JPH05213508A - Sheet accumulating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a thin plate accumulator for cutting thin plate materials into pieces of a prescribed size, and then accumulating and separating those thin plates. CONSTITUTION: Suction cups 36 carried on different chains 34 arrayed in several columns which are moving in parallel to the moving direction of thin plates to be accumulated are used in this thin plate accumulator. According as the thin plate materials are fed into the thin film accumulator, the materials are held by the suction cups 36, and cut into pieces of a prescribed size, and mutually separated by laterally moving each chain, and each thin plate is released in each different accumulation by breaking vacuum in the vacuum cups. Then, the chain drives are laterally returned to the their original positions, and the cycle is repeated. In this case, a unique cup value structure is used for eliminating any vacuum line.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for depositing and separating thin plates.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a large number of thin plates are used to form a housing or box that covers the internal structure of a product. Often, these sheets are pre-painted sheet metal and are supplied to the product manufacturer in a coil. For example, manufacturers of refrigerators and other large appliances use pre-painted strips of relatively thin steel plates. The sheet is received from the steel manufacturer in a coil,
The sheet must be rewound and cut into individual sizes. For mass production, cut sheets are deposited and these deposits are moved to an assembly line. Manipulation of these sheets as they are cut from the original coil is tedious, and if these sheets are painted, great care must be taken not to stain the surface during the operation.

Although it is known to use magnets for manipulating cut sheets, such magnet arrangements are complex and expensive and the sheets must be properly separated into multiple rows, or It is not possible to operate a large number of deposited steel sheets. Further, when the steel plate coil contains foreign matter such as a thin oil film, this oil film interferes with the ability of the electromagnet to grip the thin plate. It is also clear that the use of electromagnets is limited to electromagnetic materials.

To solve these problems when using electromagnets to deposit and separate cut sheets from coils, systems using vacuum cups have been used. While such a system can be used with all types of materials, the system that creates a vacuum and supplies this vacuum to the cup that contacts and grips the material is a relatively complex system. However, a lot of maintenance work is required to maintain proper operating conditions. Also, in such a system, it is clear that if a leak occurs at any point in the vacuum supply system, the device will malfunction. Also, when using magnetic systems, there is no known device for properly depositing and depositing rows of sheets cut from a coil.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved type of sheet deposition apparatus which can be used for all types of sheet deposition and which is relatively simple in construction and less cost than known sheet deposition apparatus.

[0006]

The thin plate deposition apparatus of the present invention is a thin plate deposition apparatus for depositing thin plates having rigidity that moves in a predetermined direction, and a plurality of thin plate deposition apparatuses that move in the movement direction of the thin plates along a trajectory above the thin plates. The suction member and the suction member along the trajectory, the trajectory passes sufficiently close to the thin plate, and the suction member engages with the thin plate and grips it, and the thin plate is moved along the trajectory. Carrier means configured to convey and operatively connected to each of the suction members,
Valve means for generating a differential pressure to allow the thin plate to be gripped by the suction member; release means for selectively engaging the valve means to balance the differential pressure to separate the thin plate from the suction member; With a means for controlling the operation of the releasing means so as to adjustably separate the sheet from the stack of thin plates at a desired point in time.

[0007]

In an embodiment of the present invention, the device of the present invention uses a plurality of relatively few suction cups, each cup having its own release valve, the plurality of cups aligned on an endless chain or belt. It is arranged. A plurality of chains or belts each having a plurality of suction cups are mounted for movement in a plane parallel to the direction of movement of the material to be deposited. Due to this basic construction, each chain and its respective drive can be moved independently of each other transversely to the direction of material movement, thus allowing chain drives for picking up a particular lamella to be adjacent. Being spaced from the chain drive, the lamellas can be spaced from one another at any desired spacing to form separate adjacent stacks. The present invention uses a unique vacuum suction cup that has its own valve that is normally closed.
When this suction cup engages the thin plate and pressure is applied,
The air between the cup and the material is evacuated, the edges of the cup are brought into close contact with the material and a vacuum is created, which allows the material to be gripped by the cup. A slight opening of the valve in each cup will balance the pressure. Therefore, by simply pulling off the actuators of the valve of the cup holding the material at the same time, the cup holding the sheet releases the material at the same time. According to the system of the present invention, a single cut thin plate is picked up and held by a plurality of cups on a single chain drive, and a plurality of adjacent thin plates are picked up by separate chain drives mounted adjacent to each other. To be done. Since these chain drives are laterally movable relative to each other, the material can be displaced laterally at predetermined intervals before the cup releases the lamellas onto their respective stacks. With the device and system of the present invention, the sheets are quickly and efficiently gripped, cut, moved laterally and then dropped onto the stack.

