JPH01115540A - Article transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To interchange articles on a seating section at the same time for improving the efficiency of transfer by providing a clamp members on both ends of a swivel arm supported by a support shaft provided to bisect an angular position in a plane including two article seating sections crossing each other with a specified angle. CONSTITUTION:When pressurized oil reaches the rear of a cylinder 19, a working rod 17 is pushed up, grippers 12a, 12b become parallel to seating planes of a tool pot 5 and tool holding section 4 respectively, the pressurized oil is supplied to a cylinder 26, a cam 25 is lifted, rollers 23a, 23b abut against the cam 25 and the grippers 12a, 12b clamp tools 6, 3. Next, the pressurized oil is supplied to the upper portion of a piston 19a to withdraw the working rod 17 so that the rollers 23a, 23b move axially along the curve of cam 25 and the grippers 12a, 12b move vertically until the tools are withdrawn and then swing to be parallel to a support shaft 9. An arm 10 is turned 180 deg. by an actuator 11 and the pressurized oil lifts again the piston 19a so that the rollers 23a, 23b ride on the cam 25 and tools 3, 6 are attached respectively to a tool pot 5 and a holding member 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an article transfer device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an article transfer device that simultaneously exchanges articles on two article seating portions located on seating planes that intersect at a specific angular position.

[Conventional technology] The technical field related to logistics has recently expanded to a wide range of areas, and the types of goods being transported have become more diverse. Due to demands such as increasingly complex shapes and space saving, the seating areas on which goods are attached are no longer limited to horizontal surfaces. , often installed at a specific angular position. When exchanging the articles attached at these specific angular positions with the articles on the cart or the article stand in the pond, this is done manually or by using a conveyance device such as a general-purpose robot.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the case of heavy items that require manual replacement, or in the case of long-time transportation work even for lightweight items, transportation becomes unstable due to fatigue, which poses a safety problem. Also,
Transport devices such as robots are expensive and uneconomical, and although these transport operations have their own drive sources, they operate sequentially, which is time consuming and inefficient, hindering productivity. .

An object of the present invention is to simultaneously replace the articles on the seating sections when the article seating sections are in two planes that intersect with each other at specific angular positions, thereby shortening the article transfer time and improving conveyance efficiency. The object of the present invention is to provide an article transfer device that makes it possible to transfer goods.

[Means for solving problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following measures.

Two article seating sections provided on seating planes intersecting each other at specific angular positions, and an article transfer device provided between the seating sections for simultaneously exchanging articles on each article seating section. a base provided between the article seating parts;
a support shaft provided on the base at an intermediate angular position that bisects the angular position in a plane including the two article seating portions; and a pivot arm pivotally supported to be pivotable about the support shaft; an article gripping member provided at both ends of the swing arm so as to be able to swing within the plane and move back and forth parallel to the seating plane; swing means for swinging the gripping member within the plane; The article gripping member is provided to be movable in the axial direction, and by this axial movement, the article gripping member moves forward and backward toward the article in parallel to the seating plane including the article seating section, and when attaching or removing the article, the article gripping member The article transfer device is characterized in that the gripping member includes a cam member formed with a cam surface that provides linear movement perpendicular to the seating plane in the vicinity, and each of the parts is replaced at the same time.

[Function] By employing the above-mentioned means, the present invention allows the cam member to move the article gripping members provided at both ends of the swing arm toward the article in each article seating section in parallel with the seating plane. Immediately after the gripping members are moved forward in the direction of the pivot axis, the gripping members grip the respective articles, and the articles are removed from the article seating portion, the gripping members begin to swing by the swinging means. At this time, since the gripping member moves along the cam surface of the cam member, it initially performs a linear motion perpendicular to the seating plane, and then moves the gripping member to a position outside the interference area by only a swinging motion. Next, after the pivot arm is rotated 180 degrees, the article in the husband's seating position can be exchanged by performing the reverse operation.

[Embodiment] The present invention relates to a transfer device that can simultaneously exchange articles attached at specific angular positions in the technical field of logistics. When a tool that is no longer needed in the associated tool storage magazine and a new tool on a separately placed stocker or a stocker on a trolley are at a specific angle position with respect to the unnecessary tool, the article is transferred by one river. This will be explained as a device. Note that it is of course possible to exchange not only tools but also workpieces.

Embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 is an overall view of an article transfer/clamping device showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view taken along arrow A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. show. In the figure, a tool storage magazine 2 is provided on the side surface of a machine tool main body 1 and stores a variety of tools used in the machine tool in a sequentially indexable manner.

In the vicinity of the tool storage magazine 2, a cart is positioned and fixed, on which a tool holding section 4, which is a plurality of article seating sections for holding new tools 3 vertically, is provided in a positionable and indexable manner.

In the tool storage magazine 2, a plurality of tool bots 5, which are article seating parts for storing tools horizontally, are provided so as to be indexable, and unnecessary tools 6 are indexed to a replacement position. The seating planes that separate the respective article seating portions are orthogonal to each other, and the article transfer device 7 of the present invention is installed between the two article seating portions.

This article transfer device 7 is configured as described below. That is, a hollow support shaft 9 is erected on the base 8 at an angle (45 degrees) that bisects the angular position (90 degrees) between the seating planes. At the tip of this support shaft 9, a twin arm 10, which is a pivot arm, is supported so as to be pivotable by a rotary actuator 11, which will be described later. On both sides of the twin arm 10, article gripping members 13a and 13b, which movably hold the gripper 12 at their tips, are supported by a bin 14 so as to be swingable by a swinging means to be described later.

Next, the configuration of the swinging means will be explained. That is, one end of a lever 15a, 15b supported by the bin 4 is fixed to the article gripping part 13a, 13b, and a long hole 16 is formed in the other end of the lever 15a, 15b. Lever 1 provided on article gripping parts 13a and 13b, respectively
5a and 15b intersect on the extension axis of the support shaft 9.

In the long holes 16a and 16b of the intersecting levers, an engaging member is rotatably provided at the tip of an operating rod 17 that is slidably inserted into the hollow support shaft 9, and one end of this engaging member is provided. Bottle 18 is installed.

A cylinder 19 is fixed within the base 8.

A piston rod 20 of the cylinder 19 is screwed to an operating rod 17. The article gripping members 13a and 13b, which are swung by the oscillating means configured as described above, are configured as follows. That is, the levers 15a, 15b
Arms 22a and 22b are inserted into housings 21a and 21b fixed at one end respectively in a slidable and non-rotating manner, and grippers 12a and 12b which can be opened and opened by known means are provided at the tips of these arms. It is provided. Furthermore, rollers 23 are provided at the rear ends of the arms 22a and 22b, respectively.
a and 23b are rotatably provided. The arm 2
Springs 24a, 24b are interposed between the housings 2'la, 21b of 2a, 22b and the rollers 23a, 23b to pull the arms 22a, 22b rearward.

Further, a cam member 25 is provided in the middle of the support shaft 9 so as to be movable in the axial direction. A cylinder 26 is formed inside the cam member 25, and a piston 27 formed in the middle of the support shaft 9 is inserted into the cylinder 26. Furthermore, the rotation of the cam member 25 is prevented by a pin 28 for preventing rotation. A special cam curve 31 is formed on the upper surface of the cam member 25, and a roller 23a that is supported on the rear end of the arms 22a and 22b is attached to this cam curve 31.
, 23b are pressed by springs 24a, 24b.

This pressing force is made stronger than the opening/closing force of the gripper.

Next, the structure of the rotary actuator 11 that rotates the twin arm 10 will be explained.

Two bosses formed at the center of the twin arm 10 are provided with a six 30, and a stopper 31 is fixed within the six 30. (Fig. 3) - side, support shaft 91! A rotor 32 fixed via a key is attached to the tip of the JJ.
0 within the range of the angle (90 degrees) formed by the stopper 31. Therefore, since the support shaft 9 provided with the rotor 32 is fixed on the base S, the twin arm 10 can rotate 180 degrees.

In addition, a twin earth l\1 is provided in the support shaft 9 in the axial direction.
A hydraulic passage is opened that communicates with a torque actuator 11 that drives the cam member 0 to swing and a cylinder 26 that moves the cam member 25 up and down. All of these are guided into the base 8 and connected to fixed piping within the base 8, so that piping connections to movable parts are unnecessary and piping processing becomes easy.

Next, the operation of the present invention configured as described above will be explained based on FIGS. 5 to 7. That is, FIG. 4 shows a state in which the article transfer device 7 is in its original position. In this case, in the hydraulic circuit diagram shown in FIG.
Since the solenoid 5OL4 of the electromagnetic switching valve 40 for rocking b is energized, the pressure oil is communicated to the rear of the cylinder 19 and the actuating rod 17 is pushed up to the rising end via the piston 19a. Arm 22 with grippers 12a and 12b at its tip
a and 22b are parallel to the seating planes of the tool bot 5 and the tool holder 4, respectively.

Furthermore, while maintaining the postures of the arms 22a and 22b, the solenoid 5 of the cam member 25 and the electromagnetic switching valve 41 for cattle movement is activated.
QL2 is excited, and pressure oil flows into cylinder 2 in cam member 25.
6 and pushes down the cam member 25.

In this embodiment, the piston is fixed to a support shaft 9.

Therefore, the cam member 25 on the cylinder side moves due to the inflow of pressure oil. Also, the solenoid 5O of the electromagnetic switching valve 42 for actuating the actuator 11 that rotates the twin arm 10
Since the rotor 31 is fixed to the support shaft 9 by the excitation of L6, the stopper 30 in the twin arm is fixed to the rotor 31.
, the gripper 12a of the gripping member 13a is located opposite the unnecessary tool 6, and the gripper 12b of the gripping member 13b is located opposite the new tool 3.

Next, as shown in FIG.
Perform a gripping motion with b. That is, when the solenoid 5OLI of the electromagnetic switching valve 41 is excited, pressure oil is supplied to the top of the screws 1 to 26 of the cam member 25, causing the cam member 25 to rise. As the cam member 25 rises, the rollers 23a and 23b at the rear ends of the arms 22a and 22b come into contact with the cam member 25. Therefore, each arm 22
a and 22b move forward toward the respective tools 6 and 3, and grip the respective tools 6 and 3 with grippers 12a and 12b.

Next, the removal operation of each tool and the turning operation of the twin arm 10 will be explained based on FIGS. 6 and 7. With the cam member 25 raised, the solenoid 5 of the electromagnetic switching valve 40
Excite OL3. When the boats are switched by this excitation, pressure oil is supplied to the upper part of the piston 19a in one cylinder, causing the actuating rod 17 to retreat.

As the actuating rod 17 retreats, the housings 21a, 21b supporting the arms 22a, 22b swing via the levers 15a, 15b until they become parallel to the support shaft 9, respectively. As the housings 21a, 21b swing, the rollers 23a at the rear ends of the arms 22a, 22b
, 23b move in the axial direction following the cam curve of the cam member 25.

Therefore, the grippers 12a and 12b, which grip the old and new tools 6 and the new tool 3, respectively, are connected to the housing 21a,
By the movement of the arms 22a and 22b in the axial direction along the cam curve of the cam member 25 together with the swinging of the cam member 21b,
The respective tools 6.3 are attached to the tool bot 5 and the tool holding member 4.
It moves perpendicularly to its respective seating plane until it is completely pulled out (FIG. 6).

After extracting the respective tool 6.3, the gripper 12a
, 12b swing while drawing a circular arc, and mutually support the support shaft 9.
becomes parallel to That is, each gripper 12
The tool 6.3 gripped by a and 12b waits outside the area of interference with others. In this state, when the solenoid 5OL5 of the electromagnetic switching valve 42 is energized, the twin arm rotates until the opposite contact surface of the stopper 30 contacts the rotor 31.

Therefore, the twin arm 10 will rotate 180 degrees. Even if this rotational movement is fast, there is no danger that the tool will fly out due to centrifugal force. Therefore, there is no problem in terms of safety. Next, the solenoid 5O of the electromagnetic switching valve 40
When L4 is excited, the piston 19a in the cylinder 19
will rise again. The housings 21a, 21b swing in the opposite direction, and the arms 22a, 22 accordingly swing.
The rollers 23a and 23b at the rear ends of the rollers 23a and 23b ride on the cam member 25 and move in a direction approaching the shaft along the cam curve. At this time, the arms 22a and 22b move forward, and the grippers 12a and 12b, which grip the respective tools 3 and 6 at their tips, move the grippers 12a and 12b immediately before the tool bot 5 and the tool holder 4, following the cam curve of the cam member. Performs linear motion perpendicular to the seating surface. Due to this linear movement, the new tool 3 is smoothly returned to the tool bot 5 of the tool storage magazine 2, and the old tool 6 is returned to the tool holding member 4, respectively.

Note that this linear movement does not require accurate linear movement, as long as the tool to be replaced can be attached and removed from each seat without any trouble.

The article transfer device described above can be used not only in machine tools but also in technical fields such as logistics, and can be expected to have a wide range of uses.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiments, the tools of a machine tool are replaced, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to receive items in a factory and exchange them in a warehouse. It is also possible to transfer goods directly from unmanned vehicles. In addition, the gripper 12
Although a and L2b are mechanically gripped in the above embodiment, other gripping means such as vacuum suction or electromagnetic suction may be used.

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it is compactly constructed, so space can be saved, and the device can be easily relocated. The articles to be transferred are not particularly limited and have general versatility, and since two articles can be exchanged at the same time, the conveyance efficiency is good, and furthermore, it has excellent effects such as contributing to improved productivity.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of an article transfer device showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the article transfer device in its original position, and Fig. 5 is an illustration of the operation of the article transfer device in its original position. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation showing the state when the article is gripped, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation showing the state in which the arm that has taken out the article is pivoted, and FIG. 7 is a hydraulic circuit diagram. 3.6...article, 4,5...article seating part, 7...
Article transfer device, 8... Base, 9... Support shaft, 10
. . . Swivel arm, 13a, i3b, . . . Article gripping member, 1
5a, 15b... Lever, 17... Operating rod, 19.
...Cylinder, 20...Piston rod

Claims (1)

[Claims] Two article seating sections provided on seating planes intersecting each other at specific angular positions, and an article transfer device provided between the seating sections for simultaneously exchanging articles on each article seating section. a base provided between the article seating parts;
a support shaft provided on the base at an intermediate angular position that bisects the angular position in a plane including the two article seating portions; and a pivot arm pivotally supported to be pivotable about the support shaft; an article gripping member provided at both ends of the swing arm so as to be able to swing within the plane and move back and forth parallel to the seating plane; swing means for swinging the gripping member within the plane; The article gripping member is provided to be movable in the axial direction, and by this axial movement, the article gripping member moves forward and backward toward the article in parallel to the seating plane including the article seating section, and when attaching or removing the article, the article gripping member An article transfer device comprising: a cam member in the vicinity of which the gripping member has a cam surface forming a linear motion perpendicular to the seating plane, and each of the parts is replaced at the same time.