JPH0314418A - Two-way pitch changing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change mutual pitches between respective sliders continuously by a method wherein a guide path is made to face the direction which crosses both rows and columns of a matrix, and two guide bars, which go through the sliders, are moved along a frame. CONSTITUTION:When air is fed to an air cylinder 29 and a rod 31 protrudes from the cylinder, moving cam plates 30a, 30b, which are attached on the rod 31 and the end of the cylinder, separate from each other. Cam rollers at four corners of a matrix move from the inner end of a cam groove 26 to the outer end, and at the same time, the motions of sliders 24 at the four corners, which are integral with the cam rollers, generate outward movements of guide bars 20A, 20D, 20a, 20e at both ends of a row and column. Since a guide bar 20c at a central bank is fixed on a side surface cam plate, respective sliders 24 slide along the guide bars 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e on rows and columns, and both rows and columns move with an equal pitch, and all the sliders 24 will have a larger pitch.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial field in Icheon] The present invention is a two-way pitch change method for operating desired members arranged in a matrix so that the distance between them becomes wider or narrower. It is related to the device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when storing bottles etc. in a box using a caser, if it is necessary to change the pitch in two directions before and after storage, air cylinders are placed in two orthogonal directions, and the pitch in the two orthogonal directions can be adjusted independently. I am trying to make changes.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In a structure where one air cylinder is arranged in two orthogonal directions, the structural strength of the machine becomes complicated, a large amount of power sources such as compressed air are consumed, and it takes time to operate in two directions. This results in problems such as deviations in position and inaccurate pitch of operation in two directions.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides two angles perpendicular to each other.
Sliders each having two guide holes penetrating at different levels in the direction are arranged in a matrix, and guide rods are inserted into the guide holes of each slider for each row and column of the matrix, and at least one guide rod is inserted into the guide hole of each slider. The guide rods are fixed to the frame, but the other guide rods are held slidably relative to the frame in a direction perpendicular to the axis of each guide rod, and each guide rod is restrained by an interlocking mechanism for each row and column of the matrix. , a guideway member having a guideway extending in a direction that intersects both rows and columns of the matrix in a plane parallel to the matrix is fixed to the frame, and at least one slider has a guideway member having a guideway extending in a direction intersecting both rows and columns of the matrix; A guide element for engaging and guiding the slider along the guide path is attached, and a drive unit for sliding the guide element along the guide path is attached at a predetermined location. are doing.

[Effect]

When the guide element is moved along the guide path by the drive section, the slider having the guide element also moves in a similar manner.

Since the guide path is oriented to intersect both the rows and columns of the matrix, as the slider moves, the two rods passed through the slider also move along the frame.

In addition, at least one guide rod is fixed to the frame l, and each guide rod is interlocked with other guide rods via an interlocking mechanism, so each slider has an internal structure surrounded by the frame. PI moves smoothly and changes mutual pitch continuously.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which a two-way pitch changing device according to the present invention is applied to a foreign matter removal device in a city will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus for removing foreign matter in a box includes a conveyor 2 for conveying a box 1, and a storage for taking out a stored item 3 from the box 1 temporarily stopped on the conveyor 2. It is equipped with an article take-out part 4 and a box reversing part 5 for reversing the box 1 after taking out the stored article 3.

In the illustrated example, the stored item 3 is a large number of empty beer bottles,
Box 1 is a synthetic resin container partitioned into squares like a Go board.

This box 1 is supplied to the foreign matter removal device in the box with the empty contents 3 fully or partially stored therein.
After the crown, broken bottle, etc. are removed from the inside, it is discharged to the outside of the device.

The conveyor 2 consists of two sets of parallel top plate chains 6, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The knob plate chain 6 is stretched between the pulleys of two shafts 7 installed in a horizontal plane. Reference numeral 8 denotes a motor with a reduction gear for driving the top plate chain 6, and is attached to the lower frame 9 of the apparatus.

Due to the operation of this conveyor 2, the boxes 1 placed on it
will be transported from the left side to the right side in FIG.

In addition, between the two sets of 1 and hub plate chains 6, a second
As shown in Figures 4, 15 and 17,
Stoppers 10a and 10b are installed respectively on the upstream and downstream sides of the conveyance direction at predetermined locations where the seedlings 1 placed on the conveyor 2 are to be stopped.

The stoppers 1.0a, 10b are arranged so as to retract downward from the upper surface of the top plate 1 and chain 6 or protrude upward from the air cylinder]. ]. a1 1. It is attached to the rod of b (Fig. 15).

When the box 1 is conveyed to the predetermined location by the conveyor 2, both the upstream and downstream stoppers 1.0a and 10b protrude 1+3 above the top surface of the conveyor 2.
The one 10b on the downstream side acts to prevent the box 1 from advancing, and the one 10a on the upstream side acts to block the advancement of the following coffin.

The conveyor 2 also includes various guide members 12g and 12b extending along the conveying direction of the boxes 1, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in order to regulate the progress of the boxes 1 during conveyance.
, 13a, 13b, and 13c. Among these guide members, below one of the guide members 13b corresponding to the two box stops I1, there is a side alignment member 14 that moves in and out of the air cylinder 15 in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the boxes 1. It is held in a rod. Further, a stopper 70 facing the side-aligning member 14 is fixed to the box reversing portion 5.

The box 1 stopped by the stopper 10b on the downstream side is pressed against the stopper 70 on the box reversing part 5 side by the side pushing part +4'14.

As a result, the box 1 is positioned.

Thereafter, when the later-described clamp members 67 and 68 clamp the box 1 and fix the box 1, the side restraining member 14 returns to its original position.

With the stopper 10b, side pushing member 14, and stopper 70, the box 1 is positioned at a predetermined location on the conveyor 2, and is subjected to processing by the stored item removal section 4.

Next, the stored item retrieval section 4 will be explained.

The stored item removal section 4 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2, 6 to 10, a gate-shaped frame 16 is provided that stands up on one side of the conveyor 2, and the gate-shaped frame 16 is provided with boxes stopped on the conveyor 2. A rectangular movable frame 17 that moves up and down above the frame 1 is cantilevered.

The movable frame 17 is fixed to a bracket 56, and the brackets 1 and 56 are attached to a vertically extending rail 71 fixed to the portal frame 16 via a slider 72. Therefore, the movable frame 17 moves up and down along the gate-shaped frame 16.

The movable frame 17 has a rectangular shape with a space larger than the opening of the box 1, and a large number of holder parts 18 that removably hold the stored items 3 inside the box are attached to the holder part 1.
It is held on the movable frame 17 via a two-way pitch changing mechanism that changes the pitch between 8 and 8.

The two-way pitch changing mechanism has the following configuration.

That is, on the movable frame 17, side cam plates 19a, 19b, 19 are provided following the shape of the movable frame 17.
c and 19d are fixed (FIGS. 6 and 7), and each side cam temporary 19a, 19b, 19c, and 19d is formed with an elongated cam 21 extending in the horizontal direction.

Also, said side cam! &19a, 19b, 19c, 19
In the area surrounded by d, sliders 24 are arranged in a matrix on a horizontal plane, each having two guide holes extending horizontally in two directions perpendicular to t7. Figures 10 and 11).

The guide holes of each slider 24 are provided with guide holes 2OA, 20B, 20C, and 20 for each row and column of the matrix.
D, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e are divinely enlightened.

In the illustrated example, the guide rod 2OA. 20B, 20
C, 20D, 20a
, 2 fl b , 2 0 c ,
20d and 20e have 4 lines. Since the sliders 24 are arranged in five rows, the sliders 24 are installed at 20 locations (FIGS. 9 and 10).

Among the guide bars 20, the guide bar 20c in the center of the row is fixed to the side cam plates 19b, 19d, and the other guides }+i2OA, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20a
, 20b, 20d, and 20e, cam followers 22 are attached to the inner sides of both ends. And the guide tl for each row
2 OA , 2 0 B , 2 0 C ,
The force follower 22 of 20D is {rule cam provisional 19a,
It engages with the cam part 21 of 19c, and the guide part 20c in the center of the row
Guide supports 20a, 20b, 20d, 20e for each row other than
The cam front 22 is engaged with the cam front 21 of the side cams 1219b and 19d.

This allows the guide t%2 OA, 2 0 for each row
B20C, 20D and row center guide 1% 2 0
Guides for each row other than c 2 0 a , , 2 [)
b, 20d, 20e can freely slide in the water 1'Iti along the front 3 (3 uj) moving frame 17.

Further, both ends of each guide rod 20 are connected to the side cam temporary 19a,
19b, 19c. It protrudes outward from 19d, and pantographs 23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d, each of which is a telescoping machine, are attached to the protruding portions for each row and column. The bantagraphs 23b and 23d are fixed so that the wooden pivots at the center thereof do not move relative to the side cam plates 19b and 19d.

Therefore, the guide rods 2OA, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20a, 20b, 2 other than the guide rod 20c at the center of the row
When 0d and 20e move along the side cam, the pitch between the rows or columns is changed by making the slider 24 at 71 and changing the pitch between the rows or columns, so that the pitch corresponds to each section in the box 1, The pitch may be larger than that.

In addition, the pantographs 23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d may be provided inside the side cam plates 19a, 19b, 19c, and 19d.

Said side cam plate 19a. On the upper part of the surface surrounded by 19b, 19c, and 19d, there is a temporary fixed cam 25 which is a guide path member.
are fixed, and cam plates 26 serving as guide paths extending in a direction intersecting both the rows and columns at both ends of the matrix are formed at the four corners of the fixed cam plate 25, respectively.

On the other hand, pins 27 are installed on the slider 24 located at the four corners, and each pin 27 is provided with cam followers 28a and 28b, one above and one above (FIG. 11). and,
Among them, the lower cam follower 28b is connected to the fixed cam plate 2.
It engages with the cam groove 26 of No. 5.

Therefore, when a force is applied to at least one slider 24 to move it along the cam 26, each slider 24 will move as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.
It opens and closes while changing the pitch in the horizontal plane.

In FIGS. 6 to 8, the reference numeral 29 is used to apply the above-mentioned force to the slider 24 and slide the cam follower 28b, which is the guide, along the cam follower 26, which is the guide path. The driving part is an air cylinder.

The two air cylinders are arranged in guides 42OA, 20B, 20C, 20D at the center above the fixed cam plate 25.
, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d 20e, and two moving cam plates 30a, 30b arranged on the fixed cam plate 25 in parallel to the rows of the matrix. The ends of the cylinder body and the cylindrical rod 3 are connected to each other.

Elongated cam grooves 32 extending along the matrix rows are formed in both extensions 1 of the movable cam plates 30a and 30b to correspond to the cam grooves 26 of the fixed cam temporary 25. 26 is engaged with an upper cam follower 28a held by the pin 27.

In addition, what is indicated by No. 71 33 in FIGS. 7 and 8 is the movement force Ii3 0 a, 3 ('l
This is a slider fixed to the center of the lower surface of the fixed cam plate 25, and is guided by a temporary guide 34 fixed to the upper surface of the fixed cam plate 25. Further, reference numeral 35 denotes rollers attached to both ends of the movable cam plates 30a, 30b, which roll on the fixed cam temporary 25. Further, reference numeral 36 indicates a stopper for reliably stopping the movable cam plates 30a, 30b at proper positions.

As a result, air is supplied to the air cylinder 29,
When the rod 31 protrudes from the cylinder, the movable cam plates 30a, 3 attached to the ends of the rod 31 and the cylinder
0b move away from each other. Then, on a plane, the cam mechanism 26 of the temporary fixed cam 25 and the movable cam plates 30a, 30
The point where the cam groove 32 intersects with the cam groove 32 moves from the inner end of the oblique cam 26 toward the outer end, so that the four cam rollers 28a, 28b of the matrix move from the inner end of the cam groove 26 to the outer end. The sliders 24a at the four corners, which are integrated with the sliders 24a, also move in the same way. The movement of the sliders 24a at the four corners is controlled by the guide rods 2OA at both ends of the rows and columns.
, 20D, 20a20e.

Guide rods 2OA, 20D, 20a, 20e at both ends
are intermediate guides tl2OB, 20C, 20b, 20c
, 20d and pantographs 23a, 23b, 23c, 23
d, and the guide rod 20c at the center of the row.
are fixed to the side cam plates 19b, 19d, so the guide rods 20a, 20b, 20d, 20e in each row spread out on both sides at equal pitches with the guide rod 20c in the center of the row as the center, and the guide rods 2OA, 20B, 20C, and 20D are also spread on both sides at equal pitches. Thus, each slider 24 has a row and column guide bar 2 OA , 2 0
B. 20C, 20D, 20a, 20b,
20c, 20d, and 20e, and moves at an equal pitch in both rows and columns. That is, the pitch of all the sliders 24 increases from the state shown in FIG. 9 to the state shown in FIG. 10.

