JP3316912B2 - Ring packing positioning 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 device for reliably cutting a ring-shaped packing, for example, a rubber O-ring or a flat packing, one by one, and precisely positioning the packing at a place where the packing is to be mounted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the work of mounting a ring-shaped packing such as a rubber O-ring or a flat packing into a packing groove provided on a cap or a flange is mostly performed by manual assembling. It was difficult to reduce costs. Therefore, it has been desired to automate the mounting of the ring-shaped packing.However, since the ring-shaped packing is usually delivered collectively from a manufacturer to a box or a plastic bag in a miscellaneous manner, they are assembled in a packing groove such as a cap. When attaching, use a ring-shaped packing
It is necessary to separate them individually and then position and attach them. However, since the ring-shaped packing is formed of an elastic material as described above, it is flexible and easily deformed, and it is difficult to maintain a normal ring shape due to a large frictional force against slippage. However, positioning by mechanization was difficult, and had to rely on manual work.

Examples of attempts to automate such operations include, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 64-7118 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-1.
The technology disclosed in JP-A-43116 and JP-A-62-21615 is known. The outline of each technology is as follows.

(1) Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 64-7118 discloses that
The present invention relates to a device for transporting a ring-shaped product, wherein a hook provided around a rotary plate is hooked on a ring portion of the ring-shaped product transported by the transport device, and is taken out one by one and packed in a bag. I have.

(2) Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 2-14311116 relates to a ring supply device, in which a conveying path of an O-ring conveyed by an air discharge force from an O-ring storage section is bent in an L-shape on the way. The O-rings stopped at the corners of the bent portions are hooked one by one to the tips of the protruding portions and scraped out.

(3) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 62-21615 relates to a device for transporting and positioning an elastic annular body, and a plurality of elastic annular rings are provided on a delivery ring provided with a helical ring for adjusting the circumference. After the body is hooked and the delivery ring is rotated, the elastic annular bodies are dropped while being conveyed one by one, and the dropped elastic annular body is hooked with a hook pin to move the guide plate. The elastic annular body is positioned by being driven by an actuator so as to be narrowed from two or four sides.

[0007]

However, each of the above-mentioned conventional apparatuses has the following problems.

(1) The apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 64-7118 does not have a precise positioning mechanism even after the ring-shaped products can be taken out one by one. Although counting and bagging are possible, they cannot be applied to processes requiring positioning accuracy, such as handling and mounting work by suction. In addition, when taking out the ring-shaped product, if the hook is rotated at a high speed, the ring-shaped product is disengaged from the hook with which it has been engaged and scatters, so that it is difficult to convey at a high speed.

(2) In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 2-143116, the O-ring is retained by contacting the corner of the bent portion of the O-ring conveyance path bent in an L shape. The O-ring may be pushed by the rear O-ring and may enter the O-ring conveyance path extending in the right angle direction without stopping at the bent portion. If the conveyance force is not finely adjusted, a plurality of O-rings may be supplied. As a result, there is a drawback that a trouble occurs at a later-stage mounting place. Also,
Since the O-ring transferred to the mounting location is not precisely positioned, it cannot be applied to a process having precise positioning such as handling by suction.

(3) The apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-21615 requires a time for positioning because precise driving is required to drive an actuator when final precise positioning is performed. The disadvantage is that it is complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a positioning device capable of positioning a ring-shaped packing reliably, precisely, and quickly with a simple device configuration. It is an object of the present invention to ensure the automatic mounting of the ring-shaped packing.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, a ring packing positioning device according to claim 1 includes a packing conveying means for supplying ring packings one by one, and a conveying end of the packing conveying means. Part, and stand up at an interval narrower than the outer diameter of the ring-shaped packing.
The gate is formed by the two cylindrical members provided,
Retaining means for retaining the conveyed ring-shaped packing at intervals of the cylindrical member, positioning means having a step for fitting and positioning the ring-shaped packing, and ring-shaped packing retained by the gate. Scraping means for scraping out one by one against the regulation by the gate and fitting into the step of the positioning means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a positioning device for a ring-shaped packing, wherein a guide plate is provided above the step portion of the positioning means and the height thereof is regulated. It is characterized in that it is prevented from jumping out of the step of the means to the outside. Further, the positioning of the ring-shaped packing according to claim 3 is described.
The positioning device has the positioning means in claim 1.
The step is an annular groove, and the outer and inner side surfaces are
The respective tapered portions are formed, and the respective inclination angles θ2,
θ3 is from 5 ° to 30 °.

In the present specification, the term "step" means a portion having a step with respect to a predetermined reference plane, and when a ring-shaped packing is mounted, such as not only a convex portion but also a concave portion or a groove portion. The inner and outer circumferences, or all the steps where the inner and outer circumferences are fitted are included. Further, the ring-shaped packing applicable to the positioning device according to the present invention is a ring-shaped one formed of an elastic member, which is deformed when subjected to an external force, but is substantially original when the external force is removed. Means to restore to a circular state.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the ring-shaped packings transported one by one by the packing transporting means are temporarily retained by the gate of the retaining means provided at the end of the transporting means. The ring-shaped packings are pulled out one by one by the scraping means against the regulation by the gate, and fitted into the steps of the restored ring-shaped packing positioning means, whereby the ring-shaped packings are reliably positioned one by one. Is positioned at the stepped portion.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a guide plate is provided above the positioning means to regulate the height thereof, so that the ring-shaped packing projects outside from the step of the positioning means. , The positioning of the ring-shaped packing can be performed more reliably. Further, according to the third aspect, the transport by the scraping means.
The ring packing sent to the tapered side
It is guided smoothly into the annular groove so that
Since it is housed in the groove, positioning of the ring-shaped packing
More reliable.

[0017]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a ring packing positioning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; however, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire structure of an embodiment of a ring-shaped packing according to the present invention.

The packing conveying device 1 for conveying the ring-shaped packings P one by one is a vibrating parts feeder, which is roughly divided into a bowl feeder section 2 and a linear feeder section 3. A large number of ring-shaped packings P are supplied to the upper bowl 21 in an overlapping manner (not shown). A vibration generating device 22 is provided below the bowl 21. When vibration is generated in a predetermined direction by the vibration generating device 22, the ring-shaped packing P moves the transfer surface of the transfer slope 23 formed around the bowl 21 in the arrow direction. And reaches the connection portion 24 with the linear feeder portion 3. During this time, the ring-shaped packings P are smoothed by vibration and conveyed one by one in a state where they do not substantially overlap with each other, but are further restricted by an overlap prevention gate 25 provided in the connection portion 24. The height of the overlap prevention gate 24 is almost equal to the thickness of one ring-shaped packing P, so that the ring-shaped packing P is securely 1
Each piece is transferred to the linear feeder unit 3.

The linear feeder unit 3 includes a linear transport unit 31
Is vibrated in a predetermined direction by a lower vibrating device 32, and a first guide 33 having a width slightly larger than the diameter of the ring-shaped packing P is provided on the side of the transport unit 31.
a and 33b, and a second guide 34 having a height substantially equal to the thickness of the ring-shaped packing P is provided above the transfer surface 39 of the transfer unit 31. Are conveyed in a line one by one.

The shape of the ring-shaped packing P is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), it is annular, and its cross section has a shape such as a circle (FIG. (B)), a rectangle (FIG. (C)), and a V-shape (FIG. (D)). Further, it may have a shape such as a W-shape, and as the material thereof, an elastic material according to the application such as nitrile rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, silicon rubber, fluorine rubber, acrylic rubber, butyl rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, urethane rubber is used. Therefore, even if it is deformed, it is restored to its original ring shape.

When the ring-shaped packing P to be transferred by the packing transfer device 1 has a large diameter or is made of silicon rubber having a large friction coefficient, the packing cannot be efficiently transferred. The vibration transfer surface of the transfer device 1 and the guides 33a, 33
It is desirable that b, 34 be made of Teflon coating or sintered metal to minimize the adhesion to the ring-shaped packing.

The retaining device 4 is provided with a slight gap from the transport end portion 35 of the linear feeder portion 3. The storage device 4 has two columns 41 as gates,
The passage width W (see FIG. 3) is
Is smaller than the outer diameter of the ring-shaped packing P
Must be transformed before it can pass. As a result, the packing P transferred from the packing transfer device 1 is securely retained.

As shown in FIG. 3, the column 41 is fixed to the base 42 by bolts 43.
When the ring-shaped packing P is pulled out while being deformed by a scraping device described later (hereinafter, this operation is referred to as “scraping”), at least so that the outer periphery of the ring-shaped packing P is not damaged. It is preferable that a portion that comes into contact with the ring-shaped packing P is subjected to Teflon processing or the like so that the friction coefficient is minimized.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, a cylindrical member 45 is rotatably fitted to the support column 44, and a bolt 4 is attached to the base 42.
The above-mentioned scraping operation can be performed more smoothly by rotatably holding the cylindrical member 48 on the shaft 46 fixed by 3 'via the ball bearing 47.

