JP2006275728A - Component inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a component inspection device capable of inspecting efficiently and accurately a component of a stepped shape. <P>SOLUTION: This component inspection device includes a chute 10 for sliding down to a diagonally downside the component 1 with a shaft part 2 directed upwards and brought into a condition inclined frontwards, by a dead weight, so as to be conveyed, two holding rollers 20 arranged in a lower side of a front end part of the chute and rotation-driven along the same direction around axes parallel each other, and a stopper 30 provided with a locking face 31 positioned frontwards separatedly from the front end part of the chute 10, and a V-shaped guide groove 32 extended frontwards from the locking face 31 in an intermediate position of the two holding rollers 20 and opened upwards. A reverse face 3b side of a large-diametric part 3 of the component 1 slid down on the chute 10 and overturned by falling-down onto the holding rollers 20 is brought into contact with the locking face 31, and the component 1 is inspected under the condition where the shaft part 2 is held by the guide groove 32, and where the large-diametric part 3 is held by the holding rollers 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a component inspection apparatus, and more particularly to a stepped shape component inspection apparatus having a large diameter portion at one end of a shaft portion.

  For example, stepped parts (hereinafter simply referred to as parts) with a large diameter portion at one end of the shaft, such as valve bodies, plungers, and bolts of various valves, which are forged products before machining, are preceded by subsequent processes. Although it is necessary to perform a wrinkle inspection on the surface of the shaft portion and the large diameter portion, conventionally, a visual inspection in which an operator checks each hand one by one is common. However, this visual inspection is time consuming and laborious and is not efficient, and there is a large risk of missing a wrinkle, resulting in poor reliability.

Therefore, it is conceivable to perform automatic flaw detection using an eddy current flaw detection apparatus used for flaw detection of metal materials (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-249084 (page 3-5, FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 6)

  However, unlike the ring-shaped circular workpiece as described in the above-mentioned patent document, the part to be inspected this time is a stepped shape product having a shaft portion protruding from the large diameter portion. In the conveying process of supplying the parts to the parts, the parts are likely to fall down, and the shaft part is likely to shake during rotation driving only by holding the large-diameter part with the holding roller. In particular, accurate inspection of the shaft part cannot be performed. Therefore, it is conceivable that the shaft part of the part conveyed by a conveyor or the like in an upright state is gripped by a rotary chuck, lifted to a predetermined position, and then driven to rotate. In this case, the large diameter part is likely to swing, so the large diameter part In addition, the use of a rotary chuck makes the apparatus complicated, and the frequency of use is high, so that the life of the rotary chuck is short and the maintenance cost of the apparatus is high, which is uneconomical.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a component inspection apparatus capable of efficiently and accurately inspecting a stepped shape component with a simple apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the component inspection apparatus according to claim 1 is a component inspection device for inspecting a stepped-shaped component having a large-diameter portion at one end of a shaft portion. A chute that supports the surface of the large-diameter portion and slides it downward and obliquely downwards by its own weight and conveys the component that is in an upward and forward-tilted state, and is disposed below the front end portion of the chute Two holding rollers that are rotationally driven in the same direction around mutually parallel axes extending in the front-rear direction, and a locking surface extending in the left-right direction at a position spaced forward by a predetermined distance from the front end of the chute, A stopper provided with a V-shaped guide groove that extends forward from the locking surface and opens upward at an intermediate position between the two holding rollers, and slides down on the chute and onto the holding roller. The shaft due to the fall of The rear surface side of the large-diameter portion of the component that has fallen forward is brought into contact with the locking surface of the stopper, the shaft portion is formed by the guide groove, and the large-diameter portion is formed by the holding roller. In this case, inspection is performed on each of the parts held.

