JPH0246296B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention This invention selectively takes out a specific mold from a warehouse containing a large number of molds of different shapes, supplies it to a conveyor on the molding machine side, supplies it to the molding machine, and removes it from the molding machine. The present invention relates to a method for replacing molds in which removed molds are automatically returned from a carry-out conveyor to a warehouse.

Various types of cast products are often used in automobiles and the like, and in order to cast these cast products, molds of each shape must be formed in accordance with the required number of molds. For this reason, molds have traditionally been mass-produced using general-purpose molding machines. It is necessary to replace the mold installed on the

The mold is replaced by placing a new mold on a carry-in conveyor provided in the molding machine, and then taking out the mold discharged from the molding machine onto the carry-out conveyor and storing it in a warehouse. Conventionally, a worker operates a hoist to transfer the molds from the warehouse to the carry-in conveyor and from the carry-out conveyor to the warehouse.

However, in the above work, the worker manually aligns the molds suspended by a hoist, and then operates the hoist to place the molds on the delivery conveyor or in a designated position in the warehouse, which takes time. However, there were problems in that the workability was poor, and since the mold was an important item, the mold and equipment could be damaged or dangerous when the mold was stopped being transferred or positioned.

Workability problems such as those mentioned above will not cause a major hindrance to production volume if the molds in the molding machine are not replaced for a long period of time, but if molds of different shapes are made with one molding machine. When changing molds frequently in a short period of time, such as when molding,
There were problems such as the actual operating time of the molding machine became shorter, the production volume decreased, and the operation rate was low.

In addition, when producing small lots by frequently replacing molds of different shapes, it is necessary to accommodate a large number of molds and make it easy to take them in and out in order to improve workability. On the other hand, there is a device that stores a large number of items such as molds and selectively takes out the necessary items, but the accuracy of positioning the items when taking them out is poor, and the molds are not installed in the molding machine. It was not possible to accurately feed the material onto the carry-in conveyor, and it was not possible to automatically combine it with the molding machine and make it work in conjunction with the molding machine without bothering human hands.

This invention was proposed in order to solve the above problem. A large number of molds for molding is stored in a storage shelf, and the necessary molds are taken out from a predetermined storage shelf and automatically sent to a mold take-out section. , and a unit-type three-dimensional automatic warehouse that automatically stores the molds returned to the mold intake section in a predetermined storage shelf, and a molding machine equipped with a mold loading section and a mold unloading section. A method for exchanging parts between an inlet conveyor connected to an inlet part of a molding machine and a mold takeout part of a unit type three-dimensional automatic warehouse, and between an unloading conveyor connected to an outlet part of a molding machine and a unit type three-dimensional automatic warehouse. A positioning mechanism for aligning the molds in the width direction is provided between the mold intake section of the warehouse, and the molds taken out to the mold takeout section of the unit type three-dimensional automatic warehouse are once placed by the positioning mechanism. After aligning in the width direction to match the carry-in conveyor, it is transferred to the carry-in conveyor and fed to the molding machine.
The mold sent out from the molding machine via the carry-out conveyor is once aligned in the width direction by the positioning mechanism so that it matches the mold intake part, and then transferred to the mold intake part and stored. To provide a method for replacing molds.

With the above method, molds can be automatically exchanged between the unit type three-dimensional automated warehouse and the molding machine. That is, both the unit-type multi-level automated warehouse and the molding machine have a mold positioning mechanism, and in the unit-type multi-level automated warehouse, the molds stored in the storage shelves are taken out to a predetermined position in the mold take-out section, and It has a function to automatically accommodate the mold that has been returned to a predetermined position in the mold intake section. On the other hand, the molding machine also sets the mold carried into the designated position on the loading side into the molding machine,
Moreover, it is adapted to be carried out from the molding machine to a predetermined position. However, both unit-type multilevel automatic warehouses and molding machines require high positioning accuracy on the intake side.
Positioning accuracy on the unloading side is low. Therefore, in the present invention, by once aligning the molds using positioning mechanisms on the intake side of both pieces of equipment, mold exchange can be performed even with general-purpose equipment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a drawing showing the overall configuration of a mold changing device to which the present invention is applied. In this embodiment, an upper mold making machine 1 for molding an upper mold (upper mold) and a lower mold (lower mold) are used. A unit-type three-dimensional automatic machine has a pair of lower molding machines 2 arranged side by side, stores a large number of molds for molding in a position separate from both molding machines 1 and 2, and selectively takes out and stores the necessary molds. A warehouse 3 is provided, and common and exclusive conveyors 4 and 5 are provided between the mold take-out section of this unit type three-dimensional automatic warehouse 3 and the entrance side of both molding machines 1 and 2, and conveyors 4 and 5 are provided between the intake section and both molding machines 1. , 2 are provided with common and dedicated carrying-out conveyors 6 and 7, and furthermore, a three-dimensional automatic warehouse 3
A positioning mechanism 8 and a height adjustment mechanism 9 are provided between the take-out section and the carry-in conveyor 4, which position the taken-out molds in the width direction and actively send them to the carry-in conveyor 4. A height adjustment mechanism 10 is also provided between the
The whole constitutes a closed-loop mold conveyance line.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the unit type three-dimensional automated warehouse 3 includes a mold storage section 12 formed with storage shelves 11, 11, . Storage shelf 11 of mold storage section 12
It consists of a crane 14 for taking out the mold 13 from the mold. The crane 14 is mounted in a vertically arranged rectangular crane frame 15 so as to be movable up and down, and the crane frame 15 has guide rollers 16 and running wheels 17 mounted on the upper and lower ends of the housing section 12 in front of the upper and lower ends. Provided guide rail 1
8 and a traveling rail 19 and supported so as to be movable in the width direction, so that the crane 14 can be moved to the front of any storage shelf 11. Further, a fork 20 is attached to the crane 14 to enter into the pallet 13a holding the mold 13 and take it out. This fork 20 is configured to be movable forward and backward relative to the crane 14, and is configured to supply the mold 13 taken out from the storage shelf 11 to the positioning mechanism 8 at the taken out position, for example, at the lower right end in the figure. 21 is a wire for suspending and supporting the crane 14, 22 is a hoisting drum, and 23 is a traveling electric motor.

As shown in FIG. 4, both the upper molding machine 1 and the lower molding machine 2 are provided with a carry-in section 24 at a position corresponding to the carry-in conveyors 4 and 5, and a carry-out section 25 at a position corresponding to the carry-out conveyors 6 and 7. It is provided. Each loading section 24 and unloading section 25 have the same structure, and as shown in FIG. A plurality of flanged rollers 30 and 31 are supported by a driving motor 3.
2 and chain 33 in the feeding direction. Therefore, the loading section 24 and the loading section 2
The direction of installation is opposite to that of 5. In addition, a plurality of rotating rollers 34 and 35 are rotatably fixed to the frame 26 along the width direction at the front and rear ends.
A moving frame 36 is placed on the rotating rollers 34 and 35, and is formed so as to extend from the carry-in section 24 to the carry-out section 25 and surround it.
A support member 37 for supporting the mold 13 is fixed onto the mold 6. When the lifting cylinder 27 is extended and the frame 29 is at the rising end, the flanged rollers 30 and 31 are located above the support member 37 of the moving frame 36 and at the same level as the corresponding carry-in conveyors 4 and 5 or carry-out conveyors 6 and 7. Come to the height position. In this state, the mold 13 is supplied from the carry-in conveyors 4, 5 onto the flanged rollers 30, 31. Thereafter, when the elevating cylinder 27 is shortened and the pedestal 29 is lowered, the mold 13 is moved to the supporting member 3 on the moving frame 36.
7 and flanged rollers 30, 31
move away from Next, the moving frame 36 is moved as the moving cylinder 38 expands and contracts, and the mold 13 is supplied from the loading section 24 to the respective molding machines 1 and 2, and at the same time, the mold 13 is supplied from the molding machines 1 and 2 to the unloading section 25. A mold 13 is supplied to.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the carry-in conveyor 4 connects lifting frames 40 and 41, which are divided above a support frame 39, to lifting cylinders 42 and 43, respectively.
The lift frames 40, 41 are supported so as to be able to rise and fall freely via guide rods 44, 45, 46, 47.
A plurality of flanged rollers 48, 49, 50, 51 are rotatably supported along the feeding direction on both sides of the upper surface at appropriate intervals, and are driven by drive motors 52, 5 provided on the lifting frames 40, 41, respectively.
3 and chains 54 and 55 in the feeding direction. The spacing between the flanged rollers 48 and 49 and between 50 and 51 is set to be slightly wider than the width of the pallet 13a holding the mold 13 so that the mold 13 can be transferred without wobbling. It has been done. Further, the other carry-in conveyors 5 are configured similarly to the carry-in conveyor 4, and the carry-in conveyors 6 and 7 are also configured similarly to the carry-in conveyor 4. However, the carry-in conveyors 4, 5 and the carry-out conveyors 6, 7 are arranged in opposite directions, and the molds 13 are fed in opposite directions.

