JPH04289031A - Gripping device for flanged shaft - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve productivity by mounting a shaft mounting plate having a sucking function copying after a flange face on a box body having chucking claws through a inclination correcting mechanism and a parallel moving mechanism, and precisely gripping a flanged shaft on the prescribed position of a gripping device. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of linear actuators 15 having compliance function are uniformly arranged in the two-dimensional direction, and a plurality of chuck claws 13 movable in the radial direction are projectingly arranged on the reference plane 12a formed in the center part of an actuator arranged territory of a plane meeting at right angles with the drive shafts 16 of the respective actuators 15. A shaft mounting plate 18 is engaged with the extreme end side of the drive shafts 16 through coil spring type couplings 17. Further, on the shaft mounting plate 18, a suction port 18c is on the center part, and holes 18a of size covering the moving range of the chuck claw 13 on the corresponding positions to the chuck claws 13 respectively formed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to the configuration of a gripping device for flanged shafts, and in particular, the present invention relates to the configuration of a gripping device for a flanged shaft, and in particular, to precisely position a flanged shaft conveyed by a transfer arm of a robot, automatic machine, etc. to a predetermined position of the gripping device. The present invention relates to a gripping device for a flanged shaft that improves productivity by gripping the shaft.

For example, some disks in magnetic storage devices are constructed by stacking medium disks, and the process of stacking the medium disks requires the use of medium disks with a center hole stored in a stacker. There is a step of sequentially inserting the shafts into a shaft attached to a shaft gripping device as a stacking device set at a predetermined position.

Particularly in this case, since the gap between the center hole of the disc and the shaft is as small as several tens of micrometers or less, the contact between the center hole of the disc and the shaft during the work of inserting the disc can cause the formation of fine particles and dust. Foreign matter is likely to be generated, and in order to suppress the generation of foreign matter, it is essential to precisely place the shaft at a predetermined position of the shaft gripping device without tilting or misaligning, and to precisely convey the disk. It is a condition.

0004

[Prior Art] Fig. 3, which takes the case of a robot as an example, is a diagram showing a conventional shaft gripping device and a shaft mounting method, where (3-1) is a conceptual diagram of the device and (3-2) is a diagram showing the mounting method. FIG.

(3-1) The shaft mounting surface 2a of the shaft gripping device 2 located at a predetermined position on the base 1 is provided with a centering point P based on a signal from a control section (not shown) built in the device 2. A plurality of (three in the figure) chuck claws 3 that move forward and backward simultaneously in a radial direction (direction a in the figure) are arranged to protrude from the shaft mounting surface 2a, and the control unit is located near the point P. An intake port 2b is arranged which is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) which is operated by a signal from.

Reference numeral 5 in the figure is a flanged shaft (hereinafter simply referred to as shaft) having a flange 5a at one end. Therefore, with the chuck claws 3 of the shaft gripping device 2 expanded, the shaft 5 is conveyed as shown by arrow b so that the flange surface 5b contacts the shaft mounting surface 2a of the device 2, and is brought into contact with the surface 2a. , when air is taken in from the intake port 2b and the chuck claw 3 is moved in the direction of the reference point P,
The flange 5 can be mounted at a predetermined position on the shaft gripping device 2.

The movement of the shaft 5 in this case is, for example (
3-2) As shown in FIG. 3-2, this is carried out by the robot 6 installed near the base 1 described above. That is, at the free end side tip of the transfer arm 6a that rotates around the main axis S of the robot 6, there is a two-finger hand 7a that opens and closes simultaneously in one direction (direction c in the figure) in response to a signal from a control section (not shown) of the robot 6.
A chuck 7 having a shape is provided.

Therefore, the two-finger hand 7a holds the shaft 5 housed in a stocker or the like (not shown) in its shaft area, and transfers it to the transport arm 6, for example, as shown in d in the figure.
The shaft 5 is gripped as described in (3-1) by rotating the shaft a and bringing the shaft 5 held at its tip into contact with the shaft mounting surface 2a of the shaft gripping device 2 on the base 1. Can be done.

Note that the shaft 5 located at the tip of the transfer arm 6a is connected to the mounting surface 2a when the arm 6a rotates to a predetermined position and the flange surface 5b of the shaft 5 comes into contact with the shaft mounting surface 2a. It is held between the two-finger hand 7a so that the surfaces 5b are in surface contact.

[0010] Therefore, by using the robot 6, the shaft 5 described above can be easily attached to a predetermined position of the shaft gripping device 2. Particularly in this case, the shaft 5 is held and fixed to the shaft mounting surface 2a by the adsorption force between the shaft mounting surface 2a and the flange surface 5b, and the chuck 7 is attached to the shaft 5. Since the position relative to the gripping device 2 is accurately determined, efficient gripping of the shaft 5 can be realized.

Furthermore, the larger the thickness t of the flange 5a of the shaft 5, the longer the engagement distance with the chuck 7 in the thickness direction. In addition to suppressing inclination (falling down) against the mounting surface 2a, it is possible to increase the holding and fixing force against the mounting surface 2a.

However, the area of the flange surface 5b of the shaft 5 can ensure a suction force that can withstand external forces applied during the above-mentioned insertion work of the medium disk after the shaft 5 is mounted on the mounting surface 2a. smaller than the area and the shaft 5
If the thickness t of the flange 5a is so thin that it is simply used for positioning by the chuck 7, the attachment surface 2a of the shaft 5 axis will be weak due to the weak suction force.
It is not possible to completely correct the tilt with respect to the normal.

Therefore, it is necessary to increase the gripping precision of the chuck 7 so that the shaft 5 itself, which is transported by the robot, can be brought into complete contact with the mounting surface 2a, and as a result, it is necessary to use a robot with high precision. It is necessary to improve the gripping accuracy of the chuck 7 including the two-finger hand 7a.

[0014]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] A shaft gripping device having a conventional structure has a flange surface that is too large to secure the required holding and fixing force, and the thickness t of the flange portion is insufficient for engagement with the chuck. If the inclination of the shaft axis relative to the normal to the mounting surface is so thin that it cannot be corrected, the gripping accuracy on the robot side must be increased, resulting in the use of a particularly precise robot or the configuration of the chuck part. There is a problem in that the chuck part becomes heavy and large because of the need to take measures such as changing the chuck, making it impossible to expect an improvement in productivity.

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above object is a flanged shaft gripping device that positions and grips a flanged shaft conveyed by a conveyance arm at a predetermined position in the flange area, and is equipped with a compliance function. A plurality of three or more linear actuators are arranged in parallel and evenly in a two-dimensional direction, and are formed at the center of each linear actuator arrangement area on the drive shaft side of each linear actuator in a plane orthogonal to the drive shaft. a main body having a plurality of chuck claws protruding from the reference surface that can simultaneously move in a radial direction from the center of the center portion on a reference surface; and a flanged shaft mounting plate that is engaged through a coil spring type coupling that is fixed with the axis aligned, the flanged shaft having a thickness smaller than the protruding height of the chuck jaw from the reference surface. The shaft mounting plate has an intake port formed at a position corresponding to the center portion, and holes large enough to cover the movement range of the chuck claws at positions corresponding to each of the chuck claws. This is achieved by a gripping device on the flanged shaft.

[0016]

[Operation] A shaft mounting plate with a suction function that is brought into close contact with the flange surface of the conveyed shaft by tilting it to follow the flange surface of the shaft is attached to the casing with a chucking claw via a tilt correction mechanism and a parallel movement mechanism. When the shaft gripping device is configured by attaching the shaft to the shaft mounting plate, the shaft held and fixed to the shaft mounting plate can be gripped by the chucking pawl as it is.

[0017] This means that there is no need for the robot to accurately grip the shaft conveyed by the robot. Therefore, it is possible to construct a gripping device that can accurately attach the conveyed shaft to a predetermined position without using a particularly high-precision robot or increasing the gripping accuracy of the chuck part, which is expected to improve productivity. be able to.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a shaft gripping device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a process chart showing shaft gripping states in chronological order.

In FIG. 1, 5 is a shaft held by the two-finger hand 7a of the chuck 7 explained in FIG. 3, and as explained in FIG. This shows the transported state.

