Feeding device

Abstract

To provide a feeding device having good working efficiency.SOLUTION: A feeding device includes a plate-shaped tray 20 on which a workpiece 10 can be placed and whose lower surface are provided with a plurality of loose-fit protrusions 22 and a plurality of positioning protrusions 23, a storage rack 30 having a plurality of stages of holding stations 33 in which loose-fit holes 36 into which the loose-fit protrusions 22 of the tray 20 can be fitted are formed at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and a transport unit 40 having a take-out arm 42 capable of taking out the tray 20 placed on the holding station 33 and transporting the tray to a predetermined supply position, the take-out arm 42 having a positioning chuck 43 capable of positioning a relative position of the tray 20 with respect to the take-out arm 42 by sandwiching the positioning protrusion 23 of the tray 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a supply device that supplies a plate-shaped workpiece to a predetermined working machine. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a supply device that supplies a work supported on a tray to a downstream process is disclosed in Patent Document 1. This supply device is configured such that a suction device takes out a work from a storage rack, places it on a table for positioning the origin and positions it, and then the suction device sucks and holds the work again and transports it to a work machine. In this supply device, the work is placed on the table for positioning the origin and its positional relationship with the work machine is determined, so that precise work can be performed. In addition, if the work is to be positioned while it is held on the storage rack, it is necessary to install positioning means on all stages of the storage rack, which results in a large number of devices. Therefore, when positioning is performed on a table for positioning the origin as in the conventional supply device, only one positioning means is required and the device can be manufactured relatively inexpensively. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-338381 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the conventional supply device has a configuration in which the workpiece is temporarily placed on a table for positioning the origin and then removed again, which results in a long cycle time and reduced work efficiency.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT An object of the present invention is to provide a supply device that is efficient in operation and capable of positioning trays inexpensively. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a supply device including a plate-shaped tray on which a workpiece can be placed and on which a plurality of loose-fitting protrusions and positioning protrusions are provided on the underside, a storage rack having a plurality of holding stations at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction, each holding station having a loose-fitting hole into which the loose-fitting protrusions of the tray can be fitted, and a transport unit having a take-out arm capable of taking out the tray placed on the holding station and transporting it to a predetermined supply position, the take-out arm having a positioning chuck capable of clamping the positioning protrusions of the tray to position the tray relative to the take-out arm. It is preferable that the positioning chuck has a positioning recess formed on the opposing surface of its chuck claws, which abuts against the positioning protrusions of the tray and slides the tray to an appropriate position. It is also preferable that the holding station has a passing recess formed to open toward the transport unit side, and that the passing recess is configured so that the take-out arm can enter. It is also preferable that the loose-fitting protrusions are configured to be approximately conical in shape with a diameter gradually decreasing toward the tip, and the loose-fitting holes are configured to have a diameter larger than the maximum diameter of the loose-fitting protrusions. Moreover, it is preferable that the take-out arm is provided with a freebear for holding the tray so that it can slide horizontally. Effect of the Invention

[0007] The supply device according to the present invention has an advantage that the cycle time is short and the work efficiency is good because the work is positioned on the transport unit and there is no need to place the work on a table for positioning the origin as in the conventional supply device. In addition, a positioning recess is formed on the opposing surface of the positioning chuck, and the tray can be positioned by clamping the positioning protrusion of the tray with the positioning chuck, so that the positioning can be performed using only a relatively inexpensive cylinder chuck, and the device can be manufactured inexpensively. In addition, the holding station has a passage recess through which the removal arm can enter, which has an advantage that the removal arm can easily enter directly below the tray. Furthermore, the loose-fitting protrusion is configured in a substantially conical shape, which makes it easy to fit the loose-fitting protrusion into the loose-fitting hole, which has an advantage that the tray can be returned to the holding station more smoothly. In addition, a free bear is installed on the removal arm, and the tray is easily moved horizontally on the removal arm when positioning, so that the positioning chuck can be a relatively inexpensive and weak chuck. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a side view showing the structure of a supply device according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure of a supply device according to the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a partially sectional plan view showing the structure of a supply device according to the present invention. [Figure 4] 4A and 4B are enlarged, partially cutaway side views of essential parts showing the operation of the supply device according to the present invention, in which (a) is a cross-sectional side view taken along line AA in FIG. 3, and (b) is a partially cross-sectional side view showing the transition from (a) to the next state. [Diagram 5] 4(c) is a partially cutaway enlarged side view showing the operation of the supply device according to the present invention, FIG. 4(c) is a partially cross-sectional side view showing the state transitioned from FIG. 4(b) to the next state, and FIG. 4(d) is a partially cross-sectional side view showing the state transitioned from FIG. 4(c) to the next state. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 5, a supply device 10 according to the present invention includes a tray 20 capable of mounting a large number of annular workpieces W, a storage rack 30 capable of storing the trays 20 by stacking them vertically in multiple stages, a transport unit 40 that removes the trays 20 from the storage rack 30 and transports them to the movable range of a working machine located at the rear, and a control unit that controls the drive of the transport unit 40.

