JPH09104520A - Material aligning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce noise, required space, and cost in a material aligning device. SOLUTION: Caliper material 12 as subject material is charged into a drum part 14, a rotary disc 14b is rotated, and a photoelectric sensor is actuated. A control part performs surface/back attitude determination of the caliper material 12 based on outputted result of the photoelectric sensor. After surface/ back attitude determination, the control part stops the rotary disc 14b at a corresponding position to a surface/back attitude of the caliper material 12. In the case where the caliper material 12 is determined to be at an attitude other than the surface/back attitude, a vertical cylinder 19 and a pusher 24 are driven, and the caliper material is corrected to the surface/back attitude. The caliper material 12, after stop of the rotary disc 14b, is guided by a feed bar 20 to an aligning rail 26, and an arm gets on the aligning rail 26. The caliper material 12 is engaged at a balanced position about the arm as a rotation center, and it is arrayed on the aligning rail 26.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an aligning apparatus for aligning articles, and more particularly to an article aligning apparatus suitable for aligning calipers in a disc brake device manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of automatic aligning apparatus, a vibrating bowl type parts feeder has been used. The vibrating bowl-type parts feeder is composed of a bowl and a vibrating machine that vibrates the bowl in a single direction. At the center of the bottom surface of the bowl is a hopper which is a member compartment, and a wall surface is provided on the outer edge side of the hopper. A sorting passage is provided in a spiral shape on the wall surface, and the members are arranged by passing through the sorting passage. Further, a chute for storing the aligned members is provided at the end of the sorting passage, and the members aligned by the passage of the sorting passage are successively sent to the chute and stored.

A procedure for aligning caliper materials using the above-mentioned vibrating bowl type part feeder will be described below. The caliper material is a name used in a disc brake device before caliper processing, and indicates a form formed by casting.

First, a plurality of caliper materials are put into a hopper. Then, the vibrating machine is operated from the state where the caliper material is randomly placed in the hopper to transmit the vibration to the caliper material in the hopper. The vibrated caliper material moves inside the hopper, is dispersed on the wall surface side that is the outer edge of the hopper, and then enters the sorting passage provided on the wall surface. The sorting passage spirals up along the wall surface, and the caliper materials that have climbed up the sorting passage in the middle are aligned in the same direction. A guide is provided for returning to the hopper. The caliper material that has entered the sorting passage is
Self-propelled energy is given by the vibration from the vibrator and slowly rises up the sorting passage. At this time, the caliper material that enters the sorting passage in an unstable state, or that has entered the sorting passage in a posture that does not have the form to be aligned may drop by itself due to vibration from the vibrator during the sorting passage,
It is repelled from the sorting passage by the guide in the middle of the sorting passage and returned to the hopper again. The caliper material that remains on the sorting passage without being separated from the sorting passage by the action of these guides rises up the sorting passage in a uniformly aligned form. Then, the aligned caliper materials proceed to the end of the sorting passage and are successively fed into the chute while maintaining the aligned state.

[0005]

By the way, in this type of aligning device, since the caliper material is vibrated by the vibrator and the caliper material is self-propelled in the bowl for alignment, the caliper material and the caliper material are aligned. There is a problem in that the materials and caliper materials collide with each other, and noise is generated at that time, which deteriorates the environment around the alignment device.

Further, in the vibrating bowl type parts feeder, since a plurality of caliper materials before alignment are incorporated, a large area is required for the hopper itself.
Since the sorting passage is provided, the installation of the vibrating bowl-type parts feeder requires a large area, and there is a problem that space saving cannot be achieved.

Further, there is a problem that equipment investment for installing the vibrating bowl type parts feeder is required, resulting in a high equipment investment cost.

The present invention focuses on the problems of the above-mentioned conventional parts feeder, promotes noise reduction by aligning articles without using vibration, further reduces the installation floor area, and suppresses capital investment cost. An object of the present invention is to provide an article aligning device that can be used.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned problems, an article aligning apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a turntable capable of receiving articles and a position capable of detecting the attitude of the articles placed on the turntable. A sensor deployed, the front and back posture of the article is determined from the output of the sensor, a control unit that rotates the turntable to a preset stop position according to the front and back posture, and a pushing unit that moves the article,
It is configured to have a receiving member that holds the article moved by the pushing portion.

