JP2632719B2 - Parts feeder - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a parts feeder provided with a hopper for storing parts in a vibration bowl.

[Prior Art] A parts feeder aligns and supplies works by nonlinear vibration, torsional vibration, or the like. In this method, a bowl provided with a spiral component transfer track on the inner wall is vibrated, and a work put into the bottom of the bowl is aligned in a predetermined posture at a stage of transferring the work along the track.

In this way, the work is supplied to the bottom part of the bowl to the parts feeder, but the work put into the bowl at a time alone often lacks the absolute amount. A hopper for supplying a work therein is provided.

As a conventional hopper, there is a hopper provided separately from a parts feeder, and a work is appropriately fed into the bowl from the hopper. There is also a hopper integrated with a parts feeder. This is a device in which a hopper is provided in a bowl, the hopper is supported so that a gap is provided between a lower end portion of the hopper and a bottom portion of the bowl, and the hopper itself is rotatably provided. . When this type of hopper is used for a parts feeder by torsional vibration, the hopper rotates in the direction of transferring the work, and the work can be smoothly discharged from the lower part.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional method of supplying a work into a bowl from a hopper provided in a so-called separate body, a height difference between a work discharge portion of the hopper and a bottom of the bowl is large, There was a drawback that the noise when the work dropped was loud. In addition, precision parts such as IC parts may be damaged due to the large head, and there is a disadvantage that these parts cannot be used. Furthermore, since it is provided separately from the parts feeder, there is a problem that the installation place is restricted.

Further, in the hopper provided in the bowl of the parts feeder, although the head of the work can be reduced, there is a disadvantage that the work cannot be discharged smoothly.
The hopper is simply rotatably supported with respect to the bowl, and rotates along with the vibration of the bowl itself, thereby discharging the work in the hopper from the gap between the lower opening and the bottom of the bowl. Of structure. Therefore, depending on the type of the work, when the work is fully filled in the hopper, the works are entangled with each other at the lower opening of the hopper, and the work cannot be dispersed by merely rotating the hopper. . Therefore, when using a hopper with this structure, it can be applied only to a part feeder with a torsional vibration structure, and cannot be used for a non-linear horizontal vibration linked type feeder without so-called vertical movement due to acceleration difference. was there. That is, when the gap between the bottom of the bowl and the lower opening of the hopper is displaced due to the torsional vibration of the bowl, particularly when the gap is widened, the work is easily discharged. However, also in this regard, since the bottom of the bowl moves up and down with respect to the hopper that is rotatably fixed at a fixed position, the work becomes jammed or the bowl becomes unable to vibrate due to the work being jammed. There was something. Also, the torsional vibration parts feeder has the drawback of extremely loud noise because the work is flipped up and transferred diagonally upward, and the use of this type of parts feeder is essentially in the direction of reduction. Currently, hoppers of this type are also rarely used.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present inventor has achieved the present invention as a result of intensive research in view of the above points, and the features thereof are as follows.
A support shaft erected on the bottom of a bowl provided with a spiral component transfer track on the inner wall, a sleeve inserted in the support shaft at the center of the component storage hopper, and supported slidably in the vertical direction;
An air cylinder main body fixed to an upper end of the sleeve is provided, and a component storage hopper is moved upward by pressing an upper end of the support shaft with a rod of the air cylinder.

Here, the outline of the present invention will be described. The hopper is supported slidably in the up-down direction on a support shaft erected on the bottom of the parts feeder. That is, a sleeve for inserting the support shaft is fixed to the center of the hopper. The body of the air cylinder is provided at the upper end of the sleeve. The parts feeder body referred to here is not limited to non-linear vibration or torsional vibration, and may be of any type.

The air cylinder is provided so that its piston rod projects downward by air pressure,
The piston rod is configured to abut the upper end of the support shaft. Therefore, when the piston rod is protruded, the piston rod is restricted by the support shaft, so that the air cylinder itself is lifted, and the sleeve to which the air cylinder is fixed and the hopper itself are raised. As a result,
Since the gap between the lower opening of the hopper and the bottom of the bowl is widened, the work in this portion flows out and is sequentially supplied to the parts transfer truck from the bottom of the bowl. It is most preferable to raise the hopper when the work at the bottom of the bowl has decreased. For this reason, a sensor is provided, and the air cylinder is driven by the detection of the sensor. As the sensor, an optical sensor or a level sensor of an ultrasonic type or a capacitance type is used. In addition, the hopper may be moved up and down periodically using a timer, or a sensor and a timer may be used in combination.
The position where the sensor is attached is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to attach the sensor to a part other than the vibration part of the parts feeder body. The component transfer track is a work passage provided on the inner peripheral wall surface of the bowl for aligning the work while passing the work on the transfer track or supplying the work to a trough provided separately. . In the present invention, a support shaft is erected at the bottom of a bowl formed in a bowl shape. The support shaft may be fixed to the upper surface of the bottom of the bowl, may be pinched to the bottom, or may penetrate the bottom and be fixed at the lower part thereof. Further, the bottom of the bowl may have a structure separated from the track portion. The hopper is supported by a support shaft. In the present invention, a sleeve is fixed in the hopper, and the sleeve is inserted into the support shaft so that the sleeve can be moved up and down. The shape of the hopper may be any shape such as a cylindrical shape or an inverted conical shape, as long as the hopper has an upper opening for filling the work and a lower opening for discharging the work at the bottom of the bowl. I just need. Further, the sleeve is for inserting the support shaft, and may be any as long as it can move up and down along the outer peripheral surface of the support shaft. This shape is generally a pipe shape, but it may be provided with a plurality of ring shapes.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a parts feeder 1 according to the present invention, in which a hopper 3 is provided in a bowl 2. The hopper 3 is provided with a sleeve 4 at a central portion thereof, and an air cylinder 5 is fixed to an upper end of the sleeve 4. The sleeve 4 is slidable up and down along the support shaft 6 by being inserted into a support shaft 6 erected at the bottom of the bowl 2. Normally, when the hopper 3 is at the lowermost position, a gap of about several mm is provided between the lower opening 7 of the hopper 3 and the bottom of the bowl 2.
Of course, this gap varies depending on the type and shape of the work 10. The upward movement of the hopper 3 is performed by the air cylinder 5. In this case, the rod 8 of the air cylinder 5 is protruded by air pressure, and the rod 8 of the air cylinder 5 is brought into contact with the upper end of the support shaft 6 so that the body of the air cylinder 5 is raised. Accompanying this is an air cylinder 5
The sleeve 4 to which the main body is fixed, and thus the hopper 3 rises.

The operating state of the hopper 3 is shown in FIGS. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the hopper 3 is at the lowermost position, in which the rod 8 of the air cylinder 5 is in the initial position,
The most retracted position. FIG. 5B shows a state in which the hopper 3 is moved to the uppermost end position by ejecting the rod 8. In this embodiment, the air cylinder 5 is driven by an optical sensor 9 provided on the side of the hopper 3. That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, the works 10 in the lower opening 7 of the hopper 3 are entangled with each other, the work 10 cannot be discharged from this part, and the amount of the work 10 on the bottom of the bowl 2 is small. If it does, the optical sensor 9 detects this and drives the air cylinder 5 to raise the hopper 3. After the hopper 3 is moved to the upper end position, it is held for a certain time by a timer (not shown).

The gap between the hopper 3 and the bottom of the bowl 2 is adjusted by fitting the spacer 11 to the support shaft 6 as shown in FIG. I do. Further, the length of the pressing tool 12 provided at the tip of the rod 8 and the height of the support shaft 6 may be adjusted.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, in the parts feeder according to the present invention, since the hopper for storing the work is provided in the bowl, the work is prevented from dropping and noise is generated, and the hopper is forcibly forced. By being configured to move upward,
There is an advantage that the supply of the work from the hopper into the bowl is ensured. In particular, when a work detector such as an optical sensor is provided, it is possible to grasp not only the presence of the work in the bowl but also the absence of the work in the hopper. Has an extremely useful effect in practical use, in which the supply of sapphire can be continuously performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a parts feeder according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are cross-sectional views each showing an operation state of a hopper, and FIG. 3 is another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Part feeder, 2 ... Bowl 3 ... Hopper, 4 ... Sleeve 5 ... Air cylinder, 6 ... Support shaft 7 ... Bottom opening, 8 ... Rod 9 ... Optical sensor, 10 ... Work 11 ... Spacer, 12 ... Pressing tool

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A support shaft erected at the bottom of a bowl provided with a spiral component transfer truck on an inner wall portion, and the support shaft is inserted through the center of a component storage hopper so as to be slidable in the vertical direction. And an air cylinder body fixed to the upper end of the sleeve, wherein the upper end of the support shaft is pressed by the rod of the air cylinder to move the component storage hopper upward. Characterized parts feeder.