JP7220446B2 - discharge system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a dispensing system comprising a dispensing device and a control device.

Conventionally, ejection systems such as a variable ejection width device and a coating device disclosed in Patent Document 1 below have been provided. Such a discharge system is provided with a control device for controlling the discharge device for discharging the fluid. For example, when a uniaxial eccentric screw pump is adopted as a discharge device like the coating device of Patent Document 1, by multiplying the discharge amount per rotation of the rotor by the number of rotations of the rotor per unit time, A discharge amount per unit time can be derived. Therefore, in the example of the coating apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, the operation of the ejection apparatus can be controlled by setting the number of rotations of the rotor per unit time as the ejection condition.

Further, in the case where the ejection system is for coating an object to be ejected with a predetermined thickness, the ejection system has an ejection device mounted on an industrial robot or the like, as exemplified in Patent Document 1 below. It is sometimes taken for granted. In some cases, the ejection system applies the fluid while transferring the ejection target object by a belt conveyor or the like instead of mounting the ejection device on the industrial robot. When the fluid is applied while the ejection device and the object to be ejected are moved relative to each other in this way, various factors such as the amount of relative movement and relative movement speed between the ejection device and the object to be ejected, the amount of fluid to be ejected, etc. It is necessary to consider conditions as discharge conditions and to control the operation by a control device. Furthermore, in the case where the fluid can be discharged while adjusting the discharge width as in the coating apparatus of Patent Document 1 below, it is necessary to control the operation of the discharge width variable device, which further complicates the discharge conditions. .

In the ejection system as described above, in the prior art, a control device such as a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) is used in order to accurately match the operation timing of each part. In the prior art, for example, a PLC is used to perform motion control using a method such as electronic cam control that imitates the synchronous control of a mechanical cam. For example, in the coating apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, position control, speed control, supply amount control, and ejection width control can be synchronously controlled under control by the PLC.

Japanese Patent No. 5786193

However, as described above, when trying to control the operation of each part under control by a control device such as a PLC, there is a problem that complicated and specialized settings are required. For example, when attempting to perform motion control using the above-described electronic cam control method, the horizontal axis is the phase of the virtual main axis corresponding to the movement of the moving device, and the displacement amount of each cam corresponding to the number of revolutions of the pump is generally set to Control is performed by defining a function curve with the vertical axis. When such a control method is employed, complicated and highly difficult work is required even to realize a simple request such as adjusting the ejection thickness at the coating start end.

That is, in order to realize the above-mentioned demands, even if dedicated software for electronic cam control is activated on a computer, the user's demands cannot be set directly or intuitively. Specifically, in the dedicated software for electronic cam control, the virtual spindle phase corresponding to the coating start end is found, and while considering how much discharge amount is required to realize the coating width at that phase, Difficult work is required to adjust the electronic cam displacement amount corresponding to the pump rotation speed. Therefore, in the conventional ejection system, for example, even if there is a desire to slightly adjust the ejection thickness according to the environmental conditions of the day at the manufacturing site where coating is performed, knowledge of each ejection condition and electronic cam control There is a problem that the required control cannot be realized without the knowledge and experience of Also, even if a motion control method other than electronic cam control is adopted, the same difficult work as in the case of adopting electronic cam control is involved in changing the discharge conditions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ejection system in which even an inexperienced user can intuitively change and adjust ejection conditions without being conscious of complicated control parameters.

A discharge system of the present invention is provided to solve the above-described problems. a control device that controls the operation of the apparatus; a display device that visually displays ejection information relating to the ejection pattern of the fluid having a correlation with the ejection conditions for each of a plurality of sections forming the ejection process; an input device capable of selecting and varying the ejection information displayed on the display device for one or more of the sections, wherein the control device changes the ejection information according to the input to the input device; A conversion process is performed to convert the ejection information into the ejection conditions, and the ejection conditions are changed to the ones after the conversion process to control the operation of the ejection device.

In the ejection system of the present invention, the ejection information visually displayed on the display device for each of a plurality of intervals of the ejection process can be selected and varied via the input device. Further, in the ejection system of the present invention, a conversion processing function for converting ejection information input to the input device into ejection conditions is implemented in the control device. Therefore, in the ejection system of the present invention, simply by changing the ejection information visually displayed on the input device in accordance with the desired ejection pattern, the ejection information is converted into ejection conditions for realizing the ejection pattern. After being processed, the ejection operation can be executed in accordance with the ejection conditions after the conversion processing. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ejection system in which even an inexperienced user can intuitively change and adjust ejection conditions without being conscious of complicated control parameters and the like.

The ejection system of the present invention described above further includes a moving device that relatively moves the ejection device and the ejection target, and the control device controls the operation of the ejection device based on the ejection conditions and the movement device. may be executed while synchronizing with.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to provide an ejection system in which the ejection device and the moving device operate while synchronizing such that the fluid is ejected in an ejection pattern suitable for the relative movement between the ejection device and the ejection target. The ejection system of the present invention employs, as a control device, one capable of controlling both the operation of the ejection device and the movement device, and is not limited to the one capable of controlling the ejection device and the movement device while synchronizing them. Alternatively, the control device that controls the operation of the ejection device may receive an operation signal from the moving device side and synchronize the ejection device and the moving device.

Here, for example, as in the coating apparatus of Patent Document 1 described above, when a nozzle capable of changing the discharge width and discharge shape of the discharge material is provided, the flow discharged to the discharge target in each section Even if the body thickness, height, and discharge width are the same, the absolute amount of the fluid discharged in each section is different. Therefore, in the discharge system described above, it may be difficult to appropriately adjust the thickness, height, and discharge width of the fluid only by specifying the absolute amount of the fluid to be discharged in each section. Therefore, in the ejection system of the present invention described above, at least one of the ejection information can be expressed as at least one of the thickness, height, and width of the fluid ejected onto the ejection target. desirable.

