JP2003192119A - Component supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a component supply device capable of realizing stable carriage and supply of parts. <P>SOLUTION: This component supply device is furnished with a hopper 2 free to store a plurality of the components such as screws, etc., a carrier rail 4 free to carry the components stored in the hopper 2, an electromagnetic type vibrator 5 to vibrate the carrier rail 4 and a control means 6 to drive and control the vibrator 5 so that frequency at each part of the carrier rail 4 sequentially becomes proper frequency. Vibration of the carrier rail 4 sequentially and wavily changes to the side of a separate supply unit 9 from the side of the hopper 2. Consequently, it becomes possible to actually eliminate damping of vibration, generation of resonance, etc., on the carrier rail 4 and to stably carry and supply the components along overall length of the carrier rail 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a component supply device that conveys components on a conveying path by vibrating the conveying path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, by vibrating a conveyance path,
As a component supply device configured to convey the component supported on the conveyance path, the component supply device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-56918 is widely known. This component feeder is a storage hopper capable of storing a plurality of components,
It is provided with a truck which is a transport path for transporting the components in the storage hopper, and a vibrating body which vibrates the truck. According to this component supply device, the storage hopper and the truck vibrate due to the vibration given by the vibrating body, whereby the components stored in the storage hopper can be transferred to the truck and aligned and transported on the truck. That is.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional component supply apparatus, the vibration direction of the track given by the rectilinear vibration unit is not the horizontal direction in which the track extends, but is inclined slightly obliquely from the horizontal direction. Become. For this reason, a moment is applied to the track due to vibration, and due to this moment, there occurs a phenomenon in which the period and amplitude of vibration change between the part supported by the vibrator and the free end side not supported. Resulting in. As a result, there is a problem that a vibration damping point is generated on the track and the vibration is extremely damped at that portion. Moreover, when the parts are supported by the truck, the distributed load on the truck becomes uneven and fluctuates due to the amount of the supported parts, variations in the parts supporting position, etc. There were problems such as points changing. On the contrary, resonance may occur in the track depending on the frequency applied to the track. Since the damping point of the vibration, the occurrence of resonance, and the position variation occur as described above, it is difficult for the conventional component supply device to stably convey and supply the component.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention was created in view of the above problems, and is intended to stabilize the vibration of a conveyance path and thereby realize stable conveyance and supply of parts. . Therefore, the present invention, a storage unit capable of storing a plurality of components, a transport path capable of transporting the components stored in the storage unit, a vibrating body for vibrating the transport path, and the frequency of each part of the transport path It is characterized by further comprising: control means for driving and controlling the vibrating body so that an appropriate frequency is sequentially obtained. The control means obtains the actual frequency of the vibrating body from the detection signal of the detecting means for detecting the vibrating frequency of the vibrating body, and the vibrating body is controlled so that the actual frequency becomes a preset frequency. Is preferably controlled. Further, a plurality of detecting means are provided so as to be able to detect the vibrations of a plurality of portions of the transport path, and the control means preliminarily determines the frequency of the transport path obtained from the detection signal of the detecting means corresponding to the position where the frequency on the transport path should be increased. It is preferable to drive and control the vibrating body so that the set frequency is obtained.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a component supply device used when supplying a screw S having a head, and a hopper 2 capable of storing a plurality of screws S ...
The scooping plate 3 is arranged so as to be vertically swingable inside the hopper 2, the transport rail 4 that is an example of a transport path that extends in front of the scooping plate 3 and is continuous, and the transport rail 4 vibrates. An electromagnetic vibrator 5 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “vibrator 5”), which is an example of a vibrating body to be driven, and a control unit 6 that controls driving of the vibrator 5 are provided.

The scooping plate 3 is formed by forming a groove 3a capable of supporting the screw S in a hanging shape on the upper surface of a fan-shaped plate. The hopper 2 is driven by a cam mechanism 8 which is driven by a motor 7. It is configured to be rocked inside. The scooping plate 3 is configured such that the groove forming surface is inclined and continuous with the upper surface of the transport rail 4 when reaching the top dead center during swinging. Since the details of the structure of the scooping plate 3 and the motor 7 and the cam mechanism 8 for swinging the scooping plate 3 are already known from Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-25338, Detailed description is omitted here.

The transfer rail 4 has a groove 3 in the scooping plate 3.
The two plates 4a and 4b are arranged so as to extend in parallel and substantially horizontally so as to have the same width as a, and are supported on the vibrator 5. The vibrator 5 has an electromagnet 5a and a pedestal plate 5c which is always elastically supported by a leaf spring 5b and has a slight gap with the electromagnet 5a, and is intermittently connected to the electromagnet 5a. Vibration of a predetermined frequency can be generated by attracting / separating the pedestal plate 5c from / to the electromagnet 5a caused by energization. The carrier rail 4 is integrally connected to a bracket B fixed to a pedestal plate 5c of the vibrator 5, so that the vibrator 5 is configured to vibrate. Further, a separating and supplying unit 9 for sequentially separating and supplying the screws S conveyed on the conveying rail 4 to the working machine at the next stage is provided on the terminal side of the conveying rail 4.

