JP2013199361A - Transporting device of screw - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transporting device of screws 1 capable of transporting the screws with long leg parts in a stable posture in which vibration and inclination is small.SOLUTION: A transporting device of screws 1 has a linear feeder 20 advancing the plurality of screws 1 in series while lining the same while catching the head parts 11 of the screws 1 on a pair of rails 22 arranged parallel and hanging leg parts 12 of the screws 1 between the rails 22 and a turn table 3 transporting the screws 1 by catching the head parts of screws 1 sent in one by one onto cutout parts 31 equidistantly formed in an outer periphery from a distal end of the linear feeder 20 while rotating in a horizontal surface at an equal speed. The rails 22 of the linear feeder 20 holds the screw 1 located in a head vertically, and inclines tips of legs of the screws 1 located in a second or more from the head to a lateral direction to the transporting direction so as to separate from the tip of the leg of the screw 1 of the head.

Description

  The present invention relates to a screw transfer device used for quality inspection of screws.

  A screw inspection device that inspects the finished dimensions of a screw, the shape of a screw thread, the plating state of a surface, etc. while continuously transferring a large number of screws, and selectively removes defective products that deviate from a predetermined standard. To 3 etc.

  1 and 2 are views showing a general and schematic configuration of the entire screw inspection apparatus. This type of screw inspection apparatus roughly includes a transfer means for sending the screw 1 to a predetermined inspection location, an inspection means for optically inspecting the screw 1 being fed to determine the quality of each one, It is comprised by the selection means which removes the screw 1 determined to be inferior from other good products.

(Transport means)
The transfer means is configured by combining the linear feeder 2 and the turntable 3. The linear feeder 2 is a device that sequentially advances the screws 1 to be inspected supplied from a feeding device such as the hopper 4 while aligning them one by one. The linear feeder 2 includes a pair of rails 21 parallel to each other. The interval between the rails 21 is set to be slightly larger than the diameter of the leg portion 12 of the screw 1 and narrower than the diameter of the head portion 11 of the screw 1. The screws 1 are transported through the rails 21 in a row with their heads 11 hooked on the upper edges of the rails 21 and the leg portions 12 hung between the rails 21. The rail 21 is installed so as to have a slight downward gradient in the transfer direction, and the screw 1 moves forward little by little due to slight vibration applied to the rail 21.

  In the linear feeder 2, the front and rear screws 1 contact and leave irregularly, so that the front and rear intervals of the screws 1 are not uniform. Therefore, the screw 1 is transferred from the linear feeder 2 to the turntable 3 in order to align the front and rear intervals of the screw 1. The turntable 3 is a disk-like device attached to a vertical support shaft, and is installed with its upper surface substantially aligned with the upper surface of the linear feeder 2, and is driven in a horizontal plane by a driving force of a motor (not shown) or the like. It rotates at a constant speed in one direction. At the periphery of the turntable 3, cutout portions 31 that are substantially U-shaped or substantially V-shaped in a top view corresponding to the diameter of the screw 1 are formed at equal intervals. Screws 1 are inserted one by one. The screw 1 thrown into the notch 31 has its head 11 hooked on the upper surface of the turntable 3 and the leg 12 is hung below the turntable 3 in the circumferential direction along with the rotation of the turntable 3. It is transported at regular intervals along.

  The tip of the linear feeder 2 has an insertion angle α of 45 to 60 degrees when viewed from the top with respect to the tangential direction of the turntable 3 so that the screw 1 can be smoothly inserted from the linear feeder 2 into the notch 31 of the turntable 3. And is arranged so as to be close to the periphery of the turntable 3.

  Further, an air nozzle 5 for pushing the screw 1 toward the turntable 3 side is installed near the tip of the linear feeder 2. The air nozzle 5 instantaneously blows compressed air to one screw 1 positioned at the foremost position of the linear feeder 2 in synchronization with the rotational speed of the turntable 3, and accelerates the screw 1 to accelerate the turntable 3. Push into the notch 31. In some cases, the air nozzles 5 are arranged at two locations on the upper surface side and the lower surface side of the turntable 3, the air nozzle 5 on the upper surface side pushes out the head 11 of the screw 1, and the air nozzle 5 on the lower surface side has the leg 12 of the screw 1. May be controlled to extrude. In addition, the code | symbol 51 in FIG. 1 is a compressor used as the supply source of compressed air, and the code | symbol 52 is an on-off valve which controls the blowing of air.

