JPH0542969Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Industrial application field> The present invention is a curved or linear type that transports small objects from one direction to another by vibrating a conveyor table by exciting an electrostrictive element. Regarding the parts feeder.

<Prior Art> Taking a curved parts feeder as an example, its conventional form, as shown in FIG. The driving bodies a are arranged on approximately the same circumference between the conveyor table d and the base e, and the upper and lower ends of each are connected to each table, and the driving bodies a are passed in an inclined manner. By exciting the element c, the conveyor table d is vibrated in the circumferential direction, and the object to be conveyed is transferred in the rotational direction.

<Problems to be solved by the invention> As mentioned above, in the case of the curved parts feeder, the leaf spring b has one electrostrictive element c attached to at least one surface thereof, and as the leaf spring b expands and contracts, the leaf spring b produces a curved displacement. However, since this leaf spring b is disposed in the radial direction, the amount of movement on the inside and outside thereof is different as the conveyance table d rotates, and a force in the torsional direction is applied to the leaf spring b. For this reason, if the upper end of the leaf spring b is directly fixed to the carrier d, the bending displacement will be restricted and the carrier d will not be able to vibrate.

Therefore, conventionally, as shown in FIG.
and the conveyance table d are connected by a connection spring f having a notch g formed therein.

By the way, in such a configuration, the connection spring f bends under load as the driving body a vibrates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Although the notch g allows for twisting, it is likely to break due to metal fatigue.

Further, the conveyance platform d becomes higher by the amount of the leaf spring b, and accordingly, the resonant frequency becomes lower and the conveyance speed decreases.

Furthermore, since the leaf spring b has to come into surface contact with the mounting surface h of the conveyor table d, milling is required to smooth the mounting surface h, resulting in disadvantages such as an increase in manufacturing costs.

The object of the present invention is to provide a parts feeder equipped with a connecting mechanism that does not have the above-mentioned drawbacks.

<Means for solving the problem> The present invention supports a flexible rod having rigidity in the axial direction vertically on at least one of the upper and lower ends of a leaf spring, and supports the flexible rod in a vertical manner. By fixing the protruding end of the body to the mounting part of the carrier or the base, the end of the leaf spring is connected to the mounting part through the flexible rod at a distance. This is a characteristic feature.

Here, as the flexible rod having rigidity in the axial direction, there are metal rods, plastic rods, and the like, as well as rod-shaped rods made by closely winding metal pieces.

<Operation> The leaf springs are connected at their respective ends via flexible rods. Therefore, even if a relative displacement occurs between the plate spring and the plate spring due to the radial transfer difference of the conveyor table, it is absorbed by the bending deformation of the flexible rod, and no torsional strain occurs in the plate spring. .

In addition, the feeding displacement along the axial direction of the flexible rod due to the swinging of the leaf spring is transmitted to the conveyance table side without escaping because the rod has rigidity in the axial direction. Ru.

<Example> An example of a curved parts feeder to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a circular dish-shaped carrier 2 is disposed on a base 1 on which an object to be transported is placed on its horizontal upper surface.

Four connecting pieces 4 and 5 are provided on the top surface of the base 1 and on the back surface of the conveyance table 2 at the same radial position and at equal angular intervals. The vertically opposing connecting pieces 4 and 5 are inclined so that their extension lines coincide with each other, and a driving body 6 is passed between the four pairs of upper and lower connecting pieces 4 and 5, respectively.

As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 3, the driving body 6 has two electrostrictive elements 8a and 8b radially attached to the front and back surfaces of a leaf spring 7, respectively.

The electrostrictive elements 8a, 8b are polarized in the opposite direction or in the forward direction by a conventional method, and the leaf spring 7 also serves as an electrode plate. The outer electrodes are connected in series or in parallel to an AC power source, and each electrostrictive element 8a, 8b is expanded or contracted by voltage application from the power source, thereby causing the leaf spring 7 to curve.

Note that instead of the AC power source, a DC power source can also be used by providing a switching mechanism.

Regarding this driving body 6, as shown in FIG.
The lower end of the leaf spring 7 and the mounting surface 4a of the connecting piece 4 are connected and fixed by two left and right connecting screws 10, 10.

Further, a through hole 11 is formed at the upper end of the leaf spring 7, and a flexible rod 12a made of a metal material and having threaded portions 13a and 14a formed at both ends is loosely inserted into the through hole 11. By tightening the nuts 15a and 15b screwed onto the threaded portion 13a with 7 in between,
The rod 12a is fixed to the leaf spring 7 so as to stand upright. Then, the threaded portion 13b of the protruding end is screwed into the threaded hole 16 formed in the mounting surface 5a of the connecting piece 5, and thereby the upper end of the leaf spring 7 is connected to the connecting piece 5 of the conveyor table 2. They are connected at intervals via a flexible rod 12a.

The flexible rod 12a has rigidity in the axial direction and is capable of bending, meeting the requirements of the flexible rod of the present invention.

