TWI686262B - Pallet conveying device and pallet conveying method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The pallet conveying device of the present invention includes a pallet conveying mechanism for conveying pallets along the pallet track, a rail lifting mechanism for moving the lifting rail between the first position and the second position, and the pallet along the second position The pallet moving mechanism of the lifting rail; the pallet conveying mechanism is configured to transport the pallet mounted on the fixed rail and the lifting rail at the first position along the fixed rail and the lifting rail at the first position, and is not transported and mounted on The pallet of the lifting rail at the second position.

Description

Pallet conveying device and pallet conveying method using the same

The invention relates to a pallet conveying device for conveying a pallet on which a workpiece is mounted and a pallet conveying method using the same.

Conventionally, in a production line, there is a conveying device that conveys a workpiece by a conveyor and performs specific processing on the workpiece by a machine tool at the destination. Furthermore, the applicant of the present application has proposed a pallet conveying device that can easily change the conveying pitch of the pallet on which the workpiece is mounted (for example, refer to JP2011-93032A).

The conveying device includes a pallet configured to carry a workpiece, a pallet rail for mounting the pallet as a move, and a pallet conveying mechanism for conveying the pallet along the pallet rail. The conveying device can be expected to improve the conveying speed and positioning accuracy of the workpiece.

However, the pallet moving mechanism in the above pallet transport device, when multiple pallets are mounted on a single pallet rail, transports all the pallets at the same speed in the same direction, and cannot be independent of other pallets Transfer some of the pallets.

When a pallet carrying workpieces is transported between machine tools arranged at relatively intervals, a relatively long distance must be transported. When multiple workpieces are placed on a single pallet and the processing of the workpieces is performed in each machine tool, when the processing of a workpiece is completed in the machine tool, the adjacent workpieces are moved to the tool The processing position in the machine Workpiece processing. Therefore, when a plurality of workpieces are placed on a single pallet, the conveying distance of the pallet when processing the workpiece in each machine tool is shorter than that when the pallet is transferred between the machine tools.

Therefore, the conventional conveying device that transports all the multiple pallets mounted on a single pallet track at the same speed and in the same direction has the following disadvantages: the relative comparison between the machine tools cannot be performed when the workpiece is processed in each machine tool Long-distance transportation, and it is not possible to process the workpiece in each machine tool during the relatively long distance transportation between the machine tools.

Therefore, when a plurality of workpieces are placed on a single pallet and processing is performed in each machine tool, the relatively long distance pallet transportation between the machine tools is performed separately, and the The relatively short-distance pallet transport during the processing of the workpiece is more convenient.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pallet conveying device and a pallet conveying method that can respectively carry a relatively long distance pallet conveyance and a relatively short distance pallet conveyance.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the pallet conveying device includes: a pallet configured to carry a workpiece; a pallet rail that mounts the pallet to be movable and has a fixed rail that cannot be raised and lowered and a lifting rail that can be raised and lowered; The board conveying mechanism transports the pallet along the pallet track; the rail lifting mechanism moves the lifting rail between the first position continuous with the fixed rail and the second position after rising from the first position; and the pallet moving mechanism makes the The pallet mounted on the elevating track at the second position moves along the elevating track at the second position; the elevating track is configured to carry the pallet moving from the fixed track at the first position; the pallet conveying mechanism is configured along the fixed The rail and the lifting rail at the first position transport the pallets mounted on the fixed rail and the lifting rail at the first position, and do not transport the pallet mounted on the lifting rail at the second position.

10‧‧‧pallet conveying device

11, 12‧‧‧ processing table

13, 14‧‧‧ Standby platform

13a, 14a‧‧‧Mounting plate

15, 23‧‧‧ base

16‧‧‧pallet track

16a‧‧‧Fixed track

16b‧‧‧lifting track

17‧‧‧Support plate

21‧‧‧Pallet

22, 57‧‧‧ linear motion block

24‧‧‧First locking member

24a, 24b

25‧‧‧Second locking member

25a‧‧‧recess

26‧‧‧Work support

30‧‧‧rail lifting mechanism

31‧‧‧Elevating platform

31a‧‧‧support frame

31b, 31c‧‧‧short border

31d‧‧‧Upper link

31e‧‧‧Next Link

32‧‧‧Supporting table

33‧‧‧Cam plate

33a‧‧‧Low plane

33b‧‧‧High plane

33c‧‧‧inclined surface

34, 53‧‧‧ actuator

34a‧‧‧Telescopic pole

34b‧‧‧Body

36‧‧‧rail

37‧‧‧ Linear motion guide

38‧‧‧Roll

39a, 56‧‧‧ orbit

39b‧‧‧ linear motion block

40‧‧‧Pallet conveying mechanism

41‧‧‧Belt

41a, 41b

42、43‧‧‧Circulation mechanism

42a, 43a, 54a

42b‧‧‧Drive wheel

43b‧‧‧driven wheel

44‧‧‧Supporting member

45‧‧‧The first installation member

46‧‧‧Belt track

47‧‧‧Second mounting member

48‧‧‧Controller

50‧‧‧pallet moving mechanism

51‧‧‧ball screw

52‧‧‧Mobile

53a‧‧‧Body

53b‧‧‧Mobile Movie

54‧‧‧Servo motor

55‧‧‧Connector

FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 11 showing a pallet conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view corresponding to FIG. 1 showing the state in which the lifting rail rises.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line B-B of Fig. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3 showing a state where the lifting rail and the pallet rise together.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line E-E of FIG. 3.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line F-F of FIG. 3 showing a state in which the pallet moves from the fixed rail to the lifting rail in the pallet conveying device.

7 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 6 showing a state where the lifting rail and the pallet rise together.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 7 showing the state of conveying the pallet along the ascending and descending rail.

9 is a plan view of the pallet viewed from the direction C of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line D-D of FIG. 1. FIG.

Fig. 11 is a front view showing a pallet conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Next, the best mode for implementing the present invention will be described based on the drawings. In each figure, three axes of X, Y, and Z that are orthogonal to each other are set. The X axis extends in a substantially horizontal and horizontal direction, the Y axis extends in a substantially horizontal front and back direction, and the Z axis extends in a vertical direction. The configuration of the device 10 will be described.

FIG. 11 shows the pallet conveying device 10 of this embodiment.

The pallet conveying device 10 exemplifies a person who is installed in a production line. The production line shows a plurality of processing stations 11, 12 arranged in a line at a predetermined interval along the X-axis direction (only 2 is shown in FIG. 11 station). Each processing table 11 and 12 has a box shape, and a machine tool (not shown) is provided inside. In addition, the machine tools in the processing stations 11 and 12 are configured to sequentially process various workpieces (not shown) conveyed by the pallet conveying device 10 to automatically manufacture products (not shown).

The pallet conveying device 10 includes a pallet rail 16 that connects a starting point and an end point, and a plurality of processing tables 11 and 12 disposed therebetween, and one or more pallet 21 mounted on the pallet rail 16. The plurality of processing tables 11 and 12 are arranged linearly along the X-axis direction, and standby platforms 13 and 14 are formed on both sides of the extension line of the X-axis as starting points and ending points, respectively. A stand 15 for fixing the pallet rail 16 is erected on the standby platforms 13 and 14 and the plurality of processing tables 11 and 12 in a continuous manner along the X-axis direction.

The pallet rail 16 in this embodiment is a commercially available linear motion guide rail, which has a fixed rail 16a directly fixed to the pedestal 15 through the support plate 17 as shown in FIG. 10, and is transparent as shown in FIG. The way in which the rail lifting mechanism 30 lifts is set on the lifting rail 16b on the pedestal 15.

As shown in FIG. 11, the rail elevating mechanism 30 is provided corresponding to each processing table 11 and 12. The rail elevating mechanism 30 provided corresponding to the processing tables 11 and 12 makes the elevating rail 16b as shown in FIG. 6 in a first position continuous with the fixed rail 16a, and as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 from the first After the position rises, the second position moves up and down.

The fixed rail 16a and the lifting rail 16b are the same linear motion guide rails. The lifting rail 16b uses a length longer than the length of the rail 21 of the following pallet 21, so that it can be mounted from the fixed rail 16a to move from the fixed rail 16a at the first position continuous with the fixed rail 16a as shown in FIG. Pallet 21.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the pallet 21 has a structure that can span and act as a straight line The pallet rail 16 of the moving guide rail and the linear motion block 22 moving on the pallet rail 16, the pedestal 23 screwed to the linear motion block 22, and the first and second pedestals 23 disposed under the pedestal 23 along the pallet rail 16 Locking member 24, 25. On the upper portion of the pedestal 23 in the pallet 21, a plurality of workpiece support portions 26 for storing workpieces are formed along the pallet rail 16. In addition, the details of the first and second locking members 24 and 25 will be described below.

The linear motion block 22 is preferably a commercially available product sold in pairs with the linear motion guide rail (pallet rail 16), and is provided with a roller retainer (not shown). By using the linear motion block 22 provided with a roller retainer, it is possible to inhibit the movement in the width direction (Y-axis direction) and significantly reduce the resistance of the pallet 21 to move on the pallet rail 16. As described above, the pallet 21 is movably mounted on the pallet rail 16.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the rail lifting mechanism 30 that lifts the lifting rail 16b includes a lifting platform 31 provided with an lifting rail 16b on the upper portion, a supporting platform 32 provided on the base 15 to support the lifting platform 31 up and down, A cam plate 33 that raises and lowers the lifting table 31, and an actuator 34 that moves the cam plate 33.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the support platform 32 is a plate material that is erected on the pedestal 15 along the pallet rail 16. On the support platform 32, on one side facing the pallet rail 16, a plurality of guide rails 36 extending in the vertical direction are provided at specific intervals along the longitudinal direction of the pallet rail 16 (see FIG. 5).

As shown in FIG. 5, the lifting table 31 is formed by a square frame extending in the longitudinal direction of the pallet rail 16 in a plan view. Specifically, the lifting table 31 includes a flat support frame 31a along the support platform 32, and short frames 31b and 31c parallel to each other from the support frame 31a in the X-axis direction and away from the support platform 32 Ground protrusion; the upper connecting piece 31d, which The protruding ends in the Z-axis direction of the short frames 31b and 31c are connected; and the lower connecting piece 31e (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) connects the approximate center of the short frames 31b and 31c in the Y-axis direction below the Z-axis direction.

The lifting rail 16b is erected on the upper part of the short frames 31b and 31c which are arranged parallel to each other in the lifting platform 31. On the main surface of the support frame 31a in the lifting platform 31 facing the support platform 32, a linear motion guide 37 movably engaged with the guide rail 36 is installed. Accordingly, the lifting platform 31 is mounted on the pedestal 15 so as to be capable of lifting.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cam plate 33 extends along the X-axis direction along the pallet rail 16 and is movably provided in the pedestal 15 below the lifting table 31 along the longitudinal direction of the pedestal 15. Specifically, the support base 32 provided on the base 15 is provided with a rail 39 a extending in the X-axis direction, and a linear motion block 39 b movable along the rail 39 a is attached to the cam plate 33. The rail 39a and the linear motion block 39b ensure the smooth movement of the cam plate 33.

The connecting piece 31e is provided below the lifting table 31 above the cam plate 33, and a roller 38 that rotates on the upper surface of the cam plate 33 is provided. On the upper surface of the cam plate 33, a low-level surface 33a for positioning the roller 38 and the lifting table 31 at a low position, a high-level surface 33b for positioning the roller 38 and the lifting table 31 at a high position, and a smoothing of the low-level surface 33a and the high-level surface 33b are formed地Continuous inclined surface 33c.

As the actuator 34 that moves the cam plate 33 in the longitudinal direction, the fluid pressure cylinder 34 is used in this embodiment. The telescopic rod 34a of the fluid pressure cylinder 34 is attached to the support table 32 so as to be continuous along the longitudinal direction of the cam plate 33. The telescopic rod 34a is connected to the cam plate 33. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, when the telescopic rod 34 a is submerged in the main body 34 b, the roller 38 comes into contact with the low-level surface 33 a, so that the lifting table 31 is at a low level. As a result, the lifting rail 16b provided on the lifting platform 31 is located at the first position continuous with the fixed rail 16a.

Conversely, as shown in Figures 2, 7 and 8, when the telescopic rod 34a is removed from the body When 34b protrudes, the roller 38 reaches the high-level surface 33b from the low-level surface 33a via the inclined surface 33c. As a result, the elevating table 31 also rises together with the ascending rollers 38, and the elevating rail 16b provided on the elevating table 31 rises to a second position further raised from the first position.

Returning to FIG. 11, the pallet conveying device 10 includes a pallet conveying mechanism 40 that conveys the pallet 21 along the pallet rail 16. The pallet conveying mechanism 40 includes: a belt 41 configured to be engaged with the pallet 21 and circulating in a ring shape along the pallet rail 16; and circulation mechanisms 42, 43, which circulate the belt 41.

Mounting plates 13a and 14a are installed on the standby platforms 13 and 14 on both sides of the pedestal 15 of the pallet rail 16 in the X-axis direction, and circulation mechanisms 42 and 43 are mounted on the mounting plates 13a and 14a. The circulation mechanisms 42 and 43 in this embodiment are servomotors 42 and 43 that rotate the rotation shafts 42a and 43a at an arbitrary speed and can stop the rotation shafts 42a and 43a at an arbitrary rotation position. The servo motors 42 and 43 are attached to the mounting plates 13a and 14a with the rotating shafts 42a and 43a facing the Y-axis direction, respectively. The rotating shafts 42a and 43a are provided with a driving wheel 42b and a driven wheel 43b having the same shape and the same size.

Both ends of the belt 41 are wound around and erected on the driving wheel 42b and the driven wheel 43b. When the servo motors 42 and 43 are synchronously driven by the instruction from the controller 48, the rotary shafts 42a and 43a rotate with the drive wheel 42b and the driven wheel 43b in the same direction at the same speed, and are wound around the drive wheel 42b and the slave The belt 41 of the driving wheel 43b circulates between the driving wheel 42b and the driven wheel 43b.

