Component sending-out device

Abstract

To provide a component sending-out device capable of suppressing sending-out failure.SOLUTION: A component sending-out device 100 comprises a hopper part 10, a feeder part 20, and a conveyor part 30. The hopper part 10 stores a large number of components P. The feeder part 20 provided on a downstream side of the hopper part 10 sends the components P out to an outside of the component sending-out device 100. The conveyor part 30 comprises a belt conveyer 50 for gradually feeding a large number of the components P stored in the hopper part 10 to the feeder part 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a component delivery device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional parts delivery device. This device is equipped with a hopper body as a hopper section, and a vibrating feeder as a feeder section. A clogging prevention jig is fixed to the vibrating feeder. The clogging prevention jig is fixed to the vibrating feeder and vibrates together with the vibrating feeder. The clogging prevention jig is inserted inside the hopper body and vibrates together with the vibrating feeder. This prevents clogging of stored items in the hopper body of Patent Document 1. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-39639 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the case of Patent Document 1, for example, if a large amount of parts are discharged from the hopper body at one time, there is a risk that the sending function cannot be performed normally, as the transmission of vibration in the vibrating feeder may be spoiled, or parts may become caught between the outlet of the hopper body and the vibrating feeder, etc. Thus, in this type of device, it is an important issue to suppress sending failures caused by clogging of parts, etc.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a component delivery device that can suppress delivery failures. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The part delivery device of the present disclosure comprises a hopper section for storing a large number of parts, a feeder section provided downstream of the hopper section for delivering the parts to the outside, and a conveyor section having a belt conveyor for gradually supplying the large number of parts stored in the hopper section to the feeder section. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, a large number of parts stored in the hopper section are gradually supplied to the feeder section by the belt conveyor. This makes it possible to avoid malfunctions of the parts delivery function caused by a large number of parts being supplied to the feeder section at once. Therefore, the parts delivery device of the present disclosure can suppress delivery failures. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a component delivery device of embodiment 1. FIG. [Diagram 2] 1 is a side cross-sectional view showing a component delivery device of embodiment 1. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the component delivery device of the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] <Embodiment 1> A first embodiment of the component feeding device of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 to 4. The component feeding device 100 stores a large number of components P, and gradually feeds the stored components P to a downstream process such as another device. In this embodiment, the components P are metal hexagonal nuts. Other examples of the components P include bolts, washers, pins, etc. The components P may be made of metal, resin, rubber, etc.

[0010] As shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 4, the component delivery device 100 includes a hopper section 10, a feeder section 20, and a conveyor section 30. The component delivery device 100 is formed by fixing the hopper section 10, the feeder section 20, and the conveyor section 30 to a frame F to integrate them. The frame F is formed by assembling metal structural members such as aluminum into a frame shape. The frame F also incorporates a functional section 90 having functions such as supplying power to each section, controlling each section, and operating each section.

[0011] In the following description, the positive side of the X-axis shown in each drawing is defined as the front, and the opposite side is defined as the rear, for the front-rear direction of the component feeder device 100. The positive side of the Y-axis shown in each drawing is defined as the right, and the opposite side is defined as the left. The positive side of the Z-axis shown in each drawing is defined as the top, and the opposite side is defined as the bottom, for the up-down direction of the component feeder device 100.

[0012] The hopper section 10 stores a large number of parts P. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the hopper section 10 is disposed on the rear upper surface of the frame body F. The hopper section 10 has a hopper body 11. The hopper body 11 is cylindrical with openings at both the top and bottom. The hopper section 10 receives the parts P from an upper opening 11A of the hopper body 11 and discharges the parts P from a lower opening 11B. The hopper body 11 forms a storage space 10A for the parts P in the hopper section 10 between the upper and lower openings 11A and 11B. The storage space 10A communicates with an upper end opening 40A of a case 40 (described later) in the conveyor section 30 at the lower opening 11B of the hopper body 11.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the hopper body 11 has a rectangular tubular shape. The upper opening 11A of the hopper body 11 is a rectangular opening that is slightly longer in the front-rear direction in a plan view. The lower opening 11B is a rectangular opening whose longitudinal direction is the front-rear direction in a plan view. The opening area of ​​the lower opening 11B is smaller than the opening area of ​​the upper opening 11A. The hopper body 11 is a funnel shape that narrows from the upper opening 11A toward the lower opening 11B. The hopper body 11 also forms a monitoring window 11C. The monitoring window 11C is formed in the rear wall of the hopper body 11. This monitoring window 11C allows the user of the component delivery device 100 to check the amount of components P stored in the storage space 10A without looking into the upper opening 11A.

