JP7645105B2 - Hoop material connection device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a hoop material connection device that connects the rear end of a preceding hoop material to the front end of a following hoop material.

Patent Document 1 discloses a hoop material connecting device that connects the end of a first hoop material being processed to the start of a second hoop material to be supplied next. This hoop material connecting device forms an engaging end connection part with a recess to prevent separation at the end of the hoop material to which the pin material is connected, and forms a start end connection part at the start end of the second hoop material that is shaped to be connected to the end connection part, and connects the first hoop material to the second hoop material by joining the start end connection part and the end connection part.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-173514

The press-fitting machine, which is the destination of the hoop material for the hoop material connection device of Patent Document 1, stops operating during the connection process that connects the end of the first hoop material to the start of the second hoop material that is to be supplied next.

However, the device to which the hoop material is supplied by the hoop material connection device is not necessarily a device that can stop the transport of the hoop material like the above-mentioned press-fitting machine, and may be a plating processing device that performs plating processing on electrical components that are attached in parallel to the hoop material. When the hoop material is supplied to a plating processing device, the transport of the hoop material cannot be stopped to prevent variation in the plating thickness during the plating process, so the hoop material connection device of Patent Document 1 cannot have a plating processing device installed as its supply destination.

In addition, when a malfunction occurs and the hoop material is cut from the reel body with a cutter or the like, there is a problem in that the hoop material connecting device of Patent Document 1 cannot connect the first hoop material to the second hoop material when the cut end does not have a start end connection portion.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a hoop material connecting device that can connect the rear end of a preceding hoop material to the front end of a following hoop material without changing the conveying speed of the hoop material supply destination device.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a hoop material connecting device which connects by welding a rear end of a leading first hoop material discharged from a first reel body to a front end of a trailing second hoop material discharged from a second reel body, and transports the connected hoop material, the hoop material connecting device comprising: a detection unit which detects the rear end; a holding unit which, when the detection unit detects the rear end, clamps and fixes the vicinity of the rear end and adjusts the position of the fixed rear end; a photographing section which moves to a detection position of the photographing section upon detection of the rear end by the detection section and photographs from the side the front end of the second hoop material of the second reel body replaced from the first reel body and the rear end fixed by the holding section; a welding section which moves to a photographing position of the photographing section and welds the rear end and the front end ; first and second conveying sections which convey the hoop material; and a welding section which is disposed between the second conveying section and a supply destination device of the hoop material and which is arranged in a direction opposite to the conveying direction. and a bending portion disposed between the first and second conveying portions and bending the first hoop material. The first and second conveying portions are each capable of independently controlling the conveying speed of the hoop material, and only the first conveying portion is capable of conveying the first hoop material in a direction opposite to the direction in which it is conveyed. When the detection portion detects the rear end, the conveying of the first hoop material by the first and second conveying portions is stopped, and the sliding portion is caused to slide in the opposite direction relative to the first hoop material on the destination device side where conveying by the second conveying portion has stopped, thereby maintaining the conveying speed to the destination device. The conveying device is also characterized in that the conveying portion includes a process of moving the first hoop material forward, backward, up and down and rotating its inclination based on an image from the photographing portion, and a process of controlling forward and backward conveying only by the first conveying portion to align the rear end with respect to the front end, and then welding the front end and the rear end by the welding portion.

The hoop material connecting device of the present invention makes it possible to connect the rear end of a leading first hoop material to the front end of a trailing second hoop material to form a single hoop without changing the conveying speed of the hoop material supply destination device. Even if the trailing hoop material is cut midway with a cutter or the like, it can still be connected to the leading hoop material, and hoop materials of different dimensions can also be connected together.

FIG. 2 is a layout diagram of the hoop material connection device as seen from above. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the layout of the hoop material connection device as seen from the side. FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing the process of bonding the rear end of a first hoop material to the front end of a subsequent second hoop material. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a hoop material connecting device in the first stage of a hoop material connecting process. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the hoop material connecting device in the second stage of the hoop material connecting process. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the hoop material connecting device in the third stage of the hoop material connecting process. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the hoop material connecting device when the connection of the hoop material is completed.

Figure 1 is a layout diagram of the hoop material connection device 1 as seen from above, and Figure 2 is a layout diagram as seen from the side. The hoop material connection device 1 is a device that transports tape-shaped hoop material F discharged from the reel body exchange device 2 to the plating processing device 3. This hoop material F is a tape material with a width of about 5 mm, and electrical components of about 1 mm, such as connection terminals used in small communication devices, are continuously attached in parallel to the upper end. Hoop material F with a length of several hundred meters is wound around a disk-shaped reel body R, and multiple reel bodies R are loaded into the reel body exchange device 2.

