JPH0657433B2 - Foam molding machine with automatic take-out alignment device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION “Industrial field of application” The present invention combines an in-mold foam molding machine (hereinafter abbreviated as a molding machine) and an automatic take-out and aligning machine for molded products (hereinafter abbreviated as an alignment machine) for molding. The present invention relates to a molding system that enables unattended operation including the steps of taking out and aligning molded articles.

“Prior Art and Problems” Conventionally, in-mold foam molding (hereinafter abbreviated as molding) production has been carried out using pre-expanded particles (hereinafter abbreviated as agglomerated particles) such as polystyrene and polyolefin. In the above-mentioned molding method, it is a general method that pre-formed particles are filled in a mold, heated and fused, cooled, and taken out from the mold to obtain a molded product. The number of shots of molded articles molded by this method is very large. For example, in the case of 6 shots / one shot in a molding cycle of 3 minutes, each shot is taken out from the molding machine at a speed of 30 seconds, aligned and stacked. It becomes calculation. Recently, with the widespread use of industrial robots, much consideration has been given to its adoption in the field, but the environment around the molding machine is where water and steam are diverging, and an environment where precision machinery such as an industrial robot can be installed. Not only that, but even if it is installed, it requires considerable effort and expense for maintenance. Also, since the molded product is very soft, it is likely to be dented or scratched when a little force is applied, and because it is a foamed product, its weight is light and bulky. There are many technically difficult points such as not being easy to operate normally. Thus, in the modern society where this automation is advancing, a molding machine with an automatic aligner capable of fully automatic unmanned operation is required, but no technology has yet been proposed to satisfy the demand. .

The present inventor has developed an automatic take-out and aligning method and apparatus for a foam molding machine in order to meet the above needs, and has previously filed a patent application (Japanese Patent Application No. 61-114319).

The above application is a combination of a conventional horizontal molding machine and an aligning machine, and is an epoch-making one that enables a great labor saving, but it still has the following problems.

(A) The movement of the unloader is so-called L-shaped and complicated.

(B) Usually, since it is installed directly below the molding machine, drain water or the like hits the mechanical sliding portion, causing problems such as rusting and poor lubrication, which adversely affects the life of the apparatus.

(C) Since it is installed directly below the molding machine, maintenance work is difficult.

(D) There may be a case where a trouble occurs when the mold is released from the mold due to the influence of gravity and when the vacuum suction and take-out is performed, the line is displaced from the set holding position and aligned.

(E) Since the molded products taken out by vacuum suction are pushed into the troughs for alignment, it is difficult to take out and align many molded products with the molds arranged in multiple rows, due to the restriction of the shape and arrangement of the troughs. .

"Means for Solving Problems" The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and is characterized in that the molding machine to be combined with the automatic aligning machine is a vertical type. As a result, the mechanism for taking out the molded product can be operated smoothly, and the above problems are solved.

That is, the present invention relates to a vertical foam molding machine having a vacuum device, a horizontal moving device, and an endless rotating conveyor provided with a device for adsorbing or desorbing a molded product by operating or releasing a vacuum. And a molded product stacking and aligning device for stacking and aligning the molded products and moving the molded products up and down in combination.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the drawings showing the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a state immediately after the molding operation is completed, the mold opening is completed, and the molded product is taken out from the mold.

In the figure, the molded product (1) is held by the stationary mold (2). The fixed side mold (2) is fixed by the fixed side die plate (4).
A feeder (7) for filling the raw material and an eject pin (6) used when releasing the molded product from the stationary mold (2) are provided. Depending on the case, it is also possible to use a pin-equipped feeder having the functions of both the feeder and the eject pin. The feeder (7) is connected by a hose to a hopper (8) for receiving the supply of raw materials. As the hopper (8), any of a normal rectangular horizontal type, a vertical type cylindrical type, a pressure type hopper and the like can be used.

The fixed die plate (4) is provided on the upper side, and is fixedly connected to the molding machine stand (12) by the tie bar (9) via the movable die plate (5) provided on the lower side. . The movable die (3) is fixed on the movable die plate (5). The moving die plate is connected to the mold opening / closing cylinder (10) so that the mold can be opened / closed by moving the mold opening / closing cylinder (10).
A drive hydraulic device for the mold opening / closing cylinder (10) is not shown. As the structure of the molding machine, a vacuum device (11) is provided, and in addition, a fixed side and a moving side drain valve,
There are raw material filling hoses for feeders, air tubes, etc., but they are not shown.

As a molding method, an ordinary known method is used. That is,
After the mold is closed, the hopper (8) and the feeder (7) are actuated in a cracking or no-cracking state to form a molded product chamber (not shown) between the fixed side mold (2) and the moving side mold (3). ). A pressure hopper (8) or a vacuum device (11) can be used depending on the situation. After the filling, the heating operation by double-sided heating by the steam supply from both sides is completed through the one-side heating in which steam is supplied from the fixed side and / or the reverse one-side heating in which steam is supplied from the moving side. Regarding cooling, after heating and fusing, a small amount of water is cooled, and then a vacuum device is operated to perform vacuum evaporation cooling. This cooling method is a known method. The reason for adopting this vacuum evaporation cooling method is
Since the amount of cooling drainage generated is extremely small, when the mold is first opened, the cooling drainage that falls from the upper fixed mold to the lower moving mold does not occur, and the life of the molding equipment and working environment Secondly, there is an advantage that the drying step is unnecessary because the water content of the molded product is small and the molded product can be packaged immediately after being aligned. After the cooling operation is completed, the mold is released and the molded product (1) is taken out from the molding machine.

A mechanism for automatically taking out and aligning molded products will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Since the molded product (1) that has been heated and cooled remains in the fixed-side mold (2) after mold opening, this molded product ( A suction cup (13) with a vacuum pad is suitable for demolding 1), removing and aligning. This suction board (1
A suction cup sleep (14) for vertically moving 3) is provided on the suction cup conveyor (15). The suction board conveyor (15) is provided on a conveyor rail (17) so that it can move horizontally between the space between the fixed mold (2) and the movable mold (3) and the molded product lifting device (19). It is supported and driven by a conveyor cylinder (18). The suction plate (13) is connected to a vacuum device and is automatically operated (not shown).
Further, the suction plate conveyor (15) is of an endless rotary conveyor system so that the direction of the suction plate (13) can be changed by 180 ° C.

The molded product lifting device (19) is provided with a flat plate base (22) so that the molded products (1) taken out from the molding machine by the suction plate (13) and the suction plate conveyor (15) can be stacked and placed. Molded and stacked products (1)
The maximum height surface of the is equipped with a level meter (not shown) so that the molded product (1) sucked and held by the suction disk (13) can be held at an optimum position for stacking. Accordingly, the molded product lifting device (19) moves up and down. When the molded product (1) reaches a predetermined height (number) on the flat plate base (22) of the molded product lifting device (19), the laminated molded product moving device (20) operates to laminate the molded product (1). It is configured so that it can be moved to the product conveyor (21).

The operation of the above apparatus will be specifically described step by step with reference to FIG. 2 (however, except for the main names, they are omitted).

FIG. 2 (A) shows the start state as the first step, in which the molding operation is completed and the mold is opened.
The molded product (1) remains in the stationary mold (2). The suction cup (13) is outside the mold.

FIG. 2 (B) shows the second step, in which the suction plate (13) is moved by the suction plate conveyor (15) to a fixed position between the fixed mold (2) and the moving mold (3). It shows a moved state.

FIG. 2 (C) shows the third step, and shows that the suction plate (13) has moved to the position of the molded product (1) in the fixed mold (2). The tip surface of the suction disk (13) is not in close contact with the molded product (1). That is, if the tip surface is in close contact at this point, the molded product will be damaged, so the moving distance of the suction disk (13) is preset so as to maintain a slight gap. From this point, the vacuum has started to operate on the suction disk (13).

FIG. 2D shows the fourth step, in which the molded product (1) is extruded from the stationary mold (2) by the eject pin (6) and moved to the suction plate (13). .

FIG. 2 (E) shows the fifth step, in which the suction plate conveyor (15) horizontally moves from the inside of the molding machine to a predetermined position outside the molding machine, and at the same time, the molded product (1) and the suction plate (13) also move. It is moving horizontally.

FIG. 2 (F) shows a sixth step, in which the molding machine closes the mold and molding in the next cycle is started. On the other hand, the molded product (1) vacuum suction-held on the suction disc (13)
Is stopped at a fixed position immediately above the molded product (1 ') stacked by the rotation movement of the suction disk conveyor (15), and the molded product (1') already stacked by the downward movement of the suction disk (13). ) Is shown stacked. At this point, the vacuum is interrupted, and conversely, pressurized air is sent to the suction disc (13), and the close contact between the suction disc (13) and the molded product (1) is released.

FIG. 2 (G) shows the seventh step, in which the suction plate (13) is rotationally moved and returned to the initial home position, and the molded product (1)
Shows a state in which the stacking and setting is completed on the flat plate base (22) of the molded product lifting device, and the molding machine continues molding.

FIG. 2 (H) shows the eighth step, and since the predetermined number of stacked molded products are stacked and aligned, the stacked molded product moving device (20) moves the stacked molded product conveyor (21) from the flat plate (22). ), And the ready state for the next molded product is completed on the flat plate base (22) of the molded product lifting device.

By repeating the above first to eighth steps,
Unattended, automatic take-out and alignment operation is possible.

In the present invention, in the automatic take-out and aligning step, a photoelectric tube type sensor is provided to monitor whether or not the molded product is released at the time of release, and a vacuum type is provided at an appropriate place of the suction cup to check the pressure. Automatically monitor the take-out of molded products by using a photoelectric tube type or contact type limit switch on each moving device of the automatic take-out aligning device to automatically monitor the operation.
When an abnormality occurs, the abnormality alarm device can be activated and / or the device can be stopped for safe treatment.

The forming machine can be roughly classified by providing the following three automatic monitoring devices.

The first is automatic monitoring and stoppage of the utility status, voltage,
When the air pressure, the steam pressure, the water pressure, the vacuum pressure, and the oil pressure are below the set values, the molding machine may issue an alarm and / or disable the operation.

The second is automatic monitoring of defective filling and abnormal transmission. When a filling failure occurs, there is a mold release pressurization defect or a pin pressing crack, which results in a mold release defect, and the treatment is the most troublesome trouble. In the case of poor filling, for example, if it takes 15 seconds to reach the steam pressure of 0.5 kg / cm ² on the stationary side in the normal case during heating, it takes more than 20 seconds for heating in the case of poor filling. From this phenomenon, it is possible to respond by automatically monitoring the relationship between the die pressure and the set pressure arrival time. Like this
It is possible to respond by issuing an alarm and / or automatically stopping when the time for the steam pressure in the mold to reach a predetermined pressure during one-sided heating and / or one-sided heating by supplying steam exceeds the set value. is there.

Third is the automatic monitoring of steam heating. Occurs occasionally due to abnormal mold leakage or steam line disconnection. This can also be dealt with by automatically monitoring the relationship with the set pressure arrival time.

In the present invention, it is also possible to add a mold loading and unloading function to the endlessly rotating conveyor having a horizontal moving device,
This makes it possible to rationalize the die replacement work. Explaining a specific example, the suction board conveyor (1
5) The fixed side mold (2) and the moving side mold (3) are connected to each other with a connection clamp (not shown), and the mold is installed. In this case, the molds (2) and (3) are placed on the conveyor by a lift or the like, the conveyor can be moved up and down,
A method is adopted in which the conveyor is moved, a die is placed, and then the conveyor is moved up to a die exchange position. Also,
When the mold is placed on the conveyor, it may be placed directly on the suction plate of the conveyor, but the suction plate may be removed during the placement, or other means for facilitating the placement may be used. good.