There are various structural examples of the positioning mechanism 8, that is, positioning means, examples of which are shown in FIGS. 6 to 8. Roller-free conveyors 57 and 58 are provided on both sides of the lifter 56 to support the mold 13 and to allow movement in the width direction on the upper surface of the lifter 56 of an appropriate size and supported so as to be movable up and down. A plurality of flanged rollers 63, 64 are rotatably supported in the feeding direction between the support legs 59, 60, 61, 62, respectively, via bearings 65, 66, and a protruding end of each flanged roller 63, 64 is supported. Chains 67 and 6 are alternately connected in minimum units so as to interlock with each other via sprockets 65 and 66.
8 and further connected to a drive motor 69 to form feed roller conveyors 70, 71 in which all flanged rollers 63, 64 can be actively rotated. In addition, support brackets 72 and 73 protruding outward from support legs 59 and 62 on both sides rotatably penetrate and support rotary shafts 74 and 75, and connecting rods 76, 77, 78 and 79 are fixed to both ends thereof, Positioning plates 80, 81 are attached to the tips of the connecting rods 79, 77, 78, 79, and the rotating shafts 74, 7
Air cylinders 84 and 85 are connected to the middle part of the rotor 5 through links 82 and 83, and by expanding and contracting the air cylinders 84 and 85, the rotating shafts 74 and 75 are rotated through the links 82 and 83. Further, the positioning plates 80 and 81 are moved back and forth via the connecting rods 76, 77, 78, and 79 to remove the mold 13.
Positioning in the width direction is performed.
Note that the dimension between the flanges of the opposing flanged rollers 63 and 64 of the feed roller conveyors 70 and 71 is slightly wider than the width dimension of the pallet 13a that holds the mold 13, and the positioning plate 8
0 and 81, the end face of the mold 13 to be pressed is located directly above the flanges of the flanged rollers 63 and 64, so that once the mold 13 is positioned, it will not move forward any further.

This positioning mechanism 8 waits with the lifter 56 raised until the roller-free conveyors 57 and 58 provided on the lifter 56 are positioned above the feed roller conveyors 70 and 71, and then the lifter 56 is taken out from the multi-level automated warehouse 3. The mold 13 is supported by roller-free conveyors 57 and 58, and in this state, the air cylinders 84 and 85 are extended and the mold 13 is pressed from both sides with positioning plates 80 and 81 to position it in the width direction. After that, when the lifter 56 is lowered, the mold 13 is transferred to the feed roller conveyors 70, 7.
It is placed in an accurately positioned state on each of the flanged rows 63 and 64 of No. 1, and is then sent forward while being guided by the flanged rollers 63 and 64.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the height adjustment mechanism 9 straddles both sides in the width direction of an elevating frame 90 that is supported on a support frame 86 via an elevating cylinder 87 and guide rods 88 and 89 so as to be able to rise and fall freely. The flanged roller 9 is attached via bearings 91 and 92.
3 and 94 are rotatably supported, chains 96 are attached to the protruding ends of the chains 96 alternately in minimum units so as to interlock with each other via sprockets 95, and a drive motor 97 is attached to the lower surface of the lifting frame 90. It is connected. The spacing between the flanged rollers 93 and 94 is set to be slightly wider than the width of the mold 13. This height adjustment mechanism 9 is waiting at the same height position as the positioning mechanism 8, and when the mold 13 is supplied, it descends and stops at the same height position as the carry-in conveyor 4.

