JP2007085441A - Driving device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driving device capable of switching between automatic operation for rotating a rotary shaft by a prime mover and manual operation for manually rotating the rotary shaft with simple constitution and very easy operation. <P>SOLUTION: A driving wheel 6 rotationally driven by the prime mover is provided so as to surround an outer peripheral part of the rotary shaft 3, an axial direction hole 3g extending to the axial direction from an axial end of the rotary shaft 3 and a radial direction hole 3h extending to the radial direction or the almost radial direction from the axial direction hole 3g are formed on the rotary shaft 3, a ball 12 is stored in the radial direction hole 3h and a switching shaft 11 is stored in the axial direction hole 3g, the ball 12 is pushed and moved to the radial direction outer side by moving the switching shaft 11 to the axial direction, the ball 12 is pressed onto the driving wheel 6 and the driving wheel 6 and the rotary shaft 3 are coupled and thereby automatic operation is enabled, and the switching shaft 11 is moved to the direction opposite from the moving direction, and thereby pressing of the ball 12 to the driving wheel 6 is released and coupling between the driving wheel 6 and the rotary shaft 3 is released, and manual operation is enabled. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a drive device, and more particularly to a drive device capable of an automatic operation for rotating a rotation shaft by a prime mover and a manual operation for manually rotating a rotation shaft.

  In various machines and devices, a rotating shaft is often used to rotate and move various elements. When the rotating shaft is manually rotated, an operation handle is fixed to the end of the rotating shaft. When the rotating shaft is automatically rotated, a motor is connected to the rotating shaft via a transmission member such as a pulley or a gear. When rotating the rotating shaft manually in a rotating shaft capable of both automatic operation and manual operation, the rotating shaft with the handle is manually rotated after releasing the brake mechanism of the motor. In this case, the brake mechanism typically has a structure in which the friction plate is pressed against the disk on the motor side by electromagnetic force or air pressure. When the electromagnetic force or air pressure is released, the friction plate moves away from the disk, and the motor shaft freely moves. Can be rotated. There are brake mechanisms that are built into the motor and those that are externally attached. However, when manual operation is required, an operation to release electromagnetic force or air pressure is required.

  There is a container inspection apparatus as an example of an apparatus using a rotating shaft with a handle for operation as described above. This container inspection device shoots the transmitted light or reflected light from a container that conveys containers such as glass bottles and plastic bottles, a lamp that is disposed on the side or upper side adjacent to the conveyor, and illuminates the containers. An imaging camera comprising a CCD camera or the like is provided, a lamp is projected onto a container conveyed by a conveyor, and transmitted light or reflected light from the container is photographed by the imaging camera to inspect the appearance of the container.

  In this case, since there are a plurality of inspection portions of the container, a plurality of imaging stations are arranged along the conveyor. Since the illumination lamp and the imaging camera in a plurality of imaging stations correspond to containers having different heights, each of the imaging lamps must be configured to be able to be raised and lowered individually. The lamp and the imaging camera are supported by a single support, and the support is configured as a single unit that can be moved up and down by a lifting screw. The appearance inspection of containers that use the same unit for multiple imaging stations A device is proposed. In this inspection device, when inspecting containers of different heights, the rotating shaft with the handle is rotated, the support is moved up and down by the lifting screws, and the illumination lamp and the imaging camera are moved up and down integrally. Thus, the height of the illumination lamp and the imaging camera can be adjusted with respect to the container.

Japanese Patent No. 3195759

In the conventional driving device described above, when switching from automatic operation to manual operation, the brake function of the motor is released, but there is a problem that it takes time to perform the release operation.
In the container inspection apparatus described above, when the illumination lamp and the imaging camera are raised and lowered, the raising / lowering speed is often not high, and therefore a geared motor having a deceleration gear is often used. If the handle is simply released, the motor speed reducer is also turned together when the handle is manually turned, and a large torque is required, which makes it difficult to manually turn the handle. In this case, not only the container inspection device but also various devices using such a drive device, the rotational speed of the rotating shaft is often not high, and geared motors are often used as well. There are similar problems in manual operation.

  Further, in the container inspection apparatus described above, there is a request to increase the number of inspection parts of the container, and the number of illumination lamps and imaging cameras increases, and the work that one adjuster bears increases. Under the circumstances, there is a problem that the function of the conventional drive device becomes heavy labor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and switching between an automatic operation for rotating a rotating shaft by a prime mover and a manual operation for manually rotating a rotating shaft is performed with a simple configuration and a very simple operation. An object of the present invention is to provide a drive device that can perform the above-described operation.
In addition, the present invention enables the height adjustment of the illumination lamp and the imaging camera to be easily performed by adopting a structure in which the inspection unit is suspended and can be moved up and down integrally, and containers having different heights are provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide a container inspection apparatus that can cope with the above-mentioned problem very easily.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the drive device of the present invention surrounds the outer peripheral portion of the rotary shaft in a drive device capable of automatic operation for rotating the rotary shaft by a prime mover and manual operation for manually rotating the rotary shaft. A drive wheel that is rotationally driven by a prime mover as described above, an axial hole extending in the axial direction from the shaft end of the rotary shaft, and a radial hole extending in a radial direction or substantially radial direction from the axial hole. And the ball is accommodated in the radial hole and the switching shaft is accommodated in the axial hole, the ball is pushed and moved radially outward by moving the switching shaft in the axial direction, The ball is pressed against the driving wheel to connect the driving wheel and the rotating shaft to enable the automatic operation, and the switching shaft is moved in a direction opposite to the moving direction to move the ball to the driving wheel. Press And to release the coupling between the rotating shaft and the drive wheel is characterized in that to enable the manual operation.

  According to the present invention, by moving the switching shaft in the axial direction, the ball in the radial hole is moved outward in the radial direction, and the ball is pressed against the driving wheel. As a result, the driving wheel and the rotating shaft are coupled by the frictional force between the ball and the driving wheel, and when the driving wheel is driven to rotate by driving the prime mover, the rotating shaft is rotated integrally with the driving wheel. The On the other hand, by moving the switching shaft in the direction opposite to the moving direction, the switching shaft is retracted, the driving wheel is pressed by the ball, and the coupling between the driving wheel and the rotating shaft is released. Can do. Thereby, a rotating shaft can be separated from a driving wheel, and can be rotated independently.

A plurality of the radial holes are provided in the circumferential direction of the rotating shaft.
A plurality of balls are accommodated in the radial hole.
A ball is interposed between the tip of the switching shaft and the ball in the radial hole, and the ball in the radial hole is pushed through the ball.
The switching shaft has a tip-like conical portion, and the conical portion directly pushes the ball in the radial hole.
A female screw is formed in the axial hole of the rotating shaft, a male screw is formed on the switching shaft, and the switching shaft is moved by rotation of the switching shaft.
An operation knob is fixed to the switching shaft.
An operation handle is fixed to an end of the rotating shaft.

  The container inspection apparatus of the present invention is a container inspection apparatus provided with a conveyor that conveys containers, and a plurality of imaging stations that illuminate the containers conveyed by the conveyor with a lamp and photograph the light from the containers with a camera. A support tool for supporting the camera, a lifting screw for lifting the support tool, and the driving device for rotating the lifting screw are provided.

  According to the present invention, when the distance between the lamp and the camera container is changed at each photographing station, the switching shaft is moved in the axial direction, the ball in the radial hole is moved outward in the radial direction, and the ball is driven. After connecting the drive wheel and the rotating shaft by pressing against the wheel, the rotating shaft is rotated by the prime mover to rotate the lifting screw, and the supporting tool that supports the lamp and the camera is moved up and down to raise the height of the supporting tool. Change the position. Further, by moving the switching shaft in a direction opposite to the moving direction, the pressing of the ball to the driving wheel is released, and the coupling between the driving wheel and the rotating shaft is released, thereby rotating the rotating shaft. It can also be rotated manually. In this case, the height of the support may be changed by rotating the rotating shaft using the handle to rotate the lifting screw and moving the support supporting the lamp and the camera up and down.

According to the drive device of the present invention, the automatic operation of rotating the rotating shaft by the prime mover and the manual operation of manually rotating the rotating shaft can be performed only by moving the switching shaft in the axial direction. The mechanism becomes simple and the switching operation becomes very simple.
Also, when manually rotating the rotating shaft, since the coupling between the drive wheel and the rotating shaft is released, the rotation of the rotating shaft is not transmitted to the motor side. It is easy to manually rotate the rotating shaft without turning.
Further, according to the present invention, the height of the illumination lamp and the imaging camera can be easily adjusted by adopting a structure in which the inspection unit is suspended and can be moved up and down integrally, and containers having different heights can be obtained. Can be handled very easily.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a driving apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a driving apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a bearing housing 2 is fixed to a frame 1 of a device or apparatus. The rotating shaft 3 is rotatably supported by ball bearings 4 and 4 in the bearing housing 2. A handle 5 for manually operating the rotary shaft 3 is fixed to the end of the rotary shaft 3. The rotating shaft 3 has a large-diameter portion 3a having an outer diameter larger than that of the shaft portion at the intermediate portion. And the cylindrical drive wheel 6 is provided so that the large diameter part 3a of the rotating shaft 3 may be enclosed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a timing gear (or sprocket) 6a is formed on the outer periphery of the driving wheel 6, and a timing belt 7 is wound around the outer periphery of the timing gear 6a. Further, a motor 8 constituting a prime mover is fixed to the frame 1, and this motor 8 is constituted by a so-called off-brake motor having no brake function. The timing belt 7 is wound around a timing gear (or sprocket) 9 fixed to the rotating shaft 8 a of the motor 8. Therefore, the drive wheel 6 is connected to the motor 8 via the timing gears 6 a and 9 and the timing belt 7, and the drive wheel 6 is configured to be rotationally driven by the motor 8.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the large-diameter portion 3a of the rotary shaft 3 is formed with three radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h extending radially or substantially radially from the axis of the large-diameter portion 3a to the outer periphery. Two balls 12 are accommodated in each radial hole 3h. The three radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the rotating shaft 3. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the rotary shaft 3 reaches the radial holes 3 h, 3 h, 3 h from the end (lower end) of the rotary shaft 3 and extends in the axial direction of the rotary shaft 3. An axial hole 3g is formed, and the switching shaft 11 is accommodated in the axial hole 3g. A single ball 13 is disposed between the tip end portion 11a of the switching shaft 11 and the three balls 12 on the radially inner side in the radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h. Each radial hole 3h extends in the radial direction of the rotating shaft 3 perpendicular to the axis of the rotating shaft 3; It may be inclined to some extent before and after the direction and extend in the radial direction. Further, the tip end portion 11 a of the switching shaft 11 is a concave spherical surface along the spherical surface of the ball 13.

  A female screw 3 s is formed at the end of the axial hole 3 g of the rotating shaft 3, and a male screw 11 s that is screwed into the female screw 3 s is formed near the end of the switching shaft 11. An operation knob 15 is fixed to the end of the switching shaft 11.

In the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an automatic operation for rotating the rotating shaft 3 with the motor 8 and a manual operation for manually rotating the rotating shaft 3 can be performed. Next, procedures for automatic operation and manual operation will be described.
(1) In the case of automatic operation When the operation knob 15 is rotated by a predetermined angle, the switching shaft 11 is advanced, and the balls 13 press the three balls 12 radially inward in the radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h, The three balls 12 move radially outward in the radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the three radially outer balls 12 in the radial holes 3 h, 3 h, 3 h are pressed against the inner peripheral surface 6 i of the drive wheel 6 with a predetermined force. As a result, the rotating shaft 3 is coupled to the driving wheel 6 by the frictional force between the three balls 12 and the inner peripheral surface 6 i of the driving wheel 6. Therefore, when the motor 8 is driven, the driving wheel 6 is rotated via the timing gears 6 a and 9 and the timing belt 7, and the rotating shaft 3 is rotated integrally with the driving wheel 6. That is, the rotating shaft 3 can be rotationally driven by the motor 8, and the rotating body (not shown) directly connected to the end of the rotating shaft 3 on the side opposite to the handle can be directly rotated. Further, a transmission element such as a gear or a sprocket is fixed to the end of the rotation shaft 3 on the opposite side of the handle, the rotation shaft 3 is rotated, and a rotated body (not shown) is transmitted via the transmission element (gear, sprocket, chain, etc.). ) Can be rotated.

(2) In the case of manual operation The operation knob 15 is rotated by a predetermined angle in the opposite direction to the automatic operation, and the switching shaft 11 is retracted as shown in FIG. 3, and the radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h by the balls 13 are retreated. The pressing of the three radially inner balls 12 is released, and the pressing of the inner peripheral surface 6i of the driving wheel 6 by the radially outer three balls 12 in the radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h is released. Thereby, the coupling | bonding of the rotating shaft 3 and the drive wheel 6 is cancelled | released. Therefore, since the rotation of the motor 8 is not transmitted to the rotating shaft 3, the motor driving (automatic operation) of the rotating shaft 3 cannot be performed. Instead, the handle 5 can be manually operated to rotate the rotating shaft 3, and the rotated body (not shown) directly connected to the end of the rotating shaft 3 on the opposite handle side can be directly rotated. Further, a transmission element such as a gear or a sprocket is fixed to the end of the rotating shaft 3 on the opposite side of the handle, the handle 5 is manually operated to rotate the rotating shaft 3, and the transmission element (gear, sprocket, chain, etc.) is passed through. A rotated body (not shown) can be rotated.

  4 and 5 are views showing a driving apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the drive device, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, three balls 12 are accommodated in the three radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h, respectively, and the innermost radial direction in these radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h. The conical portion 11c at the tip of the switching shaft 11 can directly contact with the three balls 12. That is, the ball 12 is pushed outward in the radial direction by the tapered conical portion 11c. Other configurations of the driving device shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are the same as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the configuration shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an automatic operation for rotating the rotary shaft 3 by the motor 8 and a manual operation for manually rotating the rotary shaft 3 can be performed. Next, procedures for automatic operation and manual operation will be described.
(1) In the case of automatic operation The operation knob 15 is rotated by a predetermined angle, the switching shaft 11 is advanced, and the conical part 11c at the tip of the switching shaft 11 is radially innermost in the radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h. When the three balls 12 are pressed, the three balls 12 move radially outward in the radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the radially outermost three balls 12 in the radial holes 3 h, 3 h, 3 h are pressed against the inner peripheral surface 6 i of the drive wheel 6 with a predetermined force. As a result, the rotating shaft 3 is coupled to the driving wheel 6 by the frictional force between the three balls 12 and the inner peripheral surface 6 i of the driving wheel 6. Therefore, when the motor 8 is driven, the driving wheel 6 is rotated via the timing gears 6 a and 9 and the timing belt 7, and the rotating shaft 3 is rotated integrally with the driving wheel 6. That is, the rotating shaft 3 can be rotationally driven by the motor 8, and the rotating body (not shown) directly connected to the end of the rotating shaft 3 on the side opposite to the handle can be directly rotated. Further, a transmission element such as a gear or a sprocket is fixed to the end of the rotation shaft 3 on the opposite side of the handle, the rotation shaft 3 is rotated, and a rotated body (not shown) is transmitted via the transmission element (gear, sprocket, chain, etc.). ) Can be rotated.

(2) In the case of manual operation The operation knob 15 is rotated by a predetermined angle in the opposite direction to the automatic operation, and the switching shaft 11 is retracted to radially innermost in the radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h by the conical portion 11c. The press of the three balls 12 is released, and the press of the inner peripheral surface 6i of the driving wheel 6 by the three outermost balls 12 in the radial direction in the radial holes 3h, 3h, 3h is released. Thereby, the coupling | bonding of the rotating shaft 3 and the drive wheel 6 is cancelled | released. Therefore, since the rotation of the motor 8 is not transmitted to the rotating shaft 3, the motor driving (automatic operation) of the rotating shaft 3 cannot be performed. Instead, the handle 5 can be manually operated to rotate the rotating shaft 3, and the rotated body (not shown) directly connected to the end of the rotating shaft 3 on the opposite handle side can be directly rotated. Further, a transmission element such as a gear or a sprocket is fixed to the end of the rotating shaft 3 on the opposite side of the handle, the handle 5 is manually operated to rotate the rotating shaft 3, and the transmission element (gear, sprocket, chain, etc.) is passed through. A rotated body (not shown) can be rotated.

  In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the case where there are three radial holes has been described. However, the number of radial holes may be one. Moreover, although the case where the number of balls accommodated in the radial hole is two or three has been described, the number of balls may be one.

Next, the container inspection apparatus provided with the drive device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is an elevation view showing the overall configuration of the container inspection apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 6, the container inspection apparatus includes a conveyor 22 for transporting containers 21 such as glass bottles and plastic bottles, and a plurality of photographing stations S1, S2, S3 arranged along the transport direction of the containers 21. S4. Each of the photographing stations S1 to S4 includes an illumination lamp and an imaging camera, and can inspect a plurality of inspection parts (body, mouth, etc.) of the container 21 individually.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the photographing station S2 shown in FIG. 6 as viewed from the VII direction of FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, a frame 25 is installed across the conveyor 22 and along the conveying direction. The frame 25 is composed of four beams 26 (only two in front shown in FIG. 6) extending in the vertical direction, and two beams connecting the upper part of the two front and rear columns 26 along the conveying direction of the conveyor 22. 27 and a plurality of crosspieces 28 connecting two struts adjacent to each other at the lower part of the four struts 26. The position of the beam 27 is set above the container 21 conveyed on the conveyor 22.

  A support frame 30 is stretched between the two beams 27. The photographing station S <b> 2 includes a lamp 38 that is disposed on one side of the conveyor 22 and illuminates the container 21, and a CCD camera 39 that is disposed on the other side and photographs the container 21. The lamp 38 and the CCD camera 39 are supported by a single support tool 31. The support 31 is suspended and supported by a lifting screw 33. Two guide rings 34 are fixed to the support frame 30, and two guide bars 42 connected to the support tool 31 are fitted to the two guide rings 34. A nut 43 fixed to the support 31 is screwed to the lifting screw 33, and the upper end of the lifting screw 33 is rotatably supported by the support frame 30. Further, a sprocket 44 is fixed to the lifting screw 33.

  On the other hand, a sprocket 45 is fixed to the end of the rotating shaft 3 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the two sprockets 44, 45 are connected by a chain 46. Therefore, after operating the operation knob 15 to couple the drive wheel 6 and the rotary shaft 3, the motor 8 is driven to rotate the rotary shaft 3, thereby allowing the two rotary shafts 46 and 45 to pass through. The elevating screw 33 rotates. Since the nut 43 is screwed to the lifting screw 33, the support tool 31 is lifted and lowered with the rotation of the lifting screw 33. Since the lamp 31 and the CCD camera 39 are supported by the support 31, the height of the lamp 38 and the CCD camera 39 with respect to the container 21 can be adjusted. The operation knob 15 is operated to release the coupling between the drive wheel 6 and the rotary shaft 3 and the handle 5 is manually rotated to rotate the rotary shaft 3 so that the height of the lamp 38 and the CCD camera 39 is increased. Adjustments can also be made.

  According to the present embodiment, since the plurality of photographing stations S1 to S4 are configured to use the same unit, the distance from the lamp 38 and the container 21 of the CCD camera 39 in each of the photographing stations S1 to S4 is determined. When changing, the rotating shaft 3 is rotated by the motor 8 (or manually turning the handle 5), the lifting screw 33 is rotated, and the support tool 31 is moved up and down to change the height position of the support tool 31. .

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a driving apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the driving apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a driving apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. FIG. 6 is an elevation view showing the overall configuration of the container inspection apparatus. FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the photographing station S2 shown in FIG. 6 as viewed from the VII direction of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Frame 2 Bearing housing 3 Rotating shaft 3a Large diameter part 3g Axial hole 3h Radial hole 3s Female screw 4 Ball bearing 5 Handle 6 Driving wheel 6a, 9 Timing gear 6i Inner peripheral surface 7 Timing belt 8 Motor 8a Rotating shaft 11 Switching Shaft 11a Tip 11c Conical 11s Male thread 12, 13 Ball 15 Operation knob 21 Container 22 Conveyor 26 Support 27 Beam 28 Crossbar 30 Support frame 31 Supporting tool 33 Lifting screw 34 Guide ring 38 Lamp 39 CCD camera 42 Guide bar 43 Nut 44, 45 Sprocket 46 Chain S1, S2, S3, S4

Claims (9)

In a drive device capable of automatic operation for rotating a rotating shaft by a prime mover and manual operation for manually rotating a rotating shaft,
Provide driving wheels that are driven to rotate by the prime mover so as to surround the outer periphery of the rotating shaft,
An axial hole extending in an axial direction from an axial end of the rotary shaft and a radial hole extending in a radial direction or substantially radial direction from the axial hole are formed in the rotary shaft,
A ball is accommodated in the radial hole and a switching shaft is accommodated in the axial hole, the ball is pushed and moved radially outward by moving the switching shaft in the axial direction, and the ball is moved to the driving wheel. To enable the automatic operation by combining the drive wheel and the rotating shaft,
By moving the switching shaft in a direction opposite to the moving direction, the pressing of the ball to the driving wheel is released, and the coupling between the driving wheel and the rotating shaft is released to enable the manual operation. The drive device characterized.   The drive device according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of the radial holes in a circumferential direction of the rotation shaft.   The drive device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of balls are accommodated in the radial hole.   4. A ball is interposed between a tip of the switching shaft and a ball in the radial hole, and the ball in the radial hole is pushed through the ball. The driving device according to any one of the above.   4. The switch according to claim 1, wherein the switching shaft has a tapered conical portion, and the conical portion directly pushes the ball in the radial hole. 5. The drive device described.   6. The shaft according to claim 1, wherein a female screw is formed in an axial hole of the rotating shaft, a male screw is formed on the switching shaft, and the switching shaft is moved by rotation of the switching shaft. The drive device of any one of Claims.   The drive device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein an operation knob is fixed to the switching shaft.   The drive device according to claim 1, wherein an operation handle is fixed to an end of the rotating shaft. In a container inspection apparatus provided with a plurality of imaging stations for illuminating a container conveyed by the conveyor and a container conveyed by the conveyor with a lamp and photographing the light from the container with a camera,
A support device that supports the lamp and the camera, a lifting screw that lifts and lowers the support tool, and a drive device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the driving screw rotates the lifting screw. Container inspection equipment.

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