JPH10249663A - Vacuum suction table - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum suction table that is excellent in working properties at the time of altering a suction area. SOLUTION: A table body 2 constituting a vacuum suction table 1 has a suction surface 3a for sucking a sucked work 5. Plural evacuating connective paths 7 are opened in this suction surface 3a. Each of blockers 14 blockades a part of these connective paths 7. These blockers 14 are made up of materials to be attracted to a magnet 15. Each of traveling spaces 13 is installed on these connective paths 7. Subsequently, each of these blockers 14 is stored in these traveling spaces 13 shiftably in an interval between both blockading and opening positions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum suction table.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, vacuum suction tables used for various processing machines such as milling machines have been known. FIG.
FIG. 11 shows an example of a conventional vacuum suction table 41.

The upper surface of a table body 42 constituting the vacuum suction table 41 is a suction surface 42a for sucking an object 46 to be sucked. A large number of evacuation communication paths 43 are formed in the table body 42. Each communication passage 4
One end of 3 is open at the suction surface 42a. A housing recess 44 is formed in the opening of the communication passage 43. In FIG. 10, the accommodating recesses 44 are arranged in a grid and at equal intervals. A rubber plug 45 as a closing body that closes the communication passage 43 can be fitted into these housing recesses 44. Then, a vacuum is evacuated from the lower side of each communication passage 43, so that the adsorption object 46 is adsorbed on the adsorption surface 42a.

[0004]

When using this kind of vacuum suction table 41, it may be desired to change the suction area of the suction surface 42a according to the size of the object 46 to be sucked. For that purpose, it is necessary to pierce the rubber plugs 45 fitted in the accommodation recesses 44 one by one or to embed them in different places.

When the rubber stopper 45 is taken in and out, a hole is formed in the rubber stopper 45 due to the use of a needle.
5 needs to be updated periodically, and furthermore, such work needs to be performed while securing a storage place for the rubber stopper 45.

[0006] However, the above-mentioned work is extremely troublesome and time-consuming, so that the workability is deteriorated. In addition, it has been pointed out that the piercing operation is particularly troublesome when the rubber stopper 45 is deeply embedded or when the rubber stopper 45 itself is small.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum suction table which is excellent in workability when changing a suction area.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a table body having an adsorbing surface for adsorbing an object to be adsorbed, and a table body having an opening at the adsorbing surface. A vacuum suction table comprising a vacuum communication path and a closing body for closing at least a part of the communication path, wherein the closing body is attracted to a magnet or repelled. The gist of the present invention is a vacuum suction table which is made of a material and wherein the closing member is movably accommodated between a closing position and an opening position in a moving space provided on each of the communication paths.

[0009] In the invention described in claim 2, in claim 1, the table main body comprises an upper plate and a lower plate, and the table main body is provided on at least one of a joint surface of the upper plate and a joint surface of the lower plate. A groove which became a part of the moving space was formed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, each of the moving spaces extends horizontally and parallel to the suction surface. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, a positioning projection for fixing and holding the closing body at a closing position or an opening position is formed in the moving space.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the closing body is a disc-shaped closing piece made of iron. Hereinafter, the “action” of the present invention will be described.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the communication path in which the closing body in the moving space is moving to the closing position is in a closed state, the area where the communication path is located is not evacuated. This is the non-suction area. On the other hand, since the communication path in which the closing body in the moving space is moving to the open position is in an open state, the area where the communication path is located is evacuated, and that area becomes the suction area. In this case, since the position of the closing body can be relatively easily moved using a magnet or the like, the workability when changing the suction area is improved as compared with the related art.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the moving space can be easily formed at a location where the groove is formed by joining the upper body and the lower plate. In addition, with this configuration, it is easy to accommodate the closing body in the moving space. Therefore, the production can be facilitated.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by moving the magnet or the like in a specific direction horizontal to the attraction surface, each closing body at the open position can be moved to the closing position. Further, by moving the magnet or the like in the direction opposite to the specific direction, each closed body at the closed position can be moved to the open position. Therefore, the workability can be further improved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the closing body is fixedly held at the closing position or the opening position due to the presence of the positioning projection. For this reason, even when vibrations, shocks, or the like are applied to the vacuum suction table, no displacement of the closing body occurs, and the suction state of the object to be suctioned is stabilized.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, iron is an inexpensive and preferable material which is adsorbed by a magnet, etc.
Since it is easy to manufacture even in shape, the cost and manufacturing of the vacuum suction table can be reduced.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A vacuum suction table 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, etc., a table main body 2 constituting a vacuum suction table 1 of the present embodiment comprises:
The upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4 are formed by joining using flathead screws (not shown).

