JP4584845B2 - Work transfer device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a work transfer device for transferring a work between press stages in a press machine, particularly a tandem press line.

Conventionally, as a work transfer device between press machines in a tandem press line, there are a loader / unloader method and a robot method.
In the loader / unloader method, for example, as schematically shown in FIG. 12, a loader 101 for loading a workpiece W is provided in the upstream press (I), and a workpiece loading unloader 102 is provided in the downstream press (II). Is equipped.
A shuttle 100 or a belt conveyor is installed between the press machines, and the workpiece W is sequentially transferred between the loader 101, the shuttle 100, and the unloader 102 after being formed, and put into the press machine in the next process.

On the other hand, in the robot system, an articulated robot is installed between the press machines, and the workpiece is taken out by the robot after forming and is put into the press machine of the next process.
Further, as this type of conveying device, for example, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-216451

However, since the loader / unloader method requires a large installation space such as a shuttle, the pitch between the press machines becomes large.
Therefore, there is a problem that the press equipment as a whole must be enlarged.
In addition, since a plurality of apparatuses such as an unloader, a shuttle, and a loader are transferred, a conveyance abnormality is likely to occur.
For this reason, the present inventor has developed a transport device that rotates a pair of arms in the horizontal direction. It is difficult and causes failure.
Further, when moving the position of the workpiece from the first position to the second position, it is impossible to position the workpiece at a different angle at the second position in addition to the parallel movement.

  In the robot system, when the press (product) is increased in size, the robot itself is also increased in size in order to ensure the rigidity of each joint of the robot, and it becomes impossible to cope with the increase in the speed and productivity of the apparatus.

Furthermore, for example, in the conveyance apparatus described in Patent Document 1 or the like, the traveling shaft crosses between the presses, and installation and maintenance are difficult.
Also in this case, a space is required for disposing the device between the press stage and the press upright, which increases the size of the press machine.

In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a workpiece transfer device capable of simplifying the configuration while ensuring smooth and proper operation.
Moreover, it aims at providing the workpiece conveyance apparatus which can be positioned in a different angle other than parallel movement.

  Under these circumstances, the present inventors have intensively studied, and as a result, found that freedom of movement is generated by making the arm slidable, and the present invention has been completed based on this finding.

That is, according to the present invention, (1) a pair of arm units supported by a base disposed at an appropriate position between the press stages, each of which is formed by rotatably coupling a plurality of arms to each other, and between the tips of the arm units A workpiece gripping mechanism mounted on the substrate and a lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the pair of arm units relative to the base, and the workpiece held by the workpiece gripping mechanism is transported between press stages by the operation of the arm unit. as in the a work carrier, wherein the arm unit has a slide arm for slidably coupling each arm unit tip each other, so as to support the workpiece holding mechanism via the slide arm, said Each arm unit is coupled to a first arm that can rotate horizontally and parallel to the workpiece transfer direction, and an end of the first arm. A second arm that can rotate horizontally and parallel to the workpiece transfer direction, and the slide arm composed of a long slide arm and a short slide arm is rotatably coupled to the tip of the second arm. A tilt mechanism that allows the slide arm to tilt in the vertical direction, and allows the slider provided in the short slide arm to slide along the slide guide provided in the long slide arm, It exists in the workpiece conveyance apparatus which made it possible to position the workpiece | work hold | maintained by the holding | grip mechanism at least 90 degree | times .

Further, the present invention is (2), in the long-side slide arm, horizontal movable Handoba is detachably supported in parallel to the workpiece conveying direction, the mounting supporting the workpiece holding mechanism in this Handoba (1) It exists in the described workpiece conveyance apparatus.

In the present invention ( 3 ), the elevating mechanism has a pair of vertical drive shafts spaced in parallel to each other, and has a tilt mechanism that allows the entire arm unit to tilt in the vertical direction. (1) It exists in the workpiece conveyance apparatus as described.

  In addition, as long as the objective of this invention is met, the structure which combined the said invention suitably is also employable.

According to the present invention, since it is attached to one of the tandem presses at one place and does not have a traveling axis for traveling the arm unit between the tandem presses, the space between the tandem presses is easy and appropriate. Can be arranged.
Thereby, the installation and maintenance can be performed very easily without increasing the size of the press device due to the installation space. Furthermore, it becomes possible to convey between the press stages at the shortest distance, and efficient and high-speed conveyance becomes possible.

  In particular, by having a slide arm, the workpiece can be changed to a free posture in the horizontal direction by controlling the drive shaft of each arm unit. With this, there is an effect that the work can be delivered properly.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a workpiece transfer device according to the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the entire workpiece transfer apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic front view thereof, FIG. 3 is a schematic side view thereof, and FIG.
The workpiece transfer device 10 is disposed between the upstream press (I) and the downstream press (II) (see FIG. 3).
The press (I) and the press (II) are press slides 1 (I) and 1 (II) each including an upper die and a lower die 2 (I) and 2 (II) placed on a die change carriage. The workpiece W after being formed is conveyed from the press (I) to the press (II) by the workpiece conveying device 10.

A main base 12 is fixed to a beam 11 horizontally mounted on the upright 3 at an appropriate space between the press (I) and the press (II), and a sub base 13 is coupled to both sides of the main base 12 via pins 14. To do.
The main base 12 and the sub base 13 are provided with a lifting mechanism that lifts and lowers the arm unit 15.
As will be described later, the workpiece W held by the workpiece gripping mechanism is transported between the press stages by the operation of the arm unit 15.

A lift motor base 16 is fixed to each sub-base 13, and lift sliders 19 on both sides are moved up and down via rods 18 by a lift motor 17 mounted on the lift motor base 16.
The lift sliders 19 on both sides slide inside the sub-base 13, and the center lift slider 19 slides inside the main base 12.

A balancer 20 is connected to each lift slider 19 and the load on the lift motor 17 can be greatly reduced.
That is, the balancer 20 is provided with a cylinder, and the lift weight below the lift slider 19 is always pulled by the weight of the balancer 20 to reduce the load on the lift motor 17.

The arm unit base 22 of the arm unit 15 is connected and supported to the lower ends of the lift sliders 19 via pins 21.
The arm unit 15 includes a first arm 23 that can be rotated in parallel and horizontally with the workpiece conveying direction, and a second arm 24 that is coupled to the end of the first arm 23 and can be rotated in parallel and horizontally with the workpiece conveying direction. Including.
In addition, a slide arm 25 configured as a long and short pair is coupled to the tip of the second arm 24 so as to be rotatable.
Here, the slide arm 25 includes a long slide arm 25 </ b> A provided in one second arm 24 and a short slide arm 25 </ b> B provided in the other second arm 24.

Further, a hand bar 26 is detachably supported on the long slide arm 25A via an attachment 27, and the hand bar 26 is horizontally movable at least in parallel with the workpiece conveying direction.
A work gripping mechanism is mounted and supported on the hand bar 26.
The work gripping mechanism includes a work holding means 28 detachably provided on the hand bar 26. As the work holding means 28, for example, a suction pad or the like is suitable.
A plurality of the suction pads are arranged in a well-balanced manner according to the shape of the workpiece W and can be removed as appropriate.

A drive motor 29 for rotating the first arm 23 is mounted on both sides of the arm unit base 22, and a drive motor 30 for rotating the second arm 24 is mounted on each first arm 23 ( The transmission mechanism in the second arm 24 is omitted).
Each arm unit 15 operates symmetrically with respect to the workpiece transfer direction and in synchronization with each other.

Here, in the slide arm 25, as shown in FIG. 5, the short slide arm 25B is slidably coupled to the long slide arm 25A as shown by an arrow.
In this case, the slide arm 25A is provided with a slide guide 31 over substantially its entire length, and the other slide arm 25B is provided with a slider 32 that slides along the slide guide 31.
Therefore, the short-side slide arm 25B can move smoothly along the long-side slide arm 25A.

Further, the slide arms 25A and the slide arms 25B are rotatably supported at the tips of the second arms 24 so that the slide arms 25 can rotate around the longitudinal axis 33 (see arrow B).
In this case, a rotation drive unit (not shown) is provided at the base of the slide arm 25B, and the entire slide arm 25 is rotated by a desired angle by the rotation drive unit.
Note that this rotational drive unit constitutes a tilt mechanism as will be described later.

