JPH07277497A - Part feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a part feeding device which is constituted to easily dissolve jamming with a part of a part feeding device having a passage through which a part passes in a held state. CONSTITUTION:A part of a passage 16 through which feed parts are continuously fed is partitioned and a part feeding device comprises a body part 13 having a fixed guide surface 11a stretching along a passage 16 making contact with a part to guide it; and a moving part 12 held by the body part 13 slidably in the stretching direction of the passage 16 and partitioning other part of the passage 16 and guiding in a state to come into contact with a part and having a moving guide surface 12a stretched along the passage 16. The moving part 12 is slid over the body 13 and a moving guide surface 12a is moved relatively with the fixed guide surface 11a. This constitution separates two overlapped parts from each other to dissolve jamming.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a component supply device for continuously supplying components.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a component supply device for continuously supplying components to a work hand of a robot or the like, there is an actual utility model 61-112.
It is generally widely used in the industrial field as seen in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 833 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-109644. A conventional component supply device defines a passage for continuously supplying components to be supplied, and has a guide surface extending along the passage for abutting and guiding the component. For example, the conventional component supply device 100 is shown in FIG. 12 showing a cross section taken along the passage.
As is apparent from FIG. 13 which shows a cross section cut in a direction perpendicular to the passage and the passage, a groove 101 having a wide interior and a narrow opening and a pair of jaws 102, 10 forming the opening are formed.
Holds 3. The component supply device 100 includes a head 111, a top flange 112, and a center flange 11 in the axial direction.
3, a clip 110 consisting of a neck 114 and a bottom flange 115 fits the bottom flange 115 into the groove 101.
It is housed inside, and the neck 114 is located in the opening of the pair of jaws 102 and 103, and the bottom flange 115 is located below the pair of jaws 102 and 103, and the center flange 113 is located above. . Here, a pair of jaws 10
The upper and lower surfaces of 2, 103 and the opposite surface are clips 110.
And a guide surface that abuts. This component supply device 100
As shown in FIG. 12, it is normally installed at an inclined position with one end facing upward, and the clip 110 is supplied from the upper end, and the clip 110 is supplied from the lower end to a working hand such as a robot (not shown).
Supply to. The clip 110 has a pair of jaws 1 by its own weight.
02 and 103 are contacted and guided, slide down the groove 101, and are fed from the upper end to the lower end. In addition, in order to facilitate slipping of the clip 110, the thickness of the pair of jaws 102, 103 is made considerably smaller than the length of the neck 114 of the clip 110. That is, the length of the neck 114 is the jaw 10
The gap 116 shown in FIG. 13 can be formed from the thicknesses of 2 and 103. This gap 116 allows the clip 110 to slide easily without jamming the jaws 102, 103.

[0003]

In the above-described conventional component supply apparatus 100, as shown in FIG. 12, the center flanges 113 of other front and rear clips 110 are pushed into the gaps 116 for facilitating the sliding. The clip 110 may be jammed in the jaw 102. In particular, the top flange 112 and the center flange 11 which are made of resin and have low rigidity
3, plastic clip 11 with bottom flange 115
0 is light weight and may be blocked by slight resistance. If the clip 110 is clogged in the middle, then the component supply device 10
The clip 110 is not supplied to the lower end of 0. Therefore, the subsequent work is interrupted.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a component supply device capable of easily eliminating such component clogging.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A component supply device of the present invention defines a part of a passage for continuously supplying components to be supplied, and a fixing member extending along the passage for abutting and guiding the component. A main body portion having a guide surface, and a movable guide extending along the passage that is held by the main body portion so as to be slidable in the extending direction of the passage and divides the other part of the passage to contact and guide the part. And a movable part having a surface.

