JPH09206856A - Transfer feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To greatly reduce the set-up time by dispensing with the exchanging work of a jaw and a work sucking means by changing the carrying method. SOLUTION: In a transfer feeder capable of selecting a finger carrying means to clamp and carry a work 2 by a jaw 3 and a vacuum carrying method to suck and carry the work 2 by a work sucking means 29, the work sucking means 29 capable of being retreated to the position not to be interfered with the work by a retreating means 30 in the finger carriage mode and the jaw 3 capable of being retreated to the position not to be interfered with the work 2 by a retreating means 14 in the vacuum carriage mode are provided at the position opposite to a pair of transfer bars 1 continuously arranged in the work carrying direction. Because both the finger carriage and the vacuum carriage are available without requiring the changing work of the jaw 3 and the work sucking means 29, the work to change the jaw 3 with the work sucking means 29 is dispensed with in the internal set-up in a press body.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer feeder capable of carrying fingers and vacuum.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a transfer press having a plurality of processing stations in a press body is equipped with a transfer feeder that carries a work in and out of the press body and sequentially conveys the work to each processing station. Some of the transfer feeders described above employ a finger transfer method in which a work is clamped and transferred by fingers or jaws, and a vacuum transfer method in which a work is sucked and transferred by a work suction means such as a vacuum cup. Further, for example, as in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 60-136830, a transfer feeder is also known in which finger conveyance and vacuum conveyance can be selected by making the fingers and the work suction means interchangeable.

On the other hand, in the conventional transfer press, a destack feeder is installed on the upstream side of the press main body, and the works separated by the destack feeder are conveyed to the work transfer position. Have been brought in. However, since the distance from the work transfer position to the first processing station in the press body is constant, if the feed pitch is changed, the destack feeder must be moved according to the feed pitch, and many man-hours are required for the change work. There is a defect that requires.

In order to improve such a problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
Japanese Patent No. 253627 proposes a jaw shift device for a transfer feeder, which makes it possible to carry in a work without moving the destack feeder even if the feed pitch is changed. The jaw shift device disclosed in the above publication is designed to carry the work conveyed to the work transfer position to the first processing station by shifting the jaw in the feed direction in synchronization with the feed operation of the transfer bar. Even if the pitch is changed, setup change work such as moving the destack feeder is not required, so that the man-hour required for the change can be reduced.

[0005]

However, in the jaw shift device of the above-mentioned publication, since the jaws are conveyed by clamping both ends of the work by the jaws, in the case of a work having a weak waist such as a large sheet material, There is a problem that the work cannot be loaded because the center part of the machine bends and interferes with the mold.

Further, since the jaw shift device is located on the most upstream side of the transfer bar, it cannot be carried out together with the die to the outside of the press main body when exchanging the die, and cannot be exchanged by external setup. For this reason, when it is used in a transfer feeder that can carry fingers and vacuums, the operator has to enter the press body and replace the jaws and work suction means by internal setup, which requires a lot of man-hours for replacement work. In addition, the work efficiency is low, and since the work is performed inside the press body, there is a problem that the work is dangerous. The present invention has been made to improve such a problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer feeder capable of finger transfer and vacuum transfer without requiring work such as exchanging the jaw and the work suction means in the internal setup. It is intended.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a finger transfer system for clamping and transferring a work by a jaw, and a vacuum transfer system for adsorbing and transferring a work by a work adsorbing means. In the transfer feeder which can be selected, at a position facing a pair of transfer bars arranged in parallel in the work transfer direction,
Work suction means that can be retracted to a position that does not interfere with the work by the finger transport retracting means and jaws that are retractable to the position that does not interfere with the work by the vacuum transport retracting means are provided.

With the above construction, since it is possible to deal with finger conveyance and vacuum conveyance without the need for exchanging the jaws and the work suction means, it is possible to greatly reduce the setup change time by changing the conveyance method. The property is improved. When molding a work such as a sheet material,
By selecting vacuum transfer, the work does not bend during transfer, so problems such as interference between the work and the die and difficulty in transfer of the work do not occur, and the operator does not enter the press. Since the work such as exchanging the jaw and the work suction means in the internal setup is not required, the safety of the worker can be achieved.

On the other hand, the jaw and the work suction means can be separately retracted by the independent retraction means, so that the jaw and the work suction means can be simultaneously retracted or advanced as required. In addition, by interlocking the jaw and work suction means so that they can be retracted alternately,
Since the evacuation means can be shared, the structure can be simplified.

[0010]

1 is a pair of transfer bars (only one is shown in the figure) installed in a transfer press (not shown), which are arranged in parallel in the work feed direction X. It is adapted to be driven in a two-dimensional direction of the feed direction X and the lift direction Z or in a three-dimensional direction of the feed direction X, the lift direction Z and the clamp direction Y by a drive device which is not provided.
Further, jaws 3 for clamping the work 2 are provided at a plurality of positions spaced from each other in the feed direction X at positions facing each other of the transfer bars 1.
The jaw 3 located on the most upstream side can be shifted in the feed direction X and the clamp direction Y by the jaw shift device 4 shown in FIG.

The jaw shift device 4 includes a pair of guide rails 5 on the upper surface of the transfer bar 1 in the feed direction X.
Are laid, and a movable body 6 is movably supported on the guide rail 5 in the feed direction X. The movable body 6 has a ball nut (not shown) which is screwed onto a ball screw shaft 7 provided on the outer surface of the transfer bar 1 so as to be parallel to the outer surface of the transfer bar 1. By rotating the ball screw shaft 7 by the X-axis servomotor 10 connected via the movable body 6
Can be shifted in the feed direction X along the guide rail 5.

On the other hand, another ball screw shaft 12 is provided on the movable body 6 in the clamping direction Y. The ball screw shaft 12 is connected via a gear 13 to a clamp direction adjust / retract means 14 by an electric motor so that the ball screw shaft 12 can be rotated by the clamp direction adjust / retract means 14. A ball nut 16 provided at the rear end of the jaw mounting member 15 is screwed onto the jaw 12. The jaw mounting member 15 is guided by the guide member 17 so as to be movable in the clamping direction Y, and the tip of the jaw mounting member 15 has the jaw 3 mounted on its lateral surface. The jaw 3 has a claw body 3a that is opened and closed in the vertical direction by a clamp cylinder 18 so as to clamp the work 2 between these claw bodies 3a, and adjust the jaw 3 in the clamping direction Y. The amount is detected by the position encoder 20 which detects the rotation of the ball screw shaft 12. In the figure, 21 is a cable bear for moving cables 22 such as piping for sending fluid pressure to the clamp cylinder 18 and electric wiring for transmitting a signal from the misgrip detector, and 23 is an overrun of the movable body 6. It is a stopper.

On the other hand, on the upper surface of the jaw mounting member 15, a vacuum carrying means 26 is installed so as to be adjacent to the jaw 3. The vacuum transfer means 26 has a pair of guide rails 27 laid in the clamp direction Y on the jaw mounting member 15, and a slide 28 is movably supported by the guide rails 27 in the clamp direction Y. . A work suction means 29 such as a vacuum cup connected to a vacuum generating means (not shown) is attached to the lower surface of the slide 28 on the front end side through a vacuum pipe 31, and the base end side of the slide 27 is a jaw attachment member. It is connected to the tip of the piston rod 30a of the retracting means 30 which is an air cylinder installed on the shaft 15.

Next, the operation of the transfer feeder configured as described above will be described. In the case of finger conveyance in which the jaw 3 is used to convey the work 2, the slide 28 is retracted by the retracting means 30 so that the work suction means 29 of the vacuum conveyance means 26 does not interfere with the work 2, and the work suction means 29 is moved. Is retracted to the position shown in FIG. 3, and the ball screw shaft 12 is rotated by the clamp adjusting and retracting means 14 to advance the jaw 3 to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. Next, the transfer bar 1 is driven by a driving device (not shown).
3 in the feed direction X, lift direction Z, and clamp direction Y
The work 2 clamped between the jaws 3 is moved in the dimensional direction and carried into the first processing station from a destack feeder (not shown) installed on the upstream side of the press body, and at the first processing station. It is similar to the conventional transfer feeder that the work 2 that has been processed is sequentially transported to the second processing station and below, but the feed stroke of the transfer bar is changed, and the first processing is started from the work transfer position of the destack feeder. When the distance to the station changes, the most upstream jaw 3 is shifted as follows.

That is, with the transfer bar 1 returned, the most upstream jaw 3 is conveyed to the work transfer position of the destack feeder.
After clamping, the X-axis servomotor 10 rotates the ball screw shaft 7 in synchronization with the advance operation after the up operation of the transfer bar 1. This allows the movable body 6 to move in the advance direction X during the advance operation of the transfer bar 1.
The distance from the work transfer position to the first machining station, which has changed due to the change of the stroke of the transfer bar 1 and the shift of the transfer bar 1, is corrected by this shift operation, and when the transfer bar 1 shifts to the down operation, the work 2 Has reached the first processing station and is carried into the processing station with the down movement.

After that, the transfer bar 1 is operated in the unclamping direction and then the jaw 3 is shifted in the returning direction during the returning operation to return to the initial position, and the above operation is repeated thereafter to transfer the work of the destack feeder. The work 2 conveyed to the position is carried into the first processing station. Further, since the jaw 3 is also movable in the clamp direction Y by the clamp direction adjusting and retracting means 14, even if the size of the workpiece 2 to be conveyed is changed, the jaw 3 is correspondingly moved in the clamp direction Y. You can easily respond by simply moving.

On the other hand, when the work 2 is vacuum-conveyed by using the vacuum conveying means 26, the ball screw shaft 12 is rotated by the clamp direction adjusting and retracting means 14 so that the jaw 3 does not interfere with the work 2, and the jaw 3 is rotated.
To the position shown in FIG. 4, the slide 28 is moved forward by the retracting means 30, and the work suction means 29 is moved forward to the position shown in FIG. Next, the transfer bar 1 is moved in the feed direction X and the lift direction Z by a driving device (not shown).
In the two-dimensional direction, the work 2 conveyed to the work transfer position of the destack feeder is adsorbed by the work adsorbing means 29 and carried into the first machining station, and the work completed in the first machining station. 2 second
Even when the feed pitch is different between the vacuum transfer and the finger transfer, the shift device 4 shifts the most upstream vacuum transfer means 26 in synchronization with the feed operation. The work 2 can be loaded without changing the position of the destack feeder.

That is, when the feed pitch during vacuum conveyance is set to, for example, 1000 mm, the distance from the workpiece transfer position to the first processing station is 1
It is 000 mm. Next, when the fingers are conveyed at a feed pitch of 700 mm, for example, if the distance between the work transfer position and the first processing station is 1000 mm, the work 2 adsorbed at the work transfer position cannot be carried into the first processing station. Therefore, when the jaw 3 clamps the work 2 at the work transfer position, the ball screw shaft 7 is rotated by the X-axis servo motor 10 in synchronization with the advance operation after the up operation of the transfer bar 1.
The movable body 6 is shifted to the downstream side by 300 mm. As a result, the workpiece 2 below the first processing station is 700 mm
While being moved to the downstream side, the workpiece 2 is clamped at the workpiece transfer position and moved by 1000 mm,
Even if the distance from the work transfer position to the first processing station is 1000 mm, the work 2 adsorbed from the work transfer position can be carried into the first processing station at a feed pitch of 700 mm.

In the above embodiment, the slide 28 is retracted in the clamping direction Y by the retracting means 30 which is an air cylinder to retract the work suction means 29. As shown in FIG.
May be composed of a rack and a pinion. That is, a rack 33 is laid on the lower surface of the slide 28 in the clamp direction Y, and a pinion 34 that is normally and reversely rotated by a rotary drive source 35 is meshed with the rack 33 to form a retracting device. , Rotary drive source 35
By reversing the pinion 34 and retracting the slide 28, the work suction means 29 can be retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the work 2.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the base end of the mounting plate 36 is fixed to the jaw mounting member 15 instead of the slide 28, and the retracting means 30 composed of an air cylinder is installed at the tip of the mounting plate 36. The evacuation means 30
By attaching the work suction means 29 to the tip of the piston rod 30a which protrudes downward, the work suction means 29 can be retracted to the imaginary line position in FIG. 6 during finger transport.
Further, during vacuum conveyance, the work 2 can be adsorbed and conveyed by lowering the work adsorption means 29 to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. At this time, of course, the jaw 3 is the work 2
In order not to interfere with the position, it is retracted to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG.

On the other hand, FIGS. 7 and 8 show the work suction means 29.
Another embodiment of the present invention in which the vehicle is swung to retreat is shown, and this will be described next. A bracket 40 is attached to a side surface of a jaw attaching member 15 provided with the jaw 3, and a pivot shaft 41 provided in the bracket 40 in a vertical direction is rotatably supported via a bearing 42. A lever 43 is fixed to an intermediate portion of the swivel shaft 41, and a tip end of a piston rod 44a of a swivel retracting means 44 composed of an air cylinder is connected to the lever 43. Further, a base end portion of a revolving arm 45 is fixed to the upper end of the revolving shaft 41, and by revolving the revolving shaft 41 by the revolving and retracting means 44, the revolving arm 45 is retracted from the use position D in FIG. The work suction means 29 is mounted downward at the tip of the revolving arm 45 while being able to retreat to the position E.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
When the fingers are transported, the swivel retracting means 44 is used to swivel the arm 4.
5 is swung to the retracted position E shown in FIG. 7 so that the work suction means 29 does not interfere with the work 2. Then, in this state, the jaw attaching member 15 is advanced to a predetermined position by the clamp adjusting and retracting means 14, the work 2 is clamped by the jaw 3, and the work 2 is conveyed.

During vacuum conveyance, the jaw mounting member 15 is retracted to a position where the jaw 3 does not interfere with the work 2, and then the revolving and retracting means 44 revolves the revolving arm 45 to the use position D in FIG. The work 2 is sucked and conveyed by the means 29, and the chuck adjusting / retracting means 14 adjusts the jaw mounting member 15 in the clamping direction Y to adjust the suction position of the work suction means 29.

As a structure for retracting the work suction means 29, as shown in FIG. 9, the work suction means 29 is provided at the tip of a swing lever 47 having an intermediate portion pivotally supported by the jaw mounting member 15, and the swing lever 29 is provided. An evacuation means 48 composed of an air cylinder may be provided on the base end side of 47, and the evacuation means 48 may be used to oscillate the swing lever 47 in the vertical direction so that the work suction means 29 is retracted upward. .

Further, in any of the above-mentioned embodiments, the jaw 3 and the work suction means 29 are independently retracted means 14, 30,
Although they can be retracted separately by 44 and 48, when the jaws 3 are retracted by interlocking them, the work suction means 29 advances to the use position, and when the work suction means 29 is retracted, the jaw 3 advances to the use position. It may be configured to do so.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a jaw shift device provided in a transfer feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of jaw transfer means and vacuum transfer means provided in the transfer feeder according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view from arrow A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of the vacuum carrying means provided in the transfer feeder according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 (a) is an explanatory view of a vacuum carrying means provided in a transfer feeder according to another embodiment of the present invention. (B) It is sectional drawing which follows the BB line | wire of (A) of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a vacuum carrying means provided in a transfer feeder according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing vacuum conveying means of a transfer feeder according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a vacuum carrying means of a transfer feeder according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Transfer bar 2 ... Work 3 ... Jaw 14 ... Clamp adjust and evacuation means 29 ... Work suction means 30 ... Evacuation means.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication B23Q 11/00 B23Q 11/00 C

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A transfer feeder in which a finger transfer method of clamping and transferring a work 2 by a jaw 3 and a vacuum transfer method of adsorbing and transferring the work 2 by a work suction means 29 can be selected in parallel in the work transfer direction. At a position facing the pair of transfer bars 1 provided, a workpiece suction means 29 that can be retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the work 2 by the retracting means 30 during finger transport and a position that does not interfere with the work 2 by the retracting means 14 during vacuum transport. A transfer feeder characterized in that each retractable jaw 3 is provided. 2. The transfer feeder according to claim 1, wherein the jaw 3 and the work suction means 29 can be separately retracted by independent retracting means 14, 30. 3. The transfer feeder according to claim 1, wherein the jaw 3 and the work suction means 29 are interlocked with each other so that they can be retracted alternately.