JP2011247328A - Connecting unit and synchronous driving system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connecting unit that enables highly accurate synchronous drive and has excellent cost effectiveness, and a synchronous driving system which includes the same.SOLUTION: The connecting unit 20 is connected to a slide drive device having a slidably driven head. The connecting unit 20 has a case 200, sprockets 203, 204 which are stored in the case 200, a chain 205 which is stretched between them in a loop shape, a bracket 201 which is attached to the chain 205, and a rod coupling 202 which is attached to the sprocket 204. The rod coupling 202 rotates with a rotary angle in accordance with displacement of the bracket 201 if the bracket 201 is slidably driven as shown by an arrow A.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connecting unit and a synchronous drive system.

  In the production line, a device for slidingly driving a rod or a plate is provided for transporting, positioning, or cutting out a workpiece. As a specific example of such a device, for example, in a device in which a plate is attached to the rod tip of an air cylinder, a guide is attached in parallel with the driving direction of the rod of the air cylinder, so that the driving of the plate at the tip is smooth. An apparatus for achieving this has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Incidentally, in a production line or the like, it may be required to drive a plurality of air cylinders or the like in synchronization. In response to such a demand, for example, a technique has been proposed in which two drive devices are connected by a chain or a shaft, thereby achieving synchronous drive in the two drive devices (Patent Document 2). Etc.)

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-200488 JP 2000-108852 A

  However, conventionally, a synchronous drive device as a custom-made product must be designed and manufactured in accordance with the configuration required in the design stage of the production line, and improvements are required from the viewpoint of cost reduction. Conventionally, a method of attaching an optical sensor or a magnetic sensor for measuring displacement to each driving device and driving a plurality of driving devices synchronously using displacement data obtained from the sensor is also used. In this way, when a sensor is attached to each drive device and synchronous driving is to be performed, it takes time to adjust the sensor mounting position and its sensitivity, etc., and synchronization can be achieved due to contamination of the sensor. There may be situations where it disappears.

Further, when a sensor is attached to each drive device for synchronization, there is a problem from the viewpoints of equipment cost and work cost for the adjustment.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and can provide a high-accuracy synchronous drive and a cost-effective connection unit and a synchronous drive system including the same. The purpose is to do.

    In order to achieve the above object, a connecting unit of the present invention is a unit connected to a slide drive device in which a head slides, and includes a base and two sprockets each supported by the base. A linear body stretched in a loop between the sprockets, a bracket attached to the linear body, a coupling part attached to one of the two sprockets and receiving a rod connection, When the bracket is attached to the head of the slide drive device, the connecting portion rotates with a rotation angle corresponding to the displacement related to the slide drive of the head.

  In addition, the synchronous drive system of the present invention includes first and second slide drive devices that are slid by each head, and first and second connections that are connected to each of the first and second slide drive devices. A unit, and a rod for connecting between the first connecting unit and the second connecting unit. In the synchronous drive system according to the present invention, each of the first and second connecting units includes a base, two sprockets each supported by the base, and a loop between the sprockets. A linear body, a bracket attached to the linear body, and a coupling portion attached to one of the two sprockets and receiving the connection of the rod, wherein one end of the rod is the first It is connected to the connecting part of one connecting unit, and the other end is connected to the connecting part of the second connecting unit.

  The connection unit according to the present invention can be attached to the head of the slide drive device with a bracket. Therefore, unlike the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, the part for synchronizing with the slide drive unit is not integrally formed, so that it is produced according to the connection form of the connection unit and the slide drive device according to the present invention. Various forms according to the specifications of the line can be adopted. For this reason, in the connecting unit according to the present invention, the degree of freedom in designing the production line can be increased, and it is effective in reducing the cost by standardizing the unit.

  Further, in the connecting unit according to the present invention, the bracket attached to the head of the slide drive device and the connecting portion as the output end are connected with the linear body and the sprocket interposed therebetween, so the sensor is Compared to measuring displacement by mounting on a slide drive device, there is no need for adjustment, and maintenance work for removing dirt is unnecessary, reducing production costs and running costs of the production line. Can be achieved.

  The synchronous drive system according to the present invention includes first and second slide drive devices that are slid by each head, and first and second connection units that are connected to each of the first and second slide drive devices. And a rod that connects between the first connecting unit and the second connecting unit, and adopts the same configuration as the connecting unit according to the present invention as the first and second connecting units. Yes. Therefore, in the synchronous drive system according to the present invention, the rod rotates at a rotation angle corresponding to the slide amount (displacement) of the head in the first slide drive device, and in the second slide drive device connected thereto. The head is slid and driven in synchronization with the head of the first slide driving device.

  As described above, the synchronous drive system according to the present invention does not use a sensor as described above in order to synchronize the slide drive of the first slide drive device and the second slide drive device. It is possible to reduce manufacturing costs and running costs. Further, the first and second connecting units are configured independently of the first and second slide driving devices, and can take various connecting forms depending on the combination form. Compared with a device incorporating a mechanism for synchronizing with the device itself, the degree of freedom in designing the system can be increased, and the cost is superior.

Furthermore, in the synchronous drive system according to the present invention, the first slide drive device and the second slide drive device are synchronized via a linear body such as a chain and a rod. Not likely to occur.
As described above, the connecting unit according to the present invention and the synchronous driving system using the connecting unit can achieve synchronous driving with high accuracy and are advantageous in terms of cost.

The synchronous drive system according to the present invention may employ the following variations as an example.
In the synchronous drive system according to the present invention, in the above configuration, a configuration in which each of the first and second slide drive devices has a drive source for slidingly driving the head can be employed. In the case of adopting such a configuration, each of the first slide drive device and the second slide drive device has a drive source, so that individual slides can be obtained even when they are connected and synchronized by a connection unit. The driving force in the driving device is not reduced.

In addition, when each of the plurality of drive units has a drive source in this way, the drive force of the plurality of drive units is added by driving in a synchronized state. It is also suitable for carrying heavy objects.
In the synchronous drive system which concerns on this invention, it can be set as the structure further equipped with the 3rd slide drive device, the 3rd and 4th connection unit, and the 2nd rod in the said structure.

  Here, the third slide driving device includes a head that slides and a drive source that slides the head, like the first and second slide driving devices. Further, the third and fourth connection units are respectively similar to the first and second connection units, in that the base, the two sprockets each supported by the base, and the sprocket between It is attached to one of the two sprockets, and is attached to a linear body (eg, chain, belt, or wire) stretched in a loop, a bracket attached to the linear body, and two sprockets. And a connecting portion. The second rod connects between the connecting portion of the third connecting unit and the connecting portion of the fourth connecting unit.

  And in the synchronous drive system which concerns on this invention, when employ | adopting the said structure, the bracket of a 3rd connection unit is connected with the head of a 1st slide drive device, and the bracket of a 4th connection unit is the 1st. The first rod and the second rod are connected to the head of the third slide drive device, and the shape difference between the bracket in the third connection unit and the bracket in the fourth connection unit is different. As a result, the axial cores are arranged so as to cross each other. In addition, in the above, a 1st rod points out the rod which connects between the connection part of a 1st connection unit, and the said connection part of a 2nd connection unit.

Thus, in the synchronous drive system according to the present invention, three or more slide drive devices can be synchronously driven. In addition, as described above, in the synchronous drive system according to the present invention, since the shaft cores of the first rod and the second rod can intersect with each other, the degree of freedom in designing the production line is increased. can do.
In the synchronous drive system according to the present invention, when the above configuration is adopted, the angle of the connecting portion of the first connecting unit, the connecting portion of the second connecting unit, and the rod can be adjusted between each other. Can be adopted. In the case of adopting such a configuration, fine adjustment of the displacement of the head between the first slide drive device and the second slide drive device is performed by a connection portion between the first connection unit and the rod, Alternatively, it can be performed at the connecting portion between the second connecting unit and the rod, and the displacement of the head can be easily adjusted at the initial stage and during maintenance.

It is a model perspective view which shows schematic structure of the synchronous drive system 1 which concerns on embodiment. 2 is a schematic side view showing a configuration of a connecting unit 20 included in the synchronous drive system 1. FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cutaway view showing an internal configuration of a connection unit 20. It is a model perspective view which shows schematic structure of the synchronous drive system which concerns on a modification.

Hereinafter, an embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The embodiment according to the following description is used as an example for easily explaining the structural features of the present invention and the effects obtained from the characteristic configuration. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the following modes except for essential features.

[Embodiment]
1. Overall Configuration of Synchronous Drive System 1 The overall configuration of the synchronous drive system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the synchronous drive system 1 according to the present embodiment includes three drive units 10, 11, and 12. Each of the three drive units 10, 11, and 12 is erected along the Z-axis direction, and is arranged with a gap between each other. Each of the drive units 10, 11, 12 is provided with slide heads 100, 110, 120 that slide and drive along the Z-axis direction. Although not shown, each slide head 100, 110, 120 is provided. An air cylinder is incorporated as a drive source for driving the motor.

  Connection units 20 and 21 are attached to the drive unit 10 on both sides in the Y-axis direction. Each of the connecting units 20 and 21 includes rectangular parallelepiped cases 200 and 210, and includes slide brackets 201 and... And rod couplings 202 and 212 extending from the cases 200 and 210, respectively. Among these, the slide brackets 201,... Are attached to the slide head 100 of the drive unit 10, and the slide brackets 201,... Also slide drive as the slide head 100 slides in the direction of arrow A. .

  Similarly, a connecting unit 22 is attached to the drive unit 11, and a connecting unit 23 is attached to the drive unit 12. As for the connection unit 22, the slide bracket and the rod coupling extend from the case 220 (not shown), and the connection unit 23 also extends the slide bracket 231 and the rod coupling 232 from the case 230. The slide brackets 231,... Of the coupling units 22, 23 are attached to the slide heads 110, 120 of the drive units 22, 23, respectively, and accompanying the slide drive (arrows B, C) of the slide heads 110, 120. And slide drive.

  The connection unit 20 and the connection unit 23 are arranged so that the outer surfaces formed by extending the rod couplings 202 and 232 in the cases 200 and 230 face each other. Similarly, the connection unit 21 and the connection unit 22 are arranged so that the outer surfaces of the case couplings 210 and 220 where the rod couplings 212,. One end of the rod 30 is connected to the rod coupling 202 of the connecting unit 20, and the other end is connected to the rod coupling 232 of the connecting unit 23. One end of the rod 31 is connected to the rod coupling 212 of the connection unit 21, and the other end is connected to the rod coupling of the connection unit 22.

The rod 30 and the rod couplings 202 and 232 and the rod 31 and the rod couplings 212,... Are connected without looseness. However, when connecting, it is possible to adjust between each.
In the synchronous drive system 1 according to the present embodiment, the slide heads 100, 110, 120 of the drive units 10, 11, 12 are connected via the connection units 20, 21, 22, 23 and the rods 30, 31, The slide drive is performed in the Z-axis direction in synchronization with each other (arrows A, B, C). That is, the displacement of the slide heads 100, 110, 120 that are driven to slide in the Z-axis direction by the connecting units 20, 21, 22, 23, respectively, causes the rod couplings 202, 212, 232,. The angle is converted to rotation of the rods 30 and 31 (rot.D, rot.E). The rods 30 and 31 guarantee the synchronous drive of the drive units 10, 11 and 12.

2. Configuration of Connection Units 20, 21, 22, 23 The configuration of the connection units 20, 21, 22, 23 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the connecting unit 20 is taken as an example, but the remaining connecting units 21, 22, and 23 have the same configuration.
As shown in FIG. 2, the connecting unit 20 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped case 200 elongated in the Z-axis direction, from which a slide bracket 201 and a rod coupling 202 are extended. A part of the slide bracket 201 extends upward in the X-axis direction with respect to the case 200 and is attached to the slide head 100 of the drive unit 10, whereby the slide bracket 100 is driven in the direction of arrow A along with the slide drive. Drive to slide.

The rod coupling 202 extends from the case 200 toward the front side in the drawing, and a hole 202a for receiving one end of the rod 30 is formed at the center thereof. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the rod coupling 202 is provided with a screw hole for a set screw for preventing the angular deviation from occurring after the rod 30 is fitted. Also good.
As shown in FIG. 2, the slide bracket 201 is attached to the chain 205, and the chain 205 is stretched in a loop between two sprockets 203 and 204 that are pivotally supported in the case 200. Yes. Note that the chain 205 is stretched between the two sprockets 203 and 204 without looseness, and the slide displacement of the slide bracket 201 is caused by the rod coupling via the chain 205 and the sprocket 204 as the slide bracket 201 slides. 202 is output.

Further, the rotational driving force input from the drive unit 12 through the rod 30 connected to the rod coupling 202 is input to the rod coupling 202.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the sprocket 203 is provided with a shaft 207 as a rotating shaft, and the sprocket 204 is provided with a shaft 206 as a rotating shaft. The rotating shaft 206 is attached to the case 200 via bearings 208 and 209 and is rotatable.

On the other hand, the shaft 207 is attached to the bearing plate 240, and the bearing plate 240 is arranged in the case 200 so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction. The bearing plate 240 is connected to the case 200 by tension bolts 241 and nuts 242, and the chain 205 is stretched without loosening.
The above configuration is the same for the connecting units 21, 22, and 23 according to the slide driving of the slide heads 100, 110, and 120 in the driving units 10, 11, and 12 by the connecting units 20, 21, 22, and 23. It is output to the rods 30 and 31 with a rotation angle. Thereby, the synchronous drive between the drive units 10, 11, and 12 is realized.

[Modification]
A modification example regarding the number and arrangement of the drive units and connection units will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4A, the synchronous drive system includes two drive units 40 and 41, connection units 50 and 51 attached to the drive units 40 and 41, and a rod 60 provided between the connection units 50 and 51 as elements. Can also be configured. In the case of the configuration of the modification shown in FIG. 4A, the work (not shown) is arranged on the upper or lower side in the Y-axis direction with respect to the drive units 40 and 41, and is slid in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface. Is done. In this case, the rod 60 is arranged so as not to protrude in the Y-axis direction with respect to the drive units 40 and 41 so that the slide drive of the workpiece does not become an obstacle, and the connection unit 50 and the connection unit 51 are connected to the drive unit. 40 and 41 are attached to the sides in the X-axis direction. The rod 60 is connected to the rod couplings 502 and 512 extending to the right side or the left side of the connection units 50 and 51 in the X-axis direction.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, two drive units 42 and 43, connection units 52 and 53 attached to the drive units 42 and 43, and a rod 61 provided between the connection units 52 and 53 are used as elements. A synchronous drive system can also be configured. In the case of the configuration of the modified example shown in FIG. 4B, the work (not shown) is slid and driven between the drive unit 42 and the drive unit 43 in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface.

The connecting unit 52 and the connecting unit 53 are attached to the lower side in the Y-axis direction with respect to the drive units 42 and 43, respectively. The rod 61 is connected to the rod couplings 522 and 532 extended to the right or left in the X-axis direction of the connection units 52 and 53 so as not to obstruct the slide drive of the workpiece. Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (c), there are four drive units 44, 45, 46, and 47, connection units 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, and 59 attached to the drive units 44, 45, 46, and 47, respectively. A synchronous drive system can also be configured with rods 62, 63, 64 provided between the units 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 as elements.

In the synchronous drive system having such a configuration, a work is arranged in an area surrounded by the drive units 44, 45, 46, and 47 (not shown), and the work is slid in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. .
As shown in FIG. 4 (c), the drive units 44 and 45, the connecting units 54 and 55 attached thereto, and the rod 62 connected by the rod couplings 542 and 552 are arranged in a continuous manner. This is the same as the synchronous drive system of the modification shown in FIG. Further, the arrangements of the drive units 46 and 47, the connecting units 58 and 59 attached thereto, and the rods 64 connected by the rod couplings 582 and 592 are also modified as shown in FIG. Same as the example synchronous drive system.

In the synchronous drive system of the modified example shown in FIG. 4C, the connection units 56 and 57 are attached to the left side in the X-axis direction of the drive units 44 and 46, and the connection with the rod couplings 562 and 572 therebetween. Thus, the rod 63 is attached.
In each modification shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C, the drive units 10 and 11 according to the above-described embodiment are configured for the drive units 40 to 47 and the connection units 50 to 59. , 12 and the connecting units 20, 21, 22, 23.

Moreover, it is not restricted to the modification shown to Fig.4 (a), (b), (c), It is possible to select a connection form suitably as needed. In this case, each drive unit is provided with a drive source (such as an air cylinder), and the slide drive is synchronized, so that the drive force can be summed and applied to a case where a large force is required. is there.
[Other matters]
In the said embodiment and modification, although the connection units 20-23 and 50-59 were set as the structure provided with the chain 205 as an example of a linear body, as a linear body, a belt, a wire, etc. besides this are used. It can also be adopted.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment and modification, between the connection units 20-23 and 50-59 was connected with the rod-shaped rods 30, 31, 60-64, but it is not restricted to this, For example, It is good also as connecting with a flexible axis | shaft. As the flexible shaft, for example, a spiral structure shaft used for a flexible driver shaft may be employed. Alternatively, it is possible to employ a rod having a polygonal cross-sectional shape such as a hexagon, or a hollow rod.

Further, the synchronous drive system according to the present invention is not limited to the slide conveyance of the workpiece, but can also be used for positioning and cutting out the workpiece in the production line.
Moreover, in the said embodiment and modification, although it decided to employ | adopt an air cylinder as a drive source of the drive units 10, 11, 12, 40-47, a drive source is not restricted to this, A hydraulic cylinder, an electric motor, etc. Can also be used.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment and modification, although it decided to use the connection units 20-23 and 50-59 for the connection of the drive units 10, 11, 12, 40-47, the purpose of use of a connection unit is However, this is not necessarily the case. For example, an encoder may be attached to one end of the rod, and the displacement of the slide head in the drive unit may be monitored.

  In addition, with respect to the origin adjustment between the drive units 10, 11, 12, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, the rods 30, 31, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 and each coupling unit 20, 21, 22, 23, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 rod coupling 202, 212, 232, 502, Although it is determined by adjusting the angle between 512, 522, 532, 542, 552, 562, 572, 582, 592, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the slide heads 100, 110, 120,... Of the drive units 10, 11, 12, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47 and the connecting units 20, 21, 22, 23, 50, 51 , 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 may be performed by adjusting the positions of the slide brackets 201, 231,.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for realizing a synchronous drive system that can execute positioning and lifting / lowering of a workpiece in a production line or the like by synchronously driving a plurality of slide drive devices.

1. Synchronous drive system 10, 11, 12, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47. Drive unit 20, 21, 22, 23, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59. Connection unit 30, 31, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64. Rod 100, 110, 120. Slide head 200, 210, 220, 230. Case 201,231. Slide bracket 202,212,232,502,512,522,532,542,552,562,572,582,592. Rod coupling 203,204. Sprocket 205. Chain 206,207. Axes 208, 209. Bearing 240. Bearing plate 241. Tension bolt 242. nut

Claims (5)

A coupling unit coupled to a slide drive device in which the head slides;
Base and
Two sprockets each pivotally supported with respect to the base;
A linear body stretched in a loop between the sprockets;
A bracket attached to the linear body;
A coupling portion attached to one of the two sprockets and receiving a rod connection;
Have
When the bracket is attached to the head of the slide drive device, the connection portion rotates with a rotation angle corresponding to a displacement related to the slide drive of the head. . First and second slide driving devices in which each head slides,
First and second coupling units coupled to each of the first and second slide drive devices;
A rod connecting between the first connecting unit and the second connecting unit;
With
Each of the first and second connection units includes:
Base and
Two sprockets each pivotally supported with respect to the base;
A linear body stretched in a loop between the sprockets, a bracket attached to the linear body,
A coupling portion attached to one of the two sprockets and receiving a rod connection;
Have
One end of the rod is connected to the connecting portion of the first connecting unit, and the other end is connected to the connecting portion of the second connecting unit. Each of the said 1st and 2nd slide drive device has a drive source for carrying out slide drive of the said head. The synchronous drive system of Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. A third slide drive device having a slide drive head and a drive source for sliding the head;
Each includes a base, two sprockets each pivotally supported with respect to the base, a linear body stretched in a loop between the sprockets, and a bracket attached to the linear body, A third and a fourth coupling unit having a coupling part attached to one of the two sprockets and receiving a rod connection;
A second rod that connects between the connecting portion of the third connecting unit and the connecting portion of the fourth connecting unit;
Further comprising
The bracket of the third connecting unit is connected to the head of the first slide driving device;
The bracket of the fourth connecting unit is connected to the head of the third slide driving device,
When the rod connecting the connecting portion of the first connecting unit and the connecting portion of the second connecting unit is a first rod,
The first rod and the second rod are different from each other in that the axial centers of the third connecting unit and the fourth connecting unit are caused by a difference in shape between the bracket in the third connecting unit and the bracket in the fourth connecting unit. The synchronous drive system according to claim 3, wherein the synchronous drive system is arranged so as to intersect with each other. 5. The angle of the connecting portion of the first connecting unit, the connecting portion of the second connecting unit, and the rod can be adjusted between each other. A synchronous drive system according to any one of the above.

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