JP2017100867A - Apparatus and method for separating metal plates - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and a method for separating metal plates, which enable stacked metal plates to be taken out one by one reliably without damage.SOLUTION: The apparatus for separating metal plates includes: a lifting device for raising and lowering a support device 20 for supporting stacked metal plates 10 substantially horizontally at a predetermined height; an upper surface detection device 60 for detecting a height of an uppermost surface of the metal plates 10 placed on the support device 20; a pushing out device 30 for horizontally pushing only one metal plate 10 located uppermost of the metal plates, from one side surface, to cause the metal plate to protrude from the other side surface; a protruding portion support member 40 that is located at the other side surface of the metal plates 10, and that supports, from a lower surface side, a protruding portion of the metal plate 10 having been pushed out by the pushing out device 30; a controller for lowering the support device 20 relative to the protruding portion support member 40, while the protruding portion support member 40 supports the protruding portion of the metal plate 10 having been pushed out; and an attraction device 50 for attracting and pulling up the metal plate 10 whose protruding portion is supported by the protruding portion support member 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a metal plate separating apparatus, and more particularly to a separating apparatus that can reliably cut out stacked metal plates one by one without damaging them. The present invention also relates to a metal plate separating method performed using the metal plate separating apparatus.

  When processing various metal plates including steel plates, it is possible to cut out metal plates one by one from a metal plate stored in a stacked state using a magnetic adsorption device or a vacuum adsorption device, and use it for processing. Generally done.

  However, in many cases, the metal plate used as a processing material has a smooth surface and is laminated in a close contact state. In addition, oil for lubrication and primary rust prevention may adhere to the surface. When only one sheet is pulled up from a metal plate in such a state by a suction device, a plurality of metal plates are stuck due to negative pressure generated between the metal plates due to atmospheric pressure or surface tension of oil. There is a problem that it will be raised.

  In addition, when using a magnetic adsorption device, depending on the thickness and material of the metal plate, the magnetic force may affect not only the uppermost metal plate but also the metal plate below it. It is even more difficult to cut out only.

  Therefore, various methods have been proposed for taking out the metal plates one by one from the stacked metal plates.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a magnetic force is applied from an end to several iron plates that have been pulled up together with the uppermost iron plate after the uppermost iron plate is attracted and pulled out of the stacked iron plates. It has been proposed to drop an extra iron plate by utilizing the repulsive force generated between the iron plates.

  Further, Patent Document 2 proposes that, among the stacked magnetic plates, the uppermost magnetic plate is shifted in the plate surface direction, and then the uppermost magnetic plate is pulled up by a magnetic adsorption device.

JP-A-55-101538 JP 63-143135 A

  However, since the method described in Patent Document 1 uses a repulsive force due to a magnetic force, it can be applied only to a magnetic metal plate, and the apparatus structure is complicated. Moreover, since the excess iron plate is dropped, the surface of the iron plate may be damaged.

  Further, the method described in Patent Document 2 is based on the premise that the magnetic plate includes a reinforcing rib, and the magnetic plate is moved onto the reinforcing rib by shifting the magnetic plate to create a gap between the magnetic plates. Yes. Therefore, it is not possible to separate a flat metal plate that is not provided with reinforcing ribs. Further, since it is necessary to shift the magnetic plate so as to ride on the reinforcing rib, the surface of the magnetic plate may be damaged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a separation apparatus that can cut out metal plates in a laminated state one by one without damaging them while having a simple structure. Objective. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for separating a metal plate using the separation device.

The gist configuration of the present invention is as follows.
1. A support device for supporting the laminated metal plates at a predetermined height in a substantially horizontal state;
A lifting device for lifting and lowering the support device;
An upper surface detection device for detecting the height of the uppermost surface of the metal plate placed on the support device;
An extrusion device that is positioned on one side surface of the metal plate placed on the support device and pushes only one of the metal plates located on the uppermost level horizontally from the side surface and protrudes to the other side surface side. When,
A protrusion support member that is located on the other side surface of the metal plate placed on the support device and supports the protrusion of the metal plate extruded by the extrusion device from the lower surface side;
Control for lowering the support device relative to the protrusion support member in a state where the extrusion device is driven to extrude the metal plate and the protrusion of the extruded metal plate is supported by the protrusion support member. Equipment,
A metal plate separating apparatus comprising: an adsorbing device that adsorbs and pulls up a metal plate supported by the projecting portion by the projecting portion supporting member.