  A transfer guide 32 is installed outside the turntable 3 over a range of ¼ to ¾ of the circumference of the turntable 3. The transfer guide 32 is installed with a minute gap between the transfer table 32 and the periphery of the turntable 3, closes the opening edge of the notch 31 of the turntable 3, and the screw 1 being transferred is notched 31 of the turntable 3. Prevent falling from.

(Inspection means)
The inspection means is output from the light source 61 that irradiates light for inspection from a predetermined inspection position toward the screw 1 transferred by the turntable 3, the camera 62 that receives light emitted from the light source 61, and the camera 62. A plurality of inspection units each including an arithmetic inspection unit 63 that performs arithmetic processing on video signals to determine whether the video signal is good or not are provided according to the inspection item.

  The light source 61 synchronizes with a detection signal from a position sensor (not shown) that detects that the screw 1 on the turntable 3 has reached a predetermined inspection position, and the head 11 and leg 12 of the screw 1. The inspection light is irradiated at a predetermined angle sequentially from a plurality of locations such as above and below the screw 1. As a form of the light source 61, a surface light source, a parallel beam light source, or the like is appropriately selected according to the inspection purpose, and visible light, laser light, infrared light, or the like is appropriately selected as the inspection light.

  The light reflected on a predetermined part of the screw 1 and reflected in a predetermined direction and the outline (silhouette) of the screw 1 reaching the back of the screw 1 are received by the camera 62 installed at a predetermined position and converted into video signals. To do. Based on the video signal received from the camera 62, the calculation inspection unit 63 determines the dimensions (leg length, leg outer diameter, head outer diameter, screw valley diameter, etc.) and shape (leg bend, head tilt) of each part of the screw 1. Comparing with the reference value registered in advance by calculating or image processing the head and leg eccentricity, the cross hole eccentricity, the tip sharpness etc.) respectively, and the defective product not satisfying the standard And different types of products.

(Sorting means)
The sorting means separates the screw 1 that has been determined as a defective product or a different product by the arithmetic inspection unit 63 from other non-defective products. The selection means includes a removal sensor 71 that detects that the screw 1 determined to be defective or a different product has been transferred to a predetermined removal position, and the screw 1 to be removed in synchronization with a signal output from the removal sensor 71. And a removal nozzle 72 for injecting compressed air. The screw 1 to be removed is blown off to the outside of the turntable 3 by the compressed air instantaneously ejected from the removal nozzle 72 and is put into a removal guide 73 installed on the side of the turntable 3. The non-defective screw 1 passes through the front of the removal nozzle 72 while being hooked on the notch 31 of the turntable 3 and further advances, and hits an extraction arm 74 installed so as to obliquely interfere with the transfer direction. It falls from the notch 31 and is stored in a non-defective guide 75 installed below the turntable 3.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-40711 JP 2005-214751 A JP 2007-57489 A

  In the conventional screw inspection apparatus, when inspecting the screw 1 having a long leg, the following inconvenience may occur when the screw 1 is transferred from the linear feeder 2 to the turntable 3.

  That is, at the moment when the first screw 1 of the linear feeder 2 is pushed out of the linear feeder and pushed into the notch 31 of the turntable 3, the head 11 of the next screw is pressed against the head 11 of the screw 1. If the pressure from the air nozzle 5 is applied more than necessary, the screw 1 pushed into the notch 31 will use the back wall of the notch 31 as a fulcrum and the leg tip will be rearward (on the linear feeder 2 side) Jump up to. That is, the recoil of the head 11 causes the leg tip to swing back. If the leg portion 12 of the screw 1 is long, the swingback width becomes large. The subsequent screw 1 is pushed out there, and its leg tip is entangled with the front side in the transfer direction of the leg tip of the preceding screw 1. This is an event in which the intertwined screw 1 is caught by a movable part of the inspection apparatus and the inspection apparatus is abnormally stopped.

  In order to reduce such vibration of the screw 1, the air nozzles 5 arranged at the two upper and lower portions of the turntable 3 are individually adjusted to adjust the balance of pressure applied to the head 11 and the leg 12 of the screw 1. It is also possible. However, since the manner in which the screw 1 swings varies depending on the length and thickness of the screw 1, the pressure adjustment by the air nozzle 5 can be a very troublesome operation.

  Further, when the screw 1 transferred from the linear feeder 2 to the turntable 3 is also transferred by the rotating turntable 3, the leg tip is tilted outward in the radial direction of the turntable 3 by the action of centrifugal force. Here too, if the leg portion 12 of the screw 1 is long, its inclination and shaking become large, which may lead to a decrease in inspection accuracy.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. In particular, the present invention proposes a screw 1 transfer device capable of transferring a long screw 1 of a leg 12 in a stable posture with small shaking and inclination.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the screw transfer device according to the present invention has a head of a screw to be inspected hooked on a pair of rails arranged in parallel to each other, and a leg portion of the screw is hung between the rails. In this state, a linear feeder that sequentially advances while aligning a plurality of screws, and a head of a screw that is fed one by one from the tip of the linear feeder on a notch formed at equal intervals on the periphery, With the legs of the screw hung below the notch, the compressed air is blown onto the turntable that transfers the screw while rotating at a constant speed in a horizontal plane, and the screw located at the head of the linear feeder, An air nozzle that pushes the screw into the notch of the turntable while accelerating the screw, wherein the rail of the linear feeder is located at the head of the rail The screw is tilted sideways in the transfer direction so that the tip of the screw located second or later from the top is separated from the tip of the screw located at the top. The basic configuration is adopted.

  According to this basic configuration, the leg tip of the first screw and the leg tip of the second screw are separated from each other. Therefore, even in a situation where the long leg screw is successively fed from the tip of the linear feeder toward the turntable. The leg ends of the front and rear screws are less likely to get entangled.

  The direction in which the second screw leg tip is separated from the first screw leg tip is preferably opposite to the turntable rotation direction. Thereby, the leg tips of the front and rear screws are further less likely to interfere with each other.

  In addition to the basic configuration described above, the screw transfer device according to the present invention may further include an anti-sway guide that abuts against a tip of a screw hanging from the notch, below the turntable. It is attached in the shape of a circular arc when viewed from above along directly below.

  This steady rest guide is a thing that restrains the screw in an upright state by abutting against the leg tip of the screw that is caught by the rotating turntable and trying to spread outward by centrifugal force. It is. By adding such a configuration, the posture of the screw can be stabilized even during transfer by the turntable.

  The linear feeder employed in the screw transfer device of the present invention has a rail tilted to the side except for one screw located at the head, and therefore, the screw of the screw located second or later from the head. The leg tip is held so as to be separated from the leg tip of the screw located at the head. Therefore, when the screw with a long leg is transferred from the linear feeder to the turntable, the tip of the leg of the first screw and the leg of the next screw are less likely to be entangled, and the screw with the long leg can be transferred smoothly and stably. Can do.

  Further, in the screw transfer device according to the present invention, when the steady rest guide is attached to the lower side of the turntable, the steady rest guide comes into contact with the leg tip of the screw hanging from the turntable so that the tip of the screw has a centrifugal force. Therefore, the posture of the screw can be stabilized even during transfer by the turntable.

  As a result, troubles in the screw transfer path are reduced, the posture during transfer is stabilized, and inspection efficiency and inspection accuracy are improved.

It is a top view which shows the general and schematic structure of the whole screw inspection apparatus. Similarly, it is the partial side view which shows the general and schematic structure of the whole screw inspection apparatus. It is a partially broken perspective view of the linear feeder which comprises the screw transfer apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Similarly, it is the top view and principal part sectional drawing of a linear feeder. It is a top view which shows the structure below the turntable which comprises the screw transfer apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Similarly, it is the partial side view which shows the structure below the turntable.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Screw inspection device)
The schematic configuration of the entire screw inspection apparatus to which the present invention is applied is substantially the same as the conventional general configuration shown in FIGS. That is, a transfer means for sending the screw 1 to a predetermined inspection location, an inspection means for optically inspecting the screw 1 that has been sent to determine the quality of each one, and the screw 1 determined to be defective The entire screw inspection apparatus is constituted by the selection means for removing the non-defective product.

  The main part of the present invention is the transfer means, and the inspection means and the sorting means can be configured by combining conventionally known members and devices as appropriate. Therefore, also in the following description, FIGS. 1 and 2 apply mutatis mutandis to the description of the entire screw inspection apparatus, and the same names and symbols are assigned to substantially the same components as in the past, and the detailed description thereof Shall be omitted.

(Transport means)
The screw 1 transfer device according to the present invention is also configured by combining the linear feeder 20 (see FIGS. 3 and 4), the turntable 3, and the air nozzle 5 in the same manner as the conventional transfer means. The linear feeder 20 includes a pair of parallel rails 22 installed so as to be inclined downward in the transfer direction, and the head 11 of the screw 1 to be inspected is hooked on the upper edge of the rails 22. With the legs 12 of the screws 1 hung between the rails 22, the plurality of screws 1 are sequentially advanced while being aligned.

  The turntable 3 is a disk-shaped device attached to a vertical support shaft, and the upper surface of the turntable 3 is installed so as to be substantially aligned with the upper surface of the linear feeder 20, and on the notch 31 formed at equal intervals on the periphery, The head 11 of the screw 1 fed one by one from the tip of the linear feeder 20 is hooked, and the screw 1 is rotated while rotating at a constant speed in a horizontal plane with the leg 12 of the screw 1 hung below the notch 31. Transfer to a predetermined inspection position.

  The air nozzle 5 is installed in the vicinity of the tip of the linear feeder 20, and the compressed air is blown onto the screw 1 positioned at the forefront of the linear feeder 20 to accelerate the screw 1 and push it into the notch 31 of the turntable 3.

(Linear feeder)
3 and 4 show a linear feeder 20 employed in the screw 1 transfer device of the present invention. The linear feeder 20 is configured by facing a rail 22 made of a plate member having a height (vertical width) so that even the long screw 1 of the leg 12 can be guided in a posture with little roll. It is preferable that the height of the rail 22 is at least half the leg length of the screw 1 to be inspected, and if possible, the same as the leg length of the screw 1. The rails 22 are arranged in parallel to each other with a gap slightly larger than the maximum outer diameter of the leg portion 12 of the screw 1 and narrower than the diameter of the head portion 11 of the screw 1. The rails 22 may be fixed via appropriate movable support means (not shown) so that the interval and gradient of the rails 22 can be adjusted according to the size of the screw 1 to be inspected.

  A feature of the linear feeder 20 according to the present invention is that at least a rail 22 having an appropriate length close to the turntable 3 is tilted sideways in the transfer direction. For convenience, the “appropriate length range” refers to a length range in which at least about 10 screws 1 to be inspected can be held side by side. The tilt angle β is in the range of about 3 to 10 degrees, more preferably 5 to 7 degrees with respect to the vertical direction, and the direction of tilt is the direction in which the tip of the screw 1 is moved away from the rotation direction of the turntable 3. And

  Only the range of one screw 1 at the tip of the rail 22 has a bent shape so that the screw 1 can be held vertically. As shown in the figure, the upper edge of the rail 22 extends straight to the tip, while the vicinity of the tip of the lower edge of the rail 22 is just around the range from the position of the second screw 1 to the position of the third screw 1. It bends diagonally, and a substantially triangular continuous folding surface 23 is formed on the side surface of the rail 22. The screw 1 moves forward in the rail 22 in a posture inclined to the side, and when approaching the second position from the head, the head 11 moves straight as it is, and the leg portion 12 stands upright according to gravity, while the head position is reached. To reach.

  In accordance with this timing, the compressed air from the air nozzle 5 pushes the head screw 1 as shown in FIGS. The air nozzle 5 is installed at an appropriate position including the upper surface side of the linear feeder 20 so as to face at least the head 11 of the head screw 1, and is synchronized with the rotation speed of the turntable 3 with respect to the head screw 1. Spray compressed air instantaneously. The head screw 1 pushed out by the compressed air is pushed into the notch 31 of the turntable 3 in a posture close to an upright position.

  In this way, by swinging the leg tip of the screw 1 positioned second and subsequent from the top of the rail 22 slightly in the direction opposite to the transfer direction from the leg tip of the screw 1 positioned at the top, It can be made easy to avoid interference of the leg tip of the subsequent screw 1 with respect to the return. Even when the leg tips of the front and rear screws 1 are slightly in contact with each other, an event in which the leg tip of the rear screw 1 comes out ahead of the leg tip of the front screw 1 and becomes entangled is less likely to occur. Thus, if troubles in the transfer path of the screw 1 are reduced, the inspection efficiency is also improved.

(Sway guide)
Now, the screw 1 transferred from the linear feeder 20 to the turntable 3 is transferred while the leg tips are slightly expanded outwardly in the radial direction of the turntable 3 by the action of centrifugal force. If the leg of the screw 1 is long, the spread of the leg tip is also increased. As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer guide 32 is installed outside the turntable 3 with a small gap between the turntable 3 and the periphery of the turntable 3. Although 1 does not fall, the spread and shaking of the leg tip may cause a decrease in inspection accuracy. Therefore, in the present invention, an anti-sway guide 8 is provided below the turntable 3 to prevent the leg tip of the screw 1 from spreading.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the steady rest guide 8 is a member formed by, for example, bending a flexible strip-like thin plate material or the like so as to have the same radius of curvature as the periphery of the turntable 3. It is. The steady rest guide 8 is installed in an arc shape in a top view along the periphery of the turntable 3 so as to lightly contact the leg tip of the screw 1 hanging from the notch 31. The installation range of the steady rest guide 8 along the circumferential direction of the turntable 3 is set to an appropriate range that does not interfere with sensors, light sources, cameras, various wirings and piping, etc. that constitute inspection means and sorting means. The front edge of the steady rest guide 8 in the transfer direction of the screw 1 is slightly expanded outward so as to give an angle of attack with respect to the transfer direction of the screw 1. The steady rest guide 8 is preferably fixed via an appropriate height adjusting means (not shown) so that the position of contact with the leg tip can be changed according to the size of the screw 1 to be inspected. . Further, the steady rest guide 8 may be attached separately at a plurality of locations. In addition, a soft and low-friction cushioning material such as a felt cloth may be attached to the surface of the steady rest guide 8 (the side surface in contact with the screw 1).

  Thus, even during transfer by the turntable 3, the inspection accuracy can be improved by reducing the inclination and shaking of the long screw 1 of the leg portion 12 and holding the screw 1 in an upright state.

(Other embodiments)
Note that the illustrated embodiment is an example, and the present invention is such that the leg tip of the screw 1 positioned at the second and subsequent positions from the top of the linear feeder 20 is more opposite to the transfer direction than the leg tip of the screw 1 positioned at the top. The present invention can be implemented with appropriate modifications within a range not departing from the gist of being slightly away from the direction. For example, the gradient of the linear feeder 20 and the lateral tilt angle β, the insertion angle α to the turntable 3 (a planar angle formed by the transfer direction of the tip of the linear feeder 20 and the tangential direction of the turntable 3), an air nozzle The installation position and orientation of 5, the thickness of the turntable 3, the shape and spacing of the notch 31, the rotational speed of the turntable 3, etc. should be changed in design according to the shape of the screw 1 to be inspected, the inspection items, etc. Is an element.

  “Screw” in the present invention means not only general screws (bolts, screws, screws, etc.) to be inspected as described above, but also members that can be inspected by a similar inspection device, that is, elongated legs, and one end thereof. It includes nails, various pins, rivets and other similar members having a head part slightly larger in diameter than the formed leg. The screw transfer device according to the present invention can be widely used in a process of transferring a high-speed member by aligning one by one, not only for inspection purposes, but also one by one, such as a screw-like member.

Transfer device 1 Screw 11 Head 12 Leg 20 Linear feeder 22 Rail 3 Turntable 31 Notch 5 Air nozzle 5
8 steady rest guide

Claims (3)

A linear feeder in which a head of a screw to be inspected is hooked on a pair of rails placed in parallel with each other, and a plurality of screws are sequentially advanced in a state where legs of the screw are hung between the rails. When,
Hook the head of the screw fed one by one from the tip of the linear feeder on the notch formed at equal intervals on the periphery, and hang the leg of the screw below the notch in a horizontal plane. A turntable for transferring the screw while rotating at a constant speed;
An air nozzle that blows compressed air onto the screw located at the top of the linear feeder and pushes the screw into the notch of the turntable while accelerating the screw;
In the screw transfer device comprising:
The rail of the linear feeder holds the screw located at the top of the rail vertically, while the leg ends of the screws located second and later from the top are separated from the leg tips of the screws located at the top. A screw transfer device, wherein the screw transfer device is tilted sideways toward the transfer direction. The screw transfer device according to claim 1,
The rail of the linear feeder is tilted so that the leg ends of the screws positioned second and subsequent from the top are separated from the tip ends of the screws positioned at the top on the opposite side to the rotation direction of the turntable. A screw transfer device. The screw transfer device according to claim 1 or 2,
A screw having a steady guide attached to a leg end of a screw hanging from the notch, attached to the lower side of the turntable in an arc shape when viewed from above along the periphery of the turntable. Transfer device.

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