JP4890158B2 - Annular object counting device and annular object counting method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an annular object counting device and an annular object counting method for counting annular objects such as transmission belts, rubber bands and O-rings without error.

  The transmission belt, which is an annular material, is usually bundled by counting a predetermined number of belt belts that have been vulcanized and formed by cutting the belt material at regular intervals. Conventionally, as an annular material counter that automatically performs this counting operation, a transmission belt is suspended on an annular material holding plate provided above a conveyor belt, and the transmission belt is gradually pushed out by an extrusion device, thereby separating the interval. The transmission belt is dropped onto the conveyance belt while leaving a gap, and the transmission belt is conveyed toward the open end by the conveyance belt. After this, the roller provided with a predetermined gap between it and the conveyor belt is rotated in the opposite direction to the conveyor direction, and if there is an overlap in the transmission belt, the upper transmission belt is retracted by contact with the roller. To remove the overlap. Then, the transmission belt is counted by the detection sensor, and when the predetermined number is counted, the tip of the rod is advanced and brought into contact with the uncounted transmission belt, so that the uncounted transmission belt becomes the counted transmission belt. It is configured to prevent mixing (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Recently, Patent Document 2 discloses that a plurality of annular objects are aligned by rotating the lower shaft longer than the upper shaft, suspending it on two shafts, applying tension, and rotating the pair of upper and lower shafts. Proposes an annular device counting method and method that pushes out the annular material in the last row under the given condition, drops the annular material in the front row from the upper shaft, and detects and counts the annular material dropped from the upper shaft to the annular material collecting rod. Has been.
JP-A-7-141482 JP 2005-18616 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, in the configuration in which the transmission belt is spaced by extruding the transmission belt of the annular object holding plate with an extruding device and dropping it onto the conveyance belt, depending on characteristics such as the rigidity, shape, and friction resistance of the transmission belt. May not be able to push the transmission belt well. Further, when the transmission belt is dropped and supplied to the transport belt, there is also a problem that the transmission belts are easily overlapped. Furthermore, when the transmission belts are in close contact, the transmission belts are supplied and transported to the transport belt in close contact with each other, and this close contact state cannot be canceled by a roller that rotates in the reverse direction. is there.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, when the transmission belt is extruded to the counting unit in a twisted state, a device for correcting torsion is not mounted, and thus the calculation may be erroneously performed by the counting unit.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an annular object counter and an annular object counting method capable of counting annular objects with high reliability.

That is, in the invention of claim 1 of the present application, in the annular object counting apparatus for aligning the annular objects and then sending out and counting the annular objects one by one,
A plurality of annular objects that are suspended from a main shaft and a driven shaft and applied with tension to be rotatable,
A torsion correction mechanism for removing the torsion of the annular object by passing the main shaft or the driven shaft while pressing the back surface of the annular object suspended between the main shaft and the driven shaft;
A push part for extruding the last row of annular objects suspended in a state where tension is applied to the upper main shaft and the driven shaft and dropping the front row of annular materials from the main shaft;
The annular object counting device includes a counting mechanism that detects an annular object that has fallen from the end of the main shaft and counts the number of annular objects that are sent based on the detected signal.

  In the annular object counting device having the above-described configuration, a torsion correction mechanism is provided for removing the twist of the annular object by passing the main shaft or the driven shaft while pressing the back surface of the annular object suspended between the main shaft and the driven shaft. The torsion of the annular object is corrected by being brought into contact with the main shaft or the driven shaft while pressing the back surface, so that correct arrangement and accurate counting are possible.

  In the invention of claim 2 of the present application, the torsion correction mechanism includes a conveyance belt suspended from the drive shaft and the driven shaft, and one or more protrusions attached to the conveyance belt and pressing the back surface of the annular object, The protrusion passes through the main shaft or the driven shaft one or more times while pushing the back surface of the annular object, but the twisted annular object is corrected at this time.

The invention of claim 3 of the present application is an annular object counting method in which the annular objects are aligned and then sent and counted one by one.
A plurality of annular objects are aligned by suspending on two axes of a main shaft and a driven shaft, applying tension and rotating them, suspending the annular material on the main shaft and the driven shaft, and pressing the back surface of the annular material while Correct the twisted annulus through the driven shaft,
With the main shaft and the driven shaft tensioned, the last row of annular objects is extruded to drop the front row of annular objects from the main shaft,
An annular object counting method for detecting and counting an annular object falling from a main shaft to an annular object collecting rod.

  Similar to the first aspect, the torsion of the annular object is corrected by being brought into contact with the main shaft or the driven shaft while pressing the back surface of the annular object, thereby enabling correct arrangement and accurate counting.

  In the invention of claim 4 of the present application, one or more protrusions mounted on the conveyor belt suspended between the drive shaft and the driven shaft are moved while being pressed against the back surface of the annular object suspended on the main shaft and the driven shaft. This is an annular object counting method in which twisting of an annular object is corrected by contacting the shaft.

  According to the invention described in each claim of the present application, the torsion of the annular object is corrected by being brought into contact with the main shaft or the driven shaft while pressing the back surface of the annular object, thereby enabling correct arrangement and accurate counting. There is an effect.

  The annular object counting apparatus and the annular object counting method of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of an annular object counting device according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an alignment portion, and FIG. 3 is a view seen from the direction AA of FIG. is there.

  The annular object counting apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment also changes the distance between the shafts of a plurality of annular objects such as a toothed belt, a V belt, and a flat belt by suspending a transmission belt between a pair of upper and lower main shafts 11 and a driven shaft 12. Thus, the main shaft 13 or the driven shaft 14 is passed through the alignment portion 2 to which tension is applied and one of the main shafts 11 is rotatable, and the rear surface of the annular object 13 suspended from the main shaft 11 and the driven shaft 12 is pressed. The torsion correcting mechanism 5 for removing the twist of the annular object and the pair of upper and lower main shafts 11 and the driven shaft 12 are suspended in a tensioned state, and the last annular object 13 is pushed out to remove the foremost annular object 13 from the main shaft 11. A push unit 3 to be dropped and a detection sensor 36 for detecting the annular object 13 dropped from the end of the main shaft 11, and a counting mechanism 4 for counting the number of delivery of the annular object 13 based on a signal from the detection sensor 36 I have.

  In the alignment section 2, a driveable main shaft 11 having a substantially circular cross section fixed to the support column 10 and a driven shaft 12 that is movable and non-rotatable so that the distance between the shafts 11 can be adjusted. A plurality of annular objects 13 are suspended between the two. The rotation of the main shaft 11 is transmitted from the prime mover 14 via the transmission belt 15. However, the transmission belt 15 is suspended between the pulley 16 attached to the main shaft 11 and the pulley 17 attached to the prime mover 14 to transmit the rotation of the prime mover 14. Transmission from the belt 15 to the main shaft 11 is made.

  The surface of the main shaft 11 can be made of a material that can carry the annular material 13, such as urethane elastomer, rubber, etc., and when the annular material 13 is a toothed belt, the belt tooth portion is fitted. What formed the groove part to match may be used.

  On the other hand, the driven shaft 12 has a substantially circular cross section, and one end of the driven shaft 12 is fixed to a guide member 19 fitted to a guide rail 19 disposed in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction in the figure) on the support column 10 and is cantilevered. And one end is fixed to the rod 22 of the cylinder 21. When the cylinder 21 operates, the driven shaft 12 moves up and down along the guide rail 19 to adjust the inter-axis distance from the main shaft 11.

  The surface of the driven shaft 12 is made of a material in which the annular material 13 is slippery, for example, a metal such as iron or stainless steel, an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, or a synthetic resin having slippery characteristics such as polytetrafluoroethylene.

  As described above, a material and a structure that allow the annular member 13 to be brought to the surface of the main shaft 11 are selected, and a material on which the annular member 13 is slidable is used for the surface of the driven shaft 12, so that a plurality of annular members are provided. 13 is suspended from the main shaft 11 and the driven shaft 12 to apply a tension, and only the main shaft 11 is rotated to align the group of annular objects 13.

  The annular member 13 is suspended from the main shaft 11 and the driven shaft 12 with a reduced distance between the shafts, the driven shaft 12 is lowered, the cylinder 21 is exhausted, and the tension of only the own weight of the driven member 12 of the annular member 13 is applied. Let it be in the state you let it. As a result, the tension (0.1 to 0.5 kgf) is set so as not to bend the annular object 13.

  The length of the driven shaft 12 may be longer than the main shaft 11 by about 1 to 3 mm. As a result, when the last row of annular objects 13 is extruded, the frontmost row of annular objects 13 falls from the main shaft 11 having a short length and easily moves to the annular object collecting rod 33.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the twist correcting mechanism 5 includes a drive shaft 51, a driven shaft 52, and one or more protrusions 54 in which a conveyance belt 53 suspended from a tension pulley 55 is fixed to the conveyance belt 53. 2 in parallel. The width of the conveyor belt 53 and the protrusion 54 is wide and is about the width of the suspended annular object 13. In the torsion correction mechanism 5, the main shaft 11 or the driven shaft 12 is passed once or more while the protrusion 54 is pressed against the back surface of the annular object 13 under tension while the conveyor belt 53 is driven by the rotation of the drive shaft 51. Thus, the twisted annulus 13 is corrected. In this case, the annular object 13 may be rotated or stopped. The pressing force of the protrusion 54 on the back surface of the annular member 13 is not particularly limited, but is 0.1 to 0.2 kg / piece.

  In the push portion 3, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the push plate 30 fitted to the main shaft 11 can reciprocate along the axial direction of the main shaft 11 by the operation of the cylinder 31, and the driven shaft 12 is pushed by the push plate 30. By pushing the side surface of the last row of annular objects 13 locked to the main shaft 11 and the driven shaft 12 with the tension of only its own weight, the group of the annular products 13 is smoothly fed out with little frictional resistance and moved without disturbing the alignment. The forefront ring 13 can be reliably dropped from the main shaft 11 having a short length.

The counting mechanism 4 is arranged on the side of the annular object alignment portion 2. The counting mechanism 4 includes an annular collection rod 33 for receiving the front row of annular objects 13 fed from the main shaft 11, a support member 34 supporting the annular collection rod 33, and rotating the support member 34. A turning drive device (not shown) capable of positioning the annular collection rod 33 at an arbitrary turning position is provided. The annular collection rod 33 includes a detection sensor 36 for counting the annular objects 13 dropped one by one. This detection sensor 36 is, for example, a transmission type optical sensor from the light emitting part and the light receiving part, and detects only the tip part (one side) of the moving annular object 13 by light to enable accurate counting. Yes.
The counting mechanism 4 need not be provided with a turning drive device.

Below, the cyclic | annular thing counting method is demonstrated.
First, the annular object collecting rod 33 of the counting mechanism 4 is swung away from the annular object aligning portion 2, the distance between the main shaft 11 and the driven shaft 12 of the aligning portion 2 is reduced, and then a plurality of annular objects 13 is suspended, a tension of 1-2 kg is applied, the main shaft 11 is rotated, and the annular group 13 is aligned.

  Thereafter, the torsion correction mechanism 5 is operated, and one or more protrusions 54 attached to the conveyor belt 53 suspended from the drive shaft 51 and the driven shaft 52 are caused to travel while being pressed against the back surface of the annular object 13, so that the main shaft 11 or By abutting the driven shaft 12, the twist of the annular object is corrected. Usually, the conveyor belt 53 is rotated 1-3 times to correct the twist of the annular object. Of course, when the torsion 13 group is not twisted, it is not necessary to operate the twist correcting mechanism 5.

  And after making the front-end | tip of the cyclic | annular object collection | recovery rod 33 approach the front-end | tip of the cyclic | annular object alignment part 2, the push plate 30 is moved by operation | movement of the cylinder 31 of the push part 3, and the cyclic | annular object 13 of the last row | line | column is extruded, and alignment is disturbed. Without failing, the foremost annular object 13 is reliably dropped from the upper shaft 11 having a short length, and further dropped onto the annular object collecting rod 33. The dropped annular body 13 stably falls on the inclined annular object collecting rod 33, and the detection sensor 36 incorporated in the inside causes only the tip (one surface) of the moving annular object 13 to pass by light. Detection is performed to enable accurate counting, and counting is performed until the annular body 13 set in the annular object alignment portion 2 is eliminated.

It is a front view of the cyclic | annular object counting device which concerns on this implementation. It is an enlarged view of the alignment part in FIG. It is the figure seen from the AA direction of FIG. 1, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the twist correction mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Annular object counting device 2 Alignment part 3 Push part 4 Counting mechanism 5 Twist correction mechanism 11 Main shaft 12 Driven shaft 13 Annular object 33 Annular object collection rod 36 Detection sensor 53 Conveying belt 54 Projection

Claims (4)

In the annular object counting apparatus for sending and counting the annular objects one by one after aligning the annular objects,
A plurality of annular objects that are suspended from a main shaft and a driven shaft and applied with tension to be rotatable,
A torsion correction mechanism for removing the torsion of the annular object by passing the main shaft or the driven shaft while pressing the back surface of the annular object suspended between the main shaft and the driven shaft;
A push part for extruding the last row of annular objects suspended in a state where tension is applied to the upper main shaft and the driven shaft and dropping the front row of annular materials from the main shaft;
A counting mechanism that detects an annular object that has fallen from the end of the spindle and counts the number of annular objects that are sent based on the detected signal;
An annular material counting device comprising: 2. The annular object counting device according to claim 1, wherein the twist correcting mechanism includes a conveying belt suspended from the driving shaft and the driven shaft, and one or more protrusions that are attached to the conveying belt and press the back surface of the annular object. In the annular material counting method of aligning the annular materials and then sending out and counting the annular materials one by one,
A plurality of annular objects are aligned by suspending on two axes of a main shaft and a driven shaft, applying tension and rotating them, suspending the annular material on the main shaft and the driven shaft, and pressing the back surface of the annular material while Correct the twisted annulus through the driven shaft,
With the main shaft and the driven shaft tensioned, the last row of annular objects is extruded to drop the front row of annular objects from the main shaft,
Detect and count annulus falling from the spindle to the annulus collection rod,
An annular material counting method characterized by the above. One or more protrusions mounted on the conveyor belt suspended between the drive shaft and the driven shaft are moved while being pressed against the back surface of the annular material suspended on the main shaft and the driven shaft, and are brought into contact with the main shaft or the driven shaft. The method of counting an annular object according to claim 3, wherein the twist of the object is corrected.

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