JPH0347639A - Transfer feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform a transfer high in positional precision by arranging freely vertically movable guide rails in parallel in the direction for transporting works, providing carriers which can be transported freely by a linear motor on these guide rails and mounting a cross bar horizontally between the carriers. CONSTITUTION:The work 12 carried into the upstream side of a press body 1 is held by a work holding means 13 of the cross bar 11 located on the uppermost stream sides of the guide rails 3. In the press body, a pair of guide rails 3 moving freely vertically by lifters 5 are arranged in parallel along the direction A for transporting the work and plural carriers 8 moved freely by the linear motor are provided on these guide rails. The cross bar 11 having work holding means is provided between the carriers facing each other, the carriers are moved by the linear motor provided in each carrier along the guide rails and the work held by the work holding means can be carried into and away off the press body. Consequently, transport high in positional precision can be performed without generating a chatter vibration.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a transfer feeder that is installed in a transfer press and transports a workpiece, and particularly relates to a transfer feeder that uses a linear motor as a drive source to transport a workpiece at high speed. Related.

[Conventional technology]

A transfer feeder conventionally installed in a transfer press has a pair of transfer bars arranged in parallel in the workpiece conveyance direction, and by moving these transfer bars in two or three dimensions, it feeds the workpiece to each processing station. It is used for transporting objects and loading workpieces.

In addition, the drive mechanism for driving the transfer bar rotates cams using power extracted from the press body, causes these cams to swing levers, and transmits the operation of these levers to the transfer bar to move the transfer bar in two-dimensional or The transfer bar is moved in three dimensions, or a servo motor is provided for each drive system, and these servo motors are used to move the transfer bar in two or three dimensions.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, with either drive method, the chatter vibration generated by the acceleration when starting and stopping the transfer bar causes variations in the work stop position, the workpiece comes off from the fingers, and is more likely to interfere with the slide or mold. In addition to these problems, there is also a limit to speeding up, so it is not possible to meet demands such as increasing productivity by increasing speed for presses that have been widely adopted in recent years for high-mix, low-volume production. was there.

This invention was made with the aim of improving the above-mentioned problems, and by providing a transfer feeder device that enables high-speed conveyance by using a linear motor as the drive source, it is easily compatible with presses that perform high-mix, low-volume production. It has been made possible.

[Means and operations for solving the problem] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pair of guide rails that are movable up and down by a lifter in parallel along the workpiece conveyance direction in the press main body, and A plurality of carriers movable by a linear motor are provided on the rail, and a cross bar having a work holding means is provided between the opposing carriers, and a cross bar is provided on each carrier or the carrier is moved along the guide rail by a near motor. A transfer feeder is provided in which a workpiece held by a workpiece holding means is transported into and out of a press body while being moved, and transported to each processing station.

〔Example〕

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

In the figure, 1 is a transfer press main body, 2 is a transfer feeder installed in this press main body 1, and has a pair of guide rails 3 arranged in parallel along the workpiece conveyance direction (arrow A).

These guide rails 3 are long so as to reach from the work loading side to the unloading side of the press main body 1, and are supported at multiple points at the lower part via guide posts 4 on the lifter 5 so as to be able to freely slide up and down. , each lifter 5 is moved up and down while maintaining a horizontal state by a lift means 6 such as a lift cylinder provided on the lifter 5.

Further, a plurality of carriers 8 are supported at mutually opposing positions on each of the guide rails 3 so as to be movable along the guide rails 3.

These carriers 8 are connected to a linear motor 9 as shown in FIG.
are installed inside the vehicle, and these linear motors 9 allow it to run independently.

The linear motor 9 has a configuration in which a primary coil 9a is installed on the carrier 8 side, and a secondary conductor 9b is installed on the guide rail 3 side so as to face the primary coil (the secondary conductor 9b is installed on the carrier 8 side, and the secondary conductor 9b is installed on the guide rail 3 side). A primary coil 9 may be provided on the 3 side), and by supplying power to the primary coil 9a, the carrier 8 can be made to travel along the guide rail 3 at an arbitrary speed.

On the other hand, tilt mechanisms 10 are provided on carriers 8 provided on the guide rail 3 so as to face each other, and both ends of a cross bar 11 are supported between these tilt mechanisms 10.

The tilt mechanism 10 is for rotating the crossbar 11 at an arbitrary angle, and is designed to change the posture of the workpiece 12 during transportation.
Work holding means 13 such as a vacuum cup for holding a work 12 are provided at a plurality of locations in the middle of the workpiece 1 .

Next, the operation will be described. The workpiece 12 carried into the upstream side of the press body 1 is held by the workpiece holding means 13 of the cross bar 11 located on the most upstream side of the guide rail 3.

Further, the workpiece 12 that has been processed at each of the processing stations W, W2, .

After that, the guide rail 3 is raised to a predetermined height while maintaining the horizontal state by the lifting means 6 of each lifter 5, and then power is supplied to the linear motor 9 of each carrier 8, and the linear motor 9 moves each carrier 8 to the guide rail. 3. It moves at high speed.

The workpiece holding means 13 provided on the most upstream cross bar 11 is transferred to the first processing station W1, and the other workpiece holding means 13 is transferred to the next processing station W2.
When the workpiece holding means 13 provided on the most downstream cross bar 11 are transported to the unloading station, the guide rail 3 is lowered and the workpieces 12 held by the workpiece holding means 13 are released. .

After that, when the guide rail 3 rises again, each carrier 8 is returned to its original position by the linear motor 9 and waits for the next conveyance.

Thereafter, the above-mentioned operation is repeated to transport the work 12. By changing the posture of the work 12 by the tilt mechanism 10 during transport of the work, the work 12 can be transported without interfering with the slide or the mold.

In addition, by controlling the linear motor 9 and changing the moving distance of the carrier 8, it becomes possible to transport workpieces when the pitches of the processing stations W, . . . are different. As shown in FIG. 5, when the pitches of the processing stations W, . . . differ, it is necessary to provide an idle station i between the processing stations W and W2. Direct transportation from processing station W1 to the next processing station W2 is possible without providing station i.

Further, in the past, the moving bolster 1a, which was pulled out from inside the press body 1 when replacing the mold, is carried in the direction of the arrow a in FIG. 5, and then moved to the processing station W4. In order to keep the pitch of W5 constant, it was necessary to move further in the direction of the arrow, but with the transfer feeder of this invention, the workpiece 12 can be transferred at the position where it is carried into the press body 1, so the moving bolster 1a can be moved. It does not require movement in the direction of the arrow.

Further, in the above embodiment, a transfer feeder that operates in two dimensions has been described, but it can also be applied to a transfer feeder that operates in three dimensions.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, this invention provides a guide rail that can be raised and lowered by a lifter, and a carrier that can be moved independently by a linear motor, and a crossbar is horizontally suspended between the opposing carriers. Workpieces are loaded and unloaded and transported to each processing station using the workpiece holding means provided on the crossbar, and since the highly rigid transfer bar of the conventional method is not required, the inertia during lifting is small. At the same time, since the workpiece is transported by moving the carrier, there is almost no chatter vibration caused by acceleration when starting or stopping, compared to the case of driving a conventional highly rigid and heavy transfer bar. Highly accurate transport becomes possible.

In addition, since high-speed conveyance is possible, productivity can be improved by adopting it in presses for high-mix, low-volume production, and the workpiece conveyance pitch can be set arbitrarily.
Since there is no need to provide an idle station between processing stations as in the past, the time from loading the material to unloading the product can be shortened.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 1 is an overall perspective view, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the transfer feeder, Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the carrier, and Fig. 4 is a configuration diagram of the beam near motor portion. , FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation. 1 is the press body, 3 is a guide rail, 5 is a lifter, 8 is a carrier, 9 is a linear motor, 11 is a cross bar 13
is the workpiece holding means, and A is the workpiece conveyance direction.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A pair of guide rails 3 that are movable up and down by a lifter 5 are arranged in parallel in the press body 1 along the workpiece conveyance direction A, and a plurality of carriers 8 that are movable by a linear motor 9 are provided on these guide rails 3. In addition, a transfer feeder is formed by horizontally suspending a cross bar 11 having a work holding means 13 between mutually opposing carriers 8.