JP6750484B2 - Screw supply device and screw supply method - Google Patents

Description

The present application relates to a screw supply device and a screw supply method.

A cartridge may be used as a component for supplying a screw to a screw tightener. As such a cartridge, there is, for example, a disk-shaped cartridge. This disk-shaped cartridge has a plurality of screw filling holes arranged in an annular shape along the circumferential direction of the cartridge. The plurality of screw filling holes are respectively filled with screws, and the screws filled in the plurality of filling holes are supplied to the screw tightening machine.

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-031967 JP 2001-121440 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-169332

When the screw is filled in the screw filling hole of the cartridge, the screw may not be filled normally and the screw may float. When the screw floats, the screw is held at a position away from the center of gravity of the screw, and misalignment occurs due to the inclination of the screw itself. Further, in the screw with washer, when the screw is filled in the screw filling hole due to the washer being bitten, the screw may be lifted and the core may be displaced. When the cartridge is supplied to the screw tightener when the screw is tilted inside the cartridge, the screw hole and the tip of the driver bit of the screw tightener are not fitted due to the misalignment, and the screw drops. May occur.

In one aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a screw supply device and a screw supply method for correcting a misalignment of a screw that occurs when a screw is arranged in a screw filling hole of a cartridge.

According to one aspect, there is provided a screw supply device for supplying a screw to a cartridge having a plurality of arrangement parts for gripping the screw, and a suction nozzle for filling the plurality of arrangement parts with screws one by one.
A screw straightening guide having a guide having a shape corresponding to the head of the screw, and being inserted into another placement portion during the screw filling operation of the suction nozzle, and a drive device that drives the suction nozzle and the screw straightening guide in conjunction with each other. , And the suction nozzle and the screw straightening guide are in a positional relationship in which the screw straightening guide is inserted into an arrangement portion in which the screw is already filled during the second and subsequent screw filling operations of the suction nozzle. I will provide a.

According to another aspect, in a cartridge having a plurality of placement parts for gripping screws, a guide having a shape corresponding to the head of the screw is provided while simultaneously filling the plurality of placement parts with screws by suction nozzles. A screw supply method using a screw supply device for correcting the posture of a screw in a disposition part to which a screw has already been supplied by using a screw correction guide including a suction nozzle in one of a plurality of disposition parts. When using the suction nozzle to grip the screw in one of the other placement parts, the guide of the screw straightening guide is attached to the head of the screw in the already gripped placement part. Provided is a screw supply method in which an arrangement portion for inserting a suction nozzle is selected so that the posture of the screw is corrected by pressing the screw.

According to the disclosed screw supply device and screw supply method, it is possible to correct misalignment of a screw that occurs when the screw is arranged in the arrangement portion.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the disclosed screw supply device, showing a state in which misalignment occurs in a screw inside a cartridge. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a suction nozzle, a screw straightening guide, a cartridge, and a screw feeder of the screw feeder. It is a figure which shows the state which corrected the screw which the core shift generate|occur|produced by the screw correction guide of a screw supply apparatus. It is a figure which shows the state which has arrange|positioned the screw to the cartridge by the suction nozzle. FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing how screws are supplied from a cartridge to a screw tightener.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present application will be described in detail based on specific examples with reference to the accompanying drawings. Further, in the following embodiments, the same or similar elements are designated by common reference numerals, and the scales of these drawings are appropriately changed for easy understanding.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the disclosed screw supply device 10 includes a screw supply machine 12, a suction nozzle 16, a screw straightening guide 17, a first drive unit 14, a vacuum ejector 18, and a second screw ejector 18. The drive unit 20, the control unit 22, and the table 60 driven by the first drive unit 14 are provided. The screw supply device 10 fills the cartridge 30 placed on the table 60 with the screws 30 supplied from the screw supply device 12.

The screw feeder 12 includes a screw storage unit 24, a screw alignment unit 26, and a vibration feeder 28. A plurality of screws 30 are stored in the screw storage unit 24. The vibrating feeder 28 operates to generate vibration. In the screw feeder 12, when the vibrating feeder 28 operates, the plurality of screws 30 are conveyed from the screw storage unit 24 to the screw alignment unit 26, and the plurality of screws 30 are aligned in a line in the screw alignment unit 26.

As shown in FIG. 2, the screw alignment portion 26 is provided with a groove 32 that opens vertically upward and extends in the horizontal direction. In the screw alignment section 26, the shafts of the screws 30 are inserted into the grooves 33, so that the screws 30 are aligned with their heads facing upward. The head 30 of the screw aligning portion 26 is positioned at one end of the screw aligning portion 26 when the shaft portion of the screw 30 contacts one end of the groove 33. The head screw 30 of the screw alignment unit 26 is supplied to the cartridge 34 by the suction nozzle 16 described later.

