JP6657741B2 - Transfer device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport device, and more particularly, to a transport device that can transport an object having a through hole.

  In a processing apparatus, a transfer device that moves an object (work) between two positions may be used. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a transfer mechanism of a press device. The transfer mechanism includes a work loading unit that transfers a work before processing from the supply unit to the press unit, and a work unloading unit that transfers the work after processing from the press unit to the storage unit. Each of the work carrying means and the work carrying means holds the work by using a chuck hand.

JP-A-10-286699

  As shown in Patent Document 1, when a workpiece is transported using a chuck hand or the like, it takes a long time to grip the workpiece, and thus it is inefficient to transport a large number of workpieces one after another. In addition, when the dimensions of the workpiece to be transported change, in order to transport the workpiece in a stable manner, it is necessary to change the type and level of the chuck hand in accordance with the dimensions of the workpiece, In some cases, it is necessary to change a control program used for gripping and releasing a workpiece before and after. These are major factors that lower the work transfer efficiency. In particular, when the work has a shape having a through hole such as a ring, it is considered that there is room for devising an efficient transfer method using the shape.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a transport device capable of efficiently and stably transporting an object having a through hole regardless of the shape and size of the object.

  In order to solve the above problems, a transport device according to the present invention includes a base, a skewer-shaped holding member having a base fixed to the base, and a driving unit that drives a change in the posture and arrangement of the base. The holding member is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat along an axis of the holding member, and contacts a target having a through hole hung on the holding member from a base end side of the holding member during forward movement. And an extruding member capable of applying a force from the base end side to the distal end side.

  Here, the transport device further includes a drop-off preventing member movable between a drop-off preventing position and a release position, and the drop-off preventing member is hung on the holding member in the drop-off preventing position. By contacting a portion of the object facing the tip of the holding member, the object is prevented from dropping from the tip of the holding member, and in the release position, the object with respect to the holding member is It is good to be in a state that does not hinder the removal of the device.

  In this case, the push-out member has an inclined surface at a portion that comes into contact with the object, and the inclined surface extends along a direction intersecting an axis of the holding member, and the drop-off preventing member is provided at the drop-off preventing position. It is good to have the inclination which goes to the tip side of the above-mentioned holding member, so that it approaches the direction where was arranged.

  It is preferable that a heat shield is provided on a surface of the base to which the holding member is fixed.

  In the transfer device according to the above invention, the object having the through-hole is hung on the holding member, and the posture and arrangement of the base to which the holding member is fixed are changed by the driving unit, so that the object is efficiently transferred. Can be. By holding the object with the holding member using the through hole, even if the shape of the object such as the outer diameter of the object or the inner diameter of the through hole changes, as long as the holding member can be inserted into the through hole, the holding is performed. The object can be stably transferred without changing the shape of each part of the transfer device including the members and the control method for each part. Also, when simultaneously transporting a plurality of objects, the pushing member applies a force from the base end side to the distal end side of the holding member to the objects, and if the objects are brought into close contact with each other, the objects may collide with each other. The situation in which the target object is damaged can be suppressed, and the conveyance can be performed stably. Furthermore, when the objects are transported in a high temperature state, the objects can be allowed to cool down by keeping the objects in close contact with each other. The pushing member can also be used to remove the object from the holding member after conveying the object.

  Here, the transport device further includes a falling-off preventing member movable between a falling-off preventing position and a release position, and the falling-off preventing member holds the object hung on the holding member at the falling-off preventing position. By contacting the part facing the distal end side of the member, the object is prevented from falling off from the distal end of the holding member, and in the release position, in a state where the object is not hindered from being detached from the holding member, After the object is hung on the holding member with the falling prevention member in the release position, the falling prevention member is moved to the falling prevention position, and the object is pushed out toward the falling prevention member by the pushing member, and then transported. By doing so, the object can be held while being sandwiched between the drop-off holding member and the pushing member. As a result, even when the transfer is performed at a high speed, or when the posture in which the front end side of the holding member faces downward from the base end side is performed during the transfer, the transfer is performed stably without dropping the target object from the holding member. be able to. As a result, transport with a high degree of freedom becomes possible.

  In this case, the extruding member has an inclined surface at a portion that comes into contact with the object, and the inclined surface extends in a direction intersecting the axis of the holding member, in a direction in which the falling-off preventing member is disposed at the falling-off preventing position. According to the configuration having the inclination toward the tip side of the holding member as approaching, the object is hung on the holding member, the drop prevention member is arranged at the drop prevention position, and the object is pushed to the tip side of the holding member by the pushing member. When the object is pushed out, a portion far from the drop-off prevention member reaches the same position along the holding member in a state where a portion of the object close to the drop-out prevention member is pressed first against the drop-out prevention member. Thereby, the situation where the part far from the falling-off prevention member is first pushed out to the tip side of the holding member, the posture of the target object is greatly inclined, and the holding state of the target object becomes unstable is suppressed.

  When a heat shield is provided on the surface where the holding member of the base is fixed, even when the object is at a high temperature, it is necessary to suppress transmission of radiant heat from the object to the drive unit. Can be.

It is a figure which shows the conveyance apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a side view of a front-end | tip part. It is a figure explaining a process of transferring a work from a delivery device to a conveyance device, and a process advances from (a) to (c). It is a figure explaining a process of transferring a work from a transfer device to a heat treatment furnace, and a process is advanced from (a) to (c). It is a partial see-through | perspective top view which shows the outline of the heat treatment system of the hot forging product comprised including the said conveyance apparatus. It is a perspective view showing the example of the unloading device which constitutes the above-mentioned heat treatment system. It is a side view showing the state where a work is being conveyed by the unloading device.

  Hereinafter, a transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Outline of heat treatment system]
First, a heat treatment system 100 including a transfer device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

  In the heat treatment system 100, the work (object) W in a hot state subjected to hot forging is conveyed and subjected to heat treatment such as normalization. The target workpiece W may have any shape as long as it has the through-hole W1, but here, a cylindrical (ring-shaped) workpiece W is used.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the present heat treatment system 100 includes a supply device 30, a transfer device 40, a transfer device 1, a heat treatment furnace 50, and an unloading device according to an embodiment of the present invention from upstream along a movement path of a workpiece W. 60 and an accumulating unit 70. The supply device 30 sequentially supplies the workpieces W that have been hot forged by a forging device (not shown) one by one, as indicated by an arrow a1. In the delivery device 40, the five workpieces W supplied from the supply device 30 are hung on the delivery skewer member 41 one by one, as indicated by an arrow a2. Then, after passing through the position indicated by the arrow a3, the transfer skewer member 41 transfers the work W to the transfer device 1 in units of five in the first transfer step p1. The transfer device 40 is configured such that the transfer skewer member 41 moves from the position where the work W is received from the supply device 30 and then transfers the work W to the transfer device 1. This is to avoid spatial interference between the transfer device 1 and the transfer device 40.

  The heat treatment furnace 50 has a plurality of in-furnace skewer members 51 protruding substantially horizontally radially with respect to the central axis of the furnace, and rotating the in-furnace skewer members 51 about the central axis (rotation r ), Heat treatment such as normalization is performed on the work W hung on the furnace skewer member 51. The transfer apparatus 1 carries in a set of five works W from a carry-in entrance 52 provided in the heat treatment furnace 50 and moves the work W to the furnace skewer member 51 in the second delivery step p2. The work W hung on the furnace skewer member 51 undergoes heat treatment while rotating to the position corresponding to the carry-out port 53, and is transferred to the carry-out device 60 as a set of five pieces in the third delivery step p3. The unloading device 60 unloads the received work W from the unloading port 53 of the heat treatment furnace 50. Then, in the fourth delivery step p4, the unloading device 60 accumulates the unloaded work W in the accumulating unit 70 with the axis being substantially vertical. The works W accumulated in the accumulation section 70 are held down from the outer periphery by three accumulating chucks 71 erected on the circumference surrounding the work W. Thereafter, the work W is subjected to processing such as cooling.

[Configuration of transfer device]
Next, the configuration of the transport device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described mainly with reference to FIG.

