JP2015040091A - Vibration conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vibration conveyor in which a trough including a goods-loading surface is supported through flat springs made of fiber-reinforced plastic and the life of the flat springs can be elongated.SOLUTION: A vibration conveyor comprises plural excitation spring units which support a trough 28 against a bed 18, and each excitation spring unit 32 includes flat springs made of fiber-reinforced plastic which are fitted to both the trough 28 and the bed 18 through upper and lower end holders 36U, 36L. The flat spring 42 includes a lamination structure, and the lamination structure includes at least a first kind layer which includes a first reinforcing fiber arrangement that inclines against the longitudinal axis line of the flat spring 42 and a second kind layer which includes a second reinforcing fiber arrangement that inclines to the reverse direction to the first reinforcing fiber arrangement against the longitudinal axis line.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vibrating conveyor used for conveying articles.

  The basic configuration of this type of vibration conveyor is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 below. The vibration conveyor of Patent Document 1 includes an exciter attached to a base frame and a vibration tube attached to the base frame via a plurality of leaf springs. The vibration tube is connected to the exciter via the leaf springs. It vibrates by receiving the excitation force and conveys the material supplied to the inside in one direction.

The above-described leaf spring is generally formed of spring steel. However, in a vibrating conveyor, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 2 below, a fiber-reinforced plastic is used instead of a steel leaf spring. Vibration conveyors that employ leaf springs are also known.
Such a leaf spring made of fiber reinforced plastic has a multilayer structure, and includes a layer having an array of first reinforcing fibers extending in the longitudinal direction and a layer having an array of second reinforcing fibers extending in the width direction. Including. Such a fiber-reinforced plastic leaf spring allows a larger vibration amplitude than a steel leaf spring, and is suitable for a high-speed vibration conveyor.

Japanese Patent Publication No.33-4866 JP 2011-105481

By the way, both ends of the leaf spring of the vibration conveyor are respectively connected to the basic frame and the vibration tube via the end holders, and these end holders sandwich and hold the corresponding end portions of the leaf springs.
Since the vibration of the vibrating tube described above is brought about by repeatedly bending the leaf springs in opposite directions, the leaf spring receives a large alternating bending moment, that is, a shearing force in the vicinity of the end holder. The front and back surfaces are worn by contact with the holder.

If such wear progresses, when the leaf spring is made of fiber reinforced plastic, the first reinforcing fiber extending in the longitudinal direction of the leaf spring is easily broken by the above-described shear force.
Further, if the first reinforcing fiber breaks, the second reinforcing fiber in the layer adjacent to the layer having the broken first reinforcing fiber is likely to break, and the breakage of the first and second reinforcing fibers is a leaf spring. To crack. Once such a crack occurs, the crack grows early in the longitudinal direction and thickness direction of the leaf spring, which becomes a major factor for shortening the life of the leaf spring.

  The present invention has been made based on the above-described circumstances. The purpose of the present invention is to suppress the growth of the leaf spring even if a crack occurs in the leaf spring made of fiber reinforced plastic. An object of the present invention is to provide a vibrating conveyor that can extend the life.

The above-described object is achieved by the vibration conveyor of the present invention. The vibration conveyor includes a gantry, a bed supported by the gantry, a trough disposed above the bed and having an article conveyance surface, and a bed and a trough. A plurality of excitation spring units provided between the bed and the trough for supporting the trough with respect to the bed; and an excitation source provided on the bed for applying an excitation force to the trough via the excitation spring unit. The vibration spring unit is a leaf spring formed of fiber reinforced plastic, and is provided on a leaf spring, a bed, and a trough having front and back surfaces that are separated from each other in the conveyance direction of the article, and sandwiches the upper and lower ends of the leaf spring. The leaf spring has a laminated structure, and the laminated structure is inclined at least with respect to the longitudinal axis of the leaf spring and arranged in parallel with each other. A first type layer having modified fibers and a second type layer having second reinforcing fibers that are inclined in a direction opposite to the first reinforcing fibers with respect to the longitudinal axis and are arranged in parallel to each other (claims) Item 1).

