JPH04292322A - Rack supply/discharge device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a rack supply/discharge device capable of carrying in racks into a rack lifting part continuously. CONSTITUTION:The device is composed of a rack supply/discharge mechanism 22 constituted by installing a carrying-in conveyor 6 that carries in racks 12 for housing printed wiring boards 14 and a carrying-out conveyor 8 that carries out the racks 12 in two stages, and a rack lifting mechanism 24 that lifts up and lifts down racks. In that rack supply/discharge device, the rack lifting mechanism 24 is constructed by providing, at least, a pair of left and right members 26, 28 in an endless shape whose facing sides are separated wider than the width of the racks 12 to lift up and lower down by specified width and rotated driven, fixing plural rack containers 34 at position wherein respective members 26, 28 in an endless shape face each other, and providing a driving means that rotates and drivers left and right members 26, 28 in an endless shape in the opposite direction to each other at the same speed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rack supply/discharge device capable of loading a rack from a transport means such as an automatic guided vehicle and transporting the rack to the transport means.

Electronic equipment such as communication equipment is generally constructed by mounting a printed wiring board unit (electronic circuit package) in which electronic circuit components are mounted on a printed wiring board on a shelf. 2. Description of the Related Art Automatic component mounting machines that automatically mount electronic components onto printed wiring boards are generally used to manufacture printed wiring board units.

[0003] When supplying printed wiring boards to an automatic parts mounting machine, a plurality of printed wiring boards are stored in a rack, and while the rack is raised, the printed wiring boards are pushed out one by one onto the conveyor of the automatic parts mounting machine. This enables automatic supply of printed wiring boards.

0004

2. Description of the Related Art The general structure of a conventional rack supply/discharge device will be described with reference to FIG. The rack supply/discharge device is composed of a rack supply/discharge section 2 and a rack elevating section 4. The rack supply/discharge unit 2 is a rack 1 that accommodates a plurality of printed wiring boards 14.
The system is comprised of a lower loading conveyor 6 for loading racks 12 from an automatic guided vehicle or the like, and an upper loading conveyor 8 for transporting racks 12 to the automatic guided vehicle or the like.

The rack elevating unit 4 includes an elevating base 10 driven by an actuator (not shown), and by moving the elevating base 10 up and down by the actuator, a rack 12 mounted on the elevating base 10 is raised and lowered.

[0006] The rack supply/discharge section 2 is provided with an actuator 20 for discharging printed wiring boards, and this actuator 20 moves the rack 1 mounted on the elevating base 10.
By pushing out the printed wiring boards one by one from 2,
A printed wiring board 14 is supplied to a carry-in conveyor 18 of an automatic component mounting machine 16.

The empty rack 12 from which the printed wiring boards 14 have been completely discharged is transported to an automatic guided vehicle or the like by an upper transport conveyor 8. The elevated elevating base 10 is again lowered to the lowest position by the actuator, and a new rack 12 containing printed wiring boards is carried onto the elevating base 10.

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-mentioned conventional rack supply/discharge device, the elevating base 10 is moved up and down by an actuator, so when the next rack is brought into the elevating section, the elevating base 10 is at the lower limit position than the upper limit position. Since it is not possible to return the racks to the original position and the racks cannot be carried in continuously, there is a problem in that the work efficiency of feeding and discharging printed wiring boards to and from processing machines such as automatic component mounting machines is reduced.

[0009] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its object is to provide a rack feeding and discharging device that can continuously carry racks into a rack elevating section. .

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the rack supply/discharge device of the present invention, the rack elevating and lowering mechanism portion is rotatably driven in at least a pair of left and right endless structures whose opposite sides are separated by a predetermined width wider than the width of the rack to be raised and lowered. A member, a plurality of rack receivers fixed to opposing positions of each endless member, and a driving means for rotationally driving the left and right endless members in opposite directions at the same speed and synchronously.

[0011]

[Operation] After the rack is carried onto the rack receiver, when the driving means is driven, the left and right endless members are rotationally driven, and the rack is raised as the endless members rotate. When the actuator for pushing out printed wiring boards is driven as the rack rises, the printed wiring boards are pushed out of the rack one by one.

[0012] Since a plurality of rack holders are provided on the left and right endless members, when the next rack holder reaches the lower limit position, which is the carry-in position, the next rack is carried into the elevating mechanism. To carry in racks continuously without having to wait for the next rack to be carried in while the elevating base is lowered.

[0013]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is Figure 1.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A. In the description of this embodiment, components that are substantially the same as those of the conventional device shown in FIG. 3 will be described with the same reference numerals.

The rack supply/discharge section 22 is composed of a lower loading conveyor 6 for loading racks from a conveying means such as an automatic guided vehicle, and an upper unloading conveyor 8 for conveying racks to the conveying means. The rack supply/discharge section 22 is further provided with a printed wiring board pushing actuator 20 that pushes out the printed wiring board 14 from the rack 12 .

As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 2, the rack elevating section (elevating mechanism) 24 is provided with left and right endless chains 26 and 28 that are wound around a driving sprocket 30 and a driven sprocket 32. . Endless chain 2
6 and 28 are provided, two each on the left and right, for a total of four.

The distance between the left and right endless chains 26 and 28 is set to be slightly wider than the width of the rack 12. A plurality of rack receivers 34 are fixed at opposing positions of the left and right endless chains 26 and 28 at intervals that allow racks 12 to be carried therein.

The left and right endless chains 26 and 28 are driven to rotate at the same speed in opposite directions by driving means (not shown) via a driving sprocket 30.

The operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be explained below.

When the rack 12 containing a plurality of printed wiring boards 14 is carried onto the carry-in conveyor 6 from a conveyance means such as an automatic guided vehicle, this rack is moved rightward in FIG. 1 by the carry-in conveyor 6.

When the rack receiver 34 of the rack elevating section 24 reaches the carry-in position close to the lower limit, the rack 12 is carried onto the rack receiver 34 by the carry-in conveyor 6.

When the left and right endless chains 26, 28 are rotated in opposite directions, the rack 12 is raised. By driving the actuator 20 for pushing out printed wiring boards while moving up the rack 12, the printed wiring boards 14 are sequentially pushed out onto the carry-in conveyor 18 from above and supplied to the automatic component mounting machine 16.

After the printed wiring boards 14 have been discharged, the rack 12 is pushed out onto the carry-out conveyor 8 by a rack push-out means (not shown), and is moved to the left in FIG. will be carried out.

When the next rack receiver 34 fixed to the left and right endless chains 26, 28 comes to the rack carrying position, the next rack 12 is carried onto the rack receiver 34. According to this embodiment, the rack 12 is raised by rotating the left and right endless chains 26, 28, which have the rack receivers 34 fixed at opposing positions, in mutually opposite directions, so that the rack receivers 34 are near the lower limit. A new rack can be continuously carried into the rack elevating section 24 each time the rack is brought into the rack carrying position.

Instead of the endless chains 26 and 28 described above, the rack elevating mechanism may be constituted by an endless timing belt wrapped around the driving pulley and the driven pulley.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the racks are carried in from the lower loading conveyor and taken out from the upper loading conveyor, but the loading conveyor may be provided on the upper level and the unloading conveyor may be provided on the lower level. . In this case, the printed wiring board is pushed out from within the rack while the rack 12 is lowered within the rack lifting mechanism.

Further, the empty rack is carried into the rack elevating mechanism 24, and the printed wiring boards on which parts have been mounted in the automatic parts mounting machine 16 are re-accommodated into the empty rack 12 and carried out to an automatic guided vehicle or the like. Of course, it is also possible to do so.

[0027]

Since the present invention is constructed as described in detail above, the racks can be continuously carried into the rack elevating section, so that the return operation of the elevating base, which is required in the conventional device, can be omitted. This makes it possible to carry the next rack into the rack elevating section while extruding printed wiring boards from a rack that has been carried into the rack elevating section, which shortens the waiting time for racks to be carried into the processing machine. This has the effect of improving the work efficiency of supplying printed wiring boards to.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 Loading conveyor 8 Unloading conveyor 10 Lifting base 12 Rack 14 Printed wiring board 16 Automatic parts loading machine 22 Rack supply/discharge section 24 Rack lifting section 26, 28 Endless chain 34 Rack holder

Claims (3)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A rack supply/discharge system comprising two stages: a carry-in conveyor (6) for carrying in racks (12) containing printed wiring boards (14), and a carry-out conveyor (8) for carrying out the racks (12). In a rack supply/discharge device comprising a mechanism (22) and a rack elevating mechanism (24) for elevating and lowering the rack (12), the rack elevating mechanism (24) includes:
At least a pair of left and right endless members (26, 28) that are rotatably driven and whose opposite sides are separated by a predetermined width wider than the width of the rack (12) to be raised and lowered are provided, and each endless member (
26, 28) at opposite positions.
4) is fixed, and a rack supply/discharge device is provided with driving means for rotationally driving the left and right endless members (26, 28) to rotate in opposite directions at the same speed synchronously. [Claim 2] The printed wiring board (14) is mounted on a rack (1
2), further comprising an actuator (20) for extruding a printed wiring board from the endless member (26,
28) The rack supply/discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the rack is comprised of a chain wrapped around the driving sprocket and the driven sprocket. [Claim 3] The printed wiring board (14) is mounted on a rack (1
2), further comprising an actuator (20) for extruding a printed wiring board from the endless member (26,
28) The rack supply/discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the rack is comprised of a timing belt wrapped around a driving pulley and a driven pulley.