The cartridge 34 is formed in a disk shape, and is arranged with the vertical direction as the axial direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the cartridge 34 is fixed to a table 60 of the first drive unit 14 described later, and rotates together with the table 60 about a vertical axis. The cartridge 34 is detachably fixed to the table 60, is removed from the table 60, and is attached to a screw tightener 80 described later (see FIG. 5).

The cartridge 34 has a plurality of screw filling holes 36 (arrangement portions) arranged in the circumferential direction of the cartridge 34. Each of the plurality of screw filling holes 36 has a circular cross section and penetrates along the axial direction of the cartridge 34.

When the cartridge 34 is fixed to the table 60, the cartridge 34 is arranged above the screw alignment section 26. Further, the length of each part is adjusted so that the distance from the central axis of the cartridge 34 to the central axis of the leading screw 30 in the screw alignment portion 26 is equal to the distance from the central axis of the cartridge 34 to the central axis of the screw filling hole 36. Is set.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cartridge 34 includes a main body 38 and a gripping sheet 40 for gripping the screw 30. The gripping sheet 40 is made of plastic, for example, and is formed in a substantially annular shape. Although not shown, the gripping sheet 40 is fixed to the main body 38 by a fixing ring and a plurality of bolts. On the grip sheet 40, screw grips 50 are formed corresponding to each of the plurality of screw filling holes 36. Each screw grip portion 50 has a grip piece 52 and a grip piece 54.

The shaft portion of the screw 30 filled in the screw filling hole 36 is sandwiched by the grip piece 52 located inside the cartridge 34 and the grip piece 54 located outside the cartridge 34, respectively. That is, in a normal operation, the screw 30 is filled in the screw filling hole 36 while being held by the screw grip 50 (see FIG. 4 ). However, as shown in FIG. 1, the screw 30 may not be normally filled due to some cause, and the screw may float. When the screw floats, the screw 30 is held by the screw grip 50 at a position away from the center of gravity of the screw, which may cause tilting of the screw.

The first drive unit 14 shown in FIG. 1 has a table 60 and a motor 62. The table 60 is formed in a disc shape, and is arranged with the vertical direction as the axial direction. The table 60 has a mechanism that detachably holds the cartridge 34. Through holes 64 are formed in the table 60 coaxially with the screw filling holes 36 of the cartridge 34.

The table 60 rotates around the vertical axis along with the operation of the motor 62. When the cartridge 34 is rotated by a predetermined angle by the first drive unit 14, the plurality of screw filling holes 36 are sequentially arranged at positions coaxial with the suction nozzle 16, that is, at screw filling positions.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the suction nozzle 16 is formed in a pipe shape and is arranged with the vertical direction as the axial direction. The suction nozzle 16 is arranged on the opposite side of the head of the screw 30 in the screw alignment section 26 and the cartridge 34, that is, above the cartridge 34. The suction nozzle 16 is arranged coaxially with the leading screw 30 in the screw alignment section 26.

The second drive unit 20 (driving device) that drives the suction nozzle 16 is provided with a slider mechanism 70 having a movable unit 66 and a guide unit 68. The movable unit 66 of the slider mechanism 70 has a suction nozzle. 16 is fixed. The suction nozzle 16 moves in the vertical direction together with the movable portion 66 of the slider mechanism 70.

The vacuum ejector 18 is connected between the compressed air supply source 72 and the suction nozzle 16. By supplying compressed air from the compressed air supply source 72 to the vacuum ejector 18, the vacuum ejector 18 is driven and air is sucked from the tip portion of the suction nozzle 16, that is, the suction port.

The second drive unit 20 includes a direction control valve 74 and an air cylinder 76. The direction control valve 74 is connected between the compressed air supply source 72 and the air cylinder 76. The movable portion of the air cylinder 76 is connected to the suction nozzle 16.

The second drive unit 20 reciprocates the suction nozzle 16. That is, when compressed air is supplied from the compressed air supply source 72 to the air cylinder 76 via the direction control valve 74, the suction nozzle 16 moves in the vertical direction. Further, along with the switching of the direction control valve 74, the operating direction of the air cylinder 76 is switched, and the moving direction of the suction nozzle 16 is changed.

