JP2611927B2 - Parts feeder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a parts feeder, and more particularly, to a parts feeder which conveys a part while applying vibration, judges the posture, shape and size of the part by a judgment means, and supplies a desired part.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a cross section of a main part of a track 31 (transfer path) of a conventional parts feeder and a device configuration, and FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway perspective view including the cross section shown in FIG. .

7 and 8, a part m is conveyed on a truck 31 along an inner peripheral wall 32a of a bowl 32. The imaging position of the track 31 is formed by a transparent plate (or translucent plate) 33, a light source 34 is provided below the plate 31, and a CCD camera 35 is provided above the light source 34. Light from the light source 34 is applied to the component m via the transparent plate 33, and a shadow image of the component m is captured by the CCD camera 35. Also, the bowl 3 facing the imaging position of the truck 31
An air outlet 36 is opened in the inner peripheral wall 32 a of the second valve 2, and the air outlet 36 is connected to an electromagnetic valve 38 by an air supply pipe 37.
Is connected to the compressed air supply device 39 via the. The image processing device 40 determines the orientation of the component m from the imaging output of the CCD camera 35, and when it determines that the component m is not the desired component m, opens and closes the electromagnetic valve 38 and pulsates compressed air from the air ejection port 36. Spout the part m
Blow it away.

[0004]

However, in such a parts feeder, the inner peripheral wall 3 of the bowl 32 is not provided.
For the part m having a shape that comes into surface contact with 2a, the bowl 32
There was a problem that it could not be blown off reliably.

[0005] This cause is explained as follows. That is, the part m having such a shape and the inner peripheral wall 32 of the bowl 32
The gap between “a” becomes extremely small. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the compressed air jetted from the air jet port 36 in a pulse manner hits the center of the component m and then blows through the minute gap at high speed in all directions. At this time, a negative pressure is generated on the surface of the component m exposed to the high-speed air flow, and the component m is returned to the air ejection port 36 side by the negative pressure.

After the compressed air is blown out, the air supply pipe 37
Since it is conceivable that the inside may become a negative pressure, as shown in FIG. 10, a slight gap is opened between the air ejection port 36 and the opening of the air supply pipe 37 so that outside air flows into the air supply pipe 37. But there was no effect.

Further, a method of projecting the bar member from the inner peripheral wall 32a of the bowl 32 toward the component m and mechanically pushing the component m is conceivable. However, the component m may be damaged or the tip of the bar member may be hit. There is a disadvantage that the position requires precision.

Further, when the component m is cylindrical, a negative pressure is generated because the contact area between the inner peripheral wall 32a and the component m is small, but the component m is returned to the air outlet 36 side. Power is small. However, as shown in FIG. 11, when the air ejected from the air ejection port 36 flows in the directions of the arrows a and b and the next part n approaches, the gas flowing through the gap between the part m and the part n May be increased, a negative pressure may be generated, and the part m may be blown off and the part n may be pulled in the transport direction.

[0009] Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a parts feeder that can reliably blow off a part regardless of the shape of the part.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a parts feeder which conveys a part along a predetermined transfer path along a side wall, discriminates the posture, shape and size of the part by a discriminating means, and attaches the part to the side wall. In a parts feeder for ejecting a compressed gas from an opened gas ejection port to remove a defective component and supply a desired component, a predetermined space is provided between a side wall around the gas ejection port and the component. A step is provided on the side wall.

According to a second aspect, the gas ejection port of the first aspect is
It may be provided so as to blow out the compressed gas toward the upper surface of the transfer path.

[0012] The parts feeder according to the invention of claim 3 is:
The part is conveyed along the side wall on the predetermined transfer path, the posture, shape and size of the part are determined by the determination means, and the compressed gas is blown out from the gas outlet opened in the side wall to eliminate defective parts. In a parts feeder for supplying a desired part, a protrusion for providing a predetermined space between the side wall around the gas outlet and the part is provided on the transfer path or the side wall.

According to a fourth aspect, the gas outlet of the third aspect is
It may be provided so as to blow out the compressed gas toward the upper surface of the transfer path.

[0014]

In the parts feeder according to the present invention, a predetermined space is provided between the part and the side wall around the gas outlet by the projection or the step, so that the gas is blown to the part. In addition, the flow velocity of gas flowing between the component and the side wall can be suppressed to be small. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the negative pressure generated on the surface of the component by being exposed to the air current, and to prevent the component from returning to the gas ejection port side due to the negative pressure. Therefore, the component can be reliably blown off regardless of the shape of the component.

Further, if the compressed gas is ejected from the gas ejection port toward the upper surface of the transfer path, parts having a small height can be reliably blown off.

[0016]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a parts feeder 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a part X in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration.

1 to 3, a bowl 2 is provided in the parts feeder 1, and a movable core and an electromagnet (not shown) are arranged on a side wall of the bowl 2 although not shown. Vibration is given to the bowl 2 by these actions. The inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2 is formed with a spiral track 3 for transferring components, the discharge end of which is a straight track 5 from which the component m is supplied to the next step. .

A transparent plate (or translucent plate) 4 is provided at a predetermined position of the track 3, and a CCD camera 6 is provided above the transparent plate 4. A light source 7 is provided below the CCD camera 6 with the transparent plate 4 interposed therebetween. Light from the light source 7 is applied to the component m, and a shadow of the component m is captured by the CCD camera 6. An air outlet 8 is opened in the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2 facing the position where the part m is imaged by the CCD camera 6.
Is connected to a compressed air supply device 11 via an electromagnetic valve 10 by an air supply pipe 9. The imaging output of the CCD camera 6 is supplied to an image processing device 12, which determines the attitude of the component m based on the output, and opens and closes the electromagnetic valve 10 according to the determination result.

Further, the transparent plate 4 is provided with the conveyed part m.
And a flat portion 4c forming a part of the track 3 and a projection 4a for providing a space S having a predetermined width w between the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2 around the air outlet 8 and the projection 4a. A step portion 4b having a height h is provided at the boundary of the flat portion 4c. The protruding portion 4a is provided along the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2, and has a width w near the air ejection port 8 and tapers from there toward the upstream and downstream. Therefore,
The step portion 4b is formed at the inner peripheral wall 2 of the bowl 2 at the upstream end and the downstream end.
It is connected to a smoothly. Further, the height h of the step portion 4b is set sufficiently lower than the height of the component m.

When a large number of parts m are thrown into the bottom of the bowl 2 and the bowl 2 is rotated and vibrated in the vertical direction, the parts m receive a force such as centrifugal force and move along the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2. Ascends the track 3 and reaches the transparent plate 4. Then, the part m is guided by the step portion 4b and the bowl 2
At the position facing the air ejection port 8 and separated from the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2 by the width w of the projection 4a.

The image processing device 12 determines the orientation of the component m from the image output of the CCD camera 6 at this time, and outputs a component rejection signal P to the electromagnetic valve 10 when the component m is not in the desired orientation. . The electromagnetic valve 10 opens and closes in response to the component exclusion signal P, and causes compressed air to be ejected from the air ejection port 8. The compressed air is blown to the center of the side surface of the component m to give kinetic energy to the component m, and then diffuses outside through the space S between the component m and the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2. At this time, the flow velocity of the air flowing along the side surface of the component m is sufficiently smaller than the conventional example in which the component m and the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2 are in close contact with each other. The pressure is small enough. Therefore, unlike the conventional example, the component m does not return to the air ejection port 8 side due to the negative pressure, and the component m is reliably blown into the bowl 2.

On the other hand, the desired part m is guided by the step portion 4b without being blown off by the compressed air and proceeds, and then proceeds downstream along the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2 again. Therefore, only the desired component m is supplied to the component supply unit 13.

In this embodiment, the CCD camera 6 and the light source 7 are arranged above and below the transparent plate 4 to image the part m from above. The camera 6 and the light source 7 may be arranged to face each other, and the component m may be imaged from the horizontal direction.

Further, it is not always necessary to form the track 3 and the projection 4a on the transparent plate 4 at the position where the component m is imaged. However, in that case, it is necessary to provide the light source 7 on the CCD camera 6 side and detect the reflected light from the component m.

Further, when it is necessary to blow off a part m having a low height, an air supply pipe 9 is provided obliquely to the surface of the truck 3 as shown in FIG. Preferably, compressed air is blown toward the surface. In this case, if the upper surface of the projection 4a is formed as an inclined surface facing the inside of the bowl 2, air can flow smoothly.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway view showing the structure of a parts removing section in a parts feeder according to another embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the CCD camera side. FIG.
It is a -Z line sectional view. Hereinafter, portions different from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 will be described.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, a step 13 having a predetermined width w 'is provided to provide a space S around the conveyed part m and the air jet port 8. FIG. Therefore, the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2 becomes the inner peripheral wall 2b in which the thickness of the bowl 2 is reduced by the predetermined width w 'of the step 13.

When a large number of parts m are put into the bottom of the bowl 2 and the bowl 2 is rotated and vibrated in the vertical direction, the parts m receive a force such as a centrifugal force and move along the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2. Ascends the track 3 and reaches the transparent plate 4.
Then, at a position facing the air ejection port 8, the step 13 is separated from the inner peripheral wall 2 b by a predetermined width w ′. Therefore, in the case of a part m not in a desired posture, the air ejection port 8
The compressed air is blown from the center of the side surface of the part m to give kinetic energy to the part m, and then the compressed air is mostly blown to the part m and the inner peripheral wall 2 of the bowl 2.
It diverges outside through the space s between b. The flow velocity of the air at this time is also sufficiently smaller than that in the conventional example in which the part m and the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2 are in close contact with each other, so that the negative pressure generated on the side surface of the part m is sufficiently small. . Therefore, the component m is reliably blown into the bowl without returning the component m to the air ejection port 8 side by the negative pressure as in the conventional example. Further, even if a subsequent component approaches the component m, the subsequent component is not pulled in the transport direction. On the other hand, when the component m is in a desired posture, the component advances along the inner peripheral wall 2a of the bowl 2 on the upstream side and advances along the inner peripheral wall 2b on the downstream side. m is supplied.

In this embodiment as well, the position of the air outlet is not limited, and may be provided in accordance with the shape of the component. For example, when it is necessary to blow off a part m having a low height, a supply pipe may be provided obliquely to the surface of the truck, and compressed air may be ejected from the air outlet toward the surface of the truck.

Further, the number of air outlets is not limited, and a plurality of air outlets may be provided in accordance with the shape of parts.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, since a predetermined space is provided between the side wall around the gas ejection port and the component by the projection or the step, when the gas is blown to the component, The flow velocity of the gas flowing between the component and the side wall can be kept low. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the negative pressure generated on the surface of the component by being exposed to the air current, and to prevent the component from returning to the gas ejection port side due to the negative pressure. Therefore, the component can be reliably blown off regardless of the shape of the component.

Further, if the compressed gas is ejected from the gas ejection port toward the upper surface of the transfer path, parts having a low height can be reliably blown off.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially broken perspective view of a parts feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a part X in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a cross section taken along line YY of FIG. 2 and a device configuration.

FIG. 4 is a partially broken sectional view showing another configuration of the component removing unit shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway view showing the configuration of a parts removing unit in a parts feeder according to another embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the CCD camera side.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line ZZ of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a cross section of a main part of a track of a conventional parts feeder and a device configuration.

8 is a partially broken perspective view including the cross section shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for describing a problem of the component elimination unit illustrated in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a partially broken perspective view illustrating another configuration of the component removing unit illustrated in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining another problem of the component elimination unit shown in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Parts feeder 2a, 2b Inner peripheral wall 3 Truck (transfer path) 4 Transparent plate (or translucent plate) 4a Projection part 4b Step part 8 Air ejection port m Parts S Space 13 Step

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A part is conveyed along a side wall on a predetermined transfer path, the posture, shape and size of the part are determined by a determination means, and compressed gas is blown out from a gas outlet opened in the side wall. A part feeder for removing a defective part and supplying a desired part, wherein a step for providing a predetermined space between the side wall around the gas outlet and the part is provided on the side wall. A parts feeder characterized by the following. 2. The parts feeder according to claim 2, wherein said gas ejection port is provided to eject a compressed gas toward an upper surface of said transfer path. 3. A part is conveyed along a side wall on a predetermined transfer path, the posture, shape and size of the part are determined by a determination means, and compressed gas is blown out from a gas outlet opened in the side wall. In the parts feeder for removing defective parts and supplying desired parts, a projection for providing a predetermined space between a side wall around the gas ejection port and the parts is provided on the transfer path or the side wall. Parts feeder, characterized in that: 4. The parts feeder according to claim 3, wherein the gas ejection port is provided so as to eject a compressed gas toward an upper surface of the transfer path.