JP3514474B2 - Cylinder with vacuum controller - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cylinder with a vacuum control device which is formed by combining a cylinder and a vacuum generator. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a cylinder and a vacuum generator have been individually arranged in a fluid circuit. That is, the compressed air is introduced into the port of the cylinder to displace the piston, and with the displacement of the piston, the suction pad, which is the work holding suction tool connected to the tip of the piston rod, moves linearly. Work was being transported. On the other hand, the vacuum generator is arranged separately from the cylinder, and is connected to a pipe such as a tube to the air suction port of the suction pad to communicate with the vacuum generator. The work is sucked under the negative pressure of the container, and the work is conveyed to a desired position by linear movement of the cylinder. [0003] However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, compressed air from an air supply source must be individually supplied to both a cylinder side and an ejector side.
Piping work for that is required. Further, the tube connecting the vacuum generator and the suction pad also moves the suction pad as the work is conveyed. Therefore, the tube must be long enough to reach the moving range of the work. And space is required for the tube to move. In view of the above, the present invention relates to a method of connecting a cylinder and a vacuum generator, and further providing a passage communicating with an air suction port of a suction pad in a pipe of a cylinder rod for sucking a work which communicates with the vacuum generator. By simplifying the piping work can be simplified,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cylinder with a vacuum control device capable of effectively utilizing a work space. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method in which a fluid supplied from a single fluid supply port is introduced into one or the other cylinder chamber via a switching means. A cylinder part having a hollow fluid conduit provided in the pipe body, and a vacuum built in or attached to the cylinder part and including at least a vacuum generator. A first communication path for introducing a fluid supplied from the single fluid supply port into the cylinder chamber; and introducing a fluid supplied from the single fluid supply port to the vacuum generator. And a second communication path for introducing a negative pressure generated by the vacuum generator into the fluid conduit, and the vacuum control unit includes:
A switch means for detecting a negative pressure state introduced through a passage communicating with the second communication passage, discriminating a suction state, a non-suction state or a poor suction state with respect to the work, and leading a determination signal to an external controller. The switch means includes a set of sensors, and one of the sensors determines a pass / fail judgment value between the suction state and the non-suction state of the other sensor with respect to the workpiece in response to the pressure fluctuation of the vacuum generator. A vacuum supply port for supplying a negative pressure generated by the vacuum generator by connecting a plurality of the cylinder units and the vacuum control unit, which are provided so as to be changed and integrally assembled, An exhaust port for exhausting the fluid supplied to the vessel is penetrated and shared. In the above-described cylinder with a vacuum control device according to the present invention, the compressed air supplied from the air supply source is supplied to the port on the cylinder side to linearly displace the pipe and to perform the vacuum control. It is introduced into the fluid passage on the part side. The compressed air introduced into the vacuum control unit is vigorously jetted from a nozzle in a fluid passage arranged in the vacuum control unit, and generates a negative pressure under a pressure reducing action. By this negative pressure action, the work can be sucked through the fluid pipe provided in the pipe body and communicated with the fluid passage of the vacuum control unit, and the work can be transferred via the linear displacement of the pipe body. Next, a preferred embodiment of a cylinder with a vacuum control device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially omitted longitudinal sectional view showing a cylinder with a vacuum control device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cylinder with a vacuum control device, and FIG. 3 is a circuit configuration diagram. The cylinder 10 with a vacuum control device basically has a cylinder body 14 in which a piston 12 is housed.
, A vacuum control unit 18 containing the ejector 16 and the like, and a work holding unit 24 in which a suction pad 22 is connected to a connector 20 as a connecting member. In detail, the cylinder body 14 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the piston 12 for introducing and discharging fluid from the ports 26 and 27 to linearly displace the tubular cylinder chamber 28 is disposed inside the cylinder body 14. Have been. This piston 12
Around the piston 1 by a position detecting mechanism (not shown).
