JP2932899B2 - Crucible supply 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 crucible supply device for supplying a small crucible containing a large number of raw materials to a melting furnace, and more particularly to a crucible supply device suitable for supplying a crucible by a robot operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when producing relatively small ingots, generally, crucibles containing raw materials have been supplied manually to a melting furnace one by one.

[0003] More efficient methods of melting and casting include:
As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-305359, a method of continuously melting using a high-frequency coil arranged in a C-shape has been proposed. According to this method, when the notch of the high-frequency coil provided on the rotating crucible turntable comes to the supply position, the crucible gripped by the robot is supplied to the crucible turntable, and then the crucible turntable rotates for a certain period of time. The metal in the crucible is melted by heating with the coil, and when the notch of the high-frequency coil comes to the discharge position,
The crucible containing the molten metal was taken out of the crucible turntable.

[0004]

However, in the conventional method described above, the processing of each crucible is restricted by the rotation time of the crucible turntable, and therefore, there is a problem that the control of the entire casting apparatus is hindered. there were.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a crucible supply apparatus having a structure in which a robot can easily hold a large number of crucibles without being restricted by time when the crucible is supplied by operating the robot.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a gantry, a pair of upright side plates slidably provided on the gantry, and a horizontal portion of the side plate. It has a crucible receiving plate mounted thereon, a crucible regulating plate which is mounted immediately above the crucible receiving plate and has an opening having a diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the crucible, and an air cylinder which moves the side plate forward and backward. The present invention employs a crucible supply device characterized by the following.

[0007]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are a front view, a plan view, and a left side view, respectively, of a crucible supply device of the present invention.
1 to 3, side plates 1 and 2 are stepped plates that stand upright at regular intervals, and a plurality of rectangular crucible receiving plates 3, 4, 5,
6 is placed. On the upper surface of each of the crucible receiving plates, crucible restricting plates 8, 9, 10,.
11 are provided. Side plates 1, 2 on both sides
Are configured to be able to advance and retreat from the gantry along the slide rail by the air cylinder 14 (left and right directions in FIG. 1).

A robot (not shown) for clamping and transferring a crucible is usually provided with a safety fence around the robot arm (not shown) so that an operator or the like does not enter the operating range of the robot arm. In the crucible supply device of the present invention, the gantry is arranged such that the end of the crucible regulating plate 11, that is, the left end of the cradle of the crucible supply device is located at the position of the safety fence. Therefore, since the crucible control plate 11 and the like are advanced forward by the air cylinder 14 along the slide rails 12 and 13, no special mount is required in the safety fence, and the mount is in the robot's operating range. Since it is outside, it does not affect the operation of the robot arm.

Since the crucible is returned to the previous position after casting the molten metal, the crucible receiving plate may be subjected to thermal distortion. When the crucible receiving plate receives thermal strain, it is deformed, and as a result, the crucible may be inclined, the robot may not be able to pinch the crucible accurately, or the crucible may not be set at the center of the melting furnace. In order to solve this, it is good to lay a heat insulating material on the crucible receiving plate, and the thickness of the heat insulating material is preferably 5 mm or more.

Next, the operation of the crucible supply device will be described.
First, the crucible receiving plate 11 and the like are retracted and positioned on the gantry, that is, outside the safety fence. At this position, a large number of crucibles 7 containing accurately lightweight metal are inserted through the openings of the crucible regulating plates 8, 9, 10, 11 and set on the crucible receiving plates 3, 4, 5, 6. Next, the air cylinder 14 is operated to operate the slide rail 1.
The crucible receiving plate 11 and the like are advanced along 2 and 13 to enter the operation range of the robot arm in the safety fence. Next, the robot hand attached to the robot arm pinches (grasps) the crucible, transfers the crucible to the melting furnace, and supplies the crucible to the melting furnace. The metal in the crucible is melted and injected into the mold, and the empty crucible is returned to the crucible receiving plate again. In the same manner, crucibles are sequentially processed one by one. When all the crucibles placed on the crucible receiving plate at the top of the gantry are empty, the air cylinder 14 is operated to move the crucible receiving plate backward and out of the safety fence. Next, the crucible receiving plate disposed at the lower portion of the gantry is advanced, and the same processing as described above is performed.

Since there are a large number of crucibles, each of which is placed at a different position on the crucible receiving plate, the operation of the robot hand is designed to control the sequence, and the upper crucible receiving plate and the lower crucible receiving plate are controlled. The switching of the plates is similarly sequence-controlled.

[0012]

As described above, the crucible supply apparatus of the present invention does not impose a time constraint on the melting / casting process and does not interfere with the operation of the robot. Also, since a large number of accurately lightweight metals can be prepared in the crucible, the weighing operation can be performed collectively.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a crucible supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the crucible supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the crucible supply device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,2 Side plate 3,4,5,6 Crucible receiving plate 8,9,10,11 Crucible regulating plate 7,8 Slide rail 14 Air cylinder

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A gantry, a pair of upright side plates slidably provided on the gantry, a crucible receiving plate placed on a horizontal portion of the side plate, and a crucible receiving plate mounted directly above the crucible receiving plate. A crucible supply device, comprising: a crucible regulating plate having an opening having a diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the crucible; and an air cylinder for moving the side plate forward and backward. 2. The crucible supply device according to claim 1, wherein at least two or more side plates are provided on the gantry.
A crucible supply device comprising a crucible receiving plate and an air cylinder.