JPH08245035A - Plate aligning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To perform the orthogonal bidirectional positioning of plates efficiently without wasting time. CONSTITUTION: A moving table 15 with a plurality of conveyor rollers 16 connected in a chain state is provided movably to open/close in a conveying direction, and a roller driving means 20 is provided to rotate the conveyor rollers 16. A plate detecting means 33 for detecting plates Wa, Wb, ... conveyed on the moving table 15 is provided near the terminal end of the moving table 15. A positioning control means 56 is provided to stop the driving of the conveyor rollers 16, driven by the roller driving means 20, in response to the detection signal of the plate detecting means 33. A pusher 7 is provided to position the plates on the moving table 15 in the width direction of a conveyor, and a gripper 6 is provided to grip the end part of the plate at the opening time of the moving table 15.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plate material aligning device used for transferring cut plate materials in a plate material processing line of a punch press or a laser processing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a turret punch press, a large number of small products may be cut from one large plate. The plate material of the small product thus cut is loaded on the product carriage in the same arrangement as the plate removing position from the large plate for convenience of post-processing. A stock conveyor and a gripper, for example, are used for the transfer to the product cart. The stock conveyor has a blind-shaped moving table formed by connecting a large number of conveyor rollers with an endless chain,
A product cart is arranged below it. The gripper is commonly used for gripping the plate material and for positioning the plate material in the carrying direction, and is installed above the stock conveyor so as to be movable in the carrying direction.

The plate material cut by the punch press and sent to the moving table of the stock conveyor is moved toward a predetermined stacking position corresponding to the plate taking position by rotationally driving each conveyor roller of the moving table. .
The gripper stands by on the stacking position, the plate material is received and gripped by the gripper, and then the moving table is opened in the direction opposite to the feeding direction of the plate material, and the transport surface is opened. After this opening, the gripping of the gripper is released, and the plate material falls to the planned loading position on the product cart.

However, the above structure has a problem that the transfer time becomes long when a pusher or the like for positioning the plate material in a direction orthogonal to the carrying direction is added. That is, in this case, after the plate material sent on the moving table is received by the gripper and stopped at the loading position, the gripper can be temporarily retracted upward so as not to obstruct the positioning operation of the plate material by the pusher. You will need it. Therefore, after the positioning in the orthogonal direction, the gripper must be lowered again to grip the plate material again, and then the operation of dropping the plate material onto the product carriage must be performed, and the transfer time becomes long.

An object of the present invention is to provide a plate material aligning device which eliminates wasteful time for positioning and shortens the plate material alignment transfer time. Another object of the present invention is
This is to enable accurate positioning with a simple configuration. Still another object of the present invention is to enable positioning of a plate material in two directions orthogonal to each other efficiently with no dead time.

[0006]

The structure of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 corresponding to an embodiment. This plate material aligning device (3) is provided with a movable table (15) in which a plurality of conveyor rollers (16) are connected in a chain shape so as to be openable and closable in the transport direction, and roller drive means (rotating the conveyor rollers (16)). 20) is provided with the following configuration. That is, in the vicinity of the end of the moving table (15), the plate materials (Wa, Wb) sent on this table are
...) is provided, and a positioning control means for stopping the driving of the conveyor roller (16) by the roller driving means (20) in response to a detection signal from the plate material detecting means (33). (56) is provided. The plate material detecting means (33) is located closer to the starting end side than the end of the moving table (15) by a distance corresponding to the moving distance due to the inertia of the plate materials (Wa, Wb ...) After the rotation of the conveyor roller (16). You may arrange. The plate aligning device (3) includes plate members (Wa, Wb) on the moving table (15).
...) may be provided in the orthogonal direction with respect to the carrying direction to provide an orthogonal positioning mechanism (7) for positioning at a desired position.

[0007]

Function: A plate material (W that is placed on the moving table (15)
a, Wb ...) are moved by the rotation of the conveyor roller (16) by the roller driving means (20).
5) Sent up to the end of this table. The plate materials (Wa, Wb ...) Are detected by the plate material detection means (33), and the positioning control means (56) is responsive to the detection signal.
Is a conveyor roller (1
Stop driving 6). As a result, plate materials (Wa, W
b)) stops at the desired position. Conveyor rollers (16)
Even if the driving of the plate material is stopped, the plate materials (Wa, Wb ...) Move slightly due to inertia. By arranging it at the position, the plate materials (Wa, Wb ...) Can be stopped at the end of the moving table (15). In the case where the orthogonal direction positioning mechanism (7) is provided, while the plate materials (Wa, Wb ...) On the moving table (15) are conveyed by the drive of the conveyor rollers (16), the orthogonal direction positioning mechanism (7) is used. Press to position in the orthogonal direction. That is, the plate materials (Wa, Wb ...) Are pushed in the orthogonal direction while being conveyed and move obliquely, and the positioning in the conveying direction and the orthogonal direction can be performed at the same time. Therefore, positioning in both directions can be performed in a short time without wasting time.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a sheet metal processing line. A plate material aligning device 3 is arranged via a product transfer conveyor 2 on one side of a plate material processing machine 1 including a turret punch press. The product trolley 4 is arranged below the plate material aligning device 3, and the product plate material W processed by the plate material processing machine 1 is provided.
a, Wb (FIG. 3), etc. are sent to the plate material aligning device 3 via the product transfer conveyor 2 and transferred to the product carriage 4.

As shown in a plan view of FIG. 3, the plate material processing machine 1 has a turret 9 provided on a press frame 8 and a carriage 10 that moves back and forth, and is moved in the lateral direction installed on the carriage 10. The material plate W is gripped by the free work holder 11 and moved on the work table 12. The plate material processing machine 1 is provided with a processing head 13 for making a hole in the material plate material W and a sub-head 14 for cutting the micro joints of the product plate materials Wa, Wb ... Nibbling processed by the processing head 13. As shown by a chain line, the material plate material W is cut into a plurality of product plate materials Wa to Wf.

As shown in the front view of FIG. 1, the plate material aligning device 3 is a stock conveyor 5, the product cart 4 with an elevating table 4a that goes under the stock conveyor 5, a gripper 6, and an orthogonal direction positioning mechanism. And pusher 7. In the stock conveyor 5, a moving table 15 is installed on a conveyor frame 5a, and the moving table 15 is formed into a blind shape by connecting both ends of a large number of rotatable conveyor rollers 16 between a pair of endless chains 17. To be done. The chain 17 is mounted on the sprockets 18 at respective positions so that the chain 17 can travel on a predetermined route. By driving a part of the sprockets 18 by a motor 19, the moving table 15 moves above the product carriage 4. The S can be opened and closed from the closed position to the open position. Sprocket 18
Is provided so that the movable table 15 with the transport surface S opened is accommodated in a meandering shape.

Each conveyor roller 16 of the moving table 15
Are rotatably driven by the roller driving means 20.
The roller driving means 20 is provided with a plurality of pulleys 23 on a side surface of a connecting plate 22 connected to a conveyor frame 5 a via a link 21, and these pulleys 23 have endless belts 24.
It is configured by hanging. The connecting plate 22 can be moved up and down by driving a parallel link mechanism including the connecting plate 22 and the link 21 with a cylinder 25. When the connecting plate 22 descends, the endless belt 24 moves to the moving table 1
In the state of being pressed against the conveyor roller 16 of No. 5,
A motor 26 installed on the connecting plate 22 drives the endless belt 2
By rotating 4 the conveyor roller 16 can be rotated.

Conveyor frame 5 of stock conveyor 5
A gripper 6 is installed at a so that the gripper 6 can travel along a rail 27 that extends in the opening / closing direction of the moving table 15. The gripper 6 is a product plate material Wa, Wb, ...
To prevent the product plates Wa and Wb from flowing along with the opening operation of the moving table 15 when the product plates Wa and Wb are loaded on the product cart 4. The gripper 6 is composed of a gripper traveling body 6 ′ provided with a traveling drive device 28 for self-propelling, and a plurality of gripper main bodies 6 a mounted side by side in the conveyor width direction on the gripper traveling body 6 ′. The gripper body 6a is a mechanism for holding the ends of the product plate materials Wa, Wb ... With the upper and lower jaws, and an opening / closing cylinder 29 for driving the jaws up and down.
have.

The pusher 7 is a product plate material Wa, Wb ...
Is an orthogonal direction positioning mechanism that positions the product plate materials Wa, Wb ... In the orthogonal direction by pressing in the width direction of the plate material table 15, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction. The pusher 7 has a horizontally elongated plate-shaped pusher body 30 having an engaging recess 30a at the lower end which meshes with the conveyor roller 16 of the moving table 15 from above, an elevating cylinder 31 for vertically driving the pusher body 30, and the pusher body 30. It is composed of an advancing / retreating cylinder 32 (FIG. 4) and the like that is driven to advance / retreat in the orthogonal direction. It should be noted that the pusher main body 30 does not necessarily have to be moved up and down.

Near the end of the moving table 15, the product plate materials Wa, Wb ...
A plate material detection unit 33 for detecting the is provided. The plate material detecting means 33 includes a switch box 34 installed on the endless chain 17 of the moving table 15 as shown in FIG.
The second conveyor roller 1 from the end of the moving table 15
6A, a contact conductor 42, and this contact conductor 4
2 to the other conveyor rollers 16 through the product plate materials Wa, Wb ... The second conveyor roller 16A is electrically insulated from the endless chain 17 as described later. The switch box 34 has a relay-type switch 3 as shown in FIG.
A series circuit section of the excitation section 6 and the DC power supply 37 is provided,
The negative terminal 37a of the power source 37 is the endless chain 17
Grounded by connecting to a part of The plus terminal 37b is connected to the contact conductor 42 in the second conveyor roller 16A. The detection signal output terminal 36a of the switch 36 is connected to the positioning control means 56 of the transport control device 54 described later by the cable 43. The cable 43 is housed in a cable carrier 38 arranged along the endless chain 17.

The contact conductor 42 is a plate piece attached to the contact arm 41. The contact arm 41 is an endless chain 17
To the support plate 39 attached to the attachment 17a of
The contact conductor 42 is attached to the conveyor roller 16 by a spring 49 connected between a support plate 39 and a contact arm 41, which is vertically rotatably attached by a support shaft 40 parallel to the roller axis.
Pressed against A. The contact conductor 42 is the contact arm 4
Although it is fastened and fixed to the lower surface of No. 1 with a screw 46 and a nut 47, both sides of the contact arm 41 and the screw head and the nut 47
The insulating washers 44 and 45 are interposed between the contact arm 41 and the contact arm 41 so that the contact arm 41 is electrically insulated. Energization of the power supply 37 to the contact conductor 42 is performed by the nut 47.
This is done by connecting the cable 43 with a crimp terminal or the like.

The insulating structure of the second conveyor roller 16A with respect to the endless chain 17 is constructed as shown in FIGS. 5 (A) and 5 (B). Both ends of the shaft portion 16a of the conveyor roller 16A are fitted into the shaft holes 50a of the pair of block-shaped supports 50, respectively, and the supports 50 are made of an electrically insulating material such as nylon or other resin material. Attach these supports 50 to the attachments 1 of the endless chains 17 on both sides.
7a, and is attached by a screw 52 penetrating the attachment 17a from a lower clamping plate 51A arranged on the lower surface of the attachment 17a. Further, by fastening the two clamping plates 51A and 51B with bolts 53 penetrating from the lower clamping plate 51A to the upper clamping plate 51B arranged on the upper surface of the supporting shaft 50, the supporting shaft 50 is clamped to both clamping members 51A. , 51B. The conveyor roller 16A is such that the roller portion is rotatable with respect to the shaft portion 16a. In this way, the conveyor roller 16 </ b> A is insulated from the pair of chains 17 by supporting it via the support shaft 50 made of an electrically insulating material.

The product carriage 4, stock conveyor 5, gripper 6, pusher 7 and the like are controlled by a computer type conveyance control device 54 shown in FIG. 1, and the plate material processing machine 1 is controlled by a numerical control device 55. Transport control device 54
Is the stop position of the gripper 6, the closing position of the moving table 15, the pushing stop position of the pusher 7, the conveyor roller 16
It has a positioning control means 56 for controlling driving stop and the like, and an opening position control means 57 for stopping the opening operation of the moving table 15. Each stop position and the like can be obtained from a machining program of the numerical control device 55, loading position data of product plate materials set in other predetermined storage means, and the like.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. First, FIG.
When the product plate material Wa is cut from the material plate material W in the plate material processing machine 1 as shown in (A) and the micro joints are separated by the sub head 14, the product plate material Wa is
As indicated by arrows C, D, and E, the sheet material is sent from the work table 12 of the plate material processing machine 1 to the moving table 15 of the stock conveyor 5 via the product transfer conveyor 2. The moving table 15 is stopped in advance at a position where it is closed to the intended loading position on the product cart 4. The gripper 6 is also made to stand by in advance at the planned loading position. The planned loading position of the product plate material indicated by the symbol Wa in the drawing is the left rear part of the product carriage 4 corresponding to the plate cutting position of the material plate material W.

When the product plate material Wa is loaded on the moving table 15, the cylinder 25 of the roller driving means 20 is actuated, the endless belt 24 is pressed against the conveyor roller 16 of the moving table 15, and the motor 26 is driven. , The conveyor rollers 16 rotate as shown in FIG. 6B, and the product plate material Wa is fed in the transport direction. In parallel with this operation, the advancing / retreating cylinder 32 of the pusher 7 operates and the pusher main body 30 moves in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction as shown in FIG. 6C.

By such an operation, the product plate Wa is obliquely fed on the moving table 15 toward the upper side of the planned loading position as shown by the arrow in FIG. 6 (C). Product plate material W
When a is sent from the end of the moving table 15 to the place where it is placed on the second conveyor roller 16A, the contact conductor 42 of the plate material detecting means 33 comes into contact with the product plate material Wa, and another conveyor roller via the product plate material Wa. It is electrically connected to 16. As a result, the electric circuit composed of the switch 36, the power source 37, the energizing path 35, etc. constituting the plate material detecting means 33 is changed from the open circuit to the closed circuit, the switch 36 is turned on, and the plate material composed of the ON signal. The detection signal is sent to the positioning control means 56. In response to the plate material detection signal, the positioning control means 56 causes the roller driving means 2 to move.
A stop command is given to the motor 26 of 0, and the rotation of the conveyor roller 16 is stopped. The product plate material Wa further moves slightly after the conveyor roller 16 stops rotating due to inertia,
Although it stops on the conveyor roller 16 at the end of the moving table 15, the inertial movement distance is calculated in advance and the standby position of the moving table 15 is set, so that the product plate material Wa is directly above the intended loading position. Stopped at.

After this, the endless belt 24 of the roller driving means 20 retracts upward, and the pusher 7 also returns to the standby position,
As shown in FIG. 7A, the gripper 6 descends from the retracted position and grips the end of the product plate material Wa. Next, FIG. 7 (B)
As described above, the endless chain 17 is driven in the direction of the arrow A, and the movement table 15 is opened. As a result, when one end of the product plate material Wa falls onto the loading plate material Wa on the product carriage 4, the gripping by the gripper 6 is released, and the entire product plate material Wa is dropped onto the product carriage 4 and loaded.

The moving table 15 moves to a position where it closes above the next loading position, and the gripper 6 also moves above the next loading position and waits. As shown in FIG. 8A, when the product plate material Wb in the middle part of the material plate material W is cut and processed by the plate material processing machine 1, the moving table 15 is arranged at the loading position of the intermediate product plate material Wb in the product carriage 4. The gripper 6 is moved to a position where the upper part is closed, and the gripper 6 also stands by above the planned loading position. Thereafter, similar to the above-described operation, as shown in FIG. 8 (B), the product plate material Wb is sent in the conveying direction on the moving table 15 by the rotational driving of the conveyor roller 16, and is pushed in the width direction by the pusher 7, 8C, the product plate material Wb is positioned and stopped at the planned loading position of the product plate material Wb in the rear intermediate part of the product carriage 4. After that, as shown in FIG. 9A, the gripper 6 grips the end of the product plate Wb, the moving table 15 is opened as shown in FIG. 9B, and the product plate Wb is loaded on the product carriage 4. .

By repeating such operations, the product plate materials Wa, Wb, ... Are stacked on the product carriage 4 at the planned stacking position corresponding to the plate removing position. When the loading of one sheet of the material plate material W is completed, the lifting platform 4a of the product cart 4 is lowered by the thickness of one sheet to prepare for the next loading.

According to the plate material aligning device 3, the gripper 6
Is not used for pulling out or positioning the product plate materials Wa, Wb ..., The plate material is fed by the rotation of the conveyor roller 16 of the moving table 15, and the plate material detecting means 33 arranged on the moving table 15 detects the product plate materials Wa, Wb. Since the rotation of the conveyor roller 16 is detected and the product plate materials Wa, Wb ... Are positioned with respect to the conveying direction, the gripper 6 does not interfere with the operation of the pusher 7. Therefore, positioning of the product plate materials Wa, Wb ...
Since the positioning in the width direction by the pusher 7 can be performed in parallel, no unnecessary waiting time occurs, and the product plate Wa,
The time for aligning and transferring Wb ... can be greatly shortened.

[0025]

According to the plate material aligning apparatus of the present invention, a plate material detecting means for detecting a plate material fed on the table is provided near the end of the moving table, and the positioning control means responds to the detection signal of the plate material detecting means. Since the rotary drive of the conveyor roller of the moving table is stopped, the gripper is not required for positioning the plate material in the transport direction. Therefore, there is no problem of the gripper interfering with each other, and the plate material can be positioned at the same time in the two directions of the transport direction and the orthogonal direction, and the alignment transfer time can be significantly shortened. When the plate material detecting means is arranged on the start side of the moving table by a distance corresponding to the inertial moving distance of the plate material after the rotation of the conveyor roller is stopped, the plate material can be positioned at an appropriate position even if inertial movement occurs. You can do it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a plate material aligning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a plate material processing line including the plate material aligning device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an essential part of a plate material processing machine on the processing line.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the plate material aligning device.

5A is a plan view of a plate material detecting unit in the plate material aligning apparatus, FIG. 5B is a front view of the plate material detecting unit, and FIG.
A sectional view taken in the direction of the arrow, (D) is an electric circuit diagram in the switch box constituting the plate material detecting means.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a first half of an operation cycle of the plate material aligning device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the latter half of the same operation cycle.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a first half of another operation cycle of the plate material aligning device.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the latter half of the same operation cycle.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 ... Plate material aligning device, 7 ... Pusher (orthogonal direction positioning mechanism), 15 ... Moving table, 16, 16A ... Conveyor roller, 20 ... Roller driving means, 33 ... Plate material detecting means,
56 ... Positioning control means, Wa to Wf ... Product plate material

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A moving table in which a plurality of conveyor rollers are connected in a chain shape is provided so as to be openable and closable in the conveying direction,
A plate material aligning device provided with roller driving means for rotating the conveyor roller, wherein plate material detecting means for detecting a plate material sent on the table is provided near the end of the moving table, and the plate material detecting means detects the plate material. A plate material aligning device provided with positioning control means for stopping the driving of the conveyor roller by the roller driving means in response to a signal. 2. The plate material aligning device according to claim 1, wherein the plate material detecting means is arranged on the starting end side of the end of the moving table by a distance corresponding to a moving distance due to inertia of the plate material after rotation of the conveyor roller. . 3. The plate material aligning device according to claim 1, further comprising an orthogonal direction positioning mechanism for pressing the plate material on the moving table in a direction orthogonal to the carrying direction to position the plate material at a desired position.