JPH0617167B2 - General-purpose parts feeder - Google Patents

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the supply of parts. It is a well known fact that stable supply of parts is an essential work for automation including automatic assembly, and the success or failure of this automation affects the success or failure of automation. Further, automatic supply capable of coping with diversification of products is indispensable in all industrial fields, and the present invention relates to automatic supply as a part of automation, and is used in all industrial fields in which automation is performed.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vibrating component feeder has been mainly used for component supply. However, in order to respond to the diversification of products, it is necessary to move the aligning mechanism, and the aligning mechanism is heavy and the moving device of the aligning mechanism cannot withstand vibration. , Could not be realized. The feeder described in Japanese Patent No. 1129756 owned by the applicant (hereinafter referred to as a swivel type component feeder) is driven by two motors and does not generate vibration, so that the above-mentioned drawbacks can be overcome. . Taking advantage of this feature, a general-purpose component feeder described in Japanese Patent Application No. 132754 in 1984, which moves the aligning mechanism by means of a servomotor or the like in response to an external command, was invented. In this method, the alignment mechanism is directly moved by a servo motor etc. by an external command, so not only a motor with a large stall torque is required to accurately maintain the position of the alignment mechanism during operation, but also Although the positional deviation due to external vibration is corrected each time, it is necessary to stop the work during the correction time, resulting in malfunction. Further, if a solenoid or a cylinder is used to increase the holding force of the aligning mechanism, only two positions can be designated. These are considered to be defects caused by directly determining the position of the aligning mechanism. In addition, Japanese Patent Publication No. 131260 published in 1975
In the parts aligning and feeding device described in No. 3, it is necessary to manually adjust and fix the position of the aligning mechanism every time the supplied parts are changed, and a great amount of setup change time is required each time the supplied parts are changed. It was what I needed. The present invention relates to an improvement of a general-purpose component feeder by a swivel-type component feeder that can increase the holding force of the aligning mechanism by indirectly positioning the position of the aligning mechanism with a gauge.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention A swivel type component feeder has a plan view of FIG. 1 and A- of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2 showing the A cross section, the disk 1 is fixed to the rotating shaft 2 at the center, and the rotating shaft 2 is attached to the base 8 through a bearing (not shown). A bowl 4 having a hemispherical drop-off prevention wall around the disk 1 is fixed to a swivel shaft 5, and the swivel shaft 5 is attached to a base 8 by a member (not shown). An annular track 3 is integrally formed with the bowl 4 at the upper end of the bowl 4, and the inner edge of the track 3 is in contact with the outer edge of the disc 1 at the part of triangle. The outer edge of the disc 1 is manufactured so that the disc 1 can be slidably rotated with the falling prevention wall of the bowl 4 over the entire circumference, and the disc 1 is rotated by the rotating shaft 2. The bowl 4 is swung by the swivel shaft 5. On the outer side of the track 3, a cylindrical outer wall 7 is provided fixed to a base 8. The aligning wall 6 is fixed to the outer wall 7 by a member (not shown) immediately above the track 3. In the swivel type component feeder configured as described above, the components to be supplied are put on the disk 1 and stored. The components to be supplied on the disc 1 are pushed out to the outer edge by the rotation of the disc 1 and are transferred to the track 3 at the site of. The supplied components transferred to the truck 3 move together with the truck 3 and are regulated by the aligning wall 6 so that the postures of the supplied components are selected. Only the supplied components in the desired posture reach the outlet 9. It is discharged outside. In order to align the components to be supplied, a wiper 10 for alignment according to the height of the components to be supplied, a lateral alignment unit 15 for adjusting a track width for sorting according to the position of the center of gravity of the components to be supplied,
A means 12 for detecting a singular point of the shape or color of the supplied parts by a sensor and sorting the parts is attached to the alignment wall or the outer wall. It is necessary to install these aligning means at positions suitable for the parts to be supplied and firmly fix them. Normally, the aligning means is fixed by screws or the like, but in order to cope with the diversification of the supplied components, the aligning means must be moved to a position corresponding to the supplied components each time. For example, when the height of the supplied component changes, it is necessary to change the height of the wiper 10 from the track 3, and the wiper, which is one of the aligning means, must be moved up and down. Further, when the width of the supplied components changes, it is necessary to move the lateral aligning portion 15 to change the traveling width of the supplied components of the track 3. Therefore, the lateral aligning portion is moved in the track width direction. Will be required. Further, in the alignment based on the posture determination including the sensor that detects the singular point of the work set on the sensor mount 12 and the work arrival sensor 14, the position of the work arrival sensor and the position of the rejecter that eliminates the work of an incorrect posture. Is constant, the position of the sensor mount on which the sensor for detecting the singular point of the workpiece is mounted must be moved according to the position of the singular point of the workpiece. A small power is used to determine the target position for the movement of these aligning means, and a mechanism for moving the aligning means after the target position is determined and firmly fixing it is required. Since it is the user of the automatic supply device and not the manufacturer who moves and fixes the aligning means to the position corresponding to the supplied parts, it takes a lot of time and adjustment work when changing the supplied parts. Things must be avoided.
Therefore, if the gauge is sandwiched, the setup time can be shortened even if it is done manually. Further, since the stop position is determined by a signal from the outside to move, a high precision can be mechanically obtained by using a gauge. Since the frequency of movement of the aligning means is low, it must be manufactured as inexpensively as possible. Therefore, it is expensive to drive the servo motor or the pulse motor with the control device from the current price of the component feeder. There is.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to move the aligning means to a predetermined position, it is necessary to sandwich a gauge manufactured in advance according to the components to be supplied,
This is a method that can be easily realized with high precision and at a low price. Remote control is possible by automatically changing the gauge according to the supplied parts. After being positioned by the gauge, if it is firmly fixed with a pneumatic cylinder or the like, the position does not change even if the supplied components collide. The replacement of gauges is realized by using a known sequence control device.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are principle explanatory views of a mechanical portion for moving the aligning means of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view seen from the side of the mechanism portion, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view seen from above. The substrate 2 is fixed to the aligning wall 6 or the outer wall 7 by a member (not shown), and a reference member 21 and a cylinder 22 of both shafts through which a cylinder rod penetrates are attached to the substrate 20. The reference member 21 is an L-shaped member and faces a push plate 23 attached to one end of a cylinder rod 24 of the cylinder 22.
At the other end of the cylinder rod 24, a wiper 10, a part of an alignment wall used for horizontal alignment, a mount for mounting a sensor used for vertical alignment, and the like are fixed. The gauge moving cylinder 28 is provided on the substrate 20 by a member (not shown).
Alternatively, it is fixed to the reference member 21. A gauge 26 adapted to a supplied component is attached to the tip of a moving shaft 27 of the gauge moving cylinder 28. The reference member 21 and the cylinder 22 are selected so that the gauge 26 can be freely inserted between the reference member 21 and the push plate 23 when the reference member 21 and the cylinder 22 are lowered and opened.

FIG. 4 is an example which can deal with four types of supplied components. The gauge moving cylinders 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d are attached to the substrate 20 by members not shown, and the tip ends of the moving shafts 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d of the gauge moving cylinders have gauges 26a, 26 corresponding to the respective components to be supplied.
b, 26c, 26d are attached.

The cylinder 22 is pneumatically operated and the diameter of the cylinder is selected so as to press the gauge sufficiently strongly. The use of hydraulically actuated cylinders to increase the force with which the gauge is pressed does not change the spirit of the invention. Since the gauge moving cylinder 28 that moves the gauge only needs to move the gauge, a thrust force may be small, and thus a solenoid may be used.

The above-described moving mechanism of the aligning mechanism is installed by the number required for aligning.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which the rod of the cylinder is projected only on one side, and the push plate 33 also functions as a mount.

Operation The operation will be described with reference to the drawings. The product to be manufactured determines the supplied parts as parts of the product.
When the parts to be supplied are set, the solenoid valve connected to the cylinder 22 is activated by a control circuit (not shown) to operate the cylinder 2
The solenoid valve connected to the gauge moving cylinders 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d is selected and driven by pushing down 2 to maximize the distance between the reference member 21 and the push plate. For example, A
When the gauge moving cylinder 28a is selected for the supplied component, the solenoid valve connected to the gauge moving cylinder 28a operates and the gauge cylinder 28a moves to the gauge 26a.
To move the gauge 2 between the reference member 21 and the push plate 23.
Insert 8a. After that, the cylinder 22 is biased to raise the push plate 23, and the gauge 28a is sandwiched between the gauge 28a and the reference member 21, and the extension of the cylinder rod 24 of the cylinder 22 is restricted. Since the mounting base 25 for mounting the sensor and the aligning mechanism is provided at the other end of the cylinder rod 23, the sensor and the aligning mechanism are installed at the positions corresponding to the supplied parts A. When the supply of the supplied component A is completed, the urging of the cylinder 22 is released, the push plate 23 is lowered, the gauge 28a is released, and the cylinder 28a is used to move the gauge 26
By replacing a, the gauges corresponding to the next components to be supplied B, C, etc. are selected and the operation is repeated from the beginning.

Since the gauge is sandwiched between the reference member 21 and the push plate 23 more firmly than the cylinder 22, it does not move or fall off during the operation of the component feeder. In addition, the gauge is the reference member 2
When the cylinder 22 is firmly sandwiched between 1 and the push plate 23, the supply of air to the gauge moving cylinder 28 may be stopped.

