequent and has poor work efficiency. There were some drawbacks.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a workpiece stacking device that can easily control the position of the downward stop end of the finger body when stacking workpieces using the finger body. The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the workpiece stacking apparatus according to the present invention, in which reference numeral 1 denotes a slider body that reciprocates between a workpiece chuck position a and a workpiece storage position c. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, this slider body 1 is fitted with a guide rod 3 installed between a work chuck position a and a work storage position c in a frame 2 via a ball bush 4. It is supported by a guide rod 3 so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction. The slider body 1 is connected to a piston yoke 6 that is connected to a piston 51 of a rodless cylinder 5 disposed above the guide rod 3, and is moved within the cylinder barrel 52 of the rodless cylinder 5 by air pressure. The piston 51 reciprocates between the work chuck position a and the work storage position c in conjunction with the movement of the piston 51.

7 is a ball spline that is rotatably mounted through a bearing 8 in an opening provided in the slider body 1; 9 is a spline shaft that is spline-fitted with the ball spline 7; The two are spline-fitted over the entire length of the movement stroke of the slider body. 10 is ball spline 7
The pinion 11 screwed onto the pinion 10 is a rack that meshes with the pinion 10. This rack 11 is fitted with a rotation preventing member 12 fixed to the side of the slider body 1 via a ball bushing, and the pinion 1
0, it moves up and down while being guided by the rotation stopper member 12.

13 is the finger body mounting plate 14 on the rack 11.
A plurality of fingers 15 are attached to the lower part of the finger body 13 for chucking the workpiece b. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of the finger body 13, in which 16 is a cylinder chamber formed in the finger body 13, 17 is a piston housed in the cylinder chamber 16, and 18 is connected to the piston 17 at its rear end. The rod 18 has a spherical cone 18a formed at its tip. 19 is a finger opening spring for pressing the piston 17 upward; 15 is a finger rotatably attached to the lower part of the finger body 13 via a pin 20; a tapered surface 15a formed at the upper end of this finger 15; , the spherical cone 1 of the rod 18 is activated by the chuck spring 21 housed in the finger body 13.
It is in pressure contact with 8a. Incidentally, a plurality of fingers 15, for example three fingers, are attached to the lower part of the finger main body 13 at equidistant positions on the circumference.

When the fluid is not pressurized into the cylinder chamber 16, the piston 1 connected to the rod 18
7 is pushed upward by the elastic force of the finger opening spring 19, and the spherical cone 18 at the tip of the rod 18
Since point a is located above the tapered surface 15a formed on the finger 15, the finger 15 is rotated outward by the elastic force of the chuck spring 21, and the finger 15 is in an open state. Also, the cylinder chamber 16
When fluid is pressurized into the piston 17, the piston 17 moves downward against the elastic force of the finger opening spring 19, and the spherical cone 18a at the tip of the rod 18 comes into contact with the lower part of the tapered surface 15a formed on the finger 15. Therefore, finger 15 is connected to chuck spring 2.
Finger 1 rotates inward against the elastic force of Finger 1.
5 is in a closed state.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a driven rotating arm fixed to the shaft end of the spline shaft 9 described above, and a cam follower 23 that comes into contact with a side surface 24b of a driving rotating arm 24, which will be described later, is attached to the tip of this driven rotating arm 22. be. 24 is a driving rotating arm for rotating the driven rotating arm 22; 24 is a rotary actuator for rotating the driving rotating arm 24; a notch formed at the tip of the driving rotating arm 24; As shown in FIG. 6, the side surface 24b of 24a is in contact with the cam follower 23 attached to the above-mentioned driven rotating arm 22.
When the rotary actuator 25 is driven to rotate the drive swing arm 24 counterclockwise in FIG. 6, the driven swing arm 22 is in contact with the drive swing arm 24 via the cam follower 23 The driven rotating arm 2 also rotates counterclockwise.
The spline shaft 9 connected to 2 also rotates counterclockwise. Therefore, the ball spline 7 that is spline-fitted to the spline shaft 9 also rotates counterclockwise, and the pinion 10 screwed to the ball spline 7 also rotates counterclockwise. Therefore, the rack 11 meshing with the pinion 10 moves upward, and the finger body 13 fixed to the rack 11 via the finger body mounting plate 14 also rises.
Further, when the rotary actuator 25 is turned clockwise and the drive turning arm 24 is turned clockwise, the following occurs. That is, the rack 1 is connected to the driven rotating arm 22 via the spline shaft 9, the ball spline 7, and the pinion 10.
1, a downward gravitational force is always acting on the finger body 13 due to its own weight, and a clockwise rotational force is always acting on the driven swing arm 22, which is connected to the rack 11 through the above-mentioned members. There is. Therefore, when the driving rotating arm 24 is rotated clockwise, the driven rotating arm 22, which is in contact with the side surface 24b of the driving rotating arm 24 via the cam follower 23, moves at the rotation speed of the driving rotating arm 24. The finger main body 13, which is fixed to the rack 11, will be lowered by its own weight. Note that the rotation angle θ of the rotary actuator 25 is the same as that of the drive rotation arm 2.
The side surface 24b of the notch 24a provided in the cutout 24a is set in a range where the side surface 24b always comes into contact with the cam follower 23 attached to the driven rotating arm 22, that is, within a range not exceeding 180 degrees. Also, within this turning angle range, pinion 1
The gear ratio is set so that the rack 11 in mesh with the rack 11 can move up and down with a predetermined movement stroke.

26 is when the finger body 13, which is held on the slider body 1 via the rack 11 and the finger body mounting plate 14, moves horizontally together with the slider body 1 while being guided by the guide rod 3, and is located above the work chuck position a. The limit switches 27, 27... are limit switches for detecting the position when the finger body 13 is located above the work storage position c. A plurality of them are provided corresponding to the stacking rows of the workpieces b stacked in a plurality of rows. 2
8, 29 are cam type dogs attached near the shaft end of the spline shaft 9, 30, 31 are cam type dogs 28, 2
These cam type dogs 28, 29 and limit switches 30, 31 regulate the rotation angle of the spline shaft 9, that is, the rotation angle of the rotary actuator 25, within a predetermined angle. .

In the above configuration, in order to transport the work b sent to the work chuck position a by the work stacking device according to the present invention to the work storage position c, and stack it in multiple rows and stages at that position, First, the rodless cylinder 5 is driven to move the slider body 1 horizontally to the left in FIG. to be located. In this state, when the rotary actuator 25 is driven to rotate the driving swing arm 24 clockwise in FIG.
The driven rotating arm 22, to which a clockwise rotational force is constantly applied through () while being prevented from rotating clockwise. Therefore, the finger body 13, which is attached to the rack 11 meshing with the pinion 10 via the finger body mounting plate 14, is placed at the lowest position in a state where its free downward movement is controlled at the rotational speed of the rotary actuator 25. The finger 15 attached to the lower part of the finger body 13 is located on the outer periphery of the workpiece b. Next, for example, fluid is forced into the cylinder chamber 16 of the finger main body 15 in response to a downward movement completion signal from the limit switches 30 and 28, and the piston 17 is lowered against the elastic force of the finger opening spring 19.
By moving the rod 18 downward, the finger 15 is closed and the workpiece b is chucked with the finger 15. Next, the rotary actuator 25 is rotated counterclockwise to rotate the driving rotating arm 24 counterclockwise, and the driving rotating arm 24, the driven rotating arm 22, the spline shaft 9, the ball spline 7, By raising the rack 11 connected via the pinion 10, the finger body 13 that has chucked the workpiece b is raised to the top. Next, the rodless cylinder 5 is driven to horizontally move the slider body 1 to the right, and the workpiece b chucked by the finger body 13 is positioned above the workpiece storage position c.

In this way, when the workpiece b is positioned above the workpiece storage position c, the rotary actuator 25 is rotated clockwise in this state, and the driving swing arm 24 is rotated clockwise. Then, the finger main body 13 with the workpiece b chucked at its lower part starts to descend under its own weight while its free downward movement is restricted by the rotational speed of the rotary actuator 25, as described above. At this time,
If there is no workpiece B at workpiece storage position c, the finger body 13 descends to the lowest position,
The workpiece b chucked to the lower part of the finger body 13 is placed on the workpiece storage position c. or,
When the workpieces B are already stacked in several stages at the workpiece storage position c, the finger body 13
The workpiece b chucked to the bottom of the finger body 13 continues to descend under its own weight until it contacts the upper surface of the topmost workpiece b stacked at the work storage position c, and the workpiece b chucked to the finger body 13 moves to the topmost workpiece b. When it comes into contact with the upper surface of the finger body 13, the lowering of the finger body 13 naturally stops. And finger body 1
The clockwise rotation of the pinion 10, ball spline 7, spline shaft 9, and driven swing arm 22 connected to the rack 11 holding the rotary actuator 3 also stops naturally.
Only the driving pivot arm 24 directly connected to the drive pivot arm 24 pivots clockwise until a predetermined angle is reached. Note that the side surface 24b of the notch 24a provided in the driving rotating arm 24 is connected to the driven rotating arm 22.
After the rotation in the clockwise direction has naturally stopped, it will be separated from the cam follower 23 attached to the driven rotating arm 22.

