JPH06262550A - Transfer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure an inexpensive transfer system miniaturized through a simple mechanism by installing a rotatable arm, an actuator rotating this arm, a holding means of the transferred and an attitude control means holding the held article in a constant position, respectively. CONSTITUTION:This transfer system is provided with an arm 25 installed free of rotation with an output shaft 21 as the turning center, an actuator 100 rotating this arm 25 with the output shaft 21 as the center on the basis of a specified cam curve, a suction unit 33 being supported free of rotation by a turning shaft 27 at a tip of the arm 25 and holding a work A, and an attitude control means holding this suction unit 33 in a constant position, respectively. In this constitution, when the arm 25 is rotated as far as more than 180 degrees with the output shaft 21 as the center, the suction unit 33 shifts along the circumferential direction of the arm 25 in a state of having held the work A, transferring this work A toward a work B on a conveyor 12 from another conveyor 11. In this case, since the work A is held in a constant position by the attitude control means, such an inconvenience as falling off will in no case happen.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer device which is used, for example, for packing a product such as food into a box and for sorting the product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A transfer device shown in FIG. 4 can be considered as a transfer device for transferring a food product in a bag and a product (hereinafter referred to as a work) in a box for packing the food product over a short distance. This transfer device includes a first conveyor 11 for conveying a work A (food in a bag) and the first conveyor 11.
This conveyor 11 is parallel to the conveyor 11 of
A second conveyor 12 for transporting a work B (a box for packing the above-mentioned food), which is arranged side by side in a horizontal plane from
Have. Then, the pair of conveyors 11, 12
A horizontal beam 15 is fixedly installed above. A cam index unit 16 is placed and fixed on the upper surface of the beam 15. A motor 17 is fixedly mounted on the beam 15. The motor 17 is connected to the input shaft 19 of the cam index unit 16 so as to transmit the output.

The cam index unit 16 is composed of a roller gear cam mechanism, and when the input shaft 19 is continuously rotated at a constant speed by the motor 17, the output shaft 21 thereof repeatedly stops and moves. An arm 25 that rotates about the output shaft 21 is fixed to the output shaft 21 of the cam index unit 16. This cam index unit 16
The arm 25 is circularly moved at high speed based on the cam curve. That is, the arm 25 performs a semicircular motion as indicated by the arrow X, and can transfer the work A on the conveyor 11 to the work B on the conveyor 12. A rotating shaft 27 is rotatably attached to the arm 25 via a bearing 28. The rotating shaft 27 is provided so as to extend along a direction orthogonal to the beam 15. A plate 30 forming a gripping member is hung and fixed to the bearing 28. A suction unit 3 for sucking and gripping the works A and B on the lower end of the plate 30 of the grip member.
3 is attached. The suction unit 33 has a box 35 having an opening on the lower surface.

The work A conveyed by the conveyor 11 is grasped by a grasping member and transferred toward the work B on the conveyor 12. That is, when the works A and B reach a predetermined position, the work is detected by a sensor, and the control unit causes the suction unit 33 to descend in the direction of the arrow Y to suck and grip the work A, and rise to a predetermined position. Then, the cam index unit 16 is driven by the motor 17, and the arm 25 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow X.
Is rotated and the work A is inserted into the work B.

[0005]

However, in this transfer device, the arm 25 makes a semi-circular motion. That is, since it is rotated by the cam index unit 16, the arm 25 can rotate only 180 °. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a mechanism for moving the suction unit 33 up and down in the arrow Y direction. Further, since the cam index unit 16 is required, it is necessary to provide the motor 17 for driving the cam index unit 16. Therefore, this device has a problem that a complicated mechanism must be provided.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a transfer device which has a simple mechanism and is miniaturized.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, an arm rotatably provided with one end as a center of rotation, and this arm rotates with the one end as a center of rotation based on a predetermined cam curve. The transfer device includes an actuator that causes the arm, a gripping member that is rotatably supported by the tip of the arm and that grips the transferred object, and a posture control unit that holds the gripping member in a fixed posture.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the arm is driven by the actuator to rotate 180 degrees or more around the base end of the arm. As a result of the rotation of the arm, the gripping member moves along the circumferential direction of the arm around the base end portion as the center of rotation while gripping the transported object. Therefore, the transferred object can be smoothly transferred from the first position to the second position. In this case, since the gripping member is held in a fixed posture state by the posture control means, there is no inconvenience such as dropping of the transferred material. Further, since the arm is rotated (circularly moved) by the actuator based on a predetermined cam curve, it is possible to eliminate the influence of the inertial force caused by the rotation, and to transfer the transported object quickly and smoothly. You can

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of a transfer device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the transfer device has a belt conveyer mechanism for conveying a work (for example, food in a bag, a box for packing the food, etc.). The belt conveyor mechanism is provided so as to be movable in a horizontal plane, and is provided with a first conveyor 11 for conveying a work A (food in a bag), and the first conveyor 11
A second conveyor 12 for transporting the work B (the box for packing the food), which is parallel to and parallel to the conveyor 11 at a predetermined distance in a horizontal plane. Has been done. Also, these conveyors 11,
At a predetermined position in the traveling direction of 12, stoppers 13 and 14 are arranged above it at a predetermined height so as to be vertically movable. These stoppers 13, 14 are the above-mentioned conveyors 11,
The workpieces A and B on 12 are stopped and positioned at predetermined positions.

Then, the pair of conveyors 11, 1
A horizontal beam 15 is fixedly provided above the conveyor belts 2 at a predetermined height above the conveyor belts so as to straddle the conveyors 11 and 12. An actuator 100 is placed and fixed on the upper surface of the beam 15 at the center in the length direction.

This actuator 100 is an "Absox" AX5150 manufactured by CKD Co., Ltd.
It is composed of an output shaft 21, a pneumatic brake, a driver, and a controller. When a control signal is sent to this controller, the driver drives the output shaft 21 or stops its rotation. A predetermined cam curve can be selected for the temporal change of the acceleration of the rotation of the output shaft 21. Further, the driver can detect the rotation angle of the output shaft 21, and can recognize the current rotational position of the output shaft 21 without returning to the origin. The pneumatic brake holds the output shaft 21 even during a power failure.

As shown in FIG. 3, at the projecting end of the output shaft 21 of the actuator 100, the base end of the arm 25 that rotates about the output shaft 21 is firmly fixed by the lock member 26. It is fixed to. Therefore, this actuator 100 is configured to move the arm 25 at a high speed on the basis of a cam curve having a predetermined characteristic, for example, a cycloid curve, a modified trapezoidal curve, a modified sine curve, a modified constant velocity curve, and a trapecroid curve, with the above configuration. Is. That is, as shown by an arrow X in FIG. 2, the arm 25 performs a circular motion with a rotation angle of 180 ° or more about the center of the conveyors 11 and 12 in the width direction. Work A of conveyor 1
It is formed to have a length that allows it to be transferred to the work B above. A rotating shaft 27 is rotatably attached to the tip of the arm 25 having a predetermined length via a bearing 28. The rotating shaft 27 is provided so as to extend in a direction orthogonal to the beam 15, that is, along the traveling direction of the conveyor belt, and as shown in FIG. 1, the direction of the actuator 100 (the traveling direction of the conveyor belt). Is formed to be longer than the width of. The base ends of the plates 30 and 31 forming the gripping members are hung and fixed to both ends of the rotary shaft 27.

These gripping members have the same structure, and the base ends (upper ends) of the vertically suspended plates 30 and 31 are provided with lock members 32 at both ends of the rotary shaft 27. Adsorption units 33 and 34 for adsorbing and gripping the works A and B are attached to the leading ends (lower ends) of the plates 30 and 31. These adsorption units 33 and 34 are configured to have a box 35 having an opening on the lower surface and a flexible pipe 36 that connects the inside of the box 35 to a vacuum pump (not shown). Of course, as the gripping members 30 and 31, other chuck mechanisms, robot hands, or the like may be used instead of the suction units 33 and 34.

