JP2015044255A - Component feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a component feeding device which can feed components having a shaft part in an aligned state while maintaining feeding capacity irrespective of a length and weight.SOLUTION: A component feeding device 20 includes: a hopper 30 for storing a bolt (a component) 10 having a shaft part 11; a lifting part 40 which is arranged so as to elevate and lifts a plurality of components; a drive part 50 which drives to elevate the lifting part; a carry-out part 60 which carries out only one component lifted by the lifting part; and an aligning part 70 which aligns the components. The lifting part includes a hold surface 41, which can align and hold the plurality of components with the respective shaft parts directed in the same direction, on an upper part. The lifting part can elevate between a descending position for receiving the components flowing down along a bottom surface 33b by the hold surface and a rising position for lifting the plurality of components from the bottom surface. The carry-out part moves and carries out only one component lifted by the lifting part in a side direction intersecting a direction of extending the shaft part from the hold surface by interlocking with elevating movement of the lifting part.

Description

  The present invention relates to a component supply apparatus that aligns and supplies components having a shaft portion.

  In order to align and supply workpieces as parts necessary for assembling a product, a parts supply device is widely used. A general component supply apparatus includes a hopper that accommodates a workpiece and a parts feeder (alignment feeder) that aligns and supplies the workpiece. An appropriate amount of work is fed from the hopper to the parts feeder, and aligned after aligning the posture of the work in the alignment part (tooling part) of the parts feeder. Then, the work is aligned and supplied to the next process, for example, a buffer part or a cutting part. In a component supply device specialized for a workpiece having a shaft portion such as a bolt or a screw, a supply device for aligning and aligning the posture of the workpiece directly from a hopper has also been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP2007-98486

  In the bolt supply apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a grooved lifting part is provided at the container center, and the work is dropped into the groove at the lower end or during lifting. For this reason, there is a problem that the supply capability of parts becomes extremely worse in a long work or a heavy work.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems associated with the prior art described above, and is capable of supplying parts having a shaft portion in an aligned manner while maintaining the supply capability regardless of the length and weight. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  A component supply apparatus according to the present invention that achieves the above object includes a hopper that accommodates a component having a shaft portion, a lifting portion that is provided so as to be lifted and lifted, and a drive portion that drives the lifting portion to move up and down. And having. The component supply device further includes an unloading unit that unloads only one component lifted by the lifting unit, and an alignment unit that aligns the components. The hopper includes a storage chamber that stores the component, and includes a bottom surface that is inclined and extends downward at a bottom portion of the storage chamber. The elevating part is provided with a holding surface on the upper part, which can hold a plurality of the parts so that the shaft parts are aligned in the same direction. The elevating part can be moved up and down between a lowered position where the holding surface receives the component flowing down along the bottom surface and a raised position where the plurality of components are lifted from the bottom surface. The unloading unit moves in a lateral direction intersecting with the direction in which the shaft portion extends from the holding surface, in conjunction with the lifting operation of the lifting unit, only one part lifted by the lifting unit. And then carry it out. The alignment unit aligns the parts that are unloaded one by one by the unloading unit.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to realize the alignment supply of the components only by providing one drive unit that drives the elevating unit up and down, and the carry-out unit sends the components one by one to the alignment unit. Eliminates sticking or catching. This makes it possible to supply the parts having the shaft portion in an aligned manner while maintaining the supply capability regardless of the length and weight. It is only necessary to provide one drive unit, and since the components are fed into the alignment unit one by one, the overall configuration of the component supply device and the configuration of the alignment unit itself can be simplified. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost or maintenance management cost of the component supply device. Even if a large amount of parts are accommodated in the hopper, there is no fear that the supply capacity of the parts will be reduced, and a large amount of parts can be replenished in the hopper during one replenishment operation. Since a vibrator is not required, an increase in device cost can be suppressed and noise can be reduced. Furthermore, adjustment for aligning and aligning the parts is easy, and readjustment due to changes over time is not necessary.

It is sectional drawing which shows the components supply apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic perspective view which looked at the components supply apparatus from the upper part. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the carrying-out part and alignment part of a components supply apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the state from which the raising / lowering part of the components supply apparatus started the raise toward the raise position from the fall position. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the raising / lowering part of the components supply apparatus raised to the raising position. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the raising / lowering part of the components supply apparatus started the descent | fall toward a descent | fall position from a raise position. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the raising / lowering part of the components supply apparatus lowered further. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the raising / lowering part of the components supply apparatus descend | falls to the descending position, and hold | maintained only one component to the carrying-out part so that carrying out was possible. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which carries out one component from the carrying-out part of a components supply apparatus to the alignment part.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. The dimensional ratios in the drawings are exaggerated for convenience of explanation, and are different from the actual ratios.