Further, a height adjustment mechanism 10 provided in association with the carry-out conveyor 6 is configured similarly to the height adjustment mechanism 9, and is installed with the mold 13 feeding direction reversed.

In the above-mentioned three-dimensional automatic warehouse 3, there are, for example, 18 types of upper and lower molds to be supplied to the paired upper molding machine 1 and lower molding machine 2, respectively, on predetermined storage shelves. 11, 11... In order to supply the mold 13 to both molding machines 1 and 2, first, the moving cylinders 38 provided in the upper molding machine 1 and the lower molding machine 2 are extended, and the movable frame 36 is moved to the carrying-in parts 24, 24. Support members 37, 37 by moving them to the side.
are associated with the carry-in conveyors 4 and 5, and the carry-in section 2
The frames 29 and 29 provided at the bases 4 and 24 are raised and on standby. In addition, the lifter 56 of the positioning mechanism 8 is placed on standby to rise, and the elevating frame 90 of the height adjusting mechanism 9 is placed on standby.
is raised to standby at the same height as the lifter 56 of the positioning mechanism 8.

Then, the crane 15 installed in the multi-level automatic warehouse 3 is moved along the guide rails 18 and the traveling rails 19 to a predetermined row, and the crane 14 is raised and moved to a predetermined stage to accommodate the upper mold to be taken out. crane 14 in front of storage shelf 11
to stop. After that, the fork 20 is projected from the crane 14 and inserted into the pallet 13a holding the mold 13 to support it, and the crane 1
Take it out to 4. When the mold 13 is taken out, the crane 14 is lowered and the crane frame 15 is moved to the right and positioned at the take-out part. Next, the fork 20 is projected rearward to transfer the mold 13 from the crane 14 onto the roller free conveyors 57 and 58 on the lifter 56 of the positioning mechanism 8. When the molds 13 are transferred onto the roller-free conveyors 57 and 58, the three-dimensional automatic warehouse 3 repeats the above-mentioned operation to take out the remaining pair of lower molds 13' from the predetermined storage shelves 11. . In addition, in the positioning mechanism 8, the air cylinders 84 and 85 are extended, and the positioning plates 80 and 81 are moved forward to press the side surfaces of the mold 13 in the width direction, thereby positioning the mold 13 in the width direction.The positioning is completed. Then, the lifter 56 is lowered and the roller free conveyor 5
From 7,58 to feed roller free conveyor 70,7
Place it on the flanged rollers 63 and 64 of No. 1.
Thereafter, the drive motor 69 is operated to operate the feed roller conveyors 70 and 71 to supply the mold 13 to the flanged rollers 93 and 94 provided on the elevating frame 90 of the height adjustment mechanism 9 in the front. In the height adjustment mechanism 9, the lifting cylinder 87 to which the mold 13 is supplied shortens and lowers the lifting frame 90 to be at the same height as the carry-in conveyor 4. Thereafter, the drive motor 97 operates to supply the mold 13 to the carry-in conveyor 4, and after the supply, the elevating cylinder 87 extends again to bring the elevating frame 90 to the same height as the positioning mechanism 8. When the mold 13 is supplied to the entrance side of the carry-in conveyor 4, the carry-in conveyor 4, the carry-in section 24 of the lower molding machine 2, the flanged rollers 48, 49, 50, 51, and the flanged roller 30 of the carry-in conveyor 5 is rotated, and the mold 13 is rotated by the upper molding machine 1.
It is supplied to the carrying-in section 24 of. When the mold 13 is supplied to the carry-in section 24, the elevating cylinder 27 is shortened to lower the pedestal 29 to transfer the mold 13 onto the support member 37 of the moving frame 36 and retreat. After this, the moving cylinder 38 is shortened and the moving frame 3
6 is moved to the upper molding machine 1 side, and the mold 13 supported by the support member 37 is supplied to the upper molding machine 1.

