JPS6222740B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a needle or roller insertion device, and particularly to a needle or roller insertion device that inserts a needle or roller at high speed along the inner or outer surface of an annular ring such as a needle bearing or a spherical roller of a tripod joint. It concerns an automatic machine for reliable feeding arrangement (hereinafter referred to as insertion).

Generally, in this type of annular ring, such as a shell cup type needle bearing, the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring is coated with grease, and then the rings are inserted one by one manually.

Therefore, the efficiency of these insertion operations is extremely low, and the number of insertions is insufficient.

A system that automatically performs the above-mentioned insertion work is known as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 107542/1982. The technology is based on the technical idea that the weight of the succeeding needles that are being pushed into the conveyance path pushes the lowermost needle aside and inserts the needle that has already been inserted. A phenomenon occurs in which the insertion resistance (interrupt insertion resistance) gradually increases and changes from the insertion of the last needle to the insertion of the last needle, and there is no guarantee that the predetermined number of needles will be inserted reliably, leading to variations in supply time. This causes the problem that the cycle time cannot be increased.Furthermore, since the frictional resistance of the needle conveyance path must be made as small as possible, there is a problem that the manufacturing process of the conveyance path becomes troublesome.

In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a compact automatic machine that can perform this insertion work at high speed (high efficiency) and reliably.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The structure of the present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. In the following two embodiments, the primary purpose is to increase the speed, so the cam plate 21 will be explained as a rotary cam plate, but the rotation of this cam plate is not necessarily necessary, and compactness is the primary objective. In the case of the first purpose, it can also be constructed by being fixedly installed in an immovable state.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a conveying cylinder which is rotatably supported by a machine body 2 via bearings 3, and is provided with a conveying passage 5 for needles or rollers (hereinafter referred to as needle rollers 4) inside. It is. This conveyance cylinder 1 forms a conveyance passage continuous with the conveyance outer cylinder 6 and the conveyance inner cylinder 7 which is fitted into the conveyance outer cylinder 6 so as to be rotatable integrally or relative to each other. It consists of an insertion jig 9 for the needle roller 4 which is fixedly held on the outer cylinder 6 via a split ring 8. A pulley 11 is fitted onto the upper surface of the outer periphery of the conveyance outer cylinder 6 via a key 10, and is connected via a belt 12 to a pulley 15 of a motor 13 fixed to the main body 2 and a transmission 14 connected thereto. There is. The conveyance passage 5 of the insertion jig 9 communicates with an opening 16 (see FIG. 2) formed in the lower peripheral surface of the insertion jig 9. As will be described later, the opening 16 has a chamfer 1 corresponding to the skew direction as shown in FIG. 2 in consideration of insertion failure due to skew of the needle roller 4.
6a has been done.

Reference numeral 17 denotes an insertion lever that is attached to the lower inner cavity 18 of the insertion jig 9 so as to be swingable about a pivot shaft 19 provided inside the insertion jig 9 . When the insertion lever 17 swings, the insertion jig 9
an insertion claw 20 that advances and retreats toward the opening 16 of the insertion jig 9; and a swinging arm that extends outward in the radial direction of the insertion jig 9 and comes into contact with a rotating cam plate 21, which will be described next, to provide a swinging motion to the insertion lever 17. It is composed of 22. As shown in FIG. 3, this swinging arm 22 extends in an L-shape from a two-split member 23 attached so as to sandwich the outer peripheral surface of the insertion jig 9, and is a clamping member lined with a sliding member. It is swingably inserted between the plates 24 and is adapted to transmit the rotational torque of the conveying cylinder 1 (particularly the insertion jig 9) to the insertion lever 17. This is because the pivot shaft 19 alone is insufficient in strength to transmit rotational torque to the insertion lever 17. Reference numeral 25 denotes a spring that is guided by a guide rod 26 fixed to the halving member 23 and always urges the swinging arm 22 of the insertion lever 17 downward.
The spring 25 urges the insertion lever 17 to rotate in the clockwise direction in FIG. 9 opening 1
6 Acts to push outward.

