JP7201257B2 - Suction type lifting device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a suction type lifting device, and more particularly to a suction type lifting device in which the position of a suction body can be adjusted according to the size of an object to be conveyed.

When lifting and conveying a plate-shaped article (conveying object) such as a steel plate, a conveying device is used that conveys the conveying object to a predetermined position in a state where the conveying object is attracted by air adsorption or magnetic adsorption. As such a conveying device, for example, a structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-75900) is known.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-75900

In the conveying device disclosed in Patent Document 1, a pad mounting frame to which a suction pad is mounted is composed of a main frame and a telescopic frame so as to be able to stably convey plate materials of various sizes and shapes. It is By extending and contracting the telescopic frame disclosed in Patent Document 1 in the horizontal direction with respect to the main frame, the position of the suction pad (adsorbent) can be adjusted according to the size of the object to be conveyed.

However, in the configuration of the conveying device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the telescopic frame can only move in the horizontal direction of the main frame, so if the size of the object to be conveyed increases both in the vertical and horizontal directions. , there is a problem that the adsorption position of the object to be conveyed by the adsorption body cannot be optimized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has the following objectives. In other words, it is an object of the present invention to provide a suction-type lifting device capable of optimizing the suction position of the suction body according to the size of the object to be conveyed.

As a result of intensive research by the inventors to solve the above problems, the following configuration was conceived. That is, the present invention comprises a base portion, a rotating shaft rotatably supported by the base portion, at least one pinion provided on the rotating shaft with the rotating shaft as the center of rotation, and a rotating shaft with the pinion interposed therebetween. A plurality of pairs of racks arranged in parallel to face each other and formed on opposing surfaces mesh with the pinions and are movable in opposite directions by rotation of the pinions, the pair of racks moving in opposite directions to each other. A rack device that meshes with the pinion at different height positions with respect to the rotation axis, and a guide portion that is provided on the base portion and guides each pair of racks in the rack device to move while maintaining parallelism. , an attracting body attached to each rack of the pair of racks directly or via an arm member to which each rack is fixed; a driving source for rotating the rotating shaft; an attracting body operation control unit for controlling on/off operation of the attracting body , wherein the driving source is human power and can protrude between the inner space of the base part and the outside of the base part; The rotating shaft is rotated by operating an operation lever provided with a rack portion that meshes with a driving pinion provided on the rotating shaft along the projecting/inserting direction with the pinion or the rotating shaft as the center of rotation. By aligning the protruding position of the operating lever from the base portion with a part of the outer peripheral edge position of the fixed-size conveyed object, the position of the attracting body is the optimum suction position to the fixed-sized conveyed object. The number of teeth of the pinion, each rack, the drive pinion and the rack is set so that

As a result, the tip position of each rack or arm member to which the suction part is attached can be radially expanded and contracted from the plane center position of the suction type lifting device, and the operator can move the operation lever to the outer periphery of the object to be conveyed. It is possible to optimize the suction position of the suction body according to the size of the object to be conveyed by simply aligning the positions. In addition, no mechanical power is required, and the amount of expansion and contraction of the rack or arm member from the base portion can be easily finely adjusted.

Further, it is preferable that a stopper for restricting the movement of the rack or the arm member into the inner space of the base portion is arranged at the inner end portion of the guide portion.

As a result, the rack or arm member can be prevented from entering the internal space of the base portion.

Further, it is preferable that an attracting body avoiding portion is formed on the bottom surface of the guide portion so as to open in a required length range from the tip portion toward the base portion.

Thereby, when the rack or arm member is contracted, interference between the guide portion and the attracting body can be prevented, and the length of the rack or arm member can be shortened as much as possible.

Moreover, it is preferable that a second adsorbent is provided at the center portion of the bottom surface of the base portion.

As a result, the object to be conveyed can be conveyed in a more stable state.

By adopting the configuration of the adsorption type lifting device according to the present disclosure, the tip position of each rack or arm member to which the adsorption portion is attached can be radially expanded and contracted from the plane center position of the adsorption type lifting device, and the object to be transported can be transported. The adsorption position of the adsorbent can be optimized according to the size of the object. In addition, no mechanical power is required, and the amount of expansion and contraction of the rack or arm member from the base portion can be easily finely adjusted. The position of the adsorbent can be optimally arranged only by

