JPH07102486B2 - Pallet positioning device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pallet positioning device used for mounting and fixing electronic components on a pallet and transporting each pallet to an automatic assembly device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when carrying out an assembling work by transferring electronic parts to an assembly machine which is an automatic machine or a press-fitting machine for parts, the electronic parts have been mounted and fixed on a pallet and carried for each pallet. In order to position the pallet with respect to the automatic machine, the pallet is stopped at a position corresponding to the automatic machine, and a positioning pin is fitted into a positioning hole of the pallet from below. This type of pallet positioning device will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a conventional pallet positioning device. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a pallet, and this pallet 1 has a structure in which an unillustrated object (hereinafter referred to as a work) to which parts are assembled by an automatic machine is placed and fixed on the upper surface thereof. In the figure, the work holding member and the like are omitted. Further, the pallet 1 is provided with a positioning hole 1a into which a positioning pin described later is fitted.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a guide which serves as a guide when the pallet 1 is conveyed. The guide 2 is extended in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 3 and is configured to support both sides of the pallet 1. . The pallet 1 placed on the guide 2 is conveyed in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 3 by a conveying means (not shown).

Reference numeral 3 denotes a positioning device for positioning the pallet 1 below an automatic machine (not shown). The positioning device 3 has a structure in which a linear actuator mechanism 4 moves the positioning portion 5 up and down. The linear motion actuator mechanism 4 is composed of a drive source 6 and a linear motion guide 7, and is supported by a base portion 8 located below the left and right guides 2, 2. The base portion 8 is formed by the left and right guides 2 and 2 and a fixed body 9 that is bridged between the guides 2 below the guides 2 and 2. The drive source 6 is fixed to the fixed body 9, and the linear guide 7 is supported so as to be vertically movable via a bearing 7a. The drive source 6 has a structure for moving the drive shaft 6a up and down. The linear guides 7 are respectively arranged on both sides of the drive source 6, and each is supported by a fixed body 9 with its axial direction oriented vertically.

The positioning portion 5 is positioned between the guides 2 and below the pallet conveying position, and is arranged parallel to the pallet 1 on the drive shaft 6a of the drive source 6 and the upper end of the linear guide 7. It is formed of a plate 10 serving as a vertically movable member that is fixed, a positioning pin 11 and a support 12 that are provided upright on the upper surface of the plate 10. The positioning pin 11 is a positioning hole 1 of the pallet 1.
It is formed with an outer diameter that fits in a. Also,
The support 12 is formed shorter than the positioning pin 11, and is formed flat so that the upper end thereof is in contact with the lower surface of the pallet 1 over the entire surface. That is, the plate 10 moves up and down as the drive source 6 operates and the drive shaft 6a moves up and down. At this time,
The plate 10 is restricted from inclining by the linear guide 7, and moves up and down while maintaining a state parallel to the pallet 1. The alternate long and two short dashes line A in FIG. 3 indicates the position of the pallet 1 when it is lowered most.

Next, the operation of the conventional pallet positioning device constructed as described above will be described. First, the pallet 1 is conveyed along the guide 2 in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 3 with the work (not shown) placed thereon, and stopped above the positioning device 3. At this time, the plate 10 of the positioning device 3 is positioned at the position indicated by the alternate long and two short dashes line A in FIG.

Next, the drive source 6 of the linear motion actuator mechanism 4 is started, and the positioning portion 5 moves up. As it rises, the positioning pin 11 is first fitted into the positioning hole 1a of the pallet 1 to determine the horizontal position of the pallet 1. When the positioning portion 5 is subsequently raised, the support portion 12 then contacts the lower surface of the pallet 1 and supports the pallet 1 from below. As a result, the pallet 1 is released upward from the guide 2 and the positioning is completed. FIG. 3 shows a state in which this positioning is completed.

After the positioning is completed in this way, an assembling operation is performed by an automatic machine assembling or press-fitting the parts onto the work on the pallet 1 from above.

[0010]

In the conventional pallet positioning device constructed as described above, the positioning pin 1 is used.
The work on the pallet 1 is fixed in the horizontal direction by inserting 1 into the positioning hole 1a of the pallet 1 from below and positioning the pallet 1 in the horizontal direction. That is, when assembling or press-fitting the parts on the pallet 1 by the automatic machine, it is necessary to highly accurately align the workpiece mounted on the pallet 1 and the part held by the automatic machine.

This position adjustment was usually performed by adjusting the assembly position on the automatic machine side, but the adjustment work required a great deal of labor. Further, there is a problem in that the assembly work by the automatic machine is interrupted if the parts dimensions vary, because the horizontal position of the work on the pallet 1 is fixed.

The above-mentioned problems are caused by the positioning pin 1
1 and the hole wall surface of the positioning hole 1a (positioning pin 1
1 and the positioning hole 1a clearance) is set large,
This can be solved if the pallet 1 can be freely moved in the horizontal direction in the positioned state, although it is slightly. However, in the positioned state, the pallet 1 is pushed up from below by the support 12,
The pallet 1 was not always free to move due to the frictional resistance generated between the support 12 and the lower surface of the pallet.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the pallet can be easily moved in the horizontal direction at the positioning position, and the assembly work of the parts by the automatic machine can be smoothly performed without interruption. The purpose is to be able to do.

[0014]

In the pallet positioning device according to the present invention, the positioning pins are individually movable up and down with respect to the lifting member, and the pallet is slidable in the horizontal direction at the upper end of the support. The lifting member is provided with a guide pin that is inserted from below into a guide hole different from the positioning hole of the pallet and has a gap with the wall surface of the hole that is wider than the gap at the fitting portion of the positioning pin. It is a thing.

[0015]

By lowering the positioning pin with respect to the pallet in the positioning state, the pallet can slide in the horizontal direction on the support body until the guide pin comes into contact with the hole wall surface of the guide hole.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a pallet positioning apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view for explaining the operation of the pallet positioning apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) shows a state before the start of positioning, The figure (b) shows the state where the guide pin is inserted into the guide hole, the figure (c) shows the positioning state, and the figure (d) shows the state where the positioning pin is lowered. In these figures, the same or equivalent members as those described in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In these figures, reference numeral 21 denotes a pallet positioning device according to the present invention.
1 is a positioning unit 2 by a direct-acting actuator mechanism 4.
2 is moved up and down to position the pallet 1 under, for example, an automatic machine (not shown). The pallet 1 used in this embodiment is provided with a guide hole 23 into which a guide pin described below is inserted, separately from a positioning hole 1a into which a positioning pin described below is inserted.

The positioning portion 22 includes a plate 24 having the same structure as the conventional structure, which is fixed to the drive shaft 6a of the linear motion actuator mechanism 4 and the upper ends of the linear motion guides 7, and a positioning pin mounted on the plate 24, which will be described later. 25, a support 26, and a guide pin 27. An upper portion of the positioning pin 25 is formed to have a larger diameter than a lower portion thereof, and the lower portion of the positioning pin 25 is placed with a sub linear motion actuator 28 serving as a positioning pin lifting device according to the present invention in a state in which an axial direction is oriented in a vertical direction. It is supported by the plate 24. Further, the positioning position of the positioning pin 25 is set on the pallet 1
Is set to a position substantially directly below the positioning hole 1a in a state of being stopped above the pallet positioning device 21. The upper portion of the positioning pin 25, which is formed to have a large diameter, has a size that can be fitted into the positioning hole 1a of the pallet 1. The upper end of this upper portion is rounded into a substantially hemispherical shape so that it can be easily fitted into the positioning hole 1a.

The sub linear motion actuator 28 has a structure for moving the positioning pin 25 forward and backward along the vertical direction, and the positioning pin 25 is inserted through the through hole 24 of the plate 24.
It is fixed to the lower surface of the plate 24 in a state of being inserted through a. That is, the positioning pin 25 is configured to be movable up and down with respect to the plate 24 by this sub linear motion actuator 28. The configuration of the sub linear motion actuator 28 will be described in more detail. The sub linear motion actuator 28 includes the positioning pin 25 from a lower position below the upper end of a support body 26, which will be described later.
It is configured to reciprocate with a reciprocating stroke to reach an upper position where the positioning pin 25 is fitted into the positioning hole 1a of the pallet 1 supported by the pallet 6. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the positioning pin 25 is located at the lower position.

The bearing 26 has a spherical roller 26 at the upper end.
a is rotatably attached, and in this embodiment, the plate 24
It is located on both the left and right sides of the. That is, when the positioning portion 22 is lifted by the linear motion actuator mechanism 4, the spherical rollers 26a of the supporting body 26 come into contact with the lower surface of the pallet 1, so that the pallet 1 is supported. The pallet 1 is slidable in the horizontal direction by the rolling of the spherical rollers 26a while being supported by the support 26.

The guide pin 27 is formed with a diameter smaller than the diameter of the guide hole 23 of the pallet 1, and is erected on the plate 24 with its axis extending vertically. The standing position of the guide pin 27 is set to a position substantially directly below the guide hole 23 when the pallet 1 is stopped above the pallet positioning device 21. The outer diameter of the guide pin 27 is such that the gap between the guide pin 23 and the hole wall surface of the guide pin 23 inserted into the guide hole 23 is larger than the gap at the fitting portion of the positioning pin 25. Is set to. In other words, the clearance between the guide pin 27 and the guide hole 23 is set larger than the clearance between the positioning pin 25 and the positioning hole 1a.

Further, the length dimension of the guide pin 27 is set so that the upper end is located above the upper end of the support 26 (the upper end of the spherical roller 26a). That is, the protruding size of the guide pin 27 with respect to the plate 24 is larger than the protruding size of the support 26. The upper end of the guide pin 27 is also rounded into a substantially hemispherical shape so that it can be easily inserted into the guide hole 23.

In the pallet positioning device 21 thus constructed, the pallet 1 is positioned as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (d). First, the work (not shown)
The pallet 1 on which the pallet is placed and fixed is conveyed along the guide 2, and as shown in FIG.
Stop above 1. In this state, the linear motion actuator mechanism 4 raises the positioning portion 22. At this time, the positioning pin 25 is fixed to the position shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Position it in the lower position shown in.

When the positioning portion 22 moves up, first, the longest guide pin 27 is inserted into the guide hole 23 of the pallet 1, and the horizontal position of the pallet 1 is determined.
When the positioning portion 22 continues to rise, the spherical rollers 26a of the support body 26 come into contact with the lower surface of the pallet 1, and the positioning roller 22 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the pallet 1 is pushed up from below by the support 26. As a result, the pallet 1 is separated upward from the guide 2 and roughly positioned.

Next, the sub linear actuator 28 is operated to raise the positioning pin 25 with respect to the plate 24. By doing so, the positioning pin 25 is fitted into the positioning hole 1a of the pallet 1 as shown in FIG. At this time, since the clearance between the positioning pin 25 and the positioning hole 1a is smaller than the clearance between the guide pin 27 and the guide hole 23, the pallet 1 is positioned at a correct position in the horizontal direction. In this way, the positioning pin 25 is fitted into the positioning hole 1a to complete the positioning.

In this state, an automatic machine performs assembling work such as assembling and press fitting of the parts on the work on the pallet 1. At this time, when the relative position between the work and the component is deviated and a horizontal force is applied to the work, the positioning pin rising state of the sub linear motion actuator 28 is released, and the positioning pin 25 is lowered. And is removed from the positioning hole 1a. This state is shown in FIG. When the positioning pin 25 is pulled out from the positioning hole 1a as described above, the horizontal positioning of the pallet 1 is performed by the guide pin 27.

That is, the guide pin 27 and the guide hole 23
The clearance between the pallet 1 and the pallet 1 is larger than the clearance at the fitting portion of the positioning pin 25.
Since the pallet 1 is supported by the spherical roller 26a of FIG. 1 and is slidable in the horizontal direction, when the horizontal force is applied to the pallet 1 as described above, the pallet 1 will not move until the guide pin 27 contacts the hole wall surface of the guide hole 23. Will move. By moving the pallet 1 along the horizontal direction from the positioning position in this way, the amount of positional deviation with respect to the parts on the automatic machine side is offset, and the parts can be assembled or pressed in smoothly.

Therefore, according to the pallet positioning device 21 described above, by lowering the positioning pin 25 with respect to the pallet 1 in the positioned state, the pallet 1 is supported until the guide pin 27 comes into contact with the hole wall surface of the guide hole 23. It becomes possible to slide horizontally on 26. Therefore, the relative displacement between the work on the pallet 1 and the parts on the automatic machine side can be offset by the movement of the pallet 1.

In this embodiment, one positioning pin 25 and one guide pin 27 are provided on the plate 24. However, even if a plurality of positioning pins 25 and guide pins 27 are provided, the same effect as this embodiment can be obtained. Further, in the present embodiment, the spherical roller 26a is used to support the pallet 1 so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this spherical roller 26a.

[0030]

As described above, in the pallet positioning device according to the present invention, the positioning pins are individually movable up and down with respect to the lifting member, and the pallet is slidable in the horizontal direction at the upper end portion of the support. A guide pin that is inserted from below into a guide hole that is different from the positioning hole of the pallet and that has a gap between the wall surface of the hole and the guide wall that is wider than the gap at the fitting portion of the positioning pin. Since it is provided, by lowering the positioning pin with respect to the pallet in the positioning state, the pallet can slide in the horizontal direction by sliding on the support until the guide pin comes into contact with the hole wall surface of the guide hole.

Therefore, when parts are assembled or press-fitted by an automatic machine onto a work on a pallet, if the relative positions of the work and the parts are deviated and an external force in the horizontal direction is applied to the pallet, the pallet becomes horizontal. The position shift is offset by moving in the direction. Therefore, the position adjustment is automatically performed, and the work by the automatic machine can be continuously performed.

That is, it is no longer necessary to align the automatic machine with the pallet with high accuracy, and the position of the automatic machine can be easily adjusted. In addition to this, there is an effect that the assembly work can be performed by an automatic machine even if the parts have variations in size.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a pallet positioning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the pallet positioning apparatus according to the present invention, where FIG. 2 (a) shows a state before the start of positioning, and FIG. 2 (b) shows a guide pin inserted into a guide hole. The state shown in FIG.
FIG. 3D shows a state in which the positioning pin is lowered.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a conventional pallet positioning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Pallet 1a Positioning Hole 4 Linear Actuator Mechanism 6 Drive Source 21 Pallet Positioning Device 22 Positioning Part 23 Guide Hole 24 Plate 25 Positioning Pin 26 Bearing 26a Spherical Roller 27 Guide Pin 28 Sub Linear Actuator

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An elevating member is provided with a positioning pin that is fitted from below into a positioning hole of a work conveying pallet on which a work is placed and fixed, and a support body that faces the lower surface of the pallet, and the elevating member is raised. In the pallet positioning device that supports the pallet in a positioned state, the positioning pin is configured to be movable up and down with respect to the elevating member by the positioning pin elevating device, and the upper end portion of the support is supported by the pallet. The structure is configured to be supported so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction, and the elevating member is inserted from below into a guide hole formed in a pallet separately from the positioning hole, and a gap between the hole wall surface and the positioning pin is fitted. A pallet positioning device characterized in that it is provided with a guide pin that is wider than the gap between the parts. 2. A plurality of spherical rollers are provided on the lifting member.
Supports the pallet so that it can slide horizontally.
The pallet positioning device according to claim 1, wherein: