JP2898217B2 - Liquid metering method and liquid metering device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for supplying a fixed amount of liquid such as grease.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a liquid supply device such as grease can supply a liquid with a lubricator. When used, a valve of the liquid supply device is turned on to discharge the liquid, and when not in use, the valve is turned off. It is switched off and the discharge of the liquid is stopped.

[0003]

However, since the valve is manually switched, a fixed amount of liquid cannot be supplied. In particular, it is not possible to supply a small amount of liquid. Further, when the valve is turned off, the valve is twisted or tilted, so that a gap is formed between the valve body and the valve seat, and the liquid leaks. Further, when the valve is closed, the viscosity of the liquid (grease or the like) may cause the valve body to come into close contact with the valve seat and not be opened.

Accordingly, the present invention makes it possible to supply a fixed amount of liquid, particularly a small amount of liquid, to increase the certainty of opening and closing the valve,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid quantitative supply device that eliminates liquid leakage when a valve is closed and makes it easy to open a valve.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, when the piston rod advances, the valve is opened, the liquid is pushed out, the valve body advances along the control rod, and the tip of the control rod is moved forward. When the valve body stops at the stopper, and only the piston rod moves forward through the trumpet-shaped hole of the valve body, while the piston rod moves backward through the trumpet-shaped hole, The liquid fixed-quantity supply method is characterized in that the piston rod head is engaged, the retreat is performed integrally along the regulating rod, and the valve is seated on the valve seat to close the valve. A liquid supply unit for supplying a liquid;
An air pressure unit that supplies air pressure to the liquid supply unit, and a valve that is opened and closed by a piston rod driven by air pressure from the air pressure unit, and a liquid passage chamber that is connected to the liquid supply unit and supplied with liquid is provided. The liquid passage chamber is provided with an enlarged diameter portion, and the valve is disposed in the enlarged diameter portion to communicate and shut off the liquid and to send out the liquid, and a proximity sensor connected to the liquid passage chamber is provided. And a control unit for quantitatively controlling the piston rod in response to a signal from the proximity sensor, wherein the valve extends in the axial direction from the valve seat and has a stopper at the tip. A rod having a trumpet-shaped hole in the center thereof, a small hole provided around the hole for insertion into the regulating rod, and a valve body having a step inside the small hole on a surface opposite to the stopper. ,
The liquid quantitative supply device is characterized in that the piston rod is inserted into the trumpet-shaped hole, and a head adapted to the trumpet-shaped hole is provided at the tip of the piston rod.

[0006]

Since the cylinder section is quantitatively controlled in response to the signal from the proximity sensor, a constant amount of liquid can be supplied from the liquid discharge section. In addition, the movement of the valve body is regulated by the regulation rod,
Since the valve element stops at the stopper, a small amount of liquid can be supplied, and the movement of the valve element is stabilized, so that leakage of liquid is eliminated. Liquid leakage when the valve is closed can be eliminated. Further, since the step portion is provided on the back surface of the valve body, the valve body can be easily opened when the viscosity of the liquid is large.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A grease quantitative supply device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The grease quantitative supply device 1 includes a grease supply unit 2, a pneumatic unit 3, a cylinder unit 4, a jig 5, and an electronic control unit 6. The grease supply unit 2 and the air pressure unit 3 are integrated, but the cylinder unit 4 is movable. The feature of the first embodiment is mainly in the cylinder portion 4.

First, the grease supply unit 2 will be described. FIG.
In (a), grease can be taken in from the grease inlet 7 by a grease pump (not shown). As shown in FIG. 1B, the base 8 is provided with a grease passage 8a having a bent portion, and can be pressure-fed to the socket 11 of the cylinder portion 4 through the pipe 10 by the pressure of the pneumatic pump 9. . The grease is stored in a grease tank 15, and pressure is applied from the pneumatic chamber 14.

Next, the pneumatic section 3 will be described. The pneumatic pump 9 has a housing 9a formed in a transparent synthetic resin cylinder.
It has. As shown in FIG. 1B, the upper part of the housing 9 a is separated into an air chamber 14 and the lower part is separated into a grease tank 15 by a disk-shaped piston 13 in which an O-ring 12 is fitted on the outer periphery. As shown in FIG. 1A, a pneumatic section 3 is provided with a pipe 18 for taking in air pressure from a compressor (not shown).
A regulator 19 for regulating pressure, an electromagnetic switching valve 20, a pipe 21 for supplying air pressure from the electromagnetic switching valve 20 to the cylinder unit 4, and supplying air pressure from the electromagnetic switching valve 20 to the air chamber 14. And a pipe 22 for carrying out. The pipe 22 is connected to the air chamber 14 via a joint 22a.

A proximity switch 23 is fixed behind the jig 5 and a detection signal is sent to the electronic control unit 6. The electronic control unit 6 is provided with a switch 24, a lamp 25, a timer 26, a buzzer 27, and a pressure meter 28. When the switch 24 is turned on, the lamp 25 is turned on, the electronic control unit 6 is turned on, and power is supplied to each unit. The timer 26 is for adjusting the cylinder stroke of the cylinder unit 4. The buzzer 27 sounds when the grease runs out. The pressure meter 28 is for displaying the air pressure value adjusted by the regulator 19.

The internal structure of the cylinder 4 and the jig 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The cylinder part 4 is the cylinder 3
0, a housing 35 having a socket groove 32, a grease passage chamber 33 and a valve seat 34, and a housing 37 in which a grease passage chamber 36 is perforated. Socket groove 32
And the grease passage chamber 33 can communicate with each other, and is open to the valve seat 34. The grease passage chamber 36 is open at the left end of the housing 37 and closed at the right end. Valve seat 3
4 is inserted into the grease passage chamber 36, the housing 35 and the housing 37 are closely fitted via the O-ring 38, the grease passage chambers 33 and 36 are shut off from the outside air, and the enlarged diameter portions are formed before and after the valve seat 34. Will be done. The piston rod 39 is located at the left end of its stroke, and its end is adjacent to the lower part of the socket groove 32.

A piston rod 40 having a reduced diameter extends axially from the center of the end of the piston rod 39.
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the piston rod 40 is inserted into the hole 51 of the valve body 41, so that the nail-shaped head 53 provided at the end of the piston rod 40 can fit into the hole 51. ing. At the end of the valve seat 34, two regulating rods 42 are provided in the axial direction, and are fitted in the holes of the valve body 41, so that the valve body 41 can move along the regulating rod 42. . A stopper 42a is provided at the right end of the regulating rod 42, and regulates the rightward movement of the valve body 41.

In FIG. 2, the size of the grease passage chamber 36 is formed such that the stroke of the piston rod 40 can be performed without hindrance. The right end wall of the grease passage chamber 36 is located at the limit position of the head 53 in the right movement direction. It is provided further to the right than that. Further, two conduits 43 extend parallel and upward from the side of the grease passage chamber 36. Conduit 4
Reference numeral 3 denotes an opening on the inner surface of the jig 5. At the end of the conduit 43, a capacitance type sensor 44 for detecting the presence or absence of grease is arranged. The jig 5 is formed in a U-shape to apply grease to a product, and is fixed to the upper surface of the housing 37. A liquid crystal display 45 is provided above the jig 5.
The liquid crystal display device 45 displays the presence or absence of grease, the amount of grease discharged, and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 4 (a), 4 (b) and 4 (c), the valve element 41 is formed in a disk shape, and two small holes 50 are drilled at the end and at the center. A trumpet-shaped (megaphone-shaped or horn-shaped) hole 51 is formed. An annular step 52 is provided inside the small hole 50 and outside the hole 51. As shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, the nail-shaped head 53 is formed in a shape that can fit into the hole 51. That is, the end surface is a vertical circular surface, from which the diameter of the piston rod 4 is reduced to a conical shape.
0 is connected to the right end.

The pneumatic circuit and grease circuit of FIG. 6 will be described. The air pressure from the compressor 54 is supplied to the regulator 19, and the regulator 19 adjusts the air pressure to an optimum value. The air pressure from the regulator 19 is
The air is supplied to the air chamber 14 of the pneumatic pump 9 through the pipe 22 and the joint 22a. The air pressure is also supplied from the regulator 19 to the electromagnetic switching valve 20. The electromagnetic switching valve 20 is a three-position switching valve, and is connected to a double rod type cylinder 30 via a pipe 21.
The cylinder 30 can reciprocate periodically.

The grease circuit shown in FIG. 6 will be described. Grease is stored in the grease tank 15.
The piston 13 is pressed downward by the air pressure from the pump, so that the grease is pumped at a constant pressure and the grease can be fed to the grease passage chamber 35 through the grease tank 15 and the pipe 10. The valve element 41 opens and closes in accordance with the cylinder 30, and grease comes out of the jig 5 when the valve element 41 is opened.
The detailed operation will be described later.

The electronic control unit 6 shown in FIG. 7 will be described. The electronic control unit 6 includes an input port 60, an output port 61, a CPU
62, a ROM 63, a RAM 64, a bus line 65, and a power supply 66. A program for grease quantitative supply is written in the ROM 63, and the CPU 62
According to this program, signals from the proximity switch 23, the timer 26, and the capacitance type sensor 44 are fetched via the input port 60 and the bus line 65, or data is exchanged between the RAM 64 via the bus line 65. The processing is performed while transmitting and receiving data, and the processed data is processed as necessary through the bus line 65 to the output port 61.
To the solenoid valve 20, lamp 25, buzzer 2
5, the pressure meter 28 and the liquid crystal display 45 are controlled. The electronic control circuit 6 can move the piston rod 39 forward and backward for a set time set by the timer 26 after the detection signal is input from the proximity switch 23, and a fixed amount of grease is cured. Tool 5
It is controlled to get out of. The algorithm of the program will be described together in the following description of the operation, so that the flowchart is omitted.

Next, the operation when the grease quantitative supply device 1 of the first embodiment is applied to grease application of a product will be described. First, the replenishment of grease will be described. Joint 22a
, Remove the rod and insert piston 13 to grease tank 1
5 and pressed down with a stick so that the piston 13 does not rise. The electromagnetic switching valve 20 is turned off, and the cylinder unit 4 is kept open. A grease pump (not shown) is fitted to the grease inlet 7 to reduce the pressure of the grease pump to 1 to
Adjust to 2 atm. If grease comes out of the tip of jig 5,
The air is released and the grease passage 8a is filled with grease. Once deflated, there is usually no need to deflate again. Next, the grease pump is stopped. Tube 1
8 is connected, the above-mentioned rod is removed, the joint 22a is attached, the pressure of the grease pump is returned to the normal pressure, and the grease is injected into the grease tank 15. When the grease is injected into the grease tank 15, the grease is also applied to the grease tank 15. Is filled. When the grease is filled, remove the grease pump from the grease intake 7.

Next, the operation of supplying grease will be described.
When the proximity switch 23 does not operate, the right end of the piston rod 39 is normally located on the left side of the lower end of the socket groove 32 as shown in FIG. 8, and communicates with the socket groove 32 and the grease passage chamber 33. Since the head 53 presses the valve body 41 to the left, the valve body 4 is pressed as shown in FIG. 8A (see FIG. 3A).
1, the grease passage chamber 33 is closed on the back surface. Therefore, grease does not leak from the grease passage chamber 33 to the grease passage chamber 36.

When a product (not shown) approaches the proximity switch 23, a drive signal is output from the electronic control unit 6 to the cylinder unit 4 and the electromagnetic switching valve 20 is set for the time set by the timer 26.
Is turned on, the piston rod 39 and the piston rod 4
0 integrally moves rightward, and the state shown in FIG. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the stepped portion 52 is provided, and the contact area between the valve seat 34 and the valve body 41 is reduced.
1, the separation resistance is small, the valve can be easily opened, and the piston rod 39 and the piston rod 40 can smoothly advance. When the right end of the piston rod 39 pushes the grease in the grease passage chamber 33 rightward, the valve element 41 moves along the regulating rod 42 by the pressure of the grease, and the valve is opened. As shown in FIG. 3B, the grease is pushed out from the outer periphery of the valve body 41, and the grease filled in the inner diameter of the grease passage chamber 33 is removed by the piston rod 39 and the piston rod 40.
Advance, the valve body 41 advances, and the stopper 4
Stop at 2a. When it moves further forward, the piston rod 39
And only the piston rod 40 moves forward. Thus, the grease passes through the grease passage chamber 36 and the conduit 43 and comes out of the outlet, and the grease is applied to the product. Further, the amount of grease to be pushed out is determined by the forward distance between the piston rod 39 and the piston rod 40.

The amount of grease to be pushed out can be easily adjusted by changing the set time of the timer 26 to change the forward distance between the piston rod 39 and the piston rod 40. Therefore, the minimum amount of grease applied to the product can be surely applied. The electronic control unit 6 calculates the moving speed of the piston rod 39 from the set time of the timer 26 (the drive time of the electromagnetic switching valve 20) and the forward distance of the piston rods 39 and 40, and the piston rod 39 pushes out the moving speed. The grease amount is calculated and displayed on the liquid crystal display device 45 in real time. If it is determined that the amount of grease is less than the required minimum value and the determination is "yes," a message that "the specified amount of grease has not been applied" is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 45. I do. Therefore, the operator can easily visually confirm that the required minimum amount of grease has been applied.

After the time set by the timer 26, the electromagnetic switching valve 2
0 is switched, the piston rod 39 moves backward, and the right end of the piston rod 39 returns inside the grease passage chamber 33 to the left. Grease does not come out of the outlet of the conduit 43. When reaching the socket groove 32, the socket groove 32 communicates with the grease passage chamber 33, and grease is removed from the grease passage chamber 3.
3 is supplied. When the head 53 is further pushed, the head 53 is fitted into the hole 51, and the head 53 and the valve element 41 are integrally retracted, and the valve is closed as shown in FIG. Cut off. At this time, since the grease is cut and sealed by the head 53, there is no leakage of the grease.

Here, when the grease becomes empty, the buzzer 27 sounds based on the grease presence / absence detection signal from the capacitance type sensor 44 and “Please supply grease to the liquid crystal display device 45. Is displayed. This avoids grease blanking.

Next, a second embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 will be described. The second embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the first embodiment, and the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Different configurations and the like will be described. Grease supply unit 2, pneumatic unit 3, and cylinder unit 4
Are housed integrally in the housing 50, and the cylinder portion 4 is fixed directly below the base 8. Cylinder part 4
Is connected to an air gun or a jig via a pipe 51.
The tube 10 is provided inside the base 8 or the like. According to the second embodiment, since the pipe 10 and the like do not come out, no hooking or the like occurs, and it is convenient for transportation. Also, the jig can be easily replaced.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, a bridge circuit is provided in the capacitance type sensor Alternatively, the presence or absence of grease may be detected. Instead of the capacitance type sensor 44, a pressure sensor may be attached to the inner wall of the pipe through which grease flows, and the presence or absence of grease may be detected by a change in pressure. It can be detected by ultrasonic waves. Instead of the timer 26, a fixed amount of grease may be generated by a one-shot multivibrator. Further, the cylinder stroke may be adjusted by the stroke adjusting screw 30a of the cylinder 30. Although the jig 5 has been described as an example of the liquid ejection unit, the invention is not limited to this. Thus, it goes without saying that the configuration of the present invention can be appropriately changed without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the cylinder section is quantitatively controlled in response to the signal from the proximity sensor, a fixed amount of liquid, particularly a small amount of liquid, can be supplied from the liquid discharge section. Further, since the movement of the valve body is regulated by the regulating rod, the movement of the valve body is stabilized, and the leakage of the liquid is eliminated. No leakage when the valve is closed. Further, since the step portion is provided on the back surface of the valve body, the valve body can be easily opened when the viscosity of the liquid is large, and the accuracy of the liquid supply amount is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a first embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a partial sectional view of a pneumatic pump of the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a liquid metering unit and a jig of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing a state of the first embodiment when the valve is closed, and FIG. 3B is a perspective view showing a state of the first embodiment when the valve is opened.

FIG. 4A is a right side view of the valve body of the first embodiment,
(B) is the front view, and (c) is the rear view.

5A is a right side view of the piston rod head of the first embodiment, FIG. 5B is a front view thereof, and FIG. 5C is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a pneumatic circuit and a grease pressure circuit of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of an electronic control circuit of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8A is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which the valve of the first embodiment is closed, and FIG. 8B is a view in which the valve of the first embodiment is open and the piston rod is located at the rightmost end. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of a cylinder portion showing a state at the time.

9A is a perspective view of the second embodiment, and FIG. 9B is a partial cross-sectional view of the pneumatic pump of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a partial partial cross-sectional view of a liquid metering device according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 grease quantitative supply device 2 grease supply unit 3 pneumatic unit 4 cylinder unit 5 jig 6 electronic control unit 20 electromagnetic switching valve 21, 22 pipe 23 proximity switch 24 switch 25 lamp 26 timer 27 buzzer 28 pressure meter 30 cylinder 35, 37 housing 32 Socket groove 33,36 Grease passage chamber 34 Valve seat 38 O-ring 39,40 Piston rod 41 Valve 41a Wrapper hole 42 Regulator rod 42a Stopper 43 Conduit 44 Capacitance sensor 45 Liquid crystal display device 50 Small hole 51 Hole 52 Step Part 53 head 54 compressor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B05C 11/10 B05C 5/00 F16N 11/10 F41A 29/04

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] When the piston rod advances, the valve is opened, the liquid is pushed out, the valve body advances along the control rod, the valve body stops at the stopper at the tip of the control rod, and only the piston rod is stopped. When the piston rod moves forward through the trumpet-shaped hole, while the piston rod retreats through the trumpet-shaped hole, the trumpet-shaped hole and the head of the piston rod are engaged, and along the regulating rod. A liquid fixed-quantity supply method characterized by retreating integrally, sitting on a valve seat and closing a valve. 2. A liquid supply unit for supplying a liquid, an air pressure unit for supplying air pressure to the liquid supply unit, and a piston rod driven by air pressure from the air pressure unit to open and close a valve. A cylinder for providing a liquid passage chamber to which a liquid is supplied by connection, providing an enlarged diameter portion in the liquid passage chamber, and disposing and communicating the liquid by disposing the valve in the enlarged diameter portion and sending out the liquid. A liquid discharge unit connected to the liquid passage chamber and provided with a proximity sensor, and a control unit that receives a signal from the proximity sensor and quantitatively controls a piston rod, wherein the valve is a valve seat; A regulating rod with a stopper at the tip, which extends in the axial direction, a trumpet-shaped hole is provided in the center, and a small hole is provided around the regulating rod, and the stopper is provided inside the small hole. Is the step on the opposite side A liquid metering and feeding device comprising: a valve body provided with a piston rod, wherein the piston rod is inserted through the trumpet-shaped hole, and a head adapted to the trumpet-shaped hole is provided at a tip of the piston rod.