FR2505307A1 - Sheet metal handling device for surface treatment - uses vacuum and magnetic handling with rotary transporter to orient sheets - Google Patents

Abstract

The device transfers sheet steel laminations or similar items requiring surface coating or surface treatment. A cross is carried by a horizontal shaft and is provided with arms ending in the vacuum component carriers. Also included are a lifting organ, and a drive unit. A horizontal magnetic transporter cooperates with a rotary magnetic transporter in the vertical plane. The drive shafts of the transporter are parallel to the shaft of the cross. A hydraulic cylinder is vertically above the horizontal magnetic transporter and its piston rod carries vacuum jaws, in a cross array, to pick up the sheets. The rotating transporter is used to orient the sheets before stacking.

Description

DEVICE FOR TRANSFERRING PARTS FOR
RECEIVE A COATING OR SURFACE TREATMENT
The present invention relates to the field of transport and transfer of parts and more specifically relates to a device for transferring parts subjected to coating operations, or surface treatment.

 The invention can be used to mechanize and automate processes for treating parts with a liquid agent and, in particular, methods for coating parts in thin layers, for example, magnetic sheets for electric machines.

 A known device, which is used for handling parts during a galvanizing operation, comprises a rectangular shaped box provided with vertical partitions separating the treated parts and a horizontal rack with rods housed between its teeth.

 The design of this device does not provide for automatic advance of the parts to the processing chain in continuous operation.

 Another known device is a collector conveyor which can automatically be transformed into an ordinary conveyor. This conveyor comprises a traction member which crosses a plurality of independent collection zones along the line of the conveyor. The traction member can be placed with respect to driving rollers in the engaged or disengaged position by means of support rollers moved vertically by pneumatic cylinders controlled by distributors connecting them to a source of compressed gas or to the exhaust.

 In this device, the loading and unloading operations are carried out successively. At any given moment, it can only fulfill one function: that of a collecting conveyor or that of a loading conveyor, which considerably reduces its efficiency.

 There is also known a universal sorter-divider for a machine for loading and unloading bottles. I1 comprises a conveyor, sorting mechanisms and a guide device. The sorting mechanisms and the guiding device are equipped with removable retaining members moving at different speeds.

 This device, which can be used to group bottles and then send them on an air carrier, is not applicable to various parts such as thin sheets.

 In another design, a frame supports a metering conveyor, with intermittent movement on a horizontal axis of rotation, provided with an orientation device and intended for conveying bottles or other parts of the same type.

 This transporter cannot be used to supply thin sheet products, for example, magnetic sheets for electrical machines, to bring them to a production line.

 There is also known a parts transporter comprising a frame supporting a horizontal shaft on which is mounted a cross provided with parts holder at the ends of its arms, a part removal member and a drive member. This design close to the object of the invention does not, either, ensure the transfer of thin sheets between successive surface treatment operations.

 One of the objects of the invention is to provide a device for transporting parts subjected to coating operations and which comprises a feed mechanism, workpieces and a member for removing the pieces from these workpieces, capable of accurately and safely advancing and transferring thin sheet parts to a processing line.

 To this end, the device for transferring parts intended to receive a coating and / or a surface treatment, of the type comprising: a cross carried by a horizontal shaft and the arms of which terminate in parts holders, a member for removal of the parts from the workpiece carriers and from the drive means, is characterized in that it further comprises a horizontal magnetic conveyor which cooperates with a magnetic conveyor which can be rotated in the vertical plane, the drive shafts of said conveyors being parallel at the shaft of the cross, a control jack placed vertically above the horizontal magnetic conveyor and the piston rod of which carries vacuum jaws for gripping the parts, these jaws being located between the strands of the horizontal magnetic conveyor, and a table for the height adjustment of the stack of parts, this table being placed under the horizontal magnetic conveyor ccaxially to the rod of its control cylinder vertical, the rotary adjustable magnetic conveyor being connected to a rotation mechanism of the said conveyor and to a vertical bar carrying horizontal boards serving to orient the pieces between the piece holders which each consist of two plates whose free ends are folded in forming an angle, the apex of which is directed towards the center of the cross, while the member for removing parts from the workpiece carriers is in the form of a movable suspension rod on a raceway and which supports a gripping and removal mechanism of the parts, constituted by pushers connected to an actuating member and cooperating with stops of the suspension rod.