While the mold 13 is being supplied to the upper mold making machine 1, the lower mold 13' to be supplied to the lower mold making machine 2 is transferred to the lifter 56 of the positioning mechanism 8, which is taken out from the storage section 12 of the multi-level automated warehouse 3. It is supplied onto provided roller-free conveyors 57, 58. Here, as described above, the positioning plates 80 and 81 operate to lower the lower mold 1.
3' in the width direction, and then the lifter 56 descends to move the roller free conveyors 57, 5.
8, the lower mold 13' is sent to the roller conveyor 70,
71 onto the flanged rollers 63 and 64. Subsequently, the drive motor 96 operates to operate the feed roller conveyors 70, 71, and feed the lower mold 13' to the flanged rollers 93, 94 provided on the elevating frame 90 of the front height adjustment mechanism 9. When the lower mold 13' is supplied, the height adjustment mechanism 9 shortens the elevating cylinder 87, and the elevating frame 90
is lowered to the same height as the carry-in conveyor 4.
After that, the drive motor 97 operates to transport the lower mold 13' to the flanged rollers 48, 49 of the conveyor 4.
feed on top. When the lower mold 13' is supplied to the conveyor 4, the drive motors 62, 63 are operated to rotate the flanged rollers 48, 49, 50, 51, and the lower mold 13' is transferred to the lower mold molding machine 2. It is supplied onto flanged rollers 30 and 31 provided on the pedestal 29 of the carry-in section 24. After this, lifting cylinder 2
7 is shortened and the frame 29 is lowered, lowering the lower mold 13'.
is transferred onto the support member 37 of the moving frame 36 and evacuated. Then, the moving cylinder 38 is shortened to move the moving frame 36 toward the lower molding machine 2, and the lower mold 13' supported by the support member 37 is supplied to the lower molding machine 2. When the moving frame 36 supplies the upper mold 13 and the lower mold 13' to the upper mold making machine 1 and the lower mold molding machine 2, respectively, the moving cylinder 38 is extended and moved toward the carrying-in parts 24, 24 side.

When the upper molding machine 1 and the lower molding machine 2 are supplied with the upper mold 13 and the lower mold 13', respectively, they start molding and form a mold.

