JP7708447B2 - Nut runner socket, bolt hold tool change socket for nut runner and bolt hold tool change mechanism - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a socket for a nut runner, a bolt hold tool change socket for a nut runner, and a bolt hold tool change mechanism.

By introducing industrial robots, it is possible to replace human work, thereby reducing training costs for workers and preventing uneven work.
Prior Art Document 1 discloses an invention in which a torque tube is used in an automatic screw fastening machine that combines an industrial robot and a screw fastening machine (nut runner).

Utility Model Registration No. 3203142

The benefits of using industrial robots include improved productivity, stable quality, and labor savings by reducing the number of processes involving humans. When using a nut runner connected to an automatic tool changer (hereinafter also referred to as "ATC"), it is preferable to automate and eliminate human intervention in the process of holding the screw at the tip of the nut runner, supplying the screw to the part to be tightened, etc. However, there are problems such as the need for high positioning accuracy when the nut runner tightens the screw, a complex mechanism, and a large space being required, which have hindered automation.

The inventors conducted extensive research to solve the above problems, and developed a simple structure for a nut runner socket that can hold a screw while feeding it to the next process, a bolt-holding tool-changing socket for a nut runner that uses this socket, and a bolt-holding tool-changing mechanism that uses this socket.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and includes the following [1] to [18].
[1] A socket for a nut runner, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw.
[2] A socket for a nut runner, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw, and an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket being approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket.
[3] A socket for a nut runner, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw, and the pressure mechanism having an elastic body.
[4] A socket for a nut runner, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw, an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket being approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket, the angle α1 being 30 to 90 degrees.
[5] A socket for a nut runner, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw, an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket being approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket, and the pressure mechanism being an elastic body.
[6] A socket for a nut runner, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw, an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket being approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket, the angle α1 being 30 to 90 degrees, and the pressure mechanism being an elastic body.

[7] A bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner having a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw.
[8] A bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner having a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw, and an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket being approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket.
[9] A bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner having a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw, and the pressure mechanism having an elastic body.
[10] A nut runner socket and a bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner having a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw, an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket being approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket, the angle α1 being 30 to 90 degrees.
[11] A bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner having a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw, an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket being approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket, and the pressure mechanism having an elastic body.
[12] A bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner having a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket having a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface having a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface being capable of contacting a screw, an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket being approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket, the angle α1 being 30 to 90 degrees, and the pressure mechanism being an elastic body.

[13] A bolt holding tool change mechanism having a bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner and a nut runner, wherein the bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner has a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket has a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface has a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, and the gripping surface is capable of contacting a screw.
[14] A bolt holding tool change mechanism having a bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner and a nut runner, wherein the bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner has a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket has a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface has a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface is capable of contacting a screw, and an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket is approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket.
[15] A bolt holding tool change mechanism having a bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner and a nut runner, wherein the bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner has a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket has a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface has a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface is capable of contacting a screw, and the pressure mechanism has an elastic body.
[16] A bolt holding tool change mechanism having a bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner and a nut runner, wherein the bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner has a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket has a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface has a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface is capable of contacting a screw, an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket is approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket, and the angle α1 is 30 to 90 degrees.
[17] A bolt holding tool change mechanism having a bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner and a nut runner, wherein the bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner has a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket has a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface has a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface is capable of contacting a screw, an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket is approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket, and the pressure mechanism has an elastic body.
[18] A bolt holding tool change mechanism having a bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner and a nut runner, wherein the bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner has a socket for a nut runner and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism, the socket has a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism, the gripping surface has a vertical surface that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis of the socket and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces, the gripping surface is capable of contacting a screw, an angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket is approximately the same as an angle α2 between the other surface that is a counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket, the angle α1 being 30 to 90 degrees, and the pressure mechanism is a bolt holding tool change mechanism having an elastic body.

