JP5008933B2 - Parts inspection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a part inspection apparatus that inspects various parts, and more particularly, to a part inspection apparatus that inspects parts such as screws and rivets.

  A conventional parts inspection apparatus for inspecting mechanical parts such as screws and rivets includes, for example, a conveyance unit that conveys a part to be inspected, and an appearance inspection (scratches, dimension measurement, shape confirmation, etc.) of the part to be inspected during the conveyance process And an inspection unit for judging pass / fail. For example, a linear feeder or a belt conveyor is used as the transport unit. A CCD camera such as an area sensor or a line sensor is used as the inspection unit.

  The component inspection apparatus further includes a sorting unit that sorts an inspected product into a non-defective product and a defective product according to the inspection result of the inspection unit. For example, the sorting unit excludes defective products from the transport unit.

A component inspection apparatus using a rotating disk as a transport unit is known. In the apparatus, the parts are placed on the disk without being restrained. The CCD camera as the inspection unit is disposed at a position where the side surface and the upper surface of the component can be photographed, for example. The sorting unit has an impeller capable of intermittent rotation (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-246520 A

  In the conventional component inspection apparatus, the columnar component to be inspected with a head is transferred onto the rotating disk in an upright posture (with the head down), and the upper and side surfaces in the transferred state are inspected. The On the other hand, for this part to be inspected, it is also required to inspect the inner surface dimension of the bottom surface (in the case of a screw, the upper surface of the head) and the hollow shaft part with a head in the transferred state.

  In response to this request, another component inspection device capable of inspecting the upper surface of the screw head and the inner diameter of the hollow shaft component is prepared, and the component after inspection is supplied to the component inspection device for the second inspection. Can be considered. However, in the above inspection method, there are operations such as re-injection of parts into the inspection apparatus, duplication of part attitude control mechanisms, and the like, so that the work efficiency is poor, resulting in high inspection costs.

  An object of the present invention is to improve work efficiency of appearance inspection from a plurality of directions of a component in the component inspection apparatus.

  The component inspection apparatus according to claim 1 is an apparatus for inspecting a shaft-shaped component to be inspected, and a carrier that can carry the component to be inspected thereon and a carrier that is placed on the carrier and conveyed An inspection unit for inspecting the inspected part to be inspected, and a selection unit for selecting the inspected part into a non-defective product and a defective product according to the inspection result of the inspection unit. The carrier includes a tapered disk having a tapered component placement surface on which a plurality of holding parts for holding the parts to be inspected are formed, and a drive unit that rotationally drives the tapered disk. The rotation axis of the tapered disk is inclined with respect to the vertical direction. The holding part is a groove that extends in the radial direction of the tapered disk on the component mounting surface and is open at both ends, and can hold the component to be inspected so that both end surfaces of the component to be inspected are in the radial direction of the tapered disk. Here, the “disk” refers to a so-called disk, which includes a circular or annular shape and has a component mounting surface extending at least in the rotation direction.

  In this apparatus, the part to be inspected is held by the holding part of the tapered disk of the carrier and is moved along with the rotation of the tapered disk. Since the part to be inspected is held in a groove extending in the radial direction of the tapered disk of the tapered disk and having both ends opened, both end surfaces in the axial direction can be inspected. Further, since the rotation axis of the tapered disk is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, the posture of the part to be inspected can be set to the standing posture when the taper disk is detached from the holding part of the tapered disk. Therefore, it becomes easy to inspect the side surface in the standing state of the part to be inspected in the next process. That is, in this apparatus, it is possible to continuously inspect the axial end face of the part to be inspected and the side face in the standing state simply by putting the part to be inspected into the supply port of the part inspection apparatus.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the component inspection apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the supply unit supplies the component to be inspected to the vicinity of the uppermost portion of the tapered disk, and the discharge portion to which the component to be inspected is discharged from the lowermost portion of the tapered disk Is further provided.

  In this apparatus, the part to be inspected moves from the supply part near the uppermost part of the tapered disk to the discharge part near the lowermost part with the rotation of the taper disk, and leaves the tapered disk at the discharge part.

  The component inspection apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the component to be inspected has a shaft portion and a projecting portion projecting in a diameter direction from the shaft portion, and the holding portion is a projecting portion of the component to be inspected. It has a support part for supporting. The part to be inspected can be held by the holding part in the state where the protruding part is supported by the supporting part near the uppermost part of the tapered disk, and the protruding part is below the supporting part near the lowermost part of the tapered disk. It is possible to position and detach from the holding part.

  In this apparatus, the part to be inspected is held by the holding part in a state where the protruding part is supported by the supporting part near the uppermost part of the tapered disk, and the protruding part is positioned below the supporting part near the lowermost part of the tapered disk. To disengage from the holding part. That is, the part to be inspected is held by the holding part of the tapered disk, and is released from the holding part in a standing state. For this reason, a special holding mechanism such as a suction device is not required, and the configuration of the device is simple.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the component inspection apparatus according to the second or third aspect further includes a guide member that is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the tapered disk and prevents the component to be inspected from falling off the tapered disk.

  In this apparatus, the part to be inspected moves toward the discharge part while being prevented from falling off the tapered disk by the guide member.

  In the component inspection apparatus according to claim 5, in any one of claims 1 to 4, the inclination angle of the rotation axis of the tapered disk is set so that the holding part of the tapered disk extends vertically at the lowest part of the tapered disk. ing.

  In this apparatus, since the holding part of the tapered disk extends in the vertical direction at the lowermost part of the tapered disk, the part to be inspected is detached from the holding part of the tapered disk in an upright posture. Therefore, the part to be inspected is discharged to the discharge unit in a posture in which the part to be inspected is reliably raised.

  In a component inspection apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the inspection unit has a camera facing the end surface of the component to be inspected placed on the tapered disk.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the component inspection apparatus according to the sixth aspect, wherein the sorting unit is arranged on the front side of the tapered disk rotation direction from the camera, and removes defective products of the inspected part from the holding part of the tapered disk.

  The component inspection apparatus according to claim 8, wherein in any one of claims 1 to 5, the inspection unit includes first and second end surfaces facing the first end surface and the second end surface of the component to be inspected placed on the tapered disk, respectively. A second camera is included.

  The component inspection apparatus according to claim 9 is the component inspection apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the sorting unit is arranged on the front side in the direction of rotation of the tapered disk with respect to the first and second cameras, and the defective part of the component to be inspected is held by the tapered disk holding unit. Remove from.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the component inspection apparatus according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, further comprising a second inspection unit that inspects the side surface of the component to be inspected that is discharged from the tapered disk in the standing state.

  In the component inspection apparatus according to the present invention, since the rotation axis of the tapered disk is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, the posture when the component to be inspected is detached from the holding portion of the tapered disk becomes the standing posture. Therefore, it becomes easy to inspect the side surface in the standing state of the part to be inspected in the next process. That is, in this apparatus, it is possible to continuously inspect the end face in the axial direction and the side face in the standing state of the part to be inspected simply by putting the part to be inspected into the supply port of the part inspection apparatus.

  FIG. 1 shows a component inspection apparatus 1 as an embodiment of the present invention. The component inspection apparatus 1 is an apparatus for performing an appearance inspection of a workpiece W such as a bolt or a collar. More specifically, in this embodiment, the workpiece W is a rod-like or cylindrical member with a head, and the component inspection device 1 is a device for inspecting the axial end surface and side surface of the workpiece W.

  The component inspection apparatus 1 mainly includes a bowl feeder 2, a first rectilinear feeder 3, a first disc inspection device 4, a second rectilinear feeder 5, and a second disc inspection device 6.