Based on this knowledge, the above-described ejection system of the present invention is characterized in that the ejection information includes the ejection pattern in each of the sections, the thickness, height, and ejection width of the fluid to be ejected onto the ejection target. It is desirable to be expressed as at least one of

According to this configuration, the user can set the ejection conditions by intuitively setting the ejection information without being aware of the relationship between the thickness and height of the fluid ejected in each section, the ejection width, and the absolute amount. An optimizable dispensing system can be provided.

The ejection system of the present invention described above includes a variable ejection width nozzle capable of changing the ejection width of the fluid according to the ejection conditions, and the ejection width for each section is part or all of the ejection information. It can be anything.

According to such a configuration, the fluid can be ejected in an optimum state with various ejection widths by the ejection width variable nozzle.

In the ejection system of the present invention described above, at least one of the length of the entire ejection process and the length of one or more of the sections forming the ejection process can be changed by the input device. Also good.

According to such a configuration, the length of the entire ejection process or the length of each section forming part of the ejection process can be easily and appropriately changed. Further, by changing all or part of the ejection process in this way, it is possible to easily change the ejection shape and the ejection position of the fluid in a series of ejection processes.

The ejection system of the present invention described above may be capable of adjusting the ejection position of the fluid with respect to the ejection target by input to the input device.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to provide an ejection system that can intuitively and appropriately adjust the ejection position of the fluid with respect to the ejection target.

In the ejection system of the present invention described above, the combination of the display device and the input device may be configured by a touch panel.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to provide a discharge system that allows a user to operate with an intuitive operational feeling.

The ejection system of the present invention described above may further include a direct operation mode in which the ejection conditions can be directly changed without going through the conversion process.

According to this configuration, by selecting the direct operation mode, the ejection conditions can be changed directly. Therefore, the ejection system of the present invention can be used in such a way that, after the ejection conditions have been changed through the conversion process, more detailed changes can be made by directly selecting the operation mode.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ejection system that allows even an inexperienced user to intuitively change and adjust ejection conditions without being conscious of complicated control parameters and the like.

It is a block diagram showing composition of a discharge system concerning a first embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a dispenser employed in the dispensing system of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 2 is an image diagram showing a first aspect of a GUI displayed in the ejection system of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an image diagram showing a second aspect of a GUI displayed in the ejection system of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a discharge system according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of a dispenser employed in the dispensing system of Figure 5; (a) is a sectional view showing a state in which a variable discharge width device is attached to the dispenser of FIG. 6, and (b) is a bottom view of the variable discharge width device of (a). FIG. 8 is an exploded view of an inner cylindrical portion used in the variable discharge width device of FIG. 7; FIG. 6 is an image diagram showing a first aspect of a GUI displayed in the ejection system of FIG. 5; FIG. 6 is an image diagram showing a second aspect of the GUI displayed in the ejection system of FIG. 5; (a) is an explanatory view showing the state in which the ejection system is operated with the ejection thickness set as shown in FIG. 9, and (b) is the state in which the ejection system is operated with the ejection thickness set as shown in FIG. It is an explanatory diagram showing. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a discharge system according to a third embodiment of the invention; FIG. 13 is an image diagram showing a first aspect of a GUI displayed in the ejection system of FIG. 12; FIG. 13 is an image diagram showing a second aspect of the GUI displayed in the ejection system of FIG. 12; FIG. 13 is an image diagram showing a third aspect of the GUI displayed in the ejection system of FIG. 12;

<<First embodiment>>
Hereinafter, a discharge system 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the ejection system 10 includes an ejection device 20, a moving device 40, an input/output device 50, and a control device . The ejection system 10 operates the ejection device 20 and the moving device 40 according to the ejection conditions specified by the control device 70 . In this manner, the ejection system 10 can perform a routine process of ejecting the fluid onto an ejection target in a predetermined ejection pattern through a predetermined ejection process.

The ejection device 20 is configured by a dispenser 22 to eject and apply a fluid to an ejection target. The dispenser 22 is for pumping the fluid, and the main part is constituted by a uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 . The dispenser 22 operates in accordance with an operation command from the control device 70, and can eject the fluid from the nozzle 24 provided at the tip to apply the fluid to the object to be ejected.

The uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 is a rotary positive displacement pump. As shown in FIG. 2, the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 has a male-screw rotor 32 that receives power and rotates eccentrically, a stator 34 with a female-screw inner peripheral surface, and a motor 36 .

The rotor 32 is a metal shaft having an n-stripe (n=1 in this embodiment) male screw. The stator 34 is a substantially cylindrical member having an inner peripheral surface 34a having a through hole 34b formed in the shape of an n+1 (n=1 in this embodiment) female screw. The uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 has a structure in which a pump mechanism 35 , the main part of which is constructed by inserting a rotor 32 into a through hole 34 b of a stator 34 , is incorporated in a pump casing 38 .

The motor 36 serves as a drive source for the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 . The motor 36 is connected to the base end of the rotor 32 via the power transmission portion 37a and the eccentric rotation portion 37b. Therefore, the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 can freely eccentrically rotate the rotor 32 inside the through hole 34b by operating the motor 36 .

The uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 can longitudinally advance the fluid transport path 39 formed between the rotor 32 and the stator 34 by rotating the rotor 32 within the through hole 34b of the stator 34 . Therefore, by rotating the rotor 32, it is possible to suck the fluid from one end side of the stator 34 into the fluid transfer path 39, transfer it toward the other end side of the stator 34, and discharge it. In addition, the transfer amount (discharge amount) of the fluid can be controlled according to the rotation amount of the rotor 32 (motor 36). Furthermore, by switching the rotation direction of the rotor 32, the traveling direction of the fluid in the fluid transport path 39 can be switched.

The moving device 40 is for moving the ejection device 20 relative to a fluid ejection target (ejection target). The moving device 40 can be configured by a conveyor that moves the object to be discharged with respect to the discharge device 20, an industrial robot that moves the discharge device 20 with respect to the object to be discharged, or a combination thereof. In this embodiment, an industrial robot is used as the moving device 40 . The moving device 40 can operate the robot arm based on command signals from the control device 70 . Therefore, the operation control of the control device 70 can move the discharge device 20 attached to the tip portion of the robot arm along a predetermined trajectory.

The input/output device 50 is a device for inputting/outputting ejection information. Here, the ejection information is information relating to the ejection pattern of the fluid, such as the thickness of the fluid to be ejected onto the ejection target (ejection thickness) and the ejection width of the fluid. It has a correlation with prescribed ejection conditions. In this embodiment, the ejection thickness is adopted as the ejection information.

The input/output device 50 is a device for displaying ejection information, inputting information for changing the ejection information, and outputting the input ejection information. The input/output device 50 has a touch panel 52 . The touch panel 52 has both a display function and an input function of ejection information. The input/output device 50 enables the display and input of ejection information on the touch panel 52 using a GUI 54 (Graphical User Interface) as shown in FIGS.

Specifically, the input/output device 50 can display the ejection information for each section in the ejection process including a plurality of sections. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the input/output device 50 graphically displays a trajectory 56 of the ejection device 20 with respect to the ejection target on a GUI 54 displayed on the touch panel 52, thereby enabling the liquid ejection process to be performed. (hereinafter also referred to as “ejection process information 58”). The ejection process information 58 can be displayed for each section obtained by dividing the ejection process into a plurality of sections. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, when the touch panel 52 is touched at, for example, the lower left corner of the trajectory 56 displayed on the GUI 54, a section including this portion is selected as shown in FIG. (in the illustrated state, it is surrounded by a dashed line and the color of the locus 56 changes). Also, the ejection information for the selected section of the trajectory 56 is displayed on the ejection information display section 55 . In the illustrated example, the fluid application height (discharge thickness) is displayed as a numerical value indicating a ratio (%) to the initial set value as the discharge information.

The input/output device 50 also includes an ejection information changing unit 57 . The ejection information changing section 57 changes the ejection information for one or more selected sections. The ejection information changing section 57 can be configured by buttons displayed on the touch panel 52 . Specifically, the ejection information change unit 57 can be a numeric keypad or various buttons displayed on the touch panel 52. For example, an ejection information change button 60 as shown in FIGS. can be assumed. The ejection information change button 60 has an increase button 62 and a decrease button 64 . By pressing the increase button 62, the numerical value of the ejection information can be increased, and by pressing the decrease button 64, the numerical value of the ejection information can be decreased. The ejection information change unit 57 is also provided with a write button 66 as a button for confirming the information input by the ejection information change button 60 . By pressing the write button 66 , the information input by the ejection information change button 60 is written in the storage medium of the control device 70 .

The GUI 54 is also provided with an upper mode button 68, a reset button 69a, and an undo button 69b. The upper mode button 68 is a button that is pressed when performing an operation in a direct operation mode, which will be described later. The reset button 69a is a button for resetting the ejection information displayed before being pressed (ejection thickness in this embodiment) to the initial set value. The restore button 69b is a button for returning the discharge information (discharge thickness in this embodiment) to the set value at the stage when the indirect operation mode was entered.

The control device 70 performs control to synchronize and operate the ejection device 20 and the moving device 40 based on the set ejection conditions. By performing such control, the ejection system 10 can be operated so that the fluid is ejected through a predetermined ejection process. That is, the control device 70 uniaxially displays ejection information (ejection thickness for each section) for each point in the ejection progress of the fluid, specifically for each ejection position linked to the time from the start of the operation or the ejection condition c. The rotational speed of the rotor 32 in the eccentric screw pump 30 is converted to control the operation.

The control by the control device 70 may be performed by any control method. The operation of the discharge device 20 and the moving device 40 can be controlled by electronic cam control generated as . More specifically, the control device 70 controls the number of revolutions of the rotor 32 in the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 (discharge condition a) and the amount of movement by the moving device 40 (discharge condition c). As a virtual main axis, it is assumed that the number of rotations (discharge condition a) and the amount of movement (discharge condition c) of the rotor 32 are changed as a function (the horizontal axis is the elapsed time from the start of operation, and the discharge condition a and the discharge condition c are assumed. is stored as an electronic cam function converted into an electronic cam shape of . The control device 70 controls the operations of the ejection device 20 and the moving device 40 based on this function.

The control device 70 can change the ejection conditions in two ways, an indirect operation mode and a direct operation mode. The indirect operation mode is an operation mode in which conversion processing for converting ejection information changed by input to the touch panel 52 forming the input/output device 50 into ejection conditions can be performed. Specifically, even if an input to change the ejection information is made by the above-described ejection information changing unit 57, simply inputting the changed ejection information (numerical values, etc.) to the control device 70 does not allow the ejection device 20 to Also, the movement device 40 cannot reflect changes in the operating conditions to the function forming the electronic cam curve. Therefore, when the indirect operation mode is selected, the control device 70 performs a conversion process for developing a function forming the above-described electronic cam curve on the condition that the ejection information is changed, and changes ( update) can.

Also, the direct operation mode is a mode that can be selected by pressing the upper mode button 68 displayed on the touch panel 52 . By selecting the direct operation mode, the user can directly change the function forming the electronic cam curve described above without going through the conversion process described above.

As described above, the ejection system 10 of the present embodiment can select and vary ejection information visually displayed on the touch panel 52 for each of a plurality of sections forming an ejection process via the touch panel 52 . Further, in the ejection system 10, the control device 70 is equipped with a conversion processing function for converting ejection information input to the touch panel 52 into ejection conditions. Therefore, the ejection system 10 can perform the ejection operation according to the desired ejection conditions simply by changing the ejection information visually displayed on the touch panel 52 . Therefore, according to the ejection system 10, even a user who is not skilled in the task of directly changing the function forming the electronic cam curve can intuitively change the ejection conditions without being conscious of complicated control parameters. can make adjustments.

