JPH06213603A - Parts sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase efficiency of sorting of work by using image information taken in by a camera unit examining the quality of parts automate the defective parts sorting operation. CONSTITUTION:A group of silicon parts are respectively arrayed into the condition like a string of beads by each vibration type part feeder 1A, 1B, and conveyed to delivery mechanisms 3A, 3B for parts through conveying mechanisms 2A, 2B. The respective delivery mechanisms 3A, 3B deliver the parts one by one to two consecutive holders 5 of a rotary table 4. The rotary table 4 is so controlled that it rotates by a predetermined angle in a predetermined time cycle. When the holders 5 holding parts reach the image picking-up position where ITV cameras (camera unit) stand by on the upper and lower sides, the images of parts picked up from the upper and lower sides by the ITV cameras are taken in. The taken-in image information is transmitted to a computer. The images are enlarged and then displayed on a CRT screen to examine the quality of parts by comparing them with reference pattern information and so forth.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for sorting parts such as silicon parts into good products and defective products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, an electric cable 10 is inserted through a hole provided in a microcomputer box 101.
When pulling out 2, the silicon part 103 as shown in FIG. 8 is used to fill the gap between the holes. This component 103 has a shape in which two flange portions 103a and 103b are coaxially provided on a cylindrical base portion 103a whose outer diameter is substantially the same as the inner diameter of the hole, and each of the collar portions 103a and 103b.
It is fixed to the microcomputer box 101 by sandwiching the side plate of the microcomputer box 101 with b.

By the way, since this kind of component is mass-produced at once by pouring silicon into a mold, it is unavoidable that many defective products such as burrs and chips are generated. Therefore, it must be done to remove such defective products before they are shipped as products.

However, this work has conventionally been performed manually. Therefore, the efficiency is very poor and the accuracy cannot be expected. In addition, as the size of parts becomes smaller, it may become impossible to visually detect defective parts.

[0005]

As described above, the work of selecting the good / defective parts from the parts conventionally used to fill the hole for drawing the electric wire cable from the microcomputer box. There is a problem that efficiency is poor, mainly by visual inspection.

The present invention is intended to solve such a problem, and is a non-defective / defective product selection targeting small and lightweight parts used for filling a hole for drawing an electric cable from a microcomputer box. It is an object of the present invention to provide a parts selection device capable of automating work and significantly improving efficiency.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a parts selecting apparatus of the present invention has a cylindrical or cylindrical main body, and a plurality of flanges are coaxial with the main body. In a component sorting apparatus for sorting the provided components into good products and defective products, a component alignment mechanism for aligning and discharging the irregularly accommodated component groups in a row, and a plurality for holding the components one by one. Rotating table in which the holders of the above are arranged at equal intervals on the outer periphery, a table rotating mechanism for intermittently rotating the rotating table by a predetermined rotation angle, and the components discharged from the component aligning means. A component transport mechanism that transports a row to a predetermined component delivery position near the turntable, and a component that is transported to the component delivery position by the component transport mechanism, one by one on the rotary table. A component delivery mechanism for delivering the image to the component held in the holder, and an image capturing device for capturing an image of the component retained in the holder, and the image information captured by the image capturing device is used to determine the quality of the component retained in the holder. It is characterized in that good products and defective products are sorted.

[0008]

That is, in the present invention, the parts aligning mechanism aligns the parts to be sorted in a row, and the parts row is conveyed to a predetermined part delivery position near the rotary table through the parts conveying mechanism. When the parts are transported to the parts transfer position, the parts transfer mechanism transfers the parts one by one to the holder of the rotary table. On the other hand, a plurality of holders are arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the turntable at equal intervals, and the turntable is intermittently rotated by a predetermined rotation angle at a constant time cycle. That is, every time one component is delivered to the holder, the rotary table is rotated so that the next holder moves to a position where the component delivery mechanism can deliver the component. After that, the holder holding the component is moved to a position where the imaging device stands by, and the image of the component is captured by the imaging device. After that, the quality of the component is determined using this image information, and the work of sorting the good product and the defective product is performed.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the non-defective / defective product sorting operation is automated by targeting a small and lightweight component used for filling a hole for drawing an electric wire cable from a microcomputer box, thereby significantly increasing efficiency. Can be improved.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall construction of a parts sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.

In these figures, 1A and 1B are respectively vibrating parts feeders for aligning and discharging a large amount of randomly packed silicon parts in a line. Again 2
Reference numerals A and 2B denote component transfer mechanisms that transfer the silicon component rows discharged from the respective vibrating part feeders 1A and 1B in the row state. Reference numerals 3A and 3B denote component transfer mechanisms that transfer the silicon components transferred through the respective component transfer mechanisms 2A and 2B one by one to a holder on a rotary table described later. 4 is the rotary table. On the outer peripheral portion of the turntable 4, a plurality of (16 in this embodiment) holders 5 for sandwiching each silicon component transferred from the component transfer mechanisms 3A and 3B are arranged at equal intervals. Installed. Further, a plurality of (16 in this embodiment) component pushing-back mechanisms 6 to be described later are attached to the rotary table 4 in pairs with the individual holders 5. The rotary table 4 is driven to rotate intermittently by a predetermined rotation angle in the direction of arrow R by a table rotation motor 8 about a rotary post 7 supporting the rotary table 4. Furthermore, 9 is an ITV (Industrial) that captures images of silicon parts sandwiched by each holder 5 from above and below.
Television) camera. Although not shown in the figure, a silicon component determined as a non-defective product is extracted from the holder 5 between the position of the ITV camera 9 and the component delivery position by the component delivery mechanisms 3A and 3B on the rotary orbit of the rotary table 4. A non-defective product extracting mechanism and a defective product extracting mechanism for extracting a silicon component determined as a defective product from the holder 5 are provided.

Next, the flow of the overall operation of part selection by this part selection device will be described.

In this apparatus, the conveyance of silicon parts and the selection of non-defective / defective products are performed simultaneously in two systems. First, in each of the vibration type part feeders 1A and 1B, the silicon component group is arranged in a beaded state suitable for transport, and the silicon component row is transported to the component transport mechanisms 2A and 2B.
The parts are conveyed to the parts passing mechanisms 3A and 3B. Each of the component transfer mechanisms 3A and 3B transfers the transferred silicon components one by one to two continuous holders 5 of the rotary table 4. At this time, the turntable 4 is in a stationary state. The drive of the rotary table 4 is controlled so as to rotate by a predetermined angle, for example, at a constant time cycle, and the rotation angle of one rotation is set to the next two holders 5 when the delivery of the components to the two holders 5 is completed. Is set to such a value as to come to a position where components can be delivered from the respective component delivery mechanisms 3A, 3B. Then, in the intermittent rotation operation cycle of the rotary table 4, the silicon members are successively transferred from the component transfer mechanisms 3A and 3B.
Handed over to holder 5 of. On the other hand, when the holder 5 holding the silicon member reaches the imaging position where the ITV camera 9 stands by vertically, each ITV camera 9 simultaneously captures an image of the silicon member captured from above and below. The image information captured by each ITV camera 9 is transmitted to a computer (not shown). Then, for example, by enlarging and displaying this image on the CRT screen,
The quality of the silicon component is determined by comparing it with the reference pattern information.

Thereafter, the silicon parts determined to be non-defective are extracted from the holder 5 by a non-defective product extracting mechanism (not shown), and the silicon parts determined to be defective are extracted from the holder 5 by a defective product extracting mechanism (not shown). .

Next, the details of each part will be described. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the transfer section 21 that actually transfers the silicon part row in the part transfer mechanism 2A, 2B. As shown in the figure, the carrying part 21 is provided with a hollow part 22 whose cross-section substantially matches the outer shape of the silicon part P as a guide path for guiding the row of the silicon part P in the carrying direction.
In addition, on both side walls of the transfer section 21, a plurality of air introduction ports 2 for simultaneously introducing air, which serves as a force for transferring the row of silicon members P in the hollow section 22, from the outside into the hollow section 22.
3 are provided at a predetermined pitch. In this embodiment, each air inlet port 23 is inclined at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the conveying direction of the row of silicon parts P, and at a position where the air directly hits between the flange parts P1 and P2 of the silicon parts P. It is provided in. An air supply device (not shown) for simultaneously supplying air to all the air inlets 23 is arranged on both sides of the transport section 21.

FIG. 4 is a plan view and a side view showing details of the component transfer mechanisms 3A and 3B, the holder 5 and the component push-back mechanism 6 provided on the rotary table 4. In addition,
In the side view, the component push-back mechanism 6 is omitted.

As shown in the figure, the parts delivery mechanism 3
A and 3B rotate while sandwiching the silicon parts P conveyed through the parts conveying mechanisms 2A and 2B one by one,
A pair of star-shaped rollers 41 for transporting and moving the row of silicon parts P toward the holder 5 of the rotary table 4 and two roller rotation motors 42 for individually rotating the pair of star-shaped rollers 41. It is equipped and configured. The holder 5 is made of a plate-like member, and a notch 51 for holding one silicon component P is provided at the tip of the holder 5. Further, the component push-back mechanism 6 includes a plate-shaped support member 6
A rotary roller 62 is rotatably supported at the tip of the roller 1. The component push-back mechanism 6 is configured such that the leading silicon component P in the component row conveyed by the pair of star-shaped rollers 41.
Is provided in order to avoid collision with the holder 5 which is rotating. That is, the component push-back mechanism 6
The rotating roller 62 contacts the leading silicon component P immediately before the holder 5 reaches the component delivery position by the rotation of the rotary table 4, and reverses the direction of the normal component transport direction on the component transfer mechanism 3A, 3B. It functions to push back to a predetermined position in the direction. Note that 43
Indicates a transfer rail that extends from the transfer unit 21 of the component transfer mechanism 2A, 2B.

Next, the details of the operation of the component delivery mechanisms 3A and 3B and the operation of the component push-back mechanism 6 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5A shows a state before the silicon component P is transferred to the holder 5. In this state, the leading silicon component P is moved by the rotation of the pair of star-shaped rollers 41 so that the leading end of the silicon rail P on the conveyance rail 43 is reached. It has been transported to the position. The pair of star-shaped rollers 41 rotate from the state of (d) so as to continuously convey the row of the silicon parts P for two parts,
After that, the row of the silicon parts P for one part is rotated so as to be returned in the direction opposite to the carrying direction.

(B) shows a state in which the rotary roller 62 of the component pushing-back mechanism 6 contacts the leading silicon component P and pushes it back immediately before the holder 5 reaches the delivery position of the silicon component P. As described above, since the pair of star-shaped rollers 41 continuously convey the row of the silicon parts P by two parts, by the time the holder 5 reaches the delivery position of the silicon parts P, the leading silicon part P is ( If it is further moved from the position a) to the rotary table 4 side, the end of the holder 5 will collide with the leading silicon part P, and the silicon part P will be repelled. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the component push-back mechanism 6 is provided, and the leading silicon component P is pushed back by the rotary roller 62 of the component push-back mechanism 6 immediately before the holder 5 reaches the delivery position of the silicon component P. .

Thereafter, as shown in (c), the holder 5
When arrives at a position facing the component transfer mechanisms 3A, 3B, the rotary table 4 stops and the leading silicon component P is pushed into the notch 51 of the holder 5.

Then, as shown in (d), after the delivery of the silicon part P is completed, the rotary table 4 starts to rotate again, and at the same time, the pair of star-shaped rollers 41 rotate in the opposite directions to move the leading silicon part P1. One component is transported in the direction opposite to the normal transport direction. As a result, the leading silicon component P1 is returned to the initial position for component delivery.

After that, the pair of star-shaped rollers 41 are again rotated in the forward direction to convey the row of silicon parts P toward the rotary table 4 side. Then, the above operation is repeated.

By the way, in the parts sorting apparatus of this embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 6, the silicon component P as described above is delivered at two locations at the same time. Therefore, in FIG.
During the transition from the state of (a) to the state of (a), the holder 5a that already holds the silicon component P is moved to the component delivery mechanism 3
You will pass in front of B. At this time, the distance L from the tip position of the holder 5a to the center of the rotary table 4 is adjusted so that the leading silicon part P that the component transfer mechanism 3B is about to transfer next does not collide with the holder 5a.
2 is slightly shorter than the distance L1 from the tip position of the other holder 5b to the center of the rotary table 4.

In this way, according to the component sorting apparatus of this embodiment, the work of sorting the non-defective / defective silicon components P can be automated to significantly improve the efficiency. Further, in the component sorting apparatus of this embodiment, a mechanism for transporting the silicon component P by transporting the silicon component P by air injection is provided in the hollow portion 22 provided in the transport portion 21 of the component transport mechanism 2A, 2B. Easy and compact. Further, the component sorting apparatus of the present embodiment is characterized by the component delivery mechanisms 3A, 3B and the component push-back mechanism 6, and has an advantage that the component transport system can stably deliver components to the component inspection / selection system.

[0027]

As described above, according to the component selection apparatus of the present invention, a non-defective product / defective product for a small and lightweight component used for filling a hole for drawing an electric wire cable from a microcomputer box. It is possible to improve the efficiency by automating the sorting work of. In addition, according to the present invention, by introducing a component transfer system by air injection,
Stable parts can be transported with a simple structure. Furthermore, the component transfer mechanism and the component push-back mechanism enable stable transfer from the component transfer system to the component inspection / selection system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of a parts sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a carrying section that actually carries a silicon part row in the parts carrying mechanism in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing details of a component delivery mechanism and a holder and a component push-back mechanism provided on the rotary table in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the details of the operation of the component delivery mechanism and the operation of the component push-back mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a mounting positional relationship between two adjacent holders provided on the rotary table.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method of using a part to be sorted.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the component shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1A, 1B ... Vibration type parts feeder, 2A, 2B ... Parts transfer mechanism, 3A, 3B ... Parts transfer mechanism, 4 ... Rotary table, 5 ... Holder, 6 ... Parts pushing back mechanism, 7 ... Rotating post, 8 ... Table rotation Motor, 9 ... ITV camera, 21 ... conveying section, 22 ... hollow section, 23 ... air inlet, 41 ... star roller, 42 ... roller rotation motor, 4
2 ... Conveying rail, 51 ... Notch, 61 ... Support member, 6
2 ... Rotating roller, P ... Silicon parts.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A component selection device for sorting a component having a columnar or tubular main body and a plurality of flanges provided coaxially with the main body into good products and defective products, in an irregular manner. A component aligning mechanism that aligns and discharges the accommodated component groups in a row, and a rotary table in which a plurality of holders for holding the components one by one are arranged on the outer peripheral portion at equal intervals. A table rotation mechanism that intermittently rotates the rotary table by a predetermined rotation angle, and a component transport mechanism that transports the component row discharged from the component alignment means to a predetermined component delivery position near the rotary table, A component delivery mechanism that delivers the components transported by the component transport mechanism to the component delivery position to the holder of the rotary table one by one, and a component held by the holder And an image pickup device that captures an image of the image, and determines whether the component held in the holder is good or bad by using the image information captured by the image pickup device, and classifies the product into a good product and a defective product. Parts sorter. 2. The component selection device according to claim 1, wherein the component transport mechanism has a hollow portion for guiding the component row in a transport direction, the hollow portion having a cross section that substantially matches the outer shape of the component, and the hollow portion. And a component feeding path having a plurality of air introduction ports for introducing air, which serves as a force to convey the component row in the hollow portion, into the hollow portion from the outside, and an air supply device that supplies air to each of the air introduction ports. A parts selection device comprising: 3. The component sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the component transfer mechanism rotates while sandwiching the components one by one to convey the component row toward the holder of the rotary table. A pair of star-shaped rollers for rotating, and a motor for rotationally driving the pair of star-shaped rollers,
Each of the pair of star-shaped rollers conveys the part row by two parts every time one part is transferred to the holder, pushes the top part to a predetermined part clamping position of the holder, and after the part transfer is completed, A parts sorter characterized by being operated so as to rotate in the reverse direction to return the leading part to the initial position for transferring parts. 4. The component sorter according to claim 3, wherein the first component in the component row conveyed by the pair of star-shaped rollers of the component transfer mechanism does not collide with the holder that is rotationally moving. Just before the holder reaches the parts delivery position by the rotation of the table,
A component sorting device comprising a component push-back mechanism, which comes into contact with the leading component and pushes back the component row to a predetermined position in a direction opposite to the normal component transport direction, on the rotary table.