In addition, the figure illustrates the case where the servo motors 42 and 43 are used as the circulation mechanism, and the servo motors 42 and 43 are installed on the mounting plates 13a and 14a in the standby platforms 13 and 14, but the servo motors 42 and 43 may be installed only In either case, the driven wheel is set to be idling in the other. In addition, the driving wheel 42b and the driven wheel 43b may also be provided in parts other than the mounting plates 13a, 14a, Instead of a servo motor, a pneumatic motor or hydraulic motor can be used as a circulation mechanism.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the belt 41 is a so-called toothed belt. The belt 41 is a toothed belt in which the irregularities 41a and 41b extending in the width direction are alternately continuous in the longitudinal direction. The belt 41 is wrapped around the driving wheels 42b and the driven wheels 43b with the irregularities 41a and 41b facing outward.

On the other hand, the pallet 21 is formed with concave-convex portions 24a, 24b that can be engaged with the concave-convex 41a, 41b of the belt 41. The uneven portions 24a and 24b are formed on the first locking member 24 constituting the pallet 21. The first locking member 24 is provided under the pedestal 23 along the pallet rail 16 with the concave-convex portions 24 a and 24 b facing downward.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the pallet 21 is mounted on the elevating rail 16b at the first position, the first locking member 24 and the belt 41 formed on the upper side of the driving wheel 42b and the driven wheel 43b have irregularities 41a, 41b The upper side coincides. As a result, the concave-convex portions 24 a and 24 b of the first locking member 24 are engaged with the concave-convex 41 a and 41 b formed on the belt 41.

When the concave-convex portions 24a and 24b of the pallet 21 are engaged with the concave and convex portions 41a and 41b of the belt 41, the movement of the pallet 21 independent of the belt 41 in the X-axis direction of the pallet rail 16 is prohibited. Therefore, when the belt 41 to which the pallet 21 is locked is circulated using the circulation mechanisms 42 and 43, the pallet 21 moves together with the belt 41 and conveys the pallet 21 along the pallet rail 16 along which the belt 41 travels.

In addition, the first locking member 24 is formed when the pallet 21 is in the first position and overlaps the upper side of the belt 41 formed with concavities and convexities 41a, 41b. Therefore, as shown by the solid arrows in FIG. When moving to the second position shown in FIG. 2 together with the lifting rail 16b in the Z-axis direction, the concave-convex portions 24a and 24b of the first locking member 24 of the pallet 21 are displaced upward in the Z-axis direction. The pallet 21 is released from the belt 41 by releasing the state of being locked to the irregularities 41a and 41b of the belt 41. Thereby, even if the belt 41 is circulated, the pallet 21 will not move together with the belt 41.

That is, the pallet conveying mechanism 40 in the pallet conveying device 10 is configured to be transportable and mounted on the fixed rail 16a and continuous with the fixed rail 16a along the fixed rail 16a and the elevating rail 16b at the first position as shown in FIG. The pallet 21 of the elevating rail 16b at the first position cannot be carried on the pallet 21 mounted on the elevating rail 16b that rises from the first position continuous with the fixed rail 16a and reaches the second position as shown in FIG.

In addition, the symbol 44 in FIGS. 1-4 is a support member 44 provided along the pallet rail 16 in order to prevent the belt 41 wound around and erected on the upper side of the driving wheel 42b and the driven wheel 43b from bending. In addition, the symbol 45 denotes the first mounting member 45 that mounts the support member 44 to the support plate 17.

In addition, the symbol 46 in FIGS. 1 to 4 supports a belt track 46 that is wound around the belt 41 under the belt 41 of the driving wheel 42b and the driven wheel 43b to suppress the slack of the belt 41. Further, the symbols 47 in FIGS. 1 to 4 are provided on the belt rail 46 at specific intervals along the longitudinal direction of the belt rail 46, and the belt rail 46 is attached to the second mounting member 47 of the support plate 17.

In addition, the pallet conveying device 10 of the present embodiment includes a pallet moving mechanism 50 that causes the pallet 21 mounted on the lifting rail 16b at the second position to release the engagement with the belt 41 after ascending The lifting rail 16b at the second position moves.

As shown in FIGS. 3-8, the pallet moving mechanism 50 in this embodiment includes: a ball screw 51, which is provided along the lifting rail 16b; a moving body 52, which is screwed to the ball screw 51; and an actuator 53, which The movable body 52 is detachably mounted (engaged and detached) with respect to the pallet 21 mounted on the lifting rail 16b; and the servo motor 54 rotates the ball screw 51 to drive the actuator 53 and the movable body 52 Move to any position together.

As shown in FIGS. 6-8, the ball screw 51 is erected on the short frames 31b, 31c of the lifting table 31 in parallel with the lifting rail 16b, and serves to rotate the ball screw 51 The motor 54 is attached to one of the short frames 31b. The servo motor 54 is attached to the short frame 31b such that the rotating shaft 54a and the ball screw 51 are coaxial. The rotating shaft 54a and the ball screw 51 are connected by a joint 55.

On the upper connecting piece 31d of the lifting platform 31, a rail 56 parallel to the lifting rail 16b is installed, and a linear motion block 57 movably embedded in the rail 56 is mounted on the moving body 52. In this state, the moving body 52 is screwed to the ball screw 51. The moving body 52 is configured to be able to move smoothly along the lifting rail 16b by the rotation of the ball screw 51.

The actuator 53 provided on the moving body 52 includes a body portion 53a including a rectangular parallelepiped, and a moving piece 53b provided on the body portion 53a and capable of reciprocating movement by fluid pressure. The actuator 53 attaches the main body 53a to the moving body 52 with the moving piece 53b facing the second locking member 25 in the pallet 21 facing upward.

The second locking member 25 in the pallet 21 is formed with a recess 25a into which the upper end of the moving piece 53b can enter. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, when the upper part of the moving piece 53b enters the recess 25a, the moving body 52 is engaged with the pallet 21, and the movement of the pallet 21 independent of the moving body 52 along the lifting rail 16b is prohibited. As shown in FIG. 6, when the moving piece 53b is pulled out of the concave portion 25a and disengaged, the engagement between the moving body 52 and the pallet 21 is released, and the pallet 21 can move freely along the lifting rail 16b separately from the moving body 52.

When the moving body 52 is engaged with the pallet 21 and the movement of the pallet 21 independent of the moving body 52 is prohibited, when the servo motor 54 is driven to rotate the ball screw 51, the moving body 52 and the pallet 21 They move together along the lifting rail 16b. The pallet moving mechanism 50 is configured to control the servo motor 54 so that the movable body 52 and the pallet 21 can be moved to any position.

Next, for the pallet in this embodiment using the pallet conveying device 10 The transfer method will be described.

The pallet conveying method in this embodiment includes: a first pallet conveying step, which conveys the pallet 21 mounted on the fixed rail 16a along the fixed rail 16a and moves it to the lifting rail 16b at the first position; The board moving step is to separate and raise the lifting rail 16b at the first position of the pallet 21 mounted from the fixed rail 16a from the fixed rail 16a, and move to the second position; the second pallet conveying step, along The lifting rail 16b at the second position conveys the pallet 21 mounted on the lifting rail 16b; and the second pallet moving step, the lifting rail 16b carrying the pallet 21 is lowered and returned to the first position to make it and the fixed rail 16a continuous. Hereinafter, each step will be described in detail.

<First Pallet Transfer Step>

In this step, the pallet 21 mounted on the fixed rail 16a is transported along the fixed rail 16a, or moved from the lifting rail 16b at the first position to be mounted on the pallet 21 of the fixed rail 16a. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the pallet 21 mounted on the fixed rail 16a or the lift rail 16b at the first position makes the concave-convex portions 24a, 24b of the first locking member 24 formed in the pallet 21 It is engaged with the irregularities 41a and 41b of the belt 41 provided along the pallet rail 16. Therefore, by synchronously driving the servo motors 42 and 43 (FIG. 11) as the pallet conveying mechanism 40 to circulate the belt 41, the pallet can be transported along the pallet rail 16 composed of the fixed rail 16a and the lifting rail 16b板21.

As shown in FIG. 11, the conveyance of the pallet 21 is between the standby platform 13 and the machine tool of the processing table 11, or the tool machine of each processing table 11, 12 (hereinafter, the tools of the processing table 11, 12 are also used The machine is called a machine tool 11 and 12), or a relatively long distance between the machine tool 12 and the standby platform 14 for carrying. Moreover, when the pallet 21 being transported faces the machine tool 11.12. When the pallet 21 moves and is mounted on the elevating rail 16b provided through the rail elevating mechanism 30, the servo motors 42 and 43 are stopped to stop the circulation of the belt 41, and the conveyance of the pallet 21 is stopped.

In addition, the pallet 21 conveyed from the machine tool 12 to the standby platform 14 is assumed to be a person to be conveyed after the processing of the workpiece (not shown) mounted on the pallet 21 in each of the machine tools 11 and 12 is completed.

<First pallet moving step>

In this step, the lifting rail 16b is separated from the fixed rail 16a together with the pallet 21 mounted on the lifting rail 16b and facing the machine tools 11 and 12, and moved to the second position.

As a specific sequence, first, with the circulation of the belt 41 stopped and the conveyance of the pallet 21 stopped, as shown in FIG. 6, the moving body 52 is moved to the second locking member 25 in the pallet 21 Below. Next, as indicated by the dotted arrow in FIG. 4, the moving piece 53 b in the actuator 53 protrudes upward, and the upper end of the moving piece 53 b enters the recess 25 a in the second locking member 25. As a result, the actuator 53 is engaged with the pallet 21, and the pallet 21, which is independent of the moving body 52, is prohibited from moving along the elevating rail 16b.

As described above, in the state where the free movement of the pallet 21 is prohibited, as shown by the solid arrows in FIGS. 4 and 7, the lifting rail 16 b is raised together with the pallet 21. The ascent is performed by the rail lifting mechanism 30, and as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. 7, the telescopic rod 34a protrudes from the body 34b of the hydraulic cylinder 34. In this way, the roller 38 reaches the high-level surface 33b from the low-level surface 33a through the inclined surface 33c, and the elevating platform 31 also rises together with the ascending roller 38, so that the elevating rail 16b provided thereon rises to a position further higher than the first position. Second position.

As described above, when the pallet 21 and the lifting rail 16b move upward in the Z-axis direction and move to the second position, as shown in FIG. 2, the unevenness 41a, 41b of the belt 41 that does not move in the Z-axis direction moves In the first locking member 24 of the pallet 21, the concave-convex portions 24a and 24b are displaced upward in the Z-axis direction to be detached from the belt 41, and the pallet 21 is released from the state of being locked to the belt 41. Thereby, even if the belt 41 is circulated, the pallet 21 cannot be moved.

<Second Pallet Transfer Step>

In this step, the pallet 21 mounted on the lifting rail 16b moved to the second position is transported along the lifting rail 16b located at the second position. Although the engagement between the pallet 21 and the belt 41 was released in the previous step, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper end of the moving piece 53 b in the actuator 53 enters the recess 25 a in the second locking member 25.

Therefore, the engagement state of the actuator 53 and the pallet 21 continues. Therefore, the movement of the pallet 21 independent of the moving body 52 along the lifting rail 16b is prohibited.

When the servo motor 54 as the pallet moving mechanism 50 is driven to rotate the ball screw 51 from this state, the moving body 52 screwed to the ball screw 51 moves along the lifting rail 16b together with the pallet 21. The pallet moving mechanism 50 controls the servo motor 54 to move the moving body 52 and the pallet 21 to arbitrary positions.

A plurality of work support portions 26 are provided on the pallet 21. For example, when the workpieces are placed on the plurality of workpiece support portions 26 and the machine tools 11 and 12 (FIG. 11) sequentially process the plurality of workpieces, the pallet 21 is transferred.

Specifically, when the processing of a workpiece is ended in the machine tools 11, 12, the adjacent workpieces are transferred to the processing position in the machine tools 11, 12 at a relatively short distance for processing. work. In this way, adjacent workpieces are sequentially transferred and processed in sequence. By using the servo motor 54 to rotate the ball screw 51 at a predetermined number of revolutions, the above-mentioned relatively short distance conveyance can be carried out relatively quickly and accurately.

In each of the machine tools 11, 12 (FIG. 11), the processing of all of the plurality of workpieces is completed, and the pallet 21 is moved to the end of the lifting rail 16b (FIG. 8), and this step is ended.

<Second Pallet Move Step>

In this step, the lifting rail 16b on which the pallet 21 is mounted is lowered and returned to the first position so as to be continuous with the fixed rail 16a.

As a specific procedure, the lifting rail 16b is lowered together with the pallet 21 shown by a dotted chain line in FIG. 2 as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. The lowering is performed by the rail lifting mechanism 30. At this time, the telescopic rod 34a is submerged in the body 34b of the fluid pressure cylinder 34. Thereby, the roller 38 passes through the inclined surface 33c from the high-level surface 33b and reaches the low-level surface 33a, and the lifting table 31 also descends together with the roller 38 that descends. Therefore, the lifting rail 16b provided on the lifting table 31 descends from the second position to the first position continuous with the fixed rail 16a.

As described above, when the pallet 21 and the lifting rail 16b move downward in the Z-axis direction and move to the first position, the first locking member 24 in the pallet 21 and the The belt 41 moving in the Z-axis direction coincides. In this way, the concave-convex portions 24 a and 24 b of the first locking member 24 in the pallet 21 are engaged with the concave-convex 41 a and 41 b of the belt 41, and the pallet 21 is locked to the belt 41 again. With this, the pallet 21 and the belt 41 are prohibited from moving independently.

Then, in order to carry the subsequent pallet 21, the moving piece 53b in the actuator 53 of the pallet moving mechanism 50 shown in FIG. 3 is moved downward, and the moving piece 53b is separated from the first The recess 25a in the second locking member 25. Thereby, the engagement between the actuator 53 and the pallet 21 is released, so that the pallet 21 can move independently from the moving body 52.

In addition, during the second pallet transfer step, the standby platform 13 on the starting point side remounts the pallet 21 carrying the workpiece to be processed on the fixed rail 16a, and the standby platform 14 on the end point side The pallet 21 of the finished workpiece is carried out.

As described above, in the pallet conveying device 10 and the pallet conveying method in the present embodiment, when a single pallet 21 places a plurality of workpieces and is processed in each of the machine tools 11 and 12, it can be performed separately The relatively long distance transport of the pallet 21 between the machine tools 11 and 12 and the relatively short distance transport of the pallet 21 when the workpiece is processed in each of the machine tools 11 and 12.

In addition, in the pallet conveying device 10 and the pallet conveying method as described above, the pallet 21 is conveyed along the pallet rail 16 by engaging the pallet 21 to the belt 41 provided in a loop for circulation . Therefore, by changing the position of the pallet 21 engaged with the belt 41, the interval between the first pallet 21 that is first engaged with the belt 41 and transported along the pallet rail 16 can be easily changed. The conveying distance of a pallet 21. Therefore, even if the distance between the pallets 21 that transports the workpiece in the second pallet conveying step is changed, the change in the pitch can be quickly responded without changing the pallet 21 itself.

In addition, the pallet moving mechanism 50 can move the actuator 53 engaged with the pallet 21 to the arbitrary position together with the moving body 52 by the rotation of the ball screw 51 by the servo motor 54. Therefore, by using the servo motor 54 to rotate the ball screw 51 at a predetermined number of revolutions, the pallet 21 can be transported at a relatively short distance. That is, by using the servo motor 54 to rotate the ball screw 51 at a predetermined number of revolutions, the shorter distance as described above can be carried out more quickly and accurately.

The structure, function, and effect of the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be summarized and explained.

The pallet conveying device 10 includes: a pallet 21 configured to carry a work, a pallet rail 16 configured to move the pallet 21 with a fixed rail 16a that is not liftable, and a lift rail 16b that can be raised and lowered, along the pallet The rail 16 conveys the pallet conveying mechanism 40 of the pallet 21, the rail lifting mechanism 30 that moves the lifting rail 16b between the first position continuous with the fixed rail 16a and the second position after rising from the first position, and the mounting The pallet moving mechanism 50 on the lifting rail 16b at the second position moves along the lifting rail 16b at the second position; the lifting rail 16b is configured to be mounted on the first position and move from the fixed rail 16a Pallet 21; Pallet conveying mechanism 40 is configured to transport the pallet 21 mounted on the fixed rail 16a and the lifting rail 16b located at the first position along the fixed rail 16a and the lifting rail 16b located at the first position, and is not transported and mounted on The pallet 21 of the lifting rail 16b at the second position.

According to this configuration, the pallet conveying device 10 includes the pallet moving mechanism 50 that separates from the pallet conveying mechanism 40 that conveys the pallet 21 along the pallet rail 16 and raises and lowers the mount at the second position The pallet 21 of the rail 16b moves along the elevating rail 16b at the second position. Therefore, when a single pallet 21 places multiple workpieces and is processed in each machine tool 11, 12, it can be used with the pallet 21 The relatively long distance of the pallet conveying mechanism 40 between the machine tools is separated, and the relatively short distance of the pallet 21 when the workpiece is processed in each machine tool 11, 12 by the pallet moving mechanism 50 Transport.

Moreover, in the pallet conveying device 10, the pallet conveying mechanism 40 is formed with concavities and convexities 41a, 41b which are alternately continuous in the longitudinal direction and extend in the width direction, and has a belt 41 provided so as to circulate along the pallet rail 16 , And the circulation mechanism 42, 43 that circulates the belt 41; The pallet 21 is formed with concave-convex portions 24a, 24b. The concave-convex portions 24a, 24b can be engaged with the concave-convex 41a, 41b from above while being mounted on the fixed rail 16a or the lifting rail 16b at the first position .

According to this configuration, by engaging the pallet 21 to the belt 41 provided in a loop for circulation, the pallet 21 can be transported along the pallet rail 16. Thereby, by changing the position of the pallet 21 engaged with the belt 41, the interval between the first pallet 21 that is first engaged with the belt 41 and is transported along the pallet rail 16 can be easily changed. The conveying distance of the previous pallet 21. Therefore, even if the distance between the pallets 21 that transports the workpiece in the second pallet conveying step is changed, the change in the pitch can be quickly responded without changing the pallet 21 itself.

Also, in the pallet conveying device 10, the pallet moving mechanism 50 includes: a ball screw 51 provided along the lifting rail 16b, a moving body 52 screwed to the ball screw 51, provided on the moving body 52, and mounted on The pallet 21 of the rail 16b is detachably attached to the actuator 53 and the servo motor 54 that rotates and drives the ball screw 51 to move the actuator 53 together with the moving body 52 to an arbitrary position.

According to this configuration, the pallet moving mechanism 50 can move the actuator 53 engaged with the pallet 21 to the arbitrary position together with the moving body 52 by the rotation of the ball screw 51 by the servo motor 54. Therefore, the relatively short distance of the pallet 21 can be conveyed by the rotation of the ball screw 51 by the servo motor 54 a predetermined number of times, so that the above-mentioned short distance of conveyance can be conveyed more quickly and accurately.

In addition, the pallet conveying method using the pallet conveying device 10 includes: a first pallet conveying step, which conveys the pallet 21 mounted on the fixed rail 16a along the fixed rail 16a to move it to the lifting rail 16b at the first position ; The first pallet moving step, so that equipped with self-fixing rails The lifting rail 16b at the first position of the pallet 21 moved from the track 16a rises and moves to the second position; the second pallet conveying step transports the bracket mounted on the lifting rail 16b along the lifting rail 16b at the second position Plate 21; and the second pallet moving step, the lifting rail 16b on which the pallet 21 is mounted is lowered and returned to the first position so as to be continuous with the fixed rail 16a.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above embodiments show only a part of application examples of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention to the specific configurations of the above embodiments.

This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-165409 filed with the Japan Patent Office on August 25, 2015. All contents of this application are incorporated into this specification by reference.

10‧‧‧pallet conveying device

15, 23‧‧‧ base

16‧‧‧pallet track

16a‧‧‧Fixed track

16b‧‧‧lifting track

21‧‧‧Pallet

22‧‧‧ linear motion block

24‧‧‧First locking member

24a, 24b

26‧‧‧Work support

30‧‧‧rail lifting mechanism

31‧‧‧Elevating platform

31b, 31c‧‧‧short border

31d‧‧‧Upper link

31e‧‧‧Next Link

32‧‧‧Supporting table

33‧‧‧Cam plate

33a‧‧‧Low plane

33b‧‧‧High plane

33c‧‧‧inclined surface

34‧‧‧Actuator

34a‧‧‧Telescopic pole

34b‧‧‧Body

38‧‧‧Roll

39a‧‧‧ Orbit

39b‧‧‧ linear motion block

40‧‧‧Pallet conveying mechanism

41‧‧‧Belt

41a, 41b

44‧‧‧Supporting member

45‧‧‧The first installation member

46‧‧‧Belt track

47‧‧‧Second mounting member

50‧‧‧pallet moving mechanism

51‧‧‧ball screw

52‧‧‧Mobile

54‧‧‧Servo motor

54a‧‧‧rotation axis

55‧‧‧Connector

Claims (3)

A pallet conveying device, comprising: a pallet configured to carry a work piece; a pallet rail that mounts the pallet as a movable and has a fixed rail that cannot be lifted and a lifting rail that can be raised and lowered; a pallet transport mechanism, Conveying the pallet along the pallet rail; a rail lifting mechanism to move the lifting rail between a first position continuous with the fixed rail and a second position after rising from the first position; and a pallet moving mechanism, Moving the pallet mounted on the lifting rail at the second position along the lifting rail at the second position; the lifting rail can mount the pallet moving from the fixed rail at the first position; The pallet transport mechanism transports the pallet mounted on the fixed rail and the lift rail at the first position along the fixed rail and the lift rail at the first position, and does not transport and mount the pallet at the second position The pallet of the lifting rail at the position; the pallet conveying mechanism has: a belt formed with irregularities that are continuous in the longitudinal direction and extending in the width direction, and is provided to circulate along the pallet rail; and a circulation mechanism To circulate the belt; the pallet is formed with a concave-convex portion that can be engaged with the concave-convex from above in a state where it is mounted on the fixed rail or the lifting rail at the first position. For example, the pallet conveying device of item 1 of the patent scope, in which The pallet moving mechanism includes: a ball screw provided along the lifting rail; a moving body screwed to the ball screw; an actuator provided on the moving body and detachable from the pallet mounted on the lifting rail Freely; and a servo motor that rotationally drives the ball screw to move the actuator to the arbitrary position together with the moving body. A pallet conveying method using the pallet conveying device as claimed in item 1 of the patent application, comprising: a first pallet conveying step, conveying the pallet mounted on the fixed rail along the fixed rail to move it to the position The lifting rail at the first position; the first pallet moving step, the lifting rail at the first position carrying the pallet moved from the fixed rail is raised to move to the second position; second The pallet transporting step transports the pallet mounted on the lifting rail along the lifting rail at the second position; and a second pallet moving step, which lowers the lifting rail on which the pallet is mounted and returns to the first A position so that it is continuous with the above fixed track.

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