JP2000073200A - Automatic opening and closing device for barrel cap - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save the labor of a plating stage by making it possible to easily automate the opening and closing work by mounting and dismounting of the caps of barrels. SOLUTION: This automatic barrel cap opening and closing device has an image pickup element 6 which checks the position of the cap 2 by picking up the image of a mark 4 disposed at the cap 2 for opening and closing the flank in part of the barrel 1, a servo mechanism 5 which sets the cap 2 at a prescribed direction by rotating the barrel 1 in such a manner that the image of the mark 4 of the cap 2 is picked up by this image pickup element 6, a hand set 7 which is driven by a cylinder actuator 9 and a hand actuator 8, clamps the handle of the cap 2 existing in the prescribed position by this servo mechanism 5 and opens and closes the cap 2. The image pickup element 6 and the hand set 7 are mounted adjacently to a sliding rotary unit 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically detecting the position of a lid of a rotary barrel used for plating, polishing, and other processing of chip-shaped parts, and opening and closing the lid. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when plating a chip-shaped circuit component to form an electrode on a chip-shaped component such as a chip-shaped circuit component, a rotary barrel plating method is used. This is done by storing conductive media together with parts that are chip-shaped circuit parts as a work in a polygonal prism barrel, and rotating this barrel in a plating bath,
The plating is applied to parts which are chip-shaped circuit parts. In addition, the rotating barrel is also used for polishing chip-shaped parts.

[0003] In such a rotary barrel type plating apparatus, a process of charging and discharging a work into and from the barrel is required before and after the barrel plating process. The storage and discharge of these parts and media into and from the barrel are performed with the lower part of the barrel submerged in water to reduce the impact of the work.
To briefly explain this process, with the barrel submerged in water filled in a water tank to a depth of about a little less than half, first remove the barrel lid, open the barrel opening, and from this opening into the barrel Insert the parts and media to be plated. Thereafter, the lid is attached to the barrel, and the opening of the barrel is closed. Next, the barrel is pulled up from the water tank using a lift conveyor, transported, and the barrel is immersed in the plating bath. Here, the barrel is rotated for a predetermined time to perform barrel plating.
Thereafter, the barrel is pulled out of the plating bath, and the barrel is immersed in the water in the above-mentioned water tank by about half the depth. Here, the lid of the barrel is removed, and the opening of the barrel is opened. Next, the barrel is rotated so that the opening of the opened barrel faces downward, and the parts and the medium are ejected from the barrel. Thereafter, the barrel is rotated so that the opening is directed upward, the work is loaded into the barrel as described above, and the lid is attached. Thereafter, these steps are repeated.

Thus, in the barrel plating process,
When the parts and the media are stored in the barrel, and after the plating process, the parts and the media are discharged from the barrel, it is necessary to open and close the lid of the barrel. Conventionally, the opening and closing of the barrel lid has been manually performed on the water tank side where the barrel is transported by the lift conveyor. Therefore, a large amount of labor and time are required for discharging and inputting the work from the barrel, which is inefficient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems relating to opening and closing of a barrel lid in a conventional barrel plating apparatus.
An object of the present invention is to easily and automatically automate opening and closing operations by attaching and detaching a barrel lid, thereby enabling labor saving in a plating process, and thus enabling automation of a plating process.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a mark 4 provided on a lid 2 of a barrel 1 is provided.
A device that combines an image sensor 6 capable of imaging an image, a servo mechanism 5 that changes and corrects the angle of the barrel 1, and a handset 7 that can hold the lid 2 of the barrel 1, remove it from the barrel 1, and further attach it. Suggest. Using this device, first, the servo mechanism 5 changes and corrects the mark 4 on the lid 2 of the barrel 1 to a position where the mark 4 can be imaged by the image sensor 6. Thereby, the lid of the barrel 1 is arranged at a predetermined position. Lid 2 of barrel 1 arranged at a predetermined position
Is held by the handset 7, the lid 2 is removed from the barrel 1, and the opening of the barrel 1 is opened. After that, the barrel 1 is rotated by the servo mechanism 5 and the barrel 1 from which the lid 2 is removed.
The work is discharged from the barrel 1 with its opening facing downward.
Next, the barrel 1 is rotated by the servo mechanism 5 to return to the original position, and the work is put into the barrel 1. Next, using the handset 7, the lid 2 is attached to the barrel 1 again,
Close barrel 1.