In the discharge system 10 of the present embodiment, an example of using an industrial robot as the moving device 40 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a conveyor device such as a so-called belt conveyor or roller conveyor can be used. Any device may be used as long as it can move the ejection device 20 and the object to be ejected relative to each other.

Further, in the ejection system 10 of the present embodiment, the touch panel 52 is employed as a device that functions as both a display device and an input device. Therefore, the discharge system 10 can be intuitively operated by the user, and is highly convenient. In this embodiment, the touch panel 52 is used as the display device and the input device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the display device and the input device are prepared as separate devices. It can be.

As described above, the dispensing system 10 has a direct operation mode in which the dispensing conditions can be changed directly without conversion processing. Therefore, the ejection system 10 can be used in such a way that, after the ejection conditions have been changed through the conversion process, more detailed changes are made by directly selecting the operation mode. In this embodiment, an example in which the direct operation mode is provided is shown, but the direct operation mode may not be provided.

In the ejection system 10 described above, an example in which the nozzle 24 of the ejection device 20 has a substantially circular ejection port is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. Specifically, in place of the nozzle 24, a so-called flat nozzle having an elongated rectangular opening may be used. When a flat nozzle is adopted instead of the nozzle 24, the fluid is discharged wider than when the nozzle 24 is used by setting the discharge port so as to extend in a direction intersecting the advancing direction of the discharge device 20. can do. In this case as well, by adopting the same configuration as in the case where the nozzle 24 described above is employed, it is possible to intuitively adjust the application height (discharge thickness) of the fluid.

In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the thickness and height of the fluid to be ejected onto the ejection target in each section are expressed as ejection information, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the fluid has a low viscosity such that it spreads in the width direction on the surface of the object to be ejected after being ejected, the ejection width of the fluid may be used in place of or in addition to the thickness or height of the fluid. can also be used as ejection information.

<<Second embodiment>>
Next, the ejection system 200 according to the second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the discharge system 200, the parts common to the discharge system 10 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The ejection system 200 includes an ejection device 20 , a moving device 40 , an input/output device 50 and a control device 270 . Further, the ejection device 20 includes a variable ejection width device 210 instead of the nozzle 24 of the ejection device 20 described above.

The variable discharge width device 210 can discharge the fluid pressure-fed by the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 with a predetermined discharge width. As shown in FIG. 6, the variable discharge width device 210 is connected to the end of the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 described above. As shown in FIG. 7, the variable discharge width device 210 includes a casing 280, an inner cylindrical portion 286, and a drive mechanism portion 292 (driving device).

The casing 280 has a hollow cylindrical outer cylinder portion 282 . The outer cylindrical portion 282 is a cylindrical portion containing an inner cylindrical portion 286 and has a discharge port 284 . The discharge port 284 is formed by a slit-like opening that extends linearly, and communicates the inside and the outside of the outer cylindrical portion 282 .

The inner tubular portion 286 is a hollow tubular body that is rotatably accommodated inside the outer tubular portion 282 and has an outer diameter approximately equal to the inner diameter of the inner tubular portion 286 . The inner cylindrical portion 286 is rotatable by receiving power from the drive mechanism portion 292 .

A peripheral opening 288 is formed in the outer peripheral portion of the inner cylindrical portion 286 so as to communicate the inside and the outside. The peripheral opening 288 is provided at a position facing (facing) an introduction port provided in the outer cylindrical portion 282 . As a result, the fluid pressure-fed by the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 can be introduced into the inner cylindrical portion 286 .

As shown in FIG. 8 , the peripheral opening 288 is formed such that the opening width d (the length of the inner cylindrical portion 286 in the generatrix direction) changes continuously in the circumferential direction of the inner cylindrical portion 286 . Specifically, the peripheral opening 288 has a substantially isosceles triangular opening shape when the inner tubular portion 286 is unfolded. In addition, a non-opening portion is provided at a position outside the peripheral opening 288 in the circumferential direction of the inner cylindrical portion 286 . Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the opening width d of the peripheral opening 288 is smaller than the opening width s of the discharge port 284 provided in the outer cylindrical portion 282 at any position.

As shown in FIG. 7, the driving mechanism section 292 has a driving machine 294 constituted by a motor and a power transmission mechanism 296 constituted by gears and the like. The driving mechanism portion 292 can transmit power to the inner cylindrical portion 286 via the power transmission mechanism 296 by operating the driving machine 294 . As a result, the inner tubular portion 286 can be rotated within the outer tubular portion 282 . Further, by controlling the rotation amount and the rotation direction of the driving machine 294, it is possible to adjust the rotation amount of the inner cylindrical portion 286 and change the rotation direction.

8, the variable discharge width device 210 has a portion where a discharge port 284 provided in the outer cylindrical portion 282 and a peripheral opening 288 provided in the inner cylindrical portion 286 overlap. , a communication region 290 is formed in which the two communicate with each other. Further, by adjusting the rotation amount and rotation direction of the driving device 294 and changing the relative position between the discharge port 284 and the peripheral opening 288, the width D of the communication region 290 (hereinafter also referred to as "discharge width D") can be changed. can be changed, and the outlet 284 can be closed. Therefore, while adjusting the discharge width D by the discharge width variable device 210, by performing the discharge of the fluid by the discharge device 20 and the relative movement by the moving device 40, various shapes such as a cross (see FIG. 13) and a triangle can be obtained. It is possible to eject the fluid in an ejection pattern having an irregular shape.

Further, in this embodiment, as the moving device 40, a conveyor device such as a so-called belt conveyor or roller conveyor is adopted instead of the robot arm adopted in the first embodiment.

The input/output device 50 can visually display discharge information for each of a plurality of sections forming a discharge process. In the ejection system 200 of this embodiment, a GUI 254 as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the touch panel 52 forming the input/output device 50 . The GUI 254 divides the section from the start of application to the end of application into a plurality of sections (10 sections in this embodiment) as information indicating the liquid ejection process for the ejection target (hereinafter also referred to as "ejection process information 258"). can display what is done. Ejection information for each section forming the ejection process is displayed in a rectangular shape (columnar shape). In the ejection system 200 of the present embodiment, the thickness of the fluid ejected onto the ejection target in each section (hereinafter also referred to as "ejection thickness") and the length of the section (ejection length) are used as ejection information. . The height of the rectangular (columnar) portion indicating the ejection information represents the ejection thickness. Also, the width of the rectangular (columnar) portion indicating the ejection information represents the length of each section. Therefore, from the ejection process information 258 displayed on the GUI 254, the user can intuitively grasp the thickness of the fluid to be ejected onto the ejection target in each section and the length of each section.

Further, on the GUI 254, the boost-up operation performed before the start of the discharge process and the suck-back operation performed at the end of the discharge process are also displayed in a rectangular shape (columnar shape) as discharge information. In the boost-up operation, the rotor 32 of the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 is rotated at high speed prior to the start of the discharge process, thereby filling the inner cylindrical portion 286 with a predetermined amount of fluid in a short time and applying a discharge preparatory pressure to discharge the fluid. This is an operation to enable the fluid to be discharged smoothly at the start of the process. The suck-back operation is an operation in which the rotor 32 is rotated in a direction opposite to that during discharge at the end of the discharge process, thereby drawing the fluid back to the single-axis eccentric screw pump 30 side. In the discharge system 200, the boost-up operation and the suck-back operation are also regarded as part of the discharge process and displayed on the GUI 254. FIG.

The GUI 254 is provided with an ejection information changing section 257 . The ejection information changing unit 257 has a function of changing ejection information selected on the GUI 254 . The ejection information changing unit 257 can be configured by buttons displayed on the touch panel 52 . Specifically, the ejection information change unit 257 includes an ejection information change button 260 as a button for changing the ejection information. Further, as the ejection information change buttons 260, a thickness increase/decrease button 262, a boost-up amount increase/decrease button 264, and a suckback amount increase/decrease button 265 are provided. By pressing these increase/decrease buttons, it is possible to perform an operation to increase/decrease the discharge amount for the selected section.

9 and 10, the height of the graphic indicating the ejection thickness displayed in a rectangular shape (columnar shape) on the GUI 254 also increases or decreases in conjunction with the operation of increasing or decreasing the ejection amount. do. In addition to this, when the initial value of the ejection thickness is 100%, information indicating what percentage the current ejection thickness corresponds to the initial value is displayed by numerical values for each section. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 10, the sections corresponding to the boost-up operation and the suck-back operation and sections 1 to 5 are set to 150%, and sections 6 to 10 are set to 100%. These numerical values also change in conjunction with the operation of the thickness increase/decrease button 262 , boost-up amount increase/decrease button 264 , and suckback amount increase/decrease button 265 .

Further, in this embodiment, as the ejection information change button 260, not only the thickness increase/decrease button 262 described above but also an application length change button 263 for changing the length are provided. By operating the application length change button 263, the length of the section can be increased or decreased for the selected ejection information. In conjunction with this operation, the width (corresponding to the ejection length) of the graphic displayed in a rectangular shape (columnar shape) on the GUI 254 also increases or decreases.

Furthermore, a write button 266 is provided in the discharge information changing section 257 . The write button 266 is a button for confirming the information input by each button forming the ejection information change button 260 . By pressing the write button 266 , the information input by the ejection information change button 260 is written in the storage medium of the control device 270 .

The GUI 254 is also provided with an upper mode button 268, a reset button 269a, and an undo button 269b. The upper mode button 268 is a button that is pressed when shifting to the direct operation mode. The reset button 269a is a button for resetting the ejection information (ejection thickness in this embodiment) displayed before being pressed to the initial set value. The restore button 269b is a button for returning the discharge information (discharge thickness in this embodiment) to the set value at the stage when the indirect operation mode was entered.

The control device 270 controls the synchronous operation of the ejection width variable device 210 in addition to the ejection device 20 and the moving device 40 based on the set ejection conditions. That is, the control device 270 collects ejection information (fluid ejection amount for each section) for each point in the progress of fluid ejection, specifically for each ejection position linked to the time from the start of the operation or the ejection condition c. , thickness, and discharge width) are converted into the number of rotations of the rotor 32 in the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 and the amount of rotation of the inner cylindrical portion 286 of the variable discharge width device 210, and the operation is controlled.

The control device 270 controls the number of revolutions of the rotor 32 in the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 (discharge condition a), the amount of movement of the object to be discharged by the moving device 40 (discharge condition c), and the inner cylindrical portion 286 of the variable discharge width device 210. is controlled (ejection condition b). The control device 270 controls the number of rotations of the single-axis eccentric screw pump 30 (discharge condition a), the amount of rotation of the inner cylinder member 240 (discharge condition b), and the amount of movement (discharge condition c ) is memorized. This function is an electronic cam function obtained by converting the ejection conditions a, b, and c into a virtual electronic cam shape, with the horizontal axis representing the elapsed time from the start of operation. The control device 270 controls the operation of the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 and the variable discharge width device 210 based on the functions thus set.

As with the control device 70 of the first embodiment described above, the control device 270 can change the discharge conditions in two ways, an indirect operation mode and a direct operation mode. The indirect operation mode is an operation mode in which conversion processing for converting ejection information changed by input to the touch panel 52 forming the input/output device 50 into ejection conditions can be performed. Specifically, the ejection thickness is changed by selecting the ejection information (ejection thickness) displayed for each section by touching and pressing the thickness increase/decrease button 262 .

As a more specific example, for example, it is desired to make the discharge thickness of sections 1 to 5 in the first half of the liquid discharge pattern (application pattern) for the discharge target thicker than the discharge thickness in sections 6 to 10 in the latter half. Illustrate the case. In such a case, first, as shown in FIG. 9, after touching and selecting an area corresponding to sections 1 to 5 displayed on the GUI 254, the thickness increase/decrease button 262 is pressed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, the ejection thickness (ejection information) of sections 1 to 5 in the first half of the pattern is changed. After that, when the write button 266 is pressed, the discharge amount in each section is changed so as to obtain the currently displayed discharge thickness. That is, in sections 1 to 5, the uniaxial eccentric screw is adjusted according to the amount of rotation (discharge condition b) of the inner cylindrical portion 286 of the variable discharge width device 210 so that the fluid can be discharged with the set discharge width and discharge thickness. Arithmetic processing is performed to increase the rotation speed of the pump 30 (discharge condition a). Further, arithmetic processing for linear interpolation is performed on the change in the rotational speed of the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 between each section (the function of the electronic cam displacement amount is linearly complemented). Based on these calculation processes, a new electronic cam function is derived and updated, reflecting the changes in the ejection thickness of sections 1-5.

Also, if the boost-up amount increase/decrease and the suck-back amount increase/decrease are set by operating the boost-up amount increase/decrease button 264 and the suck-back amount increase/decrease button 265 in the same manner as described above, the internal calculation automatically controls the electronic cam. After the function is derived, it is updated. After the update processing of the electronic cam function is performed in this way, when the operation for ejecting the fluid is started, the ejection system 200 operates so that the fluid can be ejected with the changed ejection thickness.

In the above example, the method of changing the ejection thickness was exemplified, but the length of application of the fluid to the object to be ejected can also be changed by the same operation method. That is, when changing the discharge length of the fluid, the discharge length of the section can be increased or decreased by operating the application length change button 263 after selecting the section to be changed. After that, when the write button 266 is pressed, the amount of movement of the object to be discharged (discharge condition c) by the moving device 40 constituting the moving device 40 is changed so that the currently displayed discharge length is obtained. Arithmetic processing is performed along with this, and after the electronic cam function is automatically derived, it is updated. After the update processing of the electronic cam function is performed in this way, when the operation for discharging the fluid is started, the discharge system 200 operates so that the fluid can be discharged with the changed discharge length.

Specifically, when the ejection system 200 is operated in a state in which the ejection thickness is uniform in all of the sections 1 to 10 as shown in FIG. 9, the fluid is ejected ( applied). On the other hand, when the ejection system 200 is operated after setting the ejection thickness from the section 1 at the ejection start position to the central section 5 to increase by 50%, as shown in FIG. The fluid is ejected (applied) so that the ejection thickness of the portion is thicker than that of the latter half.

Further, by pressing a reset button 269a displayed on the GUI 254, the ejection thickness can be returned to the initial set value. Further, by pressing an undo button 269b displayed on the GUI 254, the ejection information can be returned to the set value at the stage of entering the indirect operation mode for adjusting the ejection thickness.

Also, the direct operation mode is a mode that can be selected by pressing the upper mode button 268 displayed on the touch panel 52 . By selecting the direct operation mode, the user can directly change the function forming the electronic cam curve described above without going through the conversion process described above.

As described above, in the ejection system 200 of the second embodiment, when the fluid is ejected in a shape such as a cross, in addition to the ejection of the fluid by the ejection device 20 and the relative movement by the moving device 40, the ejection process , it is also necessary to adjust the ejection width D by the ejection width variable device 210 . At locations where the ejection width D fluctuates, much more complicated ejection amount adjustment is required than at locations where the ejection width D is constant. Specifically, it is necessary to adjust the ejection amount so that the ejection amount increases by the increase or decrease of the ejection width D. FIG. In addition to this, for example, if the internal pressure of the variable discharge width device 210 changes in conjunction with an increase or decrease in the discharge width D, it is necessary to adjust the discharge amount in consideration of the change in the discharge amount due to the internal pressure change. Therefore, the discharge system 200 requires more complicated control than the discharge system 10 of the first embodiment described above. However, in the ejection system 200 of the present embodiment as well, simply by selecting and changing the section whose ejection information is to be changed via the touch panel 52, the ejection operation can be executed according to the desired ejection conditions. Therefore, according to the ejection system 200, even a user who is not skilled in directly changing the function forming the electronic cam curve can intuitively change the ejection conditions without being conscious of complicated control parameters. can make adjustments.

In the discharge system 200 of the present embodiment, an example of using a conveyor device as the moving device 40 has been shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the industrial robot described in the first embodiment, as well as the discharge Any device may be used as long as the device 20 and the object to be discharged can be moved relative to each other.

In addition, the ejection system 200 makes the touch panel 52 perform both functions of the display device and the input device. Therefore, the ejection system 200 can be intuitively operated by the user, and is highly convenient. The ejection system 200 may employ a display device and an input device other than the touch panel 52 as the display device and the input device.

As described above, the ejection system 200 also has a direct operation mode in which the ejection conditions can be directly changed without conversion processing. Therefore, the ejection system 200 can also be used in such a way that, after the ejection conditions have been changed through the conversion process, more detailed changes are made by directly selecting the operation mode. In this embodiment, an example in which the direct operation mode is provided is shown, but the direct operation mode may not be provided.