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the suction-type lifting device according to the present embodiment; FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the inside of the base portion of the suction type lifting device according to the present embodiment; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part taken along line III-III in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part IV in FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing the expansion and contraction operation of the arm member of the suction type lifting device according to the present embodiment; FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the guide portion, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-B in the perspective view. FIG. 4A is a perspective view of an arm member, and a cross-sectional view (B) of an upper rack and a cross-sectional view (C) of a lower rack taken along line VII-B in the perspective view. It is a side view which shows the state (A) which shortened the arm member to the guide part, and the state (B) which extended the arm member from the guide part.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the suction-type lifting device 100 according to the present embodiment includes a base portion 10, a rack device 20 that can be extended from the inner space of the base portion 10 to the outside, and an arm member attached to the rack device 20. 30 , an adsorbent 40 attached to the tip of the arm member 30 , a drive source 50 for the rack device 20 and an adsorbent operation controller 60 . Also, like the base portion 10 in this embodiment, a central attracting body 41 as a second attracting body can be disposed at the center portion of the bottom surface of the base portion 10 .

The base portion 10 in this embodiment is formed in a box shape. Of the side surfaces of the base portion 10 , a pair of first side surfaces 11 facing each other is provided with a guide portion 12 facing outward from the base portion 10 so as to form an approximately X shape in a plan view. Racks 24 and 25 constituting a part of the rack device 20 are attached to the guide portion 12, the racks 24 and 25 are attached to the base end via the rack attachment member 36, and an arm to which the attracting body 40 is attached to the tip portion. A member 30 is inserted therethrough. An operation lever 52 that constitutes a part of the drive source 50 is arranged so as to protrude from the base portion 10 on the second side surface 13 , which is the front side of the side surfaces of the base portion 10 . An operation lever stopper 58 is arranged on the second side surface 13 of the base portion 10 so that the projection length of the operation lever 52 from the base portion 10 can be fixed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rack device 20 in this embodiment includes a rotating shaft 21 rotatably accommodated in the inner space of the base portion 10, and two pinions 22 having the rotating shaft 21 as the center of rotation. , 23 and two pairs of racks 24, 25 meshing with the pinions 22, 23. As shown in FIG. The rotary shaft 21 is rotatably held by a holder 18 attached in a state of being separated from the inner surfaces of the top surface 14 and the bottom surface 16 of the base portion 10 . Pinions 22 and 23 with the rotation shaft 21 as the center of rotation are attached to the rotation shaft 21 in this embodiment at two different height positions.

A drive pinion 56 is attached to the upper end of the rotating shaft 21 in this embodiment. The driving pinion 56 is provided on the operating lever 52 that can be protruded from the inner space of the base portion 10 to a predetermined position on the outside, and is formed along the direction in which the operating lever 52 protrudes and enters. It meshes with 54. The pinions 22, 23 in this embodiment have the same shape with the same diameter and the same number of teeth, but the pinions 22, 23 and the drive pinion 56 have different diameters and the number of teeth.

A pair of racks 24 are disposed on the pinion 22 located on the upper side so as to sandwich the pinion 22 in the radial direction, and the pinion 22 and the rack gear 24A respectively formed on the opposing surfaces of the pair of racks 24 are meshed. . The outer distal end portions of the pair of racks 24 are attached to the base end portions of the arm members 30 by known means such as screwing.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when the drive pinion 56 rotates in the direction of arrow A by the driving force from the drive source 50, the rotating shaft 21 and the pinion 22 rotate in the direction of arrow A and mesh with the pinion 22. A pair of racks 24, which are connected to each other, move in opposite directions as indicated by arrow A. As a result, the arm members 30 attached to the tip portions of the respective racks 24 move along the guide portion 12 in the direction of protruding from the guide portion 12 . Conversely, when the driving pinion 56 rotates in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow A, the rack 24 and the arm member 30 move in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow A and are housed in the guide portion 12 . The operator can determine the position of the adsorbent 40 by adjusting the driving amount of the driving pinion 56 and adjusting the amount of protrusion of the arm member 30 with respect to the base portion 10 .

In this embodiment, the driving source 50 for driving the rack device 20 is human power. That is, the driving pinion 56 is rotated by the operation of the operating lever 52 by the operator, and the driving pinion 56 is rotated by the motor-side pinion (none of which is shown) attached to the output shaft of the electric motor housed in the base portion 10. can also be employed.

A pinion 23 attached to the rotating shaft 21 at a height position different from that of the pinion 22 has the same configuration as the pinion 22 . That is, a pair of racks 25 are meshed with the outer peripheral surface (gear forming surface) of the pinion 23 by a rack gear 25A, and the base end of the arm member 30 is attached to the tip of the rack 25 . When the drive pinion 56 is rotated by the drive source 50 , the pinion 23 rotates and the pair of racks 25 move in opposite directions, thereby moving the arm member 30 along the guide portion 12 . In this embodiment, since the pinions 22 and 23 and the pair of racks 24 and 25 are formed in the same shape, the expansion and contraction movement and the amount of expansion and contraction of the arm member 30 from the guide section 12 due to the rotation of the drive pinion 56 are equal. It's becoming

A line connecting portion 42 is arranged on the upper surface (non-adsorbing surface) of the attracting body 40 arranged at the tip of the arm member 30 . Further, as shown in FIG. 5, an opening 34 is formed in the bottom surface of the tip of the arm member 30 in a predetermined length range from the tip toward the base portion 10 , so that the attracting body 40 can be attached to the arm member 30 . It can be attached to a position more medial than the tip. Also, the line connecting portion 42 can communicate with the internal space of the arm member 30 from the opening portion 34 . Since the adsorbent 40 in this embodiment employs an air adsorption mechanism, the control line 70 is an air tube, and an air tube nipple is formed at the end of the line connecting portion 42 . The other end of the air tube, which is the control line 70 connected to the line connector 42, is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) whose operation is controlled by the adsorbent operation controller 60 that controls the on/off operation of the adsorbent 40. It is

As shown in FIG. 6, the bottom surface of the guide portion 12 through which the arm member 30 is inserted is formed with an opening 12A extending from the distal end of the guide portion 12 toward the base portion 10 over a predetermined length range. The opening 12A is a suction body for preventing interference between the suction body 40 attached to the tip of the arm member 30 and the guide section 12 when the arm member 30 is contracted and accommodated in the guide section 12. It functions as an evasion part. As a result, the attracting body 40 can be moved to a position inside the tip portion of the guide portion 12 .

Further, an arm support 12B for supporting the arm member 30 is attached to the inner surface of the bottom surface and top surface of the guide portion 12 on the side of the base portion 10 with respect to the tip portion thereof. The arm support 12B is formed at a height that abuts on the upper surface and the bottom surface of the arm member 30 inserted through the guide portion 12, supports the sliding movement of the arm member 30 inside the guide portion 12, and supports the arm member 30. The height position of the attracting surface of the attracting body 40 at the tip of the is prevented from lowering. The arm support 12B is preferably made of a material having a low coefficient of friction with respect to the arm member 30. As shown in FIG.

A rack support 12C is attached to the inside of the side surface of the guide portion 12 so as to sandwich the racks 24 and 25 in alignment with the height positions of the racks 24 and 25 . The rack support 12</b>C in this embodiment is formed to have a height that abuts on the side surface of the arm member 30 , but it may have a protrusion height capable of supporting the racks 24 and 25 . The upper rack support 12C of the racks 24 and 25 is arranged in the length direction of the guide portion 12 in a range excluding the arm support 12B, but the lower rack support 12C of the racks 24 and 25 is located above the arm support 12B. It suffices if it is arranged only within the required length range from the arrangement position.

As described above, the racks 24 and 25 are arranged at different heights with respect to the rotary shaft 21, whereas the four arm members 30 are all arranged at the same height. That is, the arrangement height position of the rack mounting member 36 differs between the arm member 30 to which the rack 24 is mounted and the arm member 30 to which the rack 25 is mounted. An arm stopper 12</b>D that restricts the movement of the arm member 30 toward the base portion 10 is provided at the inner end portion of the guide portion 12 (the side end portion of the base portion 10 ). Interference between the base end of the arm member 30 and the rack device 20 is prevented by the arm stopper 12D.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, two support members 32 are provided on the outer surface of the bottom surface and the top surface of the base end portion (the end portion on the side of the base portion 10) of the arm member 30 in this embodiment with a required interval therebetween. are placed in A rack attachment member 36 for attaching the racks 24 and 25 is attached to one side surface of the arm member 30 . As shown in FIG. 8 , the support member 32 abuts on the inner surfaces of the top and bottom surfaces of the guide portion 12 to support movement of the arm member 30 within the guide portion 12 . The support member 32 is preferably made of a material having a small coefficient of friction with respect to the guide portion 12 .

When the arm member 30 is extended outward along the guide portion 12, the support member 32 of the arm member 30 abuts against the arm support 12B disposed at the tip portion of the guide portion 12, thereby extending the guide portion. 12, the arm member 30 is prevented from coming off. This reliably prevents the racks 24 and 25 from falling off the pinions 22 and 23 .