  The bowl feeder 2 is an apparatus for aligning and feeding the workpieces W. The bowl feeder 2 has a cylindrical storage portion that can store a plurality of workpieces W, and a large number of workpieces W having a head portion (a portion larger in diameter than the shaft portion) such as a bolt and a shaft portion are loaded. The The first linear feeder 3 is a device for feeding the workpiece W from the bowl feeder 2 to the first disk inspection device 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the first rectilinear feeder 3 has a component conveying surface 11 that extends long in one direction, and the workpiece W can move in the longitudinal direction of the component conveying surface 11 (in the direction of arrow Y1 in the figure). It has become. The component conveyance surface 11 extends so as to coincide with the uppermost tangential direction of the taper disk 17 so that the conveyance direction of the workpiece W matches the rotation direction of the taper disk 17 (described later). The workpieces W are arranged on the component conveyance surface 11 so that the axis of the shaft portion is orthogonal to the conveyance direction when viewed from above. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the component conveying surface 11 is positioned so that the vertical length of the first long side portion 11 a is higher than the vertical height of the second long side portion 11 b. Thus, the angle θ1 (FIG. 4) is inclined (specifically, an inclination of 10 °), and the workpiece W moves in a state where the head is hooked on the first long side portion 11a (suspended state). ing. In other words, in the first rectilinear feeder 3, the workpiece W is held in a sideways posture, but with its head engaged with the component conveying surface 11. It is difficult for changes to occur. As shown in FIG. 2, the first rectilinear feeder 3 further includes a first holding plate 25 that supports the top surface of the head of the workpiece W and a second holding plate 26 that supports the bottom surface of the head of the workpiece W. ing.

  The first disk inspection apparatus 4 is an apparatus for inspecting the end face of the work W and supplying the work W to the second disk inspection apparatus 6 in an upright state. The first disk inspection apparatus 4 includes a first transport unit 12 for transporting the workpiece W, a first inspection unit 13 for inspecting the workpiece W, and a first sorting unit for sorting the workpiece W into a non-defective product and a defective product. 14.

  The 1st conveyance unit 12 is mainly comprised from the taper disk 17 and the servomotor (not shown) for rotationally driving it. The taper disk 17 is a disk-shaped member, and has an annular component mounting surface 19 on the outer peripheral portion thereof. The component mounting surface 19 has a tapered shape, and the taper angle is 50 ° on one side in this example. In addition, a plurality of grooves 20 extending in the radial direction are formed on the component placement surface 19 as an example of a holding portion for holding the workpiece W. The grooves 20 are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The groove 20 is a notch having a V-shaped cross section, and both ends open to the inner and outer peripheral edges of the component placement surface. As shown in FIG. 4, the rotation center axis O of the taper disk 17 is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, and the inclination angle θ2 (angle formed with the horizontal plane) is 40 ° in this example. With the above configuration, the component placement surface 19 and the groove 20 located at the uppermost portion 81 are inclined at the same angle θ1 as the component conveyance surface 11 of the first linear feeder 3 and the component placement surface 19 located at the lowermost portion 86. And the groove | channel 20 is vertical. As shown in FIG. 2, the tip of the component conveying surface 11 of the first rectilinear feeder 3 is close to the uppermost portion of the taper disk 17, so that the workpiece W smoothly moves from the first rectilinear feeder 3 to the groove 20. To do. The servo motor (not shown) is provided with a rotary encoder (not shown), and the rotation of the taper disk 17 is detected by the rotary encoder.

  With the above configuration, the taper disk 17 is rotated at a constant speed in the direction of the arrow Y2 in the figure by receiving the drive of the servo motor. The taper disk 17 can be rotated at a speed suitable for the supply speed of the bowl feeder 2 and the first rectilinear feeder 3 and the inspection speed of the first disk inspection apparatus 4. Further, the workpiece W can be quickly separated from the first linear feeder 3 according to the rotation of the tapered disk 17. As described above, the workpiece W can be inspected at high speed.

  FIG. 3 shows an outline of the first inspection unit 13. The first inspection unit 13 mainly includes a first camera 31 for photographing one end surface in the axial direction of the work W, a second camera 32 for photographing the other end surface in the axial direction of the work W, and each camera. A determination unit (not shown) for determining the quality of the workpiece W based on the image information is provided. The first camera 31 is a device for photographing the outer peripheral side end surface of the workpiece W (for example, the top surface of the bolt head), and the first imaging point 82 on the downstream side in the transport direction of the uppermost portion of the taper disk 17 It is arranged so that it can be taken from. A ring light 34 is disposed between the first camera 31 and the taper disk 17. The second camera 32 is a device for photographing the inner peripheral side end surface (for example, the front end surface of the bolt shaft) of the workpiece W, and the second image pickup downstream of the first imaging point 82 of the taper disk 17 in the transport direction. The point 83 is arranged so that it can be photographed. Note that a backlight 35 is disposed ahead of the shooting direction of the second camera 32. The determination unit (not shown) is a device for determining the quality of the work W based on images from the first camera 31 and the second camera 32, and includes a computer including a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM. In the first inspection unit 13 described above, since the silhouette image in the axial direction of the workpiece W is obtained, the inner diameter and the head shape of the hollow part can be inspected.

