JPWO2019097650A1 - Work supply device and work supply method - Google Patents

Abstract

A vibrating plate (12) on which the work to be carried in is placed, a support device (14) for supporting the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate, and the work carried on the vibrating plate are dispersed and / / Alternatively, it is provided with a vibration device (13) for reversing. The support device supports the vibrating plate so that it can move up and down freely without fixing the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate, and the vibrating device periodically pushes up the vibrating plate from below to periodically push up the entire vibrating plate. The work on the vibrating plate is dispersed and / or inverted by moving it up and down.

Description

This specification discloses a technique relating to a work supply device and a work supply method in which a work carried on a vibration plate is dispersed and / or inverted by vibration to be picked up by a robot or the like.

As described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-522494), a conveyor belt is horizontally hung between two rollers, and a work is continuously mounted on the conveyor belt while rotating the conveyor belt. At the same time as carrying in, the intermediate part of the conveyor belt is vibrated from below to the vertical direction (direction perpendicular to the transport surface) by the vibration actuator arranged in the middle between the two rollers, and the work on the conveyor belt is vibrated by the vibration. There is a type in which the work is conveyed while being dispersed, and the work is picked up from above by a pickup tool such as a robot at a pickup position near the end of the conveyor belt.

Special Table 2015-522494

By the way, in order to stably pick up the work at the pickup position near the end of the conveyor belt, it is necessary to sufficiently disperse the work on the conveyor belt. Also, depending on the type of work, the front and back of the work may be reversed due to vibration on the conveyor belt, but if the pickup direction of the work is determined to be either the front or back, the front and back of the work will be reversed. I can't pick it up.

However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, since the conveyor belt horizontally hung between the two rollers is only vibrated in the vertical direction by the vibration actuator arranged in the middle between the two rollers, the conveyor belt is on the conveyor belt. The area where the vibration that disperses the work is secured is limited to a narrow area near the middle between the two rollers. Therefore, when the work on the conveyor belt passes near the middle between the two rollers, sufficient vibration is not applied to the work, and the work is conveyed to the pickup position near the end of the conveyor belt with insufficient dispersion of the work. Will end up. A work with insufficient dispersion or a work with the front and back reversed cannot be picked up. As a result, the ratio of the workpiece carried on the conveyor belt being picked up becomes low, and the workpiece cannot be picked up efficiently.

In order to solve the above problems, a vibrating plate on which the work to be carried in is placed, a support device for supporting the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate, and a work carried on the vibrating plate by vibrating the vibrating plate. In a work supply device including a vibration device for dispersing and / or reversing, the support device supports the vibration plate so that it can move freely up and down without fixing the peripheral edge of the vibration plate, and the vibration device is the vibration plate. By periodically pushing up the vibrating plate from below, the entire vibrating plate is periodically moved up and down to disperse and / or invert the work on the vibrating plate.

By the way, unlike the above configuration, if the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate is fixed and the vibrating plate is flexed and deformed to vibrate, the vibration amplitude of the entire vibrating plate is not uniform, and the vibration amplitude is at the center of the vibrating plate. Is the maximum, and the vibration amplitude becomes smaller as the distance from the center of the vibration plate increases. Therefore, even if the vibration that disperses and / or reverses the work can be secured near the center where the vibration amplitude of the vibration plate is maximized, the work is dispersed and / or distributed as the vibration amplitude becomes smaller away from the center of the vibration plate. Or the effect of reversing decreases. For this reason, the area where the effect of dispersing and / or reversing the work can be sufficiently secured is limited to a narrow area near the center of the vibrating plate, and the entire surface of the vibrating plate is effectively used to efficiently disperse and / or disperse the work. Or it cannot be reversed.