The structure of the adsorption type lifting device 100 according to the present embodiment has been described above. Next, a method of operating the adsorption type lifting device 100 according to this embodiment will be described. The suction type lifting device 100 is connected to a moving mechanism (not shown), and the transfer target object T is lifted by the suction type lifting device 100 and transported to a predetermined position by the moving mechanism.

An operator operates an operation control switch (not shown) disposed on the base portion 10 or electrically connected to the base portion 10 to activate the suction type lifting device 100 . After the movement mechanism (not shown) moves the object to be conveyed T to the stock position by operating the operation control switch, the operator pulls out the operation lever 52 from the base portion 10 and adjusts the attracting body 40 to the planar dimension of the object to be conveyed T. Align together. A mark 52B is attached to the shaft portion 52A of the operating lever 52, indicating the number of teeth of the drive pinion 56 rotated by the operation of the operating lever 52 and the number of teeth of the pinions 22, 23 and the racks 24, 25 of the rack device 20. The position of the mark 52B of the operation lever 52 and the position of the outer peripheral edge of the object T to be conveyed are adjusted in advance. As a result, the position of any one of the marks 52B provided on the operating lever 52 is aligned with the position of the outer peripheral edge of the so-called standard-sized transport object T (fixed-size transport object). By adjusting the amount of protrusion of the operating lever 52 (aligning the protrusion position), the adsorption body 40 can be aligned with the object T to be transported at the optimum adsorption position.

When the operating lever 52 is used to operate the rack device 20 to project the arm member 30 from the base portion 10 (guide portion 12), the arm support 12B and the rack support 12C are used to project the arm member 30 from the base portion 10. A horizontal state can be maintained. In addition, since the arm stopper 12</b>D limits the projection length of the arm member 30 from the base portion 10 , the arm member 30 does not come off from the guide portion 12 . A retaining stopper (not shown) may be provided on the shaft portion 52A of the operating lever 52 instead of the arm stopper 12D. After the position of the operating lever 52 is aligned with the position of the outer peripheral edge of the object to be conveyed T, the amount of protrusion of the operating lever 52 from the base portion 10 is fixed by the operating lever stopper 58 .

Subsequently, the operator operates the operation control switch, and the adsorption body operation control section 60 turns on the adsorption state of the adsorption body 40 in accordance with the operation of the operation control switch. Similarly, the operator operates the operation control switch to operate the moving mechanism, causing the suction body 40 of the suction type lifting device 100 to be attracted to the object T to be conveyed. Subsequently, the operator operates the operation control switch, lifts the transport object T together with the suction type lifting device 100, transports the transport object T to a predetermined position, places the transport object T on the predetermined position, and lifts the suction body 40. The suction is turned off, the suction type lifting device 100 is separated from the transfer target T, and the suction type lifting device 100 is returned to the transfer target T stock position. After returning the suction type lifting device 100 to the stock position of the transfer object T, if the transfer object T needs to be continuously transferred, the processing after the suction of the transfer object T by the suction body 40 is repeated. good. When the size of the object to be transported T is changed, the operation lever stopper 58 is released and the operation lever 52 is operated to change the position of the attracting body 40 .

Although the structure and usage of the adsorption type lifting device 100 according to the present embodiment have been described above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the attraction-type lifting device 100 according to the present embodiment uses the driving source 50 as a human power, and adjusts the amount of protrusion of the operating lever 52 with respect to the base portion 10 to adjust the position of the attraction body 40 according to the size of the object T to be conveyed. Although a form for aligning is described, it is not limited to this form. As a modified example of the embodiment, an electric motor is used as the drive source 50. However, when an electric motor is used as the drive source 50, the output shaft of the electric motor may be used as the rotation shaft 21. can also be adopted. By adopting this form, the configuration of the driving pinion 56 can be omitted.

Also, a stepping motor is employed as the electric motor, and the position of the attracting body 40 is aligned with the predetermined position according to the size of the object T to be conveyed by adjusting the encoder for controlling the operation of the stepping motor. You may

Also, in this embodiment, the two pinions 22 and 23 are provided at different height positions of the rotating shaft 21, but one pinion having a height covering the required height range of the rotating shaft 21 (output shaft of the electric motor) 22, and two pairs of racks 24 and 25 are meshed with the pinion 22 at different height positions.

Also, although the suction type lifting device 100 in this embodiment has a total of four arm members 30 attached to the two pairs of racks 24 and 25, it is not limited to this configuration. By increasing or decreasing the number of pinions attached to the rotating shaft 21, the number of racks and arm members 30 meshed with the pinions can also be increased or decreased. Especially when the number of arm members 30 increases, depending on the ratio of the length dimension of the object to be conveyed T, the number of teeth of a specific pinion is made different from the number of teeth of other pinions, and one rotation of the rotating shaft 21 is performed. It is preferable to adjust the expansion/contraction amount (protrusion/injection amount) of the arm members 30 at the perimeter as appropriate so that each arm member 30 expands/contracts according to the shape of the object T to be conveyed. Alternatively, the configuration of the arm member 30 can be omitted, and the attracting body 40 can be directly attached to the tip portions of the racks 24 and 25 . In this case, of course, the arm stopper 12D becomes a rack stopper.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the configuration employing the air adsorption type adsorption body 40 has been described, but the magnetic adsorption type adsorption body 40 can also be employed. When the magnetic attraction type attraction body 40 is employed, it is preferable to attach a magnetic peeling device (not shown) to the tip of the arm member 30 . When the magnetic attraction type attractor 40 is adopted, the control line 70 becomes a wiring cord. Also, the attracting body operation control unit 60 serves as a magnetic control device for the electromagnet.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a form in which a mark 52B is attached to the shaft portion 52A of the operation lever 52 as means for optimally positioning the attracting body 40 with respect to the transport object T of a fixed size has been described, but the present invention is limited to this form. not a thing The position of the attracting body 40 with respect to the object T to be conveyed is optimized by aligning the position at which the gripping portion (tip portion) 52C of the operating lever 52 is pulled out from the base portion 10 to coincide with the outer peripheral edge of the object T to be conveyed in a standard size. A form can also be adopted. Any part of the operation lever 52 may serve as a mark for optimizing the position of the attracting body 40 with respect to the object T to be conveyed.

In addition to the modified examples described above, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the modified examples and the like described in the embodiments are appropriately combined.

10 base,
11 first side surface, 12 guide portion, 12A opening portion, 12B arm support,
12C rack support, 12D arm stopper, 13 second side surface, 14 top surface,
16 bottom surface, 18 holder,
20 rack equipment,
21 rotating shaft, 22 pinion, 23 pinion, 24 rack, 25 rack,
24A rack gear, 25A rack gear,
30 arm member, 32 support member, 34 opening, 36 rack mounting member,
40 adsorbent,
41 central adsorbent (second adsorbent), 42 line connecting part,
50 drive source,
52 operation lever, 52A shaft portion, 52B mark, 52C grip portion (tip portion),
54 rack portion, 56 drive pinion,
58 stopper for operating lever,
60 adsorbent operation control unit,
70 control line,
100 adsorption type lifting device,
T Object to be conveyed

Claims (4)

a base;
a rotating shaft rotatably supported by the base;
at least one pinion provided on the rotating shaft with the rotating shaft as the center of rotation;
a plurality of pairs of racks arranged in parallel with each other across the pinion, rack gears formed on the opposing surfaces meshing with the pinion, and being movable in opposite directions by rotation of the pinion; a rack device in which a pair of racks mesh with the pinion at different height positions with respect to the rotating shaft;
a guide portion provided on the base portion for guiding each pair of racks in the rack device to move while maintaining parallelism;
an adsorbent attached to each rack of the pair of racks directly or via an arm member to which each rack is fixed;
a driving source that rotationally drives the rotating shaft;
an adsorbent operation control unit that is housed in the base and controls the on/off operation of the adsorbent ;
The driving source is human power, and can protrude between the inner space of the base portion and the outside of the base portion, and rotates about the pinion or the rotating shaft along the protruding direction. The rotary shaft is rotated by operating an operation lever provided with a rack portion that meshes with a driving pinion provided on the rotary shaft,
By aligning the protruding position of the operating lever from the base portion with a part of the outer peripheral edge position of the fixed-size conveyed object, the position of the attracting body becomes the optimum suction position to the fixed-sized conveyed object. , wherein the numbers of teeth of the pinion, the racks, the driving pinion and the rack are set as follows . 2. The suction type lifting device according to claim 1, wherein a stopper is provided at an inner end of said guide portion for restricting movement of each of said racks or said arm member into said inner space of said base portion. . 3. The suction type lifting device according to claim 1, wherein a bottom surface of said guide portion is formed with a suction body avoiding portion which opens in a predetermined length range from a tip portion toward said base portion. 4. The suction lifting device according to claim 1, wherein a second suction body is provided at the central portion of the bottom surface of said base portion .

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