JP2919869B2 - Automatic part insertion device and method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for inserting a component into an insertion hole formed in a member.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in a hydraulic control device of an automatic transmission for a vehicle, a valve body in which several control valves are integrated is used. The valve body has a number of insertion holes and a number of oil passages communicating with these insertion holes and through which hydraulic oil flows. Each of the valve spools is inserted into these insertion holes to form a control valve. The control valve is configured to selectively switch the communication of the above-described oil passage and control the flow of the hydraulic oil by the displacement of the valve spool. Has become.

In order to form such a control valve, the valve spool must be inserted into the insertion hole of the valve body. By vibrating the valve spool, the valve spool is inserted into the insertion hole.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Since the control valve must be formed with high accuracy, the tolerance between the valve spool and the insertion hole is set to an extremely tight value. That is, in the control valve 01, as shown in FIG.
Not only is the clearance with 03 extremely sharply restricted to, for example, 10 μm, but also the variation in the distance between the reference position of the valve body 04 and the center position of the insertion hole 03 is suppressed to, for example, ± 50 μm.

Therefore, in order to ensure that the valve spool 02 can be inserted into the insertion hole 03, it is necessary to center the valve spool 02 with respect to the insertion hole 03 with high accuracy.

However, the valve spool must be manually
If one end of 02 is made to face the insertion hole 03, it is difficult to perform centering with high accuracy and quickness, and it takes time and effort to insert the valve spool.

In order to automate the assembly of the hydraulic control device,
Although it is necessary to automate the assembly of the control valve, it is difficult to automate the assembly of the control valve if the centering of the valve spool 02 is performed by hand as described above.

Therefore, it is conceivable to automatically center the valve spool 02 using a robot.However, in the situation where the precision of the control valve 01 is severely limited as described above, even if the current robot technology is used, the valve Spool 02
Cannot be centered with high precision. For this reason, automation of valve assembly is even more difficult.

Unless the valve spool 02 is centered with high accuracy in the insertion hole 03 and the tip of the valve spool 02 is not securely positioned in the insertion hole 03, vibration is applied to the valve body 04 as shown in FIG. Also, the entrance of the insertion hole 03 and the insertion hole
03 inside the valve spool 02 is the valve body
Since the valve spool 02 is hooked and tilted, the valve spool 02 cannot be inserted into the insertion hole 03. Further, the valve spool 02 is caught on the valve body 04, so that the valve spool 02 and the valve body 04 are nicked or damaged, and the reliability of the control valve 01 is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to automate a valve assembly by smoothly and reliably inserting a part into an insertion hole formed in a member. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic component insertion apparatus and method which enables the following.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic component insertion apparatus and method capable of reliably preventing the valve spool and valve body from being nicked or damaged when the valve spool is inserted.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 1 from above into an insertion hole (4) formed in a member (2). An automatic component insertion device (1) for inserting a component (5) is provided above the insertion hole (4), and a guide (6) for guiding the component (5) toward the insertion hole (4). A component introduction means (14) for introducing the component (5) into the guide (6); a member support member (3) for supporting the member (2); and the insertion hole () for the member (2). 4) The compressed air is supplied to the inside of the insertion hole (4) so that the compressed air is supplied to the insertion hole (4) into which the component (5) is inserted by being ejected from a lateral direction obliquely upward. Vibration in the vertical direction is applied to the pressurized air supply means (10) and the member support member (3) which are disposed obliquely. It is characterized by comprising a vibration means (8,9).

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, the insertion hole (4) is a hole into which a working fluid is introduced, and the working fluid flows through the member (2) while communicating with the insertion hole (4). A channel hole (11) is formed, and the pressure air means (10) is provided so that the pressure air is supplied to the channel hole (11).

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the member (2) is a valve body and the component (5) is a valve spool (5).

Furthermore, the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the guide (6) faces the insertion hole (4) when the guide (6) is arranged above the insertion hole (4). Is provided with a guide hole (6a) which guides the inside of the insertion hole (4).

Further, the invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the guide (6) further includes a shutter (17) for blocking at least a part of the guide hole (6a).

Furthermore, the invention according to claim 6 is an automatic component insertion method for inserting a component (5) from above into an insertion hole (4) formed in a member (2), wherein the automatic component insertion method is provided above the insertion hole (4). A guide (6) for guiding a component (5) inserted into the insertion hole (4) toward the insertion hole (4) is provided, and at the same time as the component (5) is introduced into the guide, or At about the same time, pressurized air is supplied to the insertion hole (4) of the member (2), and the compressed air is fed laterally into the insertion hole (4) of the insertion hole (4) where the component (5) is inserted. The component (5) is rotated by being ejected and supplied obliquely upward from a direction to apply vibration to the member (2) in the vertical direction.

Further, the invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the insertion hole (4) is a hole through which a working fluid is introduced, and the insertion hole (4) communicates with the insertion hole (4) at a substantially right angle, and the passage hole (11) through which the working fluid flows. )
The compressed air is supplied for a predetermined time via

[Operation and Effect of the Invention] In the automatic component insertion device (1) and the method according to the present invention having the above-described configuration, the upper part of the insertion hole (4) is
A guide (6) for guiding the component (5) inserted into the insertion hole (4) toward the insertion hole (4) is provided, and the component (5) is introduced into the guide (6). Then, the compressed air is ejected from the lateral direction and obliquely upward into the insertion hole (4) into which the component (5) is inserted, thereby rotating the component (5) and supplying or stopping the compressed air. Since the member (2) is subjected to vertical vibration, the component (5) is inserted into the insertion hole (4) formed in the member (2).
When inserting the part, the part (5) is rotated by the pressurized air with respect to the insertion hole (4) and automatically centered. In this state, by giving a vertical vibration,
The component (5) can be smoothly and reliably inserted into the insertion hole (4). Thus, the part (5) can be reliably inserted into the insertion hole (4) in a desired state without touching the tip of the part (2), and the operation of inserting the part (5) can be automated.

Further, since the tip of the component (5) does not hit the member, it is possible to reliably prevent the component (5) and the member (2) from being hit or damaged.

Furthermore, since the compressed air is supplied through the flow passage hole (11) which is substantially perpendicularly connected to the insertion hole (4) and through which the working fluid flows, the compressed air is supplied using the flow passage hole (11). Can be supplied. Therefore, there is no need to provide a special passage for supplying compressed air. Therefore, the work for processing such a passage is not required, and the cost can be reduced. In addition, since air is used, the assembly line is not contaminated, and the automatic component insertion device (1) can be formed at a low cost with a simple structure.

Further, since the guide (6) includes a shutter (17) for blocking at least a part of the guide hole (6a),
For example, when the valve body (2) has a plurality of insertion holes (4) and the valve spool (5) is inserted into each of the insertion holes (4), each guide hole (6a) is formed by the shutter (17). ) Are shut off, and the shutter (17) is retracted with the valve spool (5) inserted into the guide holes (6a) to release the shut-off of the guide holes (6a). The spool (5) can be simultaneously inserted into each of the insertion holes (4). In this case, since there is almost no time lag in the action of the compressed air on each valve spool (5), a large number of valve spools (5) can be inserted simultaneously and reliably.

Reference numerals in parentheses are for referring to the drawings, and do not limit the configuration of the present invention in any way.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing an embodiment in which the automatic component insertion device of the present invention is applied to a case where a valve spool of a control valve is automatically inserted into a valve body.

As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic valve spool insertion device
A valve having a pallet 3 for supporting the valve body 2 at a predetermined position of the web portion 3a and a guide hole 6a opposed to an insertion hole 4 formed in the valve body 2 and guiding the valve spool 5 toward the insertion hole 4. A guide 6, a roller conveyor 7 for transporting the pallet 3, and a vibrating body 8 disposed between the rollers 7 a on both sides of the roller conveyor 7 and vibrating the pallet 3
And a vibrating unit 9 for applying vibration energy to the vibrating body 8 and pressure air supply means 10 for supplying pressurized air to the insertion hole 4 of the valve body 2.

In the web 3a of the pallet 3, a through hole 3b penetrating the web 3a is formed so as to be inclined from the left side to the right side in the figure so as to be higher, and the valve body 2 is supported and fixed to the pallet 3. When the right end of the through hole 3b
The control fluid is formed in the valve body 2 and communicates with one of a number of flow paths 11 of the control fluid communicating with the insertion hole 4. One end of the left end of the through hole 3b communicates with the air inflow pipe 12 fixed to the web 3a, and the other end of the air inflow pipe 12 has an open end 12a in which the valve body 2 is set at a predetermined position on the assembly line. At this time, the air supply pipe 13 connected to the pressurized air supply means 10 installed on the assembly line just faces the open end 13a. Therefore, when the open ends 12a, 13a of the air inflow pipe 12 and the air supply pipe 13 face each other, the compressed air from the compressed air supply means 10 flows through the air supply pipe 13, the air inflow pipe 12, the through hole 3b, and the airflow. It is supplied to the insertion hole 4 of the valve body 2 through one of the paths 11. As described above, by using one of the flow paths 11 formed in the valve body 2 to supply the pressurized air, the supply passage of the pressurized air becomes unnecessary, thereby reducing the number of processing steps and the cost. Has been reduced.

When the pallet 3 is conveyed by the conveyor 7 and stops at a predetermined position, the valve guide 6 moves from a non-operation position (not shown) to an operation position shown. When the valve guide 6 is in the operating position, the guide hole 6 a is located above the insertion hole 4 of the valve body 2. The diameter of the guide hole 6a is set slightly larger than the diameter of the insertion hole 4, and the tolerance with respect to the valve spool 5 is relatively loose. Therefore, when the valve spool 5 is inserted into the guide hole 6a by the robot hand 14, the valve spool 5 is easily inserted into the guide hole 6a without being caught by the valve body 2.

The vibrating body 8 and the vibration unit 9 are disposed at predetermined positions on an assembly line where the valve body 2 of the assembly line is set. The vibrating body 8 is a main body that supports the vibration unit 9
15 is supported via a leaf spring 16. Also, the vibrating body 8
When it is not operated, its upper surface is held at a lowered position below the pallet 3 supporting surface (that is, the upper surface) of the rollers 7a of the conveyor 7. When the pallet 3 is conveyed by the conveyor 7 and stops at a predetermined position, the vibrating body 8 rises, and lifts the pallet 3 to slightly float from the roller 7a.

Automatic valve spool insertion device 1 configured as above
The operation of will be described.

After the valve body 2 is supported at a predetermined position on the pallet 3, the pallet 3 is placed on the rollers 7a of the conveyor 7. Next, the conveyor 7 is driven to convey the pallet 3 to a place where the valve spool 5 is assembled. When the pallet 3 arrives at a predetermined position of the mounting position of the valve spool 5, the conveyor 7 stops, and when the conveyor 7 stops, the valve guide 6 moves from the non-operation position to the operation position. By the movement of the valve guide 6 to the moving position, the guide hole 6a is located almost directly above the insertion hole 4.

In this state, the robot hand 14 operates to select and pick up the valve spool 5 corresponding to the conveyed valve body 2 from a pallet (not shown) containing the valve spool 5 placed beside the assembly line. Grasp and insert the valve spool 5 into the guide hole 6a. In this case, since the diameter of the guide hole 6a is formed larger than the diameter of the insertion hole 4, even if the valve spool 5 is inserted by the robot hand 14, the valve spool 5 is securely and easily inserted into the guide hole 6a. Will be inserted.

Guide hole of valve spool 5 by robot hand 14
At the same time as insertion into 6a, actuate the pressure air supply means 10,
The compressed air is supplied obliquely upward from the lateral direction to the flow path 11 of the valve body 2 through the air supply pipe 13, the air inflow pipe 12, and the through hole 3b. The pressure air supplied to the flow path 11 flows into the insertion hole 4 as shown by an arrow, further flows upward in the insertion hole 4, and is jetted out from the upper open end of the insertion hole 4. Become. In that case, since the valve spool 5 is inserted into the guide hole 6a of the valve guide 6,
The pressurized air that is about to be ejected from the opening end of the insertion hole 4 causes the valve spool 5 to slightly float from the upper end of the valve body 2 with the valve spool 5 standing upright in the axial direction. The centering of the valve body 2 is automatically and highly accurately performed so as to substantially coincide with the center axis of the valve body 4. In actuality, the jetted pressure air causes the valve spool 5 to rotate around the central axis, and the centering of the valve spool 5 is performed even more accurately. At this time, since the working fluid is supplied obliquely upward from the lateral direction, centering is performed more effectively.