The present invention provides a nut runner socket with a simple structure that can hold a screw while feeding it to the next process, a bolt-holding tool change socket for a nut runner that uses the socket, and a bolt-holding tool change mechanism that uses the socket.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a nut runner socket according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing one state of use of the socket of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the state shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another state of the socket of FIG. 1 in use. FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing yet another state of use of the socket of FIG. FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing yet another state of use of the socket of FIG. FIG. 7 is a view of the socket of FIG. 1 as viewed from the central axis direction of the socket. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the socket and bolt of FIG. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the state shown in FIG.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings as necessary. Figure 1 shows one embodiment of a nut runner socket according to the present invention.

(Nut runner socket)
The nut runner socket 1 has a gripping surface 2 and a pressure mechanism 3. The socket 1 can be used, for example, at the tip of an ATC nut runner to hold an inserted screw in the socket 1 while supplying the screw to a counterpart such as a part to be fastened and fastening the screw.
The inner diameter of the socket 1 is preferably slightly larger than the outer diameter of the head of the screw to be used.

(gripping surface)
The gripping surface 2 is a surface located on the inside of the socket 1. A part or the whole of the gripping surface 2 is capable of contacting a bolt 21. The gripping surface 2 has a vertical surface 4 that is approximately perpendicular to a central axis 11 of the socket, and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces 5.

(vertical plane)
The vertical surface 4 is approximately perpendicular to the central axis 11. When the bolt 21 is inserted into the socket 1, the head of the bolt 21 comes into contact with the vertical surface 4. In the direction of the central axis 11, the socket 1 can hold the bolt 21 in the correct position.
The vertical surface 4 may be a flat surface or a curved surface. It is preferable that the vertical surface 4 is a substantially flat surface. This ensures a contact area with the head of the bolt 21, and the bolt 21 can be stably held.

(slanted surface)
The inclined surface 5 is a surface provided so as to come into contact with the bolt 21 at an angle different from that of the vertical surface 4 in order to hold the bolt 21 .
The inclined surfaces 5 are provided in one or more pairs so as to form a pair. An angle α1 between one surface 5a of the inclined surface 5 and the central axis 11 of the socket is preferably substantially the same as an angle α2 between the other surface 5b, which is a pair of the inclined surface 5, and the central axis 11 of the socket. The surfaces 5a and 5b are located in paired positions spaced apart by approximately 180 degrees from the central axis 11, and the position of the bolt 21 can be corrected by appropriately contacting the bolt 21, thereby setting the bolt 21 in the correct position.

7, there are three pairs of inclined surfaces in this embodiment. The inclined surfaces 5a and 5b, the inclined surfaces 5c and 5d, and the inclined surfaces 5e and 5f are located on the same plane and spaced apart from each other by approximately 180 degrees with respect to the central axis.
The angle α1 is preferably 30 to 90 degrees, more preferably 40 to 80 degrees, and even more preferably 60 to 75 degrees. The inclined surface 5 preferably engages with a corner or a chamfered portion of the bolt 21, and is preferably designed according to the bolt to be used.

Misalignment refers to a state in which the central axis 12 of the bolt 21 is misaligned with the central axis 11 of the socket 11. When misalignment occurs, the positioning accuracy of the bolt 1 deteriorates, which hinders automation. As shown in Figures 2 to 5, when misalignment occurs, the bolt 21 is inserted with the inclined surface 5b in contact with the corner of the bolt 21, and the inclination of the bolt 21 is corrected. As a result, the bolt 21 is set in the correct position within the socket 1, as shown in Figures 1 and 6. The bolt 21 may also be inserted until the bolt head comes into contact with the vertical surface 4.

The inclined surface 4 may be flat or curved. Generally, chamfering of a screw is performed by cutting off the corners at an angle, so the chamfered surface is often a conical surface. Therefore, if the inclined surface 4 is flat, it is preferable from the viewpoint of ensuring the contact area between the inclined surface 4 and the screw.

(Pressure mechanism)
The pressure mechanism 3 comes into contact with the inserted bolt 21 and applies force from a power source 6 to hold the bolt 21 in the correct position.
The power source 6 is not particularly limited as long as it can apply pressure and force, and examples of the power source include vacuum suction, fluid pressure such as a compressor or hydraulic pressure, electric power, magnetic force, and elastic force of an elastic body. Among these, it is preferable to use an elastic body such as a spring in terms of cost and size reduction. Examples of the elastic body include a coil spring and a plate spring.
In this embodiment, elastic bodies 6 a and 6 b are used as the power source 6 .
The number of the power sources 6 is not limited, and a plurality of power sources 6 may be arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the socket 1, or may be arranged in pairs at positions 180 degrees from the central axis 11.
The locking member is a circular, square, spherical, pin or the like made of metal, resin or the like, and has the function of contacting the bolt, transmitting the force from the power source and locking the bolt.