 The use, in this device, of a horizontal magnetic conveyor, surmounted by a vertical control cylinder with vacuum jaws carried by its piston rod and arranged between the strands of the conveyor, with an adjustable table for the stack of parts in height, mounted under the conveyor and centered on the axis of the rod of the control jack, makes it possible to carry out operations for taking parts from the stack and bringing them to the orientable magnetic conveyor. Thanks to the arrangement of the vacuum jaws between the strands of the conveyor, the parts held by the magnets of the magnetic conveyor move without obstacles.

 The parallelism of the control shafts of the two conveyors and the cross shaft ensures longitudinal movement of the parts, which facilitates subsequent operations on the transferred parts.

 The addition to the horizontal magnetic conveyor of a rotary orientable magnetic conveyor, connected to a rotation mechanism and of a vertical bar with horizontal boards, the realization of the cross-piece holders in the form of two plates with free ends are bent at an angle, the apex of which is oriented towards the center of the cross, as well as the production of the member for removing parts from the cross-piece holders by a mobile suspension rod with stops and a mechanism gripping and removal of parts, composed of pushers cooperating with the suspension stops, allow simultaneous removal operations in the cross-piece holders, pieces arranged horizontally, gripping and transferring the pieces located in a vertical position in these parts holders, as well as for removing the parts.

 According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the height-adjustable table is associated with a carriage having a horseshoe-shaped bearing surface for the coin stack.

Such a shape of the support surface of the carriage makes it possible to carry out
picking up the parts directly from the carriage and removing it under the stack of parts to load it with new parts to be treated.

 According to another variant embodiment of the invention, the rotation mechanism of the conveyor consists of a hydraulic cylinder installed vertically.

 Such a design of the rotation mechanism makes it possible to quickly position the rotary adjustable magnetic conveyor with jerky movements, to make its bearing surface coincide with the slots of the workpiece carriers.

 In another alternative embodiment of the invention, flaps for fixing the parts can be mounted on the ends of the plates of the workpiece carriers, these flaps being articulated to a control member by means of a spring bar and a rod.

 Such a structure of the workpiece carriers makes it possible to fix the vertically oriented parts in the slots of the workpiece carriers.

 In another variant embodiment of the invention, the suspension rod is connected to slides fitted with claws cooperating with an elastic presser.

 These features of the suspension rod make it possible to reduce the surface of the parts covered by the claws and thus improve the quality of the coating applied subsequently to the parts.

 The invention will be better understood and other aims, advantages and charac teristics of its realization will appear on reading, with reference to the appended drawings, the detailed description given below of various embodiments of the device proposed for the transfer of parts intended to receive a surface treatment.

In these drawings:
FIG. 1 represents an overall view of the device for transporting parts intended to receive a surface treatment, according to the invention;
Figure 2 shows in more detail and on a larger scale the horizontal magnetic conveyor, shown in Figure 1 and having a height adjustable table associated with a carriage;
Figure 3 shows the adjustable magnetic conveyor shown in Figure 1, with its rotation mechanism and a vertical bar;
Figure 4 shows on a large scale the cross formed by the set of workpieces, as shown in Figure 1 and limited to its upper right quarter;
. Figure 5 is a rear view of the cross of Figure 4;
Figure 6 is la.vue section along the plane VI-VI of Figure 5 ;;
FIG. 7 shows in detail and in partial section the member for removing the parts from the workpiece carriers, already shown in FIG. 1, this member being in the closed position for clamping the parts, seen from the front and at larger scale;
Figure 8 shows the member of Figure 7 in the open position ready to clamp the parts;
. Figure 9 is a sectional view along the plane IX-IX of Figure 2, on a larger scale;
. Figure 10 shows on a larger scale the part removal member on the workpiece carriers in side view.

 The device for transporting parts subjected to surface treatment and coating operations respectively comprises a horizontal shaft 1 (FIG. 1), which supports workpiece carriers 3 arranged in a cross 2, a member 4 for removing the parts from the workpiece carriers 3 and a horizontal magnetic conveyor 5 with which is associated an adjustable magnetic conveyor 6, the respective control shafts 7 and 8 of said conveyors being arranged parallel to the shaft 1 of the cross 2. Above the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5, a control cylinder 9 mounted vertically door fixed to its piston rod 10, vacuum jaws 11 for gripping the parts and which are housed between the strands 12 (Figure 2) of the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5. A table 13 adjustable in height for the stack of parts 14, is mounted under the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5 (FIG. 1) coaxially with the rod 10 of the control cylinder 9. The free end of the magnetic conveyor orientable tick 6 is connected to a mechanism 15 for rotating said conveyor 6 and to a vertical bar 16 on which are fixed horizontal boards 17 which serve to orient the pieces between the piece holders 3, the latter being each made up of two plates 18 the free ends of which are bent at an angle, the apex of which is directed towards the center of the cross 2. The member 4 for removing the pieces from the workpiece carriers 3 is presented as a movable suspension rod 19 which cooperates with a mechanism 20 for picking up and removing parts. The suspension rod 19 is provided with stops 21 and the mechanism 20 for picking up and removing the parts comprises pushers 22 which cooperate with the stops 21.

