JP5127216B2 - Parts supply device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a component supply device that efficiently supplies a headed bar such as a screw.

  Conventionally, a disk suction-type component supply device that sucks and holds a headed bar such as a screw in a through hole provided in the outer peripheral portion of a disk-shaped disk and rotates the disk to convey the headed bar to a component supply position. Is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the component supply device includes a hopper portion 2 that can store a large number of screws 1 that are an example of a bar with a head. The hopper portion 2 includes a pedestal 3 and a cylindrical bucket portion 4 attached to the pedestal 3 at a predetermined angle.

  A pedestal 3 forming the bottom of the hopper 2 is provided with a disk-shaped disk 5 connected to a stepping motor (not shown), and the disk 5 is rotated by being driven by the stepping motor. A resin-made ring plate 6 is interposed between the disk 5 and the pedestal 3 in order to enhance confidentiality during air suction described later.

  A chamfered portion 5 a is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the disk 5, and a plurality of support holes 5 b extending in a direction orthogonal to the chamfered portion 5 a and penetrating the disk 5 are formed in the chamfered portion 5 a.

  A suction hole 3a is formed in a portion corresponding to the vicinity of the lowest position of the disk 5 of the pedestal 3, and a communication hole 6a is formed in the ring plate 6 in communication with the suction hole 3a. A suction hole 3b is formed at a position corresponding to the component supply position (highest position) of the disk 5 in the pedestal 3, and the ring plate 6 has a support hole 5b and a suction hole 3b at the component supply position. A communication hole 6b is formed.

  From the suction holes 3a and 3b, air is sucked by an air suction portion (not shown). Furthermore, a pressure gauge (not shown) is provided on a pipe line connecting the suction hole 3b and the air suction part, and configured to detect a pressure change in the air suction path through the suction hole 3b.

  Due to air suction from the suction hole 3a, the screw 1 stored in the hopper 2 is sucked and held in several support holes 5b communicating with the communication hole 6a, and is carried to the component supply position as the disk 5 rotates. It is like that. Further, whether or not the screw 1 is supported in the support hole 5b at the component supply position can be confirmed by the pressure detected by the pressure gauge by air suction from the suction hole 3b.

  That is, when the screw 1 is in the support hole 5b, the pressure in the path from the suction hole 3b to the pressure gauge increases, so when the pressure in this path is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, the support hole 5b in the component supply position It is detected that the screw 1 is supported.

When it is detected that the screw 1 is supported in the support hole 5b at the component supply position, the driving of the stepping motor is stopped and the suction of air from the suction hole 3b is stopped. Then, the screw 1 is taken out by an external screw fastening device (not shown). When the removal of the screw 1 by the screw tightening device is completed, the rotational driving of the disk 5 by the stepping motor is resumed.
JP 2003-137418 A

  Compared to the ball vibration method that aligns and conveys components by vibration and the component supply device that flips components and supplies them on the rail, the disk suction type component supply device shown in FIG. It generates little pollution and is suitable for use in a clean environment.

  However, in the component supply apparatus shown in FIG. 5, although contamination caused by friction between supplied components (screws or the like) is small, contamination due to friction between the rotating disk 5 and the ring plate 6 occurs. For this reason, there has been a problem that it cannot be used in a field where a higher degree of cleanliness is required.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a component supply apparatus that can reduce the occurrence of contamination and can be used even in fields where high cleanliness is required.

In order to achieve the above object, the component supply device of the present invention is provided with a hopper portion capable of storing a large number of headed bar members, and a rotary portion provided in parallel with the bottom portion of the hopper portion and inclined at a predetermined angle from the horizontal. And a disc portion having a plurality of support holes into which the headed bar can be fitted on the outer peripheral portion, and on the bottom portion of the hopper portion, the upper surface faces the lower surface of the disc portion and has a predetermined gap. And a first communication hole communicating with a support hole in a holding position for sucking and holding the headed bar stored in the hopper , and a predetermined takeout position. An annular ring plate having a second communication hole communicating with the support hole, a rolling bearing disposed between the lower surface of the disk portion and the concave portion of the ring plate, and the first communication hole. Support in the holding position via A first air suction portion that performs air suction from a holding suction hole formed in the bottom portion of the hopper so as to communicate with the support hole, and a support hole at the predetermined take-out position via the second communication hole. A second air suction portion that performs air suction from a suction hole for confirmation formed in the bottom portion of the hopper so as to communicate, and an air suction path from the confirmation suction hole to the second air suction portion. A pressure detection unit that detects pressure; a drive unit that drives the disk unit to rotate intermittently for each pitch of the support holes; and a control unit that drives and controls the drive unit according to the detection result of the pressure detection unit. It is characterized by.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, generation | occurrence | production of contamination can be reduced and the components supply apparatus which can be used also in the field | area where high cleanliness is requested | required can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the same components as those of the conventional component supply apparatus shown in FIG.

