JPH0413252B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is applicable to workpieces, more specifically, when pressing materials of various shapes and sizes are inputted indiscriminately and individually supplied to a press machine. This invention relates to an automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device used.

(Conventional Example) Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 10A, a conventional automatic aligning and transferring device for works A has been constructed by installing a concave receiving plate 26 on the inner peripheral surface of a drum body 27 together with an aligning auxiliary plate 28, as shown in FIG. 10A. There are known devices that carry out alignment transfer.

That is, in this type of alignment and transfer device, the receiving plate 26 is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the drum body 27.

(Problems with the Prior Art) However, in the conventional alignment and transfer device, since the receiving plate 26 is of a fixed type as described above, the work A corresponding to the shape of the concave portion of the receiving plate 26 cannot be aligned and transferred. However, when the workpiece is difficult to match the shape of the concave part, for example, when the diameter of the workpiece is larger than the concave part, or when the shape is like a stepped shaft, the method shown in Fig. 10B is used. During the transfer of the workpiece, a situation occurred in which the workpiece fell down before reaching the ejection station Q.

As a result, this caused problems during work, such as damage to the workpiece and discontinuous transfer of the workpiece.

In particular, this type of workpiece has various shapes and dimensions as shown in FIG. 11 depending on the press material, finishing material, etc. It was extremely difficult to accurately align and transfer all A's.

Especially the stepped shaft A as shown in Fig. 11 D to E.
When the diameters of the shaft portions are different, as in the case of the shaft portions, the shafts often fall from the small diameter portion, and this poses an extremely difficult problem in aligning and transporting this type of stepped shaft.

In any case, the conventional alignment and transfer apparatus has various problems, such as not only being unable to accommodate various shapes of workpieces, but also being prone to falling during alignment and transfer, thereby damaging the workpieces.

By solving these problems, the present invention enables workpieces to be accurately and reliably aligned and transferred to a discharge station regardless of their shape and dimensions, and the angle of the bar for transferring the workpieces can be freely corrected. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a completely new and useful automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device in which the position of a discharge station can be arbitrarily selected.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the present invention has a system in which each bar 14 drops the workpieces from the receiving zone O where they receive the workpieces to the discharge side. Holding zone P up to possible ejection station Q
, an opening 14a for receiving the workpiece.
The main feature is that an angle variable means is provided for rotating each bar 14 disposed in the direction of the center of rotation of the drum body 1 in a direction in which the opening 14a faces upward to prevent the workpiece from falling.

(Function) As described above, in the automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device according to the present invention, the bar that receives the workpiece and holds and transfers the workpiece to the ejection station side is moved in the upward direction of the opening 14a in the holding zone. Since the angle of the bar is variable according to the angle of the inner peripheral surface of the drum body, the workpiece will not fall from the bar and the received workpiece will be reliably handled. This means that it can be held and transported to the discharge station.

(Example) The embodiment will be described below according to an example shown in the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical drum body, and on its outer circumferential surface, a rotational drive belt 2 is connected to a drive wheel 4 linked to a motor 3.
The drum main body 1 is configured to be freely rotatable by rotating through the .

Reference numeral 5 indicates a downwardly inclined shutter provided on the side of the workpiece input port 6 of the drum body 1, and 7 indicates a workpiece A to be discharged from the discharge station Q of the drum body 1.
Reference numeral 9 indicates a transfer conveyor connected to the take-up conveyor 7 for transferring the workpiece A to the next process.

Next, FIG. 3 shows the structure of the inner circumferential surface inside the drum body 1. In the figure, 10 is an arcuate convex surface 11 with a gentle top surface.
A set of two alignment auxiliary plates includes a lid 11 having a shape of A, a body 12 having a V-shaped cross section, and a sound absorbing material 13 mounted between the lid 11 and the body 12. 14 is the alignment auxiliary plate 10 and the alignment auxiliary plate 1
0, and the inner peripheral surface of the bar 14 is a semicircular bottom 15 and a rear side wall 16.
It is formed by a protruding locking portion 17 formed by a tapered surface 16a and a vertical surface 16b, and a rising surface 18a of the front side wall 18.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a support shaft that is pivotally attached to both sides of the bar 14 via side plates 20; 21 is an arm that is integrally formed with a bearing 22 provided at the end of the support shaft 19; is a pair of guide rails 23a, 2
A cam follower 25 guided by a groove-shaped guide portion (cam) 24 formed between 3b
is pivoted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the guide rails 23a and 23b have a track l between 90 degrees from the starting point of the holding zone P to the ejection station Q, and a track la inclined inward and a track l in front of the station Q. It is formed by a moving track lb on the outside, and a track lc along the outer periphery of the drum body 1 in other zones.

In the drum body 1 having the above-described configuration, when the workpieces A are arranged and transferred as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7A, a large number of works A will be loaded on the bottom of the machine.

At this time, since the drum body 1 is rotating counterclockwise at a low speed via the drive belt 2, many of the works A are initially in a bridging state and try to be lifted counterclockwise, but as shown in FIG. As shown in A, there is an alignment auxiliary plate 10 on the inner peripheral surface of the drum body
Since the workpiece A is provided with an arcuate top surface 11a of the lid 11 of the auxiliary plate 10, the workpiece A will sequentially slide down. The workpiece A that has been fitted into the semicircular bottom part 15 of the C-shaped bar 14 is attached to the drum body 1.
When the bar 14 is rotated and transferred in the counterclockwise direction, the bar 14 tries to fall, but the fall is prevented by being stopped by a locking part 17 protruding from the rear side wall 16 of the bar 14, as shown in FIG. 7B. It will be transferred counterclockwise as the drum body 1 rotates without falling.

In this way, the right half of the circumference of the drum body 1 is
In the work receiving zone O from 0° to 90°, a large number of works A are received by the C-shaped bar 14 and dropped while being aligned by the rotation of the drum body 1 and the action of the alignment auxiliary plate 10. It is transferred to the next stage without doing anything.

In the above receiving zone O, the C-shaped bar 1
4 is moved on a concentric circle of the drum body 1 via the arm 21 by a cam follower 25 guided by guide rails 23a, 23b which draw a trajectory lc concentric with the circumference of the drum body 1.

The workpiece A transferred from the next receiving zone O to the next holding zone P by the C-shaped bar 14 has the inner circumferential surface of the drum body 1 successively having a larger inclination angle with respect to the center. Therefore, the workpiece A is in a position where it is easier to fall than in the alignment zone O.

However, in this holding zone P (90° to 180°), the guide rails 23a and 23b that guide the cam follower 25 are aligned with the drum body 1 as shown in FIG.
Since it forms an inward non-concentric trajectory la that is inclined toward the center with respect to the circumference of the cam follower 25, the C-shaped bar is 14, as shown in FIG. 9, the workpiece A is transferred while the upper surface opening 14a gradually rotates outward.

Therefore, the workpiece A is securely received within the bottom portion 15 of the bar 14 and is held and transferred without falling.

The work A transferred from the alignment zone O to the holding zone P in this way is reliably transferred to the discharge station Q side by the holding posture caused by the change in the rotation angle of the C-shaped bar 14. In front of station Q, the guide rail 23
Since a and 23b have a track lb bent outward, the C-shaped bar 14 is moved through the arm 21 by the cam follower 25 into an ejection attitude as shown in FIG. 9, and the ejection station Q is The workpiece A is completely reversed and the opening 14a of the bar 14 is placed in a downward discharge position, so that the workpiece A is transferred from the discharge station Q to the take-up conveyor 7 immediately below.
It falls to the top and is ejected.

The workpiece A discharged onto the take-up conveyor 7 is
It is transferred via the next transfer conveyor 9 to a work station such as a press, for example.

Therefore, a large number of works input from the input port 6 are sorted in the alignment zone O, and the individual works A are received into the C-shaped bar 14 and arranged in a line.In the next holding zone P, the workpieces Since the posture of A is maintained and the work A is reliably transferred to the discharge station Q without falling, and the individual works A are sequentially discharged from the station Q, the work in the next process becomes extremely easy.

Incidentally, the C-shaped bar 14 which has been inverted at the discharge station Q is now empty and its posture is returned to its original posture while moving through the return zone R and returning to the original aligned sawn O, and the above operation is performed again. This will be repeated.

As the drum body 1 rotates in this manner, the workpiece A is transferred while repeating alignment, holding, and discharge around the half circumference of the drum body 1 in sequence.

Note that the shape of the C-shaped bar 14 is by no means limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and the shape is not limited as long as it is approximately C-shaped, but it is preferable that the rear side wall 16 has a locking protrusion 17. It is good to form a

Further, in the above embodiment, the angle of the C-shaped bar 14 is changed by means of an arm 21 having a cam follower 25, but it is by no means limited to this means, and the point is to prevent the workpiece from falling. Any means may be used as long as the angle of the bar 14 is variable so as to change the posture of the bar 14 as much as possible.

Therefore, since the attitude angle of the bar 14 can be changed arbitrarily, the discharge station Q does not necessarily need to be provided at the top of the drum body 1 as in the embodiment, and the discharge location can be arbitrarily selected. be.

Furthermore, although the guide rail that the cam follower guides is configured in a groove shape with a pair of rails in the embodiment, it does not necessarily have to be a pair of rails.
A single rail may be used with a single groove, and its shape does not matter. In addition, the number of alignment auxiliary plates and bars is not limited as long as at least one auxiliary plate is provided between the bars, and the shape of the auxiliary plates is also not limited. Further, since the auxiliary plate is made of a sound absorbing material, it has a sound absorbing effect, but this is not limited to this.

(Effects) As described above, the present invention provides the following effects in the retention zone:
Since an angle variable means is provided to change the posture of the C-shaped bar for receiving and transferring the work from a predetermined position, in the receiving zone, the opening 14a of the bar 14 is oriented toward the rotation center of the drum body 1. Therefore, the workpiece can be easily received into the opening 14a, and the workpiece received into the opening 14a is lifted in an arc shape through the bar by the rotation of the drum body. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the object from falling.

Therefore, we succeeded in stably transferring the workpieces from the alignment zone through the holding zone to the discharge station without dropping them, and this is an especially remarkable effect that cannot be obtained with conventional transfer devices of this type. be.

Furthermore, compared to the case where a guide member is provided on the side of the opening 14a to prevent the workpiece from falling, there is no possibility that the workpiece will slide against the guide member when transferring the workpiece, so the workpiece may be damaged. There is no risk of doing so.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned holding effect can be applied to all types of workpieces of various shapes and dimensions, and there is no restriction on the transfer of workpieces due to their shape, and unlike conventional methods, workpieces may fall during transfer, which reduces workability for the next process. This greatly improves work efficiency.

It is also possible to prevent damage to the workpiece due to falling.

A further important effect is that the posture of the C-shaped bar can be freely controlled, making it possible to correct the angle of the bar, making it possible to more reliably prevent workpieces from falling.
Furthermore, since the position of the discharge station can be freely selected by changing the angle of the bar, the discharge location can also be arbitrarily selected in relation to the next process.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of the drum body. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the drum body and the transfer conveyor. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway schematic front view showing the inner peripheral surface of the drum body. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of essential parts of the inner peripheral surface of the drum body. FIG. 5 shows a means for varying the angle of the bar, in which A is a front view of the main part and B is a sectional view of the main part. FIG. 6 is a schematic front view showing the trajectory of the guide rail. FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic cross-sectional views of main parts showing the transfer state of the workpiece. FIG. 8 is a schematic front view of the main parts showing the traveling locus of the cam follower. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the main part showing the angle variable state of the bar. FIG. 10 is a side view of main parts showing a conventional example. 11th
The figure is a perspective view showing the types of workpieces. 1...Drum body, 10...Alignment auxiliary plate, 14
... Bar, 17 ... Locking part, 21 ... Arm, 2
4...Guide part, 25...Cam follower.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of bars 14 having a substantially C-shaped cross section for receiving and holding workpieces are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the drum body 1, and the bars 1
An auxiliary plate 10 for work alignment is provided between each of the four spaces,
By rotating the drum body 1, the workpiece is moved to the bar 1.
This is an automatic alignment and transfer device for aligning and holding the workpieces at 4 and transferring them to the discharge side, from the receiving zone O where the bar 14 receives the workpieces to the discharge station Q where the workpieces can be dropped to the discharge side. In zone P, each bar 14 whose opening 14a for receiving a workpiece is arranged in the direction of the rotation center of the drum body 1 is rotated in a direction in which the opening 14a faces upward to prevent the workpiece from falling. 1. An automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device, characterized in that it is provided with an angle variable means. 2. The automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the angle variable means comprises an arm 21 with a cam follower 25 provided on the back side of the bar 14, and a guide portion 24 that guides the cam follower 25. 3. The automatic workpiece alignment and transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the bar 14 has a locking portion 17 projecting from the rear wall 16 thereof to prevent the workpiece from falling. 4. The automatic work alignment and transfer device according to claim 2, wherein the guide portion 24 is a groove-shaped rail. 5. The workpiece according to claim 2 or 4, in which the circular trajectory from the holding zone P to the discharge station Q during the trajectory of the guide portion 24 does not coincide with the circular trajectory of the inner circumference of the drum body 1. automatic alignment transfer device.