JP2002321814A - Parts feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a parts feeder having excellent aligning efficiency and silence without damaging works. SOLUTION: This parts feeder is provided with a funnel-shaped hopper 3, a rotor 14 having many work storing holes 22 formed along a circumferential direction and a rail 4 for carrying. An end face of the rotor 14 is closely adhered to a substrate 10. When the rotor 14 is rotated, many works W stayed in the hopper 3 enter the work storing holes 22, the works W are lifted and the works W are fed into a carrier passage 9 of the rail 4. Groups of the works W fed into the carrier passage 9 of the rail 4 are aligned in a row while moved along the carrier passage 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a parts feeder for transferring works (articles) in a line.
Particularly, the present invention relates to a parts feeder suitable for aligning and transferring a rectangular work such as a chip-type electronic component.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a vibratory type feeder in which a spiral rectifying path is formed on a drum in plan view is widely used as a part feeder for feeding a work in a line from a disjointed state. Is transferred from the discharge chute connected to the rectifying path to the subsequent transport path.

[0003]

However, the vibration-type parts feeder generates a large amount of noise because the entire drum vibrates, and the vibration may adversely affect other devices. The product is likely to be damaged because it repeats the circulation that falls from the straightening path and returns to the straightening path again.Because it is necessary to leave a certain gap between the discharge chute and the transport path so that vibration is not transmitted to the subsequent transport path However, in the case of a small article, there is a problem that the article may drop from the gap between the discharge chute and the transport path or may be clogged in the gap.

In particular, when the workpiece is a chip-type electronic component such as a chip resistor or a chip capacitor, the size of the chip-type electronic component has been reduced. Dropping and clogging is a serious problem. Damage due to vibration is also a problem.

Accordingly, the applicant of the present application has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-3.
No. 4100 proposes a parts feeder in which a work in a hopper is lifted by a transfer device and transferred to a transfer device.

The present invention, which is obtained by further studying the prior invention, provides a parts feeder which further improves the processing capacity, further suppresses the damage and noise of the work, and has improved durability. That is the task.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a parts feeder comprising: a conveying device capable of arranging and feeding a number of works in series; a hopper disposed close to the conveying device; And a rotary transfer means for changing the number of articles on the transport path by an appropriate number.

[0008] In the invention of claim 2, in claim 1,
The rotary transfer means includes a disk-shaped rotor having one surface facing the transport device and the other surface facing the hopper, and a rotation axis extending in a direction orthogonal to the transport device in plan view.

The rotor is provided with a large number of work storage holes penetrating in both directions on the hopper side and the transfer apparatus side along the circumferential direction. It is formed in a tapered hole whose diameter increases toward the side.

[0010]

According to the present invention, a rotary transfer means such as a disk-shaped rotor is used.
In addition to the vibrating type, the movement of the transfer means is smoother than that of the reciprocating lifting type disclosed in the prior application, and the work is continuously transferred from the hopper to the transfer device. Cut off.

As a result, the alignment processing ability can be further improved, and the damage and noise of the work can be significantly reduced, and the durability can be improved. Needless to say, there is no occurrence of a phenomenon in which the work is clogged or dropped as in the case of the vibrating parts feeder.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the structure is simplified because the disk-shaped rotor is merely rotated, and the movement is extremely smooth.

Further, since the work storage hole of the rotor is formed as a tapered hole whose diameter increases toward the transfer device,
There is always room in the work storage hole, and the work escapes from the storage hole. As a result, the work can be prevented from clogging in the work storage hole. Further, all the workpieces can be dropped toward the transport path.

[0014]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 7 show a first embodiment (main embodiment), FIG. 1A is a front view, and FIG.
3 is a plan view, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along VV of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a main part, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG.

[0016] Overview The present embodiment is applied to a parts feeder for aligning and transferring a rectangular chip-shaped work W such as a chip electronic component. The parts feeder includes a base plate 1 and a rectangular parallelepiped work W arranged in a line. A transport device 2 that can be transported side by side;
And a hopper 3 into which a large number of works W can be charged.

The transfer device 2 has a rail (chute) 4 extending linearly, and a substantially intermediate portion of the rail 4 is attached to the base plate 1 via a two-stage vibrating feeder 5 and a spacer 6. ing. The vibrating feeder 5 includes an inclined plate spring 7 and a pair of electromagnets 8.
Is subjected to longitudinal vibration.

For example, as shown in FIG.
In the upper part on the side facing the hopper 3, a step-shaped transport path 9 having the same width dimension as the width of the work W is formed over the entire length. Therefore, the electromagnet 8 is turned ON / OF.
Then, the workpieces W are transported on the transport path 9 in a state of being lined up.

[0019] Principal Part The hopper 3 is disposed in the vicinity of the rear part of the rail 4 (on the front side in the transport direction of the work W), and between the hopper 3 and the rail 4 is parallel to the rail 4 in plan view. The hopper 3 is fixed to the substrate 10 (accurately, the substrate 10 also constitutes a part of the hopper 4). The substrate 10 is fixed to a first bracket 11 fixed to the base 1 with screws.

A first guide body 12 and a second guide body 13 are fixed to the side surface and the upper surface of the portion of the rail 4 located at the hopper 3. First guide body 12 and substrate 1
A very narrow gap is provided between the zero point and the zero point. Therefore, the vibration of the rail 4 is not transmitted to the substrate 10 or the hopper 3. The first guide body 12 and the second guide body 13 are the rail 4
Alternatively, they may be formed integrally.

The hopper 3 has a funnel shape with a narrow bottom. A disk-shaped rotor 14 as an example of a rotary transfer means is partially fitted into the hopper 3 from below. Therefore, the hopper 3 has a notch hole 15 into which the rotor 14 fits. The end face of the rotor 14 is in close contact with the substrate 10.

The rotating shaft 16 of the rotor 14 extends in a direction perpendicular to the rail 4 in plan view, and the rotating shaft 16
It is supported by a bearing 18 provided on a bracket 17.
Power is transmitted to the rotating shaft 16 from a motor 20 fixed to the third bracket 19 via a gear 21. Needless to say, the rotor 14 may be rotated by another driving mechanism.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, a large number of work storage holes 22 penetrating on both sides are formed in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the rotor 14 along the circumferential direction. The rows of the work storage holes 22 are set so as to pass through the bottom of the hopper 3.

As shown in FIG. 5, each work storage hole 22 is formed as a tapered hole having a small diameter at the portion facing the hopper 3 and a large diameter at the portion facing the rail 4. The work storage hole 22 is set to have a capacity to accommodate a large number (for example, about 10 to 20) of works W. The rotor 14
The work storage hole 22 rotates so as to move upward inside the hopper 3.

As shown in FIG. 5, the portion of the substrate 10 overlapping the rotor 14 is lower than the second guide body 13 and the upper surface thereof is outwardly inclined downward toward the transport path 9. It is an inclined surface 10a.

The portion of the first guide body 12 corresponding to the outwardly inclined surface 10a of the substrate 10 is also an outwardly inclined surface 12a inclined toward the transport path 9. Therefore, a work pool is formed between the second guide body 13 and the substrate 10.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper surface of the portion of the substrate 10 downstream of the rotor 14 and the upper surface of the portion of the first guide body 12 downstream of the rotor 14 are both hopper 3 Inwardly inclined surfaces 10b and 12b inclined obliquely downward toward.

Although not shown, the hopper 3 is provided with a photoelectric sensor or the like for detecting a state in which the work W has accumulated to a certain extent at the bottom thereof. Then, when the remaining amount of the work W in the pedestrian portion of the hopper 3 becomes a certain level or less, the work is supplied from the tank 23 as shown in FIG. Thus, a certain amount of the work W always accumulates in the hopper 3.

As shown in simplified form in FIGS. 3 and 7, a portion of the upper surface of the rail 4 located at the end of the hopper 3 overlaps with the workpiece W placed on the transport path 9 while standing. A gate (stopper) 24 for returning the work W to the hopper 3 is provided. A sensor and an air nozzle may be provided instead of the gate.

As shown by the dashed line in FIG. 1, the rail 4 has a feeding means 2 for transferring the work W to a subsequent process.
5 is connected.

[0031] When the rotor 14 is rotated at an appropriate speed while driving the transfer device 2, the group of works W accumulated in the hopper 3 flows into the work accommodating holes 22 of the rotor 14 and is lifted. It flows down into the space between the guide body 12 and the second guide body 13 and is then transported along the transport path 9.

When the work storage hole 22 is straight, when the work W enters the full capacity of the work storage hole 22, the work W is in a state where the works W are in a state of being stretched, and the work W W may be clogged. Further, a part of the group of the works W may remain in the storage hole 22 in some cases.

On the other hand, when the work accommodating hole 22 is formed as a tapered hole whose diameter increases toward the substrate 10 as in the present invention, a space can always be provided in the work accommodating hole 22 and the work W can be accommodated. The work W does not become clogged in the storage hole 22 because the work W escapes in the direction of the substrate 10. Further, all the works W slide down toward the transport path 9.

The posture of the work W placed on the transport path 9 varies, and the work whose posture is not stable returns to the hopper 3 from the first guide body 12 and the inwardly inclined surfaces 12b and 10b of the substrate 10. Then, only the work placed on the conveyance path 9 in a stable posture moves forward.

Then, the standing work and the overlapped work W are returned to the hopper 3 by the gate 24, and only the work W lying in the posture extending in the longitudinal direction is transferred to the subsequent process.

When the work W has a front and back side like a chip resistor, a sensor such as a photoelectric type and an elimination device such as an air nozzle are provided on the rail 4 on the downstream side of the gate 24. Just return to hopper 3.

As can be easily understood from the above description,
Since the workpiece W is continuously replaced on the transport path 9 by the rotation of the rotor 14 in one direction, the transfer efficiency can be significantly improved. Further, since almost no vibration is generated, the noise is extremely low and the durability is high. Further, since there is no phenomenon that the work W dances inside the hopper 3, it is possible to significantly suppress the work W from being damaged.

(2) Another Embodiment (FIGS. 8 to 9) In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 9, a belt 28 wound around a pulley (or sprocket) 27 is used as a rotary transfer means. are doing. The belt 28 has a large number of work storage holes 22 similar to those of the first embodiment.

In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 9, a screw blade 29 is used as a rotary transfer means.

That is, (A) is a side cross-sectional view, and (B) is a plan view as viewed from the line BB in (A). In this embodiment, the hopper 3 falls inside the hopper 3 toward the rail 4. A screw blade 29 is provided. Also, screw 29
Is partially surrounded by an arc-shaped receiving gutter 30 arranged on the hopper 3 side.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the work W accumulated in the hopper 3 is lifted by the screw 29 while being guided by the receiving trough 30, and when the work W is completely moved up, the gap between the substrate 10 and the rail 4 is reached. And then transferred by the rail 4.

(3) Others The present invention can be variously embodied in addition to the above-described embodiment. For example, the conveyor may use a non-vibrating conveyor such as a belt conveyor. In addition, depending on the type and shape of the work, it is also possible to use a slanted chute that runs under its own weight.

The rotary transfer means is not limited to the illustrated form, but may be, for example, a water wheel-shaped form having a work storage hole on the outer peripheral surface.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a front view of a first embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a partial perspective view of a rail.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main part.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a main part.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a third embodiment.

[Brief description of reference numerals]

 W article (work) 2 transfer device 3 hopper 4 rail of transfer device 9 transfer path 10 substrate 14 rotor 20 motor 22 work storage hole

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A transport device capable of arranging a large number of works in series and sending it out, a hopper arranged in close proximity to the transport device, and a rotary transfer device for loading an appropriate number of articles in the hopper onto the transport path. Mounting means,
Parts feeder. 2. The rotary transfer means includes a disk-shaped rotor having one surface facing the transfer device and the other surface facing the hopper, and a rotating shaft extending in a direction orthogonal to the transfer device in plan view. This rotor is provided with a number of work storage holes penetrating in both directions on the hopper side and the transfer device side along the circumferential direction, and each of these work storage holes is provided on the side of the transfer device. 2. The parts feeder according to claim 1, wherein the parts feeder is formed in a tapered hole whose diameter increases toward.