  1 is a cross-sectional view showing a component supply device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the component supply device 20 as viewed from above, and FIG. 3 is a carry-out unit and alignment of the component supply device 20 It is a schematic perspective view which shows a part.

  With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the component supply device 20 is briefly described. The component supply device 20 includes a hopper 30 that accommodates the component 10 having the shaft portion 11, and an elevating unit 40 that can be moved up and down and lifts a plurality of components 10. And a driving unit 50 that drives the lifting unit 40 to move up and down. The component supply device 20 further includes an unloading unit 60 that unloads only one component 10 lifted by the elevating unit 40 and an alignment unit 70 that aligns the components 10. The hopper 30 includes a storage chamber 31 that stores the component 10, and includes a bottom surface 33 b that is inclined and extends downward at the bottom of the storage chamber 31. The raising / lowering part 40 is equipped with the holding surface 41 which can hold | maintain the some components 10 so that each axial part 11 may face the same direction, and can hold it freely. The elevating unit 40 can move up and down between a lowered position where the holding surface 41 receives the component 10 flowing down along the bottom surface 33b and a raised position where the plurality of components 10 are lifted from the bottom surface 33b. The unloading unit 60 is linked with the lifting / lowering operation of the lifting / lowering unit 40, and only one component 10 lifted by the lifting / lowering unit 40 extends in the direction in which the shaft portion 11 extends from the holding surface 41 (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. ) In the lateral direction intersecting (leftward in FIG. 1) and carrying out. The aligning unit 70 aligns the components 10 that are unloaded one by one by the unloading unit 60. Details will be described below.

  The illustrated component 10 has a head 12 having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the shaft portion 11. Specifically, the component 10 is a bolt.

  The hopper 30 has a storage chamber 31 having a size capable of storing a large amount of bolts 10. The storage chamber 31 is partitioned by side walls 32a to 32e and bottom walls 33a and 33b. The hopper 30 has a first bottom wall 33a disposed substantially horizontally at the bottom, and a second bottom wall 33b (inclined downward from the end of the first bottom wall 33a toward the elevating unit 40). Corresponding to the bottom surface). The hopper 30 has an inclined side wall 32b (hereinafter referred to as an “inclined side wall 32b”) that narrows the space toward the elevating unit 40 in the accommodation chamber 31. The bolt 10 is guided toward the elevating part 40 by the inclined second bottom wall 33b and the inclined side wall 32b.

  The elevating part 40 has a substantially box shape and is configured to be elevable along the side wall 32a. The bolt 10 in the hopper 30 is guided by the second bottom wall 33b and the inclined side wall 32b, and further collapses as the elevating unit 40 moves up and down, and vibrations are applied as the load collapses. Thereby, the holding surface 41 of the elevating part 40 holds the plurality of bolts 10 so that the respective shaft parts 11 face the same direction. In the lowered position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 1, the elevating part 40 is connected to the second bottom wall 33 b with the holding surface 41 inclined, and the bolt 10 flowing down along the second bottom wall 33 b is placed on the holding surface 41. accept. The raising / lowering part 40 lifts the several volt | bolt 10 from the 2nd bottom wall 33b in the raise position shown by the dashed-two dotted line in FIG.

  The drive part 50 is comprised from the fluid pressure cylinder which act | operates with oil pressure, pneumatic pressure, etc., for example. The rod 51 of the fluid pressure cylinder is connected to the elevating part 40. By moving the rod 51 forward and backward, the elevating unit 40 is driven up and down. In addition, the drive part 50 is not limited to the case where it comprises from a fluid pressure cylinder, It can also comprise from the motor etc. which rotate a rack and pinion and a pinion.

  The carry-out unit 60 can freely open and close a take-out unit 62 having a placement surface 61 on which only one bolt 10 lifted by the elevating unit 40 can be placed, and a discharge passage 63 extending from the placement surface 61 to the alignment unit 70. And a stopper 64.

  The take-out part 62 is attached to the upper end part of the side wall 32a. The placement surface 61 of the take-out portion 62 has a size and shape that matches the shaft diameter and length of the bolt 10 so that only one bolt 10 can be placed. The placement surface 61 is provided at a height that is continuous with the holding surface 41 of the elevating unit 40 that has been raised to the raised position. The holding surface 41 of the elevating unit 40 and the mounting surface 61 of the take-out unit 62 are inclined downward toward the discharge passage 63 side.

  The stopper 64 is composed of a plate-like member and is disposed between the take-out part 62 and the alignment part 70. The stopper 64 is attached to the elevating part 40 via the attaching part 65. The stopper 64 moves up and down in conjunction with the lifting operation of the lifting unit 40. The stopper 64 closes the discharge passage 63 when the elevating unit 40 is located at the raised position, and the stopper 64 opens the discharge passage 63 when the elevating unit 40 is located at the lowered position.

  When the elevating part 40 is raised to the raised position, the stopper 64 closes the discharge passage 63. In this state, the plurality of bolts 10 lifted by the elevating unit 40 moves in the lateral direction from the holding surface 41 and is placed on the mounting surface 61 of the take-out unit 62. Since only one bolt 10 can be placed on the placement surface 61 of the take-out portion 62, the bolt 10 on the placement surface 61 collapses and takes out as the elevating portion 40 descends from the raised position. Only one bolt 10 remains on the mounting surface 61 of the portion 62. When the elevating part 40 is located at the lowered position, the stopper 64 opens the discharge passage 63. One bolt 10 on the mounting surface 61 is sent out in the lateral direction, and is carried out to the alignment unit 70 through the opened discharge passage 63. In this manner, the carry-out unit 60 carries out only one bolt 10 lifted by the lift unit 40 from the holding surface 41 in the lateral direction in conjunction with the lift operation of the lift unit 40 and carries it out. In the carry-out unit 60 including the take-out unit 62 and the stopper 64, the configuration of the carry-out unit 60 is simplified, and the advantages of the present apparatus 20 are utilized, and an increase in cost can be suppressed. Further, it is possible to reliably realize the extraction of the bolts 10 one by one.

  Referring to FIG. 3, take-out portion 62 has a stepped portion 66 that receives head portion 12 of bolt 10, and can be configured such that only shaft portion 11 of bolt 10 is placed on placement surface 61. it can. By mounting only the shaft portion 11 on the mounting surface 61, the bolt 10 can be stably mounted on the mounting surface 61 of the take-out portion 62.

  The alignment unit 70 includes a guide member 71 that holds the head portion 12 of the bolt 10 to suspend the shaft portion 11 and slides the bolt 10 by its own weight. Since the guide member 71 adjusts the posture of the bolt 10 by its own weight, the configuration of the alignment unit 70 becomes simple, and the advantage of the present apparatus 20 can be utilized and an increase in cost can be suppressed.

  The guide member 71 can be composed of a pair of rails 72, for example. The distance between the pair of rails 72 is slightly larger than the shaft portion 11 of the bolt 10 and smaller than the diameter of the head portion 12. The pair of rails 72 are disposed so as to be inclined downward with respect to the horizontal plane. The bolt 10 sent to the alignment unit 70 is in a state where the shaft portion 11 falls between the rails 72 and the head portion 12 is supported by the rails 72. Since the rail 72 is inclined downward, the bolt 10 whose posture is adjusted slides and slides due to its own weight. The ends of the rails 72 extend to a buffer portion that stores the bolts 10 in a state in which the posture is adjusted, or a take-out portion that cuts out and takes out the bolts 10 that have been adjusted in posture.

  Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the elevating unit 40 of the component supply device 20 starts to rise from the lowered position toward the raised position, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the elevating unit 40 is raised to the raised position. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the elevating part 40 starts to descend from the raised position toward the lowered position, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the elevating part 40 is further lowered. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the elevating part 40 is lowered to the lowered position and only one component 10 is held in the carry-out part 60 so as to be able to be carried out, and FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which carries out the component 10 of this.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of bolts 10 are accommodated in the accommodation chamber 31 of the hopper 30. The elevating part 40 is located at the lowered position. The holding surface 41 of the elevating part 40 is connected to the inclined second bottom wall 33b, and the bolt 10 flowing down along the second bottom wall 33b is received on the holding surface 41. The bolt 10 in the hopper 30 is guided by the second bottom wall 33b and the inclined side wall 32b of the hopper 30, and further, the load collapses as the elevating unit 40 moves up and down, and vibrations are applied as the load collapses. As a result, the holding surface 41 of the elevating unit 40 is held in alignment so that the shafts 11 face the same direction as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the elevating unit 40 is raised toward the raised position by the drive unit 50. The elevating unit 40 lifts the plurality of bolts 10 from the second bottom wall 33b. In conjunction with the raising operation of the elevating part 40, the stopper 64 rises and closes the discharge passage 63 from the take-out part 62 to the alignment part 70.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the elevating unit 40 is moved up to the raised position, the plurality of bolts 10 lifted by the elevating unit 40 are laterally extended from the holding surface 41 in a state where the stopper 64 closes the discharge passage 63. 5 moves to the left) and rides on the placement surface 61 of the take-out part 62. Since the holding surface 41 and the mounting surface 61 are inclined downward toward the discharge passage 63, the bolt 10 easily moves to the take-out portion 62.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, since only one bolt 10 can be placed on the placement surface 61 of the take-out portion 62, when the elevating portion 40 starts to descend from the raised position, the placement surface 61 is placed on the placement surface 61. The bolt 10 collapses and only one bolt 10 remains on the mounting surface 61 of the take-out portion 62. The other bolt 10 returns into the hopper 30. The take-out portion 62 has a placement surface 61 having a size and shape that matches the axial diameter and length of the bolt 10, and further has a step portion 66 that receives the head portion 12 of the bolt 10. For this reason, only the shaft portion 11 of the bolt 10 is placed on the placement surface 61, and the bolt 10 can be stably placed on the placement surface 61 of the take-out portion 62. Since the step portions 66 are disposed on both sides of the placement surface 61 in the longitudinal direction, the bolt 10 can be stably placed regardless of the left and right orientations.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, when the elevating part 40 is lowered to the lowered position, the stopper 64 opens the discharge passage 63. Since the mounting surface 61 is a downwardly inclined surface toward the discharge passage 63, one bolt 10 on the mounting surface 61 is sent out in the lateral direction. The bolt 10 falls toward the alignment portion 70 through the opened discharge passage 63. In this manner, the carry-out unit 60 carries out only one bolt 10 lifted by the elevating unit 40 by moving it from the holding surface 41 in the lateral direction.

  The aligning portion 70 holds the head portion 12 of the bolt 10 by a pair of rails 72 and aligns the bolt 10 in a state where the shaft portion 11 is suspended. The bolt 10 is slid along the rail 72 by its own weight and sent to the next process. In the next step, the bolt 10 whose posture is adjusted is used.

  The component supply device 20 can realize the alignment supply of the bolts 10 only by providing the single drive unit 50 that drives the elevation unit 40 to move up and down, and the bolts 10 are fed into the alignment unit 70 one by one. Tens of pallets and catches disappear. As a result, the bolts 10 having the shaft portions 11 can be supplied in an aligned manner while maintaining the supply capability regardless of the length and weight. One drive unit 50 may be provided, and the bolts 10 are fed into the alignment unit 70 one by one, so that the overall configuration of the component supply device 20 and the configuration of the alignment unit 70 itself are simplified. Can do. Therefore, the manufacturing cost or maintenance management cost of the component supply apparatus 20 can be reduced. Even if a large amount of bolts 10 are accommodated in the hopper 30, there is no possibility that the supply capacity of the bolts 10 is reduced, and a large amount of bolts 10 can be replenished in the hopper 30 at one replenishment operation. For this reason, the cycle which replenishes the volt | bolt 10 can be taken long, and it becomes the components supply apparatus 20 suitable for using it incorporating in an automation installation etc.

  In a general parts supply device that uses a vibrator, a high-rigidity base is required, or if necessary, soundproofing work is required, resulting in a relatively high device cost. . In addition, in order to align and align parts using fine vibrations from a vibrator, it is difficult to adjust vibrations applied to the parts and the like, and adjustment due to changes over time is also required. In the component supply device 20 of the present embodiment that does not require a vibrator, an increase in device cost can be suppressed and noise can be reduced. Furthermore, the adjustment for performing alignment and alignment of the bolts 10 is easy, and readjustment due to changes with time is not necessary.

  As described above, the component supply device 20 according to the present embodiment includes the hopper 30, the elevating unit 40, the drive unit 50, the carry-out unit 60, and the alignment unit 70. Alignment supply of the bolts 10 can be realized only by providing one driving unit 50 that drives the lifting unit 40 up and down, and the unloading unit 60 sends the bolts 10 to the alignment unit 70 one by one. There will be no sticking or catching. As a result, the bolts 10 having the shaft portions 11 can be supplied in an aligned manner while maintaining the supply capability regardless of the length and weight. One drive unit 50 may be provided, and the bolts 10 are fed into the alignment unit 70 one by one, so that the overall configuration of the component supply device 20 and the configuration of the alignment unit 70 itself are simplified. Can do. Therefore, the manufacturing cost or maintenance management cost of the component supply apparatus 20 can be reduced. Even if a large amount of bolts 10 are accommodated in the hopper 30, there is no possibility that the supply capacity of the bolts 10 is reduced, and a large amount of bolts 10 can be replenished in the hopper 30 at one replenishment operation. For this reason, the cycle which replenishes the volt | bolt 10 can be taken long, and it becomes the components supply apparatus 20 suitable for using it incorporating in an automation installation etc. Since a vibrator is not required, an increase in device cost can be suppressed and noise can be reduced. Furthermore, the adjustment for performing alignment and alignment of the bolts 10 is easy, and readjustment due to changes with time is not necessary.

  The carry-out part 60 has a take-out part 62 and a stopper 64. The configuration of the carry-out unit 60 is simplified, the advantages of the present apparatus 20 are utilized, and an increase in cost can be suppressed. Further, it is possible to reliably realize the extraction of the bolts 10 one by one.

  The bolt 10 has a head portion 12 having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the shaft portion 11, and the alignment portion 70 holds the head portion 12 of the bolt 10 and causes the shaft portion 11 to hang down. Has a guide member 71 for slidingly moving the bolt 10. Since the guide member 71 adjusts the posture of the bolt 10 by its own weight, the configuration of the alignment unit 70 becomes simple, and the advantage of the present apparatus 20 can be utilized and an increase in cost can be suppressed.

  The bolt 10 has a head portion 12 having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the shaft portion 11, and the take-out portion 62 has a step portion 66 that receives the head portion 12 of the bolt 10, and only the shaft portion 11 is mounted. It is mounted on the mounting surface 61. Thereby, the bolt 10 can be stably mounted on the mounting surface 61 of the take-out part 62.

  The component supply device 20 is suitable for supplying the bolt 10 as a component.

10 bolts (parts),
11 Shaft,
12 heads,
20 parts supply device,
30 hoppers,
31 containment chamber,
32a-32e side walls,
32b inclined side wall,
33a first bottom wall,
33b second bottom wall (bottom surface),
40 Lifting part,
41 holding surface,
50 drive unit,
60 Unloading part,
61 Placement surface,
62 take-out part,
63 discharge passage,
64 stoppers,
65 mounting part,
66 steps,
70 alignment part,
71 guide members,
72 rails.

Claims (5)

A hopper that includes a storage chamber that stores a component having a shaft portion, and a bottom surface that extends obliquely downward toward the bottom of the storage chamber;
A plurality of the parts, each of which has a holding surface that can be held by aligning the shaft portions in the same direction at the top, and the holding surface receives the parts that flow down along the bottom surface; An elevating part provided so as to be able to move up and down between the raised positions lifting the parts from the bottom surface;
A drive unit for moving the lift unit up and down;
In conjunction with the lifting / lowering operation of the lifting / lowering section, only one part lifted by the lifting / lowering section is moved out of the holding surface in the lateral direction intersecting with the direction in which the shaft section extends and carried out. An unloading section;
A component supply apparatus comprising: an alignment unit that aligns the components carried out one by one by the carry-out unit. The unloading part is
A take-out unit provided with a placement surface on which only one of the parts lifted by the elevating part can be placed;
A stopper that can freely open and close the discharge passage from the placement surface to the alignment portion,
The stopper moves up and down in conjunction with the lifting operation of the lifting unit, and closes the discharge passage when the lifting unit is located at the raised position, and the stopper when the lifting unit is located at the lowered position. The component supply device according to claim 1, wherein the discharge passage is opened. The component has a head having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the shaft portion;
3. The component supply device according to claim 1, wherein the alignment unit includes a guide member that holds the head portion of the component, suspends the shaft portion, and slides the component by its own weight. . The component has a head having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the shaft portion;
The component supply device according to claim 2, wherein the take-out unit includes a stepped portion that receives the head portion of the component, and only the shaft portion is placed on the placement surface.   The component supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the component is a bolt.