JP3188334B2 - Mold storage and its control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mold storage and a method for controlling the same, and more particularly, to a mold for forming a high-precision plastic lens such as a thick lens having a large thickness deviation ratio, such as an fθ lens. It can be applied to a storage and its control method, and is useful for a molding system for molding a molded product by sequentially transferring a plurality of molds to respective processes of a heating process, an injection molding process, a slow cooling process, and a molded product removal process. The present invention relates to an improvement in a mold storage and its control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when a metal product or the like is formed and processed,
A plurality of molding machines such as presses are arranged in line according to the molding process,
The mold is taken out of the mold storage, and various molds corresponding to the respective molding processes are set in these molding machines to mold the product. As a transfer means from the mold storage, a transfer device such as a reciprocating movable carriage or a belt conveyor is used. Regarding this, for example,
It is reported in JP-A-8-93523, JP-A-1-157728, JP-A-3-19813 and the like.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-212111 discloses a mold transfer device having a preheating device, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-245521 discloses a die storage device.

[0004]

In a conventional mold warehouse,
In order to automatically change the dies to a molding machine such as a press machine, a transfer device for transferring the dies to a mold storage and an automatic die changing device are attached. For this reason, a mold transfer device and an exchange device between a mold warehouse and a molding machine and a control method thereof have been devised.

However, a gate seal molding method in which a plurality of molds are sequentially transferred to respective steps of a heating step, an injection molding step, a slow cooling step, and a molded article removal step to form a molded article is used. Since it is not a molding method in which a mold is directly conveyed to a molding machine, a conveying device for a molding line is required. In addition, since the number of molds required in the molding line is much larger than the number of molding machines, it is necessary to manage the mold types and numbers in the mold warehouse, and regular mold maintenance is required. Further, when the number of molds of each type is changed by the production plan and its modification, the control is complicated. In addition, since temperature control of the mold is indispensable, there is a problem that temperature control is required in the mold warehouse.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is provided with a conveying device for a molding line to manage mold information of various molds to be used and to determine the number of inputted molds in a production plan. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mold storage that can be changed in a short time in accordance with the above and can efficiently perform control including temperature control and maintenance of the mold, and a control method therefor.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A mold for storing a plurality of molds in a mold storage using a gate seal molding method in which a plurality of molds are sequentially transferred to a heating step, an injection molding step, a slow cooling step, and a molded article removal step to form a molded article. A storage shelf, at least one transport device for loading and unloading dies to and from the die storage section, and at least one first transport device for transporting the dies unloaded by the transport device to a molding line; , At least one second transfer device that transfers the mold that has been unloaded from the molding line to the transfer device, a mold identification device for identifying the mold, the mold storage shelf, the transfer device, The first transport device,
It has a central control device for controlling the second transfer device and the mold discriminating device collectively, and is configured to control the transfer of the mold by the mold discriminating device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a third transfer device for loading and unloading the mold to the outside, and the third transfer device transfers the mold to the mold storage shelf. And a transfer device for loading and unloading the mold, wherein the mold is inserted from the third transfer device and the mold is discharged from the mold storage shelf. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, at least one of the mold storage shelves or the first transfer device is provided.
It is characterized in that two heating devices and a mold temperature measuring device are provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first to third aspects of the present invention, at least one cooling device is provided in the mold storage shelf or the second transfer device. In the invention according to claim 5, the number of molds of each type to be put in is determined at each break of a series of production plans, and the designated mold is carried out from the mold storage shelf by the transporting device. After the mold is carried into the molding line by the first transfer device and the production of the planned quantity is completed,
The mold is taken out from the molding line and the mold is placed in the first
Is transported to the transport device by the transport device, and the transport device transports the mold to the mold storage shelf, and the mold recognition device stores the mold in the memory in the central control device with the mold in the mold storage shelf. The present invention is characterized in that information on the dies put into the line is accumulated, and the stock dies and the put dies can be monitored.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the fifth aspect, when changing the production plan, the number of dies corresponding to the change is taken out from the mold storage shelf and put into a molding line. Alternatively, the mold is unloaded from the molding line by an amount corresponding to the change and returned to the mold storage shelf, and the excess or deficient mold is loaded or removed from the second transfer device.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the number of dies as production varieties of the production plan becomes larger than the number of dies currently inputted at a break of a series of production plans. The required mold is heated to a predetermined temperature set by the heating device and the mold temperature measuring device of the mold. According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the fifth aspect, the mold that needs to be discharged from the molding line is discharged from the molding line to the first transfer device, and the first transfer device transfers the mold to the first transfer device. 3. It is transported to the transport device of No. 3 and quenched by the cooling device and taken out.

