JP5201706B2 - Weld nut feeder - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an improvement of a weld nut supply device for supplying a weld nut to a welding position.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, automobile parts and the like are often used in which a weld nut is welded to a predetermined position of a base material, and an electric resistance welder is generally used to weld both. Recently, it has been proposed that unattended automatic welding is performed using a perforated part welding apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1, which improves quality, improves the efficiency of the welding process, reduces costs, and the like. ing

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 9, a weld nut 60 supplied from a nut feeder is supplied to a supply head 50, and a supply rod 51 that expands and contracts in the axial direction in the supply head 50 into a screw hole 60 a of the weld nut 60. Was skewered and supplied to the welding position. The weld nut 60 supplied from the parts feeder is received and held by the nut receiver 53 before being skewered by the supply rod 51. A hinge 54 is attached to the tip of the supply head 50 to prevent the weld nut 60 from falling off.

When the nut portion of the weld nut 60 is a hexagonal bolt, depending on the state in which the weld nut 60 is received by the nut receiver 53, the weld nut 60 is received by the nut receiver 53 by a as shown in FIG. The height will change. For this reason, when the weld nut 60 is supplied to the welding position, the supply rod 51 does not enter the screw hole 60a of the weld nut 60 and cannot be skewed, causing the weld nut 60 to drop. . Therefore, even when the height of the weld nut 60 received by the nut receiver 53 is different, in order to skew the weld nut 60 and supply it to the welding position with the supply rod 51, as shown in FIG. The tip was made much thinner than the screw hole 60 a of the weld nut 60. However, there is a problem that the strength of the supply rod 51 is reduced and the bending is reduced by making the tip of the supply rod 51 thinner. Further, the tip of the supply rod 51 is much thinner than the screw hole 60a of the weld nut 60. Therefore, when the screw hole 60a of the weld nut 60 is skewed by the supply rod 51, the weld nut 60 rotates. In some cases, the weld nut 60 may not be supplied to the welding position, and the weld nut 60 may be taken back, and the weld nut 60 may be dropped during the take-out.
JP 2002-307191 A

  The present invention solves the above problems and provides a weld nut supply device that can reliably supply a weld nut to a welding position without bending the supply rod.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has received a weld nut supplied from a nut feeder at a receiving portion of a nut receiver, and in this state, a supply rod that expands and contracts in the axial direction in a screw hole of the weld nut. In the weld nut supply device that skewers and supplies the weld nut to the welding position, the bottom of the receiving part of the nut receiver has a cross section whose radius of curvature is almost the same as or slightly larger than the outer edge of the screw part from the axial center of the screw hole of the weld nut A semicircular concave arc surface is formed, and the supply rod is formed with an introduction portion whose outer diameter gradually decreases toward the tip at the tip, and the base is larger than the outer diameter of the supply rod and is welded. with the step portion to be inserted into the screw hole of the nut is formed, between the feed rod and the step portion, the tapered portion for guiding the screw holes in the weld nut step portion It characterized and the fact to have.

  It is preferable that the nut receiver is configured to be removable.

Since the bottom of the receiving part of the nut receiver is a concave arc surface with a semicircular cross-sectional shape, the height of the weld nut is always the same when the weld nut is received by the receiving part, and the weld nut is securely attached. It becomes possible to skew with the supply rod, and it is possible to prevent the supply failure of the weld nut. In addition, when the weld nut is received by the receiving part, the height of the weld nut is always the same, so the supply rod can be inserted into the screw hole of the weld nut without making the supply rod thinner. Thus, the strength of the supply rod is increased, and the supply rod can be prevented from being deformed. Furthermore, when the weld nut is received by the receiving portion, the height of the weld nut is always the same. Therefore, a step portion larger than the outer diameter of the supply rod formed at the base end of the supply rod is provided with a weld nut. It becomes possible to insert a stepped portion into the screw hole.
In addition, since the stepped portion that is larger than the outer diameter of the supply rod and inserted into the screw hole of the weld nut is formed at the base end of the supply rod, the outer diameter of the stepped portion is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the screw hole of the weld nut. When the weld nut is skewered with the supply rod, it is possible to prevent the weld nut from rotating about the supply rod. As a result, it is possible to prevent the weld nut from being taken away and being dropped during the take-out.

  When the nut receiver is configured to be removable, it is possible to easily cope with weld nuts of different sizes by exchanging the nut receiver.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a weld nut supply device showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the weld nut supply device. Reference numeral 1 denotes a supply pipe, which is a pipe for supplying a weld nut 20 supplied from a nut feeder (not shown) to a nut receiver 5 described later. The supply pipe 1 has a rectangular cross-sectional shape, and the dimension in the height direction of the cross-section is larger than the dimension in the height direction of the weld nut, but is larger than the dimension in the width direction of the weld nut 20. By being small, the supplied weld nut 20 is prevented from rotating in the supply pipe 1.

