JPS6314992Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] The present invention relates to a clamping device for clamping workpieces supplied to a plurality of stations arranged at predetermined intervals in a transfer machine or the like. It is.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, many devices are known that clamp a workpiece using a cylinder (for example, Utility Model Application No. 55-93433).
Publication No.). On the other hand, in a transfer machine that sequentially processes workpieces while transferring them along multiple stations, when clamping the workpieces supplied to each station, a clamp metal is provided for clamping the workpieces at each station. A clamp cylinder device was provided for each clamp.

Therefore, such conventional devices have disadvantages in that as the number of stations increases, the cost of the clamping device increases and the device becomes more complex. Furthermore, as the equipment becomes more complex, the surroundings of the processing machine also become more complex, leading to problems such as processing of chips, piping, and difficulty in attaching and detaching workpieces.

[Purpose of invention]

The present invention solves the problem that in such conventional situations, processing machines are operated in the same way at stations where workpieces are not supplied, as at stations where workpieces are supplied, and therefore energy is wasted. This was developed with the aim of detecting when a workpiece is not being supplied to one of the stations, and using this detection signal to stop unnecessary operation of the processing machine. It is an object of the present invention to provide a clamping device that can clamp two workpieces at the same time with a cylinder, can significantly reduce the cost of the device, and does not make the surroundings of a processing machine complicated.

[Structure of the idea]

In the present invention, a clamp for pressing a workpiece is disposed in each station so as to be movable back and forth, a swinging link is swingably connected to a clamp cylinder for driving the clamp, and one end is connected to both ends of the swinging link. The other ends of the two connecting rods connected to each other are connected to the clamp metal directly or through a link, and further, the clockwise or counterclockwise tilting of the swinging link is detected, and the swinging link is also tilted. A detector is installed near the swing link to detect that there is no workpiece supplied to both stations when the workpieces have moved beyond a predetermined distance without any movement. If a workpiece is not being supplied to the station, this is detected.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention,
In the figure, 1 to 4 are first to fourth stations arranged at predetermined intervals, and guide members 5 are located at two locations on the base 6 between the second and third stations 2 and 3. A clamp cylinder 7 is arranged between the guide members 5. The clamp cylinder 7 is movable from side to side in the figure, and its piston rod 7a is slidably inserted into the guide metal 5a of the left guide member 5, and a guide rod 7b is provided at the right end of the clamp cylinder 7 in the figure. is attached and is slidably inserted into the guide metal 5a of the right guide member 5.

A swing link 8 is swingably connected to the tip of the piston rod 7a of the clamp cylinder 7 in a direction perpendicular to the clamp cylinder 7 by a support pin 8a. Further, one ends of first and second connecting rods 9a and 9b are connected to both ends of the swing link 8 by a connecting pin 8b parallel to the supporting pin 8a. In addition, the first and second connecting rods 9
The other ends a, 9b are swingably connected to the driven ends 10c of the L-shaped first and second L-shaped links 10a, 10b, and the first and second L-shaped links 10a, 1
0b is swingably supported by a support bracket 11 fixed to the base 6 at its base.

And the first and second L-shaped links 10a, 10
First and second clamp rods 12a and 12b are connected to the first and second L-shaped links 10 at the drive end 10d of
They are connected so that they can move back and forth (in the vertical direction in the drawing) as a and 10b rotate. And the first one,
First and second clamps 13a and 13b are swingably connected to the front ends of the second clamp rods 12a and 12b.
The front surfaces of a and 13b are the first and second stations 1,
It faces the pressing surface 14a of the workpiece 14 supplied to the workpiece 2.

Further, the first and second clamp rods 12a, 1
A stopper 12c is provided protruding from 2b, and the stopper 12c can come into contact with a support stopper 15 provided on the base 6 or a support stopper 15 provided on the second connecting rod 9b.

Further, near the swing link 8, first and second detectors 16a and 16b, which are proximity switches or limit switches, are arranged by brackets (not shown), and these detectors 16a, 16
b is adapted to detect when the swing link 8 is tilted counterclockwise or clockwise in the drawing, respectively.

In addition, the third and fourth stations 3 and 4 also have a swing link 8, first and second connecting rods 9a and 9b, and first and second L-shaped links, similar to the first and second stations 1 and 2. 10a, 10b, first, second
Clamp rods 12a, 12b, first and second clamp metals 13a, 13b, first and second detectors 16
a, 16b, etc. are provided, but their explanation will be omitted.

Next, for the convenience of explaining the operation, the first and second
The explanation will focus on stations 1 and 2.

First, the case where the workpiece 14 is supplied to each station 1 to 4 will be described. When the workpiece 14 is supplied to the first and second stations 1 and 2, the clamp cylinder 7 is extended. Then, the swinging link 8 moves to the left in the figure, which causes the first and second connecting rods 9a and 9b to move to the first and second L-shaped links 10.
a, 10b are rotated counterclockwise and clockwise, respectively, and as the first and second clamp rods 12a, 12b are rotated, the first and second clamp rods 12a, 12b are rotated counterclockwise and clockwise, respectively.
13b, and as a result, the first and second clamp metals 13a and 13b clamp the workpiece 14. Each process is then performed in this clamped state.

Next, a case where the workpiece 14 is not supplied to the first station 1 will be explained. In this case as well, the clamp cylinder 7 first expands, and as the clamp cylinder 7 expands, the first and second clamp rods 12a, 1
2b moves downward. As a result, the second clamp metal 13b clamps the workpiece 14 and does not move down any further, but the first clamp metal 13a moves further down and its stopper 12c moves to the support stopper 15.
As a result, the swing link 8 tilts counterclockwise about the connecting pin 8b of the second connecting rod 9b (see FIG. 2). Then, the upper part of the swing link 8 approaches the first detector 16a, so that the detector 16a detects the tilting movement and issues a detection signal.

The same applies to the case where the workpiece 14 is not supplied to the second station 2, in which case the second detector 16b detects the clockwise tilting of the swing link 8.

In addition, when the workpiece 14 is not supplied to both the first and second stations 1 and 2, the swing link 8 moves to the left as shown in the figure without tilting, and furthermore, the lower part is used for the first and second detection stations. The detectors 16a, 16b detect this and issue a detection signal.

Further, the clamping operation at the third and fourth stations 3 and 4 is performed by moving the cylindrical body of the clamp cylinder 7 to the right in the figure, and the detecting operation of the tilting of the swinging link 8 is performed by moving the cylindrical body of the clamp cylinder 7 to the right in the figure. The first and second detectors 16 detect tilting in clockwise and counterclockwise directions.
This is carried out by the detection by stations a and 16b, and the other operations are the same as in the case of the first and second stations 1 and 2 described above.

In this way, the device of this embodiment can clamp four workpieces 14 in the same way with one clamp cylinder 7, simplifying the structure of the clamping device and reducing the cost of the device. Easier to attach and detach, improving operating efficiency.

Furthermore, even if the workpiece 14 is not supplied to either or both of the first and second stations 1 and 2, or to either or both of the third and fourth stations 3 and 4, this can be detected. By using the signal to stop the operation of the processing machines at the stations to which the workpiece 14 is not being supplied, wasteful consumption of energy can be avoided.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the first and second connecting rods 9
a, 9b and first and second clamps 13a, 13b
Although the case where the two are connected via the first and second L-shaped links 10a and 10b and the first and second clamp rods 12a and 12b has been described, the present invention also allows the connection rod and the clamp to be directly connected. . Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the workpieces 14 are simultaneously clamped at the first to fourth stations 1 to 4 was explained, but the present invention can of course be applied to the case where the workpieces are clamped when there are only two stations. In this case, the clamp cylinder 7 may be fixed to the base 6.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to the clamping device according to the present invention, two clamping metals are attached to the pressing surface of the workpiece by one clamp cylinder via the swinging link and the connecting rod, or via an additional link if necessary. Furthermore, the clockwise or counterclockwise tilting of the swinging link is detected, and when the swinging link moves for a predetermined distance or more without tilting, the workpiece is not supplied to both stations. Since the device is designed to detect that the workpiece is not being supplied, it has the effect of greatly reducing the cost due to the simplified device.It is also possible to detect when the workpiece is not being supplied, and use this detection signal to prevent unnecessary operation of the processing machine. There are effects that can be avoided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a clamp device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining its operation. 1 to 4... Station, 7... Clamp cylinder, 8... Swing link, 8a... Swing shaft, (support pin), 9a, 9b... Connection rod, 13a,
13b... Clamp metal, 14... Workpiece, 14a
. . . Pressing surface of workpiece, 16a, 16b . . . Detector.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A device that clamps workpieces supplied to a plurality of stations arranged at predetermined intervals, which is arranged at each station and moves in a direction perpendicular to the pressing surface of the workpiece. a clamp cylinder for driving the clamp metal, a swinging link whose middle portion is connected to the clamp cylinder so as to be swingable about an axis perpendicular to the clamp cylinder, and the swinging link. two connecting rods, one end of which is swingably connected around an axis parallel to the swing axis of the swing link, and the other end of which is connected to the clamp directly or via a link; is disposed near the swinging link, and detects the clockwise or counterclockwise tilting of the swinging link when the clamping operation is performed, and detects that there is no workpiece supplied to one station; A clamping device comprising: a detector for detecting that a workpiece is not supplied to both stations when the movable link moves beyond a predetermined value without tilting.