That is, the barrel lid automatic opening / closing device according to the present invention captures an image of the mark 4 provided on the lid 2 that opens and closes a part of the side surface of the barrel 1, and confirms the position of the lid 2. And a servo mechanism 5 for rotating the barrel 1 to set the cover 2 in a predetermined direction so that the mark 4 of the cover 2 is imaged by the image pickup device 6, and is driven by an actuator. A handset 7 for gripping the handle 3 of the lid 2 at a predetermined position and opening and closing the lid 2.

A handle 3 that can be held by a handset 7 is provided on the lid 2 of the barrel 1.
The mark 4 imaged on the handle 3 is provided on the handle 3. The image sensor 6 and the handset 7 are attached adjacent to the slide / rotary unit 15 via the cylinder actuators 14 and 9. An actuator that drives the handset 7 includes a cylinder actuator 9 that moves the handset 7 forward and backward toward the lid 2,
A hand actuator 8 for opening and closing the handset 7.

In the barrel lid automatic opening / closing apparatus having such a configuration, the mark 4 provided on the lid 2 of the barrel 1 is sensed by imaging with the image sensor 6, and the image sensor 6 can detect the mark 4. Thus, the barrel 1 is rotated by the servo mechanism 5, and the cover 2 is turned to a predetermined position. The barrel 1 is held in a state where the lid 2 is arranged at a predetermined position, the lid 2 of the barrel 1 is gripped by the handset 7, the lid 2 is removed from the barrel 1, and the barrel 1 is opened. Next, the barrel 1 is rotated by the servo mechanism 5 and the opening of the barrel 1 from which the lid 2 has been removed is turned downward, thereby discharging the work and the medium from the barrel 1. Next, the barrel 1 is rotated by the servo mechanism 5, and the opening of the barrel 1 is returned to the original position. At that position, a new work is introduced through the opening of the barrel 1. Thereafter, the lid 2 is attached to the barrel 1 again using the handset 7, and the barrel 1 is closed. These series of operations can be performed automatically.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described specifically and in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a work discharge / loading station for discharging a work composed of a set of parts to be plated and a medium from the barrel 1 and charging the next work to the barrel 1. The barrel 1, which has been plated in a plating bath (not shown), is transported to this work discharge / loading station,
Here, the work in the barrel 1 is discharged, and after the next work is put into the barrel 1, the barrel 1 is sent to the plating bath again to perform plating.

The illustrated barrel 1 is a hexagonal cylinder-shaped basket made of a non-conductive material such as plastic, and has a closed end surface. Each of the six side faces has a non-conductive mesh shape. The shape of the barrel 1 may be a polygonal cylinder other than the hexagonal cylinder, a cylinder, or the like. This barrel 1
It is rotatably attached to the lower ends of a pair of suspension arms 27, 27 suspended from a horizontally held frame 21, and the center of rotation of the barrel 1 coincides with the center axis of the barrel 1. The central axis 1 of the barrel 1 is held horizontally. Depending on the type of the barrel 1, the rotation center of the barrel 1 and the central axis of the barrel 1 may be intentionally inclined or eccentric in order to increase the effect of stirring the work when the barrel 1 rotates.

A gear 12 is provided on one end face of the barrel 1 so that the center axis of the barrel 1 coincides with the center of rotation, and the other end face of the barrel 1 has a diameter substantially equal to that of the gear 12. A disc-shaped flange 29 is provided. A hanging arm 27 that pivotally supports one end surface of the barrel 1 is provided with two gears 23 and 28 that mesh with each other up and down, and a lower gear 28 meshes with the gear 12 attached to the end surface of the barrel 1. ing. The center of the upper gear 23 is
The center of a gear 26 is fixed to an end of the transmission shaft 22 that projects to the left in FIG. 1.

When the barrel 1 containing the work is conveyed to a plating bath (not shown), the gear 26 is connected to a rotating shaft of a driving motor (not shown) via a gear to transmit the rotation of the driving motor. This is for transmitting to the shaft 22. The rotation of the transmission shaft 22 is controlled by the gears 23, 28, 12
To the barrel 1, whereby the barrel 1 is rotated in the plating bath. The drive motor is located at a plating station where the barrel 1 is immersed in a plating bath to perform plating. 1 and 2, the gear 26 is separated from the gear of the drive motor and is in a free state.

Above the frame 21, a pair of hangers 1 is provided.
The hanger 10 is conveyed while being suspended on a lift conveyor (not shown), and is raised and lowered. The barrel 1 moves between a plating bathtub and a water bath 11 described later. It is immersed in the water tank 11. One side of the barrel 1 is open, and a lid 2 is detachably attached to the opening. The details of the attachment / detachment mechanism of the lid 2 are omitted, but the lid 2 is removed from the barrel 1 by moving the lid 2 to the left in FIG. 1 in parallel with the central axis of the barrel 1. The opening of the barrel 1 can be opened. Conversely, by moving the lid 2 from the position where the lid 1 is removed to the right in FIG. 1 in parallel with the center axis of the barrel 1,
Can be attached to the barrel 1 and the opening of the barrel 1 can be closed.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the lid 2 of the barrel 1 as viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. As shown in FIG.
The lid 2 of the barrel 1 is substantially net-like surrounded by a surrounding frame-like portion, and has a pair of handles 3 in the net-like portion. One handle 3 is provided with a mark 4 for detecting the position of the lid 2 with an image sensor 6 described later. The mark 4 does not necessarily need to be provided on the handle 3 and can be provided at any position where the image sensor 6 can easily take an image. As shown in FIG. 4, the handles 3, 3 have recesses 17, 17 facing outward.

The discharge of the work from the barrel 1 and the charging of the work into the barrel 1 are performed in water for the purpose of, for example, reducing the impact on the work. For this purpose, a water tank 11 is provided at the work discharge / load station shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and when discharging and charging the work, the barrel 1 is filled with water 25 whose lower half is filled in the water tank 11. Immersed in Below the barrel 1 immersed in the water 25 in the water tank 11, a hopper 24 for receiving and discharging the work discharged from the barrel 1 as described later is provided.

Further, on the surface of the water 25 in the water tank 11, a servo mechanism 5 comprising a servo motor 30 and a gear 13 rotated by the servo motor 30 is provided. The barrel 1 is transported to the work discharge / injection station shown in FIGS.
When immersed in the water 25 inside the gear 1, the gear 13 moves to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and meshes with the gear 12 provided on one end face of the barrel 1. The gear 13 is rotated by the driving of the servo motor 30, whereby the angle of the barrel 1 is drive-controlled. When raising and lowering barrel 1, gear 1
Numeral 2 moves to the left in FIG. 1, that is, backward in FIG. 2 to allow the gear 12 to move up and down.

An image sensor 6 such as a CCD camera for picking up an image of the mark 4 provided on one handle 3 of the lid 2 and recognizing the position of the lid 2 is arranged on the side of the water tank 11. Have been. The imaging device 6 is attached to a slide / rotary unit 15 via a cylinder actuator 14. The image sensor 6 is moved forward and backward by the cylinder actuator 14, and approaches or separates from the barrel 1.

The slide rotary unit 15 is provided with a cylinder actuator 9, a hand actuator 8 is attached to the tip of the cylinder actuator 9, and a pair of claw-shaped handsets 7 are attached to the hand actuator 8. . The handset 7 is moved forward and backward by the cylinder actuator 9,
Approaching or leaving barrel 1. Further, the handsets 7 approach and separate from each other by the hand actuator 8, and the pair of claw-shaped handsets 7 open and close.