The vibration conveyor described above vibrates the trough in the conveyance direction by transmitting the excitation force from the excitation source to the trough via the excitation spring unit, and conveys the article on the conveyance surface of the trough. During operation of such a vibration conveyor, the leaf springs of the vibration spring unit are repeatedly bent in opposite directions and receive an alternating bending moment along the longitudinal axis of the leaf spring.
However, since the first and second seed layers of the leaf spring have the first and second reinforcing fibers inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the leaf spring, respectively, the first and second reinforcing fibers are the above-mentioned alternating. Less susceptible to breakage due to bending moment. As a result, the first and second seed layers having the first and second reinforcing fibers suppress the growth of the crack even if a crack occurs in the leaf spring.

For example, at least one of the first and second reinforcing fibers is preferably a carbon fiber (Claim 2).
Further, it is desirable that the same number of the first type layer and the second type layer are included in the leaf spring.
Furthermore, the laminated structure extends in the width direction of the leaf spring and has a third type of layer having third reinforcing fibers arranged in parallel to each other (Claim 4), and extends along the longitudinal axis and is arranged in parallel with each other. It is also possible to further include a fourth type layer having a fourth reinforcing fiber (Claim 5).
Furthermore, the vibration spring unit may include a plurality of the leaf springs spaced apart from each other in the conveyance direction of the article (claim 6).

  According to the vibration conveyor of the present invention (Claims 1 to 6), even if the excitation spring unit includes a leaf spring made of fiber reinforced plastic, the leaf spring is inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis thereof. 2 Since the first and second seed layers having an array of reinforcing fibers are included, these first and second seed layers suppress the growth of cracks even if cracks occur in the leaf springs. It works effectively in extending the service life.

It is the perspective view which showed the vibration conveyor which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view of the vibration conveyor of FIG. It is a perspective view of the vibration spring unit with which the vibration conveyor of FIG. 1 is provided. It is a side view of the vibration spring unit of FIG. It is a perspective view of the leaf | plate spring of an excitation spring unit. It is the figure which decomposed | disassembled and showed the one part laminated structure of the leaf | plate spring of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the advantage of the leaf | plate spring of FIG. It is a side view of the vibration conveyor provided with the vibration spring unit of the modification. It is the figure which expanded and showed a part of excitation spring unit of FIG.

1 and 2, the vibration conveyor according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a gantry 10, which includes, for example, a plurality of support legs 12 and beam members 14 that connect the support legs 12 to each other. including.
A rectangular bed 18 is supported on the upper end of the support leg 12 via a vibration isolator 16, and this bed 18 is connected to the side plates 20 at one end portion of the side plates 20. The plate 22 includes a center beam 24 and an end beam 26 that connect the side plates 20 to each other at the center and the other end of the side plate 20.

A trough 28 is disposed above the bed 18. The trough 28 has an article conveyance surface 30 and extends in the longitudinal direction of the bed 18. The trough 28 is supported by the bed 18 via a plurality of vibration spring units 32. In the case of the present embodiment, for example, two excitation spring units 32 are arranged on both sides of the trough 28, and the two excitation spring units 32 on the same side are separated from each other in the longitudinal direction of the bed 18 and on the vertical plane. It has an axis that is inclined with respect to it.
Although details of the vibration spring unit 32 will be described later, the number of the vibration spring units 32 to be arranged on one side of the trough 28 is determined by the length of the trough 28 and is not limited to the two described above. It goes without saying that there is nothing.

  A pair of vibration motors 34 as vibration sources are attached to the outer surface of the end plate 22 described above at an angle. Each vibration motor 34 includes a rotation shaft parallel to the inclined axis of the vibration spring unit 32 and eccentric weights attached to both ends of the rotation shaft, and generates an excitation force by the rotation of the eccentric weights. The line of action of such excitation force is orthogonal to the axis of the excitation spring unit 32 and passes through the center of gravity of the trough 28.

When the pair of vibration motors 34 is driven, the vibration force of these vibration motors 34 is transmitted to the trough 28 via the vibration spring unit 32. As a result, the trough 28 linearly vibrates in the conveyance direction of the article, and conveys the article on the conveyance surface 30.
Here, since the center of gravity of the trough 28 exists on the line of action of the excitation force, if the rotation of the drive motor 34 is maintained at the synchronous rotation speed, the vibration of the trough 28 and the excitation force of the vibration motor 34 Therefore, the excitation force can be used only for the linear vibration of the trough 28.
As a result, the trough 28 ideally performs linear vibration while maintaining the bed 18 in a stationary state, and the vibration of the trough 28 is not transmitted to the vibration isolator 16. Therefore, the load received by the vibration isolator 16 can be reduced.

3 and 4 show details of the above-described vibration spring unit 32. FIG.
The vibration spring unit 32 includes a pair of upper and lower end holders 36 _U and 36 _L. Since these end holders 36 _U and 36 _L have the same configuration, the configuration will be described below with attention paid to one end holder 36 _U.

The end holder 36 _U has a rectangular parallelepiped holder body 38, and the hollow holder body 38 is attached to the outer surface of the trough 28 and has two end surfaces spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the trough 28.
Further, the end holder 36 _U has two rectangular pinch plates 40 each paired with the end face of the holder main body 38. Each pinch plate 40 is connected to the holder main body 38 via, for example, two bolts and nuts 44 with the upper end portion of the leaf spring 42 sandwiched between the corresponding end surfaces of the holder main body 38.

The end holder 36 _L is different from the end holder 36 _{U in the} following points.
In the case of the end holder 36 _L , the holder main body 38 is attached to the outer surface of the side plate 20 in the bed 1, and the pinch plate 40 is in a state where the lower end portion of the leaf spring 42 is sandwiched between the corresponding end surface of the holder main body 38. Are connected to the holder body 38 via bolts and nuts 44.

  Accordingly, as is apparent from the above description and FIGS. 3 and 4, in the present embodiment, the vibration spring unit 32 includes, for example, two leaf springs 42, and these leaf springs 42 are the axis of the vibration spring unit 32. The front and back surfaces, that is, the wide surfaces, which extend in parallel with each other and are spaced apart from each other in the conveyance direction of the article described above.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the end holders 36 _U and 36 _L each have four sheet-like cushioning members 46, and these cushioning members 46 are formed of, for example, cloth bakelite. Two buffer members 46 are assigned to each of the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the leaf spring 42, and the leaf spring 42 and the holder main body are sandwiched between the end portions of the corresponding leaf springs 42 from both sides. 38, and between the leaf spring 42 and the pinch plate 40, respectively.
Such a buffer member 46 is useful for avoiding direct contact of the leaf spring 42 with the end holders 36 _U and 36 _L and reducing wear of the leaf spring 42.

Further, as clearly shown in FIG. 4, on the end holder 36 _U side, the buffer member 46 slightly protrudes from the lower surface of the end holder 36 _U , while the lower edge of the end surface of the holder body 38 and the pinch plate Each lower edge of the inner surface at 40 is formed as a rounded edge.
On the other hand, on the side of the end holder 36 _L , the buffer member 46 slightly protrudes from the upper surface of the end holder 36 _L , while the upper edge of the end surface of the holder body 38 and the upper edge of the inner surface of the pinch plate 40 are rounded. It is formed as an edge.

The leaf spring 42 is made of reinforced fiber plastic and has a laminated structure.
That is, the laminated structure includes a large number of fiber reinforced layers, and determines the thickness T of the leaf spring 42 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, the laminated structure includes, for example, four types of fiber reinforced layers 50a, 50b, 50c, and 50d.

The first type fiber reinforced layer 50 a has an arrangement of first reinforced fibers 52 a, and the first reinforced fibers 52 a are inclined at a predetermined inclination angle α with respect to the longitudinal axis A of the leaf spring 42 and are parallel to each other.
In the illustrated example, the second type fiber reinforced layer 50b is adjacent to the upper surface of the first fiber reinforced layer 50a and has an array of second reinforced fibers 52b. The second reinforcing fibers 52b are inclined at a predetermined inclination angle β that is opposite to the first reinforcing fibers 52a with respect to the longitudinal axis A and are parallel to each other.

The third type reinforcing fiber layer 50c is adjacent to the lower surface of the first fiber reinforcing layer 50a and has an arrangement of third reinforcing fibers 52c. The third reinforcing fibers 52c extend in the width direction of the leaf spring 42 and are parallel to each other.
The fourth type reinforcing fiber layer 50d is adjacent to the upper surface of the second type fiber reinforcing layer 50b and has an arrangement of fourth reinforcing fibers 52d. The fourth reinforcing fibers 52d extend along the longitudinal axis A of the leaf spring 42 and are parallel to each other.

The base material of the first to fourth type fiber reinforced layers 50a, 50b, 50c, and 50d described above is formed of, for example, an epoxy resin, but may be formed of a polyamide resin, a phenol resin, or the like. The base materials of the fiber reinforced layers may be different from each other.
On the other hand, the first to fourth reinforcing fibers 52a, 52b, 52c, and 52d are made of, for example, carbon fibers, but may be glass fibers, aramid fibers, HDPE fibers, or the like. Similarly, the reinforcing fibers of adjacent fiber reinforced layers may also be different from each other.

In addition, the inclination angles α and β are preferably the same, but may be different from each other. For example, the inclination angles α and β can be set to 30 ° or 45 °, respectively.
According to the above-described vibration spring unit 32, even when the leaf springs 42 are repeatedly bent in opposite directions and receive an alternating bending moment during operation of the vibration conveyor, compared to the above-described conventional fiber-reinforced plastic leaf springs. , Its life can be greatly extended.

If explanation is added about this point, even if the leaf spring 42 is repeatedly bent, the upper and lower ends of the leaf spring 42 are protected by the buffer member 46, so that wear at the upper and lower ends of the leaf spring 42 is prevented. Effectively suppressed. In addition, the buffer member 46 slightly protrudes from the corresponding end holder 36 as described above, while the edge on the end holder 36 side that is in contact with the buffer member 46 is formed as a rounded edge, so even if the leaf spring 42 is bent. In the vicinity of the end holders 36 _U and 36 _L , stress is not concentrated on the leaf spring 42, and wear of the leaf spring 42 can be effectively reduced.

  On the other hand, although the above-described alternating bending moment may cause the leaf spring 42 to generate a crack due to the breakage of the fourth reinforcing fiber 52d or the third reinforcing fiber 52c, even if a crack occurs, the growth of this crack is caused. Is effectively suppressed by the presence of the first and second type fiber reinforcing layers 50a and 50b, that is, by the arrangement of the first and second reinforcing fibers 52a and 52b.

  This is because the first and second reinforcing fibers 52a and 52b are inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis A, respectively, so that a shearing force F due to an alternating bending moment is applied to the leaf spring 42 as shown in FIG. However, since only the component forces Fa and Fb of the shearing force F are applied to the first and second reinforcing fibers 52a and 52b, the first and second reinforcing fibers 52a and 52b are not easily broken. The second-type fiber reinforced layers 50a and 50b are considered to function effectively in suppressing the growth of the cracks described above.

As a result, the life of the leaf spring 42 of the present embodiment is greatly extended as compared with a conventional fiber reinforced plastic leaf spring, and the replacement frequency of the leaf spring 42 can be reduced.
Further, since the arrangement of the first reinforcing fibers 52a and 52b makes the spring constant of the leaf spring 42 higher than that of the conventional leaf spring, the number of exciting spring units 32 required for the vibration conveyor can be reduced. .

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made.
For example, the excitation spring unit 32 does not need to include a pair of leaf springs 42 as a whole, and may include only a single leaf spring 42 as shown in FIGS. In this case, the leaf spring 42 is attached to one end of the end holders 36 _U and 36 _L via a pair of buffer members 46, a pinch plate 40, and bolts and nuts 44.

In addition to the first to fourth type fiber reinforced layers 50a, 50b, 50c, and 50d, the leaf spring 42 can further include other types of fiber reinforced layers different from these fiber reinforced layers. The seed fiber reinforced layer has an array of reinforcing fibers inclined at an inclination angle different from the inclination angles α and β of the first and second reinforcing fibers 52 a and 52 b with respect to the longitudinal axis A of the leaf spring 42.
Further, the arrangement of the first to fourth type fiber reinforced layers 50a, 50b, 50c, and 50d is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 6, and for example, the third type fibers are provided between the first and second type fiber reinforced layers 50a and 50b. The reinforcing layer 50c, the fourth type fiber reinforced layer 50d, or another type of fiber reinforced layer may be interposed.
Furthermore, the leaf spring 42 may be a set of a plurality of fiber reinforced layers including at least the first and second type fiber reinforced layers 50a and 50b, and a plurality of such sets may be laminated. The fiber reinforced layers other than the third and fourth type fiber reinforced layers 50c and 50d, that is, the fiber reinforced layers such as the first and second fiber reinforced layers 50a and 50b, take into account the left and right strength balance of the leaf spring 42, The same number is preferably included in the leaf spring 42.

  On the other hand, when the vibration conveyor of the present invention, that is, the vibration spring unit 32 is in an environment where it gets wet with water, water that has entered between the leaf spring 42 and the buffer member 46 promotes wear of the leaf spring 42. It is preferable that a caulking material that prevents the intrusion of water is filled between the leaf spring 42 and the buffer member 46.

  Further, since the wear of the leaf spring 42 is inevitable, the spring constant of the leaf spring 42 is reduced as the wear progresses. Such a decrease in the spring constant increases the amplitude of the trough 28 from the set value. In this case, the amplitude of the trough 28 is reduced to the original value by lowering the rotation speed of the vibration motor 34, that is, the excitation frequency. The setting value can be restored.

Furthermore, the amplitude of the trough 28 can be maintained at a specified value by constantly monitoring the amplitude of the trough 28 during operation of the vibration conveyor and changing the rotational speed of the vibration motor 34 following the change in the amplitude. is there.
Finally, it goes without saying that other configurations than the above-described excitation spring unit 32 can be changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

10 frame 18 bed 28 trough 32 vibration spring unit 34 vibration motor (vibration source)
36 _U , 36 _L end holder 42 Leaf spring 46 Buffer member 50a First type fiber reinforced layer 50b Second type fiber reinforced layer 50c Third type fiber reinforced layer 50d Fourth type fiber reinforced layer 52a First reinforced fiber 52b Second reinforced Fiber 52c Third reinforcing fiber 52d Fourth reinforcing fiber A Longitudinal axis

Claims (6)

A frame,
A bed supported by the mount;
A trough disposed above the bed and having an article conveying surface;
A plurality of vibration spring units provided between the bed and the trough and supporting the trough with respect to the bed;
An excitation source that is provided in the bed and applies an excitation force to the trough via the excitation spring unit;
The vibration spring unit is a leaf spring formed of fiber reinforced plastic, and has a leaf spring having front and back surfaces spaced in the conveying direction of the article;
An upper and lower end holder provided on each of the bed and the trough and sandwiching and holding an upper end and a lower end of the leaf spring;
The leaf spring has a laminated structure,
The laminated structure includes at least a first type layer having first reinforcing fibers that are inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the leaf spring and are arranged in parallel to each other;
An oscillating conveyor comprising: a second type layer having second reinforcing fibers that are inclined in a direction opposite to the first reinforcing fibers with respect to the longitudinal axis and arranged in parallel to each other.   The vibration conveyor according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second reinforcing fibers is a carbon fiber.   The vibration conveyor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the same number of the first type layer and the second type layer are included in the leaf spring.   4. The vibration according to claim 1, wherein the laminated structure further includes a third type layer having third reinforcing fibers that extend in a width direction of the leaf spring and are arranged in parallel to each other. Conveyor.   5. The vibrating conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the laminated structure further includes a fourth type layer having fourth reinforcing fibers that extend along the longitudinal axis and are arranged in parallel to each other. .   The vibration conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the vibration spring unit includes a plurality of the leaf springs that are separated from each other in the conveyance direction of the article.

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