2. A metal plate separation method for separating a metal plate using the metal plate separation apparatus according to 1 above,
Lowering the support device to a predetermined height;
Place the metal plate laminated on the support device,
Start raising the support device,
Based on the detection result of the uppermost surface of the metal plate by the upper surface detection device, the rise is stopped,
By the extrusion device, only one of the metal plates located at the uppermost stage is pushed in the horizontal direction from the side surface to protrude to the other side surface side,
By the protruding portion support member, the protruding portion of the metal plate extruded by the extrusion device is supported from the lower surface side,
By lowering the support device, the metal plate whose protrusion is supported by the protrusion support member is lifted,
A method for separating a metal plate, wherein the suction device sucks and lifts the floating metal plate.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably cut out stacked metal plates one by one without damaging them with an apparatus having a simple structure.

It is the upper surface schematic of the metal plate separation apparatus in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a front schematic diagram of the metal plate separation device in one embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the structure of the contact member in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the metal plate isolation | separation method in one Embodiment of this invention.

  Next, a method for carrying out the present invention will be specifically described. The following description shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment.

[Metal plate]
In the present invention, the metal plates are cut out from the stacked metal plates one by one. Here, “cutting out” means that the metal plate is discharged from the separation device, and specifically means that the metal plate is pulled up by an adsorption device described later and sent out to the next step.

  The metal plate is not particularly limited, and a plate made of an arbitrary metal material can be used. In the present invention, as will be described later, the uppermost metal plate is separated by a mechanical operation using an extrusion device and a protruding portion support member, which is different from the method using magnetic force described in Patent Document 1. A metal plate made of a nonmagnetic metal material can also be separated.

  The shape of the metal plate is not particularly limited, and can be an arbitrary shape. From the viewpoint of ease of handling, a rectangular shape is preferable, but even a shape other than a rectangle such as a polygon or a circle can be separated.

  The size of the metal plate is not particularly limited, but it is easier to handle if it is larger than a certain size. Therefore, it is preferable that the short side when the metal plate is rectangular be 300 mm or more, and the short side of the rectangle circumscribing the metal plate when the shape is other than the rectangle be 300 mm or more.

  The thickness of the said metal plate is not specifically limited, It can be set as arbitrary thickness. However, if the thickness is excessively thick, handling such as pulling by an adsorption device becomes difficult, so the thickness of the metal plate is preferably 25 mm or less. On the other hand, if the metal plate is excessively thin, there is a possibility that the metal plate will bend and be difficult to separate, so the thickness of the metal plate is preferably 2 mm or more.

  The said metal plate is provided to the metal plate separation apparatus of this invention in the laminated state. Here, the number of metal plates to be laminated is not particularly limited and can be adjusted according to the thickness of the metal plate, the use of the metal plate after being cut out, the processing content, etc. It can be about 2 to 100 sheets.

[Supporting device]
The laminated metal plates are placed on a support device and supported at a predetermined height in a substantially horizontal state. The supporting device can be in any form as long as it can support the metal plate. For example, it can be a flat base or can support a metal plate at a plurality of points.

  The supply of the metal plate onto the support device is preferably performed collectively in a state where a plurality of metal plates are laminated. In this case, for example, a metal plate can be placed directly on the support device using a crane or the like, or a transport device such as a roller conveyor can be used.

[lift device]
The metal plate separating apparatus of the present invention includes a lifting device, and the support device is configured to be lifted and lowered by the lifting device. As the lifting device, any device can be used as long as the supporting device can be moved in the vertical direction with the metal plate placed thereon.

[Upper surface detection device]
The metal plate separation device of the present invention includes an upper surface detection device that detects the height of the uppermost surface of the metal plate placed on the support device. In the metal plate separation method of the present invention, as will be described later, the support device is raised to a predetermined height, and the uppermost metal plate is pushed out horizontally at that position. At this time, the raising of the support device is stopped based on the detection result of the uppermost surface of the metal plate by the upper surface detection device. In the present invention, “detecting the height of the top surface of the metal plate” means that the top surface of the metal plate has reached a predetermined height in addition to measuring the height of the top surface of the metal plate. It also includes detecting.

  As the upper surface detection device, any device can be used as long as it can detect the height of the uppermost surface of the metal plate. For example, the uppermost surface of the metal plate is predetermined, such as a limit switch or a proximity sensor. It is possible to use a device that can detect that the height of the above has been reached.

[Extruding equipment]
The metal plate separation device of the present invention includes an extrusion device on one side of the metal plate placed on the support device. The extrusion device has a function of pushing only one of the laminated metal plates located at the uppermost level in the horizontal direction from the side surface so as to protrude to the other side surface side. In this way, by shifting the metal plate in the horizontal direction, the contact state between the stacked metal plates can be released, and the metal plates can be easily separated from each other.

  The structure of the extrusion device can be arbitrary as long as it can selectively extrude only the uppermost metal plate. For example, only the side surface of the uppermost metal plate can be selectively pushed. And a driving device that moves the contact member forward and backward in the horizontal direction.

  In this case, the contact member has a contact surface provided substantially perpendicular to the side that contacts the side surface of the metal plate, and the height (width in the vertical direction) of the contact surface is that of the extruded metal plate. Preferably it is the same as the thickness or smaller. If the contact member having such a structure is used, only one uppermost metal plate can be selectively pushed out in the horizontal direction.

  As the drive device, any device can be used as long as it can drive the contact member in the horizontal direction. For example, a linear motion device such as an electric cylinder using a ball screw can be used. . The number of the drive devices may be one, but it is preferable to use a plurality of drive devices in order to push the metal plate straight. When a plurality of driving devices are used, it is preferable to arrange the plurality of driving devices at equal intervals with respect to the side surface of the metal plate, and it is preferable to arrange them symmetrically when viewed from the side surface side of the metal plate. For example, when two driving devices are used, it is more preferable that one driving device is arranged at each of the positions 20 to 30% of the length of the side surface from both ends of the metal plate side surface. Moreover, when using a some drive device, it is preferable to provide the said contact member in the front-end | tip of each drive device.

  The extrusion distance by the extrusion device, that is, the dimension for projecting the metal plate to the other side surface is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of stably supporting the metal plate by the projecting portion support member described later, it is 5 mm or more. It is preferable to do. On the other hand, if the metal plate is extruded excessively, the surface may be damaged due to friction between the metal plates. Therefore, the extrusion distance is preferably 15 mm or less.

[Protrusion support member]
The metal plate separating apparatus of the present invention includes a protrusion support member on the other side surface of the metal plate placed on the support device, that is, on the side opposite to the extrusion device with the metal plate interposed therebetween. The protrusion support member does not interfere with the stacked metal plates placed on the support device when the metal plate separation device is viewed from above, but is installed at a position close to the metal plate. . Then, when the uppermost metal plate is projected toward the protruding portion supporting member by the above-described extrusion device, at least a part of the protruding portion of the uppermost metal plate interferes with the protruding portion supporting member; Become.

  As described above, when the support device is relatively lowered with the uppermost metal plate protruding as described above, at least a part of the protruding portion of the uppermost metal plate protrudes. Any member can be used as long as it is placed on the upper surface of the member support member and can maintain this state. Most simply, it may be a columnar or wall-like member having a horizontal upper end surface.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said protrusion part supporting member has a stopper which controls the movement in the horizontal direction of the metal plate extruded by the said extrusion apparatus in the upper end. The stopper can be provided, for example, on the upper end of the protruding portion support member, on the side away from the metal plate, so as to protrude further upward from the upper end. When using the protrusion support member provided with the stopper, when extruding the uppermost metal plate with the extruding member as described above, the extrusion distance is easily fixed by extruding the metal plate until it hits the stopper. Can be kept in.

