JP2008247130A - Connection mechanism for moving carriage - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stably connect a moving carriage to a workpiece carrying side, and to perform connection and connection release operation by a simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: This connection mechanism for connecting the workpiece carrying side towed by the moving carriage to the moving carriage is provided with a motor for operation for the connection and release of the connection, and the motor for operation is a worm geared motor. Moreover, it is preferable to use a wiper motor 1 for the worm geared motor. This configuration can stably maintain the connection state and effectively prevent release of the connection caused by an external force etc. from the workpiece carrying side. Moreover, when the wiper motor 1 is used, connecting operation and connection release operation can be performed by the simple configuration. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving cart connecting mechanism that connects a self-propelled moving cart and a workpiece conveying side.

  In general manufacturing sites, a method has been proposed in which work efficiency is improved by utilizing an unmanned mobile carriage for conveying parts and the like (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The mobile cart is temporarily connected to a transport cart or the like for transferring workpieces as necessary to enhance the versatility of the work. When the connection is unnecessary, the connection between the mobile cart and the transport cart is released. There are various methods for connecting the moving carriage and the workpiece conveying side. For example, in order to enable automatic connection and release operations, a connecting pin that moves up and down by an operating motor is provided on the moving carriage. When the connection becomes unnecessary by inserting the connection pin into the connection hole provided on the workpiece transfer side, the connection pin is lowered by the operation of the operating motor and moved out of the connection hole. Release the connection between the carriage and the carriage.

An example of the coupling mechanism will be described with reference to FIG.
A cam rotary 11 is connected eccentrically to a drive shaft of an operating motor (geared motor) 10 provided with a speed reduction mechanism constituted by a spur gear (not shown). On the other hand, the cam rotary 11 is in contact with the cam rotary 11 below the connecting pin 13. A cam follower 12 is attached. The connecting pin 13 is slidably attached to a guide 15 fixed to the movable carriage. The anti-rotation pin 14 is fixed to the side surface of the connecting pin 13, and the anti-rotation pin 14 is a slit 16 of the guide 15. Is slidably inserted.

The operation of the coupling mechanism will be described.
(When connected)
1) The operation motor 10 is rotated in the forward direction. 2) The cam rotary 11 fixed coaxially with the drive shaft is rotated in the forward direction in accordance with the operation in 1).
3) The connection pin 13 moves upward through the cam follower 12 in accordance with the operation 2).
4) The moving carriage and the transporting carriage (not shown) are coupled by the operation 3).

(When disconnected)
5) When separating, the operating motor 10 is reversed.
6) The cam rotary 11 fixed coaxially with the drive shaft is reversed in accordance with the operation 5).
7) The connection pin 13 moves downward through the cam follower 12 in accordance with the operation of 6).
8) The moving cart and the transport cart are separated by the operation 7).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-278802

  However, in the above-described conventional coupling mechanism, even when the moving carriage is coupled to the workpiece conveyance side and then the operation of the operation motor is stopped, it is combined with a spur gear or the like by an external force such as its own weight or vibration transmitted from the workpiece conveyance side. Then, the external force is transmitted to the rotating shaft of the motor via the reducing portion, and the rotating shaft rotates. As a result, the connecting pin may be lowered and come out of the connected state. Although it is possible to incorporate a stopper mechanism or the like for preventing the connecting pin from lowering, there is a problem that the structure becomes complicated and expensive if the connecting and connecting operations are automatically performed.

  The present invention has been made against the background of the above circumstances, and provides a connecting mechanism for a mobile carriage that can automatically engage and disengage the connection and can maintain the connected state stably after being connected. The purpose is to do.

  That is, the invention according to claim 1 of the connecting mechanism of the mobile carriage of the present invention is an operating mechanism for engaging and disengaging the connection in a connecting mechanism that connects the work carriage side pulled by the mobile carriage and the mobile carriage. A motor is provided, and the operating motor is a worm geared motor.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the worm geared motor is a wiper motor having an intermittent function.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a moving cart coupling mechanism according to the second aspect, wherein the intermittent stop position of the wiper motor is used as an engagement / disengagement point in the engagement / disengagement of the connection.

That is, according to the present invention, since the driving force is transmitted through the worm gear between the portion where the connecting operation is performed and the operating motor, even if an external force is applied to the portion where the connecting operation such as the drive pin is performed, Since the force is hardly transmitted as the force that directly rotates the rotating shaft of the motor for operation and exhibits high proof strength, the connected state is not easily released by external force, and the connected state is stably maintained. Can do. The engagement / disengagement of the connection can be easily performed without causing an increase in load due to the operation of the worm geared motor.
In addition, although the self-propelled thing is suitable for the mobile trolley | bogie of this invention, as this invention, it is not limited to a self-propelled thing. In addition, in the case of a self-propelled mobile trolley, there is no particular limitation except for the configuration defined in the present invention, as long as it can be self-propelled by a known configuration or the like.

Further, according to the present invention, the connection mechanism can be configured at low cost by diverting a wiper motor having an intermittent function as the worm geared motor.
Note that when the wiper motor is intermittently stopped, the stop position is set as a dead point for engaging / disengaging the connection, whereby the connection and the release of the connection can be achieved with a simple structure. As the intermittent mechanism of the wiper motor, a mechanism provided in the motor can be used as it is, and the present invention is not limited to a specific configuration. For example, it can be performed by intermittent rotation using an electrical contact or the like, intermittent rotation by a timer, or intermittent rotation using a sensor on the motor side. The intermittent rotation may be either intermittent rotation only by forward rotation or intermittent rotation by reverse rotation. Further, if the intermittent stop position is set to the dead point in the connection and connection release operation, the connection and release operation can be performed without requiring a special control device. This makes it possible to operate a rotary encoder, CPU, limit switch, electromagnetically consuming control device that consumes a large amount of power, an expensive stepping motor, etc. It is no longer necessary to use it for the first time, and the number of parts can be reduced.

As described above, according to the moving cart coupling mechanism of the present invention, in the coupling mechanism that couples the workpiece carrying side pulled by the moving cart and the moving cart, the operating motor for engaging and disengaging the coupling is provided. Since the operating motor is a worm geared motor, the connected state is stably maintained, and the connection is effectively prevented from being disconnected by an external force or the like from the workpiece conveying side.
Further, if a wiper motor is used as the worm geared motor, the connection and disconnection operations can be performed with a simple configuration.

Below, one Embodiment of this invention is described based on FIGS. 1-3.
In the movable carriage 20, a worm gear 2 is attached to the rotation shaft of the wiper motor 1, and a worm wheel 3 that meshes with the worm gear 2 is rotatably provided. A cam rotary 5 is fixed to the rotating shaft of the worm wheel 3 at an eccentric position. On the other hand, the frame 20a of the movable carriage 20 is provided with a guide 7 that slidably holds the connecting pin 8, and a lower end of the connecting pin 8 that is slidably held by the guide 7 is provided with the cam rotary 5. A cam follower 9 that contacts the outer peripheral surface is attached.
The wiper motor 1 is intermittently stopped at a predetermined rotation amount and can be reversed. The worm gear 2 and the worm wheel 3 have the intermittent stop positions of the wiper motor 1 located above and below the connecting pin 8. The reduction ratio of each other is set so that it becomes a dead center.
On the other hand, the transport carriage 21 on the workpiece transport side is provided with a connection hole 22 into which the connection pin 8 can be inserted.

Next, the operation of the coupling mechanism will be described. In that case, as shown in FIG. 3, the movable carriage 20 and the transport carriage 21 are in positions where the mutual positional relationship can be coupled, and the connection of the transport carriage 21 is above the connection pin 8 of the movable carriage 20. A service hole 22 is located.
(When connected)
1) The wiper motor 1 is rotated forward.
2) The worm gear 2 that is coaxially fixed to the rotating shaft of the wiper motor 1 rotates forward in accordance with the operation of 1) above, and this rotational force is transmitted to the worm wheel 3 by changing the direction of rotation by 90 degrees. Rotates forward.
3) The cam rotary 5 rotates forward in accordance with the operation 2).
4) The connection pin 8 is raised while sliding in the guide 7 through the cam follower 9 in accordance with the operation of 3).
5) The moving cart 20 and the transport cart 21 on the workpiece conveying side are coupled by the operation 4).

In the above operation, when the wiper motor 1 reaches the intermittent stop position and stops rotating, the reduction ratio of the worm gear 2 and the worm wheel 3 is set appropriately, so that the connecting pin 8 stops at the top dead center and the connection is completed. .
Further, when an external force is applied to the connecting pin 8 in the connected state, the force is transmitted to the worm wheel 3, but almost no external force is transmitted from the worm wheel 3 to the worm gear 2. The rotating shaft is also kept stopped. As a result, the connecting pin 8 stably holds the connected state. The movable carriage 20 can be self-propelled on a rail or the like using a sensor or the like, and can be transported while the transport carriage 21 is connected along with the self-propelled movement.

When the connection between the mobile cart 20 and the transport cart 21 connected as described above is released and disconnected, the operation is performed according to the following procedure.
(When disconnected)
6) The wiper motor 1 is reversed.
7) The worm gear 2 that is coaxially fixed to the rotating shaft of the wiper motor 1 is reversed in accordance with the operation of 6) above, and this rotational force is transmitted to the worm wheel 3 by changing the rotational direction by 90 degrees. Invert.
8) The cam rotary 5 reverses with the operation of 7) above.
9) The connecting pin 8 is lowered through the cam follower 9 in accordance with the operation 8).
10) The connection pin 8 is removed from the connection hole 22 of the transport carriage 21 by the operation 9), and the connection between the movable carriage 20 and the transport carriage 21 is released.

  In the above operation, the wiper motor 1 rotates in the reverse direction, and stops rotating when it reaches the intermittent stop position in the reverse direction. In the present invention, since the reduction ratio between the worm gear 2 and the worm wheel 3 is set appropriately, the connection pin 8 stops at the bottom dead center when the wiper motor 1 reaches the intermittent stop position, and the connection release is completed. .

In the above embodiment, the wiper motor having the reverse rotation function has been described. However, a wiper motor that performs intermittent rotation only by forward rotation can perform the same operation along with the intermittent operation.
As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on the said embodiment, this invention is not limited to the content of the said description, Of course, an appropriate change is possible within the scope of the invention.

It is a perspective view which shows the connection mechanism of one Embodiment of this invention. Similarly, it is a side view. Similarly, it is a front view which shows the mobile trolley incorporating a connection mechanism. It is a perspective view which shows the conventional connection mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wiper motor 2 Worm gear 3 Worm wheel 5 Cam rotary 8 Connecting pin 9 Cam follower 20 Moving carriage 21 Conveying carriage

Claims (3)

In the connection mechanism that connects the work conveyance side pulled by the moving carriage and the moving carriage,
A moving cart connecting mechanism comprising an operating motor for engaging and disengaging the connection, wherein the operating motor is a worm geared motor.   2. The moving cart coupling mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the worm geared motor is a wiper motor having an intermittent function.   The connection mechanism of the movable carriage according to claim 2, wherein the intermittent stop position of the wiper motor is set as an engagement / disengagement dead point in engagement / disengagement of the connection.

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