JP2020158259A - Arrangement method and arrangement device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide new techniques for making orientations of workpieces uniform.SOLUTION: Orientations of workpieces are made uniform by rotation by floating the workpieces from a conveying member using magnetic force.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for aligning and aligning the directions of fine workpieces such as parts.

Several means for aligning the work orientation have been proposed so far.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a vibrating parts feeder, and the vibrating parts feeder carries a multilayer ceramic chip capacitor which is a ferromagnet. The vibrating parts feeder has a bowl made of a non-magnetic material, and the central portion of the bowl is a dish portion that houses the monolithic ceramic chip capacitor as a part to be conveyed in a loose state. On the inner circumference of the bowl, a parts transport path extending from the dish portion in a spiral shape is formed. Due to vibration, the monolithic ceramic chip capacitor enters the component transport path from the dish and rises in a spiral shape. A linear feeder is connected to the component delivery port of the component transport path to linearly transport the aligned multilayer ceramic chip capacitors.

In this vibrating parts feeder, the magnetic field generating means are arranged on the outer side surface of the bowl by a predetermined distance, and the magnetic field is applied to the moving multilayer ceramic chip capacitor. Here, since the magnetic field lines from the magnetic field generating means magnetic poles are applied in the horizontal direction to the laminated ceramic chip capacitor as shown by the dotted lines, the planar internal electrodes formed in multiple layers inside the capacitor are in a horizontal state. Stable with. In other words, if the internal electrode surface of the moving multilayer ceramic chip capacitor is horizontal, it will pass as it is, but if the internal electrode surface is vertical, the posture is changed so that the internal electrode surface is horizontal and transported. Will be done.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-217136

The work is not necessarily a work whose posture can be aligned depending on the direction of the electrodes as in Patent Document 1, but a new technique is required.

The following technologies can be mentioned as means for solving the problems.

(1) A method of aligning workpieces having a magnetic flange portion.
A transport member that transports the work by moving with the work on it,
An attitude control step of aligning the orientation of the work by causing the work to float from the transport member by magnetic force from above the transport member and rotating the work.
After the attitude control step, a release step of returning the work to the transport member by weakening the magnetic force,
How to align workpieces with.

(2) In the attitude control step, a magnetic force generating portion above the transport member and a non-magnetic material arranged between the magnetic force generating portion and the transport member are used.
The attitude control step is performed by attracting the work to the non-magnetic material by the magnetic force of the magnetic force generating portion.
In the release step, the magnetic force acting on the work from the magnetic force generating portion is weakened to separate the non-magnetic material.
The work alignment method according to (1) above.

(3) The magnetic force generating portion is a permanent magnet.
By bringing the permanent magnet closer to the non-magnetic material, the work is attracted to the non-magnetic material.
The work is released by separating the permanent magnet from the non-magnetic material.
The work alignment method according to (2) above.

(4) The distance G1 between the non-magnetic material and the transport member is 1.1 to 2 times the maximum length L of the work.
The work alignment method according to (2) or (3) above.

(5) Using a magnetic force generating portion that is an electromagnet located above the work,
By controlling the strength of the magnetic force by the current supplied to the electromagnet, the attitude control step and the release step are performed.
The work alignment method according to any one of (1) to (4) above.

(6) Use a plurality of magnetic force generating parts arranged at a distance of 3 times or more the work height H.
The alignment method according to any one of (2) to (5) above.

(7) An aligning device for aligning workpieces having a magnetic flange portion.
A transport member that transports the work by moving with the work on it,
It is provided above the transport member and includes an attitude control unit which is arranged above the transport member and is rotated by floating the work from the transport member to align the directions of the work, and returns the work to the transport member by weakening the magnetic force. Aligner.

The alignment method and apparatus of the present invention targets a work having a magnetic flange portion, and the work is moved by a transport member that itself moves (including rotary movement by a table, movement by a belt, etc.) with the work placed on the work. By transporting and floating the work by magnetic force, the orientation of the work can be aligned.

It is a side view and the top view which show an example of a work. It is a top view which shows an example of a transport device. (A) and (b) are diagrams showing the attitude control by the regulated ceiling. (A) is a top view of the attitude control unit using magnetic force, and (b) is a cross-sectional view. (A) to (c) are diagrams showing the posture change process by the attitude control unit, and (d) is a diagram showing a state in which the work is released after the attitude change.

[work]
An example of the work is shown in FIG. The work W in FIG. 1 is circular and includes two flange portions 10 arranged so as to be parallel to each other and a shaft portion 12 between them. In an appropriate posture, the shaft portion 12 is parallel to the vertical direction (the direction perpendicular to the surface direction of the rotary table described later). That is, the surface of the flange portion 10 (flange surface 10a) is parallel to the horizontal direction (plane direction of the rotary table). Hereinafter, this posture is referred to as "vertical orientation", and the posture in which the shaft portion 12 faces the horizontal direction is referred to as "horizontal orientation".

The height of the work in the vertical direction, that is, the distance from the surface of one flange to the surface of the other flange (in other words, the length of the work in the longitudinal direction of the shaft) H, the width, that is, the width of the flange. The diameter (in other words, the length of the work in the horizontal direction) R is larger. The diameter R of the flange portion 10 is larger than the diameter of the shaft portion 12 and the thickness of the flange portion 10.

In the work W, at least the flange portion 10 is magnetic, but the shaft portion 12 may be non-magnetic. Further, it may be a columnar body as long as it has a flange surface.

[Aligning device]
FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the alignment device 2. The alignment device 2 of FIG. 2 includes a rotary table 20 which is a transport member, and is a hopper 21, a regulated ceiling 22, an outside guide 23, a ceiling guide 24, an attitude control unit 25, and a merging guide along the rotation direction of the rotary table. 26, an alignment guide 27, and a linear feeder 28 are provided. For convenience of illustration, dot hatching is added to the area where the surface of the rotary table 20 appears. Further, the traveling direction of the vertically oriented work is indicated by a white arrow, the traveling direction of the horizontally oriented work is indicated by a lattice hatching arrow, and the traveling direction in any case is indicated by a diagonal hatching arrow.

The rotary table 20 is a flat disk-shaped member, and is rotated in the direction of the black arrow (counterclockwise in FIG. 2) around the rotation axis by a drive unit such as a motor (not shown) with the workpiece mounted on the rotary table 20. The work moves by this rotation. In addition to the rotary table, a member such as a belt can be applied as a transport member.

The hopper 21 supplies the work on the rotary table 20. The posture of the work supplied at this time is not unified.

The regulation ceiling 22 is arranged above the rotary table 20 at intervals larger than the work height H and smaller than the work width R from the rotary table 20. The work moves so as to cross the regulated ceiling 22 by the rotation of the rotary table 20. Due to this movement, the vertical workpiece passes under the regulated ceiling 22 toward the ceiling guide 24. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the horizontally oriented work is rotated by 90 ° when its flange portion hits the regulated ceiling 22, and as a result, it is oriented vertically. The vertical work faces the ceiling guide 24. On the other hand, the sideways work whose posture has not changed even on the regulated ceiling 22 cannot pass under the regulated ceiling 22 and moves to the outside guide 23.

The outside guide 23 guides the sideways work to the ceiling guide 24.

Similar to the regulated ceiling 22, the ceiling guide 24 is arranged above the rotary table 20 at intervals larger than the work height H and smaller than the work width R from the rotary table 20. The ceiling guide 24 passes the vertical work and guides the horizontal work to the attitude control unit 25. In other words, the ceiling guide 24 causes the vertical work to bypass the attitude control unit 25.

The attitude control unit 25 attracts the work by applying the magnetic force of the magnetic force generating portion to the flange portion of the work. By this suction, the work rotates and the orientation of the flange surface, that is, the posture of the work is aligned (attitude control process). After that, the work can be released from the suction by weakening the magnetic force, and the work can be returned to the movement by the rotary table (release step).

A plan view of a specific example of the attitude control unit 25 is shown in FIG. 4A, and a cross-sectional view is shown in FIG. 4B. In this example, the attitude control unit 25 includes magnetic force generating units M1 to M3 arranged above the rotary table 20, and a non-magnetic sheet 251 arranged between the magnetic force generating unit and the rotary table 20.

When the magnetic force generating unit is a permanent magnet, the attitude control unit has a magnet moving mechanism (not shown) that moves the permanent magnet closer to or away from the non-magnetic sheet 251. When approaching the non-magnetic sheet 251 the magnetic field of the permanent magnet acts on the work, and the work is attracted to the non-magnetic sheet 251. Further, when the permanent magnet is separated from the non-magnetic sheet 251, the magnetic force acting on the work is weakened, and the work is also separated from the non-magnetic sheet 251.

When the magnetic force generating portion is an electromagnet, the strength of the magnetic force may be switched by an electric current. When an electromagnet is used, the non-magnetic sheet 251 can be omitted, but a non-magnetic sheet is provided below the magnetic force generating portion as in the case of a permanent magnet, which also serves as a cushioning material for cushioning the impact when the work is attracted to the magnetic force generating portion. You may.

When the magnetic force acts and the work is attracted to the magnetic force generating portion, the distance G1 between the highest point reached by the work and the rotary table 20 is set to be larger than the maximum length L of the work. This allows the work to rotate. The distance G1 is preferably 1.1 to 2 times the maximum length L of the work. In FIG. 4, since the attitude control unit 25 has the non-magnetic sheet 251, the distance between the upper surface of the rotary table 20 and the lower surface of the non-magnetic sheet 251 is the distance G1. In the configuration without the non-magnetic sheet 251, the distance between the rotary table 20 and the lower surface of the magnetic force generating portion is the distance G1.

In both the permanent magnet and the electromagnet, the magnetic force generating portion preferably has a circular shape in the horizontal direction.

The horizontal dimension of the magnetic force generating portion is preferably smaller than the work width R.

The number of magnetic force generating parts is three in this example, but the number can be changed. When a plurality of magnetic force generating portions are provided, it is preferable to arrange them along the moving direction of the work. By arranging in this way, it is possible to reduce the number of workpieces that pass the attitude control sideways.

The distance G2 between the centers of the magnetic force generating portions M1 and M2 and M2 and M3 is preferably 3 times or more the work height H. When the distance G2 is in this range, the sideways work is not lifted sideways at the time of suction, but is easily rotated.

For example, when the work width R is 7.4 mm, the work height H is 5.8 mm, and the diagonal dimension (maximum length L of the work) is 9.0 mm, the distance G1 can be 10 mm and the distance G2 can be 23 mm.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing how the work rotates. In FIG. 5, the strength of the magnetic force is switched by moving the magnetic force generating unit M1 up and down, but as described above, the strength of the magnetic force may be switched by the current supplied to the electromagnet. As shown in FIG. 5, a magnetic force acts on the flange portion of the conveyed work, and the work is lifted (FIGS. 5A and 5B). The lifting of the work stops when the posture of the work is most stable, that is, when the upper surface (flange surface) of the flange portion is in contact with the non-magnetic sheet 251 (FIG. 5 (c)). In other words, the work is attracted to the non-magnetic sheet 251 by the magnetic force generating portion M1 with the flange surface facing the horizontal direction. Therefore, the work that was horizontally oriented before suction is rotated by 90 ° and becomes vertically oriented. After that, the magnetic force is weakened as the magnetic force generating portion separates from the non-magnetic sheet 251 and the work is released and returned to the rotary table 20 in the vertical posture when it was attracted (FIG. 5 (d)).

The magnetic flux density of the magnetic force generating portion is set to such that it can act on the upper end of the lateral work (that is, the lateral end of the flange) and be attracted. Further, since the height of the vertical work is smaller than that of the horizontal work, the distance from the magnetic force generating portion is increased and the acting magnetic force is also reduced. Therefore, the magnetic flux density may be set so that the vertical work cannot be lifted. However, the magnetic flux density may be large enough to lift the vertical work. This is because even if the magnetic flux density is large enough to attract the vertically oriented work, the flange surface is larger than the thickness of the flange portion, so that the posture in which the flange surface faces the magnetic force generating portion is the most stable.

The magnetic flux density of each magnetic force generating part per work weight is 10 mT / g or more when the upper end of the lateral work (that is, the lateral end of the flange) is directly below the magnetic force generating part so that the work can be easily rotated. It is preferably 50 mT / g or less.

The regulated ceiling 22 and the ceiling guide 24 provided upstream of the attitude control unit 25 align the postures of the workpieces in the vertical direction to some extent, and only the workpieces in the horizontal orientation are sent to the attitude control unit 25. That is, before the attitude control using the magnetic force, the attitude control (regulated ceiling 22) and the attitude distribution (regulated ceiling 22, ceiling guide 24) are performed in advance, so that the attitude control unit 25 is thinned out. Work is sent. Therefore, there is a high possibility that the distance between the works is wide enough not to collide with the work behind the work even if the work is attracted and released by the magnetic force.

In addition, depending on the size of the work, the transport speed (that is, the rotation speed of the table), and the interval between the works, the magnetic force of the magnetic force generating part is turned ON / OFF (hereinafter, so that the attracted work does not collide with the next work). "ON / OFF" may change the speed of (including switching the strength of the magnetic force and changing the distance of the magnet having a constant magnetic force to a non-magnetic material). In particular, by adjusting the length of the ON time, it is possible to avoid a collision with the next work. When thinning according to the posture is not performed in front of the posture control unit 25, the work interval is affected by the work supply speed and the transport speed by the hopper.

Further, when a plurality of magnetic force generating portions are arranged along the transport direction, it is preferable that one work undergoes an attitude control step by at least two magnetic force generating portions. Here, "going through the attitude control process" includes not only the case where it succeeds but also the case where it remains sideways. That is, when switching ON / OFF of the magnetic force generating units M1 to M3 all at once, ON / OFF may be switched at least twice while one work passes under the attitude control unit 25. By doing so, even if the attitude cannot be controlled by the first magnetic force generating unit M1, the attitude control can be attempted by the second and subsequent magnetic force generating units.

The merging guide 24 guides the work that has passed through the attitude control unit 25 to merge with the work that has passed through the transport path branched by the ceiling guide 24.

In this example, the vertical workpieces then pass under the regulated ceiling 22, aligned in a row by the alignment guide 27, and guided out of the turntable 20 by the linear feeder 28.

The work that has not been turned vertically even in the attitude control unit is guided to the outside guide 23 again by the regulation ceiling 22. Vertical attitude control is attempted again for the guided work.

Since the present invention can align and align fine workpieces such as parts in the same direction, it can be used for inspecting workpieces and efficiently advancing other operations using workpieces.

W Work 10 Work flange 10a Flange surface 12 Work shaft H Work height R Work width L Maximum work length 2 Alignment device 20 Rotating table 21 Hopper 22 Restricted ceiling 23 External guide 24 Ceiling guide 25 Attitude control unit 26 Merge guide 27 Alignment guide 28 Linear feeders M1 to M3 Magnetic force generator 251 Non-magnetic sheet

Claims (7)

A method of aligning workpieces with magnetic flanges.
A transport member that transports the work by moving with the work on it,
An attitude control step of aligning the orientation of the work by causing the work to float from the transport member by magnetic force from above the transport member and rotating the work.
After the attitude control step, a release step of returning the work to the transport member by weakening the magnetic force,
How to align workpieces with. In the attitude control step, a magnetic force generating portion above the transport member and a non-magnetic material arranged between the magnetic force generating portion and the transport member are used.
The attitude control step is performed by attracting the work to the non-magnetic material by the magnetic force of the magnetic force generating portion.
In the release step, the magnetic force acting on the work from the magnetic force generating portion is weakened to separate the non-magnetic material.
The method for arranging works according to claim 1. The magnetic force generating portion is a permanent magnet.
By bringing the permanent magnet closer to the non-magnetic material, the work is attracted to the non-magnetic material.
The work is released by separating the permanent magnet from the non-magnetic material.
The method for arranging works according to claim 2. The distance G1 between the non-magnetic material and the transport member is 1.1 to 2 times the maximum length L of the work.
The method for arranging works according to claim 2 or 3. Using a magnetic force generating part that is an electromagnet located above the work,
By controlling the strength of the magnetic force by the current supplied to the electromagnet, the attitude control step and the release step are performed.
The method for arranging works according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The alignment method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein a plurality of magnetic force generating portions arranged at a distance of 3 times or more the work height H are used. An alignment device that aligns workpieces with magnetic flanges.
A transport member that transports the work by moving with the work on it,
It is provided above the transport member and includes an attitude control unit which is arranged above the transport member and is rotated by floating the work from the transport member to align the directions of the work, and returns the work to the transport member by weakening the magnetic force. Aligner.