JP4276984B2 - Parts alignment device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a part aligning device that aligns a large number of randomly stored parts one by one in a unified posture, and is particularly suitable for automatically supplying a welding nut as a part to an automatic welding device in a predetermined posture. .

  Conventionally, as this kind of parts alignment device, the parts will climb the spiral slope on the inner peripheral surface of the bowl by applying vibration rotation to the bowl in which the parts are stored and applying centrifugal force to the parts in the bowl. In the middle of this, there are parts that automatically change the posture of the parts, sort the large and small parts, and sort the front and back of the parts.

In addition, as another parts alignment device, Japanese Patent No. 3117662 discloses a face plate, suction means disposed on one side of the front and back sides of the face plate, and arranged on the other side of the front and back sides of the face plate. What is comprised from the provided attitude | position conversion guide and the front-and-back selection means is described. In this parts alignment apparatus, the part is sucked to the other side surface of the face plate by the suction means, and the part is moved to the posture conversion guide by the rotational movement of the suction means to be converted into a predetermined posture. Further, the parts are moved to the front / back sorting means by the rotational movement of the suction means. This front / back sorting means removes parts whose front and back surfaces are not in a predetermined direction by utilizing the fact that the protruding height of the part from the face plate varies depending on the orientation of the front and back surfaces of the part. As described above, the parts aligning apparatus sequentially aligns the parts having the predetermined posture and the front and back surfaces of which are unified in a predetermined direction.
Japanese Patent No. 3117662

  However, in the above-described parts alignment apparatus, it is possible to align regular parts with the front and back of the parts aligned. However, because the front and back sorting means identifies the orientation of the front and back surfaces of the part based on the protruding height from the face plate of the specific part (center part) of the part, for example, the non-regularity whose overall thickness is smaller than that of a regular shaped part For the shaped part, the surface facing the face plate of the part passes through the front and back sorting means regardless of the back surface or the front surface. As a result, there is a problem that the irregularly shaped parts are mixed into the irregularly shaped parts.

  The present invention has been made in view of such points, and the purpose of the present invention is to select a regular-shaped part by sorting the front and back of the part and aligning them in a unified posture, It is in splashing.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present inventor has made the following invention.

That is, the present invention is a parts alignment device that converts the front and back of the parts to a unified posture,
A face plate,
An adsorbing means disposed on one side of the face plate and adsorbing the parts on the other side of the face plate via the face plate and rotating a specific rotation locus;
A posture conversion guide that converts a part that is attracted to the suction means and moves along a specific circumferential line corresponding to the specific rotation trajectory into a posture in which the front surface or the back surface faces the other side surface of the face plate;
Of the parts that are converted in posture and are attracted to the suction means and move, parts whose postures face the other side of the face plate are allowed to pass while parts whose posture the rear side faces the other side Front and back sorting means to prevent passage,
Among the parts that pass through the front and back sorting means and are adsorbed and moved by the adsorbing means, a regular-shaped part (hereinafter referred to as a regular part) is guided to the first path, while an irregularly shaped part (hereinafter referred to as a non-regular shape part). A regular part selecting means for guiding a normal part) to a second path different from the first path ,
The first path is provided at a position deviating from the specific circumferential line, and the second path extends along the specific circumferential line,
The regular part sorting means sorts the part into a regular shape part and an irregular shape part based on the maximum thickness, and separates the regular shape part from the suction by the suction means and guides it to the first path. The non-regular shape part is allowed to move to the second path while being attracted to the suction means .

In the case of the parts alignment apparatus, the parts adsorbed by the adsorbing means move on a specific circumferential line. On this specific circumferential line, an attitude conversion guide, front and back sorting means, and regular part sorting means are arranged in the order of the rotation direction of the suction means. Accordingly, the part is first converted into a specific posture by passing through the posture conversion guide. Next, the parts converted to a specific orientation are sorted by the front and back sorting means, the parts whose front faces the other side of the face plate are allowed to pass, and the back faces the other side of the face plate Is repelled by the front and back sorting means. Further, the parts that have passed through the front and back sorting means are sorted into regular shape parts and non-regular shape parts based on the maximum thickness of the parts by the regular parts sorting means , and the regular parts are separated from the suction by the suction means. Thus , the non-regular part is guided to the second path extending along the specific circumferential line while being adsorbed by the adsorbing means to the first path deviating from the specific circumferential line . Thereafter, the regular parts guided to the first path are automatically supplied to, for example, an automatic welding apparatus or stored in a parts alignment storage cylinder or the like for the automatic supply.

  Therefore, regular parts and non-regular parts are mixed and supplied to the parts alignment device, and even if the non-regular parts pass through the front and back sorting means, the regular parts and non-regular parts can be sorted after the passage, All the regular parts can be sequentially aligned in a unified posture.

  Further, for example, as the regular part selection means, a guide is provided on the specific circumference line so as to be opposed to the face plate with a gap of a predetermined dimension so as to engage with a regular part having a maximum thickness larger than the predetermined dimension. The regular part is engaged with the guide and deviated from the specific circumferential line to be guided to the first path, and the irregular part having a maximum thickness of a predetermined dimension or less is attracted to the suction means while being attracted to the guide. What is necessary is just to make it move on the said specific circumference line through the said clearance gap, and to move to a 2nd path | route, without matching. The non-regular part guided to the second path may be separated from the adsorption of the adsorption means and accommodated in the irregular part accommodating portion.

  In this case, the lower limit of the total thickness of the parts to be selected as regular parts can be determined by changing the size of the gap between the guide and the face plate.

  In a preferred embodiment, the face plate is fixed, the suction means is rotated along one side surface of the face plate, and the part is moved on the other side surface of the face plate.

  The suction means may be fixed to one side of the face plate, and the face plate may be rotated to rotate the suction means. In that case, the parts adsorbed by the adsorbing means rotate together with the face plate.

  In a preferred embodiment, the face plate has a flat plate shape. Further, the face plate is formed in a cylindrical drum shape, the suction means is provided on the outer side (front side) or the inner side (back side) of the drum, and the parts move on the outer peripheral surface side or inner peripheral surface side of the drum. Also good.

In a preferred embodiment, the face plate has a flat plate shape and is disposed in an inclined state in which the other side surface faces obliquely upward,
The front and back sorting means and the regular parts sorting means are each arranged at an upper position on the other side of the face plate,
It is disposed in the vicinity of the lower end on the other side of the face plate, and further comprises a parts reservoir that stores a plurality of parts in an unaligned state,
The adsorbing means adsorbs and moves the parts in the parts reservoir.

  Therefore, if the parts to be aligned are supplied to the parts reservoir, the suction means sucks the parts in the parts reservoir, and the sucked parts move along a specific circumferential line as the suction means rotates. . The parts are converted into a specific posture by the posture conversion guide. When the parts are not completely converted into the specific posture, the parts are bounced and dropped by the posture conversion guide. After that, the front and back sorting means sorts the front and back orientations of the parts, but when the parts are in a direction opposite to the predetermined orientation, the parts are repelled and dropped by the front and back sorting means. Since the face plate is disposed in an inclined state, the parts that are dropped by these posture conversion guides and the like are automatically returned to the parts reservoir by sliding down the face plate due to the action of gravity. . Thereafter, the parts that have passed through the front and back sorting means reach the regular part sorting means, and if they are regular parts, they are led to the first path, and if they are non-regular parts, they are led to the second path.

  In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus further comprises an alignment accommodating portion that accommodates the regular parts guided to the first path in an aligned state, and non-regular part accommodating means that accommodates the non-regular parts guided to the second path. ing.

  Therefore, even if regular parts and non-regular parts are mixed and supplied to the parts alignment device (part reservoir), the regular parts are automatically displayed in a predetermined posture and display by repeating the rotation of the suction means. The rear part is fed into the first path in a state in which it is unified in a predetermined direction, and the non-regular parts are accommodated in the irregular part accommodating part via the second path.

In a preferred embodiment, the part is a weld having a nut body portion having a predetermined thickness having substantially square front and back surfaces parallel to each other, and protrusions projecting from the respective corner portions of the nut body portion to the back surface side. A nut,
The front and back sorting means is constituted by a restriction piece whose width is narrower than the interval between the adjacent protrusions of the weld nut,
The restricting piece is disposed at a substantially center of a path along which the welding nut is attracted and moved by the attracting means, and is larger than the thickness of the nut body portion between the face plate and the nut body. A gap smaller than the entire thickness of the weld nut including the protrusion and the protrusion is formed.

  Therefore, the welding nut that is adsorbed by the adsorbing means in a posture in which the surface faces the front and back and other side surfaces of the face plate is protruded from the face plate between the adjacent protrusions (the part corresponding to the position of the restriction piece). Is lower than the protruding portion (the protruding height corresponding to the thickness of the nut main body). Therefore, the welding nut passes through the gap between the restriction piece and the face plate without interfering with the restriction piece. On the other hand, the welding nut that is adsorbed by the adsorbing means in a posture in which the back surface is opposed to the front and back other side surfaces of the face plate, the projections are in contact with the face plate, even at positions corresponding to the restricting pieces. The protrusion height from the height is a size corresponding to the thickness of the entire weld nut including the protrusion. For this reason, the weld nut is repelled by interfering with the restriction piece. Thereby, only the welding nut having the surface facing the other side surface of the face plate is sent while being held by the suction means.

  However, by configuring the front and back sorting means with a regulating piece, the weld nut having a smaller overall thickness than the dimension between the regulating piece and the face plate is the above regardless of whether the surface facing the other side of the face plate is the front or back side. Pass through the front and back sorting means.

As described above, according to the present invention, the parts adsorbed by the adsorbing means move on a specific circumferential line. On this specific circumferential line, an attitude conversion guide, a front / back sorting means, and a regular parts sorting means are arranged in the order of the rotation direction of the suction means. Therefore, the parts first pass through the attitude conversion guide to be specified. Converted to posture. Next, the parts converted to a specific orientation are sorted by the front and back sorting means, the parts whose front faces the other side of the face plate are allowed to pass, and the back faces the other side of the face plate Is repelled by the front and back sorting means. Further, the parts that have passed through the front and back sorting means are sorted into regular shape parts and non-regular shape parts based on the maximum thickness of the parts by the regular parts sorting means , and the regular parts are separated from the suction by the suction means. Thus , the non-regular part is guided to the second path extending along the specific circumferential line while being adsorbed by the adsorbing means to the first path deviating from the specific circumferential line . Thereafter, the regular parts guided to the first path are automatically supplied to, for example, an automatic welding apparatus or stored in a parts alignment storage cylinder or the like for the automatic supply.

  Therefore, regular parts and non-regular parts are mixed and supplied to the parts alignment device, and even if the non-regular parts pass through the front and back sorting means, the regular parts and non-regular parts can be sorted after the passage, All the regular parts can be sequentially aligned in a unified posture.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the parts to be aligned are supplied to the parts reservoir, the suction means attracts the parts of the parts reservoir, and the sucked parts are rotated by the suction means. Along the specific circumference line. The parts are converted into a specific posture by the posture conversion guide. When the parts are not completely converted into the specific posture, the parts are bounced and dropped by the posture conversion guide. After that, the front and back sorting means sorts the front and back orientations of the parts, but when the parts are in a direction opposite to the predetermined orientation, the parts are repelled and dropped by the front and back sorting means. Since the face plate is disposed in an inclined state, the parts that are dropped by these posture conversion guides and the like are automatically returned to the parts reservoir by sliding down the face plate due to the action of gravity. . Thereafter, the parts that have passed through the front and back sorting means reach the regular part sorting means, and if they are regular parts, they are led to the first path, and if they are non-regular parts, they are led to the second path.

  According to the invention of claim 3, even if regular parts and non-regular parts are mixed and supplied to the parts aligning device (part reservoir), the rotation of the suction means is repeated automatically, The regular parts are sent to the first path in a state where the predetermined posture and the front and back surfaces are unified in a predetermined direction, and the non-regular parts are accommodated in the non-regular part accommodating portion via the second path.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, the welding nut currently adsorb | sucked by the adsorption | suction means in the attitude | position which the surface mutually opposed to the front and back other side surfaces of a faceplate corresponds to the position of the adjacent protrusion part (corresponding to the position of the said control piece In the portion, the protruding height from the face plate is lower than the protruding portion (the protruding height corresponding to the thickness of the nut main body). Therefore, the welding nut passes through the gap between the restriction piece and the face plate without interfering with the restriction piece. On the other hand, the welding nut that is adsorbed by the adsorbing means in a posture in which the back surface is opposed to the front and back other side surfaces of the face plate, the projections are in contact with the face plate, even at positions corresponding to the restricting pieces. The protrusion height from the height is a size corresponding to the thickness of the entire weld nut including the protrusion. For this reason, the weld nut is repelled by interfering with the restriction piece. Thereby, only the welding nut having the surface facing the other side surface of the face plate is sent while being held by the suction means.

  However, by configuring the front and back sorting means with a regulating piece, the weld nut having a smaller overall thickness than the dimension between the regulating piece and the face plate is the above regardless of whether the surface facing the other side of the face plate is the front or back side. Pass through the front and back sorting means.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to splash a non-regular shape part while sorting the front and back of the part and aligning them in a unified posture.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a parts aligning apparatus using welding nuts N as parts to be aligned. In the figure, 2 is a charging chute into which a large number of loose welding nuts N are charged, 3 is a device main body for aligning the welding nuts N charged in this charging chute 2, and 4 is aligned by this device main body 3. The welding nut N is a delivery device that delivers the welding nut N one by one to the nut welding machine (not shown), for example, by pressure air, and these are provided on the base 5.

The welding nut N will be described with reference to FIG. The welding nut N is a predetermined thickness has a t mutually parallel surfaces n ₁ and the back surface n ₂ is the nut body N ₁ that is formed in a substantially square shape in plan view, respectively back surface n from the four corners of the nut body N ₁ projections projecting ₂ side N ₂ and is one which is formed integrally. Therefore, the overall thickness T of the welding nut N is in a one projecting dimension of the protrusions N ₂ is applied to the thickness t of the nut body N _1. Incidentally, in N ₃ the figure is a screw hole penetrating to the back surface.

  Each component of the parts alignment apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 again. The charging chute 2 includes a hopper cylinder portion 21 that opens up and down, and a bowl-like chute portion 22 that has a substantially semicircular cross-sectional shape with an upper surface opened. The chute 22 has a base end communicating with the lower end opening of the hopper cylinder 21 and a tip extending obliquely downward. The charging chute 2 is fixed by a bracket 52 at a high position of the inclined surface 51 with respect to the base 5 whose upper surface is an inclined surface 51.

  The apparatus body 3 is disposed on a rectangular face plate 6 orthogonal to the inclination direction of the chute 22, a square guide plate 7 similar to the face plate 6, and a rear face 62 side that is one side of the face plate 6. The suction means 8 for generating a magnetic field on the front surface 61 which is the other side of the face plate 6, the rotational drive means 9 for rotating each suction means 8 about the central axis X, and the same square as the face plate 6 And a support plate 10 having an L-shaped cross section. The apparatus body 3 is fixed to the lower side of the inclined surface 51 of the base 5 by a bracket 53.

  The face plate 6 is disposed so as to be inclined so that the front face 61 faces the charging chute 2 side and is obliquely upward. A guide plate 7 is superimposed on the face plate 6 on the front face 61 side and integrated with each other by screws (not shown). The face plate 6 is fixed to the support plate 10 with bolts and nuts with the suction means 8 sandwiched therebetween and maintained at a distance such that the suction means 8 and the rear surface 62 of the face plate 6 do not contact each other. . The face plate 6, the guide plate 7 and the support plate 10 are preferably formed of a nonmagnetic material such as synthetic resin or a weak magnetic material so as not to hinder the rotational movement of the suction means 8. In addition, since the welding nut N slides on the front surface 61 of the face plate 6 in particular, it is preferably formed of a nonmagnetic material such as stainless steel and excellent in wear resistance.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the suction means 8 includes a rotary head 83 in which a large-diameter head portion 82 is integrally formed at the tip of a shaft 81, and a pair of openings opening on the tip surface of the head portion 82 of the rotary head 83. A concave hole 84, a pair of permanent magnets 85 fitted in the respective concave holes 84, and the permanent magnets 85 are fixed by tightening through the peripheral surface of the head portion 82 toward the concave holes 84. The screw 86 is provided. The permanent magnets 85 are fitted in the concave holes 84 so as to generate magnetic fields opposite to each other, and are positioned so as to face each other with an axis Y passing through the center position of the rotary head 83. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the rotation driving means 9 includes four arm portions 91 configured by combining two plate members in a cross shape around the central axis X, and a motor 92 (see FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 6, the rotation output shaft 93 of the motor 92 is fixed to the base end of each arm portion 91. Then, the shaft 81 of the suction means 8 is inserted into the mounting hole 911 at the tip of each arm portion 91 with the coil spring 87 inserted, so that the axis Y is parallel to the central axis X, and the fixing screw It is retained by 88. As a result, in a state where the permanent magnets 85 and 85 are biased so as to oppose each other with a slight gap with respect to the rear surface 62 of the face plate 6, the shaft Y has a specific rotation locus R (see FIG. 5). Each adsorption means 8 is disposed so as to pass therethrough. If the face plate 6 is slightly distorted or warped, the rotary head 83 hits the face plate 83. At this time, the coil spring 87 contracts to provide a buffering action.

  The guide plate 7 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The guide plate 7 has a thickness greater than the overall thickness T of the weld nut N, and grooves 111 and 141 recessed from the plate surface are formed on the rear surface 72 facing the face plate 6. The grooves 111 and 141 form the posture changing guide 11 and the alignment supply guide 14 by overlapping with the face plate 6 (see FIG. 7).

  In the vicinity of the center of the guide plate 7, an opening 73 having a predetermined shape penetrating in the thickness direction is provided. In the opening 73, the chute 22, the regulating piece 12 as the front and back sorting means, and the thickness sorting guide 13 as the regular parts sorting means are arranged. The lower half of the opening 73 is a semicircular lower opening 731 corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the chute 22. The groove 111 has a circumference around the central axis X having the same radius as the specific rotation locus R, with the opening edge of the left side portion (left side in FIG. 8) of the lower opening portion 731 as the entrance end. A line P (hereinafter referred to as a specific circumferential line P) is formed up to the vicinity of the top of the line P. The vicinity of the inlet of the groove 111 is formed so that the groove width increases toward the inlet end. The groove 141 is formed so as to extend from the vicinity of the uppermost portion in the tangential direction of the specific circumferential line P, and then bend and extend vertically downward to the lower end side surface of the guide plate 7 outside the specific circumferential line P. .

  The groove 111 includes an outer peripheral wall 112, an inner peripheral wall 113, and a bottom wall 114, and the groove 141 includes an outer peripheral wall 142, an inner peripheral wall 143, and a bottom wall 144. The bottom wall 114 and 144 are formed from the rear surface 72 of the guide plate 7. The groove depth up to the dimension corresponding to the overall thickness T of the weld nut N, and the internal distance between the outer peripheral wall 112 or 142 and the inner peripheral wall 113 or 143 corresponds to the length of one side of the weld nut N Each dimension is set. The upper half of the opening 73 is a substantially rectangular upper opening 732. At the upper end portion of the upper opening 732, the groove 111 and the groove 141 are partially discontinuous. That is, the outer peripheral walls 112 and 142 are continuously connected by the outer peripheral wall 136, a part above the bottom wall 114 and a part above the wall surface 144 are continuously connected by the bottom wall 137, and the inner peripheral walls 113 and 143 are It is formed discontinuously.

  Then, in a state where the face plate 6 and the guide plate 7 are overlapped, the tip edge of the chute portion 22 is attached to the opening edge portion of the lower opening portion 731, and the lower half portion and the chute portion of the front face 61 are attached. Nut reservoir 23 is formed to allow welding nut N to be accumulated in a space surrounded by. As shown also in FIG. 7, on the specific circumferential line P of the upper half of the face plate 6, the posture conversion guide 11, the regulating piece 12, the thickness selection guide 13, and the part detachment as the non-regular part accommodating means The part 15 and the non-regular part accommodating part 16 are sequentially arranged in the rotational movement direction (counterclockwise direction in FIG. 7) of the suction means 8. Further, the thickness selection guide 13 extends in a tangential direction from the specific circumferential line P, and an alignment supply guide 14 is disposed behind the outlet.

  The posture changing guide 11 is formed in a rectangular cross-sectional shape by a U-shaped groove 111 formed on the rear surface 72 of the guide plate 7 and the face plate 6 (see FIGS. 7 and 9). Further, the posture changing guide 11 has a wide inlet 115, and gradually becomes narrower as it advances from the inlet 115, and is slightly wider than the width of the welding nut N from the middle and narrower than the diagonal length of the nut N. It is wide. Further, the inlet 115 has a round 116 formed at the upper edge thereof, and the groove depth is larger than the total thickness T of the weld nut N. Further, the inlet 115 is provided with a conversion guide piece 117 erected from the front surface 71 of the guide plate 7, and a folded portion 118 perpendicular to the guide piece 117 main body is provided at the tip thereof.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the alignment supply guide 14 is formed in a rectangular cross section by a U-shaped groove 141 formed on the rear surface 72 of the guide plate 7 and the face plate 6. The inlet 145 of the guide 14 is adjacent to the thickness selection guide 13, while the outlet 146 is connected to the discharge cylinder 17 at the lower end of the guide plate 7 (see FIG. 1). The discharge tube 17 is connected to a base end portion of an alignment storage tube 18 formed in a cylindrical shape with a rectangular cross section by a synthetic resin having flexibility such as a silicone resin. The distal end portion of the storage tube 18 is connected to the delivery device 4 so as to supply the welding nut N (see FIG. 13) accommodated therein to the delivery device 4.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 and 20, the thickness selection guide 13 is a columnar body having an L-shaped cross section composed of a guide part 131 having a guide surface 133 and an attachment part 132. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 20, the thickness selection guide 13 is disposed so as to extend in the substantially horizontal direction at the upper end of the upper opening 732, and the rear end thereof is in contact with the inlet 145 of the alignment supply guide 14. The inlet 135 is separated from the outlet 119 of the posture changing guide 11.

  The attachment portion 132 is attached to the front surface 71 of the guide plate 7 so that the guide portion 131 is disposed opposite to the face plate 6. The internal distance between the guide portion 131 and the face plate 6 is set to a dimension h smaller than the overall thickness T of the weld nut N. In addition, the internal distance between the guide surface 133 of the guide portion 131 and the outer peripheral wall 136 is set to a dimension corresponding to the length of one side of the welding nut N, and the guide surface 133 corresponds to the alignment supply guide 14. It is continuous with the inner peripheral wall 143. Here, the dimension h is the maximum value of the total thickness of the weld nut selected as the non-regular part. Thus, the guide part 131 and the alignment supply guide 14 form a first path through which regular parts are guided. On the other hand, the second path through which the non-regular part is guided corresponds to a path extending along the specific circumferential line P from the thickness selection guide 13. Further, an attachment piece 134 for attaching the restriction piece 12 to the thickness selection guide 13 is provided on the attachment portion 132 on the side opposite to the direction in which the guide portion 131 protrudes.

As shown in FIG. 7, the restricting piece 12 has a base end portion fixed to the attachment piece 134 of the thickness selection guide 13 and a distal end portion closer to the outlet 119 of the posture conversion guide 11 than the thickness selection guide 13. And is located between the thickness selection guide 13 and the outlet 119. As shown in FIG. 15, the gap between the protruding portion 121 and the face plate 6 is set to a dimension L that is larger than the thickness t of the nut body N ₁ of the weld nut N and smaller than the overall thickness T of the weld nut N. In addition, the protrusion 121 passes through a substantially central position (see FIGS. 12 and 15) of both protrusions N ₂ and N ₂ adjacent to each other in the radial direction of the welding nut N in the state of being sucked by the suction means 8. Is arranged along the specific circumferential line P. Here, the dimension L is approximately the same as or smaller than the dimension h.

  The part detachment portion 15 will be described with reference to FIG. The part detachment portion 15 is configured by an inner side surface 733 having an inlet 145 of the alignment supply guide 14 located behind the thickness selection guide 13 among the inner side surfaces defining the upper opening 732. The inner side surface 733 extends obliquely downward from the outside of the specific circumferential line P while intersecting the specific circumferential line P, and is connected to the inner side surface of the semicircular lower opening 731.

  The non-regular part accommodating portion 16 is disposed in the opening 73 of the guide plate 7 as shown in FIG. 7, and as shown in FIG. 11, four side walls 162, 162,. A housing portion 161 having an opening on the upper surface made of a bottom wall 163, a housing guide 164 provided on one side wall 162 of a pair of opposing side walls 162, 162, and 1 or 2 provided on the other side wall 162 The above-mentioned collar part 165 is provided. The flange portion 165 is detachably hooked to the opening edge of the chute portion 22, and the non-regular part accommodating portion 16 has a side wall 162 opposite to the face plate 6 by the hook. In contact with the front surface 61, the nut 61 is positioned above the nut reservoir 23 (see FIG. 2). The accommodation guide 164 is provided to extend obliquely upward from the upper end of the side wall 162, and the distal end portion of the accommodation guide 164 is the restriction piece in a state where the non-regular part accommodation portion 16 is hooked on the chute portion 22. It is located in the vicinity of the entrance of the thickness selection guide 13 which is a rear position of 12 (see FIG. 7).

  Next, the principle of alignment of the welding nuts N according to the above-described embodiment will be described. First, a large number of welding nuts N are introduced from the hopper cylinder portion 21 and the chute portion 22 of the charging chute 2 and stored in the nut reservoir 23. When the motor 92 is operated in this state, each suction means 8 moves on the specific rotation locus R according to the rotation of each arm portion 91 around the central axis X. As a result, the magnetic field applied by the permanent magnets 85 and 85 of each attracting means 8 moves along the specific circumferential line P along with the movement of the attracting means 8 on the front surface 61 side across the face plate 6. For this reason, the welding nut N on the specific circumferential line is adsorbed from the nut reservoir 23 and sent toward the inlet 115 of the attitude conversion guide 11 while sliding on the face plate 6.

If the adsorbed welding nut N is in a lying state where either the front surface n ₁ or the rear surface n ₂ is opposed to the face plate 6, the welding nut N is welded by the outer peripheral wall 112 and the inner peripheral wall 113. One side is corrected and converted into a posture along the outer peripheral wall 112. On the other hand, if the adsorbed weld nut N is in an upright state where the side wall faces the face plate 6, the weld nut N is brought into contact with the round 116 of the inlet 115 and is changed in posture to the above-described lying state. As described above, one side of the welding nut N is corrected and converted into a posture along the outer peripheral wall 112. Further, when the standing welding nut N is not tilted by the round 116, it is detached from the magnetic field of the attracting means at the inlet 115 and falls to the nut reservoir 23. At this time, since the conversion guide piece 117 is provided at the inlet 115, the welding nut N does not ride on the front surface 71 of the guide plate 7. Note that the weld nut N is reliably repelled by the fact that the turn-back portion 118 is provided at the tip of the conversion guide piece 117.

When the welding nut N whose posture has been changed is in a lying state with its back surface n ₂ facing the face plate 6 as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the inside of the posture conversion guide 11 is moved along with the movement of the suction means 8. After passing through and exiting the exit 119, it collides with the protrusion 121 of the restricting piece 12 as shown in FIGS. As a result, the attracting means 8 slips off the face plate 6 toward the nut reservoir 23 below the attracting force due to the magnetic field of the attracting means 8 (see FIG. 16). At this time, the welding nut N repelled by the restricting piece 12 is pulled in the rotation direction of the suction means 8 due to the influence of the magnetic field of the suction means 8, and is obliquely downward on the rotation direction side, not vertically downward from the protrusion 121. Although there is a case of falling to the left (downward in FIG. 16), since there is the accommodation guide 164 of the non-regular part accommodating part 16, it does not fall into the non-regular part accommodating part 16 and falls into the nut reservoir 23. .

On the other hand, when the posture converting guide 11 by the posture changing weld nut N is in a fallen state of being opposed to the face plate 6 and the surface n ₁ 6 and 12, the movement of the suction means 8 Accordingly, even if it passes through the posture conversion guide 11 and exits from the outlet 119, it passes through the gap between the protrusion 121 of the restricting piece 12 and the face plate 6, as shown in FIGS. Thus, because the welding nut N is slid on the face plate 6 by the magnetic field adsorption means 8, unlike the apparatus that aligns the parts by vibration or the like, there is no vibration in the vertical direction of the face plate 6 of the welding nut N, The front and back of the welding nut N can be accurately selected.

However, the weld nut N to be put into the nut reservoir 23 is not limited to the regular weld nut Na having _a specific shape and size (see FIG. 3). For example, as shown in FIG. 19, the protrusion _Nb2 is crushed. non regular welding nuts (in FIG. 19 (a)) and totally irregular weld nut size is small (in FIG. 19 (b)) irregular weld nut N _b and overall large size non-regular welding such as The nut N _c ((c) in FIG. 19) may be mixed. Non normal if the overall thickness T _b of the weld nut N _b is the gap dimension L is smaller than the protrusion 121 and the face plate 6 of the regulating piece 12, the posture converted irregular welded to the inclined state by the attitude changing guide 11 nut n _b regardless of any surface that is opposed with respect to the face plates 6 of the surface n _b1 or backside n _b2, passes through the gap between the protruding portion 121 and the face plate 6 (shown in FIG. 21 (a) (See (b)). As a result, a problem that the surface n _a1 regular welding in collapsed state of being opposed to the face plate 6 of the nut N _a non-regular welding nuts to the alignment housing tube 18 which is accommodated N _b is mixed results.

Therefore, the above problem is solved by providing the thickness selection guide 13. That is, when the welding nut N that is selected by the regulating piece 12 is a regular welding nut N _a, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 20, the regular welding nut N _a certain circle accordance rotational movement of the suction means 8 tries to move the peripheral line P, is the regular welding nuts N _a ride on the guide surface 133 in the thickness sorting guide 13 extending from the inlet 135 to the tangential direction, gradually off the suction force generated by the magnetic field of the suction means 8, The thickness selection guide 13 is moved to enter the alignment supply guide 14. Then, the regular welding nut N _a is pushed alignment supply guide 14 or moves by inertia, or the regular welding nut N _a guided aligned supply guide 14 to the next by a continuous rotation of the suction means 8 Eventually, they are stored in an aligned state in the alignment accommodating tube 18.

On the other hand, if the welding nut N which has passed through the restricting piece 12 is non-regular welding nut N _b, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the guide surface 133 of the non-regular welding nut N _b is the thickness sorting guide 13 The specific circumferential line P is moved between the thickness selection guide 13 and the face plate 6 according to the rotational movement of the suction means 8 while being sucked by the suction means 8. Therefore, the non-regular welding nut N _b is not to enter the interior of the alignment supply guide 14, thus, no longer be accommodated in the alignment housing tube 18. In this way, since the welding nut N is slid on the face plate 6 by the magnetic field adsorption means 8, there is no vibration in the vertical direction of the face plate 6 of the welding nut N, unlike the apparatus that aligns the parts by vibration or the like. The thickness of the nut N can be selected with high accuracy.

The non-regular welding nuts N _b which remains adsorbed on the adsorption unit 8 reaches the rotational movement continues to rotate moving accordingly part detachment portion 15 disposed on the specific circumferential line P of the suction means 8 . The inner side surface 733 of the guide plate 7 that is the part detachment portion 15 is disposed so as to intersect the specific circumferential line P from the outside to the inside of the specific circumferential line P. Therefore, irregular weld nut N _b is against the inner surface 733 separated from the magnetic field of the suction means 8, so that slides down over the face plate 6.

Furthermore, non-regular welding nuts N _b which slide down on the face plate 6 is accommodated in irregular part accommodating section 16 located below the inner surface 733, never returns to the nut reservoir 23.

In addition, since the dimensions of the welding nut that can pass through the posture conversion guide are regulated by the internal spacing between the outer peripheral wall 112 and the inner peripheral wall 113 and the internal spacing between the bottom wall 114 and the face plate 6 in the posture conversion guide 11, In particular, the irregularly welded nut _Nc having a large size is repelled by the inlet 115 of the posture changing guide 11 and falls to the nut reservoir 23.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes other various embodiments. That is, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the parts to be aligned are welding nuts having a substantially square shape in plan view is shown, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The present invention can also be applied to a case where a welding nut from which a protrusion serving as a portion protrudes is a target. Further, the present invention is not limited to a welded nut, as long as it is a part whose shape, particularly thickness, is different between the state in which the front surface is opposed to the face plate 6 and the state in which the back surface is opposed to each other. Can be aligned.

  In the above embodiment, the face plate 6 is in an inclined state. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and since the parts are attracted by the magnetic field by the attracting means 8, the face plate 6 may be arranged vertically.

  In the above embodiment, the restriction piece 12 and the thickness selection guide 13 are located in the vicinity of the uppermost portion of the specific circumferential line P, but the restriction piece 12 and the thickness selection guide 13 are on the specific circumferential line P, and If it is between the posture conversion guide 11 and the non-regular part accommodating means, the present invention can be applied to select the front and back of the parts and the thickness of the parts.

  In the above embodiment, the thickness selection guide 13 and the alignment supply guide 14 extend in the tangential direction from the vicinity of the uppermost portion of the specific circumferential line P in a contact state. Is in a contact state and extends from a point on the specific circumferential line P in a direction away from the specific circumferential line P, the present invention is applied to detach the regular part from the suction means 8 and align the above It can be led to the storage tube 18.

  In the above-described embodiment, the guide plate 7 is provided to dispose the posture conversion guide 11, the alignment supply guide 14, and the part detachment portion 15 on the face plate 6. Alternatively, a flat plate or the like as a separation portion may be directly disposed on the face plate 6 by welding or the like.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the part detachment part 15 and the non-regular part storage part 16 are provided as the non-regular part storage means, but the non-regular part storage part 16 is provided without providing the part detachment part 15. Also good. In such a case, only the non-regular part accommodating portion 16 serves as an irregular part accommodating means. That is, if there is the part detached section 15, 22, non-normal welding nuts N _b guided to the second path, it reaches the irregular part accommodating portion 16 while being adsorbed to the adsorbing means 8. Then, by colliding with the bottom wall 163, it is released from the adsorption of the adsorption means 8 against the magnetic force of the adsorption means 8. As a result, the non-regular welding nut N _b will be accommodated in the irregular part receptacle 16.

It is a front view of a parts alignment apparatus. It is a perspective view of a parts alignment apparatus. It is a perspective view of a welding nut. It is an expansion exploded perspective view of an adsorption means. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along line FF in FIG. 1. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along the line CC in FIG. 12. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. 7 is a rear view of the guide plate 7. FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along line BB in FIG. 7. It is a perspective view of a thickness selection guide. It is a perspective view of a non-regular part accommodating part. FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway enlarged view of FIG. 7 when the surface of the welding nut is in a lying state facing the face plate 6. It is a partially notched enlarged front view of the alignment accommodation tube. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along the line D-D in FIG. 12. It is sectional explanatory drawing in the EE line of FIG. FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway enlarged view of FIG. 4 when the back surface of the welding nut is in a lying state facing the face plate 6. It is sectional explanatory drawing in the GG line of FIG. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along line HH in FIG. 16. It is a perspective view of a non-regular welding nut. FIG. 13 is an explanatory cross-sectional view taken along the line II in FIG. 12. It is sectional explanatory drawing in the JJ line | wire of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which a notch expansion of FIG. 7 expands and a non-regular welding nut is sent to a non-regular part accommodating part.

Explanation of symbols

6 Face plate 7 Guide plate 8 Suction means 11 Posture change guide 12 Restriction piece (front and back sorting means)
13 Thickness selection guide (regular parts selection means)
15 Parts separation part (non-regular parts accommodation means)
16 Non-regular parts storage (non-standard parts storage)
18 Alignment storage tube (alignment storage part)
23 Parts reservoir (nut reservoir)
61 Front (front and back other side)
62 Rear (front and back side)
N Weld nut (parts)
N ₁ nut body
N ₂ protrusion
n ₁ surface
n ₂ reverse side
N _a regular welding nut (regular parts)
_Nb non-regular welding nut (non-regular parts)
P Specific circumference
R Specific rotation trajectory
X center axis

Claims (4)

It is a parts alignment device that sorts the front and back of parts and converts them into a unified posture,
A face plate,
An adsorbing means disposed on one side of the face plate and adsorbing the parts on the other side of the face plate via the face plate and rotating a specific rotation locus;
A posture conversion guide that converts a part that is attracted to the suction means and moves along a specific circumferential line corresponding to the specific rotation trajectory into a posture in which the front surface or the back surface faces the other side surface of the face plate;
Of the parts that are converted in posture and are attracted to the suction means and move, parts whose postures face the other side of the face plate are allowed to pass while parts whose posture the rear side faces the other side Front and back sorting means to prevent passage,
Of the parts that pass through the front and back sorting means and are adsorbed and moved by the adsorbing means, the normal-shaped parts are guided to the first path, while the irregular-shaped parts are transferred to the second path different from the first path. With regular part sorting means to guide ,
The first path is provided at a position deviating from the specific circumferential line, and the second path extends along the specific circumferential line,
The regular part sorting means sorts the part into a regular shape part and an irregular shape part based on the maximum thickness, and separates the regular shape part from the suction by the suction means and guides it to the first path. The parts aligning apparatus , wherein the non-regular shape part is allowed to move to the second path in a state of being adsorbed by the adsorbing means . In the parts alignment apparatus of Claim 1,
The face plate has a flat plate shape and is disposed in an inclined state in which the other side surface faces obliquely upward;
The front and back sorting means and the regular parts sorting means are each arranged at an upper position on the other side of the face plate,
It is disposed in the vicinity of the lower end on the other side of the face plate, and further comprises a parts reservoir that stores a plurality of parts in an unaligned state,
The parts aligning apparatus characterized in that the suction means sucks and moves the parts in the parts reservoir. In the parts alignment apparatus of Claim 1,
The apparatus further includes an aligning storage portion that stores the regular-shaped parts guided to the first path in an aligned state, and non-regular part storing means for storing the non-regular-shaped parts guided to the second path. Parts alignment device characterized by In the parts alignment apparatus of Claim 1,
The above part is a welding nut having a nut main body portion having a predetermined thickness having substantially square front and back surfaces parallel to each other, and protrusions protruding from the respective corner portions of the nut main body portion to the back surface side,
The front and back sorting means is constituted by a restriction piece whose width is narrower than the interval between the adjacent protrusions of the weld nut,
The restricting piece is disposed at a substantially center of a path along which the welding nut is attracted and moved by the attracting means, and is larger than the thickness of the nut body portion between the face plate and the nut body. A parts aligning device, wherein a gap smaller than the entire thickness of the weld nut including the portion and the protrusion is formed.

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