On the other hand, the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate is supported so that it can move freely up and down without being fixed, and the vibrating plate is periodically pushed up from below to periodically move the entire vibrating plate up and down on the vibrating plate. By configuring the workpiece to be dispersed and / or inverted, the entire vibrating plate can be vibrated uniformly (periodically up and down), and the workpiece can be vibrated with the same vibration amplitude near the center of the vibrating plate. It can be dispersed and / or inverted. As a result, the entire surface of the vibrating plate can be effectively used to efficiently disperse and / or invert the work.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the entire work supply device of one embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view showing an assembly structure of a vibration plate, a support device, and a vibration device. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the portion shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from above. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal side view showing a fracture along the IV-IV line of FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the vibration plate and the support device. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the vibration plate and the support device. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged side view of the vibration plate and the support device. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the work supply device.

An embodiment will be described below.

First, the configuration of the entire work supply device 11 will be described.

The work supply device 11 of this embodiment is a device that supplies a work to be picked up by a pickup tool (not shown) such as a robot. The workpiece to be supplied may be either an electrical component such as an electronic component or a mechanical component such as a nut, as long as it has a size, weight, shape, and material that can be picked up by a pickup tool such as a robot. It may be any kind of work.

The work supply device 11 includes a carry-in device 17 for carrying in a work, a vibrating plate 12 on which the work carried in by the carry-in device 17 is placed, and a support device 14 (FIGS. 2 to 2) for supporting the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate 12. 7) and the vibrating device 13 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) that disperses and / or reverses the work carried on the vibrating plate 12 by vibrating the vibrating plate 12 (periodically moving up and down). The configuration is provided with a control device 16 (see FIG. 8) that controls the operation of the vibrating device 13.

The carry-in device 17 may have any configuration as long as a plurality of works are continuously or intermittently carried onto the vibrating plate 12, and the orientation and front and back sides of the work to be carried onto the vibrating plate 12 may be used. It is not necessary to align the workpieces, and it is sufficient to carry the plurality of workpieces onto the vibrating plate 12 in a state where the orientations and the front and back sides are different. Further, a plurality of workpieces may be carried onto the vibration plate 12 in a lump state in an overlapping manner.

Next, the configuration of the support device 14 that supports the peripheral edge of the vibration plate 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7.

The vibrating plate 12 is formed in a square shape by, for example, a resin plate such as a polypropylene plate or a metal plate. The support device 14 that supports the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate 12 includes a square frame-shaped lower frame 18 that supports the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate 12, a square frame-shaped upper frame 19 that is fixed to the upper side of the lower frame 18. A spacer 20 for maintaining a distance between the lower frame 18 and the upper frame 19 is provided, and four spacers 20 are sandwiched between the four corners between the lower frame 18 and the upper frame 19 and fixed with screws 21. A gap is formed between the lower frame 18 and the upper frame 19 to accommodate the peripheral edge of the vibration plate 12. As shown in FIG. 6, screw insertion holes 22 and 23 for inserting screws 21 are formed in the four corners of the upper frame 19 and each spacer 20, and screws 21 are tightened in the four corners of the lower frame 18, respectively. A screw hole 24 is formed.

The lower frame 18 and the upper frame 19 are fixed horizontally, and the peripheral edge of the vibration plate 12 is horizontally supported on the lower frame 18. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, by making the thickness dimension of the spacer 20 larger than the thickness dimension of the vibrating plate 12, the gap dimension between the lower frame 18 and the upper frame 19 becomes larger than the thickness dimension of the vibrating plate 12. The size is increased so that the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate 12 is not fixed between the lower frame 18 and the upper frame 19 and is supported so that it can move up and down freely. The upper frame 19 plays a role of regulating the amount of pushing up of the vibrating plate 12, and also plays a role of preventing the work on the vibrating plate 12 from popping out. The spacer 20 can be replaced with a spacer having a different thickness, and the push-up amount of the vibration plate 12 can be adjusted by replacing the spacer 20 with a spacer having a different thickness.

