JP4580318B2 - Parts supply device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a component supply apparatus that stores a large number of components and sequentially sends them out.

  2. Description of the Related Art There is known a component supply device that puts a large number of components into a hopper and sequentially supplies components from here. The parts are thrown in from the upper part of the hopper, fed out from the opening at the lower part of the hopper, and supplied to other devices. In the hopper, the parts are sequentially lowered from the top so as to make up for the space where the delivered parts are missing.

JP-A-2005-29170 JP 2003-188586 A JP 2003-188585 A JP-A-8-48419

  In the above-mentioned hopper, parts descending from the upper part may mesh with each other, form a bridge, and become clogged. In particular, when the shape of the supplied component is complicated, the components are entangled with each other and a bridge is easily formed. This bridge is a phenomenon seen on the slightly upstream side where the passage through which the parts are sent is narrowed, and is a phenomenon in which a plurality of parts are engaged with each other and arranged in an arc shape. The bridge is strong against the force applied from the upstream side of the part flow, where the part flow is blocked to block the flow path.

  Even in a dispensing apparatus that divides a liquid specimen into a plurality of samples, the above-described component supply apparatus may be used. The parts to be supplied include a nozzle-like chip whose tip actually comes into contact with the sample when the sample is sucked up and dispensed, and a container for storing the sample and reagent to be dispensed. In order to prevent the contamination of the previous specimen, it is necessary to discard the previous chip every time the specimen is changed and supply a new one to replace it. Containers are also supplied sequentially to receive the dispensed sample. These chips and containers are complicated in shape and can easily form the aforementioned bridge in the hopper. Further, it is made of a relatively soft and easily deformable resin such as polypropylene, and may be deformed or damaged when a large force is applied to break the bridge.

  An object of this invention is to suppress the bridge formation of the components in a hopper.

  The component supply device of the present invention inserts the lower portion of the insertion rod supported by the upper portion into a large number of components stored in the storage hopper, and reciprocates this in the axial direction. Even if the bridge is formed, the balance of the parts forming the bridge is lost due to the reciprocating motion of the insertion rod, and the bridge is broken. In particular, since the insertion rod moves in the axial direction, a large force is not required for driving the insertion rod. By driving with a small force, the force applied to the component is also reduced, and the possibility of deformation of the component can be reduced.

  The insertion rod is preferably supported with play in the axial direction and the radial direction. By this play, the force applied from the part is released, and an excessive force is not applied to the part.

  The insertion rod preferably has a radially enlarged portion at the lower end thereof. This portion can be obtained, for example, by increasing the diameter of the insertion rod. Moreover, you may form by providing a bulge or a protrusion in at least one place in the circumferential direction instead of increasing the diameter over the entire circumference.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the drive mechanism for reciprocating the insertion rod has a buffer mechanism. This buffer mechanism is a mechanism that causes the force for driving the insertion rod to act via the elastic member when the insertion rod is inserted into the stored component, and acts directly when the insertion rod is pulled out. . By providing a buffer mechanism, when inserting the insertion rod, it is prevented that the component is pushed by the tip of the insertion rod. On the other hand, when pulling out, an excessive force is basically applied to the component. Because there is no, driving force is applied directly.

  Further, the drive mechanism of the insertion rod can share a drive source with other drive mechanisms. For example, in addition to the hopper that stores the parts, the drive source of the mechanism that drives the hopper that receives and swings the parts sent from the hopper and adjusts the orientation of the parts, and the drive source of the insertion rod are made common. be able to.

  It is possible to suppress the formation of a bridge of components in a hopper that stores a large number of components, and to supply the components without delay.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are views showing a cuvette 10a and a chip 10b, which are parts 10 to be supplied by the part supply apparatus of the present embodiment. The cuvette and the tip are parts that are used disposable in the dispensing device. A sample and a reagent are poured into the cuvette 10a shown in FIG. 1, and the reaction between the sample and the reagent proceeds. The tip 10b shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the tip of a dispensing nozzle that sucks up a provided liquid specimen and injects a predetermined amount into a cuvette. Since the tip is changed every time the sample is changed to prevent contamination, it is necessary to sequentially supply new ones. Also, new cuvettes are sequentially supplied to accept samples one after another. These components are supplied by the component supply device 12 of this embodiment.

  3 and 4 show a schematic configuration of the entire component supply apparatus 12. A storage hopper 14 that receives and stores the parts 10 to be loaded is disposed at the upper part of the device 12. When the components 10 are put into the storage hopper 14, they are in a disassembled state, and thus are not aligned in the storage hopper 14 and are facing apart. A scraping mechanism 16 is provided below the storage hopper 14, and this scraping mechanism drops a predetermined number of parts, preferably several to a dozen or more, on the lower swing hopper 18. The swing hopper 18 includes a fixed bottom portion 20 and a swinging frame 22. The frame 22 swings with respect to the bottom portion 20, and parts are sequentially dropped into a groove 24 provided in the bottom portion 20. Since the cuvette 10a and the chip 10b, which are parts to be supplied, are thick on the upper side, that is, on the side where the opening is present, the direction is aligned with the opening facing upward when falling into the groove 24. The component 10 aligned in the groove 24 is sent out to the pickup point 28 by the vibration transfer device 26.

