JP2007161400A - Article carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively and temporarily stock an article, without having influence on cycle time, by using a feeding means for carrying an article. <P>SOLUTION: An upper surface of the lowest stage shelf 10A of a storage device 11 normally exists on the same surface position as a carrying surface 5 of carrying chutes 2A and 2B, and this shelf 10A is used as a part of a carrying passage. When trouble is caused between front-rear processes, respective ceramic substrates P are carried, and when the ceramic substrates P exist on the lowest stage shelf 10A of the storage device 11, a storage device body 13 is lowered by one pitch by driving of a driving motor 15, and next, is carried on a shelf 10B of the second stage from below the storage device 11 by the next carrying by a feeder 3, and the storage device body 13 is lowered again by one pitch by the driving of the driving motor 15, and the shelf 10B of a third stage from below is put on a carrying level, and the ceramic substrates P are successively and temporarily stocked. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an article conveying apparatus provided with a buffer device capable of intermittently feeding articles on a conveying chute forming a conveying path sequentially by a feeding means and temporarily stocking the articles in the middle of the conveying path.

A transport apparatus that intermittently feeds a printed circuit board, which is an article on a transport chute that forms a transport path, by a feed means is known from, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561.
JP 2003-78297 A

  When trouble occurs between the front and back processes, the printed circuit board is taken out of the transport chute and temporarily stocked in a magazine, for example, so that the structure is complicated, the cost is high, and the tact time is increased. Was bad.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an article conveying apparatus that uses a feeding means for conveying an article so that it can be temporarily stocked at low cost without affecting the tact time.

  Therefore, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article conveying apparatus including a buffer device capable of intermittently feeding the articles on the conveying chute forming the conveying path sequentially by a feeding unit and temporarily stocking the articles in the middle of the conveying path. The buffer device is configured such that a plurality of shelves provided at predetermined intervals above and below can be raised or lowered by a drive source, and when the normal article is conveyed by the feeding means, The shelf is used as a part of a conveyance path.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article conveying apparatus including a buffer device capable of intermittently feeding articles on a conveying chute forming a conveying path sequentially by a feeding unit and temporarily stocking the articles in the middle of the conveying path. A plurality of shelves provided at predetermined intervals above and below can be raised or lowered by a drive source, and when the normal article is conveyed by the feeding means, the predetermined shelves of the buffer device Is used as a part of the transport path, and when the buffer device is originally used, after the articles are transported onto the shelves by the feeding means, the articles are sequentially raised or lowered by one pitch by the driving source. It is characterized by stocking.

  According to a third invention, in the invention related to the first or second article transporting device, a guide chute for dropping the article transported by the feeding means is provided in the buffer device.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention related to the first or second article transporting apparatus, a storage shelf apparatus in which a plurality of shelves are provided at intervals in the vertical direction can be placed on the buffer device. It is characterized by being.

  The present invention can provide an article conveying apparatus that can temporarily stock at low cost without affecting the tact time by using a feeding means for conveying an article.

  Hereinafter, the article conveying apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The article may be various substrates such as a printed circuit board, electronic parts, etc., but in this embodiment, a ceramic to which electronic parts (dies, etc.) are mounted. A ceramic substrate transfer device in an electronic component mounting apparatus that handles substrates will be described.

  First, reference numeral 1 denotes a ceramic substrate transfer device in an electronic component mounting device, which is roughly divided into a transfer chute 2 that forms a transfer path, a feed device 3 that intermittently feeds the ceramic substrate P on the transfer chute 2, and the transfer path In the middle, that is, between the upstream conveyance chute 2A and the downstream conveyance chute 2B, a buffer device 4 is provided which can temporarily stock a plurality of the ceramic substrates P.

  The conveyance chute 2A, 2B has a U-shaped cross section with an open top surface, and guides the ceramic substrate P on the conveyance surface 5 when it is conveyed by the feeding device 3. The feeding device 3 is provided along the conveyance path and swings within a certain range by a drive source (not shown) and is reciprocated along the conveyance path (in the horizontal direction) by another drive source (not shown). ) And a feed rod 8 having an L-shaped cross section provided on the support shaft 6 at a predetermined interval and having a feed claw 7 at the tip.

  The buffer device 4 includes a storage device 11 in which a plurality of shelves 10 are provided at predetermined intervals above and below, and a lifting device 12 that allows the storage device 11 to move up and down. Then, the output shaft 16 of the drive motor 15 is attached to the nut portion 14 provided on the back surface (surface on which the shelf 10 is not provided) of the storage device main body 13 provided with a plurality of shelves 10 with a predetermined interval above and below. And the storage device body 13 is guided up and down by a guide (not shown) by driving of the drive motor 15.

  On the side where the shelf 10 of the storage device 11 is provided, the feed rod 8 enters the storage device 11 and the feed claw 7 engages or engages with the ceramic substrate P on the shelf 10. It is opened so that it can be released or moved. That is, the shelf 10 includes a flat plate portion on which the ceramic substrate P is placed, and a rising wall is formed at an end portion of the flat plate portion on the feeding device 3 side to restrict movement in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction. ing. Further, a guide chute 18 for dropping the ceramic substrate P conveyed by the feed claw 7 is provided at the lowermost part of the storage device 11 on the side where the shelf 10 is provided, and directed toward the feed device 3. Inclined to fall.

  The operation will be described below with the above configuration. First, the conveyance of the normal ceramic substrate P by the feed claw 7 will be described. The upper surface 10a of the lowermost shelf 10A of the storage device 11 is at the same height as the conveyance surface 5 of the conveyance chutes 2A and 2B. The shelf 10A is used as a part of the conveyance path.

  That is, the support shaft body 6 is rotated by a drive source (not shown) and the feed rods 8 are swung downward to enable the lower ends of the feed claws 7 to be engaged with the ceramic substrates P. Each ceramic substrate P slides in the direction indicated by the arrow 20 in FIG. 1 on the transport surface 5 of the transport chutes 2A and 2B and the upper surface of the shelf 10A in the lowermost stage of the storage device 11 by another drive source (not shown). The ceramic substrate P on the transport chute 2B is transported downstream from one pitch and the ceramic substrate P on the lowest shelf 10A of the storage device 11 is transported. The ceramic substrate P is transported onto the chute 2B and the ceramic substrate P on the transport chute 2A is transported onto the lowest shelf 10A of the storage device 11.

  Thereafter, the support shaft body 6 is rotated by a drive source (not shown), the feed rods 8 are swung upward to disengage the lower ends of the feed claws 7 from the ceramic substrates P, Next, the support shaft body 6 is moved backward (from the right to the left) by another drive source (not shown) to return to the original position.

  By repeating the above operation, the ceramic substrates P are sequentially transferred to the downstream side. Here, when a trouble occurs between the preceding and following processes, it is inconvenient to carry it as it is despite the fact that the subsequent process cannot be processed. Therefore, the buffer device 4 exhibits its original role.

  That is, as described above, when each ceramic substrate P is transported and the ceramic substrate P is on the lowermost shelf 10A of the storage device 11, the storage device body 13 is lowered by one pitch by driving the drive motor 15. Then, it is transported from the bottom of the storage device 11 to the second shelf 10B by the next transport by the feeding device 3 as described above, and the storage device body 13 is lowered by one pitch by the drive motor 15 again. The ceramic substrates P are temporarily stocked sequentially so that the third shelf 10B from the bottom is the transport level.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the article conveying device including the buffer device 4 that can temporarily stock at low cost without affecting the tact time, using the feeding claw 7 for conveying the ceramic substrate P. Can be provided.

  If the ceramic substrate P transported by the feeder 3 into the storage device main body 13 is a defective product or if it is desired to stop the transportation and collect it as a regular one, the feeder device 3, the storage device main body 13 is raised by driving the drive motor 15, and the position of the guide chute 18 is raised to the position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 3. Therefore, the ceramic substrate P transported from the transport chute 2A by the feeding device 3 slides down on the guide chute 18 and is recovered in a recovery box (not shown). Thereby, in addition to the original function of temporarily stocking the ceramic substrate P, the function of collecting the ceramic substrate P one after another can be exhibited.

  In the present embodiment, the upper surface 10a of the lowermost shelf 10A of the storage device 11 is used as a part of the conveyance path, with the shelf 10A being positioned at the same height as the conveyance surfaces 5 of the conveyance chutes 2A and 2B, In order to perform the original function as the buffer device 4, the storage device 11 is sequentially lowered and temporarily stocked on the upper shelf 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the upper surface of the uppermost shelf 10 of the storage device 11. However, when the uppermost shelf 10 is used as a part of the transport path with the same surface position as the transport surface 5 of the transport chutes 2A and 2B, and the original function as the buffer device 4 is exerted, the storage device 11 is sequentially raised. It is also possible to temporarily stock on the lower shelf 10.

  Furthermore, the guide chute is provided at the lowermost part on the side where the shelf 10 of the storage device 11 is provided so that the ceramic substrate P is dropped toward the feeding device 3, but not limited thereto, You may provide in the upper part of the storage apparatus main body 13, an intermediate part, incline in the diagonally downward direction of the feed direction of the ceramic substrate P, or may incline toward another direction.

  As shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3, a storage shelf device 17 in which a plurality of shelves 10 </ b> C are provided on the storage device main body 13 at intervals in the vertical direction is detachably mounted. That is, a single or a plurality of positioning pins 13A are provided on the upper surface of the storage device body 13, and a positioning hole 17A to be inserted corresponding to the positioning pins 13A is formed on the lower surface of the storage shelf device 17. Thus, the storage shelf device 17 can be mounted on or removed from the storage device body 13 (removable). Therefore, by connecting the storage shelf device 17 as a supply cartridge to the storage device main body 13 (only mounting or mounting and further fixing), the number of substrates stored in the buffer device 4 can be increased.

  A guide for guiding the storage shelf device 17 when the storage shelf device 17 is attached to the storage device body 13 may be provided in the storage device body 13 so that the storage shelf device 17 can be attached to and detached from the storage device body 13.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various alternatives, modifications, and variations can be made by those skilled in the art based on the above description, and the present invention is not limited to the various alternatives described above without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It includes modifications or variations.

It is a top view of a ceramic substrate conveying apparatus. It is XX sectional drawing of FIG. It is a right view of a buffer apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ceramic substrate conveying apparatus 2 Conveying chute 3 Feeding apparatus 4 Buffer apparatus 5 Conveying surface 10 Shelf 10A Bottom shelf 11 Storage apparatus 13 Storage apparatus main body 13A Positioning pin 15 Drive motor 17 Storage rack apparatus 17A Positioning hole 18 Guide chute

Claims (4)

  In an article conveying apparatus provided with a buffer device capable of intermittently feeding articles on a conveying chute forming a conveying path sequentially by a feeding means and temporarily stocking the articles in the middle of the conveying path, the buffer apparatus is vertically spaced at a predetermined interval. A plurality of shelves that are provided can be raised or lowered by a drive source, and when the normal article is conveyed by the feeding means, the predetermined shelf of the buffer device is part of the conveyance path. Article conveying apparatus characterized by being used as:   In an article conveying apparatus provided with a buffer device capable of intermittently feeding articles on a conveying chute forming a conveying path sequentially by a feeding means and temporarily stocking the articles in the middle of the conveying path, the buffer apparatus is vertically spaced at a predetermined interval. A plurality of shelves that are provided can be raised or lowered by a drive source, and when the normal article is conveyed by the feeding means, the predetermined shelf of the buffer device is part of the conveyance path. In addition, when the buffer device is originally used, after the article is conveyed onto the shelves by the feeding means, the drive source is raised or lowered by one pitch to sequentially stock the articles. An article conveying apparatus characterized by the above.   The article transporting apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a guide chute for dropping the article transported by the feeding means is provided in the buffer device.   The article transporting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a storage shelf device in which a plurality of shelves are provided on the buffer device with an interval in the vertical direction is detachable.

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