The control means 6 is configured to rectify the power supply frequency obtained from the AC power supply to a preset set frequency and energize the vibrator 5 for a predetermined time. A plurality of these set frequencies are set, and the control means 6 sequentially selects these set frequencies and uses them for the energization control of the vibrator 5. For this reason,
The vibrator 5 is sequentially supplied with electric power of different frequencies, which causes the vibrator 5 to vibrate the transport rail 4 at sequentially different vibration frequencies. The plurality of set frequencies set in the control means 6 are obtained by conducting a vibration test of the transport rail 4 in advance, and by changing the set frequency, the frequency at each part of the transport rail 4 is changed to the hopper. It is set so as to be optimized to a predetermined frequency optimal for the conveyance of the screw S sequentially from the 2 side in the conveying direction of the screw S.

In a situation where the vibrator 5 is driven constantly, in each part of the carrier rail 4, the screw S is not supported on the carrier rail 4 due to the moment, the natural vibration frequency of the carrier rail 4 itself, and the like. The frequency changes even in the state. By utilizing this, it is possible to make the frequency of the predetermined position of the transport rail 4 the proper frequency according to the change of the frequency of the vibrator 5.
That is, it is preliminarily measured what kind of change in frequency appears at each position of the transport rail 4 when the vibrator 5 is driven by power supply based on a certain set frequency, and based on this result, The frequency of the vibrator 5 required to vibrate the position at a predetermined frequency is obtained for each position. Then, the frequency of the power supply to the vibrator 5 required to generate the vibration is determined, and this is set as the set frequency. In an actual site, the frequency of each part of the transport rail 4 deviates from the theoretical value according to the amount and variation of the screws S supported on the transport rail 4, so this should be set in advance when determining the set frequency. It needs to be taken into consideration.

In the figure, reference numeral 10 is a vibration sensor provided to detect the vibration of the vibrator 5. The vibration sensor 10 is composed of a piezoelectric ceramic sensor or the like that causes a change in output voltage depending on the magnitude of an external force that acts, and a detection signal of the piezoelectric sensor is an interface (not shown).
It is configured to be sequentially sent to the control means 6 via. In addition, the reference numeral 11 in the figure denotes the transport rail 4
Is a pressing member arranged at a predetermined interval on the above. The pressing member 11 is provided in order to suppress the screw S that tends to float from the transport rail 4 due to the vibration of the transport rail 4.

In the above component supply device 1, the hopper 2
The plurality of screws S, which have been thrown in and stored in, are scooped up by the scooping plate 3 which swings under the drive of the motor 7. The scooped-up screw S is supported on the upper surface of the scooping plate 3 in a hanging manner, and when the scooping plate 3 approaches the top dead center, it slides down and moves to the transport rail 4. The transport rail 4 is vibrating under the drive of the vibrator 5, and therefore the transport rail 4
The screw S transferred to is supported by the carrying rail 4 in a hanging manner and is carried forward. When it reaches the end of the transport rail 4, it is supplied to the work machine or the like in the next stage by the operation of the separation supply unit 9 provided therein.

When the screw S is conveyed, the control means 6 sequentially changes the frequency of the electric power supplied to the vibrator 5 according to the set frequency. As a result, the frequency of the vibrator 5 changes and the frequency of the transport rail 4 also changes. FIG. 3 is a chart in which the changes in the frequencies of the respective portions P1 to P6 of the transport rail 4 are coaxially charted. As shown in FIG. 3, the control processing of the electric power supplied to the vibrator 5 by the control means 6 is performed. As a result, in the transport rail 4, the portion where the frequency is increased to an appropriate frequency repeatedly changes in a wave shape from the hopper 2 side in the transport direction of the screw S. It should be noted that although the figure shows a state where the frequency of each part of the transport rail 4 is sequentially increased, the frequency of each part of the transport rail 4 is actually higher than the proper frequency. In such a case, the frequency is reduced to an appropriate frequency.

The actual frequency of the vibrator 5 (hereinafter referred to as the actual frequency) is constantly detected by the vibration sensor 10, and this detection signal is fed back to the control means 6 via the interface. Control means 6
In step 1, the actual frequency is obtained from the magnitude of the detection signal of the vibration sensor 10, and a process of comparing this with the set frequency corresponding to the set frequency at that time is performed. If the actual frequency does not reach the set frequency, the correction process to uniformly increase all the set frequencies is executed. Conversely, if the actual frequency greatly exceeds the set frequency. In this case, a correction process for uniformly lowering all the set frequencies is executed. As a result, it becomes possible to vibrate the vibrator 5 at a predetermined frequency, and the vibration of the vibrator 5 is limited by load factors such as the amount of support of the screw S and the dispersion of the support position, or the aged deterioration of the vibrator 5 itself. Even in a situation where the vibration characteristic is changed due to the above, it is possible to sequentially vibrate the vibrator 5 at the initially planned frequency.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the component supply apparatus according to the present invention, in which the middle portion is equidistantly and in the same line over the entire length of the transport rail 4 supported by the vibrator 5. Six vibration sensors 10a, 10 in total
b, 10c, 10d, 10e, 10f are attached, and a control means 6'for controlling the drive of the vibrator 5 from the detection signals of these vibration sensors 10a-10f is shown. In the operation of conveying the screw S by the component supply device 1 ', the vibration of each part of the conveyance rail 4 is detected by the corresponding vibration sensor 10a to 10f and fed back to the control means 6'through the interface.

In the control means 6 ', the part of the carrier rail 4 for which the frequency is to be optimized at that time is specified from the set frequency selected at that time, and is arranged closest to that part. The detection signal of the vibration sensor is used. Here, the description will proceed assuming that the detection signal of the vibration sensor 10a is adopted first. The control means 6'determines the actual frequency of the transport rail 4 (hereinafter referred to as the actual frequency) from the detection signal of the vibration sensor 10a, and this frequency is preset in correspondence with the set frequency ( (Hereinafter, referred to as a set frequency), and the rectified electric power is supplied to the vibrator 5 at the set frequency at that time until the actual frequency reaches the set frequency. At this time, if the actual frequency does not reach the set frequency even after the lapse of a predetermined time, or if the actual frequency greatly exceeds the set frequency, the above-described correction processing of the set frequency is performed, Vibration of the vibrator 5 or the transport rail 4 is stabilized.

When the actual frequency reaches the set frequency within a predetermined time, the control means 6 changes the vibration sensor to be used as the detection signal to the next adjacent vibration sensor 10b, and similarly to the above, applies to the vibrator 5. Conduct energization control. In this way, the vibration detection position is sequentially shifted to the vibration sensor 10f provided on the end side of the transport rail 4, and control is performed to optimize the vibration frequency at each position of the transport rail 4 to the set frequency. Then, when the vibration adjustment up to the mounting position of the vibration sensor 10f is completed, the vibration sensor 10a returned to the mounting position of the vibration sensor 10a provided on the hopper 2 side, and the above control is repeated again. In this way, by sequentially and repeatedly detecting the vibration of each part of the transport rail 4 and optimizing the frequency of vibration at each position, it is possible to reliably cause a wavy change in the vibration of each part of the transport rail 4.

As described above, in the component supply device 1 or the component supply device 1'which controls the vibration of each part of the transport rail 4 to the proper frequency sequentially, the above-mentioned pressing member 1 is used.
It is extremely effective to provide 1. That is, when the vibrations of the respective portions of the transport rail 4 are sequentially controlled to have appropriate vibration frequencies, the vibration frequencies of other easily oscillating portions other than the portion for which the vibration is to be optimized increase more than necessary. For this reason, the phenomenon in which the screw S jumps up from the transport rail 4 becomes remarkable at that portion, but by providing the pressing member 11, this can be effectively suppressed and the screw S can be transported smoothly. It will be.

[0018]

According to the component supply apparatus of the present invention, the drive of the vibrator is controlled by the drive control of the vibrator so that the frequency of each part of the transport rail becomes a proper frequency suitable for the transport of the components in sequence. It is possible to cause a wavy change in vibration over the entire length of the transport rail. Therefore, it is possible to substantially eliminate the occurrence of vibration damping points or resonances on the transport rail, and to stably and reliably transport and supply the screw S over the entire transport rail without delay. . In addition, since the actual frequency of the vibrator is obtained from the signal of the vibration sensor that detects the vibration of the vibrator, the vibrator is controlled so that this becomes the preset set frequency,
The vibrator can be reliably vibrated at the set frequency, and the above-mentioned effect can be obtained more remarkably. Furthermore, since the vibration frequency of the portion of the transport rail where the vibration is to be increased is detected and the vibrator is controlled so that this is the preset frequency, the wavy change of the vibration of the transport rail can be reliably generated. Is possible, and there is an advantage that the screw can be transported more reliably and smoothly. As described above, the component supply device of the present invention stabilizes the vibration of the transfer rail and enables stable transfer and supply of components such as screws.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view in which a part of a component supply device according to the present invention is cut away to make a cross section.

FIG. 2 is an end view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing changes in the frequency of each part of the transport rail.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of a component supply device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Parts supply device 2 hoppers 3 scooping board 4 Conveyor rail 5 Electromagnetic vibrator 6 Control means 10 Vibration sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A storage part capable of storing a plurality of parts, a transfer path capable of transferring the parts stored in the storage part, a vibrating body for vibrating the transfer path, and a vibration frequency in each part of the transfer path. A component supply device comprising: a control unit that drives and controls the vibrating body so that the vibration frequency is appropriate. 2. The control means obtains the actual frequency of the vibrating body from the detection signal of the detecting means for detecting the vibrating frequency of the vibrating body, and the actual frequency is set to a preset frequency. The component supply device according to claim 1, wherein the vibrator is drive-controlled. 3. A conveyance path provided with a plurality of detection means so as to detect vibrations at a plurality of portions of the conveyance path, and the control means obtains from a detection signal of the detection means corresponding to a position where the vibration frequency on the conveyance path should be proper. The component supply device according to claim 1, wherein the vibrating body is drive-controlled so that the frequency of the vibration becomes a preset frequency.