JPH0252714A - Tablet stocker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture a compact table stocker with little generation of cuts, cracks and the like by providing U-shaped (viewed in plane) tablet knockout pawl to be able to move forward and backward from the rear side in the transferring direction in a tablet transfer line and also providing a tablet supporting shaft to be able to knock out on the lower section of the tablet transfer line. CONSTITUTION:A tablet knockout pawl 5 is moved backward to the position on the rear side in the tablet transferring direction so that the same is not intervened with an extremely lowest tablet T1 for feeding by the retracting action of a rod of a tablet knockout cylinder 7 at the time of feeding tablets. A tablet supporting shaft 10 is lowered alowly after moving back the tablet knockout pawl 5, and the lowest tablet T1 is guided by the side surface of a guide 8 and lowered down onto a tablet transfer line 1 quietly. Tablets T stocked in the shape of a column in a tablet cassette 3 are lowered as a whole and the lower surface of the lowest tablet T1 is brought into contact with the tablet transfer line 1 and the tablets are placed thereon. Therefore, generation of cuts and cracks is reduced when the lowest tablet is fed into a transfer molding machine.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to storage of molding resin materials (hereinafter referred to as tablets) used in transfer molding machines for semiconductor encapsulation;
This invention relates to a tablet stocker for dispensing.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in a transfer molding machine for semiconductor encapsulation, a cylindrical tablet cassette is provided in which a plurality of tablets are stacked vertically and stocked, and a tablet cassette is placed at the bottom of the cassette that allows the tablets to be pushed up one by one. A support shaft was provided, and a tablet handling robot capable of chucking and transporting the tablet pushed up by the shaft and pushed out from the upper part of the tablet cassette was provided.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since tablets are made of brittle and easily chipped materials, they must be chucked with a soft touch, and a complicated chuffing mechanism must be used. It is expensive and large, and equipment costs are high. However, when handling the tablet, there is a risk that the tablet may be chipped or cracked. If a tablet is chipped or cracked, the tablet may not be able to maintain its shape or quantity, making it unusable, or it may become difficult to transport, and the chipped, cracked, or other fragments may impede the operation of the tablet stocker. Sometimes it happens. In addition, the method of pushing the tablet above the tablet cassette requires space below the tablet cassette for the vertical movement of a tablet support shaft as long as the height of the tablet cassette.
Because the robot chucks the tablet cassette and requires space for its throat to move, the vertical dimensions of the tablet stocker become quite large, and the tablets must be fed into the tablet cassette after all the tablets have been extruded. However, in order to eliminate the supply waiting time, a plurality of tablet cassettes must be used.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a compact tablet stocker in which the tablets are less likely to be chipped or cracked during supply.

[Means for resolving issues]

In the tablet stocker of the present invention, a cylindrical tablet cassette for stacking and stocking a plurality of tablets in the vertical direction is provided in a tablet conveyance path at an interval slightly larger than the height of one tablet, and A U-shaped tablet protruding claw in a plan view is provided that can protrude the tablet supplied to the tablet conveyance path from the rear side to the front side in the tablet conveyance direction and move forward and backward;
The present invention is characterized in that a tablet support shaft is provided at the bottom of the tablet conveyance path and directly below the tablet cassette, and is capable of passing between the two tabs of the tablet protruding pawls and protruding from the tablet conveyance path surface.With this configuration, the above object is achieved. It is something.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a tablet conveyance path, which is formed on the main frame 2, and a shaft through hole 4 is bored at a position directly below a tablet cassette 3, which will be described later, in a circle with the cassette 3.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a cylindrical tablet cassette in which a plurality of tablets T are stacked and stocked in the vertical direction, and is provided above the tablet transport path 1 at an interval slightly larger than the height of one tablet (dimension H in the drawing). ing.

Reference numeral 5 denotes two parallel tablet protruding claws, which are arranged in a U-shape in a plan view so as to open toward the front in the tablet transport direction at the base end of the claws, and each claw has a protruding claw located directly below the tablet cassette 3 at the tip of each claw. A tab set push surface 6 is provided that can push out the tablet T placed in the position. This tablet ejecting claw 5 is connected to the mouth/throat tip of a tablet ejecting cylinder 7 provided on the main frame 2 at its continuous portion, and the tablet lowering guides 8 provided on both sides of the tablet conveyance path 1 are connected by the cylinder 7. It is possible to move back and forth between the tablet cassette 3 and the tablet transport path 1 from the rear side in the tablet transport direction directly below the tablet cassette to the front side while sliding on the tablet transport path 1 along the tablet cassette. The upper surface 9 of the tablet protruding claw 5 is wider than the diameter of the tablet l-T placed on the tablet conveyance path 1, and is made very slightly lower than the tablet upper surface.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a tablet support shaft, and an upper surface 11 capable of supporting the lower surface of the tablet l-T is provided at the upper end of the shaft. This tablet support shaft 10 is connected at its lower end to the tip of a shaft protruding cylinder 12 provided on the main frame 2 via a height adjustment mechanism 13 such as a screw type, and is located at the lower part of the tablet conveyance path 1 directly below the tablet cassette 3. The shaft protrusion cylinder 12 allows the tablet T in the tablet cassette 3 to pass between the tablet protrusion claws 4 and move up and down between the tablet conveyance road surface and the tablet cassette 3.

In this embodiment, an example in which only one tablet stocker is provided has been described, but it goes without saying that a plurality of tablet stockers may be provided to form a multiple stocker.

[Function] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tablet ejecting cylinder 7 moves the tablet ejecting claw 5 into the tablet cassette 3.
The tablet support shaft 1 is located at the normal stop position directly below the tablet support shaft 1
0 passes between the tablet T in the tablet cassette 3 and the tablet protruding claw 4, and is placed at the rising end position (usually the stop position), and the upper surface 11 of the shaft is far higher than the upper surface 9 of the tablet ejecting claw 5. It is placed slightly above. In such a state, the tablet cassette 3
The lowermost tablet T1 is supported on its lower surface by the upper surface 11 of the tablet support shaft 10. The other tablets T in the tablet cassette 3 are stacked on this bottom tablet T1.

When supplying tablets, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, first,
By retracting the rod of the tablet ejecting cylinder 7, the tablet ejecting claw 5 is moved to a position rearward in the tablet transport direction from the position directly below the tablet cassette 3 (retreat end position) so as not to interfere with the lowermost tablet T1 to be supplied.
back up to.

After the tablet ejecting claw 5 retreats, the tablet support shaft 10 is slowly lowered by the rod retraction operation of the shaft ejecting cylinder 12, and the lowermost tablet T is gently lowered onto the tablet conveyance path 1 while being guided by the side surface of the guide 8. The Toughlane L-T stocked in the tablet cassette 3 in a columnar manner descends as a whole and is placed on the tablet transport path 1 with its lower surface touching the lowermost tablet L-T. Even after the tablet is placed, the tablet support shaft 10 is further lowered so as not to come into contact with the lowest tablet T placed on the tablet a feeding path 1.

After the tablet support shaft 10 is lowered, the tablet ejecting claw 5 is advanced by the rod ejecting operation of the tablet ejecting cylinder 7, and the tablet pushing surface 6 at the tip of the protruding claw pushes the lowest tablet T to shift it from the tablet Tz immediately above. while moving the tablet in the feeding direction. The upper tablet T2 tilts and falls slightly when the lowermost tablet T, which was supporting it, shifts so much that only a portion of it is supported, and the tablet protruding claw 5 that was pushing the lowermost tablet T2 It will be supported by the upper surface 9 of.

As the tablet ejecting claws 5 move forward, the lowermost tablet T1 moves forward in the tablet transport direction through the shaft through hole 4 provided in the tablet transport path 1, and when the shaft through hole 4 opens between the tablet ejecting claws 5, the shaft protrudes. As the rod of the cylinder 12 is pushed out, the upper surface 11 of the shaft is brought into contact with the lower surface of the upper tablet T through the tablet support shaft 10, and the entire tablet T is slowly lifted, the upper tablet T2 is placed at the lowest tablet stop position, and the tablet is transported. Remove from tablet l-T on path 1.

The tablet support shaft 10 supporting the tablet T is inserted between the tablet protruding claws 5, and the tablet protruding claws 5 can be moved relative to the support shaft 10, as shown by imaginary lines in FIGS. 1 and 2. After lifting the tablet T, the tablet ejecting claw 5 is further pushed to the normal stop position by the rod ejecting operation of the tablet ejecting cylinder 7, and the tablet hT on the tablet transport path 1 is transported to a predetermined position via the ejecting claw 5. do.

After that, the tablet feeding operation is repeated according to the above procedure.

Such tablet feeding operation is performed by retracting the rod of the tablet ejecting cylinder 7 → retracting the rod of the shaft ejecting cylinder 12 → ejecting the rod of the tablet ejecting cylinder 7 → detecting the position of the tablet ejecting claw 5 while the cylinder 7 is in operation. The rod ejection operation of the shaft ejection cylinder 12 → the completion of the rod ejection operation of the tablet ejection cylinder 7 → the rod retraction operation of the tablet ejection cylinder 7 →... is performed by sequence control.

A tablet T is supplied into the tablet cassette 3 from above every time a tablet T is supplied.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention allows the tablet to be slowly lowered from inside the tablet cassette to the tablet cassette.
After being placed gently on the conveyance path, the lowest tablet on the tablet conveyance path can be moved while supporting the tablets above the lowest tablet in the tablet cassette, which eliminates the drop shock that would be applied to the tablet as in the past. There is no chucking power. Therefore, when the lowermost tablet is fed to a transfer molding machine using the tablet stone force of the present invention, chipping, cracking, etc. of the tablets are less likely to occur, and the shape, quantity, etc. of the tablets fed to the transfer molding machine can be maintained accordingly. can. Furthermore, since the tablet is taken out from below, the vertical stroke of the tablet support shaft can be approximately the same as the height of the tablet, and there is no need to use a complicated chucking mechanism to transport the tablet.

Therefore, the tablet stocker of the present invention can be manufactured more compactly and at lower cost than conventional tablet stockers.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in Fig. 2 showing an embodiment of the present invention before supply, Fig. 2 is a front sectional view, and Fig. 3 shows the embodiment after supply. 4 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is a front sectional view.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A cylindrical tablet cassette that stores multiple tablets by stacking them vertically is provided in the tablet transport path at an interval slightly larger than the height of one tablet, and the tablet cassette is connected to the tablet transport path. A U-shaped tablet ejecting claw in a plan view that can move forward and backward to eject the tablet supplied from the rear side to the front side in the tablet transport direction is provided, and two of the tablet ejecting claws are provided at the bottom of the tablet transport path and directly below the tablet cassette. A tablet stocker characterized by being provided with a tablet support shaft that can pass between two claws and protrude from a tablet conveyance road surface.