JP2572166B2 - Transfer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer apparatus for automatically transferring a workpiece, for example, a rocker arm, to each station and automatically performing a predetermined processing operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, it is desired that rocker arms for operating valves of an automobile engine be efficiently mass-produced. A transfer device in which machines are arranged in a line is used.

Incidentally, the rocker arm is provided with a slipper surface which is in contact with a cam portion provided on the camshaft, and this slipper surface is manufactured with high precision in order to achieve a high surface pressure and a high sliding speed. There is a need. In this case, in the conventional transfer device, since the rocker arm transported by the transport conveyor easily shifts in position on the transport conveyor, the rocker arm is transferred from the transport conveyor to a work mounting jig of various processing machines via a loader. There is a problem that the rocker arm cannot be transported reliably and with high accuracy. Therefore, in order to securely fix the rocker arm to the conveyor, provision of a clamp means has been considered.

[0004]

However, if the rocker arm is fixed on the conveyor by the clamping means, it takes a considerable amount of time to attach and detach the rocker arm, and in particular, a transfer apparatus having a plurality of work stations. Has pointed out a problem that efficient transfer processing cannot be achieved.

The present invention solves this kind of problem, and allows a work such as a rocker arm to be quickly and reliably exchanged between a conveyor and a work mounting jig at each station. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer device capable of efficiently performing transfer processing.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention moves horizontally through an actuator.
An endless chain member and the chain member
And the jig plate that is spaced apart by a constant interval, the switch
Are arranged on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the chain member and
Had a guide groove for guiding the jig plate
A side plate and a V extending horizontally on at least one side
Another side part provided with a groove and intersecting with said side part
A notch groove is formed in the jig plate so that it can be detached.
The pallet for holding the work to be held and the jig plate
At least on one side of the pallet and in front of the pallet
The pallet is engaged with the V-groove and the pallet is
Plunger to position and hold in at least one direction
The pallet is arranged corresponding to the work station
The pallet is engaged with the notch groove of
One side plate intersecting the longitudinal direction of the chain member and
A positioning mechanism for positioning in a direction to press the said
The pallet positioned in a horizontal position by the positioning mechanism
The work is separated from the work
It is held in a horizontal posture by the work mounting jig of the station.
First work exchange mechanism that can be exchanged for other works
The pallet from the jig plate and
A posture changing mechanism for converting the vertical position from a flat position, the
Remove the work from the pallet converted to the vertical position.
And mounting the work on the work station.
Replace with another work held in a vertical position by the jig.
And a second work exchange mechanism , wherein the pallet comprises:
One of the set of holes provided in the workpiece, one of the holes
Inserting and pressing the inner wall surface of the one hole
Only a first positioning pin having a stopper means for preventing, other
Into the hole and the first and
Permit the chuck part provided in the second work exchange mechanism to enter.
A second positioning pin having a slot formed therein,
Engage with the positioning pin of the opening / closing claw provided in the attitude conversion mechanism
And having a hole for the.

[0007]

In the transfer apparatus according to the present invention, the positioning pins provided on the pallet on the conveyor are inserted into the holes of the work, and the work is positioned and held on the pallet. It is conveyed integrally with the conveyor corresponding to a predetermined station. Here, when the chuck portion that constitutes the work exchange mechanism is inserted into the hole of the work and the inner wall surface of the hole is pressed and held, the work exchange mechanism detaches the work from the pallet and moves to a predetermined station. The work is moved to the work mounting jig side and replaced with another work held by the work mounting jig. For this reason, a clamping means for fixing the work to the transport conveyor becomes unnecessary, and the work exchanging operation can be quickly performed.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A transfer device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a transfer device according to the present embodiment. The transfer device 10 includes a conveyor 12 and positioning pins 20 and 22 that are inserted into a pair of holes 16 and 18 provided in a rocker arm (work) 14 to position and hold the rocker arm 14. The conveyor 1
A pallet 24 arranged in a horizontal position on the pallet 2 and conveyed between the first station S1 to the third station S3;
The pallet 24 has a chuck portion 26 inserted into the hole portion 16 of the rocker arm 14 to press and hold the inner wall surface of the hole portion 16. The swing loaders 30 and 32 and the reversing loader 34, which are work exchange mechanisms that can be exchanged with the other rocker arms 14 held by the work attachment jigs 28a to 28c in S3 (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

The conveyor 12 includes a rotary drive source 36.
And a chain 42 is engaged with the first sprocket 38 and the second sprocket 40 connected to the rotary drive source 36. As shown in FIG. 3, the chain 42 includes a plurality of base members 44 and rollers 46 connecting the base members 44,
A jig plate 48 is mounted on each base member 44. The jig plate 48 has a U-shaped cross section by bending both ends in the transport direction (the direction of the arrow A), and includes stopper means 50 having a coil spring C and a plunger P at each bent portion.
Is installed.