A ring-shaped magnet 30 for detecting the position 2 and a coil 32 are provided. A piston rod (tube) 34 that couples the piston 12 to transmit the output and displacement of the piston 12 to the work grip 24 is connected to the inner periphery of the piston 12. In the pipe of the piston rod 34, there is provided a fluid conduit 35 defining a hollow through hole in the displacement direction, and one end communicates with an ejector 16 described later, and the other end of the work gripper 24 has the other end. It communicates with the connector 20. The fluid conduit 35 defines a suction passage for adsorbing the work under the negative pressure generated by the ejector 16. The cylinder chamber 28 defines a pair of ports 26 and 27 for introducing and discharging a fluid. The ports 26 and 27 are connected to a 5-port solenoid pilot valve for driving a cylinder described later through passages 36 and 37. 38. A detent member 40 for preventing rotation of the piston rod 34 is connected to the cylinder main body 14 at one end of the cylinder body 14, and the linear motion of the piston rod 34 is ensured close to the detent member 40. The cylinder chamber 28 is formed by the provision of a rod cover 42. As shown in FIG. 2, two holes 44 are defined as through holes for fixing the cylinder with vacuum control device 10 to a mounting plate or the like (not shown). In addition, a pin or the like is inserted to
A detent pin 46 is attached to prevent rotation. The vacuum controller 18 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a 5-port solenoid pilot valve for driving a cylinder is provided on the upper surface thereof.
(Switching Means) 38, 3-Port Solenoid Valve 50 for Operating Valve Open / Close of Pilot Operated Valve 48 and Vacuum Controller 18
Pressure switch 5 for detecting the negative pressure condition in
2 is mounted. A single air supply port (fluid supply port) is provided on both sides of the piston rod 34 in the displacement direction.
A one-touch fitting 56 having an exhaust silencer 58 and a cylindrical exhaust silencer 58 are attached. The one-touch fitting 56 may be formed integrally with the vacuum controller 18. Inside the vacuum control unit 18, a flow control valve 60 (see FIG. 3) for controlling the flow rate of the compressed air used for vacuum breaking is arranged. An ejector (vacuum generator) 16 having a nozzle 62 and a diffuser 64, a filter 66 for removing dust and the like, and a silencer 68 located on a side surface of the ejector 16 are arranged below the vacuum control unit 18. . As shown in FIG. 2, when a cylinder 10 with a vacuum control device is connected and used as a manifold (branch pipe), the vacuum supply port and the exhaust port can be penetrated and shared. Good. Further, a notch may be provided in the main body of the exhaust port portion to exhaust air. Next, the operation of the thus-configured cylinder with vacuum controller 10 will be described with reference to the circuit diagram of FIG. First, a pipe such as a tube is connected to the air supply port 54 of the one-touch fitting 56, and compressed air is introduced from an air supply source (not shown). The compressed air introduced from the air supply port 54 is introduced into a 5-port electromagnetic pilot valve 38 that communicates with the port 26 of the cylinder chamber 28 via the passage 36 and a 3-port electromagnetic valve 50.
Is introduced into a pilot operation valve 48 whose opening and closing are controlled via the valve. As described above, the compressed air introduced from one air supply port 54 generates a negative pressure state in the 5-port electromagnetic pilot valve 38 for driving the linear motion of the piston 12 and the vacuum Pilot operation valve 48 for sucking the work in grip portion 24
Supplied to both sides. First, the former case, that is, the case of driving the linear movement of the piston 12 will be described. The 5-port electromagnetic pilot valve 38 communicates with the ports 26 and 27 via passages 36 and 37 and is connected to an exhaust silencer 58. The compressed air introduced from the air supply port 54 is introduced into the 5-port electromagnetic pilot valve 38 through the passage 70. At this time, one port 26
A passage 36 leading to the other port 2
The passage 37 leading to 7 is used for exhaust and is discharged from the exhaust silencer 58 to the outside. Thus, the piston 12 is linearly displaced from the direction of the introduction port 26 to the direction of the exhaust port 27. Subsequently, the pilot valve is excited by a solenoid (not shown) inside the 5-port electromagnetic pilot valve 38, and the main valve is operated with the pilot pressure to switch the 5-port electromagnetic pilot valve 38. By the switching of the five-port electromagnetic pilot valve 38, the introduction and exhaust of the compressed air to the ports 26 and 27 described above are reversed, and the piston 12 is linearly displaced in the direction opposite to the above direction. As described above, the switching of the 5-port electromagnetic pilot valve 38 is performed intermittently, and the introduction and exhaust of compressed air are repeated, so that the linear motion of the piston 12 can be repeated and continued. Next, the latter case, that is, the case where the vacuum control unit 18 generates a negative pressure state will be described. A three-port solenoid valve 50 for controlling valve switching is connected to the pilot operation valve 48, and the three-port solenoid valve 50 is operated to bring the pilot operation valve 48 into a valve-open state. That is, the compressed air introduced from the air supply port 54 is supplied to the supply port 74 on one side of the pilot operation valve 48 and the three-port solenoid valve 50 via the passage 72. At this time, the pilot operation valve 48 is in the closed state, and the three-port solenoid valve 50 is also in the closed state by the operation of the spring. Therefore, the three-port solenoid valve 50 is switched under the excitation of a solenoid (not shown). By this switching, the pilot operation valve 48 has:
Compressed air is introduced into both the one supply port 74 and the other supply port 76. In this case, depending on the size of the cross-sectional area of the supply ports 74 and 76 into which the compressed air is introduced (the cross-sectional area of the supply port 76 is larger), a valve body (not shown) is displaced to form a state when the valve is opened. . Therefore, the introduced compressed air is introduced into the ejector 16 through the passage 78. As shown in FIG. 1, the compressed air introduced into the ejector 16 is sent out to a nozzle 62 and is jetted vigorously at the tip of the nozzle 62 to generate a pressure drop around the tip. Accordingly, air is sucked through the fluid pipe 35 provided in the pipe of the piston rod 34 via the filter 66. By this suction action, the work is sucked from the air suction port 82 of the suction pad 22 connected to the connector 20 through the inner pipe 80 of the connector 20 connected to the tip of the piston rod 34. A cushion 84 (see FIG. 1) is provided inside the connector 20 for reducing the impact at the time of sucking the work to the piston rod 34. In this way, the work sucked by the suction pad 22 can be conveyed while being moved by the stroke distance under the linear displacement of the piston rod 34. The compressed air injected from the tip of the nozzle 62 is supplied to a silencer 68 through a diffuser 64.
Is discharged to the outside. Filter 66 and fluid line 35
A vacuum pressure switch 52 for detecting a negative pressure state generated by the pressure drop operation is connected between the vacuum pressure switch 52. Next, a description will be given of a case where the negative pressure state is released and the vacuum is broken when such a negative pressure state is formed. The compressed air introduced from the air supply port 54 is sent out to the vacuum breaking pilot valve 88 via the passage 86, and controls the three-port solenoid valve 50 to switch the vacuum breaking pilot valve 88 as described above. be able to. By this switching, the vacuum breaking pilot valve 88 is in a state when the valve is opened, and the introduced compressed air is
It is led out to a passage 90 between the filter 66 and the vacuum pressure switch 52. Therefore, by mixing the positive pressure compressed air into the negative pressure air generated by the ejector 16, the negative pressure state is released and the vacuum can be broken. The passage 70, the passage 36 and the passage
37 is a compressor supplied from a single air supply port 54
Functions as a first communication passage for introducing air into cylinder chamber 28
The passage 72, the passage 78 and the passage 9
0 is the pressure supplied from the single air supply port 54
Compressed air is introduced into the ejector 16 and the ejector 1
Second communication for introducing the negative pressure generated in 6 into the fluid line 35
It functions as a road. Next, a circuit diagram of a cylinder with a vacuum control device according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. Note that the same components as those of the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. The cylinder 92 with a vacuum control device in this embodiment includes a semiconductor resistance-type or capacitance-type sensor A96 and a sensor B9 inside a switch 94 on the vacuum control unit 18 side.
8 are arranged in combination, and the sensors A96 and B98 are formed so as to be protected from dust and water by the filters 100 and 102 or a hydrophobic element (for example, a polytetrafluoroethylene film). Therefore, during normal operation or during operation, the pilot operation valve 48, the vacuum breaking pilot valve 88, and the 5-port electromagnetic pilot valve 38 functioning as a vacuum generating valve, and a controller (not shown) for the work actuator of the work. Is operated to determine appropriate suction or non-suction, poor suction, or the like on the work from the pressure state, and a signal related to the operation data is transmitted to the switch circuit 1.
The control signal is transmitted to the control unit 106 and the local sequencer (or local controller) 108 via the control unit 04. further,
This signal is output from an external sequencer (external controller).
Roller) 110. Transmission and reception of signals with the sequencer 110 and the like are performed by operating signals of solenoid valves and switches ( switches ).
The output signal of the pitch means) 94, including an analog signal can be serially transmitted. Further, the sensor A96 changes the value of the pass / fail judgment by the sensor B98 as timely as possible according to the pressure fluctuation of the vacuum generator. For example, it is preferable to employ an automatic shift method of calculating, predicting and judging from the pressure of the sensor A96 such that the pass / fail of the pressure of the sensor B98 that has been adsorbed and not adsorbed is determined by a value of 50%. Further, when attaching the cylinders 10 and 92 with a vacuum control device to another robot or the like, it is preferable to provide a T slot. The same applies to a case where a plurality of cylinders 10 and 92 with a vacuum control device are connected and mounted in a manifold. According to the cylinder with a vacuum control device according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. In other words, the fluid passage of the vacuum control unit is connected to the fluid conduit leading to the suction port of the suction pad, and the cylinder unit is connected to the port for introducing compressed air. There is no need to separately introduce compressed air from the air supply source to both sides of the control unit, and it is only necessary to provide one common compressed air supply path for both. Further, since the vacuum control section is built in or attached to the cylinder section, there is no need to provide a tube as a passage for communicating the vacuum control section with the air suction port of the suction pad. For this reason, it is possible to effectively use the space required for the tube piping. Further
In addition, one set of sensors includes one set of sensors as switch means.
Sensor responds to pressure fluctuations in the vacuum
Of pass / fail judgment between the suction state and the non-suction state of the workpiece
By changing the value, the vacuum generator
Even if the pressure fluctuates, the accuracy of detecting a negative pressure condition is improved.
Can be up.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially omitted longitudinal sectional view of a cylinder with a vacuum control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cylinder with a vacuum control device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a circuit configuration diagram of a cylinder with a vacuum control device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a circuit configuration diagram of a cylinder with a vacuum control device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Description of Signs] 10, 92: Cylinder with vacuum controller 12: Piston 14: Cylinder body 16: Ejector 18: Vacuum controller 26, 27 ... Port 35: Fluid line 38: 5-port solenoid pilot valve 48 Pilot operated valve 50 ... 3-port solenoid valve

   ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page    (72) Inventor Shuzo Sakurai               4-2-2 Kinokudai, Yawahara Village, Tsukuba-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture                 SMC Corporation Tsukuba Technology Center               Inside (72) Inventor Masayoshi Yamamoto               4-2-2 Kinokudai, Yawahara Village, Tsukuba-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture                 SMC Corporation Tsukuba Technology Center               Inside                (56) References JP-A-60-215108 (JP, A)                 JP-A-63-142651 (JP, A)                 JP-A-63-106001 (JP, A)                 JP-A-60-143281 (JP, A)                 JP-B-49-31059 (JP, B1)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claim 1] A pipe which reciprocates linearly by introducing a fluid supplied from a single fluid supply port into one or the other cylinder chamber via a switching means. A cylinder portion having a body, and a hollow fluid conduit provided in the tube body; and a vacuum controller built in or attached to the cylinder portion and including at least a vacuum generator. A first communication path for introducing a fluid supplied from a supply port into the cylinder chamber, and introducing a fluid supplied from the single fluid supply port to the vacuum generator;
And a second communication passage for introducing a negative pressure generated by the vacuum generator into the fluid conduit, wherein the vacuum control unit is introduced via a passage communicating with the second communication passage. A switch means for detecting a negative pressure state, determining a suction state, a non-suction state, or a suction failure state with respect to the work, and deriving a determination signal to an external controller, wherein the switch means includes a set of sensors, the cylinder of the sensor, which in response to pressure fluctuations of the vacuum generator, is provided to vary the value of the acceptability determination and unadsorbed state and adsorption state with respect to the other sensor of the workpiece, are assembled integrally Part and the vacuum
By connecting a plurality of control units, the vacuum generator
A vacuum supply port for supplying the generated negative pressure;
And an exhaust port for exhausting the fluid supplied to the creature.
A cylinder with a vacuum control device characterized by being penetrated and shared .