These multiple reel bodies R are stacked one on top of the other and loaded into the reel body exchange device 2, and the first hoop material F1 is unwound from the first reel body R1 to the hoop material connection device 1. In Figures 1 and 2, the direction toward the plating processing device 3 is illustrated as the transport direction D in which the hoop material F1 is transported.

When the unloading of the first hoop material F1 is completed, the second reel body R2 set above moves to the position where the first reel body R1 is loaded by the drive of a motor (not shown). The tip S of the second hoop material F2 is pulled out in advance forward from the loaded second reel body R2, and is moved downward with this tip S fixed by the fixing part 2a.

The reel bodies R on which the hoop material F is wound are installed in multiple tiers, for example three tiers, as shown in FIG. 2, and after replacing the reel body R on the top tier, the newly loaded reel body R on the bottom starts to move upward. In this way, the reel body replacement device 2 periodically repeats the upward and downward movement of the newly loaded reel body R, making it possible to replace an empty reel body R with a reel body R on which the hoop material F is wound.

The hoop material connection device 1 is equipped with a detection unit 1a that detects the rear end E of the first hoop material F1 being transported, a holding unit 1b that clamps and fixes the portion near the rear end E of the hoop material F1, a transport unit consisting of a first transport unit 1c and a second transport unit 1d that transport the hoop material F1 to the plating processing device 3 at a predetermined speed, for example 30 m/min, and a sliding unit 1e that can slide in the front-rear direction relative to the transport direction D, and in the left-right direction in Figures 1 and 2.

The holding unit 1b is installed near the downstream side of the detection unit 1a in the transport direction D, and further downstream of this holding unit 1b, the first transport unit 1c, the second transport unit 1d, and the sliding unit 1e are arranged in this order.

The detection unit 1a is composed of, for example, a light transmitting unit 1f and a light receiving unit 1g, and when the hoop material F1 is being transported, the light is blocked by the hoop material F1, and the light receiving unit 1g does not receive the light from the light transmitting unit 1f. Therefore, when the light receiving unit 1g does not receive light, the detection unit 1a determines that it has not detected the rear end E of the hoop material F1, and when the light receiving unit 1g receives light from the light transmitting unit 1f, it determines that it has detected the rear end E of the hoop material F1.

In addition to the fixing mechanism that clamps and fixes the hoop material F1, the holding section 1b also has a position adjustment mechanism that moves the fixed hoop material F1 back and forth and up and down, and rotates it so that it is tilted relative to the conveying direction D. This position adjustment mechanism is operated by the drive control of, for example, multiple small motors, etc., and can finely adjust the rear end E of the fixed hoop material F1 to any position.

The first and second conveying units 1c and 1d each consist of a pair of roller bodies, which clamp the hoop material F1 and convey it in the conveying direction D by driving a motor unit 1h connected to the axle of the roller bodies. The first and second conveying units 1c and 1d can each independently control the conveying speed of the hoop material F1, and the first conveying unit 1c can also rotate the roller bodies in the opposite direction, i.e., move the hoop material F1 in the opposite direction to the conveying direction D. The motor unit 1h of the first conveying unit 1c controls the forward and backward conveying in accordance with the position adjustment of the hoop material F1 by the holding unit 1b.

Two sliding parts 1e are arranged downstream of the second conveying part 1d, which can slide in the forward and backward directions, that is, in the conveying direction D and the direction opposite to the conveying direction D, while wrapping around the hoop material F1. The hoop material F1 is wrapped around the two fixed drum parts 1i and the two sliding parts 1e alternately. This arrangement makes it possible to use space efficiently, and depending on the space available at the installation location, only one sliding part 1e or three or more sliding parts 1e may be arranged.

The plating processing device 3 is located downstream of the hoop material connection device 1, and the electrical components attached to the hoop material F1 transported from the hoop material connection device 1 are plated by passing them through a plating tank. The plating processing device 3 needs to keep transporting the hoop material F1 at a constant speed using a transport unit (not shown) to prevent variations in the plating thickness during the plating process.

As shown in FIG. 2, directly below the detection unit 1a is an imaging unit 1j that images the hoop material F1 from the side relative to the conveying direction D, and directly below this imaging unit 1j is a welding unit 1k that clamps the stacked hoop material F from both sides and welds it, for example, by ultrasonic waves.

