JP2004203507A - Separating device for stacked works - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stacked work separating device capable of separating only the uppermost one of the stacked works certainly without risk to take out the secondly placed one simultaneously. <P>SOLUTION: The stacked work separating device is equipped with a suction attachment part 10 to suck the uppermost one of the stacked works 30 from the obverse side and a lateral sucking part 25 to apply the suction force to the side faces of the stacked works. Because the alignment of the stacked works left at the separation can be held, separation of works thereafter can be made smoothly. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating a stacked work, which can suck and separate one work from a surface layer of the stacked works, and can provide the separated work to conveyance, assembly with other components, and the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the case where one work piece is sequentially taken out of a stacked work piece and used for a predetermined assembling process in a component assembly line or the like, the work on the surface layer of the stacked work piece is separated by vacuum suction or magnetic force suction. And is separated from the laminated work.
However, the stacked workpieces may be difficult to separate from each other due to adhesion of oil or dust, and when the separation apparatus is to be separated in such a state, two or more workpieces may be stacked. May be taken out of the laminated work at the same time. Since it is difficult to carry the work to the next process or the like as it is, a device is devised so as not to be taken out at the time of separation, or the second and subsequent works are taken out of the work taken out at the time of separation. Working.
[0003]
For example, in Patent Literature 1, a repulsive force is generated between works by the magnetic force of a permanent magnet to facilitate the separation of the works. Further, in Patent Document 2, a separation plate is provided, and when a plurality of sheets are taken out by the suction tool, the second and subsequent works can be detached so that the second work hits the separation plate. Is described. In addition, a method of pressing a second work with a jig from the lateral direction at the time of separation or blowing air to the separated work to blow off the second and subsequent works is used. .
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-216868 [Patent Document 2]
JP-A-2001-328044
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the method disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is difficult to apply to a work that is not a magnetic material, and in some cases, a problem may occur due to magnetism remaining by a permanent magnet, which limits the applicable range. There is. Further, the apparatus described in Patent Document 2 has a problem that it is difficult to position the separation plate and the second work. Further, it is difficult to accurately adjust the jig to the second work by the method of pressing the second work from the side. In particular, in the case of a thin work, the thickness of the jig should be smaller than the work thickness. It is difficult to make it sufficiently small, and it becomes difficult to hold only the second sheet. In addition, the thin work may be inclined and may not be properly controlled. Furthermore, in the method of blowing off with air, it is very difficult to blow air between the first and second sheets, and the second work may be scattered outside.
[0006]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when separating one work from a stacked work, separation of a stacked work capable of surely adsorbing and separating only one work. It is intended to provide a device.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the apparatus for separating a laminated work according to the present invention is a separation apparatus for separating one work of a surface layer from a stacked work, wherein the surface layer of the stacked work is separated. A stacked work, comprising: a suction part for sucking a work from a surface side of the surface work; and a side suction part for applying a suction force to a side surface of at least a second work in the stacked work. Separation device.
[0008]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the laminating work separating apparatus according to the first aspect, the suction unit and the side suction unit are operated by vacuum suction.
[0009]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the suction unit and the side suction unit can independently control a vacuum suction operation.
[0010]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus for separating a laminated work according to the second aspect of the present invention, a suction unit valve for adjusting a vacuum suction operation on the suction unit and a suction unit for adjusting a vacuum suction operation on the side suction unit. And a valve for each.
[0011]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the first aspect, the side suction unit includes a plurality of side suction ports arranged along an outer peripheral side of the stacked work. .
[0012]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for separating a laminated work, wherein the plurality of side suction ports are arranged at equal angular intervals.
[0013]
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the apparatus for separating a laminated work according to the first aspect of the present invention, further comprising a laminated work moving device for moving the laminated work obtained by separating the surface work in preparation for separating the next work. I do.
[0014]
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for separating a laminated work according to the first aspect of the present invention, further comprising a suction port moving device for moving the suction port of the suction section toward and away from the surface work to be separated. I do.
[0015]
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for separating a laminated work according to the first aspect, further comprising a separation detecting device for detecting separation of the surface work by the suction section.
[0016]
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the operation of the suction valve, the suction valve, the work moving device, and the suction port moving device is performed based on the separation detection by the separation detecting device. It is characterized by including a control unit for controlling.
[0017]
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for separating a laminated work according to the first aspect, further comprising a guide portion for holding the laminated work in the laminating direction and enabling the laminated work to move in the laminating direction. It is characterized by.
[0018]
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the eleventh aspect, the guide portion has a cylindrical shape, and an inner peripheral portion of the guide portion communicates with a suction port of the side suction portion. It is characterized by having.
[0019]
That is, according to the present invention, the suction force can be applied to the stacked workpieces from the side by the suction unit, and the suction force can be applied to the surface work by the suction unit from the front side. . In the case of a surface layer work, the suction force applied from the front side acts on the work more effectively than the side suction force acting only on the side surface. Thus, it can be easily absorbed and taken out of the laminated work. On the other hand, in the second work, the suction force by the suction portion does not act or only slightly acts, and in some cases, the suction force acts between the first work and oil or dust. However, these attraction forces are slight with respect to the attraction force from the side. Even when the first work piece is taken out by the attraction portion, the current position is held by the side attraction force and the first work piece is retained. To prevent it from being taken out together with the workpiece. As a result, only the first work is reliably separated by the suction unit. The suction force from the side only needs to be applied to at least the second work, but may be applied to the outermost work to be separated or the work after the third work.
[0020]
Note that, in the suction section and the side suction section, typically, a vacuum suction force can be used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may use magnetic force or the like depending on the work.
It is desirable that the operations of the suction unit and the side suction unit can be independently controlled. Thereby, the on-off of the attraction force and the attraction force are individually controlled, thereby enabling a reliable and smooth separation operation. The above operation control can be performed by providing a suction unit valve in the suction unit and providing a suction unit valve in the side suction unit and controlling the opening / closing and opening degree of these valves.
[0021]
In addition, a plurality of suction ports of the side suction unit may be arranged on the outer peripheral side of the work along the circumferential direction, and in this case, it is desirable to arrange them at equal angular intervals. This makes it possible to apply a lateral suction force to the laminated work from a plurality of locations, and it is possible to prevent alignment disorder (lateral displacement or inclination) of the laminated work as much as possible. Further, the stacked work may be held by a guide portion that enables the stacked work to move in the stacking direction. The guide portion surely prevents the disordered alignment of the laminated work.
By making the guide portion cylindrical, the work holding ability is further enhanced. Further, when the inner peripheral portion of the cylindrical guide portion is communicated with the suction port of the side suction portion, when the laminated work is stored in the guide portion, the outer peripheral portion of the work and the inner peripheral portion of the guide portion are slightly separated. If such a gap is formed, the lateral suction force acts on the outer periphery of the laminated work through this gap, and the side suction force can be uniformly applied along the outer peripheral direction. Become.
[0022]
The suction unit normally makes at least the suction port movable toward and away from the stacked work, and abuts on or comes close to the work on the surface layer to a small distance to apply suction force to perform suction. The surface work can be separated by moving it away from the laminated work. The separation / contact movement can be executed by a suction port moving device including a driving device such as a motor and an appropriate motion mechanism for transmitting the driving force. Note that the separation / contact operation may be performed only on the suction port, or may be performed on the entire suction unit.
[0023]
When the surface work is separated by the suction unit, it is desirable to provide a detection device for detecting the separation. The detection device may directly detect the movement itself of the separated work, or may indirectly detect the movement position of the suction port or a pressure change in the suction unit. .