[0014] The feeder section 20 delivers the parts P to the outside of the part delivery device 100. As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the feeder section 20 is arranged to extend from the lower end of the rear part of the frame body F to the upper end of the front part of the frame body F at an incline obliquely upward. The rear end of the feeder section 20 is located below the hopper section 10. In this embodiment, the feeder section 20 is a screw conveyor having a screw 21 and a housing 22. The screw 21 is freely rotatable around a rotation axis A1. The screw 21 defines a spiral conveying space 20A extending along the extension direction of the rotation axis A1. In this embodiment, the rotation axis A1 of the screw 21 is set to be inclined upward toward the front. In detail, the inclination angle of the rotation axis A1 is about 50°. A drive motor 23 for rotating the screw 21 is connected to the lower end of the screw 21. The rotation speed of the drive motor 23 can be freely adjusted in the function section 90. This allows the amount of parts P sent out per unit time by the feeder section 20 to be adjusted to a desired amount.

[0015] The housing 22 is cylindrical and covers the screw 21. The housing 22 and the screw 21 define a spiral conveying space 20A. The housing 22 extends along the rotation axis A1 of the screw 21. The housing 22 accommodates the screw 21 by forming a gap between the housing 22 and the outer peripheral surface of the screw 21 that is sufficiently smaller than the size of the part P. The housing 22 is formed with a length substantially equal to that of the screw 21. The housing 22 forms an upper end opening 22A at the upper end, which is one end in the axial direction. The part P conveyed through the conveying space 20A is sent out from the upper end opening 22A of the housing 22 to the outside. The housing 22 also forms a slit 22B that opens along the axial direction. The slit 22B is formed over substantially the entire axial direction of the housing 22. The housing 22 is arranged so that the opening of the slit 22B faces upward and diagonally backward. The transfer space 20A of the feeder section 20 communicates with a lower end opening 40B of a case 40 of the conveyor section 30, which will be described later, at a rear end (lower end) of the slit 22B in the housing 22.

[0016] As shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the conveyor section 30 is disposed between the hopper section 10 and the feeder section 20. In detail, the conveyor section 30 is disposed below the hopper section 10 and above the feeder section 20. The conveyor section 30 has a case 40 and a belt conveyor 50. The case 40 houses the belt conveyor 50. That is, the belt conveyor 50 is disposed substantially entirely within the case 40. The belt conveyor 50 is disposed in a position slightly below the middle part in the up-down direction within the case 40. As shown in Fig. 3, the conveyor section 30 is disposed within the planar projection area of ​​the hopper section 10.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 4, the belt conveyor 50 has a driving pulley 51, a driven pulley 52, and a conveyor belt 53. The driving pulley 51 is rotatable around a horizontal rotation axis A2 extending in the left-right direction. The driving pulley 51 is driven by a driving motor 54 arranged on the left side of the case 40 (see FIG. 3). The rotation speed of the driving motor 54 can be freely adjusted in the function unit 90. This allows the belt conveyor 50 to be driven at a speed that supplies the feeder unit 20 with an amount of parts P according to the conveying capacity of the feeder unit 20. The driven pulley 52 is arranged behind the driving pulley 51 and approximately in the center of the case 40 in the front-rear direction. The driven pulley 52 has an outer diameter approximately equal to the outer diameter of the driving pulley 51, and is provided rotatable around a rotation axis A3 that is approximately parallel to the rotation axis A2.

[0018] 4, the conveyor belt 53 is stretched around the outer circumferential surfaces of the driving pulley 51 and the driven pulley 52. ​​The outer circumferential surface of the conveyor belt 53 serves as a conveying surface 53A for the parts P. The conveying surface 53A is made of silicone rubber. The coefficient of friction between the silicone rubber conveying surface 53A and the parts P is higher than the coefficient of friction between the parts P themselves.

