JP3540527B2 - Wire rod transfer device and transfer method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a wire transport device and a wire transport method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, when a long wire such as an optical fiber or an electric wire is compactly conveyed so as not to be entangled with another wire, the wire is conventionally wound around the wire so as not to be twisted, and is temporarily fixed before being conveyed.
Here, when the wire to be transported is a multi-core fiber in which a plurality of optical fibers are integrated, such as a ribbon fiber, the multi-core fiber to be transported is combined with other optical components to assemble various optical components. It is necessary to perform terminal processing on the end of the fiber, for example, removing the coating, cleaning, and trimming the optical fiber.
[0003]
When performing the terminal treatment on the multi-core fiber, usually, the pallet is placed on a conveyor, and the pallet is transported to a position of an automatic machine unit for automatically terminating the multi-core fiber, and the multi-core fiber extended from the pallet is processed. The terminal of the fiber is detected, and the automatic machine unit is sequentially moved to the position of the pallet to perform the terminal processing.
In this case, the terminal processing may be performed by attaching a holder to the terminal of the multi-core fiber extending from the pallet, holding the holder with a robot hand or the like at the position of the automatic machine unit, and moving the holder to the automatic machine unit.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, when a pallet is used to transport wires such as multi-core fibers, when transporting a large amount of wires, the number of pallets increases and the transport cost increases. Become In particular, when a holder is attached to the end of a multi-core fiber, the transfer of the holder must be considered in addition to the transfer of the pallet. There is a problem that handling of the pallet including the pallet becomes complicated.
[0005]
On the other hand, when detecting the terminal of the multi-core fiber extended from the pallet, if the extended terminal is too long, the terminal oscillates during transport, making it difficult to detect, making accurate positioning difficult, and handling the multi-core fiber. It becomes complicated.
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wire transport device and a wire transport method capable of easily, inexpensively transporting a wire to be transported, and achieving downsizing. And
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the wire transport device of the present invention, a wire rod that has been wheeled and temporarily fixed is transported, subjected to a predetermined process by an external processing device, and then transported to a subsequent process. In the wire transport device, a guide member, a slide member slidably attached to the guide member, a slide mechanism attached to the slide member and having a support member for supporting the wire, at least one side parallel to the guide member A first transfer mechanism having a vertically movable gripper for gripping one end of the wire, moving the gripper in parallel with the guide member, and transporting the wire along with the slide member along the guide member. And a second transport mechanism for transporting one end of the wire transported by the first transport mechanism to and from the external processing device.
[0007]
Preferably, the gripping means is configured to grip at least one end of the wire via a holder attached to the wire.
Preferably, the slide mechanism includes one or more auxiliary members for assisting the slide of the slide member with a pressurized fluid on the guide member.
Further, according to the wire transport method of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the wire that has been rounded and temporarily fixed is slidably supported at the wheeled portion, and at least one end of the wire is gripped. It is configured to convey by sliding.
[0008]
Preferably, the wire is subjected to a terminal treatment during the transportation.
Preferably, the transport of the wire is assisted by a pressurized fluid.
In the wire transport apparatus and the transport method according to the present invention, the first transport mechanism moves the gripper holding one end of the wire in parallel with the guide member, and transports the wire along with the slide member along the guide member. At this time, the second transport mechanism transports one end of the wire to an external processing device during the transport of the wire, and performs a predetermined process on one end of the wire.
[0009]
At this time, when the gripping means grips at least one end of the wire via the holder attached to the wire, handling of the wire becomes easy.
In addition, since the terminal processing is performed during the transport of the wire, the wire is immediately transported to the subsequent process when the transport is completed.
Furthermore, when the surplus length of the wire is long and the movement of the slide member to which the support member for the looped wire is attached is later than the movement of the holding means holding one end of the wire, the pressurized fluid is supplied from the auxiliary member. The sliding of the slide member is assisted by blowing out along the guide member for an arbitrary time.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, as an embodiment of a wire transport device and a transport method of the present invention, a transport device and a transport method for transporting a multi-core fiber will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.
As shown in FIG. 1, the transport device 1 includes a slide mechanism 10, first transport mechanisms 20, 20, and second transport mechanisms 30, 30, each of which is supported by a support member (not shown). Here, arrows X, Y, and Z in the drawing indicate X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions, which will be described later.
[0011]
The slide mechanism 10 has, for example, a guide rail 11 as a guide member, a slider 12 as a slide member, and a hook 13 as a support member.
