JP2004281542A - Work feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a work feed device which is capable of protruding one of many rods optionally, kept simple in structure, and provided at a low cost. <P>SOLUTION: Cylinder chambers 7 are provided in rows and columns in a matrix arrangement to a support block 2, and a drive piston and a rod 11 which are linked together are provided in each of the cylinder chambers 7. Inlet paths 15A to 15H corresponding to the columns and outlet paths 12a to 12f corresponding to the rows are provided in the support block 2, the inlet paths 15A to 15H communicate with the inlet pressure chambers 9 of the cylinder chambers 7 arranged in the columns, the outlet paths 12a to 12f communicate with the outlet pressure chambers 10 of the cylinder chambers arranged in the rows, and the support block 2 is made simple in structure inside. With respect to a selected cylinder chamber 7Q, fluid is supplied to the inlet paths other than one communicating with a selected cylinder chamber 7Q, and fluid is supplied to the outlet path communicating with the selected cylinder chamber 7Q, whereby only a selected rod 11Q housed in the selected cylinder chamber 7Q is moved forward. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a work transfer device provided with a large number of rods that individually contact and move a large number of works.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, when mounting ICs, LSIs, and many other electronic components on a printed circuit board, such as in the process of manufacturing electronic substrates, the process of holding, moving, and mounting each electronic component individually is repeated by the number of components. It is more efficient to carry out the work of grasping and moving a large number of electronic components at once and attaching them individually, rather than performing them.
[0003]
For this reason, there is a work transfer device that includes a plurality of fluid pressure actuators each including a rod that can individually grip each component, and can move the whole of the actuators integrally. The work is held and released by a holding device or the like provided at the tip of each rod, and each work is extracted from the tray and placed on the substrate by the forward and backward movement of each rod. Normally, the rod is moved one by one for the extraction movement and the placement movement of the work.
[0004]
However, if a control on-off valve is individually provided for each rod in order to individually operate a large number of rods, the required number of expensive and large on-off valves is the same as the number of rods. This increases the manufacturing cost and increases the size of the apparatus.
[0005]
In an example of a work supporting device similar to such a device for individually controlling a large number of rods, as a conventional configuration for reducing the number of on-off valves, as a conventional configuration, a large number of cylinder chambers are arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns. A common flow path for supplying fluid pressure to each cylinder chamber in common for each row is provided in each row, and the outlet pressure chamber of each cylinder chamber is connected to the corresponding common flow path and closed for each column. There is a configuration in which a valve shaft that switches between the two is provided corresponding to each row, and a rod that is arbitrarily selected by a combination of a common flow path for supplying fluid and a valve shaft that is operated is moved forward (for example, see Patent Document 1). .
[0006]
In this method, each valve shaft is connected to a single-acting type hydraulic cylinder, and an on-off valve is connected to each of the single-acting type cylinder and each supply flow path to individually switch the supply of fluid. In other words, the on-off valve may be installed by the sum of the number of supply channels (the number of rows) and the number of valve shafts (the number of columns), and the total number of rods (the number of common flow channels and the number of valve shafts) ), Compared to a configuration where the same number is installed.
[0007]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-344198
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional configuration as described above, the number of valve shafts driven by single-acting cylinders in the device must be provided as many as the number of rows in the matrix arrangement, which complicates the configuration, and furthermore, all the cylinder chambers have Since it is necessary to additionally provide a common flow path for the inlet side communicating with the inlet side pressure chamber and an on-off valve therefor, as a result, the manufacturing cost of the entire apparatus has not been significantly reduced.
[0009]
An object of the present invention is to provide a work transfer device which can be operated so as to protrude and move only one of a large number of rods, and which can be manufactured at a low cost with a simple configuration.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the work transfer device of the present invention, a support block in which a plurality of entrance flow paths and a plurality of exit flow paths are formed, and a combination of an entrance flow path and an exit flow path formed in the support block and communicated with each other. A plurality of different cylinder chambers, a drive piston that divides the cylinder chamber into an inlet pressure chamber that communicates with the inlet flow path and an outlet pressure chamber that communicates with the outlet flow path, and an inlet side connected to the drive piston. A rod protruding from the pressure chamber, and for one selected cylinder chamber arbitrarily selected from the plurality of cylinder chambers, supplying fluid to an inlet-side flow path other than communicating with the selected cylinder chamber; A fluid is supplied to an outlet passage communicating with the selected cylinder chamber, whereby only the selected rod accommodated in the selected cylinder chamber is moved forward.
[0011]
The work transfer device of the present invention is characterized in that a support block is provided so that the rod moves forward in the vertical direction downward.
[0012]
The work transfer device of the present invention is characterized in that a compression spring that presses the drive piston backward is inserted into the entry-side pressure chamber.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of a work transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is in a horizontal posture, viewed obliquely from below, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line KK in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of one cylinder chamber in FIG. The work transfer device 1 according to the present embodiment has a support block 2 as shown in FIG. 1 as an accommodating part for directly handling a work, and the support block 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped main body 3 and a plurality of support blocks 2 on its lower surface. And a cover member 5 fixed by the screw member 4.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of cylinder holes 6 are formed in the main body 3 of the support block 2 and arranged in parallel along the vertical direction, and the cover member 5 has an opening at the lower end thereof. When closed, each of them forms a cylinder chamber 7 in which compressed air can be sealed. A drive piston 8 is mounted inside each of the cylinder chambers 7 so as to be able to reciprocate in the axial direction. The drive piston 8 causes the inside of each of the cylinder chambers 7 to enter the lower pressure chamber 9 on the lower side in the figure and the upper pressure chamber 9 on the upper side in the figure. The outlet pressure chamber 10 is defined. A rod 11 parallel to the axial direction of the cylinder chamber 7 is attached to the lower side of the drive piston 8 in the figure, and the rod 11 projects from the cover member 5 and moves with the drive piston 8 into a forward limit position (lower limit position). It is configured to be able to move back and forth between a retreat limit position (upper limit position).
[0016]
In the work transfer device of the present embodiment, eight cylinder chambers 7 are arranged in a straight line in the X direction on the horizontal section of the support block 2 shown in FIG. The chambers 7 are arranged in a straight line, and the cylinder chambers 7 are formed in a matrix arrangement of 6 rows and 8 columns in total. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the rod 11 projects downward through the cover member 5 in the same arrangement as the cylinder chambers 7. However, the number of cylinder chambers 7 is not limited to 48 in 6 rows and 8 columns, but can be set to any number. The respective cylinder chambers 7 are formed at a constant pitch in both the X and Y directions, but the intervals between the cylinder chambers 7 can be set arbitrarily.
[0017]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, above the main body 3 of the support block 2, six outlet flow paths 12a to 12f arranged in parallel with the X direction correspond to respective rows in the matrix arrangement of the cylinder chambers 7, respectively. These are in common communication with the outlet pressure chambers 10 of the eight cylinder chambers 7 in each row via the outlet communication passages 13, respectively. One end of each of the outlet flow paths 12a to 12f communicates with outlet supply / discharge ports 14a to 14f formed on the side surface 3a of the main body 3, and each outlet communication path 13 is an upper end face of each cylinder chamber 7. The opening (retreat-side end surface 7r) is smaller in area than the cross-sectional area of the drive piston 8.
