JPH05221540A - Plate conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the structure of a plate conveying device. CONSTITUTION:In a plate conveying device which conveys a plate 3 by sucking a plurality of sucking pads 2, 2..., capably of advancing/retreating vertically arranged to a vertically movable containing case 1, on the upper surface of the plate 3, the vertically advancing/retreating stroke of other sucking pads 2 is set larger than that of the sucking pads 2 arranged on both end parts thereof.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plate material conveying device.

Generally, an automatic plate making apparatus is constructed so that a plate material such as a PS plate or an OPC plate which is stacked and stored in a plurality of sheets is supplied to a conveying path by a plate material conveying device having a suction pad to perform a predetermined plate making process. However, it is necessary to supply the plate materials one by one from the top without overlapping the thin plate-shaped plate materials in which the upper and lower sides are laminated in close contact with each other.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show a conventional plate material conveying device.

The plate material conveying device is constructed by mounting a plurality of suction pad 2 groups in a storage case 1. After the suction pad 2 vacuumed by a vacuum pump 7 sucks the plate material 3, the storage case 1 is removed. Ascend and drive horizontally to convey to the conveyance path. The suction pad 2 group is the long side portion 1a of the storage case 1.
The suction pads 2 are arranged along the short side portion 1b.
They are arranged so as to face each other with the pinch in between.

The support leg 9 of the suction pad 2 biased downward by the compression spring 8 is provided with one end of a lever 12 which is swingable about a shaft 10 and biased upward by a tension spring 11. It is locked. Further, a cam 13 is arranged in the center of the storage case 1, the other end of the lever 12 is pressed down, and a cam shaft 14 supporting the cam 13 is driven by a motor 15 to swing the lever 12. To move.

The operation of pulling up each suction pad 2 is started from an end portion, the lower plate material 3 is peeled off, and then the whole is lifted up, and when the suction pad 2 sucks and lifts the plate material 3, The shape of the cam 13 is selected so that the lower plate material 3 does not come into close contact with and lifted, and the rise timing of the suction pad 2 is deviated.

Reference numeral 16 in FIG. 10 indicates a gear train for transmitting the power of the motor 15 to the cam 13 shaft.

[0008]

However, the above-described conventional example has a drawback that the apparatus becomes complicated because it is configured to house various mechanical parts and the motor 15 in the housing case 1. I had one.

The present invention has been made to solve the above drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a plate material conveying apparatus having a simple structure.

[0010]

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1 corresponding to the embodiment, the above object is to provide a plurality of suction units provided in a vertically movable storage case (1) so as to be able to move up and down. Adsorption pads (2) arranged at both ends of a plate material conveying device for conveying the plate material (3) by adsorbing the pads (2, 2, ...) On the upper surface of the plate material (3). This is achieved by providing a plate material conveying device characterized in that the vertical movement stroke of the other suction pad (2) pair is larger than that of the other suction pad (2).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a cross-sectional view in which a holding piece 5 is formed by bending from the lower end of the hanging piece 4 toward the inside of the storage case 1 on two opposing sides of the storage case 1. The L-shaped support plate 6 may be rotatably mounted, and the back side edge of the plate material 3 sucked by the suction pad 2 may be held by the holding piece 5.

[0012]

Based on the above construction, the present invention has a plurality of pairs of suction pads having different strokes at both ends and the other, and each suction pad 2 can be moved up and down with respect to the storage case 1. It is provided.

When the storage case 1 is lowered in this state, first, the pair of suction pads 2 in the central portion, which has a large protruding dimension from the back surface of the storage case 1, abuts on the plate material 3, and then the pair of suction pads 2 is applied with an urging force. All the suction pads 2 adsorb onto the surface of the plate material 3 while retreating against them. After that, when the storage case 1 is driven upward, the pair of suction pads arranged at the end of the storage case 1 starts to rise, and the pair of suction pads 2 in the central portion, which is biased downward, moves to that position. Stay in.

As a result, the plate material 3 is pulled upward from the edge portion and curved, and separated from the other plate material 3 in the lower layer.
The desired operation can be obtained with a simple configuration.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a support plate 6 is attached to the peripheral portion of the storage case 1 to support the back side edge of the plate material 3 sucked by the suction pad 2.

As a result, the plate material 3 is prevented from dropping even when the suction function is stopped during the transportation of the plate material 3, and it is not necessary to return the plate material 3 to the storage position when the operation of the apparatus is stopped. The setup at the start of operation becomes easy.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2, there is shown an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a storage case, which is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view. Each long side portion 1 of this storage case 1
Four support legs 9 are arranged at a and 1a, and each support leg 9 is provided at a position facing each other with the short side portion 1b interposed therebetween. These support legs 9 are formed by adhering the suction pad 2 made of rubber or soft synthetic resin to the hollow cylindrical portion 17 at the tip, and the nozzle protruding laterally from the hollow cylindrical portion 17. A vacuum pump 7 is connected to 18.

The support leg 9 constructed as described above is mounted with the suction pad 2 protruding from the bottom wall 19 of the storage case 1. The supporting legs 9 are supported by bearings 21 fixed to the bottom wall 19 and the ceiling wall 20 of the storage case 1 and are vertically movable.

A pin-shaped or ring-shaped stopper member 22 is fixed to the support leg 9, and a compression spring 8 is mounted between the stopper member 22 and the bearing 21. Is urged to the initial position where the stopper member 22 abuts the bearing 21.

Further, the initial position of each of the support legs 9 and the suction pad 2 is located at the center of the bottom wall 19 of the storage case 1 with respect to those located at both ends of the long side portion 1a.
The projecting dimension is large, and a step δ is formed between them. In this embodiment, the stopper members 22 of the supporting legs 9 located at both ends of the long side portion 1a are provided near the upper ends thereof, whereas the stopper members 22 of the central supporting legs 9 are provided near the lower ends thereof. Has been.

The support legs 9 at both ends are provided with the compression springs 8 so that the stopper members 22 are attached to the ceiling wall 2 of the storage case 1.
The initial position is set in a state where the bearing 21 on the 0 side is biased, whereas the initial position is set in the center support leg 9 when the stopper member 22 is biased by the bearing 21 in the bottom wall 19. When the entire storage case 1 descends toward the plate material 3, first the suction pad 2 in the central portion abuts on the plate material 3 and then slightly retracts against the reaction force of the compression spring 8. Then, all the suction pads 2 are made to contact the surface of the plate material 3.

FIG. 3 shows a drive mechanism for the storage case 1. Reference numeral 23 in the figure denotes a drive motor, a worm gear 24,
The drive shaft 26 is rotated via the worm wheel 25. The rotation of the drive shaft 26 is transmitted to the chain 28 via the gear 27 to drive the storage case 1 up and down.
Further, a plurality of sensors 29 are provided on the side of the storage case 1.
are arranged to detect the ascending / descending position of the storage case 1. The plate material 3 is prepared by laminating a plurality of plates in an appropriate container (not shown) installed below the storage case 1.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, first, after driving the vacuum pump 7 provided on the ceiling wall 20 of the storage case 1, the motor 23 is driven to lower the storage case 1 to the plate material 3 side. .. As the storage case 1 descends, as described above, the suction pad 2 at the center first comes into contact with the surface of the plate material 3, and then slightly retracts to bring all the suction pads 2 into contact with the plate material 3, Adsorb the material 3.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper ends of the support legs 9 in the central portion block the sensor 29e provided on the ceiling wall 20 of the storage case 1, and the drive motor 23 is driven by a signal from the sensor 29e. Is stopped, and the vacuum sensor 30 installed near the vacuum pump 7 confirms whether or not there is a vacuum leak, and after confirming that there is no abnormality, the drive motor 23 is rotated in the reverse direction to raise the storage case 1. (See FIG. 5).

With the upward movement of the storage case 1, the urging force of the compression spring 8 is released from the supporting legs 9 in the central portion, so that the supporting legs 9 in the central portion are first returned to the initial position and the stopper member is formed. The support leg 9 at the end of which the downward sliding is restricted by 22 remains at that position. As a result, first, both edges of the plate material 3 are pulled up and curved, and air is introduced between the plate material 3 and another plate material 3 in the lower layer, and the plate material 3 and the plate material 3 are separated from each other.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6, the storage case 1
Is further raised and reaches the vicinity of the end position of the upper stroke, the tips of the support legs 9 in the central portion abut against the stopper rods 31 arranged above the apparatus, and the support legs 9 at both ends of the storage case 1 are contacted at the end positions. It is pressed downward and the plate material 3 is kept horizontal. At this position, the storage case 1 is detected by the sensor 29b, and the ascending drive by the drive motor 23 is stopped.

Further, in this embodiment, the storage case 1
Is provided with a plate material holding mechanism. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, this plate material holding mechanism is configured to hold both end portions of the plate material 3 by the support plates 6 provided on the long side portions 1a of the storage case 1. The support plate 6 is formed to have a substantially L-shaped cross section by bending the holding piece 5 from the lower end of the hanging piece 4 that hangs downward along the long side portion 1a. In addition, a rotary actuator 34 connected to a rotary shaft 32 to which the hanging piece 4 is fixed via a coupling 33 is provided in order to give a rotational drive to the support plate 6.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the storage case 1 descends, the support plate 6 keeps the plate material 3 holding piece 5 open as shown by the chain line, and the state shown by the solid line after the plate material 3 is adsorbed, that is, the holding The piece 5 shifts to a state in which the back side edge of the plate material 3 is held, and returns to the original position again after the conveyance is completed.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the plate material can be peeled off with a simple structure without using a mechanical component such as a cam, and one plate material can be surely removed. They can be transported one by one.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a mounting state of suction pads.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an assembled state of the device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a suction state of a plate material.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a separated state of the plate material.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which a plate material is pulled up.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a plate material holding mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional example.

10 is a cross-sectional view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Storage case 2 Suction pad 3 Plate material 4 Hanging piece 5 Holding piece 6 Support plate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of suction pads (2, 2, ...) Mounted vertically on a vertically movable storage case (1).
In the plate material conveying device for conveying the plate material (3) by adsorbing the same onto the upper surface of the plate material (3), a pair of suction pads (2) other than the suction pads (2) arranged at both ends. A plate material conveying device characterized by having a large up-and-down moving stroke. 2. A substantially L-shaped cross section in which a holding piece (5) is formed by bending from the lower end of the hanging piece (4) toward the inside of the storage case (1) on two opposite sides of the storage case (1). The plate material according to claim 1, wherein a support plate (6) having a circular shape is rotatably mounted, and a back side edge portion of the plate material (3) sucked by the suction pad (2) is held by a holding piece (5). Transport device.