JP2967613B2 - Transfer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer apparatus for directly transferring a work on a machining line having a plurality of processing stations, for example, and more particularly, to a chain conveyor system for simultaneously feeding the work of each processing station to the next process. Related to a transfer device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, a chain attachment 53 is fixed to a conveyor chain 52 constituting a chain conveyor 51 at a predetermined pitch. The V-shaped receiving piece 54 is fixed, and the workpiece W is placed on the receiving piece 54, and then the conveyor chain 5
2 is configured to transport the work W by driving the work 2 to travel.

[0005] A lifter 56 provided with a V-block-shaped finger 55 is provided at a processing station where the work W is to be positioned. The work W conveyed by the chain conveyor 52 is pushed up by the finger 55 and floats from the receiving piece 54. Then, the workpiece W is gripped by a chuck or the like of a cutting unit (not shown). 57
Is a guide rod which also serves as a stopper for the finger 55.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional transfer device, the chain conveyor 5 is not provided.
The structure is simple and inexpensive because of the direct transfer system mainly composed of the conveyor chain 1, but because of the play between the link plates and the pins constituting the conveyor chain 52 and the accumulation of the elongation of the conveyor chain 52, As shown in FIG. 9, a shift e occurs between the actual stop position of the work W at each processing station and the normal stop position, and the shift amount e gradually increases with the use of the transfer device.

[0005] Then, work to accompany While it is possible to push the workpiece W with the fingers 55 in the state in FIG. 9, Ri all between the rotating and the workpiece W and the finger 55 of the workpiece W when the W may be damaged, and the accuracy of centering of the work W is undesirably reduced due to wear of the work receiving surface of the finger 55.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has been developed to solve the problem of the play and elongation of the conveyor chain and to prevent the occurrence of work scratches and a decrease in centering accuracy. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention resides in a machine facility having a plurality of processing stations and includes a conveyor.
In the transport device of the chain conveyor system for tact in unison each processing station of the work based on the intermittent feeding operation of En in the next step, etc. pitch on the conveyor chain
And can float three-dimensionally within a predetermined clearance, and can be integrated with the conveyor chain by the conveyor chain.
A plurality of pallets to be conveyed to and provided on the pallet, and a work supporting member that <br/> supporting elastically clamping the workpieces to be conveyed object, a tapered guide provided on said pallet, Provided at each of the processing stations,
A positioning member for positioning the pallet while push the tapered guide engaged with the pallet to the processing station by being driven upward, said conveyor chain
Between the pallet and the pallet
When the pallet positioning constraint is released,
Clear that pallets can float in the workpiece transfer direction
A center for elastically holding the pallet in the neutral position of the lance
The pallet includes a tarling mechanism and a stopper member provided at each of the processing stations and configured to limit a position of a pallet lifted up by the positioning member.

[0008]

According to this structure, although the pallet provided on the conveyor chain has a degree of freedom to move in a three-dimensional direction within a predetermined clearance, the pallet is
The work in the workpiece transfer direction is performed by the function of the centering mechanism.
The workpiece is conveyed by the conveyor chain while the workpiece is placed on the workpiece support member while being held at the neutral position with the degree of freedom of rotting . The work on the pallet is supported
It is elastically clamped by the member.

When the pallet is conveyed to the processing station, the positioning member provided at the processing station rises, and the positioning of the pallet in the horizontal direction is performed by fitting the positioning member with the taper guide on the pallet side. , The pallet is pushed up by a predetermined amount and positioned at the upper limit position. Thereafter, the work is gripped by the chuck or the like of the cutting unit on the processing station side so as to be picked up from the work supporting member, and then the actual processing is started.

[0010]

1 to 4 are explanatory views showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, three processing stations S1, S
2, S3 are set, and each processing station S1 to S3 is set.
In S3, cutting units 2, 3, and 4 are provided. A pair of conveyor chains 5 constituting the chain conveyor 1 are wound around chain sprockets 7A and 7B at both ends of a frame 6, and are driven by a drive unit 8 to convey the work to tact-feed the work. Travel in the direction.

The conveyor chain 5 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 4, holders 9 are fixed at a predetermined pitch, and a pallet 10 is provided on the holder 9, and the pallet 10 is transported by the conveyor chain 5. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 and FIGS. 5 and 6, a guide sleeve 11 with a flange is fixed on the holder 9 by a bolt 12, and a guide on the pallet 10 side with respect to the guide sleeve 11. The hole 13 is fitted. Since the predetermined clearances a and b are provided between the guide sleeve 11 and the guide hole 13, the pallet 10 has a so-called three-dimensionally floating structure.
The pallet 10 can be displaced in the front-rear, left-right and up-down directions within the range of the clearances a and b.

On the pallet 10 side, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, shoes 15 mounted on the tips of the pins 14 are disposed on both sides of the guide sleeve 11 so as to protrude into the guide holes 13. . Then, both shoes 15 are urged by the coil spring 16 and the guide sleeve 11
This absorbs the impact applied to the pallet 10 during the transfer of the work, and holds the pallet 10 at a neutral position in the work transfer direction with respect to the guide sleeve 11. Like this, Guy
Sleeve 11, guide hole 13, pin 14, shoe 1
5, the pallet 10 is washed by the coil spring 16;
A centering mechanism that holds the neutral position in the
It is configured.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, on a base 18 which forms the frame 6 together with the side guides 17, a guide rail 19 for guiding the conveyor chain 5 and a pallet 10 side are provided. A steady rest guide 21 for guiding the pallet 10 with the leg piece 20 therebetween is provided. On the other hand, a stopper member 22 is provided on the upper end surface of the side guide 17 that regulates both ends of the pallet 10, so that the pallet 10 travels with the conveyor chain 5 while being guided by the steady rest guide 21 and the side guide 17. Also, when the pallet 10 is pushed up as described later, the pallet 10
Is limited by the stopper member 22.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, a pair of receiving pieces 2 as work supporting members are provided on upper surfaces of both ends of the pallet 10 through brackets 23 and hinge pins 24.
The pallet 10 is provided with tapered guides 26 having an inner tapered shape. The receiving piece 25 is rotatable about the hinge pin 24 and at the same time is mutually pulled by the coil spring 27. Therefore, the receiving piece 25 positions the work W while positioning the work W by the force of the coil spring 27. It is designed to be clamped.

A pair of locating pins 29 guided by a sleeve 28 are provided as positioning members on the base 18 at positions corresponding to the central axes of the processing stations S1 to S3 in FIG. 2, and the locating pins 29 are lift cylinders. 30 is driven up and down.
Then, the pallet 10 is placed in each of the processing stations S1 to S3.
Stops, the locating pin 29 is located immediately below the pallet 10 side, and the locating pin 29 is raised and the locating pin 29 is engaged with the taper guide 26 to position the pallet 10,
At the same time, the pallet 10 is pushed up to the upper limit position regulated by the stopper member 22.

A positioning block 31 having a tapered surface is integrally fixed to the locating pin 29 as shown in FIG. 4. When the locating pin 29 is pushed up to position the pallet 10 as described above, the locating pin 2
Prior to the engagement between the pallet 9 and the taper guide 26, the pallet 10
Is preliminarily regulated by the positioning block 31.

In the transfer device configured as described above, the chain conveyor 1 is started when the processing at each of the processing stations S1 to S3 in FIG. 2 is completed, and the work W supported by the receiving piece 25 on the pallet 10 is started. Is pallet 10
At the same time, they are conveyed to the next processing station and stopped. At this time, since the work W is clamped by the receiving piece 25, even if the work is not well balanced, the work W can be stably conveyed. Even if this impact is absorbed by the coil spring 16 shown in FIGS.

The pallet 10 has processing stations S1 to S
When stopped at 3, the locating pin 29 is raised by the extension operation of the lift cylinder 30 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, and the pallet 10 is positioned in the horizontal plane by the engagement between the locating pin 29 and the tapered guide 26. At the same time, the pallet 10 is pushed up to the upper limit position regulated by the stopper member 22 and positioned.

At this time, even if there is an error in the stop position of the pallet 10 due to, for example, the extension of the conveyor chain 5, in the process of raising the locate pin 29, first, FIG.
After the position of the pallet 10 is preliminarily regulated by the positioning block 31, the pallet 10 is finally positioned by the engagement between the locating pin 29 and the tapered guide 26, so that the final positioning accuracy of the pallet 10 Consequently, the positioning accuracy of the work W is not affected by the elongation of the conveyor chain 5 or the like.

When the work W pushed up together with the pallet 10 is positioned as described above, the work W is moved to the chuck 32 and the center of the cutting units 2, 3, 4 shown in FIGS. located supportable position 33, thus Chakki down the chuck 32
The workpiece W by the center support work of the sushi you and center 33
Is gripped, the work W is scooped up from the receiving piece 25 by a predetermined amount, and in this state, predetermined processing such as boring is performed.

After the machining, the chuck 32 and the center 3
Wait until work W is released from 3 and locate pin 2
When the pallet 9 is lowered, the positioning of the pallet 10 is released, and thereafter, the same operation as described above is repeated.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, a pallet is provided on a conveyor chain so as to be able to float in a three-dimensional direction, while a work supported by the pallet is pushed up and positioned together with a pallet at a processing station. As a result, even if there is an error in the stop position of the pallet at the processing station due to the elongation of the conveyor chain, etc., it can be absorbed by the degree of freedom of floating of the pallet as well as the conventional structure where the work is directly pushed up at the processing station As compared with the above, the work does not slip between the other members, so that it is possible to prevent the work from being damaged, and to improve the centering accuracy of the work and the positioning accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing one embodiment of the present invention, wherein (A) is a cross-sectional view of a transfer device, and (B) is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a pallet is positioned by a locate pin.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of the transfer device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1 (B).

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 3;

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

FIG. 7 is an explanatory sectional view showing an example of a conventional transport device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory right side view of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view of FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 5: Conveyor chain 10: Pallet 22: Stopper member 25: Receiving piece (Work supporting member) 26: Taper guide 29: Locating pin (Positioning member) a, b: Clearance S1, S2, S3 ... Processing station W: Work

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] The present invention is provided in a machine having a plurality of processing stations, and is adapted to perform intermittent feeding operation of a conveyor chain.
In a conveyor system of the chain conveyor type, which simultaneously sends the work of each processing station to the next process, it is provided at a constant pitch on the conveyor chain.
Floating in a three-dimensional direction within a predetermined clearance, and by the conveyor chain
A plurality of pallets conveyed integrally with the conveyor chain; and a work provided on the pallet, which is to be conveyed.
A work supporting member elastically clamped and supported; a taper guide provided on the pallet; provided at each of the processing stations; A positioning member for positioning the pallet at the processing station , provided between the conveyor chain and the pallet,
The pallet positioning restraining force by the positioning member is released.
The pallet floats in the work transfer direction
The pallet into the neutral position
A transport device , comprising: a centering mechanism for sexually holding the pallet; and a stopper member provided at each of the processing stations and for regulating a position of a pallet pushed up by the positioning member as far as possible.