The detection unit 1a, the photographing unit 1j, and the welding unit 1k may be arranged in any order in the vertical direction, and each of these units is controlled by the control unit 1l to move in the vertical direction so as to be positioned to the side of the hoop material F1. The control unit 1l has a built-in calculation processing unit, and performs various controls of each unit of the hoop material connection device 1 via control lines, etc.

A pair of fixed drum parts 1i that rotate around the hoop material F1 are disposed between the first conveying part 1c and the second conveying part 1d, and a deflection part F0 in which the hoop material F1 is deflected is disposed between the pair of fixed drum parts 1i. The deflection part F0 is maintained at a certain length in a constant deflection state by controlling the speed of the first conveying part 1c and the second conveying part 1d.

Figure 3 is a flow chart showing the processing of the control unit 1l when gluing the rear end E of the preceding first hoop material F1 to the tip end S of the following second hoop material F2. When the unwinding of the first hoop material F1 from the first reel body R1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is completed, the flow processing starts. In step ST1, the control unit 1l checks the input of a detection signal of the rear end E of the first hoop material F1 from the detection unit 1a. Based on the input of this detection signal, the process proceeds to step ST2.

In step ST2, as shown in the intermediate progress of the first stage in FIG. 4, the rear end E is detected by the detection unit 1a, and at the same time, the first hoop material F1 near the rear end E of the first hoop material F1 is clamped and fixed by the holding unit 1b. At the same time that the first hoop material F1 is fixed by the holding unit 1b, the motor unit 1h is stopped, and the transportation of the first hoop material F1 by the first and second transport units 1c and 1d is stopped.

Next, proceed to step ST3 and slide the sliding part 1e. In order to transport the hoop material F1 at a constant speed without changing the transport speed of the hoop material F1 by a transport part (not shown) provided in the plating processing device 3, the two sliding parts 1e start moving at a predetermined speed in the opposite direction to the transport direction D. In this way, by controlling the sliding speed of the sliding parts 1e, it is possible to continue supplying the hoop material F1 to the plating processing device 3 while maintaining the transport speed of the transport part of the plating processing device 3.

In step ST4, based on detection of the rear end E of the first hoop material F1 by the detection unit 1a, the control unit 1l outputs a control signal to the reel body replacement device 2 to replace the first reel body R1 with the second reel body R2.

The replacement process of the reel body replacement device 2 based on this control signal is completed by lowering the second reel body R2, from which the tip portion S of the second hoop material F2 has been pulled out in advance, to the position where the first reel body R1 is located. In conjunction with the replacement of these reel bodies R, the hoop material connection device 1 moves the photographing unit 1j upward to the location of the detection unit 1a until the hoop material F1 can be photographed from the side in the transport direction D.

After replacing with the second reel body R2 in step ST4, in step ST5, as shown in the intermediate progress of the second stage in FIG. 5, based on an image taken from the side by the photographing unit 1j that has been raised to the detection position of the detecting unit 1a, the position of the rear end E of the first hoop material F1 is adjusted relative to the tip end S of the second hoop material F2 in the image using the position adjustment mechanism of the holding unit 1b.

In this position adjustment, the tip S of the second hoop material F2 of the photographing unit 1j is recognized by image processing, and the position of the rear end E of the first hoop material F1 is adjusted by a process of moving the first hoop material F1 forward, backward, up and down and rotating the tilt by the holding unit 1b, and a process of transport control of a small distance forward and backward by the first transport unit 1c and motor unit 1h so that the rear end E is overlapped parallel to the tip S. Note that even if the motor unit 1h of the first transport unit 1c rotates in the reverse direction, the presence of the flexure F0 prevents the first hoop material F1 from being pulled in the opposite direction to the transport direction D and being cut or damaged.

In this way, once the rear end E of the first hoop material F1 has been aligned so that it is linearly overlapping the front end S of the second hoop material F2, the process moves to step ST6.

In step ST6, as shown in the middle of the third stage in Figure 6, the welded portion 1k is moved upward to the photographing position of the photographing portion 1j, and then the rear end portion E and the front end portion S, which are arranged so as to overlap in a straight line, are securely fixed to prevent misalignment of the connection portion, which is the connection point, and then ultrasonically welded and connected by clamping from the side. This ultrasonic welding is sufficient if it is about a fraction of the width of the hoop material F1, for example, about 3 mm for a hoop material F1 with a width of 10 mm.

In this way, the welded portion 1k is welded at a pinpoint with a narrow width of about a fraction of the width of the hoop material F. Therefore, even if the first hoop material F1 and the second hoop material F2 are hoop materials F for different electrical components and the widths of the hoop materials F are different, it is possible to connect the hoop materials F by arranging the two hoop materials F so that they overlap in a straight line.