  In this invention, the “front” side refers to the traveling direction side in the plan view of the component conveyed by the chute, the “rear” side refers to the opposite direction side, and the left and right refer to the left-right direction with respect to the front-rear direction. Shall. The “back surface” of the large-diameter portion of the part refers to the side surface of the large-diameter portion on the side where the shaft portion is connected, and the “front surface” refers to the end surface of the shaft portion on the side opposite to the back surface that is not connected. Shall be called.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the chute for supplying the parts to the inspection section may be of a very simple structure, and the selection of the inclination angle ensures that the parts do not fall over accidentally. Can be transported. Also, parts that fall from the front end of the chute in the forward tilted posture fall down so that the center of gravity protrudes from the front end of the chute so that the shaft part moves forward due to its own weight, and the back surface of the large diameter part is the stopper The front and rear are positioned by abutting against the locking surface, the large diameter portion is centered by engagement with the two holding rollers on the outer periphery of the large diameter portion, and the shaft portion is engaged by engagement with the guide groove of the shaft portion stopper. Since each part is quickly centered, the parts are rotated and driven by a holding roller with little shaking, and each part is accurately inspected by a flaw detection device such as an eddy current flaw detection method or a dimension measurement device such as a laser displacement meter. Can be done.

  The component inspection apparatus according to claim 2 is the component inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an upper surface facing the lower outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter portion of the component held by the holding roller is inclined forward and downward. A support piece, a lowered position in which the support piece is spaced downward from the lower outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter portion, and a contact between the back surface of the large-diameter portion and the locking surface of the stopper by raising the large-diameter portion. And a drive device for driving up and down between the lifted position where the contact is released, and by moving the support piece up by the drive device, the parts after inspection are placed on the stopper. It is characterized in that it is slid and discharged forward.

  In the present invention, the inspected part can be gripped or sucked by a chuck or a suction cup and discharged from the inspection part. However, according to the configuration of claim 2, the part discharging apparatus can be used to remove the large diameter part of the part. By simply pushing up, the parts can be ejected forward, and the device is simple, with few failures and long life.

  According to the present invention, by using a device having a simple component holding mechanism including a chute, a holding roller, and a stopper, it is possible to efficiently and accurately inspect a stepped component without human intervention.

  In addition to the above effects, according to the invention described in claim 2, the component discharge section after the inspection can be constituted by a component discharge device that is simple, has few failures, and has a long life.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to an example shown in FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a stepped part to be inspected, which comprises a metal valve body having a disk-like large-diameter portion 3 at one end of the shaft portion 2 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, 5 is a component inspection apparatus for performing a flaw detection inspection of the component 1, 6 is a base thereof, and 7 is a substrate which is an upper plate of the base 6. A chute 10, two holding rollers 20 for holding and rotating parts, and a stopper 30 for positioning and holding parts are respectively attached. The base 6 has an inclination adjusting bolt 8 described later. Reference numeral 50 denotes a controller that issues a drive command signal to each drive unit of the component inspection apparatus 1 and issues a flaw detection command signal to an eddy current flaw detector 70 described later. Reference numeral 60 denotes a delivery chute for delivering the inspected part 1 provided on the front side of the stopper 30, and the configuration thereof will be described later with reference to FIG. 2 to 5, the delivery chute 60 is not shown.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the chute 10 supports the surface 1a of the large-diameter portion 3 in a forward-tilted state in which the component 1 with the shaft portion 2 facing upward is inclined toward the front side indicated by an arrow X in the figure. In this way, it is made of a metal plate-like saddle-like body having a front and lower inclined surface 11 that slides down due to its own weight, and is fixed on the substrate 7 via a support leg 13 and a support fitting 13 attached to a bearing block 22 described later. ing. Reference numerals 14 and 15 are cutting stoppers for temporarily holding the parts 1 on the chute 10 and feeding them one by one obliquely forward, and are reciprocated in the horizontal direction by an operating device 16 comprising an air cylinder. A conveyor (not shown) is connected to the upper end of the chute 10, and the parts 1 are fed one by one on the inclined surface 11 near the upper end of the chute 10 at predetermined time intervals.

  Next, the holding roller 20 is disposed on the lower side of the front end portion of the chute 10, and the two holding rollers 20 are rotatable on the substrate 7 so as to be rotatable around mutually parallel axes 21a and 21b extending in the front-rear direction. It is supported by a fixed bearing block 22 and a stopper 30 described later. The interval between the two holding rollers 20 and 20 is set such that the large-diameter portion 3 of the component 1 can be supported at two points. A rotation driving gear 23 is fixedly attached to the rear portion of each holding roller 20, and an intermediate gear 24 pivotally supported by a bearing block 22 is provided between the gears 23, 23 of the two holding rollers 20, 20. 3 and FIG. 5), the drive gear 26 attached to the output shaft of the motor 25 which is a drive machine attached to the bearing block 22 is meshed with the gear 23 of the one holding roller 20 and rotated. Both the holding rollers 20 and 20 are configured to rotate in the same direction indicated by an arrow R (see FIG. 5).

  The stopper 30 is made of a metal block-like body fixed on the substrate 7, and a locking surface 31 extending in the left-right direction is formed on the rear surface portion at a position spaced forward from the front end portion of the chute 10 by a predetermined distance. In addition, a V-shaped guide groove 32 that extends in the front-rear direction and opens upward at an intermediate position between the two holding rollers 20, 20 (axis lines 21a, 21b) is provided on the upper surface portion. In this example, in order to avoid interference with the base portion of the shaft portion 2 of the component 1, a notch portion 33 that extends rearward is provided at the rear portion of the guide groove 32 and dust at the bottom portion of the V-shaped groove. A U-shaped groove 34 for equal discharge is provided continuously.

  In this example, the inclination of the base 6 in the front-rear direction is adjusted by rotating the inclination adjusting bolt 8 screwed into the lower end surface of the leg on the rear side of the base 6 so that the upper surface of the substrate 7 is in front. Inclined at a predetermined gradient (about 1/50 in this example) so as to be in a descending shape, and thereby the axes 21 a and 21 b and the guide groove 32 of the holding roller 20 are also inclined forward and downward at the same gradient as the substrate 7. Thus, the constant contact between the back surface 3b of the large-diameter portion 3 of the component 1 and the locking surface 31 of the stopper 30 at the time of inspection described later is achieved.

  In this example, a component discharge device 40 is provided at a position near the rear surface of the stopper 30 between the two holding rollers 20. 41 is a support piece whose upper surface faces the lower outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter portion 3 of the component 1 in a state of being held by two holding rollers 20 and 20 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The drive unit 42 formed of an air cylinder is driven to reciprocate between a lowered position shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 and an elevated position shown in FIG. Due to the inclination of the substrate 7, the upper surface of the support piece 41 is inclined forward and downward with the same gradient as the substrate 7.

  1 and 6 is a bowl-like chute for feeding the component 1 discharged from the stopper 30 forward by the component discharge device 40 forward, and the bowl-shaped body inclined forward and downward is shown in the figure. However, the product 1 is branched into a bifurcated shape at the front to form a non-defective product discharge path and a defective product discharge path. Depending on the result of determination by the device 70, the product is sorted into one of the non-defective product discharge path and the defective product discharge path and collected.

  Next, a method for inspecting the component 1 by the component inspection apparatus 5 having the above configuration will be described. In the holding state of the component 1 on the chute 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, if the front-side cutting stopper 14 is driven in the retracting direction by the operating device 16 according to the drive command of the control device 50, the lower component 1 is As the center of gravity slides forward from the front end portion of the chute 10 on the inclined surface 11 of the chute 10 due to its own weight and the center of gravity protrudes forward from the front end portion of the chute 10, the component 1 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the shaft part 2 falls so as to face forward, the part 1 supported on the outer periphery of the large diameter part 3 by the holding rollers 20 and 20 slides forward, and the back surface 3b of the large diameter part 3 is a stopper. The shaft 2 collides with the locking surface 31 of 30 and is fitted in the guide groove 32 and positioned left and right, and the holding state shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is obtained.

  Therefore, in this component holding state, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the eddy current flaw detection probe 71 for inspecting the end face of the shaft portion 2 of the component 1 and the eddy current flaw detection probe for inspecting the outer peripheral surface of the large diameter portion 3. 72 and the eddy current flaw detection probe 73 for inspecting the chamfered portion of the large-diameter portion 3 are driven from a retracted position (not shown) to a position close to each inspection surface by an electric actuator (not shown), and then the controller 50 is positioned. In response to (drive command), the holding rollers 20 and 20 are rotated to rotate the component 1 around the axis at a low speed, and the eddy current flaw detection probe 72 scans in the front-rear direction and the eddy current flaw detection device 70 performs each inspection. Inspect the surface for wrinkles.

  The eddy current flaw detection apparatus 70 for flaw detection inspection for the presence or absence of wrinkles in a predetermined portion (each inspection surface portion) of the component 1 compares the flaw detection signals generated by the detection coil portions of the eddy current flaw detection probes 71 to 73 with reference signals. This is a known eddy current flaw detection apparatus having a determination circuit 74 that determines the presence or absence of flaws and generates a defective product signal when there is a flaw and a non-defective signal when there is no flaw.

  When the component 1 is rotationally driven by the holding rollers 20, 20, the large-diameter portion 3 of the component 1 and the outer peripheral portion of the holding roller 20, and the shaft portion 2 and both inclined surface portions of the guide groove 32 are substantially in line contact with each other. In addition, the back surface 3b of the large-diameter portion 3 is always kept in surface contact with the locking surface 31 of the stopper 30 by the forward inclined inclinations of the axes 21a and 21b and the guide groove 32 of the holding roller 20 described above. Therefore, the component 1 can smoothly rotate without causing shaking in a stable positioning state in which the back and forth movement is suppressed, and the inspection surface inspection by each eddy current inspection probe can be reliably performed without any trouble. .

  After completion of the flaw detection for a predetermined short time (for example, 4 seconds), if the component discharging apparatus 40 is driven in the upward direction of the support piece 41, the component 1 whose large diameter portion 3 is pushed up by the support piece 41 is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, when the rear surface 3b of the large-diameter portion 3 and the locking surface 31 of the stopper 30 are disengaged from each other, the support piece 41 and the upper surface of the stopper 30 are slid obliquely forward by their own weight. Then, it falls onto the delivery chute 60, slides forward on the delivery chute 60, and based on the non-defective product / defective product signal generated by the judgment circuit 74 of the eddy current flaw detector 70, the above-mentioned good product discharge path and defective product discharge path. And the inspection and discharge of one part 1 are completed.

  On the other hand, after the lower part 1 on the chute 10 is delivered, the part 1 to be inspected next is restored by the return of the cutting stopper 14 to the protruding position and the pulling drive of the rear cutting stopper 15. Is moved to and held at the lower position, the lower part 1 is inspected in the same process as described above, and the next part 1 is positioned at the rear-side cutting stopper 15 position. Thus, the parts 1 are automatically inspected one by one in a short time interval.

  As described above, according to the component inspection apparatus 5, the component 1 is conveyed and positioned to a predetermined inspection position and rotated without shaking by the apparatus having a simple configuration including the chute 10, the holding roller 20, and the stopper 30. By driving, flaw detection can be performed accurately and efficiently.

  Further, in this example, since the component discharging device 40 is provided, the device can be quickly discharged after the inspection by the device having a simple configuration including the support piece 41 and the driving device 42.

  The present invention is not limited to the above example. For example, the specific shapes and materials of the chute 10 and the stopper 30 and the rotation drive mechanism of the holding roller 20 may be other than those described above. In the above example, by adjusting the inclination of the base 6 (and hence the substrate 7) in the front-rear direction, the axes 21a and 21b, the guide grooves 32, and the upper surfaces of the support pieces 41 of the holding roller 20 are inclined slightly forward and downward. However, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the axes 6 a and 21 b and the guide grooves 32 of the holding roller 20 are all in a horizontal state using the base 6 that does not have the inclination adjusting mechanism. In addition to the above, the holding roller 20 is provided at a position above the above example, so that the component 1 is held in a state where the shaft portion 2 is inclined forward and downward so as to prevent the component 1 during the rotational drive from moving back and forth. May be. In this case, as the support piece 41 of the component discharging apparatus 40, it is preferable to use the support piece 41 whose upper surface is inclined forward and downward as shown in the figure. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG.

  In this holding state, the large-diameter portion 3 of the component 1 and the outer peripheral (front end) portion of the holding roller 20, and both inclined wall surfaces of the shaft portion 2 and the guide groove 32 are in point contact, and the back surface of the large-diameter portion 3. 3b and the locking surface 31 (upper edge) part of the stopper 30 are in contact with each other in a line contact state and positioned. Further, the holding roller 20 is formed as a tapered roller-like holding roller 20A having a small diameter on the front side as indicated by a chain line, and the outer periphery of the large-diameter portion 3 of the component 1 and the holding roller 20A are brought into line contact with each other, thereby improving the transmission of rotational driving force. You may make it measure. In the figure, the eddy current probe is not shown.

  The present invention also provides a contact type or non-contact type sensor in addition to a flaw detection inspection for inspecting the presence / absence of flaws in each part by various flaw detection devices such as the above-described eddy current flaw detection method and optical flaw detection method based on image recognition technology. The present invention can also be applied to an inspection device that performs dimensional inspection and accuracy inspection of components by using an automatic dimension measuring device that measures the dimensions and the amount of shake of each part.

It is a perspective view of a parts inspection device showing an example of an embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the component inspection apparatus of FIG. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. It is the B section enlarged view which shows the use condition of the components inspection apparatus of FIG. It is CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 illustrating the operation of the component discharging apparatus in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 showing another example of the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Parts, 2 ... Shaft part, 3 ... Large diameter part, 3a ... Front surface, 3b ... Back surface, 5 ... Component inspection apparatus, 10 ... Chute, 20 ... Holding roller, 20A ... Holding roller, 21a ... Axis, 21b ... Axis , 26 ... drive gear, 30 ... stopper, 31 ... locking surface, 32 ... guide groove, 40 ... component discharge device, 41 ... support piece, 42 ... drive machine, 50 ... control device, 70 ... eddy current flaw detector.

Claims (2)

A component inspection device for inspecting a stepped part having a large diameter part at one end of a shaft part,
A chute that supports the surface side of the large-diameter portion and slides it downward and obliquely downwards by its own weight, with the shaft portion on the upper side and in a forward inclined state,
Two holding rollers disposed below the front end of the chute and driven to rotate in the same direction around mutually parallel axes extending in the front-rear direction;
A locking surface that extends in the left-right direction at a position spaced forward from the front end of the chute by a predetermined distance, and a V-shaped guide that extends forward from the locking surface and opens upward at an intermediate position between the two holding rollers. A stopper with a groove,
Comprising
The rear surface side of the large-diameter portion of the component that has been slid down on the chute and fell so that the shaft portion is directed forward by dropping onto the holding roller is brought into contact with the locking surface of the stopper, and A component inspection apparatus that inspects the component in a state where the shaft portion is held by the guide groove and the large diameter portion is held by the holding roller. A support piece whose upper surface facing the lower outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter portion of the component held by the holding roller is inclined forward and downward;
The lowering position in which the support piece is spaced downward from the lower outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter portion and the contact between the back surface of the large-diameter portion and the locking surface of the stopper are released by the rising of the large-diameter portion. A drive device for driving up and down between the raised positions;
A component discharge device comprising:
The component inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the component after inspection is slid on the stopper and discharged forward by the ascending drive of the support piece by the drive device.

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