The drive body 6 is inclined with respect to the base 1 and the conveyance table 2 along the angle of the connecting pieces 4 and 5, and arranged so that its width direction coincides with the radial direction of the conveyance table 2. will be established.

In this configuration, when each electrostrictive element 8a, 8b expands or contracts by applying a voltage, the conveying table 2 rotates due to the bending of the leaf spring 7. At this time, the leaf spring 7 is arranged in the radial direction, but the flexible rod 12
Due to the slight tilting caused by the elastic deformation of a, the force in the torsional direction is absorbed without causing distortion in the leaf spring 7 itself. On the other hand, the flexible rod 12a is difficult to deform in the direction in which the upper end of the leaf spring 7 swings (in the axial direction of the flexible rod 12a). This means that good transmission can be achieved.

FIG. 5 shows a modified flexible rod 12b,
A reduced diameter portion 20 is formed at the center thereof, and screw portions 13b and 14b are formed at both ends. That is, since the flexible rods 12a of the above embodiment have the same diameter, it is expected that stress concentration will occur at the fixed bases at both ends when the rods are elastically deformed, leading to breakage. However, in such a configuration, the central diameter-reduced portion 20 is naturally bent as the conveyance table 2 rotates, and the stress concentration on the mounting base is alleviated. Therefore, it has the advantage of reducing metal fatigue and extending its service life.

The flexible rods 12a, 12b described above may be made of plastic material.

FIG. 6 shows a flexible rod 12c constructed by tightly winding wire rods 21, which has good followability against deformation in the bending direction, and transmission of force in the axial direction to each wire rod 21. Since there is no gap, the displacement can be transmitted to the transfer table 2 side without deformation.

FIG. 7 compares the conveyance speed of the conveyor table 2 between the conventional structure shown in FIG. 8 and the embodiment shown in FIG. It is shown that the displacement of the conveyance table 2 can be improved by being able to satisfactorily transmit the displacement of the conveyance table 2 to the conveyance table 2.

The connecting members of each of the above configurations can also be applied between the lower end of the leaf spring 7 and the mounting surface 4a of the connecting piece 4. Alternatively, it may be applied to both the upper and lower ends of the leaf spring 7.

In addition, in order to further facilitate the rocking of the leaf spring 7, cut portions 22, 22 are formed on both sides of the flexible metal rod body 12, as shown by chain lines in FIG. Good too.

Although the explanation has been given using a curved parts feeder as an example, the present invention can also be applied to a linear parts feeder using a trough conveyor, and the mounting part of the leaf spring may be affected due to the installation deviation of the drive body or the variation in the center of gravity of the trough. The same effect as above can be achieved by absorbing torsional stress caused by

<Effects of the invention> The present invention connects either or both of the upper and lower ends of the leaf spring 7 to the mounting portions 4 and 5 of the conveyor table 2 or the base 1 via the flexible rods 12a to 12c at a distance. Since the plate springs 7 are connected by the flexible rods 12a to 12c, the displacement and torsion caused by the bending drive of the leaf spring 7 are absorbed by the flexible rods 12a to 12c, and the rigidity in the axial direction of the flexible rods 12a to 12c is As a result, the oscillating displacement of the leaf spring 7 is transmitted without causing a displacement escape, and the amount of displacement of the conveyor table 2 per applied voltage is improved. Further, since the connection spring is not required, the height of the conveyance platform 2 can be lowered, and the resonant frequency can be increased accordingly, making it possible to obtain a high conveyance speed with the same voltage. Furthermore, the mounting surface to which the leaf spring 7 is connected is
High smoothness is not required and milling is not required.
This has the effect of reducing manufacturing costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The accompanying drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a side view, FIG. 2 is a plan view, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the driver 6, FIG. 5 is a side view showing a flexible rod 12b of a modified example;
The figure is a side view showing a modified example of the flexible rod 12c, and FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between the transport speed of the transport platform 2 and the applied voltage, comparing the present invention and the conventional structure. Further, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a drive body a having a conventional structure, and FIG. 9 is a plan view of a connecting spring f with a notch g. 1...Base, 2...Transfer platform, 4a...Mounting surface,
5a... Mounting surface, 6... Drive body, 7... Leaf spring,
8a, 8b... Electrostrictive element, 11... Through hole, 12a
~12c...Flexible rod, 13a, 13b...Threaded portion, 20...Reduced diameter portion.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A plurality of driving bodies each having an electrostrictive element affixed to the main surface of a leaf spring that also serves as an electrode plate is placed between a conveyance table and a base, with the upper and lower ends of each unit connected to each other. A flexible rod having rigidity in the axial direction is vertically supported on at least one of the upper and lower ends of the leaf spring, and the protruding end of the flexible rod is A parts feeder characterized in that an end portion of a leaf spring is connected to the mounting portion at a distance via the flexible rod by being fixed to the mounting portion of a transport table or a base.