In addition, since the ejection system 200 is provided with the ejection width variable device 210, even if the thickness or height of the fluid ejected onto the ejection target is the same in each section, the ejection width can be different. For example, the thickness (height) of the fluid discharged in each section is different. In consideration of such characteristics, the ejection system 200 of the present embodiment employs the thickness of the fluid to be ejected onto the ejection target (ejection thickness) as ejection information. Therefore, according to the ejection system 200 of the present invention, the ejection information is intuitively set without the user being conscious of the relationship between the thickness of the fluid ejected in each section (ejection thickness) and the ejection amount of the fluid. It is possible to apply the fluid to the desired thickness only by

In addition, in the ejection system 200, by operating the application length change button 263 while selecting one or more sections, the length of the entire ejection process or the length of one or more sections forming the ejection process can be changed. Can be changed easily and appropriately. In this embodiment, the application length change button 263 is provided to adjust the length of each section. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the application length change button 263 is provided. It doesn't matter if it doesn't exist.

<<Third Embodiment>>
Next, the ejection system 300 according to the third embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the ejection system 300, parts common to those of the ejection system 10 and the ejection system 200 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The ejection system 300 includes an ejection device 20 , a moving device 40 , an input/output device 50 and a control device 370 . The discharge system 300 includes an industrial robot as a moving device 40, similarly to the discharge system 10 of the first embodiment, and the discharge device 20 is mounted on a robot arm. Further, the ejection device 20 mounted on the ejection system 300 includes the ejection width variable device 210 illustrated in the second embodiment.

In the discharge system 300, the control device 370 controls the number of rotations of the rotor 32 in the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 (discharge condition a), the amount of rotation of the inner cylindrical portion 286 of the variable discharge width device 210 (discharge condition b), and the object to be discharged. An electronic cam function is set for the movement amount (ejection condition d) of the robot arm in the XYZ-axis direction with respect to , and the operation of each part is controlled. With the elapsed time from the start of operation as a virtual main axis, the control device 370 determines at what timing the number of rotations of the single shaft eccentric screw pump 30 (discharge condition a), the amount of rotation of the inner cylinder member 240 (discharge condition b), and the discharge target. It stores a function for how to change the movement amount (ejection condition d) with respect to the object. This function is obtained by converting the ejection conditions a, b, and d into a virtual electronic cam shape, with the horizontal axis representing the elapsed time from the start of operation. The control device 370 controls the operation of the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 and the variable discharge width device 210 based on the functions thus set.

The ejection system 300 of the present embodiment varies the ejection width by the ejection width variable device 210 and ejects the fluid while moving the ejection device 20 relative to the ejection target by the moving device 40 . The fluid can be ejected (applied) onto the ejection target in a variety of patterns. Therefore, according to the discharge system 300, for example, it is possible to apply two liquids side by side in a substantially cross-shaped pattern as shown in FIGS.

Further, according to the ejection system 300, when the fluid is applied to the ejection target in the application patterns as shown in FIGS. It can be realized by a simple operation. Specifically, in the ejection system 300, a GUI 354 as shown in FIGS. 13 to 15 is displayed on the touch panel 52. FIG.

The GUI 354 displays information indicating the ejection process of the fluid onto the ejection target (hereinafter also referred to as "ejection process information 358") in a shape corresponding to the application pattern. The ejection process information 358 can be selected for each section of the ejection process. Specifically, in the ejection process information 358 displayed in the shape of an application pattern on the GUI 354 shown in FIG. Multiple segments can be selected. The selected section is encircled with a line (broken line in the illustrated example) as shown in FIG. 14, for example, or the section is changed in color to indicate that it has been selected. Also, by performing a pinch-out or pinch-in operation on the GUI 354, the selection range can be enlarged or reduced.

Further, the GUI 354 is provided with an ejection information display section 355 as in the case of the first embodiment. The ejection information display section 355 displays ejection information for the selected section. In the illustrated example, the application height (application thickness) of the fluid is displayed on the ejection information display section 355 as the ejection information as a numerical value indicating the ratio to the initial set value.

Further, by selecting one or a plurality of sections as described above, the ejection information of the selected section can be changed. For changing the ejection information, it is possible to provide various buttons such as the ejection information change section 57 exemplified in the first embodiment. By performing the operation, the ejection information (coating thickness) can be increased by a predetermined amount (for example, 10%). Further, when the coating thickness reaches the maximum value (for example, 150%) by continuing the tapping operation, the next tapping operation returns to the minimum value (for example, 50%).

When the ejection information is changed as described above, the numerical value is displayed on the ejection information display section 355 . Along with this, among the ejection process information 358 shown in the GUI 354, for the section that is subject to an increase/decrease operation of the ejection information, the display color, color tone, and shade of the section are used so that the ejection information (coating thickness) can be intuitively grasped. is expressed in Specifically, as can be seen from a comparison between FIGS. 14 and 15, the larger the ejection information (coating thickness), the darker the display color. can be grasped intuitively.

Further, the GUI 354 is provided with ejection position adjustment buttons 367 for moving the ejection process information 358 displayed in a shape corresponding to the application pattern in the vertical and horizontal directions. The ejection position adjustment button 367 is an arrow-shaped button provided at four positions above, below, to the left, and to the right of the figure forming the ejection process information 358 (a cross-shaped figure in the illustrated state). By operating the ejection position adjustment button 367, the application position of the fluid on the ejection target can be adjusted vertically and horizontally.

The GUI 354 is also provided with an upper mode button 368, a reset button 369a, and an undo button 369b. These buttons have the same functions as the upper mode button 268, reset button 269a, and undo button 269b described above.

The ejection information change section 357 is also provided with a write button 366 for confirming the information input by the ejection information change button 360 . By pressing the write button 366 , the information input by the ejection information change button 360 is written in the storage medium of the control device 370 .