[Control device]
The metal plate separating apparatus of the present invention further includes a control device, and the control device drives the extrusion device to extrude the metal plate, and supports the protruding portion of the extruded metal plate by the protruding portion supporting member. In this state, control is performed to lower the support device relative to the protrusion support member. Thus, by lowering the support device relatively, the metal plate placed on the support device is relatively lowered, but only the uppermost metal plate has its protruding portion supported by the protruding portion supporting member. Since it is supported, the supported side does not descend. As a result, only the side of the uppermost metal plate supported by the projecting portion support member is lifted and is in an inclined state.

  As described above, since the uppermost metal plate is shifted in the horizontal direction, it is already in a state of being easily separated. Furthermore, if one end of the uppermost metal plate is lifted in the above procedure, a force acts on the metal plate at an angle, so that the metal plate is higher than when the uppermost metal plate is pulled up vertically. They can be easily separated from each other. Therefore, the second and subsequent metal plates are easily separated by their own weight.

  When the support device is lowered relative to the protruding portion support member as described above, the distance to be lowered is not particularly limited, and may be adjusted according to the size of the metal plate to be used. However, even if the descending distance is increased more than necessary, the effect of separating the metal plate is not further improved, and the time and energy required for performing the descending operation are increased, and the working efficiency is lowered. Moreover, if the descending distance is excessively large, the inclination of the uppermost metal plate becomes too large and may be displaced. Therefore, it is preferable to set the descending distance to 25 mm or less under general conditions. On the other hand, if the descending distance is extremely short, the metal plates may not be properly separated. In addition, when a magnetic adsorption device is used as the adsorption device, if the descending distance is short, the uppermost metal plate and the second metal plate are too close. As a result, the second and subsequent metals together with the uppermost metal plate are used. There is a possibility that the plate is attracted and pulled up. Therefore, the descending distance is preferably 5 mm or more, and more preferably 15 mm or more.

  As a method of lowering the support device relative to the projecting portion support member, any of a method of lowering the support device, a method of raising the projecting portion support member, and a method of performing both operations is used. However, it is preferable to lower the support device. If the support device is lowered relative to the projecting portion support member by lowering the support device, the elevating device can be used for lowering the support device, and a mechanism for elevating the projecting portion support member is provided. Since it is not necessary, the device structure can be simplified.

  In addition, the said control apparatus can also perform other operation | movement of the said metal plate separation apparatus, and control of the other apparatus used in cooperation with this metal plate separation apparatus.

[Adsorption device]
The metal plate separating apparatus of the present invention further includes an adsorbing device that adsorbs and pulls up the metal plate whose protrusion is supported by the protrusion supporting member. As the adsorption device, a magnetic adsorption device or a vacuum adsorption device can be used. What is necessary is just to select the adsorption | suction apparatus to be used suitably according to the shape, material, etc. of a metal plate.

  The suction device is movable in the vertical direction in order to pull up the metal plate, but is preferably movable in the horizontal direction while the metal plate is sucked. Although the method of making the suction device movable is not particularly limited, for example, the suction device can be suspended from a crane such as an overhead crane, a bridge crane, etc., and can be moved in any direction.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the whole adsorbing device or at least a portion in contact with the metal plate can be inclined with respect to a horizontal plane. If the suction device can be tilted as described above, the metal plate in a tilted state with one end supported by the protruding portion support member can be sucked more reliably. As a method of tilting the adsorption device, it can be tilted at an arbitrary angle using a drive device, but from the viewpoint of simplifying the device structure and control, it can be tilted within a certain angle range. It is preferable to do.

(Embodiment)
Next, the metal plate separating apparatus and the metal plate separating method of the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the drawings. The following description relates to one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the following description. Each drawing schematically shows the structure and operation of the apparatus in the present embodiment, and the dimensions and ratios of the respective parts are different from actual ones.

  1 and 2 are schematic views showing a state in which the metal plate separating apparatus of the present invention is viewed from above and from the front. The metal plate separating apparatus 1 includes a support device 20 for supporting the stacked metal plates 10 and a lifting device (not shown) for moving the support device 20 up and down. In the present embodiment, a rectangular steel plate was used as the metal plate 10, and the dimensions of the steel plate were length 2890-3445 mm × width 820-1020 mm × thickness 4.5 mm.

  An extrusion device 30 is installed on one long side of the metal plate 10 placed on the support base. The extrusion device 30 includes a contact member 31 that can selectively push only the side surface of the uppermost metal plate, and a drive device 35 that moves the contact member forward and backward in the horizontal direction. As the drive device 35, an electric cylinder using a ball screw is used, and the contact member 31 is attached to the rod tip of the cylinder.

  The contact member 31 in the present embodiment has a side surface shape that is L-shaped inverted upside down as schematically shown in FIG. 3, and the extrusion contact surface 32 is provided on the surface on the metal plate 10 side. And an alignment contact surface 33 is provided. The extrusion contact surface 32 is a surface used for extruding the uppermost metal plate. In order to selectively extrude only one metal plate, the height of the extrusion contact surface 32 (width in the vertical direction). Is less than the thickness of one metal plate. In the present embodiment, since the thickness of the metal plate 10 is 4.5 mm, the height of the extrusion contact surface 32 is 4 mm. The alignment contact surface 33 is a surface used when aligning the metal plate 10 to be described later. The height of the contact surface 33 is set to 200 mm so that a plurality of metal plates can be pressed and aligned at the same time.

  A protruding portion support member 40 is installed on the long side of the laminated metal plate 10 opposite to the extrusion device 30. A suction device 50 is provided above the metal plate 10. In the present embodiment, the adsorption device 50 is a magnetic adsorption device capable of adsorbing a steel plate by magnetic force, and is suspended by a crane (not shown) so as to be movable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Moreover, the part (magnetic adsorption part) which this magnetic adsorption apparatus contacts and adsorbs to a metal plate is comprised so that inclination is possible within a fixed angle range with respect to a horizontal surface.

  In addition, a limit switch is provided as the upper surface detection device 60. The installation position of the upper surface detection device 60 is adjusted so that it can be detected that the uppermost surface of the stacked metal plates has reached a position for performing extrusion by the extrusion device 30.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the metal plate separating apparatus 1 over time. In the drawing, portions not directly related to the description other than the metal plate 10, the contact member 31 of the extrusion device 30, and the protruding portion support member 40 are omitted.

  FIG. 4A shows a state where the stacked metal plates 10 are first installed. At this time, the support device 20 is lowered to a position lower than the time point when the extrusion operation described later is performed, and the metal plate 10 is conveyed by a roller conveyor (not shown) in a stacked state, and finally the support device 20. Installed up.

  Next, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, the metal plate 10 is aligned. In the alignment operation, the extrusion device 30 is driven to press the alignment contact surface 33 of the contact member 31 against the metal plate 10, so that a plurality of metal plates including the uppermost metal plate are attached to the protrusion support member 40. Press against the side. The side surface of the protrusion support member 40 is a flat vertical surface, and thus the horizontal position of the metal plate can be aligned.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, the extrusion device 30 is retracted and the support device 20 is raised. The raising of the support device is continued until the uppermost surface of the metal plate 10 is detected by contact with a limit switch as the upper surface detection device 60. Thereby, the laminated metal plates 10 are lifted up to a height defined by the upper surface detection device 60.

  In this state, the extrusion device 30 is advanced to press the extrusion contact surface 32 of the contact member 31 against the metal plate 10, so that only the uppermost metal plate 11 is horizontally oriented as shown in FIG. And projecting from the opposite side of the stacked metal plates 10, that is, from the projecting portion support member 40 side. The protruding portion of the extruded uppermost metal plate 11 is supported by the upper surface of the protruding portion support member 40, and the tip of the uppermost metal plate 11 is at the upper end of the protruding portion support member 40. It strikes against the stopper 41 provided. Thereby, the extrusion distance of the uppermost metal plate 11 can be made constant. Moreover, in this embodiment, the electric cylinder provided with an overload detection switch is used as the drive device 35 of the extrusion device 30. Thereby, since it can be detected as an overload that the uppermost metal plate 11 hits the stopper 41, the operation of the driving device 35 can be stopped when it hits the stopper 41 without using a separate detection means. it can.

  Next, as shown in FIG.4 (e), the extrusion apparatus 30 is retracted, and the support apparatus 20 is lowered | hung after that. By lowering the supporting device 20, the uppermost metal plate 11 supported by the protruding portion by the protruding portion supporting member can be lifted and inclined as shown in the figure.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4F, the uppermost metal plate 11 in an inclined state is sucked by the suction device 50 and pulled up. The magnetic attraction device as the attraction device 50 is configured such that the magnetic attraction portion that adsorbs the metal plate in contact with the metal plate is configured to be tiltable within a certain angle range, so that it is tilted by operating the suspended crane. When the metal plate 11 is lowered and brought into contact with the uppermost metal plate 11 in a state, the magnetic adsorption portion is inclined according to the inclination of the uppermost metal plate 11, and the metal plate can be reliably adsorbed. Thereafter, the pulled up metal plate can be moved to a place for performing the next processing or processing as it is.

  By the above procedure, only the uppermost metal plate 11 can be cut out reliably. The second and subsequent metal plates can be sequentially cut out one by one by returning to the step of FIG. 4B or 4C and repeating a series of operations.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably cut out the stacked metal plates one by one without damaging them with an apparatus having a simple structure. In addition, separation of the metal plates is achieved only by a combination of horizontal mechanical extrusion and lowering while supporting one end of the metal plate, so it can also be applied to non-magnetic metal plates. In addition, the reproducibility of processing is extremely high.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Metal plate separation device 10 Metal plate 11 Uppermost metal plate 20 Support device 30 Extrusion device 31 Contact member 32 Extrusion contact surface 33 Alignment contact surface 35 Drive device 40 Protrusion support member 41 Stopper 50 Adsorption device 60 Upper surface detection device

Claims (2)

A support device for supporting the laminated metal plates at a predetermined height in a substantially horizontal state;
A lifting device for lifting and lowering the support device;
An upper surface detection device for detecting the height of the uppermost surface of the metal plate placed on the support device;
An extrusion device that is positioned on one side surface of the metal plate placed on the support device and pushes only one of the metal plates located on the uppermost level horizontally from the side surface and protrudes to the other side surface side. When,
A protrusion support member that is located on the other side surface of the metal plate placed on the support device and supports the protrusion of the metal plate extruded by the extrusion device from the lower surface side;
Control for lowering the support device relative to the protrusion support member in a state where the extrusion device is driven to extrude the metal plate and the protrusion of the extruded metal plate is supported by the protrusion support member. Equipment,
A metal plate separating apparatus comprising: an adsorbing device that adsorbs and pulls up a metal plate supported by the projecting portion by the projecting portion supporting member. A metal plate separation method for separating a metal plate using the metal plate separation apparatus according to claim 1,
Lowering the support device to a predetermined height;
Place the metal plate laminated on the support device,
Start raising the support device,
Based on the detection result of the uppermost surface of the metal plate by the upper surface detection device, the rise is stopped,
By the extrusion device, only one of the metal plates located at the uppermost stage is pushed in the horizontal direction from the side surface to protrude to the other side surface side,
By the protruding portion support member, the protruding portion of the metal plate extruded by the extrusion device is supported from the lower surface side,
By lowering the support device, the metal plate whose protrusion is supported by the protrusion support member is lifted,
A method for separating a metal plate, wherein the suction device sucks and lifts the floating metal plate.

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