JP2001087975A - Method and device for supplying trays - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tray supplying device capable of transporting and supplying trays stored in stack in the condition of tight attachment one over another within a vessel fitted with a lid as corresponding to a short production line cycle. SOLUTION: A tray supplying method and device comprises a first exposing mechanism 12 to open a lid 4 upon locating a vessel 3 in the first position 9, push up trays 2 stacked one over another and expose a loaded tray storing works from the vessel 3, a second exposing mechanism 12a to open the lid 4 upon locating the vessel in the second position 14, stack empty trays at the level exposed from the vessel and collect, an indexing mechanism 16 capable of placing each tray in exchange between the access position 15a to an assembling robot 17 and a standby position 15 out of the range of access to the robot, and a transporting device 20 to forward each empty tray transferred from the access position 15a to the standby position 15 to the second position 14 therefrom and transport the loaded tray from the first position 9 to the standby position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tray feeding method and a feeding apparatus for sequentially feeding trays in which workpieces are stored in automatic component feeding to an assembling robot. The present invention relates to a tray supply method and a supply apparatus capable of supplying and transporting a tray.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the case of automatically assembling parts or the like that are not liable to be stained or damaged, the parts are arranged in an alignment container (hereinafter referred to as a tray) and stored in a container with a lid (hereinafter referred to as a container). It is a common practice to transport the product in a state where it has been removed, open the lid at a predetermined location on the device, take it out of the tray by a handling device such as a manipulator, and supply it to the assembly device side.

[0003] In many of these forms, as shown in FIG.
It is composed of an outer container 3 and an inner tray 2, and the outer container is made of a rigid material such as plastic and serves to protect from dirt and damage during distribution in and between factories,
Further, the opening of the container is covered with a lid for the purpose of preventing dust from adhering to the work. The inner tray serves to align and hold the components in the handling position. Usually, the inner tray is often formed by molding a resin-based material.

[0004] In supplying parts for mass production by automatic assembly, the number of trays used becomes enormous, and at the same time, the cost of logistics is large. In particular, when the object to be assembled is a large part, the number that can be stored in one tray tends to decrease. Therefore, there is a movement to increase the storage efficiency by stacking the trays in multiple layers in the outer container. In addition, in a supply in a short production cycle, there is a demand for a tray supply method that does not cause a waiting time due to tray replacement.

[0005] Conventionally, as a component supply apparatus having this distribution form, for example, the one described in Japanese Patent No. 2560997 is known. As shown in FIG. 6, the tray supply device receives a tray magazine for storing trays in multiple stages, and temporarily stores the tray magazine in an upper stage, and the supply height of the trays stored in multiple stages in the tray magazine. The elevator that adjusts to the time, the recovery stage of the empty tray (the tray after taking out the work) and the supply of the actual tray (the tray on which the work is loaded) are continuously supplied to the supply stage of the assembly robot by the two-stage lifter This is configured so that there is no difference in the replacement time due to the difference in the multi-stacking position in the tray magazine. The empty tray is stored in an empty shelf of the tray magazine, and the tray magazine filled with the empty tray is discharged to the lower conveyor.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned tray supply device of Japanese Patent No. 2560997, the tray magazine (container) as the outer container is constituted by a frame, and a shelf is set on the side of the frame. Each tray can be taken in and out from the side. The tray magazine (container) opened to the outside in this way is not suitable for supplying parts that dislike dust. And, as shown in FIG. 5, in a form in which trays are stacked in a state of being stuck up and down in multiple stages in a container having a lid for blocking dust, this method could not be applied to this supply method and apparatus.

[0007] In addition, the empty tray and the actual tray are exchanged as described above, the empty tray is pulled in, and after the lifter is indexed, the operation of pushing out the actual tray is a stand-by time of the assembling robot. This has been a problem on production lines where

[0008] Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to convert a tray, which is stacked in a container with a lid in a vertically stacked state in a multistage manner, into a short production line tact. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a device capable of carrying and supplying the same.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above-mentioned problems,
In order to achieve the above object, a tray supply method according to the present invention is provided in an access position where a tray containing a work is stored in a multi-tiered state and the tray is accessible to an assembly robot. A method of supplying a tray for supplying to a container, wherein the container is positioned at a first position, a lid is opened, a tray stacked in multiple stages is pushed up, and an actual tray containing a work is exposed from the container. Exposing the tray from the container in the exposing step to the standby position of the exchanging means which is capable of exchanging the tray between an access position with the assembly robot and a standby position outside the access range with the assembly robot. A transporting step of transporting the loaded actual tray, and the empty unit at the access position where the work has been taken out by the assembling robot by the exchange means. And an exchange step of exchanging the actual tray at the standby position, and the empty tray brought to the standby position in the exchange step is positioned at the second position and the container with the lid opened is opened. Transporting the empty tray to a position and stacking the empty tray at a height exposed from the container.

Further, in the tray supply method according to the present invention, the tray is characterized in that the tray has a concave portion which can be held by gripping means for gripping the tray.

Further, in the tray supply method according to the present invention, a hole is formed in the bottom surface of the container so that a lifter for pushing up the trays stacked and stored in the container in multiple stages can be inserted. And

Further, in the tray supply method according to the present invention, the exchange means has an index mechanism capable of indexing at least two positions of the access position and the standby position by a turning operation.

Further, the tray supply device according to the present invention supplies the tray from a container in which the trays storing the work are stored in a multi-tiered state to an access position where the tray can be accessed with an assembly robot. A tray supply device for positioning the container at a first position, opening a lid, pushing up a multi-stacked tray, and exposing an actual tray containing a work from the container. A first exposing means, a second exposing means for positioning the container at a second position, opening a lid, stacking and collecting empty trays at a height exposed from the containers, and An exchange tray that can be exchanged between an access position of the above and an standby position outside the access range of the assembly robot, and an empty tray brought from the access position to the standby position. Conveys from the standby position to the second position, the actual tray, is characterized by comprising conveying means for conveying said standby position from said first position.

Further, in the tray supply device according to the present invention, the tray is characterized in that the tray has a concave portion which can be held by gripping means for gripping the tray.

Further, in the tray supply device according to the present invention, a hole is formed in a bottom surface of the container so that a lifter for pushing up the trays stacked and stored in the container in a multi-stage can be entered. And

Further, in the tray supply device according to the present invention, the exchange means has an index mechanism capable of indexing at least two of the access position and the standby position by a turning operation.

[0017]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a first embodiment of a tray supply device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the tray used for the tray supply apparatus of a form, and its container.

1, 2 and 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a tray supply device, 2 denotes a tray, 2a denotes a concave portion provided in the tray, 2b denotes a work arranged and arranged on the tray, 3
Are containers for stacking the trays 2 in multiple stages and storing them inside;
a is a hole provided on the bottom surface of the container 3, and 4 is a lid for preventing dust from entering.

At the end of the tray supply device 1, a plurality of trays 2 stacked in a state of being stuck up and down in a multi-stage manner are housed in a container 3, and the containers 3 in a state of being covered with a lid 4 are stacked by a predetermined number of stages. In the stacked state, the end of the tray supply device 1 (FIG. 1)
(Inside, middle, right) is provided. In the lower stage, a discharge conveyor 6 for discharging the containers 3 in which the empty trays 2 from which the workpieces 2b have been taken out and stored in multiple layers inside the containers 3 are stacked in a predetermined number of stages is arranged. .

In front of the carry-in conveyor 5, there is a stepped portion 7
Are disposed, and the containers 3 stacked by a predetermined number of stages are separated one by one from the bottom. The lowermost container 3 thus separated by one stage is sent by a feed shifter 8 to an actual tray take-out portion 9 provided at the front. At this position, the side surface 3b of the container 3 is positioned and fixed in the container positioning portion 10 from the lateral direction.

Next, the lid 4 covering the container 3 is opened by suction means or the like of the lid removing portion 11 and the state is maintained. In this state, the tray push-up portion 12 below the actual tray removal portion 9 rises, and the hole 3a on the bottom of the container 3 is opened.
And comes into contact with the bottom bottom surface of the actual trays stacked in multiple stages. Then, the whole of the stacked real trays is
, And is lifted up to the take-out height that can be exchanged by the preset tray gripping portion 21 until the top of the stacked actual trays reaches.
The take-out height is detected by, for example, a transmission-type sensor 13 or the like that confirms arrival by interrupting an optical path by elevating the actual tray.

In front of the actual tray removal portion 9,
There is an empty tray collecting portion 14 for transporting and positioning the empty container 3 from which the actual tray has been taken out. Again container 3
Is fixed by positioning the side surface 3b from the lateral direction at the container positioning portion 10a. Then, the lid 4 covering the container 3 is opened by suction means or the like of the lid removing portion 11a and the state is maintained. In this state, the tray push-up portion 12a below the empty tray collection portion 14 rises and passes through the hole 3a on the bottom surface of the container 3. Then, the tray 3 is exposed from the container 3, rises to a collecting height that can be exchanged by the preset tray gripping portion 21, and stands by so that the empty tray to be collected can be loaded thereon.

The tray pushing-up portion 12a of the empty tray collecting portion 14 also has an elevator function for moving the containers 3 from the height of the carry-in conveyor 5 to the height of the discharge conveyor 6.

A positioning portion 15 for positioning the tray in order to sequentially supply the actual tray to the assembling robot 17 is provided in front of the empty tray collecting portion 14. The positioning portion 15 has two or more positions, and has a structure that can be replaced by indexing. In the present embodiment, for example, the tray can be supplied to the work take-out range of the assembly robot 17 by reciprocating by 180 ° in two divisions (two locations of 15 and 15a). This turning is performed by the turning index mechanism 16.

Next, the operation procedure of tray supply in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the automatic assembly production line, the conveyor 18
Work 2 is transferred to the pallet jig 19
In the operation of supplying b, the tray (the empty tray 2c located at the second positioning portion 15a) from which all the workpieces 2b have been taken out by the assembly robot 17 is positioned at the first positioning portion 15 by the turning index mechanism 16. The actual tray 2d is indexed and exchanged.

The empty tray 2c which has been replaced and has come out of the operating range of the assembly robot 17 is gripped by the tray gripping portion 21 provided in the tray transporting means 20, and is conveyed to the empty tray collecting portion 14. You. here,
The tray push-up portion 12a at the collection portion rises to a preset height and stands by. Place the empty tray 2c there. The empty tray 2 that has just been placed has its tray push-up portion 12a lowered to a height controlled by, for example, a transmission-type sensor 13 that checks the amount of lowering by penetrating an optical path that was interrupted by the lowering of the empty tray 2. Stop and prepare to stack the next empty tray.

Next, the tray transporting means 20 moves to the actual tray take-out portion 9 and removes the one concave portion 2a at the uppermost stage of the multi-stacked actual tray which has been raised by the tray push-up portion 12 to a preset height. , By the tray holding portion 21. Then, the actual tray 2 is transferred to the first positioning portion 15 which has become empty due to the collection of the empty tray 2c.
Transport and place d.

At the same time, the transmissive sensor 1 whose optical path has penetrated by taking out the uppermost real tray 2d of the multi-stack is taken out.
Based on the signal of 3, the tray push-up portion 12 raises the next actual tray 2d to a predetermined height to prepare for the next removal.

The above is the collection of the empty tray 2c and the actual tray 2d.
Since each of these steps is configured to be performed outside the operation range of the assembly robot 17, the supply of the work 2 by the assembly robot 17 to the automatic assembly production line can be performed without interruption.

This tray supply (collection of empty trays, removal of actual trays) process is repeated, and when all of the actual trays 2d stacked in the container 3 have been completely removed, the tray push-up portion 12a of the empty tray collection portion 14 The tray push-up portion 12 of the actual tray take-out portion 9 descends and exits from the hole 3a on the bottom surface of the container 3 and waits at the lower end position. Next, the lid 4 held open by the suction means or the like of the lid removing portion 11 and the lid removing portion 11a is closed in a closed manner with respect to the container 3 positioned together.

Thereafter, first, the containers 3 (in which the empty trays 2c are stacked) in the empty tray collecting portion 14 descend by the elevator and transfer to the discharge conveyor 6. Then, the sheet is discharged by the discharge conveyor 6. After the elevator is lifted, the container 3 (empty by the actual tray removal) that was in the actual tray removal portion 9 is shifted and the empty tray collection portion 1 is moved by a conveyor or the like.
After the positioning, the lid 4 is opened by the lid removing portion 11a after the positioning, and the collection of the next empty tray is awaited.

The container 3 containing the actual tray, which has been stepped at the stepped portion, is transported to the empty tray taking-out portion 9 where the container 3 has moved, and the lid 4 is moved by the cover removing portion 11 after positioning. It can be opened and waits for the next actual tray to be taken out.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a second embodiment of the tray supply device of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is the second embodiment. It is a figure which shows the tray used for the tray supply apparatus of a form, and its container.
In FIGS. 3 and 4, the same functional portions as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

3, 4 and 5, reference numeral 51 denotes a tray supply device, 2 denotes a tray, 2 a denotes a recess provided in the tray, 2 b denotes a work loaded in alignment with the tray and 3.
Are containers for stacking the trays 2 in multiple stages and storing them inside;
a is a hole provided on the bottom surface of the container 3, and 4 is a lid for preventing dust from entering.

At the end of the tray supply device 51, the trays 2 stacked in a state of being in close contact with each other in a multi-stage manner are housed inside the container 3, and the containers 3 in a state of being covered with the lid 4 are stacked by a predetermined number of stages. There is provided a carry-in conveyor 5 which carries in the stacked state from the end (right side in FIG. 3) of the tray supply device 51. In the lower stage, a discharge conveyor 6 for discharging the containers 3 in which the empty trays 2 from which the workpieces 2b have been taken out and stored in multiple layers inside the containers 3 are stacked in a predetermined number of stages is arranged. .

In front of the carry-in conveyor 5, there is a stepped portion 7
Are disposed, and the containers 3 stacked by a predetermined number of stages are separated one by one from the bottom. The lowermost container 3 thus separated by one stage is sent by a feed shifter 8 to an actual tray take-out portion 59 provided at the front. At this position, the side surface 3b of the container 3 is positioned and fixed in the container positioning portion 10 from the lateral direction.

Next, the lid 4 covering the container 3 is opened by suction means or the like of the lid removing portion 11 and the state is maintained. In this state, the tray push-up portion 52 below the actual tray take-out portion 59 rises, passes through the hole 3a on the bottom surface of the container 3, and comes into contact with the bottom bottom surface of the multi-stacked actual trays. The height at which the entire stacked actual trays are exposed from the container 3, that is, here, the tray transport means 20
The concave portion 2a of the tray is gripped by the tray gripping portion 62 provided at the bottom, and the entire actual tray is raised to a grippable height in order to transfer the entire tray to the actual tray placing portion 60. The height that can be gripped is, for example, a transmission type sensor 5 that confirms arrival by interrupting the optical path by raising the actual tray.
3 and so on.

The tray push-up portion 52 of the actual tray take-out portion 59 also has an elevator function of moving the container 3 from the level of the carry-in conveyor 5 to the level of the discharge conveyor 6.

In front of the actual tray take-out portion 59, there is provided an actual tray placing portion 60 which can transfer and position the entire stacked actual trays. The transfer operation is performed by the tray gripping portion 62 provided on the tray transporting means 20 by the concave portion 2 of the lowermost tray of the actual tray.
This is performed by gripping a and gripping the entire actual tray.

Further, the whole of the stacked actual trays is
When the transfer from the actual tray removal portion 59 to the actual tray placement portion 60 is performed, the tray push-up portion 52 below the actual tray removal portion 59 rises and passes through the hole 3a on the bottom surface of the container 3 and rises. Then, the tray is raised to a collection height that can be exchanged by the preset tray gripping portion 62, and stands by so that the empty tray to be collected can be loaded thereon.

A positioning portion 15 for positioning the tray for sequentially supplying the actual tray to the assembly robot 17 is provided in front of the actual tray placing portion 60. The positioning portion 15 has two or more positions, and has a structure that can be replaced by indexing. In the present embodiment, for example, the tray can be supplied to the work take-out range of the assembly robot 17 by reciprocating by 180 ° in two divisions (two locations of 15 and 15a). This turning is performed by the turning index mechanism 16.

Next, the operation procedure of tray supply in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the automatic assembly production line, the conveyor 18
Work 2 is transferred to the pallet jig 19
In the operation of supplying b, the tray (the empty tray 2c located at the second positioning portion 15a) from which all the workpieces 2b have been taken out by the assembly robot 17 is positioned at the first positioning portion 15 by the turning index mechanism 16. The actual tray 2d is indexed and exchanged.

The empty tray 2c which has been replaced and has come out of the operation range of the assembling robot 17 is gripped in the recess 2a of the tray by the tray gripping portion 62 provided in the tray transporting means 20, and is transported to the actual tray removal portion 59. You. Here, the tray push-up portion 52 at the collection portion rises to a preset height and stands by. There empty tray 2c
Put. The empty tray 2 that has just been placed has its tray push-up portion 52 lowered to a height controlled by, for example, a transmission-type sensor 13 that confirms the amount of lowering when the light path that was interrupted by the lowering of the empty tray 2 penetrates. Stop and prepare to stack the next empty tray.

Next, the tray transporting means 20 moves to the actual tray placing section 60, and grips the uppermost one concave portion 2a of the multi-stacked actual tray by the tray gripping portion 62 provided in the tray transporting means 20. . And empty tray 2
The actual tray 2d is transported and placed on the first positioning portion 15 which has become empty due to the collection of c.

At this time, for example, a sensor 64 capable of detecting the height of the stacked actual trays is provided in the tray gripping portion 62, and the height of the stacked trays can be confirmed during the lowering operation of the tray conveying means 20. It has been like that. As a result, it is possible to hold one of the uppermost sheets of the multi-stacked actual tray.

The above is the collection of the empty tray 2c and the actual tray 2d.
Since each of these steps can be performed outside the operation range of the assembly robot 17, each step can be performed without interrupting the supply of the work 2 by the assembly robot 17 to the automatic assembly production line. Can be performed. This tray supply (collection of empty trays, removal of actual trays) process is repeated, and all the actual trays 2d stacked on the actual tray placing portion 60 are removed, and from the end of emptying from the first positioning portion 15, When the second empty tray is collected in the actual tray take-out portion 59, the tray push-up portion 52 of the actual tray take-out portion 59 descends, comes out of the hole 3a on the bottom surface of the container 3, and waits at the lower end position.

Next, the lid 4 held open by the suction means or the like of the lid removing portion 11 is closed in a closed shape with respect to the positioned container 3. Thereafter, the containers 3 (the empty trays 2c are stacked) in the actual tray take-out portion 59 are lowered by the elevator and transferred to the discharge conveyor 6. After the elevator is lifted, the containers 3 containing the actual trays that have been displaced by the step disperser 7 are conveyed to the empty tray removal portion 59 where the containers 3 have moved and are vacated. After that, the lid 4 is opened by the lid removing portion 11, and the entire multi-stacked actual tray stored in the container 3 is transferred to the actual tray placing portion 60, and waits for the empty tray to be collected.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, in the tray supply device when performing automatic assembly, the trays stacked in the container in a vertically stacked state in a multi-stage manner are pushed up from the container. By exposing the tray to separate and supply it, and providing two or more tray positioning parts, the tray can be replaced even during the removal of the work by the assembly robot. Supply becomes possible.

Further, a hole is provided in the bottom surface of the container so that the tray can be pushed up, and a concave portion is provided on the side surface of the tray. It becomes possible to supply.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to transport and supply trays that are stacked and stored in a container with a lid in a vertically stacked state in a state corresponding to a short production line tact.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a tray supply device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a tray supply device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a container and a tray used in the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a conventional tray supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 tray supply device 2 tray 2a recess provided in tray 2b work 2c empty tray 2d real tray 3 container 3a hole provided in bottom surface 4 lid 5 carry-in conveyor 6 discharge conveyor 7 stepped part 8 feed shifter 9 actual tray take-out part Reference Signs List 10 Container positioning portion (actual tray removal portion) 10a Container positioning portion (empty tray collection portion) 11 Lid removal portion 12 Tray push-up portion 13 Actual tray removal height sensor 14 Empty tray collection portion 15 First positioning portion 15a Second Positioning part 16 Rotating index mechanism 17 Assembly robot 18 Conveyor 19 Pallet jig 20 Tray conveying means 21 Tray gripping part 51 Tray supply device 52 Tray push-up part 53 Transmissive sensor for confirming arrival 59 Actual tray take-out part 60 Actual tray Sensor capable of detecting a sensor 64 of the actual tray height of transmissive type to ensure portion 62 tray gripping portion 63 lowering amount can

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A tray supply method for supplying, from a container in which trays each containing a work are stored in a multi-tiered state and stored therein to an access position where the tray can be accessed with an assembly robot, An exposing step of positioning the container at the first position, opening a lid, pushing up a multi-stacked tray, and exposing an actual tray containing a work from the container; and A transporting step of transporting the actual tray exposed from the container in the exposing step to the standby position of the exchanging means that can be exchanged between an access position of the container and a standby position outside the access range of the assembly robot; An empty tray at the access position where the work has been taken out by the assembling robot by the exchange means,
An exchange step of exchanging the actual tray at the standby position, and transporting the empty tray brought to the standby position in the exchange step to a position of a container with a lid opened and positioned at a second position. And collecting the empty tray at a height exposed from the container. 2. The tray supply method according to claim 1, wherein the tray has a concave portion that can be held by gripping means for gripping the tray. 3. The tray according to claim 1, wherein the bottom surface of the container is formed with a hole into which a lifter for pushing up a tray stacked and stored in the container in multiple stages can be inserted. Supply method. 4. The tray supply method according to claim 1, wherein the exchange means has an index mechanism capable of indexing at least two of the access position and the standby position by a turning operation. 5. A tray supply device for supplying, from among containers in which trays accommodating work are accommodated in a multi-tiered state and accommodated therein, the trays to an access position accessible to an assembly robot. A first exposing means for positioning the container at the first position, opening a lid, pushing up a multi-stacked tray, and exposing an actual tray containing a work from the container; and Position 2 at the position, open the lid, and stack and collect empty trays at the height exposed from the container.
Exposing means; and exchanging means capable of exchanging the tray between an access position with the assembling robot and a standby position outside the access range with the assembling robot; and an empty space brought from the access position to the standby position. A tray supply device, comprising: transport means for transporting the tray from the standby position to the second position and transporting the actual tray from the first position to the standby position. 6. The tray supply device according to claim 5, wherein the tray has a concave portion that can be held by a gripping unit that grips the tray. 7. The tray according to claim 5, wherein the bottom surface of the container is formed with a hole through which a lifter for pushing up a tray stacked and stored in the container in a multi-stage can enter. Feeding device. 8. The tray supply device according to claim 5, wherein the exchange means has an index mechanism capable of indexing at least two of the access position and the standby position by a turning operation.