JPS6110939Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial application field This invention is a holding method that uses vacuum to adsorb and hold soft objects that are soft and have uneven surfaces, such as thermosetting fiber-reinforced resin materials. It is related to the device.

2. Description of the Related Art A device for attracting and holding soft objects using vacuum is already known from Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-36546. This is done by installing a support plate with a number of through holes at a position slightly below the periphery of the open end of the bell-shaped body, and attaching the periphery of the open end of the body to a soft object, such as a bag filled with fluid. The bag, etc. is adsorbed by pressing against it to isolate the space inside the fuselage from the outside space, and the air inside the fuselage is sucked into the vacuum device.
It is something to be retained.

Further, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 51-101474 also describes an apparatus that utilizes vacuum to hold a plate-shaped object that is easily deformed, such as a calcium silicate plate before curing. In other words, there is described a suction box in which a large number of small holes are formed on the bottom surface of a box-like body, and a suction box in which a soft breathable plate-like material made of sponge rubber or the like is further attached to the bottom surface of the suction box. . If such a suction box is used, it is possible to hold a plate-shaped object that is easily deformed by suction.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, none of the holding devices described in the above-mentioned publications are equipped with a means for generating a vacuum, and therefore a separate vacuum generating source such as a vacuum pump must be provided. This resulted in the problem of increased equipment cost.

The present invention was developed with the aim of providing a holding device with the function of generating a vacuum, omitting an expensive vacuum generation source such as a vacuum pump, and obtaining an inexpensive holding device.

Means for Solving the Problems To this end, the vacuum-using soft object holding device according to the present invention includes (a) a lifting member that is provided with a fitting hole that extends in the vertical direction and that is moved up and down by a lifting device; (b) It is slidably and airtightly fitted into the fitting hole, and the lower end has a downward suction surface with many small holes formed therein, and the suction surface is surrounded by a closed curve, and (c) a suction head provided with a seal protrusion that protrudes downward from the suction surface and bites into the surface of a soft object to perform a sealing action during suction; and (c) a suction head disposed between the suction head and the lifting member. (d) a stopper mechanism provided between the suction head and the elevating member to prevent the lower end of the suction head from moving away from the elevating member beyond a certain limit; and (e) the entire body. It forms a cylindrical shape as
The part of the suction head that protrudes downward from the elevating member is surrounded by a fixed distance, and the upper end is airtightly fixed to the elevating member and the lower end is fixed to the lower end of the suction head. a bellows forming a pump chamber 84 whose volume increases and decreases with relative movement to the suction head; (f) a communication path that communicates all of the large number of small holes of the suction head with the pump chamber; The first thing that connects the space
(h) a check valve provided in the air passage that allows air to flow out from the pump chamber to the outside but prevents air from flowing in;
It is configured to include an electromagnetic on-off valve that is provided in the second air passage connecting the pump chamber and the external space and opens and closes the second air passage.

Effect: When the elevating member of the holding device configured as described above is lowered toward the soft object to be adsorbed,
First, the lower end of the suction head comes into contact with the upper surface of the soft object. When the elevating member is further lowered from this state, the seal protrusion of the suction head bites into the surface of the soft object due to the elastic force of the spring member, thereby blocking the space surrounded by the seal protrusion from the outside space. When the lifting member is further lowered, the spring member and the bellows are compressed and the volume of the pump chamber is reduced.
Air inside the pump chamber is exhausted to the outside through a check valve. At this time, as long as the electromagnetic on-off valve is open, there is no problem even if the electromagnetic on-off valve is closed.

After a considerable amount of the air in the pump chamber has been discharged, the electromagnetic on-off valve, if open, is closed and the lifting member is raised. As a result, the volume of the pump chamber increases, but since the electromagnetic on-off valve is closed and the check valve prevents air from flowing into the pump chamber from the outside space, air is not supplied to the pump chamber. The inside of the pump chamber is in a vacuum state. This pump chamber is communicated with a large number of small holes in the suction head through communication passages, and the suction head is pressed against the surface of the soft object by the elasticity of the spring member.
Since the seal protrusion continues to maintain its sealing effect, the soft object will be attracted to the suction head. Moreover, the suction surface prevents excessive deformation of the soft object.

Furthermore, when it becomes necessary to release the held soft object, the electromagnetic on-off valve is opened, air flows into the pump chamber, the vacuum state is eliminated, and the soft object is separated from the suction head.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the holding device according to the present invention can move the suction head into the pump chamber based on the downward movement of the elevating member to press the suction head against the surface of the soft object, and the upward movement of the elevating member to lift the soft object. Since a vacuum state is generated, there is no need to separately provide a vacuum generation source such as a vacuum pump, and the effect of reducing device costs can be obtained.

Moreover, if the electromagnetic on-off valve is always closed, when adsorbing a soft object, the elevating member can be lowered and then raised again, which is not the case when using a vacuum source such as a vacuum pump. After pressing the suction head against a soft object, there is no need to switch the electromagnetic directional switching valve, etc., and the electromagnetic switching valve only needs to be opened to release the adsorbed soft object, which has the effect of simplifying the control device. can get.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a holding device for automatically feeding a flat material 10 of thermosetting fiber-reinforced resin into a mold.

This holding device includes an arm 50 as an elevating member and a suction head 52 attached to the arm 50. The arm 50 is adapted to be raised and lowered by a lifting device (not shown).

The suction head 52 has a solid sliding shaft 54 and a suction cup 6.
It consists of 8. The sliding shaft 54 is inserted into a through hole (fitting hole) 5 formed in a boss portion 55 at the tip of the arm 50.
6 is fitted in an airtight manner with an O-ring 58, and has a flange 60 at the lower end, and a disc-shaped stopper 62 fixed to the upper end by bolts 64. By abutting the stopper 62 against the shoulder surface formed on the arm 50, the lower end of the suction head 52 is prevented from moving away from the arm 50 beyond a certain limit.
These stoppers 62 and the shoulder surface constitute a stopper mechanism. The sliding shaft 54 is urged downward by a compression coil spring 66 as a spring member, and a suction cup 68 is fixed to the flange 60 with a bolt 70. The suction cup 68 is a shallow container-like member, and has a vacuum chamber 78 formed therein. A large number of small holes 72 are formed through the bottom of the suction cup 68, and the surface into which these small holes 72 open is a suction surface 74. The suction surface 74 is flat in this embodiment because the material 10 that is the object to be suctioned is flat. The suction surface 74 is surrounded by an annular seal protrusion 76 having a triangular cross section.

The vacuum chamber 78 is communicated with a space between the boss portion 55 at the tip of the arm 50 and the flange 60 through a through hole 80 formed in the flange 60 . This space is the boss part 5
5, the flange 60, and the suction cup 68 are hermetically covered by a bellows 82 to form a pump chamber 84. A pump chamber 84 in which all of the plurality of small holes 72 in the chamber are communicated with each other by a communication path consisting of a vacuum chamber 78 and a through hole 80.
This pump chamber 84 is connected to the outside space by an air passage 86 formed in the arm 50, and a check valve 88 is provided in this air passage. The check valve 88 allows air to flow out from the pump chamber 84 to the atmosphere, but prevents air from flowing in. The pump chamber 84 is also connected to the outside space by an air passage 90, and this air passage 90 is provided with an electromagnetic on-off valve 92.

Next, the operation will be explained.

First, the arm 50 is lowered toward the materials 10 that have been conveyed by another conveyance device and are placed on a support plate one by one or in a plurality of layers. When the arm 50 descends to a predetermined position,
A suction head 52 contacts the upper surface of the material 10. If the arm 50 is further lowered from this state, the suction head 52 will be moved by the compression coil spring 66.
The seal protrusion 76 is pressed against the material 10 by the elastic force, and the tip of the seal protrusion 76 bites into the surface of the material 10 shallowly. Since the tip of the seal protrusion 76 is sharp, it bites into the material 10 with a relatively small force, crushing the convex portion existing on the surface of the material 10, and at least in the ridge line portion of the tip.
Completely adheres to the surface of the material 10.

At the same time, the boss portion 55 of the arm 50 approaches the flange 60 of the suction head 52, so the volume of the pump chamber 84 decreases, and the air in the pump chamber 84 flows out through the check valve 88 into the atmosphere. At this time, the electromagnetic on-off valve 92 is closed.

Next, if the arm 50 is raised, the volume of the pump chamber 84 will increase, but the check valve 88
prevents air from flowing into the pump chamber 84 and the electromagnetic on-off valve 92 is closed, so air is not supplied to the pump chamber 84 and the vacuum chamber 78 communicating with the pump chamber 84 is closed. There is a vacuum inside, and the material 10 is pressed against the suction surface 74 of the suction cup 68 due to the pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces, but since the suction surface 74 is flat, the material 10 hardly deforms. Therefore, a substantially uniform vacuum is applied to the entire suction surface 74 surrounded by the seal protrusion 76, and the material 10 is suctioned to the suction head 12 with sufficient force.

After the arm 50 is raised and comes into contact with the stopper 62, both the suction head 52 and the material 10 suctioned thereon rise. In addition, material 1
One suction head 52 depending on the shape, weight, etc.
If it is not possible to lift the material 10, a plurality of suction heads may be used in parallel.

When the suction head 52 is raised to a predetermined height and the arm 50 or the mold is moved horizontally so that the material 10 is located directly above the mold, the electromagnetic on-off valve 92 is opened and the pump chamber is opened. 84 and the vacuum chamber 78 are supplied with air;
Material 10 is released.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail, it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in modes other than the above-described embodiments.

For example, in the above embodiment, the suction surface was formed by what could be called a perforated plate in which many small holes were processed into a flat plate, but the suction surface was formed by a wire mesh, a porous sintered plate, etc. It is also possible to form
The small holes that should be formed on the suction surface should be created by taking into account the properties of the suction object and the surrounding atmosphere, etc., so that it will not become clogged with the suction object or dust, and will create an almost uniform vacuum over the entire suction surface. should be determined so that it will work.

Further, the shape of the seal protrusion should also be changed according to the shape and properties of the object to be attracted, and the cross-sectional shape is not limited to a triangle, but a semicircular or other shape can also be adopted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The attached figure is a front sectional view of a holding device that is an embodiment of the present invention. 50... Arm (lifting member), 52... Suction head, 56... Through hole (fitting hole), 62... Stopper (stopper mechanism), 66... Compression coil spring (spring member) 68... Suction cup , 72...Small hole, 74...Adsorption surface, 76...Seal protrusion, 78
...Bakyum chamber (communicating path), 80...Through hole, 82...Bellows, 84...Pump chamber, 86
...Air passage (first), 88...Check valve, 90...
...Air passage (second) 92...Electric on-off valve.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A device for adsorbing and holding a soft object, such as a thermosetting fiber-reinforced resin material, having an uneven surface to be adsorbed, comprising a vertically extending fitting hole, and an elevating device. an elevating member that is moved up and down by a lower end; a downward suction surface that is slidably and airtightly fitted into the fitting hole and has a number of small holes formed at its lower end; and a periphery of the suction surface. a suction head that surrounds the soft object in a closed curve, protrudes downward from the suction surface, and has a sealing protrusion that bites into the surface of the soft object during suction to perform a sealing action; a spring member disposed between the suction heads and urging the suction head downward; and a stopper disposed between the suction head and the elevating member to prevent the lower end of the suction head from moving away from the elevating member beyond a certain limit. a mechanism having an overall cylindrical shape, surrounding a portion of the suction head protruding downward from the elevating member at a certain distance, and having an upper end connected to the elevating member;
Further, bellows forming a pump chamber 84 whose lower end portions are each airtightly fixed to the lower end portion of the suction head and whose volume increases or decreases as the suction head moves relative to the elevating member, and all of the numerous small holes of the suction head. a communication passage that communicates air with the pump chamber; a check valve that is provided in a first air passage that connects the pump chamber and an external space and that allows air to flow out from the pump chamber to the outside but prevents air from flowing in; A vacuum-utilizing soft object holding device characterized by comprising: an electromagnetic on-off valve that is provided in a second air passage connecting the pump chamber and an external space and opens and closes the second air passage.