JP2007314289A - Cylindrical body chucking device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a chucking device capable of coping with even a small-diameter cylindrical body. <P>SOLUTION: The cylindrical body chucking device is provided with a rod 1 moved in the vertical axial direction and a chuck mechanism 2 provided in the lower end of the rod 1 to hold the cylindrical body K from the inside thereof. The chuck mechanism 2 has an elastic member 4 to be swelled by leading fluids into it and to be adhered to the inside of the cylindrical body K to hold it. A fluid passage pipe 5 for leading/draining the fluid into/from the elastic member 4 and an inner pressure operating pipe 6 for operating the inner pressure of the cylindrical body by operating the amount of the air inside the cylindrical body K sealed by the liquid level and the swelled elastic member 4 when the cylindrical body K is dipped in the liquid are arranged inside the rod 1 in the axial direction. The fluid passage pipe 5 and the inner pressure operating pipe 6 are concentrically arranged. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a chucking device for a cylindrical body such as a photosensitive drum, and more particularly to a chucking device that holds the cylindrical body in a substantially vertical state from the inner surface side.

  Conventionally, as a method for forming a photosensitive layer on the outer peripheral surface of a photosensitive drum used for electrophotography or the like, a method in which the photosensitive drum is immersed in a liquid of the photosensitive member while being held almost vertically is known. . In this case, in order to apply the coating liquid to the entire outer peripheral surface of the drum with a uniform thickness, it is necessary to prevent a chucking device or the like that holds the photosensitive drum in a vertical state from contacting the outer peripheral surface of the drum. .

  As such a chucking device, for example, in Patent Document 1, a gripping mechanism (chuck mechanism) having an elastic bag portion that comes into airtight contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum by its expansion, and a fluid is introduced into and discharged from the bag portion. And a fluid flow conduit that expands and contracts this, and a drum is held vertically from the inside by introducing fluid (air) from the fluid flow conduit and inflating the bag portion. . Thereby, a coating liquid can be uniformly apply | coated to the whole drum outer peripheral surface uniformly.

  On the other hand, in the chucking device having such a structure, when the drum is immersed in the coating liquid in a state where the bag portion is in airtight contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum, When the drum is lifted from the coating liquid in this state, the solvent vapor trapped in the airtight space flows out into the coating liquid and the bubbles are applied. When the liquid surface is shaken or bubbles are attached to the outer peripheral surface of the drum and ruptured, there arises a disadvantage that the coating liquid is not uniformly applied to the outer peripheral surface of the drum.

  For this reason, at present, the chucking device is provided with the above-described fluid circulation conduit for the chucking mechanism and an internal pressure operation conduit for discharging or sucking the gas in the drum space to the outside of the drum, and the drum is applied. A mechanism is provided for manipulating the drum space internal pressure by manipulating the liquid level and the amount of gas in the drum sealed by the chuck mechanism when it is dipped in the liquid and pulled up.

FIG. 2 shows a chucking device having such a structure. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical rod movable in the vertical axis direction, and reference numeral 2 denotes a circle provided at the lower portion of the rod 1. A columnar chuck mechanism, reference numeral 8 is a guide head fixed to the lower end of the chuck mechanism 2, reference numeral 30 is a fluid flow conduit disposed in the axial direction in the rod 1, and reference numeral 40 is disposed in parallel therewith. An internal pressure operation conduit provided, symbol K is a cylindrical body (photosensitive drum).
The fluid flow line 30 and the internal pressure operation line 40 are respectively connected to small diameter lines 31 and 41 in the lower part of the rod 1, and these two lines 31 and 41 are respectively introduced into the chuck mechanism. ing. In addition, the above-described fluid flow conduit 30, the internal pressure operation conduit 40, and the conduits 31, 41 connected thereto are all formed by drilling.

The chuck mechanism 2 includes a main body 3 and an elastic member 4 that is provided at a lower portion of the main body 3 and whose outer peripheral surface expands in a barrel shape by air. Air is introduced / extracted from the conduit 30 through the conduit 31 into the chuck mechanism 2 and the elastic member 4 is expanded / contracted, whereby the photosensitive drum K can be gripped from the inner peripheral surface and the grip can be released. it can.
A pipe 41 connected to the internal pressure operation pipe 40 passes through the main body 3 and is opened to the outside through the through hole 8a of the guide head 8, and the drum is immersed in the coating liquid. When pulling up, the gas in the drum sealed by the liquid level and the chuck mechanism can be discharged to the outside.

However, as described above, when the two fluid conduits 30 and the internal pressure operation conduit 40 are provided in the rod 1 in an independent state, the conduit structure becomes complicated, and for example, a small diameter such as 25φ or less. If each pipe line is made small in order to correspond to the drum of the caliber, it becomes extremely difficult to drill the hole or connect the pipes, and thus it is practically impossible to cope with the small caliber drum. . Conversely, when the diameter of the pipe is increased, the strength of the rod 1 is relatively lowered.
Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 62-29106

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has a small diameter by simplifying the pipeline structure by using a fluid circulation pipeline and an internal pressure manipulation pipeline as a double-pipe structure and saving space in the pipeline. An object of the present invention is to provide a chucking device that can cope with a cylindrical body.

  That is, the present invention according to claim 1 is a cylindrical chucking device for holding a cylindrical body in a vertical state and immersing the cylindrical body in a liquid and bringing the liquid into contact with an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, A rod that is movable in the vertical axis direction, and a chuck mechanism that is provided at a lower end portion of the rod and holds the cylindrical body from the inner surface side. The chuck mechanism expands by introducing a fluid, and An elastic member that is in close contact with the inner surface side of the cylindrical body and holds the cylindrical body is provided. Inside the rod, there is a fluid flow conduit that introduces and discharges fluid to the elastic member, and the cylindrical body is in a liquid. An internal pressure operation conduit that operates the internal pressure of the cylindrical body by manipulating the amount of air in the cylindrical body sealed by the liquid surface and the expanded elastic member when disposed in the axial direction And the fluid flow conduit The internal pressure operating conduit is characterized by being arranged coaxially.

  Further, the present invention according to claim 2 is the chucking device according to claim 1, wherein the fluid flow conduit is constituted by a through hole provided in the axial direction at the center of the rod, The internal pressure operation conduit is constituted by a pipe provided in the axial direction in the through hole, and the fluid flow conduit communicates with the elastic member in the chuck mechanism, and the internal pressure operation conduit The pipe line is characterized in that it communicates with the sealed cylindrical body at least at a position below the elastic member.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the pipe structure is simplified by arranging the two pipes of the fluid circulation pipe and the internal pressure operation pipe in a coaxial manner to form a double pipe structure. Since the space occupied by the pipe in the rod can be reduced and the workability of the pipe is also improved, the two pipes, the fluid flow pipe and the internal pressure operation pipe, can be secured in a completely separated state. Thus, the diameter of the chucking device can be reduced. Thereby, it becomes possible to grip a cylindrical body having a small diameter. Further, a desired strength can be obtained even when the rod is thinned.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the connecting structure between the fluid circulation conduit and the elastic member is simplified by disposing the fluid circulation conduit in the coaxially disposed conduit outside. It becomes.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the chucking device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, in order to simplify description, the same code | symbol was used about the member common in the past in the following description.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cylindrical chucking device according to the present embodiment is a device that suspends a photosensitive drum K, which is a cylindrical body, in a vertical posture, and has a cylindrical shape that is movable in the vertical axis direction. A rod 1 and a chuck mechanism 2 provided at the lower end of the rod 1 and gripping the photosensitive drum K from the inner surface side are provided.
The chuck mechanism 2 is provided on a cylindrical main body 3 made of a plastic material, a metal material, or the like, and a peripheral side portion of the main body 3. By introducing a fluid such as air, the outer peripheral surface has a barrel shape or It has a tubular elastic member 4 that expands in a spherical shape. The elastic member 4 is made of an elastic material such as rubber, and is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the main body portion 3 in a close fitting state.

Further, a through hole 10 having a hole diameter of about 6φ is provided in the center of the rod 1 along the axial direction, and a small diameter pipe 11 having an outer diameter of about 2φ is inserted in the center of the through hole 10 along the axial direction. Has been.
The space formed between the through hole 10 and the outside of the pipe 11 constitutes a fluid flow conduit 5 for introducing and discharging air to and from the elastic member 4, and the inner space of the central pipe 11 is a cylinder. An internal pressure operation conduit 6 is configured to control the amount of air in the body K and to operate the internal pressure in the cylindrical body K.

  On the other hand, in the main body portion 3 of the chuck mechanism 2, a pipe line 12 communicating with the above-described through hole 10 of the rod 1 is formed in the axial direction. Further, a bag shape is formed from a side portion of the pipe line 12. An air passage 13 communicating with the inside of the elastic member 4 is formed.

The pipe 11 in the through hole 10 is inserted into the pipe 12, penetrates the pipe 12 in the axial direction, protrudes from the lower end opening of the main body 3, and its end is tightened by a bite joint 7 a. The guide head 8 is fixed to the distal end portion of the bite joint 7a. Further, a through hole 9 having one end communicating with the pipe 11 and the other end opened to the outside is formed in the side portion of the bite joint 7a.
In addition, an O-ring holder 27 holding an O-ring 14 at the end is disposed at the other end of the main body 3, and the bite fixed to the pipe 11 by a pulling force of the pipe 11 described later. When the joint 7a presses the O-ring holder 27 upward (on the main body 3 side), the O-ring presses against the lower end of the main body 3 and seals the lower end opening of the through hole 10, thereby Air leakage is prevented.

Further, the rod 1 is fixed to a robot arm 17 which can be raised and lowered at the upper end by a bolt 18, and the rod 1 is moved in the vertical axis direction by the raising and lowering operation of the robot arm 17. An air supply / exhaust port 15 communicating with the through hole 10 is provided on the upper portion of the rod 1, and an air tube joint 16 a is provided in the air supply / exhaust port 15, and air is introduced from the air tube joint 16 a through the air supply / exhaust port 15.・ Emissions are made.
Further, the upper end of the pipe 11 is subjected to a terminal treatment by a bite joint 7b and is opened to the outside through an air tube joint 16b.
Reference numeral 21 denotes a U-shaped disassembly spring pusher, reference numeral 22 denotes a spring seat, reference numeral 23 denotes a spring, reference numeral 24 denotes an adapter, and reference numerals 25 and 26 denote O-rings. The upper end of the pipe 11 is supported by the robot arm 17 in such a state that the upper end of the pipe 11 is pushed upward by the restoring force of the spring 23 through the disassembling spring pusher 21 and the bite joint 7b.

In the chucking device having the above configuration, the chuck mechanism 2 is vertically inserted into the cylindrical body K with the elastic member 4 contracted, and in this state, air is supplied from the air supply / exhaust port 15 of the rod 1 through the air tube joint 16a. Is introduced. The introduced air is supplied into the bag-like elastic member 4 through the fluid flow conduit 5 in the rod 1, the conduit 12 in the chuck mechanism 2, and the air passage 13 in the conduit 12, and expands the elastic member 4. And the outer peripheral surface of the elastic member 4 closely_contact | adheres to the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body K, and the cylindrical body K is hold | gripped in the airtight state from the inner side.
In this state, the cylindrical body K can be suspended vertically and immersed in a liquid (for example, a liquid of a photoreceptor).

At this time, since air is confined between the space 20 below the cylindrical body K and the liquid level (not shown), when the cylindrical body K is immersed in the liquid, the liquid hardly penetrates into the space portion. Therefore, only the outer surface of the cylindrical body K comes into contact with the liquid.
Further, the space 20 is filled with gas (solvent vapor), but the gas confined in the space 20 passes through the internal pressure operation pipe line 6 from the through-hole 9 of the bite joint 7a, and the pipe 11 When the cylindrical body K is pulled out from the liquid, the gas enclosed in the airtight space becomes bubbles and flows out into the liquid to shake the liquid surface. It is prevented from adhering to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body K and rupturing.
Note that the amount of gas discharged to the outside can be adjusted by an air tube joint 16 b provided at the tip of the pipe 11.

  As described above, in the chucking device of the present embodiment, the internal pressure operation conduit 6 using the small diameter pipe 11 is provided in the through hole 10 of the rod 1 constituting the fluid circulation conduit 5, and By forming the double pipe structure, the pipe structure is simplified and the processability of the pipe is improved, so that the two pipes of the fluid flow pipe 5 and the internal pressure operation pipe 6 are completely formed. The rod 1 can be secured in a separated state, and the mechanical strength of the rod 1 can be sufficiently secured even if the rod 1 is made thinner. Thereby, the diameter of the chucking device can be reduced, and the chucking of a small-diameter cylindrical body can be sufficiently handled.

  In addition, since the brazing and welding are not performed in the terminal processing of the small-diameter pipe 11 serving as the internal pressure operation pipeline 6, the bite joints 7a and 7b are used, so the terminal processing is also reliable, and This can be easily performed, and this also contributes to the improvement of the workability of the pipe.

1 is a front view of a cylindrical chucking device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The front view of the cylindrical chucking apparatus shown as a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rod 2 Chuck mechanism 4 Elastic member 5 Fluid flow line 6 Internal pressure operation line 10 Through hole 11 Pipe K Cylindrical body (photosensitive drum)

Claims (2)

A cylindrical chucking device for holding a cylindrical body in a vertical state and immersing it in a liquid, and bringing the liquid into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body,
A rod and a chuck mechanism that is provided at the lower end of the rod and holds the cylindrical body from the inner surface side;
The chuck mechanism has an elastic member that expands by introducing a fluid and adheres to the inner surface of the cylindrical body, and holds the cylindrical body;
Inside the rod, a fluid flow conduit for introducing and discharging a fluid to and from the elastic member, and the cylindrical body sealed by the elastic member expanded when the cylindrical body is immersed in the liquid An internal pressure operation conduit for controlling the internal pressure of the cylindrical body by operating the amount of air is disposed along the axial direction, and the fluid flow conduit and the internal pressure operation conduit are coaxial. A cylindrical chucking device, wherein The fluid flow conduit is configured by a through hole provided in the axial direction in the center of the rod, and the internal pressure operation conduit is configured by a pipe provided in the axial direction in the through hole. And the fluid flow conduit communicates with the elastic member in the chuck mechanism, and the internal pressure operation conduit communicates with the cylindrical body sealed at least at a position below the elastic member. The cylindrical chucking device according to claim 1.

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