 The table 13, adjustable in height, is associated with a carriage 23 having a horseshoe-shaped bearing surface for the stack of parts 14.

The mechanism 15 for rotating the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 is controlled by a hydraulic cylinder 24 arranged vertically (FIG. 3). Flaps 25 (Figures 4,5) for fixing the parts are mounted at the ends of the plates 18 of the workpiece carriers 3 and are articulated to a control mechanism 26 (Figures 1,6) by means of a bar spring 27 (Figures 4,6) and a rod 28 (Figure 6). The suspension rod 19 (FIGS. 7,8) supports a claw mechanism 29 comprising claw stops 30 and elastic pressers 31.

 The vertical movement of the table 13 (Figure 1) is controlled by a rod 34 connected to the piston 33 of a cylinder 32 (Figure 2). The control cylinder 9 is fixed to a cross-member 35 and its rod 10 is connected to a plate 36 carrying bars 37 on which the vacuum jaws 11 are fixed. The bars 37 are arranged between V-belts 38 (FIG. 9) of the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5 (figure 2). The belts 38 (FIG. 9) pass through notches in guide boards 39 secured to supports 40 and bases 41. The guide boards 39 are provided with magnet holders 42 which can be moved vertically for fixing and adjusting the position of permanent magnets 43. Relative to the level of the lower bearing surface of the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5 (FIG. 3), the level of the upper bearing surface of the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 is located below a height slightly exceeding the thickness of the part to be transported. The magnetic conveyors 5 and 6 are arranged in such a way that the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 constitutes the extension of the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5. The mobile part of the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 rests on the piston rod 44 of the hydraulic cylinder 24. The vertical bar 16 articulated to an upright 45 and carrying the horizontal boards 17 spaced by an interval which corresponds to the interval between the plates 18 of the workpiece carriers 3, is fixed near the rod 44. Depending on the position of the horizontal boards 17, a photocell 46, fixed to the upright 45, emits signals for controlling the vertical movement of the orientable conveyor 6 by the hydraulic cylinder 24.

 The horizontal shaft 1 (Figure 6) is placed on two supports 47 and 48.

The support 48 also carries a mechanism 49 ensuring the rotation of the cross 2 by 90 "and an indexing mechanism 50. The leaves 25 are connected to the rod 27 by an articulation 51. The control mechanism 26 consists of a jack tire connected to a pneumatic distributor 52. The position of the cross 2 is determined by the cooperation of a limiter switch 53 (FIG. 5) and a stop 54.

 The member 4 (Figure 1) for removing the parts from the workpiece carriers 3 comprises a carriage 55 (Figures 7.8) articulated to the suspension rod 19. The mechanism 20 for picking up and removing the parts is mounted on the above a transport track in this case consisting of a monorail 56, and is in the form of bars 57 housed in guide columns 58 carrying photocells 59. The bars 57 are connected by crosspieces 60 to a member 61 for vertical displacement, constituted by a pneumatic cylinder.

The bars 57 and the guide columns 58 are provided with pushers 22 and fixed stops 62 respectively. To ensure their locking in rotation, the bars 57 cooperate with keys 63 (FIG. 7). The actuating member 61 (FIGS. 7,8) comprises a piston 64 connected to a rod 65 and fittings 66 used to connect the pneumatic cylinder to a source of compressed air or to the exhaust.

 The interior of the suspension rod 19 encloses a bar 67 vertically movable with a lever lock 68 articulated by means of levers 69 to sliders 70 whose fingers 71 engage in grooves 72 of a frame. The slideslx 70 are connected to the elastic pressers 31 placed opposite the claws 29.

 The number of suspension rods 19 mounted on the track 56 for transferring parts depends on the conditions of use of the conveyor device. The positions of the member 4 corresponding to the successive phases of the process (gripping of a part, removal and removal) are shown in FIG. 10.

 The carriage 23 (Figure 1) is driven by an electric motor 73, while the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5 and the orientable magnetic conveyor are driven by an electric motor 74. The table 13 adjustable in height is provided with a photoelectric cell 75 for monitoring the level of the top of the stack of coins 14.

 The device operates in the manner which will now be described.