The guide rail 11 is a channel-shaped member, and is arranged along the transport direction of the multi-core fiber. As shown in FIG. 2, the slider 12 is a carrier slide slidably attached to the guide rail 11, and has a locking hole 12a formed in the center. The hook 13 has a hook portion 13a that is supported at one end by a locking hole 12a of the slider 12 and that supports the multi-core fiber 5 that has been looped and temporarily fixed to the other end. When the looped multicore fiber 5 is locked to the hook portion 13a as shown in FIG. 1, the surface of the loop 5a of the multicore fiber 5 is orthogonal to the guide rail 11, and the center of the loop 5a The shape is set so that the passing line is parallel to the guide rail 11.
[0012]
At this time, one or more guide rails 11 may be provided so that the height in the Y-axis direction is increased, and as shown in FIGS. The auxiliary member 14 is a hollow box body, and has an opening 14 a formed before and after the moving direction of the slider 12, and an air pipe 15 is connected from above the guide rail 11. The air pipe 15 supplies compressed air of, for example, 4 to 5 kgf / cm ² to the auxiliary member 14 from a compressed air source (not shown). Thus, when the auxiliary member 14 is provided on the guide rail 11 and pressurized air is sent from the air pipe 15 to the auxiliary member 14, the movement of the slider 12 becomes smooth. That is, when the fed compressed air blows out from the opening 14a, the compressed air spreads in the guide rail 11. For this reason, by providing the auxiliary member 14, the friction between the slider 12 and the guide rail 11 is reduced by the pressurized air, and the pressurized air exerts a propulsive force against the movement of the slider 12, so that the slider 12 is moved in the first conveyance direction. It follows the movement of the holder 6 held by the chuck 24 of the mechanism 20. Therefore, it is preferable to provide a plurality of auxiliary members 14 on the guide rail 11.
[0013]
Here, the multi-core fiber 5 is looped to have a diameter of 6 cm or more so as to prevent loss due to microbending, and a predetermined extra length considering the distance to the automatic machine unit is extended from the ring 5a. The holder 6 is mounted on the end of the wheel. Further, the holder 6 has a concave portion (not shown), and is installed on the base 2 having a pin protruding at an initial position using the concave portion. Therefore, the holder 6 is always positioned at the initial position of the base 2.
[0014]
The first transport mechanism 20 is disposed on each side of the guide rail 11, and has a Z-axis actuator 21, a main body 22, a telescopic arm 23, and a chuck 24 as a gripping means.
The main body 22 moves in the Z-axis direction while being supported by the Z-axis actuator 21, and is located immediately above the holder 6 positioned at the initial position of the base 2 as shown in FIG. The telescopic arm 23 is an arm that can expand and contract in the vertical direction in the Y-axis direction. The telescopic arm 23 is supported by the main body 22, and a chuck 24 that holds each holder 6 attached to the end of the multi-core fiber 5 is attached to the lower part. The chuck 24 is an existing parallel opening / closing chuck that holds the holder 6.
[0015]
The second transport mechanism 30 is disposed further outside the first transport mechanism 20, and has an X-axis actuator 31, a main body 32, a telescopic arm 33, and a chuck.
The main body 32 moves in the X-axis direction while being supported by the X-axis actuator 31 arranged in the X-axis direction, and places the holder 6 on the mounting table T of the automatic machine unit. The telescopic arm 33 is a crank-shaped arm supported by the main body 32, the upper part of which extends and retracts from the main body 32, and the lower part has a chuck 34 for gripping each holder 6 attached to the end of the multi-core fiber 5. Installed. The chuck 34 is an existing parallel opening / closing chuck that holds the holder 6 like the chuck 24.
[0016]
Here, the automatic machine unit is arranged near both sides of the base 2, but one of them is omitted in FIGS. 1 and 2, and only the mounting table T is shown.
The transport apparatus 1 of the present invention is configured as described above, transports the multi-core fiber 5 that has been looped by the transport method described below, and performs terminal processing on the multi-core fiber 5 during the transport.
[0017]
Here, since the first transport mechanism 20 and the second transport mechanism 30 disposed on both sides of the slide mechanism 10 operate in the same manner, in the following description, the first transport mechanism disposed on the right side of the slide mechanism 10 for simplicity. Only the second transport mechanism 20 and the second transport mechanism 30 will be described.
