JPH0468238B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automated device for driving fastening elements such as hooks and rivets into a workpiece.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND ART The process of joining workpieces together with fastening elements such as hooks or rivets, or of driving small parts into workpieces one after another, is common in various industrial fields. In the driving process of such fastening elements, various driving apparatuses are used depending on the purpose of the process.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

If the direction of the fastening elements, etc. to be driven is determined, a mechanism is required that can securely hold each fastening element, etc. supplied in a predetermined posture and drive them into the workpiece one after another. All of the various conventional devices have the problem of complicated structures and high manufacturing costs, and it would be extremely meaningful if a mechanism with such a driving function could be realized with a simple structure.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The driving device of the present invention is a device that can drive a fastening element, etc., supplied in a predetermined posture, into a workpiece while reliably holding it in a predetermined posture. A string hanging device is provided for attaching and fixing a string provided with a male member to a target object, and after positioning the male member for holding the string that has been hung around the target object in a predetermined position, the string is partially held between the strings. A driving device for driving a female member of a fastening element into a male member includes a main body provided with a slide hole, a slide body that slides within the slide hole, and a slide body provided near the exit portion of the slide hole that is inserted into the original position. a gate biased toward the inside of the slide hole so as to return; supply means for feeding a female member of the fastening element in a predetermined posture into the slide hole between the slide body and the gate; a holding means provided at the front end for receiving the female member supplied into the slide hole and holding it in the predetermined posture by the advancement of the slide body and the biasing force of the gate; Holding means for the slide body in front of the gate by a pair of positioning members that sandwich the male member of the turned string, and a link mechanism that operates the positioning members to move the male member along the object. A positioning device is provided for setting the male member at a predetermined position facing the male member.

[Effect]

The fastening element supplied in a predetermined attitude into the slide hole of the main body is pushed by the slide body sliding inside the slide hole and moves to the exit portion.

When the fastening element, etc. pushed by the slide body pushes open the gate at the exit section and passes through, the gate, which is urged inward to the slide hole to return to its original position, resists, The fastening elements and the like that have come are received by the reaction force and fit into the holding means formed on the front end surface of the slide body. The fastening element, etc. is held securely by the holding means, taken out of the main body by the slide body, and fastened to the male member of the fastening element set at a predetermined position by the positioning means. Ru.

〔Example〕

The driving device of the present invention is generally used to continuously supply and drive fastening elements, small parts, etc. to a worm, and can be used in various industrial applications.
In this specification, the present invention is applied to the strapping device shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 as an example. This string hanging device 1 is a device that automatically seals the bottle 3 by hanging a string 4 around the neck 3a of a bottle 3 with a stopper 2 and fixing the string 4 and the string 4 with a hook. .

FIG. 5 shows a string 4 as a workpiece used in this string hanging device 1. A disk-shaped cap 5 is provided at one end of the string 4, and a knot 6 is provided at a portion of the string 4 near the cap 5. The other end 4a of the string 4 is passed through this knot 6,
A loop 7 of the string 4 is formed which can be reduced by pulling the other end 4a of the string 4. In addition, a male member 8 of a hook 8 which is a fastening element is attached to the loop 7 of the string 4.
a is attached with the convex portion facing outward.

Next, these strings 4 and crowns 5 are packed into a cassette 9, which is a storage device, and transferred to a cassette conveyor 1.
0. Also, above the cassette conveyor 10 is an unloading device 1.
1 is provided, and a chain 12 and an air cylinder 13 driven by a motor M can pick up the crown 5 from the cassette 9 and transport it to a predetermined working position.

Next, a frame stand 14 is installed next to the cassette conveyor 10. The frame stand 14 is provided with a conveyor (not shown) for carrying in the bottle 3, which is a workpiece, and a lifting device 15 for carrying the bottle 3 into and out of the working position. The neck 3a of the bottle 3 is inserted into the loop 7 of the string 4 which is set at the working position.

Next, first, second, and third correction devices 16, 17, and 18 are provided near the working position on the frame stand 14, and the crown 5 is removed by the extraction device 11.
The shape of the string 4 carried along with it can be adjusted and positioned. The first correction device 16 includes a pair of correction rods 19, 19 that sandwich the long body portion of the other end 4a of the string 4, and a positioning plate 2 that can be raised and lowered.
0, and is configured such that the long body portion 4a of the string 4 can be positioned by correcting twists and bends. The second correction device 17 has a pair of correction claws 21 and 22 that sandwich the base of the loop 7 of the string 4, that is, the vicinity of the knot 6 from both the upper and lower and left and right directions.
It is constructed so that twisting and sagging of the ring 7 can be corrected. The third correction device 18 includes a pair of pressing plates 23 that press the ring 7 from both left and right directions to bring the position of the ring to the center, and a press plate 23 that presses the ring 7 from the side opposite to the knot 6 to expand the crushed ring 7. It has a plate 24.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, a string opening device 25 is movably installed above the frame stand 14. The string opening device 25 has four claws 26 that can be opened and closed, and the claws 26 are inserted into the loop 7 of the positioned string 4 to open the claw 26 and increase the diameter of the loop 7. It is configured so that it can be done.

Next, a knot pushing device 27 is installed next to the first straightening device 16. The knot pushing device 27 has a slide rod 29 that moves linearly back and forth by a cylinder 28, and at the tip of the slide rod 29 there is a presser tool that guides the long body portion 4a of the string 4 that is positioned. 30 are provided. The guide groove of the presser 30 is designed to catch the knot 6 of the string 4, so that the string knob rotating device 3, which will be described later,
1 operates the knot pushing device 279 while holding the long body portion 4a of the string 4, the knot 6 is pushed by the presser 30 and pressed against the neck portion 3a of the bottle 3,
The loop 7 of the string 4 will be tightened to the neck 3a.

Next, next to the knot pushing device 27, a string pinching rotating device 31 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, a pair of guide rods 33 are fixed to the drive shaft of the motor 32 at right angles to the axial direction of the drive shaft, and the other ends of both guide rods 33 are fixed to the drive shaft of the motor 32. An end plate 34 is fixed. A slide block 35 is slidably provided on the guide rod 33, and a hand 36 for gripping the string 4 is provided on the side of the slide block 35 on the knot pushing device 27 side. A drive block 37 is slidably provided on the guide rod 33 and is detachably connected to a swing arm 38a of a rotary actuator 38 installed on the frame base 14. This drive block 37 and the slide block 35
are connected to each other via a spring 39, and if the hand 36 grips the long body portion 4a of the string 4 and then drives the rotary actuator 38 appropriately, the string 4
The long body part 4a of the can be pulled. Furthermore, if the motor 32 is driven with tension applied to the elongated body portion 4a and the guide rod 33 is rotated around the drive shaft of the motor 32, the end plate 3
4 draws a trajectory L as shown in FIG. ing. Note that while the guide rod 33 is rotating, the drive block 37 is configured to engage with the end plate 34 and be fixed in position, so that the long body portion 4a of the string 4 that is wrapped around the stopper 2 becomes slack. Never.

Next, a hooking device 40 as a driving device is provided on the opposite side of the string pinch rotating device 31 with the bottle 3 set in the working position in between. The hooking device 40 of this embodiment connects the long part of the string 4 that is hung around the stopper 2 of the bottle 3 and the loop 7 of the string 4 that is tightened around the neck 3a of the bottle 3 with a hook 8 that is a fastening element. This is a device that connects the two.

A pair of horizontal guide rods 4 are mounted on the frame base 14.
1 and 41 are installed parallel to each other. Between both the guide rods 41, 41, a substantially rectangular plate-shaped hook base 42 is attached to the bearing portion 42a fixed to the guide rod 4.
1 and 41, and is installed movably in the axial direction of the guide rods 41 and 41. Hot batting table 4
An air cylinder 43 is located below the frame base 14.
The air cylinder 43 is fixedly installed in the air cylinder 43.
The tip of the rod is connected to a mounting block 42b provided on the underside of the hook base 42. When the air cylinder 43 is driven to advance the hook platform 42, the front edge of the hook platform 42 is positioned near the bottle 3 and string 4 set at the working position. A hook driving device 40 is provided at the front end of the hook driving table 42 for driving the female member 8b of the hook 8 into the male member 8a of the string 4.
is provided. Main body 4 of the hooking device 40
4, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, is a prismatic component having a circular slide hole 45 therein which is oriented parallel to the axes of the guide rods 41, 41; A hook hitting tool 46, which is a shaped sliding body, is provided so as to be slidable in the axial direction thereof. The inner diameter of the slide hole 45 or the outer diameter of the hook tool 46 is set to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the female member 8b fed into the slide hole 45. Further, a recess 47 is formed at the tip of the hooking tool 46 as a means for holding the female member 8b.

The shape of the recess 47 matches the shape of the base of the female member 8b, and is configured to hold the supplied female member 8b so that the recessed fitting side of the female member 8b faces forward. Furthermore, a permanent magnet 48 as a holding means for the female member 8b is provided at the bottom of the recess 47 to ensure that the female member 8b is held.

A groove 49 is formed in the front of the upper wall of the main body 44, and the female member 8b is inserted into the groove 49. A shute pipe 50 is fixed to the main body 44 on the outer surface side of the groove 49 with its inner hole communicating with the groove 49 . As shown in FIG. 6, a parts feeder 51 is installed above the strapping device 1 to supply the female members 8b aligned in a predetermined direction. parts feeder 51
The supply pipe 51a extends downward, and the opening lower end of the supply pipe 51a is connected to the opening upper end of the chute pipe 50 at the retracted position of the hook forming table 42, that is, at the position where the female member 8b is loaded into the main body 44. are configured to be opposite. and female member 8b
is configured so that it passes through the supply pipe 51a and the shoot pipe 50 with the recessed part facing forward, and is supplied to the front of the hooking tool 46 in the main body 44.

In the vicinity of the outlet of the main body 44, gates 52 are provided on the top wall and the bottom wall, respectively, so as to be vertically rotatable. The gate 52 includes a base 52a that is pivotally supported by both walls, and a gate plate 52b that projects into the slide hole 45 from the base 52a. The gate plate 52b is provided so as to be substantially perpendicular to the inner circumferential wall of the slide hole 45, and this position is the closed position of the gate 52. A biasing means such as a spring is interposed in the pivot portion of the base 52a, so that when the gate plates 52b are swung in the opening direction, that is, in the exit direction of the slide hole 45, the gate 52 The structure is such that a restoring force for returning the gate to the closed position acts on both gate plates 52b, 52b. Therefore, when the female member 8b is dropped and supplied between the hooking tool 46 and both gate plates 52b, 52b, and the hooking tool 46 is advanced, the female member 8b pressed by the hooking tool 46 is moved to the gate plate. 52b, and receives the restoring force from the biasing member of the gate plate 52b, thereby ensuring that it enters the recess 47.

Next, the drive mechanism of the hook hitting tool 46 will be explained. A locking rod 53 is protruded from the peripheral wall of the hook driver 46, and the locking rod 53 passes through slide grooves 44a formed on both sides of the main body 44 and projects to the outside of the main body 44. .

On the other hand, a bracket material 54 for a bearing is protruded from the rear of the upper part of the outer surface of the main body 44, and the bracket material 54 and a bearing material 55 fixed on the hook base 42 on the side of the main body 44 are connected to each other. A drive shaft 56 is rotatably provided between them. The main body 44
A substantially U-shaped swinging member 57 is provided above the main body 44 so that two operating plates 57a, 57a are in contact with both side surfaces of the main body 44. These actuating plates 57a,
57a is inserted through and fixed to the drive shaft 56. Notch grooves 57b, 57b are formed in the lower edges of the operating plates 57a, 57a, respectively, and a locking rod 53 provided on the hooking tool 46 is formed.
Both ends thereof are engaged with both notch grooves 57b, 57b, respectively. A lower end portion of a lever 58 is fixed to the drive shaft 56 near the bearing material 55 . The lever 5
At the upper end of the air cylinder 8, the tip of the rod of the air cylinder 59 installed on the hook base 42 is connected to a clevis 59a.
It is rotatably attached via the Therefore, if the air cylinder 59 is driven to pull the rod and the lever 58 is swung to rotate the drive shaft 56,
A swinging member 57 fixed to the drive shaft 56 moves the hook driving tool 46 forward via the locking rod 53.

Next, a positioning device 60 is provided on the upper surface of the hook striking table 42. A link mechanism 61 in which strip-shaped links are combined in a parallelogram shape is provided behind the hook-setting table 42, and the link mechanism 61 connects the joint portion P1 near the hook-setting device 40 to the hook-setting table. It is rotatably supported by a pin fixed to 42. Of the four joints P1 to P4 of the link mechanism 61, an operating link 62 is connected with a pin to the joint P2 near the rear end of the hook platform 42. Air cylinder 63 attached to hook platform 42
It is linked to the rod. Near the rear end of the hooking device 40, there are two links 64,
64 are rotatably supported on the hook base 42 by pins with their inner ends overlapped with each other. Opening/closing links 65, 65 in the form of elongated bar plates are connected with pins between the joint portions P3, P4 on both sides of the link mechanism 61 and the outer ends of the two links 64, 64, respectively. The opening/closing links 65, 65 are arranged at positions sandwiching the main body 44 of the hook setting device 40 from both sides, and their front ends are connected to the hook setting table 4.
It protrudes further forward than 2. Opening/closing link 65,
65 has a pair of rocking plates 6 at the front end so as to rotate in a plane parallel to the rotation plane of the link mechanism 61.
6 and 66 are attached to each other, and are biased toward each other to return outward by biasing means such as a spring (not shown). Positioning plates 67 serve as a pair of positioning members that lock onto a male member 8a provided on the loop 7 of the string 4 wrapped around the neck 3a of the bottle 3 to position it at a predetermined central position. , 67 are attached to the outer edges of the inner end sides of the swing plates 66, 66, respectively. With the hook platform 42 advanced, the air cylinder 63
When the rod is moved forward, the opening/closing links 65, 65
The opening/closing links 65, 65 move back as the distance between them decreases, and the tips of the positioning plates 67, 67 move toward the bottle 3.
The male member 8a provided on the string 4 moves toward a predetermined central position while contacting the surface of the neck 3a.
The structure is such that it is hooked on and carried to the central position.

Next, below the hook platform 42, there is a cutter 6.
A cutter device 68 for moving the cutter 8a toward the neck 3a of the bottle 3 is provided.

This cutter device 68 cuts the string 4 below the connected hook 8 after the string 4 is wrapped around the neck 3a of the bottle 3 and fixed with the hook 8 by the various devices described above. It is configured to remove unnecessary parts of 4.

Next, a description will be given of the stringing operation by the stringing device 1 described above, focusing on the action of the hooking device 40.

The string 4 and the crown 5 are stored in a cassette 9 and conveyed by a cassette conveyor 10. The take-out device 11 picks up the crown 5 from the cassette 9 that has stopped at a predetermined take-out position, and transfers it to the frame base 1.
4.Transport to the working position above. In this working position, the string 4 is shaped and positioned by each straightening device 16, 17, 18. Then, the string opening device 25 operates to expand the diameter of the ring 7 of the string 4, and the bottle 3 is subsequently lifted from the inside of the frame stand 14 to the working position by the lifting device 15. The neck 3a of the bottle 3 enters the loop 7 of the positioned string 4, and the string opening device 2
5 is retracted, the string knob rotating device 31 and the knot pushing device 27 are activated. Long body part 4a of string 4
is gripped and pulled by the hand 36 of the string knob rotating device 31, and the presser 30 of the knot pushing device 27 presses the knot 6 of the string 4 to position it on the neck 3a of the bottle 3, so that the loop 7 of the string 4 It is securely fastened to the neck 3a of the bottle 3. Subsequently, the motor 32 of the string pick rotation device 31 is activated, and the long body portion 4a of the string 4 pulled by the hand 36 is wrapped around the upper part of the sling 2.

Next, the hook driving device 40 and the positioning device 60
is activated. The air cylinder 43 is actuated to move the hooking platform 42 in the direction of the bottle 3, and the main body 44 of the hooking device 40 is attached to the string 4 wrapped around the top of the stopper 2.
Push the long body part 4a of the bottle 3 to bring it close to the neck part 3a of the bottle 3. At this time, the positioning device 60 on the hook platform 42 is set at the forward position. That is, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2, since the air cylinder 63 is retracted and the opening/closing links 65, 65 are opened, the positioning plates 67, 67 have their tips wrapped around the neck 3a of the bottle 3. The string 4 is brought into contact with the surface of the ring 7.

Then, when the air cylinder 63 of the positioning device 60 pushes out the rod, both opening/closing links 65, 6
5 retreats while closing the gap.

The positioning plates 67, 67 move to the center position of the neck part 3a (the setting position by the hook setting device 40) while bringing their tips into contact with the loop 7 of the string 4 wound around the neck part 3a. Even if the male member 8a provided on the ring 7 is located away from the center position, the male member 8a is attached to the positioning plates 67, 67.
It is hooked onto the tip of the ring 7, rotates around the neck 3a together with the ring 7, and is brought to the central position.

The female member 8b of the hook 8 supplied from the parts feeder 51 is connected to the supply pipe 51a and the shoot pipe 50.
It is dropped through the slide hole 45 of the main body 44 and into the front of the hook hitting tool 46. At this point, the air cylinder 59 is operated to move the hook striking tool 46 forward. As shown in FIG. 4, the female member 8b is sandwiched between the gates 52, 52 and the hooking tool 46 and receives the resistance force of the gates 52, 52.
b enters the recess 47 at the tip of the hook tool 46,
It is held securely by a permanent magnet 48. Then, the female member 8b is projected forward from the outside of the main body 44 with the recessed fitting portion facing forward. Female member 8
b is driven into the member 8a with the long part 4a of the string 4 in between, so that the long part 4a of the string 4 and the ring 7
are integrally fastened together, and the stopper 2 is securely fixed to the bottle 3.

Next, the cutter device 68 operates and the cutter 68
A cuts the remaining portion of the long body portion 4a of the string 4 to an appropriate length. The hook setting device 40 and the positioning device 60 move back, and the hook setting table 42 itself also moves back and returns to its original position. When the string 4 is threaded and fixed, the bottle 3 is lowered to the lower part of the frame stand 14 by the lifting device 15. Thereafter, the bottle 3 is carried out of the apparatus 1 by a belt conveyor.

In the embodiment described above, the hook 8 is made up of a male member 8a and a female member 8b.
has been taken up as a fastening element, but the present invention can also be applied to a fastening element that is driven into a workpiece as a single item, and is not limited to a fastening element in a narrow sense, but generally a small fastening element that is supplied to a workpiece and driven into the workpiece. It can also be applied to members. Furthermore, in this embodiment, a concave portion 47 is formed on the front end surface of the hook driving tool 46 as a hook holding structure, but a convex portion may be formed depending on the shape of the fastening element or the like to be held. Further, in this embodiment, a permanent magnet 48 is provided in the recess 47 as a holding means, but other means such as suction by vacuum force may be applied depending on the material of the fastening element etc. to be held.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The driving device of the present invention is provided with a holding means on the front end surface of the slide body, and when the test member supplied in a predetermined posture in front of the slide body is pressed against the slide body, the resistance force due to the gate is suppressed in the slide hole. It is configured to be received and inserted into the holding means to be securely held. Then, following the movement of the slide body to hold the female member, the slide body is further advanced to cause the female member to protrude from the gate,
It can be reliably fastened to the male member of the object set at a predetermined position by the positioning means. Therefore, according to the present invention, the string attached to the object by the string hanging device can be securely and quickly fixed with the male and female fastening members, and only the reciprocating movement of the slide body accompanying the supply of the female member is required. The above-mentioned fastening operations can be performed one after another in succession.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part in an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part in the same embodiment, FIG. 3 is a front view of the main part, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the main part in the same embodiment. FIGS. 5a and 5b are a front view and a plan view of the string used in the same embodiment. FIG. 6 is a front view showing the overall configuration of the same embodiment, and FIG. The figure is a right side view, and FIG. 8 is a plan view. 3... Bottle as a workpiece, 4... String as a workpiece, 8... Hook as a fastening element, 40...
Hook driving device as a driving device, 44... Main body, 45... Slide hole, 46... Hook driving tool as a slide body, 47... Recessed portion as a holding structure, 48... Permanent magnet as a holding means. 52
... Gate, 61 ... Link mechanism, 67 ... Positioning plate as a positioning member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A strap hanging device that attaches and fixes a string provided with a male member of a fastening element to an object, and positions the male member of the string hung around the object at a predetermined position. A driving device that later drives a female member of a fastening element into the male member while sandwiching a part of the string, comprising: a main body provided with a slide hole; a slide body that slides within the slide hole; a gate provided near the exit portion and biased toward the inside of the slide hole so as to return to the original position; and a female member of the fastening element placed in the slide hole between the slide body and the gate in a predetermined posture. a supply means provided at the front end of the slide body, the female member supplied into the slide hole being received by the forward movement of the slide body and the biasing force of the gate, and held in the predetermined posture; a pair of positioning members that sandwich the male member of the string that is wrapped around the object; and a link mechanism that operates the positioning members to move the male member along the object. A driving device comprising: a positioning device that sets the male member at a predetermined position facing the holding means of the slide body in front of a gate.