JPH0321448B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention sequentially receives and transports parts such as a tension coil spring having hook portions at both ends, and during this transport, the above-mentioned This invention relates to a positioning device that aligns all hook parts in a fixed direction.

(Prior art) For example, video tape recorder (VTR)
Various types of springs are used as parts for mechanical movement in electrical appliances such as . Among these springs, for example, a tension coil spring engages a pair of component parts with hooks provided at both ends thereof, thereby applying a tensile elastic force to each other.

Conventionally, when assembling the above-mentioned electrical appliances, the hook parts of the tension coil springs are held, the spring body between them is stretched artificially, and this state is maintained, and each of the above-mentioned hook parts is attached to both components. It was hanging on. However, with recent advances in coil spring forming technology, the shape and size accuracy of springs has improved, and it has become possible to automate the spring loading process.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, tension coil springs S, which are parts, are separated one by one and sequentially delivered from a delivery pipe a to a receiver b. The above-mentioned tension coil spring S includes a spring body Sa wound in a coil shape, and a hook portion integrally provided at both ends of the spring body Sa and bent into a substantially ring shape.
Consists of Sb and Sb. Once the tension coil spring S is located on the receiver b, a pair of mounting heads c, c disposed above this in the figure are driven down along the guide grooves d, d. On the way, the claw parts c1, c1 at the tips of the mounting heads c, c are connected to the hook parts Sb,
Multiply with Sb. Since each guide groove d, d is inclined in the direction of separating from each other, the claw parts c1,
c1 also separates as it descends, and the spring body Sa is expanded. The hook portions Sb, Sb are attached to the hook receiving portions f, f protruding from a component, for example, the chassis e, which is located at the lowest position in the figure.
After inserting, drive the mounting heads c and c upward. Only the hook portions Sb, Sb are engaged with the hook receiving portions f, f, and the tension coil spring S is attached.

In this way, with the tension coil spring S placed on the receiver b, the hook portions Sb, Sb must always face in a predetermined direction. In other words, if the correct posture is not maintained, the mounting heads c, c
The claws c1, c1 of the can no longer engage the hooks Sb, Sb. Therefore, this type of device is provided with a jet nozzle g that jets air having a certain degree of pressure toward the hook portion Sb, and the jet nozzle g is aligned in this direction.

In addition to this, a device as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B is used to align the tension coil spring S, which is a part of this type. In other words, it has a conveying groove h that holds a large number of tension coil springs S in a vertically erect state, and it is a straight-travel conveyor that sequentially conveys each tension coil spring S in a predetermined direction by applying vibration to the entire body. It consists of a feeder i and an escape body j disposed at the discharge end of the straight feeder i. An air cylinder k, which is a drive mechanism, is connected to this escape body j, so that it can be driven back and forth.

When the linear feeder i is vibrated, the hook portions Sb, Sb of each tension coil spring S are aligned by the conveying groove h, and are sequentially led out to the escape body j starting from the tip. The air cylinder k is driven at the right time to maintain the posture of the hook portions Sb, Sb of the received tension coil spring S, and to separate them from the succeeding tension coil spring S and carry them out to a predetermined position.

The tension coil spring S that is most suitable for these devices has a free length that is the length from the tip of one hook portion Sb to the tip of the other hook portion Sb in an unloaded state, and a length formed between the hook portions Sb and Sb. The ratio of the diameter of the spring body Sa to the coil diameter is relatively small, in other words, the overall length is short.

On the other hand, in the case of a spring with a relatively large ratio of the free length to the coil diameter, in other words, a spring with a long overall length, it is difficult to align the spring with the above devices. That is, only the hook portion Sb is supported on the receiver b, or the tension coil spring S is supported on the conveying groove h.
If the entire length of a tension coil spring is large, the spring body, which is in the middle, is likely to bend when transported in an upright state. Under the influence of this, it becomes difficult to orient each hook portion in the correct direction, resulting in a problem of lack of stability in the spring posture.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention makes it possible to reliably adjust the orientation and posture of parts, such as the above-mentioned long tension coil springs, so that the post-process The object of the present invention is to provide a parts alignment device that can improve the reliability of the work.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) That is, the present invention feeds parts from a feeding path via a separation mechanism, supports a slider connected to a drive mechanism in a reciprocating manner on a slider guide, and This parts alignment device is characterized in that only a columnar parts main body is accommodated in a housing section provided in the slider guide, and a protrusion projecting from the columnar part body comes into contact with a guide slope provided in the slider guide.

