EP1733855A1

EP1733855A1 - Flat board stamping apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP1733855A1
Application number: EP06252868A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Yoshio Suzuki
Original assignee: Asahi Machinery Ltd; Asahi Iron Works Co Ltd
Current assignee: Asahi Machinery Ltd; Asahi Inovex Corp
Priority date: 2005-06-14
Filing date: 2006-06-02
Publication date: 2006-12-20
Also published as: JP4317835B2; JP2006346779A

Abstract

The flat board stamping apparatus comprising a stamping portion (3), a stripping portion(4) for stripping off a non-product part from a stamped material, a non-defective stamped product knocking off portion (61) for cutting off a product part, a delivery portion(6) for accommodating therein the product part, a detecting means(8) for detecting a state of the stamped material, a control unit(9) for determining defective condition or non-defective condition of the stamped material with reference to results obtained by the detecting means(8) and, when the stamped material being recognized as defective condition, sending the defective stamped material to a defective stamped material withdrawing portion(5), and a transferring means(7) for transferring a material(10) to be stamped in sequence to the stamping portion(3), the stripping portion(4), the defective stamped material withdrawing portion(5) and the delivery portion(6), is characterized in that the defective stamped material withdrawing portion (5) is provided with a defective stamped material knocking off portion (51) for knocking off a defective product part from the gripper margin, the defective stamped material knocking off portion (51) being arranged at a location upstream from the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion (61), and that, when the control unit (9) recognizing a stamped material transferred by the transferring means (7) as defective condition, the stamped material is controlled by the control unit (9) for sending to the defective stamped material withdrawing portion (5).

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a flat board stamping apparatus for stamping a flat material such as a sheet of corrugated board, cardboard and film.

Background Art

Conventionally, a flat board stamping apparatus A1 is known for stamping a specified pattern on a to-be-stamped material, such as a sheet of corrugated board, and then knocking off a product part of the material. Typically, the flat board stamping apparatus includes, as shown in FIG. 9(a) and FIG. 9(b), a stamping portion B for stamping a specified pattern on the to-be-stamped material; a stripping portion C for stripping off a non-product part from the stamped material, leaving the product part and a gripper margin in place; a knock-off portion D for knocking off the product part from the gripper margin; a delivery portion E1 for accommodating therein the product part knocked off by the knock-off portion D; a detecting means N for detecting a defective stamped material that has passed through the delivery portion E1; and a transferring means F for transferring the material in sequence to the stamping portion B, the stripping portion C and the delivery portion E1.
In the flat board stamping apparatus A1, printed materials to be stamped, such as printed sheets of corrugated board, which are set in a stacked relation in a feeder portion G, are transferred one by one from the feeder portion G to the transferring means F and then are transferred in sequence to the stamping portion B, the stripping portion C and the delivery portion E1 via the transferring means F.
The transferring means F includes an endless roller chain J having holding portions H, spaced apart, for holding the gripper margin of the stamped material. The roller chain J is looped on rotating wheels K which are intermittently driven for rotation in association with a stamping mechanism of the stamping portion B and is thus driven for rotation to allow the holding portions H to pass through the stamping portion B, the stripping portion C and the delivery portion E1 in sequence.
The stamping portion B, the stripping portion C and the delivery portion E1 are spaced at even intervals so that when the roller chain J of the transferring means F is intermittently driven for rotation, the materials to be stamped held by the holding portions H can be simultaneously stopped at predetermined positions corresponding to the stamping portion B, the stripping portion C and the delivery portion E1.
In the stamping portion B for stamping a specified pattern on the material to be stamped, the pattern is stamped on the material to be stamped in such a manner that the product part and the gripper margin can be separated from the non-product part.
In the stripping portion C, only the non-product part is stripped away from the stamped material, leaving the product part and the gripper margin in place.
In the delivery portion E1, the knock-off portion D by which the product part is knocked off from the gripper margin is arranged in a vertically movable relation at a location inside the roller chain J of the transferring means F and near the outlet of the delivery portion E1. The knock-off portion D is controlled for rotation so that it can be lowered when the stamped material comes to a temporary stop at a predetermined position. The product part knocked off by the knock-off portion D is accommodated into the delivery portion E1.
The product part accommodated in the delivery portion E1 is moved to a vertically movable discharge table L. The discharge table L is so structured as to move up and down between an upper position at which the product part knocked off by the knock-off portion D is received thereon and a lower position at which the stacked product parts are removed to a transferring conveyer P1. The transferring conveyer P1 is located downstream from the discharge table L, and carries out the product parts removed from the discharge table L to a downstream portion of the apparatus.
Further, an unloading portion Q movable into and from the delivery portion E1 is provided at a location downstream from the delivery portion E1, so that when the discharge table L resides at the lower position, the unloading portion Q is moved into the delivery portion E1 to receive the product part thereby.
After the product part has been knocked off by the knock-off portion D, only the gripper margin held by the holding portions H of the roller chain J is left in the stamped material. This gripper margin is withdrawn into a gripper margin withdrawing portion M.
Herein, after the stamped material passed through the delivery portion E1, immediately, the detecting means N1 detects the defective stamped material by detecting a detecting mark printed on the gripper margin held with the holding portions H by use of a camera installed therein. In this method, even though the defective stamped material is detected, only the fact that the defective stamped material has been accommodated in the delivery portion E1 can be revealed. Therefore, extracting the defective stamped material from the stamped products accommodated in the delivery portion E1 must be performed by hand. As a result, the products must manually be checked one by one to find defectives, thus requiring a much troublesome labor and putting many hours in it. In addition, there may be cases where the defective stamped material is sometimes overlooked in the manual check.
With these points as background, the inventor of the present invention has already proposed a flat board stamping apparatus in which defectives can be automatically withdrawn with accuracy, as disclosed in EP Patent No.1018412 .
The aforesaid patented flat board stamping apparatus A2 includes, as shown in FIG. 10, a stamping portion B for stamping a specified pattern on a material to be stamped; a stripping portion C for stripping off a non-product part from the stamped material , leaving a product part and a gripper margin in place; a detecting means N2 for detecting a state of the material to be stamped; a control unit, not shown, for determining defective condition or non-defective condition of the stamped material with reference to results obtained by the detecting means N2 and for controlling an operation of each portion disposed downstream in the apparatus; a non-defective stamped material knocking off portion R1 for knocking off the product part from the gripper margin in respect to non-defective stamped materials; a delivery portion E2 for accommodating therein the product part knocked off by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion R1; a defective stamped material knocking off portion R2 for knocking off the product part of defective stamped material from the gripper margin in respect to defective stamped materials passed through the delivery portion E2; a defective stamped material withdrawing portion T for withdrawing the product part knocked off by the defective stamped material knocking off portion R2; and a transferring means F for transferring the stamped material in sequence to the stamping portion B, the stripping portion C, the delivery portion E2 and the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T.
In the flat board stamping apparatus A2 of FIG. 10(a) and FIG. 10(b), the same reference character is given to the same component as in the flat board stamping apparatus A1 of FIG. 9(a) and FIG. 9(b), and a detailed description of the same component is omitted.
The transferring means F includes an endless roller chain J having a plurality of holding portions H, spaced out at predetermined intervals, for holding the gripper margin of the stamped material. The roller chain J is looped on rotating wheels K which are intermittently driven for rotation in association with a stamping mechanism of the stamping portion B. The stamping portion B, the stripping portion C, the delivery portion E2 and the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T are evenly spaced out in this order, and the holding portions H of the roller chain J are evenly spaced out so that when the roller chain J of the transferring means F is intermittently driven for rotation, the plurality of materials to be stamped held by the holding portions H can be simultaneously stopped at predetermined positions corresponding to the stamping portion B, the stripping portion C, the delivery portion E2 and the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T.
The control unit determines defective condition or non-defective condition of the stamped material with reference to detected results of the detecting means N2 and controls the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion R1 of the delivery portion E2 so that when the stamped material is recognized as non-defective condition, the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion R1 can be put into action and so that when the stamped material is recognized as defective condition, the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion R1 cannot be put into action.