The width W of the passage portion of the column 41 depends on the conveying force of the packing conveying device 1 and the elasticity of the ring-shaped packing P itself. % Is preferable.

The groove 42a is provided with a scraping rod 53 described later.
Is provided as a space through which the tip of the ring-shaped packing P passes when scraped out.

Returning to FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 denotes a scraping device for performing the scraping operation,
The scraping rod 5 is attached to the tip of the scraping arm 52 held at 1.
3 is suspended and fixed. The tip of the scraping rod 53 is hooked on the ring portion of the ring-shaped packing P and pulled out toward the front side against the regulation of the column 41 of the storage device 4. It operates so as to be installed on the positioning table 61 of the positioning device 6 (see FIG. 10).

The scraping arm 52 performs a scraping operation by drawing a rectangular locus of A, B, C, D as shown in FIG. 10 by a driving device (not shown) built in the scraping device 51. It is composed of

FIG. 4 shows a specific example of a driving mechanism of the scraping arm 52 when an air cylinder is used.
The scraping arm 52 is driven in the horizontal direction by an air cylinder 54 attached to the scraping device main body 51, and the scraping rod 53 is driven vertically by an air cylinder 55 attached to the tip of the scraping arm 52. . The scraping operation is performed by a combination of both operations of the air cylinder 54 and the air cylinder 55.

The drive mechanism for performing the scraping operation as shown in FIG. 10 is not limited to the above-described one, but may be, for example, a cam type pick and place type.

As shown in FIG. 4, a tapered portion 53a is provided at the lower end of the scraping rod 53.
After the ring-shaped packing P is scraped out, it is easy to separate from the ring-shaped packing P when raising the scraping rod 53, and there is a problem that the ring-shaped packing P is caught on the ring portion to cause a displacement. Does not occur.

Further, it is preferable that the material of the scraping bar 53 be made of Teflon or stainless steel mirror-finished, since it does not damage the ring-shaped packing P and does not adhere rust or dust.

Returning to FIG. 1 again, the ring-shaped packing P scraped from the retaining device 4 is placed on the positioning device 7 placed on the positioning table transport device 6. The positioning device 7 is formed by arranging three positioning receivers 72 in series on a base 71, and reciprocates between the packing positioning portion and a packing suction portion 8 described later by the transport device 6. It has become.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the positioning table 72, and FIG. 5B is a sectional view taken along the line XX in FIG. 5A. As shown in the figure, the positioning receiving base 72 is provided with a packing fitting concave portion 73 having the same circular cross section as the ring-shaped packing P in the center portion, and a tapered portion 73a is formed on the side surface of the concave portion. The ring-shaped packing P is easily dropped into the inside.

According to the inventor's experiments, the inclination angle θ1 of the tapered portion 73a (FIG. 5B) is approximately 5 ° to 3 °.
0 ° is desirable. If the angle is smaller than 0 °, the ring-shaped packing P is caught on the reference surface 74. If the angle is larger than 0 °, the ring-shaped packing P does not fall to the bottom while remaining on the tapered portion 73a. Positioning becomes difficult.

The diameter Do of the bottom of the packing fitting recess 73
Is set to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the ring-shaped packing P. However, in order to accurately position the ring-shaped packing P, the outer diameter of the ring-shaped packing P is set to 0.
It is desirable to limit the dimensional error to about 1 mm to 0.3 mm. Further, if the depth of the packing fitting concave portion 73 from the reference surface 74 is set to about 0.5 to 1 times the thickness of the ring-shaped packing P, it is sufficient for positioning, and for mounting the packing at a later stage. Easy to handle.

A groove 75 connected to the packing fitting concave portion 73 is provided for the lower end of the scraping rod 53 to pass therethrough, and the outer peripheral side wall portion 76 extends from the opening 76a direction. It serves as a guide for smoothly guiding the conveyed ring-shaped packing P to the packing fitting recess 73, and its height M is desirably sufficiently higher than the thickness of the ring-shaped packing P. In consideration of handling for mounting the packing, the thickness is preferably about 1.2 to 1.8 times the thickness of the ring-shaped packing P. However, it is needless to say that the height is not limited to this.

