JPH0772018B2 - Pallet feeder - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pallet supply device which is installed in various equipment such as machine tools such as an automatic processing machine and an automatic assembly machine and which supplies pallets to various equipment.

[Prior Art] Generally, a pallet supply device for supplying pallets to various machines such as machine tools such as automatic processing machines and automatic assembly machines is installed with accurate positioning with respect to machine tools such as processing machines and assembly machines. Then, for example, it is provided as a stationary type in order to obtain the assembling accuracy depending on the robot device. Further, in the processing and assembling process in the factory, the installation place of each processing machine, the assembling machine, etc. may be different due to the restriction of the size of the processing and assembling equipment and the equipment conditions. After accommodating the work in a pallet for transporting the work,
The pallet is placed on an automatic guided vehicle or a pallet feeder to be manually transported.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a configuration example of a conventional pallet feeder. In FIG. 5, the feeding device 22 that feeds and conveys the pallet 1 is moved to an upper position and a lower position by an unillustrated elevating means, and the pallet 1 is placed and conveyed.

On the other hand, a robot 15 equipped with a robot hand 15h is provided above the machine tool or the assembly machine 17,
The work stored in the pallet 1 is moved to a jig pallet 18 for assembling by a robot hand 15h as shown by an arrow.
Between the conveyor 20 provided with the stopper 24 for receiving the pallet 1 and the stopper 20 for discharging the pallet 1.
A conveyor 19 provided with 23 is provided so that a part of each is carried on the conveyor table 21. The pallet 1 is moved up and down by the lifting device 25.

In the operation of the pallet feeder configured as described above, after moving the carrier 22 such as an unmanned carrier to the positioning position in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. After moving to the position where the stopper 24 of the conveyor 20 that receives the The work is moved to the jig pallet 18 by the robot hand 15h as shown by the arrow. When the remaining number of workpieces in the pallet 1 is exhausted in this way, the lifting device 25 descends to the height of the conveyor 19 and the right end of the pallet 1 is stopped.
After moving to a position where it comes into contact with 23, the stopper 23 is released, and the pallet 1 is moved to the upper position of the supply device 22 to finish.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since the conventional pallet feeder requires the stationary mechanism attached to the pallet feeder as described above, there is a problem that the pallet feeder becomes expensive.

Further, there is a problem in that it is necessary to load and unload the pallets to and from the pallet feeder every time the pallets are supplied.

Therefore, the pallet feeder of the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the purpose thereof is that the pallet feeder can be constructed inexpensively, and further, the pallet to the pallet feeder is supplied every time the pallet is fed. An object of the present invention is to provide a pallet supply device that does not require loading and unloading work.

[Means for Solving Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object and achieve the object, the pallet supply device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a pallet supply device for supplying and collecting stacked pallets to a predetermined device, comprising: positioning means for the device, moving means, and at least one set that vertically moves while mounting the pallet. The lifting means, at least one set of locking means provided side by side for locking the pallet placed on the lifting means, the position detecting means of the pallet, the lifting means and the locking means. And a control means.

[Operation] With the above configuration, the stacked pellets are supplied to the device, while the stacked pellets are collected and collected.

[Examples] Examples will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a pallet feeder according to the present invention. In this figure, a pallet 1 (container box) containing a large number of workpieces 14 is also shown. In FIG.
The pallets 1 are stacked on the floor surface as shown in the figure, but inside the main body 2 of the pallet supply device, lifts 3 and 4 for moving the stacked pallets 1 up and down in this manner are provided.
Are provided, and the pallets 1 are placed on the placement surface of the lift table 3 by the operator's manual operation in the stacked state or by an insertion mechanism configured as a separate body. A control device 100 is built in the main body 2 and is connected to an assembling machine 17 which will be described later, while controlling the control which will be described later.

A main motor 8 for raising and lowering the elevators 3 and 4 is fixed on the bottom surface of the main body 2, and a timing belt 9 is meshed with the motor 8 as shown in the drawing.
Through the timing belt 9, the lifting table 3 is raised by the rotation of the motor 8 while the lifting table 4 is lowered.

Also, on both edges of the upper surface of the main body 2, there are a set of locking claws 5a and 5b and a set of locking claws 6a and 6b which are in a positional relationship of locking with the collar portion 1a of the pallet 1. Are respectively provided so as to be movable in the directions of the arrows, and these locking claws are provided with a solenoid or a motor 7a, 7b for moving the locking claws in and out.
7c and 7d are provided respectively. By the movement of these locking claws, a state in which the pawl 1 is locked and a state in which it is not locked is generated to move the pallet 1 from the lift table 3 and place it on the lift table 4. I am trying to do it.