  The nut portion 20b of the weld nut 20 of the present invention is a hexagonal nut. The seat surface of the weld nut 20 is provided with a disk-shaped flange 20e (shown in FIG. 4). A plurality of projections 20a (shown in FIG. 5) protrude from the lower surface of the flange 20e. The projection 20a is attached so that the current is concentrated when electric resistance welding is performed, melted during welding, and melted with the molten metal of the member to be welded 32 (shown in FIG. 7) and integrated with the member to be welded 32. In the present embodiment, three projections 20a are provided at the same angle on the lower surface of the flange 20e. Note that the weld nuts 20 are supplied one by one from the parts feeder to prevent the weld nuts 20 from clogging in the supply pipe 1 due to the overlap of the flanges 20e.

  Reference numeral 2 denotes a substantially cylindrical supply head. The supply pipe 1 is attached so as to be perpendicular to the axial direction of the supply head 2 so as to face the opening 2 a of the supply head 2.

  A cylinder 3 is joined to the rear end of the supply head 2 coaxially with the supply head 2 by a joint member 10. A thread is threaded on the inner surface of the front portion of the cylinder 3, and a thread is also threaded on the inner surface of the rear end portion of the supply head 2. A thread is threaded on the outer peripheral surface of the joint member 10, and the thread of the joint member 10 and the threaded holes at the rear end of the supply head 2 and the front end of the cylinder 3 are screwed together, whereby the supply head 2. And the cylinder 10 are joined. A cylinder shaft 6 is accommodated inside the supply head 2 and the cylinder 3 so as to be movable in a telescopic manner.

  A piston 7 is attached to the rear end of the cylinder shaft 6. By blowing air into the bottom 3 a of the cylinder 3, the piston 7 is pressed and the cylinder shaft 6 extends in the axial direction of the cylinder 3. On the other hand, when air is blown into the interior 3b of the cylinder 3, the piston 7 is pressed and the cylinder shaft 6 is contracted. The cylinder 3 of the present embodiment is an air cylinder that operates with air, but may be a hydraulic cylinder that operates with hydraulic pressure.

  A supply rod 4 having an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the cylinder shaft 6 is formed integrally with the cylinder shaft 6 at the tip of the cylinder shaft 6. In the present embodiment, the supply rod 4 and the shaft 6 are formed by cutting the shaft. Since the supply rod 4 is formed integrally with the cylinder shaft 6 as described above, the supply rod 4 and the cylinder shaft 6 are fitted and joined in a joint structure as before, or screwed and screwed to join. The problem that the connection between the supply rod 4 and the cylinder shaft 6 is loosened does not occur compared to the case where the supply rod 4 is joined by welding.

  A plate-like bracket 2b is attached to the tip of the supply head 2 opposite to the side to which the supply pipe 1 is attached, and a bolt hole 2d is formed at the tip of the bracket 2b. As shown in FIG. 2, a nut receiver mounting recess 2c is formed between the bracket 2b and the tip of the supply head 2, and a nut receiver 5 is disposed in the nut receiver mounting recess 2c. In other words, the nut receiver 5 is disposed on the supply head 2 at a position where the open end 1a of the supply pipe 1 faces. A mounting recess 5a is formed in the bottom surface of the nut receiver 5, and the tip of the bolt 8 screwed into the bolt hole 2d of the bracket 2b engages with the mounting recess 5a to hold down the nut receiver 5, whereby the nut A receiver 5 is fixed to the tip of the supply head 2. A nut 9 is attached to the threaded portion of the bolt 8, and the nut 9 is tightened to the bracket 2b side to prevent the bolt 8 from loosening. Thus, the nut receiver 5 is attached to the supply head 2 so that it can be easily detached.

  A hinge 11 is attached to the tip of the supply head 2 so as to close the outlet of the weld nut 20. This hinge 11 is always closed by a torsion spring 11a and prevents the weld nut 20 received by the nut receiver 5 from falling.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the nut receiver 5 is positioned on the extension line of the open end 1 a of the supply pipe 1. Thus, by comprising, the weld nut 20 supplied from a nut feeder distribute | circulates the inside of the supply pipe | tube 1, and is received by the receiving part 5c of the nut receiver 5 from the opening end 1a of the supply pipe | tube 1. It has become. Even if the supply method from the nut feeder to the open end 1a of the supply pipe 1 is a method of sliding down the supply pipe 1 by its own weight, the weld nut 20 is blown into the supply pipe 1 to blow it. However, there is no problem even if it is a method of circulating the gas in the supply pipe 1.

  FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of the nut receiver 5, and FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of the nut receiver 5. As shown in FIG. 4, the nut receiver 5 includes a plate-like base portion 5 b and a receiving portion 5 c erected vertically to the base portion 5 a. The bottom of the receiving portion 5c is a concave arc surface having a semicircular cross section. Further, the curvature radius b of the receiving portion 5c is almost the same or slightly larger than the outer edge of the screw portion 20b from the axial center of the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the axial center of the screw hole 20 c of the weld nut 20 is the same in the supply head 2 no matter what state the nut portion 20 b of the weld nut 20 is received by the receiving portion 5 c. Since the height is reached, the axial center of the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20 and the axial center of the supply rod 4 can be matched.

  FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of the supply rod. The leading end of the supply rod 4 is formed with an introduction portion 4a whose outer diameter gradually decreases toward the distal end. A step portion 4 b that is larger than the outer diameter of the supply rod 4 is formed at the base of the supply rod 4. The stepped portion 4b has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20. For example, in the case of the M8 weld nut 20, the stepped portion 4 b has an outer diameter that is 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm smaller than the inner diameter of the weld nut 20. In the present embodiment, in the case of the M8 weld nut 20, the stepped portion 4 b has an outer diameter that is smaller by 0.3 mm than the inner diameter of the screw hole 20 c of the weld nut 20. Moreover, the outer diameter of the supply rod 4 is 0.3 mm-1 mm smaller than the outer diameter of the level | step-difference part 4b. In this embodiment, the outer diameter of the supply rod 4 is 0.4 mm smaller than the outer diameter of the step portion 4b.

  As shown in FIG. 6, between the supply rod 4 and the step portion 4b, a tapered portion 4c having an outer diameter gradually increasing from the supply rod 4 toward the step portion 4b is formed. By this taper portion 4c, the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20 skewered by the supply rod 4 is guided to the step portion 4b. Since the bottom portion of the receiving portion 5c of the nut receiver 5 is a concave arc surface having a semicircular cross section, the height of the weld nut 20 is always the same when the weld nut 20 is received by the receiving portion 5c. Therefore, the stepped portion 4b can be inserted into the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20.

  Since the outer diameter of the shaft 6 is larger than the outer diameter of the stepped portion 4 b and larger than the inner diameter of the screw hole 20 c of the weld nut 20, the weld nut 20 is skewed into the supply rod 4 and the screw hole of the weld nut 20. When 20c is guided to the stepped portion 4b, the weld nut 20 comes into contact with the tip 6a of the cylinder shaft 6 and the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20 is guided to the stepped portion 4b. As described above, the step 4b having an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20 is formed at the base end of the supply rod 4, so that when the weld nut 20 is skewed with the supply rod 4, the weld It is possible to prevent the nut 20 from rotating about the supply rod 4 as an axis.

  As shown in FIG. 6, between the step 4b and the tip 6a of the cylinder shaft 6, a contact portion 4d whose outer diameter gradually increases from the step 4b toward the tip 6a of the cylinder shaft 6 is formed. Yes. The taper angle c of the contact portion 4d is formed at the tip of the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20 and is the same as the taper angle of the taper portion 20d. In the present embodiment, the taper angle c is 120 °. Thus, since the contact part 4d was formed between the level | step-difference part 4b and the front-end | tip 6a of the cylinder shaft 6, when the weld nut 20 was skewered with the supply rod 4, the taper part of the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20 4d and the contact portion 4d come into contact with each other and come into contact with each other, so that it is possible to further prevent the weld nut 20 from rotating about the supply rod 4 as an axis.

  FIG. 7 shows a use state diagram of the present invention. Reference numeral 30 shown in FIG. 7 denotes a nut driving electrode, which has a substantially cylindrical shape. A center pin 31 is housed in the axial center of the nut driving electrode 30 and protrudes from the tip of the nut driving electrode 30. When the cylinder shaft 6 is fully stroked in the extending direction, the tip of the supply rod 4 moves to the vicinity of the tip of the center pin 31 as shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the present invention will be described. As described above, the weld nut 20 supplied from the supply pipe 1 is received by the nut receiver 5. In this state, the cylinder 3 is operated to extend the supply rod 4, and the supply rod 4 is skewed into the screw hole 20 c of the weld nut 20. At this time, the hinge 11 is opened. As described above, the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20 is guided to the step portion 4b, and the tip of the weld nut 20 comes into contact with the tip 6a of the shaft 6 so that the weld nut 20 stops. When the cylinder shaft 6 is fully stroked and the movement of the cylinder shaft 6 stops, the weld nut 20 slides along the supply rod 4 while being skewed by the supply rod 4, and the screw hole of the weld nut 20 20c is guided onto the tip of the center pin 31, the screw hole 20c of the weld nut 20 is inserted into the center pin 31, and the weld nut 20 is disposed at the welding position.

  In addition, the weld nut 20 used in the present invention is not limited to the hexagon nut, and the nut portion 20b is not limited to a hexagonal nut, and the present invention can be applied to a polygonal shape such as a pentagonal nut or a Torx nut (registered trademark). Needless to say.

  Although the present invention has been described above in connection with the most practical and preferred embodiments at the present time, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed herein. The invention can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist or concept of the invention that can be read from the claims and the entire specification, and a weld nut supply device with such a change is also understood to be included in the technical scope. There must be.

Hereinafter, the improvement of the hinge 11 used in the present invention will be described. Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 11, a hinge 70 obtained by processing a thin plate by press bending has been used. For this reason, there is a problem that a portion bent by press bending of the hinge 70 breaks in about one month. Further, conventionally, since the hinge portion of the hinge 70 is fixed by welding both ends of the shaft, even if the bent portion or the torsion spring 70a is damaged, the entire hinge 70 must be replaced. There was a problem that the running cost was high. Moreover, if the axis | shaft of the hinge part of hinge 70 is comprised with a volt | bolt and a nut, a nut will loosen and remove | deviate during use.
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 8, the hinge 11 is formed by cutting, and the shaft 11b of the hinge portion of the hinge 11 is fixed by the snap ring 11c.
Thus, since the hinge 11 was formed by cutting, the hinge 11 can be thickened, and the bending portion does not become weak by bending, and it is not necessary to perform bending, so it is hard and strong. A certain material (for example, high carbon steel) can be selected, and the hinge 11 is not damaged. Further, since the shaft 11b of the hinge portion of the hinge 11 is fixed by the snap ring 11c, even if the torsion spring 11a is damaged, the torsion spring 11a can be easily replaced simply by removing the snap ring 11c. The snap ring 11c does not come off during use, unlike the case of using bolts and nuts.

It is a side view of the weld nut supply apparatus which shows embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of FIG. It is a front view of the weld nut supply apparatus which shows embodiment of this invention. It is detail drawing of a nut receptacle. It is sectional drawing of a nut receptacle. It is detail drawing of a supply rod. It is a use state figure of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of a hinge. It is sectional drawing of the conventional weld nut supply apparatus. It is detail drawing of the conventional nut receiver. It is explanatory drawing of the conventional hinge.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Supply pipe 1a Open end 2 Supply head 2a Opening part 2b Bracket 2c Nut receiving attachment recessed part 3 Cylinder 3a Bottom part 3b Inside 4 Supply rod 4a Introducing part 4b Step part 4c Taper part 4d Contact part 5 Nut receiving part 5a Mounting recessed part 5b Base part 5c Receiving portion 6 Cylinder shaft 6a Tip 7 Piston 8 Bolt 9 Nut 10 Joint member 11 Hinge 11a Torsion spring 11b Shaft 11c Snap ring 20 Weld nut 20a Projection 20b Nut portion 20c Screw hole 20d Taper portion 20e 鍔 30 Nut 30 Electrode 32 Member to be welded 50 Supply head 51 Supply rod 53 Nut receiver 54 Hinge 60 Weld nut 60a Screw hole 70 Hinge 70a Torsion spring a Difference in height of weld nut in the bent state b Curvature radius of the receiving part c Taper angle

Claims (2)

The weld nut supplied from the nut feeder is received by the receiving part of the nut receiver, and in this state, the weld rod is inserted into the threaded hole of the weld nut and the supply rod that expands and contracts in the axial direction, and the weld nut is supplied to the welding position. In the supply device,
The bottom part of the receiving part of the nut receiver is a concave arc surface with a semicircular cross-sectional shape whose radius of curvature is almost the same as or slightly larger than the outer edge of the threaded part from the axial center of the screw hole of the weld nut,
In addition, the supply rod is formed with an introduction portion whose outer diameter gradually decreases toward the tip at the tip portion, and the base portion has a step portion that is larger than the outer diameter of the supply rod and is inserted into the screw hole of the weld nut. A weld nut supply device that is formed and has a tapered portion that guides the screw hole of the weld nut to the step portion between the supply rod and the step portion .   The weld nut supply device according to claim 1, wherein the nut receiver is configured to be detachable.

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