[0010] The tray 20 is a plate-like member having a rectangular shape in a plan view that extends horizontally, and a number of fitting recesses 21 are formed on the upper surface of the tray 20 in a row aligned in the front, rear, left and right directions. The fitting recesses 21 are formed in a circular shape into which the workpiece W can be fitted, and are shallower than the thickness of the workpiece W so that a part of the fitted workpiece W protrudes upward. On the other hand, loose fitting protrusions 22 are formed on the lower surface of the tray 20 at each of the four corners of the rectangular shape, and a pair of positioning protrusions 23, 23 are provided at a predetermined interval in the horizontal direction on the center side of the loose fitting protrusions 22. In addition, a reflecting member 24 is attached to the rear end of the lower surface of the tray 20, and is configured to be able to reflect light irradiated from behind. In this embodiment, the loose fitting protrusions 22 are configured in a substantially conical shape whose diameter gradually decreases as they go downward, and the positioning protrusions 23, 23 are configured as cam followers that are freely rotatable.

[0011] The storage rack 30 has a frame 31 installed on the base 11 of the supply device 10 as shown in Fig. 1, and in this frame 31, slide rails 32 extending in the front-rear direction are provided in a plurality of stages symmetrically on the left and right and at a predetermined interval in the up-down direction. The slide rails 32 are fitted with holding stations 33 configured to be slidable along the slide rails 32, and the slide rails 32 are configured to be moved forward along the holding stations 33 and protrude from the frame 31. In addition, a brake 34 made of an elastic member or the like is provided on the rear end of the slide rail 32 on the movement path of the holding stations 33, and the holding stations 33 are configured to stop at a position where they come into contact with the brake 34. The interval between the slide rails 32 is set sufficiently wider than the vertical dimension of the tray 20 so that the tray 20 does not interfere with the tray 20 held in the upper holding station 33 when the tray 20 is taken out as described later. The slide rail 32 is set to a stroke such that the tray 20 on the holding station 33 comes completely out of the frame 31 when the holding station 33 protrudes forward.

[0012] 2, the holding station 33 is a U-shaped member in plan view, which is slightly narrower than the tray 20 and has a passage recess 35 opening to the rear side penetrating therethrough in the vertical direction, and a loose-fitting hole 36 into which the loose-fitting protrusion 22 of the tray 20 can be loosely fitted is formed on the upper surface of the holding station 33. The loose-fitting hole 36 is formed to have a diameter larger than the maximum diameter of the loose-fitting protrusion 22, so that when the tray 20 is placed on the holding station 33, the loose-fitting protrusion 22 fits into the loose-fitting hole 36 even if the holding station 33 and the tray 20 are slightly misaligned in the horizontal direction. In addition, a non-slip member 37 is fixed to the upper surface of the holding station 33 behind the loose-fitting hole 36, so that the tray 20 does not fall from the holding station 33 to the transport unit 40 when the tray 20 is set up as described below.

[0013] The transport unit 40 includes a position control mechanism 41 disposed on the base 11, and a take-out arm 42 that moves in response to the drive of the position control mechanism 41. The position control mechanism 41 includes a linear drive source 411 extending in the front-rear direction, and a lift drive source 412 that reciprocates in the front-rear direction in response to the drive of the linear drive source 411. The take-out arm 42 is configured to be freely movable in the front-rear direction and the up-down direction in response to the drive of the position control mechanism 41.

[0014] The take-out arm 42 extends forward from the drive unit of the lift drive source 412 and is thinner than the distance between the holding stations 33, and the pair of positioning chucks 43, 43 are provided midway. The positioning chucks 43, 43 are arranged to be able to grip the positioning protrusions 23, 23 of the tray 20 and have a pair of chuck claws 431, 431 that can be opened and closed as shown by the two-dot chain line in Fig. 3, and a wedge-shaped positioning recess 432 is formed on the opposing surface of the chuck claws 431. A plurality of freebears 44, which are an example of a sliding part, are provided on the upper surface of the take-out arm 42, and the freebears 44 are arranged so that their upper ends are located slightly above the upper surfaces of the chuck claws 431, 431. Furthermore, at the front end of the take-out arm 42, an optical sensor is provided as a collision prevention means 451 that irradiates detection light forward and receives light from the front, and this collision prevention means 451 is arranged so as to be able to detect the detection light reflected by the reflecting member 24 of the tray 20. Moreover, as a presence / absence confirmation means 452 provided near the positioning chuck 43, an optical sensor is also provided that irradiates detection light upward and receives the detection light reflected by the lower surface of the tray 20 placed on the take-out arm 42.

[0015] The control unit is connected to external devices such as the transport unit 40 and the working machine, and is configured to be able to control the driving of these devices.

[0016] In this embodiment, the work machine has a gripping chuck configured to grip and remove the workpiece W from the tray 20, and a multi-joint robot that moves the gripping chuck, and the multi-joint robot is set to a predetermined size so that when the transport unit 40 moves the removal arm 42 to the rearmost and uppermost position, the tray 20 on the removal arm 42 is within the range of motion of the chuck unit.

[0017] Next, the operation of the supply device 10 configured as above will be described. When the start signal is input, the control unit drives the lifting drive source 412 of the transport unit 40 to lift the take-out arm 42 to below a predetermined holding station 33, and the linear drive source 411 is driven to advance the take-out arm 42, which has reached a height below the predetermined holding station 33, toward between the holding station 33 and the lower holding station 33. When the positioning chucks 43, 43 of the advanced take-out arm 42 reach below the positioning projections 23, 23 of the tray 20 as shown in Figures 3 and 4(a), the control unit drives the lifting drive source 412 again to lift the take-out arm 42 toward the tray 20. The take-out arm 42 rising in this manner lifts the tray 20, and the loose-fitting projections 22 of the tray 20 come out of the loose-fitting holes 36 of the holding station 33.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 4B, when the loose-fitting projection 22 of the tray 20 comes out of the loose-fitting hole 36, the control unit drives the positioning chucks 43, 43 to close the chuck claws 431, 431. At this time, the chuck claws 431, 431 have wedge-shaped positioning recesses 432 formed on their opposing surfaces, so that the positioning projections 23, 23 are urged forward and backward and laterally by the positioning recesses 432. As a result, the tray 20 is positioned and fixed at a predetermined appropriate position where the positioning projections 23, 23 overlap with the central axis of the positioning chucks 43, 43. In addition, since a freebear 44 is provided on the take-out arm 42, the take-out arm 42 and the tray 20 come into contact at a point, so that the tray 20 can slide smoothly on the take-out arm 42. As a result, the tray 20 can be positioned even if the positioning chucks 43, 43 have a relatively weak force.

[0019] When the positioning chucks 43, 43 are closed and the tray 20 is positioned and fixed at the appropriate position, the control unit re-drives the linear drive source 411 to retract the take-out arm 42 carrying the tray 20 to the rearmost part. As a result, the tray 20 carried on the take-out arm 42 is extracted forward from the frame 31. Thereafter, the control unit re-drives the lift drive source 412 to lift the take-out arm 42 and the tray 20 to the movable range of the working machine. When the tray 20 reaches the movable range of the working machine, the control unit outputs a drive signal to the working machine to cause the working machine to perform a predetermined task.

[0020] When the above-mentioned working machine performs the work on all the workpieces W on the tray 20, the control unit drives the transport unit 40 to lower the take-out arm 42 and the tray 20 to between the holding station 33 from which the tray 20 was removed and the holding station 33 above it. When the take-out arm 42 descends, the collision prevention sensor projects a detection light forward. In the unlikely event that a workpiece W is present on the holding station 33 to which the tray 20 is to be returned, the detection light projected by the collision prevention sensor is reflected by the reflecting member 24 of the tray 20 and returns to the collision prevention sensor. Therefore, the collision prevention sensor that receives the reflected light outputs a stop signal to the control unit to temporarily stop the operation of the supply device 10. This prevents the take-out arm 42 from colliding with the tray 20 held on the storage rack 30.

[0021] On the other hand, when the collision prevention sensor does not receive the detection light, the control unit drives the linear drive source 411 to advance the take-out arm 42 until the loose-fitting protrusion 22 of the tray 20 is positioned above the loose-fitting protrusion 22 of the holding station 33, as shown in FIG. 5(c). After that, the control unit slightly lowers the lift drive source 412 to such an extent that a part of the loose-fitting protrusion 22 of the tray 20 placed on the take-out arm 42 is inserted into the loose-fitting hole 36 of the holding station 33, as shown in FIG. 5(d). At this time, since the loose-fitting hole 36 is configured to have a larger diameter than the loose-fitting protrusion 22 and the loose-fitting protrusion 22 is configured to have a substantially conical shape, the loose-fitting protrusion 22 can be easily inserted even if it is slightly deviated from the loose-fitting hole 36. When a part of the loose-fitting protrusion 22 is inserted into the loose-fitting hole 36 in this way, the control unit opens the positioning chucks 43, 43 to release the tray 20. Thereafter, the lifting drive source 412 is lowered again to transfer the tray 20 from the take-out arm 42 to the holding station 33. After the tray 20 has been transferred, the control unit drives the linear drive source 411 to return the take-out arm 42 to its original position.

[0022] After the tray 20 is returned to the holding station 33 as described above, the workpieces W are replenished on the tray 20. At this time, since the holding station 33 can be pulled out forward and the stroke of the holding station 33 is set so that the tray 20 comes out completely from the frame 31, it is easy to perform either of the following operations: replenish the workpieces W with the tray 20 placed on the holding station 33, or replenish the workpieces W after removing the tray 20 from the holding station 33. In addition, when replenishing the workpieces W on the tray 20 removed from the holding station 33, the loose fitting hole 36 of the holding station 33 is configured to have a larger diameter than the loose fitting protrusion 22 of the tray 20, and the loose fitting protrusion 22 is easily inserted into the loose fitting hole 36, so that precise position adjustment of the tray 20 on the holding station 33 is not required and the tray can be easily installed. Furthermore, the non-slip member 37 provided on the holding station 33 prevents the tray 20 from sliding backward. In this way, the supply device 10 can easily set the tray 20 on the holding station 33, while the tray 20 removed from the holding station 33 is positioned at an appropriate position on the removal arm 42 by the positioning chucks 43, 43 as described above. As a result, the workpiece W can be easily removed from the tray 20 by the working machine. In addition, since positioning can be achieved simply by opening and closing the positioning chucks 43, 43 having positioning recesses 432 formed on their opposing surfaces, it can be easily controlled without the need for complex control.

[0023] The supply device 10 according to the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention. For example, the size and shape of the tray 20 are preferably formed according to the size and number of the workpieces W, and the take-out arm 42 is preferably adjusted appropriately according to the size of the tray 20. Furthermore, the position control mechanism 41 of the transport unit 40 is not limited to the linear drive source 411 and the lift drive source 412 as described above, and there is no problem even if it is a multi-joint robot or the like that can move the take-out arm 42 in the front-rear, left-right (direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction) and up-down directions. Furthermore, the positioning recess 432 may be provided in at least one chuck claw 431.

[0024] In addition, the storage rack 30 is not limited to being fixed on the base 11 like the above-mentioned supply device 10, but may be configured such that the frame 31 is installed on a moving means such as casters, and after the above-mentioned work is completed for all the trays 20 placed on the holding station 33, the trays 20 are replaced with a second storage rack 30. In this way, it is also possible to change the storage rack 30 as a whole. Note that when changing from the storage rack 30 to the next storage rack 30, the standby position of the tray 20 with respect to the transport unit 30 changes due to the dimensional tolerance of various parts constituting the storage rack 30 and the shift in the installation position of the storage rack 30. However, in the present supply device 10, since the loose fitting hole 36 of the holding station 33 and the loose fitting protrusion 22 are loosely fitted to allow positional deviation as described above, even if the storage rack 30 is replaced with the next storage rack 30, the work can be performed in the same way as with the storage rack 30 of the previous stage. [Explanation of symbols]

[0025] 10… Feeding device 11 … Foundation 20 … Tray 21 ... Fitting recess 22 … Free fitting protrusion 23 … Positioning protrusion 24 ... Reflective material 30 … Storage rack 30 31 … Frame 32 ... Slide rail 33 … Holding station 34 ... Brake 35 ... Pass-through recess 36 … Play hole 37 … Parts 40 … Transport unit 41 ... Position control mechanism 411... Linear drive source 412... Lift drive source 42 ... Extraction arm 43 ... Positioning chuck 431... Chuck jaw 432... Positioning recess 44 ... Freebear 451… Collision prevention means 452... Means of confirmation W … Work

Claims

1. A plate-shaped tray configured so that a workpiece can be placed thereon and having a plurality of loose-fitting protrusions and positioning protrusions on its underside; a storage rack having a plurality of holding stations at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, each holding station having a loose-fitting hole into which the loose-fitting protrusion of the tray can be fitted; a transport unit having a take-out arm capable of taking out the tray placed on the holding station and transporting it to a predetermined supply position, The supply device is characterized in that the take-out arm has a positioning chuck capable of clamping a positioning protrusion of the tray to position the tray relative to the take-out arm.

2. 2. The supply device according to claim 1, wherein the positioning chuck has a positioning recess formed on an opposing surface of its chuck claws for abutting against a positioning protrusion of the tray and sliding the tray to an appropriate position.

3. 2. The supply device according to claim 1, wherein the loose-fitting projection is formed in a generally conical shape with a diameter gradually decreasing toward a tip thereof, and the loose-fitting hole is formed to have a diameter larger than a maximum diameter of the loose-fitting projection.

4. 2. The supply device according to claim 1, wherein the holding station is formed with a passage recess that opens toward the transport unit, and the passage recess is configured so that the take-out arm can enter.

5. 2. The supply device according to claim 1, wherein the take-out arm is provided with a freebear for holding the tray so as to be slidable in a horizontal direction.

Images