The wiper and the center of gravity position sorting mechanism, the sensor for determining the posture, and the eliminator for eliminating the components to be fed in an incorrect posture are attached to the mount of the moving mechanism of the aligning mechanism. Is pulled up when the height is high, a part of the aligning wall is retracted for a wide width of the drawing and supplying parts, and the width of the passage through which the drawing and supplying parts on the track 3 can pass is widened. The attitude sorting sensor is moved to the position of the singularity that is characteristic of the pulling and feeding component. An example of using the sensor will be described. The work arrival sensor 14 that detects that the supplied component has reached the fixed position is fixed to the aligning wall 6 and detects that the head of the supplied component has reached the fixed position regardless of the size of the material of the supplied portion. To do. Next, a sensor that detects the state of the supplied component at a position that identifies the posture of the supplied component (this is called a singular point), such as a hole, a protrusion, or a color difference, is used. It is attached to the mount 25 of the moving mechanism of the present invention. Therefore, the position of the singular point changes when the size of the supplied component changes or the shape changes, so the sensor can be accurately moved to the required position by the moving mechanism of the present invention. There may be a case where a not-shown remover for the supplied components is attached to the mount 25 to reliably and efficiently remove the supplied components in an incorrect posture.

The gauge moving cylinder 28 is operated by a solenoid valve (not shown). The solenoid valve is a gauge moving cylinder 28a, 28b, 2
The solenoid valve a, the solenoid valve b, the solenoid valve c, and the solenoid valve d are installed corresponding to 8c and 28d, so that the gauge can be selected by operating the solenoid valve from a remote position.
If the solenoid valve is connected to a programmable controller such as a sequencer, gauges can be automatically selected and automatically supplied in the manufacturing order of products.

Embodiment FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show an embodiment in which a gauge is mounted on a moving plate. In the above embodiment, not only one gauge moving cylinder is required for each gauge, but also the number of gauge moving cylinders increases as the number of types of parts to be supplied increases, and the space occupied by the present invention increases. As a result, it becomes difficult to mount it on the component feeder. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the gauge is attached to the movable table, and the movable table is moved by a known means such as a motor or a cylinder so that the occupying portion required for replacing the gauge is reduced. It becomes easy to control the operation part for changing the gauge.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the present invention viewed from the side, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of FIG. 6 viewed from above. Substrate 4 mounted on the outer wall 7 or the alignment wall 6 of the component feeder via a member not shown.
The cylinder 42 and the reference member 40 are fixed to 1. A push plate 43 is attached to the tip of a cylinder rod 44 of the cylinder 42. A moving base 47, which is rotated by the moving shaft 48, is attached to the moving shaft 48 of a moving device 49 such as a motor mounted on the substrate 41 by a member (not shown). Columnar gauges 46a, 46b, 46c, 46d, etc., each having a length corresponding to the component to be supplied, are mounted on the movable table 47 in a concentric circle centered on the movable shaft 48. The gauge is mounted on the moving table 47 so as to be sandwiched with the moving table 47 between the push plate and the reference member. The gauge is a pillar having a height corresponding to the supply target component, and is detachably attached to the moving table 47. The gauge is manufactured in advance and mounted on the moving table 47 corresponding to the supplied parts determined according to the type of product. First, the cylinder 42 descends, and the space between the reference member 40 and the push plate 43 is wide open. When the parts to be supplied are determined, the gauge is selected by an external command.
For example, when the gauge 46b is selected for the component B to be supplied, the mover 49 operates according to the command, and the moving shaft 48 moves.
Is rotated and the required gauge 46b is inserted between the reference member 40 and the push plate 43. Next, the cylinder 42 is urged and moved upward, the gauge 46b is sandwiched between the push plate 43 and the reference member 40, and the mounting base 45 connected to the push plate 43 is moved to a desired position. At this time, the gauge 46b is pressed against the reference member by the pressing of the push plate at the tip of the cylinder 42, but the force of the cylinder 42 is also applied to the moving base 47, and the moving shaft 47 is moved between the moving shaft 48 and the moving base 47 in the longitudinal direction of the moving shaft. Since force may be applied, the movable table 47 and the movable shaft 48 are slidable in the axial direction. When the supply of the supplied component B is completed, the cylinder 42 descends and opens the gauge 46c, so that the gauge 46c for the next supplied component C is selected,
The gauge 46c is moved between the push plate 43 and the reference member 40 by rotating the moving base 47 and the moving shaft 48.
Is rotated and the above operation is repeated. Moving table 4
The origin is displayed on 7, and a reflector, a concave and a convex, etc. indicating the position of rotation are installed and detected by a sensor. For the rotation of the moving shaft 48, an indexing mechanism (index mechanism), a pulse motor, a servo motor, or the like is used for the mover 49 in order to stop the move base 47 by rotating it to a predetermined position. A control device adapted to the motor is used. For example, if an indexing mechanism is used, a sensor that generates one pulse each time indexing is performed can be attached, and the number of pulses from the origin can be counted to select a gauge. Further, even when the pulse motor is used, the purpose can be achieved by controlling the pulse motor according to the number of pulses from the origin. When using a servomotor, an encoder can be attached to the moving shaft 48 to detect the rotated position and select a gauge. When these controls are performed by a sequence controller or a programmable controller, remote control or automatic gauge selection can be easily performed if the controller generates outputs in the order of the supplied components required.

By attaching a aligner such as a wiper, a posture determination sensor, and a rejected component remover for an incorrect posture to the mounting base 45,
When the supply target component is changed, the aligning means of the feeder can be easily moved by simple control.

In the present invention, the moving position is determined by the gauge. Therefore, when the supplied components collide with the aligning means and an external force acts on the aligning means, the cylinder sandwiched by the gauge is urged sufficiently strongly to perform positioning. Since the external force does not act directly on the control device, the moving shaft, and the moving device, the position of the aligning means is not moved by the external force. Therefore, the positioning mechanism can be reduced in weight and size, and the present invention can be applied to a vibration type component feeder.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a parts feeder can be generalized, and an automatic feeder having versatility in assembling and processing a wide variety of products can be provided. Therefore, it greatly contributes to the automation of processes such as automatic assembly, automatic processing, and automatic packaging of the products that have been widely used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1: Explanatory view of a swivel type component feeder having an aligning mechanism as seen from above. 1: Disc, 2: Rotation axis, 3: Track, 4: Bowl, 5: Axis of rotation, 6: Alignment wall, 7: Outer wall, 8: Base, 9: Take-out port, 10: Wiper, 11: Wiper drive Part, 12: sensor mounting base, 13: sensor mounting base drive part, 14: work arrival sensor, 15: lateral direction alignment part, 16: lateral direction drive part FIG. 2: swivel type parts supply excluding the alignment mechanism Machine A-A
Sectional view 1: Disc, 2: Rotational axis, 3: Track, 4: Bowl, 5: Swivel axis, 6: Alignment wall, 7: The wall, 8: Base, Fig. 3: Side view of moving mechanism 20: Substrate, 21: Reference member, 22: Cylinder 23: Push plate, 24: Cylinder rod, 25: Mounting base, 26: Gauge, 27: Moving shaft, 28: Gauge moving cylinder Fig. 4 Moving mechanism Explanatory diagram seen from above 21: Reference member, 26a: Work A gauge, 26b: Work B gauge, 26c: Work C gauge, 26d: Work D gauge, 27a: Moving axis of gauge 26a, 27b: Gauge 26b moving axis, 27c: moving axis of gauge 26c, 27d: moving axis of gauge 26d, 28a: moving cylinder of gauge 26a, 28b: moving cylinder of gauge 26b, 28c: moving cylinder of gauge 26c 28d: gauge 26d moving cylinder of. Fig. 5 Moving mechanism by cylinder having axis on one side, 30: base, 31: reference member, 32: cylinder 33: push plate, 34: cylinder rod, 36: gauge, 37: moving shaft, 38: gage Moving Cylinder FIG. 6: Explanatory drawing of side view of moving mechanism having rotating moving base 40: Reference member, 41: Substrate, 42: Cylinder 43: Push plate, 44: Cylinder rod, 45: Mounting base, 46: Gauge, 47: moving table, 48: moving axis, 49: moving device Fig. 7: explanatory view of moving mechanism having rotating moving table as seen from above 40: reference member, 41: substrate, 46a: supplied component A Gauge, 46b: gauge of supplied component B, 46c: gauge of supplied component C, 47: moving table, 48: moving axis, 49: mover

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a turning type component feeder, an aligning means installed above a track for aligning the components to be supplied, a push plate to which the aligning means is connected, and the push plate are driven. A driver fixed to the outside of the component supply machine, a reference member installed facing the push plate and fixed to the outside of the component supply machine, and a supplied component inserted between the push plate and the reference member. It is composed of one or more gauges corresponding to the above, and a moving table equipped with a gauge fixed to the reference member for allowing the gauge to move in and out between the push plate and the reference member. A general purpose characterized by having a gauge and a moving table for moving and aligning the aligning means to a position corresponding to the supplied component by moving and pressing the gauge between the push plate and the reference member by the moving table. Parts feeder. 2. The operating device for driving the moving table according to claim 1, wherein the operating device is connected to a control device capable of remote control,
Select the gauge that corresponds to the parts to be supplied, insert the gauge automatically between the push plate and the reference member with the mover, press the gauge against the reference member with the push plate, and adjust the alignment means. A general-purpose parts feeder that automatically positions the parts to be supplied.