CN216802405U

CN216802405U - Screw locking device and screw locking system comprising same

Info

Publication number: CN216802405U
Application number: CN202123071090.8U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈家城; 林育正
Original assignee: Wistron Corp
Current assignee: Wistron Corp
Priority date: 2021-12-08
Filing date: 2021-12-08
Publication date: 2022-06-24
Anticipated expiration: 2031-12-08
Also published as: TWM628513U

Abstract

A screw locking device and a screw locking system comprising the same are provided. The screw locking and attaching equipment is suitable for picking up a plurality of screws and comprises a mounting seat, a bearing plate, a plurality of locking and attaching mechanisms and a driving rod piece; the bearing disc is rotatably arranged on the mounting seat so as to rotate around the axis relative to the mounting seat; the locking mechanism can be removably arranged on the bearing disc in a penetrating way and arranged around the axis at intervals; the tail end of the locking mechanism is suitable for adsorbing a screw; driving the rod to perform a spinning motion; the bearing plate drives the locking mechanism to rotate around the axis, so that one of the locking mechanism is aligned with the driving rod. The screw locking and attaching equipment has universality for different types of screws, so that the screw locking and attaching equipment has wider and elastic application; the screw locking and attaching equipment can pick up a certain amount of screws of the same type or different types at one time, does not involve any operations such as disassembly, assembly, replacement or change on a mechanism when switching different applications or using different screws, and is beneficial to improving the overall working efficiency, thereby meeting the requirement of improving the productivity.

Description

Screw locking device and screw locking system comprising same

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to locking devices, and particularly to a screw locking device and a screw locking system including the same.

Background

During the mechanism assembly process, operations involving screw locking are required. In order to meet the demand of mass production, the related manufacturers have started to adopt automated screw locking devices. However, the existing automatic screw locking equipment has various disadvantages.

For example, in the prior art, a pneumatic screw feeding method is adopted, in which a required screw is pushed to a screwdriver (or a screwdriver bit) of an electric screwdriver (or a screwdriver) by an air flow through an air tube, and the electric screwdriver drives the screwdriver to push and tighten the screw into a locking hole of a product. However, such a method is only suitable for screws with a specific shape, otherwise the screws are easy to turn over and get stuck when being conveyed in the trachea. In addition, when different screws are used, the corresponding air pipes and the related connecting mechanisms must be replaced, but the complex operations of disassembling and assembling pipelines are involved, and the improvement of the productivity is not facilitated.

There is also a vacuum screw suction method, in which a screwdriver is placed in a vacuum socket and a negative pressure is generated at the end of the screwdriver to pick up the required screw. However, in order to maintain the vacuum degree of the vacuum sleeve, the screw head is usually only suitable for picking up the screw with a relatively flat head, otherwise, a gap is easily generated between the screw and the vacuum sleeve, and air leakage occurs, thereby causing a problem of insufficient adsorption force. Therefore, the method is only suitable for the screw with a specific shape. Moreover, the vacuum sleeve can only pick up one screw at a time, so that the screw needs to be picked up again after each screw is locked, and the requirement of high efficiency is difficult to meet. In addition, in order to provide vacuum attraction force, the vacuum sleeve is also required to be normally connected with a negative pressure pipeline, but the existence of the pipeline greatly limits the moving freedom degree of the whole device.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the conventional screw locking device is still to be improved in terms of versatility and improved productivity of the screw.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a screw locking apparatus and a screw locking system including the same to solve the above problems.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a screw locking device and a screw locking system including the same, so as to achieve the purpose of using various screw configurations and effectively increasing the productivity while solving the above problems.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a screw locking device is adapted to pick up a plurality of screws and includes a mounting base, a carrying plate, a plurality of locking mechanisms, and a driving rod. The bearing disc is rotatably arranged on the mounting seat and rotates around an axis relative to the mounting seat. The locking mechanism is removably disposed through the carrier tray and spaced about the axis. The tail end of the locking mechanism is suitable for adsorbing a screw. The driving rod performs a spinning motion. The bearing plate drives the locking mechanism to rotate around the axis, so that one of the locking mechanisms is aligned with the driving rod.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a screw locking system includes a robot and a screw locking device. The screw locking and attaching device comprises a mounting seat, a bearing plate, a plurality of locking and attaching mechanisms and a driving rod piece. The mounting seat is connected to the mechanical arm. The bearing disc is rotatably arranged on the mounting seat and rotates around an axis relative to the mounting seat. The locking mechanism is removably disposed through the carrier plate and spaced about the axis. The tail end of the locking mechanism is suitable for adsorbing a screw. The driving rod performs a spinning motion. The bearing plate drives the locking mechanism to rotate around the axis, so that one of the locking mechanisms is aligned with the driving rod.

According to the screw locking device and the screw locking system disclosed by the embodiment of the utility model, as the bearing plate is provided with the plurality of locking mechanisms capable of adsorbing screws, the screw locking device can pick up a certain number of screws of the same type or different types at one time, the times of picking up the screws under the same workload can be reduced, the whole working efficiency can be improved, and the requirement of improving the productivity can be met.

And the locking mechanism can perform the next screw locking operation in a mode that the locking mechanism is driven by the bearing disc to rotate around the axis to align with the driving rod, so that the screw locking equipment does not involve any operations such as dismounting, replacing or changing on the mechanism when switching different applications or using different screws, can be continuously performed, and is beneficial to greatly shortening the switching preparation time between different applications or work items.

Therefore, the screw locking device and the screw locking system disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention are at least suitable for applications where a single product needs to be locked with a plurality of different screws, and/or suitable for applications where a plurality of different products need to be locked with different screws, and have wide and flexible applications.

The foregoing summary of the disclosure and the following detailed description of the embodiments are provided to illustrate and explain the principles and spirit of the utility model and to provide further explanation of the utility model as claimed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a screw locking system according to an embodiment of the utility model.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a screw locking device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of a screw attaching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged side view schematically illustrating a screw attaching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of a locking mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6A-6B are schematic views illustrating the operation of the screw lock attached to the feeding table for taking out the screw according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a screw lock with a screw attached according to an embodiment of the utility model.

Fig. 8A-8B are schematic views illustrating an operation of the screw attaching apparatus for attaching a screw to an object to be locked according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the main component symbols:

1 screw locking device

2 screw locking system

6 machine vision device

7 push down device

8 feeding table

11 mounting seat

12 first driving device

13 bearing plate

14 locking mechanism

15 second drive device

16 drive rod

17 drive element

19 slide rail

20 sliding block

21 sliding seat

22 third drive device

23 elastic member

24 column

25 pushed block

26 oil pressure buffer

27 set screw

81 feeding disc

91-93 screw

110 bottom plate

111 arm connecting part

112 fixed frame

113 telescopic extension support

115 induction sheet

121 drive shaft

130 through hole

131 assembling part

132 drive part

141 screwdriver

143 magnet

221 drive shaft

AX axis

B1-B2 bearing

C conveyer belt

H-shaped lock hole

RA mechanical arm

S1 first sensor

S2 second sensor

W object to be locked

Detailed Description

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail below in the detailed description, which is sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art to understand the technical content of the present invention and to carry out the utility model, but is only exemplary and not limiting the scope of the present invention in any way.

It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. Furthermore, the terms "set," "configured," "connected," "assembled," "mounted," and the like, and variations thereof, may be used hereinafter, but unless otherwise expressly specified, they are intended to include both directly and indirectly "set," "configured," "connected," "assembled," "mounted," and the like. Terms such as "substantially", "about" and "substantially" may be used herein to describe those things that are slight but still within manufacturing tolerances to the target value with the same result. In addition, the following may also use "at least one" to describe a number of an element so referred to, but unless otherwise expressly stated it should not be limited to only the number "only one". The term "and/or" may also be used hereinafter and should be understood to include any and all combinations of one or more of the listed items.

Some and other embodiments of the utility model will be described in the following paragraphs with reference to fig. 1-8B. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various details described herein and below with respect to the drawings/figures are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the utility model. It should be noted that, for the sake of clarity, some conventional structures and elements may be schematically shown in the drawings, and some features in the drawings may be slightly enlarged or changed in scale or size to facilitate understanding and viewing of the technical features of the present invention, but this is not intended to limit the present invention. And some of the structure lines in some of the figures may be shown in phantom for ease of viewing.