FIG. 2 shows an upper surface 3a of the upper plate 3, which is an adsorption surface 3a for adsorbing the object 5 to be adsorbed. FIG.
Shows a lower surface (ie, a joint surface) 3b of the upper plate 3. Many through holes 6 are formed in the upper plate 3. These through holes 6 penetrate the upper and lower surfaces 3a and 3b of the upper plate 3. The through holes 6 are regularly arranged in a lattice. In addition, these through holes 6 constitute a part of the communication path 7 for evacuation.

On the lower surface 3b of the upper plate 3, a number of grooves 8 are formed by well-known groove processing. These grooves 8
Extend in the left-right direction of FIG. 3 and are in parallel with each other. Further, both ends of the groove 8 are rounded. The opening of the through hole 6 is located on the bottom surface of the groove 8.
As shown in FIG. 3, the opening of the through hole 6 is located at a position closer to the right side in FIG.

Specifically, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the upper plate 3 is 8.6 mm, the length of the through hole 6 is 6.0 mm, the diameter of the through hole 6 is 8.0 mm, and The pitch is 40 mm, the depth of the groove 8 is 2.6 mm, the length of the groove 8 is 30 mm, and the width of the groove 8 is 12.5 mm. Further, the upper plate 3 of the present embodiment is made of graphite. This is because graphite is not so hard, so that it is hard to break even when the cutting blade hits the suction surface 3a. When strength is required for the upper plate 3, for example, isotropic graphite may be selected as a material. The upper plate 3
Is preferably made of a material that is not attracted to the magnet or a material that repels the magnet. In that respect, graphite satisfies such conditions. Further, the thickness of the upper plate 3 (more specifically, the thickness from the bottom of the groove 8 to the suction surface 3a) is preferably a thickness that can sufficiently transmit the magnetic field lines of the closing body moving means described later. . In this regard, the upper plate 3 of the present embodiment in which this thickness is set to 6.0 mm {= (thickness of the upper plate 3) 8.6 mm- (depth of the groove 8) 2.6 mm}, Meets Graphite itself is also preferable as the magnetically permeable material. Furthermore, in order to make the adsorption table 1 with increased strength, for example, it is preferable to use a C / C composite or a material obtained by combining a C / C composite with an isotropic graphite material.

FIG. 4 shows the upper surface (that is, the joining surface) 4 of the lower plate 4.
a is shown. FIG. 5 shows the lower surface 4 b of the lower plate 4. Many through holes 9 are also formed in the lower plate 4. These through holes 9 penetrate the upper and lower surfaces 4a, 4b of the lower plate 4. The through holes 9 are regularly arranged in a lattice. In addition, these through holes 9 are provided in the upper plate 3.
A communication passage 7 for evacuation is formed together with the through hole 6 on the side.
On the lower surface 4a of the lower plate 4, suction slits 10 are formed in a lattice shape in order to uniformize the evacuation. The opening of each through hole 9 is located exactly at the intersection of the suction slits 10. In the present embodiment, the suction slit (depth 10 mm, width 8 mm) 10 is formed by slit processing.

A large number of grooves 11 are formed on the upper surface 4a of the lower plate 4 by groove processing. These grooves 11 are shown in FIG.
And extend in the left-right direction, and are in parallel with each other. Further, both ends of the groove 11 have a round shape as in the case of the groove 8. At the center of the bottom surface of each groove 11, a substantially drum-shaped positioning projection 12 is formed.
These positioning projections 12 serve to fix and hold an after-mentioned closing body at a closing position or an open position.
Such positioning projections 12 can be formed by, for example, boring both ends of the groove 11 slightly deeper than the center. Further, a through hole 9 is located on the bottom surface of the groove 11 on the right side of the positioning protrusion 12.

To be specific, in this embodiment, the thickness of the lower plate 4 is 7.3 mm, the length of the through hole 9 is 4.0 mm, the diameter of the through hole 9 is 8.0 mm, and The pitch is 40 mm, the depth of the bottom of the groove 11 is 2.6 mm, and the length of the groove 11 is 30 m.
m, the width of the groove 11 is 12.5 mm, and the height of the positioning projection 12 is 1.3 mm. In this embodiment, the lower plate 4 is also made of isotropic graphite.

FIGS. 6A to 6C show a state in which the table body 2 is formed by joining the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4 together. As a result, the moving space 13 is defined in the table main body 2 by the groove 8 formed on the lower surface 3b of the upper plate 3 and the groove 11 formed on the upper surface 4a of the lower plate 4. The moving space 13 formed in this way extends horizontally and parallel to the upper surface 3a, which is the suction surface.

Each moving space 13 accommodates a closing member 14 made of a material that is attracted to the magnet. The closing body 14 of the present embodiment is made of iron. Further, the closing body 14 of the present embodiment is a plate piece having a circular shape. Its thickness is about 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm, and its diameter is 10 mm to 12 mm. If the thickness and the diameter are too large, the weight increases, so that it is difficult to move or a large magnetic force is required for the movement. On the other hand, when the thickness and the diameter are reduced, the above problem is solved, but the communication path 7 for evacuation is reduced.
May not be reliably closed.

The circular closing piece 14 as described above is disposed in the moving space 13 at one of a closed position and an open position. In FIG. 6, the position on the right side of the positioning protrusion 12 is called a closed position, and the position on the left side of the positioning protrusion 12 is called an open position. By the way, FIG. 6 (a)
In the figure, all three circular closing pieces 14 are in the open position. When the circular closing piece 14 is at the open position, the corresponding communication path 7 is opened without being closed. For this reason, vacuum evacuation is performed in a region where the communication path 7 is located. In FIG. 6B, three circular closing pieces 14 are provided.
One of the right ones is transitioning to the closed position and the other two are in the open position. Therefore, the communication path 7 located on the right side of the drawing is closed when the movement of the circular closing piece 14 is completed. For this reason, in a region where the communication path 7 is located, no vacuum is drawn. When no evacuation is required, as in the case of non-use, all the circular closing members 14 may be arranged at the closing position.

When changing from the state shown in FIG. 6A to the state shown in FIG. 6C, the following operation may be performed. That is, in order to move the circular closing piece 14, a closing body moving means such as a magnet 15 is used. The magnet 15 may be a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. In this case, it is preferable to use a magnet 15 having a strong magnetic force.

First, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the magnet 15 is brought closer to above the circular closing piece 14 to be moved from the open position to the closed position. Then, the circular closing piece 1
4 is sucked up by the magnetic force of the magnet 15 and contacts the bottom surface of the groove 8 of the upper plate 3. In this state, the magnet 15 is horizontally moved rightward. Then, as the magnet 15 moves, the circular closing piece 14 also slides in the groove 8 to the right. Next, by moving the magnet 15 away, the magnitude of the magnetic force acting on the circular closing piece 14 is reduced. As a result, the circular closing piece 14 separates from the bottom surface of the groove 8 and falls to a position on the right side of the positioning protrusion 12 (that is, a closing position).
When changing from the closed state to the open state, the reverse operation may be performed. Further, as the shape of the magnet 15, for example, a bar-like or spatula-like one may be used according to the size of the attraction area. With such a shape,
The plurality of closing pieces 14 can be moved at once, which is convenient.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which the suction area is set in the suction surface 3a as described above. Of the 25 evacuation communication paths 7 shown in the figure, 16 are closed, and the remaining 9 are open. Therefore, the area to which the latter nine belong is an adsorption area, and if the object 5 is placed thereon, the object 5 is adsorbed by the negative pressure generated by evacuation.

Now, the characteristic effects of the present embodiment will be enumerated below. (A) In the vacuum suction table 1, the position of the closing piece 14 can be relatively easily moved using the magnet 15. For this reason, the work is not troublesome and the time is shortened as compared with the related art where it is necessary to pierce the rubber stoppers one by one or embed them in different places one by one. . Therefore, workability when changing the suction area is reliably improved.

(B) The table body 2 of this embodiment is constituted by joining the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4 together.
Therefore, by joining the two 3 and 4, the moving space 13 can be easily formed at a position where the grooves 8 and 11 are present. In addition, with this configuration, it is sufficient to perform the joining in a state where the closing piece 14 is arranged in one of the groove portions 8 and 11 in advance.
Accommodation becomes extremely simple. Therefore, the production can be facilitated. In addition, the fact that the groove processing itself for the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4 is inexpensive also contributes to facilitation of manufacture and achievement of cost reduction.

(C) In the present embodiment, each moving space 13 extends horizontally and parallel to the suction surface 3a.
Therefore, in FIG. 6, the closing piece 14 at the open position can be moved to the closing position by moving the magnet 15 horizontally to the right with respect to the attraction surface 3a. Further, by horizontally moving the magnet 15 to the left, the closing piece 14 at the closing position can be moved to the opening position. Therefore, workability is reliably improved as compared with the case where the direction in which the moving space 13 extends is not constant. That is, magnet 1
This is because it is easy to grasp the direction in which 5 should be moved, and it is difficult to make a mistake.

(D) In this embodiment, since the positioning projection 12 is formed in the moving space 13, the closing piece 14
Is fixedly held in the closed position or the open position. Therefore, even when vibrations or shocks are applied to the vacuum suction table 1 or when the vacuum suction table 1 is tilted,
The closing piece 14 is not displaced in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the suction area does not fluctuate carelessly,
The adsorption state of the object 5 is also stabilized.

(E) In this embodiment, the disc-shaped closing piece 14 made of iron is used as a closing body. Iron is an inexpensive and suitable material that can be adsorbed by a magnet, and is easy to manufacture in terms of shape, so that the vacuum suction table 1 can be reduced in cost and easily manufactured. If the circular closing member 14 is colored yellow or red, it is possible to confirm at a glance which part of the vacuum suction table 1 is the suction area, which is extremely convenient.

(F) In the present embodiment, since the closing piece 14 is irremovably housed in the housing space 13, there is no fear that the closing piece 14 will be lost when the suction area is changed. This also contributes to improvement in workability.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be changed to, for example, the following forms. The vacuum suction table 21 of another example shown in FIG. 8 is common to the above embodiment in that the table body 22 is formed by joining an upper plate 23 and a lower plate 24.
However, in this alternative example, the groove 8 is formed only on the upper plate 23 side. Therefore, such groove 8 is somewhat deeper. On the other hand, the groove 11 is not formed at the corresponding position on the side of the lower plate 24, and the positioning protrusion 1 is formed there.
Only 2 are protruding. With such a configuration, since the lower plate 24 has a simpler shape, there is an advantage that manufacturing is easier than in the embodiment.

The closing body 14 does not necessarily have to be a circular plate, but may be a triangular or square plate. However, the circular closing piece 14 as in the embodiment can move more smoothly in the moving space 13 and can be reliably held at the closing position or the open position.

The closing body 14 is not limited to a plate-like shape as in the embodiment, but may have other shapes (for example, spherical,
Rod-like, cubic, conical, etc.). For example, in another example of the vacuum suction table 31 shown in FIG.
The point that the table main body 32 is formed by joining the upper plate 33 and the lower plate 34 is common to the above embodiment.
Also in this alternative example, the deep groove 8 is formed only on the upper plate 33 side. A mortar-shaped recess 35 is formed in the lower plate 34. The mortar-shaped recess 35 has one moving space 1.
Two are formed for 3. The high portion between the mortar-shaped recesses 35 serves as a positioning projection 36. In the moving space 13, a closing steel ball 37 as a closing body is movably accommodated. Even with such a configuration, the closing steel ball 3
7 can be easily moved, so that the workability when changing the attractable area can be improved.

The closing members 14 and 37 are not necessarily made of iron, because they only need to be made of a material that can be attracted to the magnet. For example, it may be made of an iron alloy, or may be a magnet. However, those made of iron or an iron alloy are more advantageous for ease of production and cost reduction. When the closing members 14 and 37 are magnets, it is also possible to use a simple mass of iron or the like as the closing member moving means.

The position of the closing member 14 is moved by attracting the magnet 15 to the magnet 15, instead of moving the position of the closing member 14 to the magnet 15. Of course, it is possible. However, there is an advantage that the former is easier to configure the device than the latter.

The table bodies 2, 22, and 32 are not limited to graphite, but may be made of other materials (such as organic materials such as resins and inorganic materials such as ceramics and metals) that are not attracted to magnets. There may be.

It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the groove 11 which is a part of the moving space 13 is formed only on the upper surface 4a of the lower plate 4. Here, in addition to the technical ideas described in the claims, technical ideas grasped by the above-described embodiments are listed below together with their effects.

(1) The vacuum suction table according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the closing body is a circular closing piece. With this configuration, manufacturing of the vacuum suction table can be facilitated.

(2) The vacuum suction table according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the closing member is made of iron. With this configuration, the cost of the vacuum suction table can be reduced.

(3) Claims 2 to 5, Technical idea 1,
3. The vacuum suction table according to claim 2, wherein an upper plate constituting the table main body is made of graphite. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent breakage that occurs when the cutting blade hits the suction surface.

(4) The vacuum suction table according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the closing body is irremovably housed in the housing space. With this configuration, there is no need to worry about losing the blockage when the work of changing the suction area is performed, so that the workability can be further improved.

The technical terms used in the present specification are defined as follows. "Materials that are attracted to magnets: not only iron and iron alloys but also magnets, and resin materials in which these are dispersed."

[0049]

As described above in detail, according to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to provide a vacuum suction table excellent in workability when changing the suction area.

According to the second aspect of the invention, manufacturing can be facilitated. According to the third aspect of the invention, workability can be further improved. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the displacement of the closing body is prevented, the adsorption state of the adsorption target can be stabilized.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the cost and manufacture the vacuum suction table.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view showing a main part of a vacuum suction table according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an upper plate constituting the table main body.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of an upper plate constituting the table main body.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a lower plate constituting the table main body.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of a lower plate constituting the table body.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are partial schematic cross-sectional views of a vacuum suction table for explaining a position change of a closing body.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a vacuum suction table when a suction area is limited.

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view of another example of a vacuum suction table.

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another example of a vacuum suction table.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a conventional vacuum suction table.

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional vacuum suction table.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 21, 31 ... vacuum suction table, 2, 22, 32 ...
Table body, 3, 23, 33 ... upper plate, 3a ... suction surface,
3b: joining surface of upper plate, 4, 24, 34: joining surface of lower plate, 4a: joining surface of lower plate, 5: object to be adsorbed, 7: communication path for evacuation,
8, 11 ... groove, 12, 36 ... positioning projection, 13 ... moving space, 14 ... disk-shaped closing piece as closing body, 15 ... magnet, 37 ... closing steel ball as closing body.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A table body having an adsorption surface for adsorbing an object to be adsorbed, a plurality of evacuation communication passages opened on the adsorption surface, and at least a part of the communication passages being closed. A vacuum suction table including a closing body, wherein the closing body is made of a material that is attracted to a magnet or a material that repels the closing body, and the closing body is placed in a moving space provided on each of the communication paths. A vacuum suction table which is movably accommodated between a closed position and an open position. 2. The table body includes an upper plate and a lower plate, and at least one of a joint surface of the upper plate and a joint surface of the lower plate has a groove formed as a part of the moving space. The vacuum suction table according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the moving spaces extends in a horizontal direction and in parallel with the suction surface.
Vacuum suction table according to 1. 4. A vacuum according to claim 1, wherein a positioning projection for fixing and holding said closing body at a closing position or an opening position is formed in said moving space. Suction table. 5. The vacuum suction table according to claim 1, wherein the closing body is a disc-shaped closing piece made of iron.