Further, when the control unit determines from the output of the sensor that the posture of the article is other than the front and back posture, the pushing unit corrects the article to the front and back posture. Further, the receiving member is set to be hooked at a place other than the center of gravity of the article.

Further, when the article is a disc brake caliper member, the caliper member has a cylinder portion into which a piston for pressing one pad is fitted, and the cylinder portion in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the piston. A pair of arms protruding from the other, a claw portion that presses the other pad, a bridge portion that connects the cylinder portion and the claw portion, the caliper member moved by the pushing portion,
It is assumed that the pair of arms hooks on the receiving member.

[0012]

In the article arranging apparatus having the above structure, the output of the sensor varies depending on the orientation of the article placed on the turntable, so that the front-back orientation of the article can be determined based on the output result of this sensor. Further, by stopping the turntable at a position according to the front / back posture of the article based on the determination result, the posture can be divided into the front side article and the back side article. Further, when the article is pushed out and hooked on the receiving member, the receiving member is supposed to hook at a position other than the position of the center of gravity of the article, so that the article has the contact point with the receiving member as the center of rotation, It becomes a balanced posture due to its own weight.
For this reason, items that are on the front side of the turntable,
Since the articles on the back side also have the same posture on the receiving member, the articles can be aligned.

Further, when the article has a posture other than the front and back postures on the turntable, the pushing portion is operated to correct the posture of the article to the front and back postures.

When the article is a disc brake caliper material, the caliper material is moved to the receiving member by the pushing portion. Then, when the pair of arms of the caliper material is hooked on the receiving member, the caliper material takes a contact point with the receiving member as a center of rotation and is in a posture of being balanced by its own weight, so that the caliper material can be aligned.

As a result, the articles can be aligned without using the vibrating parts feeder, so that the generation of noise, the occupation of the place and the increase of the equipment investment cost can be prevented.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A procedure for aligning caliper materials in a disc brake device manufacturing process using the article aligning device according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall view of a caliper material alignment device according to an embodiment. Caliper material aligning apparatus 10 according to this embodiment
Immediately after, a caliper processing machine (not shown) is arranged. The caliper processing machine is an apparatus for processing the caliper material 12 that is a member having a different shape manufactured by casting into a caliper used in a disc brake device. In addition, a storage box (not shown) for storing the caliper material 12 before alignment is provided immediately before the caliper material alignment apparatus 10. A caliper material alignment apparatus is provided from this storage box by using a material loading machine. It is possible to put the caliper material 12 into the 10.

The caliper material aligning device 10 is provided with a drum portion 14 capable of receiving the caliper material 12. The drum portion 14 is a turntable 14b serving as a turntable, and the caliper material is placed on the turntable 14b. It is composed of a drum 14a which prevents 12 from dropping. Further, the volume of the drum portion 14 has a first purpose of increasing the work efficiency by receiving the caliper material 12 in a uniform posture as much as possible. For the second purpose of preventing malfunction, the caliper material 12 is large enough to fit in. A motor 16 is provided near the rotary disk 14b, and a drive belt 18 is stretched between the rotary disk 14b and the motor 16. By rotating the motor 16 here,
The drive belt 18 transmits the rotational force of the motor 16 to the rotary disc 14b, so that the rotary disc 14b can rotate. Further, the upper and lower cylinders 19 are connected to the turntable 14b,
By driving the upper and lower cylinders 19, the turntable 14b can be moved up and down.

A feed bar 20 serving as an extruding portion is provided on the material feeder side of the drum portion 14, and this feed bar 20 is provided by a rodless feed cylinder 22 provided on the upper part of the caliper material aligning device 10. It is possible to move from the material loading machine side to the caliper processing machine side. Further, the height of the feed bar 20 is located above the top end of the drum 14a. From this, caliper material 12
When the turntable 14b on which is mounted rises to the uppermost position by driving the upper and lower cylinders 19, the feed bar 20 can be moved to the caliper processing machine side to eject the caliper material 12 from the turntable 14b. Has become.

Further, the pusher 2 is attached to the tip of the feed bar 20.
4 is provided, and the pusher 24 is provided with the feed bar 2
It is possible to move in the same direction as 0. Then, the pusher 24 is moved so that the tip end of the pusher 24 is moved to the drum unit 1.
By contacting the caliper material 12 inside the drum 4, the posture of the caliper material 12 inside the drum portion 14 can be changed.

On the caliper processing machine side of the drum portion 14, two alignment rails 26, which are receiving members, are provided in parallel with the feed cylinder 22. The alignment rail 26
The spacing between the arms 12 is such that the alignment rails 26 are provided on the guide pin side and the lock pin side of the caliper material 12.
Upon receiving a, the caliper material 12 is set so that it can be hooked on the alignment rail 26. Then, the caliper material 12 on the most caliper processing machine side aligned on the alignment rail 26 is clamped by the loading hand 28,
It is sent to the caliper processing machine.

Further, a photoelectric sensor 30 serving as a sensor is provided on the side of the drum 14. The photoelectric sensor 30
Are composed of a light emitting side and a light receiving side, and five of them are installed so as to face each other with the drum portion 14 interposed therebetween. The five photoelectric sensors 30 are mounted on the rotary plate 1 from the installation position.
The posture of the caliper material 12 placed on 4b can be determined. Further, as will be described later, the output destination of the photoelectric sensor 30 is from the output of the photoelectric sensor 30 to the drum unit 14.
There is provided a control unit that can determine the attitude of the caliper material 12 inside and perform an operation according to the attitude of the caliper material 12. The operation of the caliper material aligning device having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 shows the caliper material 12 in the drum portion 14.
3 is a state diagram showing the positional relationship between the posture of the caliper and the photoelectric sensor 30, and FIG. 3 shows the determination of the posture of the material of the caliper by the output of the photoelectric sensor 30 corresponding to the posture of the caliper material 12 in the drum portion 14. It is a thing.

The material inserting machine is used for the caliper material 12 before being aligned.
One caliper material aligning device 10 from the storage box
It is put in the drum section 14 of. Then, in the caliper material aligning device, after the caliper material 12 is received in the drum portion 14, the turntable 14b is rotated. While rotating the turntable 14b, the photoelectric sensor 30 provided near the side of the drum unit 14 is operated, and the control unit determines the attitude of the caliper material 12 in the drum unit 14. Here, as the procedure for the attitude determination by the control unit, the output from the photoelectric sensor 30 is monitored at least while the caliper material 12 makes one rotation before the attitude determination is performed. Then, it is confirmed whether or not the output of the photoelectric sensor 30 during rotation corresponds to the output result of the predetermined posture. If there is a result corresponding to the output result of the predetermined posture by this confirmation operation, the control unit determines that the posture is the predetermined posture. If there is no corresponding one, it is determined to be a posture other than the predetermined posture.

When the caliper material 12 is loaded into the drum section 14 by the material loading machine, most of the caliper material 12 assumes the posture shown in FIG. In the case of the front side posture as shown in (1), the caliper material 12 in the drum portion 14 is the photoelectric sensors 30c, 30.
Since the optical axis of d is blocked, the light does not reach the light receiving portions of the photoelectric sensors 30c and 30d, and the light receiving portion output of the photoelectric sensor 30 is ON.
Becomes Moreover, since the optical axes of the photoelectric sensors 30a, 30b, and 30e are not blocked by the caliper material 12,
Light reaches the light receiving portion of the photoelectric sensor 30. Therefore, the output of the light receiving unit of the photoelectric sensor 30 is turned off. Further, in the case of the back side posture shown in (2), the photoelectric sensors 30d and 30e are similarly set.
Light does not reach the light receiving portion of the photoelectric sensor 30, and the photoelectric sensor 3
The light receiving unit output of 0 is turned on. In addition, the photoelectric sensor 30a,
Since light reaches the light receiving portion of the photoelectric sensor 30 in 30b and 30c, the light receiving portion output of the photoelectric sensor 30 is turned off. In this way, the attitude of the caliper material 12 in the drum portion 14 can be determined from the output results of these photoelectric sensors 30. Then, after determining the attitude of the caliper material 12, the motor 16 is stopped and the turntable 14b is stopped.

However, the caliper material 12 is placed in the drum portion 14.
When throwing in, the standing posture shown in FIG. 4 also occurs. In order for the control unit to determine these postures, as described above,
After putting the caliper material 12 into the drum portion 14, the turntable 1
Rotate 4b. Then, the turntable 14b is rotated and the photoelectric sensor 30 is operated. Photoelectric sensor 30
Is different from the output result indicating the front side posture or the back side posture of the caliper material 12,
The control unit determines that is in a standing posture. As will be described later, in order to align the caliper material 12, it is necessary to make the caliper material 12 in the above-described front side posture or back side posture. Therefore, in order to correct the standing posture of the caliper material 12, the photoelectric sensor 3
After the determination at 0 is completed, the turntable 14b is temporarily stopped. Then, the upper and lower cylinders 19 and the pusher 24 are driven to correct the posture of the caliper material 12 in the drum portion 14.
In the posture of the caliper material 12 as shown in (1), it is effective to drive the pusher 24. Pusher 2
By driving 4, the caliper material 12 is brought into contact with the caliper material 12, and the caliper material 12 is pushed down into the drum portion 14,
Correct the posture to the back side. Further, in the attitude of the caliper material 12 as shown in (2), it is effective to drive the upper and lower cylinders 19 since the center of gravity of the caliper material 12 is located at the upper part. By driving the upper and lower cylinders 19, the turntable 14b moves up and down to move the center of gravity of the caliper material 12. By moving this center of gravity, caliper material 1
For No. 2, the balance is broken and the person falls and is corrected to the front posture. When these operations are completed, the turntable 14b is again used.
Rotate the photoelectric sensor 30 to activate the caliper material 3
Check whether 0 is the front side posture or the back side posture. If the control unit determines that the standing posture of the caliper material 12 has not changed by this confirmation operation, the rotary table 14b is stopped again, and the vertical cylinder 19 and the pusher 24 are driven to correct the posture of the caliper material 12. To do. When the standing posture is corrected to the front posture or the back posture in the first operation, the motor 16 is stopped and the turntable 14b is stopped.

By performing the above operation, it is determined that the caliper posture in the drum portion 14 is the front side posture or the back side posture,
When stopping the turntable 14b, the stop position of the turntable 14b is changed according to the attitude of the caliper material 12 in the drum portion 14. FIG. 5 is an upper side view showing the stop position of the turntable 14b. That is, when the caliper material 12 is in the backside posture as shown in (2), the armature 12a provided on the guide pin side and the lock pin side of the caliper material 12 is positioned at the stop position of the turntable 14b. It is stopped at a position orthogonal to 26 and closest to the alignment rail 26. Although not shown, when the caliper material 12 is in the front posture, the arms 12a provided on the guide pin side and the lock pin side of the caliper material 12 are orthogonal to the alignment rail 26 and farthest from the alignment rail 26. Stop at the position where

The caliper material 12 on the turntable 14b
After stopping the turntable 14b by judging the front and back postures, the turntable 14b is raised by using the upper and lower cylinders 19. Then, the feed bar 20 is brought into contact with the caliper material 12 exposed from the upper portion of the drum 14a by the rise of the turntable 14b, and the feed bar 20 is moved to the caliper processing machine side. The caliper material 12 moves to the caliper processing machine side with the movement of the feed bar 20, and when the feed bar 20 is further moved to the caliper processing machine side, the caliper material 12 comes to the guide pin side and the lock pin side. Arm 12a provided
Rides on the alignment rail 26.

By the way, the center of gravity of the caliper material 12 on the alignment rail 26 is separated from the center of rotation about the arm 12a serving as a hook. From this, the caliper material 12 immediately after riding on the alignment rail 26 is
With the arm 12a as the center of rotation, reciprocating motion is performed like a pendulum. However, the reciprocating motion subsides with the lapse of time, and the caliper material 12 hangs at the equilibrium position with the arm 12a as the center of rotation. After the caliper material 12 is placed on the alignment rail 26, the feed bar 20 is pulled back to the original drum portion 14 side.

