JP5737579B2 - Small parts separation and alignment supply device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a separate alignment supply device for supplying small parts that are easily entangled, such as coil springs, separately and aligned.

  As an apparatus for aligning and supplying various small components for in-vehicle electrical components or electronic devices, for example, an alignment apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is known. This aligning device, after putting a rectangular cross-section main body part such as a capacitor element and a part having a linear part into a bowl feeder (vibration conveyance device), is discharged to a linear feeder along a spiral conveyance path Aligned in a single row / single layer, the direction of the long side is aligned, the direction alignment part that eliminates bent parts and overlapping parts, the attitude conversion part that converts to a hanging attitude, and the conveyance that carries in the hanging attitude Has a part.

  The direction aligning portion is provided with a conveying path having a rectangular groove shape on the inclined surface, and the rectangular groove is adapted to the shape of the main body portion having a rectangular cross section. In the middle of the transport path, air holes are provided at a plurality of locations on the inclined surface side so that compressed air or the like is blown onto the parts. Thereby, the posture of the parts discharged from the bowl feeder can be changed one by one, and the parts that are not aligned with the square grooves can be shaken down and aligned and conveyed.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, for small parts such as screws, bushes, chip parts, etc., the upper opening of the chip part loading part is covered with a lid, and a blowout port for blowing air into the part loading part, and air inflow A component supply apparatus provided with a component supply unit into which components are introduced is disclosed. The blowout port is provided on the side surface of the component loading unit, and the cylindrical component supply unit is provided so as to extend in the normal direction of the inner circumferential circle. Further, a gap is provided between the component supply unit and the lid.

  At this time, the pressure in the component loading unit is higher than the atmospheric pressure due to the inflow of air, and flows out from the gap. Preferably, another outlet is provided on the bottom surface of the component loading unit, and the components in the component loading unit are blown up by blowing air from the bottom surface. Thus, the air is supplied from the component supply unit to the outside of the apparatus in the air flow into the gap.

JP-A-9-267912 Japanese Patent No. 4617244

  However, the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is likely to cause entanglement between components in the bowl feeder. For this reason, clogging is likely to occur at the discharge port, and if a large number of parts that cannot be aligned are eliminated due to overlap in the transport path, the parts supply will not be in time. This may be a factor of lowering the operating rate and may reduce productivity.

  On the other hand, the supply device of Patent Document 2 forms an air flow in the component loading unit and supplies the component supply port in a predetermined posture while aligning the components. However, for parts having a head such as a screw, the head is aligned by being adsorbed in a gap and is gradually sent to the supply unit, so that the part shape that can be suitably operated is limited. In addition, since the components are easy to gather on the inner peripheral surface of the component loading part where the air flow is formed and pushed out to the component supply port by air pressure, there is one component that is particularly entangled such as a coil spring. It is difficult to align and supply the separated parts.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has an object to realize a separation / alignment supply device that can easily separate small parts that are likely to be entangled or overlapped, such as coil springs, align them in a correct posture, and supply them quickly. And

The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is an apparatus for separating and aligning small parts,
A container having a parts inlet;
Compressed air supply means for ejecting compressed air into the container and floating small components in the container;
A plurality of entanglement preventing members that float together with the coiled small parts in the container, suppress contact between the small parts and release the entanglement;
A component delivery opening that opens to the upper side wall surface of the container and from which a small floating component is sent out in a horizontal direction in a predetermined posture;
A parts conveyance path following the parts delivery port ;
In the container, having a plate-shaped guide member located on the extension line of the component delivery port and the component conveyance path,
The component delivery port is composed of a cylindrical member whose inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the small component, and the guide member aligns the floated small component in the predetermined posture and guides it to the component delivery port. It is characterized by.

In the invention according to claim 2 of the present invention, the guide member has a horizontal guide groove, the small parts Ru are aligned to the predetermined position along the guide groove.

  In the invention according to claim 3 of the present invention, the compressed air supply means is provided with an air nozzle having an outlet for compressed air at the ceiling of the container, and jets the compressed air toward the bottom of the container.

  In the invention according to claim 4 of the present invention, the entanglement preventing member has a shape without a corner portion and is made of an elastic material.

In the invention according to claim 5 of the present invention, a first assist air supply means for generating suction force by supplying compressed air in the transport direction is provided in the component transport path.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided second assist air supply means for supplying compressed air in a direction opposite to the conveying direction to release clogging of the component delivery port in the component conveying path.

In the invention according to claim 7 of the present invention, the component input port is provided in the ceiling portion of the container so as to be openable and closable, and a temporary storage unit for small components is disposed above the component input port.

In the separation / alignment supply device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the small parts thrown into the parts slot are floated together with the entanglement preventing member by the compressed air injected into the container. The entanglement preventing member suppresses the contact between small parts and releases the entanglement, so that the floated small parts can be sent out to the parts conveyance path in a predetermined posture from the parts delivery opening opened on the upper wall surface of the container. it can. Therefore, even small parts that are easily entangled can be separated one by one and sent to the parts delivery outlet to prevent clogging, so that parts can be supplied efficiently and productivity can be improved.
At this time, if the small component is a coil-shaped member in which a wire is spirally wound, the components are easily entangled with each other, so that the effect of the entanglement preventing member is high.

  In the invention according to claim 3 of the present invention, the jet port of the compressed air supply means is provided in the ceiling of the container, and the compressed air is jetted toward the bottom, so that a small component that tends to accumulate at the bottom rises upward, Alignment can be efficiently performed while preventing entanglement.

  If the entanglement preventing member is made of an elastic material having no corners as in the invention described in claim 4 of the present invention, the small parts are hardly damaged and cracks are hardly generated, so that the durability of the entanglement preventing member is improved. Can be made.

In the invention according to claim 5 of the present invention, since the first assist air supply means is provided in the component conveyance path, the suction force is generated in the conveyance direction, and the small component that has reached the component delivery port is quickly removed. It can be sent to the conveyance path.

In the invention according to claim 6 of the present invention, the second assist air supply means is provided in the parts conveyance path, so that even if clogging occurs at the parts delivery outlet, the small parts can be quickly eliminated with compressed air. it can.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, a small part can be introduced from the temporary storage part by opening a part insertion port provided in the ceiling part of the container. After the loading, by closing the component loading slot, the ceiling surface can be used as a separation plate for collision separation of small components.

It is a front view which shows the whole structure of the separation alignment supply apparatus in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the separation alignment supply apparatus of a 1st embodiment. It is a whole perspective view of the separation alignment supply device of a 1st embodiment. (A), (b) is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the subject by a conventional apparatus. (A), (b) is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the characteristic of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the other example of a shape of the guide member used in this invention.

  Hereinafter, a small component separation and alignment supply apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall cross-sectional view of a separation and alignment supply apparatus 1 according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a plan view thereof. As shown in FIG. 3, the separation / alignment supply apparatus 1 is a separation / alignment unit A that separates and aligns small parts put into the container 2. The separation / alignment supply unit 1 is connected to the upper surface of the container 2 so A component input unit B to be input and a component supply unit C connected to the side surface of the container 2 and transporting small components in the horizontal direction are provided. The small component targeted in the present invention is preferably a coiled member in which a wire is wound in a spiral shape, for example, a coil spring S shown in the figure. Small parts having such a shape tend to be entangled and overlapped, and are required to be aligned while being separated.

  1-3, the container 2 which comprises the separation alignment part A closes both ends of the cylindrical main body 21 with a rectangular plate. Both rectangular plates serving as the ceiling portion 22 and the bottom portion 23 are connected at their four corners by columnar members 24 to sandwich the cylindrical main body 21 and form a space therein. The compressed air supply means 3 is attached to the ceiling portion 22 of the container 2, and an air nozzle 31 having a compressed air ejection port 32 extends through the center of the ceiling portion 22 and extends into the container 2. The air nozzle 3 is held in a cylindrical portion 25 fixed to the lower surface of the ceiling portion 22, extends in the axial direction of the container 2 (up and down direction in FIG. 1), and is a jet of a tip protruding downward from the cylindrical portion 25. The outlet 32 faces the bottom 23 of the container 2. Compressed air is supplied to the air nozzle 3 from an air introduction pipe 33 connected to a compressed air supply unit (not shown) outside the container 2.

  A coil spring S is input from the component input unit B to the separation and alignment unit A. The component input part B has a component input port 4 provided in the ceiling part 22 of the container 2 and a storage cylinder 5 as a temporary storage part located immediately above. As shown in FIG. 2, the component insertion port 4 is a circular hole and is provided so as to be opened and closed by a shutter member 41 that is rotatably attached to the ceiling portion 22. The shutter member 41 has a disc shape and has a circular hole 42 having the same diameter at a position corresponding to the component insertion port 4, and the component insertion port 4 is opened and closed by sliding the lever 43.

  The storage cylinder 5 is a cylindrical body that is open at both ends, and is provided integrally with a rotating body 51 that is arranged so as to partially overlap the ceiling portion 22. As shown in FIG. 2, storage cylinders 5 having the same shape are arranged at four locations on the outer periphery of the rotating body 51, and when the storage cylinder 5 is located immediately above the component insertion opening 4, the component insertion opening 4 is opened. As a result, the coil spring S in the storage cylinder 5 falls into the container 2. The rotating body 51 is supported on a disk 53 fixed to the side surface of the container 2 by a stay 52 and can rotate around a shaft 54 protruding from the center of the disk 53.

  In FIG. 1, a plurality of entanglement preventing members 6 are introduced into a container 2 that becomes the separation and alignment portion A. The entanglement preventing member 6 is made of, for example, a small rubber member formed into a flat cylindrical shape as shown in the figure. At this time, the entanglement preventing member 6 floats together with the coil spring S by the ejection of compressed air, and suppresses contact and excessive approach between the coil springs S. Or it collides with the coil spring S which the entanglement and overlap have arisen, the entanglement of the coil spring S is cancelled | released, and it isolate | separates separately.

  Further, since the shutter member 41 is provided on the ceiling portion 22 of the container 2 and the component insertion port 4 is closed except when the container 2 is inserted, the ceiling portion 22 that closes the upper end of the cylindrical main body 21 is a coil that reaches the ceiling surface. It also functions as a separation plate for loosening the entanglement of the spring S by collision. The details of the entanglement preventing member 6 will be described later.

  Further, a guide member 7 for guiding the separated coil spring S to the component supply unit C is provided on the outer periphery of the upper end of the container 2. The guide member 7 is a horizontally long resin plate-like body, and has a guide groove 71 in which a substantially central portion of the plate surface is cut out in a horizontal direction from the outer peripheral side edge to the inner peripheral side. The guide groove 71 has an elongated shape, the groove width is slightly larger than the diameter of the coil spring S, and the groove length is longer than the entire length of the coil spring S. Thereby, the floating coil spring S can be aligned along the guide groove 71 and sent to the component supply unit C in a predetermined posture while preventing interference with other coil springs S. The guide member 7 is fixed to the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 25 protruding from the lower surface of the ceiling portion 22.

  The component supply unit C has a discharge gate 8 that opens to a side surface near the upper end of the container 2 and serves as a component delivery port, and a component conveyance path 81 that follows the discharge gate 8. The discharge gate 8 is opposed to the guide groove 71 of the guide member 7 and is formed of a cylindrical member whose inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the coil spring S. Thereby, the coil spring S guided by the guide member 7 can be passed through the discharge gate 8 while maintaining the posture. The component conveyance path 81 is formed in the horizontal direction in the block-shaped member 83 fixed to the side surface of the container 2 so as to be substantially the same diameter as the discharge gate 8 and located on the extension line. A supply gate 82 for transferring the coil spring S to the next process is connected to the tip of the component conveyance path 81.

  An assist air passage 84 that introduces compressed air as first assist air supply means and an assist air passage that introduces compressed air as second assist air supply means are provided in the component supply section C in the middle of the component conveyance path 81. 85. The assist air passage 84 is connected to a substantially central portion of the component conveyance path 81 to introduce compressed air, and the coil spring S is connected to the component conveyance path 81 so that the introduced compressed air flows outward. Inclined in the direction of travel and connected. At this time, a suction force is generated in the vicinity of the discharge gate 8 on the upstream side by the air flow from the assist air passage 84 to the outside, and the coil spring S reaching the guide member 7 is easily sent to the component conveyance path 81. Can do.

  The assist air passage 85 is connected to the end of the component conveyance path 81 on the discharge gate 8 side, and is connected to the conveyance path 81 while being inclined in the direction opposite to the traveling direction of the coil spring S. At this time, since the compressed air is introduced toward the discharge gate 8, the coil spring S remaining in the vicinity of the discharge gate 8 without being transferred to the component conveyance path 81 can be eliminated. Therefore, if the coil spring S is not in a predetermined posture or a plurality of coil springs S are entangled, the discharge spring 8 side also blows off the coil spring S near the discharge gate 8 by the assist air passage 85, and is clogged. Can be eliminated.

  An external compressed air supply unit (not shown) is connected to the assist air passage 84 and the assist air passage 85. Further, by alternately introducing the compressed air into the assist air passage 84 and the assist air passage 85, the clogging of the discharge gate 8 can be effectively eliminated during the suction conveyance of the coil spring S.

  The operation of the small component separation and alignment supply apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration will be described. 1 to 3, a predetermined amount of coil spring S is charged from one of the storage cylinders 5 of the component loading unit B into the container 2 serving as the separation and alignment unit A. An appropriate amount of entanglement preventing member 6 is accommodated in the container 2 with respect to the coil spring S. When the compressed air supply means 3 is operated, compressed air is injected from the air nozzle 31 of the ceiling portion 22. Then, the entanglement preventing member 6 rises together with the coil spring S along the air flow and floats in the container 2.

  Here, in the small parts targeted in the present invention, particularly coiled members such as the coil spring S, the entanglement between the members tends to be a problem. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, when another coil spring S comes into contact with the coil spring S that is about to enter the discharge gate 8, the discharge gate 8 is easily tangled and clogged. As described above, it is not easy to separate the coil springs S that have been entangled with each other, and the supply of components is hindered.

  On the other hand, as a general method for separating the parts, as shown in FIG. 4B, it is known that a wall surface such as the ceiling portion 22 of the container 2 is used as a separation plate and the entanglement is eliminated by collision. However, as shown in the figure, when the wire diameter (D) of the coil spring S is small and the coil pitch (P) is larger than the wire diameter (D) (D <P), between the pitches (mountain and mountain) A space for another coil spring S to enter. Since the coil spring S having a large coil pitch (P) is easily entangled, there is a possibility that the entanglement cannot be eliminated even if it collides with the separation plate.

  Therefore, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5A, the chance of contact between the coil springs S is reduced by introducing the entanglement preventing member 6 into the container 2. Moreover, it collides with the coil spring S and releases the entanglement between the coil springs S. That is, since the entanglement preventing member 6 is mixed in the state where the coil spring S at the lower part of the container 2 is forcibly suspended using the air nozzle 31, the entanglement between the coil springs S is less likely to occur. The coil spring S that has been efficiently loosened and sent up can be sent to the discharge gate 8 together with the compressed air.

For this reason, the entanglement preventing member 6 is required to be light enough to float by compressed air and to be able to loosen the entanglement when it collides with the coil spring S. The lighter the entanglement prevention member 6 is, the smaller the work (= mgh) when floating is, but the kinetic energy (= (1/2) mv ² ) of the floating entanglement prevention member 6 is also small. It is good to set it so that it will be heavy.

The shape of the entanglement preventing member 6 is not particularly limited as long as the above effect can be obtained. However, the entanglement preventing member 6 has a rounded shape with no corners so as not to damage the coil spring S. Good. Specifically, it can be a spherical shape as well as a cylindrical shape as shown.
In this case, the diameter of the entanglement preventing member 6 is preferably larger than the diameter (D) and the coil pitch (P) of the coil spring S so as not to enter the coil spring S or between the pitches. Further, the material of the entanglement preventing member 6 is desirably a rubber-based elastic material that is difficult to break because it repeatedly collides with the ceiling portion 22 and the bottom portion 23.

  Further, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5B, a guide member 7 having a guide groove 71 is disposed at a position facing the discharge gate 8, and a plurality of coil springs S are provided in the vicinity of the discharge gate 8. Avoid gathering. In addition, the discharge gate 8 opens on the extension line of the guide groove 71, and the compressed air is introduced into the component conveying path 81 from the assist air passage 84, so that the coil spring is accommodated in the guide groove 71 and aligned in a predetermined posture. S can be quickly sucked from the discharge gate 8 to the component conveyance path 81.

  Further, the coil spring S that is not positioned in the correct posture in the guide groove 71 and cannot enter the discharge gate 8 can be eliminated by the compressed air introduced from the assist air passage 85. As shown in FIG. 6, the guide member 7 ′ is composed of a substantially L-shaped plate, and is arranged so that the long side of the L shape coincides with the upper side of the discharge gate 8 and the component conveyance path 81. You can also. Even in this case, the coil springs S can be aligned in a predetermined posture along the long side of the L shape.

  In the above embodiment, the small component to be separated and aligned according to the present invention is the coil spring S. However, the same effect can be obtained if the coiled member has a shape in which a wire is spirally wound. Furthermore, it is suitable not only for coil-shaped members but also for small parts that tend to be entangled and overlapped. Similarly, by combining entanglement preventing members with compressed air supply means, guide members, etc., quick separation and alignment can be performed. It can be supplied in a predetermined posture. In this case, the guide groove of the guide member can be appropriately changed according to the part shape. Or it is good also as a structure which abbreviate | omits a guide member and sends out directly from a discharge gate.

  By adopting the separation and alignment supply device of the present invention, small parts that tend to be entangled or overlapped can be easily aligned and supplied without causing clogging at the entrance to the conveyance path, etc., enabling efficient parts supply Therefore, it can be used in the manufacturing process of various products and can greatly contribute to the improvement of productivity.

A Separation and alignment unit B Component input unit C Component supply unit S Coil spring (coiled member)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Separation | alignment alignment supply apparatus 2 Container 21 Cylindrical main body 22 Ceiling part 23 Bottom part 3 Compressed air supply part 31 Air nozzle 32 Air outlet (outlet)
4 Component input port 41 Shutter member 42 Circular hole 5 Storage cylinder (temporary storage part)
51 Rotating body 6 Tangle prevention member 7 Guide member 71 Guide groove 8 Discharge gate (component delivery port)
81 Parts conveying path 82 Supply gate 83 Block-shaped member 84 Assist air passage (first assist air supply means)
85 Assist air passage (second assist air supply means)

Claims (7)

A container having a parts inlet;
Compressed air supply means for ejecting compressed air into the container and floating small components in the container;
A plurality of entanglement preventing members that float together with the coiled small parts in the container, suppress contact between the small parts and release the entanglement;
A component delivery opening that opens to the upper side wall surface of the container and from which a small floating component is sent out in a horizontal direction in a predetermined posture;
A parts conveyance path following the parts delivery port ;
In the container, having a plate-shaped guide member located on the extension line of the component delivery port and the component conveyance path,
The component delivery port is composed of a cylindrical member whose inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the small component, and the guide member aligns the floated small component in the predetermined posture and guides it to the component delivery port. A device for separating and aligning and supplying small parts. The guide member has a horizontal guide groove, a small part of the separation aligning and supplying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the small parts along the guide groove Ru are aligned to the predetermined position. The apparatus for separating and aligning and supplying small parts according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the compressed air supply means is provided with an air nozzle having an outlet for compressed air at the ceiling of the container, and jets the compressed air toward the inner bottom of the container. .   The separation / alignment supply device for small parts according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the entanglement preventing member has a shape without a corner portion and is made of an elastic material. 5. The small component separation and alignment supply device according to claim 1, wherein first component air supply means is provided in the component conveyance path to generate a suction force by supplying compressed air in a conveyance direction . 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second assist air supply unit configured to supply compressed air in a direction opposite to a conveying direction to the component conveying path to release clogging of the component delivery port . Equipment for separating and aligning small parts. The separation of small parts according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the component inlet is provided in the ceiling of the container so as to be openable and closable, and a temporary storage part for the small parts is disposed above the part inlet. Alignment supply device.

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