JP2019055433A - Clamp unit - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a clamp unit having long life and high turning accuracy.SOLUTION: A clamp unit 1 includes a body 2 capable of supplying the air inside, a rod 3 protruding from one end of the body 2, and an arm 4 fixed to the end of the rod 3. The body 2 is provided with a stopper member 5 which is in contact with the turning arm 4 and regulates the turning. The stopper member 5 is provided with a turning regulation surface 5a which regulates turning of the arm 4 and contact the arm 4. The turning regulation surface 5a extends in the way that the arm in contact with the same is further guided in a vertical direction. Thus, it is possible to maintain longer life and higher turning accuracy of the arm 4 than conventional.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a clamp unit that clamps a workpiece put into a jig to perform a predetermined operation and releases the clamp after the operation so that the workpiece can be removed.

  As shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the conventional clamp unit is configured to press and fix a workpiece placed on a jig to the jig, and a main body fixed to the jig and the main body. A rod that protrudes from one end of the rod and moves in the axial direction while turning by a predetermined angle, and an arm that is fixed to the tip of the rod and abuts against the workpiece. The clamp unit is configured to operate so as to pull the rod into the main body when air is supplied into the main body, and to turn and move in the axial direction in this process.

  The rod has a guide groove on the outer periphery thereof, and the guide groove is formed from the vicinity of the middle of the rod toward one end. The guide groove includes a vertical groove that extends straight downward from the middle of the rod, and a spiral groove that is connected to the vertical groove and extends spirally downward. The main body includes a guide pin that is always engaged with the guide groove. As a result, when air is supplied into the main body, the rod is pressed downward and pulled into the main body, but since the guide pin is engaged with the guide groove, the rod to be pulled into the spiral groove. It moves in the axial direction while turning about 90 degrees along, and then moves only in the axial direction along the longitudinal groove. Therefore, the arm fixed to the rod similarly turns and moves in the axial direction, and the workpiece is clamped in close contact with the jig.

Patent No. 5565389 Noto 2504549

  However, in the conventional clamp unit, if the flow rate of the air supplied to the main body is increased and the pull-in time of the rod is shortened, the frictional force at the time of contact between the guide pin and the guide groove increases, so that the wear of these parts is severe. There was a problem that became shorter. Further, when one or both of the guide pins and the guide grooves are worn, the groove width of the guide grooves is increased and the pin diameter of the guide pins is decreased. As a result, there is a problem that the turning angle of the arm becomes larger or smaller than a predetermined angle of 90 degrees, and the turning angle accuracy is deteriorated. Moreover, if wear of the guide pins and guide grooves occurs in this way, these guide pins and rods will be replaced with new ones, but it will take longer time to remove and install these components from the body. There was also a problem. In addition, the workpiece to be clamped may be equipped with a component that is damaged when it is pressed against the arm. In the case of a work in which the work pressing position by such an arm is limited, for example, it may be possible to cope by attaching a long arm to the rod. However, when such a long arm is used, a large moment is generated at the time of turning, so that the wear of the guide pin and the guide groove progresses remarkably. Therefore, the conventional clamp unit using such a long arm has a problem that it tends to have a short life.

  A clamp unit according to the present invention includes a main body capable of supplying air to the inside, a rod protruding from one end of the main body, and an arm fixed to the tip of the rod, and the arm is turned by a predetermined angle. In the clamp unit capable of fixing a workpiece, the main body includes a stopper member that contacts the swinging arm and restricts the turning, and the stopper member has a turning restriction surface that restricts the turning of the arm and contacts the arm. And the turning restricting surface extends so as to further guide the arm in contact with the turning restricting surface in the vertical direction. In addition, it is preferable that the said arm arrange | positions an elastic member in the location contact | abutted to the said stopper member.

  As described above, the clamp unit according to the present invention has an advantage that the life of a rod or the like can be extended and the turning angle accuracy of the arm can be maintained high by attaching a stopper member to a conventional commercial product. Further, in the clamp unit according to the present invention, even when the arm rotates at high speed, the elastic member is attached to the arm, so that the impact generated at the moment when the arm abuts against the stopper member is alleviated. Thereby, there is also an advantage that it is difficult to make a loud collision sound when the arm turns each time.

It is a perspective view of the clamp unit concerning the present invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the clamp unit based on this invention, (a) shows the state before operation | movement, (b) shows the state which the arm moved below, turning a predetermined angle, and contact | abutted on the turning control surface. , (C) shows a state in which the arm moves downward to clamp the workpiece.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the clamp unit 1 according to the present invention has a main body 2 fixed on a jig (not shown) and extending in the vertical direction, a rod 3 protruding from one end of the main body, An arm 4 screwed to the upper portion of the rod 3 is provided. The main body 2 and the rod 3 have the same configuration as that disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2. When the air is supplied to the inside of the main body 2, the rod moves into the main body 2 while turning about 90 degrees as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (c). That is, a groove extending in a spiral shape and a groove extending in the vertical direction are formed on the outer periphery of the rod 3 as in the prior art. Further, the main body 2 is also provided with another air supply section for operating the rod 3 in the direction protruding from the main body 2. Thereby, the reverse operation is possible in the order of FIG. 2B and FIG. 2A from the state of FIG.

  The arm 4 has a flat plate shape that changes its direction from the extending direction of the rod 3 and extends in the horizontal direction. The arm 4 includes a clamp member 10 that presses and fixes a workpiece (not shown) placed on the jig downward at its tip, and an elastic member 6 that is screwed to the rear end and protrudes downward. Be prepared.

  Since the clamp member 10 is provided at the tip of the arm 4, the male screw portion 11 that is screwed into a screw portion (not shown), a shaft portion 12 integrally formed with the male screw portion 11, and the shaft portion 12. And an abutment portion 13 made of urethane disposed at the tip. Since the abutting portion 13 abuts on the workpiece, the abutting portion 13 is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the shaft portion 12 using a screw component so that it can be easily replaced when worn.

  The elastic member 6 has a cylindrical shape, and the diameter thereof is set to be slightly larger than the width of the arm 4. Further, since the elastic member 6 is made of an elastically deformable material, the elastic member 6 can be deformed to be smaller than the width dimension of the arm 4 when the radial direction is pressed.

  A substantially L-shaped stopper member 5 is disposed at the upper end of the main body 2. The stopper member 5 regulates the turning arm 4 so as not to turn more than 90 degrees which is a predetermined angle, and as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the stopper member 5 contacts the elastic member 6 and the rear side surface of the arm 4. It comprises a turn restricting surface 5a that is in contact.

  Further, the stopper member 5 is formed with a surface that is opposed to the turning restriction surface 5a with a predetermined gap. Therefore, a vertical groove extending downward is formed, and the arm 4 rotated by a predetermined angle can be fitted into the vertical groove. Further, since the stopper member 5 has to make the arm 4 and the elastic member 6 that move downward while turning to abut against the turning restriction surface 5a, the arm 4 and the elastic member 6 do not interfere with each other during turning. Thus, there is a difference in the height between the turning restricting surface 5a and the surface disposed opposite thereto.

  The operation of the clamp unit 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (c). First, FIG. 2A shows a state before the workpiece is clamped, in which the workpiece is placed on a jig. Compressed air is supplied into the main body 2 through an electromagnetic valve (not shown). As a result, the rod 3 is pulled into the main body 2 along the above-described spiral groove on the outer periphery thereof, so that the arm 4 slightly moves downward while turning in the clockwise direction of the arrow shown in FIG. To do. At this time, the elastic member 6 comes into contact with the turning restricting surface 5a of the stopper member 5 to start elastic deformation, and is elastically deformed from a state of projecting radially from the side surface of the arm 4 until it coincides with the side surface. Therefore, the turning speed of the arm 4 is decelerated from high speed to low speed along with this elastic deformation. Thus, by arranging the elastic member 6, it is possible to suppress an impact when the rear end side surface of the arm 4 comes into contact with the turning restriction surface 5 of the stopper member 5.

  On the other hand, even if the arm 4 does not include the elastic member 6, the rear end side surface of the arm 4 does not turn more than a predetermined angle by the turning restriction surface 5 a, so that the rod 3 to which the arm 4 is screwed does not turn more than necessary. . As a result, the width of the spiral groove formed on the outer periphery of the rod 3 is not increased, so that the problem of wear of the rod 3 and the like is eliminated as in the prior art.

  Thus, the state where the rear end side surface of the arm 4 is in contact with the turning restriction surface 5 is the state of FIG. As air continues to be supplied into the main body 2, the rod 3 is drawn purely vertically only into the main body 2 along a groove extending vertically from the spiral groove. Thereby, the arm 4 moves purely below the arrow shown in FIG. At this time, the elastic member 6 and the rear end side surface of the arm 4 are guided along the turning restriction surface 5 of the stopper member 5 and enter the groove of the stopper member 5. As a result, the clamp member 10 disposed at the tip of the arm 4 contacts the workpiece and presses the workpiece against the upper surface of the jig. Since the workpiece is fixed to the jig, a desired operation such as screw tightening or component insertion is performed on the workpiece.

  When the various operations are completed and the workpiece is removed from the jig, the electromagnetic valve is switched to supply the air to the other air supply unit of the main body 2. As a result, the state shown in FIG. 2 (c) is returned to the unclamped state shown in FIG. 2 (a) through FIG. 2 (b). It is taken out.

  In this embodiment, the member screwed to the rear end of the arm 4 is the elastic member 6, but is not limited to this, and may be a metal member that is heat-treated and has high hardness, for example. However, in this case, since it is difficult to be elastically deformed, the diameter is set to be equal to the width of the arm 4 fitted into the vertical groove. Further, when the allowable load in the axial direction for fixing the workpiece is limited, for example, the shaft portion 12 is configured to be cushioned in the axial direction so that the downward pulling force of the rod 3 is not transmitted as it is. Good. Moreover, although the turning angle of the arm 4 is about 90 degrees, the present invention is not limited to this, and the turning angle is appropriately set from the range of more than 1 degree to 340 degrees.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Clamp unit 2 ... Main body 3 ... Rod 4 ... Arm 5 ... Stopper member 5a ... Turning control surface 6 ... Elastic member 10 ... Clamp member 11 ... Male thread part 12 ... Shaft part 13 ... Contact part

Claims (2)

A clamp unit comprising: a main body capable of supplying air to the inside; a rod projecting from one end of the main body; and an arm fixed to the tip of the rod; ,
The main body includes a stopper member that contacts the swinging arm and regulates the swinging,
The stopper member includes a turning regulation surface that regulates the turning of the arm and contacts the arm,
The clamp unit according to claim 1, wherein the turning restricting surface extends so as to further guide the arm in contact therewith in the vertical direction.   The clamp unit according to claim 1, wherein the arm includes an elastic member disposed at a position where the arm abuts on the stopper member.

Images