The rotating cam plate 21 is bolted to a mounting cylinder 27, and this mounting cylinder 27 is bolted to a cylindrical gear 29 rotatably fitted to the main body 2 via a sliding member (metal bearing) 28. has been done. 3
0 is a motor 31 and a transmission 32 connected to the motor 31
The output gear meshes with the cylindrical gear 29 and drives the rotary cam plate 21. That is, the drive mechanism of these rotary cam plates 21 is independent from the drive mechanism of the conveyance cylinder 1 described above. It is like rotating in the direction.

A stripper 33 is slidably fitted below the insertion jig 9. The stripper 33 is connected to a ring 35 that is slidably fitted to the transport outer cylinder 6 via a guide rod 34 that passes through a part of the transport outer cylinder 6. The stripper 33 is always urged downward by a spring 37 mounted between the split ring 8 and a fixing ring 36 fixed between the upper shoulder 9a of the insertion jig 9.

38 is a ball (the inserted object 3 of the needle roller 4)
9 holding device. This device 38 has a bracket 42 that is attached to the base 40 of the main body 2 by passing through the through hole 41 downwardly.
A cylinder 43 is erected at 2. 44 is fixed to the movable side of the cylinder 43, and the main body base 40
This is a ball receiver that is slidably inserted into the inner circumferential surface 46 of a cylindrical member 45 placed on the cylindrical member 45 . This ball receiver 4
4 has a rod 49 in a hollow hole 47 that is always urged upward by a spring 48, and the upper end of the rod 49 abuts the lower end surface of the insertion jig 9 described above. 50 is a stopper for rod 49.

Next, the operating procedure of the needle roller insertion machine constructed as above will be explained.

First, the ball 39 is manually or automatically placed on the ball receiver 44, and the ball 39 is fitted below the insertion jig 9, and the ball 39 is clamped elastically between the ball receiver 44 and the stripper 33. At the same time, an insertion space for the needle roller 4 is formed between the inner peripheral surface of the ball and the outer peripheral surface of the insertion jig. Needle roller 4
is continuously supplied to the transport passage 5 of the inner transport cylinder 7 and the insertion jig 9 while being energized by a parts feeder or the like. The rotational driving force of the motor 13 is transmitted through the transmission 14
from the pulley 15 to the pulley 11 via the belt 12.
The transfer outer cylinder 6, the insertion jig 9, and the insertion lever 17 attached to the lower inner cavity 18 of the insertion jig 9 are rotated together.

In such a state, the rotational driving force of the motor 31 is transferred to the transmission 32, the gear 30, the cylindrical gear 29,
transmitted to the rotating cam plate 21 via the mounting cylinder 27,
Rotate the insertion jig 9 and the insertion lever 17 in the opposite direction. The arm 22 of the insertion lever 17 is the rotary cam plate 2
1 and the pivot shaft 19 along the cam shape.
The insertion claws 2 swing around the needle roller 4 at the lowest end located at the opening 16 of the conveyance path 5 one by one.
Push it out into the insertion space with 0. Note that, assuming that the insertion jig 9, the insertion lever 17, and the rotary cam plate 21 are rotated in opposite directions and at the same rotational speed, the insertion claw 20 is pushed out by 2 times during one rotation.
The rotating cam plate 21 swings twice as many times as the number of cams provided on the rotary cam plate 21. Therefore, the number of cams on the rotary cam plate 21 only needs to be 1/2 of the desired number of oscillations, and the cam shape can be made to have a smooth slope. Also, insert lever 1
The swinging arm 22 of No. 7 enables smooth work.
Furthermore, the number of swings of the insertion lever 17 per unit time is substantially increased, making high-speed extrusion possible. still,
Rotating cam plate 21, insertion jig 9 and insertion lever 17
The number of rotations is not limited to the above. In this way, the insertion jig 9 and the insertion lever 17 sequentially supply and arrange the needle rollers 4 on the inner peripheral surface of the ball 39.

By the way, since the needle roller 4 is pushed out into the insertion space from the opening 16 of the rotating insertion jig 9, after being pushed out into the insertion space, the upper end surface side (the lower end surface side is the ball receiving side) where there is less resistance due to the inertia force in the rotational direction. 44, so that the resistance is greater than that on the upper end surface side) are arranged skewed (inclined) in the rotational direction. For this reason, when inserting a new needle roller 4 between the needle rollers 4, 4 arranged in an inclined position, if the opening 16 is simply rectangular in shape, it will intersect with both needle rollers 4, 4. However, it may become impossible to insert the card. In the present invention, in consideration of this point, the opening 16 is chamfered 16a in the skew direction of the needle roller 4, as shown in FIG. 2, so that the needle roller 4 can be fed in a skewed posture.