The delivery portion E2 is provided at a location downstream from the stripping portion C. The non-defective stamped material is transferred to the delivery portion E2 by the transferring means F, and is temporarily stopped at a predetermined position of the delivery portion E2. At this moment, the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion R1 is moved down, and it knocks off the product part from the gripper margin. The knocked off product part is then accommodated into the delivery portion E2. The product part accommodated in the delivery portion E1 is transferred to a vertically movable discharge table W. A transferring conveyer P2 provided at a location downstream from the discharge table W carries out the product part moved from the discharge table W toward the downstream side of the apparatus.
The defective stamped material withdrawing portion T is provided at a location downstream from the delivery portion E2. When the stamped material is recognized as defective condition, the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion R1 of the delivery portion E2 is controlled not to be put into action, and the stamped material recognized as defective condition passes through the delivery portion E2, and is transferred to a predetermined position of the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T, and is temporarily stopped there. At this moment, the defective stamped material knocking off portion R2 is moved down to knock off the product part from the gripper margin. The product part knocked off from the gripper margin is then withdrawn into the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T. The defective stamped material withdrawing portion T is provided with a discharge conveyer X by which the withdrawn product parts are discharged in sequence into a defective stamped material stock portion Y disposed at a location downstream from the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T.
However, in the flat board stamping apparatus A2, the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T is disposed at a location downstream from the delivery portion E2. Therefore, the rotating wheel K conventionally disposed inside the delivery portion E1 is necessary to mount inside the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T. Accordingly, there arises a great difference in the internal structure between the conventional delivery portion E1 and that of the flat board and it becomes unable to make a post-incorporating only the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T with the already build-up apparatus, and hence both the delivery portion E2 and the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T must be replaced with others.
Thus, structural commonality between this flat board stamping apparatus A2 and the conventional apparatus A1 is low, and the post-attachment of the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T to the conventional apparatus A1 is very troublesome replacement work. In addition, since many unnecessary parts are produced, costs must be paid to discard these parts, and undesirable circumstances will be caused from the viewpoint of effective use of resources.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in consideration of the problems mentioned above. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a flat board stamping apparatus in which the post-incorporation of a defective stamped material withdrawing portion with a conventional apparatus can be easily performed and in which constituent parts of an already-built apparatus can be effectively used.
The present invention includes a stamping portion for stamping a specified pattern on a material to be stamped, a stripping portion for stripping off a non-product part from the stamped material while leaving a product part and a gripper margin in place, a non-defective stamped material knocking off portion for knocking off the product part from the gripper margin, a delivery portion for accommodating therein the product part knocked off by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion, a detecting means for detecting a state of the stamped material, the detecting means being disposed in the stripping portion or disposed at a location upstream or downstream from the stripping portion, a control unit for determining defective condition or non-defective condition of the stamped material with reference to results obtained by the detecting means, and a transferring means for transferring a material to be stamped in sequence to the stamping portion, the stripping portion, the defective stamped material withdrawing portion and the delivery portion, wherein the defective stamped material withdrawing portion is provided with a defective stamped material knocking off portion for knocking off a defective product part from the gripper margin, the defective stamped material knocking off portion being arranged at a location upstream from the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion, and, when the control unit recognizing a stamped material transferred by the transferring means as defective condition, the stamped material is controlled by the control unit for sending to the defective stamped material withdrawing portion.
Further, the detecting means includes a camera mounted in the back portion of the stamping portion.
Further, the defective stamped material knocking off portion is disposed between the stripping portion and the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion, and the defective stamped material withdrawing portion is provided with a discharge means for withdrawing a defective stamped material knocked off by the defective stamped material knocking off portion.
Further, a predetermined-quantity transferring means for transferring a predetermined amount of non-defective stamped material knocked off by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion is disposed under the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion, and a temporary stock portion for stocking temporarily the non-defective stamped material knocked off by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion during transferring the non-defective stamped material thereby is disposed between the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion and the predetermined-quantity transferring means.
According to a flat board stamping apparatus of the present invention, the defective stamped material withdrawing portion of the flat board stamping apparatus is provided with a defective stamped material knocking off portion for knocking off a defective product part from the gripper margin, the defective stamped material knocking off portion being arranged at a location upstream from the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion, and, when the control unit recognizing a stamped material transferred by the transferring means as defective condition, the stamped material is controlled by the control unit for sending to the defective stamped material withdrawing portion. Therefore, even in a conventional flat board stamping apparatus, the defective stamped material withdrawing portion provided with the defective stamped material knocking off portion can be easily attached between the stripping portion and the delivery portion in a post-attachment manner, thus making it extremely easy to perform replacement work. Additionally, since an already built-in apparatus can be effectively used, costs required to discard unnecessary parts can be reduced, and an advantageous effect can be achieved from the viewpoint of effective use of resources.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1(a) is an external view of an entire structure of a flat board stamping apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) is a schematic sectional view thereof.
FIG. 2(a) is an explanatory view showing a transferring state of a stamped material in a defective stamped material withdrawing portion of the aforesaid flat board stamping apparatus, and FIG. 2(b) is a sectional view along line X-X of FIG. 2(a), showing a state in which a defective stamped material is withdrawn.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a detecting means as viewed from a lateral side of the aforesaid flat board stamping apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the detecting means as viewed from a front side of the aforesaid flat board stamping apparatus.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory drawing showing a transferring state of a defective stamped material in a delivery portion of the flat board stamping apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control unit of the aforesaid flat board stamping apparatus.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory drawing showing a situation in which the defective stamped material withdrawing portion of the present invention is installed in a conventional flat board stamping apparatus.
FIG. 8 is an external view of an entire structure of a flat board stamping apparatus of another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9(a) is an external view of an entire structure of a conventional flat board stamping apparatus, and FIG. 9(b) is a schematic sectional view thereof.
FIG. 10(a) is an external view of an entire structure of a conventional flat board stamping apparatus proposed by the present inventor, and FIG. 10(b) is a schematic sectional view of the conventional flat board stamping apparatus including a defective stamped material withdrawing portion.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafter described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A flat board stamping apparatus 1a of an embodiment of the present invention includes, as shown in FIG. 1(a) and FIG. 1 (b), a feeder portion 2 in which printed materials to be stamped 10, such as printed sheets of corrugated board, are stacked in place; a stamping portion 3 for stamping a specified pattern on the to-be-stamped materials 10; a stripping portion 4 for stripping off a non-product part from the stamped material 10 while leaving a product part and a gripper margin in place; a defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 having a defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 by which a defective product part is knocked off from the gripper margin, the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 being arranged to withdraw the product part knocked off by the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51; a delivery portion 6 having a non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61 being arranged to knock off a product part from the gripper margin, in which the product part knocked off by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61 is accommodated; and a transferring means 7 for transferring the to-be-stamped material 10 in sequence to the stamping portion 3, the stripping portion 4, the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 and the delivery portion 6.
The transferring means 7 includes an endless roller chain 72 having holding portions 71, at predetermined regular space intervals, for holding the gripper margin of the material 10. The roller chain 72 is looped on rotating wheels 73 which are intermittently driven for rotation in association with a stamping mechanism of the stamping portion 3.
When the to-be-stamped materials 10 stacked in the feeder portion 2 being drawn out one by one, the endless roller chain 72 of the transferring means 7 is intermittently driven so that each gripper margin of the material 10 is held on holding portion 71 so as to allow the material 10 to pass through in sequence the stamping portion 3, the stripping portion 4, the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 and the delivery portion 6.
The stamping portion 3, the stripping portion 4, the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 and the delivery portion 6 are arranged in this order at equal space intervals. Likewise, the holding portions 71 of the roller chain 72 are disposed at equal space intervals so that when the roller chain 72 of the transferring means 7 being rotated intermittently, the materials 10 held by the holding portions 71 can be simultaneously stopped at predetermined positions respectively corresponding to the stamping portion 3, the stripping portion 4, the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 and the delivery portion 6.
The stamping portion 3 for stamping a specified pattern on the to-be-stamped material 10 is arranged at the discharge side of the feeder portion 2. The stamping portion 3 includes a stationary plate 31 and a presser plate 32 vertically movable with respect to the stationary plate 31. The stationary plate 31 and the presser plate 32 are respectively located over and under the to-be-stamped material 10 so as to sandwich the material 10 between the stationary plate 31 and the presser plate 32.
