JPH08133230A - Part feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a part feeder which can improve the speed and correctness in counting by preventing parts to be fed from being erroneously counted and which can improve the reliability while a rise in cost is minimized. CONSTITUTION: A locking part 25 for constituting a posture-changing-type cutting means for dropping a part 1 to be fed while changing its posture from a standing state to a lying state is provided at a terminal E of a carrying truck 14, and an optical sensor 40 for detecting contactlessly the part 1 which is being dropped while its posture is being changed from a standing state to a lying state is provided in the vicinity of the terminal E.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a main body part and electronic parts and other articles to be fed, in which legs are hung vertically downward from the main body part, while being sequentially aligned on the transfer track by vibration to the end of the transfer track. The present invention relates to a parts feeder including a vibration feed unit that sends out and drops downward.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of parts feeder, it is required to count the number of articles to be fed, which are transferred to the end of a transfer truck and dropped from there, for example, packing into a predetermined number and packing them into bags. Therefore, usually, in the parts feeder, when a predetermined number of fed articles are dropped from the end of the transfer truck, a forced stop mechanism for forcibly stopping the following fed articles at the end of the transfer truck, A counter for counting the number of articles to be fed continuously sent through the transfer truck is additionally provided.

Conventionally, as the above-mentioned counting machine, (1) a cutting-out type machine for mechanically separating and sequentially feeding one or more fed articles to be fed, and (2)
When the weight of the X fed articles dropped from the end of the transfer truck reaches the weight of C previously fed articles, the number of dropped fed articles is C. It is known that the total weight method is to determine.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional parts feeder counter, in the case of the cutting method of (1), the counting speed depends on the speed of the cutting device, and high-speed processing is performed. There is a problem that it can not be done, and although the conventional cutting device can perform the counting process relatively accurately, the mechanism is complicated,
There was a tendency to increase the cost of the device.

Further, in the gross weight type of (2),
If the article to be fed is a lightweight article such as an electronic component, the counted number may vary, the counting process may become inaccurate, and the reliability may decrease.

Therefore, in consideration of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, it is conceivable to detect and count the fed articles dropped from the end of the transfer truck by using an optical sensor or the like without contact. ing.

However, in a sensor such as an optical sensor for detecting an object without contact, if two fed articles have the same posture and are close to each other, they are regarded as one (erroneous detection). Fear, in other words, if the articles to be fed are continuously dropped without a gap,
There is a problem that it is difficult to identify each of them, counting errors frequently occur, and the counting process becomes inaccurate.

In view of the above point, the present invention is capable of preventing counting errors of fed articles, speeding up counting processing and improving accuracy, and reducing reliability while keeping cost rise to a minimum. The purpose is to provide a parts feeder that can be enhanced.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a parts feeder according to the present invention vibrates a main body and an article to be fed, such as an electronic component having a foot extending downward from the main body. A vibrating feed portion that is arranged so as to be sequentially aligned with the transfer track and is sent to the end of the transfer track and dropped downward. The transfer track is in a standing posture with the foot of the article to be fed facing downward. A posture converting type cutting means is provided with grooves for receiving both ends of the main body along the transfer direction, and at the end thereof, the fed articles are dropped while converting the standing posture from the standing posture to the lying posture. Is provided, and is laid down sideways from the standing posture at the end of the transfer track by the posture changing type cutting means near the end of the transfer track. Detection means for detecting without contact to be feed article is characterized in that is provided that is allowed falling while being converted into the posture.

In the present invention, as the detecting means, a reflected light detection type optical sensor for irradiating the main body of the article to be fed that has been dropped with light to detect the reflected light, or the falling sensor. It is possible to use a light transmission detection type optical sensor including a pair of a light emitting device and a light receiving device which are arranged to face each other so that the irradiation light is temporarily blocked by the main body of the fed article.

[0011]

In the parts feeder according to the present invention configured as described above, the posture changing type cutting means is provided so that the fed articles successively transferred to the terminal end through the transfer track are compared one by one. It can be cut easily and surely and quickly.

Then, the main body of the article to be fed, which is dropped by the detecting means while being converted from the standing posture to the lying posture by the cutting means, is detected without contact, and based on the detection signal from the detecting means. Then, the number of articles to be fed that have been dropped is counted.

Here, generally, in an optical sensor, if two fed articles have the same posture and are approaching each other, they are detected as 1
Although it may be regarded as an individual item (erroneous detection), as described above, the fed article (main body portion) of which is laid down sideways and the article to be fed in the standing posture immediately before the subsequent fall. Since the posture is different from that of (the main body) and is relatively far apart, the fed articles can be easily identified one by one. Therefore, erroneous detection, that is, erroneous counting is prevented, and the accuracy of the counting process is improved.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 are a plan view, a front view, and a side view of a parts feeder according to the present invention. The parts feeder 10 shown in the figure is an article to be fed which is an electronic component in which a semi-cylindrical main body 2 and three legs (terminals) 3 are provided downward from the main body 2 as shown in FIG. 1 is sequentially transferred and the number thereof is counted, and a substantially stepped columnar vibration feed portion 12 to which a torsional vibration is given is arranged at substantially the central portion. A transfer track 1 for aligning the fed articles 1 to the end of the vibrating feed section 12 and for dropping the articles 1 downward.
4 are arranged in a spiral shape.

A hopper 16 is arranged below the vicinity of the end of the transfer track 14 of the vibration feed section 12, and a predetermined number of bags of the articles 1 to be fed which are dropped from the end of the transfer track 14 through the hopper 16. It is configured to be stored in a bag 23 attached to the bag support portions 21 and 22 provided in the exchange unit 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bag supporting portions 21 and 22 of the bag exchanging unit 20 respectively have a storage position below the hopper 16 and a bag exchanging position separated leftward or rightward from the storage position. A predetermined number (for example, 100) of articles to be fed 1 are accommodated in a bag 23 that is movable so that it can be selectively taken, and is attached at an exchange position and moved below the hopper 16. Then, the bag is immediately returned to the bag exchange position (left end or right end position).

In the vicinity of the end of the transfer track 14 of the vibration feed section 12, there is provided a stopper 34 for forcibly stopping at a predetermined timing so as not to drop the fed articles transferred to the end of the transfer track 14. A forced stop mechanism 30 is provided (described later), and a control board 15 is arranged next to the forced stop mechanism 30.

As shown in detail in FIG. 4, the transfer track 14 of the vibrating feed section 12 is provided with both end portions of the main body section 2 in a standing posture with the foot section 3 of the article to be fed 1 facing downward. The groove portion 14a for receiving the groove is provided along the transfer direction, and the end of the groove E is provided at the end E thereof.
A plate-like hooking portion 25 is provided, which constitutes a posture-changing type cutting-out means which is configured to drop while changing the standing posture from the standing posture to the lying posture. The hooking portion 25 hooks only the lower portion of the foot portion 3 of the article to be fed 1 sent forward from the terminal end E of the transfer track 14 to make it fall sideways.

On the other hand, a forced stop mechanism 30 provided near the end of the transfer track 14 of the vibration feed section 12 is provided.
As can be seen from FIG. 5 as well, the electromagnetic or fluid pressure type actuator horizontally arranged on the support base 31 so that the operating rod 33 can be horizontally projected toward the transfer track 14 side. A stopper 34 is provided at the tip of the actuating rod 33, which abuts the main body 2 of the fed article 1 transferred to the terminal E via the joint member 37 and stops the same. It is connected.

The stopper 34 has a U-shaped opening 34a formed rearward from the tip thereof, and along the transfer direction of the fed article 1 near the terminal end E of the transfer track 14 by the actuator 32. And a receding position in which the front end thereof substantially coincides with the end E of the transfer track 14, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. And, it is possible to selectively take an advancing position that advances from this retracted position and receives the main body portion 2 of the article to be fed 1 at the rear end of the U-shaped opening 34a.

Further, above the U-shaped opening 34a in the vicinity of the stopper 34, the hanging portion 25 converts the standing posture at the terminal end E of the transfer truck 14 into the lying posture, while the posture is changed to the lying posture. U-shaped opening 34
In order to detect the main body portion 2 of the article to be fed 1 which is dropped by passing through a, without contact, a transfer track 14
A sensor 40 of a reflected light detection type for irradiating light to the main body 2 of the article to be fed 1 that is dropped from the terminal end E and detecting the reflected light is attached to the bracket 36, and is arranged. As can be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5, on the lower surface side, the U-shaped opening 34a is formed so that the irradiation light is temporarily blocked by the main body 2 of the fed article 1 to be dropped. A light transmission detection type sensor 45 including a pair of a light emitting device 45a and a light receiving device 45b, which are opposed to each other with the light emitting device 45a interposed therebetween, is supported by an appropriate means. The sensors 40 and 45 may be attached to the stopper 34.

In the parts feeder 10 of the present embodiment configured as described above, the end E of the transfer track 14 is set.
As shown in FIG. 6, the hooked portion 25 provided at the upper portion of the feed target article 1 sent forward from the terminal end E of the transfer track 14 hooks the lower portion of the foot portion 3, and the article 1 to be fed falls sideways from the standing posture. It is made to fall and is made to fall while being put to sleep. In this case, the speed V of the fed article 1 is a combined speed of the pop-out speed (horizontal speed) Va and the falling speed Vg, and the subsequent transfer speed V of the fed article 1 is V.
It becomes larger than a. Therefore, the articles to be fed 1 can be cut out one by one relatively easily, reliably, and quickly.

By doing so, there is no dependence on the speed of the slicing device, the transfer processing work can be speeded up, the counting processing can be performed accurately, and the cost increase can be minimized. The reliability can be increased with.

As the posture conversion type cutting means,
In addition to the above-mentioned hooking portion 25, as shown in FIG. 7, the main body portion 2 of the fed article 1 that is continuously provided at the end E of the transfer track 14 and is pushed forward from this end E is slid. It may be composed of a circular arc-shaped guide 27 for guiding. By arranging such guides 27 in series, it is possible to obtain the same effects as the above, as well as to prevent the front and rear foot parts 3 from being entangled with each other, and
The advantage that the posture of the article to be fed 1 is stably changed is obtained.

On the other hand, in the forced stop mechanism 30, the stopper 34 is linear along the transfer direction of the fed article 1 in the vicinity of the terminal end E of the transfer track 14, as can be seen by referring to the schematic view of FIG. When the fed article 1 is stopped at the terminal end E, the stopper 34 is advanced from the retracted position shown in FIG. 8 to transfer the rear end of the U-shaped opening 34a. The track 14 is advanced to the end E, and the article to be fed 1 immediately before it is about to fall past the end E is pushed back a little and stopped.

Here, in the conventional apparatus, since the stopper is moved forwards and backwards in the direction (right and left or up and down) orthogonal to the article to be fed, the article to be fed is sandwiched between the transfer track and the like. Although such a situation has occurred, in the present example, such a situation does not occur, and a weak force equivalent to the reaction of the transfer force of the vibration feed section 12 acts on the feed-target article 1 that has been stopped. Therefore, there is no problem such as damage to the fed article 1.

Further, since the article to be fed 1 is stopped by pushing it back from the opposite direction by the stopper 34,
Even if the fed article 1 is an asymmetrical article, there is no problem even if the shapes such as the concavities and convexities do not match. Therefore, it is not necessary to align the orientation of the fed article 1 at the time of transportation, so that the transportation efficiency is improved. At the same time, it is possible to avoid complication of the device.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the main body portion 2 of the fed article 1 which is dropped from the standing posture to the lying posture while passing through the U-shaped opening 34a is contactless. A reflected light detection type sensor 40 is provided to detect the U-shaped opening 34a so that the irradiation light is temporarily blocked by the main body 2 of the dropped article 1 to be fed. A light transmission detection type sensor 45 composed of a pair of a light emitting device 45a and a light receiving device 45b which are arranged so as to face each other is provided, and based on signals from the two optical sensors 40, 45,
The number of the articles 1 to be fed that have been dropped is counted.

By doing so, the articles to be fed 1 which are continuously transferred to the terminal end through the transfer track 14 are relatively easily, reliably and quickly separated one by one with a relatively simple structure. In addition to being able to cut out by using the optical sensor, in general, in an optical sensor, if two fed articles have the same posture and are close to each other, they may be regarded as one (erroneous detection).
As described above, the postures of (the body portion 2 of) the fed article 1 which is laid down sideways and (the body portion 2) of the fed article 1 in the standing posture immediately before the subsequent fall are different and Since the feeds are relatively far apart,
It will be possible to easily identify the individual items.

Therefore, erroneous detection, that is, erroneous counting is prevented, and the accuracy of counting processing is improved. Moreover, in this embodiment, since the two sensors, the reflected light detection type sensor 40 and the light transmission detection type sensor 45, which have different detection modes, are provided, the counting can be performed more accurately.

Therefore, the counting process can be speeded up, the counting process can be performed accurately, and the reliability can be improved while the cost increase is suppressed to the minimum.

[0032]

As can be understood from the above description, the parts feeder according to the present invention can prevent mistakes in counting the fed articles, speed up the counting process and improve the accuracy, and reduce the cost. The effect is that the reliability can be enhanced while the rise in the power consumption is minimized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a parts feeder according to the present invention.

2 is a front view of the embodiment shown in FIG.

3 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a portion near the end of the transfer track in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of a portion near the end of the transfer truck in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram which is used for explaining a posture changing type cutting-out means of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view showing another example of the posture changing type cutting-out means of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view provided for explaining a forced stop mechanism of the embodiment shown in FIG.

9 is a perspective view showing an example of an article to be fed transferred in the embodiment of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Items to be fed 10 Parts feeder 12 Vibration feed section 14 Transfer truck 16 Hopper 25 Locking section 27 Guide 30 Forced stop mechanism 34 Stopper 40 Optical sensor of light reflection detection type 45 Optical sensor of light transmission detection type E Termination

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A main body and a fed article such as an electronic component having a foot extending downward from the main body are sequentially aligned by vibration to a transfer track and are sent to the end of the transfer track and dropped downward. And a groove portion for receiving both end portions of the main body portion in a standing posture with the foot portion of the feed target article facing downward is provided on the transfer track along the transfer direction. At the end, a posture-changing type cutting-out means is provided, which is adapted to drop the fed article from a standing posture to a sideways lying posture, and to drop the fed article, and the posture-changing type cutting-out means near the end of the transfer truck. At the end of the transfer truck, it detects contactlessly the fed articles that are falling while being converted from standing posture to lying posture. Parts feeder, wherein a detecting means is provided. 2. The reflected light detection type optical sensor for irradiating the main body of the dropped article to be detected with light and detecting the reflected light. The parts feeder according to Item 1. 3. The light transmission detection comprising a pair of a light emitting device and a light receiving device which are arranged so as to face each other so that the irradiation light is temporarily blocked by the main body of the dropped article to be fed. 2. The parts feeder according to claim 1, wherein the parts feeder is a type optical sensor.