[0018]
Below the main body 3, eight inlet-side flow paths 15A to 15H arranged in parallel with the Y direction are formed corresponding to the respective columns in the matrix arrangement of the cylinder chambers 7, and these are formed in each column. The inlet-side pressure chambers 9 of the six cylinder chambers 7 penetrate through communication chambers 17 described later and are commonly connected. One end of each of the inlet-side flow paths 15A to 15H communicates with inlet-side supply / discharge ports 14A to 14H formed on a side surface 3b orthogonal to the side surface 3a of the main body 3. As described above, the 48 cylinder chambers 7 have a connection configuration in which the combinations of the outgoing flow paths 12a to 12f and the incoming flow paths 15A to 15H, which communicate with each other, are all different.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 4, the drive piston 8 has an upper large-diameter portion 8a and a lower small-diameter portion 8b formed concentrically and integrally, and an O-ring 16 is mounted on the outer periphery of the large-diameter portion 8a. The inner pressure chamber 9 is in close contact with the inner periphery of the cylinder chamber 7 and can slide back and forth in the axial direction while maintaining the airtightness between the inlet pressure chamber 9 and the outlet pressure chamber 10.
[0020]
A communication chamber 17 having a diameter larger than that of the cylinder hole 6 is formed at the lower end of the cylinder chamber 7, and a rod cover 18 is mounted concentrically with the cylinder hole 6 inside the communication chamber 17. The rod cover 18 has a main body cylindrical portion 18a having a larger diameter than the communication chamber 17 and a small-diameter cylindrical portion 18b having a smaller diameter than the cylinder hole 6 formed integrally therewith. The inlet-side flow paths 15A to 15H communicate with the inlet-side pressure chamber 9 via a communication chamber 17 located around the small-diameter cylindrical portion 18b. An O-ring 19 is mounted on the outer periphery of the main body tube portion 18a to be in close contact with the main body portion 3, and a V-packing 20 is mounted on the inner periphery of the main body tube portion 18a that comes into sliding contact with the rod 11. Has airtightness.
[0021]
A compression spring 21 is mounted so as to be sandwiched between the main body cylindrical portion 18a of the rod cover 18 and the large diameter portion 8a of the drive piston 8, and the small diameter portion 8b of the drive piston 8 and the small diameter cylindrical portion 18b of the rod cover 18 are connected. Each rod is inserted inside the compression spring 21, and the rod 11 penetrates on the axial center of the compression spring 21. The compression spring 21 is expanded and contracted by the axial movement of the driving piston 8 and always applies a pressing force to the driving piston 8 upward.
[0022]
The pressing force of the compression spring 21 is set so as to be smaller than the forward air pressure thrust received by the driving piston 8 on the retreating end face 8c when the compressed air of the specified pressure is supplied only to the outlet pressure chamber 10. ing. Therefore, when the compressed air is supplied only to the outlet pressure chamber 10 without being supplied to the inlet pressure chamber 9, the drive piston 8 and the rod 11 move forward.
[0023]
Further, the drive piston 8 has a lower end 8 d (projection surface obtained by combining the exposed front end surfaces of the large-diameter portion 8 a and the small-diameter portion 8 b) lower than the upper retreat-side end surface 8 c. The pressure receiving area receiving the air pressure is reduced by the installation area. Therefore, assuming a configuration in which the compression spring 21 is not provided, when the same pressure compressed air is supplied to both the inlet pressure chamber 9 and the outlet pressure chamber 10, the forward pneumatic thrust takes precedence and the driving piston 8 and The rod 11 will move forward.
[0024]
Therefore, when the compressed air having the same pressure is supplied to both the inlet pressure chamber 9 and the outlet pressure chamber 10, the pressing force of the compression spring 21 should be at least the forward force so as to give priority to the thrust acting in the backward direction. It is set so that a pressing force greater than the thrust obtained by subtracting the retreat air pressure thrust from the air pressure thrust can always be applied. As a result, the retreating thrust, which is the sum of the retreating air pressure thrust received from the compressed air in the inlet pressure chamber 9 and the pressing force of the compression spring 21, is the forward pneumatic thrust (forward thrust) received from the compressed air in the outlet pressure chamber 10. In this case, the drive piston 8 and the rod 11 are moved backward by a magnitude larger than the above.
[0025]
In the work transporting apparatus 1 of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, only one rod 11 arbitrarily selected from the 48 rods is moved forward and backward to perform contact and placement of the work. For example, by attaching a needle-shaped specimen collection jig to the tip of each rod 11, a plurality of types of bacteria (work) cultured in a plurality of Petri dishes or the like are collected for each rod 11, and then conveyed at once. By distributing the test tubes one by one to a plurality of test tubes or the like in the analysis station, highly efficient transport is enabled. When the present invention is applied to an electronic component mounting machine for mounting an electronic component on a printed circuit board, a vacuum suction jig or the like that can suck the electronic component may be attached to the tip of each rod 11.
[0026]
Hereinafter, the operation of the work transfer device 1 of the present embodiment will be described.
[0027]
First, when the supply of the compressed air is stopped to all the inflow-side flow paths 15A to 15H and the outflow-side flow paths 12a to 12f and the air is opened to the atmosphere, only the pressing force upward from the compression spring 21 is applied to all the drive pistons 8. Since only the workpiece 11 is added, it is in a state of being retracted together with the respective rods 11 to the uppermost retreat limit position, and this state is an initial state of the work transfer device 1.
[0028]
FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main part of the work transfer device 1. As an example of operation control, when only the rod 11 located in the fifth row and the third column in the drawing is projected as the selected rod 11 </ b> Q, compressed air is supplied. It is a figure which shows the combination of the entrance side flow path and the output side flow path. The selected rod 11Q selected as shown in FIG. 5 is located in the fifth row from the top and the third column from the left in the matrix arrangement shown, and the selected rod 11Q that accommodates the selected rod 11Q is selected. The cylinder chamber 7Q communicates with the outlet channel 12b corresponding to the fifth row and the inlet channel 15C corresponding to the third column.
[0029]
As an operation of moving only the selected rod 11Q forward and protruding, compressed air is supplied to the input side flow paths 15A, 15B, 15D to 15H other than the input side flow path 15C in the third row, and the output of the fifth row is performed. This is an operation of supplying compressed air to the side flow path 12b. As a result, most of the cylinder chambers corresponding to the rows other than the third row are supplied with the compressed air to the inlet-side pressure chambers 9, so that the driving pistons 8 housed therein are moved upward as described above. It moves backward and retracts with the rod 11 to the retreat limit position. Of the six cylinder chambers 7Ca to 7Cf corresponding to the third column other than these, only the cylinder chamber 7Cb (selected cylinder chamber 7Cb) at the position corresponding to the fifth row is compressed into the outlet pressure chamber 10. Since the air is supplied, only the drive piston 8 housed therein moves to the forward limit position, that is, only the selected rod 11Q protrudes.
[0030]
Here, in the other five cylinder chambers 7Ca, 7Cc to 7Cf corresponding to the third row other than the selected cylinder chamber 7Q (cylinder chamber 7Cb) accommodating the selected rod 11Q, the inlet pressure chamber 9 and the outlet side are provided. Since the compressed air is not supplied to either of the pressure chambers 10 and is in the same state as the initial state, the driving piston 8 and the rod 11 are retracted to the retreat limit position by the pressing force of the compression spring 21. .
[0031]
In the other seven cylinder chambers 7Ab, 7Bb, 7Db to 7Hb corresponding to the fifth row other than the selected cylinder chamber 7Q, the same pressure is applied to both the inlet pressure chamber 9 and the outlet pressure chamber 10. Since the air is supplied, the backward thrust (the thrust of the sum of the backward air pressure thrust by the compressed air in the inlet side pressure chamber 9 and the pressing force of the compression spring 21) has priority as described above. The driving piston 8 and the rod 11 are retracted to the retreat limit position. As a result, the operation can be controlled so that only the selected rod 11Q located at the arbitrarily selected fifth row and third column is protruded to the forward limit position.
[0032]
As described above, the work transfer device 1 of the present embodiment supplies compressed air to the input-side flow path other than the communication path with the selected cylinder chamber among the plurality of formed input-side flow paths, and the plurality of formed input-side flow paths are formed. By supplying the compressed air only to the outlet side flow passage communicating with the selected cylinder chamber in the outlet side flow passage, only the selected rod can be made to protrude.
[0033]
FIG. 6 is a pneumatic circuit diagram showing a control unit for controlling the operation of the work transfer device 1. A first flow path 23a is provided between one air pressure supply source 22 and the six outlet supply / discharge ports 14a to 14f. To 23f, and second flow paths 23A to 23H are connected between the same air pressure supply source 22 and the eight inlet-side supply / discharge ports 14A to 14H, respectively. The first flow paths 23a to 23f and the second flow paths 23A to 23H are provided with on-off valves 24a to 24f and 24A to 24H for opening and closing the flow paths.
[0034]
Each of the on-off valves 24a to 24f, 24A to 24H is a solenoid valve operated by a solenoid. First, all the on-off supply / discharges are performed by turning off the solenoids of all the on-off valves 24a to 24f, 24A to 24H. The ports 14A to 14H and the outlet side supply / discharge ports 14a to 14f are opened to the atmosphere so that no compressed air is supplied to all the cylinder chambers 7, and as described above, all the drive pistons 8 and the rods 11 are compressed. The spring 21 is pressed to the retreat limit position by the pressing force of the spring 21 to be in the initial state.
[0035]
After that, when only the rod 11Cb located in the fifth row and the third column is controlled to protrude and move as the selected rod as in the above-described example, the on-off valves 24A corresponding to the inlet-side flow paths 15A, 15B, and 15D to 15H. , 24B, 24D to 24H and the solenoid of the on-off valve 24b corresponding to the outlet side flow path 12b, and supply compressed air to each flow path.
[0036]
As described above, the workpiece transfer device 1 of the present embodiment includes the rods 11 to be operation-controlled in a large number corresponding to the multiplication value (product) of the number of rows and the number of columns in the matrix arrangement at the maximum. The number of on-off valves 24a to 24f and 24A to 24H that actually perform the switching operation may be the same as the sum (sum) of the number of rows and the number of columns.
[0037]
Therefore, in the example of the present embodiment, it is not necessary to provide as many as 48 on-off valves individually corresponding to controlling as many as 48 rods 11 as described above. Since the required number of installed 24 can be suppressed to 14 which is the sum of the number of rows and the number of columns, the entire work transfer device 1 including the control unit can be configured to be small, light and simple.
[0038]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cylinder block 7 having a simple configuration and the number of channels for compressed air corresponding to each row and each column are formed in the support block 2. Since it has a simple configuration, the manufacturing cost can be kept low only in the main part of the work transfer device 1 that the support block 2 houses.
[0039]
As described above, the work transfer device 1 according to the present embodiment can be controlled so that only one selected rod 11Q arbitrarily selected from a large number of the provided rods 11 protrudes and moves, and can be manufactured at low cost. It has a configuration.
[0040]
In the present embodiment, as described above, the arrangement of the cylinder chambers 7 is formed in all rows and columns in a rectangular matrix arrangement, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is possible to partially form the cylinder chamber 7 also in a matrix arrangement, and the passages corresponding to each row and each column may be formed in a curved shape and are not parallel to each other. Even in such a case, if the combinations of the inlet-side passages 15A to 15H and the outlet-side passages 12a to 12f that communicate with the respective cylinder chambers 7 have different communication configurations, the same number as the added value of the number of rows and the number of columns is used. By merely providing the opening / closing valves 24a to 24f, it is possible to perform an operation control of moving only one selected rod 11Q forward and protruding.
[0041]
Further, by setting the pressure of the compressed air supplied to the inlet-side channels 15A to 15H sufficiently higher than the compressed air supplied to the outlet-side channels 12a to 12f, the mounting of the compression spring 21 in the cylinder chamber 7 is improved. Becomes unnecessary. For example, when the pressures of the compressed air for the inlet side and the outlet side are P ₁ and P ₂ , respectively, and the pressure receiving areas on the forward end face 8 d and the retreat side end face 8 c of the drive piston 8 are S ₁ and S ₂ , respectively. _{S 2 / S 1) × P} 2 < retracted pneumatic thrust if relations satisfying P ₁ is always a drive piston 8 in preference to forward pneumatic thrust can be moved backward.
[0042]
Here, in the case of a configuration without the compression spring 21, it is necessary to perform control to protrude the selected rod 11Q from an initial state in which all the drive pistons 8 are moved backward to the retreat limit position. Further, the rod 11 and the drive piston 8 can be prevented from falling due to their own weight due to friction with the V-packing 20.
[0043]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the rods 11 and the cylinder chambers 7 are not limited to those formed in a mutually parallel arrangement along the vertical direction, and all the rods 11 are not limited to the configuration protruding downward. . For example, each cylinder chamber 7 may be formed so as to be arranged in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction, and each rod 11 may be configured to protrude and move in the same direction. Various arrangements are conceivable, such as providing the cylinder chamber 7 and each rod 11 in a radial arrangement.
[0044]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, only by providing the same number of opening / closing valves as the sum of the number of rows and columns in the matrix arrangement, it is possible to control the operation so that only one selected rod out of a large number of rods protrudes. The manufacturing cost is low because the cylinder block has a simple structure and the number of compressed air passages corresponding to each row and each column is simply formed inside the support block. Can be suppressed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a work transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is in a horizontal posture, as viewed obliquely from below.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line JJ in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line KK in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of one cylinder chamber in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main part of the work transfer device, showing a combination of an inlet channel and an outlet channel to which compressed air is to be supplied when only a rod located in the fifth row and the third column in the drawing is projected. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a pneumatic circuit diagram showing a control unit for controlling the operation of the work transfer device.
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 work transfer device 2 support block 3 main body 4 screw member 5 cover member 6 cylinder hole 7, 7Aa to 7Hf cylinder chamber 7Q selected cylinder chamber 8 drive piston 8c retreat-side end face 8d forward-side end face 9 entry-side pressure chamber 10 exit side Pressure chambers 11, 11Aa to 11Hf Rod 11Q Selected rods 12a to 12f Outlet passage 13 Outlet communication passages 14a to 14f Outlet supply / discharge ports 14A to 14H Inlet supply / discharge ports 15A to 15H Inlet passage 16 O-ring 17 Communication chamber 18 Rod cover 19 O-ring 20 V-packing 21 Compression spring 22 Air supply sources 23 a to 23 f First flow paths 23 A to 23 H Second flow paths 24 a to 24 f, 24 A to 24 H On-off valve

Claims (3)

A support block on which a plurality of inlet channels and a plurality of outlet channels are formed,
An inlet flow path formed in the support block and communicating with one end of the plurality of inlet flow paths, and an outlet flow communicating with the other end of the plurality of outlet flow paths. A plurality of cylinder chambers with different combinations of roads,
A drive piston which is divided into an inlet-side pressure chamber communicating with the inlet-side channel and an outlet-side pressure chamber communicating with the outlet-side channel, and is mounted to be movable forward and backward,
A rod provided on the drive piston and protruding from the entry-side pressure chamber and in contact with the work;
A fluid is supplied to one of the plurality of cylinder chambers and arbitrarily selected from the plurality of cylinder chambers, and the fluid is supplied to the inlet-side flow path other than the communication with the selected cylinder chamber, and the selected cylinder chamber communicates with the selected cylinder chamber. A work transfer device, wherein only a selected rod accommodated in the selected cylinder chamber is moved forward by supplying a fluid to the outlet channel. 2. The work transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the support block is installed so that the rod moves forward in a vertical direction. 3. The work transfer device according to claim 1, wherein a compression spring that presses the drive piston backward is inserted into the entry-side pressure chamber.

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