Conversely, when the rod 31 is retracted, all the sliders 24 move from the state shown in FIG. 10 to the state shown in FIG. 9 so that the pitch becomes smaller.

At the lower part of each slider 24, the holder part 18 is attached which detachably holds a beer bottle, which is the stored object 3.

As shown in FIGS. 11 to 14, the holder portion 18 is constructed by connecting a gripper 37 below the slider 24 with a support rod 38 for gripping the bottle opening.

Support! 3 8 is a hollow fixed rod 39 fixed to the slider 24 , and the sliding rod 40 is vertically slidable inside the fixed rod 39 . This is achieved by engagement between a ring 41 attached to the upper end of the sliding rod 4o and a step inside the fixed rod 39, and rotation of the sliding rod 40 around the axis is prevented by a groove 4 extending in the axial direction of the IFl moving rod 40.
2 and a pin 43 inserted into the fixing rod 39.

Note that reference numeral 44 is a compression coil spring interposed between the fixed rod 39 and the sliding rod 40, and the sliding rod 40 is always urged downward due to the (IIi) nature of the spring 44. .

Since the gripper 37 is forcefully held together with the sliding rod 40 by a compression coil spring 44,
If the bottle is lifted due to the presence of foreign matter in the box and the bottle opening 3a becomes higher, the sliding rod 40 will rise. Then, the tip of the sliding member t4!40 is captured by a photo sensor (not shown) having a light beam that passes through the horizontal hole 73 of the fixing rod 39, and as a result, the entire device stops.

The gripper 37 includes a bottomless rectangular parallelepiped frame 45 through which the bottle mouth part 3a can go in and out, and an elastic member 46 that comes into contact with the opening edge of the day part 3a is fixed to the ceiling part of the frame 45, which is slightly smaller than the bottle diameter. Two claw bodies 47a with a notch in the center,
47b is pivotally supported via a support 48 in a double-spread manner.

Furthermore, the two claw bodies 47a and 47b are interconnected by four tension coil springs. Further, a pin 50 is provided on the lower side of the tip portion of the two claw bodies 47a and 47b, respectively.
are arranged, and both pins 50 are connected to the rod 53 of the air cylinder 52 via the support part {45l. The air cylinder 52 is fixed perpendicularly to the gripper 37 at V>45.

From this point, the front 3 pins 50 are the air cylinder '52
When the claws 47a and 47b are moved upwardly, the claws 47a and 47b are pushed open and rotated upward. In addition, air cylinder 5
When the pin 50 is lowered by the reverse action of step 2, the claw body 47a 4 is contracted by the contraction of the four tension compression coil springs.
7b will be closed together. On the other hand, the claw bodies 47a, 47
b is pushed open regardless of the operation of the air cylinder 52 when the bottle opening 3a receives an upward force due to the lowering of the ++J motion frame 17.

The rectangular IIJ motion frame 17 that supports the holder portion 18 and the like is attached to the upper end of the rod 55 of the air cylinder 54 that is placed in the center of the gate-shaped frame 16, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5. It has been repeated.

For this reason, the air cylinder 54
The Glinopa 37 of the holder part 18 is moved up or crushed along the gate-shaped frame 16 into the city 1 on the conveyor 2, and then pulled up to the solid line position in FIGS. 1 and 2. I will do it.

A bracket 57 that protrudes above the conveyor 2 is fixed to the gate-shaped frame 16, and the bracket 57 has a foreign matter diffused therein that is biased by a tone spring to enter the movement locus of the movable frame 17. A prevention plate 58 is attached.

This foreign matter diffusion prevention plate 58 comes into contact with the bracket 56 of the movable frame 17 as the movable frame 17 descends as the air cylinder 54 is driven, and is rotated downward, so that the holder portion 18 is rotated downward when the movable frame 17 is lowered as the air cylinder 54 is driven. Hold the position until you reach the upper position.

Then, the movable frame 17 rises to prevent foreign matter from spreading.
8, the foreign matter diffusion prevention plate 58 returns to its original position.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and 15 to 17, the box reversing section 5 is located near the box stop location of the conveyor 2 and faces the gate-shaped frame 16. installed in position.

The box reversing unit 5 includes a clamp mechanism that clamps the boxes l stopped on the conveyor 2, and a clamp! It is equipped with a reversing device consisting of a rotating lever 59, etc., for reversing the IM together with the box 1 held therein.

The rotating shaft 59 is attached to the lower frame 9 of the apparatus for removing foreign matter in a box in parallel to the running direction of the conveyor 2, and has a speed reducer at the end of the shaft for rotating the rotating shaft. A mechanical motor 60 is arranged.

The clamp mechanism includes two vertical frames 61 fixed to the rotation shaft 59 and extending in a direction perpendicular to the rotation shaft 59. Between this vertical frame 61 are horizontal brackets 1 and 6.
The stopper 70 is attached to the seedling bracket 62, and a guide bar 63 extending in the vertical direction is fixed.

Air cylinders 64 are installed above and below the horizontal bracket 62, respectively.
．． 65 is fixed. And each air cylinder 64
．． Plate-shaped clamp portions 67 and 68 extending horizontally are fixed to the tips of the rods 66 of 65, respectively. The guide bar 63 is slidably held against each clamp member 67, 68.

As a result, when both the upper and lower air cylinders 64, 65 are actuated to bring the clamp members 67, 68 closer to each other, the upper and lower surfaces of the side walls of the clamp mechanism of the box 1 on the conveyor 2 are gripped by the clamp parts 67, 68. be done. As a result, the box 1 falls on the conveyor 2. and,
When the pivot 59 is rotated, the box 1 is gripped by the clamp mechanism and inverted to the position shown by the one-dot octopus line in FIG.

Therefore, the nine objects inside [box] will be removed from [box]. However, the item 111 is already a beer bottle, which is the storage item 3.
It is taken out outside the city by the fY extraction section 4.

In addition, what is indicated by the reference numeral 6 in FIG. 4 is a safety frame that prevents people from entering within the rotation range of the clamp mechanism and the like.

Next, the operation of the city lambda object removal device will be explained.

When the box 1 containing stored items 3 such as empty beer bottles is carried on the conveyor 2 and reaches below 11 of the stored item removal section 4,
Upstream and Downstream Stoppers] Oa 10b projects above the top surface of the conveyor 2, the downstream stopper 10b stops the box 1, and the upstream stopper 10a prevents subsequent boxes from entering.

Next, the side pressing member 14 operates to press the box 1 against the pusher 70 facing the side pressing part 14 to properly position the box 1. Then, the clamp members 67 and 68 of the clamp rock structure operate to clamp the positioned box 1.

Next, the movable frame 17 is lowered toward the box by the operation of the air cylinder 54 of the stored item removal section 4, and the gripper 37 of the holder section 18 comes into contact with the bottle 121 section 3a.

Then, the two claw bodies 47a, 47b expand upward due to the contact pressure, and the bottle mouth part 3a is inserted between the tips of the claw bodies 47a, 47b.
12(a) and 13, the constricted portion of the bottle opening 3a engages with the claws 47a, 47b.

Thereafter, the air cylinder 54 operates in the opposite direction to the above to raise the movable frame 17 and take out the empty bottle from the box 1.

Then, when the movable frame 17 passes the contact point with the bracket 56 or the foreign matter diffusion prevention plate 58, the two air cylinders of the pitch changing mechanism are activated, and the pitch of the holder part 18 is changed from the state shown in FIG. 9 to the state shown in FIG. change the state to

As a result, foreign objects such as garbage caught between the bottles or on the shoulders of the bottles fall. Also, at this time, the foreign matter diffusion prevention plate 58 is in the state shown in FIG. 2, so falling debris, etc. Guide to the inside of Til.

When the empty bottles are taken out of the box 1 in this manner and foreign matter is removed from between the bottles, the box reversing section 5 rotates and the five boxes rotate to reverse the box 1 together with the clamp mechanism. For this reason, box 1
Foreign matter inside is removed to the outside of box 1.

After that, the rotation shaft 59 rotates in the opposite direction to the above, and the empty box 1
is returned to its original position, and the clamp mechanism moves the empty box 1 to the conveyor 2.
Release upwards.

Furthermore, by the operation of the air cylinder 54 of the storage object takeout section 4, the holder section 18 holding the empty bottle is lowered toward the box 1, and the empty bottle is stored in the box 1 again.

Note that the holder portion 18 is already in the state shown in FIG. 9 by operating the two air cylinders for pitch change R fM.

When the holder part 18 stores the empty bottle in the box 1, each air cylinder 52 of each holder part 18 is activated, and as shown in FIG. 12(b), the pin 50 is pulled up and the claw body 47a. 47b is removed from the constriction of the bottle mouth portion 3a, and the bottle serving as the stored object 3 is released from the holder portion 18.

Thereafter, the movable frame 17 rises again to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and waits for the next box to undergo foreign object removal processing.

Meanwhile, the clamp members 67, 68 release the box 1. Then, the stoppers 10a and 10b on the upstream side and the f-stream side descend, and the box 1 from which foreign objects have been removed and the stored items are stored again flows on the conveyor 2 toward the f-stream side, and the unprocessed When the box arrives, it is stopped again by the protruding downstream stopper 10b, and is subjected to the foreign matter removal process.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The two-way pitch changing device according to the present invention has the configuration and operation as described above, and requires only one drive unit such as an air cylinder. Therefore, the structure of the machine can be simplified and the consumption of power sources such as compressed air can be reduced.

In addition, since the pitch change mechanism consists of a mechanical interlocking mechanism such as engagement between a guide element and a guide path, in addition to having a single drive unit, it is possible to synchronize operations in two directions and eliminate time lag. This has the effect of preventing the occurrence of 1l2, matching pinches in the operation of the two sides, and arranging the sliders in an accurate matrix at all times.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figures show an embodiment in which the two-way pitch changing device according to the present invention is applied to a foreign matter removal device in a city, where FIG. 1 is a side view of the foreign matter removal device, FIG. 2 is an iE side view, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-rV in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a side view with the downstream side of the conveyor removed; FIG. 6 Figure 7 is a plan view of one side from the center as seen from above the stored items removal section, and Figure 7 is the ■ in Figure 6
-■ Line diagram, Figure 8 is the ■-■ line location diagram of Figure 6, Figure 9.
The figure is a schematic plan view showing a state in which the distance between the holder parts is narrowed by the pitch change mechanism, Figure 10 is a uIEml3''It side view showing a state in which the distance between the holder parts is widened by the pitch change mechanism, and Figure 11 is a single slider part. Fig. 12(a) is a perspective view of the holder part viewed from the same direction as Fig. 7, Fig. 12(b)
Figure 13 is a partially cutaway diagram of the holder showing the claw body expanded by the operation of the air cylinder, and Figure 13 is Figure 12 (a).
Figure 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XIV-XIV in Figure 12(a), Figure 15 is a partial cutout i of the box inversion part, Figure 16 is a cross-sectional diagram in Figure 15. FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along the line XVI-XVI, and FIG. 1... City, 2... Conveyor, 3... Collected objects, 4...
- Stored item removal section, 5... digit reversal section. Outsourcing Agent Yasushi Ishikawa Figure 8 Figure 2 Figure 5 Figure 8 Zuzu 9 10 Zuzu 1l Figure xm'''''l (a) Figure 12 (b) Figure 13

Claims (1)

[Claims] Sliders having two guide holes penetrating at different levels in two directions perpendicular to each other are arranged in a matrix, and guide rods are inserted into the guide holes of each slider for each row and column of the matrix, and at least one guide rod is inserted into the guide hole of each slider. The guide rods are fixed to the frame, while the other guide rods are held slidably relative to the frame in a direction perpendicular to the axis of each guide rod, and each guide rod is interlocked for each row and column of the matrix. A guide path member is fixed to the frame and has a guide path that is restrained by a mechanism and extends in a plane parallel to the matrix in a direction intersecting both the rows and columns of the matrix, and at least one of the sliders has a guide path member fixed to the frame. A guide element is attached to engage with the guide path and guide the slider along the guide path, and a drive unit is attached at a predetermined location to slide the guide element along the guide path. A two-way pitch changing device characterized by: