JPH04189426A - Drum transport pallet and drum loading method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To hold a drum stably with good precision without possibility of dropping a foreign matter from a drum inner circumferential surface to a pallet table by moving a holding arm radially in parallel to get closer to/apart from an axis of a movable shaft body. CONSTITUTION:When a lower end surface of a drum 50 abuts on an upper surface of a pallet table 10, a pallet positioning pin 30 moves down axially. The whole body of a movable shaft body 22 is thus pushed down by a compression spring 23, and each holding arm 24 is moved radially in parallel to get apart from an axis of the movable shaft body 22. Three holding arms 24 are composed to be positioned along a circle of a larger diameter than the inner diameter of the drum 50, so each holding arm 24 is applied to an inner circumferential surface of the drum 50 before a lower end surface of an arm support part 22b at the movable shaft body 22 abuts on an upper end surface of a guide cylinder 21. Three holding arms 24 presses the inner circumferential surface of the drum 50 at three equally disposed positions along the circumference, thereby the drum 50 is vertically held securely on a pallet table 10 by a drum holding means 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a drum transport pallet used, for example, in the manufacture of electrophotographic photosensitive drums whose outer circumferential surface is coated with a photosensitive material, and a drum mounting method using the drum transport pallet.

(Prior Art) Photosensitive drums used in electrophotographic copying machines are manufactured through a process of degreasing and cleaning the outer peripheral surface of the aluminum drum, a process of applying a photosensitive substance to the degreased outer peripheral surface of the drum, and a process of applying a photosensitive substance to the drum's outer peripheral surface after being degreased and cleaned. The photosensitive layer is manufactured by sequentially heating a photosensitive material coated on the substrate to form a photosensitive layer. In manufacturing such photosensitive drums, the drums are mounted on pallets and transported to each process in order.

2. Description of the Related Art When manufacturing photosensitive drums, a drum conveying pallet is usually used, which has a flat plate-like pallet base with a number of convex portions arranged on the upper surface thereof to be fitted into the lower end of the drum. However, in such a pallet, the convex part on the pallet stand is sized to match the inner diameter of a specific drum so that it can support a specific drum, so drums with different inner diameters,
It cannot be used for transportation.

As a drum transport pallet that can accommodate various drums having different inner diameters, the applicant has proposed, for example, the one shown in FIG. 8. The drum transport pallet has a drum holder 62 that holds the drum 50 vertically on a pallet stand 61.

The drum holder 62 has a fixed shaft 63 vertically supported on the pallet stand 61. At least a pair of arms 64 and 64 are disposed around the fixed shaft 63 in a widening manner. Each arm 64 has an upper end connected to the fixed shaft 63 such that its lower end moves toward and away from the fixed shaft 63.
It is pivoted on. The lower ends of the arms 64 and 64 are urged in a direction away from the fixed shaft 63 by a spring 65 and a link mechanism 66.

When the drum 50 is transported using the pallet, the drum 50 to be transported is first held concentrically above the drum holder 62 by a drum chucking device.

Next, the drum 50 is lowered in the axial direction until the lower end surface of the drum 50 comes into contact with the pallet stand 61. As a result, the drum holder 62 is inserted into the drum 50,
The reaction force presses the lower ends of the arms 64 and 64 against the inner peripheral surface of the drum 50. As a result, various drums 50 having different inner diameters are held on the pallet stand 61. When the lower end surface of the drum 50 comes into contact with the pallet stand 61, the holding of the drum 50 by the drum chucking device is released, and the drum chucking device is moved out of the drum 50.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In such a drum conveying pallet, when the drum 50 is mounted on the pallet stand 61, the inner circumferential surface of the drum 50 is are in sliding contact in the axial direction. Therefore, there is a possibility that the inner circumferential surface of the drum 50 may be damaged. In addition, due to the damage, foreign matter such as metal powder generated from the inner peripheral surface of the drum may be removed from the pallet table 61.
fall on top. The foreign matter that has fallen onto the pallet table 61 adheres to the lower end surface of the drum to be transported next, causing contamination of the drum.

Further, since the drum 50 mounted on the drum holder 62 is held by point contact between the lower ends of each arm 64, the stability of the drum 50 is poor, and when the drum 50 is mounted on a pallet, Sufficient positioning accuracy cannot be obtained. Furthermore, there is a risk that the drum 50 may tilt when the pallet is moved.

If the drum 50 is held by the drum holder 62 with the lower end surface of the drum 50 floating above the upper surface of the pallet stand 61, even if there is a foreign object on the pallet stand 61, the drum 50
There is no risk of contamination of the lower end surface. However, the drum 50 in such a state has worse stability, and the drum 50
The original purpose of pallet transport, which is to hold and transport pallets vertically, cannot be achieved.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to avoid the risk of damaging the drum when mounting and removing the drum, and to stably hold the mounted drum. Our purpose is to provide drum transport pallets.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a drum mounting method that allows drum conveyance without staining the lower end surface of the drum by using the drum conveyance method of the present invention (red).

(Means for Solving the Problems) The drum conveying pallet of the present invention includes: a flat pallet stand; a guide tube vertically attached to the pallet stand; and a slider capable of sliding in the axial direction on the guide tube. The supported movable shaft body is arranged around the movable shaft body so that the movable shaft body is located on a concentric circle, and as the movable shaft body moves in the axial direction, the axis A plurality of holding arms supported by the movable shaft are moved in parallel in a radial direction toward and away from the center by equal distances, and each holding arm is moved in a direction away from the axis of the movable shaft. , and biasing means for biasing the movable shaft body against the guide tube, thereby achieving the above object.

The drum mounting method of the present invention is carried out using such a drum transport pallet, and includes the steps of: holding the drum in a vertical state above each holding arm on the drum transport pallet using a drum chucking device; and the drum transport pallet. In order to move the plurality of holding arms in the direction approaching the axis of the movable shaft, the drum chucking device is lowered into the lower end of the drum while the movable shaft is moved relative to the guide tube. The step of inserting each drum holding arm, and the step of moving the movable shaft body relative to the guide cylinder by the biasing means while the lower end surface of the drum into which each drum holding arm is inserted does not contact the pallet table, each holding The method includes the steps of bringing the arms into pressure contact with the inner circumferential surface of the drum, and the step of releasing the holding of the drum whose inner circumferential surface is pressed by each holding arm by the drum chucking device, thereby achieving the above purpose. is achieved.

(Function) In the drum conveying pallet of the present invention, by forcibly moving the movable shaft body in the axial direction of the guide cylinder against the biasing force of the biasing means, the plurality of holding arms move around the movable shaft body. Move in parallel so that it approaches .

Thereby, the holding arm is inserted into the drum without contacting the inner peripheral surface of the drum. In this state, by moving the movable shaft body by the urging force of the urging means, each holding arm is brought into pressure contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum, and the drum is held vertically on the pallet table by each holding arm. When lowering the drum from the pallet table, the movable shaft body is moved along the guide tube in order to bring each holding arm close to the axis of the movable shaft body. The pressed state is released.

In the drum mounting method of the present invention, when the drum held vertically by the drum chucking device is held by each holding arm, the lower end surface of the drum is kept in a non-contact state with respect to the pallet stand. The drum is held by each holding arm in a state where the lower end surface of the drum does not contact the pallet stand.

When the drum is held in this manner, the state in which the drum is held by the drum chucking device is released. Therefore, the drum is conveyed while being held by each holding arm without contacting the pallet stand.

(Example) The present invention will be described below with reference to Examples.

As shown in FIG. 1, the drum transport pallet of the present invention has the following features:
It has a horizontal pallet stand 10. On the pallet stand 10, a plurality of drums 50 are mounted vertically and aligned in the horizontal direction. Each drum 1 on the pallet stand 10
A large number of through holes 11 that vertically penetrate the pallet stand 10 are provided at the loading position of 0.

The pallet platform 10 is transported between the loading and unloading stations of the drum 50 by a conveyor. At the loading/unloading station, the pallet positioning pin 30 vertically attached to the conveyor side rises in the axial direction, and the pallet stand 10
is inserted into each through hole 11 of.

At the mounting position of each drum 50 on the upper surface of the pallet stand 10, a drum holder 20 for holding each drum 50 in a vertical state on the pallet stand 10 is provided.

Each drum holder 20 corresponds to each through hole 11 of the pallet stand 10.
It has a cylindrical guide tube 21 attached to the upper surface of the pallet stand 10 concentrically with respect to the pallet table 10. The guide tube 21
Three brackets 21a protruding outward are provided at three equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the middle outer peripheral surface of the bracket. The inner circumferential surface of the guide tube 21 has an inner diameter similar to that of the through hole 11 except for the upper end. The inner circumferential surface of the upper end portion of the guide tube 21 is a locking portion 21b having a slightly smaller diameter than the other portions.

A rod-shaped sliding portion 22c at the lower part of the movable shaft body 22 is slidably inserted into the guide tube 21 in a concentric manner. The movable shaft body 22 has an arm support portion 22b connected to the upper side of the lower slide portion 22c, and a conical head portion 22a at the upper end connected to the upper side of the arm support portion 22b. are doing. The arm support portion 22b
Three brackets 22e are provided at the upper and lower ends of the
and 22f are provided, respectively. The respective brackets 22e and 22f are provided at three equal intervals in the circumferential direction so as to be arranged in parallel with the three brackets 21a in the guide tube 21 in a straight line in the axial direction.

The slide portion 22c is shorter than the length of the guide tube 21 so that the arm support portion 22b of the movable shaft body 22 is raised and lowered along the axial direction.

A pullout stopper 22d that is located within the guide tube 21 and prevents the movable shaft body 22 from being pulled out from the guide 21 is connected to the lower end of the slide portion 22c.

A compression spring 23 is fitted into the slide portion 21c in an axially compressed state in the guide tube 21 between the removal stop portion 22d of the movable shaft body 22 and the locking portion 21a of the guide tube 21. It is housed in the condition. As a result, the entire movable shaft body 22 is urged downward, and the lower end surface of the arm support portion 22b is brought into contact with the upper end surface of the guide cylinder 21. In this state, when the pallet positioning pin 30 is inserted into the through hole 11 of the pallet stand 10, the head of the pin 30 presses the movable shaft 22 upward against the stopper 22d. The body 22 is raised along the axial direction.

One end of an auxiliary link 27 is attached to each bracket 21a of the guide tube 21 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction, and each bracket 22e and 22f of the arm holding part 20b is also attached to each other. Each end of parallel links 25 and 26 parallel to is attached so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. Each auxiliary link 27, parallel link 25
As shown in FIG. are attached to each.

The three auxiliary links 27 at the bottom are the three holding arms 2.
4 is supported rotatably in the vertical direction.

The three parallel links 25 on the uppermost side are the three holding arms 25
They are each supported in the middle so that they can rotate in the vertical direction. The three parallel links 26 between the two are each supported at a position near the middle lower part of the three holding arms 24 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. Each holding arm 24, each parallel link 2
5 and 26, the arm holding portion 22b of the movable shaft body 22 is
A parallel link mechanism is configured, and therefore, the movable shaft body 20
By moving the arm holding part 20b along the axial direction, each holding arm 24 moves in parallel in the radial direction of the arm holding part 22b. Each holding arm 24 always
It is located on the concentric circle of the arm holding part 22b.

The drum transport pallet of the present invention having such a configuration transports the drum 50 as follows.

When the drum transport pallet of the present invention is empty, the drum 50
Upon reaching the unloading station, the pallet positioning pin 30 is raised and inserted into the through hole 11 of the pallet stand 10. As a result, the movable shaft body 22 of the drum holder 20 is forcibly pushed up in the axial direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the diameter of the circle formed by connecting the outer surfaces of the three holding arms 25 is smaller than the inner diameter of the drum 50. At this time, the drum 50 is held concentrically above the drum holder 20 by a predetermined chucking device. Each holding arm 24 is connected to the movable shaft body 2.
2, the drum 50 is lowered and the drum holder 20 is inserted into the drum 50. At this time, since each holding arm 24 is arranged on a circle smaller than the inner diameter of the drum 50, there is no possibility that the drum holder 20 will come into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum 50.

When the lower end surface of the drum 50 comes into contact with the upper surface of the pallet stand 10, the pallet positioning pin 30 descends in the axial direction.

As a result, the entire movable shaft body 22 is pushed up downward by the compression spring 23, and each holding arm 24
parallel translation in the radial direction away from the axis of. Since the three holding arms 24 are positioned on a circle with a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the drum 50, the lower end surface of the arm support portion 22b of the movable shaft body 22 is aligned with the guide cylinder 21.
Each holding arm 24 is attached to the drum 5 before contacting the upper end surface.
It is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of 0. The three holding arms 24 press the drum 50 at three equally spaced positions in the circumferential direction on the inner circumferential surface of the drum 50 along its axis. Reliably held.

Drums 50 are installed at all drum mounting positions on the pallet stand 10.
Once loaded, the pallet platform 10 is transferred to the next loading/unloading station by a conveyor.

Pallet stand 10 has arrived at the next loading/unloading station! Then, each drum 50 on the pallet stand 10 is removed from the drum holder 20 in the reverse order and transported from the pallet stand 10. Also at this time, there is no possibility that the inner circumferential surface of the drum 50 will come into sliding contact with the drum holder 20.

The drum conveyance pallet of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but for example, as shown in FIG.
An O-ring 28 may be attached to each holding arm 24. The O-ring 28 is fitted into a plurality of annular grooves 24d provided on the outer surface of each holding arm 24 at intervals in the longitudinal direction. In a drum transport pallet using such a drum holder 20, a plurality of O-rings 28 held by each holding arm 24 are pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the drum 50.

Therefore, the drum 50 is held by the drum holder 20 more reliably. In addition, a drum holder 2 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the drum 50.
Even if 0 accidentally comes into contact, damage to the inner circumferential surface is prevented.

The O-ring is preferably made of an elastic rubber material, and in particular, a fluorine-based comb is preferably used from the viewpoint of solvent resistance.

The drum mounting method of the present invention using such a drum transport pallet will be described below.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, this drum mounting method uses a drum conveying pallet and a drum chucking device 4 of the present invention.
Use 0. In this embodiment, the drum conveying pallet of the present invention is equipped with an O-ring as shown in FIG. The drum chucking device 40 has a structure in which the drum holder 20 used in the drum conveyance pallet is turned upside down, and a movable shaft body 42 is installed in a guide cylinder 41.
The slide portion 42c is inserted therethrough. As the arm support portion 42b of the movable shaft body 42 moves up and down, each holding arm 44 supported by the parallel links 45 and 46 and the auxiliary link 47 moves toward and away from the movable shaft body 42 in parallel in the radial direction. Moving. Each arm support portion 42b includes
OIJ song 8 is provided. The slide portion 42c within the guide tube 41 is urged upward by the compression spring 43, and is lowered by being pressed downward by the suppression pin 49.

The vertical length of the drum holder 20 and the vertical length of the drum chucking device 40 are both the same as the drum 50.
The length is kept to less than 1/2 of the total length.

At the drum unloading station, when the drum transport pallet is brought in in an empty state, the drum 50 has a drum chucking device 40 in its upper end, as shown in FIG.
is held on each drum holder 20 of the 'drum conveyance' pallet. In this state, when the pallet positioning pin 30 is raised and each holding arm 24 of the drum holder 20 is moved in the radial direction so as to approach the axis of the movable shaft body 22, the drum 50 is lowered. Hopefully,
Drumcha 1. The entire kinging device 40 is lowered. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 6, the drum holder 20 is inserted into the lower end of the drum 50 without coming into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum 50. And drum 5
Immediately before the lower end surface of the drum chucking device 40 comes into contact with the pallet stand 10, the lowering operation of the drum chucking device 40 is stopped.

When the lowering operation of the drum chucking device 40 is stopped, the pallet positioning pin 30 is lowered and the movable shaft body 2
When the contact state with the sliding portion 22c of 2 is released, each holding arm 24 of the drum holder 20 is pressed against the inner circumferential surface of the drum 50. Each holding arm 24 presses the inner circumferential surface of the drum 50 along the axis, so that even though the lower end surface of the drum 50 is not in contact with the pallet stand IO, the drum 50 is It is reliably held vertically on the pallet stand 10 only by the holder 20.

When the drum 50 is attached to the drum holder 20 and held on the pallet stand 10, the pressing pin 49 of the drum chucking device 40 is lowered. As a result, each holding arm 44 approaches the axis of the movable shaft body 42 and separates from the inner peripheral surface of the drum 50. Then, as shown in FIG.
The drum chucking device 40 is raised in order to withdraw the drum chucking device 40 from within the upper end of the drum. Also at this time, there is no risk that the inner peripheral surface of the drum 50 will be damaged by each holding arm 44 of the drum chucking device 4o.

In this way, when the drums 50 are held at all drum mounting positions on the pallet stand 10 without contacting the upper surface of the pallet stand 10, the pallet stand 1° is moved to the next loading/unloading station by the conveyor. will be transferred to. drum 5
Since the drum 50 is held and transported without contacting the pallet stand 1o, there is no risk that the drum 50 will be contaminated even if there is a foreign object on the pallet stand 10.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the drum conveying pallet of the present invention, the holding arm that is in pressure contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum is moved in parallel in the radial direction so as to be moved toward and away from the axis of the movable shaft. Therefore, when the drum is held, there is no risk that the inner peripheral surface of the drum will be damaged by the drum holder. Therefore, there is no possibility that foreign matter such as metal powder, which may cause contamination of the drum, falls from the inner circumferential surface of the drum onto the pallet table. Furthermore, the drum is held stably and accurately by each holding arm.

The drum mounting method of the present invention allows the drum to be stably held without the lower end surface of the drum coming into contact with the upper surface of the pallet table, so even if there is foreign matter on the pallet table, there is no risk of contamination of the drum with foreign matter. That's not it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the pallet of the present invention, and is a cross-sectional view taken along line II in FIG. 2, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line m-n in FIG. , FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining its operation, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the pallet of the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the process, and FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional tab. lO...Pallet stand, 20...Drum holder, 22
... Movable shaft body, 24... Holding arm, 3o... Pallet positioning pin, 40... Drum chucking device, 5o... Drum. that's all

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A flat pallet stand; a guide cylinder vertically attached to the pallet stand; a movable shaft body supported by the guide cylinder so as to be slidable in the axial direction; The movable shaft is arranged around the shaft so as to be concentric with the movable shaft, and as the movable shaft moves in the axial direction, the movable shaft moves toward and away from the axial center in a radial direction. A plurality of holding arms supported by the movable shaft body are moved in parallel by an equal distance, and the movable shaft body is moved relative to the guide cylinder in order to move each holding arm in a direction away from the axis of the movable shaft body. A drum conveying pallet, comprising: a biasing means for biasing the drum; 2. A drum mounting method using the drum transport pallet according to claim 1, comprising: holding the drum in a vertical state above each holding arm of the drum transport pallet by a drum chucking device; and the drum transport pallet. In order to move the plurality of holding arms in the direction approaching the axis of the movable shaft, the drum chucking device is lowered and inserted into the lower end of the drum while the movable shaft is moved relative to the guide tube. Each drum is held by inserting each drum holding arm, and moving the movable shaft body relative to the guide cylinder using a biasing means while the lower end surface of the drum into which each drum holding arm is inserted does not contact the pallet stand. A drum mounting method comprising the steps of: bringing an arm into pressure contact with the inner circumferential surface of the drum; and releasing the holding of the drum whose inner circumferential surface is pressed by each holding arm using a drum chucking device.