  The transport device 1 has a base 11 as a base material for supporting each member. The base 11 has a frame portion 11b in which a bar is formed in a substantially box shape, and a plate-shaped support plate 11a provided at a tip of the frame portion 11b. The base 11 is attached to a robot arm 12 as a drive unit, and the posture and arrangement of the base 11 can be freely changed by the robot arm 12. The surface of the support plate 11a is covered with a heat shield made of metal foil from the viewpoint of preventing radiant heat from the work W from being transmitted to the robot arm 12 and affecting the radiant heat.

  The support plate 11a of the base 11 is provided with a skewer-shaped holding member 14 at the center. The holding member 14 has its base end fixed to the support plate 11a with its axis perpendicular to the surface of the support plate 11a. The length of the holding member 14 is at least five times the thickness of the work W (the dimension in the direction along the axis of the through hole W1), and at least five works W can be hung. The outer diameter of the holding member 14 is set to be at least smaller than the inner diameter of the through hole W1 of the work W, and furthermore, the transfer skewer member 41 and the furnace skewer member 51 of the transfer device 40 and the through hole W1 of the work W at the same time. It is preferable that the thickness is set so that it can be inserted into the device. It is preferable that the holding member 14 is made of a material having a heat resistance to the extent that it is not substantially deformed or deteriorated at least at the temperature of the work W after hot forging to be transferred.

  Hereinafter, in this specification, the direction from the base end side to the distal end side along the axis of the holding member 14 is referred to as + x direction. The direction orthogonal to the x-axis direction and toward the side where the robot arm 12 is provided is defined as the + z direction. The direction orthogonal to the x axis and the y axis is defined as the y axis.

  In the present transporting apparatus 1, a support 16 is further provided so that an axis thereof is parallel to the holding member 14. The support 16 is provided at a position away from the holding member 14 in the + z direction, and extends to near the tip of the holding member 14. The distance between the holding member 14 and the support 16 is set so that the work W hung on the holding member 14 does not contact the support 16 with at least the support 16 arranged above the holding member 14, that is, the distance of the work W It is determined to be longer than the distance from the edge to the outer edge of the through hole W1. The column 16 is rotatable by a rotary air cylinder 18 fixed to the base 11.

  At the tip of the support 16, a falling-off prevention member 17 formed as an elongated plate is fixed at one end in the long axis direction. By rotating the support 16 by the rotary air cylinder 18, the fall-off prevention member 17 can be moved between a fall-off prevention position shown by a solid line in FIG. 1A and a release position shown by a dotted line. Has become. In the drop prevention position, the drop prevention member 17 is disposed at a position where the long axis faces the −z direction and the front end faces the holding member 14. In the release position, the falling-off preventing member 17 is rotated by 90 ° from the falling-off preventing position, and the long axis is directed in the y direction.

  When the holding member 14 is inserted through the through hole W1 of the work W and the work W is to be hung on the holding member 14 or the work W hung on the holding member 14 is to be detached from the holding member 14, the holding member 14 is dropped. If the prevention member 17 is disposed at the release position, the falling-off prevention member 17 does not contact the work W and does not prevent the work W from being detached. On the other hand, if the fall prevention member 17 is arranged at the fall prevention position while the work W is hung on the holding member 14, there is no gap between the tip of the holding member 14 and the fall prevention member 17 through which the work W can pass. State. As a result, even if the work W attempts to fall from the tip of the holding member 14, the fall prevention member 17 comes into contact with the surface of the work W facing the + x side, thereby preventing the work W from falling. The surface of the falling-off preventing member 17 facing the base end side of the holding member 14 is subjected to a non-slip processing in order to increase frictional resistance with the work W.

  Further, a plate-shaped pusher (extruding member) 15 is provided on the base end side of the holding member 14. The pusher 15 is driven by a cylinder 13 fixed to the base 11 and is capable of moving back and forth in the ± x direction along the axis of the holding member 14 independently of the holding member 14. The pusher 15 has a longer stroke than the holding member 14, and can be advanced to the front of the tip of the holding member 14. The pusher 15 has an inclined surface 15a on a surface facing the + x direction. The inclined surface 15a has a linear inclination along the z-axis direction, and the distal end side of the holding member 14 is moved in the + z direction, which is a direction approaching the column 16 and the falling prevention member 17 at the falling prevention position. In the + x direction.

  When the pusher 15 is advanced in the + x direction while the work W is hung on the holding member 14, the inclined surface 15 a of the pusher 15 can be brought into contact with the −x side surface of the work W. Then, a force in the + x direction can be applied to the work W. Further, when the pusher 15 is advanced in a state in which the fall prevention member 17 is arranged at the fall prevention position, the work W is pressed toward the fall prevention member 17, and the work W is sandwiched between the pusher 15 and the fall prevention member 17. Can be held.

[Receiving work in transfer device]
Here, the first delivery process p1, which is a process in which the transfer device 1 receives the workpiece W from the delivery skewer member 41 of the delivery device 40, will be described mainly with reference to FIG. As described with reference to FIG. 4, in the first delivery step p1, the five works W are transferred from the delivery skewer member 41 of the delivery device 40 on which the five works W have been transferred at one time to the transfer device 1. Is moved to the holding member 14.

  In the first delivery step p1, first, from the state where the five workpieces W are hung on the delivery skewer member 41 of the delivery device 40, as shown in FIG. Then, the front end surfaces of the holding members 14 of the transport device 1 are abutted. At this time, the holding member 14 is disposed at a position lower than the delivery skewer member 41. The posture and arrangement of the holding member 14 are controlled by the robot arm 12. In the meantime, in the transport device 1, the posture and arrangement of the base 11 are selected so that the support 16 is disposed above the holding member 14 and the work 41. Further, the falling-off prevention member 17 is arranged at the release position, and is in a state of not contacting the work W.

  In this state, as shown in FIG. 2A, the delivery device 40 is positioned at the most proximal end side of the delivery skewer member 41 by the delivery pusher 42 provided on the base end side of the delivery skewer member 41. A force f1 toward the distal end side of the delivery skewer member 41, that is, the base end side of the holding member 14, is applied to the workpiece W along the axes of the delivery skewer member 41 and the holding member 14. The force f1 is transmitted to all the works W. Thus, the five works W move toward the base end of the holding member 14. In a state where the holding members 14 pass through the through holes W1 of all the works W, the holding members 14 are moved together with the base 11 in the base end direction (−x direction) by the robot arm 12. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2B, the five workpieces W are hung on the holding member 14 of the transfer device 1. In this state, a gap may be inevitably generated between the works W.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, the column 16 is rotated, and the drop prevention member 17 is disposed at the drop prevention position. Then, the pusher 15 is advanced toward the front end side of the holding member 14. Thereby, the force f2 toward the distal end side of the holding member 14 is applied to the works W arranged on the most proximal side of the holding member 14 and transmitted to the respective works W. As a result, the gap generated between the works W is eliminated, and the rows of the works W are pressed against the falling-off preventing members 17 in a state where the works W are in close contact with each other. Thus, preparation for holding the work W by the transfer device 1 is completed.

  Then, the work W is moved to the position of the entrance 52 of the heat treatment furnace 50 by the robot arm 12 while the work W is sandwiched between the fall prevention member 17 and the pusher 15 as shown in FIG. . During the transportation, the pusher 15 is maintained in a state in which the force f2 toward the distal end of the holding member 14 is applied.

[Transfer of work from transfer device]
Next, a third delivery process p3, which is a process of delivering the work W from the transfer device 1 to the furnace skewer member 51 of the heat treatment furnace 50, will be described mainly with reference to FIG.

  The transfer device 1 holding the work W in the state shown in FIG. 2C enters the inside of the heat treatment furnace 50 from the carry-in port 52. At this time, the in-furnace skewer member 51 is disposed substantially horizontally with its axis directed from the central axis of the heat treatment furnace 50 toward the carry-in port 52. The axis of the holding member 14 is arranged in parallel with the axis of the in-furnace skewer member 51. In this state, the position of the transfer device 1 holding the work W is controlled by the robot arm 12 so that the holding member of the transfer device 1 is attached to the tip end surface of the furnace skewer member 51 as shown in FIG. Fourteen end faces are butted. At this time, the holding member 14 is arranged at a position higher than the furnace skewer member 51.

  Next, the force f2 applied to the work W from the pusher 15 is temporarily released, and the falling-off prevention member 17 is moved to the release position as shown in FIG. Then, the pusher 15 is advanced to the distal end side of the holding member 14, and is positioned on the distal end side of the holding member 14, that is, the proximal end side of the furnace skewer member 51 with respect to the workpiece W located on the most proximal side of the holding member 14. A heading force f3 is applied along the axes of the holding member 14 and the furnace skewer member 51. The force f3 is transmitted to all the workpieces W, and the five workpieces W leave the holding member 14 and move to the furnace skewer member 51. As a result, the five works W are hung on the furnace skewer member 51.

  In this state, as shown in FIG. 3C, the pusher 15 is further advanced to apply a force f4 toward the base end side of the furnace skewer member 51 to the work W hung on the furnace skewer member 51. . The force f4 is transmitted to each work W, and each work W moves toward the base end side of the furnace skewer member 51. At the base end of the furnace skewer member 51, a T-shaped contact member 54 is provided between the furnace inner wall member 55 and the furnace inner wall surface 55, and the pusher 15 has a stroke longer than the axis of the holding member 14. Thus, each work W is pressed against the contact member 54 by the pusher 15. The transport device 1 escapes from the loading port 52 and prepares for receiving the next work W from the transfer device 40.

[Effects of transfer efficiency and stability by the transfer device]
The transport device 1 according to the present embodiment has the following effects by having the above configuration.

  In the present transporting device 1, the holding member 14 is configured as a simple skewer-shaped member having no stopper portion or the like protruding from the shaft. Irrespective of this, it is possible to transport various works W by hanging them on the holding member 14. Even if the shape and dimensions of the work W are changed, it is not necessary to perform operations such as adjusting the shape and arrangement of each component and changing the control program. Further, in the present transporting apparatus 1, the work W can be detached from the holding member 14 simply by performing an operation of sliding the work W to the base end side or the distal end side along the axis of the holding member 14. it can. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 3A, when the workpiece W is transferred between the holding member 14 and the other skewer members (41, 51), the holding member and the other skewer members are transferred. If the work W is slid in a state where the end faces of the (41, 51) are abutted, the work W can be easily transferred between the holding member and the other skewer members (41, 51). In particular, the receiving-side skewer member (the holding member 14 in FIG. 2A, the furnace skewer member 51 in FIG. 3A) is used as the receiving-side skewer member (the transferring skewer member in FIG. 2A). 41, the workpiece W can be moved smoothly by arranging it at a position lower than the holding member 14) in FIG. The slide operation of the work W is performed by pushing the work W from the holding member 14 by the pusher 15 of the transfer device 1 when removing the work W, and by pushing the transfer pusher 42 of the transfer device 40 when hanging the work W. By pressing the work W into the holding member 14 with an external pusher, the operation can be performed simply and at high speed. The pushing and pushing operations of the pushers 15 and 42 need only be performed until the movement of the work W stops, so that the pushing / pushing distance and the applied force are also adjusted according to the shape and dimensions of the work W. No need to do. As a result, in the present transfer apparatus 1, the work W having the through-hole W1 can be transferred efficiently regardless of its shape and size, and the operation of the heat treatment system 100 is efficiently performed. be able to.

  Further, the present transport device 1 is provided with a pusher 15 that can apply a force toward the distal end side of the holding member 14 to the work W hung on the holding member 14, so that the work W shown in FIG. As described above, the gap inevitably generated between the plurality of works W can be eliminated. When a plurality of (five in the above) workpieces W are simultaneously held on the holding member 14 and transported, if there is a gap between the workpieces W, a collision occurs between the adjacent workpieces W during transport, and the workpieces W Damage such as scratches may occur on the surface. On the other hand, by eliminating the gap and bringing the workpieces W into close contact with each other before transporting the workpieces W, the posture of the workpieces W is stabilized, and the workpieces W can be transported in a state where collisions between the workpieces W are avoided. it can. Further, when the work W is a metal material immediately after hot forging, the work W can be kept in close contact with each other, so that the cooling of the work W during transportation can be suppressed to a small value.

  As described above, the pusher 15 can also be used for eliminating the gap between the workpieces W before the transport, holding the workpiece W during the transport in cooperation with the falling-off preventing member 17, and moving and pressing the workpiece W after the transport. As a result, the entire transport apparatus 1 can be formed simply as compared with the case where members specialized for these functions are provided. In the above-described embodiment, the state in which the force f2 toward the tip end of the holding member 14 is applied to the work W from the pusher 15 during the conveyance is maintained. Once the gap is eliminated, the pusher 15 may be stopped at that position and the conveyance may be performed without applying the force f2. However, a configuration in which the mechanism for stopping the pusher 15 is omitted and the state where the force f2 is applied is maintained can simplify the configuration of the cylinder 13.

  In the present transport device 1, by providing the drop-off preventing member 17 in addition to the pusher 15, the work W can be held between the pusher 15 and the drop-off preventing member 17. Thereby, even when the conveyance is performed at high speed and the centrifugal force is applied to the work W, or when the arrangement is such that the distal end side of the holding member 14 is lower than the base end side during the conveyance, the work W is held by the holding member. 14 can be stably conveyed without falling off. Further, in the present transport apparatus 1, a pusher 15 is provided on the axis of the holding member 14, and a drop-off prevention member that rotates about 90 ° is provided at the tip of a column 16 parallel to the holding member 14. Since the workpiece W is stably held by such a configuration, the area of a cross section perpendicular to the axis (x-axis) of the holding member 14 may be small in the entire transfer apparatus 1. Thereby, the entrance 52 of the heat treatment furnace 50 can be formed with a small opening area, and the heat efficiency of the heat treatment furnace 50 can be maintained high. Note that the drop-off preventing member 17 may not be necessarily provided when the conveyance is performed so that the centrifugal force does not become a problem and the holding member 14 is kept substantially horizontal. When the drop prevention member 17 is not provided, the transfer may be performed by adjusting the force f2 applied to the work W from the pusher 15 to such an extent that the work W does not drop from the holding member 14.

  In the above embodiment, the surface of the pusher 15 that contacts the work W is the inclined surface 15a. If this surface is a surface perpendicular to the axis of the holding member 14 having no inclination, the drop prevention member 17 above the work W is arranged at the drop prevention position as shown in FIG. Then, when the pusher 15 is advanced, the pusher 15 applies a substantially uniform force to the work W over the entire surface. Thereby, in the work W, the lower part where the inner wall of the through-hole W1 is not in contact with the holding member 14 is in contact with the holding member 14 because the inner wall of the through-hole W1 is in contact with the holding member 14. It may move to the tip side of the holding member 14 earlier than the upper part having. Then, the posture of the work W becomes unstable and may be greatly inclined. As a result, the work W cannot be stably held between the fall prevention member 17 and the pusher 15. On the other hand, the upper part approaching the position where the falling-off preventing member 17 is provided is formed on the surface of the pusher 15 that comes into contact with the workpiece W, by forming a slope protruding toward the distal end side of the holding member 14. The upper part of W is pushed out preferentially by the pusher 15 as compared with the lower part, and reaches the position where the falling prevention member 17 is provided earlier. Then, in a state where the upper portion of the work W is pressed against the drop prevention member 17, the lower portion reaches the same position along the axis (x-axis direction) of the drop prevention member 17. Thereby, the posture of the work W is less likely to be unstable during the pushing by the pusher 15, and the work W can be stably held between the fall prevention member 17 and the work W in a state where the gap between them is eliminated. .

[Configuration of unloading device]
Finally, the configuration of the unloading device 60 used in the heat treatment system 100 will be briefly described. As the unloading device 60, a device having the same configuration as the above-described transfer device 1 used to transfer the work W into the heat treatment furnace 50 may be used. However, in order to accumulate the unloaded workpiece W in the accumulating unit 70 with the axis substantially vertical, the attitude of the workpiece W received from the heat treatment furnace 50 with the axis kept horizontal is greatly changed, Must be oriented vertically. Although the above-described transport device 1 is provided with the falling-off preventing member 17, if the posture of the holding member 14 is changed so much that the tip side is directed downward in the vertical direction, the holding of the work W becomes unstable. There is a risk. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, an unloading device 60 that can stably hold and transport the work W even when such an attitude change is performed.