After the rear end E and the front end S are welded together, the process proceeds to step ST7, where the holding unit 1b releases the hoop material F1 from its fixed position. Then, the motor unit 1h is driven to start the transport of the connected hoop material F by the first and second transport units 1c and 1d.

At the same time, the two sliding parts 1e start to slide in the conveying direction D. In order to return the sliding parts 1e to the position before step ST3, the hoop material F is conveyed by the first and second conveying parts 1c and 1d at a conveying speed faster than the set normal conveying speed.

Finally, in step ST8, as shown in FIG. 7 when the connection of the hoop material F is completed, the sliding part 1e is moved to the position before step ST3 shown in FIG. 1, and the first and second conveying parts 1c and 1d are simultaneously conveyed at the normal conveying speed. In addition, the timing of returning the faster conveying speed to the normal conveying speed of the first conveying part 1c is shifted to adjust the length of the bent part F0 to the bent state before adjusting the position of the rear end part E of the first hoop material F1. In addition, the welding part 1k separated from the hoop material F after welding is moved downward, and the detection part 1a moves until the light sending part 1f and the light receiving part 1g are located to the side of the second hoop material F2, and then the detection part 1a is activated. In this way, the flow process shown in FIG. 3 is completed, and the state of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is returned to. This flow process is repeated every time the payout of the hoop material F from the reel body R is completed.

In this way, by using the hoop material connection device 1, it is possible to connect the rear end E of the preceding first hoop material F1 and the leading end S of the following second hoop material F2 into one without changing the conveying speed of the supply destination device such as the plating processing device 3. Even if the following second hoop material F2 is cut midway with a cutter or the like, it can still be connected to the preceding first hoop material F1, and hoop materials F of different dimensions can also be connected together.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 hoop material connection device 1a detection section 1b holding section 1c first transport section 1d second transport section 1e sliding section 1j photographing section 1k welding section 2 reel body exchange device 3 plating processing device D transport direction E rear end section F hoop material F1 first hoop material F2 second hoop material R reel body R1 first reel body R2 second reel body S front end section

Claims (6)

A hoop material connecting device connects a rear end of a leading first hoop material discharged from a first reel body to a front end of a trailing second hoop material discharged from a second reel body by welding, and transports the connected hoop materials,
A detection unit that detects the rear end portion;
a holding section that, when the detection section detects the rear end section, clamps and fixes the vicinity of the rear end section and adjusts the position of the fixed rear end section;
an image capturing unit that moves to a detection position of the detection unit upon detection of the rear end by the detection unit and captures an image of the front end of the second hoop material of the second reel body replaced from the first reel body and the rear end fixed by the holding unit from a side;
a welding section that moves to a photographing position of the photographing section and welds the rear end section and the front end section ;
First and second conveying units for conveying the hoop material;
A sliding part is disposed between the second conveying part and a supply destination device of the hoop material, and slides in a direction opposite to the conveying direction;
a bending section disposed between the first and second conveying sections and bending the first hoop material;
The first and second conveying sections are capable of independently controlling the conveying speed of the hoop material,
Only the first conveying section is capable of conveying the first hoop material in a direction opposite to a conveying direction of the first hoop material,
When the detection unit detects the rear end, the first and second conveying units stop conveying the first hoop material,
The sliding part is caused to slide in a reverse direction relative to the first hoop material on the side of the destination device where the conveyance by the second conveying part has stopped, thereby maintaining a conveyance speed to the destination device, and
A hoop material connecting device characterized by a process in which the holding unit moves the first hoop material back and forth and up and down and rotates its tilt based on an image from the photographing unit, and a process in which the rear end is aligned with the front end by a front and rear transport control process performed only by the first transport unit, and then the front end and the rear end are welded together by the welding unit. The hoop material connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the welding portion uses ultrasonic waves to weld the rear end and the front end. The hoop material connecting device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that after the rear end and the front end are welded by the welding part, the first hoop material is released from the holding part and conveyed by the conveying part at a conveying speed faster than the conveying speed before the rear end is detected, and the position of the sliding part that has slid is moved to a position before the rear end is detected. The hoop material connecting device according to claim 3, characterized in that the conveying speed of the first conveying section is adjusted so that after the rear end and the front end are connected by the welding section, the bent length of the bent section becomes the same length as before the rear end was detected. The hoop material connecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , characterized in that the welding portion is welded at a pinpoint relative to the width of the first and second hoop materials. A hoop material connection device as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that when welding the rear end portion and the front end portion using the welding portion, the welding connection is performed after fixing them so that no misalignment occurs with respect to the connection portion, which is the connection point.

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