In this way, when the downward movement of the work b to the work storage position is completed, the downward movement signal from the limit switches 31 and 29 stops the pressure feeding of the fluid to the cylinder chamber 16 of the finger body 15, and the finger opening movement spring 19 The piston 17 is raised by the elastic force of , and the rod 18 is moved upward to open the finger 15 and release the chuck on the workpiece b. After that, the rotary actuator 25 is rotated counterclockwise again to rotate the driving rotating arm 22 counterclockwise, and the side surface 2 of the notch 22a formed in the driving rotating arm 22 is rotated.
2b is brought into contact with the cam follower 23 attached to the driven rotating arm 22 again, and the driven rotating arm 22
By rotating the finger body 15 counterclockwise, the finger body 15 is raised to the uppermost end. After that, the rodless cylinder 5 is driven to move the slider body 1 horizontally to the left, and the slider body 1 is moved horizontally to the left.
The finger body 13 held via the rack 11 and the finger body mounting plate 14 is positioned above the workpiece chuck position a, and by repeating the above operations, the workpiece b is moved to the workpiece storage position c.
A predetermined number of stages are stacked on the board.

In addition, when stacking multiple rows of workpieces B at the workpiece storage position c, the position control for determining in which row the workpieces B checked by the finger body 13 are to be stacked is controlled by a pre-installed machine corresponding to the workpiece stacking rows. It may be controlled using the limit switches 27, 27, . . .

As explained above, the workpiece stacking device according to the present invention stacks the workpieces supplied to the workpiece chuck position using the finger body which is movably held up and down by the slider body which reciprocates between the workchuck position and the workpiece storage position. When transporting the workpieces above the work storage position and then lowering the finger body to stack the workpieces at the work storage position, the finger body is not forcibly lowered, but is lowered by its own weight, and the finger body The structure is such that the lowering of the finger body naturally stops when the chucked workpiece comes into contact with the top surface of the workpiece that has already been transported in the previous process, so the position of the lowering position of the finger body when stacking workpieces can be adjusted. Detection (stopping height detection for stopping descending motion) is no longer required. The structure of the entire device for this purpose, especially the electrical control mechanism, has become extremely simple, and at the same time, it can be used when the type of workpieces to be stacked changes, the wall thickness of the workpieces changes, or the number of stacked workpieces changes. There is no need to adjust the lowering position of the finger body even in cases where the finger body is lowered, and work efficiency is greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the outline of the workpiece stacking device;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the workpiece stacking device according to the present invention, FIGS. 3 and 4 are partial sectional views showing the structure of the slider body, FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing the internal structure of the finger body, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 3. a...Work chuck position, b...Work, c
...Work storage position, 1...Slider body, 3...Guide rod, 5...Rotless cylinder, 7...Ball spline, 9...Spline shaft, 10...Pinion, 11...Rack, 13...
...Finger body, 15...Finger, 22...
...Swivel arm for driven, 23...Cam follower, 2
4... Drive swing arm, 25... Rotary actuator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A guide rod installed between a work chuck position and a work storage position, a slider body that is slidable in the horizontal direction along the guide rod and rotatably supports a ball spline having a pinion on an end surface, and a slider. a finger body which is supported by the body so as to be able to rise and fall and is provided with a rack that engages with the pinion and has a finger for a work chuck at the lower end; a spline shaft which is provided parallel to the guide rod and passes through the ball spline of the slider body; , a driven rotating arm attached to the shaft end of the spline shaft and a driving rotating arm that contacts on one side via a cam follower, etc., are rotated over a predetermined range, and only the upward movement of the finger body is controlled by the driving rotating arm. and a drive means such as a rotary actuator forcibly moving the finger body through a spline shaft or the like, and the downward movement of the finger body is caused by its own weight. .