JP6659947B2 - Parts feeder - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a parts feeder for transporting a plurality of works of a specific form on a transport path in a predetermined posture.

  Conventionally, a storage section for storing a work to be supplied, such as electronic components, and a transport path communicating from the storage section to a supply destination are provided. There has been known a parts feeder that conveys a sheet while aligning it in a line on a conveying path by using the means described above, and supplying it to a downstream supply destination (for example, see Patent Document 1). As described in Patent Document 1, the transport path generally intersects with a planar transport surface that is continuous in the transport direction so as to be substantially orthogonal to the transport surface, and performs lateral positioning. It is often formed in a substantially V-shaped cross section by the side wall.

  A variety of workpieces can be supplied using such a part feeder, but many of them are arranged so that all the workpieces are oriented in the same direction while transporting the workpieces along the transport path. I do. As a driving source for performing such a posture change of the work, for example, when pressure air is used, air is blown from an appropriate direction from an air ejection portion according to the posture of the work which has reached a predetermined position. The work is rotated by ejecting it.

JP 2013-173611 A

  However, the plurality of works conveyed on the conveyance path are not always delivered at intervals between other works on the conveyance path. That is, if there is another work without a gap on the downstream side of the work at the location where the work is rotated, the work on the downstream side may remain within the rotation radius of the work to be rotated. In such a case, since the downstream work remaining within the radius of rotation comes into contact with the rotating work, a problem may occur that the rotating work returns to the original posture without being completely rotated.

  An object of the present invention is to effectively solve such a problem, and more specifically, to provide a parts feeder with high supply efficiency, which can stably align workpieces in a forward direction. And

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems and has taken the following measures.

  That is, the parts feeder according to the present invention is configured such that a bottom surface having a polygonal shape in a plan view is in contact with a side wall of the conveyance path and an edge rising continuously to the bottom surface is conveyed on the conveyance path in a preparatory posture in which the end side is in contact with the bottom wall of the conveyance path. The work to be performed is in a normal posture in which a predetermined first end of the end sides is in contact with the bottom wall of the transport path, or in a wrong posture in which a second end adjacent to the first end is in contact. A posture determining unit that determines whether there is a work, an external force applying unit that applies an external force for changing the posture of the work to the normal posture when the work is in the erroneous posture, and An evacuation section which is retracted by a certain dimension downward from the rear end of the bottom wall so that a part of the second end side of the work on the downstream side in the transport direction is released downward when an external force is applied to the work; The bottom wall is provided at the downstream side of the retracting section in the transport direction. Characterized by comprising a lower portion bottom wall that grounds the first end side of the workpiece which is rotated around the rear end of Luo predetermined size lower position to located the bottom wall.

  In such a case, when the posture of the work is changed, the rotation center of the work is not at the corner between the edges of the work but at the intermediate portion of the second end, so that the rotation radius of the work is reduced. Can be smaller. As a result, it is possible to effectively suppress the problem of interfering with another adjacent work. That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a parts feeder that can stably align works in the forward direction and has high supply efficiency.

  Then, in order to more reliably change the posture of the work, it is preferable that the external force applying unit is provided on the bottom wall at a position close to the retracting unit and injects air upward.

  Further, in order to make the posture change of the work more space-saving, the work has a square shape in a plan view and the work is changed by 90 ° posture. It is desirable that the rear end of the bottom wall be in contact with the intermediate point of the second end side when an external force is applied.

  Furthermore, although there are many works in the normal position that do not need to be changed in posture depending on the direction of the work, in order to prevent the above-described retracting unit from interfering with the transfer of the work in the normal position, the transfer of the retracting unit is performed. It is desirable that the dimension in the direction be smaller than half the dimension of the end side.

  In addition, in order to prevent the height difference between the bottom wall and the lower bottom wall from hindering the transfer of a work in a normal posture that does not require a change in posture, the height between the bottom wall and the lower bottom wall is required. It is preferable to make the difference smaller than half the size of the edge.

  In particular, in order to effectively avoid the problem that the work whose posture is to be changed comes into contact with the front and rear adjacent works, a space providing means for providing a space between a plurality of works conveyed on the conveyance path is provided. It is desirable.

  In addition, in order to be able to perform a stable posture change without being affected by the work that is separated back and forth, the distance between the works provided by the space providing means is set to a dimension of half or more of the outer shape of the work. Is preferred.

  And as an example which can form the space | interval between adjacent workpiece | work suitably, it is preferable to provide the space | interval setting means with the suction part provided in the predetermined position of the side wall on a bottom wall and suctioning the bottom surface of a work. .

  Further, in order to more reliably perform the operation of the above-described posture determination unit, it is preferable that the posture determination unit be a sensor that detects an electrode provided on the bottom surface of the work.

  According to the present invention described above, it is possible to stably align workpieces in the forward direction to increase supply efficiency, and to provide a parts feeder with high supply efficiency.

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a parts feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a work according to the same embodiment. The external view which expands and shows the A section concerning the same embodiment. Operation | movement explanatory drawing which concerns on the same embodiment. Same as above.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the parts feeder according to this embodiment forms a transport path 3 for transporting a work W with respect to a bowl 1 serving as a main body. At the end of the running path 32, a pair of posture conversion devices 5 for converting the posture of the work W in plan view, and exclusion of inspecting the posture of the work W and excluding those not in a desired posture from the transport path 3 Section E is provided. In FIG. 3 and FIG. 3, the direction in which the work W is transported is schematically indicated by bold arrows.

  The bowl 1 is formed in a substantially circular mortar shape in plan view. The bowl 1 is vibrated while being supported by a vibration unit (not shown). The vibrating section is configured to generate vibration including a vertical component and a torsional component in the bowl 1. The work W is conveyed by controlling this vibration.

  The bowl 1 has a storage portion 2 as an unprocessed area into which a workpiece W to be supplied is supplied from a hopper H indicated by an imaginary line in the drawing, and a spiral shape from the storage portion 2 toward the outer periphery. And a transport path 3 for transporting the work W. The downstream side of the transport path 3 is connected to a straight chute R shown by an imaginary line. In the present embodiment, the surface of the storage unit 2 is an unprocessed surface 20 that does not perform any processing such as changing the direction of the work W.

  The transport path 3 is formed by forming a substantially V-shaped cross section provided at a predetermined angle from the horizontal plane. With such a cross-sectional shape, the work W is spirally viewed in plan while being supported by the transport path 3. And it is conveyed gradually upward.

  Here, FIG. 2 shows a work W to be supplied by the parts feeder in the present embodiment. 2A, 2B, and 2C show an external view, a plan view, and a bottom view of the work W, respectively. The work W is handled as one component of an LED unit for forming an optical machine component such as lighting equipment, for example, and has a substantially square plate-like substrate W1 in plan view and a central portion in plan view of the substrate W1. And a lens portion W2 bulged so as to form a spherical surface. The substrate W1 has a bottom surface W3 which is most stable when installed, and a first end which is adjusted so as to face in the up-down direction when supplying to the chute R among four end surfaces which are continuously rising to the bottom surface W3. It has an upper and lower surface W4 as a side, and a front and rear surface W5 as a second end side adjusted to face in the front and rear direction. A pair of substantially rectangular electrodes W7 are provided and exposed on the bottom surface W3, and a gap W8 is formed between the electrodes W7. As described above, when the workpiece W is transported to the chute R by the positions of the electrode W7 and the gap W8, the upper and lower faces W4 facing vertically and the front and rear faces W5 facing forward and backward along the transport direction can be distinguished from each other. Is formed. The surface of the lens portion W2 on the side in plan view is the surface to be protected W6 which needs the most protection during transportation in the present embodiment. The lens W9 formed at the center of the protection-required surface W6 has a higher coefficient of friction than that of the substrate W1 and must maintain high translucency. Up to R, it is required to move as much as possible without touching other objects.

  In the present embodiment, a state where the bottom surface W3 of the work W is in contact with the main side wall 32b of the main running path 32 as described above is defined as a preparation posture (N). In the preparation posture (N), the posture in which the upper and lower surfaces W4 are oriented in the vertical direction is defined as the normal posture (X), and the posture in which the upper and lower surfaces W4 are oriented in the front and rear direction and the posture in which the front and rear surface W5 is oriented in the vertical direction are erroneous postures. (Y).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, due to the shape of the work W, the work W is less likely to overlap or be arranged side by side as compared with the work W or the like having a substantially plate shape. For this reason, in the parts feeder according to the present embodiment, the mechanism for reducing the overlap and the parallel arrangement is omitted, but of course, it does not prevent the provision of these various mechanisms separately.

In the present embodiment, when the workpiece W is transported to the attitude conversion device 5, at least the bottom surface of the workpiece W is provided on the inwardly facing wall of the transport path 3 so that the attitude conversion device 5 can function normally. It is premised that the preparation posture (N) is in contact with W3. For this purpose, the parts feeder is configured such that the transport path 3 includes a front running path 31 where the workpiece W is first transported from the unprocessed surface 20, such that the attitude of the workpiece W is regulated to the preparation attitude (N) and aligned. A main path 32 for transporting a workpiece W in the preparation posture (N) following the previous path 31 to the chute R, and a part of the workpiece W interposed between the main path 32 and the unprocessed surface 20 to re-transform the unprocessed surface 20 And a return runway 33 for returning to

  The front running path 31 is provided so as to go around the outside of the outer edge of the storage unit 2 so as to guide the work W upward gradually while transporting the work W directly from the unprocessed surface 20 of the storage unit 2. . The front running path 31 has a substantially V-shape.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the main runway 32 includes a main side wall 32b that comes into contact when the bottom surface W3 of the work W dropped from the previous runway 31 is in the preparation posture (N) to be conveyed to the chute R, and a bottom surface W3. Has a main bottom wall 32a whose posture is changed when a workpiece W in an incorrect posture that does not contact any surface falls from the front running path 31 and the bottom surface W3 contacts.

  The return runway 33 is a guide surface that guides the workpiece W from the main runway 32 to the storage unit 2 that is not in the preparatory posture (N) although the bottom surface W3 is in contact with the main bottom wall 32a but the bottom surface W3 is in contact with the ground. Have

  When the work W in the wrong posture (Q) is conveyed, the posture conversion device 5 sets the upper and lower surfaces W4 and the front and rear surfaces W5 to correspond to the normal posture (P) correctly in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction with respect to the conveyance direction. It is for. The attitude conversion device 5 constitutes a part of a parts feeder, and when the work W is conveyed from the main running path 32 onto the bottom wall 51a of the continuous conveyance path 51, an external force is applied to the work W by the air ejection unit 53. To change the posture from the wrong posture (Q) to the normal posture (P).

  That is, the posture conversion device 5 provided in the parts feeder according to the present embodiment is configured such that the work W conveyed on the conveyance path 51 in the preparation posture (N) is in the normal posture (P) or in the wrong posture (Q). A selection sensor 52 serving as a posture determination unit for determining whether the work W is present, and an external force application unit for applying an external force for changing the posture of the work W to the normal posture (P) when the work W is in the wrong posture (Q). The barrel air ejection portion 53 and a part of the front and rear surfaces W5, which are second end sides, of the work W on the downstream side in the transport direction are released downward when an external force is applied to the work W by the air ejection portion 53. A retracting portion 54 which is retracted downward from the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a by a predetermined distance, and a rear end 51c which is located at a position lower than the bottom wall 51a by a predetermined distance on the downstream side in the transport direction of the retracting portion 54 and centered on the rear end 51c. Work rotated as Characterized by comprising a lower portion bottom wall 55 that grounds the first end side serving as the upper and lower surfaces W4 of.

  Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the posture conversion device 5 which is a main part of the parts feeder of the present embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, two unit-shaped posture changing devices 5 are mounted in a space formed by cutting a part of the bowl 1 so as to cross the main runway 32. Of course, another unit for performing different processing on the work W can be arranged in the space.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and in detail in FIG. 3, the posture changing device 5 is provided on a transfer path 51 for transferring the work W continuously to the main running path 32 and provided in the middle of the transfer path 51. A sorting sensor 52, an air ejection portion 53 for blowing air from below to the work W, a retracting portion 54 provided by cutting the transport path 51 into a U-shape, and A lower bottom wall 55 configured to be one step lower, a synchronization sensor 56 for sensing when the work W passes near the retraction unit 54, and an upstream of the work W when the synchronization sensor 56 detects the work W And a suction unit 57 for temporarily stopping the conveyance of the workpiece W on the side, that is, the rear side in the conveyance direction. That is, in the present embodiment, the synchronization sensor 56 and the suction unit 57 constitute an interval providing unit.

  The transport path 51 is formed so as to be continuous from the main runway 32, and is formed so that the workpiece W transported on the main runway 32 is smoothly transported as it is. The transport path 51 has a bottom wall 51a continuous with the main bottom wall 32a of the main running path 32 and a side wall 51b formed so as to be flush with the main side wall 32b.

  The selection sensor 52 can function as a posture determination unit, and detects an electrode W7 provided on the bottom surface W1 of the work W. The selection sensor 52 is provided such that a detection portion is exposed on the side wall 51b slightly above the location where the retreat portion 54 is provided. The height from the bottom wall 51a on which the sorting sensor 52 is provided is about half the length of one side of the work W. Thus, in the work W approaching the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a in the normal posture (P), the gap W8 between the electrodes W7 passes through the detection portion, and no signal is transmitted. Then, since the electrode W7 passes through the detection portion for the workpiece W approaching the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a in the wrong posture (Q), the control section (not shown) activates the air ejection section 53. Signal that triggers the operation. As the selection sensor 52, an existing one can be appropriately applied as long as it is for detecting the metal electrode W7, and the description of the specific configuration is omitted.

  The air ejection portion 53 functions as an external force applying portion, and in this embodiment, is provided such that a portion for ejecting air slightly upstream from the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a is exposed. The air jetting section 53 is provided on the bottom wall 51a located in the vicinity of the retracting section 54 in accordance with a signal transmitted from the sorting sensor 52, and jets air upward. When air is jetted from the air jetting portion 53, the workpiece W approaches the retracting portion 54 in a normal operation, specifically, the work W whose center of the upper and lower surfaces W4 approaches the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a. An external force in a direction of lifting from below is applied, and an external force for rotating the work W by 90 ° counterclockwise in the drawing is applied. The specific mode such as the amount and time of air jetted by the air jetting section 53 can be appropriately set according to the size and weight of the work W, and thus a specific description is omitted.

  The retracting portion 54 is provided to be recessed downward in a substantially U-shape with a certain width dimension downstream from the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a in order to change the posture of the work W by 90 °. When the external force is applied to the workpiece W by the external force applying unit, the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a is in contact with an intermediate point between the front and rear surfaces W5. The retracting portion 54 functions as an “operating margin” when the work W approaching the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a is rotated by the ejection of air as a trigger to change the posture, and is in the normal posture (P). The width and depth are set so that the work W is not interfered with as it is. That is, the dimension of the retracting section 54 in the transport direction is set to be smaller than half the dimension of the end side.

  The lower bottom wall 55 is provided so that a step is formed with respect to the bottom wall 51a via the shunting portion 54, and the upper and lower surfaces W4 of the work W passing through the shunting portion 54 determine whether the posture has changed. Regardless, it is set so that you can land stably. That is, the height difference between the bottom wall 51a and the lower bottom wall 55 is set to be smaller than one side of the work W, that is, half the size of the upper and lower surfaces W4 or the front and rear surfaces W5 which are the end sides.

  The synchronization sensor 56 constitutes an interval providing unit for giving an interval between a plurality of works W conveyed on the conveying path 51. In this embodiment, the synchronization sensor 56 is provided such that a detection portion is exposed at a base end portion of the side wall 51b slightly upstream of the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a. The synchronous sensor 56 detects the work W at a timing earlier than the detection by the selection sensor 52, and issues a signal serving as a trigger for operating the suction unit 57 regardless of whether the posture of the work W is correct or not. As a result, the work W conveyed in the normal posture (P) has an interval that is approximately half the size of the work W larger than other works W conveyed adjacent to the rear side in the traveling direction of the work W. As a result, even if the posture of the work W conveyed in the wrong posture (Q) changes, the work W in the wrong posture (Q) is already formed with an interval with respect to the other works W on the front side in the traveling direction. Therefore, there is no interference with the other work W.

  The suction unit 57 can suppress conveyance for a certain time by sucking the bottom surface W1 of the work W toward the side wall 51b. In the present embodiment, the bottom wall 51a is separated from the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a by a predetermined distance of at least one to two from the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a such that the interval between the works W is equal to or more than half the outer shape of the work W. It is positioned on the upper side wall 51b. Thereby, when the synchronous sensor 56 detects the work W, when the work W on the rear side in the traveling direction is in contact with or close to the work W, the work W on the rear side is compared with the other work W that is not sucked. The conveyance is suppressed for a time during which a dimensional difference of half of W itself can occur.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, most of the work W which has been set in the preparation posture (N) in advance is the normal posture (P) or the wrong posture (Q). Can pass through the posture conversion device 5 in a state where the posture becomes the normal posture (P). The parts feeder is equipped with two attitude conversion devices 5 in the traveling direction. Therefore, it is rare that the workpiece W that has passed through these two attitude conversion devices 5 has an attitude other than the normal attitude (P). However, such a configuration does not deny the installation of special means for dropping the work W into the storage unit 2 when the work W that has passed through the two posture conversion devices 5 is not in the normal posture (P).

  In FIG. 4, the work W conveyed in the normal posture (P) is provided with a dimensional interval of about half of the work W itself in the normal posture (P) with respect to the work W on the front side in the traveling direction by the posture changing device 5. 2 shows a state in which the sheet is conveyed in a state where it is held.

  When the work W conveyed from the main runway 32 approaches the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a as shown in FIG. 7A, the synchronous sensor 56 detects the work W. Then, the suction unit 57 is operated by the detection. By the operation of the suction unit 57, when another work W is in contact with or very close to the detected work W, the bottom surface W1 of the other work W is sucked by the suction unit 57 to the side wall 51b, and the other work W is fixed. Time transfer is suppressed. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the other work W whose conveyance is suppressed has at least a half or more of the size of the work W itself at this time between the work W detected by the synchronization sensor 56. An interval is formed.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9A, the two workpieces W are in contact with each other at the time of detection by the synchronous sensor 56. The work W detected by 56 reaches the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a and is conveyed to a position where it can be detected by the sorting sensor 52. In the figure, even if the workpiece W in the normal posture (P) approaches the sorting sensor 52, the sorting sensor 52 comes closest to the gap W8 between the electrodes W7 and does not detect the electrode W7.

  Thereafter, the work W in the normal posture (P) approaching the sorting sensor 52 is transported so as to pass through the retraction unit 54. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3C, the work W in the normal posture (P) starts the tilting operation with the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a as a fulcrum. However, as shown in FIG. 3C, even if the work W passing through the retracting portion 54 tilts, a part of the work W does not enter the retracting portion 54, and the tips of the upper and lower surfaces W4 are indicated by imaginary lines in FIG. At the lower bottom wall 55 as it is. This is because the width of the retracting portion 54 is less than half the size of the work W, and the step of the lower bottom wall 55 with respect to the bottom wall 51a is less than half the size of the work W. Then, as shown in FIG. 5D, the upper and lower surfaces W4 of the work W are grounded to the lower bottom wall 55 in the normal posture (P). Thereafter, the work W passes through the posture changing device 5 in the normal posture (P).

  Here, FIG. 5 shows the behavior when the workpiece W is in the wrong posture (Q). That is, FIG. 2 shows a mode in which the work W in the wrong posture (Q) changes the posture without any interference with the adjacent work W.

  First, the synchronization sensor 56 and the suction unit 57 operate regardless of the posture of the work W, and play a role as an interval setting unit. That is, when the work W conveyed from the main runway 32 approaches the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a near the rear end 51c, the synchronous sensor 56 detects the work W as shown in FIG. Then, the suction unit 57 is operated by the detection. By the operation of the suction unit 57, when another work W is in contact with or very close to the detected work W, the bottom surface W1 of the other work W is sucked by the suction unit 57 to the side wall 51b, and the other work W is fixed. Time transfer is suppressed. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the other work W whose conveyance is suppressed has at least a half or more of the size of the work W itself at this time between the work W detected by the synchronization sensor 56. An interval is formed.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9A, the two workpieces W are in contact with each other at the time of detection by the synchronous sensor 56. The work W detected by 56 reaches the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a and is conveyed to a position where it can be detected by the sorting sensor 52. The above operation is the same as in FIG.

  When the work W in the wrong posture (Q) approaches the selection sensor 52 as shown in FIG. 3C, the selection sensor 52 detects the electrode W7 exposed from the bottom surface W1 of the work W.

  Then, when the selection sensor 52 detects the electrode W7, the air is jetted upward from the air jet without leaving a substantial time interval. Then, as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. 3C, the front and rear surfaces W5 of the work W are lifted upward by blowing air from below. At this time, the posture of the work W is changed while a part of the work W enters the retreating part 54 with the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a as a fulcrum. The change in the posture is a rotation operation centered on the approximate center of the front and rear surfaces W5 of the work W. In other words, the rear end of the bottom wall is in contact with the middle point of the front / rear surface W5, which is the second end, when the work is applied with the external force by the air ejecting portion 53 as the external force applying portion.

  The work W whose posture is to be changed continues to rotate by increasing the rotation angle by the height difference provided between the bottom wall 51a and the lower bottom wall 55. As a result, a part of the work W that has not been completely rotated by 90 ° contacts the lower bottom wall 55.

  As shown in FIG. 4D, the work W in contact with the lower bottom wall 55 partially enters the retraction unit 54, but the width of the retraction unit 54 is smaller than half the width of the work W. Therefore, the rotation of the work W is not hindered by the weight of the intruded portion, and the work W continues to rotate by its own weight, and after rotating 90 ° as shown in FIG. After landing on the bottom wall 55, the posture change from the wrong posture (Q) to the normal posture (P) is completed. At this time, the work W whose posture has been changed advances further forward due to the rolling operation, and the work W is provided with an interval with respect to the adjacent work W by the interval setting means shown in FIGS. ing. Therefore, the work W whose posture has been changed does not interfere with the work W on the front side in the traveling direction, or the posture change of rotating the work W by 90 ° on the front side in the traveling direction is not hindered.

  As described above, the parts feeder according to the present embodiment includes the retracting portion 54 that allows a part of the work W to enter below the bottom wall 51a when the work W rotates by 90 °, and a position lower by a predetermined dimension from the bottom wall 51a. And a lower bottom wall 55 for positioning the upper and lower surfaces W4 of the work W which is positioned and rotated about the rear end 51c of the bottom wall 51a as a center.

  With this configuration, when the posture of the work W is changed, the rotation center of the work W does not become a corner portion between the edges of the work W but becomes an intermediate portion between the front and rear surfaces W5. Has a small turning radius. As a result, the problem of interference with another adjacent work W is effectively suppressed. That is, according to the present embodiment, a parts feeder with high supply efficiency, which can stably align the workpiece W in the normal direction, that is, the normal posture (P), is realized.

  In the present embodiment, since the external force applying unit is the air ejecting unit 53 that ejects air upward and downward from the bottom wall 51a, the posture of the work W can be more reliably changed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a more compact posture change is realized by setting the rotation center of the work W to be substantially intermediate between the front and rear surfaces W5.

  Further, in the present embodiment, by setting the dimension of the work W in the transport direction of the retraction unit 54 to be equal to or less than half the size of the work W in the normal posture (P) by the retraction unit 54, it is possible to effectively avoid unnecessary operation. are doing.

  In addition, by making the height difference between the bottom wall 51a and the lower bottom wall 55 smaller than half the dimension of the end side, the work W excessively rotates when the posture is changed, and the work in the normal posture (P). Unnecessarily operating W is effectively avoided.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, the work W whose posture is to be changed comes into contact with another adjacent work W by providing a space providing means for providing a space between the plurality of works W transferred on the transfer path 51. This effectively avoids the inconvenience.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, by setting the distance between the works W provided by the space providing means to be at least half the size of the outer shape of the work W, a stable posture change without interfering with the front and rear works W can be achieved. Has been realized.

  In the present embodiment, the suction unit 57 is provided at a predetermined position on the side wall 51b on the bottom wall 51a and suctions the bottom surface W1 of the work W, so that the transfer of the work W itself is used while having a simple configuration. And more reliable operation.

  In this embodiment, the posture of the work W is determined by the selection sensor 52 that detects the electrode W7 provided on the bottom surface W1 of the work W, thereby realizing a more reliable posture determination with a simple configuration. are doing.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the structure of the said Embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the posture conversion device is provided on the conveyance path that conveys the work while curving the work so as to draw an arc in plan view. Needless to say, the posture conversion device is converted to a chute that conveys the work linearly in plan view. A device may be provided.

  Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the external force applying unit is an air ejecting unit that ejects air to the work. Needless to say, a means for sucking the work facing the retracting unit may be applied, or a magnetic force or air that directly touches the work may be used. An external force other than the operation may be used. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the sensor for determining the posture of the work and the sensor for providing a gap between the adjacent works are independent sensors, but, of course, a single sensor that can exert these two actions together is used. May be applied.

  Other configurations can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

5 posture conversion device 51 conveyance path 51a bottom wall 51c rear end 52 posture discrimination unit (selection sensor)
53 ... external force applying part (air ejection part)
54 shunting part 55 low bottom wall W work W4 first end (upper and lower surfaces)
W5: Second end (front and rear surfaces)
N: preparation posture P: normal posture Q: wrong posture

Claims (7)

A work conveyed on the conveyance path in a preparatory posture in which a bottom surface forming a polygonal shape in a plan view is in contact with a side wall of the conveyance path and a rising edge continuously rising to the bottom surface is in contact with a bottom wall of the conveyance path is one of the edges. A posture determining unit that determines whether the predetermined first end is in the normal posture in contact with the bottom wall of the transport path or the second end adjacent to the first end is in the wrong posture in contact with the second end; ,
When the work is in the wrong posture, an external force applying unit that applies an external force for changing the posture of the work to the normal posture,
When the external force is applied to the work by the external force applying portion, a part of the second end of the work on the downstream side in the transport direction is released downward by a predetermined distance from the rear end of the bottom wall so as to be released downward. Evacuation unit,
A lower bottom wall that is located at a position lower than the bottom wall by a predetermined dimension on the downstream side in the transport direction of the retraction unit and that grounds the first end of the work rotated around the rear end of the bottom wall. A parts feeder characterized by the following. 2. The parts feeder according to claim 1, wherein the external force applying unit is provided on the bottom wall at a position close to the retraction unit and injects air upward. 3. The work has a square shape in a plan view, and is for changing the posture of the work by 90 °. When the work is applied with an external force by the external force applying unit, the rear end of the bottom wall is the second end. 3. The parts feeder according to claim 1, wherein the parts feeder is in contact with a middle point of the end side. 4. The parts feeder according to claim 3, wherein a dimension of the retraction unit in a transport direction is smaller than a half dimension of the end side. 5. The parts feeder according to claim 3, wherein a height difference between the bottom wall and the lower bottom wall is smaller than a half dimension of the end side. The parts feeder according to any one of claims 3 to 5, further comprising an interval providing unit for providing an interval between the plurality of works conveyed on the conveyance path. 7. The distance between the works is set to be at least half the size of the outer shape of the works.
Parts feeder.

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