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of another embodiment of the positioning pedestal 72, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view as viewed in the direction of arrow Y. As shown in both figures, in the second embodiment, an annular groove 77 is provided instead of the packing fitting concave portion 73 in FIG. 5, and the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral side surface respectively form a tapered portion 77a. Have. The
The par portion 77a has a constricted shape, and its outer periphery is
And the respective inclination angles θ2 and θ3 at the inner circumference are also shown in FIG.
It is desirable to set the inclination angle θ1 of the tapered portion 73a to about 5 ° to 30 °.

The outer diameter Do of the bottom surface portion 77b of the annular groove 77 is the same as the outer diameter Do of the packing fitting concave portion 73, and the inner diameter D
i is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the ring-shaped packing P, and its error is desirably limited to about 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm. When such an annular groove 77 is formed, the outer peripheral portion and the inner peripheral portion of the ring-shaped packing P can be fitted and positioned, so that there is an advantage that the ring-shaped packing P can be positioned more accurately without being deformed. The groove 78 provided in the annular groove 77 is for providing a space through which the lower end of the scraping bar 53 passes, and is formed on the extension of the groove 75.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a third embodiment of the positioning pedestal 72. Since an annular projection 79 is formed substantially at the center of the bottom surface 77b of the annular groove 77, the position is not limited. The ring-shaped packing P dropped and positioned in the annular groove 77 does not adhere to the bottom surface of the annular groove 77,
It can be easily taken out from the annular groove 77 at the time of the packing installation operation at the subsequent stage. In particular, when the material of the ring-shaped packing P is silicon rubber having high adhesiveness, the effect of the annular projection 79 is large.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the guide plate 37 is provided horizontally above the positioning pedestal 72 at the ring-shaped packing extraction position, and FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of FIG. . The guide plate 37 and the positioning pedestal 72
Is preferably as small as possible, but may be at least smaller than the thickness of the ring-shaped packing P.

Accordingly, when the ring-shaped packing P is scraped out or when the scraping rod 53 is lifted after positioning, the ring-shaped packing P does not jump out to the periphery by any chance. Can be performed more reliably.

Although the material of the guide plate 37 is not particularly limited, it is preferable that the guide plate 37 be made of Teflon or stainless steel, like the other members that come into contact with the ring-shaped packing P. Further, the guide plate 37 is attached to the retaining device 4 so as not to hinder the operation of the packing suction unit 8 at the subsequent stage.
Or a guide plate moving mechanism may be provided so as to be able to retreat from above the positioning table 72.

The transport end 3 of the linear feeder 3
The notch 36 provided on the transport surface of No. 5 and the notch 38 provided on the guide plate 37 provide a space through which the scraping rod 53 passes during the scraping operation.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state in which the ring-shaped packing P is scraped out by the scraping rod 53. First, the scraping rod 53 moves to the position A above the retaining device 4, descends and stops at the position B, and causes the lower end of the ring portion of the retained ring-shaped packing P to protrude. Thereafter, the ring-shaped packing P is horizontally moved rightward to scrape out the ring-shaped packing P, and is pulled out against the gate formed by the two columns 41, and the front end Pa of the ring-shaped packing P is pulled out.
Stops at the position C where it abuts against the side wall portion 76 and rises, stops at the position D and then moves horizontally to the left and returns to the basic position A.

The scraped ring-shaped packing P falls down along the tapered portions 77a and 77b by its own weight, and is accurately positioned by the annular groove 77.

Returning to FIG. 1, the ring-shaped packing P mounted and positioned in the positioning device 7 in this manner is
It is transferred to the packing suction unit 8 by the positioning table transfer device 6. Three suction heads 81 are driven by the robot device (not shown) in the packing suction unit 8, and the suction surfaces 81 a of the suction heads 81 abut on the upper surface of the ring-shaped packing P fitted in the packing fitting recess 73 of the positioning receiving base 72. Let it. The suction surface 81a has a plurality of suction holes arranged in a ring shape having the same diameter as the ring-shaped packing P. The suction packing 81 is sucked and held by a vacuum pump (not shown), and the suction head 81 is moved as it is. The cap 91 is conveyed to the packing mounting portion 9 to which the cap 91 is supplied, and the ring-shaped packing P is pressed against a packing groove 92 formed on the inner periphery of the cap 91 and mounted. Thereafter, the suction is stopped and the suction head 81 moves upward, whereby the mounting operation of the ring-shaped packing P is completed.

In this embodiment, the ring-shaped packing P is set on the three positioning receivers 72 and then transferred to the packing suction unit 8 by the positioning table conveyor 6, but one positioning receiver 72 is used. The table 72 may be set aside adjacent to the retaining device 4 and attached to the cap 91 by suction and holding by the suction head 81 on the spot.
In this case, for example, the scraping device 5 is placed so that the position of the scraping device 5 or the scraping arm 52 of the scraping device 5 does not hinder the operation of the suction head 81.
What is necessary is just to install so that it may be installed in parallel with the line which connects the positioning support 72 and the scraping arm 52 along that line.

The packing conveying device 1 is not limited to the vibration type as described above, but may be a conveying means such as a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor. However, when a transporting device other than the vibration type is used, since the transporting force is strong, the ring-shaped packing P may be compressed and transported in spite of the existence of various guide plates. Therefore, such a problem does not occur if a ring-shaped packing detecting means such as a photoelectric device is provided at the position of the retaining device 4 and the conveyance is stopped when the detection is performed by the detecting means. Further, if the scraping device 5 is operated immediately upon detection of the ring-shaped packing P, the operation time can be reduced and the ring-shaped packing P can be reliably scraped out as compared with a case where the scraping is performed at predetermined time intervals. .

The positioning pedestal 72 has a "step" having a height lower than the reference surface 74, such as a packing fitting concave portion 73 and an annular groove 77, at the center thereof. It would also be possible to form a higher projection and fit the inner peripheral surface of the ring-shaped packing P on it.

The transporting device 6 for transporting the positioning device 7 is not limited, and may use a transporting means such as a belt conveyor, a chain conveyor, an air cylinder, and a rotary table in addition to a single-axis robot. it can.

[0053]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the ring-shaped packings which have been conveyed one by one by the packing conveying means are provided at the terminal of the retaining means provided at the end of the conveying means. The ring-shaped packing is temporarily retained by the scraping means, and the ring-shaped packing is scraped out one by one against the regulation by the gate, and the restored ring-shaped packing is fitted into the step of the positioning means. Can be reliably pulled out one by one, and positioning can be performed without changing the shape of the ring-shaped packing, so that extremely accurate positioning can be performed even in a short positioning time. This has made it possible to completely automate operations such as mounting the ring-shaped packing. Also, game
The ring is formed by two cylindrical members,
The packing should not be caught or damaged.
Transported smoothly.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a guide plate is provided above the positioning means so that the height is regulated, whereby the ring-shaped packing projects outside from the step of the positioning means. Therefore, the ring-shaped packing can be surely carried one by one into the positioning means and positioned. Claim 3
According to the invention described above, the outer circumference and the inner circumference of the annular groove are formed.
The side part and the outer and inner parts of the ring-shaped packing
Ring-shaped packing is not deformed.
Positioning can be performed more accurately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a ring-shaped packing positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the shape of a ring-shaped packing.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a structure of a support column of the retaining device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a drive mechanism of the scraping device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view and a sectional view showing the shape of the first embodiment of the positioning table.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the shape of a positioning table according to a second embodiment in a perspective view and a cross section.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the shape of a third embodiment of the positioning table.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state where a guide plate is provided above a positioning table.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side sectional view for explaining the operation of the scraping rod.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 packing transport device 4 retaining device 5 scraping device 6 positioning table transport device 7 positioning device 8 packing suction unit 9 packing mounting portion 41 support column 52 scraping arm 53 raking bar 72 positioning table 73 packing fitting concave portion 77 annular groove

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-62-21615 (JP, A) JP-A-2-143116 (JP, U) JP-A-51-45685 (JP, U) JP-A-64-7118 (JP) , U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 47/14 B65G 43/00 B65G 47/88

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A packing conveying means for supplying a ring-shaped packing one by one; a packing conveying means provided at a conveying end portion of the packing conveying means, and standing upright at an interval narrower than an outer diameter of the ring-shaped packing.
The gate is formed by two cylindrical members, and between the two cylindrical members
And Tomeoki means for Tomeoki the transported ring packing in septum by the positioning means having a stepped portion for positioning by fitting the ring packing, the ring-shaped packing was detained in the gate the gate And a scraping means which scrapes out one by one against the regulation and fits into the step portion of the positioning means. 2. A guide plate is provided above the step of the positioning means to regulate its height, so that a ring-shaped packing is prevented from protruding outside from the step of the positioning means. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
A positioning device for the ring-shaped packing according to the above. 3. A step provided in said positioning means is a ring.
Grooves, the outer and inner sides of which are
A taper portion is formed, and the respective inclination angles θ2 and θ3 are 5
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The ring-shaped packing positioning device according to claim 2.