[0006]

In the component supply device of the present invention, in order to facilitate the sliding of the component, the guide surface of the component supply device and the guide surface of the component supply device are slid in contact with each other in the same manner as the conventional component supply device. A predetermined gap is formed between the contact surface of the component. Therefore, depending on the part, a part of the two front and rear parts may enter the gap, and the two parts may partially overlap with each other to close the gap of the sliding surface for facilitating sliding. In such a case, in the component supply device of the present invention, the movable portion is slid with respect to the main body portion, and the main body portion forming one sliding surface and the movable portion forming the other sliding surface are relatively moved. As a result, the two overlapping parts are relatively separated, and the clogging is eliminated. As a result, the subsequent supply of parts is smoothly performed.

Since clogging of components can be easily eliminated, problems such as work loss due to clogging of components can be minimized.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows a robot hand 9 having the component supply device 1 of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the component supply device 1.

This component supply device 1 includes a pair of jaws 11, 1
2, a body portion 13 having one of the two, the other jaw portion 12 slidably held by the body portion 13, and a cylinder device 14 for driving the other jaw portion 12 relative to the body portion 13. It is composed of an escape 15 and a component detection sensor 19 provided at the lower end of the main body 13. Both the main body 13 and the other jaw 12 are elongated and have a predetermined cross section. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 3 which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 3, a main body portion 13 having a jaw portion 11 and the other jaw portion 12 are provided with a passage 16 which has a wide interior and a narrow opening and which continuously supplies components. Is forming. The upper surface 11a of the jaw 11, the end surface 11b facing the other jaw 12, and the lower surface 11c form the fixed guide surface according to the present invention. On the other hand, the upper surface 12 of the other jaw 12
The a, the end surface 12b and the lower surface 12c constitute the movable guide surface according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the other jaw 12 has
Two elongated holes 12d penetrating from the upper surface 12a to the lower surface 12c and extending in the longitudinal direction thereof are provided at two positions spaced in the longitudinal direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a convex wall 17 is integrally formed at the longitudinal center of the other jaw 12.
On the contact surface of the main body portion 13 with the other jaw portion 12, two pins 18 having heads are provided in the respective long holes 1 of the other jaw portion 12.
Driven through 2d. By these pins 18, the other jaw 12 is held by the main body 13 and the slot 12
The other jaw 12 is movable relative to the main body 13 in the elongated hole of d. An enlarged partial cross section of this portion is shown in FIG.
Shown in. That is, the other jaw 12 is movable relative to the main body 13 parallel to the axial direction by the length of the slot 12d. The cylinder device 14 is provided on the side surface of the main body 13.
Is fixed, and the tip of its piston 14a has the other jaw 1
It is fixed to the convex wall 17 of 2. By expanding and contracting the piston 14a of the cylinder device 14, the other jaw 12 moves together with the piston. That is, the other jaw 1
2 moves relative to the main body 13 in the longitudinal direction thereof.

As shown in FIG. 5, the escape 15 is enlarged, and a rectangular columnar base portion 15a slidably held in square holes 13a and 13b provided on both sides of the lower end portion of the main body portion 13, respectively. And the arm portion 1 that integrally projects with the base portion 15a
5b and a pair of door-shaped members.
A spring 15c is stored in a compressed state in the space of the square holes 13a and 13b on the rear side of each base portion 15a, and the escapes 15 are biased toward each other. A state in which a resin clamp, which is a component, is locked to the escape 15 is shown in FIG. 6 and is indicated by a two-dot broken line in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, the component detection sensor 19 detects the component locked in the escape 15, and is located at the center of the bottom of the main body 13 slightly above the escape 15. It is fixed to. A reflective photoelectric switch is used as the component detection sensor 19. The component supply device 1 of this embodiment has the above-mentioned configuration.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, a robot hand 9 having the component supply device 1 includes a flange 91 connected to a robot arm, a substrate 92 extending downward from the flange 91, and a rotary actuator attached to the substrate 92. 93, a chuck cylinder 94 fixed to the swing shaft of the rotary actuator 93, a chuck cylinder 94
The pair of claws 95, 95, which is expanded and contracted by the operation of the
And a horizontal arm 96 for integrally connecting the component supply device 1
Consists of.

The robot hand 9 is held by a robot 90 shown in FIG. And this robot 9
Ball feeder 97, ball feeder 97 near 0
A linear feeder 98 that supplies the shooter 99 with the components supplied from the shooter 99, and a shooter 99 that is slightly separated from the tip of the linear feeder 98 and has the upper end facing the lower end are provided downward. The shooter 99 is provided with a guide groove (not shown) in which the component slides down by its own weight, and the lowermost part is provided with an escape (not shown) for arbitrarily opening and closing the tip of the guide groove. Usually, the leading part is brought into contact with this escape to be stopped in the guide groove, and a plurality of subsequent parts are also stopped in series. It should be noted that FIG. 8 shows a state where the robot 90 is supplying components to the component supply device 1. That is, the robot 90 communicates a guide plate (not shown) between the component supply device 1 and the shooter 99, and the upper end of the component supply device 1 is brought closer to the lower end of the shooter 99 through a gap that does not derail the component. The state where the escape of the shooter 99 is opened and the components are being supplied from the shooter 99 into the component supply device 1 by its own weight is shown.

Next, the operation of the component supply apparatus 1 of this embodiment will be described together with the movement of the robot 90. Note that the parts used in this embodiment are the same as those described in the prior art.
And the clip 110 shown in FIG. 13 is used. First, components are supplied to the component supply device 1. The robot 90 is operated to bring the upper end of the component supply device 1 closer to the lower end of the shooter 99 as in the previous period as shown in FIG. As a result, the escape of the shooter 99 is opened and the clip 110 is supplied from the shooter 99 into the component supply device 1 by its own weight. That is, since the guide groove (not shown) of the shooter 99 and the passage 16 of the component supply device 1 are aligned, the clip 110 is moved from the guide groove of the shooter 99 to the component supply device 1.
Passage 16 down the passage 16 and a certain number of clips 110
6 is supplied. The clip 110 slides down the passage 16 and is stopped by being locked by the escape 15. Then, the clips 110 slide down the passage 16 one after another, abut on the lower clip 110 and are held in the passage 16. The state in which the clip 110 slides down in the passage 16 and is retained in the passage 16 is shown in FIGS.
Is exactly the same as that shown in.

When the supply of the clip 110 is completed, the robot 90 moves the robot hand 9 to a predetermined position on a work (not shown). During this time, the robot hand 9 operates to rotate the swing shaft of the rotary actuator 93 to move the pair of claws 95, 95 to the position indicated by the two-dot broken line in FIG. That is, with the pair of claws 95, 95 open, the tips of the claws 95, 95 enter between the top flange 112 and the center flange 113 of the clip 110 locked to the escape 15 of the component supply device 1. Next, the chuck cylinder 94 is actuated, and the pair of claws 95, 95 are driven in the closing direction to move the pair of claws 95, 95 to the clip 11.
Holds 0. In this state, the rotary actuator 93 is actuated again to rotate its swing shaft to move the pair of claws 95, 95 holding the clip 110 to the position of the work (not shown). When the pair of claws 95, 95 move in the lower left direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1, the clip 110 presses the pair of escapes 15 and opens the escape 15 against the biasing force of the spring 15c, and the clip 110 escapes. Taken out.

In the passage 16 of the component supply apparatus 1, the clip 110 located at the lowest position, which is locked to the escape 15, is provided.
Has been removed, so the next clip 110 on it
Is slid down the passage 16 by its own weight and is locked to the escape 15. Further, the clips 110 on it are also slid down one after another and piled up. The component detection sensor 19 detects that the next clip 110 is locked by the escape 15.

The sliding of the clip 110 in this series proceeds when the clip 110 is in a normal state in which the clip 110 is not blocked. However, as shown in FIG. 12, when two adjacent clips 110, 110 partially overlap with each other and become stuck in the passage 16, the clip 110 cannot slide down the passage 16. Therefore, the clip 110 is not locked to the escape 15. This state is detected by the component detection sensor 19. The signal from the component detection sensor 19 is input to a built-in computer (not shown), which drives the cylinder device 14 to expand and contract the piston 14a. As a result, the other jaw portion 12 reciprocates in the longitudinal direction with respect to the main body portion 13 via the convex wall 17 fixed to the tip of the piston 14a. That is, the pair of jaws 11, 12
Reciprocate in parallel with each other. Each clip 110 has a fixed guide surface 11a, 11b, 1 of the pair of jaws 11, 12.
1c and the movement guide surfaces 12a, 12b, 12c, respectively, so that each clip 110 receives a force in a direction in which the fixed guide surface and the movement guide surface separate from each other and in a direction in which the clip 110 is pressed. This overlaps 2
The individual clips 110 are pulled apart to eliminate the clogging. The clip 110 released from clogging slides down the passage 16 and is locked to the escape 15. Then, the clip 110 is detected by the component detection sensor 19.

If the component detection sensor 19 does not detect the clip 110, the cylinder device 14 may be driven a plurality of times to release the clogging of the clip 110. When the clip 110 does not remain in the passage 16, the component detection sensor 19 cannot naturally detect the clip 110. Therefore, when the clip 110 cannot be detected even when the cylinder device 14 is driven a plurality of times, it is determined that the clip 110 is not left in the component supply device 1, the robot 90 is driven, and the component supply device 1 is driven.
The clip 110 may be replenished.
Normally, when a sensor (not shown) attached to the pair of claws 95, 95 and detecting the clip 110 after being incorporated in the work detects the number of clip incorporations of a predetermined number of times, the robot 90 is driven to supply the components. The clip 110 is supplied to the device 1.

As described above, in the component supply device 1 of the present embodiment, even if the clip 110 is clogged in the passage 16, the cylinder device 14 is driven and the fixed guide surface and the movable guide surface are relatively moved in parallel to each other. Can be eliminated, and the problem due to the clogging of the clip 110 can be eliminated. Embodiment 2 A robot hand 9 having the component supply device 20 of this embodiment is shown in FIG.

In this component supply device 20, instead of the cylinder device 14 of the component supply device 1 of the first embodiment, a support plate 22 is projected to the side surface of the main body portion 13, and the convex wall 17 of the other jaw 12 and this support plate 22. A compression coil spring 23 is stretched between the coil 22 and the coil 22. Further, a contact plate 24 is provided on the lower end of the other jaw 12. Compression coil spring 2
3 urges the other jaw portion 12 downward with respect to the main body portion 13 and holds the jaw portion 12 at the position shown in FIG.

The component supply device 20 of this embodiment has the above-mentioned structure. The parts not described are the same as those of the parts supply device 1 of the first embodiment. The component supply device 20 uses the robot hand 9 to remove a pair of claws 95, 9 from each other.
5 rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 9 and is moved to a position where a clip (not shown) is clamped. At this time, the tip of the claw 95 abuts against the abutment plate 24 and further presses the other abutment plate 1
Move 2 diagonally upward. The movement of the other jaw 12 causes the other jaw 12 to move relative to the main body 13, and even if the clip is clogged in the passage, the fixed guide surface of the jaw of the main body 13 and the movable guide of the other jaw 12 are moved. By moving the surfaces relatively in parallel, the clogging of the clip can be eliminated, and the problem due to the clogging of the clip can be eliminated.

The component supply device 20 of the second embodiment shows that an external device which is not built in the component supply device 20 can be used to drive the portion having the movable guide surface. As shown in this embodiment, various driving sources such as a built-in driving source and an external driving source can be used. Third Embodiment FIG. 10 shows a cross section of the main part of a component supply device 30 according to this embodiment. The component supply device 30 has a pipe-shaped passage 31, and a main body 32 in which a part of the inner peripheral surface is a recess.
And a movable portion 33 having a semicircular cross section, which is held in the concave portion of the main body portion 32 so as to be slidable in the axial direction. A pin 34 having a head is projected and fixed to the movable portion 33. In addition, the pin 3 is formed on the wall portion forming the recess of the main body 32.
An elongated hole 35 extending in the axial direction is formed in a portion where 4 projects. The long hole 35 and the pin 34 allow the movable portion 3
3 can move a predetermined distance in parallel to the main body 32 in the axial direction. It should be noted that the inner peripheral surface 36 having a small inner diameter of the main body portion forms the fixed guide surface of the present invention, and the inner peripheral surface 37 of the movable portion 32 forms the movable inner peripheral surface of the present invention.

The component supply device 30 of this embodiment has the above-mentioned structure. In the component supply device 30, components (not shown) are supplied and held in the passage 31. Then, when the parts overlap each other and are clogged in the passage 31, by moving the movable portion 33 relative to the main body part 32, the overlapped parts can be separated from each other and the clogging of the parts can be eliminated.

The present embodiment shows that a pipe-shaped passage 31 may be used as the passage for passing and holding the components of the present invention, instead of the groove-shaped passage of the first embodiment. As is apparent from the present embodiment, the present invention can be applied to a device having various passages found in the conventional component supply device. Fourth Embodiment FIG. 11 shows a cross section of the main part of a component supply device 40 of this embodiment. This component supply device 40 is similar to that of the first embodiment, and movable plates 43 and 44 are provided on the upper surfaces of the pair of jaws 41 and 42, respectively.
Is held slidably in the longitudinal direction. These movable plates 43 and 44 have pins 45 and 46 and an elongated hole 4 respectively.
Reference numerals 7 and 48 allow the pair of jaws 41 and 42 to slide only in the axial direction. In addition, each movable plate 43, 44 and jaw 4
Cylinder devices 51 and 52 are provided between the movable plates 4 and 1.
3 and 44 are moved with respect to the jaws 41 and 42, respectively. The cylinder devices 51 and 52 may be driven independently or simultaneously.

In the component supply device 40 of the present embodiment, the lower side surfaces of the pair of jaws 41, 42 constitute the fixed guide surface of the present invention,
The upper surfaces of the movable plates 43 and 44 form the movable guide surface of the present invention. The component supply device 40 of this embodiment has the above-mentioned configuration. In the component supply device 40, the lower surface and the upper surface of the jaw where the component is clogged can be moved in parallel with each other, so that the component clogging can be more reliably eliminated.

As shown in this embodiment, the movable guide surface can be provided at any portion where the parts abut. Moreover, there may be a plurality of movable guide surfaces.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a robot hand having a component supply device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the component supply device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the relationship between the pin and the elongated hole of the component supply device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged plan view showing an escape portion of the component supply device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an end view showing an escape portion of the component supply device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a robot hand.

FIG. 8 is an overall view of a robot assembly device incorporating the component supply device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a robot hand having a component supply device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the component supply device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the component supply device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state in which components of a conventional component supply device are clogged.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state where the components of the conventional component supply device are guided.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 20, 30, 40-Parts supplying device 11-One jaw 12-Other jaw (movable part) 13-Main body 16-Passages 11a, 11b, 11c-Fixed guide surfaces 12a, 12b, 12c-Movable Guide 110
Parts (clips)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A main body having a fixed guide surface which defines a part of a passage for continuously supplying the components to be supplied and which abuts and guides the component, and an extension of the passage. A movable portion having a movable guide surface extending along the passage, which is slidably held in the direction of the body and divides the other part of the passage to contact and guide the component. Parts supply device. 2. The component supply device according to claim 1, wherein the main body portion has a drive portion that reciprocally drives the movable portion in a direction in which the passage extends.