First, an operator attaches the holder 6 to each end of the multi-core fiber 5 that has been looped, and attaches the multi-core fiber 5 to the hook 13 of the slide mechanism 10 moved to the initial position of the base 2 as shown in FIG. The hook 5a is hooked and supported, and the transport device 1 is operated.
[0018]
Then, in the first transport mechanism 20, the telescopic arm 23 extends and the chuck 24 grips the holder 6 immediately below, and the telescopic arm 23 contracts to lift the holder 6 from the base 2.
Next, the main body 22 is moved in the Z-axis direction by the Z-axis actuator 21, and transports the holder 6 from the initial position of the base 2 to a position corresponding to the automatic machine unit. Then, since the wheel 5a is hooked on the hook 13, the slider 12 also moves along the guide rail 11 with the movement of the main body 22, and the entire multi-core fiber 5 is transported together with the holder 6 in the Z-axis direction.
[0019]
At this time, if the extra length of the multi-core fiber 5 is too long, the slider 12 may not follow the movement of the holder 6 held by the chuck 24 of the first moving mechanism 20. In such a case, pressurized air is blown out from the auxiliary member 14 provided on the guide rail 11, and the slider 12 is smoothly moved to the moving position of the holder 6 while following the movement of the holder 6.
[0020]
Then, the first transport mechanism 20 extends the extendable arm 23 again, releases the grip of the holder 6 by the chuck 24, and places the holder 6 on the base 2 at a position corresponding to the mounting table T of the automatic machine unit. . At this time, the main body 22 is moved by the Z-axis actuator 21 in the Z-axis direction so that the telescopic arm 23 contracts after opening the holder 6 and does not interfere with the subsequent operation of the second transport mechanism 30. Is moved along.
[0021]
Next, the second transport mechanism 30 is operated, the telescopic arm 33 is extended, the holder 6 on the base 2 is gripped by the chuck 34, and the main body 32 is moved in the X-axis direction by the X-axis actuator 31 to mount the automatic machine unit. The holder 6 is placed on the table T. In the automatic machine unit, terminal processing is performed on the multi-core fiber 5 held by the holder 6 of the mounting table T.
[0022]
Then, when the terminal processing in the automatic machine unit is completed, the holder 6 on the mounting table T is returned to the base 2 by an operation reverse to the above, is again gripped by the first transport mechanism 20, and is transported in the Z-axis direction, It is transported to the terminal end of the base 2. The multi-fiber fiber 5 thus conveyed is easily detached from the hook portion 13a by the worker waiting at the terminal end of the base 2, and the various processings to be continued with the holder 6 at each end. Will be applied.
[0023]
At this time, the worker at the end side of the base 2 slides the slider 12 of the slide mechanism 10 along with the hook 13 to the initial position side along the guide rail 11 and returns.
On the other hand, in the first transport mechanism 20 in which the transport of the holder 6 has been completed, the Z-axis actuator 21 pulls the main body 22 back to the initial position side of the base 2 along the Z-axis.
[0024]
Hereinafter, by repeating the same operation as described above, the transport device 1 transports the multi-core fiber 5 while performing terminal processing in the middle of transport.
In the above embodiment, the pressurized air is used as the pressurized fluid, but it is needless to say that the pressurized fluid is not limited to this. For example, depending on the physical condition of the wire or the wire to be conveyed, for example, nitrogen gas or argon An inert gas such as a gas, carbon dioxide, or the like can also be used.
[0025]
Here, in the transport device 1 of the above-described embodiment, the first transport mechanism 20 and the second transport mechanism 30 disposed on both sides of the slide mechanism 10 are separately configured, but as shown in FIG. The transport mechanism 40 may be combined.
That is, the transport mechanism 40 is configured to include the Z-axis actuator 41, the X-axis actuator 42, the main body 43, the telescopic arm 44, and the chuck 45.
[0026]
The Z-axis actuator 41 supports the X-axis actuator 42 movably in the Z-axis direction. The X-axis actuator 42 supports the main body 43 movably in the X-axis direction. The main body 43 moves in the X-axis direction while being supported by the X-axis actuator 42 arranged in the X-axis direction, and places the holder 6 on the mounting table T of the automatic machine unit. The telescopic arm 44 is an arm that can expand and contract in the vertical direction in the Y-axis direction. The telescopic arm 44 is supported by the main body 43, and a chuck 45 that grips each holder 6 attached to the end of the multicore fiber 5 is attached to the lower part. The chuck 45 is an existing parallel opening / closing chuck that holds the holder 6.
[0027]
When the transport mechanism 40 is configured as described above, it is not necessary to transfer the holder 6 between the first transport mechanism 20 and the second transport mechanism 30 at the time of the terminal processing of the multi-core fiber 5, so that the transport time can be reduced. The number of constituent members is reduced, and the size of the transport device 1 can be reduced.
Further, in the transport device 1, as shown in FIG. 4, the transport mechanism 50 may be configured such that the slide mechanism 10 and the first transport mechanisms 20, 20 arranged on both sides thereof are integrated.
[0028]
That is, the transport mechanism 50 has a configuration in which the slide mechanism 10 is attached to the portal frame 51 and the portal frame 51 is supported by the Z-axis actuator 52 so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction. The portal frame 51 is provided with a telescopic arm 53 and a chuck 54, respectively.
When the transport mechanism 50 is configured as described above, only one Z-axis actuator 52 is required as compared with the transport mechanism 40, and the main body 43 is not required. Therefore, the number of components is reduced, and the transport apparatus 1 is further downsized. Can be.
[0029]
In the above embodiment, the multi-core fiber 5 is gripped via the holder 6, but it goes without saying that the end of the multi-core fiber 5 may be directly gripped by the chuck 24 or the like for handling. .
In the above embodiment, the case where the multi-core fiber is conveyed has been described.However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the wire conveying apparatus and the conveying method of the present invention can be used, for example, for conveying electric wires and the like. It is.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above description, according to the wire transport apparatus and the transport method of the present invention, the excellent effect that the handling of the transported wire can be performed easily, easily, and inexpensively, and the size can be reduced. Play.
At this time, the gripping means grips at least one end of the wire via the holder attached to the wire, so that the wire can be easily handled.
[0031]
In addition, since the terminal processing is performed during the transport of the wire, the wire can be immediately transported to the subsequent process and processed at the end of the transport.
Further, in the slide mechanism, the guide member is provided with one or more auxiliary members that assist the slide of the slide member with the pressurized fluid, and the conveyance of the wire is assisted by the pressurized fluid, so that the slide member slides smoothly with respect to the guide member. However, it is preferable that the wire rod supported by the support member follow the movement of the holder.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a transfer device for explaining a transfer device and a transfer method of a wire rod according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view of the transfer device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the transport device of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another modified example of the transport device of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a front view showing a guide member and an auxiliary member provided on the guide member.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the guide member shown in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyor 2 Base 5 Multicore fiber 6 Holder 10 Slide mechanism 11 Guide rail (guide member)
12 Slider (slide member)
13 Hook (support member)
14 Auxiliary member 14a Opening 15 Air pipe 20 First transport mechanism 21 Z-axis actuator 22 Main body 23 Telescopic arm 24 Chuck (gripping means)
30 second transport mechanism 31 X-axis actuator 32 main body 33 telescopic arm 34 chuck 40 transport mechanism 41 Z-axis actuator 42 X-axis actuator 43 main body 44 telescopic arm 45 chuck 50 transport mechanism 51 portal frame 52 Z-axis actuator 53 telescopic arm 54 chuck

Claims (6)

In the transporting device for the wire rod, which transports the wire rod that has been rotatably fixed and subjected to predetermined processing by an external processing device, and then transports it to a subsequent process.
A guide member, a slide member slidably attached to the guide member, a slide mechanism attached to the slide member and having a support member that supports the wire.
At least one side parallel to the guide member has a vertically movable gripper for gripping one end of the wire, the gripper is moved in parallel with the guide member, and the wire is moved together with the slide member into the guide member. And a second transport mechanism for transporting one end of the wire transported by the first transport mechanism to and from the external processing device. Wire transport device. 2. The wire transport device according to claim 1, wherein the gripper grips at least one end of the wire via a holder attached to the wire. 3. 3. The wire transport device according to claim 1, wherein the slide mechanism includes one or more auxiliary members that assist the slide of the slide member with a pressurized fluid on the guide member. A method of transporting a wire rod, wherein the wire rod that has been looped and temporarily fixed is slidably supported at the wheel winding portion, and is conveyed by gripping and sliding at least one end of the wire rod. The method for transporting a wire according to claim 4, wherein a terminal process is performed on the wire during the transportation. The wire transport method according to claim 4, wherein the transport of the wire is assisted by a pressurized fluid.

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