JP5685779B2 - Spring separator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a spring separation device, and more particularly to a spring separation device that separates intertwined springs.

In recent years, fine coil springs (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “springs”) are often used as component parts in precision mechanical devices, precision electronic devices, and the like.
For example, in the assembly line of these devices / equipment, since the springs often flow on the line in an intertwined state, before the spring is sent to a feeder such as a parts feeder, It is necessary to eliminate the entanglement.

  As an example of a conventional method of separating springs, there is a method of eliminating entanglement by putting an entangled spring into a case and blowing the compressed air by an air gun to collide with the wall of the case. However, in such a method, since it is necessary to return the separated individual springs from the case to the line, the assembly line cannot be automatically operated, and the operator has to monitor. In addition, even after the entanglement is eliminated, entanglement occurs again during the feeding, and thus it is necessary to repeatedly eliminate the entanglement.

Therefore, conventionally, a spring separating device has been developed that does not cause a supply failure even when the entangled spring is separated and flows to a supplying device such as an automatic assembling machine (Patent Documents 1 and 2). reference).
For example, the spring separating apparatus 100 (see FIG. 4) described in Patent Document 1 includes a pair of springs 120 that are intertwined with compressed air W that is blown out vertically from the compressed air outlet 118 at the bottom of the spring passage 115. It is an apparatus that separates the entangled springs by blowing them on the compressed air W and causing the entangled springs 120 to collide with the inner surface of the upper surface portion 110 of the housing 104.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-40148 JP 2003-341824 A

  However, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, the entangled spring 120 collides with the inner surface of the casing 104 by the compressed air W blown from the compressed air outlet 118 at the bottom of the casing 104, and the entangled spring 120 is While the effect | action which can be made to isolate | separate is obtained, the effect | action which the compressed air W blown in in the housing | casing 104 is exhausted from the discharge port 114 with the spring 120 will arise. Due to such exhaust action, there is a problem that the apparatus cannot be applied to a fine spring having an outer diameter of less than about 2.0 [mm], for example. That is, since the fine spring is very lightweight, there is a problem that if an air flow is generated at the discharge port of the spring, the fine spring is blown away.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to suitably eliminate the entanglement with respect to the fine spring, and to improve the yield by enabling in-line automatic operation without manual operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a spring separation device capable of performing the above.

  As an embodiment, the above-described problem is solved by a solution as disclosed below.

The disclosed spring separation device is a spring separation device that separates entangled springs, and is provided with a nozzle that feeds compressed air at one end, a collision wall is provided at the other end, and the outer periphery in the vicinity of the other end. A tubular delivery pipe provided with a discharge hole penetrating through the part, and a tubular supply pipe connected to an intermediate part of the delivery pipe, the direction from one end of the delivery pipe to the other end from the nozzle By feeding compressed air into the supply pipe and generating a negative pressure in the supply pipe, a spring is sucked from the tip opening of the supply pipe and taken into the delivery pipe, and the spring is introduced into the collision wall by the flow of the compressed air. It is made to discharge | emit with the exhaust_gas | exhaustion of this compressed air from the said discharge hole after making it collide with this.
According to this, it is possible to take in the entangled spring and cause it to collide with the collision wall, eliminate the entanglement by the impact at that time, and separate the individual springs.

Further, the cover further includes a cover that is spaced apart from the discharge hole in the radial direction of the delivery pipe and covers the discharge hole, and the cover has an exhaust port through which compressed air discharged from the discharge hole passes and exhausts. The exhaust port is disposed at a position that coincides with the discharge hole in the axial direction and the circumferential direction of the delivery pipe, and has an outer shape larger than the discharge hole, and the spring A filter member for preventing passage is attached.
According to this, it becomes possible to separate the fine springs without blowing them off. That is, this spring separation device can be suitably applied particularly to a fine coil spring having a spring outer diameter of less than about 2.0 [mm].

The collision wall has a shape protruding in a direction from the other end to the one end of the delivery pipe, and the discharge hole is located at a position coincident with the slope of the projection shape in the axial direction of the delivery pipe. It is provided.
According to this, since the effect | action which separates | separates each spring entangled using the peak and slope of the said protrusion shape in a different direction is acquired, the isolation | separation effect of a spring can be improved. Furthermore, since the collision wall has a protruding shape having a slope and the arrangement position of the discharge hole coincides with the slope, the spring that has collided with the collision wall and has been entangled can be easily removed from the discharge hole. The effect of being discharged is obtained.

The cover has a shape that covers and seals the periphery of the discharge hole of the delivery pipe, and a shape that opens a material removal port that removes the exhaust port and a spring discharged from the discharge hole. The material removal port is formed at a lower position of the cover so that the spring can be discharged due to gravity drop.
According to this, it is possible to prevent the fine spring separated and discharged from the discharge hole from being blown off, and the fine spring can be supplied (removed) from the material removal port by gravity drop.

Further, the delivery pipe is characterized in that a diffuser is replaceably provided in a pipe line between the other end and a position where the supply pipe is connected.
According to this, it becomes possible to change the internal diameter of a diffuser according to the magnitude | size of a spring.

  According to the disclosed spring separation device, the entanglement of the fine spring can be preferably eliminated. In addition, since the in-line automatic operation can be performed without manual operation, the yield can be improved.

It is the schematic (front sectional drawing) which shows the example of the spring separation apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic (side view) of the spring separator shown in FIG. It is the schematic (enlarged view) which shows the example of the discharge hole and exhaust port of the spring separation apparatus shown in FIG. It is the schematic which shows the example of the spring separation apparatus which concerns on the conventional embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view (schematic diagram) showing an example of a spring separation device 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a left side view of the spring separation device 1. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiments, and the repetitive description thereof may be omitted. In the following description, “axial direction of delivery pipe” means “longitudinal direction of delivery pipe (center axis)”, and “radial direction of delivery pipe” means “axial direction of delivery pipe”. As used herein, "radial direction orthogonal to each other" means "circumferential direction of the delivery pipe" and "direction along the outer periphery of the cut surface perpendicular to the axial direction of the delivery pipe".

  The spring separation device 1 according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which a plurality of fine springs used as components of a precision machine device / precision electronic device are intertwined when flowing on an assembly line, for example. It is a device that removes the entanglement and separates it into individual springs. This spring separating apparatus 1 can be suitably applied particularly to a fine coil spring having a spring outer diameter of less than about 2.0 [mm]. An example of a specific spring shape is a shape such as a spring outer diameter: 0.435 [mm], a spring length: 1.5 [mm], and a spring weight: 0.00031 [g / piece]. Since such a fine spring is very lightweight, it becomes a problem that it is blown away even by a slight air flow.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the spring separation device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a tubular delivery tube 10 and a tubular supply tube 11 connected to an intermediate portion of the delivery tube 10. Here, the delivery pipe 10 and the supply pipe 11 are connected so that the respective pipelines communicate with each other. In addition, the supply pipe | tube 11 in the figure is illustrated with the structure which served as the pipe joint.

The delivery pipe 10 is provided with a nozzle 12 for feeding compressed air to one end 10a. The nozzle 12 communicates with an air compressor (not shown) via a pipe joint 16 and a pipe (not shown) connected thereto, and allows compressed air to be sent into the delivery pipe 10.
On the other hand, the other end 10b of the delivery pipe 10 is provided with a collision wall 13 so that the end face opening is closed. Further, a discharge hole 14 penetrating the outer peripheral portion near the other end 10b is provided.

  Further, a diffuser 15 that defines the flow rate / flow velocity of the compressed air is provided in the pipe line of the delivery pipe 10. The diffuser 15 is disposed between the other end 10b of the delivery pipe 10 and the position where the supply pipe 11 is connected, so that the inner diameter can be changed according to the size of the spring passing through the inside. (Details will be described later).

Here, the collision wall 13 provided at the other end 10b of the delivery tube 10 has a conical shape protruding in the direction from the other end 10b of the delivery tube 10 toward the one end 10a in the present embodiment. Further, a discharge hole 14 is provided at a position that coincides with the conical slope 13 a of the collision wall 13 in the axial direction of the delivery pipe 10.
The protrusion shape is not limited to the conical shape, and it may be formed in a triangular pyramid shape, a quadrangular pyramid shape, a hemispherical shape, or the like.

Further, the spring separating device 1 includes a cover 20 that is spaced apart from the discharge hole 14 of the delivery pipe 10 in the radial direction of the delivery pipe 10 (separation distance: L) and covers the discharge hole 14. At this time, the separation distance L needs to be set larger than the spring outer diameter of the spring 2.
In the present embodiment, the cover 20 is formed in a shape that is hermetically sealed so as to cover the periphery of the discharge hole 14, that is, the other end 10 b region of the delivery pipe 10 including the discharge hole 14. However, the cover 20 has an exhaust port 21 through which compressed air discharged from the discharge hole 14 of the delivery pipe 10 passes and exhausts, and a material removal port 23 from which the spring 2 discharged from the discharge hole 14 is removed. Is provided.

  Here, as a characteristic configuration of the present embodiment, the exhaust port 21 provided in the cover 20 is disposed at a position that coincides with the discharge hole 14 in the axial direction and the circumferential direction of the delivery pipe 10, and A filter member 22 that is formed in a shape larger than the discharge hole 14 and prevents passage of the spring 2 is attached.

  According to this, the effect | action which does not flow compressed air other than the direction which goes to the exhaust port 21 from the exhaust hole 14 is acquired. That is, it is possible to prevent the generation of an air flow (in particular, an air flow toward the material removal port 23) that causes the fine spring 2 to blow away. Strictly speaking, the shunt component of compressed air other than the direction from the exhaust hole 14 toward the exhaust port 21 is not zero, but can be reduced to a negligible level.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the present embodiment, as an example, the discharge hole 14 is formed in a long hole shape, and the exhaust port 21 is formed in a circular shape. At this time, the inner diameter of the exhaust port 21 is formed to be larger than the inner diameter in the longitudinal direction of the discharge hole 14. FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic view of the vicinity of the exhaust hole 14 and the exhaust port 21 in FIG. 2, and the filter member 22 is not shown for easy understanding of the respective shapes.

  On the other hand, the material removal port 23 provided in the cover 20 is provided at a lower position of the cover 20 so that the spring 2 discharged from the discharge hole 14 and colliding with the filter member 22 is discharged by gravity drop. In the present embodiment, the delivery pipe 10 is arranged so that one end 10a is at the upper position and the other end 10b is at the lower position, and accordingly, an opening formed on the end surface of the cylindrical cover 20 is formed. The material port 23 is arranged at the lowest position.

  The number of exhaust holes 14 provided in the delivery pipe 10 and the number of exhaust ports 21 provided at positions corresponding to the exhaust holes 14 may be set as appropriate. In the present embodiment, the exhaust holes 14 and the exhaust ports 21 are each formed at four locations.

  In addition, the filter member 22 attached to the exhaust port 21 may be a mesh-like member formed using a metal material or a resin material as an example, as long as the action of preventing the passage of the spring 2 is obtained. In addition, you may use a slit-shaped member etc. as another example.

  Then, with reference to FIG. 1, the method of isolate | separating the intertwined spring using the spring separation apparatus 1 provided with the said structure is demonstrated. In addition, the solid line arrow in FIG. 1 shows the passage route of the compressed air, and the broken line arrow shows the passage route of the spring 2.

  First, compressed air is sent from the nozzle 12 into the delivery pipe 10. At this time, as shown by the solid line arrow in FIG. 1, the compressed air is sent in a direction from the one end 10 a of the delivery pipe 10 toward the other end 10 b. As a result, a negative pressure is generated in the supply pipe 11.

  Next, by utilizing the negative pressure generated in the supply pipe 11, the entangled spring 2 (here, the springs 2 </ b> A and 2 </ b> B) is sucked into the supply pipe 11 from the distal end opening portion 11 a of the supply pipe 11. The supply pipe 11 is not limited to the shape shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and an extension pipe (not shown) or the like is connected to arrange the tip opening at an optimum position in the assembly line. It becomes possible.

Next, the entangled springs 2A and 2B taken into the supply pipe 11 are drawn into the delivery pipe 10 communicating with the supply pipe 11 by the action of the compressed air flowing through the delivery pipe 10, and the compressed air It passes through the diffuser 15 by the flow and collides with the collision wall 13. When an impact is applied to the springs 2 and 2B entangled at the time of the collision, the entanglement is eliminated and the springs 2A and 2B can be separated.
In addition, since the diffuser 15 is configured to be replaceable, the inner diameter can be changed according to the size of the spring 2, and the spring separation device 1 can be used for general purposes.

  Here, in this embodiment, the collision wall 13 has a conical shape protruding in the direction from the other end 10b of the delivery pipe 10 toward the one end 10a, so that the effect of separating the entangled springs can be improved. This is because the intertwined springs 2 and 2B delivered through the delivery pipe 10 by compressed air are brought into contact with the apex of the conical shape, and the individual springs 2 are pulled apart in different directions using the conical slope 13a. This is because the action is obtained. As an example, the conical shape of the collision wall 13 is effective when the angle formed by the apex is an obtuse angle as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG.

Next, the spring 2A and the spring 2B from which the entanglement has been eliminated are discharged out of the delivery pipe 10 through the discharge hole 14 together with the exhaust of the compressed air. At this time, the compressed air discharged from the discharge hole 14 passes through the exhaust port 21 of the cover 20 and is exhausted outside the apparatus.
In the present embodiment, the discharge hole 14 is provided at a position that coincides with the conical slope 13a of the collision wall 13 in the axial direction of the delivery pipe 10, so that the collision wall 13 collides and the entanglement is eliminated. Thus, the effect of easily discharging the spring 2 from the discharge hole 14 is obtained, and the spring 2 can be prevented from staying in the vicinity of the collision wall 13 in the delivery pipe 10.

  Next, the spring 2 discharged from the discharge hole 14 collides with the filter member 22 attached to the exhaust port 21 of the cover 20, falls downward by the action of gravity, and is provided at the lower position of the cover 22. The material is discharged from the material removal port 23.

  At this time, since the action of flowing almost all of the compressed air discharged from the discharge hole 14 to the exhaust port 21 is obtained, the effect of preventing the compressed air from flowing in a direction other than the exhaust port 21 is obtained. This is because the exhaust port 21 is disposed at a position that coincides with the discharge hole 14 in the axial direction and the circumferential direction of the delivery tube 10 and is formed in a shape larger than the discharge hole 14. This is an effect obtained when the compressed air discharged from the air is not blocked by the cover 20 and the flow direction does not change.

  That is, it is possible to prevent the compressed air discharged from the discharge hole 14 from being diverted in a direction other than the exhaust port 21, particularly in a direction toward the material removal port 23. As a result, the air flow (particularly, the air flow toward the material removal port 23) that causes an action other than the action of causing the spring 2 to collide with the filter member 22 can be made substantially zero (the influence can be reduced to a level that can be ignored). Therefore, the extremely light spring 2 can be prevented from being blown off from the material removal port 23. Therefore, supply (material removal from the material removal port 23) by natural fall (gravity drop) of the spring 2 is possible.

  The number of entangled springs is not limited to two, and the same effect can be obtained when there are three or more springs. Therefore, it is preferable to set the dimensions of each component member assuming entanglement by three or more springs.

  As described above, according to the disclosed spring separation device, the entanglement of the fine spring can be preferably eliminated. At that time, it is possible to prevent the fine spring from being blown off from the material removal port by the compressed air.

In addition, in the conventional spring separation method, when the springs are entangled in the automatic assembly line that handles the springs, it is difficult to separate the springs on the line. Later, it was necessary to return to the line again. As a result, it took time and effort, and this was a factor that reduced the yield.
On the other hand, according to the disclosed spring separation device, it is possible to separate the entangled springs by in-line automatic operation without manual operation, so that the yield can be remarkably improved.

  Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the present invention. In particular, a fine coil spring has been described as an example of an object to be separated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to other fine springs and workpieces having a fine shape.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Spring separation apparatus 2 Spring 10 Delivery pipe 11 Supply pipe 12 Nozzle 13 Collision wall 14 Discharge hole 15 Diffuser 16 Pipe joint 20 Cover 21 Exhaust port 22 Filter member 23 Material removal port

Claims (6)

A spring separation device for separating entangled springs,
A tubular delivery pipe provided with a nozzle that feeds compressed air at one end, a collision wall provided at the other end and closed, and a discharge hole penetrating the outer periphery near the other end; and
A tubular supply pipe connected to an intermediate portion of the delivery pipe,
Compressed air is sent from the nozzle in a direction from one end to the other end of the delivery pipe to generate a negative pressure in the supply pipe, thereby sucking a spring from the tip opening of the supply pipe and And the spring is caused to collide with the collision wall by the flow of the compressed air to cancel the entanglement, and the spring is discharged together with the exhaust of the compressed air from the discharge hole. A cover that covers the discharge hole while being spaced apart from the discharge hole in the radial direction of the delivery pipe;
The cover is provided with an exhaust port through which compressed air discharged from the discharge hole passes and exhausts,
The exhaust port is disposed at a position that coincides with the discharge hole in the axial direction and the circumferential direction of the delivery pipe, has an outer shape larger than the discharge hole, and prevents passage of the spring. The spring separating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a filter member is attached. The collision wall has a protruding shape protruding in a direction from the other end of the delivery pipe toward one end,
3. The spring separating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge hole is provided at a position that coincides with the protrusion- shaped slope in the axial direction of the delivery pipe. The cover is formed to have a shape that covers and seals the periphery of the discharge hole of the delivery pipe, and a shape that opens a material removal port that removes the exhaust port and a spring discharged from the discharge hole. ,
3. The spring separating apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the material removal port is provided at a lower position of the cover so that the spring can be discharged by gravity drop. The said delivery pipe | tube is provided with the diffuser so that replacement | exchange is possible in the pipe line between the other end and the position where the said supply pipe | tube is connected, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Spring separation device. The spring separating device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the spring is a fine coil spring having a spring outer diameter of less than about 2.0 mm.

Images