Next, the operation of the barrel lid automatic opening / closing device having such a configuration will be described together with the procedure for opening and closing the lid 2 of the barrel 1. After storing the work made of the mixture of the plating material and the media in the barrel 1 described above, the barrel 1 is hung on a lift conveyor (not shown) via a hanger 10 and pulled up from the water tank 11 shown in FIGS. Can be Thereafter, the barrel 1 is transported to a plating bath (not shown) by a lift conveyor, and is immersed in the plating bath. In this plating bath, a rotation shaft of a drive motor (not shown) is connected via a gear 26, and the transmission shaft 22 is rotated by the rotation of the drive motor. This transmission shaft 2
The rotation of 2 is transmitted to the barrel 1 via the gears 23, 28 and 12, and the barrel 1 is rotated in the plating bath. Thereby, barrel plating of the mark is performed.

After the barrel plating is completed, the barrel 1 is again suspended from the plating bath by the lift conveyor (not shown) via the hanger 10. afterwards,
The barrel 1 is conveyed to a water tank 11 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by a lift conveyor, and as shown in FIGS.
Is immersed in water 25. In this state, the gear 26 is disconnected from the drive motor and is in a free state, but the gear motor 13 of the servo mechanism 5 meshes with the gear 12.

Subsequently, FIGS. 2, 5 (a) and 7 (a)
As shown in FIG.
4 to try to detect a mark 4 provided on one handle 3 of the lid 2. At this time, when the image sensor 6 cannot detect the mark 4, the servo motor 30 is driven, and the angle of the barrel 1 is changed and adjusted. This allows
When the image sensor 6 detects the mark 4 on the lid 2 of the barrel 1, the servomotor 30 stops, and the barrel 1 is held at that angle. When the position of the bulk 1 is corrected, the imaging element 6 is retracted by the cylinder actuator 14.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the slide rotary unit 15 rotates by 180.degree., Slides, and the handset 7 moves the barrel 1 with reference to the position where the mark 4 is detected by the image sensor 6. Is aligned with the handle 3 of the lid 2. In this state, handset 7
Is opened by the hand actuator 8. Subsequently, the handset 7 moves forward by the cylinder actuator 9 and moves to the position shown in FIG. In this state, the tip of the handset 7 is on both sides of the handle 3,
The claw at the tip is facing the recess 17 on the outside of the handle 3 as shown in FIG.

Subsequently, the handset 7 is moved inward by the hand actuator 8 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 5B, and the claw at the tip thereof is fitted into the concave portion 17 of the handle 3. Next, the two handsets 7 are moved upward in FIG. 5B together by the hand actuator 8, whereby the lid 2 is detached from the barrel 1, and FIG.
2, the lid 2 is removed from the barrel 1.

Next, the servo motor 30 rotates, whereby the opening of the barrel 1 faces downward as shown in FIG. 7C, and the work a is dropped into the water 25. The work a is collected by the hopper 24 in water. afterwards,
The servo motor 30 rotates, the barrel 1 is rotated, and the opening of the barrel 1 returns to the original direction as shown in FIG. Here, a new work a is introduced from the opening of the barrel 1 as shown by an arrow in FIG.

Thereafter, the handset 7 is advanced by the cylinder actuator 9 from the position shown in FIGS. 6A and 7D, and the lid 2 is moved as shown in FIGS. 6B and 7E. Is attached to the barrel 1. The order in which the lid 2 is attached to the barrel 1 is the reverse of the procedure for removing the lid 2 described above. After the lid 2 is applied to the opening of the barrel 1 at an upper position in FIG. In FIG. 6, slide down and lock. Next, the handset 7 is operated by the hand actuator 8.
Is opened, and the handset 7 is separated from the lid of the barrel 1 by the cylinder actuator 9.