  In the storage hopper 14, an insertion rod 32 suspended from a beam 30 passed over the storage hopper 14 is disposed. The insertion rod 32 is inserted into a large number of parts stored in the storage hopper 14 while the upper portion is supported by the beam 30. The insertion rod 32 is driven so as to reciprocate up and down, and this movement breaks the state where the parts 10 in the storage hopper 14 are intertwined so that the parts are sequentially sent to the scraping mechanism 16.

  FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the component supply device 12. The component supply device 12 will be described in detail with reference to this cross-sectional view and detailed views of each part from FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view in which a part of the storage hopper 14 is omitted and the inside of the storage hopper 14 and the main part of the scraping mechanism 16 can be seen. The lower portion of the storage hopper 14 is formed with a slope from the peripheral side toward the lower opening 34 in the substantially central portion. A rotor 36 is disposed in the lower opening 34. The rotor 36 has a windmill-like cross section as shown in FIG. 5, and is rotated by a motor 38 in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. As the rotor 36 rotates, some of the components 10 below the storage hopper 14 are scraped off and fall into the swing hopper 18.

  7 and 8 show the main parts of the swing hopper 18 and the vibration transfer device 26. As described above, the swing hopper 18 has the frame 22 that swings in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 5 and the bottom portion 20 that does not swing. The upper surface of the bottom portion 20 forms a substantially circular arc in a cross section perpendicular to the axis of oscillation, and the lower end of the frame 22 slides along the upper surface of the bottom portion. As shown in FIG. 8, the bottom portion 20 includes a cylindrical portion 20a having a part of a substantially cylindrical side surface and a conical portion 20b having a part of a substantially conical side surface. Further, a groove 24 is formed at the center of the bottom portion 20 and extends in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The frame 22 swings between a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 5 and a position indicated by a one-dot chain line. At each position, one side of the frame has reached the position of the groove 24, so that the parts in the swing hopper 18 are dropped into the groove 24. The part 10 on which the thickened opening is provided is caught in the opening of the groove 24 and is aligned in the groove 24 with this side up.

  The vibration of the vibration exciting device 40 is transmitted to the bottom portion 20 via the vibration plate 42. Due to this vibration, the component 10 passes through the groove 24 through the conical portion 20 b and is sequentially conveyed toward the pickup point 28. Therefore, the vibration device 40, the vibration plate 42, the bottom portion 20, and the like function as the vibration conveyance device 26 that conveys the component 10. At the pick-up point 28, if the leading component is the tip 10b, it is attached to the tip of the dispensing nozzle, and if it is the cuvette 10a, it is gripped by a predetermined gripping tool and taken out. After being taken out, it is filled with subsequent parts.

  FIG. 9 shows a drive mechanism of the swing hopper 18. The frame 22 of the swing hopper is supported via a bearing 44 with respect to the apparatus main body. The outer race of the bearing 44 is coupled to the main body, and the inner race is coupled to the shaft 46 that supports the frame body 22. A swing arm 48 extends from the shaft 46, and its tip is connected to a rod 52 of a crank mechanism that is connected to a motor 50. The crank mechanism includes a crank disc 54 rotated by a motor 50 and a rod 52 having one end coupled to be rotatable at one place on the circumference of the crank disc 54. The other end of the rod 52 is rotatably coupled to the swing arm 48. Therefore, when the motor 50 rotates, this rotation is transmitted to the swing arm 48 via the crank mechanism, causing a swing motion of the swing hopper frame 22.

  Next, the insertion rod 32 and its drive mechanism will be described. FIG. 10 shows the state of the component 10 in the storage hopper 14 when there is no insertion rod. In the figure, a cuvette 10 a is shown as an example of the component 10. As described above, the part 10 in the storage hopper 14 is dropped from the lower part by the scraping mechanism 16, and the upper part 10 descends in order so as to fill the empty part. However, as shown by a thick solid line in FIG. 10, when several parts 10 are arranged in an arc shape so as to surround the opening 34 and a bridge is formed, the parts 10 are engaged with each other, and this engagement is not easily released. . The bridge supports the component 10 that is about to descend from above, so that no component is supplied below the bridge. In other words, the flow of the component 10 is blocked by the bridge, and the opening of the storage hopper 14 is closed. The insertion bar 32 is provided to break the bridge of this part or prevent the bridge from forming.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, two insertion rods 32 are arranged above the opening 34 of the storage hopper. The number of the openings can be appropriately selected in consideration of the size of the opening 34 and whether or not it interferes when the component 10 is put into the storage hopper 14.