After a predetermined number of molds have been molded, if the mold is to be replaced in order to mold another type of mold, the above-mentioned operation is repeated and the desired upper mold 13 and lower mold 13' are taken out and supplied to the loading sections 24 of the upper molding machine 1 and the lower molding machine 2, respectively. After this, first, lift cylinder 2 on the upper molding machine 1 side.
7 shortens to lower the pedestal 29, transfer the upper mold 13 onto the support member 37 of the moving frame 36, and at the same time place the mold 13, which was also used in the upper molding machine 1, onto the moving frame 36. do. Thereafter, the moving cylinder 38 is shortened to move the moving frame 36, supplying a new upper mold 13 to the upper molding machine 1, and taking out the used upper mold 13 from the upper molding machine 1 and sending it to the carry-out section 25. Discharge. When the upper mold 13 is discharged to the unloading section 25, the elevating cylinder 27 in the unloading section 25 is extended to raise the pedestal 29, and the upper mold 13 is received from the moving frame 36 by flanged rollers 30 and 31. . Thereafter, the drive motor 32 operates to rotate the flanged rollers 30 and 31, and the upper mold 13 is transported to the transport conveyor 7. Then, the drive motor 5 of the unloading conveyors 6 and 7
2, 53 and the drive motor 32 of the unloading section 25 of the lower molding machine 2 that is waiting to rise operates to remove the upper mold 13.
is transferred by the carry-out conveyors 6, 7 and the carry-out section 25, and discharged onto the height adjustment mechanism 10 on the carry-out side. The upper mold 13 is discharged after use. Upper mold 1 after use
In the upper molding machine 1 that has discharged the
The frame 29 of No. 5 is lowered, the moving cylinder 38 is extended, and the moving frame 36 is moved toward the loading section 24 in preparation for the next mold exchange. The height adjustment mechanism 10 further transfers the upper mold 13 to the height adjustment mechanism 10 in front, and the transferred height adjustment mechanism 10 causes the lifting cylinder 87 to extend and lift the lifting frame 90 to raise the height of the three-dimensional automatic warehouse 3. It is set at the same height as the intake part.
After that, the crane frame 15 of the multi-level automatic warehouse 3 moves to move the crane 14 to the receiving section, and the fork 20 is projected rearward to receive the upper mold 13 from the height adjustment mechanism 10 and place it on the crane 14. Then, the crane frame 15 moves left and right, the crane 14 rises, and the fork 20 moves forward at a predetermined position to accommodate the upper mold 13 in the storage shelf 11.

While the upper mold 13 passes through the unloading section 25 of the lower molding machine 2 and is stored in the three-dimensional automatic warehouse 3, the pedestal 29 of the unloading section 25 of the lower molding machine 2 is lowered and stands by. Subsequently, the lifting cylinder 27 of the loading section 24 is shortened to lower the pedestal 29, and the lower mold 13' is transferred onto the support member 37 of the moving frame 36. At the same time, the lower molding machine 2 also removes the used lower mold. The mold 13' is placed on the moving frame 36. After that, the moving cylinder 38 is shortened to move the moving frame 36,
A new lower mold 13' is supplied to the lower mold molding machine 2, and the used lower mold 13' is taken out from the lower mold molding machine 2 and discharged to the carry-out section 25. When the lower mold 13' is discharged to the discharge section 25, the elevating cylinder 27 in the discharge section 25 is extended to raise the frame 29, and the movable frame 36 is moved to the flanged rollers 30, 31.
The lower mold 13' is received from the machine. Thereafter, the drive motor 32 operates to rotate the flanged rollers 30 and 31, and the lower mold 13' is carried out to the carry-out conveyor 6, and further discharged from the carry-out conveyor 6 to the height adjustment mechanism 10. Used lower mold 1 in lower mold molding machine 2
3', the frame 29 of the unloading section 25 is lowered, the moving cylinder 38 is extended, and the moving frame 36 is moved toward the loading section 24 in preparation for the next mold exchange. The height adjustment mechanism 10 further transfers the lower mold 13' to the height adjustment mechanism 10 in front, and in the transferred height adjustment mechanism 10, the lifting cylinder 87 extends and lifts the lifting frame 90, and the vertical automatic warehouse Set it at the same height as the intake part in step 3. Thereafter, the crane 14 and crane frame 15 of the three-dimensional automated warehouse 3 operate to receive the lower mold 13' from the height adjustment mechanism 10 and store it in a predetermined storage shelf 11.

As described above, when the desired upper mold 13 and lower mold 13' are automatically supplied to the upper mold making machine 1 and the lower mold molding machine 2, and the set number of molds are molded by both molding machines 1 and 2, New upper molds 13 and lower molds 13' with different shapes are taken out from the multi-level automated warehouse 3 and supplied to the corresponding molding machines 1 and 2, and at the same time, used molds are removed from each molding machine 1 and 2. Upper mold 13 and lower mold 1
3' is taken out and collected, stored in the original storage shelf 11 of the multi-level automated warehouse 3, and the molds are exchanged to mold various types of molds.

