JPH05294445A - Swivel lifter for auto-loader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a swivel lifter for an auto-loader whole of which has been miniaturized and being compact size saving space. CONSTITUTION:A swivel lifter as an auto-loader peripheral equipment which allows a work carried via a conveyer to be lifted up and charged in direction as desired comprises a hand 1 to accept the work, an extensible vertical shaft 11 made up with spline shafts 11a, 11b and connected to the hand 1 at the upper end, a pneumatic motor 12 as a rotary actuator transmission-joined to the lower end of the vertical via pinions 5, 6 and a hollow type pneumatic cylinder 13 arranged on the outer periphery of the vertical shaft to lift up the hand at the lower part. The work is lifted up by elevating the hand 1 through the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 13 and the hand 1 is swang to a desired direction by driving the pneumatic motor 12 to deliver the work to a machine tool.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary lifter as a peripheral device of an autoloader for supplying a work to a machine tool or the like, which lifts up a work conveyed by a conveyor and changes its direction to a desired direction. ..

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an autoloader has been adopted as a material handling device for automated parts processing equipment, and work pieces are generally automatically supplied to an NC machine tool or the like. In addition, in order to transfer the work to the machine tool as a peripheral device of the autoloader, a swivel lifter that lifts up the works conveyed by the conveyor one by one and changes the direction to a desired direction is installed in the autoloader. The combination is known.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a swivel lifter combined with a conventional autoloader. In the figure, 1 is a hand 1 for placing and receiving a work, 2 is a lift-up air cylinder connected to the hand 1 through a spline shaft 3, 4 is a drive pinion 5, a driven pinion 6, and a rotary ring 7. An electric motor for hand turning, which is transmission-coupled to the spline shaft 3, 8 is a supporting outer cylinder that supports the rotating ring 7 via a bearing 9, and the air cylinder 2, the drive motor 4, and the supporting outer cylinder 9 are of an autoloader. It is attached to the conveyor frame 10.

With this structure, the hand 1 has an air cylinder 2
Is operated to move up and down, and the motor 4 is driven to move the spline shaft 3
Turn around. Then, when a work (for example, a processing material such as a round bar) is pitch-fed by a conveyor (not shown) laid above the hand 1, first the hand 1 is lifted from the standby position by operating the air cylinder 2. , Take the work out of the conveyor and lift it up above the conveyor. Next, in order to transfer the work to the machine tool installed around the autoloader, the hand 1 is rotated by driving the motor 4 to change the direction of the work to a desired direction.

[0005]

By the way, when the autoloader is adopted in the automation equipment in the factory, the peripheral equipment of the autoloader should be made as small and compact as possible in order to save space in the layout. Is required. From this point of view, when the conventional apparatus of FIG. 2 is viewed, the air cylinder 2 is vertically connected in series with the spline shaft 3 and largely protrudes below the conveyor frame 10. For example, the apparatus is large and a large space is required for on-site installation. Occupy

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to solve the above problems and provide a swivel lifter for an autoloader in which the entire apparatus is reduced in size and made compact to save space. To do.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a swivel lifter of the present invention comprises a hand for receiving a work, a telescopic vertical axis connecting the hand to the upper end, and a lower end of the vertical axis. And a hollow linear motion cylinder for lift-up, which is concentrically arranged on the outer periphery of the vertical axis and drives the hand to move up and down from below.

As an embodiment of the above-mentioned construction, a construction comprising a spline shaft slidably coupled between two shafts whose telescopic vertical axes are fitted to each other, and the rotary actuator and the direct-acting cylinder are both pneumatically operated. There are configurations such as a pneumatic motor and a pneumatic cylinder that operate at.

[0009]

With the above construction, the hand moves up and down by the operation of the pneumatic linear motion cylinder, and turns by the drive of the pneumatic rotary actuator. Here, the spline shaft directly connected to the hand expands and contracts in the vertical direction following the movement of the piston of the linear motion cylinder, and rotates by the drive of the rotary actuator. Moreover, since the direct acting cylinder is concentrically arranged on the outer peripheral side of the spline shaft as a hollow cylinder, the entire apparatus has a short size and a compact structure.

[0010]

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In the figure, the same members corresponding to those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals. That is, the hand 1 has a spline shaft 1
1a and a hollow spline shaft 11b are fitted vertically and slidably connected to each other by a telescopic vertical axis 11, and the pinion 5,
A pneumatic motor 12 is transmission-coupled via 6 as a rotary actuator. Further, a hollow pneumatic cylinder 13 is concentrically provided as a direct-acting cylinder for lifting up, surrounding the vertical axis 11 on the outer peripheral side thereof. Here, the pneumatic cylinder 13 includes the head cover 13
a, rod cover 13b, outer cylinder tube 13
c, inner cylinder tube 13d, hollow piston 13
e, the hollow rod 13f is constituted as a single rod / composite type cylinder, and the member 15 attached to the lower surface of the hand 1 is carried on the upper end of the hollow rod 13f penetrating the rod header 13b via the thrust bearing 14. ing.
In addition, 16 is a guide bearing of the vertical axis 11. Further, the pneumatic motor 12 and the pneumatic cylinder 13 are connected to the same pneumatic pressure source via a sequence control valve.

With this structure, when the pneumatic cylinder 13 is operated, the hand 1 moves up and down via the hollow rod 13f,
And, following this movement, the vertical axis 11 expands and contracts in the vertical direction. When the pneumatic motor 12 is driven, the vertical axis 11 rotates and the hand 1 turns around the vertical axis. This allows
As described with reference to FIG. 2, the work can be lifted up and the direction can be changed in the same manner as the conventional device. Moreover, since the direct-acting cylinder for lift-up is made hollow and the vertical axis 11 is passed through the inner space of the inner cylinder tube 13d, the overall length of the device is small and compact.

[0012]

As described above, according to the present invention, the overall length can be shortened as compared with the conventional apparatus, and the apparatus can be made compact and compact, which saves space when installed in the field in combination with the autoloader. Can be achieved. Further, by adopting pneumatic devices for the direct acting cylinder and the rotary actuator, the operation of these devices can be controlled by the same pneumatic pressure source.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of a conventional swivel lifter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hand 11 Telescopic Vertical Axis 11a Spline Shaft 11b Spline Shaft 12 Pneumatic Motor (Rotary Actuator) 13 Hollow Pneumatic Cylinder

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A swivel lifter as an autoloader peripheral device for lifting up a work conveyed by a conveyor and changing the direction to a desired direction, wherein a hand for receiving the work and the hand are connected to an upper end thereof. Telescopic vertical axis,
An automatic loader characterized by comprising a rotary actuator transmission-coupled to the lower end of the vertical axis and a lift-up hollow linear motion cylinder concentrically arranged on the outer periphery of the vertical axis to drive the hand up and down from below. Swivel lifter. 2. The swing lifter for an autoloader according to claim 1, wherein the telescopic vertical axis comprises a spline shaft slidably coupled between two mutually fitted shafts. Lifter. 3. The swing lifter for an autoloader according to claim 1, wherein the rotary actuator and the direct-acting cylinder are both a pneumatic motor and a pneumatic cylinder that are pneumatically operated.