JPH0237533Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a conveying device for resin materials, and more particularly to a device that can hold and move a heat-softened resin material to a desired location without deforming it.

Conventionally, when mass producing pressed products such as fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) sheets, the sheets are heated and softened, conveyed to the vicinity of the press mold using a roller conveyor, etc. to prevent deformation, and then properly processed. It was necessary to grasp the mold using suitable gripping means and place it on the lower mold. At this time, since the FRP sheet is softened, it will be greatly deformed by ordinary gripping means, and furthermore, the sheet portion in contact with the gripping means will be locally cooled. A serious drawback was that uniform elongation could not be obtained, and as a result, it was difficult to obtain a product with a desired shape with high precision.

In recent years, especially as plastic molded products such as FRP have been used in large quantities for automobile parts, many continuous press lines including robots etc. have been installed to mass produce such parts. Therefore, there is a need for the development of a conveying means that can minimize deformation and thermal effects on the sheets.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above circumstances, and is designed to prevent thermal effects such as local cooling from occurring without deforming the resin material that has been softened by heating. The object of the present invention is to provide a device that can be used for transportation.

In order to achieve such an objective, the resin material conveying device according to the present invention has the following features: (a) a location for placing the heat-softened resin material to be conveyed, and a purpose for conveying the resin material; (b) an arm body that is reciprocated between a moving place and (b) a part of the arm body that is positioned opposite to the resin material; (c) a plurality of swing arm means mounted so as to be able to swing toward and away from the arm body; (d) a drive for reciprocating the movable plate with respect to the arm body in the directions approaching and away from the resin material; (e) needle-shaped needles each fixed to each of the swing arm means and the movable plate so as to connect them, and protruding a predetermined length from the swing arm means toward the resin material side; and by moving the movable plate close to the resin material side, the swing arm means is swung to insert the needle-like parts into the resin material, thereby inserting the resin material into the resin material. The device is characterized in that it includes a plurality of needle members that are held and have flexibility.

Thus, according to the present invention, since the part of the device that comes into contact with the resin material is only the thin needle-like part, the thermal influence on the resin material can be minimized, and the resin material can be prevented from bending or the like. Since it causes less deformation, it is possible to obtain a product with a desired shape with high precision in subsequent processing steps.Moreover, the structure is simple, the number of parts is small, and it is lightweight and easy to operate. Moreover, it can be obtained at low cost and provides excellent effects.

Hereinafter, in order to clarify the present invention more specifically, two or three embodiments thereof will be described in detail based on the drawings.

First, FIG. 1 shows a resin material conveying device according to the present invention, in which a base 2
The erected leg portion 4 is equipped with a cylinder 8 having a piston 6 that can extend and retract in the vertical direction, and a block 10 is fixed to the piston 6, and the block 10 can move in the vertical direction and move the leg portion 4. It is possible to rotate around the axis. Further, the block 10 is hollow, and a beam-shaped arm body 12 having a square cross section is passed through the block 10 so that it can slide. Further, on the upper surface of the block 10, there is a cylinder 16 having a piston 14 that can extend and contract in parallel to the arm body 12.
is fixed.

A clamping device 18 capable of clamping a resin material is fixed to one end of the arm body 12, and a connecting rod 20 is erected near the clamping device 18, and this connecting rod 20 and the piston are connected to each other. The end of 14 is fixed by a pin 22. Therefore, as the cylinder 16 expands and contracts, the arm body 12 is made to protrude or retract from the block 10.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the clamp device 18 includes a cylinder block 24 that is fixed to the tip of the arm body 12 and integrally constitutes the arm body 12, and a movable plate 26 located above the cylinder block 24. The piston block 24 is provided with one piston 28 that is vertically movable and a plurality of vertical through holes 30. Further, one end of each of the four arm bodies 34 is pivotally supported by a pin 36 at two protrusions 32 close to the resin material W, and the other end is connected to a pair in the longitudinal direction of the arm body 12 by a connecting bar 35. They are connected to form a pair of left and right swing arm means 37 that can swing. The upper end of the piston 28 is fixed to the movable plate 26, and a plurality of guide bars 38 are erected on the movable plate 26 so that they can be inserted into the through holes 30 and slid thereon.

A plurality of flexible clamp needles (needle members) 40 are respectively fixed to connect the swing arm means 37 and the movable plate 26, and the clamp needles 40
Each has a needle (needle-like portion) 42 projecting a predetermined length from the swing arm means 37 toward the resin material W side. Therefore, when the movable plate 26 approaches the resin material W due to the operation of the piston 28, the clamp needle 40 connected to the movable plate 26 swings the swing arm means 37, as shown in FIG. 42 into the resin material W, the plurality of clamp needles 40 embrace and clamp the resin material W.

Next, the operation of the present conveying device will be explained step by step.

First, in FIGS. 4 and 5, the resin material W
is placed on the conveyor 44 and is heated by the heater 46 from above and below while moving in the heating furnace, and in a state where it is softened to a desired degree, the clamping device 18 is extended directly above the resin material W. grasp it. That is, the arm main body 12 is made to protrude from the block 10 by the extension of the cylinder 16, and the clamp device 18 at the tip thereof is moved onto the softened resin material W, and then it is lowered slightly by the contraction of the cylinder 8. , the clamping device 18 is placed at a position extremely close to the resin material W (the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3). At this time, the extended piston 28 (FIG. 2) is contracted, the movable plate 26 is guided by the guide bar 38 and descends, and the clamp needle 40 moves the swing arm means 37 as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. The needle 42 is pierced into the resin material W while being oscillated, and the needle 42 is held in a cradling manner.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The arm body 12 is then retracted into the block 10 by contraction of the cylinder 16, and is then rotated 90 degrees around the leg 4 by a rotating device (not shown). . Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the arm body 12 is extended by the cylinder 16 with the arm body 12 facing the direction of the press die 48, and the clamp device 18 is attached to the lower die 50 of the press die 48. , the piston 6 retracts and the clamping device 18 is lowered to a position close to the lower mold 50.

In this state, when the piston 28 of the cylinder block 24 extends upward and the movable plate 26 is moved upward, the clamp needle 40 also rises, and the swing arm means 37 moves counterclockwise as shown by the solid line in FIG. The cylinder block 2 rotates, and the resin material W is pierced by the needle 42 while rising.
The needle 42 hits the lower surface of the needle 42 and falls onto the lower mold 50.

After dropping the resin material W onto the lower die 50, the arm body 12 is raised by the cylinder 8,
It is retracted into block 10 by cylinder 16 and pivoted 90 degrees about leg 4 into the orientation shown in FIG. Then, when the next resin material W in the heating furnace is heated and softened, the clamping device 18 again extends directly above it and grips it, and the above-mentioned operation is repeated thereafter. It will become.

In this way, this conveying device intermittently grips the resin material W that is continuously heated and softened in the heating furnace and conveys it to the mold 48.
The diameter of the plurality of needles used as the gripping means is extremely small, for example, about 2 m/m ₁ φ, so that the resin material W is not locally cooled and the thermal influence is minimized. In addition, since the resin material W is held by multiple needles, there is less deformation such as bending, and it is possible to obtain a product with a desired shape with high precision in the subsequent press processing process. It became possible.

Further, the device has excellent effects such as a simple structure, a small number of component parts, light weight, easy operation, and low acquisition price.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, an example was shown in which a heat-softened resin material is conveyed to a press mold, but the present invention is not limited to this in any way, and small holes may be provided. If it is a product, it can be applied to vacuum forming, and this device can also be used to transport the material to a vacuum forming mold. In addition, the resin material used is
It may be made of not only FRP but also other resin materials.

Furthermore, although the cylinders 8, 16 and cylinder block 24 have been described as hydraulic cylinders, they may be hydraulic cylinders, pneumatic cylinders, or may be driven by electric actuators or other driving means.

Further, the swing arm means 37 includes a continuous bar 35
There is no problem even if the clamp needles 40 are directly fixed to the free end of the arm body 34.

In addition, it goes without saying that various modifications and improvements can be made to the present invention based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit thereof.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front explanatory view showing an embodiment of the conveying device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the clamp device, and FIG. 3 is a front view showing the operation of the clamp device. FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the clamping device that grips the resin material and its vicinity, and FIGS. 5 to 7 are explanatory diagrams explaining the operation of the device shown in FIG. 1 step by step. 6, 14, 28: Piston, 8, 18: Cylinder, 12: Arm body, 18: Clamp device, 2
4: cylinder block, 26: movable plate, 37: swing arm means, 40: clamp needle (needle member), 42: needle (acicular portion), W: resin material.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] An arm body 12 that is capable of reciprocating between a place where a heat-softened resin material W to be conveyed is placed and a destination place where the resin material W is to be conveyed. , one end of each arm body 12 is rotatably supported on a portion of the arm body 12 that is positioned opposite to the resin material W, and is swingably attached to the arm body 12 in the direction toward and away from the resin material W. A plurality of swing arm means 37 are disposed so as to face the resin material W across the plurality of swing arm means 37, and the resin material W is provided with respect to the arm main body 12.
a movable plate 26 mounted so as to be movable in the directions toward and away from the resin material W; a driving means 28 for reciprocating the movable plate 26 with respect to the arm body 12 in the directions toward and away from the resin material W; Each swing arm means 37 and the movable plate 2
6, and has needle-like portions 42 that protrude from the swing arm means 37 by a predetermined length toward the resin material W side, and A flexible device that holds the resin material W by swinging the swing arm means 37 and inserting the needle-shaped parts 42 into the resin material W by approaching the resin material W side. 1. A resin material conveying device comprising: a plurality of needle members 40 having the same properties as the needle members 40;