The unloading device 60 shown in FIG. 5 has a base 61 as a base material for supporting each member. The base 61 is attached to a robot arm 62 as a driving unit, and the posture and arrangement of the base 61 can be freely changed by the robot arm 62. In the following, in describing the structure of the unloading device 60, each direction of x ′, y ′, and z ′ is defined as shown in FIG. 5, with the direction perpendicular to the surface of the base 61 and away from the base 61 as the + x direction. .

  The base 61 is provided with four long arm members 63. The four arm members 63 have the same length, each have a base end at a vertex of a rectangle having sides parallel to the y ′ axis and the z ′ axis, and extend in the + x ′ direction. . The length of the arm member 63 is at least five times the thickness of the work W, and at least five works W can be arranged along the axis of the arm member 63. Each of the four arm members 63 is movable in the ± z ′ directions, and can move as a whole from the base end. Specifically, with the position shown in FIG. 5 as the original position, two upper arm members 63a located on the + z ′ side of the four can move in the −z ′ direction from the original position, Of the four, the two lower arm members 63b located on the −z ′ side can move in the + z ′ direction from the original position. The movement of each arm member 13 is driven by a cylinder (not shown) provided on the base 61.

  At the ends of the four arm members 63, claw members 64 made of plate pieces are fixed. Each claw member 64 is provided so as to protrude inward in the z ′ direction from the axis of the arm member 63. That is, in the upper arm member 63a located on the + z 'side, the claw member 64 projects in the -z' direction, and in the lower arm member 63b located on the -z 'side, the claw member 64 projects in the + z' direction. I have.

  The unloading device 60 is further provided with a plate-shaped pressing member 65. The pressing member 65 is disposed at a position corresponding to the center of a rectangle formed by the four arm members 63 in the original position with the plate surface parallel to the y'z 'plane. The dimension of the holding member 65 is set so that the holding member 65 does not come into contact with any of the arm members 63 in the entire movable range of each arm member 63, and that the assumed work W is disposed in front of the end surface of the work W. It is set to be accessible. The pressing member 65 is connected to a cylinder 67 fixed to the base 61 via a connecting member 66, and is driven by the cylinder 67 to be able to move forward and backward in the ± x 'directions.

  In the unloading device 60, when the workpiece W is transported, the axis of the arm member 63 (x'-axis direction) is arranged substantially horizontally, and each arm member 63 is set at the original position, and the pressing member 65 is sufficiently moved to -x. In a state where the cylindrical work W is retracted in the 'direction, the cylindrical work W is disposed in front (+ x' side) of the pressing member 65. At this time, the workpiece W is arranged with the axis of the cylinder oriented in the x'-axis direction. Then, by moving the upper arm member 63a in the −z ′ direction and moving the lower arm member 63b in the + z ′ direction, each of the four arm members 63 is sandwiched between the side surfaces of the work W (between both end surfaces). (A cylindrical surface). Further, as shown in FIG. 6, by moving the pressing member 65 forward, a forward force (f′1) is applied to the rear surface of the work W, and the claw member provided in front of the arm member 63. The work W is pressed against the work 64. The claw member 64 contacts the end surface of the work W from the front. Thus, the work W can be held by the four arm members 63, the claw members 64, and the pressing members 65. The work W can be transferred by driving the robot 61 to change the posture and arrangement of the base 61. During conveyance, the pressing member 65 continues to apply a forward force to the work W, and maintains a state where the work W is pressed against the claw member 64.