Further, in order to move the vibrating plate 12 only in the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. 6, notches 25 are formed at the four corners of the vibrating plate 12 to escape the spacer 20, and each of the notches 25 has a notch 25. The position of the spacer 20 regulates the vibrating plate 12 from moving in the horizontal direction. As a result, the spacer 20 plays a role of maintaining a distance between the lower frame 18 and the upper frame 19, and also serves as a guide member for guiding the moving direction of the vibration plate 12 in the vertical direction.

Next, the configuration of the vibration exciter 13 that periodically moves (vibrates) the entire vibration plate 12 up and down will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the vibration exciter 13 includes an air cylinder 41 as a drive source (actuator), and is mounted on the support plate 34 with the piston rod 42 facing upward via a mounting base 48. Has been done. As shown in FIG. 4, the air cylinder 41 is a guided air cylinder provided with two guides 43 for guiding the vertical movement of the piston rod 42, and the upper end surface of the piston rod 42 is vibrated. The plate 44 is attached by a bolt 45 so as to be parallel to the vibration plate 12.

The vibration plate 44 is formed of a metal plate or the like in a square shape slightly smaller than the vibration plate 12, and the vibration plate 44 has a plurality of bolts 46 serving as protrusions (vibration points) for pushing up the vibration plate 12. A plurality of screw holes 47 are formed to tighten the vibration plates 47 from above, and by tightening each bolt 46 from above into each screw hole 47, a protrusion (vibration point) for pushing up the vibration plate 12 to a plurality of locations of the vibration plate 44. ) Is provided. The bolt 45, which fixes the vibration plate 44 to the upper end surface of the piston rod 42, also serves as a protrusion (vibration point). In this embodiment, a plurality of screw holes 47 are dispersedly formed in almost the entire area of the vibration plate 44, and the operator selects the screw holes 47 for tightening the bolts 46 to push up the vibration plate 12 of the bolts 46. The vibration state of the vibration plate 12 can be adjusted by changing the position and / or the number of bolts 46 attached to the vibration plate 44.

The distance between the upper ends of the bolts 45 and 46, which are the vibration points of the vibration device 13, and the vibration plate 12 is set to be narrower than the vertical movement stroke of the piston rod 42 of the air cylinder 41. As a result, the vibration device 13 moves the piston rod 42 of the air cylinder 41 up and down at a predetermined cycle, so that the vibration plate 12 is moved up and down at a predetermined cycle at the upper ends of the plurality of bolts 45 and 46 which are a plurality of vibration points. It is configured to push up and move the entire vibration plate 12 up and down at a predetermined cycle.

In this embodiment, the control device 16 (see FIG. 8) of the work supply device 11 also functions as a speed controller for adjusting the speed (cycle) of the vertical movement of the piston rod 42 of the air cylinder 41, and is on the vibration plate 12. By adjusting the speed of vertical movement of the piston rod 42 of the air cylinder 41 according to the vibration (jumping) cycle of the work, the cycle of pushing up the vibration plate 12 at the upper ends of the bolts 45 and 46 of the vibration plate 44 is adjusted. Then, the vibration state of the vibration plate 12 can be adjusted so as to enhance the dispersion / reversal performance of the work on the vibration plate 12.

If the period of pushing up the vibration plate 12 at the upper ends of the bolts 45 and 46 of the vibration plate 44 is deviated from the period of vibration (jumping) of the work on the vibration plate 12, the work on the vibration plate 12 is dispersed / reversed. The performance tends to decrease, the number of pickups per unit time described later decreases, and the productivity tends to decrease.

Therefore, when the workpiece on the vibrating plate 12 is picked up by a pickup tool such as a robot in the stop mode described later, the control device 16 of the workpiece supply device 11 monitors the number of pickups per unit time and picks up per unit time. When the number falls below the target range, the speed of the vertical movement of the piston rod 42 of the air cylinder 41 may be automatically adjusted to automatically adjust the cycle of pushing up the vibration plate 12. Alternatively, the operator operates an input device 65 (see FIG. 8) such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel to input an adjustment signal to the control device 16, so that the operator adjusts the cycle of pushing up the vibration plate 12. You may be able to do it.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the vibrating device 13 is provided with a vibration intensity adjusting mechanism 50 for adjusting the amount (vibration intensity) of pushing up the vibration plate 12. The vibration intensity adjusting mechanism 50 is configured by using a plurality of eccentric cams 51 that adjust the distance between the upper ends of the bolts 45 and 46, which are the vibration points of the vibration device 13, and the vibration plate 12. Each eccentric cam 51 is rotatably provided at a plurality of locations (for example, four locations in front, back, left and right) of the air cylinder 41 of the vibration exciter 13, and the outer peripheral surface of each eccentric cam 51 is in contact with the upper surface of the mounting base 48. .. A non-circular tool hole 52 such as a hexagonal hole is formed in each eccentric cam 51 so as to be concentric with the center of rotation thereof, and an operator fits a tool such as a wrench into each tool hole 52 to fit each eccentric cam 51. The vibration plate 12 is adjusted by adjusting the distance between the air cylinder 41 and its mounting base 48, and adjusting the distance between the upper ends of the bolts 45 and 46, which are the vibration points, and the vibration plate 12. The amount of pushing up (vibration intensity) can be adjusted. Further, by individually adjusting the rotation angle of each eccentric cam 51, the angle of the vibration plate 44 to which the bolts 45 and 46 are attached can be adjusted so as to be parallel to the vibration plate 12. It has become.

As shown in FIG. 8, the control device 16 of the work supply device 11 controls the operation of the carry-in device 17 and the vibration device 13, and the vibration device 13 carries the work onto the vibration plate 12 by the carry-in device 17. The vibration mode in which the entire vibrating plate 12 is periodically moved up and down to disperse and / or reverse the work on the vibrating plate 12, the work loading operation of the loading device 17 and the vertical movement (vibration) of the vibrating plate 12 are stopped. The stop mode of waiting for the work on the vibrating plate 12 to be picked up by a pick-up tool such as a robot is alternately repeated at predetermined time intervals. That is, when the work carried on the vibration plate 12 is sufficiently dispersed and / or inverted in the vibration mode, the mode is switched to the stop mode and the pickup tool waits for the work on the vibration plate 12 to be picked up, and a predetermined time elapses. After that (after the work pickup operation is completed), a series of operations of switching to the vibration mode are repeated.

Although not shown, the pickup tool is provided with a camera facing downward in a certain positional relationship with the pickup tool, and when the stop mode is switched to, at least a part of the area of the vibration plate 12 is imaged by the camera. By processing the image, the front and back of the work reflected in the image, the color or brightness value, the presence or absence of overlapping of the works, etc. are recognized to determine the work that can be picked up, and the position of the work that can be picked up is determined by the position of the camera. The pickup tool picks up only the workpieces that can be picked up by measuring with reference to (reference position of the image). The work that has not been picked up is left on the vibration plate 12 and is dispersed and / or inverted again in the subsequent vibration mode.

By the way, unlike the above configuration, if the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate is fixed and the vibrating plate is flexed and deformed to vibrate, the vibration amplitude of the entire vibrating plate is not uniform, and the vibration amplitude is at the center of the vibrating plate. Is the maximum, and the vibration amplitude becomes smaller as the distance from the center of the vibration plate increases. Therefore, even if the vibration that disperses and / or reverses the work can be secured near the center where the vibration amplitude of the vibration plate is maximized, the work is dispersed and / or distributed as the vibration amplitude becomes smaller away from the center of the vibration plate. Or the effect of reversing decreases. For this reason, the area where the effect of dispersing and / or reversing the work can be sufficiently secured is limited to a narrow area near the center of the vibrating plate, and the entire surface of the vibrating plate is effectively used to efficiently disperse and / or disperse the work. Or it cannot be reversed.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate 12 is supported so that it can move up and down freely without being fixed, and the vibrating plate 12 is periodically pushed up from below to move the entire vibrating plate 12 up and down periodically. It is configured to disperse and / or invert the work on the vibrating plate 12. With this configuration, the entire vibration plate 12 can be uniformly vibrated (periodically moved up and down), and the work can be dispersed and / or inverted with the same vibration amplitude near the center of the vibration plate 12. it can. As a result, the entire surface of the vibrating plate 12 can be effectively used to efficiently disperse and / or invert the work, the work can be efficiently picked up, and productivity can be improved.

