JPH07277482A - Screw feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a screw, not eliminated by a brush, by bringing the screw into contact with a select plate for hooking by a method wherein a detecting means to detect jamming with a screw is provided and an injection means to inject gas against the screw in a given position when jamming with the screw is detected by the detecting means. CONSTITUTION:A detector 53 for jamming with a screw is operated in such a manner that the opening part 22a of a select plate 22 is irradiated with light from an LED light emitter and light reflected approximately at 180 deg. by a jammed screw 9 is received by a light receiver. When it is decided that the intensity of the receive reflection light exceeds a given value, it is decided that the position is jammed with a screw and a detecting signal is outputted. Based on an output for the detecting signal, a valve 52 is opened and closed by a controller 54, and by injecting compressed air through a nozzle 51, the screw 9 is continuously skidded. This constitution brings the screw into contact with a select plate 22 to hook the screw and performs smooth skid of the screw 9 which is not eliminated by a brush 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a screw feeder for sequentially feeding male screws in a predetermined direction to an automatic screw tightener used for screwing equipment, and more particularly to aligning screws with washers, The present invention relates to a screw supply device that prevents clogging of screws during transportation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to perform screw tightening of equipment using an automatic screw tightening device, screws are aligned in a predetermined direction, conveyed to a predetermined position, and sequentially supplied one by one to a predetermined position. Equipment required. Conventionally, in this type of screw supply device, as a method of aligning the screws in a predetermined direction, a dipper composed of two parallel guide rails is inserted into a screw scooping chamber in which the screws are stored, and the screw is pulled up. ,
The seat surface of the screw (male screw) head is supported by the two guide rails, and the shaft portion of the screw is aligned between the two guide rails in a suspended state. As a method of transporting the aligned screws, a method of sliding on a shooter composed of two inclined guide rails by its own weight is adopted.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing a structure of a conventional screw supply device and a sectional view taken along the line AA, FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a state of screws in a select plate portion, and FIG. 4 is a view of screws in a separator portion. It is a figure explaining an overlapping state. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to the drawings. Reference numeral 11 is a dipper for picking up the screw 9 from the screw picking-up chamber 12 in which the screw is stored and supplying it to the shooter, and is composed of two parallel guide rails 11a and 11b. Reference numeral 21 is a shooter for aligning the screws 9 supplied by the dipper 11 in a predetermined direction and sliding the screws 9 to the screw take-out port. Two parallel guide rails 21a, 21 are provided.
b. Reference numeral 22 is a select plate that allows only the screws 9 arranged in a predetermined state on the shooter 21 to pass through, and is attached to the upper part of the shooter 21 and has an opening 22a corresponding to a normally aligned screw shape.
A brush 23 removes the screws 9 that are not aligned in a predetermined state, and swings in a direction orthogonal to the length direction of the shooter 21.

Reference numeral 31 is a shooter cover provided so that the screw 9 does not deviate from the shooter 21 during sliding and does not lose the aligned state. Reference numeral 32 is a screw detector for keeping the amount of the screws 9 staying in front of the separator 4 constant, and irradiates light in the middle of the shooter 21 to detect the presence or absence of the screws 9 by shutting off the light by the screws 9. . Reference numeral 4 denotes a separator for supplying the sliding screws 9 to an automatic screw tightening device (not shown) one by one. The sliding screw 9 is received by the U-shaped opening 41, and Reciprocate to a predetermined position. Reference numeral 42 denotes a screw detector that detects whether or not a screw is supplied to the U-shaped opening 41 of the separator 4, and irradiates the upper portion of the opening 41 with light to block the light by the screw 9. The presence or absence of is detected.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a screw to be supplied, which is composed of a head portion 91, a shaft portion 92 provided with the screw, and a washer 93. The surface of the head portion 91 on the side of the shaft portion 92 is referred to as a seat surface 91a. Next, the operation will be described. First, the dipper 11 is the screw scooping chamber 1.
When the dipper 11 is pulled up, the two guide rails 11a, 1
It is scooped with the screw 9 being supported by 1b.

Next, when the dipper 11 comes to the upper part, the screw 9 is transferred to the shooter 21 along the inclination of the dipper 11. However, in this state, all the screws 9 are in a normal state, that is, the washers 93 are provided immediately below the heads 91 of the screws 9.
And the washer 93 is supported by the two shooters 21, and the shaft portion 92 of the screw is not in a state of being suspended between the two shooters 21 (state of FIG. 3- (a)), Figure 3
-There are various states such as (b) and (c).

Then, when the screw 9 slides to the position of the select plate 22, the screw 9 in the normal state (see FIG. 3- (a)).
In this state), since the head 91 is low, it does not come into contact with the opening 22a of the select plate 22 and the brush 23, and passes through the select plate 22 as it is. Screw 9 in abnormal condition (Fig. 3-
The states of (b) and (c) are the openings 22 of the select plate 22.
It stops by contacting a and then contacts the brush 23 that is swinging to the left and right at the upper part of the shooter 21 with a constant interval and is eliminated. In this way, only the screws 9 aligned in a normal state pass through the select plate 22 and slide on the shooter 21 to be sent to the screw take-out portion.

Then, when the screw 9 reaches the tip portion (screw take-out portion) of the shooter 21, it comes into contact with the separator 4 and sequentially stays there. When the separator 4 moves left and right (reciprocates), only one screw 9 is pushed into the U-shaped opening 41 by the own weight of the plurality of screws 9 staying on the upper portion of the separator 4, and the separator 4 Each time it reciprocates, one is carried to the automatic screw tightening device. In order to keep the weight (corresponding to the number) of the screws 9 staying on the upper part of the separator 4 always constant, when the screw detector 32 provided in the middle of the shooter 21 detects the staying of the screws 9, the screw by the dipper 11 is detected. The supply of 9 is stopped, and the supply is restarted when the retention cannot be detected. The screw detector 42 provided in the screw supply unit detects that the screw 9 is not supplied on the separator 4.

[0009]

In the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 2, first, in the case of a washer-incorporated screw, the washer 93 does not come into close contact with the seat surface 91a of the head 91 of the screw 9, and Some parts are caught on the screw part (the shaft part 92). With such a screw 9, the washer 93 that is in close contact with the seat surface 91a of the head 91 is not supported by the shooter 21, and the screw 9 is
The seat 93 in a state of being floated from above is supported by the shooter 21 by the spring 93, and the shaft portion 92 is suspended (state of FIG. 3- (c)). Since the screw 9 naturally has a long upper portion of the shooter 21, the screw 9 comes into contact with the select plate 22 and stops, but the shaft portion 92 is located between the shooters 21 and is stable and cannot be removed by the brush 23. Therefore, there is a problem that the screw 9 supplied after that is clogged and cannot slide on the shooter 21.

Secondly, in the case of the washer-incorporated screw, the aligned screws 9 temporarily stay at the boundary with the separator 4 during sliding of the inclined shooter 21, and at that time, the head portion 91 of the screw 9 is used. There is a problem that a gap is formed between the washer 93 and the washer 93, and the head 91 of the next screw 9 enters between them and the screw is clogged (see FIG. 4), and the screw 9 cannot be supplied to the separator 4.

A first object of the present invention is to eliminate a screw 9 which is a washer-incorporating screw and which is in contact with the select plate 22 and cannot be eliminated by the brush 23. A second purpose is to use a washer-incorporating screw to forcibly supply the U-shaped opening 41 of the separator 4 to the screw 9 that stays in front of the separator 4 and is not supplied to the separator 4.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a screw feeding device in which screws are aligned by guide rails and conveyed, and a detecting device for detecting thread clogging and the detecting device. When the screw clogging is detected, a jetting means for jetting gas to the screw located at a predetermined position is provided.

Further, when the detection means detects a screw clogging, the injection means ejects gas from below the screw to the screw at a predetermined position to eliminate the screw. It is characterized by. Further, when the detection unit detects a screw clogging, the injection unit injects gas to a screw located at a predetermined position along a conveying direction of the screw to urge the screw in the conveying direction. It is characterized by being a thing.

[0014]

Operation: When the screw clogging is detected by the detecting means, the jetting means has a screw at a predetermined position (for example, a jammed screw).
By injecting the gas from below to the screw, the screw in the screw clogged portion is blown upward and the screw clogging is eliminated. Further, when the detecting unit detects the screw clogging, the ejecting unit injects gas along the conveying direction of the screw (for example, the screw clogged) at a predetermined position,
Even if a screw jam occurs, the screw being conveyed is additionally urged in the conveying direction and the screw in the screw jam portion is forced out to eliminate the screw jam.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a top view showing a structure of a screw feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a sectional view taken along the line AA, FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a state of screws on a select plate portion, and FIG. It is a figure explaining the overlapping state of the screw in a separator part. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to the drawings. The same parts as those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a screw scooping chamber 1 in which screws are stored.
It is a dipper that picks up the screw 9 from 2 and supplies it to the shooter 21, and is composed of two parallel guide rails 11a and 11b. Reference numeral 21 is a shooter for aligning the screws 9 supplied by the dipper 11 in a predetermined direction and sliding the screws 9 to the screw take-out port.
It is composed of 1a and 21b. Reference numeral 22 is a select plate that allows only the screws 9 arranged in a predetermined state on the shooter 21 to pass through, and is attached to the upper part of the shooter 21 and has an opening 22a corresponding to a normally aligned screw shape. 23 is a screw 9 which is not aligned in a predetermined state
With a brush that eliminates the above, it swings in a direction orthogonal to the length direction of the shooter 21.

Reference numeral 31 is a shooter cover provided so that the screw 9 does not deviate from the shooter 21 during sliding and does not lose the aligned state. Reference numeral 32 is a screw detector for keeping the amount of the screws 9 staying in front of the separator 4 constant, and irradiates light in the middle of the shooter 21 to detect the presence or absence of the screws 9 by shutting off the light by the screws 9. . Reference numeral 4 denotes a separator for supplying the sliding screws 9 to an automatic screw tightening device (not shown) one by one. The sliding screw 9 is received by the U-shaped opening 41, and Reciprocate to a predetermined position. Reference numeral 42 denotes a screw detector that detects whether or not a screw is supplied to the U-shaped opening 41 of the separator 4, and LE
As shown in the drawing, the D light emitter 42a and the light receiver 42b are arranged to face each other with the opening 41 at the position after the movement of the separator 4 interposed therebetween. When the light from the LED light emitter 42a passes above the opening 41, the light is blocked by the screw 9 inserted into the opening 41 and the light does not reach the light receiver 42b. When the light reaches the light receiver 42b without being blocked, it is detected that the screw 9 is not present at a predetermined position. When it is detected that the screw 9 is not in the predetermined position, a detection signal indicating this is output to the controller 64 described later.

Reference numeral 51 is a brush 23 clogged with the select plate 22.
Is a nozzle for injecting compressed air to the screw 9 of the abnormal arrangement that could not be eliminated, and 52 is a valve for opening and closing the passage of compressed air to the nozzle 51. Reference numeral 53 is a screw clogging detector for detecting clogging of the select plate 22. Specifically, it comprises an LED light emitting device, a light receiving device and a processing circuit provided at substantially the same position and direction. The opening 22a of the plate 22 is irradiated with light, and the light reflected at about 180 ° by the screw 9 with which the light receiver is clogged is received. When the processing circuit determines that the intensity of the reflected light is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, it determines that the screw is clogged at that position and outputs a detection signal indicating this. Reference numeral 54 is a controller that opens and closes the valve 52 based on the detection output output from the screw jam detector 53. The light 53 is emitted in the range from the upper end of the opening shown in FIG. 3A to the apex of the screw head 91 at the regular position. This nozzle 51 is a guide rail 1
It is provided below 1a and 11b so that the injected gas mainly hits the lower surface of the screw.

Reference numeral 61 is a nozzle for injecting compressed air to the screw 9 during sliding to increase the sliding speed of the screw 9, and 62 is a nozzle 6
1 is a valve that opens and closes a flow path of compressed air to 1. 64
Is a controller that opens and closes the valve 62 according to the output of the screw detector 42. The nozzle 61 is provided at a position on the obliquely upper surface of the guide rail 11b so that the injected gas hits the side surface of the screw 9. That is, the gas is jetted along the conveying direction of the screw 9.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a screw to be supplied, which is composed of a head portion 91, a shaft portion 92 provided with the screw, and a washer 93. The surface of the head portion 91 on the side of the shaft portion 92 is referred to as a seat surface 91a (see FIG. 3). Next, the operation will be described. First, the dipper 11 descends to the bottom of the screw scooping chamber 12, and then the dipper 1
When 1 is pulled up, the two guide rails 11a and 11b of the dipper 11 are scooped while being supported by the screws 9.

Next, when the dipper 11 reaches the upper part, the screw 9 is transferred to the shooter 21 along the inclination of the dipper 11. However, in this state, all the screws 9 are in a normal state, that is, the washers 93 are provided immediately below the heads 91 of the screws 9.
, The washer 93 is supported by the two shooters 21, and the shaft portion 92 of the screw is not in a state of being suspended between the shooters 21 (the state of FIG. 3- (a)).
There are various states as shown in (a) and (b).

Then, when the screw 9 slides to the position of the selector plate 22, the screw 9 in a normal state (see FIG. 3- (a)).
In this state), since the head 91 is low, it does not come into contact with the opening 22a of the select plate 22 and the brush 23, and passes through the select plate 22 as it is. In this way, only the screws 9 aligned in a normal state pass through the select plate 22 and slide on the shooter 21 to be sent to the screw take-out portion (separate plate).

In the screw 9 placed in the reverse direction on the shooter 21 (state of FIG. 3- (b)), the shaft portion 92 has the select plate 22.
The brush 22 is stopped by coming into contact with the opening 22a thereof, and is brought into contact with the brush 23 which is swinging left and right at the upper portion of the shooter 21 with a constant space therebetween and is eliminated. Further, the screw 9 in a state in which the seat 93 that is not in close contact with the seat surface 91a of the screw head 91 is supported and the shaft portion 92 of the screw is suspended by the shooter 21 (FIG. 3- (c)).
2), the upper portion of the shooter 21 has a long dimension, so it stops by contacting the select plate 22, but the shaft portion 92 causes the shooter 2 to
The brush 23 is not removed by the brush 23 because it enters into the space between 1 and is stable, and remains caught on the select plate 22.
All clogged up.

Therefore, the screw clogging detector 53 outputs the detection light (light from the light source, which is the arrow B in FIG. 1- (b)) to the above-mentioned opening 22a of the select plate 22 (the portion shown by the diagonal lines in FIG. 3). However, since the light is applied to the clogged screw 9, the reflected light has an intensity equal to or higher than a predetermined value. Therefore,
The detector 53 sends a detection signal indicating screw clogging to the controller 54, which causes the valve 52 to open. Nozzle 51
Compressed air from the guide rails 21a, 2 of the shooter 21
It is jetted in an obliquely upward direction (arrow C) from the lower part between 1b toward the screw 9 caught in the opening 22a of the select plate 22. As a result, the injected gas hits the lower surface of the screw 9, so that the screw 9 clogged in the opening 22a of the select plate 22 is blown off along the direction of the arrow D, and eventually the screw 9 falls into the screw scooping chamber 12 due to its own weight. To do. As a result, the jammed screw 9 is removed to the screw scooping chamber 12 and the screw jam is eliminated. In addition, the selection board 22 is normally
The screw 9 passing through the shutter and moving to the shooter 21 is not exposed to the emitted light because the head 91 is low, and therefore the detector 5
4 does not detect reflected light.

Then, when the screw 9 reaches the tip portion (screw take-out portion) of the shooter 21, the screw 9 comes into contact with the separator 4 and sequentially stays there. When the separator 4 moves left and right (reciprocates), only one screw 9 is pushed into the U-shaped opening 41 by the own weight of the plurality of screws 9 staying on the upper portion of the separator 4, and the separator 4 Each time it reciprocates, one is carried to the automatic screw tightening device. In order to keep the weight (corresponding to the number) of the screws 9 staying on the upper part of the separator 4 always constant, when the screw detector 32 provided in the middle of the shooter 21 detects the staying of the screws 9, the screw by the dipper 11 is detected. The supply of 9 is stopped, and the supply is restarted when the retention cannot be detected.

When the screw 9 passing through the select plate 22 temporarily stays at the boundary with the separator 4 while sliding on the shooter 21, as shown in FIG. A gap is created in the head portion 91 of the next screw 9 and the sliding of the screw 9 becomes worse. for that reason,
The screw 9 cannot be supplied to the opening 41 of the separator 4 only by its own weight. At this time, the light from the LED light emitter 42a of the screw detector 42 provided in the screw supply unit is opened by the opening 41.
If the screw 9 is not provided at a predetermined position of the opening 41 when passing above, the light will not be blocked and the light will reach the light receiver 42b arranged opposite to the light receiver 42b. As a result, it is determined that the screw 9 is not in the predetermined position due to the clogging of the screw, and the detection signal is output to the controller 64. Controller 64 causes valve 62 to open. Compressed air is ejected from the nozzle 61 from the upper part of the side surface of the shooter 21 in the conveying direction of the screw 9 (arrow E in FIG. 1B). As a result, air hits the side surface of the screw 9 at the uppermost end, so that a force is applied in the side portion of the screw 9 at the lowermost end, that is, in the conveying direction, and the screw 9 is biased toward the separator 4 side, and the screw that has been blocked. 9 is forcibly pushed out to the separator 4 side and the screw clogging is eliminated.

According to the present embodiment, even in the case of the washer-incorporated screw, the screw having the screw jam at the select plate 22 is eliminated by the injection of the compressed air, the screw jam is eliminated, and the screw is aligned in the normal state. It Further, even in the case of a washer-incorporated screw, the screw clogged in the separator 4 part is forcibly pushed out by the injection of compressed air to eliminate the screw clogging, and the screw 9 smoothly moves into the separator 4 It is supplied to the V-shaped opening 41.

[0028]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a screw having a screw clogging is eliminated by jetting gas and the screw clogging is eliminated, so that the screw can be slid continuously. . In addition, the screw with which the screw is clogged is forcibly pushed out by the gas injection to eliminate the screw clogging, so that the screw can be supplied to the separator.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view and a side sectional view of a screw supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view and a side sectional view of a conventional screw supply device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state of screws on a select plate portion.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an overlapping state of screws in a separator portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 ... Shooter 22 ... Select plate 4 ... Separator 51, 61 ... Nozzle 52, 62 ... Valve 32, 42 ... Screw detector 53 ... Screw clogging detector 54, 64 ... Controller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a screw supply device in which screws are aligned and conveyed by guide rails, a detection unit for detecting screw clogging, and a screw at a predetermined position when the clogging is detected by the detection unit. A screw supply device comprising an injection means for injecting gas. 2. The ejecting means ejects gas from below the screw to a screw located at a predetermined position to eliminate the screw when a screw clogging is detected by the detecting means. The screw supply device according to claim 1. 3. The injecting means injects gas along a carrying direction of the screw to a screw located at a predetermined position when the clogging of the screw is detected by the detecting means, and moves the screw in the carrying direction. The screw supply device according to claim 1, wherein the screw supply device is for urging.