JP2010089938A - Part feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain stable feeding capacity even when the size of a part to be fed by a part feeding device is changed. <P>SOLUTION: In the middle of a track (spiral conveyance path) 6 of a bowl feeder 1, a columnar air blowout member 9 forming a portion of a sidewall of the track 6 at a one end face is embedded rotatably around its axis, an air blowout port 9a is opened near the outer periphery of the one end face, and when the size of the part to be supplied is changed, the vertical position of the air blowout port 9a can be adjusted by rotating the air blowout member 9. Thereby, as conventional replacement of a part aligning block is not required, and downtime of the device can be shortened, stable feeding capacity can be constantly obtained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a component supply device that aligns components in a predetermined posture in the middle of a conveyance path and supplies them to the next process.

In a component supply device that supplies small components such as chip electronic components that are directional in the front and back sides and the longitudinal direction while transporting them to the next process, generally, the component alignment provided in the middle of the transport path of the component transport member In this section, the posture of the component is made uniform by changing the posture of the component being conveyed or selecting the component. In addition, as a means for changing the posture of the part or selecting the part, there are many means for blowing the air from a small air outlet provided on the side wall of the conveyance path to the part which is not in a predetermined posture, and inverting or removing the part ( For example, see Patent Document 1.)
JP 2000-159334 A

  In addition, as described above, a component supply device that blows air onto a component to change the posture of the component and sort the component is supplied, for example, by aligning and supplying a plurality of types of components having different sizes as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). In the case of multiple use, it is necessary to change the vertical position of the air outlet according to the size of the parts to be supplied. We use while exchanging.

  For this reason, when the size of the parts to be supplied is changed, it takes time to replace the parts alignment block, and the downtime of the apparatus becomes long, so that the parts supply capability is reduced. Further, since it is necessary to have a replacement part alignment block, there is a problem that the number of parts increases and the cost increases.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a stable supply capability even when the size of a component to be supplied by the component supply device changes.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention is a component alignment unit provided in the middle of a conveyance path of a component conveyance member, and blows air from an air outlet provided on a side wall of the conveyance path to a component that is not in a predetermined posture. In the component supply apparatus in which the components are reversed or eliminated, a configuration is provided in which means for adjusting the position of the air outlet in the vertical direction is provided.

  That is, by providing a means for adjusting the position of the air outlet of the part alignment part in the vertical direction, when the size of the part to be supplied has changed, there is no need to perform the conventional part alignment block replacement work, The operation of the apparatus can be resumed simply by adjusting the position of the air outlet, thereby shortening the downtime of the apparatus.

  Here, as a means for adjusting the position of the air outlet in the vertical direction, a columnar air blowing member that forms a part of the side wall at one end surface can be rotated around its axis to the component conveying member. Embedded, opening the air outlet at a position off the center of one end surface of the air outlet member, and rotating the air outlet member to change the vertical position of the air outlet. Can be adopted. Here, it is preferable that the air outlet is opened near the outer periphery of one end surface of the air outlet member.

  Moreover, the said component conveyance member shall be connected with an excitation mechanism, and shall convey components by the vibration.

  And when the components supply apparatus is provided with the bowl feeder by which the said conveyance path was formed in the spiral, the said components alignment part can be provided in the spiral conveyance path, and the said conveyance path is formed in linear form In the case where the linear feeder is provided, the component aligning portion can be provided in the linear conveyance path. On the other hand, when the conveyance path is formed by a belt conveyor, the component alignment unit can be provided on the belt conveyor.

  The present invention can be particularly effectively applied to a component supply apparatus that is also used for supplying a plurality of types of components having different sizes.

  Since the component supply apparatus of the present invention is provided with means for adjusting the position of the air outlet of the component alignment portion in the vertical direction as described above, even if the size of the component to be supplied changes, There is no need to perform the conventional part alignment block replacement operation, and the operation can be resumed only by adjusting the position of the air outlet. Therefore, the downtime when changing the target component is short, and a stable supply capability can be ensured at all times.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, this component supply apparatus is obtained by connecting a vibration type linear feeder 2 to a vibration type bowl feeder 1, and a rectangular parallelepiped chip electronic component (hereinafter simply referred to as “component”). It is an object of alignment supply, and it is also used for supplying multiple types of parts with different sizes. The bowl feeder 1 and the rectilinear feeder 2 are connected to a vibration mechanism (not shown) provided on the base 3, respectively, and a bowl 4 and a chute 5 as component conveying members are connected to the bottom of the bowl 4. While the parts are conveyed by the vibration of the bowl 4 and the chute 5, they are supplied to the next process in a predetermined posture as described later.

  In the bowl feeder 1, a track 6 is formed inside the bowl 4 as a conveying path that spirally rises from the bottom, and the uppermost discharge end of the track 6 is formed by the chute 5 of the linear feeder 2. Connected to the supply end. Further, in the middle of the track 6 of the bowl 4, the parts are arranged in a single row and a single layer, and aligned and transported so that the longitudinal direction thereof is directed to the transport direction, and the parts not in a predetermined posture on the downstream side are aired. A part aligning portion 8 is provided to remove the parts from the track 6 by spraying the.

  The aligning / conveying section 7 is constituted by a groove having a trapezoidal cross section. On the other hand, the component aligning portion 8 is formed by embedding an air blowing member 9 forming a part of the side wall of the track 6 in the outer wall portion of the bowl 4 and fixing it with a stopper 10 and a knob bolt 11.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the air blowing member 9 is a hollow columnar (cylindrical) member having one end closed and the other end open, and is rotatable about its axis. It is embedded in the outer wall of the bowl 4 and is prevented from rotating by tightening the knob bolt 11. One end surface of the air blowing member 9 forms a part of the side wall of the track 6 as described above, and an air outlet 9a is opened near the outer periphery thereof. On the other hand, the distal end cylindrical portion 12a of the air supply pipe 12 is inserted into the opened other end so as to be in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface, and the air supplied from the air supply pipe 12 passes through the hollow portion from the air outlet 9a. It comes to blow out. Further, an annular groove 9b is formed on the outer peripheral surface on the other end side, and the inward projection of the stopper 10 bolted to the outer wall portion of the bowl 4 is engaged with the annular groove 9b, whereby the knob bolt 11 is Even if it is loosened, it does not come out in the axial direction.

  Since the air blowing member 9 is formed in a columnar shape as described above, the vertical position of the air outlet 9a opened near the outer periphery of the one end surface is changed by rotating around the axis. That is, the position of the air outlet 9a can be adjusted in the vertical direction according to the size of the parts to be supplied.

  Therefore, for example, when a rectangular parallelepiped part P having a square end surface in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 4A is to be supplied, the height dimension of the part P as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. What is necessary is just to open the air blower outlet 9a in the position higher than H and lower than the length dimension L. FIG. As a result, the component P that is transported in a state of being placed on the component P with the longitudinal direction directed in the vertical direction or the component P in a predetermined posture (with the longitudinal direction directed to the transport direction) is constantly blown out from the air outlet 9a. The air can be removed from the track 6 and returned to the bottom of the bowl 4.

  When the supply target part is changed to a flat part P ′ as shown in FIG. 4B, the height dimension H ′ of the part P ′ is smaller than the part P of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the knob bolt 11 is loosened to rotate the air blowing member 9, so that the position of the air blowing port 9a is slightly higher than the height dimension H 'of the component P'. You can lower it. As a result, as in the example of FIG. 2, a component P ′ that is not in a predetermined posture (a posture in which the longitudinal direction is directed in the transport direction and the height direction is directed in the vertical direction) can be excluded from the track 6.

  This component supply device has the above-described configuration, and even if the size of a component to be supplied changes, the air blowing member 9 of the component aligning unit 8 is rotated to adjust the position of the air outlet 9a in the vertical direction. This eliminates the need for the conventional part alignment block replacement work, and thus reduces the number of work steps. Therefore, the downtime when changing the target part is short, and a stable supply capability can be obtained at all times. In addition, the number of parts and the cost can be reduced as compared with the prior art because the replacement part alignment block can be eliminated.

  In the above-described embodiment, the component aligning portion 8 is provided on the track 6 of the bowl feeder 1, but it may be provided on the linear conveyance path of the chute 5 of the rectilinear feeder 2.

  Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to a component supply apparatus in which a conveyance path is formed by a belt conveyor. In that case, a component alignment unit having a vertical position adjustment means for an air outlet may be provided on the belt conveyor.

The top view of the component supply apparatus of embodiment a is a sectional view taken along line IIa-IIa in FIG. 1, and b is an arrow view from the direction of arrow IIb of a. a is a cross-sectional view for explaining the state of use when supplying different types of components corresponding to FIG. 2A, and b is a view from the direction of arrow IIIb of a. a and b are perspective views of parts to be aligned and supplied, respectively.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bowl feeder 2 Straight advance feeder 3 Base 4 Bowl 5 Chute 6 Track 7 Alignment conveyance part 8 Parts alignment part 9 Air blowing member 9a Air blowing outlet 9b Annular groove 10 Stop metal fitting 11 Knob bolt 12 Air supply pipe P, P 'Parts

Claims (8)

  A component supply device in which air is blown from an air outlet provided on a side wall of a conveyance path to a component which is not in a predetermined posture in a component alignment section provided in the middle of the conveyance path of the component conveyance member, and the component is reversed or eliminated The component supply apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for adjusting the position of the air outlet in the vertical direction.   A means for adjusting the position of the air outlet in the vertical direction embeds a cylindrical air outlet member, which forms a part of the side wall at one end surface, in the component conveying member so as to be rotatable about its axis, The air outlet is opened at a position off the center of one end surface of the air blowing member, and the air blowing member is rotated to change the vertical position of the air blowing port. The component supply apparatus according to claim 1.   The component supply device according to claim 2, wherein the air outlet is opened near an outer periphery of one end face of the air outlet member.   The component supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the component conveying member is connected to an excitation mechanism and conveys the component by vibration thereof.   5. The component supply device according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance path includes a bowl feeder formed in a spiral shape, and the component alignment unit is provided in the spiral conveyance path.   5. The component supply device according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance path includes a linear feeder formed in a straight line, and the component alignment unit is provided in the linear conveyance path.   4. The component supply device according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance path is formed by a belt conveyor, and the component alignment unit is provided on the belt conveyor. 5.   The component supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the component supply device is also used for supplying a plurality of types of components having different sizes.

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