  In the third delivery step p3 in which the unloading device 60 receives the workpiece W from the in-furnace skewer member 51 provided in the heat treatment furnace 50, first, the unloading device 60 is moved from the unloading port 53 to the heat treatment furnace 50 by the unloading device 60. With the upper arm member 63a at the original position positioned above the workpiece W and the lower arm member 63b also at the original position positioned below the workpiece W, the robot advances to the base end side of the furnace skewer member 51. . Then, the claw member 64 is brought into contact with the inner wall surface 55. In this state, the pressing member 65 is advanced, and the work W is pressed against the T-shaped contact member 54 to be brought into contact therewith. The contact member 54 has a thickness greater than the claw member 64 of the unloading device 60, and at this time, a gap is formed between the workpiece W and the inner wall surface 55 so that the claw member 64 can enter. The force applied to the work W in order to press the work W against the contact member 54 is thereafter maintained in a state where the work W is applied during the transfer of the work W.

  Next, the upper arm member 63a is moved downward, and the lower arm member 63b is moved upward, so that the side surface of the work W is sandwiched by the arm members 63 from above and below. From this state, the arm member 63 supported by the base 61 is moved by the robot arm 62 and separated from the in-furnace skewer member 51. At this time, the four claw members 64 enter a gap formed between the workpiece W in contact with the contact member 23 and the inner wall surface 55. In this way, the five workpieces W are surrounded by the four arm members 63, sandwiched between the holding members 65 and the claw members 64, and conveyed while being held as shown in FIG. .

  The unloading device 60 that has escaped from the heat treatment furnace 50 sets the arm member 63 that has been substantially horizontal to be substantially vertical, and places the claw member 64 below the holding member 65 in the direction of gravity. Then, in the fourth transfer step p4, the work W is surrounded by three stacking chucks 71 opened outside the outer diameter of the work W in order to stack the work W in the stacking section 70 with the axis being substantially vertical. The held work W is lowered in a state where the position of the end face of the work W is adjusted to the set area. Then, the force applied to the pressing member 65 to press the work W against the claw member 64 is released, and each arm member 63 is returned to the original position. On the other hand, the three accumulating chucks 71 are moved toward the central axis of the work W and pressed against the outer periphery of the work W.

  In the unloading device 60, the work W is pressed against the base end side of the furnace skewer member 51 by having the holding member 65 in addition to the arm member 63 and the claw member 64, and the work W is forcibly aligned. The work W can be transported while maintaining the aligned state. After aligning the work W in this manner, in addition to the effect of sandwiching the work W from the side with the arm member 63, a force is exerted on the work W from the holding member 65 in a direction intersecting the sandwiching, and the claw member 64 The work W can be stably held by the effect of pressing. In particular, even during conveyance, by continuously applying the force f′1 to the work W from the pressing member 65, the work W is moved to the stacking unit 70 so that the side of the claw member 64 faces downward. Even when the posture is largely changed, the state in which the work W is firmly held can be stably maintained.

  As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveying device 11 Base 11a Support plate 12 Robot arm 13 Cylinder 14 Support shaft 15 Pusher 15a Inclined surface 16 Support 17 Drop-off prevention member 30 Supply device 40 Delivery device 41 Delivery skewer member 42 Delivery skewer member 50 Heat treatment furnace 51 Furnace skewer member 52 carry-in port 53 carry-out port 60 carry-out device 70 stacking unit 71 stacking chuck 100 heat treatment system W work W1 through hole

Claims (2)

The base,
A skewer-shaped holding member having a length capable of hanging a plurality of objects having through holes and having a base end fixed to the base,
A driving unit that drives a change in the posture and arrangement of the base,
The holding member is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat along the axis of the holding member, and contacts the object having a through hole hung on the holding member from the base end side of the holding member during forward movement, and contacts the object with the holding member. An extruding member that can apply a force from the base end side to the distal end side,
Having a fall-off prevention position and a fall-off prevention member movable between a release position,
In the drop-off prevention position, the drop-off prevention member contacts the part of the object hung on the holding member facing a tip side of the holding member, so that the target object has a tip end of the holding member. To prevent the object from being detached from the holding member in the release position,
The extruding member has an inclined surface at a site that contacts the object,
The inclined surface is characterized by having an inclination toward the tip end side of the holding member along a direction intersecting with the axis of the holding member, as approaching the direction in which the drop prevention member is arranged at the drop prevention position. Transport device. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein a heat shield is provided on a surface of the base to which the holding member is fixed.

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