In this state, the supply of the pressurized air is stopped when a certain pressure air supply time has elapsed, and at the same time, the vibration unit 9 is driven to apply vibration energy to the vibrating body 8. Therefore, the vibrating body 8 vibrates the pallet 3 in a vertical direction under a predetermined condition, that is, at a predetermined frequency and a predetermined frequency, so that the valve body 2 vibrates up and down. In that case,
Since the pressure air remaining in the insertion hole 4 escapes, the valve spool 5 gradually approaches the valve body 2 and the valve spool 5 is centered by the pressure air. A state in which it faces the inside of the insertion hole 4 is ensured. In this manner, the valve body 2 vibrates up and down with the tip of the valve spool 5 surely facing the insertion hole 4, so that the valve spool 5 is smoothly and reliably inserted into the insertion hole 4. . Since the valve spool 5 does not get caught on the valve body 2, the valve spool 5 and the valve body 2 are not hit or damaged.

When it is detected by a sensor (not shown) that the valve spool 5 is securely inserted into the insertion hole 4, the vibration operation of the vibration unit 9 is stopped, the vibrating body 8 is lowered, and the pallet 3 is Become supported by 7a. When the pallet 3 is supported by the rollers 7a, the roller conveyor 7
Is operated, and the pallet 3 is transported to the place of the next assembling process.

Thus, the insertion work of the valve spool 5 is completed,
A series of operations for inserting the valve spool 5 is automatically performed.

By the way, when centering the valve spool 5 with the pressurized air, if the valve spool 5 is floated too far from the valve body 2, the centering effect by the pressurized air is reduced, and the centering is not sufficiently performed. Therefore, when the supply of the pressurized air is stopped, the valve spool 5 may be hooked on the valve body 2 and tilted, and the valve spool 5 may not be smoothly inserted into the insertion hole 4. Therefore, the floating amount α of the valve spool 5 needs to be within a predetermined range, and for that purpose, it is necessary to appropriately control the pressure and flow rate of the compressed air in accordance with the weight of the valve spool 5.

From the experimental results, it was found that compressed air was supplied to the valve body 3 by the through holes 3b formed in the web 3a of the pallet 3 at an angle.
It has been found that the centering of the valve spool 5 can be performed more effectively when the supply is made obliquely upward to the flow path 11.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the experimental results. As shown in the figure,
When the valve spool 5 is inserted by vibration and the centering of the valve spool 5 is performed by hand as in the prior art, the insertion rate is 59%. The insertion rate is almost
100%, which indicates that the valve spool 5 is almost certainly and smoothly inserted according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In addition,
The same reference numerals are given to the same components in the above-described embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the present invention is applied to the case where a valve spool 5 having large and small diameter land portions 5a and 5d is inserted. In this example,
In the land portion 5b on the small diameter side, the valve spool 5 is centered by pressurized air. The operation in that case is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, and therefore the description is omitted. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a shutter 17 for blocking the guide hole 6a is arranged in the valve guide 6. The shutter 17 is particularly effectively used when a large number of valve spools 5 are inserted into the valve body 2 at the same time. That is, when each of the valve spools 5 is inserted into each of the large number of insertion holes 4 formed in the valve body 2, first, the guide holes 6a are blocked by the shutter 17, and the valve spools 5 are inserted into the respective guide holes 6a. Insert 5 In this state, the shutter 17 is retracted to release the blocking of the guide hole 6a, so that a large number of valve spools 5 can be inserted into the respective insertion holes 4 at the same time. In this case, since a time lag hardly occurs in the action of the compressed air on each of the valve spools 5, a large number of valve spools 5 can be inserted simultaneously and reliably.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various design changes are possible.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the valve spool 5 of the control valve of the hydraulic control device is inserted is described. However, the tolerance between the diameter of the insertion hole and the diameter of the component is limited to a predetermined range. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where other parts such as a piston in a piston / cylinder are inserted.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the automatic component insertion apparatus and method according to the present invention, a guide for guiding a component inserted into the insertion hole toward the insertion hole is disposed above the insertion hole. At the same time or almost at the same time as introducing a component into the guide, pressurized air is supplied into the insertion hole of the member, and the compressed air is ejected upward from an insertion opening of the insertion hole where the component is inserted, Since the supply of the pressurized air is stopped or almost simultaneously at the same time after the elapse of a predetermined time, the member is vibrated in the vertical direction, so that when inserting a component into the insertion hole formed in the member, The parts are automatically and precisely centered by the compressed air. As a result, it is possible to ensure that the front end of the component faces the insertion hole without touching the member. Therefore, by vibrating the member up and down in this state, the component can be smoothly and reliably inserted into the insertion hole. This makes it possible to automate the operation of inserting components.

Further, since the tip of the component does not hit the member, it is possible to reliably prevent the component and the member) from being nicked or damaged.

Further, since the compressed air is supplied through the flow passage hole which is substantially perpendicular to the insertion hole and through which the working fluid flows, the compressed air can be supplied using the flow passage hole. Therefore, there is no need to provide a special passage for supplying compressed air. Therefore, the work for processing such a passage is not required, and the cost can be reduced. In addition, since air is used, the assembly line is not contaminated, and the automatic component insertion device can be formed at a low cost with a simple structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of an automatic component inserting apparatus and method according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an experimental comparison between the present invention and a conventional one, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing an insertion relationship between a valve body and a valve spool, and FIG. 5 is a view for explaining insertion of a conventional valve body and a valve spool. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Automatic valve spool insertion device, 2 ... Valve body, 3 ... Pallet, 4 ... Insertion hole, 5 ... Valve spool, 6 ... Valve guide, 8 ... Vibrating body, 9 ... Exciting unit , 10 ... Pressurized air supply means, 11 ... Flow path hole, 14
…… Robot hand

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshiyuki Tominaga 10 Takane, Fujii-cho, Anjo-shi, Aichi Prefecture Inside Aisin AW Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-60-123231 (JP, A) JP-A-62- 224534 (JP, A) JP-A-53-60773 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B23P 19/02 F16H 61/00

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. An automatic component insertion device for inserting a component from above into an insertion hole formed in a member, wherein the guide is arranged above the insertion hole and guides the component toward the insertion hole. A component introduction unit for introducing a component into the guide, a member support member for supporting the member, and a pressure air that is blown obliquely upward from a lateral direction and supplied into the insertion hole into which the component is inserted. An automatic component insertion device, comprising: a pressure air supply means arranged to be inclined with respect to an insertion hole; and a vibration means for vibrating the member support member in a vertical direction. 2. The insertion hole is a hole into which a working fluid is introduced, and the member has a flow passage hole communicating with the insertion hole and through which the working fluid flows. The automatic component insertion device according to claim 1, wherein the pressure air means is provided so that the pressure air is supplied. 3. The automatic component insertion device according to claim 2, wherein the member is a valve body, and the component is a valve spool. 4. The guide according to claim 1, wherein said guide has a guide hole for guiding said component into said insertion hole when said guide is disposed above said insertion hole. 4. The automatic component insertion device according to claim 1, wherein 5. The automatic component insertion device according to claim 4, wherein said guide further comprises a shutter for blocking at least a part of said guide hole. 6. An automatic component insertion method for inserting a component from above into an insertion hole formed in a member, wherein a component to be inserted into the insertion hole is positioned above the insertion hole toward the insertion hole. A guide for guiding the component is introduced, and at the same time or almost at the same time as introducing the component into the guide, the compressed air is blown obliquely upward from the lateral direction and supplied into the insertion hole into which the component is inserted, thereby supplying the component. A component is rotated to apply vibration to the member in a vertical direction. 7. The insertion hole is a hole into which a working fluid is introduced, and supplies the pressurized air for a predetermined time through a flow passage hole which communicates with the insertion hole at a substantially right angle and through which the working fluid flows. 7. The automatic component insertion method according to claim 6, wherein: