JPH08187690A - Suction conveying method and device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To convey a memory disk well balanced surely sucked without damaging it, by sucking only the periphery in an opening part of the memory disk convey it, in the case of sucking the memory disk, having the opening part in the center, conveyed. CONSTITUTION: In the case of sucking a memory disk 3, having an opening part 4 in the center, conveyed, first a sucker means 1 is lowered down, to bring a ring pad 6 elastically into contact with a suction surface T in the periphery in the opening part 4 of the memory disk 3. Here by elastically pressing the ring pad 6 by a compression spring 24 against the suction surface T of the memory disk 3, an impact at contact time is absorbed, and applying a burden to act in the memory disk 3 can be eliminated. Next by actuating a suction source, a pressure of air in the inside, sealed by an upper surface of the memory disk 3 and a ring groove of the ring pad 6, is maintained in a negative pressure condition. Successively, air in the inside is sucked from the ring groove via a plurality of small holes 17, annular recessed part 18 and a communication path 15. Thereafter, the sucker mean 1 is conveyed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a suction and transfer method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a suction and transfer method for a storage disk having a hole at the center thereof such as CDROM, optical disk, MD (mini disk). And its device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a disc-shaped disc having a smooth surface such as a storage disc and having a relatively light weight is conveyed, a method of adsorbing and conveying the storage disc using an adsorption device has been mainly adopted. There is. In this type of suction device, the usage range of the suction device may be limited by the shape of the suction surface of the storage disk to be sucked.

For example, even if the surface of the adsorption surface of the storage disk is a smooth flat surface, if the opening is formed in the center, adsorption is impossible with only one adsorption member. Therefore, in such a case, the storage disk is sucked by using the suction device having a plurality of suction bodies. That is, the surface of the storage disk except the opening is adsorbed,
Adsorption is performed by the adsorption device in which a plurality of adsorbents are arranged at intervals corresponding to this.

However, since there is a difference in the attraction force between the adsorbents themselves, or the state of the storage disk surface at the adsorption position of the adsorbents is different, a difference in the attraction force occurs between the adsorbents. If it is regarded as the suction holding force of the entire disc, the suction holding force having a good overall balance will not work. In addition, when a plurality of adsorbents are used, the data storage portion of the storage disk must be adsorbed, which causes damage to important parts of the storage disk.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above problems. That is, it is an object of the present invention to provide a suction transfer method and apparatus capable of performing a suction transfer with good balance in a single storage disk having an opening in the center using only a single suction member and without damaging the storage disk. It is intended to be provided.

[0006]

However, as a result of intensive studies on the above problems, the inventors of the present invention have arranged the memory disk in a portion excluding the opening portion as in the conventional case. Based on this finding, it was found that by using multiple adsorbents as a single unit, and by limiting the adsorption range of the adsorbents to a certain area, it is possible to perform adsorption and transport in good balance and without damaging the storage unit at all. It is a completed invention.

That is, the present invention resides in a suction and transport method for suctioning and transporting a storage disk having an opening in the center thereof, and for suctioning and transporting only the periphery of the opening of the storage disk.

[0008] A suction and transport method for suctioning and transporting a storage disk having an opening in the center, wherein only the periphery of the opening of the storage disk positioned at the first point is suctioned and then suctioned. A suction transfer method in which the storage disk is moved upward, the storage disk moved further upward is swung in the horizontal direction, and finally the storage disk swung horizontally is moved downward and is transferred to the second point. Exist.

Further, there is provided a suction transporting device for suctioning and transporting a storage disk having an opening at the center, and a suction means having an adapter having a suction groove at a position corresponding only to the periphery of the opening of the storage disk. , An adsorption conveyance device including a conveyance device for moving the adsorption means.

Further, the transfer device is an adsorption transfer device which is a transfer device which is movable in the vertical and horizontal directions. Further, the suction device also exists in a suction transport device including a pressure-resisting body for elastically contacting the adapter with the storage disk. It also resides in an adsorber-conveyor device in which the adapter is replaceable. Further, it also exists in a suction conveyance device having a pair of suction means.

[0011]

By adopting the above-described suction-conveying method and its apparatus, a storage disk having an opening in the center is sucked only in the periphery of the opening to ensure a good balance and without damaging the data storage section. Transport.

[0012]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the suction means of the suction conveyance device of the present invention will be described. First, (a) of FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the adsorption device of the present invention, (b) is a partially enlarged view of the adsorption means, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the adsorption means seen from the bottom. is there.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a suction means, and this suction means 1 is attached to an end portion of an arm 2 of a carrying device which will be described later. The suction means 1 mainly includes a shaft member 10, an adapter 9, a sleeve 21, a suction source (not shown), and the like. A mini disk 3 (hereinafter referred to as MD3), which is a storage disk, usually has a circular opening 4 at the center.

A circular recess is formed up to a position slightly separated from the opening 4, and a data storage unit 5 is formed from a position slightly outside of the opening. Furthermore, a circular concave portion slightly recessed from the plane portion of the data storage portion is formed around the opening 4 of the MD 3, and the back surface thereof is a circular convex portion on the contrary.
A disc-shaped clamping plate (not shown) is inserted into this circular recess in the MD3 assembling process, and the peripheral edge of the circular recess is fused and caulked to be attached.

In this way, a certain area around the opening 4 is left and the outside thereof becomes the data storage section 5. That is, around the opening 4 of the MD 3, there is a suction surface T, which is a fixed annular area in a certain area where the data storage unit 5 is not formed. The step of adsorbing MD3 of the present invention is a preceding step in which the clamping and caulking of the clamping plate is performed, and the MD3 is conveyed with the circular concave portion as the upper surface.

In the case of the present embodiment, an annular flat surface portion where the data storage portion 5 is not formed is preferably used as the suction surface T on the outer periphery of the circular concave portion. On the other hand, the annular elastic body 6 is attached to the annular groove 13 on the bottom surface of the adapter 9 located at the bottom of the suction means. This annular elastic body 6 is
It is formed of a flexible body made of rubber or resin having a rectangular cross section and is called a ring pad here.

On the bottom surface of the ring pad 6, as shown in FIG. 2, a ring groove which is an adsorption groove 7 having an annular opening at the bottom is formed. A plurality of small holes 8 penetrating the back surface of the ring pad are formed on the bottom of the ring groove 7 on the same pitch circle as the diameter of the ring groove 7. On the other hand, the adapter 9 is replaceably attached to the lower end of a shaft member 10 described later. Therefore, in the case of adsorbing another type of storage disk having a different shape such as an FD (floppy disk), it can be used by exchanging it with the adapter 9 equipped with a corresponding ring pad.

The adapter 9 is formed by the annular projection 12 and its flange 11. At the bottom of the annular protrusion 12, the above-mentioned annular groove 13 into which a part of the ring pad 6 is to be fitted is formed. Then, in the annular projection 12 of the adapter 9, a plurality of small holes 17 are formed on the same pitch circle as the above-mentioned pitch circle so as to match the plurality of small holes 8 formed in the ring pad 6. .

The small hole 17 is formed in the annular groove 13 of the adapter 9.
Penetrates from the bottom to the upper surface of the flange 11, and finally leads to the suction source. The shaft member 10 is composed of a shaft portion 14 having a communication passage 15 bored in the axial direction, and a flange 16 formed on the bottom of the shaft portion 14 to have a diameter substantially the same as that of the flange 11 of the adapter 9. . The communication passage 15 is connected to a suction source (not shown) via a flexible hose (not shown).

Further, on the mounting surface of the flange 16 to the flange 16, an annular recess 18 having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the pitch circle in which the small holes 17 are arranged is formed. In this way, the flange 9 of the shaft member 10 is attached to the adapter 9
The flange 11 of the O-ring 19 is a sealing means.
And the like, so that the annular recess 18 and the upper surface of the flange 16 form a flow passage space communicating with the communication passage 15. On the other hand, a sleeve 21 having a through hole 20 formed in the arm 2 is inserted into the arm 2 of the transfer device.
Are attached via a flange 22 provided upright from the sleeve.

In the sleeve 21, the shaft member 10 is provided.
The shaft portion 14 is supported by bearings 23a and 23b so as to be able to move up and down. A compression spring 24 is inserted through the outer circumference of the sleeve 21, and the compression spring 24 is interposed between the lower surface of the arm 2 and the upper surface of the flange 16 to constantly urge the shaft member 10 downward. In this case, the pressing biasing force of the compression spring 24 is set to a desired biasing force depending on the type of the storage disk to be attracted.

As will be described later, the compression spring 24 can absorb the level difference of the horizontal level of the base (not shown) on which the storage disks are mounted, respectively, when a pair of suction means is provided in the transfer device. . Now the compression spring 2
In order to change the pressing biasing force of No. 4, the mounting position of the stopper 25 with respect to the shaft portion 14 may be moved and reset. The stopper 25 is a separate member from the sleeve 21,
It is attached to the outer circumference of the end of the shaft portion 14.

Now, the suction means configured as described above is
It works as follows. 1A and 1B show a state in which an MD positioned at a predetermined position by a column (not shown) is adsorbed by the adsorbing means 1.

First, by the lowering operation of the suction means 1, the ring pad 6 elastically contacts the suction surface T around the opening 4 of the MD3. The ring pad 6 when it is elastically abutted
Is elastically pressed against the suction surface T of MD3 by the biasing force set to a predetermined pressing force by the compression spring 24, so that the impact at the time of contact is absorbed and the MD3 is not burdened.

Subsequently, when a suction source (not shown) is operated, the internal air pressure blocked by the upper surface of the MD 3 and the ring groove 7 of the ring pad 6 becomes a negative pressure state. In other words, the air inside the upper surface of the MD 3 and the ring groove 7 of the ring pad 6 is sucked from the ring groove 7 through the plurality of small holes 17, the annular recess 18 and the communication passage 15 as shown by the arrow in FIG. To be done.

The ring groove 7 of the ring pad of the suction means 1 attracts only the MD 3 in a ring shape around the opening 4. Since the periphery of the opening is attracted in a ring shape in this manner, M
The holding balance when D3 is adsorbed is good, and the data storage portion is not adsorbed so that it is not damaged. The suction means is as described above, but the suction means can be driven by the carrying device.

Therefore, a transfer device for vertically moving the suction means will be described below. 3 is a front view of the carrying device, FIG. 4 is a view taken in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is a view taken in the direction of arrow C in FIG.

The transfer device comprises an arm 2, an arm 26, a drive shaft 27, a drive mechanism D and the like. Two adsorption means 1
a and 1b are attached to both ends of the arm 2, and one end of another arm 26 orthogonal to this is attached to the center of the arm 2. The other end of the arm 26 is fixed to the upper part of the drive shaft 27, and is vertically and pivotally driven by a drive mechanism D described later.

More specifically, as shown in FIG.
The drive shaft 27 has bearings 31 a, 3 a and 3 a in a sleeve 30 fixed by inserting a through hole 29 formed in a base 28.
It is supported via 1b. An arm 32 is horizontally fixed to a lower portion of the drive shaft 27, and a locking pin 33 is vertically inserted and supported at a tip end of the arm 32 via a bearing (not shown). Further, a pair of flanges 34 are attached to the lower end of the drive shaft 27 with a predetermined gap therebetween, and a locking groove 35 is formed between the pair of flanges 34a and 34b.

Next, the drive mechanism D for vertically moving or rotating the drive shaft 27 of the carrying device will be described. That is, another sleeve 37 is rotatably supported on the outer circumference of the sleeve 30 inserted through the base 28 via a pair of bearings 36a and 36b. On the outer periphery of this sleeve 37,
Two horizontal arms 38 and 39 are provided so as to be vertically different in phase.

One end of a link 41 is connected to the tip of the upper horizontal arm 38 via a universal joint 40. A cam lever 43, which will be described later, is connected to the other end of the link 41 via a universal joint 42. More specifically, the cam lever 43 includes large and small levers 44a, 44.
b, and these large and small levers 44a and 44b form a substantially V shape.

The bent portion of the cam lever 43 is the base 2
The support member 45 fixed vertically to the bottom of the
It is pivotally supported via. Then, the universal joint 42 of the lever 41 described above is attached to the tip of the large lever 44a.
And a cam follower 46 is rotatably supported at the tip of the small lever 44b. The cam follower 46 is configured to be engageable with a cam groove (not shown) of the disc cam CM.

On the other hand, a locking pin 33 is vertically fixed to the end of the horizontal arm 39 of the sleeve 37. The locking pin 33 is rotatably supported at the tip of the arm 32 below the drive shaft 27. Further, a cam lever 47, which will be described later, is engaged with the locking groove 35 at the lower end of the drive shaft 27 via a cam follower 49.

The cam lever 47 is a large or small lever 4.
8a and 48b, these two large and small levers 48
The a and 48b form a substantially V shape. The bent portion of the cam lever 47 is swingably supported by a support member 45 fixed vertically to the bottom of the base 28 via a support shaft 52 provided above the support shaft 50. ing. The large lever 48a is locked in the locking groove 35 at the lower end of the drive shaft 27 described above, and the cam follower 51 is pivotally supported at the tip of the small lever 48b.

The cam follower 46 is a disc cam C.
The cam groove (not shown) of M can be engaged. Further, the cam follower 51 is configured to be engageable with a cam groove (not shown) of another disc cam CM arranged on the same axis as the disc cam CM. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, a perforated bush Q is mounted in the middle of the arm 26, and a positioning pin P is fixed to a bracket 53 attached to the upper portion of the sleeve 30 so as to face the perforated bush Q.

Next, as an example, a series of steps in which suction is carried by using a carrying device of a pair of suction means will be described below. First, the overall movement will be briefly described. First, the MD 3a, which is a storage disk, is positioned at the supply position M, which is the first point shown in FIG. 6, and the suction means 1a, 1b are in a standby state at the rising end.

Therefore, the suction means 1a, 1b are moved downward by the transfer device, and the one suction means 1a is positioned at the supply position M, MD3a (this is the first MD3).
The suction portion T around the opening (a) is sucked in a ring shape. In this case, the one suction means 1a and the other suction means 1b move downward, but at this stage, the suction means 1a
Since there is no MD at the holding position N corresponding to b, the suction means 1b has no suction.

Next, the suction means 1a, 1b are moved upward by the transfer device, and the suction means 1a moved further upward,
Turn 1b horizontally clockwise this time. At this point, the first MD 3a is positioned above the holding pattern position N.
Next, the suction means 1a, 1b are moved downward by the transport device to position the first MD 3a at the holding position N.

Then, the suction is released and the first MD is placed at that position.
3a is placed. Then, the suction means 1 is carried out by the carrier device.
Raise a and 1b and turn counterclockwise to return to the original position. At the original position, the newly supplied second MD 3a has already been positioned to be supplied to the supply position M corresponding to the suction means 1a, and has been previously conveyed to the holding position N corresponding to the suction means 1b. The first MD 3a is positioned and placed.

Next, the suction means 1a, 1b is moved by the transfer device.
Is moved downward again, the suction means 1a comes into contact with the second MD 3a, and the suction portion T around the opening 4 thereof.
Are adsorbed in a ring. Further, the suction means 1b similarly suctions the first MD 3a. This time, the suction means 1a, 1b are again moved upward by the transport device and further horizontally swung clockwise.

At this point, the suction means 1a is positioned above the holding position N, and the suction means 1b is positioned above the discharge position L which is the second point. Here, the suction means 1a, 1
When b is moved downward by the transport device and the suction is released, the second MD 3a is placed at the holding position N and the first MD 3a is discharged at the discharging position L.

The series of steps of suction and conveyance have been described above, and further, the steps will be described according to the movement of the drive mechanism D. Here, as described in the previous description of the series of steps of suction conveyance, the MD3 that is the storage disk is initially used.
It is assumed that a is positioned at the supply position M, which is the first point, and the suction means 1a, 1b are in a standby state at the rising end.

First, when one of the disc cams CM is rotationally driven, the small lever 48b of the cam lever 47 shown in FIG.
The cam follower 51 of the small lever 48b swings around the support shaft 52 by the guide of a cam groove (not shown) of the disc cam CM. At the same time, the large lever 48a also swings, and the cam follower 49 at the tip of the large lever 48a lowers the drive shaft 27 via the locking groove 35 that is locked to this.

When the drive shaft 27 descends, the suction means 1a,
1b moves downward, and one of the suction means 1a abuts the first MD 3a positioned and positioned at the supply position M immediately below and sucks it. Here, when the ring pad of the suction means 1a is brought into contact with the first MD 3a, the ring groove 7 is compressed by the compression spring 24 on the suction surface T of the first MD 3a due to this descending operation.
It is elastically pressed by.

At this position, the bush Q of the arm 26 is
Corresponding to the positioning pin P, when the suction means 1a, 1b descend, they are fitted and aligned with each other. When the suction source is operated in this state, the first MD 3a is suctioned by sequentially passing through the ring groove 8, the plurality of small holes 17, the annular recess 18, the communication passage 15 of the shaft portion 14, and the like. In this way, the first MD 3a is reliably adsorbed by the one adsorbing means 1a.

When the drive shaft 27 is raised by the cam lever 47 by the further rotational driving of the disc cam CM, the suction means 1a, 1b move to the raised end. Subsequently, when the other disc cam CM is rotationally driven, the small lever 44b of the cam lever 43 moves the support shaft 50 by guiding the cam groove (not shown) through the cam follower 46 engaged with the cam groove of the disc cam CM. Swing to the center.

By this swing, the suction means 1a, 1b
6 horizontally swings the sleeve 37 clockwise through the link 41 by the large lever 44a swinging at the same time as the small lever 44b. As a result, the first MD 3a sucked by the suction means 1a can be positioned corresponding to the holding position N.

Therefore, by the same operation as that of the drive mechanism D described above, one of the disc cams CM is rotationally driven to swing the cam lever 47 to move the suction means 1a, 1b downward via the drive shaft 27. By this lowering operation, the first MD 3a sucked by the suction means 1a is positioned at the holding position N shown in FIGS. 3 and 6.
Specifically, the opening 4 is inserted into the tapered portion 54a at the top of the support column 54 provided at the holding position N to be positioned.

At this position, the bush Q of the arm 26 is
Corresponding to the positioning pin P, when the suction means 1a, 1b are lowered, they are fitted to each other and aligned. The positioned and supported first MD 3a is placed horizontally on the stepped portion 54b of the support column 54 by releasing the suction of the suction means 1a. Hereinafter, the vertical movement and horizontal turning operation of the drive shaft 27 are performed in the same manner by the pair of cam levers 43 and 47 that are rocked by the rotational drive of the disk cams CM described above, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the suction means 1a, 1b move upward again, and then they turn counterclockwise to the original initial position, that is, the suction means 1a is placed on the supply position M as shown in FIG. The suction means 1b return so as to respectively correspond to the holding position N. Therefore, when the suction means 1a, 1b are moved downward, the suction means 1a is positioned and supported first by the second MD 3a newly supplied corresponding thereto, and the suction means 1b is positioned and supported by the support column 54 at the holding position N first. The 1st MD3a which is present is adsorbed simultaneously.

Subsequently, the suction means 1a, 1b are raised again, and then swiveled clockwise to move the second MD of the suction means 1a.
3a above the holding position N and the first of the suction means 1b.
The MD 3a is made to correspond to the discharge position L. Adsorption means 1
By lowering a and 1b, the second MD 3a sucked by the suction means 1a is placed on the stepped portion 54b at the holding position N by releasing the suction. Similarly, the first MD 3a adsorbed by the adsorbing means 1b is ejected to the ejection position L.

Thereafter, the MD repeats the same operation by the suction means 1a, 1b and the transporting device, and sequentially passes from the supply position M, which is the first point, to the holding position N, and then to the discharge position L, which is the second point. It will be transferred. In this way, one storage disk having an opening on the suction surface can be efficiently and surely sucked and transported by using a single suction means corresponding thereto.

Although the present invention has been described above, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and various other modifications can be made without departing from the essence thereof. . The periphery of the opening, which is the suction portion described in the embodiments, refers to a portion excluding the opening and the storage portion on the outer peripheral side of the opening portion. Of course. Also,
The number of suction means attached to the arm of the transfer device is two in the embodiment, but the number is not limited.

[0054]

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION A storage disk having an opening on its suction surface can be securely sucked and conveyed in a well-balanced manner. Moreover, the data storage section of the storage disk is not damaged. In addition, the structure of the suction means is simplified compared to the conventional one, which is advantageous in cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a suction device of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a partially enlarged view of a suction means.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the adsorption device of the present invention as seen from the bottom.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the transport device.

FIG. 4 is a view on arrow B of FIG.

5 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

6 is a view taken in the direction of arrow C in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Adsorption means 2 ... Arm 3 ... MD (mini disk) 4 ... Opening part 5 ... Data storage part 6 ... Annular elastic body (ring pad) 7 ... Adsorption groove (ring groove) 8 ... Small hole 9 ... Adapter 10 ... Shaft Members 11, 16 ... Flange 12 ... Annular projection 13 ... Annular groove 14 ... Shaft part 15 ... Communication passage 17 ... Small hole 18 ... Annular recess 20 ... Through hole 21 ... Sleeve 22 ... Flange 23a, 23b ... Bearing 24 ... Compression spring 25 ... stopper 26 ... arm 27 ... drive shaft 28 ... base 29 ... through hole 30 ... sleeve 31a, 31b ... bearing 32 ... arm 33 ... locking pin 34a, 34b ... flange 35 ... locking groove 36a, 36b ... bearing 37 ... sleeve 38, 39 ... Horizontal arm 40 ... Universal joint 41, 42 ... Link 43, 47 ... Cam lever 44a, 48a ... Large lever 44b, 48b ... Small lever Bar 45 Support member 46, 49, 51 ... Cam follower 50, 52 ... Support shaft 53 ... Bracket 54 ... Strut 54a ... Tapered portion 54b ... Stepped portion D ... Drive mechanism CM ... Disc cam L ... Ejection position M ... Supply position N ... Holding position P… Positioning pin Q… Bushing MD… Mini disc T… Suction surface

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A suction and transport method for suctioning and transporting a storage disk having an opening in the center, wherein only the periphery of the opening of the storage disk is suctioned and transported. 2. A suction transport method for suctioning and transporting a storage disk having an opening in the center, wherein only the periphery of the opening of the storage disk positioned at the first point is suctioned and then suctioned. Move the storage disk up,
An adsorption transfer method characterized in that the storage disk moved further upward is rotated horizontally, and finally the storage disk rotated horizontally is moved downward and transferred to a second point. 3. A suction transporting device for suctioning and transporting a storage disk having an opening at its center, the suction means having an adapter having a suction groove at a position corresponding only to the periphery of the opening of the storage disk, An adsorption / conveyance device comprising a conveyance device for moving the adsorption means. 4. The suction conveyance device according to claim 3, wherein the conveyance device is a conveyance device that is movable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. 5. The suction conveyance device according to claim 3, wherein the suction device is provided with an elastic pressure body for elastically contacting the adapter with the storage disk. 6. The suction conveyance device according to claim 3, wherein the adapter is replaceable. 7. The suction conveyance device according to claim 4, wherein the suction means is a pair.