(Function) By configuring in this way, the parts main body can be received in the storage portion without being deformed, and no matter what shape the protrusion has, it will come into contact with the guide slope as the slider moves. This applies a rotation biasing force to the part main body in contact with the protrusion, and aligns the protrusion in a predetermined direction in the unloading state.

Also, while parts are being fed to the slider,
Reliably separates from subsequent parts to ensure feeding reliability.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. A tension coil spring S as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is used as parts. In the figure,
Sa is the coil body which is the part body, Sb,
Sb is a hook portion which is a protrusion. d
is the outer diameter of the coil, d′ is the outer diameter of the hook portion, L ₃ is the coil length, L ₂ is the free length, L ₁ is the total length of the spring, and α is the deflection angle of the hook portion Sb.

The tension coil spring S used in this example has wire diameter = φ0.3mm, d = φ3.4mm, d' = φ3.4mm, L ₂ = 34.6mm,
α=within 15°. In addition, the above hook parts Sb, Sb
The shape is close 1.5 volumes.

Tension coil spring S constructed in this way
are aligned using an alignment device with a basic configuration as shown in FIG. That is, the device includes a slider 1, a slider guide 2, a drive mechanism (not shown in the figure),
It consists of a feeding path and a separation mechanism. The slider 1 is slidably fitted into a sliding groove 3 provided in a slider guide 2, and a portion of its upper surface is provided with an accommodating portion extending in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction. A guide groove 4 is provided. The guide groove 4 must be shaped so that only the spring body Sa of the tension coil spring S can be stably held as will be described later, and rotational sliding can easily occur in the circumferential direction within the groove 4. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, a guide groove 4 having a U-shaped cross section,
Alternatively, a guide groove 4A having a rectangular cross section as shown in FIG. In any case, the groove width W is made slightly larger than the coil outer diameter d, and
The groove depth T is greater than d/2. In the U-shaped guide groove 4, W=2R. In both cases, it is preferable that the groove length l be slightly longer than the coil length _L3 . However, the hook portions Sb, Sb at both ends of the spring body Sa must protrude by 1/3 d' or more from both ends of the guide groove 4.

As shown again in FIG. 2, the slider guide 2 has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the upper end surface of one vertical piece 6a along the sliding groove 3 has a guide surface 7, which will be described later.
At the same time, a positioning step 8 is provided at the upper end of the other vertical piece 6b. The width of the guide surface 7 is larger than the hook outer diameter da' of the tension coil spring S, and the width of the positioning step 8 is set to be approximately the same as the hook outer diameter d'. . From this, when the tension coil spring S is fed toward the guide groove 4 of the slider 1 from the direction shown by the arrow in the figure, the hook portion Sb on the feeding side comes into contact with the vertical surface of the positioning step portion 8. . Since the positioning step portion 8 and the guide groove 4 are formed to have the above-mentioned dimensions, the other hook portion Sb properly faces the guide surface 7.

As shown in FIG. 4, the guide surface 7 includes two horizontal surfaces 9a and 9b having different heights, and a guide slope 10 that is an inclined surface connecting these horizontal surfaces 9a and 9b.

In order to smoothly send the tension coil spring S to the guide groove 4, the lower horizontal surface 9a is aligned in height with the bottom of the groove 4, but to prevent the work from clogging.
It may be formed slightly higher than the groove bottom. In addition, when feeding the tension coil spring S, if a linear feeder as described later is not used, the lower horizontal surface 9a is not particularly required.

The guide slope 10 is brought into contact with the hook portion Sb in order to align the spring posture of the tension coil spring S. Therefore, it is necessary to set the slope so that the posture of the hook portion Sb can be changed smoothly. Theoretically, the slope should be approximately 45° or less.
In this example, θ=9.5°.

The higher horizontal surface 9b is a surface that determines the direction of the hook portion Sb. Therefore, when changing the hook part Sb to a horizontal position, the height dimension H of the horizontal surface 9b
may be set at a height of about 1/2 of the coil outer diameter d with the bottom of the guide groove 4 as a reference. however,
Depending on the shape of the hook part Sb, especially the number of turns, it may be set smaller than d/2, and if the depth T of the guide groove 4 is set larger than the coil outer diameter d, the height will be T-d/ It can be set up to about 2.

Furthermore, the alignment device is designed as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7. That is, 11 is a base, and this base 11 has a pair of vertical pieces 12.
a and 12b are erected facing each other and spaced apart from each other. A pair of shafts 15, 15 that are inserted into ball bushes 14, 14 in ball bush cases 13, 13 are installed between these vertical pieces 12a, 12b. A stage 16 is mounted on the ball bushes 14, 14, and an operating shaft of a separating air cylinder 17 provided on one of the vertical pieces 12a is connected to the side thereof. Therefore, by driving the separation air cylinder 17, the stage 16
can be displaced between the vertical pieces 12a, 12a. A slider guide 2 including a slider 1 constituting the alignment device is mounted on the stage 16 . Furthermore, on one end side of the stage 16, there is a slider air cylinder 18 which is a drive mechanism.
is fixedly attached, and its operating shaft is connected to one end of the slider 1. A slider stopper 19 is provided on the other end side of the stage 16, and is adapted to restrict the position of the slider 1 that is pushed and biased by the slider air cylinder 18. Further, a spring presser 20 having a presser claw portion 20a at the upper end is rotatably attached to the other vertical piece portion 12b. That is, the spring presser 20 is elastically biased by the tension spring 21 so that a portion thereof always comes into contact with the stage 16. In this way, the separation mechanism 2 is separated from the separation air cylinder 17, stage 16, spring retainer 20, tension spring 21, etc.
5 is composed. A feed path 22 of a linear feeder that sequentially feeds a large number of tension coil springs S is provided directly below the presser claw portion 20a. In addition, 2
3 is a sensor that detects whether the tension coil spring S is housed in the guide groove 4 or not.

Next, the operation of the carrying out device constructed in this way will be explained. A tension coil spring S is fed from the feed path 22 of the linear feeder to the guide groove 4 of the slider 1 at a predetermined position. At this time, the presser claw portion 20a of the spring presser 20 is in a substantially horizontal state. When the sensor 23 confirms the tension coil spring S, it sends an activation signal to the slider air cylinder 18. The air cylinder 18 presses and urges the slider 1 to align the hook portions Sb, Sb, which were oriented in arbitrary directions, in a predetermined direction. That is, as shown in FIG. 9A, only the spring body Sa of the tension coil spring S is accommodated in the guide groove 4, and one hook portion Sb protruding from the spring body Sa is located on the lower horizontal surface 9a of the guide surface 7. to face. However, since the posture of the hook portion Sb is not restricted in the feeding path 22, the postures are all different when facing the horizontal surface 9a. When the slider air cylinder 18 operates to press and bias the slider 1, the tension coil spring S moves together with the movement of the guide groove 4. Depending on the accommodation posture, the hook portion Sb may be separated from the horizontal surface 9a, and in this case, the hook portion Sb does not receive any action. However, as shown in FIG. B, when the tension coil spring S reaches a position facing the guide slope 10, one hook portion Sb comes into contact. That is, since the guide slope 10 is formed at a gradually higher slope from the horizontal surface 9a, the hook portion Sb will definitely come into contact with it unless the storage position is horizontal. Since the slider 1 continues to move, the spring body Sa receives a rotational urging force via the hook portion Sb. Therefore, the posture of the hook portion Sb approximates that of the guide slope 10. As shown in Figure C, when the hook portion Sb moves from the guide slope 10 to the higher horizontal surface 9b, it slides along the horizontal surface 9b. Therefore, the attitude of the hook portion Sb is aligned in the horizontal direction, which is the same attitude as the higher horizontal plane 9b.

The tension coil spring S is connected to the feeding path 22 of the linear feeder.
When the tension coil spring S is fed into the guide groove 4, the hook part Sb on the rear side and the front hook part of the next succeeding tension coil spring S to be fed into the guide groove 4 next.
It is necessary to prevent it from getting caught with Sb. To do this, it is sufficient to activate the separation mechanism 25, temporarily stop feeding the next succeeding tension coil spring S, and separate it from the tension coil spring S that has already been delivered to the guide groove 4. . As shown in FIG. 8, the separation air cylinder 17 receives the signal from the sensor 23 and urges the stage 16 to slide. This stage 16 slides the slider 1 mounted therein in a direction approaching one vertical piece 12 and in a direction away from the other vertical piece 12b. That is, the slider 1 is separated from the feeding position of the feeding path 22. The spring holder 20, which is biased by the tension spring 21 so as to come into elastic contact with the stage 16, rotates with this sliding, and the range of rotation is limited to a certain extent by the vertical piece 12b. be done. The subsequent tension coil spring S sent to the feeding path 22 is firmly pressed down by the inclined presser claw portion 20a, and feeding is stopped. Therefore, the tension coil spring S already housed in the guide groove 4 and the following tension coil spring S
It is possible to reliably separate the

In this way, the tension coil spring S allows reliable alignment regardless of the free length/coil diameter ratio. That is, even if the tension coil springs S have a long overall length, they can all be aligned in the same direction.

In the above embodiment, the parts include:
Although the tension coil spring S having hook portions Sb and Sb at both ends is used in the explanation, the present invention is not limited to this, and parts such as those shown in FIGS. 10A to 10C may be used, for example. That is, in the case of A in the same figure, at one end of the cylindrical part main body 30A,
A protrusion 30B cut out in a substantially semicircular shape is integrally provided. In the case shown in FIG. B, a protrusion 40B consisting of a pair of pin-like bodies is provided on one end surface of a cylindrical part main body 40A. The one in C of the same figure is
A pin-shaped protrusion 50B is provided on the circumferential surface of one end side of the cylindrical part main body 50A. In any case, each part main body 30A, 40A, 50A is slid while being accommodated in the guide groove 4 of the slider 1, and each of the protrusions 30B, 40B, 50B
is regulated by the guide slope 10 and its posture is adjusted.

For example, in the case of a part having the notch-shaped protrusion 30B, it is aligned as shown in FIGS. 11A to 11C. That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, with the part main body 30A accommodated in the guide groove 4, the protrusion 30B faces the lower horizontal surface 9a. Depending on the storage posture, a part of the protrusion 30B comes into contact with the horizontal surface 9a. When the slider 1 slides and the guide groove 4 faces the guide slope 10, the protrusion 30B comes into contact with it and rolls, and the part main body 30A floats upward. As shown in Figure C, when the protrusion 30B reaches the higher horizontal surface 9b, this notch surface comes into contact with the horizontal surface 9b. In other words, the posture of the part main body 30A is aligned. In this way, parts with other shapes and structures can also be aligned using the above-mentioned alignment device.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention is particularly applicable to parts having a protrusion on at least one end of the part main body, and it is possible to reliably feed these parts one by one and arrange them in predetermined postures. can be ranked,
This has the effect of improving the reliability of post-process work.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 9 show one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1A is a front view of a tension coil spring as parts, Figure B is a side view thereof, and Figure 2 is a schematic of the alignment device. Figure 3A is a perspective view of the guide groove, Figure B is a perspective view of a guide groove different from Figure A, Figure 4 is a front view of the alignment device, and Figure 5 is a plan view of the unloading device. Figure 6 is its front view, Figure 7 is its side view,
FIG. 8 is a side view in a state different from that in FIG. 7; FIGS. 9A to C are explanatory diagrams sequentially showing the actions of the alignment device;
10 and 11 show other embodiments of the present invention, FIGS. 10A to 11C are perspective views of parts having mutually different shapes and structures, and FIGS. 11A to 11C show the operation of the alignment device in order. 12 and 13 show a conventional example of the present invention, FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of a parts aligning device, and FIG. 13A is a longitudinal cross-section of the main part of a different aligning device. The top view and Figure B are schematic configuration diagrams of the device. Sb...protrusion (hook part), Sa...part body (coil body), 4...accommodation part (guide groove), 1...
Slider, 18... Drive mechanism (air cylinder for slider), 2... Slider guide, 10... Guide slope, 22... Feeding path, 25... Separation mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A feeding path that sequentially feeds a large number of columnar part bodies having a protrusion on at least one end in a line in the axial direction, and a part body that is fed from this feeding path so as to be freely rotatable in the circumferential direction. a slider that includes a housing section for housing the parts and causes the protrusion to protrude from a side of the housing section; a drive mechanism that reciprocates the slider in a direction perpendicular to a feeding direction of the parts body; and a drive mechanism that supports the slider so as to be freely displaceable. The slider guide comes into contact with a protrusion provided on the side of the slider guide that protrudes from the accommodating portion as the slider moves, applying a rotation biasing force to the part body and adjusting the orientation of the protrusion in a predetermined direction. A guide slope is provided on the parts receiving side feeding path of the slider, and while the slider is moving, the parts to be guided to the storage section are held by the holding pawl, and the parts that are held are held in place by the slider. 1. A parts alignment device comprising: a separation mechanism that temporarily stops feeding of parts by holding them apart from the parts.