JP2003104535A - Method and device for conveying - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a device for conveying allowing efficiently machining by a machining device with a long machining time and machining by the machining device maintaining a pair stored in a conveyance tray. SOLUTION: One object 60b to be machined is taken out of the conveyance tray 40 wherein one or more objects to be machined are stored in respective storing positions 91-94 and conveyed to the machining device 10 for standing by. A machined object 60a machined by the machining device 10 is carried out of the machining device 10 and the standing-by object 60b to be machined is machined by the machining device 10, and then the machined object 60a taken out of the machining device 10 is returned to the original position 91 on the conveyance tray 40a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrying method and a carrying apparatus, and more particularly to a carrying method and a carrying apparatus for carrying a lens to be processed to a polishing apparatus for polishing a lens.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the polishing of eyeglass lenses, the surface of a lens to be processed is formed into a predetermined optical surface by cutting, grinding, mirror polishing or the like. The lens polishing device is
In recent years, numerical control has been developed. Such a numerically controlled polishing device incorporates a conveying device, carries in a polishing jig holding a lens to be processed, mounts it on a chuck, performs polishing, and carries out a polishing jig holding a processed lens. You can do it automatically.

Therefore, if the process of transferring the polishing jig holding the lens to be processed to the polishing device and the process of transferring the polishing jig holding the processed lens to the next process can be automated, Polishing can be performed fully automatically.

[0004]

However, there are special circumstances in the polishing process of spectacle lenses. For example, in a spectacle lens, processing is often performed with a pair of left and right. Even after the polishing process, it is desired that the fluid flows in a pair of left and right in the dyeing process, the inspection process, the packaging process, and the like. Therefore, it is desired to use a transport tray that houses a pair of left and right lenses. In addition, when polishing a pair of left and right lenses, it is required not to break the pair.

Further, in the polishing process of a lens, it takes several minutes to process one lens. Therefore, the lenses to be processed are taken out one by one from the transfer tray, processed, the processed lenses are transferred back to the transfer tray, and the next lenses to be processed are transferred to the polishing device one by one. The processing method has a problem of poor efficiency.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can be efficiently processed by a processing apparatus having a long processing time, and can be processed by the processing apparatus while keeping a pair of pairs stored in a transfer tray. It is an object to provide a transportation method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a carrying device which can realize such a carrying method.

[0008]

As a result of intensive studies to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present inventor has found that when one workpiece is being processed by the processing apparatus, another one workpiece is being processed. By waiting for the work to be processed and returning the finished work to the original storage position of the transfer tray, it is possible to process efficiently with a processing device with a long processing time and also to use the transfer tray. It has been found that the pair of pairs stored in the can be kept and processed by the processing equipment.

That is, when the processing is completed, the processed product is carried out, the workpiece which has been waiting is attached to the processing device to start the processing, and the workpiece is processed during the processing. By returning the processed workpiece to the original storage position of the transport tray, taking out the next workpiece from the transport tray, loading it into the processing device, and making it stand by,
The work piece can be mounted quickly, and further, the work piece can be conveyed during the working time to perform the work efficiently. Moreover, a pair of pairs can be maintained by returning the workpiece to the original storage position of the transport tray.

By taking out the workpiece stored in the transfer tray at a predetermined transfer position and returning the processed product to the original storage position of the transfer tray at the same transfer position, the transfer device can be relatively simple. can do.

Further, the carrying apparatus of the present invention is constructed to have the following delivery means and carrying means, whereby the carrying method can be realized. That is, the transfer means takes out the work piece from the transfer tray at a constant transfer position, conveys it to the processing apparatus and makes it stand by, takes out the work piece that has been processed by the processing apparatus, and waits for the work piece. Is attached to the processing device, and the processed product is transferred and stored in the transfer tray at the delivery position. The transfer unit controls the position of the transfer tray, and when the transfer unit transfers the workpiece to the transfer position, the storage position of the transfer tray in which the processed product is stored is set to the transfer position. .

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, one workpiece is taken out from the transport tray in which one or a plurality of workpieces are stored in the respective storage positions, and the workpiece is transported to the processing apparatus and waits. Then, the workpiece processed by the processing apparatus is carried out from the processing apparatus, and the workpiece which has been waiting is mounted on the processing apparatus to be processed, and the workpiece is processed while the workpiece is being processed. There is provided a carrying method characterized by returning the carrying tray to the original storage position.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the carrying method according to the first aspect, the work piece stored in the carrying tray is taken out at a predetermined delivery position, and the work piece is placed at the delivery position. There is provided a carrying method characterized by returning the carrying tray to the original storage position.

The invention according to claim 3 provides the carrying method according to claim 1, wherein the carrying tray accommodates a pair of workpieces.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the carrying method according to the first aspect, the workpiece is a lens to be processed held by a polishing jig, and the processing device is a lens polishing device. There is provided a transportation method characterized by the above.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the workpieces stored in the transfer tray arranged at a specific transfer position are transferred from the transfer position to the processing device and made to stand by,
The workpiece that has been processed by the processing device is taken out, the waiting workpiece is attached to the processing device, and the processed product is transferred to the delivery position and stored in the transfer tray. And a transfer means for transferring one or a plurality of workpieces at respective storage positions, sequentially arranging the respective storage positions of the workpieces at the transfer positions, and delivering the transfer trays. When the means conveys the workpiece to the delivery position,
There is provided a carrying device, which is provided with a carrying means for arranging a storage position where the processed product is stored at the delivery position.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the conveying apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the delivery means places the workpiece on the delivery position and raises and lowers the workpiece, and the delivery device is placed on the ejection device. The workpiece to be processed to the processing device, to the processing device to stand by, take out the processed product that has been processed by the processing device, and attach the standby workpiece to the processing device. And a three-dimensional transfer means for transferring the workpiece to the delivery position and mounting it on the ejecting device.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a carrying method and a carrying apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, a case where a spectacle lens as a workpiece is cut will be described as an example.

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram showing the arrangement of a numerically controlled cutting device for eyeglass lenses and a carrying device for carrying a workpiece to the cutting device. FIG. 2 is a side view of the transfer tray on the conveyor as seen from the forward and backward directions.

In FIG. 1, two numerical control cutting devices 10 are arranged. The conveyor for horizontally transporting the transport tray is arranged for each cutting device 10, and the first conveyor 21 for transporting the transport tray from the place where the workpiece is stored in the transport tray to the vicinity of each cutting device 10. The second conveyor 22 for arranging the transfer tray at the place where the workpieces are carried in and out of the cutting device 10 from the carrying tray, and the third conveyor 22 for carrying the machined workpieces to the next step. 23 are arranged. The first robot hand 31 transfers the transfer tray from the first conveyor 21 to the second conveyor 22, and the second robot hand 32 transfers the transfer tray from the second conveyor 22 to the third conveyor 23. Also,
Between the second conveyor 22 and the cutting device 10, a robot hand 33 serving as a three-dimensional transport means for gripping the workpiece is used to transport the workpiece.

An example of the finger portion of the robot hand is shown in FIG. The first robot hand 31 and the second robot hand 32, which transfer the transfer tray, use the finger portion 301 of each robot hand 300 to transfer the transfer tray 40.
The concave portion provided on the side surface of the conveyor is grasped from both sides and lifted, and is transferred to another conveyor. The second conveyor 22 includes rotating rollers 221 and 222 that respectively support the ends of the bottom surface of the transport tray 40 on both sides in the width direction. By controlling the rotation of these rotary rollers 221, 222, the transport tray 40 is moved forward and backward, and stopped at a predetermined position.

FIGS. 3 (a) to 5 (e) show a delivery means for picking up the workpiece from the transport tray and transporting it to the cutting device, and returning the workpiece after the cutting process to the transport tray. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a conveyance means.

The delivery means is the third robot hand 33.
And a projecting device, and the transport means is the second conveyor 22.
Equipped with. The second conveyor 22 is omitted in FIGS. 3 to 5.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the object to be processed is the lens 50 to be processed, and the convex surface of the lens 50 to be processed is held by the polishing jig 60. The polishing jig 60 is attached to a chuck (not shown) of the cutting device 10 to attach the lens 5 to be processed.
The concave surface of 0 is cut by the cutting device 10. The polishing jig 60 includes a mounting portion 61 mounted on a chuck (not shown) of the cutting device 10, a contact portion 62 holding the lens 50 to be processed, and an overhang in a direction orthogonal to the rotation center axis of the mounting portion 61. And a gripping portion 63 that is provided. The close contact portion 62 holds the convex surface of the lens 50 to be processed through, for example, a low melting point metal. The grip portion 63 of the polishing jig 60 is a portion that is gripped by the robot hand, and projects outward from the lens 50 to be processed.

A transport tray 4 for accommodating the polishing jig 60
0 is a rectangular parallelepiped box whose upper and lower surfaces are open.
The individual polishing jigs 60 are stored. Usually, each polishing jig 60 holding a pair of left and right processed lenses 50 is housed in one transport tray 40. The transfer tray 40 is provided with a ring-shaped step 41 on which the outer peripheral edge of the gripping portion 63 of the polishing jig 60 is placed. It can be stored accurately in the storage position.

The protrusion device (not shown) is a polishing jig 6.
The mounting part 61 of No. 0 is accommodated, and the cylindrical protruding jig 70 abutting on the grip part 63 is vertically moved up and down. When the protrusion jig 70 rises, the polishing jig 60 is placed and lifted from below, and the polishing jig 60 is moved to the transport tray 40.
It is possible to stick out from. The ejecting device robots the operation of placing the polishing jig 60 on the ejecting jig 70 from the transfer tray 40 and ejecting the polishing jig 60 to the robot hand 33, and the polishing jig 60 holding the processed lens that has been cut. The ejecting jig 70 receives it from the hand 33 and returns it to the carrying tray 40. The protrusion jig 70 is arranged at one location on the second conveyor 22. Therefore, the position where the protruding jig 70 is arranged is the transfer position 80 as the reference position for transferring the polishing jig 60.

The robot hand 33 is provided with two finger portions for supplying material and for removing material, which perform an operation of gripping the gripping portions 63 of the polishing jig 60 and independently transferring them. The material feeding finger portion 331 grips the grip portion 63 of the polishing jig 60 placed on the protrusion jig 70, carries it into the cutting device 10, and waits near the cutting zone 11. The operation of causing the position 12 to stand by is performed. Further, the material supplying finger portion 331 is obtained when the polishing jig 60 for holding the processed lens, which has been processed by the material removing finger portion 332 (see FIG. 4C), is removed from the chuck of the cutting device 10. First, the operation of mounting the polishing jig 60 standing by at the standby position 12 on the chuck of the cutting device 10 is performed. Cutting device 1
In No. 0, the lens to be processed is cut after the polishing jig is attached to the chuck. On the other hand, the removal finger part 3
The reference numeral 32 holds the gripping portion 63 of the polishing jig 60 holding the processed lens from a chuck (not shown) of the cutting device 10, removes it from the chuck of the cutting device 10, and polishes it to the raised protruding jig 70. An operation of carrying and placing the jig 60 for use is carried out.

The second conveyor 22, which is not shown in FIG. 3, as a conveying means controls the conveying tray 40 to move forward and backward in the lengthwise direction and to stop at a predetermined position. The second conveyor 22 conveys the conveyance tray 40 that accommodates the polishing jig 60 that holds the lens to be processed, and arranges the rotation center axis of the polishing jig 60 directly above the transfer position 80. Both the operation for stopping the operation and the operation for arranging the original storage position of the transfer tray 40 in which the polishing jig 60 holding the processed lens for which the cutting process is completed are directly above the transfer position 80. The tray 40 for transporting which has finished processing the lens to be processed is
The transfer operation is carried out to a position where it is passed to the conveyor 23.

The numerically controlled cutting device 10 uses the cutting tool 13 to make the concave surface of the lens 50 to be processed into a predetermined shape while rotating the polishing jig 60 mounted on the chuck (not shown) at the mounting portion 61 about its rotation center axis. It is the one that cuts by numerical control. One processing lens 50 with the cutting device 10
The processing time for cutting is several minutes.

By using such a device, the transport tray 4
3 (a) to FIG. 5 shows an operation of returning the polishing jig to the original storage position after cutting the lens to be processed 50 held by the polishing jig 60 stored in 0 with the cutting device 10. (E)
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 3A shows a first transport tray 40a on the front side and a second transport tray 40b on the rear side which respectively store two polishing jigs. A first polishing jig 60a holding a lens 50 to be processed in a first storage position 91 on the front side of the first transport tray 40a, and a second polishing jig 60a on the rear side.
The second polishing jig 60b holding the lens 50 to be processed is stored in the storage position 92. The lens 5 to be processed is placed in the third storage position 93 on the front side of the second transport tray 40b.
The third polishing jig 60c holding 0 and the fourth polishing jig 60d holding the lens 50 to be processed are stored in the fourth storage position 94 on the rear side. In this case, the storage positions 91 to 94 are positions where the rotation center axis of the mounting portion 61 when the polishing jig 60 is placed on the step 41 exists.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the second conveyor 22 advances the first transfer tray 40a and stops it so that the first storage position 91 at the front is arranged at the delivery position 80. The ejecting device raises the ejecting jig 70, puts the first polishing jig 60a stored in the first storage position 91 on the ejecting jig 70, and ejects it, and the feeding finger portion 331 of the robot hand 33. Then, the first polishing jig 60a is grasped and held. Feeding finger part 3
31 conveys the first polishing jig 60a to the cutting device 10,
It is attached to the chuck of the cutting device 10. The cutting device 10
The processed lens 5 held by the first polishing jig 60a
The cutting process with the bit 13 of 0 is started.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), during the cutting process of the lens 50 to be processed held by the first polishing jig 60a, the projecting jig 70 descends to the original position. Then, the second conveyor 22 advances the first transport tray 40a to arrange the second storage position 92 at the delivery position 80. Then, the protrusion jig 70 moves up, and the second polishing jig 60b is placed and protruded, and the first polishing jig 60a
Feeding finger part 3 of the robot hand 33 carrying the
31 holds and holds the second polishing jig 60b. The material supplying finger portion 331 carries the second polishing jig 60b into the cutting device 10 and waits at the standby position 12 while holding the second polishing jig 60b. During this time, the protrusion jig 8
10 descends to its original position. FIG. 4 (b) shows such a state.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, the robot hand 33 uses the removing material finger portion 332 when the cutting of the lens to be processed held by the first polishing jig 60a is completed. The first polishing jig 60a is gripped and removed from a chuck (not shown). Then, the waiting material feeding finger portion 331 attaches the second polishing jig 60b to the chuck. Then, the cutting device 10 starts cutting the lens 50 to be processed held by the second polishing jig 60b. On the other hand, the removing material finger portion 332 is the first removed
The polishing jig 60a is unloaded from the cutting device 10 and transported to the delivery position 80. At this time, the second conveyor 22 retracts the first transfer tray 40a to move the first polishing jig 60a.
The first storage position 91, which is the original storage position of a, is placed at the transfer position 80. Then, the ejection jig 70 moves up, and the material removing finger portion 332 of the robot hand 33 places the first polishing jig 60a on the ejection jig 70.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5 (d), when the protrusion jig 70 descends, the first polishing jig 60a becomes
The grip portion 63 is placed on the step portion 41 of the first transport tray 40a, and the first polishing jig 60a is stored in the first storage position 91 again. The protrusion jig 70 descends to its original position as it is. Next, the second conveyor 22 advances the first transfer tray 40a and the second transfer tray 40b, and transfers the third storage position 93 of the second transfer tray 40b to the transfer position 8
Place it at 0. Then, the protrusion jig 70 moves up,
The third polishing jig 60c is placed and lifted up, and the material feeding finger portion 331 of the robot hand 33 is moved to the third polishing jig 60c.
Grab c. Then, the third polishing jig 60c is attached to the cutting device 1
It is carried in to the standby position 12 in 0 and made to stand by. During this time, the cutting device 10 is cutting the lens to be processed fixed to the second polishing jig 60b.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5E, when the cutting of the lens to be processed fixed to the second polishing jig 60b is completed, the material removing finger portion 332 of the robot hand 33 is After removing the second polishing jig 60b from the chuck, the material supplying finger portion 331 attaches the waiting third polishing jig 60c to the chuck, and the cutting device 10 causes the third polishing jig 60c to move. Start cutting of the fixed lens to be processed. In the meantime, the material removing finger portion 332 of the robot hand 33 transfers the second polishing jig 60b which is being grasped to the delivery position 80. At this time, the second conveyor 22 transfers the second storage position 92, which is the original storage position of the second polishing jig 60b, to the transfer position 80.
To place. Then, the projecting jig 70 moves up and moves from the material removing finger portion 332 of the robot hand 33 to the second
The polishing jig 60b is received, and when the protrusion jig 70 descends, the second polishing jig 60b is stored again in the second storage position 92 while returning to the original position.

After that, the same operation is repeated, the fourth polishing jig 60d is arranged up to the transfer position 80, the fourth polishing jig 60d is projected, and the fourth polishing jig 60d is conveyed to the standby position 12. , Removal of the third polishing jig 60c after cutting, mounting of the fourth polishing jig 60d, return of the third polishing jig 60c to the third storage position 93, fifth polishing jig not shown. The transportation of the ingredient to the standby position 12 is repeated.

That is, the workpiece stored in the storage position one behind the empty storage position where the workpiece being processed was stored is conveyed to the standby position, and the processed workpiece is finished. The workpiece to be processed is returned to the storage position one forward of the storage position where the workpiece was stored.

When only one polishing jig 60 is stored in the transfer tray 40, the transfer tray 4
According to the information of the bar code attached to 0, a storage position having a space is not selected.

As described above, in the carrying method and the carrying apparatus of this embodiment, one polishing jig is made to stand by at the waiting position, and the polishing jig holding the processed lens which has been processed is made to stand by. The polishing jig and the lens to be processed are held during the processing time while the lens to be processed is held by the polishing jig. The held polishing jig is replaced and the polishing jig is put on standby. Therefore, even if the polishing time is long, the processing can be efficiently performed.