That is, among both side wall surfaces extending in the vertical direction of the opening 16, the wall surface facing the rotation direction of the conveying cylinder 1 (more specifically, the insertion jig 9) (the right side in FIG. 2) is the lower side, and vice versa. The oriented wall surface (left side in FIG. 2) has an upper side, as indicated by reference numeral 16a,
Each has a large chamfer in the width direction of the opening.

When all the needle rollers 4 are arranged, the cylinder 43 is moved in and out to move the ball receiver 4.
Lower 4. As the ball receiver 44 descends, the stripper 33, which is slidable relative to the insertion jig 9 and biased downward by the spring 37, slides on the insertion jig 9 as the ball receiver 44 descends.
Needle rollers 4 and balls 39 all arranged
is removed from the insertion jig 9 and then attached to the rod 49. In addition, since the inserted needle rollers 4 are lined up in a pressed state along the insertion space, the insertion of the last needle roller 4 tends to be incomplete. There was a high risk that the roller 4 would fall off. Therefore, in this embodiment, the insertion claw 2 of the insertion lever 17
0 is shaped so that it comes into contact with the lower half of the needle roller 4 as shown in FIG. The incompletely inserted state of the upper distal end portion is pushed out into the insertion space when attached to the rod 49, and this is corrected.

After that, it may be transferred to the inner member that will be paired with the ball 39 by appropriate means.

In this example, the spherical roller (ball 39) of the tripod joint is used as an example, but the same applies to the shell of a cylindrical roller bearing ring or needle bearing without a flange or with a flange facing inward or outward. Needless to say, it can be applied. Furthermore, the present invention can be easily applied to a bottomed bearing ring such as a shell cup type by simply making some improvements to the ball holding device 39.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the invention. In contrast to the above embodiment in which the needle roller 4 is directly inserted into the inner peripheral surface of the ball 39, in this embodiment the inner diameter of the annular ring is small and it is not possible to insert an insertion jig and directly supply the needle roller 4 to the inner peripheral surface of the ball 39. (for example, a pinion gear of an automatic transmission), use the dummy inner ring 51 and insert the needle roller 4 from the outer periphery side of the dummy inner ring 51 into the outer periphery of the dummy inner ring 51,
This is an example in which the ball is then transferred to the ball 39. In this case, the stripper 33 is inserted into the insertion jig 9.
The spring 25 mounted within and biasing the insertion lever 17 is a tension spring. In this embodiment, the dummy inner ring 51 is first attached to the tip of the holding shaft 52, and the needle roller bearing shaft 5 fitted on the outer periphery of the holding shaft 52 is attached.
The ball 39 is attached to the tip of the needle roller bearing shaft 53 and fitted to the outer periphery of the holding shaft 52. Then, the dummy inner ring holding shaft 52 and the needle roller bearing shaft 53 are raised to enter the hollow hole 54 of the insertion jig 9, and the dummy inner ring 52 is opposed to the opening 55 provided on the inner circumferential side of the conveyance path 5.

In such a state, the insertion jig 9 and the rotating cam plate 21
mutually rotate the insertion lever 17,
The needle rollers 4 are supplied and arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the dummy inner ring 51 in the same manner as in the previous embodiment. After that, the stripper 33, which is energized downward, the dummy inner ring holding shaft 52, and the needle roller bearing shaft 5
3, insert the dummy inner ring 51 and needle roller 4 into the ball 39, then move these to another position on the main body 2, and take out the ball 39, needle roller 4, and dummy inner ring 51 by appropriate means. good.

In addition to the above-mentioned small-diameter products, this embodiment can also be applied to products in which needle rollers are arranged along the outer circumferential surface of an annular ring to provide a pivot function, such as bearings without an outer ring. .

As explained above, the present invention has a lower end portion that is inserted or extrapolated into the inner circumferential surface or outer circumferential surface of the inserted object, and the needle rollers are aligned in one row in the longitudinal direction and moved from above to below. The conveyance path has an opening at the lower end side of the conveyance path through which the lowermost needle roller can be pushed out in the radial direction toward the inner peripheral surface or outer peripheral surface of the inserted object. A conveying cylinder is rotated concentrically with the inner circumferential surface or the outer circumferential surface, and an insertion claw is inserted into the opening of the conveying cylinder, and the needle roller at the lowermost end of the conveying passage is inserted through the opening. an insertion lever pivotably pivoted above the opening of the conveying cylinder so as to be able to push the inserted object toward the inner circumferential surface or the outer circumferential surface; A cam plate having an annular cam surface that pushes out and swings the insertion lever during rotation of the transport cylinder, and an inserted object such that the lower end of the transport cylinder can be inserted or inserted externally. Because it is configured with a holding means for the inserted object that positions and holds it, it is possible to reliably insert a predetermined number of needle rollers into the inserted object, and the supply time can be kept constant without variation, shortening the cycle time and inserting. Work can be done faster.

In addition, among both side walls extending in the vertical direction of the opening, the lower side of the wall facing the rotation direction of the conveying cylinder, and the upper side of the wall facing in the opposite direction, are chamfered in the width direction of the opening. Therefore, even if the previously inserted needle roller is skewed in the insertion space, the insertion posture of the subsequent needle roller can be naturally corrected by the chamfering of the opening, and the needle roller can be inserted reliably.

In addition, by providing a notch above the needle roller contact surface of the insertion lever, when inserting the needle roller, the lower end can be inserted first in an inclined position, and the needle roller that has already been inserted can be inserted into the needle roller in an inclined position. The resistance when inserting an interrupt in between can be reduced and the interrupt can be inserted easily and reliably.

Further, by rotating the cam plate in the opposite direction to the conveyance cylinder, the cam surface can be easily formed and the swinging movement of the insertion lever can be made smooth.

Moreover, if the cam plate is made immovable, the entire structure can be made simple and compact.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the entire insertion machine showing an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a front view of the main parts of the insertion jig showing the opening of the insertion jig, and Figure 3 is the insertion jig and two parts. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the relationship between the split ring and the insertion lever, FIG. 4 is a side view showing the shape of the insertion claw of the insertion lever, and FIG.
The figure is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of an insertion machine showing another embodiment of the present invention. 2...Main body, 4...Needle roller, 5...Transportation path, 16...Opening, 39...Needle roller attachment target (ball), 1...Transportation cylindrical body, 22...
...Insertion claw, 24 ... Swinging arm, 17 ... Insertion lever, 21 ... Rotating cam plate, 33 ... Stripper.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. It has a lower end portion that is inserted or inserted into the inner circumferential surface or outer circumferential surface of the inserted object, and the needle rollers are aligned in one row in the longitudinal direction and conveyed from above to below. The conveyance path has an opening at the lower end side thereof that can push out the lowermost needle roller in the radial direction toward the inner circumferential surface or outer circumferential surface of the inserted object, and the inner circumference of the inserted object a conveyance cylinder that is driven to rotate in a concentric circle with the surface or outer peripheral surface; an insertion claw is entered into the opening of the conveyance cylinder, and the needle roller at the lowest end of the conveyance path is inserted through the opening; an insertion lever pivotably pivoted above the opening of the conveying cylinder so as to be able to push out toward the inner or outer peripheral surface of the body; and an insertion lever fitted around the conveying cylinder so as to be relatively rotatable. , a cam plate having an annular cam surface that pushes out and swings the insertion lever during rotation of the transport cylinder; and a cam plate that positions and holds the inserted object so that the lower end of the transport cylinder can be inserted or inserted externally. 1. A needle roller insertion machine comprising: means for holding an inserted object. 2 Of the two side walls extending in the vertical direction of the opening, the lower side of the wall facing the rotational direction of the conveying cylinder, and the upper side of the wall facing in the opposite direction, are each chamfered in the width direction of the opening. A needle roller insertion machine according to scope 1. 3. The upper part of the needle roller contact surface is cut out so that the insertion lever presses the lower part of the needle roller at the lowest end of the conveyance path and pushes it out from the opening into the annular insertion space. The needle roller insertion machine according to item 2. 4. The needle roller insertion machine according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the cam plate is rotationally driven in a direction opposite to that of the conveying cylinder. 5. The needle roller insertion machine according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the cam plate is immovable.