Further, the shaft gripping device 10 disposed at a predetermined position on the base 1 is functionally roughly divided into a main body 11 and a shaft mounting plate 18 that engages with the main body 11. A surface 12a of a ring-shaped spacer 12 is fixed to the shaft mounting surface side of the main body 11.
A plurality of chuck claws 13 (three in the figure) that can simultaneously move back and forth in a radial direction (direction a in the figure) centering on the center point of the spacer 12 are attached at a preset height h from the surface 12a.
This chuck claw 13 is configured to be able to move forward and backward by an air chuck control mechanism (not shown) connected to a vacuum pump 14 disposed outside the main body 11. There is.

[0021] In this case, the surface 12a of the spacer 12
forms a reference plane that defines the position of the shaft mounting plate, which will be described later. Furthermore, drive shafts 16 of linear actuators 15 connected to and operated by the vacuum pump 14 are arranged at the four corners of the surface of the device 11, protruding from the surface. A coil spring type coupling 17 that is difficult to displace in one direction and easily displaceable in other directions with a slight external force is fixed to the drive shaft 16 so that its axis is aligned with the other end of each coupling 17. The above-mentioned shaft mounting plate 18 having a thickness T that is thinner than at least the protruding height h of the chuck claw 13 is fixed to the chuck jaw 13 .

In this case, the linear actuator 15 has a drive shaft 16 connected to the linear actuator 15 while the vacuum pump 14 is not operating.
It is equipped with a function (hereinafter referred to as compliance function) that allows the body to swing in its axial direction.

The shaft mounting plate 18 has chuck claws 1 at positions corresponding to the plurality of chuck claws 13 described above.
A hole 18a is formed with a size that can cover the movement range of 3, and an intake port 1 connected to the vacuum pump 14 is located approximately at the center of the recessed hole 18b provided near the center.
8c is placed.

This means that the linear actuator 1
5, when the drive shaft 16 is moved backward in the direction e in the figure, the shaft mounting plate 18, which is engaged with the drive shaft 16 via the coupling 17, moves back at the same time, and the chuck claw 1
3 passes through the hole 18a of the mounting plate 18, and the back surface 18d of the mounting plate 18 is connected to the surface 12a of the spacer 12.
In this state, the tip of the chuck claw 13 protrudes from the surface 18e of the mounting plate 18 by an amount "h-T".

In this case, the surface 18e becomes a shaft mounting surface on which the shaft 5 is mounted with its flange surface 5b, and the above-mentioned protrusion amount "h-T" of the chuck claw 13
is the part around which the flange 5a of the shaft 5 is chucked.

Therefore, the shaft 5 held by the two-finger hand 7a of the robot is conveyed as shown in d in the figure, and the flange surface 5b is brought into contact with the surface of the shaft mounting plate 18, that is, the shaft mounting surface 18e, and the shaft 5 is held on the shaft mounting surface 18e. Flange surface 5
The shaft 5 can be brought into close contact with the shaft mounting plate 18 by drawing air from the intake port 18c while in surface contact with the shaft 5.

Next, with the chuck claws 13 fully expanded, the two-finger hand 7a is released and the shaft 5 is opened.
is held on the shaft mounting plate 18, and the linear actuator 15 operates to move the mounting plate 18 onto its back surface 18.
When d is moved back until it contacts the surface 12a of the spacer 12, the tip of the chuck claw 13 protrudes from each hole 18a of the mounting plate 18 by the amount "h-T", so that the air chuck control mechanism section By moving each chuck 13 toward the center during operation, the shaft 5 can be reliably held at its flange 5a.

In the figure, four linear actuators 1
Although the explanation is based on the case where 5 pieces are used, it is not limited to 4 pieces, and it is clear that the same effect can be obtained as long as 3 pieces or more are used.

The gripping condition of the shaft 5 will now be explained in detail with reference to FIG. 2, which shows the gripping condition of the shaft 5 in chronological order. Note that in the side view of FIG. 1, the same members as in FIG. The intake port part is omitted.

First, as shown in (1), the shaft 5 held by the two-finger hand 7a of the robot is conveyed in the direction of arrow d, and the flange surface 5b of the shaft 5 is brought into contact with the surface 18e of the shaft mounting plate 18. However, for example, the mounting plate 1
8 and the flange surface 5b, and when the flange surface 5b makes partial contact with the mounting plate 18, the above-mentioned compliance function of the linear actuator 15 and the drive shaft 16 are activated.
Due to the action of the coil spring type coupling 17 located at the tip of the mounting plate 18, as shown in (2), the mounting plate 18 itself is inclined to follow the flange surface 5b of the shaft 5, and the two are in close contact with each other.

Therefore, as explained in FIG. 1, when the two-finger hand 7a is released after sucking air from the intake port to attract the shaft 5 to the mounting plate 18, the shaft 5 is no longer bound to the robot, so that the shaft 5 is no longer bound to the robot. Both the compliance function and the action of the coil spring type coupling 17 have been restored, and the mounting plate 18 has returned to the initial state shown in (1).
This means that the shaft 5 is held by suction.

(3) represents the situation at this time. Next, with the chuck claws 13 expanded, the linear actuator 15 is operated to retract the drive shaft 16 and the shaft mounting plate 18 to a predetermined position on the surface of the spacer 12, resulting in the state shown in (4). At this point, the tip of each chuck claw 13 passing through the mounting plate 18 is located around the flange 5a of the shaft 5.

When the air chuck control mechanism moves each of the chuck jaws 13 in the direction shown by the arrow toward the center, the axis is shifted to a position shifted by δ with respect to the axis S1 of the mounting plate 18, for example. Even if the shaft 5 has S2, it is corrected by the chuck claw 13, so that the shaft 5 can be mounted on the mounting plate 18, that is, the main body 11, without misalignment, as shown in (5).
It can be attached to.

This means that even if the shaft 5 is conveyed with an inclination or positional deviation, it will be held by the shaft mounting plate 18 without the inclination or positional deviation. Therefore, without using a robot with special precision or a robot equipped with a chuck with high gripping precision, the flanged shaft gripper efficiently and precisely attaches the conveyed shaft to improve productivity. The device can be realized.

Although the figure uses a linear actuator operated by air, it is clear that the same effect can be obtained by using a linear actuator operated by an electric or other drive source.

[0036]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the flanged shaft being transported can be accurately positioned at a predetermined position of the gripping device without using a robot with particularly high transport accuracy or a chuck with high gripping precision. It is possible to provide a gripping device for a flanged shaft that improves productivity by gripping the shaft.

In the description of the present invention, the case of a flanged shaft used when configuring a disk of a magnetic storage device is taken as an example. The same effect can be obtained even when applied to cases such as precisely positioning and fixing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a shaft gripping device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process chart showing the shaft gripping state in chronological order.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional shaft gripping device and a shaft mounting method.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Foundation
5 Shaft with flange 5a Flange
5b Flange surface 7 Chuck
7a Two-finger hand 10 Shaft gripping device with flange 1
1 Main body 12 Spacer
12a Surface (reference surface) 13 Chuck jaw
14 Vacuum pump 15 Linear actuator 16 Drive shaft 17
Coil spring type coupling 18 Shaft mounting plate with flange 18a Hole
18b Recessed hole 18c Intake port 18d Back surface 18e Surface (shaft mounting surface)

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A flanged shaft gripping device that positions and grips a flanged shaft conveyed by a conveyance arm at a predetermined position in its flange area, the gripping device comprising three or more linear flanged shafts having a compliance function. The actuators (15) are arranged in parallel and evenly in a two-dimensional direction, and the center of each linear actuator arrangement area on the drive shaft (16) side of each linear actuator (15) is a plane orthogonal to the drive shaft (16). The reference plane (1
2a) A plurality of chuck claws (13) which can simultaneously move in radial directions from the center of the central portion are provided on the reference surface (12a).
The main body (11) protrudes from the main body (11), and the coil spring type coupling (17) is fixed to the drive shaft end side of each linear actuator (15) so as to be aligned with the drive shaft (16). The flanged shaft mounting plate (18) has a thickness smaller than the protruding height of the chuck claw (13) from the reference surface (12a). 1
8) has an intake port (1
8c) is formed, and each of the chuck claws (1
A gripping device for a flanged shaft, characterized in that a hole (18a) of a size sufficient to cover the movement range of the chuck claw (13) is formed at a position corresponding to (3).