JP2001269887A - Holder and pallet conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To hold a work on a pallet without providing a pallet coupling shape on the work, without preparing the pallet for each type of the work, and without arranging a suction hose like on a vacuum chuck. SOLUTION: The work W is mounted on a suction pad 2 with a piston 5 thrust by an operation lever 8, then the operation lever 8 is released to return the piston 5 with a spring 7, and the air pressure in a cylinder chamber 3 is reduced to suck the work W to the pallet 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a holder for articles and a pallet transfer device, and more particularly to a holder such as a pallet for sucking and holding an article such as a work and a pallet transfer device for transferring the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an article such as a work is attached to and fixed to a holder and transported, or a work is processed, a guide hole of the article is fitted into a guide pin protruding from the holder. 2. Description of the Related Art An article is held by holding a holder with a holding mechanism such as a collet or the like, holding an article with an adhesive or an adhesive, and adsorbing by magnetism or vacuum.

[0003] Holding by guide pins requires that a guide hole for mounting be provided on an article such as a work.
The complexity of the shape of the article increases the cost, and
In some cases, the product was not preferable in terms of aesthetic appearance and function.

[0004] Holding by the gripping mechanism requires that the shape of the gripping portion of the gripping mechanism be adjusted to the shape of the article, and a gripping force is applied to the article, making it unsuitable for articles having low rigidity.

[0005] Holding with a pressure-sensitive adhesive or an adhesive requires an operation of removing the pressure-sensitive adhesive or the adhesive after use, and there is a possibility that the article or the holder may be damaged when peeled off.

[0006] Holding by magnetic attraction has a problem that the article is limited to a magnetic substance and magnetism remains in the article.

[0007] Holding by vacuum suction is preferable because it is not necessary to form the article in a special shape for holding or to prepare a holder for each type of article according to the shape of the article. A hose is required, and the holding tool used while being conveyed like a pallet impedes the conveyance of the holder, so that practical use was impossible.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and provides a suction type holder and a pallet transfer device which do not require a suction hose.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a holder according to the present invention includes a suction pad for sucking an article, a self-expandable telescopic chamber having one side communicating with the suction pad, and By providing an external opening that opens to the outside so that the self-expandable telescopic chamber can be pressed and compressed from the outside, the self-expandable telescopic chamber can be pressed and compressed from the outside,
The article is attached and detached by releasing the pressure and self-expanding, so that a suction hose is not required.

Further, in the pallet of the present invention, a suction pad for sucking a work, a cylinder chamber having one side communicating with the suction pad and the other side communicating with an external opening, and a slidable, elastic cylinder. The piston is urged toward the external opening by the body, and the piston is pushed from the outside, or the pushing is released and returned by the elastic force of the elastic body, and the suction pad of the cylinder chamber is released. The work volume was increased and decreased, and the work was attached and detached, eliminating the need for a suction hose.

In the pallet transfer device of the present invention, a suction pad for sucking a work, a cylinder chamber having one side communicating with the suction pad and the other side communicating with an external opening, and a cylinder chamber slidable in the cylinder chamber, A pallet having a piston urged toward the outer opening side by an elastic body, a work mounting station for mounting a work on the pallet, and a work removal station for removing a work mounted on the pallet; Actuating rods which are inserted into the openings and push the piston against the elastic force of the elastic body are provided.

[0012] With this configuration, at the work mounting station, the operating rod that has previously pushed the piston is removed, and the elastic force of the elastic body allows the side to communicate with the suction pad of the cylinder chamber.
That is, the volume of the self-expanding telescopic chamber is increased to adsorb the work, and at the work removal station, the operating rod provided at this station pushes the piston, thereby reducing the volume of the self-expanding telescopic chamber to reduce the negative pressure. Since the work is released and the work is released, the pallet transfer device has no suction hose.

In the present invention, the "self-expandable telescopic room"
Means a chamber whose internal volume expands on its own when no external force is applied, and whose internal volume is reduced when an external force is applied. For example, the inside of the cylinder chamber 3 in which the piston return spring 7 of FIG. 1 is built and the inside of the diaphragm 33 of FIG. 5 are self-expandable telescopic chambers.

[0014] The term "holding tool" means a tool for fixing and holding an article such as a work or luggage when carrying or processing the article. For example, the work transfer and processing pallet 1 in FIG. 1 and the work transfer chuck 31 in FIG. 5 are holders.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the holder of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a pallet (holding tool), 2 is a suction pad, 3 is a cylinder chamber, and 4 is a working cylinder.

The suction pad 2 is made of a soft plastic, has a bellows shape (not shown) so as to be easily deformed up and down, and is arranged slightly protruding from an article mounting surface (work mounting surface) 1a of the pallet 1. When the base 2b is fixed to the pallet 1 and pressed from above, the suction pad 2 can be displaced until the suction surface 2a of the suction pad 2 becomes flush with the article mounting surface 1a. The suction surface 2a has a smooth surface to prevent air leakage.