[0019] The belt conveyor 50 is configured so that the parts P on the belt conveyor 50 do not move downstream when the conveyor is stopped. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the height of the conveying surface 53A of the belt conveyor 50 is higher on the rear side, which is the downstream side in the conveying direction, than on the front side, which is the upstream side. The inclination angle of the conveying surface 53A is set by arranging the rotation axis A3 at a position higher than the height of the rotation axis A2. In the present embodiment, the rotation axes A2 and A3 are arranged such that the inclination angle of the straight line perpendicular to each axis with respect to the horizontal plane is approximately 1°.

[0020] The case 40 is cylindrical with openings at both the top and bottom ends. As shown in Fig. 3, the case 40 is rectangular in shape with the longitudinal direction in the front-to-rear direction in a plan view. As shown in Fig. 4, the shape of the case 40 in a side view is pentagonal with the upper edge extending horizontally, the front and rear edges extending vertically, and the lower edge protruding downward in a V-shape.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 4, the case 40 communicates with the lower opening 11B of the hopper body 11 at the upper end opening 40A, and communicates with the slit 22B of the housing 22 at the lower end opening 40B. The upper end opening 40A is formed to have a size approximately equal to that of the lower opening 11B of the hopper body 11, and has a rectangular shape in a plan view with the longitudinal direction being the front-rear direction. The lower end opening 40B is formed with a left-right width approximately equal to that of the slit 22B of the housing 22, and opens obliquely downward toward the front at an inclination angle approximately equal to that of the rotation axis A1 of the screw 21. The case 40 forms a connection passage 40C between the upper end opening 40A and the lower end opening 40B. The connection passage 40C connects the storage space 10A in the hopper section 10 and the conveying space 20A in the feeder section 20.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the case 40 has a front wall 41, a rear wall 42, a left side wall 43, a right side wall 44, a bottom wall 45, a first eaves 46, a second eaves 47, and a third eaves 48. The connecting passage 40C is a space surrounded by these walls 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 and the eaves 46, 47, 48. The upper edges of the front wall 41, the rear wall 42, the left side wall 43, and the right side wall 44 form the opening edge of the upper end opening 40A. The front wall 41 and the rear wall 42 are arranged parallel to each other, and each plate surface faces the front-rear direction, forming a rectangular shape with the vertical direction as the longitudinal direction. The front wall 41 and the rear wall 42 are formed with approximately the same left-right width. The rear wall 42 has approximately the same left-right width as the front wall 41 and extends downward beyond the front wall 41.

[0023] As shown in Fig. 3, the left side wall 43 and the right side wall 44 are arranged parallel to each other, and each plate surface extends vertically in the left-right direction. The right side wall 44 is removable. The bottom wall 45 extends obliquely downward and forward from the lower end of the rear wall 42. The inclination angle of the bottom wall 45 is about 20° with respect to the horizontal plane.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 4, the first eaves 46, the second eaves 47, and the third eaves 48 protrude rearward from the front wall 41 of the case 40, or forward from the rear wall 42. The eaves 46, 47, and 48 form the connection passage 40C by bending forward and backward in an S-shape from top to bottom. The first eaves 46 protrudes forward from the upper end of the rear wall 42 in an eaves-like shape. The first eaves 46 protrudes forward from the rear wall 42 by about 2 / 3 of the length of the case 40 in the front-rear direction. The first eaves 46 has an upper surface that is inclined downward toward the front, and a lower surface that is approximately horizontal, thereby forming a substantially triangular shape in a side view. The protruding end of the first eaves 46 hangs slightly downward from the lower surface of the first eaves 46.

[0025] The second eaves 47 protrudes backward from the front wall 41 above the belt conveyor 50 in an eaves-like shape. The second eaves 47 protrudes backward from the front wall 41 with a length sufficient to cover the drive pulley 51 of the belt conveyor 50. The upper surface of the second eaves 47 forms an inclined surface that slopes downward toward the rear. With this inclined surface, the second eaves 47 deflects the parts P falling along the front wall 41 toward the rear conveying surface 53A side, preventing the parts P from getting caught between the front wall 41 and the belt conveyor 50. The third eaves 48 protrudes backward from the front wall 41 below the belt conveyor 50 in an eaves-like shape. The third eaves 48 protrudes backward from the front wall 41 with a length sufficient to cover the entire lower surface side of the belt conveyor 50. That is, the upper surface of the third eaves 48 is mostly covered from above by the belt conveyor 50. The lower surface of the third eaves 48 faces the bottom wall 45. The lower surface of the third overhanging 48 has an inclination angle substantially equal to the inclination angle of the bottom wall 45 .

