JP2006321569A - Rotational position determining device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a versatile rotational position determining device capable of determining the rotational position of not only a substantially columnar work but also a tapered work which is tapered downwardly. <P>SOLUTION: The rotational position determining device 10 comprises a holding means 18 which holds three works 14 and feed them in the conveying direction of a conveyor 12, a rotation means 20 to rotate the held works 14 around the vertical center axis 16, a stop means 22 to stop the works 14 to be rotated when the works are directed in the predetermined direction, and a regulation means 24 to regulate any raise or collapse of the held works 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a rotation positioning device has been devised that rotates a plurality of workpieces arranged on a conveyor at regular intervals and rotates around a vertical rotation axis in a certain direction (for example, Patent Document 1 and Patents). Reference 2). This rotational positioning apparatus is configured to hold a plurality of workpieces arranged at regular intervals with a roller, a rotating unit that rotates the plurality of gripped workpieces around a vertical center axis, and a rotated workpiece that is fixed. And stopping means for stopping when the vehicle is turned. According to this rotary positioning apparatus, each work can be directed in the same fixed direction while maintaining a constant interval between the plurality of works, and the efficiency of processing for the work in the subsequent process can be improved. However, since this rotational positioning device is exclusively intended for a substantially cylindrical workpiece, a rotational positioning device with higher versatility has been desired.
JP 2000-85950 A JP 2002-60049 A

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a highly versatile rotational positioning apparatus capable of rotationally positioning not only a substantially cylindrical workpiece but also a tapered workpiece that becomes thinner as it goes downward. Here, when the inventor tried to rotate the gripping workpiece with a roller by using a conventional rotational positioning device, the workpiece was lifted in the axial direction or the workpiece was shaken up and down. The problem was that the robot could move irregularly while moving and could not be positioned accurately. Therefore, the inventor of the present invention has come up with the present invention as a result of diligent research to solve these problems.

  The rotational positioning device of the present invention is a rotational positioning device having a circular horizontal cross section and rotating a workpiece that is arranged at a constant interval and conveyed by a conveyor around a vertical central axis and directing the workpiece in a certain direction. Gripping means for gripping and feeding the work in the conveying direction of the conveyor, rotating means for rotating the gripped work around a vertical center axis, and stopping means for stopping when the rotated work is directed in a certain direction And restricting means for restricting rising and falling of the gripped work.

  The rotational positioning device of the present invention is characterized in that, in the rotational positioning device, the restricting means includes a freely rotatable roller positioned above the gripped workpiece.

  Further, in the rotational positioning device of the present invention, in the rotational positioning device, the restricting means is positioned on a side of the gripped workpiece and a freely rotatable roller positioned above the gripped workpiece. It is characterized by comprising a freely rotatable roller.

  The rotational positioning device of the present invention is characterized in that, in the rotational positioning device, a rotation center axis of a roller located above the gripped workpiece intersects or coincides with a vertical center axis of the workpiece. .

  According to the rotational positioning apparatus of the present invention, even if the workpiece has a tapered shape that becomes thinner as it goes downward, the gripping workpiece can be prevented from rising during rotation by the regulating means. Further, depending on the mode of the regulating means, the workpiece does not move irregularly while swinging up and down. For this reason, not only a substantially cylindrical workpiece but also a tapered workpiece can be accurately rotated and positioned. Thereby, while being able to perform rotational positioning correctly, versatility can be improved.

  Further, according to the rotational positioning device of the present invention in which the regulating means is a roller, even if the workpiece rises during rotation and the upper surface of the workpiece comes into contact with the roller, the workpiece is damaged by rotating the roller. There is nothing to do. In addition, if the rotation center axis | shaft of this roller is an aspect orthogonal to the vertical center axis | shaft of a workpiece | work, this roller will rotate easily when a workpiece | work contacts.

  Next, an embodiment of a rotational positioning device according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

  1 and 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a rotational positioning device of the present invention. The rotary positioning device 10 is configured to rotate a workpiece 14 having a circular horizontal cross section arranged at regular intervals and conveyed by a conveyor 12 around a vertical central axis 16 and to direct it in a certain direction. .

  The rotary positioning device 10 is rotated by a gripping means 18 that grips three workpieces 14 and sends them in the conveying direction of the conveyor 12, and a rotating means 20 that rotates the gripped workpieces 14 around the vertical center axis 16. It comprises stop means 22 for stopping when the work 14 is directed in a certain direction, and restricting means 24 for restricting the rising and falling of the gripped work 14.

  The conveyor 12 is configured to sequentially convey a plurality of workpieces 14 arranged at regular intervals by the rotating star wheel 26 of FIG. 2 sequentially in the X-axis direction. The work 14 is a tapered container that becomes thinner as it goes downward.

  The gripping means 18 includes two plates 28 (a) and 28 (b), a roller 30 attached to the plate 28 (a) via an arm 40 (a) and the like, and an arm 40 to the plate 28 (b). (b) or the like, and the roller 32 and the roller 32 are configured so that the three workpieces 14 can be clamped by the roller 30 and the roller 32. One roller 30 is provided for one work 14, and a total of three rollers 30 are provided. Two rollers 32 are provided for one work 14, and a total of six rollers 32 are provided. The outer circumferences of the roller 30 and the roller 32 are made of elastic silicon rubber. The roller 32 can freely rotate.

  In these plates 28 (a) and 28 (b), a roller 34 for preventing the workpiece 14 from overturning is attached via an arm 40 (a) or 40 (b). The roller 34 is located at a side of the work 14 when the gripping means 18 sandwiches the work 14, and is provided at a position where a gap is formed between the outer peripheral side surface. The roller 34 is freely rotatable.

  The plates 28 (a) and 28 (b) of the gripping means 18 are connected to and supported by articulated arms (not shown). By braking each articulated arm, the plate 28 (a) is shown in FIG. Are moved in the directions indicated by A (a), B (a), C (a), D (a), and the plate 28 (b) is moved to A (b), B (b), C (b ), D (b). That is, when the plates 28 (a) and 28 (b) move so as to draw a substantially rectangular locus parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor 12, the workpiece 14 can be sandwiched and sent in the conveying direction.

  The rotation means 20 includes a roller 30 and a rotation drive mechanism (not shown) that drives the roller 30 to rotate. The workpiece 14 is sandwiched between the roller 30 and the roller 32 and the roller 30 is driven to rotate. It can be rotated in a horizontal plane around the vertical central axis 16. Therefore, the roller 30 constitutes the gripping means 18 and the rotation means 20.

  The stopping means 22 includes a sensor 36 that detects a mark attached to a certain position on the outer peripheral side surface of the work 14 and a control means (not shown) that stops the rotation of the roller 30. The rotation control of the roller 30 is performed for each workpiece 14. By stopping the rotation of the roller 30 and stopping the rotation of the work 14 at the moment when the mark is detected by the sensor 36 or after a lapse of a certain time from the detection, the work 14 can be stopped in a state in which it is directed in a certain direction. The mode of the sensor 36 is not particularly limited, such as a reflective fiber sensor or a photoelectric sensor.

  The restricting means 24 is attached to the plates 28 (a) and 28 (b) via the arm 40 (a) or 40 (b) or the like, and is positioned above the work 14 when the work 14 is held by the gripping means 18. It is composed of a freely rotatable roller 38 and the above-described roller 34. Even if the upper surface of the work 14 comes into contact with the roller 38 during the rotational movement of the work 14, the rotation center axis 17 of the roller 38 does not damage the work 14 so that the work 38 is not easily damaged. Are attached in a direction perpendicular to the vertical center axis 16. The roller 38 can be moved up and down with respect to the plates 28 (a) and 28 (b) by a vertical fine movement means (not shown), and the gap height between the roller 38 and the upper surface of the work 14 can be finely adjusted. The vertical fine movement means is constituted by a long hole or a screw mechanism, but the structure is not particularly limited.

  The operation of the rotational positioning device 10 will be described below.

  When the workpiece 14 is positioned by the rotary positioning device 10, first, the height of the gap between the roller 38 and the upper surface of the workpiece 14 is adjusted to several mm by the vertical fine movement means. Note that the height of the roller 38 is maintained after adjusting the gap height. A positioning mark is attached in advance to a fixed position on the outer peripheral side surface of the workpiece 14.

  When the rotational positioning process including the rotational positioning device 10 is operated in such a state of adjustment, a plurality of workpieces 14 are sent in the positive direction of the X axis while being arranged at regular intervals by the star wheel 26 shown in FIG. Come on. Therefore, the joint arm connected to the plates 28 (a) and 28 (b) is operated, and the plate 28 (a) moves in the direction indicated by A (a) in FIG. 2B moves in the direction indicated by A (b) in FIG. 2 (X-axis negative direction), and then the plate 28 (a) moves in the direction indicated by B (a) (Y-axis negative direction). (b) moves in the direction indicated by B (b) (Y-axis positive direction), whereby the gripping means 18 holds the three workpieces 14. When the gripping means 18 sandwiches the workpiece 14, the rollers 30 and 32 come into contact with the outer peripheral side surface of the workpiece 14 and the two rollers 38 are positioned above each workpiece 14, as shown in FIG. 1. When the gripping means 18 holds the three workpieces 14, a gap is provided between the roller 38 and the upper surface of the workpiece 14, so that the roller 38 does not interfere with the workpiece 14.

  Next, the plate 28 (a) moves in the direction indicated by C (a) (X-axis positive direction), and the plate 28 (b) moves in the direction indicated by C (b) (X-axis positive direction). The means 18 sends the three workpieces 14 in the positive direction of the X axis. When the workpiece 14 is fed in the positive direction of the X axis, the roller 30 is driven to rotate and the workpiece 14 is rotated around the vertical center axis 16 on the conveyor 12.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, a pressing force P acts on the workpiece 14 from the roller 30, and Pcos θ (θ is an angle between P and the Z axis) acts in the positive direction of the Z axis. A reaction force N (not shown) also acts on the workpiece 14 from the roller 32, and Ncos θ (not shown) acts in the positive direction of the Z axis. For this reason, it is conceivable that the workpiece 14 is lifted in the positive direction of the Z axis. However, since the roller 38 is positioned above the workpiece 14, the ascent of the workpiece 14 is restricted. Further, since one workpiece 14 is regulated by the two rollers 38, the workpiece 14 does not rotate irregularly while swinging up and down. Therefore, the number of rollers 38 is desirably two or more. In particular, when the workpiece 14 is tapered, the workpiece 14 is often lifted or the workpiece 14 is likely to rotate irregularly. Therefore, particularly when the workpiece 14 is tapered. Thus, the effect of the present invention is more remarkable and superior.

  Next, the rotation of the workpiece 14 is stopped at the moment when the sensor 36 detects the mark on the outer peripheral side surface of the workpiece 14 or after a predetermined time has elapsed from the detection, and the three workpieces 14 are positioned in the same fixed direction. Here, as described above, since the workpiece 14 is lifted up and irregularly rotated while swinging up and down, it can be accurately positioned.

  After rotational positioning is performed in this manner, the plate 28 (a) moves in the direction indicated by D (a) (the positive direction of the Y axis), and the plate 28 (b) moves in the direction indicated by D (b) (Y By moving in the negative axis direction, the gripping means 18 releases the three workpieces 14. The released work 14 is sent to a subsequent process on the conveyor 12, and various processes are performed. Since the workpiece 14 is accurately rotationally positioned, the work in the subsequent process is easy.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

  For example, the rotational positioning device 50 shown in FIG. 4 may be used. The rotational positioning device 50 is a mode in which rotational positioning is performed while sandwiching and feeding two workpieces 14. When the two workpieces 14 are sandwiched, the two rollers 38 are positioned above the one workpiece 14.

  Moreover, the rotation positioning device 60 shown in FIG. 5 may be used. In the rotational positioning device 60, the rotation center axis 17 of the roller 38 crosses the vertical center axis 16 of the work 14 obliquely. In this case, the cap can be used for the dome-shaped workpiece 14. Since the roller 38 can prevent the workpiece 14 from falling, the roller 34 can be eliminated.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described based on drawing, this invention is not limited to what was illustrated. For example, the rotational positioning of the cylindrical workpiece may be performed by the rotational positioning device of the present invention. In addition, the shape of the workpiece rotated and positioned by the rotation positioning device of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it has a circular horizontal cross section. Further, the number of workpieces sandwiched by the rotational positioning device of the present invention is not limited to two or three, and may be one or four or more. The restricting means is not limited to a roller, and may be a fixed guide that does not rotate. Further, even when the restricting means includes a freely rotatable roller positioned above the gripped workpiece, the rotation center axis is not limited to the horizontal roller, and the vertical center axis of the workpiece It may be a roller that has a rotating center axis that coincides and can rotate together with the workpiece when the workpiece comes into contact.

  In addition, the technical scope of the present invention includes embodiments in which various improvements, modifications, and variations are added based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Moreover, you may implement with the form which substituted any invention specific matter to the other technique within the range which the same effect | action or effect produces.

  According to the rotational positioning apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to accurately perform rotational positioning of a workpiece and improve versatility. For this reason, it can utilize widely for the rotation positioning operation | work of the workpiece | work which has a circular horizontal cross section.

It is a front view which shows the rotational positioning apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows the rotation positioning device of FIG. It is a front view for demonstrating an effect | action of the rotational positioning apparatus of FIG. It is a side view which shows other embodiment of the rotation positioning device of this invention. It is a front view which shows other embodiment of the rotation positioning apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10, 50, 60: Rotating positioning device 12: Conveyor 14: Workpiece 16: Vertical center axis 17: Rotating center axis 18: Holding means 20: Rotating means 22: Stopping means 24: Restricting means 26: Star wheel 28 (a) 28 (b): Plate 30: Roller 32: Roller 34: Roller 36: Sensor 38: Roller

Claims (4)

A rotary positioning device that rotates a workpiece having a circular horizontal cross section arranged at regular intervals and conveyed by a conveyor around a vertical central axis and directs it in a certain direction.
Gripping means for gripping the workpiece and sending it in the transport direction of the conveyor;
Rotating means for rotating the gripped work around a vertical center axis;
Stop means for stopping when the rotated work is directed in a certain direction;
Restriction means for restricting rising and falling of the gripped workpiece;
Rotating positioning device with The rotational positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the restricting unit includes a freely rotatable roller positioned above the gripped workpiece. 2. The restricting means comprises a freely rotatable roller positioned above the gripped workpiece and a freely rotatable roller positioned to the side of the gripped workpiece. Alternatively, the rotational positioning device according to claim 2. The rotational positioning device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a rotation center axis of a roller positioned above the gripped workpiece intersects or coincides with a vertical center axis of the workpiece.

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