JPH1171016A - Part feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a part feeder capable of positively and separately feeding parts in compact structure. SOLUTION: The parts feeder is provided with a bucket for storing headed parts, a scraping plate for scraping the headed parts stored in the bucket, an aligning-conveying path 14 for aligning and conveying the headed parts scraped by the scraping plate, and a separately feeding means 15 for the headed parts, which is connected to the tip of the aligning-conveying path. The aligning- conveying path 14 has the first slope 14a for conveying the headed part in an inclined position. Further, the separately feeding means 15 guides the headed part by the first guide face 20 connected to the first slope 14a; allows the headed part to be fitted into a separating groove 21 provided in the middle of the guide face, and then pushes the headed part by means of an operating member 23 to slide down it along the separating groove.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a parts feeder for scraping up parts stored in a bucket by a scraping plate, and more particularly to a parts feeder provided with a separating and supplying means for separating and supplying parts to an assembling apparatus or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a parts feeder for continuously supplying parts used for assembling a machine generally includes a bucket capable of storing a plurality of parts, a scooping plate for scooping parts from the bucket, and a The apparatus is provided with an alignment conveyance path for aligning and transferring the parts scooped up by the scooping plate, and a separation supply unit for individually separating and supplying the parts conveyed at the tip of the alignment conveyance path. As shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-3581, the separating and feeding means in the parts feeder has a guide groove connected to an alignment conveyance path, and is arranged at a predetermined interval at the tip of the guide groove. The two sliders are arranged so as to be able to reciprocate. The gaps of these sliders are always at positions communicating with the guide grooves, and are configured so that the parts sent along the alignment conveyance path enter and are supported. Each slider is reciprocally movable, and is provided with a feed pipe hole for feeding parts to various assembling apparatuses through its movement path. The first part of the parts sent through the alignment conveyance path enters the gap between the sliders and is supported, and is transported above the feed pipe hole as the slider moves. Thereafter, one of the sliders slides so as to open the gap with the other slider, thereby allowing the parts to pass therethrough, and suctioning the air to suck the parts into the feed pipe hole.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional parts feeder, after supporting the parts between the sliders, the parts must be moved to a position where the feed pipe hole is provided by moving the slider. Therefore, the slider must have at least a stroke enough to move from the end of the alignment conveyance path to the position above the feed pipe hole, and accordingly, the size of the separation / supply unit is increased and the configuration is complicated. Has occurred. Also, even if one of the sliders slides on the feed pipe hole and the gap between the sliders is widened, the parts are held while being supported by the other slider, and the feed pipe is securely inserted. There are also problems such as the inability to feed the holes.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a parts feeder capable of reliably separating and supplying parts with a compact configuration. In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a bucket for storing headed parts having an inclined bottom plate, a scraping plate for reciprocating in the bucket to scrape the headed parts stored in the bucket, and a The present invention relates to a parts feeder having an alignment transport path for aligning and transporting a headed part picked up by an upper plate, and means for separating and supplying a headed part connected to a tip of the alignment transport path. In the present invention, the alignment conveyance path has a slope for supporting the headed parts in an inclined manner, and the separation and supply means includes a guide surface connected to the slope of the alignment conveyance path, and a guide surface connected to the slope. A separation groove formed so that a headed part can be fitted in the middle of the part, and an operation member for pushing a part fitted in the separation groove and discharging the part from the separation groove.

[0005] If the separation groove is opened along the guide surface and the bottom surface is formed on a slope where the step becomes larger as it goes downward, the headed parts slide down along the separation groove. Easier to do. In addition, if the bottom surface is a slope with no step at the upper end of the guide surface, the headed part fitted in the separation groove can be rotated at the boundary between the head and the leg, before pushing with the operating member The posture of the headed parts can be broken. Further, the separation groove is formed to extend to the lower end of the guide surface, so that the parts can be guided in a correct posture.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a parts feeder for arranging and supplying a headed part P such as a hexagonal bolt, for example, and has a frame 3 fixed to a base member 2; Are located. The component storage section 4 is composed of a guide member 5 extending perpendicular to the base member 2 and a bucket 7 having an upper opening having a bottom plate 6 inclined so as to become lower toward the guide member 5. . The bucket 7 is surrounded by a wall surface and can store a plurality of parts P, and the guide member 5 is also arranged so as to form a part of the wall surface. Further, the guide member 5 is shorter than the bucket 7 so as to be interrupted in the middle of the bucket 7, and is configured such that the width of the bucket 7 is increased in front of the guide member 5. Thus, the bucket 7 is configured so as to surround an alignment conveyance path 14 described later at its front.

The upper end of the guide member 5 extends to the vicinity of the opening end of the bucket 7, and an auxiliary guide member 8 is attached to a surface of the bucket 7 facing the bottom plate 6 in parallel with a predetermined interval. . The auxiliary guide member 8 is shorter than the guide member 5, and is arranged such that the upper end thereof is located at the middle of the depth of the bucket 7. Each of the auxiliary guide member 8 and the guide member 5 is formed to have substantially the same length by a plate having a thickness capable of mounting the parts P stored in the bucket 7, and the upper end surfaces 5a and 8a. Are formed on a slope inclined in the same direction (a slope which becomes lower toward the guide member side in the auxiliary guide member).

The guide member 5 is provided with a cylinder 9 which is an example of a reciprocating drive source. The cylinder 9 is always sandwiched between the guide member 5 and the auxiliary guide member 8. The scraping plate 10 is connected. Further, the scraping plate 10 is connected to a scraping auxiliary plate 11 with the auxiliary guide member 8 interposed therebetween, and is configured to be able to reciprocate integrally with the scraping plate 10 in response to the operation of the cylinder 9. I have.

The scraping plate 10 and the scraping auxiliary plate 11 are
The slope 1 has a thickness capable of mounting the parts P similarly to the guide member 5 and each upper end surface is inclined in the same direction as the guide member 5.
0a, 11a, and is slightly shorter than the guide member 5 so as not to protrude forward from the guide member 5. Further, when the cylinder 9 is at the bottom dead center, the upper surface of the raking plate 10 is continuous with the upper surface of the auxiliary guide member 8, and When the upper end surface is continuous with the upper surface of the bottom plate 6 of the bucket 7 and the cylinder 9 is at the top dead center, the upper end surface of the raking plate 10 is continuous with the upper end surface of the guide member 5 and The end surface is arranged so as to be continuous with the upper end surface of the auxiliary guide plate 8.

On the other hand, a pedestal 2a is fixed to the base member 2, and a support arm 13 is attached to the pedestal 2a via a vibrator 12. This support arm 1
Reference numeral 3 extends to the vicinity of the upper end of the guide member 5, and an alignment conveyance path 14 is disposed at a tip end thereof. The alignment conveyance path 14 extends along the guide member 5, and the tip of the alignment conveyance path 14 protrudes from the component storage unit 4 and is connected to the separation supply unit 15. The alignment conveyance path 14 has a first slope 14 a inclined in the same direction as the upper end face of the guide member 5.
And a second slope 14b which shares the upper side of the first slope 14a and becomes lower toward the guide member 5 side. The head seat surface of the part P is engaged with the second slope, and the legs of the part P are supported along the first slope, so that the part P can be supported in an inclined posture.

The frame 3 includes a bracket 16.
The alignment guide member 17 is attached via the. The alignment guide member 17 is disposed in parallel with the alignment transport path 14 at a predetermined interval, that is, at an interval where the legs of the parts P can pass and the heads cannot pass. It is configured to be able to support the heads of the aligned parts P.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the separating / supplying means 15 is connected to the leading end of the aligning and conveying path 14, and is attached to the front surface of the bucket 7 via an attachment 18. It comprises a main body 19 and a station 20 opposed to the main body 19 with a space through which the main body 19 and the parts P can pass.

The station 20 is provided with an alignment conveyance path 14.
The first guide surface 2 which is connected to the first slope 14a and is inclined
0a and a second inclined surface connected to the second inclined surface 14b.
And the first guide surface 20b.
In the middle of a, a separation groove 21 into which one part P can be fitted is formed. The separation groove 21 is provided in the first guide surface 2.
0a, and the bottom surface 21a is inclined so that the step with the first guide surface 20a increases toward the lower side. This bottom surface 21a is
The part P fitted in the separation groove 21 is formed so that a step difference from the first guide surface 20a is eliminated at a position connected to the first guide surface 20b. It will rotate.

Further, a cylinder 22 is built in the main body 19, and an operation member 23 movable along the main body 19 is connected to the cylinder 22. The operation member 23 always extends across the upper side of the second guide surface 20b, and has a distal end provided with the second guide surface 20b.
A claw 23a bent to the b side is formed. A guide pipe 24 communicating with an air injection means (not shown) is provided on an extension of the separation groove 21, and the separation groove 21 is configured to open at the lower end surface of the station so as to communicate with the guide pipe 24. Have been.

In the above parts feeder, the cylinder 9
When a plurality of parts P are put into the bucket 7 in a state where is at the bottom dead center, and then a start switch (not shown) is pressed, the cylinder 9 operates to raise the scraping plate 10 and the scraping auxiliary plate 11 integrally. . At this time, the scraping plate 10 moves along the guide member 5 and the auxiliary guide member 8, and the scraping auxiliary plate 11 moves along the auxiliary guide member 8. As a result, the part P put into the bucket 7 is placed on the upper end surface of the scraping plate 10 and is scraped up. At this time, since the upper end surface of the scraping plate 10 is the slope 10a, the parts P can be guided to the guide member 5 side and can be prevented from falling to the bucket 7 side.

Subsequently, when the cylinder 9 reaches the top dead center, the upper end surface of the raking plate 10 continues to the upper end surface of the guide member 5, and the parts P fall down to the alignment conveyance path 14. This allows
The part P has its head seating surface locked to the second slope 14b and the alignment guide member 17, and its legs are supported in an inclined posture extending along the first slope 14a. At this time, vibration is given to the alignment conveyance path 14 by driving of the vibrator 12, and the part P is sent to the front end side of the alignment conveyance path 14 by the vibration.

When the part P is transported to a position where the alignment guide member 17 and the guide member 5 are interrupted, the part P is supported only by the alignment transport path 14. Therefore, for example, the alignment conveyance member 1 may be laid down over the alignment conveyance member 14 or may be left on the upper end surface of the guide member 5 by contacting the second slope 14 b of the alignment conveyance member 14.
The parts P that are not correctly aligned on the alignment guide 4
When the guide member 5 and the guide member 5 are disconnected, the bucket 7 is securely dropped. As a result, only the parts P arranged in the correct posture reach the separation and supply unit, and are separated and supplied one by one by air pressure feeding.

On the other hand, after reaching the top dead center, the cylinder 9 moves back to the bottom dead center and thereafter reciprocates between the top dead center and the bottom dead center until a stop switch or the like is input. For this reason,
The parts P in the bucket 7 are successively scraped by the scraper 10. When the stored number of the parts P is reduced to the point where the upper end portion of the auxiliary guide plate 8 is exposed in this way, the parts P are scraped up by the scraping auxiliary plate 11 and the scraping plate 10 in a stepwise manner. That is, with the reciprocating movement of the scraping plate 10, the scraping auxiliary plate 11 also reciprocates integrally, but the parts P scraped up by the scraping auxiliary plate 11 during the upward movement are:
It is transferred onto the auxiliary guide member 8 at the top dead center, and then transferred onto the scraping plate 10 which has returned to the bottom dead center by the reciprocation of the cylinder 9. Thus, in this part feeder 1, the parts P
When the number of stored parts becomes small, the parts P are scraped up in two stages, so that the scraping plate 10 does not need to have a stroke corresponding to the depth of the bucket 7. In addition, the scraping auxiliary plate 11
Also serves to stir the parts P in the bucket 7 during the reciprocating movement.

The parts P that have reached the leading end of the alignment transport path 14 enter the separating and supplying means 15 in order from the leading one, and the leading one is fitted into the separating groove 21 and rotated. As a result, the subsequent part P stops at the head of the part P fitted in the separation groove 21. When the cylinder 22 operates to move the operation member 23 to the first guide surface 20a side, the claw 23a pushes the head of the part P fitted in the separation groove 21 to drop the part P from the station 20. Let it. At this time, since the bottom surface 21a of the separation groove 21 is inclined, the part P slides down with its legs guided by the separation groove 21. The parts P slid down in this way reach the air injection means through the guide pipe 24, and are supplied with air to various work units through a feed hose or the like in response to the operation of the air injection means.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the separation groove 2
Although the number of parts P that can be fitted into one is one, the number is not limited to this, and the width of the separation groove 21 and the claw 23a of the operation member 23 is increased correspondingly, so that more parts P Can be simultaneously supplied.

[0021]

As described above, according to the parts feeder of the present invention, the parts are conveyed in an inclined posture by the alignment conveyance path, and the parts are fitted into the separation grooves of the separation supply means and stopped. It is possible to drop by its own weight by pushing it with the operating member, reducing the man-hours related to separate supply of parts,
There is an advantage that parts can be supplied promptly. Further, since it is not necessary to slide the parts and separate them from the following parts as in the related art, it is possible to provide a parts feeder having a compact configuration by omitting a mechanism required for separating the parts. There are advantages such as. Further, since the part slides down with its leg along the separation groove, the part can be guided to a discharge mechanism such as an air injection unit in a correct posture.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is an enlarged plan view of a main part showing the vicinity of a separating and feeding unit of a parts feeder according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a parts feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an operation state of the parts feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an operation state of the parts feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an operation state of the parts feeder according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Parts feeder 7 Bucket 9 Cylinder 10 Raising plate 12 Exciter 14 Alignment conveyance path 14a 1st slope 14b 2nd slope 15 Separation supply means 20 Station 20a 1st guide surface 20b 2nd guide surface 21 Separation groove 22 cylinder 23 operating member

Claims (4)

[Claims] A bucket for storing headed parts having an inclined bottom plate, a scraping plate for reciprocating in the bucket to scrape the headed parts stored in the bucket, and a scraping up by the scraping plate In a parts feeder having an alignment conveyance path for aligning and transferring the headed parts and a separating and supplying means for the headed parts connected to the tip of the alignment conveyance path, the alignment conveyance path has a tilted headed part. A guide surface connected to the slope of the alignment conveyance path, and a separation groove formed so that a headed part can be fitted in the middle of the guide surface. And an operating member for pressing a part fitted in the separation groove and discharging the part from the separation groove. 2. The parts feeder according to claim 1, wherein the separation groove is opened along the guide surface, and a bottom surface of the separation groove forms an inclined surface such that a step difference from the guide surface increases toward the lower side. 3. The parts feeder according to claim 2, wherein the bottom surface of the separation groove is an inclined surface with no step at the upper end of the guide surface. 4. The parts feeder according to claim 1, wherein the separation groove extends to a lower end of the guide surface.