[0026] The operation of the component delivery device 100 of the embodiment 1 configured as described above will be described. When a component P is input from the upper opening 11A of the hopper section 10, it passes through the storage space 10A of the hopper section 10, the connecting passage 40C of the conveyor section 30, and the transfer space 20A of the feeder section 20 in this order, and is delivered to the outside.

[0027] The storage space 10A in the hopper section 10 is continuous with the connection passage 40C in the conveyor section 30. Therefore, the parts P are stored in a form of being stacked upward from the connection passage 40C to the storage space 10A, with the conveying surface 53A of the belt conveyor 50 as the lowest layer. The two-dot chain line in FIG. 4 shows a state in which a large number of parts P are stacked. The load of the stored parts P acts on the belt conveyor 50 from above. The belt conveyor 50 conveys the parts P by moving the conveying surface 53A of the conveyor belt 53 from front to rear. As a result, the parts P on the conveying surface 53A are conveyed from front to rear. That is, the belt conveyor 50 conveys a large number of parts P stacked vertically while gradually cutting down the parts P from the lower layer in the front-rear direction, which is a direction intersecting the stacking direction.

[0028] At this time, because the transport surface 53A of the belt conveyor 50 is made of silicone rubber, the belt conveyor 50 can contact the parts P in contact with the transport surface 53A with a friction coefficient greater than the friction coefficient between the parts P themselves. Therefore, the belt conveyor 50 can suppress slippage of the transport surface 53A relative to the parts P, and can properly transport the parts P. In this way, the belt conveyor 50 can gradually supply the parts P to the feeder section 20.

[0029] Moreover, the component delivery device 100 is configured so that the components P on the conveying surface 53A do not move downstream when the belt conveyor 50 is stopped. Specifically, the component delivery device 100 makes the height of the downstream side of the conveying surface 53A of the belt conveyor 50 higher than the height of the upstream side. This prevents the conveyor unit 30 from unintentionally supplying a large amount of components P to the feeder unit 20 on the downstream side. In such a component delivery device 100, the supply amount of the components P from the conveyor unit 30 to the feeder unit 20 can be well correlated with the conveying speed of the belt conveyor 50. Therefore, the component delivery device 100 makes it easy to adjust the supply amount of the components P from the conveyor unit 30 to the feeder unit 20.

[0030] Parts P gradually conveyed by the belt conveyor 50 drop from the rear end of the conveying surface 53A onto the bottom wall 45, and move along the inclined surface of the bottom wall 45 while rolling, sliding, etc. on the surface, through the connecting passage 40C, and into the conveying space 20A of the feeder section 20. Parts P are gradually supplied to the feeder section 20 from the belt conveyor 50. Therefore, the feeder section 20 is able to appropriately deliver the parts P to the outside of the part delivery device 100, while preventing malfunctions such as clogging and biting of the parts P.

[0031] In addition, the connection passage 40C in the conveyor section 30 is S-shaped. Therefore, the component delivery device 100 can prevent the components P in the connection passage 40C from being unintentionally supplied in large quantities to the downstream feeder section 20, and can satisfactorily correlate the supply amount of the components P from the conveyor section 30 to the feeder section 20 with the transport speed of the belt conveyor 50.

[0032] As described above, the component feeding device 100 according to the first embodiment includes the hopper section 10, the feeder section 20, and the conveyor section 30. The hopper section 10 stores a large number of components P. The feeder section 20 is provided downstream of the hopper section 10, and feeds the components P to the outside of the component feeding device 100. The conveyor section 30 includes a belt conveyor 50 that gradually supplies the large number of components P stored in the hopper section 10 to the feeder section 20.

[0033] With this configuration, the part delivery device 100 can avoid malfunction of the delivery function caused by a large amount of parts P being supplied to the feeder section 20 at one time. For example, assume a part delivery device that does not include a conveyor section and in which parts are directly supplied from a hopper section to the feeder section. In this case, a large number of parts stored in the hopper section can be supplied to the feeder section at one time. As a result, in the feeder section, for example, when a quantity of parts exceeding the conveying capacity of the feeder section is supplied, problems such as clogging and jamming are likely to occur. In order to avoid this, for example, it is possible to reduce the amount of parts stored in the hopper section so that an appropriate amount of parts is supplied to the feeder section. However, in this case, it becomes necessary to determine the appropriate amount of parts to be stored, and the number of times parts are replenished to the hopper section increases, making the work more complicated.

[0034] In contrast, the component delivery device 100 receives a large number of components P on the belt conveyor 50 of the conveyor section 30. The belt conveyor 50 conveys the components P on the conveying surface 53A, and gradually supplies the components P in an amount according to the conveying capacity of the feeder section 20. In this way, the component delivery device 100 gradually supplies the components P by the belt conveyor regardless of the amount of the components P stored in the hopper section 10, so that the components P are not excessively supplied to the feeder section 20. Therefore, the component delivery device 100 can suppress malfunctions such as clogging and jamming in the feeder section 20 and avoid malfunctions in the feeder section 20. As a result, the component delivery device 100 can suppress delivery failures.

[0035] In the component feeding device 100, the belt conveyor 50 is disposed below the hopper section 10. More specifically, the belt conveyor 50 is disposed within the planar projection area of ​​the hopper section 10. Therefore, the component feeding device 100 can achieve a compact configuration compared to a case in which the component feeding device 100 is provided with a belt conveyor that extends outside the planar projection area of ​​the hopper section.

[0036] The component delivery device 100 is configured so that the components P on the belt conveyor 50 do not move downstream when the belt conveyor 50 stops driving. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the height of the conveying surface 53A of the belt conveyor 50 on the downstream side in the conveying direction is higher than that on the upstream side. Therefore, the component delivery device 100 makes it even more difficult for a large number of components P to be supplied to the feeder unit 20 at one time, and can effectively prevent the feeder unit 20 from malfunctioning.

[0037] In the part delivery device 100, the belt conveyor 50 has a conveyor belt 53 having a higher coefficient of friction with the parts P than the coefficient of friction between the parts P themselves. Specifically, in the case of this embodiment, the material of the transport surface 53A of the belt conveyor 50 is silicone rubber, and the coefficient of friction with the parts P, which are metal hexagonal nuts, is higher than the coefficient of friction between the parts P themselves. For this reason, the belt conveyor 50 is less likely to slip between the parts P and the conveyor belt 53, and the parts P can be transported appropriately.

[0038] <Other embodiments> The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, and for example, the following embodiments are also included within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0039] (1) The shape, configuration, etc. of the hopper section according to the present disclosure are not limited to the above embodiment. The monitoring window is not an essential component of the hopper section. For example, the hopper section may have a sensor that detects the amount of parts stored in place of or in addition to the monitoring window.

[0040] (2) The feeder unit according to the present disclosure is not limited to the screw conveyor exemplified in the above embodiment. The feeder unit may be, for example, a vibrating feeder.

[0041] (3) The configuration of the conveyor unit according to the present disclosure is not particularly limited as long as it has a belt conveyor. It is preferable that the coefficient of friction between the conveying surface of the belt conveyor and the parts to be delivered by the part delivery device is higher than the coefficient of friction between the parts themselves, but this is not essential.

[0042] (4) The material of the conveying surface of the conveyor belt in the belt conveyor is not limited to the silicone rubber exemplified in the above embodiment, and may be, for example, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM), etc. The material of the conveying surface of the belt conveyor may be appropriately selected according to the material of the parts, etc., taking into account the coefficient of friction with the parts. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 10…Hopper section 20…Feeder section 30…Conveyor section 50…Conveyor belt 53...Conveyor belt 53A...Transport surface 100...Parts delivery device P…Parts

Claims

1. A hopper section for storing a large number of parts; A feeder section provided downstream of the hopper section and configured to send the parts to the outside; a conveyor section having a belt conveyor that gradually supplies the large number of parts stored in the hopper section to the feeder section; The part delivery device comprises:

2. 2. The component delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the belt conveyor is disposed below the hopper portion.

3. 2. The component delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the components on the belt conveyor are prevented from moving downstream when the belt conveyor is stopped.

4. 2. The component delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the belt conveyor has a downstream conveying surface higher in height than an upstream conveying surface thereof.

5. 5. The part delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the belt conveyor has a conveyor belt having a higher coefficient of friction between the parts and the belt conveyor than a coefficient of friction between the parts themselves.

6. 6. The component delivery device according to claim 5, wherein the material of the conveying surface of said conveyor belt is silicone rubber.

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