JP3153470B2 - Method and apparatus for transporting molded articles and cutting gates - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transporting step of taking out a plurality of sets of gated molded products having gates facing each other from a molding die and transporting the molded products, and a gate of the molded product provided downstream of the transporting process. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for transporting a molded article and a gate cutting apparatus, the method including a cutting step for cutting a molded article.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a method and an apparatus for transporting a molded article and cutting a gate of this kind, a molded article with a gate is taken out of a molding die in a state where a plurality of sets of gates face each other and transported to a gate cutting section by a carrier. In general, after the gate is cut, it is transported to the storage unit by another transport body.

FIGS. 12 and 13 are a plan view and a front view, respectively, showing a conventional apparatus. A first transfer body 103 for taking out and transferring a molded product can be moved between a fixed mold 101 and a movable mold 102. For example, two sets of gated molded products (four IC cards) whose gates face each other are taken out of the movable mold 102 by the first transport body 103 and transported to the gate cutting unit 104. Note that the first transport body 103 is provided with a holding plate 105 having a suction plate, and a total of four IC cards are held by the holding plate and transported.

In the gate cutting section 104, first, the vertical holding plate 105 of the first transport body 103 is
The four IC cards w, w, which are rotated in the horizontal direction by 90 degrees and similarly arranged in the horizontal direction, are placed on a card holder (not shown). Next, the card holder on which the IC card w is placed is transferred to the cutting position 108, and the IC card w is pressed against the stopper to fix and position the IC card w.
The gate g of the C card w is cut.

[0005] The IC card w from which the gate g has been cut returns to the original position together with the card holder, and is again conveyed to the second conveyance body 107 and stored in the storage section 109.

[0006]

The above-described method and apparatus for conveying a molded article and cutting the gate are automated and general. However, a process in which the molded article is taken out of a molding die and carried to a storage section. In this case, since the gate cutting portion is provided by being moved in the lateral direction separately from the transport path, the reciprocating time for moving in the lateral direction is extra, and there is a disadvantage that it is not possible to cope with a high-speed molding cycle. That is, the molded product is not transferred linearly along the shortest path from the position taken out of the molding die to the storage unit, but once.
A reciprocating reciprocating transfer in the lateral direction in which the gate cutting section is provided is no longer given.

[0007] Further, since the card holders for transferring the cards to the gate cutting section are provided one by one for each card, the card holders must be processed after storing the processed cards in the storage section.
The next unprocessed card cannot be placed on the card holder, which is one of the factors that unnecessarily increases the processing time.

Further, in order to move the card horizontally,
Various extra transport mechanisms, sensors, etc. are required, and the control to operate them in a coordinated manner is complicated.
There are inconveniences that the cost rises and the reliability of the device decreases.

Further, the IC card after the gate removal processing needs to be aligned in a certain direction and stored in a cartridge. In this case as well, not only a card transport mechanism is required, but also a card alignment mechanism is required. . In particular, in order to adapt to a high-speed molding cycle, these mechanisms must be made high-speed and high-precision, so that there is a disadvantage that the cost is further promoted.

[0010] The present invention is an improvement of the conventional method and apparatus for conveying and cutting gates of a molded article, and can be adapted to a high-speed molding cycle without providing a gate cutting section by separately moving laterally from a conveying path. The aim is to obtain possible methods and devices.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of sets of gated moldings having gates facing each other are taken out of a molding die and conveyed, and provided at a downstream side of the conveying step. And a cutting step for cutting the gate of the molded article, wherein the gate is rotated by rotating one or more molded articles while the group of molded articles is being transported. After aligning in the direction,
This is a method for transferring a molded product and a gate cutting method in which a molded product in which gates are aligned in one direction is transferred to a cutting step, and the gate of the molded product with a gate is sequentially cut in the cutting process.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a molded article having a conveying section for taking out a plurality of molded articles with a gate from a molding die at a time and conveying the molded article, and a cutting section for cutting a gate of the molded article. In the conveyance and gate cutting device, the conveyance unit includes a rotation mechanism for changing the direction of the molded product with a gate, the cutting unit, a guide portion, and a gate cutting blade located in the middle of the guide portion or near the exit. Stopping means for stopping the molded article with the gate, and rearranging the gates of the molded article with the gate in the transport section so as to be positioned in one direction, and stopping the molded article with the gate by the stopping means. And a gate cutting device configured to cut the gate of the molded product by the cutting blade.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the second aspect, the transporting unit is configured to take out a molded product with a gate from a molding die, and a gate with a gate from the first transporter. A molded article having a second transporter for receiving a molded article and supplying it to the cutting section, and having a rotating mechanism for changing the direction of the gated molded article in either the first transporter or the second transporter. And a gate cutting device.

Accordingly, the molded products taken out of the molding die are a plurality of sets with the gates facing each other, and each molded product is transported by a transport body or the like in the transport step. In the course of this conveyance, the molded products are rearranged so that their gates are located in one direction, so that the conveyance pitch is the same before and after the rearrangement. As a result, the card pitch used in the conventional method and apparatus is reduced. No correction mechanism is required. As the apparatus, it is only necessary to provide a rotation mechanism for changing the direction of the gated molded article in the transporting section, so that the apparatus can be embodied at low cost.

The molded articles having the gates arranged in one direction are transferred to the cutting section in the cutting step at basically the same pitch, and the gates of the molded articles with gates are sequentially cut at this cutting section. Therefore, there is no need to separately move in the lateral direction from the transport path to provide a gate cutting portion. The stop means used here may be any appropriate one.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is no need to provide a gate cutting portion by separately moving in the lateral direction from the transport path, and to eliminate the need for a card pitch correcting mechanism.
It is possible to obtain a method and an apparatus that can support a high-speed molding cycle.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A concrete example according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

According to the present invention, a plurality of sets of gated moldings with gates facing each other are taken out of a molding die (movable die 2B of die 2 described later) and transported (transfer device 3 and transfer device described later). The apparatus is used for a method of transporting a molded article and a gate cutting method including an apparatus 4) and a cutting step (a gate cutting section 52 to be described later) provided on the downstream side of the transporting step and cutting a gate of the molded article. As shown in FIG. 1, one or a plurality of molded articles are rotated in the course of transporting a group of molded articles w, and gates are aligned in one direction. In the present embodiment, which is a method of transporting a molded article and a gate cutting method for transferring the molded article w with the gate g in the cutting step, and sequentially cutting the gate of the molded article with the gate in the above-described cutting step, the transfer device 3 serving as the first carrier is used. With mold 2
(FIG. 1 (A)), transported by the first transporter, and transferred to the transfer device 4 as the second transporter (FIG. 1 (B)).
The molded product w is delivered to the transfer device 4 (FIG. 1C). In this example, the molded article w is an IC card, two sets of which the gate g faces, and a total of four sheets are conveyed at a time. Each carrier is provided with a suction disk and holds an IC card, and the IC card can be detached as needed. In addition, FIG.
1A corresponding to FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B corresponding to FIG. 1B, and FIG. 1C corresponding to FIG. 1C.
As shown in (1), each of the gates g faces two sets of four IC cards, one set in the upper and lower sets.

In this embodiment, a description will be given of a case in which the transfer of the molded article and the gate cutting process are performed in two rows simultaneously and in parallel. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It can be applied to more rows.

In the present embodiment, the transfer device 4, which is the second transporter, is configured such that the lower part of the suction plate holding the lower IC card is an IC card.
It is provided so as to be rotatable by 180 degrees in the same plane as the plane (vertical plane) of the card. Further, all the suction cups are arranged so that the IC card positioned in the vertical direction is positioned horizontally.
It is provided rotatable by 0 degrees.

From the state in which the gates g face each other, as shown in FIGS. 1D and 1D, the two lower IC cards are rotated by 180 degrees and the gate g is rotated.
Are located downward, so that the gates g, g of the four IC cards are oriented downward, and simultaneously or thereafter, the four IC cards are positioned horizontally. In this state,
The four IC cards are transferred to the receiving section 51 serving as a guide section,
It is transferred to the gate cutting section by the receiving section 51, and the gate is sequentially cut at this cutting section.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, a molded article manufacturing apparatus 1 using the molded article conveying and gate cutting method described in this embodiment molds a plurality of molded articles w, w at once. A mold 2 to be manufactured, and a transfer device 3 that takes out the manufactured plurality of molded products from the mold 2 and transfers the molded product to a gate cutting step at a high speed.
And a transfer device 4 for supplying the transferred molded article to the gate cutting step in the same direction, a gate cutting apparatus 5 for executing a gate cutting step for cutting the gate of the molded article, and a gate cutting process. And a storage device 6 for storing the molded products in a magazine in a stacked manner.

In this embodiment, as described above, an example in which an IC card on which an IC chip is mounted is used as the molded product w will be described.

The mold 2 is capable of manufacturing a plurality of molded products w at a time by a single molding operation without a runner, and after the molding is completed, the molded products w can be individually transferred. It is. That is, the mold 2 is composed of a fixed mold 2A and a movable mold 2B formed in a predetermined uneven shape corresponding to a molded product. In this example, four molds are individually formed. At the substantially center of the gate g, an injection hole for molten resin communicating with each mold is provided. Therefore, the molten resin is injected into each mold by a single molding operation, and a plurality of molded products are manufactured at a time. In such an automatic mold 2, molded articles are manufactured at a time interval of about 10 seconds, for example.

Further, the formed molded product w is
It is configured to remain on the B side and move with the movable mold 2B. And the molded products manufactured in this way are arranged in the same plane, and each molded product has
A gate g is generated and left at a position facing each other, and this gate g is removed by a gate cutting device 5 described later.

The transfer device 3 allows a plurality of molded products w, which have been formed and remain in the movable mold 2B, to be quickly and collectively transferred to the upstream end of the cutting process path having the gate cutting device 5. ing.

The transfer device 3 has a base end 3
A first telescopic arm 31 fixed to 0 and extending and contracting a predetermined stroke, a second telescopic arm 32 fixed to the distal end side of the first telescopic arm 31 and also extending and contracting a predetermined stroke, and As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, at the end of the second telescopic arm 32, a plurality of molded products w, w, and a pickup unit 33 having suction tools 34, 34 for individually sucking and holding are formed. I have.

The first telescopic arm section 31 is configured to extend and contract by a predetermined amount using an air cylinder. Similarly, the second telescopic arm portion 32 is configured to extend and contract by a predetermined amount using an air cylinder. That is, these expansion and contraction distances are distances obtained by substantially dividing the distance from the movable mold 2B to the upstream end of the cutting step path, and when both extend, they are provided at the distal end of the second expansion and contraction arm portion. When the pickup unit 33 reaches a position facing the movable mold 2B, and when the pickup unit 33 is retracted, the pickup unit 33 is located at the upstream end of the cutting process path.

The initial operation state of the transfer device 3 during the operation of the manufacturing apparatus 1 is as follows. While the first telescopic arm 31 is extended, the second telescopic arm 32 moves the pickup 33 to the mold 2. It is stretched until just before it abuts. Therefore, after the molding by the mold 2 is completed, that is, when the movable mold 2B is opened, only the second telescopic arm 32 needs to extend the remaining extension distance, and the molded article w can be taken out in the shortest operation time. Like that.

Further, the first telescopic arm 31 and the second telescopic arm 32 simultaneously expand and contract to form a molded product w.
Is transported and returned to the initial position, so that a minimum transport and return operation time is required, so that a plurality of molded articles w, w can be quickly and collectively transported.

