JPH0353165B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a horizontal-vertical conversion motion mechanism, in particular, a horizontal-vertical conversion movement mechanism, which absorbs a plate-shaped or rectangular article conveyed in a horizontal state from its upper surface and converts its posture by 90 degrees. The present invention relates to a horizontal-vertical conversion transfer mechanism suitable for transferring to another device in a vertical state.

(Prior art) For example, in a conveyor line for certain types of articles, items that are continuously fed horizontally on a conveyor belt are placed in an upright position for packaging, stamping, boxing, and other subsequent processing. It may be necessary to change the posture and move to another conveyance path or the next station. In such cases, as a means to perform fast and reliable attitude changes and transfers, the conventional method is to use vacuum suction to suck up the articles that have been continuously transported one by one, and then transport them to the transfer position while still being suctioned. A method is known in which the suction nozzle is moved vertically, horizontally, and rotated using a cam mechanism or cylinder mechanism. It was becoming.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional transfer device described above, it is necessary to combine many cam plates, stopper members, etc. for the operation of the suction nozzle, and the mechanism becomes extremely complicated and large-scale. In addition, since the suction nozzle moves vertically and horizontally in a linear reciprocating motion, it is difficult to operate at high speeds, does not operate smoothly, generates large amounts of vibration and noise, and has the disadvantages that parts often break down. .

An object of the present invention is to eliminate such drawbacks, and to provide a horizontal-vertical conversion transfer mechanism that is particularly simple in structure, precise, and capable of high-speed operation.

(Means for solving the problem) The article horizontal/vertical conversion transfer mechanism according to the present invention has the following features:
One end of the operating link is rotatably connected to the transmission link end on the lever side of the transmission link of the lever crank mechanism, and the tip of the swinging link pivotally connected to the fixed point can swing and rotate to approximately the midpoint of the operating link. The tip of a guide lever, which is connected to and held at another fixed point so as to be axially swingable and swingable, is relatively rotatably connected to the other end of the operating link via a connecting pin fixed to the tip of the guide lever. An article holding/releasing member is fixed to the extension of the connecting pin, and the article holding/releasing member is vertically lowered, vertically raised, or
Performs a cyclical operation of 90° rotation and descent, horizontal movement, and 90° return and rise, and releases the article during the horizontal movement process,
The article is delivered in a vertical position to another receiving device waiting at the delivery position.

(Example) Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an article transfer mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a tape cassette incorporating a magnetic tape is used as an example of an article to be transferred, and a case is shown in which the cassette transfer station is used to box the cassette in an upright position. First, cassette 1 is conveyor belt 2
It is placed horizontally on top and is fed intermittently horizontally. In the illustrated embodiment, the cassette is conveyed in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. A rotating shaft 3 rotatably driven by a drive source (not shown) is supported above the cassette transport conveyor.
A bevel gear 4 is fixed to the tip. A crankshaft 5 is rotatably supported at the front end of the rotating shaft 3 and perpendicular to the axis of the rotating shaft, and a bevel gear 6 fixed to the crankshaft 5 and a bevel gear 4 of the rotating shaft 3 mesh with each other. A crank link 8 is fixed to the crankshaft 5, and a link 9 is pivotally connected via a pivot 7 to a fixed portion on the side of the conveyor at approximately the same height as the conveyor. The tip of the crank link 8 is rotatably connected by a transmission link 10. The above-described crank link 8, lever link 9, transmission link 10, and the crankshaft 5 and pivot 7 constitute the lever crank mechanism of the present invention.

The lower end of the transmission link 10 of the lever crank mechanism, that is, the transmission link end 10a on the lever link side extends slightly outward from the connection point 9' with the lever link 9,
At this transmission link end 10a, one end of an operating link 11 extending laterally as a whole is connected to a connecting pin 1.
They are rotatably connected by 1'. A swing link 13 is attached to a fixed portion located below the conveyor and closer to the pivot shaft 7 via the pivot shaft 12.
is pivotally mounted, and the tip of this link 13 is located at approximately the midpoint of the operating link 11, more precisely, a pin 13' is located at a location slightly closer to the transmission link end 10a.
are connected to each other so that they can swing and rotate freely. Here, a triangle formed by connecting the crankshaft 5, the pivot 7 of the lever link 9, and the pivot 12 of the swing link 13 forms a substantially isosceles triangle whose base is between the crankshaft 5 and the pivot 12. A roller 14 is pivotally supported at a fixed position below the transport conveyor, and a long groove 15a of a guide lever 15 is inserted into this roller 14, whereby the guide lever 15 rotates and slides around the roller 14 position ( (long groove direction). The tip of the guide lever 15 is rotatably connected to the tip of the operating link 11 via a connecting pin 15'. Furthermore, connecting pin 1
5' is fixed to the guide lever 15. Here, the triangle formed by connecting the crankshaft 5, the pivot 12 of the link 13, and the roller 14 forms a substantially isosceles triangle whose base is between the pivot 12 and the roller 14.

A receiving suction nozzle (not shown in FIG. 1) is attached to the extending portion of the connecting pin 15' between the operating link 11 and the lever 15. The direction of the suction nozzle, that is, the nozzle direction, is such that when the connection point between the operating link 11 and the lever 15 reaches the upper surface position of the cassette 1 on the conveyor, it faces vertically downward, that is, at this position, the cassette surface It is set so that it abuts perpendicularly to. Note that the horizontal line 1 is located near the tip of the guide lever 15 on the horizontal line 16 perpendicular to the roller 14.
A delivery suction nozzle 17 that reciprocates above the delivery suction nozzle 17 is provided horizontally, and a cassette stuffing box 18 is further placed outside and below the nozzle 17 for delivery. FIG. 2 shows the attitude and circulation path of the receiving suction nozzle in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 when the receiving suction nozzle 20 suctions the cassette 1 onto the conveyor belt 2 and transfers it to the delivery suction nozzle. FIG. The receiving suction nozzle 20 has a suction plate 21 of substantially the same rectangular shape as the cassette 1, and a plurality of suction pads 22 are attached to the suction plate.

In such a configuration, when the rotating shaft 3 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow D in FIG.
The crank link 8 continuously rotates around the crankshaft 5 via the transmission link 10, and the lever link 9 performs reciprocating lever movement around the pivot shaft 7 via the transmission link 10, and is connected to the end 10a of the transmission link 10. The movement of the operating link 11 is similarly regulated by a swinging link 13 that makes a reciprocating lever movement around a pivot shaft 12a, and the connection point with the guide lever 15 at its tip follows a loop-shaped trajectory 19 in FIG. It rotates in the direction of the arrow. This loop-shaped trajectory 19 is such that at the position of the upper surface of the cassette 1 on the belt 2 of the conveyor, the suction plate 21 descends from above perpendicularly to the cassette surface in a horizontal position, and returns slightly upward from the cassette surface approximately vertically. Thereafter, it descends greatly in an arc shape, moves outward (toward the delivery suction nozzle side) on the horizontal line 16 perpendicular to the roller 14, and then passes along the outside (arc-shaped upward trajectory) almost parallel to the arc-shaped descending trajectory. The trajectory is such that it returns to the top of the cassette 1. The cassette-receiving suction nozzle 20 fixed to the extending portion of the connecting pin 15' descends vertically toward the top surface of the cassette 1 to suction the cassette, and then rises and follows the aforementioned arcuate downward trajectory. descend. At this time, the tip of the suction nozzle 20 descends while turning clockwise as seen in FIG. 1 during this arcuate downward movement, and when it reaches the lowest position, it has turned 90 degrees, and The tip of the suction nozzle faces inward, that is, toward the roller 14 side. In other words, at this position, conveyor belt 2
The lower surface 1' of the cassette 1 when it is on top faces vertically inward (to the roller 14 side) and is perpendicular to the delivery suction nozzle 17. In this state, the cassette 1 is released from the receiving suction nozzle 20, and the receiving suction nozzle 20 escapes upward, and at the same time, the cassette 1 is delivered to the delivery suction nozzle 17.
The operator moves backward and stores the cassette 1 in the cassette stuffing box 18 in an upright position. On the other hand, the receiving suction nozzle that handed over the cassette 1 rises following the arcuate upward trajectory, and while vertically descending again, turns 90 degrees counterclockwise to return to its original position and picks up the next cassette. , enters the receiving operation. During this time, the guide lever 15 is held by the roller 14 and slides relative to the roller in the lever longitudinal direction, and rotates around the roller to guide the actuating link 11. Reference numerals 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d in the figure respectively show the horizontal-vertical attitude change state of the cassette 1 from the receiving position on the conveyor belt 2 to the delivery position to the delivery suction nozzle 17. To summarize the above operations, in this embodiment, the suction plate 20 performs a cyclic operation of horizontal position/vertical descent, horizontal position/vertical rise, 90° rotation/lowering, and 90° restoration/lifting.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the rotary shaft 3 rotates continuously at high speed in response to the increased speed of intermittent feeding of cassettes on the conveyor, and as a result, the circulating operation of the tip of the operating link 11 and the receiving suction nozzle is as follows. It operates at such high speed that it is almost invisible. Therefore, each of the above-mentioned links, levers, etc. is made of a lightweight and rigid material such as aluminum, and needle bearings are used for the connecting pins of each link. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a case was shown in which an article in a horizontal state is turned and delivered to another device in a vertical position. It can also be transferred to another device, and its operation can be easily changed by changing the length and positional relationship of the links.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the operating end can perform the three movements of vertical movement, 90° rotation, and horizontal movement in series and at high speed using only a simple link mechanism without using a cam or the like. This reduces the time it takes to change the posture of articles and transfer them. Because the operation consists of rotational motion, each part moves smoothly,
Despite high-speed operation, vibration and noise are extremely low, and the number of parts can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a horizontal-vertical conversion transfer mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the circulation path of the receiving suction nozzle. 1... Tape cassette, 3... Rotating shaft, 4, 6
... Bevel gear, 7, 12 ... Axis, 8 ... Crank link, 9 ... Lever link, 10 ... Transmission link, 11 ... Operation link, 13 ... Link, 1
4...Roller, 15...Guide lever, 19...
Looped trajectory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 One end of the operating link is rotatably connected to the transmission link end on the lever side of the transmission link of the lever crank mechanism, and the tip of the swinging link pivotally connected to the fixed point is swing-rotated to approximately the midpoint of the operating link. possible to connect,
The tip of a guide lever held at another fixed point so as to be able to slide in the axial direction and swing and rotate is relatively rotatably connected to the other end of the operating link via a connecting pin fixed to the tip of the guide lever, and the connecting pin An article holding/release member is fixed to the extension part of the lever, and the crankshaft of the lever crank mechanism is driven to rotate in one direction.
The article holding/releasing member vertically descends, vertically rises,
A cyclical operation of 90° rotation and descent, horizontal movement, and 90° return and rise is performed, and the article holding/releasing member holds the article in the vertically lowering to vertically rising stroke, and releases the article in the horizontally moving stroke. A horizontal-vertical conversion transfer mechanism characterized by: