KR20090093784A - Positioning device and loading table using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A positioning device and a loading table using the same are provided to performs positioning by the weight of an article without additional driving device, to return to the original state when the article is removed, and to reduce the impact in delivery of articles. A positioning device comprises inside and outside members(6,4), first and second elastic members(16,24), a floating unit(8), a push-down member, a pair of swing levers(22), at least a pair of centering rollers(20), and a pair of lever actuators. The inside member is arranged to move up and down inside the outside member. The first elastic member pressurizes the inside member upward. The floating unit is horizontally movable on the inside member. The push-down member, cam(14), moves up and down along with the inside member. The swing levers swinging around a swing shaft is supported on the outside member. The centering rollers are attached to the swing levers. The lever actuators activate the swing lever in the direction each centering roller goes toward the floating unit when the cam descends. The second elastic member pressurizes the swing lever in the direction each centering roller becomes away from the floating unit.

Description

POSITIONING DEVICE AND LOADING TABLE USING THE SAME}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article positioning apparatus and a mounting table using the article, and more particularly to centering an article smoothly by its own weight.

As a positioning device using a free roller, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H5-69923). In this apparatus, a free roller is installed on a platform to place an article, and the centering roller is brought into contact with the article from the left and right while positioning the platform while the platform is lowered. However, in the apparatus of patent document 1, the lifting mechanism of a platform and the drive mechanism of a centering roller are required.

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H5-69923

An object of the present invention is to position by using the weight of the article, and when the article is removed, the positioning apparatus automatically returns to its original state. An additional object of the invention of claim 2 is to compactly guide the moving copper of the inner member, and to allow the pushing member to descend smoothly by the article. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting table capable of positioning an article in at least two directions.

The positioning device according to the present invention includes an inner member disposed inside the outer member so as to be movable, an elastic body for pressing the inner member upward, a floating unit capable of horizontal movement disposed on the inner member, and an inner member. A pair of left and right swing levers swingable about the swing shaft supported by the outer member, at least one pair of left and right centering rollers attached to each swing lever, and the push down member When the member is lowered, the at least one pair of left and right lever driving members for swinging the swing lever in the direction in which each centering roller moves forward to the floating unit side, and the swing lever are pressed in the direction away from the floating unit. An elastic body is provided.

Preferably, the outer surface of the inner member and the inner surface of the outer member are sandwiched with each other to guide the shank movement of the inner member and to attach the pushing member to the bottom of the inner member.

In addition, the mounting table of the present invention is provided with a plurality of the above-described positioning apparatuses at least two types in the upper part, and at least one pair of left and right centering rollers of each positioning apparatus is a pillar or a crosspiece of an article. It is provided correspondingly.

In the present invention, the self weight of the article acts on the inner member through the floating unit, so that the pushing member is lowered. As a result, the swing lever swings, and the centering roller presses the article from side to side to move the position with the floating unit to position it. When the article is removed, the swing lever returns to its original state by the elastic body, and the inner member returns to its original height. For this reason, positioning is possible by the weight of an article, and a drive mechanism is unnecessary. Also, when the article is removed, it is automatically returned to its original state. In addition, since the inner member is pressurized upward by the elastic body, when the article is transferred between the positioning device and the external device, the load from the article is gradually applied alternately between the external device and the positioning device, The impact at the time of delivering an article can be made small.

Here, when the outer surface of the inner member and the inner surface of the outer member are sandwiched with each other to guide the shandong of the inner member, the shandong of the inner member can be compactly guided. Further, when the pushing down member is attached to the bottom of the inner member, the pushing down member is smoothly lowered by the load of the article.

In the mounting table of the present invention, the article can be positioned in at least two directions in the horizontal plane by the weight of the article.

1 is a plan view of the positioning apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the II-II direction of FIG. 1.

3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the direction III-III of FIG. 1.

4 is a view showing a state immediately before the start of positioning in the embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the positioning operation of the embodiment.

6 is a plan view of a transfer device using the positioning device of the embodiment;

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

2: positioning device 4: outer casing

6: inner casing 8: floating unit

10: movable space 12: ball

14: Cam 16: Spring

18: guide surface 19: limiter

20: centering roller 22: lever

24: spring 25: bearing

26, 28: shaft 30: roller

32: small hole 40: crossbar

42: cassette 44: mounting table

46: scalar arm 48: turntable

50: platform

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention The following describes an optimal embodiment for carrying out the present invention.

EXAMPLE

1 to 6, the positioning device 2 of the embodiment and the mounting table 44 using the same are shown. In each figure, 4 is an outer casing of a positioning device, is comprised with metal or plastics, etc., 6 is an inner casing, and is similarly comprised with metal, plastics, etc. In FIG. 8 is a floating unit and can move inside the movable space 10 which consists of the recess formed in the inner casing 6 in arbitrary directions in a horizontal plane. A plurality of balls 12 are exposed from the bottom surface of the floating unit 8, and the balls 12 circulate, for example, inside the floating unit 8. In addition, when the positioning direction of the article is limited to one direction, the moving direction of the floating unit in the movable space may be restricted in one direction, and the floating unit may be supported by a roller (not shown) instead of the ball 12. .

At the bottom of the inner casing 6, a cam 14 as a pushing member is provided, and the cam 14 protrudes outward of the inner casing 6, for example, horizontally. In addition, the inner casing 6 is pressurized upward by elastic bodies, such as the spring 16, in several positions. And as shown in FIG. 3, the outer peripheral surface of the inner casing 6 moves up and down, sliding with the guide surface 18 which consists of the inner surface of the outer casing 4. As shown in FIG. Since there is almost no gap between the outer surface of the inner casing 6 and the inner surface of the outer casing 4, it is said that 'the two are sandwiched together'. In addition, a limiter 19 made of, for example, a ring-shaped protrusion is provided on the inner surface of the outer casing 4 to limit the depth at which the inner casing 6 sinks.

Returning to FIG. 1 and the like, 20 is a centering roller, for example, a pair of left and right are provided, and the centering roller 20 is rotatably attached to the lever 22, and a pair of left and right levers 22, 22 are provided. Is pressed by the spring 24 in the direction away from the inner casing 6, ie away from the cam 14 on its extension line. 25 is a bearing, 26 is the axis of the centering roller 20, and is fixed to the lever 22. As shown in FIG.

As shown in Fig. 2 and the like, the levers 22, 22 are pivotably attached to the outer casing 4 by the shaft 28, and the lower ends thereof are connected to each other by a spring 24. The roller 30 protrudes from the lever 22 toward the cam 14, and when the cam 14 descends, the roller 30 is pushed down, the lever 22 swings, and the centering roller 20 moves toward the article side. Move forward. In addition, 32 is a small hole for attaching the spring 24.

The operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In these figures, an example of positioning the crosspiece 40 of the cassette of a flat panel display is shown. When the crosspiece 40 is placed on the floating unit 8, the inner casing 6 sinks together with the floating unit 8, and the cam 14 also lowers. As a result, the left and right pairs of rollers 30 and 30 are pushed down, the lever 22 swings, and the crosspiece 40 is positioned by the left and right centering rollers 20 and 20. At this time, since the floating unit 8 can move freely in the movable space 10 in any direction, it can be easily positioned even if the force from the roller 22 is small. Then, when the crosspiece 40 is removed from the positioning device 2, the positioning device 2 is returned to its original state by the springs 24 and 16.

Since the inner casing 6 is pressurized upward by the spring 16, when the crossbar 40 is transmitted between another member such as a rack or an external transfer device or the like, the crossbar is instantaneously. The load of 40 does not move. For example, when the crosspiece 40 is placed on the floating unit 8, the elastic force from the spring 16 increases as the floating unit 8 descends, and the load gradually changes to the positioning device 2 side. For this reason, delivery of goods can be performed smoothly.

On the contrary, even when the crossbar 40 is moved from the positioning device 2 to the outside, while the crossbar 40 is raised or until the contact with the floating unit 8 is lost, the load is applied. Is applied to the positioning device 2 side. For this reason, the impact at the time of delivering an article is small.

6 shows a mounting table 44 using the positioning device 2 of the embodiment. 46 is a scalar arm, which may be a slide fork, etc. Here, although a pair of scalar arms 46 are provided on the turntable 48, the turntable 48 does not need to be installed, and one scalar arm 46 may be provided. do. 50 is a lifting table, which raises and lowers the turntable 48 to the mounting table 44, and is installed on, for example, a stacker crane (not shown).

The cassette 42 has a plurality of crosspieces 40. The distance between the left and right pair of centering rollers 20 and 20 in the positioning device 2 is slightly wider than the width of the crosspiece 40 before contacting the crosspiece 40, and the swing lever 22 swings. This interval is intended to be narrower than the width of the crosspiece 40. Then, the positioning device 2 is provided in plural on the mounting table 44, and the cassette 42 is provided by providing two kinds of directions, for example, the X direction and the Y direction, in the horizontal plane for positioning the crossbar 40. Positioning can be performed in either the X or Y direction. The positioning direction is a direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane between the centering rollers 20 and 20.

In the embodiment, the left and right pairs of centering rollers 20 and 20 are provided. However, the centering rollers may be provided in front and rear of the swinging lever 22, for example, two pairs of left and right centering rollers may be provided. In addition, the pair of swing levers 22 may be provided on both front and rear sides of the inner casing 6. The roller 30 may be a pair of left and right, two pairs of left and right, and the like.

According to the embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) Positioning is performed by the weight of the article, and when the article is removed, the positioning device automatically returns to its original state. For this reason, since the drive mechanism of a positioning device is not needed, it is especially suitable for the mounting base 44, a rack, the buffer for the temporary storage of articles, etc.

(2) When the articles are moved and stacked, the load of the articles is gradually changed between the positioning device 2 and the outside. For this reason, the impact by stacking can be made small.

(3) Since the floating unit 8 is supported by the ball 12, the floating unit 8 does not rattle during positioning. In addition, the floating unit 8 can move in any direction within the horizontal plane. In addition, when two pairs are provided for positioning the centering rollers 20 and 20 in the horizontal direction with respect to each of the X and Y directions, one positioning device 2 is provided in both the X and Y directions. Positioning is possible.

(4) Since the inner casing 6 is moved by being fitted with the outer casing 4, it can be moved compactly. Since the cam 14 is attached to the bottom of the inner casing 6, the cam 14 operates by receiving the entire load applied to the inner casing 6 from the article. The cam 14 is pushed down smoothly by the article.

(5) The mounting table 44 can position the article in all directions of X and Y by the small positioning device 2.

The mounting base 44 is not limited to being attached to the lifting platform 50 of the stacker crane, and may be attached to a transfer device of an unmanned carrier, or may be attached to a transfer device fixed on the ground side. Moreover, you may install in a buffer etc. for the purpose of temporarily placing a rack or an article. The article to be positioned is not limited to having a column or a crosspiece, but may be one which can be positioned by the centering roller 20 while protruding from the bottom surface to push down the floating unit 8. For example, when there are two convex pieces parallel to the bottom surface of the cassette, the convex pieces may be positioned.

Claims (3)

An inner member disposed in the outer member so as to be movable; An elastic body for pressing the inner member upward; A floating unit capable of horizontal movement disposed on the inner member, A push-down member which moves along with the inner member, A pair of left and right swing levers capable of swinging around a swing shaft supported by the outer member; At least one pair of left and right centering rollers attached to each rocking lever, At least one pair of left and right lever driving members which swing the swing lever in a direction in which each centering roller advances to the floating unit side when the pushing member is lowered, And an elastic body for pressing the swing lever in a direction in which each centering roller is away from the floating unit. The method of claim 1, Positioning the outer member of the inner member by attaching the outer surface of the inner member to the inner surface of the outer member, and attaching the pushing member to the bottom of the inner member. The positioning device of claim 1 is provided with a plurality of positioning apparatuses on the upper side with at least two kinds of directions. Further, at least one pair of left and right centering rollers of each positioning device is provided to correspond to a column or a crosspiece of an article.