Further, a timing belt 41 and a tension roller 42 are provided as an attitude control means for maintaining the plates 30, 31 in a constant attitude, that is, a vertical status during the circular movement of the arm 25. . That is, the vertical plate 43 is fixed to the side surface of the actuator 100.
3, a pulley 44 is fixedly installed. The pulley 44 is provided coaxially with the output shaft 21 of the actuator 100. That is, the pulley 44 is rotatably supported by the output shaft 21 via the bearing 45. It should be noted that predetermined teeth are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the pulley 44. On the other hand, a toothed pulley 46 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 27 through a key or the like, and the toothed timing belt 41 is stretched between the pulley 46 and the pulley 44. Has been done. The tension roller 42 that applies a predetermined tension to the timing belt 41 is provided in the middle portion of the timing belt 41.
Are in sliding contact while rotating. The positions of these works A and B, the movement of the arm 25, the conveyors 11 and 12
A control device and the like for controlling traveling of the vehicle are not shown.

In the transfer device having the above structure, the work A conveyed by the conveyor 11 is grasped by the grasping member and conveyed to the work B on the conveyor 12. That is, when the works A and B reach a predetermined position, the work is detected by a sensor, and the control unit causes the suction units 33 and 34 to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 2 to suck and grip the work A. Then, the actuator 100 is driven to rotate the arm 25 in the clockwise direction indicated by the arrow X in FIG. 2 to insert the work A into the work B. In this case, the circular movement of the arm 25 is performed based on the cam curve (for example, the modified sine curve) of the actuator 100, and when the arm 25 stands up within a predetermined angle range from the position where the work A is gripped, the arm 25 is not moved thereafter. In comparison, the speed is slowed down, and similarly, the speed is slowed down in a predetermined angle range near the work B on the opposite side.

As a result, a predetermined inertial force can be reduced, and smooth and high-speed intermittent circular motion can be performed. That is, the arm 25 can be stopped at an arbitrary height by making a circular motion of 180 ° or more. That is, since the arm 25 is not simply moved up and down in the vertical direction, the height of the arm 25 can be controlled more finely. Although the position of gripping the work A shifts in the lateral direction, the work A can be transferred to the work B without fail by making the box or the like of the work B larger than this shift length.
Also, the work A can be transferred to the work B at the highest speed possible by eliminating the influence of the inertia force based on the cam curve of the arm 25. In particular, the arm 25 according to this embodiment operates effectively for a work having a load of about 30 kg, but a work having a load larger than this can be achieved by appropriately designing the arm length and the like. Of course. The timing belt 41 holds the rotating shaft 27 at a constant angle during the circular movement of the arm 25.
The posture of the work A gripped by No. 4 does not collapse.

Further, in this embodiment, it is not necessary to provide a mechanism for vertically moving the arm 25. It is not necessary to provide the actuator 100 with an input shaft and to provide a motor for rotating the input shaft.

[0019]

According to the present invention, the work can be transferred quickly and smoothly. In addition, it is possible to obtain an extremely inexpensive transfer device with a simple structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an arm portion according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a transfer device according to a comparative example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 25 Arms 30 and 31 Plates (Gripping Members) 32 Boxes (Gripping Members) 33 and 34 Adsorption Units (Gripping Members) 41 Timing Belts (Attitude Control Means) 42 Tension Rollers (Attitude Control Means) 44 and 46 Pulleys (Attitude Control Means) 100 actuators

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An arm rotatably provided with one end as a center of rotation, an actuator for rotating the arm with the one end as a center of rotation based on a predetermined cam curve, and a tip of the arm. A gripping member that is rotatably supported by the gripping member and that grips the transferred object; and a posture control unit that holds the gripping member in a fixed posture;
A transfer device comprising: