JPH022508B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cam device that transmits continuous rotational motion of an input shaft to an output shaft as a rocking motion or intermittent motion accompanied by vertical motion. The present invention relates to a cam device applied to a so-called pick-and-place unit that chucks a workpiece using a chuck device and moves the workpiece to a working position in an automatic assembly machine, automatic processing machine, etc. by swinging motion or intermittent motion.

In many cam devices used in conventional pick-and-place units, the device for vertically moving the chuck and the device for swinging or intermittent movement of the chuck are constructed separately. This requires a member such as an arm for vertical movement, resulting in a complicated structure, an enlarged device, and self-limiting work speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to convert the continuous rotation of the input shaft into oscillation accompanied by the vertical movement of the output shaft using one cam and one follower spider. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cam device which has a simple structure, is compact, and can be operated at high speed, capable of converting rotational or compound motion of intermittent rotational motion.

That is, in the cam device according to the present invention, the center portion of the three-dimensional cam is fixed to the input shaft rotatably supported by the housing, and the three-dimensional cam has a predetermined side end cam shape on the circumferential surface, and has a circumferential direction. A plurality of ribs are formed in a protruding manner, each consisting of a linear portion along the line and a portion inclined laterally, and an output shaft is arranged perpendicularly to the input shaft so as to be rotatable and vertically movable. A spider is attached to the end of the shaft, and a plurality of cam followers guided between the plurality of ribs of the three-dimensional cam are attached to the spider, and means for pressing the spider against the circumferential surface of the rib of the three-dimensional cam. This is done by setting up the following.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2, reference numeral 1 designates a rectangular housing, and an input shaft 2 is rotatably supported on this housing 1. The three-dimensional cam 3 rotates as the input shaft 2 rotates. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of ribs 4 are provided on the circumferential surface of the three-dimensional cam 3 in a protruding manner. The shape of the side end surface of these ribs 4 is a non-circular cam shape without a recess as shown in FIG. 1, and the developed plan view is viewed from the circumferential direction as shown in FIG. a first inclined part gradually inclined in the lateral direction;
It consists of a continuous pattern of a linear portion along the circumferential direction and a second inclined portion inclined in the opposite direction to the first inclined portion.

The upper end of the housing 1 is open, and a cylindrical sleeve 5 is fixed thereto. An output shaft 6 is rotatably supported within the cylindrical sleeve 5 by a bearing 7. A disk-shaped spider 8 is integrally attached to the lower end of the output shaft 6, and a compression spring 10 is interposed between the upper surface of this spider 8 and a cylindrical cap body 9 fitted to the sleeve 5.
The output shaft 6 is elastically urged downward. There are three cam followers 11 on the underside of the spider 8.
The cam followers 11 are rotatably protruded at equal intervals within an angular range of 120 degrees, and each cam follower 11 is rotatably inserted in a groove between the ribs in close contact with the cam follower 11. Therefore, as the three-dimensional cam 3 rotates, the cam follower 11 rotates between the ribs 4 and swings the output shaft 6 at an angle of 120 degrees. Furthermore, since the lower surface of the spider 8 is in elastic pressure contact with the upper surface of the rib of the three-dimensional cam 3, it reciprocates up and down according to the cam shape defined by the circumferential surface of the rib 4 by the rotation of the three-dimensional cam 3. I can move.

In the cam device according to the first embodiment of the present invention,
A three-dimensional cam 3 that rotates as the input shaft 2 continuously rotates.
As a result, the output shaft 6 moves up and down and swings and rotates, and the relationship between the up and down movement and swinging rotation is shown in detail in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, regarding the oscillating rotation of the output shaft 6, the rib 4 becomes a straight portion in sections a to c, f to i, and l to n, and the rotation of the output shaft 6 is stopped. In the other sections c to f and i to l, the rib becomes a horizontally inclined part and the output shaft 6 rotates, but for example, if it rotates counterclockwise in the section c to f, then in the section i to l. It will rotate clockwise. Also,
Regarding the vertical movement of the output shaft, sections a~b, d~
e, g to h, j to k, m to n are stop sections, and sections b to d, h to j are rising sections, and section e
~g, k~m are descending sections. In the vertical movement and rocking rotation of the output shaft 6, sections c to d, e to
In f, i to j, and k to l, the vertical movement and oscillating rotation overlap, and the output shaft moves up or down while rotating, so it is possible to speed up the work compared to the conventional method. be.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, a case has been described in which the output shaft 6 is oscillated and rotated together with the vertical movement, but the cam device of the present invention is not limited to this, and the cam device of the present invention is not limited to this. This can also be applied to rotate intermittently in the same direction. FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the present invention in which the output shaft is moved up and down and rotated intermittently in the same direction.

The cam device according to the second embodiment differs from the cam device according to the first embodiment only in the shape of the rib 4 of the three-dimensional cam 3 and the number and arrangement of the cam followers 11 attached to the spider 8. This is the same as in the first embodiment. Regarding the differences, as shown in FIG. 5, the rib 4 of the three-dimensional cam 3 has a first inclined part gradually inclined laterally from the circumferential direction, and a linear part along the circumferential direction. , a second inclined portion inclined in the same direction as the first inclined portion.
The cam follower 11 is rotatably provided on the lower surface of the spider 8 at equal intervals over the entire circumference, and in this embodiment, six cam followers 11 are provided. There is.

The operating state of the intermittent rotational motion accompanying the vertical movement of the output shaft 6 is shown in FIG. 6, and as is clear from FIG. 6, the sections c to d, e to f,
For i to j, k to l, the rotation and vertical movement of the output shaft overlap, and the output shaft rises while rotating or descends while rotating, so it is possible to speed up the work compared to conventional methods. It is.

As described above, the cam device of the present invention enables continuous rotation of the input shaft by suitably combining one three-dimensional cam with a plurality of ribs formed on the circumferential surface and a spider having a plurality of cam followers. This is an extremely simple and compact device that can convert the output shaft into oscillating rotation or intermittent rotation with vertical movement. Furthermore, in the cam device of the present invention, by appropriately setting the shape of the rib, the vertical movement and rotational movement of the output shaft can overlap,
This cam device can raise or lower the output shaft while rotating, and is extremely suitable for speeding up pick-and-place operations.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 show a cam device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view thereof, and FIG.
The figure is a partially sectional front view of the same; FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the ribs expanded to show the mutual relationship between the ribs, the spider, and the cam follower of the three-dimensional cam of the cam device according to the first embodiment; The figure is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the cam device according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 5 shows the ribs unfolded to show the mutual relationship between the ribs, spiders, and cam followers of the three-dimensional cam of the cam device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the cam device according to the second embodiment. 1... Housing, 2... Input shaft, 3... Three-dimensional cam, 4... Rib, 6... Output shaft, 8... Spider, 11... Cam follower.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The center of a three-dimensional cam is fixed to an input shaft rotatably supported by a housing, and the three-dimensional cam has a predetermined side end cam shape on the circumferential surface, and A plurality of ribs including a linear portion along the line and a portion inclined laterally are formed in a protruding manner, and an output shaft is arranged perpendicularly to the input shaft so as to be rotatable and vertically movable. A spider is attached to the end of the three-dimensional cam, and a plurality of cam followers guided between the plurality of ribs of the three-dimensional cam are attached to the spider, and means for pressing the spider against the circumferential surface of the rib of the three-dimensional cam is provided. A cam device comprising: 2. The rib of the three-dimensional cam has a first inclined part gradually inclined laterally from the circumferential direction, a linear part along the circumferential direction, and a first inclined part inclined in the opposite direction to the first inclined part. 2. The cam device according to claim 1, wherein the cam device has a continuous pattern with two inclined portions, and the continuous rotation of the input shaft is transmitted to the output shaft as vertical motion and swinging rotational motion. 3. The rib of the three-dimensional cam has a first inclined portion gradually inclined laterally from the circumferential direction, a linear portion along the circumferential direction, and inclined in the same direction as the first inclined portion. 2. The cam device according to claim 1, wherein the cam device has a continuous pattern with a second inclined portion, and transmits continuous rotation of the input shaft to the output shaft as vertical movement and intermittent rotational movement.