The control unit 22 includes an electronic circuit having, for example, an arithmetic unit and a storage device, and the vibration feeder 28, the motor 62 of the first drive unit 14, the vacuum ejector 18, and the directional control valve 74 of the second drive unit 20. To control.

The screw straightening unit 17 of the screw supply device 10 of the present embodiment is a rod-shaped member, and has a guide 19 at the tip, which has a shape corresponding to the head of the screw 30. The suction nozzle 16 is provided so as to interlock with the operation of the suction nozzle 16, and when the suction nozzle 16 performs the screw filling operation by the second drive unit 20, the screw straightening unit 17 is inserted into another screw filling hole 36. .. The screw straightening guide 17 has a positional relationship in which the screw straightening guide 17 is inserted into the screw filling hole 36 during the second screw filling operation of the suction nozzle, that is, after the screw 30 is filled in the screw filling hole 36. Has become. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide 19 has a portion in contact with the head of the screw 30 formed in a shape corresponding to the head of the screw 30. Stands vertically and is held by the screw holding portion 50. Therefore, the misalignment of the screw 30 is eliminated. Further, the screw straightening guide 17 controls the bottom dead center so as not to push the screw 30 too much.

The screw 30 filled in the last screw filling hole 36 of the cartridge cannot be straightened by the screw straightening guide 17. Therefore, a screw tightening machine 80 (see FIG. 5) described later may be provided with a screw straightening guide to straighten the inclination of the screw before supplying the screw. Alternatively, a drive mechanism different from the suction nozzle 16 may be provided to insert only the screw straightening guide 17 into the screw filling hole 36.

Next, a method of supplying the screw 30 to the cartridge 34 using the screw supply device 10 will be described.

First, the vibration feeder 28 of the screw feeder 12 is operated to convey the plurality of screws 30 from the screw storage unit 24 to the screw alignment unit 26, and the plurality of screws 30 are aligned in a line in the screw alignment unit 26. .. The head screw 30 in the screw alignment portion 26 is positioned at one end of the screw alignment portion 26 by the shaft portion of the screw 30 contacting one end of the groove 32. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the head screw 30 is arranged coaxially with the screw filling hole 36 located at the screw filling position among the plurality of screw filling holes 36.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the air cylinder 76 of the second drive unit 20 is operated, and the suction nozzle 16 moves in the outward direction, that is, descends in the direction of arrow A in FIG. The suction nozzle 16 penetrates the screw filling hole 36 when descending. When the suction nozzle 16 penetrates the screw filling hole 36 and descends, as shown in FIG. 3, the suction nozzle slidably contacts the plurality of gripping pieces 52, 54 forming the screw gripping portion 50, and the plurality of gripping pieces 52. , 54 elastically deform toward the tip of the suction nozzle 16. When the tip portion of the suction nozzle 16 reaches the leading screw 30 placed in the screw alignment portion 26, the air cylinder 76 stops and the suction nozzle 16 is held at the lowered position.

At the same time when the suction nozzle 16 descends, the screw straightening guide 17 also descends. Then, the screw straightening guide 17 is inserted into a screw filling hole 36 different from the screw filling hole 36 into which the suction nozzle 16 is inserted. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the suction nozzle 16 is inserted into the screw filling hole 36 adjacent to the screw filling hole 36. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, as the suction nozzle 16 descends, the guide 19 of the screw straightening guide 17 is pressed against the head of the screw 30, so that the screw 30 already inserted into the screw filling hole 36 is released. Posture is corrected.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4, the operation direction of the air cylinder 76 is switched by the direction control valve 74, the air cylinder 76 operates in the reverse direction, and moves in the backward direction of the suction nozzle 16, that is, in FIG. It rises in the direction of arrow B.

When the suction nozzle 16 passes through the screw gripping portion 50 when rising, the gripping pieces 52 and 54 forming the screw gripping portion 50 return to their original shapes, and the shaft portion of the screw 30 sucked by the suction nozzle 16 is screwed. It is gripped by the grip portion 50 and remains in the screw filling hole 36. Then, the vacuum ejector 18 is stopped, and the suction of air from the tip of the suction nozzle 16 is stopped. The suction nozzle 16 further rises to a position above the cartridge 34 as shown in FIG.

When the suction nozzle 16 rises above the cartridge 34, the motor 62 of the first drive unit 14 operates, and the cartridge 34 rotates in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 2 together with the table 60. Then, the screw 30 is sequentially supplied to the next screw filling hole 36 of the plurality of screw filling holes 36, and the screw 30 is filled in each of the plurality of screw filling holes 36.

The cartridge 34 is removed from the table 60 and mounted on the screw tightener 80 shown in FIG. The screw 30 filled in the cartridge 34 is supplied to the electric screwdriver 82 of the screw tightener. The electric driver 82 includes a motor 84, a driver 86, and a case 88. The driver 86 is housed in a cylindrical case 88 and is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 84.

Then, in the electric driver 82, the air inside the case 88 is sucked by the suction device 90, so that the screw 30 is attracted to the tip of the driver 86. In addition, the electric driver 82 is conveyed to a fastening destination of the screw 30 by a carrier 92 such as a robot hand, and the motor 84 operates at the fastening destination of the screw 30 to rotate the driver 86 and the fastening destination of the screw 30. It is screwed into the screw hole of.

The present application has been described in detail above with particular reference to the preferred embodiments thereof. For easy understanding of the present application, specific forms of the present application are additionally described below.

(Supplementary Note 1) A screw supply device for supplying a screw to a cartridge having a plurality of placement parts for gripping the screw,
A suction nozzle that fills each of the plurality of placement portions with a screw,
A screw straightening guide having a guide having a shape corresponding to the head of the screw, and being inserted into another arrangement portion during a screw filling operation of the suction nozzle;
A driving device that drives the suction nozzle and the screw straightening guide in conjunction with each other;
The suction nozzle and the screw straightening guide are in a positional relationship in which the screw straightening guide is inserted into the arrangement portion already filled with screws during the second and subsequent screw filling operations of the suction nozzle. apparatus.
(Supplementary Note 2) The screw supply device according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein the screw straightening guide is provided so that the suction nozzle is inserted into an arrangement portion adjacent to an arrangement portion that fills a screw.
(Supplementary Note 3) The screw straightening guide is provided so that the suction nozzle is inserted into an arrangement portion that separates at least one arrangement portion with respect to the arrangement portion where the suction nozzle is filled with a screw, and the driving device includes the suction nozzle. The screw supply device according to appendix 1, which is sequentially inserted into the adjacent arrangement portions.
(Supplementary Note 4) For a cartridge having a plurality of placement portions for gripping screws, at the same time as filling each of the placement portions with a screw with a suction nozzle, a guide having a shape corresponding to the head of the screw is provided. A screw supply method using a screw supply device, which corrects the posture of a screw in an arrangement part to which a screw has already been supplied with a screw correction guide provided,
First, let the one of the plurality of placement parts hold the screw by using the suction nozzle,
Next, when using the suction nozzle to grip the screw in one of the disposition units, the guide of the screw straightening guide is pressed against the head of the screw in the disposition unit that has already been gripped. Then, the arrangement part for inserting the suction nozzle is selected so that the posture of the screw is corrected when the screw is inclined.

10 Screw Supply Device 12 Screw Supply Machine 14 First Drive Unit 16 Adsorption Nozzle 17 Screw Straightening Guide 18 Vacuum Ejector 19 Guide 20 Second Drive Unit (Drive Device)
22 control unit 26 screw alignment unit 30 screw 34 cartridge 36 screw filling hole (arrangement unit)
50 screw grips 52, 54 gripping pieces

Claims (3)

A screw supply device for supplying a screw to a cartridge having a plurality of arrangement parts for gripping the screw,
A suction nozzle that fills each of the plurality of placement portions with a screw,
A screw straightening guide having a guide having a shape corresponding to the head of the screw, and being inserted into another arrangement portion during a screw filling operation of the suction nozzle;
A driving device that drives the suction nozzle and the screw straightening guide in conjunction with each other;
The suction nozzle and the screw straightening guide are in a positional relationship in which the screw straightening guide is inserted into the arrangement portion already filled with screws during the second and subsequent screw filling operations of the suction nozzle. apparatus. The screw supply device according to claim 1, wherein the screw straightening guide is provided so that the suction nozzle is inserted into an arrangement portion that is adjacent to an arrangement portion that fills a screw. For a cartridge having a plurality of placement parts for gripping screws, a screw straightening guide having a guide having a shape corresponding to the head of the screw while filling the plurality of placement parts with screws one by one with a suction nozzle Then, a screw supply method using a screw supply device, which corrects the posture of the screw of the arrangement part where the screw has already been supplied,
First, let the one of the plurality of placement parts hold the screw by using the suction nozzle,
Next, when using the suction nozzle to grip the screw in one of the disposition units, the guide of the screw straightening guide is pressed against the head of the screw in the disposition unit that has already been gripped. Then, the arrangement part for inserting the suction nozzle is selected so that the posture of the screw is corrected when the screw is inclined.

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