JP2001129738A - Device and method for positioning work - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a work positioning device capable of accurately adjusting a position of a work. SOLUTION: This work positioning device for determining relative positions in the X-direction of a first work 10 and a second work 11 by mounting the second work 11 on an upper surface of the first work 10, and moving the second work in the X-direction relatively to the first work, comprised a first energizing member for energizing the second work 11 on the first work 10, a contact member 28 kept into contact with one side surface orthogonal to the X-direction of the second work 11, a second energizing member 63 kept into contact with the other side surface orthogonal to the X direction of the second work for energizing the second work toward the contact member 28, and a motor 21 for moving the contact member 28 in the energizing direction by the second energizing member 63 by a predetermined distance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work positioning device and a work positioning method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of positioning two works relative to each other, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-57984, a work is clamped by a cylinder, and the clamped cylinder moves right and left. There is known a method of adjusting the position of a work by using the method.

[0003]

However, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-57984, the work is clamped by the cylinder as described above.
Since the position is adjusted by moving the cylinder to the left and right, the position is adjusted in a state where the work is inclined, and there is a problem that the position cannot be accurately adjusted.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a work positioning apparatus and a work positioning method capable of accurately adjusting the position of a work.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above-mentioned problems,
In order to achieve the object, a work positioning apparatus according to the present invention includes a second work placed on an upper surface of a first work, and the second work is moved with respect to the first work in an X direction. A work positioning device for positioning the first work and the second work relative to each other in the X direction, wherein the second work is placed on the first work. A first urging means for urging the second work, an abutting member abutting on one side surface of the second work orthogonal to the X direction, and the other side surface of the second work orthogonal to the X direction. And a second urging unit that urges the second work toward the abutting member, and moves the abutting member by a predetermined amount in a biasing direction of the second urging unit. And moving means.

Further, in the work positioning apparatus according to the present invention, the moving means moves the abutting member at a resolution of a micron unit.

In the work positioning apparatus according to the present invention, the second biasing means is constituted by an air cylinder.

Further, in the work positioning device according to the present invention, the drive shaft of the air cylinder is supported by an air bearing.

Further, in the work positioning apparatus according to the present invention, the first work is a heater board of an ink jet head, and the second work is a top plate member of the ink jet head. .

In the method for positioning a work according to the present invention, the second work is placed on the upper surface of the first work,
A work positioning method for moving the second work relative to the first work in the X direction and positioning the first work and the second work relative to each other in the X direction. A first urging step of urging the second work on the first work, and abutting a member against one side surface of the second work orthogonal to the X direction. An abutting step, and a second urging step of urging the second work toward the abutting member by bringing an urging member into contact with the other side surface of the second work orthogonal to the X direction. And a moving step of moving the abutting member by a predetermined amount in a biasing direction by the biasing member.

Further, in the work positioning method according to the present invention, in the moving step, the abutting member is moved at a resolution of a micron unit.

Further, in the work positioning method according to the present invention, the biasing member is driven by an air cylinder.

Further, in the work positioning method according to the present invention, the drive shaft of the air cylinder is supported by an air bearing.

In the method of positioning a work according to the present invention, the first work is a heater board of an ink jet head, and the second work is a top plate member of the ink jet head. .

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to one step of manufacturing an ink jet head of an ink jet printer will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the structure of the ink jet cartridge of the ink jet printer is shown in FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is an external view of an ink jet cartridge.

In FIG. 1, an ink jet cartridge 1 includes an ink tank 2 and a head nozzle 3.

Next, the structure of the head nozzle 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the head nozzle, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the head nozzle.

In the figure, the head nozzle 3 has the XY shown in FIG.
Is located in the Z coordinate space, and has a base plate 10;
A heater board 15 previously fixed at a predetermined position on the base plate 10;
A top plate work 11 positioned above by a positioning device described later, and a discharge port 13 (13) integrally attached to the front surface of the top plate work 11 and corresponding to each ink flow path.
a to 13e). The top plate work 11 is mainly composed of engineering plastic, and has a partition wall for dividing a plurality of ink flow paths (not shown) therein and a common liquid chamber for distributing ink to each ink flow path. A cylindrical ink receiving port 14 for supplying ink to the common liquid chamber is provided at the upper part. Further, the heater board 15 is provided with ink heaters 16 (16a to 16e).

FIG. 4 is a side view of the head nozzle, and FIG. 5 is a rear view of the head nozzle.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the heater board 15 fixed on the base plate 10 fits into the inner surface of the top plate work 11, the position in the Y and Z directions is determined by the contact portion 17. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the top plate work 11 has ribs at both ends in the X-axis direction.

FIG. 6 is a detailed structural view of the back surface of the head nozzle.

In the figure, a distance X1 from the end of the heater board 15 in the -X direction to the heater 16e for heating the ink,
The distance X2 from the inner wall surface of the rib of the top plate work 11 to the groove serving as the ink flow path and the center of the ink discharge port 13e is:
Measure in advance.

Positioning, which is one of the steps of manufacturing an ink jet head to which the present invention is applied, is performed after the heater board 15 fixed on the base plate 10 is fitted on the inner surface of the top plate work 11 and then the heater board 15 and the top plate The positioning for fixing the work 11 at a predetermined position is performed by moving the end of the top work 11 in the −X direction while pushing it in the + X direction by the positioning device. Hereinafter, a part for performing the positioning is regarded as a positioning device, and the configuration and operation of the device will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, the configuration of the positioning device is shown in FIGS.
0 will be described.

FIG. 7 is an external view of the positioning device.

In FIG. 7, it is assumed that the base plate 10 is fixed in advance on a gantry 31 of a positioning device by an actuator 35. 21 is a stepping motor,
Reference numeral 22 denotes a feed screw for transmitting the rotation of the stepping motor 21, and the lateral pushing unit 23 on the stage 30 can move in the ± X direction with a resolution of, for example, about 0.1 μm by the rotation of the feed screw 22. A member 27 is fixed on the horizontal pushing unit 23 and has a butting rod 28. Further, when the top plate work 11 is put on the heater board 15, it is assumed that the abutting rod 28 is on standby at a position away from the top plate work 11.

The shaft 62 arranged opposite to the butting rod 28 is supported by an air bearing 61 so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction in the figure. A push pin 63 is fixed to a tip of the shaft 62. Air bearing 61
At the rear, an air cylinder 65 having an air cylinder shaft 67 is fixed on the gantry 31 by a mounting member 66. For example, an air bearing or the like is used for a sliding portion between the main body of the air cylinder 65 and the air cylinder shaft 67,
The sliding resistance of the shaft is reduced.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an example of the air cylinder 65. As shown in FIG.

The shaft 67 can obtain a propulsion force by the air pressure input from the air passage 68. The shaft 67 is supported by a highly porous air pad 70 and floats from the air pad 70 by air sent from the air passage 69, so that the sliding resistance of the shaft 67 is extremely small. The shaft 62 obtains a thrust from the shaft 67 and is moved in the minus direction of the X axis. The shaft 62 is moved by the cylinder 75 in the plus direction of the X axis. Thereby, the shaft 62
Can move freely in the left-right direction in FIG.

When the shaft 62 moves to the left, the push pin 63 separates from the top plate work 11, and when the shaft 62 moves to the right, the push pin 63 contacts the work 11,
The thrust of the shaft 67 is transmitted to the work 11 as it is.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the structure of the pressing mechanism of the positioning device.

In the figure, reference numeral 33 designates the top plate work 11 from above (+
Reference numeral 34 denotes a spring property of pressing the top plate work 11 from the front (in the + Y direction) or a self-weighting front holding mechanism. The upper holding mechanism 33 and the front holding mechanism 34
It is arranged symmetrically at both ends on the front side and the top side of the top plate work 11 and is driven independently. The upper pressing mechanism 33 and the front pressing mechanism 34 always press the top plate work 11 with a constant force during the operation of the above-described lateral pressing unit 23.

With the above configuration, the top plate work 11 can be moved only in the lateral direction (X direction) by the lateral pushing unit 23.

Next, the electrical configuration of the positioning device will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the positioning device.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 41 denotes a computer or a sequencer for controlling the entire apparatus. 42
Is a monitor for displaying the status of the device and the control status. Reference numeral 44 denotes a stepping motor driver for operating the stepping motor 21. Reference numeral 45 denotes an I / O board for controlling the solenoid valve 48. The solenoid valve 48
Controlled by the I / O board 45, the cylinders 65 and 75
And so on.

Next, the flow of the positioning process of the positioning device will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state of the positioning operation, and FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the positioning process.

In step S1, the striking rod 28 is moved by driving the
Contact 1

In step S2, the cylinder 75 is moved rightward in FIG. 7 and the push pin 63 is moved leftward (rightward in FIG. 11) in FIG. .

In step S3, the amount by which the work 11 is moved is measured. Here, for example, it is assumed to be moved by 50 μm leftward in FIG. 11 (rightward in FIG. 7).

In step S4, the butting rod 28 is moved by the amount determined in step S3 (for example, 50 μm leftward in FIG. 11). At this time, the top plate work 11
Since the urging force F to the left in FIG. 11 is exerted by the push pin 63, the top plate work 11 is pushed by the push pin 63 and follows the movement of the butting rod 28 to the left. While moving to the left by 50 μm.

Here, in the conventional spring method, the work is
When moving by μm, the thrust applied to the work may change due to the contraction or extension of the spring. Further, when the spring is repeatedly expanded and contracted many times, the spring constant changes over time, the thrust applied to the work changes, the deformation amount of the work changes, and the positioning accuracy becomes irregular.

In step S5, the cylinder 75 is moved to the left in FIG. 7, and the push pin 63 is retracted from the top plate work 11.

Then, in step S6, the stepping motor 21 is rotated in the reverse direction to return the butting rod 28 to a predetermined position, so that the butting rod 28 and the top plate work 11 are completely separated from each other, and the positioning is completed. .

With the above configuration and operation, the top plate work 1
1 and the heater board 15 can be positioned with high accuracy.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Two workpieces can be positioned with high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an ink jet cartridge.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a head nozzle.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a head nozzle.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a head nozzle.

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the head nozzle.

FIG. 6 is a detailed structural view of a back surface of a head nozzle.

FIG. 7 is an external view of a positioning device.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing an example of an air cylinder.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the structure of a pressing mechanism of the positioning device.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a positioning device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state of a positioning operation.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a positioning process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink cartridge 2 Ink tank 3 Head nozzle 10 Base plate 11 Top plate work 12 Orifice plate 13 Discharge port (13a-13e) 14 Ink port 15 Heater board 16 Heater for ink heating (16a-16e) 17 Contact part 21 Stepping motor 22 Sending Screw 23 side pushing unit 27 member 28 butting rod 30 stage 31 gantry 33 upper holding mechanism 34 front holding mechanism 35 base plate fixing actuator 41 computer or sequencer 42 monitor 44 stepping motor driver 45 I / O board 48 solenoid valve 63 push pin

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A second work is placed on an upper surface of a first work, and the second work is placed on the first work with respect to the first work.
Relative to the first workpiece and the second workpiece.
A work positioning device for positioning the relative position of the work in the X direction, wherein a first urging unit for urging the second work on the first work; An abutting member that abuts on one side surface of the second work orthogonal to the X direction; and an abutment member that abuts on the other side surface of the second work orthogonal to the X direction and directs the second work toward the abutting member. A second urging means for urging the workpiece, and a moving means for moving the abutting member by a predetermined amount in a direction of urging by the second urging means. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving unit moves the abutting member at a resolution of a micron unit. 3. The work positioning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second urging means comprises an air cylinder. 4. The air cylinder according to claim 3, wherein the drive shaft of the air cylinder is supported by an air bearing.
3. The work positioning device according to claim 1. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first work is a heater board of an inkjet head, and the second work is a top plate member of the inkjet head. . 6. A second work is placed on an upper surface of a first work, and the second work is moved with respect to the first work by X.
Relative to the first workpiece and the second workpiece.
A work positioning method for positioning the relative position of the work in the X direction, wherein a first work is biased on the first work.
And a butting step of bringing a butting member into contact with one side surface of the second work orthogonal to the X direction, and a biasing process of the other side surface of the second work orthogonal to the X direction. A second urging step of bringing the member into contact and urging the second work toward the abutting member; and moving the abutting member by a predetermined amount in the urging direction of the urging member. And a step of positioning the work. 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, in the moving step, the abutting member is moved at a resolution of a micron unit. 8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the urging member is driven by an air cylinder. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the drive shaft of the air cylinder is supported by an air bearing. 10. The first work is a heater board of an ink jet head, and the second work is
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the workpiece is a top plate member of an inkjet head.