JP2626074B2 - Parts counting device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a component counting device.

[Conventional technology and its problems]

For example, in the automobile industry, in the process of assembling an automobile, a predetermined number of specific parts are required by an operator from a parts storage box provided at a predetermined position. They grab it and attach it to each part of the car. However, skilled workers can almost certainly pick up 10 pieces each time.However, unskilled workers have an uncertain number of such pieces, so count them and pick up 10 pieces before assembling them in the car. ing. However, even a skilled worker sometimes has a slight deviation such as 11 or 9 pieces. In such a case, it is further taken up from the above-mentioned component storage box and assembled to the automobile.

In addition, a spiral track is formed on the inner peripheral wall portion to cause torsional vibration, thereby discharging one part from the end of the track, and counting and supplying a predetermined number, for example, ten, of the parts. Although it is conceivable to discharge the parts to a predetermined position, each time the operator picks up the predetermined number, the parts must be counted and discharged in front of the operator, which is a poor workability. . It is also conceivable to hold a predetermined number of parts at a plurality of positions, but for this purpose, for example, a belt conveyor or some kind of tactile moving means must be used. This makes the entire device expensive.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a component counting device capable of immediately obtaining a predetermined number of components without significantly increasing the device cost.

[Means for solving the problem]

An object of the present invention is to provide a vibrating component which accommodates a component and vibrates a component receiving portion having a component transport truck to transport the component along the component transport truck and supply the component one by one from the discharge end of the component transport truck. A supply device, a component counting means provided near the discharge end, a component transfer chute provided near the discharge end, and a lower end opening of the component transfer chute are provided so as to be freely opened and closed. And driving the vibrating component supply device to supply one component from the discharge end of the component transfer truck to the component transfer chute while counting the component by the component counting device. When the predetermined number is counted by the component counting means, the driving of the vibration component supply device is stopped and the gate means is opened. When the predetermined number of components are taken out by moving the vibration component supply device to the closed position, the vibration component supply device is driven again, and the component reception amount of the component receiving portion of the vibration component supply device is determined based on the component reception amount. A vibration feeder having a component receiving portion having a large component receiving amount is provided, and when the component in the component receiving portion of the vibrating component supply device is empty or almost empty, the vibration feeder is driven to a predetermined amount. The gate means is trough-shaped, is rotatably supported, has a weight attached to one end thereof, and has the closed position. Position is held by the rotational moment of the weight due to the gravitational action of the weight, and the vibration feeder uses a linear trough as the component receiving portion and traverses the trough. A flexible partitioning plate is achieved by the component counting apparatus being characterized in that movable adjusted along the longitudinal direction of the trough.

[Action]

By a component counting means provided near the discharge end of the component transfer truck from the vibrating component supply device, a predetermined number of components to be discharged one by drive are counted and passed through the component transfer chute to open the lower end opening. It can be supplied to the closed gate means. When the predetermined number is supplied, the driving of the vibration component supply device is stopped. When the operator opens the gate means by hand to take out a predetermined number of parts and return it to the position where the lower end opening of the chute is closed again, the vibrating part supply device is automatically started to be driven and discharged one by one. Parts are counted by the part counting means,
A predetermined number of components are supplied to the gate means closing the lower end opening through the component transfer chute, and the operator is waiting to pick up the predetermined number of components.

At this time, the gate means is trough-shaped, is rotatably supported, and has a weight attached to one end, and the gate means holds the closed position with a rotational moment due to the gravitational action of the weight. Therefore, the operator can reliably take out a predetermined number of components only by rotating the gate means against the gravitational action of the weight. After the parts are taken out, the gate means automatically takes the closed position by the rotational moment due to the gravitational action of the weight, and the vibrating parts supply device automatically counts one part to take the closed position. The workability can be further improved because it can be supplied to the gate means. Also, in the vibrating feeder, by providing a flexible partition plate in the trough so as to be movable and adjustable, the number of components to be accommodated therein can be adjusted, for example, to accommodate only necessary components in one working day. Therefore, the driving force for driving this can be reduced as much as possible. Further, by disposing the flexible partition plate, a predetermined amount of components can be supplied relatively accurately into the component receiving portion of the vibration component supply device. If the flexible partition plate is not provided, the component has a large layer thickness and a large flow rate and is supplied to the component receiving portion of the vibration component supply device, so that it is difficult to supply this predetermined amount.

As described above, according to the component counting device of the present invention, a predetermined amount of components can always be stored so as to be provided by an operator when needed, and the components can be stored accurately. Therefore, the production efficiency can be further improved than before.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, a component counting device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 show the whole of the component counting apparatus of the present embodiment. In the figures, a vibration feeder (1) for a hopper contains a large number of components m to be counted. On the downstream side, a vibrating parts feeder (2) as a vibrating parts supply device, which is a constituent element of the present invention, is disposed, and one of the vibrating parts is discharged from the vibrating parts feeder according to the present invention.
Is provided. A display / controller (4) is provided on the upstream end side of the vibration feeder (1). The above vibration feeder (1), vibration parts feeder (2),
The component storage unit (3), the display / controller (4), etc. are adjusted on the common base (5) via the columns (6), (7) and (8), respectively, with the height between them adjusted. Fixed. Although not shown, the columns (6), (7), and (8) are configured so that their height can be adjusted.

First, the vibration feeder (1) will be described with reference to FIG. 1. A large-capacity trough (9) for accommodating a large number of components m extends linearly, and a movable core mounting member (10) ) Are integrally fixed, and are connected to the base block (14) by a pair of front and rear inclined leaf springs (15). Further, a hanging movable core (11) is fixed to the lower surface of the movable core mounting member (10). The hanging movable core (11) is fixed to the base block (14) and forms a gap with the electromagnet (13) around which the coil (12) is wound. Are facing each other. As described above, the linear vibration driving section is constituted, and the whole is covered with the cover (16). The vibration feeder (1) is configured as described above, but the whole is supported on the base (5) by the above-mentioned support (6) by the vibration-proof rubber (17).

According to the present embodiment, the vibrating feeder (1) is provided with a trough (9) having a large capacity, and a pair of adjusting plates (21) are slidable in the direction of the arrow on the upper edge. A knob (19) is fixed to this, and a flexible plate made of rubber (2
0) is fixed. It is sufficiently flexible that its lower end is adapted to be easily deformed in the direction of its transport by the part m as shown in FIG. The adjusting plate (21) can be moved in the direction of the arrow by loosening a bolt attached to the adjusting plate (21), whereby the number of parts m accommodated in the trough (9) is regulated. Therefore, the part m is stored upstream of the rubber plate (20), and the rubber plate (2
0) is bent so as to supply the parts m little by little to the vibration part feeder (2) on the downstream side.

Next, details of the vibration parts feeder (2) provided downstream of the vibration feeder (1) will be described. As is known, this is provided with a bowl (22) as a partial receiving part, on which a spiral track (32) is formed as a component transfer track as shown in FIG. A movable core (25) is fixed to the bottom surface of the bowl (22), and is connected to the lower base block (26) by an inclined leaf spring (29) disposed at equal angular intervals. An electromagnet (28) around which a coil (27) is wound is fixed on the base block (26) so as to face the movable core (25) with a gap. The torsional vibration drive unit is configured as described above, but the whole is a cylindrical cover (30).
Coated with The whole vibrating parts feeder (2) is supported on the above-mentioned support (7) by a vibration-proof rubber (31).

The vibrating parts feeder (2) is configured as described above. A supporting rod (23) which is close to the vibrating part feeder and whose height is adjustable is fixed on the base (5). A component empty detector (24) is fixed to the section. It is constructed in a known manner and the lower end of the lever (24a) depending therefrom is arranged at a slight distance from the central bottom of the bowl (22) and is swingable at its upper end. When the part m is present in the bowl (22), the lever (24a) is always tilted, or the part is swung every time the part passes below the part (m), so that the lever (24a) is provided at the upper end and not shown. The presence of the component is supplied to the display / controller (4) by a microswitch through a lead wire (not shown). That is, when it is determined that there is no part in the bowl (22) or it is almost empty, the coil (12) of the upstream vibration feeder (1) is excited to drive the vibration feeder (1), and the trough (9) The part m is discharged more. When the component is discharged into the bowl (22) by a predetermined amount, the driving of the vibration feeder (1) is stopped.

Next, details of the component storage section (3) according to the present invention connected to the downstream side of the vibration parts feeder (2) will be described.

In the component storage section (3), a pipe-shaped chute (34) as a component transfer chute is fixed to the column (8) by a substantially semicircular mounting member (35) at a substantially central portion thereof. In addition, the lower end opening of this chute (34) (34
Gate trough (36) as a means for opening and closing a) freely
The gate trough (36) is attached to the support (8) so as to swing freely on the shaft (80).
The weight (40) is fixed via 1). Therefore, the gate trough (36) is in the position shown in the normal state shown by the rotational moment due to gravity about the axis (80) of the weight (40), and its front end is the lower end opening of the chute (34). (34a) is in contact with this to close it.

A hook-shaped hook (42) for hooking a finger is fixed to the bottom surface of the front end of the gate trough (36).

A micro switch (39) is mounted on one side surface of the gate trough (36), and the actuator (39a) is a micro switch operating member (37) fixed to a support (8) in a normal state shown in the drawing. The micro switch (39) is closed by contacting the operating plate (38) attached to the lower end of the micro switch (39). In addition, as shown in FIG.
2) Hook and rotate it around the axis (80) in the direction indicated by the arrow, and the micro switch (39) actuator (39a)
Is configured to protrude upward when it is separated from the operating plate (38) by its inherent spring force to open the microswitch. The microswitch (39) is connected to the display / controller (4) via a lead wire (not shown). That is, an open / close signal of the micro switch (39) is supplied to the controller (4), thereby controlling the driving of the vibrating parts feeder (2).

The component storage section (3) is constructed as described above. The component storage section (3) is located near the upper end of the chute (34) and the discharge end (32a) of the truck (32) of the vibrating parts feeder (2). Parts counting device as counting means (100)
Is provided. It has a sensing element mounting member (81), as shown in detail in FIG. 3, which is U-shaped, but has a light emitting element (83) and a light emitting section (83a) on both arms. ) To receive the light beam from
The light receiving element (84) provided with 4a) is mounted, and the center of the mounting member (81) is provided with a bent arm (82), which is almost through an adjusting member (96). It is fixed to a U-shaped mounting member (99). This attachment is carried out by bolts (86), which are attached to the adjusting member (96) through the elongated holes (88) as shown in FIG. Bolt (8
As shown by the one-dot chain line and two-dot chain line in FIG. That is, by rotating the sensing element mounting member (81) around the bolt (85) as shown in FIG. 2, one piece is addressed from the discharge end (32a) of the track (32) of the vibrating parts feeder (2). Adjustment is made so as to count discharged components with the highest sensitivity. When the optimum position is determined, the whole component counting device (100) is fixed to the component storage part (3) by fixing the bolt (86). The adjusting member (96) is fixed to the mounting member (99) by bolts (98), but the bolts (98) are elongated holes (9).
7) is inserted, and the component count device (100) can also be moved and adjusted in this longitudinal direction. Mounting member (9
9) is fixed to the column (8).

The component counting device according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above. Next, this operation will be described.

The rubber plate (2) is set in the trough (9) of the vibrating feeder (1).
A large number of parts m are accommodated as defined by 0).
The adjusting plate (21) can be moved in the direction indicated by the arrow according to the required storage amount, and is fixed at an appropriate position by tightening bolts. When an alternating current is applied to the coil (12), an alternating attractive force is generated between the movable cores (11) as is well known, and this causes the trough (9) to move the leaf spring (1
5) Perform linear vibration in the vertical direction. As a result, the part m in the trough (9) receives the vibration force and the rubber plate (20)
Is bent rightward in FIG. 1 by bending its lower end. Parts are supplied from the discharge end of the trough (9) into the bowl (22) of the vibrating parts feeder (2). When a predetermined amount is supplied, the driving of the vibration feeder (1) is stopped. In the vibrating parts feeder (2), the coil (2
When 7) is excited, an alternating attractive force is generated between the movable core (25) and the movable core (25), torsionally vibrates due to the torsional action of the inclined leaf spring (29), and the components in the bowl (22) are separated from the truck (32).
And is discharged from the discharge end (32a) to the upper end opening of the chute (34) in the component storage section (3). When this one piece is discharged, the parts counting device (10
By blocking the light beam from the light emitting element (83) in (0), the light receiving element (84) opposed to the light emitting element (83) repeatedly shields and emits light. And the counted number is sequentially displayed on this display, and this is sequentially compared with the set count (which is also displayed). The driving of (2) is stopped.

In the parts storage part (3), the parts m slide sequentially through the chute through the chute (34) by the action of gravity, and as shown in FIG. 1, around the axis (80) by the action of gravity of the weight (40). Is turned to the closed position to close the lower end opening (34a). When a part m is supplied to the gate trough (36) and a predetermined number, for example, ten, is supplied, the vibrating part feeder The driving of (2) is stopped. The counted parts are received by the gate trough (36) as shown in FIG. The micro switch (39) actuator (39
a) is the operating plate (3) of the operating member (37) as shown in FIG.
8), which is open.

If the worker is currently assembling, for example, assembling an automobile, ten parts m required for this one automobile are required. To remove this, as shown in FIG. When the hook (42) is lightly pressed with the hand H, the gate trough (36) rotates around the axis (80) against the gravitational action of the weight (40), as shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, the gate trough (36) is separated from the lower end opening (34a) of the chute (34), that is, by taking the open position. The stored part m slides on the gate trough (36) and is immediately discharged to the worker's hand H. When all are discharged and the worker removes the hand H from the hook portion (42), the gate trough (36) is automatically rotated around the axis (80) by the gravitational action of the weight (40) and the chute (34). Abuts the lower end opening (34a).
That is, it takes a closed position. Then, the operator (39a) of the microswitch (39) comes into contact with the operating plate (38) to take the closed position, and the display / controller (4) takes this position by following the procedure from the open position to the closed position. Is detected, and the coil (27) of the vibration parts feeder (2) is excited again. This causes torsional vibration and discharge end (32a) of truck (32) in bowl (22).
, A part m is supplied to the gate trough, which is counted by the part counting device (100), passes through the chute (34) in the part storage part (3), and assumes the closed position shown in FIG. (36). As described above, when the predetermined number 10 is counted, that is, by applying 10 count pulse signals from the component counting device (100) to the display / controller (4), the driving of the vibrating parts feeder (2) is stopped.

As described above, a predetermined number of parts are sequentially taken out and work is performed. However, it is determined that the part m in the bowl (22) of the vibrating parts feeder (2) is empty or nearly empty by the empty detector (24). Then, by driving the vibration feeder (1) disposed on the upstream side with the detection signal of the empty detection device (24), the part m is supplied to the vibration parts feeder (2) from now on by a predetermined amount. ing.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the vibrating parts feeder (2) is formed in a small size, that is, in a small capacity, so that the number of parts to be housed is smaller than that of a bowl of a normal vibrating parts feeder, Is driven at a predetermined timing each time a component is taken out of the gate trough. However, because of its small size, the magnitude of the current flowing through the coil (27) may be small, and therefore the energy consumption may be reduced. It is convenient from the viewpoint of the problem or the problem of the generated heat. If this is a bowl configured to store a large number of parts like a normal vibrating parts feeder, a large current will flow each time the parts feeder is driven or stopped, thereby increasing the generated heat and energy. As the amount of consumption increases, and especially when the amount of generated heat increases, it is necessary to take measures to avoid this.
According to the present embodiment, since the volume of the bowl (22) of the vibrating parts feeder (2) is reduced as much as possible, the above-described problems of energy consumption and generated heat can be avoided.

In the vibration feeder (1), the trough (9)
By providing the rubber plate (20) so that it can be moved and adjusted, the number of parts m to be accommodated in the rubber plate can be adjusted to accommodate only necessary parts in, for example, one working day.
The driving force for driving this can be minimized. Further, by disposing the rubber plate (20), a predetermined amount of components can be supplied relatively accurately into the bowl (22) of the vibrating parts feeder (2). Suppose an 8 rubber plate (2
If 0) does not exist, the part m is supplied to the bowl (22) with a large layer thickness and a large flow rate, so that it is difficult to supply this predetermined amount.

As described above, according to the component counting device of the present invention, a predetermined amount of components can always be stored so as to be provided to the worker when necessary, and the components can be stored accurately. As a result, the production efficiency can be further improved as compared with the conventional case.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is, of course, not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the chute in the component storage section (3) has a pipe shape. However, instead of this, a normal chute having a U-shaped cross section and an open upper part may be used.

In the above embodiment, the vibration parts feeder (2) is used to supply one part to the parts storage part (3).
Instead, a linear vibration feeder that performs linear vibration may be used. In this case, the width of the track may be configured such that the components are supplied one by one in a single row.

In the above embodiment, the micro switch (39) is provided to detect the opening / closing of the gate trough (36). However, instead of this, a light emitting element and a light receiving element are provided and these are opened to the stationary part or the gate means. The opening and closing of the gate trough or gate means may be detected by determining whether or not a light beam passes through the slit.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the component counting device of the present invention, a predetermined number of components can be immediately provided each time an operator needs them, and the workability can be further improved. Further, the cost of the apparatus can be reduced by making the entire apparatus compact.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing an entire part counting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a partially broken side view for explaining the operation of the essential parts. In the figure, (2) ... vibrating parts feeder (34) ... chute (36) ... gate trough (40) ... weight (100) ... parts counting device

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vibrating component which receives a component and transfers the component along the component transport track by vibrating a component receiving portion having the component transport track, and supplies the component one by one from a discharge end of the component transport track. A supply device, a component counting means provided near the discharge end, a component transfer chute provided near the discharge end, and a lower end opening of the component transfer chute are provided so as to be freely opened and closed. Gate means, and driving the vibrating component supply device to drive one component from the discharge end of the component transfer truck.
Supplying the component to the component transfer chute while counting by the component counting means, receiving the component by the gate means, counting the predetermined number by the component counting means, stopping the driving of the vibration component supply device, A predetermined number of components are taken out by moving to the open position, and when the components are moved to the closed position again, the vibration component supply device is driven again,
A vibration feeder having a component receiving portion having a component receiving amount larger than the component receiving amount of the component receiving portion of the vibrating component supplying device is provided, and the components in the component receiving portion of the vibrating component supplying device become empty or almost empty. When the vibration feeder is emptied, the component means is configured to drive the vibration feeder to supply a substantially predetermined amount to the component receiving portion of the vibration component supply device, wherein the gate means has a trough shape and is rotatably supported. A weight is attached to one end, and the closed position is held by a rotational moment due to the gravitational action of the weight, and the vibrating feeder has a linear trough as the component receiving portion. A component counting device, wherein a flexible partition plate is provided so as to be movable along the longitudinal direction of the trough so as to cross the trough.