Further, at the four corners of the bottom surface of the main body 2, adjacent to the casters 10, ball casters 11 for positioning and coupling with a processing machine and an assembling machine, which will be described later, are installed at respective corners of the bottom.

On the other hand, a limit switch 13 is provided on the right edge portion of the upper surface of the main body 2 so as to detect the presence or absence of the pallet 1. A handle 12 is installed on the right edge portion of the upper surface of the main body 2 so that the main body 2 can be easily moved.

FIG. 2 shows a front view when the above-mentioned pallet supply device is joined to a machine tool. In this figure, a robot 15 equipped with a robot hand 15h is provided at the upper part of an assembly machine 17, The work stored in the pallet 1 is moved to the work jig pallet 18 by the robot hand 15h as shown by the arrow.

On the other hand, a pair of substantially L-shaped position frames 16 are provided on the side surface of the assembling machine 17 as shown in the figure. The position frames 16 have locking holes 16a at positions corresponding to the ball casters 11 described above. 4 holes have been drilled, and in the state in which the device for feeding a packet is moved to the position shown in the drawing,
By positioning the ball caster 11 in the locking state with the locking hole 16a, the positioning can be automatically performed.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the ball caster 11 portion of the pallet feeder, showing how the ball caster 11 is brought into the engagement state with the engagement hole 16a.

The operation of the pallet supply device configured as described above, that is, the pallet supply procedure will be described below.

4 (a), (b), (c), and (d) are operation explanatory views of the pallet feeder.

First, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), when the assembly process is advanced and the work 14 is lost on the pallet 1, the stacked pallets 1 (three in the figure) are placed on the lift table 3. However, at this time, the locking claws 5a and 5b are in the retracted position, and when the lifting table 3 moves up, the pallet 1
The collar portion 1a of the above can pass between the locking claws 5a and 5b.

Next, in FIG. 4 (b), when the lifting table 3 is moved up and the pallet 1 placed on the uppermost position of the pallet 1 finishes passing between the locking claws 5a and 5b, the locking is stopped. Claws 5a, 5b
Is moved to a locking position for locking the collar portion 1a of the pallet 1. At this point, as a result of the lowering of the lifting platform 3, the fourth
As shown in FIG. 2B, of the pallets 1, the pallet 1 placed at the uppermost position is locked by the locking claws 5a and 5b. Holding this state, the work process of the assembly machine 17, that is, the work 14 in the pallet 1 is taken out,
Make sure that there are no more than 14 workpieces left in the pallet 1.

In this way, when the remaining number of workpieces 14 in the pallet 1 is exhausted, the empty pallet 1 is placed on the lifting table 4.

FIG. 4 (c) shows an operation of placing the emptied pallet 1 on the lift 4 and showing the emptied pallet 1
Is to be locked by the locking claws 6a and 6b.
After 6a and 6b are moved to the locking position, the pallet 1 is slid to the locking claws 6a and 6b by the robot hand 15h or another moving device such as a cylinder (not shown). Limit switch 13 to the collar of pallet 1
It is turned on by the contact of 1a.

When the limit switch 13 is turned on in this way, the elevating table 4 is raised and the locking claws 6a and 6b are moved to the retracted position,
The empty pallet 1 is placed on the lift 4.

Then, as shown in FIG.
While the pallet is lowered, the elevating table 3 is raised to the state shown in FIG. 4 (a) again, and the next pallet 1 is set.

The pallets 1 are supplied one after another in this manner, and the emptied pallets 1 are stacked on the elevating table 4, so that the stacked pallets 1 are unloaded from the elevating table 4 to complete the operation.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the pallet feeder of the present invention is
It is possible to provide a pallet supply device which can be constructed at a low cost, and which does not require loading and unloading of pallets to and from the pallet supply device each time the pallet is supplied.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a pallet feeder according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view when the pallet feeder is joined to a machine tool, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of a positioning unit of the pallet feeder. 4 (a), (b), (c), and (d) are explanatory views of the operation of the pallet feeder, and FIG. 5 is a side view showing a configuration example of the conventional pallet feeder. In the figure, 1 ... pallet, 2 ... pallet feeder, 3, 4
...... Lifting platform, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b ...... Locking claws, 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d ......
Motor, 8 ... Main motor, 9 ... Timing belt, 10
…… Casters, 11 …… Balls, casters, 12 …… Grips, 13
…… Limit switch, 14 …… Workpiece, 15 …… Robot, 16 …… Positioning frame, 17 …… Assembling machine, 18
...... Jig pallet, 100 ...... Control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pallet supply device for supplying and recovering stacked pallets to a predetermined device, and at least a positioning device for the device, a moving device, and a device for moving the pallet up and down. One set of lifting means, at least one set of locking means provided side by side for locking the pallet placed on the lifting means, position detecting means for the pallet, and the lifting means And a control means for controlling the means.