As shown in FIG. 4, on both sides of the chain 42, a jig plate 48 is
A pair of guide plates 52a and 52b for guiding the
Below, a guide rail 54 for holding each roller 46 is provided. The guide plate 52a has positioning mechanisms 56 at positions corresponding to the stations S1 and S2.
Is attached. The positioning mechanism 56 includes a cylinder 58
And a positioning member 62 having a protruding distal end is fixed to a rod 60 extending from the cylinder 58.

As shown in FIG. 5, a reference point F is provided at the end of the pallet 24, and a predetermined distance L from the reference point F corresponding to the shape (curvature or the like) of the slipper surface M of the rocker arm 14. The positioning pins 22 are provided only apart from each other.
The positioning pin 22 is provided with a stopper means 23 having a coil spring C and a plunger P for pressing the inner wall surface of the hole 18 of the rocker arm 14 to fix the rocker arm 14. This palette 2
V-grooves 25 are formed on both end surfaces in the conveying direction of No. 4 and
A pair of holes 64 and 66 are formed on both end surfaces intersecting the V-groove 25, respectively.
A U-shaped notch groove 68 is formed.

The turning loader 30 disposed in the first station S1 has a turntable 72 connected to a rotary drive source 70, and the chuck portions 26 are provided on both sides of the turntable 72, respectively.
Is attached. The chuck portion 26 is a known parallel opening / closing chuck, and has a set of claw members 76 that open and close with each other by movement of two pistons arranged coaxially. This first station S
1, a grinding machine 80 for grinding the slipper surface M of the rocker arm 14 held by the vertical swing unit 79 constituting the work mounting jig 28a is provided. The grinding machine 80 includes actuators 82a, 82
A grinding unit 84 that is movable in the direction of arrow A and the direction of arrow B intersecting the direction b is provided, and a grinding wheel 88 connected to a rotary drive source 86 is rotatably mounted on the grinding unit 84.

The turning loader 32 arranged at the second station S2 has the same configuration as the turning loader 30 described above, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the second station S2, an inspection machine 90 for inspecting the grinding state of the rocker arm 14 is arranged.
Is a dial gauge (shown in the drawing) for engaging with the slipper surface M of the rocker arm 14 and measuring the distance between the slipper surface M and the center of the hole 16 to inspect the grinding state of the slipper surface M. ).

At the third station S3, there is provided a posture conversion unit 92 for separating the pallet 24 on the conveyor 12 from the jig plate 48 and converting the pallet 24 from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture. As shown in FIG. 6, the posture changing unit 92 includes a mounting member 94 fixed to the guide plate 52a side, and a pair of guide rails 96a and 96b are fixed to the mounting member 94, and the guide rail 96a , 96b, a movable table 98 is provided via a cylinder 100 so as to be able to advance and retreat in the direction of arrow A.
The movable platform 98 is connected to the lift platform 10 via a cylinder 102.
4 is mounted so as to be able to move up and down, and one end side of a swinging member 110 is fixed to a rod 108 that extends in the horizontal direction from a rotary drive source 106 fixed to the elevator 104. A pair of open / close claws 114a and 114b that can be opened and closed via a cylinder 112 are provided on the other end side of the swing member 110. The open / close claws 114a and 114b each have a pallet 24 on the inner wall facing each other. Pair of holes 64, 66
A pair of positioning pins 116, 11 which can be inserted into
8 are provided.

The reversing loader 34 arranged in the third station S3 is a horizontal type of the revolving loader 30 described above, and has a main body 120 which can move forward and backward in the direction of arrow A as shown in FIG. A rotary table 124 connected to a rotary drive source 122 is mounted on the main body 120, and the chuck sections 1 are provided on both sides of the rotary table 124, respectively.
26 is mounted. The work mounting jig 28c opposed to the chuck portion 126 includes a clamp member 128 capable of fixing the rocker arm 14 in an upright state, and holds the rocker arm 14 via a drive mechanism 130 so as to be vertically swingable. I do. The driving mechanism 130 includes a swing arm 1 connected to a rotation shaft (not shown) of a rotation drive source 132.
34, and the end of the swing arm 134 is engaged with the work mounting jig 28c.

At the third station S3, a horizontal oscillating grinder 136 for superfinishing the slipper surface M of the rocker arm 14 held by the work mounting jig 28c.
Is arranged. The horizontal swing grinding machine 136 includes a swing unit 138 that can swing horizontally, and a relatively soft grindstone 140 is mounted on the swing unit 138 (see FIG. 2).

Next, the operation of the transfer apparatus 10 configured as described above will be described.

First, a desired pallet 24 is prepared corresponding to the type of the rocker arm 14, and this pallet 24 is
Each jig plate 48 is fixed via stopper means 50. The rocker arm 14 is held on the pallet 24 on the upstream side in the transport direction (the direction of the arrow A). Here, while the positioning pins 20 and 22 of the pallet 24 are inserted into the holes 16 and 18 of the rocker arm 14,
The rocker arm 14 is positioned and fixed on a pallet 24 via stopper means 23 provided on the positioning pin 22.

The rotary drive source 3 constituting the conveyor 12
6, the first and second sprockets 38, 40
, The pallet 24 mounted on each jig plate 48 of the chain 42 starts moving in the direction of arrow A. At this time, the jig plate 48
Are guided by a pair of guide plates 52a and 52b, and each roller 46 of the chain 42 is
The pallet 24 can be transported accurately without causing the chain 42 to be loosened.

When the pallet 24 reaches the first station S1, the rotary drive source 36 is deenergized, and the cylinder 58 constituting the positioning mechanism 56 disposed corresponding to the first station S1 is driven. You. Therefore, the rod 60 projects toward the pallet 24, and the positioning member 62 provided on the rod 60 engages with the notch groove 68 of the pallet 24, thereby positioning the pallet 24 in the direction of arrow A. At that time, this pallet 24
Is pressed by the guide plate 52b to perform positioning in the direction of the arrow B intersecting the direction of the arrow A, and the rocker arm 14 is accurately arranged with respect to the first station S1.

Next, the turntable 72 is rotated under the driving action of a rotary drive source 70 constituting the swing loader 30, and one of the chuck portions 26 is moved to the rocker arm 14 on the pallet 24.
When the chuck unit 26 is disposed above the chuck unit 26, the chuck unit 26 is lowered, and a pair of claw members 76 are inserted into the hole 1 of the rocker arm 14.
6 to be inserted. Then, one piston (not shown) is moved, and a pair of claw members 76 are moved in a direction away from each other and in a slitting direction of the positioning pin 20 to press and hold the inner wall surface of the hole 16 of the rocker arm 14. .

In this state, when the chuck portion 26 is raised integrally with the rocker arm 14, the rocker arm 14 is taken out of the pallet 24 against the stopper means 23 of the positioning pin 22. Here, the chuck part 2
It is preferable that a locking pin or the like that is inserted into the hole portion 18 of the rocker arm 14 to prevent the rocker arm 14 from being displaced is provided in 6. The turntable 72 is turned via the rotation drive source 70, and the rocker arm 14 held on the pallet 24 is carried into the work mounting jig 28a side, and is held by the work mounting jig 28a and the grinding machine 80 is held. Rocker arm 14 after the grinding process by
It is held on the other chuck 26 and transported onto the pallet 24.

After the rocker arm 14 is mounted on the vertical swinging unit 79 constituting the work mounting jig 28a, the grinding unit 84 constituting the grinding machine 80 is moved through the actuators 82a and 82b in the directions indicated by arrows A and A. The grinding wheel 88 is rotated under the action of the rotary drive source 86 while moving in the direction of arrow B. For this reason, the vertical swing unit 79
Grinding is performed on the slipper surface M of the rocker arm 14 which is held and swings.

The rocker arm 14, which has been subjected to the predetermined grinding at the first station S 1,
After being held on the pallet 24 via the pallet 24, when another rocker arm 14 is being ground at the first station S1, the second pallet 24 is conveyed integrally with the pallet 24 in the direction of arrow A and It is carried into the station S2. In the second station S2, similarly, the positioning mechanism 56
The rocker arm 14 positioned via the swing loader 32 is conveyed to the work mounting jig 28b while being held by the turning loader 32, while the other rocker arm 14 held by the work mounting jig 28b is 32
Are simultaneously moved to the pallet 24 side.