The socket 1 has an outer surface formed with a step, which is a concave groove, and a through hole formed in the step. An elastic body 6a and a locking ball 7a, and an elastic body 6b and a locking ball 7b are arranged in the step. The locking balls 7a and 7b have a smaller diameter than the through hole, and are pressed by the elastic force of the elastic bodies 6a and 6b. Parts of the locking balls 7a and 7b protrude toward the inner surface of the socket 1.
After being inserted in the direction of the central axis 11, the bolt 21 is pressed by the elastic force of the elastic bodies 6a, 6b and held with a constant force. The bolt 21 can be easily separated from the socket 1 by pulling it out in the direction of the central axis 11. In this way, the socket 1 can hold and supply the bolt 21 without requiring special tools or personnel.

(screw)
The screw used in this embodiment is a bolt 21, but the screw may be either a male screw or a female screw, and may be a standard product defined by JIS, ISO, etc., or a custom-made product.
The shape of the screw is not particularly limited, and may be an even polygon such as a hexagon, octagon, or decagon, or an odd polygon such as a pentagon or heptagon.
When the socket 1 has three pairs of inclined surfaces, the bolt 21 is preferably a hexagonal bolt. Similarly, when the socket 1 has four pairs of inclined surfaces, the bolt 21 is preferably an octagonal bolt. When the socket 1 has five pairs of inclined surfaces, the bolt 21 is preferably a decagonal bolt.

(Bolt Hold Tool Change Socket for Nut Runners)
The bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner 60 of the present invention has the above-mentioned socket 1 and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism 51.
The one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism 51 is a mechanism that can be attached and detached very easily, and can attach and detach the nut runner and the bolt hold tool change socket 60 by, for example, pushing, pulling, turning, etc. This makes it easy to attach and detach both, eliminates the labor required for replacement, and enables automation by machine.
Examples of one-touch attachment/detachment mechanisms include one-touch couplings, locking adapters, bit holders, and the like.

(Bolt hold tool change mechanism)
The bolt holding tool change mechanism 80 of the present invention has the above-mentioned bolt holding tool change socket for a nut runner and a nut runner.
The nut runner 71 has a tool change base unit 72, and by appropriately replacing the bolt holding tool change socket 60 for the nut runner, it is possible to hold screws of various shapes and sizes and supply the screws to the other party to be tightened.

The present invention provides a nut runner socket that can hold screws with a simple structure, a nut runner bolt hold tool change socket using the same, and a bolt hold tool change mechanism using the same, which can be used industrially.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Nut runner socket 2 Grip surface 4 Vertical surface 5a Inclined surface 6a Elastic body 7a Locking ball 11 Central axis 21 Bolt α1 Angle of inclined surface 5a with respect to central axis 11 α2 Angle of inclined surface 5b with respect to central axis 11

Claims (6)

A nut runner socket, comprising:
The socket has a gripping surface and a pressure mechanism,
The gripping surface has a vertical surface that is substantially perpendicular to a central axis of the socket, and one or more pairs of inclined surfaces,
the gripping surface is capable of contacting a screw ;
the vertical surface, the inclined surface, and the pressure mechanism contact the screw when the screw is inserted;
a portion of the pressure mechanism protruding from an inner surface of the socket;
The protruding portion has a portion closest to the central axis, the portion being located closer to the central axis than the side surface of the head of the inserted screw.
Nut runner socket. The nut runner socket according to claim 1, wherein the angle α1 between one of the inclined surfaces and the central axis of the socket is substantially the same as the angle α2 between the other surface that is the counterpart of the inclined surface and the central axis of the socket. 3. The nut runner socket according to claim 2, wherein the angle α1 is equal to or greater than 30 degrees and less than 90 degrees. The nut runner socket according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pressure mechanism has an elastic body. A bolt-hold tool change socket for a nut runner having the socket described in claim 1 or 2 and a one-touch attachment/detachment mechanism. A bolt hold tool change mechanism having a nut runner bolt hold tool change socket and a nut runner according to claim 5.