JP2002068461A - Device for separately supplying rod material with head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for separately supplying rod materials with heads, offering simple construction permitting a separating plate being intermittently rotated to be kept positioned with high precision. SOLUTION: The device comprises a hopper 3 for reserving a number of rod materials with the heads, a separating plate 9 rotatably provided at the bottom of the hopper 3 at a preset angle to a horizontal, having a plurality of through-holes 9b fittable with the rod materials with the heads, equally arranged in the outer periphery thereof, and a suction hole 5a for sucking an air from the through-holes 9b of the separating plate 9. The separating plate 9 is intermittently rotated by intermittent engagement of an index gear 15 to be rotated with the drive of a synchronous motor 18 with a rotation transmitting gear 13 to be rotated together with the separating plate 9. When the rotation transmitting gear 13 does not engage the index gear 15, a positioning cam 14 engages an index cam 16 for positioning and holding operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating and supplying a headed bar, such as a small screw, which is difficult to feed air using a feeding hose.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a headed bar such as a screw is supplied to a working device such as an automatic screwing machine, a feeder and a working device are connected by a feed hose, and the feed hose is used. A method has been adopted in which screws separated and supplied by a feeder are fed by compressed air. However, it is very difficult to air-feed rods with short heads, which have shorter legs than head diameters, and rods with micro heads such as micro screws used in precision equipment such as portable equipment and cameras. In view of this, a headed bar separation and supply device (hereinafter simply referred to as a separation and supply device) disclosed in JP-A-5-58433 has been provided.

[0003] The separation and supply device is provided with a hopper capable of storing a large number of headed rods, and is provided in the hopper so as to be rotatable at a predetermined angle from horizontal and rotatable, and the headed rods can be fitted to the outer periphery. A separation plate in which a plurality of through holes are arranged equally,
An air suction unit that sucks air from the through-hole of the separation plate to suck a bar with a head into the through-hole, and a pulse motor as a rotation drive source for intermittently rotating the separation plate at every pitch of the through-hole. Have. In this separation supply device, the separation plate rotates intermittently in response to the driving of the pulse motor, whereby the through holes are sequentially rotated to a predetermined take-out position and temporarily stopped. At the take-out position, a sensor is provided to detect whether or not a screw is held in the through-hole. When this sensor detects that there is a screw in the through-hole, an automatic screw tightener or the like is activated. The screw is taken out from the through hole at the take-out position.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional separation and supply device, a pulse motor is used as a rotation drive source for rotating the separation plate. Accordingly, the rotation angle of the separation plate is determined by the output pulse of the pulse motor, and the separation plate can be intermittently rotated every pitch of the through hole. However, if a pulse motor is used as in the past, if the number of pulses counted up to that point is not stored, for example, when the power of the separation supply device is turned off at the end of work, the separation plate will be used at the next power-on. The intermittent rotation stop position shifts, and the through hole cannot be stopped at a predetermined position. For this reason, for example, it is necessary to provide a memory circuit for storing the number of pulses at the time of completion of the previous work in a controller of the pulse motor, etc., and to set a program for determining the origin of the separation plate from the number of pulses stored in this memory circuit. In addition, the control elements required for motor control become extremely complicated, and there have been problems such as an increase in the cost of pulse motor equipment including these controllers and the like.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a hopper portion capable of storing a large number of headed bars, and a bottom portion of the hopper portion which is inclined at a predetermined angle from horizontal. A separation plate provided rotatably so as to be rotatable and having an outer peripheral portion into which a plurality of through-holes into which a headed bar can be fitted, and an air suction unit that sucks air from the through-hole of the separation plate. A toothed rotating member rotatable integrally with the separation plate, rotatable by being driven by a rotation drive source, and intermittently meshable with the toothed rotating member. And a positioning means for keeping the separating plate from rotating when the toothed rotating member and the intermittent meshing member are not meshed with each other.

Preferably, the positioning means comprises a positioning cam rotatable integrally with the toothed rotary member and an index cam engageable with the positioning cam.
The positioning cam and the indexing cam may be configured to be engaged at the time when the toothed rotary member and the intermittent meshing member are disengaged, and to be disengaged at the time when they start meshing. preferable.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6,
1 is a separation and supply device for a bar with a head (hereinafter referred to as a separation and supply device 1).
And a hopper portion 3 capable of storing a large number of small screws 2 which is an example of a rod with a head that is difficult to feed air. The hopper section 3 includes a pedestal section 5 attached to a base 4 and a cylindrical bucket section 6 attached to the pedestal section 5 at a predetermined angle. The upper open end face of the bucket portion 6 has a horizontal surface 6a and a vertical surface 6a.
b, so that the area of the opening is increased to facilitate the screw insertion and the visibility inside the bucket 6 is enhanced.

The pedestal 5 of the hopper 3 has a bearing 7
The main shaft 8 rotatably supported by is inserted through,
At one end of the main shaft 8, a separation plate 9 disposed on the upper surface side of the pedestal portion 5, that is, a position corresponding to the bottom portion of the hopper portion 3.
Are connected so as to rotate together. A ring plate 10 made of resin is interposed between the separation plate 9 and the pedestal portion 5 in order to improve the air suction confidentiality described later. Further, the separation plate 9 and the main shaft 8 are connected to the wing bolt T
The separation plate 9 can be easily removed and replaced.

The separation plate 9 has a disk shape with a chamfered portion 9a provided on the circumference thereof.
A through hole 9b extending in a direction perpendicular to the chamfered portion 9a and penetrating the separation plate 9;
A plurality of agitating pins 9c, which are placed so that the heads protrude upward, are alternately arranged at equal intervals at a predetermined pitch. The through holes 9b have a diameter that allows the legs (screw portions) of the screws to be inserted and the head not to enter.
When it moves to the highest position with the rotation of, it turns to the vertical direction. That is, the angle of the chamfer is set as such. In the present separation supply device 1, the highest position of the separation plate 9 is set to the screw take-out position. Also, the stirring pins 9c ...
As shown in FIG. 4, the head protruding above the chamfered portion 9a has a curved surface shape.

At a position corresponding to the lower portion of the separation plate 9 in the pedestal portion 5, a suction hole 5a to which a suction hose (not shown) extending from an air suction device (not shown) can be connected.
A communication hole 10a is formed in the ring plate 10 so as to communicate with the suction hole 5a. As shown in FIG. 3, the communication hole 10a is provided on the separation plate 9 indicated by an arrow Y2 with respect to the vertical center line L1 of the separation plate.
Are formed in a circular arc shape symmetrical with respect to an inclined center line L2 inclined by a predetermined angle θ in the rotation direction of the above, so that air can be sucked from the through holes 9b communicating with the communication holes.

A suction hose 11, which is different from the above-mentioned suction hose and extends from an air suction device (not shown), is connected to a position corresponding to the screw take-out position (highest position) of the separation plate 9 in the pedestal portion 5. The ring plate 10 is provided with a communication hole 10b for communicating the through hole 9b at the take-out position with the suction hole 5b. Further, a vacuum switch 12 is provided on the suction hose 11 connected to the suction hole 5b,
A configuration in which a pressure change in an air suction path from the through hole 9b of the separation plate 9 to the vacuum switch 12 via the communication hole 10b, the suction hole 5b, and the suction hose 11 is detected, and the air insertion state can be confirmed. Have been. In the present separation and supply device 1, the communication hole 10b, the suction hole 5b, the suction hose 11, and the vacuum switch 12 constitute a vacuum detector in the claims.

On the other hand, a rotation transmission gear 13 which is an example of a toothed rotating member and a positioning cam 14 are attached to the other end of the main shaft 8 so as to rotate integrally therewith. Is rotatably supported by a bracket 4a attached to a lower portion of the base 4.

As shown in FIG. 5, the rotation transmission gear 13
Is a gear in which a predetermined number of teeth are formed on a circumferential portion, and an index gear 15 which is an example of an intermittent meshing member is configured to intermittently mesh with the rotation transmitting gear 13. Also,
The positioning cam 14 is a sprocket-shaped cam member in which a plurality of arc-shaped notches 14a... Of a predetermined radius are continuously provided on a circumferential portion of a disk. It is configured to engage with.

The index gear 15 and the index cam 16 are fixed to a drive shaft 17 which extends in parallel with the main shaft 8 and is rotatably disposed. The drive shaft 17 rotates with the rotation of the drive shaft 17. It is configured. The index gear 15 is a gear of a special shape in which a tooth portion 15a that can mesh with the teeth of the rotation transmission gear 13 is formed only in a predetermined range of a circumferential portion. It is cut so as not to interfere with the gear 13 (see FIG. 5). Rotation transmission gear 13
Rotates only while meshing with the tooth portion 15a of the indexing gear 15 while the indexing gear 15 makes one rotation, and the separation plate 9 receives the rotation only for one pitch of the through hole 9b. . That is, the formation range of the tooth portion 15a of the index gear 15 is designed in accordance with the pitch of the through holes 9b of the separation plate 9. The indexing gear 15 has a meshing relationship with the rotation transmitting gear 13 at a timing when the through holes 9b of the separation plate 9 sequentially stop at the take-out position at each intermittent rotation.
Its mounting position has been adjusted.

The indexing cam 16 has an engaging circumferential portion 1 having the same radius as the arc-shaped notch 14a of the positioning cam 14.
6a, and a portion other than the engagement circumferential portion 16a has a diameter that does not interfere with the positioning cam 14 (see FIG. 5). When the index gear 15 starts to mesh with the rotation transmission gear 13, the engaging cam 16 separates from the arc-shaped notch 14 a of the positioning cam 14 so that the index gear 15 and the rotation transmission gear 13 The positional relationship with the indexing gear 15 and the like is adjusted so that the engagement circumferential portion 16a engages along the arc-shaped notch 14a when the meshing is released.

The drive shaft 17 includes an output shaft 18a of a synchronous motor 18 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a motor 18) mounted on the bracket 4a and transmission gears 19a, 19b.
And is configured to rotate by receiving the drive of the motor 18. The drive shaft 17 is provided with a dog 20 provided with a projection 20 a projecting in the circumferential direction of the drive shaft 17.
The base 4 is provided with a sensor 21 so that the protrusion 20a can be detected. This sensor 21 and dog 20
The sensor 21 detects when the separation plate 9 has been intermittently rotated by the action of the index gear 15 and the rotation transmission gear 13.
The attachment positions of both are adjusted so that the projection 20a of the dog 20 is detected and turned on.

In the separation and supply device having the above-described structure, when the motor 18 is driven, the drive shaft 17 rotates, and the index gear 15, the index cam 16 and the dog 20 rotate integrally. With the rotation of the index gear 15, the rotation transmission gear 13
Is intermittently transmitted, whereby the separation plate 9 intermittently rotates in the arrow Y2 direction. At this time, at the time when the rotation transmission gear 13 and the index gear 15 are disengaged (when the separation plate 9, the main shaft 8 and the like are stopped), the engagement of the index cam 16 with the arc-shaped notch 14a of the positioning cam 14 is performed. Since the circumferential portion 16a is engaged, the rotation transmission gear 13, the main shaft 8, and the separation plate 9 can be accurately positioned on the spot. That is, the rotation transmission gear 13 and the index gear 1
5 is disengaged from the rotation transmission gear 1
3, to prevent the main shaft 8, the separation plate 9 and the like from becoming free of rotation,
When the rotation transmission gear 13 is re-engaged with the rotation transmission gear 5, the separation plate 9 can be prevented from being shifted at the intermittent stop position.
In addition, even when the power supply of the apparatus is turned off, a rotational load due to the motor-specific reduction ratio acts in addition to the above-described operation, so that the separation plate does not rotate and the intermittent stop position does not shift. . Thus, the position indexing accuracy in the intermittent rotation of the separation plate 9 is always maintained at a high accuracy.

When the suction of the air from the suction hole 5a is started by the operation of the air suction device while the separation plate 9 is intermittently rotating, the screws 2 stored in the hopper 3 are removed.
It is sucked and held in the through hole 9b of the separation plate 9 and transferred to the take-out position. At this time, screws 2 in the hopper 3
Is hit by the stirring pin 9c of the separation plate 9 and is stirred, so that the probability of being sucked and held in the through hole 9b is extremely high. Moreover, since the portions of the stirring pins 9c protruding from the chamfered portions 9a are curved, the screws 2 are not damaged during stirring.

Further, with the intermittent rotation of the separation plate 9, the screws 2... In the hopper portion 3 are rotated in the direction of rotation of the separation plate (arrows) due to friction with the separation plate 9, stirring effect by the stirring pins 9c. (Y2 direction). On the other hand, since the communication holes 10a are arranged in a shape symmetrical with respect to the inclined center line L2, that is, in a shape extending in a direction offset in the rotation direction of the separation plate 9, the communication holes 10a Are biased in the rotation direction of the separation plate 9, these screws 2 can be efficiently suction-held in the through holes 9b.

On the other hand, at the take-out position corresponding to the highest position of the separation plate 9, air is sucked from the suction hole 5b. When a screw is held in the through-hole 9b communicating therewith, the through-hole is not used. 5b to communication hole 10b, suction hole 5
b, the vacuum pressure in the path leading to the vacuum switch 12 via the suction hose 11 rises,
Turns on. At the same time, when the through hole 9b reaches the take-out position, the sensor 21 is turned on. Therefore, when the sensor 21 is turned on and the vacuum switch 12 is turned on, the through-hole 9b at the take-out position is turned on. , The motor 18 is temporarily stopped on the assumption that the screw 2 is held.

Thereafter, when the screw 2 of the through hole 9b at the take-out position is taken out by the action of a screwing machine or the like,
Since the vacuum switch 12 is turned off while the sensor 21 is on, the motor 18 is driven in response to this, and the intermittent rotation of the separation plate 9 is restarted. In this way, it is possible to confirm whether or not the screw 2 is held in the through-hole 9b that has sequentially reached the take-out position, and separate and supply the screw 2.

In the above-described separation and supply operation of the screw 2, when the portion where the through hole 9b is not formed passes through the communication hole 10b during the intermittent rotation of the separation plate 9, the communication hole 1
The vacuum pressure in the path from 0b to the vacuum switch 12 increases, and the vacuum switch 12 is turned on, which may cause a malfunction of the device. However, in the present separation and supply device 1, as described above, the signal from the vacuum switch 12 and the sensor 21 for detecting the completion of the intermittent rotation is viewed, so that the vacuum switch 12 when there is no through hole 9b at the take-out position.
Can be prevented from malfunctioning due to the ON signal.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described with respect to an example in which minute screws 2 are separated and supplied, the separation and supply device according to the present invention is not limited to screws, such as rivets, pins with heads, and nails. The headed bar can be separated and supplied. Even when the headed bar other than these screws is separately supplied, the same effect can be obtained.

[0024]

According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for separating and supplying a rod with a head, comprising: a rotation transmission gear rotatable integrally with a separation plate; and a rotatable rotation driven by a motor and intermittent to the rotation transmission gear. An index gear that can mesh with the indexing gear; and a positioning cam and an index cam as positioning means for keeping the separation plate from rotating when the rotation transmission gear and the index gear are not engaged. For this reason, the shift of the intermittent rotation stop position of the separation plate can be eliminated, and the accuracy of the intermittent positioning of the separation plate can be kept high. Therefore,
There are advantages such that control of the motor of the separation plate is simplified, and the apparatus can be provided at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus for separating and supplying a rod with a head according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the separation plate viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow Y1 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial cutaway cross-sectional view of a main part along line BB of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial cutaway cross-sectional view of a main part taken along line CC of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial cutaway cross-sectional view of a main part of the separation and supply device for a rod with a head according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 Separating and feeding device for bar with head 3 Hopper part 5 Pedestal part 5a Suction hole 5b Suction hole 6 Bucket part 9 Separation plate 9b Through hole 9c Stirring pin 10 Ring plate 10a Communication hole 10b Communication hole 11 Suction hose 12 Vacuum switch 13 Rotation Transmission gear 14 Positioning cam 15 Indexing gear 16 Indexing cam 18 Motor 20 Dog 21 Sensor

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 11, 2000 (2009.1.
1)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Brief description of drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus for separating and supplying a rod with a head according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a separation plate viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow Y1 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part along line BB in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial cutaway cross-sectional view of a main part taken along line CC of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial cutaway cross-sectional view of a main part of the separation and supply device for a rod with a head according to the present invention.

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Figure 3

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 3

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A hopper portion capable of storing a large number of headed bars, and a hopper which is provided at the bottom of the hopper so as to be rotatable at a predetermined angle from horizontal and is rotatable, and the headed bars can be fitted to an outer peripheral portion thereof. A separation and supply device for a rod with a head, comprising: a separation plate in which a plurality of through holes are arranged equally; and an air suction unit that sucks air from the through holes in the separation plate, wherein the separation plate is rotated integrally with the separation plate. A toothed rotary member, an intermittent meshing member rotatable under the drive of a rotary drive source and intermittently meshable with the toothed rotary member, and the toothed rotary member meshed with the intermittent meshing member. And a positioning means for keeping the separation plate from rotating when not in use. 2. The positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the positioning means comprises a positioning cam rotatable integrally with the toothed rotary member, and an index cam engageable with the positioning cam. Separation feeder for headed bar. 3. The positioning cam and the indexing cam are engaged at the time when the toothed rotary member and the intermittent meshing member are disengaged,
3. The apparatus for separating and feeding a headed rod according to claim 2, wherein the engagement is released at the time when they start meshing.