The device of the invention is produced at low cost and substantially reduces the amount of maintenance required by known devices.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In describing the present invention, it is to be understood that the sheet deposition apparatus according to the present invention is in principle part of a line system including a coil rewinding device and a shearing device upstream of the sheet deposition apparatus. In other words, the lamella deposition apparatus of the present invention receives each lamella as it is cut by the shearing device and deposits these lamellas in a single or multiple stack. Accordingly, these sheet materials are fed from the shearing device 10 onto the guide plate 12 and the plurality of rollers 14. The type of material commonly processed is usually a sheet of metallic material, pre-painted or unpainted. One of the advantages of the present invention is that these materials can be manipulated and deposited without soiling the painted surface of the previously painted materials.

As the leading edge of the material is fed from shearing device 10 into the sheet deposition device, the material has not yet been cut to the desired length. The cutting of the desired length of sheet by the shearing device 10 occurs when the leading edge of the material is in the sheet depositing device and is held by the sheet depositing device on the guide plate 12 and the rollers 14. The cutting length of each lamella depends on the distance the material advances into the lamella depositing device before being cut by the shearing device. Accordingly, the material is cut to any given desired length as described below.

Although FIGS. 1 and 2 show two laminar depositing devices arranged end-to-end adjacently, in many applications a single laminar depositing device is used. Each thin plate deposition device is a standard type lift table 1 of any known design.
It is mounted on the 6. The purpose of the lift table is to hold the stack of lamina until each lamina is removed from the lift table for subsequent processing. The height of the lift table 16 is variable, as is known per se, so that the sheets are progressively lowered as they are deposited on this lift table so that the upper level of the deposit is always within an acceptable range. Such lift tables and their lifting systems are known to those skilled in the art, and these lift tables are commercially available and commonly used. Therefore, the details of the lift table do not form part of the present invention and will not be described in detail.

The thin plate deposition apparatus itself will be described.
The sheet deposition apparatus has longitudinally extending side frame members 18 which align the working portion of the sheet deposition apparatus with the other components of the line apparatus at a suitable height. Thus supporting and arranging these working parts. For clarity of illustration, the support components of the thin plate deposition apparatus are not shown except in FIGS. 1 and 2. 1 and 2 show a portion of vertical supports 20, which are connected to a frame member 18 and thus suspend the frame member 18 above a lift table 16.

Each thin plate deposition apparatus has a plurality of operation units 22.
, And four such operating units 22 are shown in FIG. The number of operating units 22 depends on the respective application of the thin plate deposition apparatus and the number of deposits formed. In the preferred embodiment, four manipulator units are used to form three stacks in a side-by-side manner as described below.

The operation unit 22 is shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6.
Each unit 22 is shown in detail in FIG.
It consists of a longitudinal main support member 24 connected to 0 (FIG. 1). At the upstream end of the support member 24, a pair of sprockets 26 are mounted on a shaft 28, and at the downstream end of the support member 24 a second pair of sprockets 30 is driven by a drive shaft 32, which drives the entire unit 22. These units 2 to drive at the same time
2 is operably connected. Sprockets 30 and 26
Supports and drives a pair of endless drive chains 34, one chain for each pair of sprockets 26, 30. Pick-up units are connected at equal intervals along each drive chain 34, and these pick-up units include a valve 38 and a suction cup 40.
It consists of and. As best seen in FIG. 6, each pickup unit 36 is secured to the chain 34 by an L-shaped link 42 and a fastener 44. Also, as best seen in FIG. 3, the pickup unit 36 at the upstream end follows a somewhat irregular trajectory, along which trajectory each pickup unit descends at an angle such that it gradually engages the lamella 46. Brought to. The angle at which the suction cups 40 of the respective pickup units gradually approach each other is designed so that the suction cups 40 can be reliably engaged with the thin plate 46 without being curved inward and causing malfunction. As best seen in Figure 3,
The track of the pickup unit 36 is a straight track on a horizontal plane directly above the lift table 16 when the suction cup engages with the thin plate 46.

A single valve 38 forming part of the pickup unit 36 is provided to positively engage the suction cup 40 and control its release. As best seen in FIG. 6, the valve 38 has a U-shaped body 48 with the lower leg 50 of the U-shaped outer side for facilitating attachment of the pickup unit 36 to the drive chain 34 as previously described. It is protruding. However, the main portion of the valve body 48 includes a lateral passage 52 which communicates with a vertical passage 54. Each suction cup 40 is removably attached to the body 48 by a threaded fastener 56 which has a hole therein to communicate the lateral passage 52 with the interior of the suction cup 40. Valve member 60
Extends into the lateral passage 52, the valve member having a first valve seat 62 and a second valve seat 64 at the other end. The valve seats 62 and 64 abut the outer surface of the valve body 48 to seal both ends of the passage 52. Thus, when the passage 52 is sealed by the valve seats 62 and 64, a force is applied to the suction cup 40 to press it against the smooth surface of the lamina 46.
The edge of the cup 40 comes into close contact with the surface of the thin plate 46, and the suction cup 40 easily holds the thin plate 46 due to the pressure difference between the atmosphere and the inside of the suction cup 40, and the thin plate 46 is controlled by the operation unit 22. This thin plate can be gripped with sufficient force to move the thin plate. Thus, the thin plate 46 is advanced as the drive chain 34 moves, and under the control of the drive chain 34, the thin plate 46 is advanced to a desired position and stopped.

A pick-up unit is provided so that the sheet material is placed at a desired location above the lift table 16 and when the shearing device 10 cuts the sheet material to a desired length, the sheet 46 can be deposited on the lift table 16. Must be released from 36. The thin plate deposition apparatus of the present invention has a simple and reliable release mechanism. To release the gripped state of the suction cup 40 on the thin plate 46, either one of the seals 62 or 64 may be broken. By forming the valve member 60 with a soft, flexible material, a sufficient seal is provided between the valve seats 62, 64 and the body 48. To break the seal,
One of the valve seats 62 or 64 may be moved slightly until the seal between the valve seat and the body 48 is broken. Valve member 6
This is the valve member 6 since 0 material is soft and flexible.
This can be done by applying a lateral force to 0. Due to the flexibility of the valve member 60, applying a force against the outer end of the valve seat 62 or 64 will bend the valve member 60 to the extent that it breaks the seal to balance the differential pressure and allow the suction cup 40 to move against the lamina 46. Release the gripped state.

As best seen in FIG. 6, the valve seat 64 includes an annular actuator 6 of wear resistant material to facilitate the action of breaking the seal between one valve seat and the body.
It extends outwardly enough to receive 6. A valve release bar 68 (FIG. 3) is supported along both sides of the support member 24 of each operating unit 22, which bar 68 is supported on a guide pin 70 passing through its slot 72. See also bar 6
An actuating arm 74 is fixed to 8 and extends upward and is pivotally attached to an actuating rod 76 of a cylinder 78. The cylinder 78 can be a pneumatic cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder. Therefore, when the cylinder 78 is operated, the release bar 68 moves forward and downward and engages with the actuator 66 of the valve member 60 to release the gripped state of the suction cup 46 on the thin plate 46. After release of each lamella 46, the lamellas fall onto the deposit being formed on the lift table 16 and the leading edge of the lamella material is guided by the guide plate 12.
The sheet material is picked up again by the suction cup 40 descending along the sprocket 26 as it is advanced over the rollers 14. The above process is repeated.

Since the sheet material emitted from the shearing device 10 is also cut longitudinally, a large number of sheets 46 are produced during a single pick / release cycle by the operating unit 22. In the preferred embodiment, four operating units 22 are shown. All these operating units are driven by a drive shaft 32, which is driven by a single motor 80. The motor 81 drives a plurality of screws 86, 88, 90, 92, which screws support the respective support member 24 of the processing unit 22.
Operatively connected to and extending laterally. These screws 86, 88, 90, 92 are further connected by appropriate means such as chains 94 to the corresponding screws 86a, 88a, 90a and 92a, each of which is attached to the support member 24 of the respective operating unit 22. Operatively connected to each other. In other words, screws 86 and 86a
Driven simultaneously, screws 88 and 88a, 90 and 90a
And 92 and 92a are likewise driven simultaneously. Also, at the upstream end of the sheet deposition apparatus, a crossbar 98 interconnects the vertical supports 20 to cross the vertical supports 20 as the operating unit 22 is moved laterally by screws 86, 88, 90 and 92. It is moved along the bar member 98. The control wheel 100 has each screw 86, 8
Provided at the ends of 8, 90 and 92, the operation unit 22 can be manually arranged laterally with respect to the traveling path of the thin plate 46. In this way, it is possible to appropriately deposit thin plates in accordance with the number of lateral thin plates to be formed. Also, by engaging or disengaging the appropriate clutch 102, the screws 86, 8 when the motor 81 is engaged.
The operator can select which of 8, 90 or 92 to rotate. In this way, the operator can select the operating unit 22 to be moved laterally during the operating cycle, sort the lamellas 46 and place them in the appropriate stack. FIG. 5 shows three separate laterally spaced deposits.

Clutch 1 to form 3 stacks of sheets
The lamella depositing device is programmed so that the two outer operating units 22 move a short distance outward from the inner operating unit 22 when 02 engages the screws 86 and 92.
If the lamellas 46 are cut longitudinally to form three stacks as shown in FIG. 5, two inner operating units 2
2 engages the central lamella B in FIG. 5, but the outer 2
The two operating units 22 are the outer thin plates A and C in FIG.
Engage with. After the thin plate 46 is advanced by the operation unit 22 by a predetermined appropriate distance, the operation unit 22 is stopped. Then, the motor 81 is engaged to move the two outer operation units 22 to the outer side, and the thin plates A and C are moved.
Is separated from the central thin plate B. At this time point, the release cylinder 78 of each operation unit 22 is operated, and the valve release bar 68 operates the actuator 66 to release all the three thin plates A, B, and C onto the lift table 16.

The structure shown in FIG. 5 has the structure shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 or FIG.
Although not shown in the drawing, this structure is composed of cross supports 104 and 106 which are disposed below the operation unit 22 and immediately above the lift table 16 and which support a plurality of separator plates 108.

As described above, FIG. 1 shows a structure in which two thin plate depositing devices of the same type are operatively connected to each other by the sprocket 110, the chain 112, and the sprocket 114 on the drive shaft 34. In this way, the two lamella depositing devices can be operated simultaneously or separately. This two end-to-end end-to-end arrangement of thin sheet deposition devices illustrates various uses and flexibility of the principles of the present invention.

[0022]

In the above, the preferred embodiments for carrying out the principles of the invention have been described. By providing an operating unit with a plurality of suction cups of the simplest construction and corresponding valves, the present invention does not require vacuum lines and complicated valve and control structures. By using a simple suction cup structure, the present invention can be used to manipulate any type of material, not just metallic materials that have traditionally required magnetic systems. The simplicity of this system is clear from the above description. Further, since the plurality of operation units can be selectively moved in the lateral direction according to the desired number of depositions and the deposition interval, the thin plate deposition apparatus of the present invention can be used in many applications. Depending on the size of the sheet material to be produced, it is possible to modify one sheet deposition device by the control system at any time.

The present invention is not limited to the above description, but can be arbitrarily modified and implemented within the scope of the gist thereof.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a thin plate deposition apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the thin plate depositing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a drive unit forming a part of the thin plate depositing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the drive unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of thin plates deposited as multiple stacks.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a drive unit pickup.

[Explanation of symbols]

26, 30 Sprocket 34 Carrier Means 38 Valve Means 40 Suction Member 52, 54 Passage Means 66 Actuator 68 Release Means 76, 78 Release Means Control Means 86, 86a; 88, 88a; 90, 90a; 92, 9
2a screw

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A thin plate deposition apparatus for depositing thin plates having rigidity that moves in a predetermined direction, and a plurality of suction members (40) that move in the moving direction of the thin plates along a track above the thin plates.
Then, the suction member (40) is moved along the orbit, the orbit passes sufficiently close to the thin plate, and the suction member (40) engages the thin plate and grips the thin plate along the orbit. Carrier means (34) configured to convey a thin plate and operatively connected to each of the suction members (40) to generate a differential pressure so that the thin plate is gripped by the suction member (40). And a release means (68) for selectively engaging the valve means (38) to balance the differential pressure to separate the sheet from the suction member, and to remove the sheet at the desired time. Means for controlling the operation of the releasing means (68) so as to be adjustable above the deposition, and a thin plate deposition apparatus. 2. The suction member (40) operates with respect to an endless conveyor (34) moving in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of the thin plate and a plane parallel to the moving direction of the thin plate. The thin plate deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thin plate deposition apparatus is connected to each other. 3. The suction member (40) is generally cup-shaped and forms a chamber therein when engaged with the thin plate, and the valve means (38) communicates with the chamber and the atmosphere. 3. A thin plate deposition apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that it has a passage (52, 54) which opens, which passage is normally closed by the valve means. 4. The valve means (38) has passages (52, 54).
An actuator (66) for opening and closing the valve, the actuator (66) being in a normal state, the valve passage (52,
54) is closed and the releasing means (68) is used at the time of releasing.
A laminar deposition apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that it is engaged by means to open said passages (52, 54). 5. The releasing means (68) engages with a plurality of actuators (66) at the same time to obtain a plurality of suction members (40).
The thin plate deposition apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a member (68) for simultaneously releasing the gripped state of the sheet. 6. The endless conveyor is a chain (34), a pair of sprockets (26, 30) operatively engaging the chain (34) to drive the chain along the track. The thin plate deposition apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5. 7. A plurality of carrier means (34) for moving said suction member (40) along parallel tracks, said carrier means (34) being transverse to said track substantially at right angles. Spaced apart from each other, and a predetermined carrier of the carrier means is moved laterally outward at a predetermined time to deposit a thin plate on the stack of a plurality of mutually separated thin plates. The thin plate deposition apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 8. The carrier means (34) is arranged in a transverse direction substantially perpendicular to the track and rotates to rotate the carrier means laterally (86, 86a; 88, 88).
88a; 90, 90a and 92, 92a). 9. Each carrier means (34) comprises a pair of infinite chains (34) operating in parallel planes and the suction member (4) operatively connected to the chains.
0) and a means for simultaneously driving the chains of each carrier means.