JP2010242848A - Hollow motor type clamp cylinder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clamp cylinder with use of a hollow ultrasonic motor, for use in place of a pneumatic clamp cylinder. <P>SOLUTION: A hollow motor type clamp cylinder is provided with a cylinder body 2, the outer side surface of which is vertically installed with a body latching part 5 with a mounting hole 51 bored therethrough. Inside the cylinder body 2 is provide with a hollow ultrasonic motor 3 provided with a motor drive hole at the center, and fixed such that the center of the motor drive hole matches with the cylinder center of the cylinder body 2. The outside the motor drive hole of the hollow ultrasonic motor 3 is provided with a shaft guide 6 guiding a driving shaft 4, which is installed to pass through the shaft guide 6 and the motor drive hole. A one end of the driving shaft 4 positions outside the side surface which is adjacent to the side surface installed with the body latching part 5 of the cylinder body 2. The one end is provided with a jig latching part 7 with a mounting hole 71 bored therethrough. The hollow ultrasonic motor 3 is electrically connected with a driving unit 9 for driving thereof. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a clamp cylinder for gripping and fixing a workpiece such as a conveyed product or a semi-molded product, and more particularly to a clamp cylinder used in an automated production line for producing a product by an automatic process such as an automobile factory.

  Conventionally, in a manufacturing factory equipped with an automatic process line such as an automobile factory, an air type clamp that uses compressed air as a driving force source to hold a workpiece that is manufactured every moment on the manufacturing line, for example, when spot welding is performed. A cylinder was used.

  FIG. 2 shows a conventional example of this pneumatic clamp cylinder.

  A conventional air clamp cylinder 100 includes an air cylinder body 101 having a cylindrical shape, and a piston rod 104 slidable on the air cylinder body 101 is attached to one end of the air cylinder body 101, and the air cylinder body A piston rod 104 is configured to be movable back and forth with respect to 101.

  The air cylinder body 101 is connected to an extension side air pipe 102 and a contraction side air pipe 103 that can supply compressed air to the air cylinder body 101.

  The expansion side air pipe 102 is connected to the cylindrical surface of the air cylinder body 101 at the end opposite to the side where the piston rod 104 is provided, and the compressed air is applied so that the air cylinder body 101 acts on the side where the piston rod 104 is extended. Can be supplied.

  In addition, a shortened side air pipe 103 is connected to the cylindrical surface of the end portion of the air cylinder body 101 including the piston rod 104, and compressed air can be supplied so that the air cylinder body 101 acts on the side that shortens the piston rod 104. It is.

  The air clamp cylinder 100 includes a jig locking portion 105 at the tip of the piston rod 104. The jig locking portion 105 has a mounting hole 105a formed so as to be orthogonal to the sliding direction of the piston rod 104. If the air clamp cylinder 100 is for gripping a workpiece, a gripping device is used. If the workpiece is pressed by the pneumatic clamp cylinder 100, a workpiece fixing pressing arm is attached, and if the pneumatic clamp cylinder 100 is used for workpiece suction fixation, a suction pad is attached. .

  Similarly, a main body locking portion 106 is provided on the cylindrical surface of the air cylinder main body 101 on the side to which the reduced-side air pipe 103 is connected. The main body locking portion 106 is provided with an attachment hole 106a having a predetermined diameter so as to be fixed by a bolt and nut, and is erected from a cylindrical surface.

  The air-type clamp cylinder 100 formed as described above is formed according to a standard specification in an automobile factory. Specifically, the center of the piston rod 104 represented by A in FIG. 2, and a jig representing from the center of the mounting hole 106 a of the main body locking portion 106 represented by B in FIG. 2 to the center of the mounting hole 105 a of the jig locking portion 105 when the piston rod 104 is shortened. Pitch B is standardized worldwide.

  Similarly, the piston extension amount C, which is the expandable / contractable amount of the piston rod 104 represented by C in FIG. 2, is determined for each predetermined amount, such as 100 [mm], 125 [mm], and 150 [mm]. Similarly, the bore diameter of the air cylinder main body 101 is currently determined for each predetermined amount.

  The conventional air type clamp cylinder 100 is difficult to maintain its state when external force is applied unless compressed air is supplied from the expansion side air pipe 102 or the contraction side air pipe 103 during expansion and contraction. In light of the recent energy saving that has the characteristics and is trying to eliminate the waste of energy, there is a problem that waste of energy occurs.

  In addition, because compressed air is used, piping for supplying compressed air is formed throughout the factory, and pressure loss that occurs during transportation within the piping, and the pressure that is actually used for clamping, etc. Despite being different for each clamp cylinder, 30% of the energy used to compress the air, such as supplying air with a higher compression pressure than the force required to make the air piping common Only 40% was used, and there was a problem of poor energy efficiency.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an energy efficient clamp cylinder that can be used in place of a conventional air clamp cylinder.

In order to improve energy efficiency, the present invention
The main body locking part with a mounting hole is provided with a cylinder main body standing upright from the outer surface. The cylinder main body has a motor drive hole in the center, and the center of the motor drive hole coincides with the cylinder center of the cylinder main body. A hollow ultrasonic motor that is fixed so that a shaft guide that can guide the drive shaft is provided outside the motor drive hole of the hollow ultrasonic motor, and the drive shaft passes through the shaft guide and the motor drive hole. One end of the drive shaft is positioned outward from the side surface adjacent to the side surface where the main body locking portion of the cylinder body is provided, and the one end of the drive shaft is provided with a mounting hole. A hollow motor clamp cylinder, characterized in that
I will provide a.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, electric power can be driven by using a hollow ultrasonic motor instead of compressed air used for an air clamp cylinder, and therefore only electric power for driving the hollow ultrasonic motor is used. In other words, there is an effect that energy efficiency can be improved without using extra energy such as loss due to air circuit piping.

  In a hollow ultrasonic motor, the vibration plate slides and vibrates in the direction perpendicular to the center direction of the hollow portion without changing the direction on a plane like a hula hoop, and the drive shaft inserted through the hollow portion Since the diaphragm enters the spiral projection formed on the cylindrical surface with a predetermined pitch, and the drive shaft is sent out by sliding rotation of the diaphragm, the pitch of the spiral projection (ie, spiral groove) provided on the drive shaft The required driving force can be adjusted simply by changing the above, and the hollow motor clamp cylinder has the effect of making the cylinder body versatile.

  Furthermore, since the hollow motor type clamp cylinder is electric, the power is only required for the power supply wiring, and it is easy to handle as compared with the air piping, and it is possible to flexibly cope with a change in the layout of the production line.

Center longitudinal cross-section explanatory drawing showing the Example of this invention Side explanatory diagram showing a conventional example

  Reference numeral 1 denotes a hollow motor clamp cylinder which is an embodiment of the present invention. A hollow motor clamp cylinder 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as a clamp cylinder 1) can be driven using an ultrasonic motor as a hollow motor as a power source, and includes a cylinder body 2 having a substantially cylindrical shape as a whole. A drive shaft 4 that is slidable relative to the cylinder body 2 by a hollow ultrasonic motor 3 contained in the cylinder body 2 is provided.

  The cylinder body 2 is a large-diameter cylindrical portion 2a having a large-diameter cylindrical shape in which an upper portion can accommodate a hollow ultrasonic motor 3 and a small-diameter cylinder having a small-diameter cylindrical shape in which a lower portion can accommodate a drive shaft 4. The portion 2b is formed in a two-stage cylindrical shape. A shaft insertion hole 21 that allows the drive shaft 4 to advance and retract is provided from the upper surface of the upper portion to the lower diameter portion. By drilling the shaft insertion hole 21 in this way, the drive shaft 4 can be moved back and forth from the contracted state where the drive shaft 4 is most accommodated inside the cylinder body 2 to the extended state where the drive shaft 4 is positioned most outward. .

  The cylinder body 2 is provided with a body locking portion 5 at one end of the cylindrical side surface. In this embodiment, in order to provide compatibility with a general air-type clamp cylinder used in an automobile factory or the like, the main body locking portion 5 is connected to the upper end side of the cylinder main body 2, that is, the side on which the drive shaft 4 advances and retreats. It is provided on the cylindrical side surface.

  The main body locking portion 5 has a mounting hole 51 in the center thereof in a direction perpendicular to the advancing / retreating direction of the drive shaft 4 and is fixed at a desired position in the production line like a conventional air clamp cylinder. Is done.

  The distance from the center of the mounting hole 51 of the main body locking portion 5 to the center of the cylinder of the drive shaft 4 (that is, the center of the shaft insertion hole 21) is the mounting pitch A represented by A in FIG. As described in the conventional example, this mounting pitch A has a globally standardized pitch in, for example, an automobile factory, and any clamp cylinder can be mounted as long as the mounting pitch A is satisfied. It is trying to become.

  In this embodiment, the cylinder body 2 is formed in two stages from the large-diameter cylindrical portion 2a and the small-diameter cylindrical portion 2b, but the small-diameter cylindrical portion 2b is substantially the same diameter as the large-diameter cylindrical portion 2a. The outer shape may be the same as that of the air-type clamp cylinder, and the outer shape may be basically any shape as long as the main body locking portion 5 is provided with the mounting pitch A.

  A hollow ultrasonic motor 3 is internally fixed to the large-diameter cylindrical portion 2 a of the cylinder body 2. The hollow ultrasonic motor 3 is generally used, for example, a lens that expands and contracts by using an autofocus mechanism of a single-lens reflex camera, and has a through hole (as a motor drive hole in the center of the main body). (Not shown) is formed, and an operation plate (not shown) is slidably mounted on the upper surface of the through hole (not shown), and the operation plate (not shown) is also passed through the center. A hole (not shown) is drilled to form a motor drive hole (not shown). The operation of the motor itself is to perform a sliding operation while the operation plate (not shown) performs a circular motion without changing the direction on the upper surface of the main body. In order to operate the drive shaft 4 using this motor, the drive shaft 4 is inserted into a through hole (not shown) drilled in the ultrasonic motor main body and the operation plate (not shown). The operation plate (not shown) is fitted into the spiral groove 41 provided on the surface of the plate. Then, when the operating plate (not shown) is slid, the driving shaft 4 is guided so as not to rotate, so that the sliding motion of the operating plate is sequentially provided in the driving shaft 4. The drive shaft 4 moves forward and backward with respect to the through hole (not shown). And the advancing / retreating direction can be controlled by changing the sliding direction of the operation plate (not shown). This control is performed by a separately provided ultrasonic motor drive unit 9.

  The hollow ultrasonic motor 3 is fixed inside the cylinder body 2, and the center of a motor drive hole (not shown) provided in the hollow ultrasonic motor 3 coincides with the center of the shaft insertion hole 21 provided in the cylinder body 2. In this state, the cylinder body 2 is fixed.

  The drive shaft 4 is a solid elongate rod-shaped body having a columnar shape, and a spiral groove is formed as an operation spiral groove 41 on the side surface of the cylinder. The spiral groove 41 is a groove in which the operation plate of the hollow ultrasonic motor 3 enters and is slidably rotated. The drive shaft 4 is mounted so as to penetrate from the shaft insertion hole 21 to the opposite side of the motor drive hole of the hollow ultrasonic motor 3. As described above, the operation plate of the hollow ultrasonic motor 3 is fitted in the motor drive hole. Further, a thin guide groove 42 is formed on the cylindrical side surface of the drive shaft 4 at both ends.

  A shaft guide 6 for supporting the drive shaft 4 is provided outside the motor drive hole of the hollow ultrasonic motor 3. The shaft guide 6 has a hollow cylindrical shape with a shaft guide hole formed in the center, and the drive shaft 4 is inserted through the hollow portion. Further, on the inner surface of the hollow portion of the shaft guide 6, a guide protrusion (not shown) that enters and is locked into the guide groove 42 of the drive shaft 4 protrudes from the inner surface so that the drive shaft 4 does not rotate.

  In this way, when the guide protrusion (not shown) of the shaft guide 6 enters the guide groove 42 of the drive shaft 4, the drive shaft 4 is driven by the motor of the shaft insertion hole 21 and the motor drive hole of the hollow ultrasonic motor 3. Although the sliding movement is possible with respect to the hole (not shown) and the hollow portion of the shaft guide 6, the rotation is inhibited.

  7 is a jig | tool latching | locking part. The jig locking portion 7 is formed at one end of the drive shaft 4. The jig locking portion 7 has a jig pitch B (denoted by B in FIG. 1) that is a distance in the shaft center direction from the main body locking portion 5 when the drive shaft 4 enters the cylinder body 2 most. Provide a predetermined distance.

  Similar to the mounting pitch A, the jig pitch B has, for example, a globally standardized pitch in an automobile factory. Therefore, any clamp cylinder can be attached as long as the jig pitch B is satisfied.

  The jig locking portion 7 fixed with the jig pitch B is also provided with a mounting hole 71 in a direction perpendicular to the center direction of the drive shaft 4. The mounting hole 71 is also drilled in the same manner as a conventional air clamp cylinder.

  Then, an electric cable 8 is provided from the hollow ultrasonic motor 3 to the outside via the cylinder body 2 so that power and control signals for driving the hollow ultrasonic motor 3 can be exchanged. It is connected to the ultrasonic motor drive unit 9 installed at the position. The ultrasonic motor drive unit 9 is the same as the conventional one.

  In the clamp cylinder 1 formed as described above, when the ultrasonic motor drive unit 9 transmits electric power and a control signal for driving the hollow ultrasonic motor 3 via the electric cable 8, the hollow ultrasonic motor 3. Is operated.

  When the hollow ultrasonic motor 3 is operated, an operation plate (not shown) of the hollow ultrasonic motor 3 entering the spiral groove 41 provided on the drive shaft 4 is driven to sequentially move the spiral groove 41 upward (or Move downward). Then, the drive shaft 4 is sequentially moved upward (or downward), and the drive shaft 4 is slidably moved so as to expand (or contract) with respect to the cylinder body 2. At this time, the drive shaft 4 is slidably supported by the shaft guide 6, and a guide protrusion (not shown) protruding from the hollow portion of the shaft guide 6 enters the guide groove 42. Is suppressed.

  When the ultrasonic motor drive unit 9 stops driving the hollow ultrasonic motor 3, the operation plate (not shown) of the hollow ultrasonic motor 3 enters the spiral groove 41, so that the drive shaft 4 is prevented from moving by external force. If the external force applied to the drive shaft 4 at the time of stopping is large and the drive shaft 4 moves, the braking force that stops the drive shaft 4 by reducing the pitch of the spiral grooves 41 provided in the drive shaft 4. Therefore, the pitch of the spiral groove 41 provided on the drive shaft 4 may be appropriately selected and manufactured at the time of design.

  The present invention can be used in an automobile factory using an air clamp cylinder, and can be used in place of the air clamp cylinder.

A Mounting pitch 1 Hollow motor clamp cylinder 2 Cylinder body 21 Shaft insertion hole 3 Hollow ultrasonic motor 4 Drive shaft 41 Spiral groove 42 Guide groove 5 Body locking part 51 Mounting hole 6 Shaft guide 7 Jig locking part 71 Mounting hole 8 Electric cable 9 Ultrasonic motor drive unit

Claims (1)

The main body locking part with a mounting hole is provided with a cylinder main body standing upright from the outer surface. Inside the cylinder main body is a motor drive hole in the center, and the center of the motor drive hole coincides with the cylinder center A hollow ultrasonic motor that is fixed so that a shaft guide that can guide the drive shaft is provided outside the motor drive hole of the hollow ultrasonic motor, and the drive shaft passes through the shaft guide and the motor drive hole. One end of the drive shaft is positioned outward from the side surface adjacent to the side surface where the main body locking portion of the cylinder body is provided, and the one end of the drive shaft is provided with a mounting hole. A hollow motor clamp cylinder characterized by comprising a portion.

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