A screw feeding device

Abstract

The present invention discloses a screw feeding device. An inlet and a plurality of inner material taking positions arranged at intervals are provided at the rear end of the total material tank, and a material dividing port is formed on the side surface of each position where the inner material taking position is located; a plurality of material dividing tanks extend left and right on the left side of the total material tank, the right end of each material dividing tank communicates with the total material tank at the material dividing port, and an outer material taking position is provided in each material dividing tank; a feeding mechanism is arranged on the side surface at the inlet of the total material tank, and a feeding push block in the feeding mechanism extends above the total material tank and can move back and forth along the total material tank under the drive of a feeding driver; a material dividing mechanism is arranged on the right side of the total material tank, the push rods in the material dividing mechanism correspond to the material dividing tanks one by one, and the left end of the push rod can move from the right side of the total material tank to the outer material taking position along the material dividing tank under the drive of a material dividing driver. This screw feeding device can provide more than 4 material taking positions at the same time, without allocating a separate chute for each material taking position, with a more concise structure and improved accuracy and working efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of automatic screw locking, and particularly relates to a screw feeding device. Background Art

[0002] At present, the development of automatic screw locking technology in China is becoming increasingly mature. However, the automatic screw feeding technology is still the research focus of the development of screw locking technology. The automatic screw feeding mainly refers to using a feeding device to distribute the screws arranged in a row to each picking position according to certain requirements for use by the screw locking guns corresponding to the picking positions. At the same time, the more screws that can be separated, the more screw locking guns can be satisfied at one time by using one feeding device, and the higher the processing efficiency and the lower the cost.

[0003] In the prior art, most of the feeding devices have 2 picking positions, and there are few feeding devices with more than 4 picking positions. Among the few feeding devices that can achieve 4 picking positions, separate chutes and sliders need to be equipped for each picking position, and the screws need to be adjusted in position multiple times after reaching the picking position. Therefore, the control is relatively complex, and the phenomenon of inaccurate screw positioning is likely to occur, resulting in low accuracy of automatic screw locking. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In order to overcome some deficiencies of the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a screw feeding device that can simultaneously provide more than 4 picking positions, does not require separate chutes to be allocated for each picking position, has a more concise structure, and improves the accuracy and working efficiency.

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is achieved by adopting the following technical solutions:

[0006] A screw feeding device includes:

[0007] A main material tank extending in the front-rear direction and having a feeding port at the rear end. A plurality of inner picking positions are provided at intervals in the main material tank, and a feeding port is opened on the side of each inner picking position.

[0008] A plurality of feeding grooves extending left and right on the left side of the main material tank. The right end of each feeding groove is communicated with the main material tank at the feeding port, and an outer picking position is provided in each feeding groove.

[0009] A feeding mechanism provided on the side of the entrance of the main material tank. The feeding mechanism includes a feeding push block and a feeding driver. The feeding push block extends above the main material tank and can move back and forth along the main material tank under the drive of the feeding driver.

[0010] The material distributing mechanism is arranged on the right side of the total material tank. The material distributing mechanism includes a plurality of push rods and a material distributing driver. The push rods correspond to the material distributing grooves one by one. The left end of the push rod can move along the material distributing groove from the right side of the total material tank to the external material taking position under the drive of the material distributing driver.

[0011] Further, the feeding mechanism further includes an elastic member. The feeding driver includes a driving block that can move back and forth. One end of the elastic member is connected to the driving block, and the other end is connected to the feeding push block. The driving block pushes the feeding push block forward through a spring.

[0012] Further, the feeding mechanism further includes a left-right driver. The feeding push block is connected to the left-right driver and is driven left and right by it to extend above the total material tank or leave the total material tank; the feeding push block is connected to the elastic member through the left-right driver.

[0013] Further, the length direction of each push rod is consistent with the length direction of the corresponding material distributing groove.

[0014] Further, all the push rods and the material distributing grooves are parallel to each other, and all the push rods are connected to the same material distributing driver and are driven by it.

[0015] Further, it further includes a material blocking mechanism. The material blocking mechanism includes a plurality of blocking blocks and a material blocking driver. The blocking blocks are arranged in a matching manner with the material distributing openings; the blocking blocks can move back and forth under the drive of the material blocking driver, so as to block or leave the material distributing openings.

[0016] Further, the total material tank further includes a notch. The notch is opened on the side opposite to the material distributing opening; there are also a movable tank wall and a tank wall driver. The cross-sectional shape of the movable tank wall is the same as that of the single-side tank wall of the total material tank. The movable tank wall can complete or leave the notch under the drive of the tank wall driver.

[0017] Further, a partition opening communicating the inside and the outside is also opened on the side of the total material tank. A partition mechanism is further arranged outside the partition opening. The partition mechanism includes a partition block and a partition driver. The partition block can move left and right under the drive of the partition driver, so as to extend into the total material tank from the partition opening to form a partition or leave the total material tank.

[0018] Further, the foremost end of the total material tank is one of the internal material taking positions.

[0019] Further, it further includes a position sensor. The position sensor is used to detect whether there is a screw at the foremost end of the total material tank.

[0020] A screw feeding device in the present invention, the feeding port of the main material tank is used for feeding. The screws to be locked enter the main material tank from here, and then are pushed by the feeding push block of the feeding mechanism to the rear of the main material tank until the main material tank is filled with screws. Each feeding tank communicates with the main material tank at the feeding port. After the main material tank is filled with screws, the feeding mechanism pushes the screws at the inner feeding position in the main material tank into the outer feeding position in the feeding tank. Subsequently, the feeding mechanism continues to feed to fill the vacancy formed at the inner feeding position due to the pushing into the feeding tank. After filling, there are screws at the outer feeding position of each feeding tank and each inner feeding position in the main material tank, which can meet the simultaneous use of multiple screw locking guns.

[0021] It can be seen that in the present invention, the inner feeding position is directly set in the main material tank without additionally setting a feeding tank. By timely replenishing materials, screws can be arranged at both the inner feeding position and the outer feeding position simultaneously. Compared with the prior art, it is simpler in structure, has less technical difficulty in function realization, and is not prone to errors. In addition, for this screw feeding device in the present invention, each additional feeding tank can increase a pair of inner feeding positions and outer feeding positions, with remarkable effects, rapid improvement in production efficiency, and no multiple-fold increase in the technical implementation difficulty. The cost of automatic screw locking is reduced, making it suitable for popularization and use. Description of the Drawings

[0022] Figure 1 It is a three-dimensional view of the non-extended state of the baffle and the movable tank wall in a screw feeding device of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 It is a three-dimensional view of the extended state of the baffle and the movable tank wall in a screw feeding device of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 3 It is a cross-sectional view of the extended state of the baffle and the movable tank wall in a screw feeding device of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 4 It is another three-dimensional view of the non-extended state of the baffle and the movable tank wall in a screw feeding device of the present invention;

[0026] In the figure, 1 - base, 2 - main material tank, 21 - feeding port, 22 - inner feeding position, 23 - movable tank wall, 24 - partition opening, 3 - feeding tank, 31 - outer feeding position, 4 - feeding mechanism, 41 - feeding push block, 42 - feeding driver, 421 - driving block, 43 - elastic member, 44 - left and right driver, 45 - guiding rod, 5 - feeding mechanism, 51 - push rod, 52 - feeding driver, 6 - baffle mechanism, 61 - baffle, 62 - baffle driver, 7 - tank wall driver, 8 - partition mechanism, 81 - partition block, 82 - partition driver. Detailed Implementation Modes

[0027] Next, in combination with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, the present invention will be further described. It should be noted that, on the premise of no conflict, the following-described embodiments or technical features can be arbitrarily combined to form new embodiments.

[0028] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the present application.

[0029] The terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more.

[0030] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there may also be an intermediate element. When an element is considered to be "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intermediate element.

[0031] Unless otherwise defined, all technical terms and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the technical field to which the present invention belongs. The terms used in the description of the present invention herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. The term "and / or" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the related listed items.

[0032] The figure shows a screw feeding device of the present invention, including a base 1 and a total material groove 2, a plurality of material distribution grooves 3, a feeding mechanism 4, and a material distribution mechanism 5 installed on the base 1:

[0033] The total material tank 2 extends in the front-rear direction and has a feeding port 21 at the rear end. A number of inner material taking positions 22 are provided at intervals in the total material tank 2, and a material distributing port is formed on the side of each inner material taking position 22. The feeding port 21 is used for feeding. The screws to be locked enter the total material tank 2 from here. The screws are arranged in a row in the total material tank 2 and are conveyed forward. In addition, the total material tank 2 in this embodiment not only has the functions of conveying and temporarily storing screws in the prior art, but also has a material taking position, that is, the inner material taking position 22, in the total material tank 2, making the function of the total material tank 2 more abundant and reducing the need for independent material distributing tanks 3 for this part of the material taking positions.

[0034] The material distributing tank 3 extends left and right on the left side of the total material tank 2. The right end of each material distributing tank 3 communicates with the total material tank 2 at the material distributing port. There is an outer material taking position 31 in each material distributing tank 3. The material distributing tank 3 is equivalent to a branch of the total material tank 2 and is used to provide the outer material taking position 31. The screws are pushed out of the total material tank 2 by the feeding push block 41 into the material distributing tank 3 to form an outer material distributing position. Each material distributing tank 3 has an outer material distributing position. Therefore, setting multiple material distributing tanks 3 can form multiple outer material distributing positions. Among them, the cross-sectional shapes of the total material tank 2 and the material distributing tank 3 match that of a single screw, and the nuts of the screws are placed upward for easy grasping. Therefore, the cross-sections of the tank bodies of the total material tank 2 and the material distributing tank 3 are roughly in a "T" shape. The screws applicable in this embodiment are preferably screws with washers already installed.

[0035] The feeding mechanism 4 is arranged on the side of the entrance of the total material tank 2. The feeding mechanism 4 includes a feeding push block 41 and a feeding driver 42. The feeding push block 41 extends above the total material tank 2 and can move back and forth along the total material tank 2 under the drive of the feeding driver 42. Each time the feeding push block 41 is pushed from the rear to the front, the screws in the total material tank 2 can be pushed forward. Repeating this pushing action until the total material tank 2 is filled with screws.

[0036] The material distributing mechanism 5 is arranged on the right side of the total material tank 2. The material distributing mechanism 5 includes a number of push rods 51 and a material distributing driver 52. The push rods 51 correspond to the material distributing tanks 3 one by one. The left end of the push rod 51 can move from the right side of the total material tank 2 along the material distributing tank 3 to the outer material taking position 31 under the drive of the material distributing driver 52. The material distributing mechanism 5 is used to push the screws temporarily located in the inner material distributing position in the total material tank 2 into the outer material distributing position in the material distributing tank 3, so that there are screws in the outer material distributing position. Subsequently, the feeding mechanism 4 continues to act to fill the formed vacancy, so that both the inner material taking position 22 and the outer material taking position 31 are filled with screws.

[0037] In order to improve the efficiency of filling the empty spaces in the main material slot 2, the feeding mechanism 4 also includes an elastic member 43, and the feeding driver 42 includes a driving block 421 that can move forward and backward. One end of the elastic member 43 is connected to the driving block 421, and the other end is connected to the feeding push block 41. The driving block 421 pushes the feeding push block 41 forward through a spring. When the main material slot 2 is full of screws, the feeding push block 41 cannot push the screws forward, but the driving block 421 continues to push forward. Since the feeding push block 41 cannot move forward, the elastic member 43 is compressed and has an elastic force acting on the feeding push block 41. After the material distribution mechanism 5 pushes the screws in each internal material extraction position 22 in the main material slot 2 into the material distribution slot 3, under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member 43, the feeding push block 41 will immediately push the screws behind forward to quickly fill the empty spaces formed, so that the matching screw locking device can be used immediately. This solution does not require waiting for the feeding mechanism 4 to detect the hole position after the dividing mechanism 5 pushes away the screw. After detecting the hole position, the feeding driver 42 is started to push the screw forward from the back to fill the hole, which saves a lot of procedures and time and can improve the efficiency of continuous screw locking.

[0038] As a preferred solution of the feeding mechanism 4, the feeding mechanism 4 further includes a left and right driver 44, the feeding push block 41 is connected to the left and right drivers 44, and is driven left and right by the left and right drivers 44 to extend above the main material slot 2 or leave the main material slot 2; when the feeding push block 41 needs to push the screw forward, the left and right drivers 44 drive the feeding push block 41 to extend to act on the screw; when the feeding completes a forward pushing action and needs to return to the rear position, the left and right drivers 44 drive the feeding push block 41 to retract to avoid pushing back the screw that may be placed in the rear position in the main material slot 2 during the backward return process. Matching the left and right drivers 44, the feeding push block 41 is connected to the elastic member 43 through the left and right drivers 44.

[0039] A guide rod 45 in the front-to-back direction is also provided. A guide hole is provided on the left and right drivers 44. One end of the guide rod 45 is fixed on the driving block 421, and the other end is inserted into the guide hole. The left and right drivers 44 move forward and backward along the guide rod 45. The elastic member 43 is a spring, which is sleeved outside the guide rod 45. When the driving block 421 moves forward, the driving block 421 pushes the left and right drivers 44 and the feeding push block 41 forward through the spring. The guide rod 45 regulates the movement direction of the left and right drivers 44 and the feeding push rod 51 to be front-to-back, and also regulates the deformation direction of the elastic member 43 to be only front-to-back, so as to prevent the change of the elastic force direction caused by the different elastic deformation degrees at each position of the elastic member 43 during the deformation process, thereby affecting the thrust direction of the feeding push block 41. The spring is a mature industrial product, suitable for directly purchasing high-quality standard parts for assembly and use, which reduces the manufacturing difficulty and cost of the entire material distribution device.

[0040] Since the material dividing mechanism 5 corresponds to the material dividing trough 3, the length direction of each push rod 51 in this embodiment is consistent with the length direction of the corresponding material dividing trough 3 to ensure that the external material position 31 in each material dividing trough 3 can be successfully pushed into the screw.

[0041] In the specific scheme, the length direction between each material distribution trough 3 is not necessarily consistent. When it is inconsistent, each push rod 51 needs to be equipped with a separate material distribution driver 52. In this embodiment, it is preferred that all the push rods 51 and the material distribution trough 3 are parallel to each other, and all the push rods 51 are connected to and driven by the same material distribution driver 52, so as to save the number of drivers required, and also reduce the difficulty of space layout and the complexity of the overall structure. In this embodiment, it is also preferred that the left end of each push rod 51 is provided with an inwardly concave arc-shaped opening, and the specific shape and size of the arc-shaped opening match the shape and size of the outer side of the nut of the screw to be pushed, so as to better push the screw. In terms of the setting of quantity, in this embodiment, it is preferred that the number of the material distribution trough 3, the push rod 51, the inner material taking position 22 and the outer material taking position 31 are all 2, and the total number of material taking positions at this time is 4, which can meet most of the requirements for efficient screw locking.

[0042] In order to prevent the screws from mistakenly entering the feed slot 3 during the initial feeding of the main feed slot 2, the present embodiment preferably further includes a material blocking mechanism 6, which includes a plurality of blocking blocks 61 and a blocking driver 62, wherein the blocking blocks 61 are matched with the feed slot; the blocking blocks 61 can move forward and backward under the drive of the blocking driver 62, thereby blocking or leaving the feed slot. When the main feed slot 2 needs to be filled with screws, the blocking driver 62 drives the blocking blocks 61 to block each feed slot, and the screws will not enter the feed slot 3 due to squeezing when being pushed forward; when the push rod 51 is needed to move the screws in the inner material taking position 22 of the main feed slot 2 through the feed slot into the outer material taking position 31, the blocking driver 62 drives the blocking blocks 61 to leave the feed slot, so that the screws can enter normally. This structure takes into account the situation that if a screw enters the feed trough by mistake, a screw will be arranged to enter the distributing trough 3 when the distributing mechanism 5 is pushed later, but only one screw can be in the correct external material taking position 31, and the remaining screws cannot be taken, so as to ensure the utilization rate of the screws as much as possible.

[0043] For the convenience of taking materials, the total material chute 2 further includes a notch, and the notch is formed on the side opposite to the material dividing opening; a movable chute wall 23 and a chute wall driver 7 are further provided. The cross-sectional shape of the movable chute wall 23 is the same as that of the single-side chute wall of the total material chute 2, and the movable chute wall 23 can complete or leave the notch under the drive of the chute wall driver 7. When the screws are still being arranged in the total material chute 2 from back to front, the chute wall driver 7 causes the movable chute wall 23 to complete the notch to form the total material chute 2 with an unchanged shape, and the screws can pass through the notch normally without falling out from the notch; after all the inner material taking positions 22 and the outer material taking positions 31 are arranged with screws, the screw locking device will take the screws at each material taking position. At this time, the chute wall driver 7 drives the movable chute wall 23 to leave the notch, creating space on the right side for the screw driving device (such as a starting jaw), so that there is no obstruction on both the left and right sides of the nut, facilitating clamping the screw from both the left and right sides of the nut to smoothly take it away.

[0044] Generally, the device for feeding materials into this screw dividing device is a linear vibrating feeder. The discharge port of the linear vibrating feeder is docked with the feeding port 21 of this screw dividing device. Since a vibrating disk is usually provided in the linear vibrating feeder, the vibration amplitude of the entire device is relatively large, and the vibration of the feeding port 21 adjacent to the linear vibrating feeder is also relatively large. To weaken or avoid the influence of these vibrations on this screw dividing device, in this embodiment, it is preferably that a partition opening 24 communicating the inside and the outside is further formed on the side of the total material chute 2. An isolation mechanism 8 is further provided outside the partition opening 24. The isolation mechanism 8 includes an isolation block 81 and an isolation driver 82. The isolation block 81 can move left and right under the drive of the isolation driver, so as to extend into the total material chute 2 from the partition opening 24 to form an isolation or leave the total material chute 2. After the total material chute 2 is filled with screws, the feeding push block 41 elastically abuts against the side of the nut of the last screw under the action of the elastic member 43 and waits to be replenished after the material dividing mechanism 5 divides the materials into the material dividing chute 3. At this time, the isolation driver drives the isolation block 81 to extend into the total material chute 2 from the partition opening 24, separating the feeding push block 41 in front and the already arranged screws from the back, so as to prevent the linear vibrating feeder from feeding more screws down during the waiting process and affecting the screws in front.

[0045] To ensure that all screws can be taken and the storage space of the total material chute 2 is not wasted, the front end of the total material chute 2 is one of the inner material taking positions 22, and all screws can enter the material dividing chute 3 when entering the front end, so as to be taken.

[0046] When the feeding mechanism 4 feeds materials, it is necessary to detect whether the total material tank 2 is full of screws. In this embodiment, a position sensor is used for detection (not shown in the figure). The position sensor is used to detect whether there are screws at the front end of the total material tank 2. Since the screws are pushed from the back to the front in sequence, when there are also screws at the front end, it can be determined that the entire total material tank 2 is full of screws. In addition, all the drivers in this embodiment (such as the feeding driver 42, the feeding driver 42, the left and right drivers 44, and the material blocking driver 62) are selected as cylinders with piston rods. The cylinders can provide linear reciprocating power that is convenient for precise control.

[0047] The above embodiments are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention and cannot be used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any non-substantive changes and substitutions made by those skilled in the art based on the present invention fall within the scope of protection required by the present invention.

Claims

1. A screw feeding device, characterized in that, Comprising: A main trough that extends in the front - rear direction and has a feeding inlet at the rear end. A number of inner feeding positions are provided in the main trough at intervals, and a material - distributing opening is formed on the side of each inner feeding position; A number of sub - troughs that extend left - right on the left side of the main trough. The right end of each sub - trough communicates with the main trough at the material - distributing opening. One outer feeding position is provided in each sub - trough; A feeding mechanism that is arranged on the side of the inlet of the main trough. The feeding mechanism includes a feeding push - block and a feeding driver. The feeding push - block extends above the main trough and can move back and forth along the main trough under the drive of the feeding driver; A material - distributing mechanism that is arranged on the right side of the main trough. The material - distributing mechanism includes a number of push - rods and a material - distributing driver. The push - rods correspond to the sub - troughs one by one. The left end of the push - rod can move from the right side of the main trough along the sub - trough to the outer feeding position under the drive of the material - distributing driver; The feeding mechanism further includes an elastic member. The feeding driver includes a drive block that can move back and forth. One end of the elastic member is connected to the drive block, and the other end is connected to the feeding push - block. The drive block pushes the feeding push - block forward through a spring; The feeding mechanism further includes a left - right driver. The feeding push - block is connected to the left - right driver and is driven left - right by it to extend above the main trough or leave the main trough; the feeding push - block is connected to the elastic member through the left - right driver; The feeding mechanism further includes a guiding rod in the front - rear direction. A guiding hole is provided on the left - right driver. One end of the guiding rod is fixed to the drive block, and the other end is inserted into the guiding hole. The left - right driver moves back and forth along the guiding rod; the elastic member is a spring, and the spring is sleeved outside the guiding rod; when the drive block moves forward, the drive block pushes the left - right driver and the feeding push - block forward through the spring.

2. The screw feeding device according to claim 1, wherein, The length direction of each push - rod is consistent with the length direction of the corresponding sub - trough.

3. The screw feeding device according to claim 2, wherein, All the push - rods and the sub - troughs are parallel to each other. All the push - rods are connected to the same material - distributing driver and are driven by it.

4. The screw feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, It further includes a material - blocking mechanism. The material - blocking mechanism includes a number of blocking blocks and a material - blocking driver. The blocking blocks are arranged to match the material - distributing openings; the blocking blocks can move back and forth under the drive of the material - blocking driver, so as to block or leave the material - distributing openings.

5. The screw feeding device according to claim 4, wherein, The main trough further includes a trough opening, which is formed on the side opposite to the material - distributing opening; there are also a movable trough wall and a trough - wall driver. The cross - sectional shape of the movable trough wall is the same as that of the single - side trough wall of the main trough. The movable trough wall can complete or leave the trough opening under the drive of the trough - wall driver.

6. The screw feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that A partition opening for communicating the inside and the outside is further provided on the side of the main trough. A partition mechanism is further provided outside the partition opening. The partition mechanism includes a partition block and a partition driver. The partition block can move left - right under the drive of the partition driver, so as to extend into the main trough from the partition opening to form a partition or leave the main trough.

7. The screw feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The foremost end of the main trough is one of the inner feeding positions.

8. The screw feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, It further includes a position sensor for detecting whether there is a screw at the foremost end of the total material tank.

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