Similar to the control device 270 of the second embodiment described above, the control device 370 performs control to synchronize and operate the ejection device 20, the moving device 40, and the variable ejection width device 210 based on the set ejection conditions. . The controller 370 controls the number of rotations of the rotor 32 in the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30 (discharge condition a), the amount of rotation of the inner cylindrical portion 286 of the variable discharge width device 210 (discharge condition b), and the XYZ axes of the robot arm with respect to the object to be discharged. The amount of movement in the direction (ejection condition d) is controlled. With the elapsed time from the start of operation as a virtual main axis, the control device 370 determines the number of rotations of the single-axis eccentric screw pump 30 (discharge condition a), the amount of rotation of the inner cylinder member 240 (discharge condition b), and the robot arm at any timing. A function for how to change the movement amount (ejection condition d) is stored. This function is an electronic cam function in which the horizontal axis is the ejection condition d and the ejection conditions a, b, and d are converted into a virtual electronic cam shape. The control device 370 controls the operation of the single shaft eccentric screw pump 30 and the variable discharge width device 210 based on the functions thus set.

The control device 370 can change the ejection conditions in two ways, an indirect operation mode and a direct operation mode. The method (operation mode) of changing the ejection condition by the control device 370 is the same as that of the control devices 70 and 270 of the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, in the ejection system 300 of the present embodiment as well, the electronic cam function is set so that the ejection operation can be executed according to the desired ejection conditions simply by adjusting the ejection information of each section via the touch panel 52. Settings can be changed. Therefore, according to the ejection system 300, even a user who is not skilled in directly changing the function forming the electronic cam curve can intuitively change the ejection conditions without being conscious of complicated control parameters. can make adjustments.

In the discharge system 300 of the present embodiment, an example of using an industrial robot as the moving device 40 was shown as in the first embodiment. good. In the ejection system 300, the touch panel 52 is used to exhibit the functions of both the display device and the input device. can be

As described above, the ejection system 300 has a direct operation mode in which the ejection conditions can be changed directly without conversion processing. Therefore, the ejection system 300 can be used in such a way that, after the ejection conditions have been changed through the conversion process, more detailed changes can be made by directly selecting the operation mode. In this embodiment, an example in which the direct operation mode is selectable has been shown, but the ejection system 300 may be one in which the direct operation mode cannot be selected, as in the other embodiments.

Further, in the ejection system 300 of this embodiment, an ejection position adjustment button 367 is provided, and the ejection position of the fluid with respect to the ejection target can be adjusted by operating this button. Therefore, according to the ejection system 300, it is possible to intuitively and appropriately adjust the ejection position of the fluid with respect to the ejection target. Note that the ejection system 300 may not necessarily include the ejection position adjustment button 367 .

The discharge systems 10, 200, and 300 of the above-described embodiments all employ the single-axis eccentric screw pump 30, and an example in which the number of revolutions of the single-axis eccentric screw pump 30 is used as the discharge condition has been shown. is not limited to That is, each of the discharge systems 10, 200, 300 may employ a discharge device of another type instead of the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30. Specifically, instead of the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30, a gear pump type pump may be employed, and its rotation speed may be used as the discharge condition. In addition, instead of the uniaxial eccentric screw pump 30, an air pressure feeding syringe type ejection device is adopted, and the amount of air used to press the piston is used as the ejection condition, and the ejection amount can be controlled by the number of shots of droplets. A device may be employed and the number of shots may be used as the ejection condition.

In the discharge systems 10, 200, and 300 described above, an example in which a single control device 70, 270, or 370 controls the operation of the discharge device 20 and the movement devices 40, 240 is shown, but a plurality of control devices may be used. may be provided to control each part. Specifically, a control device for controlling the operation of the ejection device 20 and a control device for controlling the operation of the moving devices 40 and 240 are provided separately, and the ejection device 20 and the moving devices 40 and 240 are controlled by receiving a synchronization signal. It may be possible to control them while synchronizing them.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The ejection system of the present invention can be suitably used in general ejection systems provided with an ejection device for ejecting a fluid.

10,200,300 Ejection system 20 Ejection device 40 Moving device 52 Touch panel (input device, output device)
48, 258, 358 Discharge process information 70, 270, 370 Control device 367 Discharge position adjustment button

Claims (9)

a discharge device for discharging a fluid;
a control device that controls the operation of the ejection device so as to eject the fluid through a predetermined ejection process based on set ejection conditions;
a display device that divides ejection information relating to the ejection pattern of the fluid having a correlation with the ejection condition into a plurality of sections forming the ejection process, and visually displays each section as a graphic ;
an input device capable of selecting and varying a part or all of the ejection information displayed on the display device for one or more of the intervals;
The control device performs conversion processing for converting the ejection information changed by the input to the input device into the ejection conditions, changes the ejection conditions to those after the conversion processing, and controls the operation of the ejection device. and
wherein the input device is capable of performing an operation of varying the ejection information for one or a plurality of the sections according to a ratio of the ejection information to the initial set value;
The display device displays the entire ejection process, and graphically expresses the difference from the unvaried interval by expressing the variation in the interval in which the ejection information is changed by changing the figure. A dispensing system characterized by : further comprising a moving device for relatively moving the ejection device and the ejection target,
2. The ejection system according to claim 1, wherein the control device executes the operation control of the ejection device based on the ejection condition and the control of the moving device while synchronizing them. The ejection information is characterized in that the ejection pattern in each of the sections is expressed as at least one of thickness, height, and ejection width of the fluid to be ejected onto the ejection target. 3. A dispensing system according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The ejection system according to claim 1, further comprising a variable ejection width nozzle capable of changing the ejection width of the fluid according to the ejection conditions. 5. The ejection system according to claim 4, wherein the ejection width for each section is part or all of the ejection information. 6. The input device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein at least one of the length of the entire discharge process and the length of one or more of the sections forming the discharge process can be changed. 10. The dispensing system according to claim 1. 7. The ejection system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the ejection position of the fluid with respect to the ejection target can be adjusted by an input to the input device. 8. The ejection system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the combination of the display device and the input device comprises a touch panel. 9. The ejection system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a direct operation mode in which the ejection conditions can be directly changed without going through the conversion process.

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