In addition, the upper mold 13 and lower mold 13' taken out by the crane 14 from the multi-level automated warehouse 3 have poor positional accuracy in the width direction, resulting in relative positional deviation with the molding machine side import conveyor 4. , the upper mold 13
The upper mold 13 or the lower mold 13' placed on the lifter 56 is positioned from both sides in the positioning mechanism 8 in the process before being supplied to the carry-in conveyor 4. The flanged rollers 6 of the feed roller conveyors 70, 71 are pressed by the plates 80, 81 and prepared in their widthwise positions, and then positioned with high precision.
3, 64, and the flanged roller 6
3, 64 and is supplied to the carry-in conveyor 4 without any hindrance.
supplied to Therefore, it is possible to use a general-purpose machine that accommodates many types of molds and selectively takes out and stores them, and the molds can be exchanged quickly and safely.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the mold taken out from the unit-type multilevel automatic warehouse to the mold take-out part is once positioned in the width direction by the positioning means, and then aligned to fit the molding machine. The mold is guided and supplied to the carry-in conveyor, and the mold carried out from the molding machine is once positioned in the width direction by a positioning means, and then aligned to fit the mold intake part of the unit type three-dimensional automatic warehouse. Since the molds are guided and supplied to the mold intake section, the molds can be automatically aligned and exchanged with high precision between the unit type three-dimensional automatic warehouse and the molding machine. In addition, the unit-type multi-level automatic warehouse and molding machine do not require highly accurate alignment of the loading/unloading section of each mold, and eliminate the need for a dedicated machine. can be used, reducing equipment costs. Furthermore, when replacing a unit-type multi-level automatic warehouse or a molding machine, there is no need to manufacture a special machine, the equipment can be replaced in a short period of time, and the replacement cost is low.

In addition, since the unit-type multi-level automatic warehouse can accommodate many types of molds, the unit-type multi-level automatic warehouse can accommodate upper and lower molds for molding various automotive parts. If this is done, the molds can be automatically replaced in accordance with the preset number of molds to be manufactured, allowing efficient production of a wide variety of products in small quantities.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the overall configuration of the mold changing device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of a unit type multi-level automatic warehouse, Fig. 3 is a front view thereof, and Fig. 4 is a loading machine side view. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the positioning mechanism, FIG. 7 is a front view thereof, and FIG.
The figure is a side view, FIG. 9 is a plan view of the height adjustment mechanism, and FIG. 10 is a longitudinal side view thereof. 1...Upper molding machine, 2...Lower molding machine, 3...
Unit type three-dimensional automatic warehouse, 4, 5... Carrying in conveyor, 6, 7... Carrying out conveyor, 8... Positioning mechanism, 56... Lifter, 57, 58... Free conveyor, 70, 71... Feed roller conveyor, 8
0,81...Positioning plate, 13...Upper mold, 1
3'...Lower mold.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Storing a large number of molds for molding in storage shelves, taking out the necessary molds from the specified storage shelves and automatically sending them to the mold take-out section, and automatically sending the molds returned to the mold intake section A method for exchanging molds between a unit-type multilevel automated warehouse that stores molds in predetermined storage shelves and a molding machine equipped with a mold loading section and a mold carrying out section, the method comprising:
Between the carry-in conveyor connected to the carry-in part of the molding machine and the mold take-out part of the unit type three-dimensional automatic warehouse, and between the carry-out conveyor connected to the carry-out part of the molding machine and the mold take-in part of the unit type three-dimensional automatic warehouse. A positioning mechanism is installed in between to align the molds in the width direction, and once the molds are taken out to the mold takeout section of the unit-type multilevel automatic warehouse, the molds are aligned in the width direction by the positioning mechanism to match the carrying conveyor. After alignment, the mold is transferred to the carry-in conveyor and supplied to the molding machine, and the mold sent out from the molding machine via the carry-out conveyor is once aligned with the mold intake part by the positioning mechanism. A method for replacing a mold, characterized in that, after alignment in the width direction, the mold is transferred to and accommodated in a mold intake section.