After the die is installed on the conveyor, the die is moved horizontally between the die plates (4) and (5), and the fixed side die (2) is first connected to the fixed side die plate (4) by a clamp ( After fixing with (not shown), the conveyor is horizontally moved from between the die plates, then the moving die plate (5) is moved upward, and the moving die (3) is placed on the die plate (5). Fixing with the clamp and removing the connecting clamps of the upper and lower molds completes the mold attachment. still,
The feeder and eject pin are attached to the fixed side mold in advance. In addition, the feed hose for the feeder and the tube for compressed air are commercial one-touch connection type.
Each pipe for water, steam and drain is installed on the die plate,
By attaching the mold to the die plate, the structure allows easy connection.

"Operation and effect" As mentioned above, the vertical take-out machine equipped with a vacuum device, the automatic take-out device that combines the adsorption device and the endless system conveyor and the horizontal movement of the adsorption device, and the laminated product lifting device and laminated product moving device,
By unifying the aligning machine that combines conveyors and adding an automatic monitoring device, it is possible to perform unmanned operation of the molding machine. Since the arranging machine will handle it, only the monitoring work is required for the cab. Compared with the conventional machine, the mold exchange of the molding machine adopting the system of the present invention requires about 3 hours for the mold exchange of the large machine, but it can be carried out in about 0.5 hours. The utility is extremely large.

"Examples" Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Examples, Comparative Examples FIGS. 2 (A) to (H) using the apparatus as shown in FIG.
According to the process of 1., a container was molded using polystyrene beads under the conditions shown in Table 1. At the same time, for comparison, a conventional molding machine was used and the molding was carried out in the same manner by the conventional method by taking out and aligning the molded articles obtained.

As is clear from Table 1, in the molding time, the molding machine according to the present invention is slightly longer than the conventional molding machine (due to the long operating time of the automatic unloader for molded products), but the number of operating personnel Also, the number of man-hours required for die replacement has been reduced remarkably, and great labor saving has been achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 (A).
(H) is an explanatory view of each step when carrying out the present invention. 1 …… Molded product 2 …… Fixed side mold 3 …… Movement side mold 4 …… Fixed side die plate 5 …… Movement side die plate 6 …… Eject pin 7 …… Feeder 8 …… Hopper 9 …… Tie bar 10 …… Mold open / close cylinder 11 …… Vacuum device 12 …… Molding machine stand 13 …… Suction board 14 …… Suction board sleeve 15 …… Suction board conveyor 16 …… Conveyor stand 17 …… Conveyor rail 18 …… Conveyor Cylinder 19 …… Molded product lifting device 20 …… Laminated product moving device 21 …… Layered product conveyor 22 …… Plate stand

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vertical-type foam molding machine having a vacuum device, a horizontal moving device, and an endless rotating conveyor provided with a device for adsorbing or desorbing a molded product by operating or releasing a vacuum. A foam molding machine with an automatic take-out and aligning device, which is characterized in that a molded product stacking and aligning device that stacks and aligns the molded products and moves vertically is combined. 2. When the voltage, air pressure, water vapor pressure, water pressure, vacuum pressure, oil pressure is below a set value, and when the steam supply supplies one-sided heating and / or one-sided heating, the steam pressure inside the mold is a predetermined pressure. The foam molding machine with an automatic take-out and aligning device according to claim 1, which issues an alarm and / or automatically stops when the time to reach the point is longer than a set value. 3. A foam molding machine with an automatic take-out and aligning device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a conveyor having a horizontal moving device and rotating endlessly is provided with a mold loading / unloading function.