  1-4, the component supply apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment is provided with the hopper part 2 which can store many screws 1 which are an example of a bar with a head. The hopper portion 2 includes a pedestal 3 attached to the base 7 and a cylindrical bucket portion 4 attached to the pedestal 3 at a predetermined angle.

  In the hopper 2, a disk-shaped disk 5 connected to the rotation drive unit 8 is arranged in parallel with the base 3 that forms the bottom of the hopper 2. Between the disk 5 and the pedestal 3, a metal ring plate 9 is provided via a rolling bearing 10 in order to improve confidentiality when air is sucked later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the disk 5 has a disk shape in which a chamfered portion 5 a is formed on the outer peripheral portion. The chamfered portion 5 a extends in a direction orthogonal to the chamfered portion 5 a and penetrates the disk 5. A plurality of support holes 5b are equally divided at a predetermined pitch. The support hole 5b has a diameter through which a leg portion (screw portion) of a screw can be inserted and a head cannot enter, and when the disc 5 moves to the highest position along with the rotation of the disk 5, it is oriented vertically. Yes. That is, the angle of the chamfered portion 5a is set as such. In the component supply apparatus of the present embodiment, the highest position of the disk 5 is set to the component supply position of the screw 1.

  A suction hole (holding suction hole) 3a connected to the air suction part 11A is formed at a position corresponding to the lowest position of the disk 5 of the pedestal 3, and the ring plate 9 communicates with the suction hole 3a. Is formed with an arc-shaped communication hole 9a. A suction hole (confirmation suction hole) 3b connected to the air suction part 11B is formed at a position corresponding to the component supply position (highest position) of the disk 5 in the pedestal 3, and the ring plate 9 A communication hole 9b is formed to communicate the support hole 5b at the component supply position with the suction hole 3b. Further, a pressure gauge 12 is provided on the pipe line connecting the suction hole 3b and the air suction part 11B, and configured to detect the pressure in the air suction path through the suction hole 3b.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the ring plate 9 has an annular disk shape, and has a recess 9c around a central hole. The communication holes 9a and 9b are formed through the ring plate 9 from the upper surface 9d to the lower surface. In the present embodiment, the ring plate 9 is made of metal in order to obtain high rigidity. As shown in FIG. 4, the ring plate 9 is provided with a rolling bearing 10 between the lower surface of the disk 5 and the recess 9c, and the lower surface of the disk 5 and the upper surface 9d of the ring plate 9 have a predetermined gap therebetween. Installed to face each other.

  Here, the distance a between the lower surface of the disk 5 and the upper surface 9d of the ring plate 9 is preferably 5 to 10 μm. When the distance a is less than 5 μm, plane processing with high accuracy is required, and manufacturing is difficult. If the distance a exceeds 10 μm, the vacuum pressure in the air suction path from the suction hole 3b to the air suction part 11B cannot be secured, and therefore it is determined whether or not the screw 1 is supported at the component supply position. I can't.

  The rotary drive unit 8 includes a stepping motor 13, a toothed pulley 14 that is integrally connected to a drive shaft 13 a of the stepping motor 13, a main shaft 15 to which a disk 5 is attached, and a main shaft 15 that is integrally connected to the main shaft 15. A toothed pulley 16, and an endless toothed belt 17 (hereinafter simply referred to as a belt 17) wound around the toothed pulley 16 and the toothed pulley 14 are provided.

  The control unit 18 drives and controls the air suction units 11A and 11B and the stepping motor 13 respectively. Further, based on the detection result of the pressure gauge 12, the control unit 18 determines whether or not the screw 1 is supported in the support hole 5 b at the component supply position, and outputs the determination result to the external screw tightening device 19. To do.

  Next, the operation of the component supply apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.

  When a start instruction is input from the outside, the control unit 18 controls the air suction unit 11A to suck air from the suction hole 3a and controls the air suction unit 11B to suck air from the suction hole 3b. .

  Due to air suction from the suction holes 3a, the screws 1 stored in the hopper 2 are sucked and held in several support holes 5b communicating with the communication holes 9a as shown in FIG. Moreover, it can be confirmed from the detection result of the pressure gauge 12 whether or not the screw 1 is supported in the support hole 5b at the component supply position by air suction from the suction hole 3b.

  Here, in the component supply apparatus of the present embodiment, since a gap is provided between the lower surface of the disk 5 and the upper surface 9d of the ring plate 9, air leaks from this gap (leakage path). However, since the gap a is set to 5 to 10 μm, the friction pressure loss in the leakage path becomes sufficiently large, and the vacuum pressure in the air suction path from the suction hole 3b to the air suction part 11B can be secured.

  Therefore, when the screw 1 is in the support hole 5b, the pressure in the path from the suction hole 3b to the pressure gauge 12 increases, and therefore when the pressure in this path is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, the control unit 18 It is determined that the screw 1 is supported in the support hole 5b.

  On the other hand, when the gap a exceeds 10 μm, the vacuum pressure in the air suction path from the suction hole 3b to the air suction part 11B cannot be secured. For this reason, even when the screw 1 is in the support hole 5b, the pressure in the path from the suction hole 3b to the pressure gauge 12 is not sufficiently increased, and the screw 1 is supported in the support hole 5b from the detected pressure of the pressure gauge 12. It becomes impossible to judge whether or not.

  In addition, when the start instruction is input, the control unit 18 supplies a predetermined pulse current to the stepping motor 13 to drive the stepping motor 13. When the stepping motor 13 is driven in this way, rotation is transmitted to the disk 5 through the toothed pulleys 14 and 16, the belt 17 and the main shaft 15, and the disk 5 rotates by one pitch of the support holes 5b. In order to confirm this, the control unit 18 counts the number of output pulses of the encoder 13b of the stepping motor 13 in parallel with the supply of the pulse current, and confirms whether this reaches a predetermined number within a predetermined time.

  When the control unit 18 confirms that the disk 5 has been rotated by one pitch of the support holes 5b, the control unit 18 confirms the detected pressure of the pressure gauge 12, and if the detected pressure of the pressure gauge 12 is smaller than a predetermined threshold, a new A pulse current is supplied to the stepping motor 13. Thereby, when the screw 1 is not supported in the support hole 5b at the component supply position, the disk 5 further rotates by one pitch of the support hole 5b.

  When the detected pressure of the pressure gauge 12 is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, the control unit 18 determines that the screw 1 is supported in the support hole 5b at the component supply position, and tightens the screw to take out the screw 1 at the component supply position. A take-out instruction signal is output to the device 19.

  Then, the control unit 18 waits for a removal completion signal from the screw tightening device 19 that has taken out the screw 1 at the component supply position. When this removal completion signal is input, a new pulse current is supplied to the stepping motor 13. Thus, when the screw 1 is supported in the support hole 5b at the component supply position, the disk 5 intermittently rotates again after waiting until the screw 1 is taken out. In this way, intermittent rotation of the disk 5 is controlled.

  When the detected pressure of the pressure gauge 12 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the control unit 18 controls the air suction unit 11B so as to stop air suction from the suction hole 3b. As a result, the suction resistance of the screw 1 at the component supply position is eliminated, and the screw 1 can be easily taken out by the screw tightening device 19.

  In the component supply device of the present embodiment, a gap is provided between the lower surface of the disk 5 and the upper surface 9d of the ring plate 9, so that the disk 5 does not rub against the ring plate 9 even when the disk 5 rotates. As a result, the contamination factor of the component supply device is reduced, so that it can also be used in fields where high cleanliness is required.

  In addition, although the example which supplies the screw 1 was demonstrated in the said embodiment, the component supply apparatus which concerns on this invention supplies various headed rods, such as a rivet other than a screw, a headed pin, and a nail. The same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained also when the headed bar other than these screws is supplied.

It is a block diagram which shows the components supply apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the periphery of the disc as viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view of a ring plate. FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial cutaway cross-sectional view of a main part of the component supply device shown in FIG. 1. It is principal part sectional drawing of the conventional component supply apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  2 ... Hopper part, 3 ... Base, 3a, 3b ... Suction hole, 4 ... Bucket part, 5 ... Disc, 5b ... Support hole, 8 ... Rotation drive part, 9 ... Ring plate, 9a, 9b ... Communication hole, 10 ... Rolling bearings, 11A, 11B ... air suction unit, 12 ... pressure gauge, 13 ... stepping motor, 15 ... main shaft, 18 ... control unit.

Claims (2)

A hopper that can store a large number of headed bars,
Parallel to the bottom part of the hopper part, a disk part provided with a plurality of support holes which are provided so as to be rotatable at a predetermined angle from the horizontal and into which a headed bar can be fitted on the outer peripheral part,
On the bottom part of the hopper part, an upper surface is provided opposite to the lower surface of the disk part and through a predetermined gap, and a recess formed on the upper surface side and a headed bar stored in the hopper part are provided. An annular ring plate having a first communication hole communicating with the support hole at the holding position for sucking and holding, and a second communication hole communicating with the support hole at the predetermined take-out position;
A rolling bearing disposed between the lower surface of the disk portion and the recess of the ring plate;
A first air suction portion that performs air suction from a holding suction hole formed in a bottom portion of the hopper so as to communicate with the support hole at the holding position via the first communication hole;
A second air suction portion for sucking air from a suction hole for confirmation formed in a bottom portion of the hopper so as to communicate with the support hole at the predetermined take-out position via the second communication hole;
A pressure detection unit for detecting a pressure in an air suction path from the confirmation suction hole to the second air suction unit;
A drive unit that intermittently drives the disk unit for each pitch of the support holes; and
A component supply device comprising: a control unit that drives and controls the drive unit according to a detection result of the pressure detection unit.   The component supply device according to claim 1, wherein a distance between an upper surface of the ring plate and a lower surface of the disk portion is 5 to 10 μm.

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