Further, in the carrying method and the carrying apparatus of the present embodiment, the polishing jig taken out from the carrying tray for processing is returned to the same storage position of the same carrying tray after processing. Therefore, the pair of pairs stored in one transport tray before and after processing are maintained as they are.

In the carrying method and carrying apparatus of this embodiment, since the ejecting device is used and the polishing jig is ejected from the carrying tray at the delivery position and the workpiece is stored in the carrying tray, The conveyor for transporting the tray is controlled to position the transport tray. In this method, by controlling the robot hand, the robot hand conveys the workpiece to the storage position of a predetermined conveyance tray,
Compared with the case where the robot hand performs a complicated operation such as taking out the polishing jig from the transfer tray, there is an advantage that the apparatus becomes simpler.

The carrying method and the carrying apparatus of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, although the case of cutting the lens is described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, and other polishing processes such as the case of grinding the lens and the case of mirror-polishing the lens are, of course,
It can also be applied to other processing. Further, although two transport trays are described as being stored, one or three or more storage trays may be stored.

[0044]

According to the carrying method of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently carry out the working with the working device having a long working time, and to carry out the working with the pair of pairs stored in the carrying tray.

Further, according to the carrying apparatus of the present invention, such a carrying method can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an arrangement view showing an arrangement of a polishing device and a transfer device.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a conveyor on which a transfer tray is placed, as viewed from the moving direction side.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a lens to be processed held by a polishing jig housed in a transport tray is transported to a cutting device.

4 (b) and 4 (c) are cross-sectional views showing a state in which a lens to be processed held by a polishing jig housed in a transport tray is transported to a cutting device for cutting. It is a figure.

5 (d) and 5 (e) are cross-sectional views showing a state in which a lens to be processed held by a polishing jig housed in a transfer tray is transferred to a cutting device for cutting. Is.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Polishing equipment 12 Standby position 21 1st conveyor 22 2nd conveyor (transportation means) 33 Robot hand (three-dimensional transportation means) 331 Feeding finger part 332 Finger part for material removal 40 Transport tray 50 Processed lens 60 Polishing jig 70 Jig for protrusion 80 Delivery position 91-94 storage position

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Isao Karasawa             Seiko, 3-3-3 Yamato, Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture             -In Epson Corporation F term (reference) 3C033 BB10 PP02 PP20                 3E096 AA06 BA21 BB04 CA06 CB10                       DA04 DB01 DC01 FA09 FA31                       GA01                 3F080 AA01 BA01 BA04 BD01 BF15                       CE02 DA12 DB03

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A workpiece is taken out from a transport tray that stores one or a plurality of workpieces at respective storage positions, is transported to a processing apparatus, is made to stand by, and is processed by the processing apparatus. While carrying out the workpiece from the processing device, the workpiece that has been waiting is mounted on the processing device to be processed, and the workpiece is processed from the original of the transport tray while the workpiece is being processed. A transportation method characterized by returning to the storage position. 2. The transfer method according to claim 1, wherein the work piece stored in the transfer tray is taken out at a predetermined transfer position, and the work piece is returned to the original transfer tray at the transfer position. A transportation method characterized by returning to the storage position. 3. The transfer method according to claim 1, wherein the transfer tray stores a pair of workpieces. 4. The transport method according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is a lens held by a polishing jig, and the processing device is a lens polishing device. Transport method. 5. A workpiece, which has been stored in a transfer tray arranged at a specific transfer position, is transferred from the transfer position to a processing device and made to stand by, and the processed product which has been processed by the processing device is transferred to the processing device. Delivery means for taking out, attaching the workpiece to be waited to the processing apparatus, and delivering the workpiece to the transfer tray arranged to convey the workpiece to the transfer position; The transfer trays in which the workpieces are stored in the respective storage positions are transported, the respective storage positions of the workpieces are sequentially arranged in the transfer position, and the transfer means transfers the workpieces to the transfer position. At this time, there is provided a carrying device, which comprises a carrying means for arranging a storage position where the processed product is stored at the delivery position. 6. The transfer device according to claim 5, wherein the delivery means includes a projecting device that mounts and lowers a workpiece at the delivery position, and a workpiece that is mounted on the projecting device. The workpiece is conveyed to the processing device and made to stand by, the workpiece that has been processed by the processing device is taken out, the workpiece to be waited is attached to the processing device, and the workpiece is conveyed to the delivery position. And a three-dimensional transfer means mounted on the ejecting device.