JP2007223738A - Vibrating bowl feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vibrating bowl feeder capable of stably feeding objects to be supplied regardless of materials and shapes of the objects inside a bowl. <P>SOLUTION: This vibrating bowl feeder is provided with the bowl 10 for storing objects to be supplied, a discharge port 12 provided in the side part of the bowl 10, a carrying path 11 extending and uprising from the bottom part of the bowl 10 to the discharge port 12 for carrying the objects, and a vibrator 20 for vibrating the bowl 10 such that the objects rise on the carrying path 11. By applying vibrating force to the bowl 10 by the vibrator 20, the objects stored inside the bowl 10 rise on the carrying path 11 and are discharged from the discharge port 12 to outside of the bowl 10. The vibrating bowl feeder is further provided with an opening/closing device for opening/closing the discharge port 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vibrating bowl feeder, and more particularly to a vibrating bowl feeder capable of controlling the timing for starting / stopping the supply of an article to be supplied.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for supplying parts, materials, etc. (hereinafter referred to as “substance to be supplied”), a bowl for storing an object to be supplied and a vibrator for applying an exciting force to the bowl are provided. There is known a vibrating bowl feeder that supplies the object to be fed for processing, processing, etc. by applying an exciting force to the bowl. In such a vibrating bowl feeder, as shown in FIG. 5, a predetermined rising time is required from the start of the vibration to the bowl until the movement of the supply object in the bowl is stabilized (warm-up operation). However, since the discharge port remains open after the start of vibration to the bowl, the discharge port remains until the supply in the bowl stabilizes after the supply is replenished in the bowl by the hopper. The material to be supplied was discharged from.

  Moreover, even if the vibration to the bowl by the vibrator is stopped, the bowl vibrates for a while. Then, during this period, a small amount of material to be supplied is discharged from the discharge port of the bowl (the existence of the fall time in FIG. 5).

  Furthermore, since the time until discharge starts from the discharge port varies depending on the material and shape of the supply object, the supply amount of the supply object is not stable. Therefore, there is a demand for a vibrating bowl feeder that can stably supply the supply regardless of the material and shape of the supply.

Here, conventionally, there has been shown a vibratory feeder provided with a discharge gate to an unsteady conveyance path for discharging the supply object remaining in the bowl to the outside of the system at the end of the work (see Patent Document 1). According to such a vibration feeder, the material to be fed can be guided to the unsteady conveyance path in the unsteady state such as when the work is finished or the material is switched, and the flow rate of the material to be fed can be adjusted in the steady state. It is.
JP 10-310226 A

  However, the vibratory feeder of Patent Document 1 must manually adjust the discharge gate. Therefore, when the vibration feeder is used in a vacuum chamber, the vacuum state of the vacuum chamber must be maintained, and thus the discharge gate cannot be manually adjusted. Therefore, depending on the material and shape of the supply object, the supply amount of the supply object becomes unstable.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a vibrating bowl feeder that can stably supply a supply object regardless of the material or shape of the supply object. It is said.

  As a result of intensive studies, the present inventors have found the following.

  That is, when the conventional vibrating bowl feeder is used in the vacuum chamber, the bowl discharge port is always open, and therefore, when the warm-up operation is performed, the supply object is discharged wastefully.

  Moreover, when supplying a to-be-supplied item for every batch, you have to operate an oscillation bowl feeder intermittently. In this case, since the vibration characteristics are changed by repeating the vibration and stop of the bowl, the supply object cannot be stably supplied.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, a vibrating bowl feeder according to the present invention includes a bowl for storing supplies, a discharge port provided on a side of the bowl, and a bottom portion of the bowl from the bottom to the discharge port. A conveying path that conveys the object to be fed and extends at an upward slope, and a vibration exciter that vibrates the bowl so that the material to be fed rises along the conveying path. A vibrator is a vibrating bowl feeder in which the supply material accumulated in the bowl rises on the conveyance path and is discharged from the discharge port to the outside of the bowl by applying a vibration force to the bowl. And an opening / closing device for opening and closing the discharge port.

  With such a configuration, the opening / closing device can close the discharge port during a period in which the ascent of the material to be fed in the conveyance path is unstable (a period after the vibration bowl feeder is activated). Accordingly, the supply object is not discharged from the discharge port. On the other hand, when the ascent of the material to be supplied in the transport path is stabilized, the opening / closing device can open the discharge port. Therefore, the supply object is stably discharged from the discharge port.

  In addition, since the opening and closing device closes the discharge port while the bowl is vibrated, the discharge of the supply can be stopped, so that the change in vibration characteristics is suppressed, and the supply is stably supplied. be able to.

  The opening / closing device may include a lid member that can open and close the discharge port, and a drive device that drives the lid member so that the lid member opens and closes.

  The lid member may be disposed in a non-contact manner with respect to the discharge port.

  With such a configuration, the bowl vibration is prevented from becoming unstable due to the lid member coming into contact with the discharge port.

  A buffer member may be disposed between the discharge port and the lid member.

  With such a configuration, the discharge port and the opening / closing device do not collide directly, and damage to the discharge port and the lid member is prevented.

  The vibrating bowl feeder of the present invention has a control device, which controls the opening and closing device to close the discharge port until the ascent of the supply in the bowl is stabilized, and controls the cover in the bowl. The opening / closing device may be controlled to open the outlet after the rising of the feed is stabilized.

  With such a configuration, since the discharge port is opened after the increase of the supply in the conveyance path is stabilized, the supply is stably discharged from the discharge port.

  The control device may control the opening / closing device to open the discharge port after any time within a range from 0.1 second to 10 seconds has elapsed since the start of vibration of the bowl.

  Here, the above time varies depending on the material and shape of the supplied material to be supplied, but when this time elapses, the ascent of the material to be supplied in the conveyance path is stable regardless of the material and shape of the supplied material. I think that. Thereafter, when the control device controls the opening / closing device to open the discharge port, the supply object is stably discharged from the discharge port.

  A member capable of preventing scattering of the supply object may be disposed so as to cover the opening of the bowl.

  With such a configuration, for example, even when the bowl is vibrated at a resonance point in order to discharge the supply remaining in the bowl after the supply is supplied, the supply inside the bowl may be scattered outside the bowl. Absent.

  The present invention is configured as described above, and in the vibrating bowl feeder, there is an effect that the supply object can be stably supplied regardless of the material and shape of the supply object.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a vibrating bowl feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2A and 2B are views showing a state in which the lid member blocks the discharge port in the vibrating bowl feeder of the present embodiment, where FIG. 2A is a plan view of the feeder body, and FIG. 2B is a front view of the feeder body. . FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state where the lid member opens the discharge port in the vibrating bowl feeder of the present embodiment. Here, in FIG.2 (b) and FIG. 3, in order to make an understanding easy, the bowl 10 is drawn with sectional drawing along the IIB-IIB line. Hereinafter, the vibrating bowl feeder of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. 2 and 3, the case where the vibrating bowl feeder 100 of the present embodiment is used in the vacuum chamber 90 of the film forming apparatus will be described.

<General configuration>
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the vibrating bowl feeder 100 of this embodiment includes a bowl 10. The bowl 10 is a container whose inner surface expands upward, and in this embodiment, the bowl 10 is a container having an overall shape of an inverted truncated cone. A discharge port 12 is formed in the side portion 10 b of the bowl 10. The supply object S in the bowl 10 is discharged from the discharge port 12, and this discharge amount becomes the supply amount of the supply object S. A chute 13 is connected to the discharge port 12. The chute 13 supplies the supply object S discharged from the discharge port 12 to an area where processing, processing, and the like are performed. A through hole 18 for passing a fixture (not shown) for fixing the bowl 10 to a vibration exciter 20 described later is provided in a substantially central portion inside the bowl 10 (see particularly FIG. 2). Then, the bowl 10 is placed on the vibrator 20 and, for example, a bolt (not shown) is inserted into the through hole 18, and the bowl 10 is attached to the vibrator 20 by tightening the bolt.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the bowl 10 has a spiral step portion (hereinafter referred to as a spiral step portion 11 in plan view) on the inner surface thereof. .) Is provided. The spiral step portion 11 includes a step surface 11a and a step surface 11b. The step surface 11 a is inclined so as to descend toward the outside of the bowl 10. The conveyance path 11 is formed to extend in an upward gradient so as to reach the discharge port 12 from the bottom 10 a of the bowl 10. The step surface 11a of the transport path 11 is provided with a notch in the middle. In the vibrating bowl feeder 100 of the present embodiment, the first notch portion 15a, the second notch portion 15b, and the third notch portion 15c are conveyed in the order from the lower end to the upper end of the conveyance path 11 as the notch portions. It is formed on the step surface 11 a of the path 11. Each notch is formed on one side (inside the bowl 10) in the width direction of the step surface 11a. Each notch is formed to have a certain inclination. Each notch part is formed so that the width | variety through which a to-be-supplied material can pass is left in the step surface 11a (refer especially Fig.2 (a)). Each of the first notch part 15a and the second notch part 15b is formed at an appropriate position of the transport path 11, and in this embodiment, the transport path 11 provided with the discharge port 12 in a plan view of the bowl 10 is used. It is formed in the part of the conveyance path 11 facing the part. As will be described later, the material to be supplied S is aligned along the step surface 11b of the upper transport path 11 by each notch. The third notch 15 c is provided in the transport path 11 in front of the discharge port 12. The discharge port 12 is formed so as to cut out the upper end portion of the bowl 10 and the outside of the transport path 11. The discharge port 12 is formed by cutting out the conveyance path 11 so as to have a certain inclination toward the outside of the bowl 10. The discharge port 12 is formed to be longer in the width direction of the transport path 11 than the width formed to allow the material to be supplied S to pass between the third cutout portion 15c and the stepped surface 11b on the outside. ing. After the material to be supplied S passes between the third cutout portion 15c and the stepped surface 11b outside the third cutout portion 15c, and reaches the front of the portion of the transport path 11 where the discharge port 12 is formed. , It drops from the discharge port 12 and is discharged from the bowl 10. In the vibration bowl feeder 100 of the present embodiment, the notch portions are provided at a total of three locations, but the number of notch portions is not limited to this.

  A hopper 30 is disposed above the bowl 10. In the hopper 30, the supply object S is stored. A control device 60 to be described later is connected to the hopper 30 via a hopper driving device 40.

  The vibrator 20 is disposed under the bowl 10. The vibrator 20 is composed of, for example, an electromagnet and a plurality of leaf springs. Then, the driving force generated when the electromagnet is turned on and off is amplified using a leaf spring to generate an exciting force. A piezoelectric element may be used instead of the electromagnet. The bowl 10 is vibrated by the exciting force of the vibrator 20, and the supply object S in the bowl 10 moves up (ascends) the transport path 11. In the process of ascending the article to be supplied S, the article to be supplied S that has spread to the full width of the conveyance path 11 (step surface 11a) slides down through the notches. In this way, as the article to be supplied S moves up the conveyance path 11, it is aligned along the step surface 11 b of the upper conveyance path 11. The objects to be supplied S arranged in this way rise up to the front of the discharge port 12 of the transport path 11 and sequentially drop from the discharge port 12 from there. In this way, the supply object S is discharged from the discharge port 12.

  The vibration exciter 20 is connected to a control device 60 described later via a vibration bowl feeder driver 50 (hereinafter referred to as a driver 50).

  The control device 60 includes a calculation unit (not shown) and a storage unit (not shown). The calculation unit is configured by a CPU, for example. The storage unit is configured by a memory, for example. For example, a control program for controlling the operation of the vibrating bowl feeder 100 is stored in the storage unit. In addition, the storage unit stores data of ascending characteristics in the conveyance path for each material and shape of the supply object S. The control device 60 means not only a single control device but also a control device group in which a plurality of control devices cooperate to control the operation of the vibrating bowl feeder 100. Therefore, the control device 60 does not need to be configured by a single control device, and a plurality of control devices are distributed and configured to control the operation of the vibrating bowl feeder 100 in cooperation with each other. May be. Here, examples of the control target of the vibration bowl feeder 100 include the frequency and amplitude of a vibration signal applied to the electromagnetic coil incorporated in the vibration exciter 20 and the drive timing for the opening / closing device 70 described later. The control device 60 replenishes the bowl 10 with the supply object S stored in the hopper 30 via the hopper driving device 40. In addition, the control device 60 sends a vibration command to the vibrator 20 to generate a predetermined vibration force. The bowl 10 is vibrated by this exciting force.

<Characteristic configuration>
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an opening / closing device 70 is disposed between the bowl 10 and the chute 13. The opening / closing device 70 has a lid member 71. The lid member 71 has an overall shape in which a trapezoidal base is notched, and the notched portion forms a groove. The groove is formed to be inclined outward and downward. A portion of the bottom of the lid member 71 that is close to the bowl 10 is formed thick (hereinafter referred to as a thick portion 71a). The lid member 71 is disposed at a predetermined interval from the discharge port 12. Here, the predetermined interval is an interval that is narrower than the size of the supply object S and wider than the amplitude of the bowl 10 in the radial direction. That is, the lid member 71 is disposed in a non-contact manner with respect to the discharge port 12. The lid member 71 is attached to the upper end of a sliding shaft (drive device) 72. The sliding shaft 72 is inserted through a through hole 80 a provided in the chamber wall 80 and is disposed so as to penetrate the chamber wall 80. The sliding shaft 72 is inserted into the bearing 73 in an airtight manner, and the bearing 73 is fixed to the chamber wall 80 in an airtight manner. As a result, the sliding shaft 72 can slide in an airtight manner with respect to the chamber wall 80 by the bearing 73. The lower end of the sliding shaft 72 is connected to a cylinder (drive device) 74. Here, the cylinder 74 is disposed on the outside air side of the vacuum chamber 90 via a holding member 75. The cylinder 74 is connected to the control device 60. The cylinder 74 slides the slide shaft 72 in the vertical direction and raises / lowers the lid member 71 according to a command from the control device 60. At the raised position of the lid member 71, the thick portion 71a of the lid member 71 blocks the discharge port 12, as shown in FIG. In this case, the supply object S is not discharged from the discharge port 12. On the other hand, at the lowered position of the lid member 71, as shown in FIG. 3, the slope of the groove of the lid member 71 is on the extended line of the slope of the discharge port 12, and the bottom of the lid member 71 contacts the chute 13. In this case, the supply object S discharged from the discharge port 12 slides down the slope of the groove of the lid member 71 and is supplied to a predetermined supply position through the chute 13. With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the material to be supplied S from spilling at the connection portion between the lid member 71 and the chute 13.

  A buffer member (not shown) may be provided between the lid member 71 and the discharge port 12. Thereby, even if the lid member 71 and the discharge port 12 are in contact with each other, the damage can be prevented. Here, as the buffer member, for example, a low wear and flexible material such as polytetrafluoroethylene can be used.

  In the present embodiment, the lid member 71 and the chute 13 are formed as separate members, but the lid member 71 and the chute 13 may be integrally formed. In this way, the number of components is reduced, and the configuration of the vibrating bowl feeder 100 is simplified.

<Operation>
FIG. 4 is a graph showing a change with time of the supply amount of the supply object S in the vibrating bowl feeder of the present embodiment.

  First, the lid member 71 of the opening / closing device 70 closes the discharge port 12. In this state, the supply object S stored in the hopper 30 is supplied into the bowl 10, and the bowl 10 is filled with the supply object S. Next, the control device 60 issues a vibration command to the vibrator 20. Then, the vibrator 20 vibrates the bowl 10. And the to-be-supplied material S raises the conveyance path 11 provided in the bowl 10. Here, for a while after the bowl 10 starts to vibrate, the ascent of the supply S in the transport path 11 is unstable (existence of rise time). If the cover member 71 is not provided and the discharge port 12 remains open, the supply amount of the supply object S becomes unstable (the supply amount of the broken line portion in the initial stage of vibration shown in FIG. 4). However, in the vibrating bowl feeder of this embodiment, the lid member 71 closes the discharge port 12 until the ascent of the material to be supplied S in the transport path 11 is stabilized. Therefore, the passage of the supply object S is blocked by the lid member 71, and the supply object S is not discharged from the discharge port 12.

  Next, after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of vibration of the bowl 10 by the vibrator 20, the control device 60 operates the opening / closing device 70 and the lid member 71 opens the discharge port 12. If it does so, the to-be-supplied material S will be discharged | emitted from the discharge port 12, and will be supplied to the area | region to process and process via the chute | shoot 13. Here, although the said predetermined time changes with materials and shapes of the to-be-supplied object S, it is time of 0.1 second or more and 10 seconds or less. This time is measured in advance for each material and shape of the supply object S and stored in the storage unit of the control device 60. When this time elapses, it is considered that the supply S in the transport path 10 rises stably.

  Then, after the predetermined supply object S is supplied, the control device 60 operates the cylinder 74 and the lid member 71 is lifted to close the discharge port 12. Thereby, discharge | emission from the discharge port 12 of the to-be-supplied material S is stopped with the state which made the bowl 10 vibrate. In other words, the discharge of the supply object S from the discharge port 12 is stopped without stopping the vibration of the bowl 10.

<Effect>
Since the vibrating bowl feeder 100 of the present embodiment is configured as described above, since the opening and closing device 70 closes the discharge port 12 when the ascent of the supply object S in the bowl 10 is not stable, The supply object S is not discharged from the discharge port 12. On the other hand, after the ascent of the supply S in the bowl 10 is stabilized, the opening / closing device 70 opens the discharge port 12 and the supply S is discharged. Therefore, regardless of the material or shape of the supply object S, the supply object S is stably discharged from the discharge port 12.

  Further, for example, even when it is necessary to supply the supply S intermittently as in batch processing, the discharge of the supply S can be stopped without stopping the vibration of the bowl 10. Therefore, since it is not necessary to start / stop the vibration of the bowl 10 for each batch, the change in the vibration characteristics is suppressed, and the supply object S is stably supplied.

[Modification 1]
In the above embodiment, the lid member 71 of the opening / closing device 70 is driven in the vertical direction by the driving device to open and close the discharge port 12. However, the lid member 71 is driven in the horizontal direction with respect to the discharge port 12 to open and close the discharge port. May be. Such an operation is realized by connecting the lid member 71 and the sliding shaft 72 by a known L-shaped link mechanism. For example, an L-shaped link member is pivotally attached at an appropriate position in the center thereof, and one end of the link member is connected to a sliding member by a pin and a hole loosely fitted to each other, and the other end of the link member is connected to each other. What is necessary is just to connect with the cover member 71 by the pin and hole which were loosely fitted.

[Modification 2]
In the vibrating bowl feeder 100, when the irregular shaped supply S is agitated or when a mass of the supply combined with a plurality of supplies is separated, the supply remaining in the bowl after the supply is completed. When discharging the object S, it is preferable to vibrate the bowl 10 at the resonance point. However, if the bowl 10 is vibrated at the resonance point, the supply object S may jump out of the opening of the bowl 10.

  Therefore, in the vibrating bowl feeder 100 of the present modification, a member (in this embodiment, a wire mesh, not shown) is provided so as to cover the opening of the bowl 10 and prevent the material to be supplied from scattering. ing. Here, the hole of the wire mesh is formed to be slightly larger than the size of the supply object S. With such a configuration, the supply S replenished from the hopper 30 falls into the bowl 10 through the wire mesh, but the supply S about to jump out of the opening of the bowl 10 collides with the wire mesh. Returned into bowl 10. Therefore, even when the bowl 10 is vibrated at the resonance point, the supply object S is prevented from scattering from the opening of the bowl 10.

  The vibrating bowl feeder of the present invention is useful as a vibrating bowl feeder that can stably supply a supply object regardless of the material and shape of the supply object.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vibration bowl feeder which concerns on embodiment of this invention. In the vibrating bowl feeder of this embodiment, it is a figure which shows the state which the cover member interrupted | blocked the discharge port, Comprising: (a) is a top view of a feeder main body, (b) is a front view of a feeder main body. In the vibration bowl feeder of this embodiment, it is a front view which shows the state which the cover member opened the discharge port. It is a graph which shows the time-dependent change of the supply amount of the to-be-supplied material in the vibration bowl feeder of this embodiment. It is a graph which shows the time-dependent change of the supply amount of the to-be-supplied object in the conventional vibration bowl feeder.

Explanation of symbols

10 bowl 10a bottom of bowl 10b side of bowl 11 spiral step (conveyance path)
11a Step portion 11b Step portion 12 Discharge port 13 Chute 15a First notch portion 15b Second notch portion 15c Third notch portion 18 Through hole 20 Exciter 30 Hopper 40 Hopper driving device 50 Driver for vibration bowl feeder
60 Control Device 70 Opening / Closing Device 71 Lid Member 71a Thick Part 72 Sliding Shaft 73 Bearing 74 Cylinder 75 Holding Member 80 Chamber Wall 80a Through Hole 90 Vacuum Tank 100 Vibrating Bowl Feeder S Substrate

Claims (7)

A bowl for storing supplies;
An outlet provided on the side of the bowl;
A conveying path for conveying the material to be fed, which extends in an upward gradient so as to reach the discharge port from the bottom of the bowl;
A vibrator that vibrates the bowl so that the material to be fed rises along the conveyance path,
When the vibrator applies a vibration force to the bowl, the object to be supplied stored in the bowl rises on the conveyance path and is discharged from the discharge port to the outside of the bowl. A feeder,
A vibrating bowl feeder provided with an opening / closing device for opening and closing the discharge port.   2. The vibrating bowl feeder according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing device includes a lid member capable of opening / closing the discharge port and a driving device that drives the lid member to open / close the lid member.   The vibrating bowl feeder according to claim 2, wherein the lid member is disposed in a non-contact manner with respect to the discharge port.   The vibrating bowl feeder according to claim 3, wherein a buffer member is disposed between the discharge port and the lid member.   A control device that controls the opening and closing device to close the outlet until the ascent of the supply in the bowl is stabilized, and after the ascent of the supply in the bowl is stabilized The vibrating bowl feeder according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing device is controlled to open the discharge port.   The said control apparatus controls the said opening / closing apparatus so that the said discharge port may be opened after the time in any one of the range of 0.1 second or more and 10 seconds or less passes from the vibration start to the said bowl. Vibrating bowl feeder as described in.   The vibrating bowl feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a member capable of preventing scattering of the supply object is disposed so as to cover the opening of the bowl.

Images