 The stack of parts 14 (FIG. 1), for example made of magnetic sheets for electrical machines, is placed on the carriage 23 just in the middle of its horseshoe-shaped bearing surface. The electric motor 73 is started and drives the carriage 23 which rolls under the table 13 adjustable in height until the center of the horseshoe bearing surface of the carriage 23 coincides with the center of the table 13 adjustable in height. The piston 33 (Figure 2) of the cylinder 32 pushes up the table 13 adjustable in height with the stack of parts 14 which is thus raised to a level allowing the vacuum jaws 11 to grip the upper part. The level of the stack of parts 14 is kept constant by the photocell 75. At the same time, the carriage 23 returns to its starting position and can receive a new stack of parts 14. The electric motor 74 drives the conveyor horizontal magnetic 5 and the adjustable magnetic conveyor 6, while the part taken in the vacuum jaws 11 is held by the permanent magnets 43 (FIG. 9) against the V-belts 38 of the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5 (FIG. 1) and of the conveyor orientable magnetic 6, which transport it to the cross 2 fitted with the workpiece carriers 3. The vacuum jaws 11 do not retain the parts at the time of their transfer because the control jack 9 raises these jaws above the strands 12 (FIG. 2) of the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5. When transferring the parts, these are tightened only against the belts 38 (figure 9) and do not come into contact with the surface of the magnets permanent 43 whose attraction force is adjusted by their height positioning on the guide boards 39 (see Figure 9).

 The orientable magnetic conveyor 6 is moved in the vertical plane by means of the rotation mechanism 15 (FIG. 3), constituted by the hydraulic cylinder 24, the rod 44 of which causes the conveyor 6 to rise or fall, the position of which is adjusted by the vertical bar 16 with the horizontal boards 17 and by the photocell 46 fixed to the upright 45.

 The coincidence of the bearing surface of the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 with the slots of the workpiece carriers 3 of the cross 2 is obtained by the following method. When the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 is in its lowest position, the upper horizontal board 17 cuts the light brush illuminating the cell 46, so that the upper bearing surface of the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 comes to the level of the lower slot of the workpiece carrier 3 of the cross 2. The workpiece transferred by the adjustable magnetic conveyor 6 is pushed into the lower slot of the workpiece carriers 3.The hydraulic cylinder 24, continues to push upwards the adjustable magnetic transporter 6 which drives the vertical bar 16 until the axis of the next horizontal board 17 intersects the beam illuminating the photoelectric cell 46. The orientable magnetic conveyor 6 is then stopped. In this position, the upper bearing surface of the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 is at the level of the entry into the next slot of the workpiece carriers 3 of the cross 2. At this instant, the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 receives a new part which, like the previous one, is pushed into the next slot of the workpieces 3 of the cross 2.The adjustable magnetic conveyor 6 then takes a new step of climb, and a new piece comes to be placed opposite the entrance a slot in the coin holders 3 of the cross 2 to be pushed into this slot.

 These operations are repeated until all of the slots in cross 2 are filled with coins. The mechanism 49 (FIGS. 4, 5, 6) for rotating the cross 2 then starts and turns the cross 2 by 90 ". The workpieces 3 loaded with parts assume a vertical position under the member 4 (FIG. 1) for removing the pieces, while the empty piece holders 3 arranged horizontally are brought in front of the adjustable magnetic conveyor 6. A new filling cycle for the piece holders 3 of the cross 2 begins, but this time, filling takes place from top to bottom and the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 descends step by step, driven by the rod 44 of the hydraulic cylinder 24 (FIG. 3). When loading the pieces into the cross 2, the leaves 25 are tightened against the plates 18 of the piece holders 3 whose free ends are folded in. This position of the leaves 25 allows the free entry of the pieces into the slots of the piece holders 3 of the cross 2. When the piece holders 3 loaded with pieces (figures 4,5,6) are oriented vertically, the leaves 25, act ied by the control mechanism 26 (Figure 6) by means of the bar 27 biased by a spring (Figures 4,6) and connected to a shaft 28 (Figure 6), take the horizontal position. This position of the leaves 25 makes it possible to center the parts in the slots of the part holders 3 of the cross 2. While the leaves 25 come into the horizontal position, the mechanism 50 (Figures 5,6) locks the cross 2 in position.

 The removal of the pieces from cross 2 is carried out as described below. The suspension rod 19 which follows a horizontal transport path, constituted here by the monorail 56 (FIGS. 7,8), stops under the action of the photoelectric cell 59, above the workpiece carriers 3 ( Figure 1) of the cross 2. The parts are then placed between the claws 29 (Figures 7, 8) provided with the stops 30 and the elastic pressers 31. Then, the cylinder 61 which ensures the vertical displacement, pushes down the pushers 22 (FIG. 7) which press on the stops 21 and, by means of the lever locking 68, approach the elastic pressers 31 of the claws 29, thereby effecting an elastic clamping of the parts to be handled. The suspension rod 19 leaves its position under the cylinder 61 to be transferred to the various successive parts processing operations stations, and the piston 64 of the cylinder 61 returns to its initial position. When the parts surface treatment cycle ends, the suspension rod 19 stops under the jack 61 (FIG. 8) to allow the unloading of the treated parts. The pushers 22, acting on the stops 21 of the suspension rod 19, raise the lever lock 68 articulated by the levers 69 to the slides 70 whose fingers 71 are engaged in the grooves 72 of the frame. The fingers 71 slide in the grooves 72 of the frame connects to the rod 19, so that the slider 70 moves with the elastic pressers 31 which it carries.

The parts detach and are evacuated to a collector (not shown).

 The gripping and removal operations of parts are carried out without interruption of the production line, which allows a high efficiency of the device to be obtained.

 The gripping and removal of the parts are synchronized with the movement of the production line. The pilot signal of the treatment cycle is the closing, by the carriage 55 (FIG. 10), of the area of the brush illuminating the cell 59. In the part pick-up zone, this signal causes the parts to be tightened (FIG. 7) and in the parts removal area, their release (Figure 8). The same pilot signal rotates the cross 2 (FIG. 1), gives the orders for the displacement of the orientable magnetic conveyor 6 and controls the control cylinder 9 which brings the parts onto the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5. The synchronization of the work cycles of the horizontal magnetic conveyor 5 and orientable magnetic conveyor 6 is provided by the photoelectric cell 46 (FIG. 3).

 Thus, the device for transporting parts intended to receive a coating or surface treatments, according to the invention, performs the operations of picking up, transferring and removing flat parts, for example, thin magnetic sheets for electric machines. When gripped, the parts are tightened without any damage to the coating layer or deformation of the parts themselves. In practice, the number of parts taken simultaneously can be varied, which ensures the device a high efficiency.

Thanks to the precise time intervals assigned to the operations of picking up, transferring and removing parts, the device can be used in continuously operating production lines.

 The device can be used with great efficiency in various industrial sectors where the products must be covered with layers of paint, varnish, insulating coatings or receive a surface treatment.

 Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown and it is capable of numerous variants, accessible to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims (5)

 1. Device for transferring parts intended to receive a coating and / or a surface treatment, of the type comprising: a cross carried by a horizontal shaft and the arms of which end in part holders, a member removal member workpiece carriers and drive means, characterized in that it further comprises a horizontal magnetic conveyor (5) which cooperates with a orientable magnetic conveyor (6) rotating in the vertical plane, the drive shafts ( 7,8) of said conveyors being parallel to the shaft (1) of the cross (2), a control jack (9) placed vertically above the horizontal magnetic conveyor (5) and whose piston rod (10) carries vacuum jaws (11) for gripping the parts (14), these jaws (11) being located between the strands (12) of the horizontal magnetic conveyor (5), and a table (13) for adjusting the height of the stack of parts (14), this table (13) being placed under the magnetic conveyor horizontal (5) coaxial with the rod (34) of its vertical control jack (32), the rotary magnetic adjustable conveyor (6) being connected to a rotation mechanism (15) of said conveyor (6) and to a vertical bar ( 16) carrying horizontal boards (17) used to orient the parts (14) between the workpiece carriers (3) which each consist of two plates (18) whose free ends (25) are bent at an angle whose vertex is directed towards the center of the cross (2), while the member (20) for removing the parts (14) from the workpiece carriers (3) is in the form of a suspension rod (19) movable on a raceway (56) and which supports a mechanism for picking up and removing parts, constituted by pushers (22) connected to an actuating member (61) and cooperating with stops (21) of the suspension rod (19).  2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the height adjustment table (13) is associated with a carriage (23) having a horseshoe-shaped bearing surface for the stack of parts (14).  3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the rotation mechanism (15) of the orientable conveyor (6) consists of a hydraulic cylinder (24) of vertical axis.  4. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the plates (18) of the workpiece carriers (3) end in leaves (25) articulated to a control mechanism by means of a bar (27) urged by a spring and a rod (28).  5. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the suspension rod (19) is connected to slides (70) fitted with claws (29,30) cooperating with an elastic presser (31) for gripping the parts (14 ).