  FIG. 11 shows the insertion rod 32 and the drive mechanism of the insertion rod. The insertion rod 32 is arranged so as to be suspended from the beam 30 passed above the storage hopper 14. FIG. 12 shows a state in which the insertion rod 32 is suspended from the beam 30. A female thread is cut at the upper end of the insertion rod 32, and a male thread at the tip of a suspension bolt 58 penetrating through a through hole 56 that penetrates the beam 30 up and down is coupled thereto. The suspension bolt 58 has a columnar neck lower part 58a and a threaded part 58b at the tip. The length of the neck lower portion 58 a is longer by about 1 to 2 mm than the sum of the thickness of the washer 60 and the vertical dimension of the beam 30, that is, the length of the through hole 56. It is thinner than the diameter by about 0.3 to 0.5 mm. As a result, the insertion rod 32 is suspended with play or play in the axial direction and the radial direction.

  As shown in FIG. 11, one end (the left end in the figure) of the beam 30 is supported by a support rod 62 provided in the vicinity of the opening at the top of the storage hopper 14. The support rod 62 supports the beam 30 with play so as to allow the vertical movement of the beam 30 described later. The opposite end of the beam 30 is engaged with the drive mechanism of the insertion rod. FIG. 11 shows the configuration of the drive force transmission system in the drive mechanism of the insertion rod. A link plate 64 is fixed to the end of the shaft 46 of the swing hopper 18 shown in FIG. Accordingly, the link plate 64 swings by the rotation of the motor 50 that drives the swing hopper 18. A transmission rod 66 is rotatably engaged with the link plate 64. The transmission rod 66 extends upward and engages with the slide plate 68 so as to be rotatable. The slide plate 68 allows the slide in the transmission direction of the driving force (vertical direction in the figure) within a certain range, and push rod 70 is engaged. The push rod 70 is supported by the guide 72 while allowing only its own axial movement, and its upper end is engaged with the end of the beam 30. As described above, the motor 50 that drives the swing hopper 18 and the rod 52 that transmits the driving force to the swing hopper 18, the crank disc 54, the swing arm 48, and the shaft 46 of the swing hopper are fixed. The link plate 64, the transmission rod 66, the slide plate 68, the push rod 70 and the beam 30 function as a drive mechanism that drives the insertion rod 32.

  FIG. 13 shows details of the engaging portion between the slide plate 68 and the push rod 70. The slide plate 68 is provided with elongated holes 74 extending in the longitudinal direction at two locations separated in the longitudinal direction. A guide bolt 76 fixed to the push rod 70 passes through the long hole 74. Thereby, the slide plate 68 is allowed to move and engage with the push rod 70 within the range of the long hole 74 in the longitudinal direction thereof. Furthermore, one hook bolt 78, 80 is erected on the slide plate 68 and the push rod 70, respectively. A spring 82 that urges the hook bolts 78 and 80 in a direction in which the two hook bolts 78 and 80 come close to each other is bridged around the hook bolts 78 and 80. As a result, in the free state, the guide bolt 76 is positioned at the lowest end of the long hole 74, that is, the slide plate 68 is positioned at the top of the movement range with respect to the push rod 70.

  When the rotation of the motor 50 is transmitted and the slide plate 68 is pulled downward, this force is transmitted to the push rod 70 via the spring 82. If the insertion rod 32 does not hook onto the component 10, the push rod 70 pulls down the right end of the beam 30 by the force transmitted through the spring 82. The beam 30 rotates with the support point of the left end support rod 62 as a fulcrum, whereby the insertion bar 32 is lowered. When the insertion rod 32 hits the component 10 in the storage hopper 14, the spring 82 extends, no driving force is transmitted to the insertion rod 32, and no excessive force acts on the component 10. When the slide plate 68 is pushed up, the driving force is transmitted directly from the guide bolt 76 to the push rod 70, and the insertion rod 32 is pulled up. As described above, the engagement portion between the slide plate 68 and the push rod 70 is a buffer mechanism that directly transmits the transmission force when the insertion rod 32 is raised and transmits the insertion rod 32 via the spring 82 when the insertion rod 32 is lowered. Such a buffer mechanism is provided because when the insertion rod 32 is pulled out, the insertion rod moves in a portion where the component has already been removed by the insertion rod itself, whereas when the insertion rod 32 is lowered, the insertion rod 32 is placed in a space filled with the component 10. This is because the insertion rod is pushed in and an excessive force may be applied to the part. The buffer mechanism described above prevents an excessive force from being applied to the component. In addition, since it is not necessary to drive the insertion rod 32 forcibly, it is possible to prevent the drive mechanism, particularly the motor, from being overloaded.