FIG. 6 shows the caliper material 1 on the alignment rail 26.
FIG. 2 is a state diagram showing a state in which 2 rides up and stops. The posture of the caliper material 12 when the feed bar 20 pushes out the caliper material 12 is set to the front side posture and the back side posture as described above. Since the stop position of the turntable 14b is changed according to these postures, the caliper material 1
The direction in which 2 is hooked on the alignment rail 26 is the same.

By repeating such operations, the caliper materials 12 fed from the material loading machine are successively fed to the alignment rails 26, so that the caliper materials 12 are aligned on the alignment rails 26. The loading hand 28 is placed in order from the caliper material 12 placed closest to the caliper processing machine side.
Is used to supply the caliper processing machine.

In this embodiment, the caliper material is used as the article for explanation. However, if the article has different front and back postures, and the center of rotation and the center of gravity of the article are different when the article is hooked on the receiving member, the alignment can be performed by the above-described method. is there. The sensor that detects the front and back posture may be installed at a position that can detect that the front and back posture of the article on the turntable 14b is different.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A turntable capable of accepting an article, a sensor arranged at a position capable of detecting the orientation of the article placed on the turntable, a front / back posture of the article is determined from an output of the sensor, and the turn is performed according to the front / back posture. A control unit for rotating the table to a preset stop position, a push-out unit for moving the article, and a receiving member for hooking the article moved by the push-out unit, and a hooking position of the article Is different from the position of the center of gravity, so that the articles can be aligned on the receiving member. Further, when the control unit determines from the output of the sensor that the posture of the article is other than the front and back posture, the pushing unit corrects the article to the front and back posture, so that the article is not in the front and back posture. You can make corrections even if you are in a posture. Further, when the article is a disc brake caliper material, the caliper material is moved to the receiving member by the pushing portion. Then, when the pair of arms of the caliper material is hooked on the receiving member, the caliper material takes a contact point with the receiving member as a center of rotation and is in a posture of being balanced by its own weight, so that the caliper material can be aligned. As a result, the articles can be aligned without using the vibrating parts feeder, so that it is possible to prevent noise, occupation of the place, and increase of the equipment investment cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a caliper material aligning device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a state diagram showing a positional relationship between a posture of a caliper material and a photoelectric sensor.

FIG. 3 is a determination table of the attitude of the caliper material based on the output of the photoelectric sensor.

FIG. 4 is a state diagram showing a posture of a caliper material in a drum portion.

FIG. 5 is an upper side view showing a stop position of the turntable.

FIG. 6 is a state diagram showing a state in which a caliper material is hooked on an alignment rail.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Caliper Material Aligning Device 12 Caliper Material 12a Arm 14 Drum Part 14a Drum 14b Rotating Plate 16 Motor 18 Drive Belt 19 Vertical Cylinder 20 Feed Bar 22 Feed Cylinder 24 Pusher 26 Alignment Rail 28 Inserting Hand 30 Photoelectric Sensor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A turntable capable of accepting an article, a sensor provided at a position capable of detecting the orientation of the article placed on the turntable, and a front-back orientation by determining the front-back orientation of the article from the output of the sensor. According to the control unit for rotating the turntable to a preset stop position, a pushing unit for moving the article, and a receiving member for hooking the article moved by the pushing unit. Article aligning device. 2. The push-out unit corrects the article to the front / back posture when the control unit determines from the output of the sensor that the posture of the article is other than the front / back posture. Item alignment device according to. 3. The article aligning device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving member hooks at a place other than a center of gravity of the articles. 4. The article is a disc brake caliper member, wherein the caliper member includes a cylinder portion into which a piston that presses one pad is fitted, and the caliper member from the cylinder portion in a direction orthogonal to an axis of the piston. The caliper member that has a pair of protruding arms, a claw portion that presses the other pad, and a bridge portion that connects the cylinder portion and the claw portion, and that is moved by the pushing portion is The article alignment device according to claim 1, wherein the article alignment device is hooked on the receiving member.