JP2008126242A - Lubricating-treatment apparatus for billet, and billet lubrication processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the improvement of a working efficiency for lubricating-treatment, related to a lubricating-treatment apparatus for billet and a billet-lubrication processing method for forming a film of lubricant on the surface of the billet. <P>SOLUTION: The lubricating film is formed on the surface of the billet 2 by continuously feeding the billet 2 fitted to a billet holder 11 at the tip end part of each arm 10 into a lubricating vessel 4 for holding the lubricant 3, by a first-in and first-out method in a dipping device 5 provided with a plurality of arms 10 fitted to a rotary body 9. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a billet lubrication treatment apparatus and a billet lubrication treatment method for forming a lubricant film on a billet surface.

  As conventional examples of this type of billet lubrication processing apparatus, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 can be cited. In the processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the billet is lubricated using a conveyor-type dipping device. More specifically, the billet is dropped on the conveyor in the lubricating tank through the chute, then transported through the lubricating tank and immersed in the lubricant for a predetermined time, and then taken up from the lubricating tank. And sent to the drying / fixing process.

In the processing apparatus described in Patent Document 2, a dipping apparatus including a pair of revolvers is employed. Each revolver includes a horizontal rotation shaft and a C-shaped swivel arm fixedly supported by the rotation shaft, and a billet holder for holding a billet is fixed to the tip of the swivel arm. That is, the dipping device has two swivel arms. The two swivel arms alternately perform standby and holding / immersing to lubricate the billet one by one.
JP-A-62-292233 JP 2001-335839 A

  In the lubrication processing apparatus described in Patent Literature 1, since the posture control of the billet on the chute or on the conveyor is very difficult, depending on the posture state of the billet on the conveyor, the surface lubricant application state is uneven. As a result, the thickness of the lubricating film may become non-uniform. Since the conveyor is immersed in the lubricating tank, there is a disadvantage in that the apparatus has a short life and is difficult to maintain.

  In the lubrication processing apparatus described in Patent Document 2, the swivel arm that constitutes the revolver has specifications that alternately perform standby, holding, and dipping, and therefore, only one lubricant can be applied at a time. Therefore, the lubrication process cannot proceed efficiently. In addition, since it is configured to have a pair of rotating shafts and rotate them independently, it is inevitable that the configuration of the drive part is complicated and the apparatus becomes large, and the overall cost of the lubricating treatment apparatus increases. There is also.

  An object of the present invention is to obtain a billet lubrication treatment apparatus and a lubrication treatment method thereof that can continuously lubricate a billet, and therefore can carry out the lubrication treatment efficiently. An object of the present invention is to obtain a billet lubricating treatment apparatus capable of forming a lubricating film having a uniform film thickness on the surface of the billet and a lubricating treatment method thereof. An object of the present invention is to obtain a billet lubrication processing apparatus that is simpler in structure and can be manufactured at a lower cost than the conventional billet lubrication processing apparatus.

  The present invention according to claim 1 is directed to a lubrication processing apparatus for forming a lubricant film on the surface of a billet. The lubricating treatment apparatus includes a lubricating tank in which a lubricant is accommodated, and a dipping apparatus that performs a billet dipping operation into the lubricant in the lubricating tank and a billet pulling operation from the lubricant. The dipping device includes a rotating body that is supported in a horizontal posture and is driven to rotate by receiving a driving force of an actuator, and a plurality of arms that are radially extended from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body. Is provided with a billet holder for detachably holding the billet. On the rotation trajectory of the billet holder that rotates about the rotating body, a billet attachment / detachment position for loading / unloading the billet to / from the billet holder, and a state in which the entire billet is immersed in the lubricant in the lubrication tank An immersion position and a drying position where the billet is pulled up from the lubricating tank to dry and fix the lubricant are sequentially arranged along the rotation direction of the rotating body. Then, by rotating the rotating body by a predetermined angle in one direction, the billet mounted on the billet holder is moved forward to the billet attaching / detaching position, dipping position and drying position, and a plurality of first-in first-out methods are used. It is characterized in that the billet can be continuously lubricated.

  In the lubrication processing apparatus for billets according to the second aspect of the present invention, the billet is formed in a columnar shape having flat upper and lower end surfaces, and the billet includes an extension direction of the arm and an end surface of the upper end surface of the billet. The billet holder is mounted in a posture state in which the directions match. Then, the pulling start angle θ1, which is defined by the liquid level height of the lubricant in the lubricating tank and the upper end surface of the billet, that is, the billet mounted in the billet holder and immersed in the lubricant is rotated. The angle formed by the liquid surface and the upper end surface of the billet when starting to come out from the liquid surface of the lubricant with the rotation of the body is set within 90 °.

  In the lubrication processing apparatus for billets according to the third aspect of the present invention, the stop angle θ2 at the drying position defined by the horizontal direction and the lower end surface of the billet at the drying position is set within 60 °. In other words, the angle formed between the lower end surface of the billet pulled up from the lubricant and in the dry position and the horizontal direction is set in a range of −60 ° to + 60 °.

In the billet lubrication processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the transporting chute for supplying the billet to the dipping device or sending the billet from the dipping device, and the work of unloading the billet to the chute And a robot hand. The chute is a V-shaped groove-like slope having an upward opening, and the billet is moved by falling under its own weight along the slope. A stopper for receiving the end face of the billet and restricting the fall limit of the billet is disposed at the lower end portion which is the conveyance end of the chute. The stopper is disposed with a predetermined gap from the lower end of the chute, and at the end of conveyance of the chute, the billet is inclined in a cantilever manner so that the lower half protrudes from the lower end of the chute. Being supported by posture. The robot hand is formed in a V-shape having a pair of inclined surfaces and an upwardly expanding taper shape.
The billet can be held by the robot hand by lifting the protruding portion of the billet from the lower end of the chute by the inclined surface of the robot hand.

  In the billet lubrication processing method according to the present invention of claim 5, the step of continuously feeding the billet into the lubricating tank in which the lubricant is accommodated, the billet is immersed in the order in which the billet has been fed in the lubricating tank, From the step of applying the lubricant, the step of putting out the billet coated with the lubricant in order from the pre-inserted one, and the one where the coated billet was taken out of the lubricating bath A drying step of sequentially drying and fixing the lubricant on the surface thereof. Each of these processes is supported in a horizontal posture and is rotated by receiving the driving force of the actuator, a plurality of arms formed radially projecting from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, and each arm A dipping device provided with a billet holder for detachably holding the billet, and a plurality of billets in a first-in first-out manner by rotating the rotating body in one direction. It is characterized in that it can be continuously lubricated.

  In the billet lubrication processing method according to the present invention of claim 6, the billet is formed in a columnar shape having flat upper and lower end surfaces, and the billet includes an extension direction of the arm and a direction of an end surface of the upper end surface of the billet. Are mounted on the billet holder in a posture state such that they match, and are defined by the liquid level height of the lubricant in the lubricating tank and the upper end surface of the billet, from the lubricating tank. Pull-up start angle θ1, that is, when the billet mounted on the billet holder and immersed in the lubricant starts to come out of the liquid surface of the lubricant as the rotating body rotates, the liquid surface and the upper end surface of the billet Is set to be within 90 °.

  In the billet lubrication processing method according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the stop angle θ2 defined by the horizontal direction and the lower end surface of the billet in the drying step is set within 60 °, that is, the lubricant The angle formed between the lower end surface of the billet pulled up from the inside and in the dry position and the horizontal direction is set in a range of −60 ° to + 60 °.

  In the billet lubrication processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the billet is continuously fed into the lubricating tank containing the lubricant by the dipping device by the first-in first-out method, and the billet is immersed in the lubricant. After that, the billet was pulled up from the lubricating tank and dried to form a lubricant coating (hereinafter referred to as a lubricating film) on the surface of the billet. Therefore, according to this apparatus, it is possible to perform the dipping process and the drying process on a plurality of billets in parallel, and the lubricating process can be performed with high work efficiency.

  In addition, according to the processing apparatus according to the present invention, any drive mechanism may be used as long as the rotating body is rotated by a predetermined angle in one direction. Compared with a system in which the two swivel arms are swung alternately, the structure of the drive mechanism is simple and the number of parts is small, and a more compact overall structure can be achieved, which can be manufactured at low cost. In other words, this processing apparatus is excellent in that it can be moved by one actuator such as a motor and can be manufactured at low cost.

  Further, it is excellent in that it can easily cope with a change in the lubrication processing time and a change in the circulation time of the rotating body accompanying the increase in the number of arm groups composed of a plurality of arms. That is, when it takes time to lubricate one billet, the processing capability can be doubled by simply increasing the number of arm groups attached to the rotating body from one row to two rows. As described above, the billet lubrication processing apparatus according to the present invention can cope with a change in time required for billet lubrication processing only by increasing the number of rows of arm groups without increasing the number of actuators. In terms of practical convenience, it is easy to change and adjust the entire processing capacity.

When the billet is formed in a columnar shape having flat upper and lower end surfaces, when the billet is taken out from the lubricant in the lubricating tank, the lubricant remains on the upper end surface due to surface tension and hangs down on the side surface to cause a part of the lubricating film The film thickness may increase. When the lubricant is pulled downward by gravity, a thin portion may be formed. As described above, when liquid spots occur due to dripping or the like, and the film thickness of the lubricating film becomes non-uniform, the quality of the lubricating process (quality of the coating process) decreases.
In that respect, as in the present invention described in claim 2, when the pulling start angle θ1 defined by the liquid level height of the lubricant in the lubricating tank and the upper end surface of the billet is set within 90 °. As compared with the case where the angle θ1 is 90 ° or more, it is possible to suppress the amount of the lubricant scooped up on the upper end surface, so that the liquid spots caused by the lubricant remaining on the upper end surface drooping to the side surface. Occurrence of this can be suppressed, and a lubricating film having a uniform thickness can be formed on the surface of the billet.

  In addition, as in the third aspect of the present invention, the stop angle θ2 at the drying position defined by the horizontal direction and the end surface direction of the lower end surface of the billet at the drying position is set within 60 °. In this case, the lubricating film can be dried in a uniform state. In other words, when the tilting posture of the billet in the horizontal direction at the drying position is larger than 60 ° upward or downward, the lubricant tends to accumulate on the side surface directed downward, and the film thickness of the lubricating film at the portion tends to be distorted. On the other hand, if the stop angle θ2 at the drying position is set within 60 ° as in the present invention described in claim 3, it is possible to prevent the lubricant from collecting in one place. A lubricating film having a uniform thickness can be formed on the surface.

  As in the fourth aspect of the present invention, a stopper for restricting the falling limit of the billet is disposed at a position where a predetermined gap is placed from the lower end portion that is the conveyance end of the chute, and the billet is moved by the stopper. The lower half is supported in a cantilevered inclined posture that protrudes from the lower end of the chute, and the robot hand is lifted by the inclined surface of the robot hand, If the billet can be held, the billet can be held (chucked) with a robot hand without the need for a structure such as an actuator, which contributes to reducing the overall cost of the processing apparatus. be able to. By configuring the robot hand with an upwardly extending tapered inclined surface, the billet can be held (chucked) by the robot hand without being affected by the diameter of the cylindrical billet.

According to the billet circulation processing method of the fifth aspect, basically the same effect as that of the first aspect of the present invention can be obtained.
That is, the billet is continuously fed by a dipping device by a first-in first-out method into the lubricating tank containing the lubricant, the billet is immersed in the lubricant, and then the billet is pulled up from the lubricating tank and dried. Since the lubricating film is formed on the surface, the dipping treatment and the drying treatment for the plurality of billets can be performed in parallel, and the working efficiency of the lubrication treatment can be remarkably improved.

According to the billet circulation processing method of the sixth aspect, basically the same effect as that of the second aspect of the present invention can be obtained.
That is, when the pulling start angle θ1 defined by the liquid level height of the lubricant in the lubricating tank and the upper end surface of the billet is set within 90 °, the angle θ1 is 90 ° or more. Compared to the amount of lubricant scooped on the upper end surface, the amount of lubricant remaining on the upper end surface can be suppressed, so that the occurrence of liquid spots caused by dripping of the lubricant on the side surface is suppressed, and a uniform film is formed on the billet surface. A thick lubricating film can be formed.

According to the billet circulation processing method of the seventh aspect, basically the same effect as that of the third aspect of the present invention can be obtained.
That is, when the stop angle at the drying position, which is defined by the horizontal direction and the lower end surface of the billet at the drying position, is set within 60 °, it is possible to prevent the lubricant from accumulating in one place. Therefore, a lubricating film having a uniform thickness can be formed on the surface of the billet.

  Hereinafter, a billet lubrication processing apparatus and a billet lubrication processing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a billet lubrication processing apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as “processing apparatus” as appropriate), FIG. 2 is a plan view of the processing apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a billet pulling start angle θ1 from a lubricating tank. 4 is a view showing the stop angle θ2 in the drying position, FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the work of unloading the billet from the billet holder by the robot hand, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are views of the billet from the chute by the robot hand. It is a figure for demonstrating the taking-out operation | work. In the following, the upward direction in FIG. 2 (the direction in which the motor 8 is disposed) is defined as the rear direction, and the downward direction (the direction in which the chute 7 is disposed) opposite thereto is defined as the forward direction. . Further, a direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction and the horizontal direction is defined as a left-right direction.

  The billet 2 as an object of the lubrication process by the processing apparatus 1 has a cylindrical shape having flat upper and lower end surfaces 2a and 2b. The processing apparatus 1, after immersing the billet 2 in a lubricant 3 made of an aqueous or oily solution containing graphite or the like, and drying the lubricant adhering to the surface of the billet 2, causes the lubricant on the surface of the billet 2. The purpose is to form a coating film (hereinafter referred to as a lubricating film).

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the processing apparatus 1 includes a lubricating tank 4 in which a lubricant 3 is accommodated, an operation of immersing the billet 2 in the lubricant 3 in the lubricating tank 4, and A dipping device 5 responsible for pulling up the billet 2 and a chute 7 for conveying the billet 2 after the lubrication process are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lubricating tank 4 has a bottomed square box shape having an upper opening, and the lubricant 3 is accommodated therein. The dipping device 5 is installed in a horizontal position between the motor 8 (actuator) mounted and fixed on the rear wall 4a of the lubricating tank 4 and the front and rear walls 4b and 4a of the lubricating tank 4, and receives the driving force of the motor 8. The rotating body 9 and a plurality of (six in this embodiment) arms 10 that project radially from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 9 at equiangular positions (60 ° intervals). A billet holder 11 for detachably holding the billet 2 is attached to the tip of each arm 10.

  The billet holder 11 has a magnet 12 which is a permanent magnet as a main component, and the lower end surface 2b of the billet 2 is dropped by the magnetic attractive force exerted by the magnet 12 as shown in FIGS. Keep impossible. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, when the billet 2 is mounted on the billet holder 11, the billet 2 is in a posture state in which the extension direction of the arm 10 coincides with the direction of the upper end surface 2 a. 11 is mounted.

  As indicated by phantom lines in FIG. 5, the billet 2 clamped and held (chucked) by the robot hand 15 actuated by the actuator is simply transported to the position facing the billet holder 11, and the lower end surface 2 b of the billet 2 is magnetically attached to the billet holder 11. It can be held by suction force and can be mounted so as not to drop off (see arrow S1 in FIG. 5). Conversely, the billet 2 can be removed from the billet holder 11 simply by chucking the billet 2 held by the billet holder 11 with the robot hand 15 and then moving the billet 2 against the magnetic attraction force of the magnet 12. Yes (see arrow S2 in FIG. 5).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an arm unit 16 is assembled to the rotating body 9. The arm unit 16 includes a hexagonal columnar holder 17 that is externally fitted to the rotating body 9, and an arm 10 that projects from each of the six surfaces that constitute the holder 17. A plurality of arm units 16 can be assembled to the rotating body 9. That is, not only one arm unit 16 but also two or more arm units 16 can be assembled to the rotating body 9 as shown in the drawing. When the two arm units 16 are assembled to the rotating body 9, the dipping device 5 includes twelve arms 10.

The motor 8 is a so-called stepping motor that receives a control signal from a drive circuit (not shown) and rotates the rotating body 9 at a predetermined speed clockwise (see the arrow in FIG. 1) by 60 ° in one step. .
FIG. 1 shows a normal state of the dipping device 5. As can be seen from the figure, in the dipping device 5, the two arms 10 and 10 located below are located in the lubricating tank 4 in an obliquely inclined posture, the two arms 10 and 10 are in a horizontal posture, and the rest A posture in which the two arms 10 and 10 are directed obliquely upward is defined as a normal posture. When receiving a control signal from the drive circuit, the motor rotates the rotating body 9 by 60 °, so that each arm 10 rotates around the rotating body 9 in the clockwise direction. It is configured to take a normal form.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the positions of the arm 10 and the billet holder 11 in the normal state can be indicated by A1 to A6 along the rotation direction (clockwise) of the rotating body 9. Here, A1 is a billet attachment / detachment position for loading / unloading the billet 2 to / from the billet holder 11, A2 and A3 are standby positions, and A4 and A5 are the whole billet 2 immersed in the lubricant 3 in the lubricating tank 4. A6 indicates a drying position where the billet 2 is pulled up from the lubricating tank 4 and the lubricant adhering to the surface of the billet 2 is dried and fixed. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 18 denotes a fan for applying drying air to the billet 2 at the drying position (A6).

  At the billet attachment / detachment position A1, as shown in FIG. 5, the billet 2 that has been lubricated through the drying position (A6) is chucked by the robot hand 15 and removed from the billet holder 11 (see arrow S2). The billet 2 for processing is mounted on the billet holder 11 (see arrow S1). The billet 2 that has been lubricated is sent to the chute 7 by the robot hand 15 (see arrow S3).

  The untreated billet 2 mounted on the billet holder 11 is immersed in the lubricant 3 in the lubricating tank 4 through the standby position of A2 and then A3, and the lubricant is applied to the surface at the immersion positions of A4 and A5. Is applied.

  The billet 2 that has passed through the immersion position of A5 is sent to the drying position (A6). In this drying position (A6), the lubricant adhered to the surface of the billet 2 is dried and fixed by the drying air from the fan 18 to form a lubricating layer on the surface of the billet 2.

  In this way, the billet 2 mounted on the billet holder 11 can be attached and detached by simply rotating the rotating body 9 by a predetermined angle (60 °) in the clockwise direction and rotating it one turn (360 °). The six billets 2 can be continuously lubricated in a first-in first-out manner by moving forward to the position (A1), dipping position (A4, A5), and drying position (A6). ing.

  In addition, in the processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, by defining the pulling start angle θ1 of the billet 2 from the lubricating tank 4 and the stop angle θ2 at the drying position, generation of liquid spots due to dripping or the like is caused. Thus, the lubricating film formed on the surface of the billet 2 is made uniform, and the quality of the lubricating treatment is improved.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pulling start angle θ <b> 1 is defined by the liquid level height (h <b> 1) of the lubricant 3 in the lubricating tank 4 and the upper end surface 2 a of the billet 2. Specifically, the liquid level height (when the billet 2 mounted on the billet holder 11 and immersed in the lubricant 3 starts to come out of the liquid surface of the lubricant 3 as the rotating body 9 rotates ( The angle formed between h1) and the upper end surface 2a of the billet 2 is the pulling start angle θ1, and the pulling start angle θ1 is set to be within 90 °.
According to this, compared with the case where the angle θ1 is 90 ° or more, when the billet 2 is pulled up from the lubricant 3, the amount of the lubricant 3 scooped up by the upper end surface 2a can be suppressed. In the drying position (A6), it is possible to suppress the occurrence of liquid spots caused by the lubricant 3 remaining on the upper end surface 2a dripping on the side surface, and therefore, the lubricating film having a uniform film thickness on the surface of the billet 2 Can be formed.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4, the said stop angle (theta) 2 is prescribed | regulated by the horizontal direction and the end surface direction of the lower end surface 2b of the billet 2 in a drying position (A6). Specifically, an angle formed between the lower end surface 2b of the billet 2 pulled up from the lubricant 3 and in the dry position (A6) and the horizontal direction is set as a stop angle θ2, and the stop angle θ2 is set within 60 °. It is set.
The stop angle θ2 is defined from the horizontal direction toward the rotation direction of the rotating body 9 and the direction opposite to the rotation direction. That is, the billet 2 in the drying position (A6) is a position rotated + 60 ° (rotated 60 ° upward) with respect to the horizontal direction from a position rotated −60 ° (rotated 60 ° downward) with respect to the horizontal direction. It will stop within the range.
The reason why the stop angle θ2 is set to 60 ° or less is that when the angle θ2 is larger than 60 °, the lubricant tends to accumulate in the side portion directed downward of the billet 2 and the film thickness of the lubricating film at the portion is distorted. Because it tends to grow. On the other hand, when the stop angle θ2 at the drying position (A6) is set within 60 °, it is possible to effectively prevent the lubricant from being collected in one place, so that the surface of the billet 2 is uniform. A lubricating film having a thickness can be formed.

  Next, a method of chucking the billet 2 by the robot hand 20 from the conveyance end of the chute 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 6, the chute 7 is a V-shaped groove-like ramp having an upward opening, and the billet 2 chucked by the previous robot hand 15 (see FIG. 5) and placed on the chute 7 is The chute 7 is moved by its own weight along the slope of the chute 7.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 30 denotes a stopper that is attached to the lower end portion that is the conveyance end of the chute 7, receives the lower end surface 2 b of the billet 2, and regulates the fall limit of the billet 2 on the chute 7. This stopper 30 is an L-shaped metal fitting composed of a support portion 30a along the lower end portion of the V-shaped groove of the chute 7 and a main body portion 30b bent upward from the free end portion of the support portion 30a. The lower end surface 2b of the billet 2 is received at the front end portion of the main body portion 30b, and the drop limit is regulated.
The stopper 30 is disposed such that the main body 30b is located at a position with a predetermined gap from the lower end of the chute 7. Therefore, at the conveyance end of the chute 7, the billet 2 is cantilevered such that the upper half is supported by the chute 7 and the lower half protrudes from the lower end of the chute 7 and is received by the main body 30b of the stopper 30. Is supported in an inclined posture.

  6 and 7 (a) and 7 (b), reference numeral 20 denotes a robot hand responsible for the work of unloading the billet 2 from the chute 7. The robot hand 20 is formed in a V-shape having an upwardly spread taper composed of a pair of holding pieces 21 and 21 having steep inclined surfaces 21a and 21a as opposed surfaces.

A procedure for chucking the billet 2 with the robot hand 20 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7A and 7B. First, the projecting portion of the billet 2 from the lower end of the chute 7 is lifted by the inclined surfaces 21a and 21a of the robot hand 20, and the outer peripheral surface of the billet 2 is sandwiched and held from below by the inclined surfaces 21a and 21b (see FIG. 6 (see arrow S4). At this time, as shown in FIG. 7B, the billet 2 is lifted to a sufficiently high position where the lowermost end of the billet 2 does not interfere with the tip of the main body 30 b of the stopper 30.
Next, with the billet 2 lifted, the robot hand 20 is moved downward (see arrow S5 in FIG. 6). Thereby, billet 2 can be taken out from the lower end part of chute 7, and billet 2 after lubrication processing can be conveyed to the next process.

  As described above, according to the billet lubrication processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the dipping device 5 including the six arms 10 attached to the rotating body 9 performs the first-in first-out method on the tip of each arm 10. Since the billet 2 mounted on the billet holder 11 is continuously fed into the lubrication tank 4 in which the lubricant 3 is accommodated to form a lubricating film on the surface of the billet 2, the work efficiency of the lubrication process is remarkably improved. Can be improved.

  In addition, according to this processing apparatus 1, the drive mechanism may be any one that rotates the rotator 9 by a predetermined angle in one direction (stepping motor 8). Compared with the method in which the two swivel arms are alternately swung as in Document 2, the structure of the drive mechanism is simple and the number of parts is small, and the entire structure can be made more compact and manufactured at low cost. Can do. In other words, this processing apparatus is excellent in that it can be moved by only one motor 8 and can be manufactured at low cost.

  In addition, it is excellent in that it can easily cope with a change in the lubrication processing time and a change in the circulation time of the rotating body 9 associated therewith simply by increasing the number of arm units 16 composed of a plurality of arms 10. . In other words, when a long time is required for the lubrication process for one billet 2 such as a long drying process, the processing capacity can be increased by simply increasing the number of arm units 16 attached to the rotating body 9. Can do. As described above, the processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can cope with a change in time required for the lubrication processing of the billet 2 only by increasing or decreasing the number of the arm units 16 without increasing the number of the motors 8. In terms of practical convenience, it is easy to change and adjust the processing capacity of the entire apparatus.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a stopper 30 for restricting the fall limit of the billet 2 at a position having a predetermined gap from the lower end portion that is the conveyance end of the chute 7. A main body portion 30b is disposed, and the main body portion 30b supports the billet 2 in a cantilevered posture in which the lower half of the billet 2 protrudes from the lower end portion of the chute 7. Is lifted by the inclined surfaces 21 a and 21 a of the robot hand 20 so that the robot hand 20 can hold the billet 2. According to this, since the billet 2 can be chucked by the robot hand 20 without requiring a structure such as an actuator, the overall cost of the processing apparatus 1 can be reduced in that respect. By constructing the robot hand 20 with the taper inclined surfaces 21a and 21a upward, the billet 2 can be held (chucked) without being influenced by the diameter of the cylindrical billet 2, so that the billet 2 Therefore, it is not necessary to prepare a plurality of types of robot hands 20 corresponding to the diameters, and this point can also contribute to the reduction of the overall cost of the processing apparatus 1.

  In the above embodiment, the stepping motor 8 has been adopted as the actuator for rotationally driving the rotator 9. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any actuator that can control the phase of the output shaft can be used. The stepping motor is not limited.

  In the above embodiment, the present invention (Claim 4) has been described by taking the conveyance chute 7 for sending the billet 2 from the dipping device 5 as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the dipping is performed. The present invention can also be applied to a chute for supplying the billet 2 to the device 5.

It is a front view of the lubrication processing apparatus for billets which concerns on this invention. It is a top view of the lubrication processing apparatus for billets which concerns on this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating pulling start angle (theta) 1 of the billet from a lubrication tank. It is a figure for demonstrating stop angle (theta) 2 in a dry position. It is a figure for demonstrating the loading / unloading operation | work of the billet from the billet holder by a robot hand. It is a figure for demonstrating the chucking work of the billet from the chute | shoot with a robot hand. It is a figure for demonstrating the chucking work of the billet from the chute | shoot with a robot hand.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Billet lubrication processing apparatus 2 Billet 2a Upper end surface of billet 2b Lower end surface of billet 3 Lubricant 4 Lubrication tank 5 Dipping device 7 Chute 8 Actuator (motor)
9 Rotating body 10 Arm 11 Billet holder 20 Robot hand 30 Stopper

Claims (7)

In a lubrication processing apparatus for forming a lubricant film on the surface of a billet,
A lubricating tank containing a lubricant, and a dipping device responsible for the operation of dipping the billet into the lubricant in the lubricating tank and the operation of pulling up the billet from the lubricant,
The dipping device includes a rotating body that is supported in a horizontal posture and is driven to rotate by receiving a driving force of an actuator, and a plurality of arms that are radially extended from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body. Is provided with a billet holder for detachably holding the billet,
On the rotation trajectory of the billet holder that rotates about the rotating body, a billet attachment / detachment position for loading / unloading the billet to / from the billet holder, and a state in which the entire billet is immersed in the lubricant in the lubrication tank An immersion position and a drying position where the billet is pulled up from the lubrication tank to dry and fix the lubricant are sequentially arranged along the rotation direction of the rotating body,
By rotating the rotating body by a predetermined angle in one direction, the billet mounted on the billet holder is moved forward to the billet attaching / detaching position, the dipping position and the drying position to form a plurality of billets by a first-in first-out method. A billet lubrication apparatus characterized by continuously performing a lubrication process. The billet is formed in a columnar shape having flat upper and lower end surfaces,
The billet is mounted on the billet holder in a posture state in which the extension direction of the arm coincides with the direction of the upper end surface of the billet,
The angle formed between the liquid surface and the upper end surface of the billet when the billet mounted on the billet holder and immersed in the lubricant begins to come out of the liquid surface of the lubricant as the rotating body rotates is 90. The billet lubrication processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lubrication processing apparatus is set within a range of °.   The billet according to claim 2, wherein an angle formed between a lower end surface of the billet pulled up from the lubricant and in the dry position and a horizontal direction is set in a range of −60 ° to + 60 °. Lubrication processing equipment. Supplying billets to the dipping device, or feeding chute for sending billets from the dipping device, and a robot hand responsible for loading and unloading billets on the chute,
The chute is a V-shaped groove-like slope having an upward opening, and the billet is configured to fall and move by its own weight along the slope.
A stopper for receiving the end face of the billet and restricting the fall limit of the billet is disposed at the lower end portion serving as the conveyance end of the chute,
The stopper is disposed with a predetermined gap from the lower end of the chute, and at the end of conveyance of the chute, the billet is inclined in a cantilever manner so that the lower half protrudes from the lower end of the chute. It comes to be supported by posture,
The robot hand is formed in a substantially V-shape having a pair of inclined surfaces and an upwardly expanding taper shape,
The billet can be held by the robot hand by lifting the protruding portion of the billet from the lower end of the chute by the inclined surface of the robot hand. Lubricant processing equipment for billets. A step of continuously feeding billets into a lubricating tank containing a lubricant;
A step of immersing the billet in the lubrication tank in the order in which it is fed, and applying a lubricant;
A step of first feeding the billet treated with the lubricant out of the lubrication tank in order from the pre-filled one,
Drying the coating-treated billet in the order taken out of the lubricating tank, and fixing the lubricant on the surface thereof,
Each of these steps is supported in a horizontal posture and is rotated by receiving the driving force of the actuator, a plurality of arms radially extending from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, and provided in each arm. And is performed by a dipping device comprising a billet holder for detachably holding the billet,
A billet lubrication treatment method, wherein a plurality of billets are continuously lubricated by a first-in first-out method by rotating the rotating body in one direction. The billet is formed in a columnar shape having flat upper and lower end surfaces, and the billet is mounted on the billet holder in such a posture that the extending direction of the arm coincides with the direction of the end surface of the upper end surface of the billet. ,
The angle formed between the liquid surface and the upper end surface of the billet when the billet mounted on the billet holder and immersed in the lubricant begins to come out of the liquid surface of the lubricant as the rotating body rotates is 90. 6. The billet lubrication method according to claim 5, wherein the billet lubrication method is set within a range of.   The billet according to claim 6, wherein an angle formed between a lower end surface of the billet pulled up from the lubricant and in the dry position and a horizontal direction is set in a range of -60 ° to + 60 °. Lubrication method.

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