JPH0321887Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a holding device for making the processing surface of a workpiece face a processing head while changing the attitude of the workpiece in a processing station such as a dedicated processing machine group.

Prior Art A workpiece posture changing means for use in a processing machine is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 16046/1983. In this device, workpieces are carried in or out by a crane or chain block. For this reason, the workpiece conveyance efficiency is low, and continuous flow processing is difficult.

On the other hand, in a trussfire machine, a dedicated transport device continuously transports the workpiece, so transport efficiency is good and necessary processing can be performed continuously.
When it is necessary to change the attitude of a workpiece during a series of processing steps in such a processing system, an attitude changing station is usually installed between the processing stations, and an attitude changing device is installed therein. in this way,
If a posture changing station is installed in the middle of a processing line, the entire processing line becomes longer, and since the posture changing device is interposed between the processing stations, the entire device becomes complicated, making it particularly difficult to efficiently control the transfer of workpieces. becomes. In addition, when different types of workpieces are conveyed in a mixed state on a series of conveyance lines, when the preceding workpiece is being processed, even though the subsequent workpiece is not processed at that station, the preceding workpiece This poses an obstacle to transportation in high-mix, low-volume production systems because it is necessary to wait until processing is complete.

Purpose of the invention Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to enable the posture change of a workpiece at a machining station, and to allow a subsequent workpiece to pass through while machining that workpiece, thereby eliminating the conventionally necessary posture change between machining stations. The purpose is to omit equipment and to be able to flexibly respond to high-mix, low-volume production of workpieces.

Solution to the Invention Accordingly, the present invention achieves the above object by organically combining a lifter, a workpiece conveyance device, and a workpiece posture changing and clamping means.

That is, the transport device sequentially transports the plurality of workpieces along the processing station. On the other hand, the rotating holder serving as the posture changing means is rotatably provided at the processing station, and fixes the workpiece transported by the transporting means and lifted up by the lifter at that position in a positioned state. By rotating by the required angle, the processing surface of the workpiece is made to face the processing machine of the processing station. During this time, the transport device moves subsequent workpieces to the next processing station as necessary. Therefore, in the present invention, while a workpiece is being processed, other subsequent workpieces can pass through the processing station.

Structure of the invention FIGS. 1 and 2 show a work holding device 1 of the invention. This work holding device 1 is equipped with a rotary holder 3 as a main part of the invention, as well as a conveying device 2.

The conveying device 2 is for sequentially conveying a plurality of workpieces 4 along a processing station, and includes a transfer bar 6 at a position below the conveyor roller 5, for example. The transfer bar 6 moves forward and backward in the conveyance direction of the workpiece 4, that is, in the axial direction, and at the same time, the workpiece 4 is moved intermittently in the conveyance direction by the feed pawl 7 by rotating motion in different directions during forward movement and backward movement. move the target.
Further, this conveying device 2 transports the workpiece 4 from the conveying position to the rotary holder 3 at the position of the processing station.
A lifter 8 is provided in order to move it to the clamping position. In addition, this lifter 8 is
It is located below the conveyance position and is supported vertically by an air cylinder (not shown) so as to be movable up and down together with a support rod 9, and a plurality of locating pins 1 are provided on the upper surface of the rod 9 for positioning the work 4.
0.

The rotation holder 3 has a box-like structure as a whole when viewed from the front, and is rotatable with respect to, for example, a gate-shaped fixed frame 13 by horizontal support shafts 11 and bearings 12 at both ends thereof. It is freely supported, and has a plurality of work receivers 14 fixedly provided on its bottom side, and also has a plurality of positioning pins 15, for example, two, which can be protruded from the work holding surface 14a of the work receiver 14 and can move forward and backward. There is. Note that this positioning pin 15 is slidably fitted into a sleeve 16 fixed to the rotary holder 3, and an engaging hole 17 at one end allows the positioning pin 15 to
It engages with the round tip 18a of the L-shaped arm 18. These arms 18 are fixed to a shaft 19 that is rotatably supported by the rotary holder 3 through bearings 20 . Further, one end of an arm 44 is fixed to the shaft 19 so as to be substantially perpendicular to the arm 18. This arm 4
The other end of 4 is connected by a pin 23 to a piston rod 22 of a cylinder 21 for advancing and retracting a positioning pin 15 fixed to the rotary holder 3.

The rotary holder 3 includes, for example, two clampers 24 on the bottom side. These clampers 24 are supported at the center by a bracket 27 on the rotary holder 3 side by two connecting pins 25 and two connecting links 26, respectively, and are also supported by an operating cylinder 29 by a connecting pin 28 on the rear end side.
The piston rod 30 is connected to the piston rod 30 of the piston rod 30. Note that these operating cylinders 29 are each fixed to the rotation holder 3.

Furthermore, this rotary holder 3 is connected to a piston rod 32 of a drive cylinder 31 as a drive means by a connecting pin 33 and an interlocking bracket 35, and furthermore, the driving cylinder 31 is connected to a fixed frame 13 by an interlocking pin 34. It is connected to a connection bracket 36 of. In this example,
The rotation angle of the rotation holder 3 is set to 90 degrees as an example, but the rotation angle is determined by the two abutting bodies 37 and 38 provided on the rotation holder 3 and the fixed frame 1.
It is regulated by the contact relationship with upper and lower stoppers 39 and 40 provided at 3.

Of course, since this rotary holder 3 is provided in the processing station, it is in a state where the workpiece 4 can be held while its processing surface faces the processing head 41 of the processing machine. Note that the rotational position of this rotary holder 3 is determined by the dog 42 fixed to the support shaft 11 and
It is electrically detected by the sensor 43 on the fixed frame 13 side.

Effect of the invention When the workpiece 4 is being transported, the lifter 8 is sunk to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. In this state, the transfer bar 6 hits the rear side of the workpieces 4, as shown by the two-dot chain line, and performs reciprocating linear motion to move the plurality of workpieces 4 to the processing station and stop there.

Thereafter, the lifter 8 rises from the position shown by the two-dot chain line to the position shown by the solid line, and the workpiece 4 on the conveyor roller 5 is positioned by the locating pin 10 and the positioning hole 4a, and the workpiece receiving part of the rotary holder 3 is moved up. Raise it to the position corresponding to 14. At this time, the cylinder 21 contracts its piston rod 22 to rotate the L-shaped arm 18 counterclockwise in FIG. It will fit into the positioning state. Thereafter, the operating cylinder 29 advances the piston rod 30, that is, pushes it downward, so that the pair of clampers 24 approach the workpiece 4 from the retreated position and press the workpiece 4 against the workpiece receiver 14 to be in a clamped state. Thereafter, the lifter 8 moves away from the workpiece 4 and descends to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line.

In this way, the workpiece 4 is transferred from the conveyor roller 5 of the conveyance device 2 to the rotary holder 3 via the lifter 8, and is fixed there in a positioned state. Up to this point, the rotating holder 3 has stopped at the position where the abutting body 38 and the stopper 40 contact each other.
When the clamping of the workpiece 4 in the positioned state is completed, the drive cylinder 31 moves the rotary holder 3 by retracting its piston rod 32.
is given a counterclockwise rotational movement about the support shaft 11 in FIG.
9. In this state, the rotation holder 3 is
Workpiece 4 is rotated exactly 90 degrees and is in a clamped state.
is opposed to the processing head 41. In this state, the machining head 41 performs necessary machining on the workpiece 4 by a feeding motion while rotating the tool 41a at the tip.

During such machining operations, a space is secured above the conveyor roller 5 through which subsequent workpieces 4 can pass, so that the conveyance device 2 can remove subsequent workpieces that do not need to be processed at this processing station as necessary. 4
By passing the material as it is, it is transported to the next processing station. Therefore, even if different types of workpieces 4 are mixed among a large number of workpieces 4 and machining is not required at a certain processing station, the flow of these workpieces 4 in the conveyance direction may be different from that of other workpieces 4. This will continue even though the process is still in progress.

Of course, once the machining of the workpiece 4 is completed, the operation in reverse to the above, that is, the rotary holder 3
clockwise rotation of the lifter 8, receiving the machined workpiece 4 at the raised position of the lifter 8, and the clamper 24.
After the unclamping operation, it moves onto the conveyor roller 5 again. Since the machining surface of the workpiece 4 faces downward while the rotary holder 3 rotates 90 degrees, even if chips from machining are present inside the machining hole, they will be reliably removed once the workpiece 4 faces downward. Since it falls, processing in the next process can be continued as it is. Furthermore, since the processing position and the transport position are different, it is possible to prevent the transport unit from being contaminated by chips and the workpiece from being damaged during transport by chips.

Effects of the invention The invention provides the following unique effects.

At the same time as clamping while positioning the workpiece,
The clamped workpiece rotates by the required angle with the rotating holder, moves from the workpiece transport position to the workpiece processing position, and faces the processing head in the positioning state. Since a separate station for changing the posture or a posture changing device is not required, the transport device does not become long.

In addition, while the workpiece is in the processing position, space is secured on the transport device so that other subsequent workpieces can be transported to the next processing station by the transport device. Depending on the situation, subsequent workpieces that do not need to be processed can be passed through this processing station as they are. Therefore, even if different types of workpieces are mixed among a large number of workpieces and machining is not required for a certain machining station, the flow of those workpieces in the conveying direction may be affected by the flow during machining of other workpieces. However, it can be continued. Therefore, it is possible to flexibly respond to complex processing conditions for high-mix, low-volume production.

In particular, the workpiece holding device of the present invention organically combines the transfer function of the transfer machine with the lifter, clamp, and posture change functions, so that a series of transfer operations and processing operations during the transfer can be efficiently performed. This is effective in increasing the efficiency of this type of machining system.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the work holding device of the present invention as seen from the side, and FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same device as seen from the front. 1...Work holding device, 2...Transfer device, 3...
... Rotating holder, 4 ... Work, 6 ... Transfer bar, 8 ... Lifter, 13 ... Fixed frame, 14 ... Work support, 14a ... Work holding surface, 15 ... Positioning pin, 24 ... Clamper , 31... Drive cylinder, 32... Piston rod, 37, 38... Contact body, 39, 40... Stopper, 41... Machining head of the processing machine.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A conveying device that sequentially transports a plurality of workpieces along a processing station, and a rotating device that is rotatably supported on a fixed frame at a fixed position of the processing station and has a workpiece holding surface. a holder, and a drive means provided between the rotary holder and the fixed frame to rotate the rotary holder so that the workpiece holding surface faces the loading/unloading position of the conveying device and the processing head of the processing machine; ,
A positioning pin provided on the workpiece holding surface, a clamper provided on the rotary holder that tightens and fixes the workpiece on the workpiece holding surface, and a clamper provided below the rotary holder that is movable up and down to carry in and out the workpiece. 1. A workpiece holding device comprising: a lifter that raises the workpiece from a position to a workpiece holding surface of a rotary holding device. (2) The workpiece holder according to claim 1 of the utility model registration claim, wherein the rotating holder has two abutting bodies corresponding to stoppers of the fixed frame in order to regulate the rotation angle. Device.