Referring now to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the present invention provides a screw locking system 2 that can be used to automatically pick up and lock screws to desired products, and can be deployed on any station of an assembly line as desired. As shown, the screw locking system 2 of the present embodiment may include a screw locking apparatus 1, a machine vision device 6, a pressing device 7 and a feeding table 8, which may be disposed adjacent to the same side or different sides of a conveyor C of the production line, so as to cooperatively perform related operations of picking up screws and locking the screws to the object W to be locked on the conveyor C. The object to be locked W may be, but not limited to, a part or all of any product having one or more locking holes H to which screws are required to be attached, but the present invention is not limited to the object to be locked W, and therefore, the object to be locked W is only represented by a simple block in the drawings.

Generally, the screw locking apparatus 1 can be mounted on a robot arm RA to be moved to the feeding table 8 or above each locking hole H of the object W to be locked by the robot arm RA. The robot arm RA may be, but is not limited to, an automatic control device having a function of imitating a human arm to perform various tasks, but the present invention is not limited to the illustrated robot arm RA, and it is understood that any suitable robot arm capable of performing a desired planar and/or three-dimensional spatial movement of the screw locking device 1 is suitable for the robot arm RA of the present invention.

The machine vision device 6 may be, but not limited to, connected to or disposed on the screw locking device 1, may include, but not limited to, a suitable light source, a charge-coupled device (CCD) (neither of which is labeled), and other related components for implementing a machine vision function, and may be used to sense, position, determine, or detect states of the object to be locked W and/or the screw locking, so as to achieve effects of helping the operation control of the screw locking device 1 and ensuring the screw locking quality. It should be noted that the machine vision device 6 may be an optional device, and the utility model is not limited to the machine vision device 6 and its design.

The pressing device 7 may be, but not limited to, connected to or disposed on the screw locking apparatus 1, and may include, but is not limited to, any suitable retractable mechanism and an air cylinder (neither labeled) adapted to drive the retractable mechanism, and may extend and press the object W to be locked when the screw locking apparatus 1 moves above the object W to be locked, so as to fix the position of the object W to be locked during the process of locking the screw to the object W by the screw locking apparatus 1. It should be noted that the pressing device 7 may be an optional device, and the utility model is not limited to the pressing device 7 and the design thereof.

The feed table 8 may be, but is not limited to, be disposed at a suitable position accessible to the screw-attaching device 1, and may include one or more feed trays 81 and associated components such as a magazine (not numbered) adapted to supply one or more screws to the feed trays 81. As shown, feed tray 81 may be prepared with one or more screws of the same or different types, such as

screws

91, 92, and 93. The screws 91-93 may refer to screws with different configurations, contours or dimensions of the head (head) and/or the screw (thread), but the utility model is not limited thereto. It should be noted that the number of the feeding plates 81 and the arrangement and number of the screws that can be prepared thereon can be adjusted according to actual requirements, and the utility model is not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, the screw locking device 1 will be further described with reference to fig. 2 to 5. To keep the drawing simple, the robot RA, the machine vision device 6, the pressing device 7, the supply table 8 and the object W to be locked may not be shown in the drawings. Additionally, for ease of illustration, the figures may be described with screws 91 picked up.

In this embodiment, the screw locking apparatus 1 may include a mounting base 11, a first driving device 12, a carrier tray 13, at least one locking mechanism 14, a second driving device 15, a driving rod 16, and a transmission member 17. The mounting seat 11 can be used for connecting the robot arm RA and for assembling the front row of components. Specifically, the mounting base 11 may include a base plate 110, an arm connecting portion 111 and a fixing frame 112. The arm connecting portion 111 and the fixing frame 112 can be detachably assembled and fixed on the base plate 110 in any suitable manner. The arm connecting portion 111 may be used to detachably connect to the robot arm RA. The fixing frame 112 may be, but not limited to, an assembly of multiple pieces or an integrally formed single structure, and substantially surrounds a receiving space (not numbered) for receiving the first driving device 12. The first driving device 12 can be, but is not limited to, any suitable motor that can operate smoothly and at a constant speed, such as a servo motor (servo motor), and has the effect of precisely controlling the speed and position of the driven animal. The first driving device 12 may have a transmission shaft 121, and the aforementioned transmission member 17 may be fixed to the transmission shaft 121 in any suitable manner to output the power of the first driving device 12. The transmission member 17 may be, but is not limited to, a gear.

The bearing tray 13 is rotatably disposed on the bottom plate 110 of the mounting base 11 and engaged with the transmission member 17. As shown in the figure, the first driving device 12 can drive the carrier tray 13 through the transmission member 17 to drive the carrier tray 13 to rotate relative to the mounting base 11 along an axis AX. Specifically, the carrier plate 13 may include an assembling portion 131 and a transmission portion 132, and the transmission portion 132 may be, but is not limited to, a disc-shaped structure that can be assembled and fixed to the bottom plate 110 of the mounting base 11 in any suitable manner. The assembling portion 131 may be fixed on the transmission portion 132 in any suitable manner to move with the transmission portion 132, and the assembling portion 131 may be, but is not limited to, a gear adapted to mesh with the transmission member 17. As shown, the assembling portion 131 may be a thin gear, for example. Thus, the first driving device 12 can drive the carrier tray 13 by engaging the transmission member 17 with the assembling portion 131. It will be appreciated that the drive member 17 and carrier plate 13 are in geared engagement to facilitate efficient, highly accurate positioning and high stability of the drive.

Moreover, the position where the transmission member 17 is engaged or engaged with the carrier tray 13 is substantially located in the fixing frame 112, or between the fixing frame 112 and the bottom plate 110, so that accidental contact by a human hand can be avoided. However, it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the engagement manner shown by the transmission member 17 and the carrier tray 13; for example, in other embodiments, the transmission member and the carrier plate may be linked by a transmission belt instead. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated carrier tray 13; for example, in other embodiments, the carrier plate may be an integrally formed one-piece gear.

In addition, in order to stabilize the movement of the carrier plate 13, the screw locking apparatus 1 may further include a bearing B1. Bearing B1 may be, but is not limited to, any suitable bearing, such as a low profile cross ball bearing. The transmission part 132 of the carrier tray 13 is rotatably inserted through the bearing B1 to realize a stable and highly accurate rotational movement restricted by the bearing B1.

In addition, the carrier plate 13 may have a plurality of through holes 130 disposed at intervals around the axis AX and penetrating through the assembling portion 131 and the transmission portion 132, and may be used for removably inserting the locking mechanism 14. In this configuration, the carrier 13 can rotate the locking mechanism 14 about the axis AX by the driving of the transmission member 17. It should be noted that the number of the through holes 130 and the locking mechanism 14 can be adjusted according to actual requirements, and the utility model is not limited thereto.

The locking mechanism 14 described herein may be, but is not limited to, any suitable mechanism suitable for picking or sucking screws. For example, as shown in fig. 5, the locking mechanism 14 may contain a screwdriver (screwdriver bit)141 and a magnet 143 (a screw 91 as shown in the figure) through which the end of the screwdriver 141 passes and which is adapted to magnetically attract the screw. Thus, when the end of the locking mechanism 14 is pushed and rotated by the driving rod 16, the screwdriver 141 is driven to push and rotate the screw 91 attracted by the magnet 143.

The second driving device 15 may be, but is not limited to, any suitable electric screwdriver (also called "screwdriver") which is a power tool for performing related actions of tightening and loosening screws, bolts or screws. The second drive means 15 are movably arranged in a direction substantially parallel to said axis AX on a fixed frame 112 of the mounting 11. Specifically, the screw locking device 1 may further include a slide rail 19, at least one slide block 20 and a slide seat 21, the slide rail 19 may be assembled and fixed on one side of the fixing frame 112 in any suitable manner, the slide block 20 may be slidably disposed on the slide rail 19 to be guided by the slide rail 19 to slide along a direction substantially parallel to the axis AX, the slide seat 21 may be assembled and fixed on the slide block 20 in any suitable manner to slide along the direction substantially parallel to the axis AX, and the second driving device 15 may be assembled and fixed on the slide seat 21 in any suitable manner to be relatively close to or far away from the locking mechanism 14 on the carrier tray 13 along the direction substantially parallel to the axis AX with the slide seat 21. The number of sliders 20 may be, but is not limited to, a plurality, which helps to provide the precision and rigidity required for sliding the slide seat 21.

One end of the drive rod 16 may be, but is not limited to, assembled with a chuck (chuck) (not numbered) fixed to the end of the second drive device 15 in any suitable manner so as to be relatively close to or away from the locking mechanism 14 on the carrier tray 13 along a direction substantially parallel to the axis AX together with the second drive device 15, and so as to be rotated by the second drive device 15. Thereby, the driving rod 16 can be inserted into one end of one of the corresponding locking mechanisms 14 and rotated, so as to push and rotate the screw picked up by the locking mechanism 14 through the locking mechanism 14.

Further, the screw locking device 1 may further include a third driving device 22, at least one column 24, a pushed block 25 and at least one elastic element 23. The third driving means 22 may be, but is not limited to, any suitable air cylinder (cylinder) that can reciprocate the driven object. The third driving device 22 may be assembled and fixed to the fixed frame 112 in any suitable manner, and may have a driving shaft 221 that reciprocates in a direction substantially parallel to the axis AX. The column 24 may be a cylindrical structure fixed to the slide seat 21 and extending in a direction substantially parallel to the axis AX. The pushed block 25 is sleeved on one end of the column 24 relatively far away from the sliding seat 21. The elastic member 23 may be, but is not limited to, any suitable compression spring, and may be sleeved on the column 24 and clamped between the pushed block 25 and the sliding seat 21. The end of the driving shaft 221 of the third driving device 22 can be connected and fixed to the pushed block 25 in any suitable manner, so as to drive the pushed block 25 to reciprocate the sliding seat 21, the second driving device 15 and the driving rod 16 connected to the second driving device 15 in a direction substantially parallel to the axis AX.

It should be noted that, since the elastic element 23 is interposed between the pushed block 25 and the sliding seat 21, the elastic element 23 can buffer, absorb or weaken the pushing force transmitted by the third driving device 22 to the sliding seat 21 and the second driving device 15 thereon via the pushed block 25 to a certain extent, so that the driving rod 16 drives the locking mechanism 14 with a proper force, thereby ensuring that the force of the locking mechanism 14 pushing and turning the screw does not damage the object to be locked.

Besides, the screw locking device 1 may further include a hydraulic buffer 26 and a positioning screw 27, and the hydraulic buffer 26 and the positioning screw 27 may be disposed at one end of the slide rail 19 in any suitable manner, so as to correspond to the sliding seat 21 and be located between the sliding seat 21 and the carrier plate 13. The set screw 27 may be slightly lower in height than the hydraulic buffer 26. Therefore, when the sliding seat 21 is driven by the third driving device 22 to move toward the carrying tray 13, the hydraulic buffer 26 can contact the sliding seat 21 first, so as to buffer, absorb or weaken the kinetic energy of the sliding seat 21, which is also helpful for achieving the effect of driving the locking mechanism 14 by the driving rod 16 with a proper force, thereby helping to avoid the problem that the object to be locked is damaged due to an excessive screw locking force. Subsequently, the set screw 27 can abut against the sliding seat 21 to stop the sliding seat 21 at the current position to prevent the driving rod 16 from excessively pressing down the locking mechanism 14, so as to prevent the locking mechanism 14 from excessively pressing the screw against the object to be locked. In other words, by adjusting the position or length of the set screw 27, the downward displacement of the sliding seat 21 can be limited, thereby limiting the amount of movement of the driving rod 16 to push the screw through the locking mechanism 14.

Of course, if the driving force of the third driving device 22 is appropriate and there is no buffering requirement, the screw locking device 1 may omit the related configuration for buffering the third driving device 22, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, optionally, the screw locking device 1 may further include a bearing B2, and the bearing B2 may be disposed on the sliding seat 21 and through which the driving rod 16 passes, so as to further ensure the stability and accuracy of the driving rod 16 moving along the direction substantially parallel to the axis AX and rotating around the axis AX, thereby helping to improve the stability and accuracy of the operation of the driving rod 16 locking the screw via the locking mechanism 14.

Alternatively, the screw locking device 1 may further include a first sensor S1, and the mounting base 11 may further include a telescopic extension bracket 113, as shown in fig. 4, the telescopic extension bracket 113 may be, but is not limited to, a telescopic mechanism with any adjustable length, and may be, but is not limited to, fixed on a side of the base plate 110 opposite to the fixed frame 112 in any suitable manner, the telescopic extension bracket 113 may be telescopic along a direction substantially parallel to the axis AX, and the first sensor S1 may be, but is not limited to, any suitable optical sensor, which may be disposed at an end of the telescopic extension bracket 113 to correspond to an end of the locking mechanism 14, so as to detect whether a screw (the screw 91 as shown in the figure) is picked up at the end of the locking mechanism 14.

Alternatively, the screw locking device 1 may further include a second sensor S2, and the mounting seat 11 may further include a sensing plate 115, the second sensor S2 may be, but is not limited to, any suitable optical sensor, which may be disposed on the extendable bracket 113 and facing to one side of the locking mechanism 14, and the sensing plate 115 may be, but is not limited to, disposed below the carrier plate 13 and having a structure at least partially extending and protruding outward in the radial direction, so that the sensing plate 115 may pass through a sensing area of the second sensor S2 along with the rotation of the carrier plate 13, so that the second sensor S2 may know whether the carrier plate 13 returns to the original point or the predetermined position by sensing the sensing plate 115.

Next, please refer to fig. 6A-6B and fig. 7 with the above drawings to further describe how the screw locking system 2 enables the screw locking device 1 to pick up the screw. Before this, the screws 91-93 of the feeding plate 81 can be arranged in advance in a manner corresponding to the locking mechanism 14, and the locking mechanism 14 can be rotated to be positioned corresponding to the screws 91-93 of the feeding plate 81 by the cooperation of the aforementioned carrying plate 13 and the second sensor S2 and the sensing plate 115. Subsequently or simultaneously, the screw locking apparatus 1 can be moved by the robot RA to a position above one of the feeding plates 81 of the feeding table 8, and then the mounting base 11 can be driven by the robot RA to approach the feeding plate 81 along the axis AX (as shown by the arrow in fig. 6A), for example, so that the locking mechanism 14 can respectively suck or pick up the screws 91-93 at the corresponding positions. The robot RA then moves the mounting base 11 away from the feed tray 81 to move the locking mechanism 14 along with the screws 91-93 at the ends away from the feed tray 81 (as shown by the arrows in FIG. 6B).

At this time, as shown in fig. 7, the locking mechanism 14 can make the first sensor S1 confirm whether the screws 91-93 are attached to the locking mechanism 14 by one rotation of the carrier plate 13. At this time, the operation of picking up the screws 91 to 93 by the screw attaching apparatus 1 is completed, and the screw attaching operation can be continued. It should be noted that, after the screw locking apparatus 1 confirms the pick-up of the screws 91 to 93 by the first sensor S1, the screw locking apparatus 1 can, but is not limited to, rotate and reset the locking mechanism 14 to the predetermined position by the cooperation of the carrying plate 13, the second sensor S2 and the sensing plate 115.

Please refer to fig. 8A-8B with reference to fig. 1, to describe how the screw locking system 2 allows the screw locking device 1 to lock the screw to the object W. For convenience of description, the operation of locking the screw 91 to one of the locking holes H of the object W will be described as an example.

First, the carrier plate 13 is driven by the first driving device 12 and the transmission member 17 to rotate one of the locking mechanisms 14 with the screw 91 attached thereon to a position corresponding to the driving rod 16 (as shown by the arrow). Subsequently or previously, the screw locking apparatus 1 can be moved by the robot arm RA to a position where the locking mechanism 14 corresponding to the driving rod 16 is aligned with one of the locking holes H of the object W to be locked. And, optionally, when the screw locking apparatus 1 aligns the screw 91 to be locked with the locking hole H, the pressing device 7 may be extended downward as indicated by the arrow to press against the object W to be locked.

Then, the third driving device 22 operates to drive the sliding seat 21 and the second driving device 15 thereon toward the carrier tray 13 along a direction substantially parallel to the axis AX (as shown by an arrow), so as to insert the end of the driving rod 16 into the corresponding locking mechanism 14, so as to push and tighten the screw 91 on the object W to be locked by the locking mechanism 14.

In the process, it can be understood that, since the elastic element 23 is sandwiched between the pushed block 25 and the sliding seat 21, and the hydraulic buffer 26 is disposed at one end of the sliding rail 19 and corresponds to the sliding seat 21, the pushing force transmitted by the third driving device 22 to the sliding seat 21 and the second driving device 15 thereon via the pushed block 25 can be buffered or absorbed, so that the driving rod 16 drives the locking mechanism 14 with a proper force, thereby ensuring that the force of the locking mechanism 14 pushing and rotating the screw 91 is enough to lock the screw 91 but not to damage the object to be locked W. Furthermore, since the set screw 27 slightly shorter than the hydraulic shock absorber 26 is also disposed at one end of the slide rail 19 and corresponds to the slide base 21, the slide base 21 can be stopped at a proper position to prevent the driving rod 16 from excessively pressing down the locking mechanism 14, thereby preventing the locking mechanism 14 from excessively pressing the screw 91 against the object W to be locked.

It is understood that the screws 91-93 of the other locking mechanisms 14 can be locked to other locking holes H of the object W or other objects to be locked similar to the above-mentioned operation. After the set locking operation is completed, the screw locking apparatus 1 can use the first sensor S1 to detect whether there is any residual screw on the locking mechanism 14 by the way that the carrier 13 rotates the locking mechanism 14, so as to confirm whether the set locking operation is completed.

Accordingly, the screw locking device of the foregoing embodiment of the present invention is versatile for different types of screws, and therefore can be at least suitable for applications requiring locking of a plurality of different screws in a single product, and/or suitable for applications requiring locking of a plurality of different products in different types of screws, and therefore has a wide range of flexible applications. In addition, because the screw locking device of this embodiment can once only pick up a certain amount of the same kind or different kinds of screw, can reduce the number of times of picking up the screw under the same work load, help promoting holistic work efficiency to reach the demand that promotes the productivity. Moreover, it can be understood that the screw locking device of the present embodiment does not involve any operations such as disassembly, replacement, or change of the mechanism when switching between different applications or using different screws, and can be performed continuously, which is helpful to greatly shorten the preparation time for switching between different applications or work items.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the utility model. Those skilled in the art can make modifications and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. With regard to the scope of protection defined by the present invention, reference should be made to the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A screw locking device adapted to pick up a plurality of screws, the screw locking device comprising:

a mounting base;

the bearing disc is rotatably arranged on the mounting seat and rotates around an axis relative to the mounting seat;

a plurality of locking mechanisms removably disposed through the carrier tray and spaced around the axis, wherein ends of the locking mechanisms are adapted to adsorb the screws, respectively; and

a driving rod, which performs a spinning motion;

the bearing disc drives the locking mechanisms to rotate around the axis, so that one of the locking mechanisms is aligned with the driving rod piece.

2. The screw locking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a first driving device and a transmission member, wherein the first driving device is disposed on the mounting base and has a transmission shaft, the transmission member is disposed on the transmission shaft to drive the carrier plate, and the carrier plate is engaged with the transmission member.

3. The screw locking apparatus of claim 2, wherein the mounting base includes a bottom plate and a fixing frame, the fixing frame is fixed to the bottom plate, the first driving device is accommodated in the fixing frame, the transmission member and the carrying plate are both disposed on the bottom plate, and the position where the carrying plate is engaged with the transmission member is located between the fixing frame and the bottom plate.

4. The screw locking apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a second driving device, a slide rail, at least one slider and a sliding seat, wherein the slide rail is disposed on the fixed frame, the at least one slider is slidably disposed on the fixed frame along a direction substantially parallel to the axis, the sliding seat is fixed to the at least one slider, the second driving device is fixed to the sliding seat and is movable along a direction substantially parallel to the axis, and the driving rod is assembled to the second driving device so as to be movable along a direction substantially parallel to the axis together with the second driving device and driven by the second driving device to rotate.

5. The screw locking apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a third driving device, at least one cylinder, a pushed block and at least one elastic member, wherein the third driving device is fixed to the fixing frame and has a driving shaft for reciprocating motion in a direction substantially parallel to the axis, the at least one cylinder extends in a direction substantially parallel to the axis and is fixed to the sliding seat, the pushed block is sleeved on the at least one cylinder, the at least one elastic member is sleeved on the at least one cylinder and is sandwiched between the pushed block and the sliding seat, and a distal end of the driving shaft is fixed to the pushed block.

6. The screw locking apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a hydraulic buffer disposed at one end of the slide rail and between the sliding seat and the carrier plate.

7. The screw locking apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a set screw disposed at one end of the slide rail and between the sliding seat and the carrier plate.

8. The screw locking apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a first sensor, wherein the mounting base further comprises a retractable extension bracket fixed to a side of the base plate opposite to the fixed frame, and wherein the first sensor is disposed at an end of the retractable extension bracket corresponding to an end of the locking mechanisms.

9. The screw locking apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a second sensor, wherein the mounting base further comprises a sensor plate disposed on the carrier plate, the second sensor is disposed on the extendable bracket, and the sensor plate is configured to rotate with the carrier plate to pass through a sensing area of the second sensor.

10. A screw locking system, comprising:

a mechanical arm; and

a screw locking device, the screw locking device comprising:

the mounting seat is connected with the mechanical arm;

the locking mechanisms are removably arranged on the bearing plate in a penetrating way and are arranged around the axis at intervals, wherein the tail end of each locking mechanism is suitable for adsorbing a screw; and

a driving rod, which performs a spinning motion;

11. The screw-attaching system of claim 10, further comprising at least one supply table for arranging a plurality of screws in a manner corresponding to the attaching mechanisms.

12. The screw-locking system of claim 10, further comprising a machine vision device disposed on the mounting block of the screw-locking apparatus.

13. The screw locking system of claim 10, further comprising a pressing device disposed on the mounting base of the screw locking apparatus for pressing against an object to be locked.

14. The screw locking system of claim 10, wherein the screw locking device further comprises a first driving device and a transmission member, the first driving device is disposed on the mounting base and has a transmission shaft, the transmission member is disposed on the transmission shaft to drive the carrier plate, and the carrier plate is engaged with the transmission member.

15. The screw locking system of claim 14, wherein the mounting base includes a bottom plate and a fixing frame, the fixing frame is fixed to the bottom plate, the first driving device is received in the fixing frame, the transmission member and the carrying plate are both disposed on the bottom plate, and the position where the carrying plate is engaged with the transmission member is between the fixing frame and the bottom plate.

16. The screw locking system of claim 15, wherein the screw locking apparatus further comprises a second driving device, a slide rail, at least one slider and a sliding seat, the slide rail is disposed on the fixed frame, the at least one slider is slidably disposed on the fixed frame along a direction substantially parallel to the axis, the sliding seat is fixed to the at least one slider, the second driving device is fixed to the sliding seat and is movable along a direction substantially parallel to the axis, and the driving rod is assembled to the second driving device so as to be movable along the direction substantially parallel to the axis with the second driving device and driven by the second driving device to rotate.

17. The screw locking system of claim 16, wherein the screw locking apparatus further comprises a third driving device, at least one cylinder, a pushed block and at least one elastic element, the third driving device is fixed to the fixing frame and has a driving shaft for reciprocating motion in a direction substantially parallel to the axis, the at least one cylinder extends in a direction substantially parallel to the axis and is fixed to the sliding seat, the pushed block is sleeved on the at least one cylinder, the at least one elastic element is sleeved on the at least one cylinder and is sandwiched between the pushed block and the sliding seat, and an end of the driving shaft is fixed to the pushed block.

18. The screw locking system of claim 16, wherein the screw locking device further comprises a hydraulic buffer disposed at one end of the slide rail and between the slide base and the carrier plate.

19. The screw locking system of claim 16, wherein the screw locking device further comprises a set screw disposed at one end of the slide rail and between the slide base and the carrier plate.

20. The screw locking system of claim 15, wherein the screw locking device further comprises a first sensor and a second sensor, the mounting base further comprises a retractable bracket fixed to a side of the base plate opposite to the fixing frame, and a sensing piece disposed on the carrier plate, the first sensor is disposed at an end of the retractable bracket corresponding to an end of the locking mechanisms, the second sensor is disposed on the retractable bracket, and the sensing piece is configured to rotate with the carrier plate to pass through a sensing area of the second sensor.