JP2004142940A - Vibrating parts feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem with a conventional vibrating parts feeder in which a carrying truck and supplied parts are carried out in close contact with each other, wherein the slip and accumulation of parts occur by rust-preventive oil and a front and rear discrimination capability and a carrying capacity are lowered. <P>SOLUTION: This parts feeder is so formed that a plurality of projected parts 13 of projected shape in cross section spaced at proper distances are provided on a surface for feeding weld nuts N of the carrying truck 3 disposed in a vibration bowl of the vibrating parts feeder, and when the weld nuts are carried out by vibration, the degree of adhesiveness between the carrying truck and carried parts is reduced by the projected parts. By this, slip phenomenon by the oil adhered to the parts can be eliminated. As a result, a blade type track and a round bar can be eliminated, structure can be simplified, labor for manufacture can be saved, and cost can be lowered. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

The present invention relates to a vibration-type component supply device, and more specifically, to externally process a welding projection nut and other small components (hereinafter collectively referred to as “welding nuts”) spirally from within a vibration ball along a transport truck. The present invention relates to a transport truck in which parts being transported are prevented from slipping due to rust-preventive oil when aligning and transporting welding nuts along the transport truck when feeding the welding nut to the position.

Conventionally, for example, when a welding nut having projections (welding projections) at the corners of a square nut is continuously aligned and fed from a vibrating ball over a transport track, the weld nut is sent out while rising along the transport track. However, if the oil for preventing the rust of the welding nut adheres to the surface of the transport truck, the components slip on the truck, causing excessive parts and stagnation frequently, making it impossible to carry out the parts smoothly.

As a countermeasure against slippage due to oil adhering to the parts as described above, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, even if oil adheres to the upper surface of the transport track, the transport track is inclined toward the side wall of the vibrating ball. A component supply device or the like for transmitting oil to a ball side wall and discharging the oil to the outside from a ball bottom groove is known. In general, however, as shown in FIG. A small-diameter metal rod (round bar) 22 having a circular cross section with a diameter of about 2 mm is welded to the surface of the truck 21, and the round bar 22 is used to stop oil adhering to parts from flowing to the inner track surface. .

The inner corner of the transport track 21 has a structure in which a metal rod (round bar) 23 having a circular section with a diameter of about 4 mm is welded as a guide rail of the transport part. A schematic view of the track structure is shown in FIG. 10 (a view taken along the line DD in FIG. 9).

{Circle around (2)} A blade type truck 24 having several blades is continuously connected to the end portion of the transport track as means for selecting the front and back of the welding nut N. FIG. 11 (a view taken along the line EE in FIG. 9) shows a schematic cross section of the blade type track. In this case, only the part on which the projection of the welding nut is caught on the blade type track is advanced as it is as a regular part and sent out to the parts outlet.

On the other hand, when the projection is in the opposite direction, that is, when the upward nut N is selected, for example, as shown in FIG. 12 (a view taken along the line FF in FIG. 9), the flat surface 25 on the upper part of the nut has a blade-shaped groove. It slides down while being straddled over 26 and is collected in the ball. Then, it moves up again along the transport track 21.

Although omitted in the figure, the properly selected and aligned welding nuts are carried out to the rails drawn out of the balls, separated one by one by a separating device along the way, and compressed by the compressed air blown out from the air nozzle into the supply hose. Is blown off and fed to the feeder unit.

溶 接 The welding nut sent to the feeder unit temporarily stops at the stopper position in the feeder unit. The stopped welding nut is held at the tip of the spindle by driving the spindle for supplying the welding nut forward from the feeder unit. The welding nut held by the spindle is separated from the stopper position by the advance of the spindle, and is supplied to the work setting position of the lower electrode. The supplied welding nut is sandwiched by the pressurizing operation of the upper electrode together with the work set on the lower electrode, giving the necessary electrode pressing force, and intensively flowing the welding current to the nut projection to heat and melt with the other work. And join.

However, as shown in Fig. 9, the conventional vibration-type welding nut feeder is a device in which a guide rail consisting of large and small round bars made of metal is welded on a transport truck along with the track as a measure against oil, which requires skill and skill. It was a complex track structure that required experience, costly production time and cost. Therefore, it was difficult to realize a standardized product.

Further, in the conventional apparatus, as shown in FIGS. 9, 10, 11, and 12, the front and back of the welding nut are selected by the blade-shaped track. It may fall due to vibration, and the sorting method using a blade type is one of the factors that lowers the flow sorting ability. In addition, fine adjustment of the two guide rails is necessary in order for the welding nut to be able to move onto the blade-shaped track with continuous movement from the transport truck, and the sorting result greatly depends on the adjustment result. . There was a problem.

The applicant has investigated the above-mentioned prior art documents and found that, in the vibration type welding nut supply device related to oil measures other than the above-mentioned patent document 1, in particular, the prior patent documents and non-patent documents and information relating to the transport truck are disclosed. Since it was not confirmed, the present applicant has described the prior art known at the present time with reference to the drawings of FIGS.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-46526

The problem to be solved by the present invention is that conventional vibration-type welding nut supply equipment requires skill and experience to weld large and small metal round bar guide rails along the track as a measure against oil, and a standardized product can be realized. Another problem is that parts cannot be smoothly moved on the blade type track, and the sorting accuracy cannot be improved.

The present invention has been developed in order to solve the above-mentioned problem. Specifically, the projection nut is mounted on a spiral component conveying track provided in a vibrating ball of a parts feeder for selecting the projection nut. In a vibratory component feeder for feeding components from a component outlet at a rising end portion of the truck to a target location while sequentially placing the components on the truck, a plurality of convex ridges having appropriate intervals are provided on a surface of the transport truck from which projection nuts are fed. The main feature is that when the nut is carried out by vibration, the protrusion reduces the degree of adhesion between the transport track and the transport component, thereby eliminating a slip phenomenon due to oil adhering to the component. I do.

The device of the present invention is compared with a conventional vibratory parts feeder in which a guide rail consisting of two round bars having a diameter of 2 mm and 4 mm is welded on a transport truck as a measure against oil in order to prevent rust of parts. These two round bars are no longer needed, and no welding skills or rules of thumb are required.

Further, since the device of the present invention does not use the blade-shaped track as in the conventional device, and has a continuous structure with only the transport truck with projections, the guide for connecting the blade-shaped tracks and transferring to the blade-shaped groove is provided. No rail adjustment is required. Therefore, compared to the conventional apparatus, the blade type track and the round bar are eliminated, so that the structure can be simplified and the sorting ability can be improved. In addition, the production can be performed without any trouble, the standardization can be realized, and the cost can be significantly reduced.

According to the apparatus of the present invention, by providing a plurality of convex portions in the component transport passage of the transport truck at appropriate intervals, the transport truck and the supply components are not in close contact with each other, and the slip and stop phenomenon due to oil can be eliminated. Improve sorting ability.

In addition, according to the present invention, by considering the shape, size, and number of the protrusions on the surface of the transport track, even if the degree of adhesion between the transport track and the supply component is made smaller, vibration can still be efficiently transmitted to the tip of the protrusion. In addition, the accuracy of component selection and the unloading speed can be improved. It is also effective in discharging oil that accumulates on the surface of the transport tract, and has remarkable effects different from the conventional one.

The present invention aims at commercialization of a standard product. As a countermeasure against the conventional oil, it does not use large and small metal round bar guide rails that have been welded along the track, and facilitates the movement of parts on the truck. A further improvement in part sorting accuracy has been achieved.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a typical example in a case where the present invention is applied to a transport track provided on a vibrating ball for supplying a welding nut. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a flow sorting position of a welding nut carried along a carrying truck. FIG. 3 shows a partially enlarged cross-sectional view when the welding nut in the irregular posture in which the projection P is downward moves on the transport track. FIG. 4 shows a partially enlarged cross section when the welding nut in the normal position with the projection P facing upward moves on the transport track. FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of the transport track, and is a plan view showing a partially enlarged view of the transport track surface formed by pressing the protrusions having a convex section with appropriate intervals on the surface of the transport track.

に お い て In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a vibrating parts feeder for selecting welding nuts. Reference numeral 2 denotes a vibration ball for storing a welding nut. Reference numeral 3 denotes a spiral transport track which receives vibrations from the ball separation bottom 4 and aligns the welding nuts N along the ball outer wall 5 and sends out the welding nuts N to the outside.

# 6 is a first wiper plate protruding inward from the ball outer wall 5 above the transport track. The first wiper plate 6 narrows the component passage width of the transport truck 3 toward the inside of the ball and passes through the component passage having a specified width. The transfer amount of N is regulated to eliminate excess parts.

# 7 is a second wiper plate. The second wiper plate 7 has an interval between the transport track and the wiper plate 7 for regulating the height of the welding nut N. A notch 8 is provided in the transport track 3 located below the wiper plate 7, whereby the overlapping parts fall on the wiper plate and fall from the notch 8, and the lower part of the wiper plate 7. Only the parts that have passed through are aligned in a fixed posture.

# 9 indicates a third wiper plate. By gradually narrowing the component passage width of the transport truck 3 near the final portion of the transport truck 3 toward the inside of the ball, the welding nut N group that has passed the second wiper 7 and further climbed the truck is sorted front and back. And align them in a certain direction. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, only the welding nut N whose projection P faces downward falls from the notch 10. The upward component passes under the third wiper plate 9 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, crosses the track narrowed to the specified component width, and has a discharge opening (window) 11 formed in the outer wall 5 of the ball. From the chute 12 on which the flow guide rails 15 are arranged.

The end of a chute 12 extending outward from the ball discharge opening (window) 11 is connected to a feeder unit, which is not shown in the drawing but is incorporated in a resistance spot welding machine as generally known, and is flexible. And a parts supply tube (including a hose or a square tube made of vinyl or urethane rubber) made of a material having transparency, and a welding nut is connected to a connection portion between the supply tube and the chute in the supply tube. An air nozzle for ejecting compressed air to the feeder unit is provided.

Although the main components described above are generally known, the structural feature of the present invention is, as can be seen from the detailed views of FIGS. 3 to 5, the surface of the transport truck 3 on which the welding nut N is fed and fed. In addition, there are provided a large number of projecting portions 13 having a protruding section at appropriate intervals. The transport track 3 is inclined at an angle within 8 to 10 degrees so as to become lower toward the outside with respect to the outer wall 5 of the ball, so that the outer wall 5 functions as a guide rail for parts. The protruding portion 13 having the convex section is simply formed by press molding. Then, when the nut is carried out by vibration, the degree of close contact between the transport track and the transport component is reduced by the projection, thereby eliminating a slip phenomenon due to oil adhering to the component.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the distance M between the adjacent protrusions 13 on the transport track 3 and the distance between the projections P rising outward from the nut linear surface on the projection P side of the welding nut N are different from each other. The dimension b between them is formed substantially under the condition of M ≧ b. By doing so, the area of contact between the surface of the truck and the surface of the welding nut is reduced, and the adhesion of rust preventive oil on the track surface is reduced. Can be. The slip phenomenon could not be effectively suppressed outside the range of the condition of M ≧ b.

The diameter e of the projection 13 is formed within a condition of e = a-M from the relationship between the width a of the welding nut N and the interval M between the projections. And efficiently stabilize the unloading speed. Therefore, the accuracy of a series of flow sorting can be further improved in comparison with the front and back sorting means using the blade-type groove feed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the height of the projection 13 is set to be approximately 1/2 of the projection height d of the welding nut so that the transport track 3 and the welding nut N can be closely contacted. Is eliminated, which is effective for improving the sorting ability. If the dimensional conditions are set outside the above range, the sorting accuracy and the transport speed will be affected.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to stably convey the protrusions 13 of the ridges by protruding in a circular shape from the surface of the track 3 and forming the tip of the protruded protrusions to be in flat contact with the flat surface 14 of the component. Can be.

The protruding ridge 13 protrudes in a circular shape from the surface of the track 3, and the tip shape of the ridge or the distance between the protrusions is set to an arbitrary shape according to the shape and size of mechanical parts such as bolts and nuts. Therefore, it can be applied to uses other than mechanical parts.

It is an outline top view showing an example of a vibration type component supply device of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a component selection position in a component transport process by a transport track of the apparatus of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the welding nut of an irregular attitude | position during conveyance of this invention apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the welding nut of a normal attitude | position during conveyance of this invention apparatus. FIG. 4 is a partial plan view showing protrusions on the surface of a transport track of the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrows BB in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a view as viewed in the direction of arrows CC in FIG. 2. It is a schematic plan view showing a transport track structure of a conventional device, including a guide rail of a round bar and a blade type track. FIG. 10 is a view as viewed in the direction of arrows DD in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 is a view as seen from the direction of arrows EE in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 is a view as viewed in the direction of arrows FF in FIG. 9.

Explanation of reference numerals

1 vibrating parts feeder 2 vibrating ball
3 Transport truck 4 Separation bottom
5 Ball outer wall 6 First wiper plate
7 second wiper plate 8 cutout portion 9 third wiper plate 10 cutout portion
11 Unloading opening (window) 12 Chute
13 Projection 14 Flat surface 15 Guide rail (round bar)
N projection nut

Claims (5)

The projection nut is placed on the spiral component transport track provided in the oscillating ball of the parts feeder that sorts the projection nut. A plurality of projecting portions having a suitable interval are provided on the surface of the transport truck from which the projection nut is fed, and the transporting is carried out by the projecting portion when the nut is carried out by vibration. A vibratory component feeder that satisfies the condition that the degree of adhesion between the truck and the transport component is reduced, thereby eliminating the slip phenomenon caused by the oil attached to the component. The relationship between the interval M between adjacent projections of the ridges formed on the transport track and the dimension b between the projections rising outward from the nut linear surface on the projection side of the projection nut is M ≧ b. The vibration-type component supply device according to claim 1. The vibration type component supply device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the diameter e of the protrusion of the convex ridge is e = a-M from the width a of the projection nut and the interval M between the protrusions. 4. The vibration-type component supply device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the height of the projection is about 1/2 of the projection height d of the projection nut. 5. The projection according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion protrudes in a circular shape from the surface of the track, and a tip of the protruding portion forms a flat surface on a side in contact with the component. Vibrating parts supply device.

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