  In this embodiment, the long hole 74 provided in the slide plate is provided longer than the stroke in which the slide plate moves, and even when the insertion rod 32 is at the highest position, the slide plate descends to the insertion rod. I try to prevent it from being transmitted. However, the length of the elongated hole 74 can be shortened so that the insertion rod 32 can be moved to some extent.

  In the present embodiment, the insertion rod 32 is provided with a large-diameter portion 84 (see FIG. 11) having a slightly larger diameter at the lower portion, but one having a different shape can be used. For example, a simple bar without a thick part, or at least one protrusion or overhang 86 around the bar as shown in FIG. 14 may be provided to increase the diameter of the part. By providing a part with a large diameter, the part 10 can be hooked and moved at this part. Further, in the present embodiment, the insertion bar 32 is a round bar, but may have other cross-sectional shapes, and may be a strip shape, that is, a bar having a long rectangular cross section.

  When the insertion rod 32 moves up and down in the parts stored in the storage hopper 14, the parts 10 are moved slightly, but the parts constituting the bridge can be disengaged and the bridge can be broken. Since the insertion bar 32 is moved in its own axial direction, in other words, in the longitudinal direction, it hardly receives the resistance of the component 10. On the other hand, if the rod is swiveled in the hopper, that is, if it tries to move in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the rod, the rod must move away from the part, and the weight of the part must also be Therefore, a large driving force is required to drive the rod. As described above, since the insertion rod 32 of the present embodiment moves in the axial direction, it can be driven with a small force. Further, the component 10 is not moved by pushing up the component 10 from below. When pushing up the part, it is necessary to drive the bar against the weight of the stored part, but in this embodiment, the insertion bar 32 is hung from above and pulled up. The weight of the component is hardly directly applied to the insertion rod 32, and a large force is not required to drive the insertion rod.

  Furthermore, as described above, by providing a buffer mechanism in the drive mechanism of the insertion rod 32, it is possible to prevent a large load from being applied even during the downward stroke of the insertion rod 32, which is considered to be a relatively large load. Yes. As described above, the drive mechanism of the insertion rod 32 can be made small and simple. Further, since the insertion rod 32 is not driven with a large driving force, a large force is applied to the component 10, and the component can be prevented from being deformed or damaged.

It is a figure which shows an example (cuvette) of the components used as the handling object. It is a figure which shows an example (tip for dispensing nozzles) of the components used as the handling object. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of the components supply apparatus 12 of this embodiment. It is a perspective view of the components supply apparatus 12 seen from the back side of FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the component supply device 12. FIG. It is the perspective view of the upper part which fractured | ruptured a part of component supply apparatus 12, and is the figure which showed the structure of the storage hopper and the scraping mechanism especially. It is the perspective view of the center part which fractured | ruptured a part of component supply apparatus 12, and is the figure which showed the structure of the scraping mechanism and the rocking hopper especially. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a bottom portion of a swing hopper 18. It is the perspective view of the lower part which fractured | ruptured a part of component supply apparatus 12, and is the figure which showed the rocking hopper and its drive mechanism especially. It is a figure which shows the state in which the bridge | bridging of the components 10 was formed. It is a figure which shows a part of insertion rod 32 and its drive mechanism. It is sectional drawing which shows the detail of the structure which suspends the insertion stick | rod 32. FIG. It is a figure which shows a part of drive mechanism of the insertion rod 32, especially the structure of a buffer mechanism. It is a figure which shows the other example of the shape of the insertion rod.

Explanation of symbols

  10 parts, 12 parts supply device, 14 storage hopper, 16 scraping mechanism, 18 swing hopper, 30 beam, 32 insertion rod, 66 transmission rod, 68 slide plate, 70 push rod, 74 oblong hole, 76 guide bolt, 82 spring , 84 Large diameter part.

Claims (3)

A parts supply device that stores a large number of parts and sends them out sequentially.
A storage hopper having an opening through which a number of parts are received and stored and the parts are delivered at the bottom;
An insertion rod supported in the upper part and inserted in a part stored in the storage hopper at the lower part;
An insertion rod drive mechanism that supports the insertion rod and reciprocates in the axial direction of the rod;
A swing hopper that accepts parts sent from the storage hopper and swings to align the parts;
A swing hopper drive mechanism that swings the swing hopper;
Only including,
The insertion rod drive mechanism has a buffer mechanism that allows the drive force to act via an elastic member when the insertion rod is inserted into a stored part and acts directly when the insertion rod is pulled out. ,
The insertion rod drive mechanism and the swing hopper drive mechanism have a common drive source,
Parts supply device.   The component supply device according to claim 1, wherein the insertion rod is supported with play in the axial direction and the radial direction. The component supply device according to claim 2, wherein the insertion rod has a radially enlarged portion at a lower end portion thereof.

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