[0012]

[Function] Conventionally, the mold is transported between the mold storage and the molding machine, but a plurality of molds are sequentially transferred to a heating step, an injection molding step, a slow cooling step, and a molded article removal step. In the gate seal forming method for forming a molded product by using the conventional method, it is not feasible to simply transport the mold from the mold storage to the molding machine as in the related art. For this reason, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a mold storage shelf for storing a plurality of molds, at least one transport device for loading and unloading the molds to and from the mold storage shelf, and unloading by the transport device. At least one first transfer device for transferring the formed mold to a molding line;
At least one second transfer device that transfers the mold that has been unloaded from the molding line to the transfer device, a mold determination device for identifying the mold, the mold storage shelf, the transfer device,
Since the apparatus has the first transfer device, the second transfer device, and the central control device that collectively controls the mold discriminating device, the transfer of the mold to or from the molding line can be performed quickly. Can be done. Since the transfer of the mold is controlled by the mold discriminating device, it is possible to efficiently discriminate the mold to be carried in and manage the mold storage shelves.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the mold is conveyed in the mold storage and in each molding step. A transport device for loading or unloading the mold to or from the shelf, wherein the mold is inserted from the third transport device, or the mold is discharged from the mold storage shelf, In other words, a new feeding mold, a trial mold, a mold with a defective mold, and a mold that requires regular maintenance are provided in the mold storage with a transport path for loading and discharging the mold. Can manage.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the heating device and the mold temperature measuring device are provided on the mold storage shelf or the first transfer device, the mold can be always maintained at the set temperature. it can. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the cooling device is provided in the mold storage shelf or the second transfer device, the high-temperature mold carried in from the molding line can be rapidly cooled.

Conventionally, one mold is assigned to one molding machine according to a production plan. However, a plurality of molds must be supplied to a molding line at one time. On the other hand, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the control for feeding the dies to the molding line can be performed in the dies storage according to the type and number of dies. In addition, the inventory status of the mold storage is stored in the memory in the central control unit by the mold recognition device, and it can be selected from the mold information in the memory according to the type and number according to the production plan. The operator can confirm the loading status.

In general, the production plan is expected to be changed. At this time, the production plan can be efficiently changed based on the inventory and the information on the dies being put in. In other words, according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, an extra mold is carried out of the molding line or a shortage of the mold is put into the molding line from the storage box according to the difference between the present and planned mold types and the number of molds. be able to.

In the invention according to claim 7, when the number of dies as production varieties of the production plan becomes larger than the number of dies currently inputted at a break of a series of production plans, the number of dies corresponding to the number of dies is prepared. The required mold can be heated to a predetermined set temperature by a heating device and a mold temperature measuring device of the mold. According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the mold that needs to be discharged from the molding line can be transported from the molding line to the third transport device, and can be rapidly cooled by the cooling device and taken out.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a molding system according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a mold storage shelf for storing a plurality of dies 2, 3 a preheating device 3 for preheating the dies 2, and 4 a dies 2 preheated by the preheating device 3. Is a heating device for heating the mold 2 to a temperature necessary for molding, and 5 is a molding machine into which the mold 2 heated to a temperature necessary for molding by the heating device 4 is introduced. And 6 is a molding machine 5
A gradual cooling device for gradually cooling the mold 2 molded by the above, a mold removing device 7 for removing the mold 2 gradually cooled by the slow cooling device 6, and a mold removing robot 8.

In this embodiment, the mold 2 has a self-holding mechanism using bolts, and a molding method using gate seal molding is applied. As the self-holding mechanism using bolts, the one described in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-83349 or the like can be used. Specifically, a self-holding mechanism that clamps a pair of molds 2 with bolts is used. This is a holding-type mold clamping machine in which the linear expansion coefficient of the bolt is smaller than the linear expansion coefficient of the mold 2 material. As the gate seal forming method, for example, a method in which a spherical valve body is brought into contact with a step-shaped inner peripheral edge formed on a valve seat and the spherical valve body is seated on the valve seat can be used.

Next, FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a mold storage in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, which is an enlarged schematic view of a portion A shown in FIG. 2, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 denote the same or corresponding parts, and 11a and 11b
Is a mold discriminating apparatus for identifying the mold, 12 is a mold carrying-in apparatus 12 for carrying in the mold 2, and 13 is a mold carrying-in transporting apparatus. Next, 14 is a transfer device for external unloading, 15 is a cooling device for cooling the mold 2, and 16 is a mold transport device for transferring the mold 2. Reference numeral 17 denotes a die transporting device, reference numerals 18a and 18b denote heater block heating devices constituting the preheating device 3, and reference numeral 19 denotes a gate seal forming line. The central control settings are connected to each device. However, details of the wiring are omitted.

Next, a method of controlling the mold storage will be described. First, the type and number of the mold 2 flowing on the molding line 19 are detected by the mold discriminating device 11a, and the mold loading device is detected by a signal based on the discrimination result of the mold discriminating device 11a.
Control 12 Next, when the mold 2 to be stored in the storage is determined by the mold discriminating device 11a, the mold 2 is transferred to the mold carrying conveyor 13 by the mold carrying device 12, and then the mold carrying conveyor 13 is used. The mold 2 is transferred to the mold transport device 16 by 13. Next, after the mold discriminator 11b determines whether the mold 2 is to be transferred to the mold carrier 16 or to the external unloading carrier 14, the mold carrier 1 is used by the mold carrier 16.
The mold 2 is transferred to Next, the mold 2 is taken out from the mold storage shelf 1 by the mold transport device 16 and then transferred to the mold unloading transport device 17. Next, the heater block heating device
After the mold 2 is heated to a preset temperature by 18 a and 18 b, the mold 2 is carried out to the gate seal molding line 19 by the mold unloading device 10. The cooling device 15 is arranged to rapidly cool the high-temperature mold 2 and to take out the mold 2 outside by an operator.

Then, the newly charged mold 2 is loaded from the external unloading and transferring device 14, and the mold information in the storage is stored in the central control unit by a signal from the mold discriminating device 11b, and this mold information is stored. After that, the carried-out mold information is accumulated as mold information in the molding line 19, and the operator confirms this information on the monitor of the central control device. As described above, in the present embodiment, the mold storage shelf 1 for storing the plurality of molds 2 and the mold storage shelf
A transport device 16 for loading and unloading the mold 2 with respect to 1, a transport device 17 for transporting the mold 2 unloaded by the transport device 16 to a molding line 19, and a mold unloaded from the molding line 19. Since it is configured to include a transport device 13 for transporting the mold 2 to the transport device 16, a mold determining device 11a, 11b for identifying the mold 2, and a central control device for collectively controlling these devices, the mold 2 into molding line 19 or molding line 1
It can be carried out quickly from 9. Since the transfer of the mold 2 is controlled by the mold discriminating devices 11a and 11b, the discrimination of the mold 2 to be carried in and the management of the mold storage shelf 1 can be performed efficiently.

Although the storage of the above embodiment is provided with a discriminating device for recognizing the kind of the mold and the mold number, the present invention is not limited to this. The method of recognizing the number plate may be a method using a microswitch or a method using an optical sensor. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the heating device is based on the heating method using the heater block has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the heating device may be based on various other types such as high-frequency heating. Good.

[0024]

According to the present invention, a transfer device is provided for a molding line, and management of mold information of various molds to be used and change of the number of input molds in a short time according to a production plan. In addition, there is an effect that control can be efficiently performed including temperature control and maintenance of the mold.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a molding system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a mold storage in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 mold storage shelf 2 mold 3 preheating device 4 heating device 5 molding machine 6 cooling device 7 mold removal device 8 mold removal robot 11 molding line 11a, 11b mold discriminating device 12 mold loading device 13 mold loading Transport device 14 External transport device 15 Cooling device 16 Die transport device 17 Die transport device 18a, 18b Heater block heating device 19 Gate seal molding line

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Mitsunobu Suwa 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kinichi Oikawa 109-109 Ohata 10th Landing, Hanamaki-shi, Iwate Ricoh Optical Co., Ltd. In-company (56) References JP-A-5-329901 (JP, A) JP-A-5-345343 (JP, A) Patent 3059516 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB Name) B29C 45/00-45/84

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A mold storage using a gate seal molding method in which a plurality of molds are sequentially transferred to a heating step, an injection molding step, a slow cooling step, and a molded article removal step to form a molded article. A mold storage shelf for storing, and at least one transport device for loading and unloading the mold to and from the mold storage shelf,
At least one first transport device for transporting the mold unloaded by the transport device to the molding line, and at least one second transport device for transporting the die unloaded from the molding line to the transport device And a mold discriminating device for identifying a mold, and central control for collectively controlling the mold storage shelf, the transport device, the first transport device, the second transport device, and the mold discriminating device. And a device for controlling the transfer of the mold by the mold discriminating device. A third transfer device for loading and unloading the mold to and from the outside; and a transfer device for loading and unloading the mold from the third transfer device to the mold storage shelf. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a mold is inserted from the third transfer device, and the mold is discharged from the mold storage shelf.
The described mold storage. 3. The mold storage according to claim 1, wherein at least one heating device and a mold temperature measuring device are provided on the mold storage shelf or the first transfer device. 4. The mold storage according to claim 1, wherein at least one cooling device is provided in said third transfer device. 5. A mold storage shelf for storing a plurality of molds, and the molds
At least one for loading and unloading the mold to and from the storage shelf
Forming a transport device and a mold carried out by the transport device
At least one first transport device for transporting to the line;
Conveys the mold that has been unloaded from the molding line to the conveyor
Identifying at least one second transfer device and a mold.
A mold discriminating device, the mold storage shelf, the transport device,
The first transfer device, the second transfer device, and the mold discriminating device
A central control device for collectively controlling the die placement,
Mold configured to control the transfer of the mold by placement
Prepare a storage , determine the number of dies of each type to be put in every break of a series of production plan, unload the specified die from the die storage shelf by the transport device, and remove the die After the production is carried out to the molding line by the first transportation means and the planned quantity is completed, the mold is taken out from the molding line, and the mold is transported to the transportation device by the first transportation device, and the transportation device The mold is carried into the mold storage shelf, and the mold recognition device accumulates the mold information in the mold storage shelf and the mold information input to the molding line in the memory in the central control device, and stores the stock mold. And a method for controlling a mold storage, characterized in that the mold and the input mold can be monitored. 6. A production plan is changed by taking out the number of molds corresponding to the change from the mold storage shelf and putting it into a molding line, or carrying out the mold by the amount of the change from the molding line to produce the mold. along with the return to the type of storage shelves, before the excess of the mold
The second transporting device is used to transfer the mold and the shortage of the mold.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the charging is performed by the first transport device. 7. When the number of dies as production varieties of a production plan becomes larger than the number of dies currently being inputted at a break of a series of production plans, dies to be prepared are prepared by the heating device and the dies. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the mold is heated to a preset temperature by a mold temperature measuring device. 8. A mold which needs to be discharged from the molding line is discharged from the molding line to the first transfer device.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the mold is transferred from the transfer device to the third transfer device, and is rapidly cooled by the cooling device and taken out.