The cylinder chamber 3 is formed in the pallet 1, and a piston 5 is slidably inserted into the cylinder chamber 3. The left side of the piston 5 of the cylinder chamber 3 (in the figure) is The self-expandable telescopic chamber 3 a communicates with the central hole 2 c of the suction pad 2, and the right side communicates with the external opening 6.

The left inner wall surface of the cylinder chamber 3 and the piston 5
Between them, a piston return spring (elastic body) 7 is elastically mounted, and urges the piston 5 toward the external opening 6. This urging force causes the self-expandable telescopic chamber 3a to be self-expanding.

5a is a piston 5 / cylinder chamber 3
Packing 9 for maintaining confidentiality between, 9 is a cushioning rubber plate attached to the end face of the piston 5, 10 is a cushioning rubber plate attached to the end face of the piston rod 5 b of the piston 5,
Reference numeral 11 denotes a collar for stopping the piston 5 which moves rightward by the biasing force of the piston return spring 7;
A retaining ring that is fitted into the external opening 6 and locks the collar 11.

The operating cylinder 4 is disposed outside (to the right of) the external opening 6, and its piston rod serves as the operating rod 8. The operating rod 8 penetrates the external opening 6 and pushes the piston 5 against the urging force of the piston return spring 7 to press and compress the self-expandable telescopic chamber 3a from outside.

Next, the operation of attaching and detaching the work of the pallet 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

[Workpiece mounting] (a1) First, the piston 5 of the pallet 1 is arranged to face the working cylinder 4, and the working cylinder 4 is operated.
As a result, the operating rod 8 penetrates the external opening 6, pushes the piston 5 against the urging force of the piston return spring 7, and presses and compresses the self-expandable telescopic chamber 3a from the outside, so that the self-expandable telescopic chamber 3a is pressed. Is minimized (FIG. 3 (a1)).

(A2) Next, a work W, in this embodiment, a film circuit board, is placed on the article mounting surface 1a of the pallet 1. At this time, the suction surface 2a of the suction pad 2 slightly protrudes from the article mounting surface 1a, and the film circuit board W is lightweight.
The film circuit board W is in contact with the suction surface 2a and slightly floats from the article mounting surface 1a (FIG. 3 (a2)).

(A3) The film circuit board W has the suction surface 2
The working cylinder 4 operates in the reverse direction in a state in which it comes into contact with a. As a result, the operating rod 8 returns, the piston 5 moves toward the external opening 6 by the urging force of the piston return spring 7, and the volume of the self-expandable telescopic chamber 3a increases. In this process, the air in the suction pad 2 whose suction surface 2a is closed by the film circuit board W is sucked, and the film circuit board W is sucked to the suction pad 2. Since the suction surface of the film circuit board W is smooth, it is in close contact with the suction surface 2a, and no air leakage occurs. Furthermore,
The suction pad 2 is deformed by the negative pressure of the self-expandable telescopic chamber 3a and the suction pad 2, and the suction surface 2a is displaced until it becomes flush with the article mounting surface 1a. 1a (FIG. 3 (a)
3)).

The position and posture of the film circuit board W in the plane (FIG. 2) with respect to the pallet 1 are adjusted in advance. The film circuit board W is correctly fixed.

Since a suction hose or the like is not connected to the pallet 1, the film circuit board W can be freely transported while being fixed at a predetermined position. Since the work is fixed by suction, if the surface to which the work is sucked is smooth, it can handle works of various shapes.
Workpieces can be handled without special pallet fixing guide holes. Because the strong adsorption power lasts for several hours,
Even if there is no suction by a hose, a sufficient suction maintenance time can be secured for ordinary pallet transfer processing or the like.

[Work release] After the predetermined work is completed,
To release the work from the pallet:

(B) The piston 5 of the pallet 1 is again arranged to face the working cylinder 4, and the working cylinder 4 is operated. Thereby, the operating rod 8 penetrates the external opening 6,
The piston 5 is pressed against the urging force of the piston return spring 7, and the self-expandable telescopic chamber 3a is pressed and compressed from the outside to reduce the volume of the self-expandable telescopic chamber 3a. The pressure inside the pad 2 is increased.
As a result, the suction force of the suction pad 2 is lost, the deformation of the suction pad 2 returns, the suction surface 2a rises above the article mounting surface 1a, and the film circuit board W is released (FIG. 3).
(B)).

[Pallet Conveying Apparatus] Next, FIGS.
With reference to FIG. 4, a description will be given of a transport device of an assembly line of a film circuit board W using the pallet 1 described in the above.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 21 denotes a work mounting station, 22 denotes a work removal station, and 23-1 to 23-2.
Reference numeral 3-10 denotes an assembling station for performing assembling, cleaning, inspection and the like, and reference numeral 24 denotes a transport conveyor for sequentially transporting the pallets 1, 1,.

(1) Work supply and mounting at the work mounting station One of the unprocessed film circuit boards W, W, 上 の on the tray 25 is placed on one pallet 1 positioned and fixed at the work mounting station 21. Transfer at a predetermined position and posture. This transfer is performed by the robot 26.

The work mounting station 21 is provided with the working cylinder 4 and the working rod 8 so as to face the piston 5 of the pallet 1.
The work mounting operation (a3) is performed, and the film circuit board W transferred by the robot 26 is mounted on the pallet 1.

Pallet 1 on which film circuit board W is mounted
Is conveyed counterclockwise in FIG. 4 by the conveyor 24, and subjected to various processes such as assembling of other parts at the assembling stations 23-1 to 23-10.

(2) Work Removal and Ejection at Work Removal Station The work removal station 22 also has another working cylinder 4 and working rod 8. When the pallet 1 after the assembling process is positioned and fixed at the work removal station 22, the piston 5 of the pallet 1 faces the working cylinder 4. Then, the work release operation of the above (b) is performed, and the film circuit board W that has been assembled is taken out by the work take-out / discharge device 27.
Emitted out of line.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the holder of the present invention.

The suction pad 2 is arranged on the chuck (holding tool) 31 so as to slightly protrude from the article mounting surface 31a. The suction pad 2 has the same material and shape as the suction pad in FIGS. 1 and 2, and has a base 2 b fixed to the chuck 31 and a suction surface 2 a connected to the article mounting surface 31.
It can be displaced until it becomes the same plane as a.

Further, a diaphragm (elastic body) 33 having a strong elastic force is provided in the chuck 31, one side of which is connected to the suction pad 2 to form a self-expandable telescopic chamber 33a, and the other side is formed. The self-expandable expansion / contraction chamber 33a is closed and faces the external opening 36 of the chuck 31, so that the self-expandable telescopic chamber 33a can be pressed and compressed from outside. In order to give the diaphragm 33 a sufficient elastic force, for example, the coil spring may be wrapped with a rubber material to form the diaphragm, or the coil spring may be built in the self-expandable telescopic chamber 33a.

Therefore, similarly to the pallet 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the chuck 31 shown in FIG. 5 can be pressed and compressed from the outside by an operating rod or the like, and a work having a smooth surface to be sucked can be attached and detached. Since the chuck 31 does not include a hose or the like, it is particularly suitable for a chuck that moves over a long stroke.

In the above-described embodiment, the holder has one set of the suction pad and the self-expandable telescopic chamber. However, the holder of the present invention has two or more sets of the suction pad and the self-expandable type. A telescopic chamber may be provided, or two or more sets of suction pads may be connected to one self-expanding telescopic chamber. Further, the axial direction of the suction pad and the direction of expansion and contraction of the self-expandable expansion and contraction chamber are not limited to being orthogonal to those in the embodiment, and may be arranged in parallel or in any other direction according to the purpose of use.

[0042]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, there is no need to provide guide holes in articles or to prepare holding tools such as pallets for each type of article.
Articles of various shapes can be conveyed or processed while holding, holding and holding various shapes of articles without holding a hose for air suction such as a normal vacuum chuck.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view illustrating a process of attaching and detaching a work of the pallet of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a pallet transport device for the pallet of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pallet (holding tool) 1a Article mounting surface (work mounting surface) 2 Suction pad 2a Suction surface 3 Cylinder chamber 3a Self-expandable telescopic chamber 5 Piston 6 External opening 7 Piston return spring (elastic body) 8 Operating rod 21 Work mounting station 22 Work removal station 24 Conveyor 31 Chuck (holding tool) 31a Article mounting surface 33 Diaphragm (elastic body) 33a Self-expandable telescopic chamber 36 External opening

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A suction pad for adsorbing an article, a self-expandable telescopic chamber having one side communicating with the suction pad, and an external opening opened to the outside so that the self-expandable telescopic chamber can be pressed and compressed from the outside. A holding tool comprising: 2. A suction pad for sucking a workpiece, a cylinder chamber having one side communicating with the suction pad and the other side communicating with an external opening, and a slidable interior of the cylinder chamber. A pallet, comprising: a piston to be biased. 3. A suction pad for sucking a work, a cylinder chamber having one side communicating with the suction pad and the other side communicating with an external opening, and a cylinder chamber slidable in the cylinder chamber. A pallet having a piston to be urged, a work mounting station for mounting a work on the pallet, and a work removal station for removing a work mounted on the pallet, are inserted into the external opening of the pallet to form an elastic body. A pallet transport device comprising an operating rod for pushing a piston against an elastic force.