In the above configuration, the workpiece W is transferred from the press (I) to the press (II) by the workpiece transfer device 10.
At that time, the second arms 24 are connected to each other via the slide arm 25, and typically, the drive motor 29 is operated to rotate the first arm 23 as shown by the arrow in FIG. The arm unit 15 can be operated along a predetermined track from the press (I) side to the press (II) side.
When adsorbed or released by the presses (I) and (II), the entire arm unit 15 is moved up and down appropriately by the lift slider 19.

Each of the pair of arm units 15 operates symmetrically and synchronously with respect to the transport line. However, it is assumed that one of the arm units 15 is malfunctioning, for example, the second arm 24 stops halfway.
In such a case, as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to prevent the slide arm 25B from appropriately sliding with respect to the slide arm 25A to escape (arrow A), and applying an extreme load to the arm unit 15.

Since the slide arm 25B is allowed to escape in this way, it is possible to prevent the arm unit 15 from being damaged.
Even if any arm unit 15 malfunctions, the slide arm 25B slides as shown in FIG. 8, and accidents can be prevented.

Further, by sliding the slide arm 25B substantially for the entire slide stroke, the workpiece W can be rotated 90 degrees and positioned as shown in FIG.
In this case, it is possible to set the positioning at an appropriate angle other than 90 ° by controlling the amount of rotation based on the geometric relationship between the first arm 23 and the second arm 24. It is selected appropriately.

Further, each lift slider 19 is moved up and down by the same amount by a lift motor 17 mounted on each sub-base 13, whereby the arm unit base 22 and thus the arm unit 15 are moved up and down.
In this case, the entire arm unit 15 can be tilted in the vertical direction by varying the amount of vertical movement of the lift slider 19.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), if the vertical sliding amount of the left lift slider 19 in the figure is made smaller than that on the right side, it is tilted upward as shown, and vice versa. It can be tilted to the upper right like

  Further, the entire slide arm 25 is rotated by a desired angle by a rotation driving unit provided at the base of the slide arm 25B. In this case, the slide arm 25 and thus the workpiece W can be tilted in the vertical direction as shown in FIG.

As described above, the operation example of the device of the present invention in this embodiment has been described. Next, main features of the device of the present invention will be described.
First, the workpiece transfer apparatus 10 does not need to increase the size of the press in order to secure an installation space for the apparatus, and can reduce the cost.
Further, unlike the cross bar of the conventional transfer device, the arm unit 15 can easily reduce the length of the hand bar 26, for example, to be smaller than the width of the mold. can do.

Due to the mechanical structure, the linear movement mechanism is provided in each of the feed direction and the lift direction, so that the shortest distance can always be moved and the operation efficiency is good.
In this case, in particular, the hand bar 26 can be moved horizontally only by the rotational power of the first arm 23, and the joint portion of each arm has a very simple configuration.
Further, since one workpiece W is supported by the two arm units 15, the load on the one arm unit 15 is halved.
As a result, the portion entering the press can be made thin and compact, which is extremely advantageous in terms of interference with the mold.
Furthermore, speeding up the operation of the apparatus is realized by reducing the weight.

For example, when power is transmitted to the arm tip via a belt, there is no fear of disconnection or the like because there is no wiring at the arm tip and there is no wiring that moves at high speed during normal operation.
For example, as compared with the case of a robot or the like, it is necessary to move a plurality of axes when the work moves the shortest distance.
On the other hand, the present invention can be driven only by the drive shaft of the first arm 23.
Moreover, since it can arrange | position to the press of one side when there is no traveling shaft, it can arrange | position easily also to the press with a vibration isolator.

For example, if a trouble that loses the drive power of the drive motor 29 of the first arm 23 occurs during the descent to the downstream press, the handbar 26 and the press may interfere with each other as they are.
On the other hand, it is possible to escape from the interference area with the press by the power of the drive motor 30 of the second arm 24, and when a trouble occurs in the second arm 24, the first arm 23 causes a similar abnormality. It can be avoided.

Further, when a trouble such as losing the driving power of the first arm 23 occurs during the ascending in the upstream press process, for example, power more than the brake of the motor is required to counter the inertial force. Then, there is a possibility of interference between the hand bar 26 and the press.
On the other hand, the brake torque of the motor is assisted by the power of the second arm 24, which makes it possible to stop suddenly. In addition, when trouble occurs in the second arm 24, the first arm 23 performs the same operation. Abnormality can be avoided.

When the workpiece W is conveyed linearly, the swing angle θ1 of the first arm 23 and the swing angle θ2 of the second arm 24 are completely in a 1: 2 relationship.
However, since the control and high precision of the machine parts are required, such a request cannot be maintained in reality.
Therefore, even when the relationship between the first and second arms cannot be maintained by the slide mechanism of the slide arm, which can be called the third arm, this is allowed and a safe device operation is guaranteed.
As a result, the arm unit can be configured with general control tools and machine parts.

Conventionally, the work posture is tilted vertically by the lifter inside the mold, but the lifter inside the mold can be omitted, and the cost can be reduced by simplifying the mold.
Conventionally, especially in the crossbar system, the horizontal work posture is limited, and the arrangement of the mold internal mechanism may be restricted.
On the other hand, the workpiece can be changed to a free posture in the horizontal direction, and the degree of freedom in mold design is greatly improved.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated with embodiment, this invention is not limited only to these embodiment, A change etc. are possible within the scope of the present invention.
In the above embodiment, an example in which a workpiece is transported between press stages of a tandem press has been described. However, the present invention apparatus can also be applied to a case where a workpiece is taken out from a single press or supplied to a single press. It is.

It is a schematic perspective view of the workpiece conveyance apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic front view of the workpiece conveyance apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic side view of the workpiece conveyance apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic plan view of the workpiece conveyance apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the slide arm periphery in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic plan view which shows the operation example of the workpiece conveyance apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic plan view which shows the operation example of the workpiece conveyance apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic plan view which shows the operation example of the workpiece conveyance apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic plan view which shows the operation example of the workpiece conveyance apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic plan view which shows the operation example by the tilt function of the workpiece conveyance apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic plan view which shows the operation example by the tilt function of the workpiece conveyance apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a conventional apparatus typically.

Explanation of symbols

1 (I) Press slide 1 (II) Press slide 2 (I) Lower mold 2 (II) Lower mold 3 Upright 10 Work transfer device 11 Beam 12 Main substrate 13 Sub substrate 14 Pin 15 Arm unit 16 Lift motor base 17 Lift motor 18 Rod 19 Lift slider 20 Balancer 21 Pin 22 Arm unit base 23 First arm 24 Second arm 25 Slide arm 25A Slide arm 25B Slide arm 26 Hand bar 27 Attachment 28 Work holding means 29 Drive motor 30 Drive motor 31 Slide guide 32 Slider 33 Longitudinal axis

Claims (3)

A pair of arm units that are supported by a base disposed at an appropriate position between the press stages, each of which is coupled to a plurality of arms so as to be rotatable with respect to each other; a workpiece gripping mechanism mounted between tips of the arm units; A workpiece transfer device having a lifting mechanism that lifts and lowers the pair of arm units relative to a base, and transporting a workpiece held by the workpiece gripping mechanism between press stages by the operation of the arm unit,
The arm unit has a slide arm that slidably connects the tip of each arm unit, and supports the workpiece gripping mechanism via the slide arm,
Each of the arm units includes a first arm that can be rotated in parallel and horizontally with the workpiece transfer direction, and a second arm that is coupled to the end of the first arm and can be rotated in parallel and horizontally with the workpiece transfer direction. Including
The slide arm composed of a long side slide arm and a short side slide arm is pivotally coupled to the tip of the second arm to constitute a tilt mechanism that allows the slide arm to tilt in the vertical direction. ,
The slider provided on the short slide arm can be slid along the slide guide provided on the long slide arm, and the work held by the work gripping mechanism can be rotated at least 90 degrees to be positioned. A workpiece transfer device.   2. The workpiece transfer according to claim 1, wherein a hand bar that is horizontally movable parallel to the workpiece transfer direction is detachably supported on the long side slide arm, and the workpiece gripping mechanism is mounted and supported on the hand bar. apparatus.   2. The lifting mechanism includes a pair of vertical drive shafts spaced in parallel to each other, and a tilt mechanism that allows the entire arm unit to tilt in a vertical direction. Work transfer device.

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