Thereafter, the barrel 1 is hung by a lift conveyor (not shown) via a hanger 10 and lifted up from a water tank 11. Further, the barrel 1 is transported by a lift conveyor to a plating bath, immersed in a plating bath, and barrel plating is performed as described above. Hereinafter, while repeating this, the charging of the work into the barrel 1, the barrel plating thereof, and the discharging of the plated work from the barrel 1 are repeated.

In the above-mentioned barrel lid automatic opening / closing device, an image sensor 6 such as a CCD camera for detecting the mark 4 on the lid 2 of the barrel 1, a servo mechanism 5 for servo-controlling the barrel 1, and the lid 2 of the barrel 1 are provided. Since the opening / closing handset 7 is combined, the opening / closing of the lid 2 of the barrel 1 and the discharge of the work a from the barrel 1 can be automatically performed. Further, the loading of the barrel 1 is also automated by using a fixed amount hopper or the like, so that a series of operations of loading the workpiece into the barrel 1, plating the barrel, and discharging the plated workpiece from the barrel 1 are automatically performed. be able to. In the above example, barrel plating is described as an example. However, it is apparent that the present invention can be similarly applied to barrel processing steps such as barrel polishing other than plating.

[0029]

As described above, a series of operations such as charging of the work into the barrel 1 and plating of the barrel and discharging of the plated work from the barrel 1 can be automatically performed. Labor saving can be achieved in barrel processing such as plating. In particular, an imaging device 6 such as a CCD camera for detecting the mark 4 on the lid 2 of the barrel 1, a servo mechanism 5 for servo-controlling the barrel 1, and a handset 7 for opening and closing the lid 2 of the barrel 1 are combined. It is easy to automate the mounting and removal of the lid 2 from the change and adjustment of the direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a partially cutaway view showing a barrel work discharge / injection device provided with a barrel lid automatic opening / closing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional front view showing a work discharge / injection device of the barrel provided with the barrel lid automatic opening / closing device.

FIG. 3 is an arrow view of the barrel lid seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line CC and a line DD in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a main part arrow view showing a process of opening a lid of the barrel lid automatic opening / closing device as viewed from a direction of an arrow B in FIG. 2;

6 is a main part arrow view showing a process of closing a lid of the barrel lid automatic opening / closing device as viewed from the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a main part showing the process of removing the barrel lid, discharging the work from the barrel, inserting the barrel, and attaching the lid in the barrel work discharge / injection device provided with the barrel lid automatic opening / closing device according to the present invention. It is a vertical front view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Barrel 2 Lid 3 Handle 4 Mark 6 Image sensor 5 Servo mechanism 7 Handset 8 Hand actuator 9 Cylinder actuator 15 Slide / rotary unit a Work

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A device for automatically opening and closing a lid (2) which is opened and closed to discharge and load a work from a rotatably supported barrel (1), wherein a part of a side surface of the barrel (1) is opened and closed. An image sensor (6) for imaging the mark (4) provided on the lid (2) to be closed and confirming the position of the lid (2); A servo mechanism (5) for rotating the barrel (1) to set the lid (2) in a predetermined direction so that the mark (4) is imaged, and a servo mechanism (5) driven by the actuator, and An automatic opening and closing device for a barrel lid, comprising: a handset (7) for gripping a handle (3) of the lid (2) at a position and opening and closing the lid (2). 2. The automatic barrel lid opening and closing device according to claim 1, wherein a handle (3) that can be held by a handset (7) is provided on the lid (2) of the barrel (1). . 3. The barrel lid automatic as claimed in claim 2, wherein the mark (4) imaged by the image sensor (6) is provided on a handle (3) of the lid (2). Switchgear. 4. An imaging device (6) and a handset (7) are mounted adjacent to a slide rotary unit (15) via cylinder actuators (14) and (9). The barrel lid automatic opening / closing device according to claim 1. 5. An actuator for driving the handset (7) includes a cylinder actuator (9) for moving the handset (7) forward and backward toward the lid (2), and a hand actuator (8) for opening and closing the handset (7). )
The barrel lid automatic opening / closing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: