JPH0248238Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a chuck for gripping a coil spring in a compressed state and feeding it to a predetermined position.

[Conventional technology]

Various types of coil springs are installed in electrical equipment, etc., but these coil springs are mostly installed manually using tweezers or the like. For this reason, an inefficient spring assembly process is involved in the automatic product assembly line, and automation of this process is desired.

[The problem that the idea aims to solve]

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a chuck mechanism exclusively for coil springs that is suitable for supplying and assembling coil springs, and to automate the assembling of this type of coil spring using an assembly robot or the like.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention supports a pair of opening/closing chucks that grip a coil spring in a compressed state on a chuck body so as to be able to move back and forth in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the coil spring is gripped in a compressed state; The chuck main body is provided with means for opening and closing the chuck and means for driving the chuck forward and backward;
A fixed guide formed integrally with the chuck body is provided between the pair of chucks, and the tip of the fixed guide is positioned so as to approach or come into contact with the side of the coil spring when the coil spring is gripped in a compressed state. It forms a recess for use.

[Effect]

Therefore, by gripping the coil spring in a compressed state between a pair of opening/closing chucks, and by bringing a position regulating recess close to or in contact with the side of the coil spring between the chucks, the coil spring can be held in position. At the same time, when the coil spring is assembled and supplied, the pair of chucks are retracted from the assembly position while the recessed portion is stopped at the assembly position, that is, in a direction almost perpendicular to the direction in which the coil spring is gripped in a compressed state. By evacuating
The elasticity of the coil spring allows it to be automatically fitted into the installation target.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the structure and operation of the present invention will be specifically explained based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

First, FIGS. 1 to 3 show the overall structure of a coil spring supply chuck 1 of the present invention.

The coil spring supply chuck 1 includes a pair of chucks 2 and 3, a fixed guide 4, a cylinder 5 as an opening/closing means, a cylinder 6 as a forward/backward drive means, and a chuck body 7 as main parts.

The cylinder 6 is attached to the head portion of an assembly robot by a slot-type fitting 8. The chuck main body 7 is fixed at the center of the head portion of the cylinder 6 by a mounting bolt 7a.

The chuck main body 7 supports the pair of chucks 2 and 3 in an openable and closable state so that the coil spring 20 can be gripped in a compressed state. Furthermore, the pair of chucks 2 and 3 are supported by the chuck body 7 so as to be able to move forward and backward in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the coil spring 20 is held in a compressed state, that is, in the upward direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. Furthermore, a fixed guide 4 having a position regulating recess 21 for regulating the lifting of the side portion of a coil spring 20, which will be described later, is integrally formed at the end of the chuck body 7.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, two upper and lower bushes 9 are attached to one chuck 2, and a horizontal guide bar 10 for sliding these bushes 9 is attached to the other chuck 3. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the guide bar 10 passes through a notch or elongated hole 12 provided in the chuck body 7 in the advancing and retreating direction.

From the above, the pair of chucks 2 and 3 are arranged symmetrically with the fixed guide 4 in between, and furthermore,
It is combined with a bush 9 and a horizontal guide bar 10 so that it can be opened and closed.

Further, a cylinder 5 is attached to the side surface of one chuck 2 as an opening/closing means. The cylinder rod 11 of this cylinder 5 passes through a long hole 13 in the chuck body 7 and is fixed to the other chuck 3. Two expansion springs 14 are provided between the chuck 3 and the chuck body 7, and these springs 14 always urge the chuck 3 in the opening direction.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of guide plates 24 are attached to both sides of the chuck 3, which abut against the end surfaces of the chuck body 7. This prevents vibrations caused by opening/closing operations and advancing/retracting operations.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a horizontal shaft 17 is connected to the cylinder rod 15 of the cylinder 6 via a piece 16. This shaft 17 has
A bush 18 attached to one chuck 3 is slidably fitted. Further, a stopper 19 for regulating the opening/closing limit that comes into contact with the bush 18 is attached to one end of the shaft 17, and this stopper 19 regulates the distance between the chuck 3 and the chuck body 7. That is, the position where the stopper 19 is attached to the shaft 17 is such that the pair of left and right chucks 2 and 3 are equally displaced with the fixed guide 4 in between.

Furthermore, the tips of the chucks 2 and 3 have claws 22 and 23 having a width larger than the diameter of the coil spring 20 to be supplied. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a notch 27 for holding the coil spring 20 is formed.

Further, a recess 21 for position regulation is integrally formed at the tip of the fixed guide 4.
1 is a coil spring 2 held by a pair of claws 22 and 23, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.
0 is close to or in contact with the side of 0. Note that, as shown in FIG. 4, the shape of the recess 21 is, for example, a V-groove shape.

Next, the operation of the coil spring supply chuck 1 will be explained.

As already mentioned, this coil spring supply chuck 1 is attached to the head portion of an assembly robot, and its movement feeds the coil spring 20 to be supplied.
is automatically supplied from the take-out position to the installation position.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, when the cylinder rod 11 of the cylinder 5 as an opening/closing means is not driven in the backward direction, the expansion spring 14 pushes the gap between the chuck 3 and the chuck body 7 apart. Therefore, the pair of claws 22 and 23 are in an open state, that is, in a state separated from the fixed guide 4.

In this state, the bush 18 attached to one chuck 3 is in contact with the aforementioned stopper 19 for regulating the opening limit, as shown in FIG. The position where this stopper 19 is attached to the shaft 17 is such that the left and right chucks 2 and 3 are equally displaced with the fixed guide 4 in between. It is open in a state of line symmetry about 4.

Next, when the claws 22 and 23 formed at the ends of the pair of chucks 2 and 3 come to a position where the coil spring 20 is sandwiched, the cylinder 5 is activated.
The cylinder rod 11 moves back. This results in
Chuck 3 fixed to cylinder rod 11
The claw 23 moves toward the fixed guide 4 until it comes into contact with the fixed guide 4. When the chuck 3 comes into contact with the fixed guide 4, the chuck 3 cannot move any further, but since the cylinder 5 continues to operate, the chuck 2, which is fixing the cylinder 5,
has moved toward the fixed guide 4, and after having traveled the entire distance of the cylinder rod 11, the cylinder 5 stops. Then, the pair of chucks 2 and 3 are connected to the fifth
As shown in the figure and FIG. 6, when the fixed guide 4 comes into contact with both sides, the coil spring 20 is compressed and sandwiched between the claws 22 and 23 formed on the pair of chucks 2 and 3, respectively. It's summery.

In the embodiment, the chucks 2 and 3 are moved until they come into contact with the fixed guide 4, but they do not have to come into contact with the fixed guide 4, and the amount of movement of the chucks 2 and 3 depends on the compression state of the coil spring 20. You can decide based on this.

Further, in the embodiment, the notches formed in the claws 22 and 23 allow the coil spring 20 to be held in a more secure position.

On the other hand, when the coil spring 20 is held between the pair of claws 22 and 23 in a compressed state, the coil spring 20
0 approaches or contacts a position regulating recess 21 formed in the fixed guide 4 to prevent the coil spring 20 from lifting. That is, when the pair of claws 22 and 23 grip the coil spring 20 in a compressed state, the sides of the coil spring 20 lift up in order to escape from this state. That is, the side portions of the coil spring 20 tend to move in the vertical direction in FIG. In order to prevent this, the lower side is provided with a chute 25 for supplying the coil spring 20 to the take-out position of the above-mentioned assembly robot, as shown in FIG. The side movement of the coil spring 20 is restricted by the recess 21 for position restriction, and the pair of claws 22 and 23
grips the coil spring 20 in a positioning state.

The chuck 3 also has a pair of guide plates 24.
is attached, and the pair of guide plates 24 move while coming into contact with the end face of the chuck body 7, so that the chuck 3 does not wobble greatly relative to the chuck body 7 during the opening/closing operation and advancing/retracting operation of the chuck 3. It's summery.

Now, when the coil spring 20 is in a compressed state, the pair of claws 2
After being sandwiched between parts 2 and 23, the coil spring supply chuck 1 is moved to the position of a workpiece 26 for assembly, as shown in FIG. 6, by the movement of the assembly robot. After the movement, the cylinder 6 is actuated to retract the cylinder rod 15 of the cylinder 6, i.e.
Pull upward in Figure 3. When this cylinder rod 15 retreats, this cylinder rod 1
One chuck 3 attached to the cylinder rod 5 is directed in the direction in which the cylinder rod 15 moves, that is,
Pull up as shown by the arrow in the figure. At this time, the other chuck 2, which is openably and closably combined with the chuck 3 by the above-mentioned bush 9 and the horizontal guide bar 10, also has the same function as the chuck 3.
Pull it upward as indicated by the arrow in Figure 6. As a result, the pair of chucks 2 and 3 can hold the workpiece 2 while holding the coil spring 20 between the claws 22 and 23.
Move back from the installation position in step 6.

At this time, unlike the pair of chucks 2 and 3, the fixed guide 4 does not move upward but remains at a fixed position.

Therefore, the recess 21 for regulating the position of the fixed guide 4
Since the coil spring 20 is prevented from moving due to the retreat of the pair of chucks 2 and 3 having the pair of pawls 22 and 23, the coil spring 20
2 and 23, and fits between the work pieces 26 due to its elasticity.

In this way, the coil spring 20 is sandwiched between the pair of chucks 2 and 3 in a compressed state, is positioned by the recess 21 for regulating the position of the fixed guide 4 between them, and is prevented from moving during installation. Since it is regulated, it will be reliably incorporated into the workpiece 26.

Note that in the above embodiment, the opening/closing and advancing/retracting driving of the chucks 2, 3 are performed by the cylinders 5, 6, but these opening/closing means and advancing/retracting driving means may also be performed using an electromagnetic plunger or the like. can.

Furthermore, the pair of chucks 2 and 3 may not be of the parallel movement type, but may be of the rotation type around an axis. Furthermore, this coil spring supply chuck 1
The installation target is not limited to an assembly robot, but may also be a dedicated assembly machine or a manipulator capable of supply movement, and this coil spring supply chuck 1
Of course, a plurality of units may be installed.

[Effect of idea]

The present invention has the following effects.

A pair of opening/closing chucks for gripping the coil spring in a compressed state are supported on the chuck body so as to be movable forward and backward in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the coil spring is gripped in the compressed state, and the chuck body has an opening/closing means for the chuck and a chuck. A fixed guide formed integrally with the chuck body is provided between the pair of chucks, and when the coil spring is gripped in a compressed state at the tip of the fixed guide, the side of the coil spring is By forming a position regulating recess that approaches or contacts the fixed guide, the coil spring being gripped in a compressed state is positioned by the recess formed at the tip of the fixed guide, so positioning when gripping in a compressed state is facilitated. It is reliable and therefore the positioning to the supply position is reliable.

Furthermore, since the pair of chucks move forward and backward while the fixed guide remains stationary at the assembly position, the coil spring does not move unstablely, and is therefore reliably fitted into the assembly target.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of the coil spring supply chuck of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, and Fig. 3 is the same as Fig. 2.
4 is a front view of the fixed guide, FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of a part of the coil spring when it is held between claws, and FIG. 6 is a side view when the coil spring is assembled into a workpiece. . DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Coil spring supply chuck, 2, 3...Chuck, 4...Fixed guide, 5...Cylinder as an opening/closing means, 6...Cylinder as forward/backward drive means, 7...Chuck body, 20...Coil Spring, 21... recess.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A pair of opening/closing chucks for gripping the coil spring in a compressed state are supported on the chuck body so as to be movable forward and backward in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the coil spring is gripped in the compressed state, and the chuck body has an opening/closing means for the chuck and a chuck. A fixed guide formed integrally with the chuck body is provided between the pair of chucks, and when the coil spring is gripped in a compressed state at the tip of the fixed guide, the side of the coil spring is A coil spring supply chuck characterized by forming a position regulating recess that approaches or contacts the coil spring supply chuck.