  4 and 5 show an outline of the first sorting unit 14. The first sorting unit 14 is a mechanism for sorting the workpiece W into a non-defective product and a defective product based on the determination result of the first inspection unit 13. Specifically, the defective product is placed on the tapered disk 17 as a component. It is a member for removing from the surface 19. The first sorting unit 14 is arranged on the downstream side in the transport direction from the second imaging point 83 of the tapered disk 17. The first sorting unit 14 includes an impeller 37 for ejecting the workpiece W, and a servo motor 38 for rotating the impeller 37 at a predetermined angle. The impeller 37 is disposed above the taper disk 17 and has a plurality of blades 37a. The tip of each blade 37a can pass directly above the component mounting surface 19 of the taper disk 17, and can contact the head of the workpiece W when the workpiece W is positioned on these rotational movement paths 84. Specifically, when the determination by the determination unit is “bad”, when the corresponding workpiece W reaches the rotational movement path of the impeller 37, the servo motor 38 rotates the impeller 37 by a predetermined angle. As a result, the workpiece W that has been judged to be defective is removed from the taper disk 17 and stored in a defective product collection box (not shown) through a defective product discharge path (not shown). In this way, in the first sorting unit 14, the impeller 37 removes the work W determined to be defective by the inspection from the tapered disk 17. Since the workpiece W is positioned by the groove 20 of the taper disk 17, and the rotation angle of the taper disk 17 (the rotation position of the groove 20) can be grasped from the signal of the rotary encoder, the defective product of the first sorting unit 14 is obtained. The removal accuracy is high.

  The controller (not shown) of the component inspection apparatus 1 includes the above-described determination unit, and further controls the rotation of the taper disk 17 and the operation of the first sorting unit 14. When the first sorting unit 14 fails to eliminate the defective product, the controller stops the operations of the bowl feeder 2, the first linear feeder 3, the first disk inspection device 4, and the like.

  The first disk inspection device 4 further has a guide 39. The guide 39 is a part for preventing the workpiece W from dropping or dropping from the tapered disk 17. As shown in FIG. 4, the guide 39 includes a first guide 39 a and a second guide 39 b, and both guides 39 a and 39 b extend between the first sorting unit 14 and the lowermost portion 86 of the tapered disk 17. An arc-shaped plate member. The first guide 39a is disposed along the outer peripheral surface 22 on the outer peripheral side of the taper disk 17 and covers the outer peripheral side opening end of the groove 20, so that the upper surface of the head of the workpiece W can be supported. It is. The second guide 39 b is arranged above the component placement surface 19 of the taper disk 17 in parallel with a predetermined interval and guides the shaft portion of the workpiece W between the second guide 39 b and the component placement surface 19. Therefore, although the head of the workpiece W is positioned below the shaft portion on the downstream side in the transport direction from the first sorting unit 14, the head and the shaft portion are guides 39 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. By being supported by the groove 20, it is possible to move downstream in the transport direction without dropping from the groove 20. As shown in FIG. 6, the front end in the rotational direction of the guide 39 is interrupted by about one head of the workpiece W from the lowermost portion 86 of the tapered disk 17. Accordingly, when the workpiece W reaches the lowermost portion 86, it can be detached from the guide 39 and dropped downward. In this way, the work W is released from the taper disk 17 at a location where the taper disk 17 rotates and the work W assumes a vertical attitude.

  The second linear feeder 5 is a device for receiving the workpiece W from the first disk inspection device 4 and feeding it to the second disk inspection device 6. The second rectilinear feeder 5 includes a component conveying surface 40 that extends long in one direction, and first and second holding plates 41 and 42. As shown in FIG. 6, one end of the component conveying surface 40 is disposed below the lowermost portion 86 of the tapered disk 17. From here, the parts conveyance surface 40 extends long in one direction (the direction of arrow Y3 in the figure). Further, the first and second holding plates 41 and 42 are plate members arranged to extend in parallel with the component conveying surface 40 with a predetermined gap 43 above the component conveying surface 40. As shown in FIG. 6, one end of the first and second holding plates 41, 42 on the first disk inspection device 4 side is disposed close to the lowermost portion 86 of the tapered disk 17. Therefore, when the workpiece W reaches the lowermost portion 86 of the tapered disk 17 and is released from the guide 39, the head is placed on the component conveying surface 40, and the gap 43 between the first and second holding plates 41 and 42. The head portion is placed on the component conveyance surface 40 and the shaft portion protrudes upward from the gap between the first and second holding plates 41 and 42. In this state, while the workpiece W is maintained in the inverted posture by the first and second holding plates 41 and 42, the component conveying surface 40 is vibrated by a vibrator (not shown), whereby the second disk inspection device 6 side. Moved to. That is, the workpiece W is fed in the vertical posture in the second linear feeder 5. Due to the structure of the first and second holding plates 41, 42, the work W reliably moves from the first disk inspection device 4 to the second rectilinear feeder 5 in a vertical posture.

  The transfer operation of the workpiece W from the first disk inspection device 4 to the second linear feeder 5 will be described in detail. The first holding plate 41 is arranged to extend from the upstream side in the workpiece conveyance direction by the taper disk 17, and the second holding plate 42 is arranged to extend from the downstream side in the workpiece conveyance direction by the taper disk 17. The front end of the first holding plate 41 extends from the front end of the second holding plate 42 to the lowermost side of the first disk inspection device 4. For this reason, the head of the workpiece W released by reaching the bottom of the taper disk 17 is first guided between the component conveying surface 40 and the first holding plate 41, and subsequently conveyed by the second rectilinear feeder 5. It moves in the direction and moves into the gap 43 between the first holding plate 41 and the second holding plate 42. At this time, the workpiece W can be smoothly moved to the position guided by the second holding plate 42 along the first holding plate 41 by being pushed by the rotating taper disc 17 as it moves away from the taper disc 17. it can. It should be noted that the surface of the second holding plate 42 facing the tapered disk 17 is an inclined portion in order to avoid interference with the tapered disk 17.

  FIG. 7 shows an outline of the second disk inspection device 6. The second disk inspection device 6 is a device for inspecting the side surface of the workpiece W in an inverted posture. The second disk inspection device 6 includes a second transport unit 52 that transports the workpiece W, a second inspection unit 53 that inspects the workpiece W, and a second sorting unit that sorts the workpiece W into a non-defective product and a defective product. 54.

  The second transport unit 52 is mainly composed of a disk 57 and a servo motor (not shown) for rotationally driving the disk 57. The disk 57 is a disk-shaped member, and has an annular component placement surface 59 on the outer peripheral portion. The component placement surface 59 has a planar shape. The servo motor (not shown) is provided with a rotary encoder (not shown), and the rotation angle of the disk 57 is detected by the rotary encoder.

  With the above configuration, the disk 57 is rotated at a constant speed in the direction of the arrow Y4 in the figure by being driven by the servo motor. The disk 57 can be rotated at a speed suitable for the supply speed of the second linear feeder 5 and the inspection speed of the second disk inspection apparatus 6. As described above, the workpiece W can be inspected at high speed.

  The second inspection unit 53 is mainly based on the third camera 61 for photographing the side surface of the workpiece W, the fourth camera 62 for photographing the workpiece W from obliquely above, and image information from each camera. A determination unit (not shown) for determining the quality of the workpiece W is provided. The third camera 61 is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the disk 57. Note that a backlight 63 is disposed ahead of the shooting direction of the third camera 61. The fourth camera 62 is disposed above the disk 57 so that the downstream side in the transport direction can be imaged from the imaging point of the first camera 31 of the disk 57. A ring light 64 is disposed between the fourth camera 62 and the disk 57. The determination unit (not shown) is a device for determining the quality of the workpiece W based on images from the third camera 61 and the fourth camera 62, and includes a computer including a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM. Specifically, the determination unit analyzes the side image of the workpiece W, compares the obtained dimension data of each part with the reference dimension data set in advance, and determines whether the workpiece W is a good product or a defective product. Judging. The controller (including the determination unit) of the first disk inspection device 4 and the controller (including the determination unit) of the second disk inspection device 6 may be common or may be independent. In addition, it is possible to inspect the appearance side of the workpiece side by arranging multiple cameras.

  The second sorting unit 54 is a mechanism for sorting the workpiece W into a non-defective product and a defective product based on the determination result of the second inspection unit 53, and specifically, the defective product is placed on the component placement surface of the disk 57. This is a device for removing from 59. The second sorting unit 54 is disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction from the imaging point of the fourth camera 62 on the disk 57. The second sorting unit 54 includes an impeller 67 for ejecting the workpiece W, and a servo motor 68 for rotating the impeller 67 at a predetermined angle. The impeller 67 is disposed above the disk 57 and has a plurality of blades 67a. The tip of each blade 67a can pass directly above the workpiece transfer track on the component placement surface 59, and can contact the shaft portion of the workpiece W when the workpiece W is positioned on these rotational movement paths. A defective product discharge path (not shown) is provided close to the outer periphery of the disk 57 at the position where the impeller 67 is provided.

  If the determination by the determination unit is “bad”, when the corresponding workpiece W reaches the rotational movement path of the impeller 67, the servo motor 68 rotates the impeller 67 by a predetermined angle. As a result, the workpiece W that has been judged to be defective is removed from the disk 57 and stored in a defective product collection box (not shown) through a defective product discharge path (not shown). In this way, in the second sorting unit 54, the impeller 67 removes from the disk 57 the work W determined to be defective by the inspection.

The second disk inspection device 6 further includes a discharge plate and a non-defective product discharge path (both not shown) on the downstream side in the transport direction from the second sorting unit 54. The discharge plate has a guide surface for guiding the workpiece W from the disk 57 to the non-defective product discharge path. The non-defective product discharge path is connected to a non-defective product collection box (not shown), and the non-defective workpiece W is accommodated in the non-defective product collection box.
(Operation)

  The operation of the component inspection apparatus 1 will be described. Since the detailed configuration and operation of each device have already been described, only the outline will be described here.

  The workpieces W are aligned and supplied by the bowl feeder 2, and further supplied to the first disk inspection device 4 by the first linear feeder 3. In the first disk inspection device 4, the component W rotates and moves together with the tapered disk 17 in a state where it is mounted on the component mounting surface 19 of the tapered disk 17. At this time, both end surfaces of the workpiece W are photographed by the first camera 31 and the second camera 32 of the first inspection unit 13, and defective products are removed from the taper disk 17 by the first sorting unit 14.

The work W determined to be non-defective is then transferred from the first sorting unit 14 to the second linear feeder, and is supplied to the second disk inspection device 6 in an inverted posture. Then, the workpiece W moves with the rotation of the disk 57 while being placed on the component placement surface 59 of the disk 57. At this time, the workpiece W is photographed by the third camera 61 and the fourth camera 62 of the second inspection unit 53, and defective products are removed from the disk 57 by the second sorting unit 54. Then, only the non-defective workpiece W is collected from the non-defective discharge path (not shown) to the non-defective product collecting unit (not shown).
(Transfer posture change of the work W in the first disk inspection device 4)

The workpiece W moves from the uppermost part 81 of the taper disk 17 to the lowermost part 86 while changing its posture as the taper disk 17 rotates. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the work W is supplied at an inclination so that the vertical position of the head is higher than the vertical position of the shaft at the uppermost portion 81 (FIG. 2 and FIG. 3). 3 work W1). That is, the head of the workpiece W is held in the groove 20 while being hooked on the outer peripheral surface 22 of the taper disk 17 (suspended state). Next, as the process proceeds downstream in the transport direction, the vertical position of the head of the workpiece W approaches the vertical position of the shaft portion. During the above movement, the workpiece W passes through the first imaging point 82 and the second imaging point 83 continuously. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the workpiece W is in a horizontal posture in the vicinity of the rotational movement path 84 of the first sorting unit 14. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the workpiece W has a vertical position of the head located below the vertical position of the shaft portion on the downstream side of the first sorting unit 14 in the conveyance direction, and further downstream in the conveyance direction. As it moves to the side, it approaches a handstand posture, and the workpiece W is discharged in a posture perpendicular to the axis at the lowermost portion 86 of the taper disk 17 (W2 in FIG. 6). As described above, the work posture of the workpiece W in the first disk inspection device 4 is a horizontal posture (specifically, an inclined posture in which the vertical position of the head is slightly above the vertical position of the tip of the shaft). However, the discharging posture is a vertical posture (specifically, an inverted posture in which the head is directly below the shaft portion).
(Effect of the invention)

  In the component inspection apparatus 1, the workpiece W that is a component to be inspected is held in the groove 20 of the tapered disk 17 and is transferred along with the rotation of the tapered disk 17. Since the workpiece W is held in the groove 20 extending in the radial direction of the taper disk 17 and having both ends opened, the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion can be inspected as long as it is an axial end face and a hollow shaft part. Further, since the rotation axis of the taper disk 17 is inclined with respect to the vertical direction, the posture of the workpiece W when it is detached from the groove 20 of the taper disk 17 becomes an inverted posture. Therefore, it becomes easy to inspect the side surface portion in a standing state of the workpiece W in the next process. That is, in this apparatus, the inspection of the end face in the axial direction of the workpiece W and the side surface in the standing state can be continuously inspected simply by putting it into the bowl feeder 2 of the component inspection apparatus 1.

Further, the workpiece W is held in the groove 20 in a state where the head is supported by the outer peripheral surface 22 of the taper disk 17 near the uppermost portion of the taper disk 17, and the head is positioned near the lowermost portion of the taper disk 17. Is disengaged from the groove 20. That is, the workpiece W is held by itself in the groove 20 of the taper disk 17 and further released from the groove 20 in a standing state. For this reason, a special holding mechanism such as a suction device is not required, and the configuration of the device is simple.
(Other examples)

  The above embodiment is merely an example of the present invention, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  The inclination angle θ1 of the component conveying surface 11 of the first linear feeder 3 is not limited to the above embodiment, and the component conveying surface 11 may be horizontal. In this case, when the taper angle of the taper disk 17 is 45 ° and the inclination angle θ2 of the taper disk 17 from the horizontal plane is 45 °, the taper surface is aligned with the component conveying surface 11 at the uppermost part and coincides with the vertical direction at the lowermost part. .

  The direction of the lowermost component placement surface 19 of the taper disk 17 may not necessarily be in the vertical direction as long as the workpiece W can maintain an inverted posture.

  The shape of the workpiece W is not limited to the shape of the embodiment. The workpiece W preferably has a protruding portion in the diametrical direction such as a head or a flange, but a cylindrical workpiece having no protruding portion can also be inspected by the component inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

  In addition, depending on the type of workpiece, the component inspection apparatus can use the first disk inspection apparatus alone to make a work determined as a non-defective product by the first disk inspection apparatus as a final non-defective product.

  The present invention is applicable to a component inspection apparatus, in particular, an inspection apparatus that continuously inspects components.

The perspective view of the whole structure of the components inspection apparatus as one Embodiment of this invention. It is the elements on larger scale of FIG. 1, and is a figure which shows the upper end transfer part of components. It is the elements on larger scale of FIG. 1, and is a schematic perspective view of an inspection unit. The upper half side view of the component inspection apparatus as one Embodiment of this invention. It is the elements on larger scale of Drawing 1, and is a perspective view of the 1st inspection unit of a parts inspection device. It is the elements on larger scale of FIG. 1, and is a figure which shows the lower end transfer part of components. The perspective view of the 2nd inspection unit of a parts inspection device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Component inspection apparatus 2 Bowl feeder 3 1st rectilinear feeder 4 1st disc inspection apparatus 5 2nd rectilinear feeder 6 2nd disc inspection apparatus 11 Component conveyance surface 12 1st conveyance unit (conveyance body)
13 First inspection unit 14 First selection unit 17 Tapered disk (taper disk)
19 Component placement surface 20 Groove (holding part)
22 Outer peripheral surface (support part)
31 First camera 32 Second camera 39 Guide (guide member)
40 Component conveying surface 52 Second conveying unit 53 Second inspection unit 54 Second sorting unit 57 Disk 59 Component placing surface 61 Third camera 62 Fourth camera W Workpiece (inspected component)

Claims (8)

A component inspection device for inspecting a shaft-shaped component to be inspected,
A carrier capable of placing and carrying the inspected part; and
An inspection unit for inspecting a part to be inspected that is placed on the carrier and conveyed;
A sorting unit that sorts the inspected part into a non-defective product and a defective product according to an inspection result of the inspection unit,
The transport body has a tapered disk having a tapered component mounting surface on which a plurality of holding parts for holding the parts to be inspected are formed, and a drive unit that rotationally drives the tapered disk, The rotation axis of the tapered disk is inclined with respect to the vertical direction,
The holding portion is a groove that extends in the radial direction of the tapered disk on the component placement surface, and has both ends opened, and the component to be inspected is arranged so that both end surfaces of the component to be inspected are directed in the radial direction of the tapered disk. can be held der is,
The component inspection apparatus includes:
A supply unit for supplying the component to be inspected near the top of the tapered disk;
A discharge part from which the part to be inspected is discharged from near the lowermost part of the tapered disk;
The component to be inspected has a shaft portion and a projecting portion projecting in a diametrical direction from the shaft portion,
The holding part has a support part for supporting the protruding part of the part to be inspected,
The part to be inspected can be held by the holding part in a state where the protruding part is supported by the supporting part near the uppermost part of the tapered disk, and the protruding part near the lowermost part of the tapered disk. A component inspection apparatus in which a part is positioned below the support part and can be detached from the holding part. Wherein disposed on the outer peripheral side of the tapered disk, the inspection part further comprises a guide member for preventing falling off from the tapered disc, component inspection apparatus according to claim 1. The inclination angle of the rotation axis of the tapered disc, the holding portion of the tapered disk in the bottom of the tapered disc is set so as to extend vertically, component inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The said inspection unit is a components inspection apparatus in any one of Claims 1-3 which has a camera facing the end surface of the said to-be-inspected component mounted in the said taper disk. 5. The component inspection apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the selection unit is arranged on the front side in the taper disk rotation direction from the camera, and removes defective products of the inspected part from a holding portion of the taper disk. A component inspection device for inspecting a shaft-shaped component to be inspected,
A carrier capable of placing and carrying the inspected part; and
An inspection unit for inspecting a part to be inspected that is placed on the carrier and conveyed;
A sorting unit that sorts the inspected part into a non-defective product and a defective product according to an inspection result of the inspection unit,
The transport body has a tapered disk having a tapered component mounting surface on which a plurality of holding parts for holding the parts to be inspected are formed, and a drive unit that rotationally drives the tapered disk, The rotation axis of the tapered disk is inclined with respect to the vertical direction,
The holding portion is a groove that extends in the radial direction of the tapered disk on the component placement surface, and has both ends opened, and the component to be inspected is arranged so that both end surfaces of the component to be inspected are directed in the radial direction of the tapered disk. Holdable,
The test unit includes a first and a second camera opposite to the first end surface and the second end surface of the placed the parts for inspection to the tapered disc, part inspection device. 7. The component inspection according to claim 6 , wherein the sorting unit is arranged on the front side in the taper disk rotation direction from the first and second cameras, and removes defective products of the inspected part from a holding portion of the taper disk. apparatus. Wherein further comprising a second inspection unit for inspecting a side surface of at upright of the inspected component has been ejected from the tapered disc, component inspection device according to any one of claims 1-7.

Images