In this embodiment, the spacer 20 for determining the clearance dimension between the lower frame 18 and the upper frame 19 is provided separately, but the portion corresponding to the spacer 20 is integrally formed with the lower frame 18 or the upper frame 19. It may be configured as such.

Further, although the support device 14 of this embodiment is designed to support the vibration plate 12 horizontally, it may be configured to support the vibration plate 12 at a slight inclination with respect to the horizontal plane. Depending on the type of work, the vibrating plate 12 may be slightly tilted and moved up and down periodically to improve the performance of dispersing and / or reversing the work.

In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented with various changes within a range that does not deviate from the gist, for example, the configurations of the support device 14, the vibrating device 13, the carry-in device 17, etc. may be changed as appropriate.

11 ... Work supply device, 12 ... Vibration plate, 13 ... Vibration device, 14 ... Support device, 16 ... Control device, 17 ... Carry-in device, 18 ... Lower frame, 19 ... Upper frame, 20 ... Spacer, 41 ... Air cylinder (Actuator), 44 ... Vibration plate, 45, 46 ... Bolt (protrusion), 50 ... Vibration strength adjustment mechanism, 51 ... Eccentric cam

Claims (8)

A vibrating plate on which the work to be carried in is placed and
A support device that supports the peripheral edge of the vibrating plate and
In a work supply device provided with a vibration device that disperses and / or reverses the work carried on the vibration plate by vibrating the vibration plate.
The support device supports the vibrating plate so that it can move up and down freely without being fixed.
The vibrating device is a work supply device that periodically pushes up the vibrating plate from below to periodically move the entire vibrating plate up and down to disperse and / or reverse the work on the vibrating plate. The work supply device according to claim 1, wherein the support device includes a lower frame that supports the peripheral edge of the vibration plate and an upper frame that is fixed to the upper side of the lower frame and regulates the amount of pushing up of the vibration plate. .. 2. A claim in which a spacer for maintaining a distance between the lower frame and the upper frame is replaceably provided, and the amount of pushing up of the vibration plate is adjusted by exchanging the spacer with a spacer having a different thickness. The work supply device described in. The vibration device periodically moves a vibration plate arranged below the vibration plate in parallel with the vibration plate, a plurality of protrusions provided on the vibration plate, and the vibration plate up and down. The work supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an actuator that periodically pushes up the vibration plate by the plurality of protrusions to periodically move the entire vibration plate up and down. The work supply device according to claim 4, wherein the position where the plurality of protrusions are attached to the vibration plate and / or the number of the protrusions to be attached to the vibration plate can be changed. The work supply device according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising a vibration intensity adjusting mechanism for adjusting the amount of pushing up the vibration plate by the plurality of protrusions by adjusting the distance between the vibration plate and the vibration plate. The work supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the vibrating device is configured so that the period for pushing up the vibrating plate can be adjusted. The process of loading the work onto the vibrating plate supported so that it can move up and down freely by the support device, and
A step of periodically pushing up the vibrating plate from below by a vibrating device to periodically move the entire vibrating plate up and down to disperse and / or reverse the work on the vibrating plate.
A work supply method including a step of stopping the vertical movement of the vibrating plate by the vibrating device and waiting for a work on the vibrating plate to be picked up.

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