[0024]
When the surface layer work is separated by the suction unit, the position of the outermost layer work in the laminated work becomes different. For this reason, after separating the surface work, it is desirable to correct the positional relationship of the laminated work with respect to the suction section and the side suction section. In this case, the suction unit and the side suction unit can be moved, but it is usually easier to move the laminated work. The movement of the laminated work may be performed by moving the laminated work in the laminating direction by an amount by which the surface work is separated, and a work moving device including a driving device such as a motor and an appropriate motion mechanism for transmitting the driving force. Can be executed.
[0025]
It is desirable that the above-described valve for the suction unit, the valve for the suction unit, the work moving device, and the suction port moving device be controlled in association with each other by the control unit, and further controlled based on a separation detection result by the separation device. . For example, the control unit closes the suction unit valve to stop the side suction based on the separation detection, and further operates the work moving device to move the stacked work to prepare for the next work separation. The side suction unit performs the side suction until the separation of the work is detected in this manner, thereby reliably preventing the second and subsequent works from being simultaneously taken out.
[0026]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of an apparatus for separating a laminated work according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a separation device for a laminated work. The separating apparatus has an adsorbing section 10 having an adsorbing port 11, and a pipe joint 12 communicating with the adsorbing port 11 is connected to a vacuum suction device (not shown) via a valve V1 (shown in FIG. 3). ing. The suction unit 10 can be moved up and down (shown in FIG. 1) by a motor M1 (shown in FIG. 3) and a movement mechanism (not shown) constituting the suction port moving device of the present invention. A pressure gauge 13 for measuring a space pressure to be reached is provided. The result of measurement by the pressure gauge 13 is sent as a measurement signal to the control unit 1 described later.
[0027]
Further, a work placement table 20 is provided below the suction unit 10, and the placement table 20 is provided with a cylindrical guide 21 that can place the stacked works 30 inside. The central axis of the guide section 21 coincides with the central axis of the suction section 10.
Further, the work placement table 20 is formed with a side suction passage 26 extending from the outer peripheral side toward the guide portion 21, and the side suction passage 26 penetrates a cylindrical wall of the guide portion 21. The guide portion 21 is open on the inner peripheral side. The opening serves as a side suction port 21 a, and the side suction passage 25 and the side suction port 21 a constitute a side suction unit 25. The other end of the suction passage 26 opens to the side of the work table 20 and communicates with the pipe joint 27. The pipe joint 27 is connected to a vacuum suction device (not shown) via a valve V2 (shown in FIG. 3).
[0028]
Further, the stacked workpieces 30 are arranged on a bar magazine 40 which is located below the guide section 21 and is arranged coaxially with the guide section 21. In this embodiment, the work 30 has a ring shape of a thin plate, the inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the rod magazine 40, and the work 30 can be laminated along the rod magazine 40. The diameter is slightly smaller than the cylindrical hole of the guide portion 21 and can be inserted into the cylindrical hole of the guide portion 21. At the upper end of the guide portion 21, a detection groove 21b is formed along the radial direction, and a work confirmation sensor 28 is disposed on both sides of the detection groove 21b. The work 30 to be closed is detected.
[0029]
A cylindrical elevating unit 41 is slidably fitted around the outer periphery of the rod magazine 40. The elevating member 41 has an outer diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the work 30. 20 can be inserted into the cylindrical hole. An elevating device guide shaft 22 is attached to the other side of the work placement table 20 along the vertical direction, and an elevating device 42 is attached to the guide shaft 22 so as to be slidable up and down. The lifting device 42 is driven by a motor M2 (shown in FIG. 3) and moves up and down along the guide shaft 22. The lifting device 42 is provided with a lifting hook 43 extending in the horizontal direction toward the lifting portion 41, and the lifting hook 43 is engaged with a lifting portion sleeve 41 a provided at the lower end of the lifting portion 41. It has become possible. With this engagement, the lifting section 41 can be raised as the lifting hook 43 is raised. As described above, the motor M2, the guide shaft 22, the lifting device 42, the lifting hook 43, and the lifting unit 41 constitute the work moving device of the present invention.
[0030]
The above-described motors M1, M2 and valves V1, V2 are connected to a control unit 1 as shown in FIG. The control unit 1 can be constituted by, for example, a CPU (not shown) and a program for controlling the CPU. In addition, the measurement result by the pressure gauge 13 and the detection result by the work confirmation sensor 28 are input to the control unit 1. The control unit 1 can calculate the vertical position of the suction port 11 by a signal for controlling the operation of the motor M1, and the suction unit 10 controls the work 30 based on the fluctuation of the vertical position and the measurement pressure obtained by the pressure gauge. It can be detected whether or not separation has occurred. That is, in this embodiment, the control unit 1 and the pressure gauge 13 constitute a separation detection device. In the present invention, in addition to the above, the separation detecting device may be configured to directly detect the work 30 sucked to the suction unit 10 by the sensor.
[0031]
Next, the operation of the separation device will be described.
First, the work 30 is stacked on the elevating unit 41 fitted on the outer periphery of the bar magazine 40, and the motor M <b> 2 is operated by a command from the control unit 1, and the elevating device 42 is raised along the guide shaft 22. Then, the lifting hook 43 is engaged with the lifting / lowering portion sleeve 41a to raise the lifting / lowering portion 41. The elevating unit 41 raises the laminated work 30 along the cylindrical hole in the guide unit 21. When the outermost work 30a of the laminated work 30 moves to the upper end side of the cylindrical hole of the guide portion 21, the uppermost work 30a is detected by the work confirmation sensor 28, and the detection result is transmitted to the controller 1. The control unit 1 stops the operation of the motor M2 according to the detection result. As a result, the lifting of the laminated work 30 is stopped, and the outermost work 30a is placed at a predetermined position in the guide portion 21 in preparation for separation.
[0032]
Next, the motor M1 is controlled by the command of the control unit 1, the suction unit 10 is lowered, and the valves V1 and V2 are opened. Then, the vacuum suction force of a vacuum suction device (not shown) acts on the suction port 11 via the pipe joint 12, and the vacuum suction force of the vacuum suction device (not shown) acts on the suction port 21 a via the pipe joint 27. The suction force by the suction port 21a further acts on a small gap between the guide portion 21 and the outer peripheral portion of the laminated work 30, and sucks the laminated work 30 from the lateral direction. On the other hand, when the suction port 11 approaches the outermost layer of the stacked work, the suction force by the suction port 11 acts on the surface of the outermost work 30a, and finally the outermost work 30a is sucked by the suction port 11 to the suction section 10. Let it. This adsorption can be detected by a change in the pressure measured by the pressure gauge 13.
[0033]
Next, after detecting the suction, the motor M1 is reversed according to a command from the control unit 1, and the suction unit 10 is raised while the outermost layer work 30a is suctioned as shown in FIG.
At this time, as described above, the side suction force acts on the side surface of the laminated work 30, and the laminating position is maintained except for the outermost work 30a which is attracted by a large force and rises. This prevents the subsequent work 30 from being taken out simultaneously with the outermost work. In addition, the inclination of a thin work can be prevented, and the next work can be smoothly adsorbed and separated. Further, according to this method, the work is not scattered outside the bar magazine unlike the related art.
When the suction unit 10 has risen to a predetermined position and the pressure measured by the pressure gauge 13 indicates a suction state, the control unit 1 determines that separation has been performed (separation is detected. ).
[0034]
Thereafter, the work 30a that has been suction-separated can be transported by moving the suction unit 10 in the lateral direction or the like. Further, the control unit 1 closes the valve V2 and stops the side suction in the side suction unit 25 in accordance with the separation detection. Next, in response to a command from the control unit 1, the motor M2 is operated to raise the lifting device 42, and the lifting hook 43, the lifting unit 41, and the laminated work 30 are raised accordingly. Then, when the outermost work (the second work before the separation process) of the laminated work 30 is raised to a predetermined position, the work is detected by the work confirmation sensor 28, and the result is sent to the control unit 1. Reportedly. The control unit 1 stops the operation of the motor M2, that is, the lifting of the lifting device 42 according to the detection result. By these operations, the next outermost work is placed at a predetermined position in preparation for separation. By performing the above-described separation process on this laminated work, one work on the outermost layer is separated. By repeating the above process, the workpieces can be sequentially separated one by one from the laminated workpiece, and even in the repetition of the process, only one workpiece can be reliably separated.
[0035]
In the above embodiment, the suction from the side surface of the laminated work is described as being performed by one suction port 21a. However, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to provide side suction from each suction port 21a at the same time so that a suction force is evenly applied to the side surface of the laminated work as much as possible.
In each of the embodiments described above, the work to be separated has a thin plate ring shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the work is separated from the surface layer by suction in a stacked state. Widely applicable to work. In the case of providing a plurality of suction ports, one side suction unit may be provided, and a plurality of suction ports may be provided so as to communicate with the side suction unit, or a plurality of side suction units may be provided. May be provided with a plurality of suction ports.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the apparatus for separating a laminated work of the present invention, it is a separation apparatus for separating one work on the surface from the laminated work, and the surface work of the laminated work is separated from the work of the surface. Since it is provided with a suction portion that suctions from the front side and a side suction portion that applies a suction force to the side surface of at least the second layer of the works, only the outermost layer of the work is reliably separated, The second and subsequent works are prevented from being taken out at the same time. In addition, since the alignment of the stacked workpieces left at the time of separation is maintained, the subsequent separation of the workpieces can be performed smoothly.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing an entire separation device of a laminated work according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system.
FIG. 4 is a front cross-sectional view showing the operation state.
FIG. 5 is a plan view of a separation device according to another embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 10 Suction part 11 Suction port 13 Pressure gauge 21 Guide part 21a Suction port 22 Guide shaft 25 Side suction part 26 Suction passage 28 Work confirmation sensor 30 Work 30a Top surface work 40 Bar magazine 41 Elevating part 41a Elevating part sleeve 42 Lifting device 43 Lifting hook

Claims (12)

What is claimed is: 1. A separating apparatus for separating one work of a surface layer from a stacked work, comprising: an adsorbing portion for sucking a surface work of the stacked work from a surface side of the surface work; An apparatus for separating a laminated work, comprising: a side suction portion for applying a suction force to a side surface of a work of an eye. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the suction part and the side suction part are formed by vacuum suction. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the suction unit and the side suction unit can independently control a vacuum suction operation. 3. The separation of the laminated work according to claim 2, further comprising a suction unit valve that adjusts a vacuum suction operation on the suction unit and a suction unit valve that adjusts a vacuum suction operation on the side suction unit. 4. apparatus. The apparatus for separating a stacked work according to claim 1, wherein the side suction unit has a plurality of side suction ports arranged along an outer peripheral side of the stacked work. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of side suction ports are arranged at equal angular intervals. The apparatus for separating a laminated work according to claim 1, further comprising a laminated work moving device configured to move the laminated work from which the surface layer work has been separated in preparation for separating the next layer of the work. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a suction port moving device that moves the suction port of the suction section toward or away from a surface work to be separated. The separation device according to claim 1, further comprising a separation detection device that detects separation of the surface work by the suction unit. The separation of a laminated work according to claim 9, further comprising a control unit that controls operations of a suction valve, a suction valve, a work moving device, and a suction port moving device based on separation detection by the separation detecting device. apparatus. The apparatus for separating a laminated work according to claim 1, further comprising a guide portion that holds the laminated work in the laminating direction and enables the laminated work to move in the laminating direction. 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the guide portion has a cylindrical shape, and an inner peripheral portion of the guide portion communicates with a suction port of the side suction portion.

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