In the second station S2, a dial gauge (not shown) constituting the inspection machine 90 is mounted on the rocker arm 14 held by the work mounting jig 28b.
Is engaged with the slipper surface M of the
Measure the distance from the center. As a result, if the distance is within the allowable range, it is determined that the grinding of the rocker arm 14 is good, and the process proceeds to the next step, that is, the third station S3.

At the third station S 3, the open / close claws 114 a and 114 b constituting the posture changing unit 92 are on standby on the conveyor 12 in an open state. This third
The pallet 24 carried into the station S3 is stopped between the open / close claws 114a and 114b, and the open / close claws 114a and 114b are displaced close to each other under the action of the cylinder 112. Therefore, the positioning pins 116 and 118 provided on the inner walls of the opening and closing claws 114a and 114b are inserted into the holes 64 and 66 formed on both sides of the pallet 24, and the pallet 24 is positioned and held.

Next, the lifting platform 1 is moved through the cylinder 102.
04 is raised to a predetermined height position,
a, the rocker arm 14 held by the 114b,
It separates from the pallet 24 and moves upward. Further, the rotation drive source 106 is driven to rotate the rod 108 and the swing member 11.
0 is integrally rotated by 90 °, and the cylinder 112 side is disposed above. Therefore, the pallet 24 is placed in the vertical position while holding the rocker arm 14, and in this state,
The movable table 98 moves toward the reversing loader 34 under the action of the cylinder 100 and stops under the action of the pair of guide rails 96a and 96b.

Then, the main body 120 constituting the reversing loader 34 moves in the direction of arrow A, and one of the chucks 126 provided on the main body 120 is locked by the rocker held by the pallet 24 in the vertical posture. The inner wall surface of the hole 16 of the arm 14 is held. After moving in a direction away from the pallet 24 integrally with the main body 120, the chuck 126 is turned 180 ° with the turntable 124 via the rotary drive source 122, and is arranged on the work mounting jig 28 c. At this time, the other rocker arm 1 that has been super-finished and held by the work mounting jig 28c.
4 is another chuck unit 1 provided on the turntable 124.
It is mounted on a pallet 24 held in a standing position above the conveyor 12 via 26.

After the rocker arm 14 is fixed to the work mounting jig 28c via the clamp member 128,
The swing arm 134 swings under the action of a rotary drive source 132 constituting the drive mechanism 130, and the work mounting jig 28c engaged with the swing arm 134 swings vertically. In synchronization with this, the swing unit 138 constituting the horizontal swing grinding machine 136 moves forward and backward integrally with the grindstone 140 in the horizontal direction. As a result, the slipper surface M of the rocker arm 14 is subjected to superfinishing through the relatively soft grindstone 140.

The rocker arm 14, which has been subjected to the superfinishing at the third station S3, is conveyed to the pallet 24 in the upright position via the reversing loader 34, and
4 is held. Next, after the movable base 98 constituting the posture changing unit 92 moves in the direction of arrow A via the cylinder 100, the swing member 110 swings in the direction opposite to the above under the driving action of the rotary drive source 106. Open / close claw 114 due to dynamic displacement
a, 114b are arranged in a horizontal posture. Further, the lift 104 is lowered by the action of the cylinder 102, and the
Rocker arm 14 held by 4a, 114b
Are arranged on a jig plate 48 on the conveyor 12. Here, the cylinder 112 is driven to open and close the claw 114.
a, 114b are displaced away from each other, and the positioning pins 11 provided on the open / close claws 114a, 114b are displaced.
6 and 118 are separated from the holes 64 and 66 formed on both sides of the pallet 24 to hold the pallet 24 on the jig plate 48.

The jig plate 48 includes the rocker arm 14.
Is moved in the direction of the arrow A under the driving action of the conveyor 12 to transport the rocker arm 14 to the next work station or the like.

In this case, in this embodiment, the rocker arm 14 is inserted into the pallet 24 by inserting the positioning pins 20 and 22 of the pallet 24 into a pair of holes 16 and 18 provided in the rocker arm 14. It is configured to be positioned and held with respect to. For this reason, the pawl member 76 of one chuck portion 26 constituting the turning loader 30
Is inserted into the hole 16 provided in the rocker arm 14 on the pallet 24 and opened, whereby the rocker arm 14 can be easily and quickly taken out from the pallet 24.

Accordingly, the rocker arm 14 is moved to the pallet 2
As compared with the case where a conventional clamping means is provided for fixing the rocker arm 4, the operation of attaching and detaching the rocker arm 14 to and from the pallet 24 can be performed in a short time. At this time, since the stopper pin 23 including the coil spring C and the plunger P is provided on the positioning pin 22 of the pallet 24, the rocker arm 14 can be securely fixed by the pallet 24. In addition, since the pallet 24 is left on the jig plate 48 constituting the conveyor 12, the turning loader 30,
32 and the reversing loader 34 can be effectively miniaturized.

Thus, each of the stations S1 to S1
3, an advantage is obtained in that the delivery operation of the rocker arm 14 between the pallet 24 and the work mounting jigs 28a to 28c is easily and efficiently performed.

Further, when the type of the rocker arm 14 is different, it can be easily coped with simply by mounting the pallet 24 corresponding to the shape of the rocker arm 14 on the jig plate 48. That is, as shown in FIG.
Pallets 24a to 24c are prepared according to different types of rocker arms 14a to 14c. The pallets 24a to 24c are provided with a reference point F at the same position. The distances L1 to L3 from the reference point F to the positioning pins 22 are determined by the shape (curvature) of the slipper surface M of each rocker arm 14a to 14c. Etc.).

As described above, since the positions of the reference points F of the pallets 24a to 24c are always the same, the turning loader 3
0, 32 and the shift of the reversing loader 34 become unnecessary,
There is an effect that it is possible to efficiently cope with using different rocker arms 14.

[0038]

According to the transfer device of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The positioning pin provided on the pallet on the conveyor is inserted into the hole of the work, and the work is positioned and held with respect to the pallet. Therefore, the work is fixed to the conveyor by clamp means. The work of attaching and detaching the work is performed quickly at a stroke as compared with the work. Therefore, the work can be easily held by the chuck portion constituting the work exchange mechanism, and the work exchange work between the pallet and each station can be efficiently performed through the work exchange mechanism. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view of a main part of a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the transfer device.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a pallet and a jig plate.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a transport conveyor constituting the transfer device.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the pallet and the rocker arm.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory perspective view of a posture conversion unit constituting the transfer device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory plan view of various rocker arms and pallets corresponding thereto.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Transfer apparatus 12 ... Conveyer 14 ... Rocker arm 16,18 ... Hole 20,22 ... Positioning pin 23 ... Stopper 24 ... Pallet 26 ... Chuck 28a-28c ... Work mounting jig 30, 32 ... Rotating loader 34 ... reversing loader 42 ... chain 48 ... jig plate 56 ... positioning mechanism 64, 66 ... hole 68 ... notch groove 76 ... claw member 80 ... grinding machine 92 ... attitude conversion unit 114a, 114b ... opening and closing claw 136 ... horizontal swing grinding Machine

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Keiichi Yamada 1-10-1 Shinsayama, Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture Honda Engineering Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-123653 (JP, A) JP-A-63 229241 (JP, A) JP-A-61-19533 (JP, A) JP-A-62-287953 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An engine which moves horizontally via an actuator.
A dress-like chain member, and a jig provided at predetermined intervals on the chain member.
Component plate, and arranged on both longitudinal sides of the chain member.
A guide groove for guiding the jig plate to the upper end
And a V-groove extending horizontally in at least one side.
And a notch groove on the other side that intersects the side
Part is formed and is detachably held by the jig plate.
A work holding pallet , provided on at least one side of the jig plate,
The pallet is engaged with the V groove of the pallet and
Plunger for positioning and holding in the longitudinal direction of the chain member
And at least one work station
And engaging the notch groove of the pallet.
Crossing the pallet in the longitudinal direction of the chain member
And a position for positioning in a direction in which one of the side plates is pressed.
The positioning mechanism , and the positioning mechanism is positioned in a horizontal posture
Release the work from the pallet and remove the work
Hold it horizontally on the work mounting jig of the industrial station.
First work changer that can be exchanged for other works
The pallet is separated from the jig plate and the pallet is horizontal.
An attitude conversion mechanism for converting the force to a vertical attitude, and separating the workpiece from the pallet converted to the vertical attitude.
And remove the work from the work station.
With other workpieces held in a vertical position by the mounting jig.
A second work exchange mechanism that is exchangeable , wherein the pallet is provided with a pair of holes provided in the work.
Medium, inserted into one hole and inside the one hole
No. 1 with stopper means for retaining the wall surface
The positioning pin is inserted into the other hole and the first and
And the chuck part provided in the second workpiece exchange mechanism
A second positioning pin that slit tolerated is formed, a positioning pin of the closing pawl provided in the posture changing mechanism
Transfer apparatus characterized by having a hole portion to be engaged.