In the stamping portion 3, the pattern is stamped on the to-be-stamped material 10 in such a manner that the product part and the gripper margin can be separated from the non-product part.
In the stripping portion 4 located downstream from the stripping portion 3, only the non-product part is stripped away from the stamped material 10 while leaving the product part and the gripper margin in place.
Further, the stamping portion 3 and the stripping portion 4 are located at a distance between them, in a space of which a detecting means 8 is arranged for detecting a state of the stamped material 10.
The detecting means 8 has a CCD camera 81 and an illuminating portion 82 for illuminating the stamped material 10, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The CCD camera 81 and the illuminating portion 82 are arranged so as to move reciprocally in a widthwise direction perpendicular to the transferring direction of the stamped material.
The detecting means 8 is adapted to detect a detecting marker that is printed on the part of the gripper margin in a printed surface of the stamped material 10. Using the camera 81, the detecting means 8 detects whether the detecting marker is in a predetermined position or not.
In this embodiment, the detecting means 8 has the camera 81 behind the stamping portion 3 at a location upstream from the stripping portion 4. Therefore, there is time during which the stamped material 10 passes through the stripping portion 4, until the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61 or the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 is put into action by receiving a command from the control unit 9 after the detecting means 8 detects that the material 10 is non-defective or defective. Therefore, the operational burden imposed on the control unit 9, the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61, and the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 can be reduced, and, based on detected results, the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61 or the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 can be accurately put into action.
Although only one camera is provided in this embodiment, two cameras can be used setting at both widthwise ends with respect to the transferring direction. In this arrangement, the stamped material 10 can be detected more precisely to see if the stamped material 10 is out of position.
The camera(s) may be arranged inside the stripping portion 4 or, alternatively, at a location downstream from the stripping portion 4, i.e., between the stripping portion 4 and the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5. A final form of the stamped material 10 can be detected by detection after the non-product part is stripped away by the stripping portion. Therefore, if modification is made such that the entire width of the stamped material 10 can be detected by use of, for example, a line camera, the entire printed surface of the stamped material 10 can be detected, thus making it possible to detect defectives with high accuracy.
Furthermore, the detecting means which may be used include any other sensors, for example, a photo-sensor, without being limited to the CCD camera, as long as it has the capability to detect the printed surface of the stamped material.
The detected results obtained by the detecting means 8 are fed to the control unit 9 provided in the flat board stamping apparatus 1, as shown in FIG. 6.
In the control unit 9, defective condition or non-defective condition of the stamped material 10 is determined with reference to the detected results of the detecting means 8. The control unit 9 controls the operation of the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 of the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 so that when the stamped material 10 is recognized as defective condition, the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 is put into action, whereas when the stamped material 10 is recognized as non-defective condition, the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 is not put into action.
A determination of whether the stamped material 10 is a non-defective stamped material or a defective stamped material is made according to whether the detecting marker is detected at a specified position by the camera 81 of the detecting means 8. The stamped material 10 is recognized as defective condition when the detecting marker is not detected there. When the detecting marker is not detected at the specified position, there are possibilities that the printed surface of the stamped material 10 may be oriented in the opposite direction, that the print may be failed, and that the material 10 may be out of position. These cases are all recognized as defective condition.
When the control unit 9 providing with additional controllability as to keeping count of the defective stamped materials 10 and recording the time of the occurrence of defective condition, it can provide performance of tracking the cause of defective condition at a later time.
The defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 is located downstream from the stripping portion 4. The defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 is provided with the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 for knocking off the defective stamped material from the gripper margin and withdrawing this. The defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 is arranged movably in the vertical direction inside the roller chain 72 of the transferring means 7 and near the outlet of the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5, as shown in FIG. 2(a) and FIG. 2(b). When the control unit 9 recognizes the stamped material 10 as defective condition based on the detected results of the detecting means 8, the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 is actuated by the control unit 9. The defective stamped material 10 is then transferred to the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5, and the product part of the defective stamped material 10 is withdrawn to the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5.
The defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 is provided with a discharge conveyer 52 serving as a discharge means for discharging the withdrawn product parts in sequence and a defective stamped material stock portion 53 located downstream from the discharge conveyer 52. The discharge conveyer 52 is arranged so as to travel crosswise direction to the transferring direction of the transferring means. The downstream side end of the discharge conveyer 52 is located at an opening 54 formed in the sidewall of an apparatus casing 56. The defective stamped material stock portion 53 is disposed outside the apparatus casing 56, and receives and stocks the defective product parts conveyed by the discharge conveyer 52. Without being limited to the discharge conveyer 52, the means for conveying the withdrawn product part to the defective stamped material stock portion 53 may be an inclined plate that is inclined to such an extent that the withdrawn product part can be slid and moved to the defective stamped material stock portion 53. If this inclined plate is used, a driving source used to drive the discharge conveyer 52 becomes unnecessary so as to achieve energy saving, and running costs can be reduced.
The defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 is provided with a temporal receiving portion 55 for receiving a rear end in the transferring direction of the stamped material 10 recognized as non-defective condition and passing through the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5.
The temporal receiving portion 55 is disposed above the discharge conveyer 52 and is composed of an air cylinder having a piston 55a proceeding into and retreating from the accommodating room of the delivery portion 6, as shown in FIG. 2(a). When the defective stamped material is accommodated into the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5, the piston 55a of the temporal receiving portion 55 is in the retracted state. When the stamped material 10 is recognized as non-defective condition in the control unit 9, the piston 55a begins moving forward or projecting in association with the feeding of the non-defective stamped material 10 to the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5. When the roller chain 72 comes to a temporary stop, the non-defective stamped material 10 is received at a rear end thereof in the transferring direction by the piston 55a.
Further, when the roller chain 72 restarts, the piston 55a is retracted in the opposite direction. The temporal receiving portion 55 thus constructed can allow the non-defective stamped material 10 to be transferred to the delivery portion 6, without bending and falling down to the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5, even if a temporary stop of the roller chain 72 brings the non-defective stamped material 10 to a standstill.
It is noted that the temporal receiving portion may be so modified as to catch both widthwise ends of the stamped material 10, instead of the rear end thereof.
In the delivery portion 6 located downstream from the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5, the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61 for knocking off the product part from the gripper margin is arranged movably in the vertical direction inside the roller chain 72 of the transferring means 7 and near the outlet of the delivery portion 6, as shown in FIG. 5.
When the stamped material 10 is recognized as non-defective condition by the control unit 9 based on the detected results of the detecting means 8, the control unit 9 dwells the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 of the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 so that the action of the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 is blocked thereby. When the non-defective stamped material 10 being reached to the delivery portion 6 and dwelled at the determined position in the delivery portion 6 as shown in FIG. 5, the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61 is controlled to be lowered. In this way, those product parts knocked off by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61 are accommodated into the delivery portion 6.
Further, the delivery portion 6 is provided with a discharge table 62 for receiving the product part therein and an unloading portion 64 movable into and from the delivery portion 6. The discharge table 62 is so structured as to move up and down between its upper position at which the product part knocked off by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61 is loaded thereon and its lower position at which the product parts stacked thereon are carried to a transferring conveyer 63. The transferring conveyer 63 is located at substantially the same height as the lower position of the discharge table 62, and transfers the product part received from the discharge table to a position downstream from the unloading portion 64. The unloading portion 64 is arranged movably into the delivery portion 6 from the downstream side of the delivery portion 6. When the discharge table 62 is in the lower position, the unloading portion 64 is moved into the delivery portion 6 to receive the product part thereby.
The transferring means for transferring the non-defective product is not limited to the embodiment mentioned above. For example, the following structure can be formed. As in a flat board stamping apparatus 1b of FIG. 8, the lower position of the discharge table 62 is set near the installation surface of the apparatus 1b, and a pallet 11 is provided to place a predetermined number of product parts on the discharge table. In addition, a pallet conveyer 12 to supply the pallet 11 to the discharge table 62 is located upstream from the discharge table 62, and the transferring conveyer 63 having substantially the same height as the lower position of the discharge table 62 is located downstream from the discharge table 62. As a result, a predetermined-quantity transferring means is provided for transferring a predetermined number of non-defective product parts. With this structure, a great number of product parts can be transferred while being stacked together on the pallet 11, and excellent working efficiency and great safety can be achieved without cargo shifting.
After the product part is knocked off from the stamped material by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61 or by the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51, the remaining part (the gripper margin) is withdrawn into a gripper margin withdrawing portion 11 located above the delivery portion 6.
According to the embodiment of the present invention thus constructed, the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 including the defective stamped material knocking off portion 51 is located upstream from the delivery portion 6 including the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion 61, and the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is substantially the same as the conventional flat board stamping apparatus A1 shown in FIG. 9(a) and FIG. 9(b) in the basic structure other than the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5. Therefore, the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can be easily achieved by only the post-attachment of the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 to the conventional apparatus A1, as shown in FIG. 7. Additionally, since an already-built apparatus can be effectively used, costs paid to discard unnecessary parts can be reduced, and an advantageous effect can be achieved from the viewpoint of effective use of resources.
Referring to the conventional flat board stamping apparatus A2 shown in FIG. 10(a) and FIG. 10(b), the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T is located downstream from the delivery portion E2, and hence the defective product part knocked off by the defective stamped material knocking off portion R2 must be withdrawn through a slight gap created between the roller chain J and the unloading portion Q. Therefore, the discharge conveyer X is disposed in this gap, and the defective stamped material stock portion Y is disposed behind the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T. Further, the downstream-side end of the transferring conveyer P must be located downstream from the defective stamped material stock portion Y of the defective stamped material withdrawing portion T. As a result, disadvantageously, a transferring conveyer P2 having a longer transfer distance than the conventional transferring conveyer P1 must be provided to carry out the product part accommodated by the delivery portion E2 to a position downstream from the defective stamped material stock portion Y, and, accordingly, the apparatus is increased in size as a whole. However, in this embodiment, the discharge conveyer 52 in the defective stamped material withdrawing portion 5 is directed to crosswise direction to the transferring direction of the transferring means 7, and the downstream-side end thereof is located near the opening 54 formed in the sidewall of the apparatus casing 55. Furthermore, the defective stamped material stock portion 53 is provided outside the apparatus casing 55. Therefore, the overall length of the apparatus can be shortened, and an enough space for mounting the apparatus can be easily secured.

Claims

A flat board stamping apparatus comprising a stamping portion (3) for stamping a specified pattern on a material (10) to be stamped, a stripping portion (4) for stripping off a non-product part from the stamped material while leaving a product part and a gripper margin in place, a non-defective stamped material knocking off portion (61) for knocking off the product part from the gripper margin, a delivery portion (6) for accommodating therein the product part knocked off by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion (61), a detecting means (8) for detecting a state of the stamped material, the detecting means being disposed in the stripping portion or disposed at a location upstream or downstream from the stripping portion (4), a control unit (9) for determining defective condition or non-defective condition of the stamped material with reference to results obtained by the detecting means (8), and a transferring means (7) for transferring a material to be stamped in sequence to the stamping portion (3), the stripping portion (4), the defective stamped material withdrawing portion (5) and the delivery portion (6), characterized in that
the defective stamped material withdrawing portion (5) is provided with a defective stamped material knocking off portion (51) for knocking off a defective product part from the gripper margin, the defective stamped material knocking off portion (51) being arranged at a location upstream from the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion (61), and that, when the control unit (9) recognizing a stamped material transferred by the transferring means (7) as defective condition, the stamped material is controlled by the control unit (9) for sending to the defective stamped material withdrawing portion (5).
The flat board stamping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means (8) includes a camera (81) mounted in the back portion of the stamping portion (3).
The flat board stamping apparatus according to claim to 1 or claim 2, wherein the defective stamped material knocking off portion (51) is disposed between the stripping portion (4) and the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion (61), and the defective stamped material withdrawing portion (51) is provided with a discharge means (52, 53) for withdrawing a defective stamped material knocked off by the defective stamped material knocking off portion (51).
The flat board stamping apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a predetermined-quantity transferring means (11) for transferring a predetermined amount of non-defective stamped material knocked off by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion (61) is disposed under the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion (61), and
a temporary stock portion (64) for stocking temporarily the non-defective stamped material knocked off by the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion (61) during transferring the non-defective stamped material thereby is disposed between the non-defective stamped material knocking off portion (6) and the predetermined-quantity transferring means (11).