JP2021030420A - Component supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

To perform highly accurate component supply by compactifying a device structure having a passage tube as a main member and smoothly moving a component.SOLUTION: In a component supply device in a type of conveying a component 1 by jetting the conveyance air to supply passages 8A, 12A of a closed-cross section structure, a supply head 15 formed with a receiving recessed groove 16 is arranged, a stopper face 17 is formed on an end of the receiving recessed groove 16, open passages 21, 51 for discharging the conveyance air to the outside from the receiving recess are provided, advancement/retreat drive means 33 for moving the component 1 held by the supply head 15 to a target spot is provided, advancement/retreat movement means 44 for integrally displacing a passage tube 12, the supply head 15 and the advancement/retreat drive means 33 and setting the advance position of the supply head 15 to a prescribed spot is provided, and feeding-out drive means 47 for feeding out the component 1 from the normal position of the supply head 15 in the state where the supply head 15 advances to the prescribed spot is provided.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a component supply device that injects conveyed air into a supply passage having a closed cross-section structure extending from a component supply source to convey the component, receives the component by a supply head, and transfers the component to a target location.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-035729 describes that a passage member having a closed cross-section structure extending from a component supply source is fixed to a stationary member, and transport air is injected into the passage member to transport the component. There is. Then, the parts sequentially conveyed from the passage member are transferred to the advancing / retreating operation type supply head and supplied to the target location, and the air cylinder that advances / retreats the supply head in the horizontal direction operates in the vertical direction. It is described that it is supported by another air cylinder and this other air cylinder is coupled to a stationary member. Therefore, the stationary passage member is always stationary, and the supply head moves forward and backward in a state of being separated from the passage member via the two air cylinders.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-035729

In the prior art described in Patent Document 1, the passage member is fixed to a member corresponding to the stationary member, and the advancing / retreating operation type supply head is combined in a state of communicating with the outlet portion of the passage member. Then, an air cylinder that advances and retreats the supply head in the horizontal direction is coupled to and supported by another air cylinder that operates in the vertical direction. Therefore, the supply head has a structural form in which it is coupled to the stationary member via a vertically actuated air cylinder fixed to the stationary member and a horizontally actuated air cylinder supported by the air cylinder. ing. Due to such a structure, it becomes difficult to match the supply head arranged at the tip of the movable series mechanism such as an air cylinder with the outlet portion of the stationary passage member in a state of being accurately communicated with each other. That is, it is difficult to align the outlet portion of the passage member with the supply head because a plurality of movable series mechanisms are interposed between the supply head and the stationary member.

Further, since the passage member is in a stationary state, if the structure arranged in the vicinity moves, the passage member may come into contact with the passage member. It becomes difficult to make it compact.

From the above considerations, it is an object of the present invention to make the device structure with the passage pipe as a main member, to make the parts move smoothly, and to supply the parts with high accuracy.

The invention according to claim 1
It is a type in which transport air is injected into a supply passage formed in a passage pipe having a closed cross-section structure extending from a component supply source to transport the component.
A supply head having a recessed groove for receiving parts is arranged in a continuous state with a passage member constituting the supply passage.
A stopper surface for setting the stop position of the component is formed at the end of the receiving concave groove.
An open passage is formed to allow the conveyed air to flow out from the receiving recess.
When the air flow flowing out from the open passage hits the component, the component stopped at the abnormal position is pushed back to the stopper surface to maintain the normal position.
An advancing / retreating driving means for moving the parts held by the supply head to the target location is provided integrally with the passage pipe.
The mounting direction of the advancing / retreating driving means is set so that the advancing direction of the component in the supply passage and the advancing direction of the supply head are orthogonal to each other.
The advancing / retreating moving means for setting the advancing position of the supply head at a predetermined position by integrally displaceting the passage pipe together with the supply head, the advancing / retreating driving means, etc. is provided in a state of being attached to the stationary member.
In a state where the supply head is advanced to a predetermined position by the advance / retreat drive means, a delivery drive means for sending a component from a normal position of the supply head is attached to the supply head.
The advancing / retreating moving means is coupled to a stationary member, the advancing / retreating moving means and the advancing / retreating driving means are coupled to a passage pipe which is a central member, the supply head is coupled to the advancing / retreating driving means, and the feeding head is sent to the supply head. It is a parts supply device characterized in that the entire device is integrally formed by combining drive means.

The advancing / retreating moving means is coupled to the stationary member, the advancing / retreating moving means and the advancing / retreating driving means are coupled to the passage pipe which is the central member, the supply head is coupled to the advancing / retreating driving means, and the sending / retreating driving means is coupled to the supply head. As a result, the entire device is integrally configured. That is, the elongated passage pipe is the main member, and the advancing / retreating driving means for advancing / retreating the supply head is integrally arranged in the passage pipe, and the passage pipe and the supply head can be arranged in an integrated state. Further, the advancing / retreating moving means is coupled to the advancing / retreating driving means via a passage pipe, and the advancing / retreating moving means is attached to the stationary member. Such a series of combined structures makes it easy to organize the basic structure of the device into an elongated and compact shape. At the same time, it is advantageous to install the device in a narrow space.

The advancing / retreating driving means for operating the supply head is connected to the aisle pipe, and the advancing / retreating moving means fixed to the stationary member is connected to the aisle pipe. Since it plays the role of an intermediary member, it is possible to avoid adopting a series mechanism in which the advancing / retreating driving means is directly connected to the advancing / retreating moving means. Therefore, the factor that distorts the relative position between the outlet portion of the passage member and the supply head is minimized, and the component transfer from the passage member to the supply head is performed accurately and smoothly.

Since the advancing / retreating driving means is coupled to the passage pipe and the supply head is coupled to the advancing / retreating driving means, the structural form is such that only the advancing / retreating driving means mediates between the passage pipe and the supply head. Therefore, the relative position between the passage pipe and the supply head can be easily set as a predetermined value, whereby the parts from the passage pipe can be reliably and smoothly transferred to the supply head, and the operation reliability of the device is improved.

Since the advancing / retreating driving means can be directly or indirectly connected to the passage pipe through a bracket or the like, the relative position between the outlet point of the passage pipe and the supply head can be accurately set, and the parts can be smoothly passed through the passage. It is possible to shift from the pipe to the supply head.

Since the advancing / retreating driving means is integrated with the passage pipe, the relative position between the advancing / retreating driving means and the passage pipe can be made unchanged. As a result, the behavior that only the advancing / retreating driving means moves is eliminated, which is effective for making the device compact.

Since the passage pipe is integrally displaced by the advancing / retreating moving means together with the supply head, the advancing / retreating driving means, etc., the related structure can be displaced as one piece, which is advantageous in terms of structural simplification. Further, for example, even when the movable electrode is located at the advance destination of the supply head, the supply head can be moved while avoiding the movable electrode. That is, the mechanism on the moving side is the advancing / retreating moving means, and the mechanism on the moving side is an integrated structure such as a supply pipe, an advancing / retreating driving means, a supply head, and a sending / retreating driving means. As a result, the above effect is ensured.

The parts are stopped in the proper position by the stopper surface. A delivery driving means for delivering this component is provided integrally with the supply head. Therefore, the passage pipe, the supply head, the advancing / retreating driving means for advancing the supply head, the sending driving means for sending out the parts from the supply head, etc. can be formed as an integrated unit structure, and the entire device can be made compact. It will be possible. Then, since the entire unit structure integrated like this can be displaced by the advancing / retreating moving means coupled to the stationary member, the parts can be accurately supplied to the target location such as the electric resistance welding electrode. it can.

The air conveyed to the part flows out from the receiving concave groove through the open passage leading to the outside, and the air flow due to this flows on the part, pushes the part back to the stopper surface, and makes the part stand by at the normal position of the supply head. it can. The part that has entered the receiving recess of the supply head from the supply passage hits the stopper surface and stops at a predetermined position, but the part position shifts due to the magnetic effect or vibration caused by the energization of the welding current, and the part stops. It may stop at a place away from the surface. If the supply head is moved while the component is stopped at such an abnormal position, the component cannot be accurately supplied to the target location, and a supply failure occurs.

The parts are pushed back by the air flow, continue to receive the air flow, stop at the normal position of the supply head, and are sent out by the delivery drive means from this normal position, so that the parts can be accurately supplied to the final supply destination. it can. It is particularly important that when the stop point of the part is stopped while straddling the boundary between the receiving recess and the supply passage, if the supply head is advanced in the direction orthogonal to the advance direction of the component in the supply passage as it is, The outlet shape of the supply passage, the inlet opening of the receiving recess, or the component itself may be damaged. Even in such a situation, the correction action of the component position by the air flow is effective.

It is a vertical sectional view and a partial sectional view of the whole apparatus. It is a top view of the whole apparatus. It is sectional drawing of a feed head. It is a locus diagram which shows the movement locus of a supply head. It is sectional drawing which shows the modification of the feed head. It is a comparison diagram which shows the schematic structure of this invention and patent document 1. FIG.

Next, a mode for carrying out the component supply device of the present invention will be described.

1 to 6 show examples of the present invention.

First, the parts will be described.

As the parts to be supplied in this embodiment, there are various parts such as washers and projection nuts. Here, the latter projection nut is targeted for supply. In the following description, the projection nut may be simply referred to as a nut. Further, since it is a component whose position is corrected by the air flow described later, a component having a small size and mass is suitable.

The projection nut 1 is made of iron, and as shown in FIG. 3, a screw hole 3 is formed in the center of the square main body 2, and welding protrusions 4 are formed at the four corners of the main body 2. Since the welding projection 4 also protrudes in the diameter direction of the screw hole 3, the welding projection 4 abuts on the stopper surface described later. The dimensions of each part of the nut 1 are such that the vertical horizontal dimension of the main body 2 is 12 mm, the thickness dimension of the main body 2 is 6 mm, and the inner diameter dimension of the screw hole 2 is 6 mm.

Next, the supply passage will be described.

This device 100 is a nut supply device. The parts feeder 5, which is a parts supply source, is of a general type that gives a sending vibration to the bowl 6 in which the nut 1 is stored, and the outlet pipe 7 is a supply hose made of synthetic resin made of urethane or the like. 8 is connected. The supply hose 8 is flexible, and when the passage pipe moves up and down as described later, the supply hose 8 is elastically deformed accordingly. Transport air is blown into the outlet pipe 7 from the injection pipe 9 to transport the nut 1. The supply hose 8 is a passage member, and the inside thereof is a supply passage 8A.

A passage pipe 12 is joined to the supply hose 8 via a joint member 10. The passage pipe 12 is made of metal made of stainless steel or the like, and as shown in FIG. 1 (B), the lid plate 14 is fixed to the elongated groove member 13 having a U-shaped cross section by bolting or the like. .. Therefore, the passage pipe 12 is a passage member, and the inside thereof is a supply passage 12A. The supply passage 8A of the supply hose 8 and the supply passage 12A of the passage pipe 12 have a rectangular cross-sectional shape so that the nut 1 can pass through without inverting in the front-back direction, and both passages 8A and 12A smoothly communicate with each other. There is.

In addition, although the injection pipe 9 is attached to the outlet pipe 7 to blow the conveyed air, the auxiliary air is blown in the direction of the arrow line 40 shown in FIG. 1 (A) by opening the injection port in the groove member 13. You may.

Next, the supply head will be described.

The supply head 15 is arranged in a continuous state at the end of the groove member 13. The supply head 15 is formed with a receiving concave groove 16 that is continuous with the concave groove (supply passage 12A) of the groove member 13, one end communicates with the supply passage 12A, and the inner end surface on the other end side is substantially vertical. It is said to be an upright stopper surface 17 (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

As shown in FIG. 1A, the lid plate 14 protrudes in an eaves shape so as to cover the supply head 15, and the protruding portion is the cover member 18. A gap 21 is formed between the upper surface 19 of the supply head 15 and the lower surface 20 of the cover member 18. This gap 21 is an open passage for air outflow and is designated by the same reference numeral 21.

FIG. 2 is shown with the majority of the lid plate 14 removed for ease of understanding. The portion shown by the two-dot chain line is the cover plate 18.

As shown in FIG. 2, the correct stop position of the nut 1 on the supply head 15 is set by the welding projection 4 abutting on the stopper surface 17. In order to maintain this position, a permanent magnet 22 is embedded in the end of the supply head 15. The position where the welding projection 4 of the nut 1 is received by the stopper surface 17 is the normal position, and the sensor 24 for detecting this position is fixed to the cover member 18. A sensor 24 that magnetically detects nuts is suitable. When the nut 1 stops at the abnormal position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 3 due to the cause described later, the detection signal from the sensor 24 is not emitted.

Next, the target location of the nut supply will be described.

There are various places where the nut 1 is delivered, that is, a target place. There are places corresponding to electric resistance welding electrodes and places where bolts are waiting. Here, it is the former electric resistance welding electrode.

The fixed electrode 25 is arranged in a coaxial state with the electrode axis OO arranged in the vertical direction, and the steel plate component 26 is placed on the fixed electrode 25. The positioning pin 27 provided at the center of the fixed electrode 25 relatively penetrates the prepared hole 28 of the steel plate component 26. The movable electrode 29 is arranged in the vertical direction coaxially with the fixed electrode 25.

A concave hole 30 into which the nut 1 is fitted is formed in the central portion of the lower end surface of the movable electrode 29. The concave hole 30 is circular, and the diameter of the concave hole 30 is slightly longer than the diagonal line of the main body 2 of the square nut 1. The permanent magnet 31 embedded in the movable electrode 29 is arranged near the concave hole 30.

Next, the advancing / retreating driving means will be described.

The nut 1 moves the supply head 15 to temporarily stop at a predetermined position, and then is supplied to the target location as described above. Therefore, the supply head 15 is advanced and retreated by the advancing / retreating driving means. As the advancing / retreating driving means, various ones such as an advancing / retreating output type electric motor and an air cylinder can be adopted, but here, the air cylinder 33 is used. The air cylinder 33 is connected to the passage pipe 12 via an L-shaped bracket 34. The supply head 15 is coupled to the piston rod 35 of the air cylinder 33. The advancing / retreating direction of the piston rod 35 is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the supply passage 12A. In order to do so, the mounting direction of the advancing / retreating driving means, that is, the air cylinder 33 is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the supply passage 12A.

The receiving recess 16 of the supply head 15 is arranged on the extension of the supply passage 12A in the longitudinal direction so as to communicate with the supply passage 12A, and the advancing / retreating direction of the piston rod 35 of the air cylinder 33 is the longitudinal direction of the supply passage 12A. Is orthogonal to. Due to such an arrangement relationship, the nut 1 is transferred in a direction orthogonal to the approach direction thereof and temporarily stops at a predetermined position. This predetermined position is a position where the nut 1 is coaxial with the electrode axis OO. The nut 1 is transferred from this portion to the concave hole 30 which is the target location by the delivery driving means described later.

Next, the stop passing unit will be described.

When a strong air flow is injected from the injection pipe 9 into the supply passage 8A, the nut 1 passes through the supply passage 12A at high speed and collides with the stopper surface 17 of the supply head 15. If such collisions are repeated, there is a problem that the welding projection 4 bites into the stopper surface 17 and the nut 1 cannot be smoothly delivered from the receiving concave groove 16. Further, when a large number of nuts 1 stand by in a line, it is necessary to send out only the earliest nut 1.

Therefore, the stop passing unit 36 is adopted. The first stopper member 37 protrudes from the stop passing unit 36 into the supply passage 12A to temporarily stop the nut 1 traveling at high speed, thereby solving the above-mentioned collision problem, and at the same time, the following nuts 1 are lined up. And wait. Further, a second stopper member 38 protruding into the supply passage 12A is provided in order to deliver only the earliest one nut 1.

As means for advancing and retreating the first stopper member 37 and the second stopper member 38, various means such as an electromagnetic solenoid, an advancing / retreating output type electric motor, and an air cylinder can be adopted. Here, air cylinders 41 and 42 are adopted, and the piston rods thereof go in and out of the supply passage 12A.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which both the first stopper member 37 and the second stopper member 38 advance into the supply passage 12A to stop the first nut 1 and stop the second and subsequent nuts 1. .. Here, when the second stopper member 38 retracts, only the earliest nut 1 is sent to the supply head 15 via the supply passage 12A by the conveyed air flow. After that, when the second stopper member 38 enters the supply passage 12A again and the first stopper member 37 retracts, the second nut 1 advances and is received by the second stopper member 38. Then, the first stopper member 37 advances again, and the subsequent nut 1 is stopped.

The first nut 1 is fed to the stopper surface 17 at a low speed. Normally, since the supply hose 8 is 2 to 4 m, the flow velocity of the high-speed air flow from the injection pipe 9 is low near the supply passage 12A, but the nut 1 is inertial and the initial high-speed movement speed is too high. It collides with the first stopper member 37 without lowering. When the second stopper member 38 is retracted, the nut 1 is fed to the supply head 15 at a low speed with a reduced air flow.

It is also possible to open an oblique air injection port in the bottom member of the groove member 13 and inject air from the direction of the arrow 40 as shown in FIG. 1 (A) to assist the nut movement from here.

A sensor 43 is provided to detect that the nut 1 is waiting there when the first nut 1 is stopped by the second stopper member 38.

Next, the means of moving forward and backward will be described.

The positions of the fixed electrode 25 and the movable electrode 29 are displaced from the supply head 15 in relation to peripheral related equipment such as a robot device (not shown) into which the steel plate component 26 is inserted. When the most retracted supply head 15 advances as it is, the tip of the supply head 15 interferes with the movable electrode 29 (see FIG. 4). Therefore, when the supply head 15 is advanced by lowering the height H from the position before the advance of the supply head 15, the supply head 15 is advanced like the supply head 15 on the electrode axis OO, that is, after the advance shown in FIG. The above interference is avoided, such as the position of the supply head 15. In order to avoid such a situation, a means of moving forward and backward is provided.

As the advancing / retreating moving means, various ones such as an advancing / retreating output type electric motor and an air cylinder can be adopted, but here, the air cylinder 44 is used. Since the passage pipe 12 is integrally displaced by the advancing / retreating moving means, that is, the air cylinder 44, together with the supply head 15 and the air cylinder 33 which is the advancing / retreating driving means, the related structures are displaced as one piece.

In order to realize the one-piece construction of the related structure, as shown in FIG. 2, the air cylinder 44 is coupled to a stationary member 11 such as the machine frame of the device 100, and the arrangement posture of the air cylinder 44 is set to the piston thereof. The rod 45 moves forward and backward in the substantially vertical direction. A coupling piece 46 is welded to the lateral side surface of the passage pipe 12, and a piston rod 45 is coupled thereto.

As shown in FIG. 4, the supply head 15 is integrated with the passage pipe 12 and the air cylinder 33 and descends by the height H by the operation of the advancing / retreating moving means, that is, the air cylinder 44. Then, the supply head 15 advances by the operation of the air cylinder 33. In this advance, the supply head 15 and the nut 1 correctly enter between the electrodes 25 and 29 without interfering with the movable electrode 29. When the passage pipe 12 moves up and down, the supply hose 8 is elastically deformed by the amount corresponding to the height H to perform a follow-up operation.

The air cylinder 44 is firmly coupled to the stationary member 11, the piston rod 45 thereof is coupled to the passage pipe 12 via the coupling piece 46, and the air cylinder 33 is fixed to the passage pipe 12 via the bracket 34. The supply head 15 is also coupled to the piston rod 35 of the air cylinder 33. Further, the transmission driving means described later is also coupled to the supply head 15. In such a series of related structures, that is, the device 100, the arrangement position of the entire device 100 is set by connecting the air cylinder 44 to the stationary member 11.

Next, the transmission driving means will be described.

As the delivery driving means, various ones such as an advancing / retreating output type electric motor and an air cylinder can be adopted, but here, the air cylinder 47 is used. The delivery driving means delivers the nut 1 from the normal position of the supply head 15 toward the final supply location in a state where the supply head 15 is advanced to a predetermined position by the air cylinder 33. The coupling piece 48 is welded to the tip of the supply head 15 in a state of extending downward. The air cylinder 47 is fixed to the coupling piece 48 by bolting or the like, and the piston rod thereof is the delivery rod 49. The attachment posture of the air cylinder 47 is set so that the delivery rod 49 moves forward and backward in the vertical direction.

A through hole 50 (see FIGS. 3 and 5) is formed in the bottom member of the supply head 15, and the screw hole 3 of the nut 1 stopped at the normal position and the delivery rod 49 are coaxially (on the electrode axis OO). ) Is located.

Next, the abnormal misalignment of the nut will be described.

The nut 1 that has entered the receiving concave groove 16 of the supply head 15 may be misaligned at the position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 3 due to various causes. One of the factors is that a welding current is passed from the movable electrode 29 toward the fixed electrode 25, and when the nut 1 is present in the magnetic field generated by the energization, a force in the direction away from the electrode axis OO is applied. By acting on the nut 1, the force exceeds the attractive force of the permanent magnet 22, and the nut 1 is displaced. Further, as another factor, when a steel plate part or the like carried by an operator collides with the groove member 13, the nut 1 is displaced due to the impact.

Next, the air flow will be described.

The conveyed air blown from the injection pipe 9 passes through the supply passage 8A and the supply passage 12A having a closed cross-section structure and reaches the supply head 15. A gap, that is, an open passage 21, is formed between the upper surface 19 of the supply head 15 and the lower surface 20 of the cover member 18 protruding above the supply head 15. The gap 21 is open at the end of a series of air flow passages such as the injection pipe 9, the supply passage 8A, and the supply passage 12A. Therefore, the air flow from the injection pipe 9 continues without interruption until it reaches the receiving recess 16 of the supply head 15, although the flow velocity decreases. Since such an air flow hits the nut 1, the nut 1 temporarily separated from the stopper surface 17 (shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 3) is returned to the stopper surface 17 again, and a misalignment correction operation is performed.

Next, a modified example of the open passage will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5, in this modification, the opening hole 51 is formed in the cover member 18 instead of the gap 21 as described above. Therefore, when the piston rod 35 moves forward and backward, the lower surface 20 of the cover member 18 and the upper surface 19 of the supply head 15 are in a sliding state, or the gap between the both sides 20 and 19 is very small. The air flow flows out from the opening hole 51, and the misalignment correction operation is performed with the same wind pressure as in the above case. Other configurations are the same as those in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4, including parts not shown, and the same reference numerals are given to members having similar functions.

Next, the operation order of the device will be described.

The arrow line in FIG. 4 shows the movement locus of the nut 1. FIG. 1A shows a state in which the supply head 15 is in the most retracted position due to the return operation of the air cylinder 33, and the nut 1 is stopped at a regular position by the permanent magnet 22. The operating state of the stop passing unit 36 is as described above. The presence of the nut 1 stopped at the normal position of the supply head 15 is detected by the sensor 24. On the other hand, the presence of the earliest nut 1 that is temporarily stopped is detected by the sensor 43.

The detection signals from both sensors 24 and 43 are AND-processed, which becomes a trigger signal, and as shown in FIG. 4, this time, the air cylinder 44 moves down by the height H. After that, the supply head 15 advances toward the electrodes 25 and 29 by the advance operation of the air cylinder 33, and the tip of the supply head 15 does not interfere with the movable electrode 29 and is between the movable electrode 29 and the fixed electrode 25. It enters and stops at a point where the nut 1 is coaxial with the electrode axis OO.

Then, the delivery rod 49 is raised by the delivery operation of the air cylinder 47, and the nut 1 is sent out against the attractive force of the permanent magnet 22 and inserted into the concave hole 30. At this time, the attractive force of the permanent magnet 31 is applied. Even if it acts on the nut 1 and the delivery rod 49 retracts, the nut 1 is held by the movable electrode 29 without falling. After the delivery rod 49 is retracted, the supply head 15 and the air cylinder 47 are retracted from between the electrodes 25 and 29 by the pulling operation of the air cylinder 33 to prepare for the next nut acceptance. After the air cylinder 33 moves backward, the air cylinder 44 is moved up to return to the original state. The movable electrode 29 advances continuously to this, pressurizes the nut 1 to the steel plate component 26, and a welding current is applied to complete the nut welding to the steel plate component 26.

The delivery rod 49 is formed with a small-diameter portion that enters the screw hole 3 and a large-diameter portion having a larger diameter than the small-diameter portion, and has end faces 52 (see FIGS. 3 and 5) provided at the boundary between the two-diameter portions. , The nut 1 is raised by hitting the lower surface of the nut 1 to reach the concave hole 30.

In the above embodiment, the lid plate 14 is stretched as it is to form the cover member 18, but the cover member 18 may be prepared as a separate part and welded to the end portion of the groove member 13.

In addition, instead of the above-mentioned various air cylinders, an electric motor that outputs advancing / retreating can be adopted. It is also possible to replace the above-mentioned various permanent magnets with electromagnets.

The parts feeder is of a type that vibrates a bowl, but a type that attracts parts to a rotating plate with a magnet and sends them out from a delivery pipe may be adopted.

The above-mentioned operations such as advancing / retreating operation of each air cylinder and air injection can be easily performed by a generally adopted control method. A predetermined operation can be ensured by combining an air switching valve that operates with a signal from a control device or a sequence circuit, a sensor that emits a signal at a predetermined position of an air cylinder and transmits the signal to the control device, and the like.

FIG. 6A is a side view schematically showing the overall configuration of the present invention, and FIG. 6B is a side view schematically showing the device structure described in Patent Document 1. Both structures are shown in contrast. The same reference numerals as those in this embodiment are also shown in FIG. 6 (B).

The effects of the examples described above are as follows.

The air cylinder 44, which is an advancing / retreating moving means, is coupled to the stationary member 11, the advancing / retreating moving means 44 and the advancing / retreating driving means 33 are coupled to the passage pipe 12, which is the central member, and the supply head 15 is coupled to the advancing / retreating driving means 33. By connecting the delivery driving means 47 to the supply head 15, the entire device 100 is integrally configured. That is, the elongated passage pipe 12 can be used as the main member, the advancing / retreating driving means 33 for advancing / retreating the supply head can be integrally arranged in the passage pipe 12, and the passage pipe 12 and the supply head 15 can be arranged in an integrated state. It is a thing. Further, the advancing / retreating moving means 44 is coupled to the advancing / retreating driving means 33 via the passage pipe 12, and the advancing / retreating moving means 44 is attached to the stationary member 11. With such a series of combined structures, it becomes easy to organize the basic structure of the apparatus 100 into an elongated and compact shape. At the same time, it is advantageous to install the device 100 in a narrow space.

The advancing / retreating driving means 33 for operating the supply head is coupled to the passage pipe 12, and the advancing / retreating moving means 44 fixed to the stationary member 11 is coupled to the passage pipe 12. Therefore, the passage pipe 12 is connected to the advancing / retreating driving means 33. Since it plays the role of a core intermediary member that associates the advancing / retreating moving means 44 with the advancing / retreating moving means 44, it is possible to avoid adopting a series mechanism in which the advancing / retreating driving means 33 is directly connected to the advancing / retreating moving means 44. That is, FIG. 6B has the structure described in Patent Document 1 described above, but the passage pipe 12 is fixed to the stationary member 11, and here, the air cylinder 44 coupled to the stationary member 11 It is possible to avoid adopting a series mechanism in which the air cylinder 33 is coupled to the piston rod 45 and the advancing / retreating driving means 33 is directly connected to the advancing / retreating moving means 44. Therefore, the factor that causes the relative position of the outlet portion of the supply passage 12A and the receiving recess 16 of the supply head 15 to be deviated is minimized, and the nut parts are accurately and smoothly transferred from the supply passage 12A to the supply head 15.

Since the advancing / retreating driving means 33 is coupled to the passage pipe 12 and the supply head 15 is coupled to the advancing / retreating driving means 33, only the advancing / retreating driving means 33 (and the bracket 34) is connected between the passage pipe 12 and the supply head 15. Becomes a mediated structural form. Therefore, it becomes easy to set the relative position between the passage pipe 12 and the supply head 15 as a predetermined value, whereby the nut 1 from the passage pipe 12 is reliably and smoothly transferred to the supply head 15, and the operation reliability of the device 100 is increased. Sex improves.

Since the advancing / retreating driving means 33 can be directly or indirectly connected to the passage pipe 12 via a bracket 34 or the like, the relative position between the outlet portion of the passage pipe 12 and the receiving recess 16 of the supply head 15 can be accurately set. The nut 1 can be smoothly transferred from the passage pipe 12 to the supply head 15.

Since the advancing / retreating driving means 33 is integrated with the passage pipe 12, the relative positions of the advancing / retreating driving means 33 and the passage pipe 12 can be made unchanged. As a result, the behavior that only the advancing / retreating driving means 33 is moved up and down is eliminated, which is effective for making the device 100 compact.

Since the passage pipe 12 is integrally displaced by the advancing / retreating moving means 44 together with the supply head 15 and the advancing / retreating driving means 33, the related structures can be displaced as one piece, which is advantageous in terms of structural simplification. Is. Further, for example, even when the movable electrode 29 is located at the advance destination of the supply head 15, the supply head 15 can be moved while avoiding the movable electrode 29. That is, the mechanism on the moving side is the advancing / retreating moving means 44, and the mechanism on the moving side is an integrated structure such as the supply pipe 12, the advancing / retreating driving means 33, the supply head 15, and the sending / retreating driving means 47. As a result, the above effect is ensured.

The nut 1 is stopped at a regular position by the stopper surface 17. A delivery driving means 47 for delivering the nut 1 is provided integrally with the supply head 15. Therefore, the passage pipe 12, the supply head 15, the advancing / retreating driving means 33 for advancing the supply head 15, the sending driving means 47 for sending the nut 1 from the supply head 15, and the like can be formed as an integrated unit structure. , The entire device 100 can be made compact. Then, since the entire unit structure integrated as such can be displaced by the advancing / retreating moving means 44 coupled to the stationary member 11, the nut 1 can be accurately supplied to a target location such as an electric resistance welding electrode. can do.

The conveyed air to the nut 1 flows out from the receiving concave groove 16 through the open passage 21 leading to the outside, and the air flow due to this flows on the nut 1 to push the nut 1 back to the stopper surface 17, and the normal position of the supply head 15. Can make the nut 1 stand by. The nut 1 that has entered the receiving recess 16 of the supply head 15 from the supply passage 12A hits the stopper surface 17 and stops at a predetermined position, but the component position shifts due to magnetic influence or vibration when the welding current is applied. , The nut 1 may stop at a position away from the stopper surface 17. If the supply head is moved while the nut 1 is stopped at such an abnormal position, the nut 1 cannot be accurately supplied to the target location, and a supply failure occurs.

Since the nut 1 is pushed back by the air flow, continues to receive the air flow, stops at the normal position of the supply head 15, and is sent out from this normal position by the delivery driving means 47, the nut 1 is accurately referred to the final supply destination location. Can be supplied. Of particular importance is that when the stop point of the nut 1 is stopped while straddling the boundary portion between the receiving recess 16 and the supply passage 12A, the supply head 15 is orthogonal to the advance direction of the nut 1 of the supply passage 12A as it is. If it is advanced in the direction, the outlet shape portion of the supply passage 12A, the inlet opening of the receiving concave groove 16, or the nut 1 itself may be damaged. Even in such a situation, the correction action of the component position by the air flow is effective.

The cover member 18 is attached in a state of forming a gap 21 through which the conveyed air flowing into the receiving concave groove 16 can flow out. Alternatively, an opening hole 51 is formed in the cover member 18. Therefore, the conveyed air forms an air flow that passes through the gap 21 and the opening hole 51, whereby the correction movement is performed to the position where the air flow hits the nut 1 and the nut 1 hits the stopper surface 17. Since the nut 1 is corrected and moved to the normal position in this way, the nut 1 moved by the advancing / retreating driving means 33 is accurately supplied to a target location such as an electrode for electric resistance welding, and a good supply of parts can be ensured.

As described above, according to the apparatus of the present invention, the apparatus structure in which the passage pipe is the main member is made compact, and the parts are smoothly moved to supply the parts with high accuracy. Therefore, it can be used in a wide range of industrial fields such as a body welding process for automobiles and a sheet metal welding process for home appliances.

1 Projection nut 2 Main body 3 Screw hole 4 Welding protrusion 5 Parts supply source, parts feeder 6 Bowl 8 Supply hose 8A Supply passage 9 Injection pipe 12 Passage pipe 12A Supply passage 13 Groove member 14 Lid plate 15 Supply head 16 Receiving recessed groove 17 Stopper surface 18 Cover plate 21 Void, open passage 25 Fixed electrode 29 Movable electrode 30 Concave hole 33 Advance / retreat drive means, air cylinder 44 Advance / retreat moving means, air cylinder 47 Sending drive means, air cylinder 49 Sending rod 51 Open hole, open passage 100 Nut supply device OO Electrode axis H Air cylinder 44 displacement height

Claims (1)

It is a type in which transport air is injected into a supply passage formed in a passage pipe having a closed cross-section structure extending from a component supply source to transport the component.
A supply head having a recessed groove for receiving parts is arranged in a continuous state with a passage member constituting the supply passage.
A stopper surface for setting the stop position of the component is formed at the end of the receiving concave groove.
An open passage is formed to allow the conveyed air to flow out from the receiving recess.
When the air flow flowing out from the open passage hits the component, the component stopped at the abnormal position is pushed back to the stopper surface to maintain the normal position.
An advancing / retreating driving means for moving the parts held by the supply head to the target location is provided integrally with the passage pipe.
The mounting direction of the advancing / retreating driving means is set so that the advancing direction of the component in the supply passage and the advancing direction of the supply head are orthogonal to each other.
The advancing / retreating moving means for setting the advancing position of the supply head at a predetermined position by integrally displaceting the passage pipe together with the supply head, the advancing / retreating driving means, etc. is provided in a state of being attached to the stationary member.
In a state where the supply head is advanced to a predetermined position by the advance / retreat drive means, a delivery drive means for sending a component from a normal position of the supply head is attached to the supply head.
The advancing / retreating moving means is coupled to a stationary member, the advancing / retreating moving means and the advancing / retreating driving means are coupled to a passage pipe which is a central member, the supply head is coupled to the advancing / retreating driving means, and the feeding head is sent to the supply head. A component supply device characterized in that the entire device is integrally formed by combining drive means.

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