JP2000343337A - Parts feeder not requiring air supply - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air generating device capable of generating air without connection to any air compressor for saving the energy or enhancing the working environment. SOLUTION: An air generating device 30 is composed of a base 31, an air cylinder 32 supported on the base 31, and a motor 34 whereto a piston rod 33 of the air cylinder 32 is coupled. The motor 34 is arranged in the direction perpendicularly intersecting the air cylinder 32, and a rotary disc 37 is mounted on a drive shaft 34a. A coupling arm 36 attached to the tip of the piston rod 33 is borne in a position eccentric from the center shaft of the rotary disc 37, and the rod 33 is reciprocated by the disc 37 rotating. Air pipings are connected to the head part and the tip part of the air generating cylinder 32, and the air is fed to other air apparatus with the movement of the piston rod 33.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air generator improved for energy saving and a parts feeder which does not require air supply and which incorporates the air generator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, equipment used in factories is provided with many devices driven by air, and in factories, air compressors for supplying air to each device are installed. There are many pipes for air equipment. For example, a conventional welding machine that welds parts such as bolts and nuts to a workpiece is configured as a parts welding system 50 in which a parts feeder body 55 is integrally mounted on a stationary welding machine 51 as shown in FIG. I was In the parts welding system 50, a supply head 56 for supplying parts onto a lower electrode 53 of a stationary welding machine 51 is mounted on a side of the welding machine 51, and the supply head 5 is provided.
In 6, the parts are sequentially fed by the supply chute 57 from the parts feeder main body 55. The upper electrode 52 of the welding machine 51 is moved up and down by an air cylinder 54, and the supply head 56 is driven by air through various air control devices 58. In a factory where a large number of these welding machines 51 are arranged, a plurality of air compressors are required, enormous power is consumed to operate the compressors, and air piping and air equipment in the factory become complicated. It was plumbed. Moreover, the sound emitted from the air compressor and the air equipment turned into noise, leading to the deterioration of the working environment.

[0003]

In recent years, electric stationary welding machines have been introduced to solve the above-mentioned problems, that is, energy saving as a single welding machine, mitigation of pressurized impact during welding, and noise reduction. Attempts have been made to do so. However, even in this electric stationary welding machine, the parts feeder body integrally mounted with the welding machine is driven using air as a driving source, so that the energy saving effect of the entire system cannot be achieved. In addition, large-scale construction of air pipes for the entire factory was required. However, it is difficult to realize the electric parts feeder main body because the cost of the parts feeder main body itself needs to be significantly increased to be electrically operated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and does not lead to a significant increase in cost. It is possible to achieve energy saving and improve the working environment, and an air supply device equipped with the air generation device. The purpose is to provide an unnecessary parts feeder.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a part feeder which does not require air supply according to the present invention is configured as follows. That is, for supplying parts to a processing device, the air supply unnecessary parts feeder is provided with a supply head mounted on the processing device, a parts feeder main body for supplying parts to the supply head, An air generating device that supplies air to a supply head, wherein the air generating device includes an air cylinder and an electric motor connected to a piston rod of the air cylinder, and is driven by the electric motor. A piston rod is reciprocated to supply air to the supply head.

The air generator of the present invention has an air cylinder, a piston rod reciprocating in the air cylinder, and an electric motor connected to the piston rod, and a driving shaft of the electric motor. A connection member connected to the piston rod is mounted, and the rotation of the connection member causes the piston rod to reciprocate, and the air cylinder has an air pipe connected to another air device with the movement of the piston rod. Are connected.

In the above-mentioned air generating apparatus, the connecting member may be connected to the piston rod at a position eccentric to the rotation center position of the drive shaft.

Preferably, in the air generator, a sensor for detecting an original position of the air cylinder is provided near the air cylinder.

Furthermore, it is more preferable that the air cylinder is provided with an air intake mechanism for taking in the atmosphere when the amount of air in the air cylinder decreases.

[0010] Further, the air cylinder may further be provided with an air discharge mechanism for preventing generation of high pressure in the air cylinder.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall view of a resistance welding machine (hereinafter, referred to as a welding machine) M.
Has an upper electrode 3 disposed at the front (left side in FIG. 1) of the welding machine main body 1 and vertically moved by an air cylinder 2 and a lower electrode 4 disposed opposite to the upper electrode 3. A supply head 10 mounted on one side of the main body 1 and supplying parts onto the lower electrode 4, and a part disposed on the rear (right side in FIG. 1) of the main body 1 and supplied to the supply head 10 via a supply hose 21. A parts feeder main body (hereinafter referred to as a feeder main body) 20 for sequentially feeding, and an air generating device 30 disposed at a lower rear portion of the main body 1 for driving the supply head 10.
And a parts feeder F having the following.

The supply head 10 may be a conventionally known one. For example, a supply head cylinder 11 as shown in FIG. Nut N sequentially fed from supply hose 21
May be adsorbed by the magnetic adsorption coil 14 and supplied to the lower electrode 4. Supply head cylinder 11
Are two air pipes 41 from the air generator 30,
The supply rod 12 is connected by 43, and the supply rod 12 is driven by supplying air to one of the pipes 41 and 43.

The feeder main body 20 is mounted on a support bracket 5 mounted on the rear portion of the welding machine main body 1, and sequentially feeds the nuts N inserted into the feeder main body 20 to the upper portion of the feeder main body 20 by vibration. The feed is made to flow into a supply hose 21 that is piped so as to gradually descend from the upper part of the feeder body 20 toward the supply head 10.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the air generating device 30 is connected to a base 31, an air generating cylinder 32 supported by the base 31, and a piston rod 33 reciprocating in the air generating cylinder 32. And an electric motor 34 that is driven by a command from the control device.

The air generating cylinder 32 has an inner volume larger than that of the supply head cylinder 11, and swings by being pivotally attached to a cylinder bracket 35 fixed to the base 31 at a rear end (left side in FIG. 3). The connecting arm 36 is movably attached to the distal end (right side in FIG. 3) of the piston rod 33 so as to be adjustable in position relative to the piston rod 33. On the other hand, the electric motor 34 is supported by the base 31 so as to be orthogonal to the longitudinal direction in front of the air generating cylinder 32, and a disk-shaped rotating plate 37 is mounted on the drive shaft 34a. A shaft 38 orthogonal to the rotating plate 37 is attached to one end of the rotating plate 37, and the connecting arm 36 is connected to a tip of the shaft 38 via a bearing 39. Since the shaft 38 is at a position eccentric with respect to the center of rotation of the rotating plate 37, the rotating plate 3 is driven by the electric motor 34.
When the shaft 7 rotates, the pivot of the connecting arm 36 rotates about the drive shaft 34a of the electric motor 34, and the piston rod 33 advances and retreats to reciprocate in the air generating cylinder 32. At this time, the air generating cylinder 32 is provided with a cylinder bracket 35 at the rear.
Is pivoted about the shaft portion 40.

The air generating cylinder 32 of the air generating device 30 and the supply head cylinder 11 of the supply head 10
Piping is performed as shown in FIG. In other words, the pipe 41 connected to the port on the rod side (progressing side of the piston rod 33) of the air generation cylinder 32 is connected to the port on the head side (return side of the supply rod 12) of the supply head cylinder 11, and The pipe 43 connected to the port on the head side (return side of the piston rod 33) is connected to the rod side of the supply head cylinder 11 (the side on which the supply rod 12 advances).
Connected to the port.

Further, a relief valve 42 is attached near the tip of the air generating cylinder 32 from a pipe 41, and a relief valve 44 is attached near the head side of the air generating cylinder 32 and is branched from a pipe 43. ing.

Accordingly, when the piston rod 33 of the air generating cylinder 32 advances by rotating the rotating plate 37 by the electric motor 34, the air on the rod side of the air generating cylinder 32 is supplied to the head side of the supply head cylinder 11. Therefore, the supply rod 12 of the supply head cylinder 11 moves forward, and the nuts sequentially fed from the feeder body 20 are mounted one by one on the lower electrode 4 of the welding machine body 1. Conversely, when the piston rod 33 of the air generating cylinder 32 retreats, the air on the head side of the air generating cylinder 32 is supplied to the rod side of the supply head cylinder 11, and the supply rod 12 of the supply head cylinder 11 is retracted to its original position. Return to However, when the air supplied to the supply head suddenly increases, air is discharged from one of the relief valves 42 or 44, and when the air in the air generating cylinder 32 decreases, the air passes through the relief valve 42 or 44 from the atmosphere. Is replenished.

Further, an L-shaped sensor dog 45 bent from the rod side surface to the side surface is attached to the air generating cylinder 32, and a cylinder original position supported on the base 31 at the side of the air generating cylinder 32 is confirmed. A sensor 46 is provided. Cylinder home position confirmation sensor 4
6 confirms the position of the sensor dog 45 when the piston rod 33 is retracted to the original position,
Can start moving forward.

Further, the air generating cylinder 32 has a rear end sensor 4 for confirming a rear end stop position of the piston rod 33.
7 and a front end sensor 48 for checking the front end stop position of the piston rod 33.

Next, the operation of the welding machine M and the parts feeder F configured as described above will be described mainly with reference to FIGS.

By operating a start button of a control device (not shown) mounted on the welding machine M, the electric motor 34 is started every cycle. The electric motor 34 is started in a state where the cylinder original position confirmation sensor 46 detects the sensor dog 45 and is turned ON (the position where the piston rod 33 is retracted as shown in FIG. 3).
4 is driven, and the rotating plate 37 starts rotating clockwise as shown in FIG. The shaft 38 connecting the rotating plate 37 and the connecting arm 36 rotates around the rotation center of the rotating plate 37, and the piston rod 33 of the air generating cylinder 32 is operated so as to draw a sine curve by a crank motion during one rotation. .

As described above, as the piston rod 33 advances, the supply head cylinder 11 of the supply head 10 connected to the air generating cylinder 32 and the air pipe advances the supply rod 12. At this timing, since the piston rod 33 operates so as to draw a sine curve, the supply rod 12 moves forward with a slight delay from the movement of the piston rod 33. At this time, since the air generating cylinder 32 has a larger internal volume than the supply head cylinder 11, the supply rod 12 reaches the most advanced position P2 before the piston rod 33 reaches the most advanced position P1. Similarly, when the piston rod 33 retreats, the supply rod 12 starts to retreat after a delay after the piston rod 33 retreats from the most advanced position P1.

Therefore, the supply rod 12 is moved to the most advanced position P2.
Has the stop time S at the position. This stop time S is determined by the time between the air generating cylinder 32 and the supply head cylinder 1.
It can be set freely according to the degree of comparison of the size of the internal volume with the value of 1. That is, the stop time S can be set longer as the comparison of the size of the internal volume becomes larger, and conversely, the stop time S can be set shorter as the comparison becomes smaller. During the stop time of the supply rod 12, since the movement of the piston rod 33 is in progress, the air in the air generating cylinder 32 is compressed and rapidly rises. In this case, as described above, the air is discharged into the atmosphere by the relief valve 42, and when the air in the air generating cylinder 32 decreases, the air is replenished from the relief valve 42. Therefore, by adjusting the set pressure of the relief valve, the operation capability of the supply head 10 can be increased.

On the other hand, at the same time when the start signal is turned on, the magnetic attraction coil 14 of the supply head 10 is excited so that the supply rod 12 is connected to the nut N supplied to the tip of the outer cylinder 13.
And is moved to the lower electrode 4 side. Supply rod 12
Slightly before stopping at the most advanced position, the magnetic attraction coil 14 of the supply head 10 is de-energized, and the nut N is attached to the lower electrode 4. When the stop time S ends, a supply completion signal is output, and the supply rod 12 retreats with the retraction of the piston rod 33.

The rear end position of the piston rod 33 is detected by a rear end sensor 47. When the rear end position sensor 47 is turned on, the start signal is turned off. The stop position of the piston rod 33 is set when the electric motor 34 is not equipped with a brake function,
In consideration of the fact that the piston rod 33 is compressed by the inertia force 3, as shown in FIG. 7, it is detected slightly before the rearmost position of the operating stroke of the piston rod 33. The front end position of the piston rod 33 is also detected by the front end sensor 48 slightly before the front end position of the operating stroke of the piston rod 33. Then, if either the cylinder original position confirmation sensor 46 or the rear end sensor 47 is in the ON state, the next cycle can be started.

As described above, the air generator 30 for operating the supply head 10 can generate air without connecting to an air compressor. The configuration of the air generating device 30 is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the electric motor 34 and the piston rod 33
May be formed not in a disk shape but in an arm shape, and instead of the rotation plate 37 connecting the drive shaft 34a and the piston rod 33 at an eccentric position,
A configuration in which the rotation of the drive shaft 34a moves linearly, for example, a mechanism using a rack and a pinion may be adopted. Further, the mounting position of the cylinder original position confirmation sensor 46 may be any position as long as the rear end position of the piston rod 33 can be confirmed.

Further, the air generator 30 is not limited to be mounted on the parts feeder F or the welding machine M, but may be mounted on other equipment.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the parts feeder which does not need air supply is for supplying parts to the processing apparatus, and the parts feeder which does not need air supply is provided with a supply head mounted on the processing apparatus. A parts feeder body for supplying parts to the supply head, and an air generator for supplying air to the supply head, wherein the air generator is connected to an air cylinder and a piston rod of the air cylinder. And an electric motor. The driving of the electric motor causes the piston rod to reciprocate and supply air to the supply head. The supply head supplies the parts supplied from the parts feeder main body to the processing apparatus by air supplied from the air generator.
Since the air generator drives an air cylinder by an electric motor, it is not necessary to use a conventional air compressor as an air source. Therefore, particularly in a factory that uses a large number of parts feeder bodies, welding machines, and other processing devices, the power consumption of the compressor can be extremely reduced, energy saving can be achieved, and the energy generated from the compressor can be achieved. Noise or vibration can be reduced. In addition, pneumatic equipment such as a regulator, a solenoid valve, and a filter can be eliminated, so that the construction of an externally connected air pipe can be eliminated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an air generator includes an air cylinder, a piston rod reciprocating in the air cylinder, and an electric motor connected to the piston rod. On the drive shaft,
A connection member connected to the piston rod is mounted, and the rotation of the connection member causes the piston rod to reciprocate, and the air cylinder has an air pipe connected to another air device with the movement of the piston rod. Is connected. Therefore, if the air cylinder is connected to the air actuator via the air pipe, it is not necessary to connect the drive of the piston rod to the air compressor, and air can be generated. Therefore, in a factory that uses a large number of air devices, the power consumption of an air drive source, for example, a compressor can be extremely reduced, energy can be saved, and noise or vibration generated from the compressor can be reduced. It is possible to do. In addition, pneumatic equipment such as a regulator, a solenoid valve, and a filter can be eliminated, so that the construction of an externally connected air pipe can be eliminated.

In the air generating apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the connecting member is connected to the piston rod at a position eccentric to the rotational center position of the drive shaft, the piston rod operates by a crank motion. It can be connected to the piston rod with a simple and easy configuration.

Further, in the air generating apparatus according to the present invention, a sensor for detecting the original position of the air cylinder is provided near the air cylinder. Therefore,
By confirming the original position of the air cylinder, the air generator can be restarted, and malfunction of the device can be prevented.

Further, in the air generating device according to the invention of claim 5, the air cylinder is provided with an air intake mechanism for taking in the atmosphere when the amount of air in the air cylinder decreases. Therefore, it is not necessary to connect to an air compressor installed in a factory, for example, as in the related art, and the air pressure in the air cylinder can be maintained.

Further, in the air generating device according to the invention of claim 6, the air cylinder is provided with an air discharging mechanism for preventing generation of high pressure in the air cylinder. Therefore, the air pressure in the air cylinder can be maintained at the set pressure, and, for example, the actuator connected to the air cylinder can be normally operated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing a resistance welding machine equipped with a parts feeder according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of a supply head in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an embodiment of the air generator in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a simplified air circuit diagram of the supply head and the air generator in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the parts feeder in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a simplified diagram showing a stroke of an air cylinder and a sensor sensing position in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a simplified general view showing a conventional stationary welding machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 M: resistance welding machine F: parts feeder 1: welding machine body 10: supply head 11: supply head cylinder 12: supply rod 20: feeder body 21: supply hose 30: air generator 32 ... air generation cylinder 33: piston rod 34 ... Electric motor 36 ... Connecting arm 37 ... Rotating plate 41,43 ... Piping 42,44 ... Relief valve 45 ... Sensor dog 46 ... Cylinder original position confirmation sensor 47 ... Rear end sensor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shinji Koda 5-2-22-2 Kanayama, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Prefecture Inside Yajima Industries Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshihiko 5-1-2 Kanayama, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi No. 22 Yajima Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Chikawa 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation (72) Inventor Kaneaki Nakamura 5-2-2 Kanayama, Naka-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture No. Yajima Giken Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinji Toda 5-2-2, Kanayama, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi F-term inside Yajima Giken Co., Ltd. 3C030 AA00 AA05 BD01 4E065 CA06

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A parts feeder that does not require air supply for supplying parts to a processing apparatus, wherein the parts feeder that does not need air supply feeds parts to the supply head mounted on the processing apparatus and the supply head. A part feeder main body, and an air generator for supplying air to the supply head, wherein the air generator includes an air cylinder and an electric motor connected to a piston rod of the air cylinder. A part feeder that does not require air supply, wherein a piston rod reciprocates by driving the electric motor so that air can be supplied to the supply head. 2. An air cylinder, a piston rod reciprocating in the air cylinder, and an electric motor connected to the piston rod, wherein a connection connected to the piston rod is connected to a drive shaft of the electric motor. A member is mounted, the piston rod reciprocates by the rotation of the connecting member, and an air pipe connected to another air device is connected to the air cylinder along with the movement of the piston rod. Characteristic air generator. 3. The air generator according to claim 2, wherein the connecting member is connected to the piston rod at a position eccentric to a rotation center position of the drive shaft. 4. The air generator according to claim 2, wherein a sensor for detecting an original position of the air cylinder is provided near the air cylinder. 5. The air generator according to claim 2, wherein the air cylinder is provided with an air intake mechanism that takes in the atmosphere when the amount of air in the air cylinder decreases. 6. The air generator according to claim 2, wherein the air cylinder is provided with an air discharge mechanism for preventing generation of a high pressure in the air cylinder.