Further, the pick-up section 33 has a suction tool provided with a suction pad for sucking and holding the molded product by the negative pressure of the air suction, according to the position of the molded product of the movable mold 2B. This suction tool is slightly moved back and forth by an air cylinder.

The transfer device 4 receives a plurality of molded products w, w from the transfer device 3 and arranges the transferred molded products in the same direction and at the upstream end of a cutting process path described later. The receiving section 51 is placed on the receiving section 51.

The transfer device 4 is, like the transfer device 3,
Pickup units 41 and 42 for individually holding a plurality of molded products w and w by suction are provided, and the molded products w and w which are arranged and transferred in a vertical plane by the transfer device 3 are transferred to the pickup units 41 and 42. At the same time, the pickup units 41 and 42 are set in the horizontal position, and all the molded products are placed on the receiving unit 51 in a horizontal position described later. At the same time, all the molded products are arranged such that the gate g of each molded product is directed forward in the moving direction of the cutting process path.

As shown in FIG. 7, the transfer device 4 includes pickup units 41 and 42 supported by a horizontal shaft and provided with suction members 43 for individually suction-holding a plurality of molded products, On the other hand, the second drive mechanism 45 of the pickup unit for rotating the one (the lower pickup unit 42 in this example) by 90 degrees about the horizontal axis to take the vertical posture and the horizontal posture.
And a first pickup unit driving mechanism 44 that rotates the pickup units 41 and 42 by 180 degrees during this rotation operation to change the direction of the molded product.

The pickup units 41 and 42, like the pickup unit of the transfer device 3, use the transfer device 3 to move the suction tool 43 provided with a suction pad for suction holding the molded product w by the negative pressure of the air suction. It is arranged according to the position of the transferred molded product.

The first drive mechanism 4 of the pickup section
4 rotatably supports a horizontal shaft 42 a of the lower pickup section 42 on the base frame 40, while the horizontal shaft 4 a
2a for applying a rotational driving force to the belt 2a by belt driving
Is provided on the base frame 40.

Further, the pickup unit second drive mechanism 45
Is provided with a motor M that rotates the base frame 40 by 90 degrees around the axis 46.

The gate cutting device 5 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a receiving portion 51 provided at an upstream end of the cutting process path, a gate cutting portion 52 provided downstream of the receiving portion 51, and a stopper portion 51c provided at each portion on the cutting process route. As described later, the mounting plate 51a of the receiving portion 51 is provided so as to be tiltable at a predetermined angle, and the molded product itself slides, moves on the cutting process path, and has a stopper portion 51c. The gate cutting section 52 removes the gate g of the molded product w and discharges it from the end of the cutting process path.

The receiving section 51 is provided with a mounting plate 51 on which a plurality of molded articles w, w aligned from the transfer device 4 are mounted.
a, a driving mechanism 51b for driving the mounting plate 51a to a predetermined horizontal posture and a tilting posture, and a stopper 51c for stopping the movement of the molded product placed at the time of tilting at a predetermined position and releasing the stop. It is provided with.

The mounting plate 51a has an upstream end of the cutting process path rotatably supported by a horizontal rotating shaft, and a downstream end of the other end standing substantially vertically to constitute a drive mechanism 51b. Is connected to the end of the telescopic rod of the air cylinder. Therefore, the mounting plate 51a can take an inclined posture at a predetermined position from a horizontal posture by the expansion and contraction operation of the air cylinder. In FIG. 9, the mounting plate 51a
Has two guide paths, one of which shows only the stopper 51c.

The stopper 51c is brought into contact with the front end of the molded product placed on the cutting process path to stop the molded product, and in this example, to flow the molded product on the downstream side. The stopper 51c is moved in and out at a predetermined timing so that the upstream molded article flows.

The receiving portion 51 is provided with a static eliminator (not shown) for performing static elimination processing of the molded product and promoting movement of the molded product on the cutting process path. The static eliminator is disposed at a position rearward of the receiving unit in the feeding direction when the mounting plate 51 of the receiving unit 51 is in the inclined position, and at least the receiving unit is in the inclined position as described above. In such a case, the static elimination air is ejected along the feeding direction of the cutting process path. Therefore, by the discharge of the static elimination air from the static eliminator, static elimination of the molded product is performed, and movement of the molded product on the cutting process path is promoted.

As shown in FIG. 11, the gate cutting section 52 is provided at a cutting position on the cutting process path to temporarily stop the molded product w at a predetermined position, and is provided corresponding to the cutting position. And a gate cutting mechanism 52a.

In this embodiment, the stopper is formed integrally with the gate cutting blade 52b driven by the two-stage cylinder, and is formed integrally with the gate cutting blade 52b of the gate cutting mechanism 52a.
Is lowered to a predetermined position, the molded product w comes into contact with the stopper portion and stops, and thereafter, the gate cutting blade 52b further descends to cut off the gate g.

Therefore, the unprocessed gate, which slides and moves on the cutting process path, is stopped at a predetermined cutting position by the protrusion of the stopper, and the gate removing process is completed. The product can be moved downstream of the cutting process path by the retracting operation of the stopper portion.

The gate cutting blade 52b is connected at its base end to a telescopic rod of two air cylinders, and is provided so as to be driven up and down in two steps by the air cylinder.

The storage device 6 stacks the molded products, which have been subjected to the gate removal process from the gate cutting device 5 and are fed, into a plurality of magazines 61, 61 and compactly stores them.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, a turntable 62 rotatably and horizontally supported, a driving mechanism (not shown) for rotating the turntable 62 to a predetermined rotation position, and a turntable Magazines 61, 61, which are arranged in a ring shape and accommodate the formed articles to be sent in a circular manner, and a sensor (not shown) for detecting the storage state of the molded articles in the magazine. Control device (not shown) that controls the driving of the driving mechanism based on the
It is composed of

In the above-described specific example, an example in which one set of dies is used has been described. However, in the apparatus of this embodiment, two or more sets of dies can be used because gate removal processing can be performed at high speed. You may comprise using it. In the receiving section 51, the mounted molded article is moved in parallel through the two passages. However, the movement may be appropriately switched to use only one molded article on each side. Further, when the gate of the molded product is cut by the gate cutting blade 52b, a stopping means for stopping the molded product may be formed by an appropriate stopper such as the stopper 51c of the present embodiment or a stopper provided near the gate cutting blade 52b. What is used.

[0050]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there are provided a transporting step of taking out a plurality of sets of gated molded products having gates facing each other from a molding die and transporting the same, and a downstream side of the transporting step. And a gate cutting method provided with a cutting step of cutting the gate of the molded article, wherein the gate is formed by rotating one or more molded articles while conveying a group of the molded articles. They were aligned in one direction
Thereafter , the molded article having the gates arranged in one direction is transferred to a cutting step, and the gate of the molded article with a gate is sequentially cut in the cutting step.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a molded article having a conveying section for taking out a plurality of molded articles with a gate from a molding die at a time and conveying the same, and a cutting section for cutting a gate of the molded article. In the conveyance and gate cutting device, the conveyance unit includes a rotation mechanism for changing the direction of the molded product with a gate, the cutting unit, a guide portion, and a gate cutting blade located in the middle of the guide portion or near the exit. Stopping means for stopping the molded article with the gate, and rearranging the gates of the molded article with the gate in the transport section so as to be positioned in one direction, and stopping the molded article with the gate by the stopping means. And a gate cutting device configured to cut the gate of the molded product by the cutting blade.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the second aspect, the transporting section includes a first transporting body that takes out a molded product with a gate from a molding die, and a gate with a gate from the first transporting body. A molded article having a second transporter for receiving a molded article and supplying it to the cutting section, and having a rotating mechanism for changing the direction of the gated molded article in either the first transporter or the second transporter. And a gate cutting device.

Therefore, the molded products taken out of the molding die are a plurality of sets with the gates facing each other, and each molded product is transported by a transport body or the like in a transport process. Since the gates are rearranged so as to be located in one direction, the transport pitch is the same before and after the rearrangement, so that the card pitch correcting mechanism used in the conventional method and apparatus is not required. As the apparatus, it is only necessary to provide a rotation mechanism for changing the direction of the gated molded article in the transporting section, so that the apparatus can be embodied at low cost.

The molded product having the gates arranged in one direction is basically transferred to the cutting portion in the cutting step at the same pitch, and the gate of the molded product with the gate is sequentially cut at this cutting portion. Therefore, there is no need to separately move in the lateral direction from the transport path to provide a gate cutting portion.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is no need to provide a gate cutting portion by moving the carriage separately in the lateral direction from the transport path, and to eliminate the need for a card pitch correcting mechanism.
It is possible to obtain a method and an apparatus that can cope with a high-speed molding cycle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing a method for manufacturing a molded product according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an apparatus for manufacturing a molded article according to the present invention, showing a schematic arrangement of the whole;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an apparatus for manufacturing a molded product according to the present invention and showing a schematic overall arrangement.

FIG. 4 is a right side view showing an apparatus for manufacturing a molded article according to the present invention, showing a schematic arrangement of the whole;

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a second telescopic arm portion of the specific example.

FIG. 6 is a right side view showing a second telescopic arm portion of the specific example.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the transfer device of the present specific example.

FIG. 8 is a right side view showing the transfer device of the present specific example.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a gate cutting device of this example.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing the gate cutting device of the present specific example.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged front view showing the gate cutting device of the present specific example.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of an apparatus for manufacturing a molded product according to a conventional example.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an apparatus for manufacturing a molded product according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Molded product manufacturing apparatus 2 Mold 2A Fixed mold 2B Movable mold 3 Transfer device 4 Transfer device 5 Gate cutting device 6 Storage device 31 First telescopic arm unit 32 Second telescopic arm unit 33 Pick-up unit 34 Suction tool 40 Base frame 41 Pickup unit 42 Pickup unit 42a Horizontal axis 43 Suction tool 44 Pickup unit first drive mechanism 45 Pickup unit second drive mechanism 46 Shaft 51 Receiving unit 51a Mounting plate 51b Drive mechanism unit 51c Stopper unit 52 Gate cutting unit 53 Stopper Part 61 Magazine 62 Turntable w Molded product g Gate M Motor

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transporting step of taking out a plurality of sets of gated molded products having gates facing each other from a molding die and transporting them.
A method of conveying and molding gates provided with a cutting step provided on the downstream side of the conveying step to cut the gate of the molded article, wherein one or more moldings are performed in the course of conveying the group of molded articles. After the product is rotated to align the gate in one direction, the molded product in which the gate is aligned in one direction is transferred to a cutting process, and the gate of the molded product with the gate is sequentially cut in the cutting process. Method of conveying molded products and cutting gates. 2. A molded article conveying and gate cutting apparatus comprising: a conveying section for taking out and conveying a plurality of gated molded articles at a time from a molding die; and a cutting section for cutting a gate of the molded article. The conveying unit includes a rotating mechanism that changes the direction of the molded product with a gate, the cutting unit includes a guide unit, a gate cutting blade located in the middle of the guide unit or near an outlet, and the molded product with the gate. And stopping means for stopping, wherein the gates of the molded articles with gates are rearranged so as to be located in one direction in the transport section, and the molded articles with gates are stopped by the stopping means, and the cutting blades An apparatus for transporting a molded article and cutting the gate, wherein the apparatus cuts a gate of the molded article. 3. The transport section includes a first transport body that takes out a molded product with a gate from a molding die, and a second transport body that receives the molded product with a gate from the first transport body and supplies the molded product with a gate to the cutting section. 3. The apparatus for conveying and cutting gates according to claim 2, wherein a rotation mechanism for changing the direction of the molded article with a gate is provided in one of the first and second conveying bodies.