JPS63173B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention allows chips such as transistors, ICs, resistors, and capacitors to be placed on a printed circuit board,
Alternatively, the present invention relates to an automatic assembly device for arranging or fitting various kinds of small parts into predetermined positions on a parent part, such as in the assembly of a gear train of a watch.

Conventional automatic assembly devices of this type have installed child parts by stopping the conveyor that conveys the parent part. For example, when assembling a large number of gears onto a main plate on a watch train production line, the movable table that conveys the main plate had to be stopped for each gear insertion device to perform the assembly, which caused pitch errors in the conveyor device. , errors due to backlash etc. become a problem,
In order to improve accuracy, the equipment became expensive and the line speed could not be increased. The present invention allows the conveyor to run continuously at a constant speed,
By automatically assembling each child part by dropping it from a stationary position onto the parent part at a predetermined timing,
The purpose is to improve assembly accuracy by using inexpensive equipment, reduce assembly time, and improve productivity.

The present invention will be described in detail below using an example in which the present invention is applied to an assembly device for a movement of a quartz watch. FIG. 1 explains the main part of the present invention, in which the main plate 1 of the movement is used as the parent part, the gear 2 is used as the child part, and both parts 1 and 2 are assembled.

In figure a, the base plate 1 is conveyed horizontally to the right in the figure by a conveyor 3, and the gear 2 is held by a parts dropping device 4 and lowered to a predetermined position, where it stands still in the state shown in figure b. When the main plate 1 comes to the position shown in figure c, the component dropping device 4 is activated by a signal from the control device and the gear 2 starts to fall, and the main plate 1 reaches the position just below the dropping device 4 as shown in figure d. At the time of passing, the gear 2 reaches the base plate 1 and is loosely fitted onto the gear shaft 5 implanted in the base plate 1. During this time, the base plate 1 is conveyed at a constant speed without stopping, and in Figure e, the dropping device 4 is raised to prepare for the next cycle.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the parts dropping device 4, in which an elastic material 7 such as rubber is fixed to the lower edge of a cylindrical suction head 6 that is moved up and down by a piston cylinder, and a vacuum pump is installed inside. The pressure is reduced.
An ejector pin 8 driven by a solenoid is provided at the center of the head 6. At the lower end of the ejector pin 8, there is an annular protruding wall 9 for ejecting the gear 2 in a horizontal state, and a shaft of the gear 2 for positioning. A protruding shaft 11 is formed to be inserted into the hole 10.

Figure 3 shows the overall structure of the automatic assembly device, which is a parts dropping device that is mounted on a movable frame 12 that can move freely in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the conveyor 3, and has a suction head 6 that can move up and down at the lower end. A plurality of child parts 4 are arranged in parallel along the conveyor 3, and each child part 2 is sucked and held one by one from each part supply device 13 on the side of the conveyor by each suction head 6, and transferred to the upper part of the conveyor 3. The child part 2 is dropped onto a predetermined location on the parent part 1 which is being conveyed by a conveyor 3. Each component supply device 13 includes a hopper section 14 and a guide groove section 15, and uses a vibrator to arrange child components, that is, gears 2, and transfer them to a stopper at the end of the guide groove section 15 in rapid succession. A pallet 16 is fixed on the belt conveyor 3 on which the parent part, ie, the base plate 1 is fitted and placed. A suction head 18 for supplying the parent component 1 from the parent component supply guide 17 to the starting end and the ending end of a plurality of groups of suction heads 6 arranged in parallel, respectively;
A suction head 20 is provided for taking out the assembly to an assembly carry-out guide 19. Reference numeral 21 denotes a photoelectric sensor for position detection, which detects the point in time when the pallet 16 passes and generates an operation timing signal for the component dropping device 4 by the control device. 22 is an operation panel.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a table 3 is moved on a track 23 instead of the belt conveyor 3 shown in FIG. 3, and the arcuate track portion is fast-forwarded. Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a guide groove 24 for positioning the parent part is provided in the circular table 3, and the parent part 1 may be made to run on a gentle curve in this way.

The present invention is configured as described above, and waits for a parent part that is continuously traveling at a constant speed in the horizontal direction at a stationary position above, and predicts the position and time using a passing position detection sensor and a control device. Since automatic assembly is performed by dropping the child parts aiming at the assembly location on the parent part, there is no need to stop the conveyor that conveys the parent part during assembly, and therefore the mechanical efficiency of the conveyor is reduced. There is no risk of errors due to rattling, pitch errors, bumps, etc., and precision can be improved by a precise clock device and electric circuit, and there is no need to stop the conveyor for each part to be assembled, making assembly easier. This method has the advantage that the time can be shortened, and since the conveyor drive device can be operated at a constant speed, a complicated control device is not required and equipment costs can be reduced.

By the way, each of the component dropping devices 4 is equipped with a suction head that sucks and transfers child components in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the conveyor and drops them above the conveyor. By setting this, it is possible to perform grappling in a short time by dropping various parts one after another while the parent part travels a certain distance at a constant speed, and also allows for the vertical movement of the suction head and the lateral movement of the movable frame. Therefore, all of the operations of picking up the child parts, transporting them in the lateral direction, positioning the dropping position in the lateral direction, and lowering them to the dropping position can all be performed.
It is desirable that the drop position be as low as possible and close to the attachment point on the parent part, but in order to avoid the head hitting an already attached child part or a protrusion of the parent part, The optimum value is set at the stage of programming the control device.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of component dropping devices 4 are divided into two groups, and the movable frames 12a and 12b of each group are shared, and the suction head 6 of the two component dropping devices is used in common.
A and 6b are arranged to alternately perform suction and transfer operations for child parts and component dropping operations. In this case, two pallets 16 are used, and the movable frame 12a moves the pallets 16 under each suction head 6a.
Each time the suction head 6a passes, it moves laterally to adjust the position of the next suction head 6a. According to this method,
Although the processing capacity is inferior to the above-mentioned embodiments, since the suction heads can be arranged closely together, the device can be made compact, and the driving device for the movable frame can be inexpensive, and it is possible to use different combinations of parts. In the case of a mixed flow in which multiple products are mixed together, the conveyor can be moved quickly under unnecessary heads, so there is no time loss, making this device suitable for high-mix, low-volume production. FIG. 7 shows a movable table type conveyor 3, and FIGS. 8 and 9 show a mixed flow type conveyor 3 corresponding to FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively.

As described above, the present invention includes a conveyor that causes a parent part to continuously travel horizontally at a constant speed, a part dropping device that causes a child part to fall from a fixed position above the conveyor, and a part that is scheduled to be assembled on the parent part. In an automatic assembly device comprising a control device that activates the component dropping device at a point in time before the component dropping device passes directly below the component dropping device, the component dropping device is arranged at right angles to the traveling direction of the conveyor. It is attached to a movable frame that can be moved in any direction, and is equipped with a suction head that can move up and down at the bottom end.Multiple parts dropping devices are installed in parallel along the conveyor, and each suction head is used to pick up parts on each side of the conveyor. The child parts are sucked and held one by one from the parts supply device and transferred to the upper part of the conveyor, and the child parts are dropped onto a predetermined location on the parent part being transported by the conveyor. Because they are arranged along the direction and each component dropping device is equipped with a suction head, each component dropping device can be adapted to handle various types of parts. It has the advantage of being easy to assemble. In addition, each part dropping device is equipped with a suction head that can move perpendicularly to the direction of conveyor movement and can move up and down, so the entire process from picking up child parts to transferring and dropping them can be done consistently. It has the advantage that it can be carried out. Furthermore, a component dropping device is configured using a suction head,
Since the child parts are picked up and transferred in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the conveyor, the child parts can be transferred in a relatively narrow occupied space. Furthermore, by moving the suction head up and down, the child part can be dropped close to the parent part, so the distance from when the child part leaves the suction head until it is attached to the parent part can be reduced. This reduces the number of error factors in the falling time, making it possible to drop the child parts to the correct position without stopping the conveyor, and as a result, the child parts can be supplied to the parent part in a short time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the main parts of the device of the present invention;
This figure is a sectional view of the same essential parts as above, and FIGS. 3 to 9 are perspective views showing various embodiments of the apparatus of the present invention. 1... Parent part, 2... Child part, 3... Conveyor, 4...
Component dropping device, 6... suction head, 12... movable frame,
12a, 12b...Common movable frame, 13...Component supply device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A conveyor that causes the parent part to run continuously at a constant speed in the horizontal direction, a part dropping device that causes the child part to fall from a fixed position above the conveyor, and a part on the parent part that is scheduled to be assembled as described above. In an automatic assembly device comprising a control device that activates the component dropping device at a point in time before the component dropping device passes directly below the component dropping device, the component dropping device is arranged perpendicular to the traveling direction of the conveyor. It is attached to a movable frame that can be moved in any direction, and has a suction head that can move up and down at the bottom end.A plurality of these component dropping devices are installed in parallel along the conveyor, and each suction head picks up each component on the side of the conveyor. An automatic assembly device characterized by sucking and holding child parts one by one from a supply device, transporting them above a conveyor, and dropping the child parts onto a predetermined position on a parent part being transported by a conveyor. 2 The plurality of component dropping devices described above are divided into two groups, each group has a common movable frame, and suction head groups of the two sets of component dropping devices alternately perform suction transfer operation of child components and component dropping operation. An automatic assembly device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic assembly device is characterized in that: