Material transfer device and method for cleaning needle

Abstract

To provide a material transfer device that can readily remove an adhesive matter from a needle.SOLUTION: A material transfer device includes: a gripping part (11) for piercing a material with a needle (2) to grip the material; an arm part for moving the gripping part; and needle cleaning means (6) installed within a movable range of the gripping part and capable of receiving at least a tip of the needle. Inserting and removing the needle which has discharged a material into and from the needle cleaning means can remove an adhesive matter (Ka) adhering to the needle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a material transfer device having a gripping portion that pierces and grips a material with a needle, and a method for cleaning the needle. [Background technology]

[0002] A transfer device for transferring a kneaded material includes a gripping means for gripping the material. As one type of gripping means, there is a type that pierces and grips the material with a needle, as disclosed in JP 2021-3746 A (Patent Document 1) and JP 2021-3747 A (Patent Document 2). The transfer devices of Patent Documents 1 and 2 include a gripping unit (needle gripper) that pierces and grips a kneaded material containing a thermoplastic resin from above with a needle, and an arm unit that moves the gripping unit, and continuously transfers the kneaded material gripped by the gripping unit to a molding device. In the gripping unit, the needle is held so as to be freely moved forward and backward between the most retreated retracted position (initial position) and the most advanced gripping position. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-3746 [Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 2021-3747 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The above-mentioned gripping means has a concern that the material may remain attached to the needle and adhere to the next material, affecting its physical properties. In addition, there is a concern that the needles may interfere with each other due to the enlargement of the attached material.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a material transfer device that can easily remove adhesions to a needle.

[0006] It is yet another object to provide a method of cleaning needles that is operable by a material transfer device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A material transfer device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a gripping section which grips the material by piercing it with a needle, an arm section which moves the gripping section, and a needle cleaning means which is installed within the movable range of the gripping section and can receive at least the tip of the needle, and is characterized in that the needle after releasing the material is inserted and removed from the needle cleaning means to remove any adhering matter which has adhered to the needle.

[0008] Preferably, the needle cleaning means includes an elastic member having a surface that intersects with the direction of movement of the needle.

[0009] It is also preferable that the needle cleaning means is a porous material having a surface that intersects with the direction of advancement and retreat of the needle.

[0010] During continuous operation, the arm unit continuously moves the gripper between a predetermined receiving position and a predetermined delivery position. In this case, it is preferable that a needle cleaning means is provided at a midpoint on the return path from the delivery position to the receiving position.

[0011] The intermediate position may be a waiting position where the gripper waits until the next material is received.

[0012] A needle cleaning method according to another aspect of the present invention is a cleaning method for cleaning a needle mounted on a gripping part of a material transfer device, and includes a step of moving the gripping part to a predetermined position where a needle cleaning means is installed after piercing the needle and releasing the gripped material at a predetermined transfer position, and a cleaning step of removing any adhering matter from the needle by inserting and removing the needle from the needle cleaning means during the waiting time until the next material is received. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the material transfer device of the present invention, the deposits (part of the released material) adhering to the needle after it has been pulled out of the material can be easily removed without manual intervention.

[0014] Furthermore, according to the method for cleaning the needle of the present invention, the deposits on the needle can be removed during the waiting time until the next material is received, and therefore the needle can be cleaned without affecting one cycle time of continuous operation due to the cleaning process. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a main part of a material transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating the operation of a material transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the needle cleaning device is placed at a standby position in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 1A to 1C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for removing deposits using a needle cleaning means according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic installation state of a needle cleaning means in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic installation state of a needle cleaning means according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating an installation state of a needle cleaning device in a modified example of an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a side view showing a basic configuration of a grip part according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a basic configuration of a grip part according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 11A to 11C are diagrams illustrating the advancement and retreat of a needle. [Figure 11]FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state in which a deposit is attached to the tip of a needle; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference characters and their description will not be repeated.

[0017] (Outline of material transport equipment) An overview of a material transfer device (hereinafter abbreviated as "transfer device") 1 will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a diagram showing a schematic view of a main part of the transfer device 1. Figure 2 is a diagram showing a schematic view of the operation of the transfer device 1. The material to be transferred is, for example, a mixture K of fibers and a thermoplastic resin.

[0018] As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the transfer device 1 grips (picks up) the kneaded material K at a predetermined receiving position P1 and releases the kneaded material K at a predetermined delivery position P2. The transfer device 1 repeatedly grips and releases the kneaded material K, and continuously transfers the kneaded material K to the delivery position P2. The receiving position P1 is, for example, a position on a conveyor 8 for transport or positioning that is arranged downstream of a kneading device (not shown) that produces the kneaded material K. The delivery position P2 is, for example, a position that overlaps with a molding die (metal mold) 90 provided in a molding device 9. The molding die 90 includes an upper die 92 and a lower die 91.

[0019] The transfer device 1 includes a gripping unit 11 that grips the kneaded material K, an arm unit 12 that moves the gripping unit 11, and a control unit 13 that controls the operations of the gripping unit 11 and the arm unit 12. The gripping unit 11 is a needle-type robot hand (needle gripper). The gripping unit 11 inserts a needle into the kneaded material K to chuck it at a receiving position P1, and pulls out the needle from the kneaded material K and releases it at a delivery position P2. The control unit 13 controls the arm unit 12 to reciprocate the gripping unit 11 along a predetermined path.

[0020] A standby position P3 is provided on the return path from the delivery position P2 to the receiving position P1. During press processing in the molding device 9, the transfer device 1 stops the gripper 11 at the standby position P3 and keeps it on standby until it is possible to receive the next material. The transfer device 1 moves the gripper 11 from the standby position P3 to the receiving position P1 and the delivery position P2 in that order, and then returns it to the standby position P3. The transfer device 1 performs continuous operation by repeating this cycle. As will be described later, a needle cleaning means 6 is provided at this standby position P3.

[0021] In Figure 2, the movement path of the gripping portion 11 (shown by a dotted line) passing through the receiving position P1, the handover position P2, and the waiting position P3 is circular, but this is merely an example, and the shape of the movement path of the gripping portion 11 is not particularly limited.

[0022] (Basic structure of the gripping part) An example of the basic configuration of the gripper 11, which is a robot hand, will be described with reference to Figs. 8 to 10. Fig. 8 is a side view showing the configuration of the gripper 11. Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the gripper 110. Fig. 10 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the operation of the needle 2 in the gripper 11. Note that the arrow A1 shown in Fig. 8 etc. indicates the up-down direction, and the arrow A3 indicates the front-rear direction (depth direction) of the gripper 11. The arrow A2 shown in Fig. 9 etc. indicates the left-right direction of the gripper 11.

[0023] The gripping part 11 in this embodiment mainly includes a plurality of needles 2, a base part 3 directly or indirectly fixed to the above-mentioned arm part 12, and needle driving means 4 fixed to the base part 3 and driving the plurality of needles 2 to move forward and backward in the vertical direction. The basic position of the gripping part 11 is, for example, a state in which a stopper 33 of the base part 3 is arranged horizontally.

[0024] The needle drive means 4 includes, for example, a cylinder portion 41 that is disposed vertically, and a piston 42 that reciprocates within the cylinder portion 41. The cylinder portion 41 is fixed to the base portion 3, and the lower end portion of the piston 42 is fixed to the needle holding portion 20 that holds the multiple needles 2.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 9, the needles 2 include a first group of needles 21 and a second group of needles 22 arranged symmetrically, and two needle drive means 4 and two needle holders 20 are provided. The first and second groups of needles 21, 22 cross each other. The first group of needles 21 located on the left side of the paper extends diagonally downward to the right, and the second group of needles 22 located on the right side of the paper extends diagonally downward to the left. The inclination angle of the needles 21, 22 with respect to the vertical direction is set within a range of, for example, 30 to 60 degrees. The tip heights of all the needles 21, 22 are the same height. Therefore, the needles 21, 22 in the row on the left-right center side of the gripper 11 are formed longer than the needles 21, 22 in the outer rows.

[0026] The needles 21, 22 are arranged in a matrix or a staggered pattern in each group. The needle holding portion 20 is long in the front-rear direction, and in each group, the number of needles 21, 22 in the front-rear direction is greater than the number of needles 21, 22 in the left-right direction (e.g., three). When there is no need to distinguish between the needles 21, 22, they are simply referred to as needles 2.

[0027] Figure 9 shows the needle 2 located in the "retracted position". The "retracted position" is the initial position to which the needle 2 is furthest retracted during continuous operation of the transfer device 1. The line of the tip height (bottom end height) of the needle 2 in the retracted position is shown by an imaginary line H1. Figure 10 shows the needle 2 located in the "gripping position" in a solid line. The "gripping position" is the position to which the needle 2 is furthest forward during continuous operation of the transfer device 1. The line of the tip height of the needle 2 in the gripping position is shown by an imaginary line H2.

[0028] In the retracted position, the first and second groups of needles 21, 22 overlap the least, and in the gripped position, the first and second groups of needles 21, 22 overlap the most. They do not have to overlap in the retracted position. The initial height (H1) of the tip of the needle 2 is above the installation height H3 of the stopper 33 provided at the lower end of the base portion 3, and the gripped height (H2) of the tip of the needle 2 is below the installation height H3 of the stopper 33.

[0029] The gripping portion 110 also includes a heating means 5. The heating means 5 is composed of a plurality of heaters 51. The heaters 51 are typically infrared heaters. The heaters 51 extend parallel to one another along the front-rear direction. All the heaters 51 are disposed at the same height. All the heaters 51 are disposed on the same plane through which the needle 2 passes when moving forward and backward. The base portion 3 includes a heater holding member 31 that holds both ends of the heaters 51, and a cover member 32 that is disposed above the heaters 51.

[0030] The heaters 51 are provided at positions through which the needles 2 pass when they advance or retreat, avoiding the path through which the needles 2 advance or retreat. In other words, the heaters 51 are provided at positions within the height range through which the needles 2 pass and which do not interfere with the needles 2. At least one heater 51 is provided between adjacent needles 2 in the left-right direction in each group.

[0031] The heater 51 is disposed slightly above the installation height H3 of the stopper 33 provided at the lower end of the base portion 3, and is typically approximately the same height as the initial height H1 of the tip of the needle 2. The heating means 5 equipped with such a heater 51 can not only heat the kneaded material K held by the needle 2 from above, but also heat the tip of the needle 2 retracted to the retracted position (in a free state) from the side.

[0032] 10, when the needle 2 advances to the gripping position, pierces the kneaded material K, and then the needle 2 retreats to the retreating position, the upper surface of the kneaded material K hits the stopper 33 on the way thereto. As a result, the needle 2 is pulled out of the kneaded material K, and the kneaded material K is released from the gripping part 11.

[0033] Here, since the kneaded material K is transferred to the molding device 9 in a plastic state (a thermally molten state), a part of the kneaded material K may adhere to the tip of the needle 2 (the part that holds the kneaded material K) that is pulled out from the kneaded material K. Since the transfer device 1 continuously transfers a plurality of kneaded materials K conveyed from the upstream side, there is a risk that the adhesion adhered to the tip of the needle 2 may have an adverse effect. For example, the adhesion may adhere to the next kneaded material K and cause a defect in the final product (molding failure). In addition, as shown in FIG. 11, as the transfer device 1 is continuously operated, the adhesion Ka adhered to the tip of the needle 2 may become thicker, causing a problem such as interference with other needles 2 adjacent in the front-rear or left-right direction.

[0034] Therefore, if the deposits Ka attached to the needles 2 are left as they are, it may cause molding defects of the kneaded material K or a deterioration in the performance of the gripping part 11. Therefore, it is desirable to remove the deposits Ka at an early stage, but in order to remove the deposits Ka, it is necessary to stop the continuous operation of the transfer device 1, which causes a problem of a decrease in manufacturing efficiency. In addition, there is also a problem that the task of individually removing the deposits Ka attached to the needles 2 is time-consuming and cumbersome.

[0035] 2, the needle cleaning means 6 is provided at the standby position P3 to remove the deposit Ka from the needle 2 during continuous operation. The needle cleaning means 6 will be described in detail below.

[0036] (Needle cleaning method) The needle cleaning means 6 will be described with reference to Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the needle cleaning means 6 disposed at the standby position P3. Fig. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a method for removing deposit Ka using the needle cleaning means 6.

[0037] 3, in this embodiment, a needle cleaning means 6 capable of receiving at least the tip of the needle 2 is disposed on a base 82 disposed at a standby position P3. The needle cleaning means 6 typically includes an elastic member 61 formed of a porous material such as a sponge. The elastic member 61 is formed in a flat plate shape. The elastic member 61 is disposed at the standby position P3 with a surface (upper surface) 60 exposed. It is desirable that a thickness T1 of the elastic member 61 is equal to or greater than a thickness T2 (FIG. 10) of the kneaded material K to be gripped by the gripping portion 11. This allows the entire range to which the adhesion material Ka can be attached to be inserted into the elastic member 61.

[0038] The transfer device 1 performs a cleaning operation of the needle 2 during the standby time during which the gripper 11 is on standby at the standby position P3 (cleaning step). In the cleaning step, the tip of the needle 2 is made to face the surface 60 of the elastic member 61. At this time, the surface 60 intersects with the direction of advancement and retreat of the needle. In this state, as shown in FIG. 4, the needle 2 is advanced and retreated in the vertical direction (the needle 2 is advanced from the retreat position to the gripping position, and then the needle 2 is retreated to the retreat position), thereby piercing and pulling out the needle 2 from the elastic member 61. When the needle 2 is pierced into the elastic member 61, the deposit Ka does not follow the needle 2 but remains near the surface 60 of the elastic member 61. As a result, the deposit Ka at the tip of the needle 2 is removed. In addition, since the elastic member 61 in this embodiment is a porous material, the deposit Ka can be kept near the surface 60 even after the needle 2 is pulled out of the elastic member 61. In this manner, by inserting and withdrawing the needle 2 after releasing the kneaded material K into and from the elastic member 61, the adhering material Ka adhering to the needle 2 can be easily removed.

[0039] Furthermore, after the needle 2 is pulled out, the hole pierced by the needle 2 is closed by the restoring force of the elastic member 61. Therefore, the elastic member 61 can be repeatedly used to clean the needle 2.

[0040] In order to prevent the elastic member 61 from floating up from the base 82 following the needle 2 when the needle 2 is pulled out from the elastic member 61, the needle cleaning means 6 desirably includes a holding member 62 for holding the elastic member 61. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, for example, the holding member 62 includes two wire meshes 71, 72 for sandwiching the elastic member 61 in the plate thickness direction (vertical direction) and a fastening member 73 for fastening the wire meshes 71, 72 together. The upper wire mesh 72 of the two wire meshes 71, 72 has an opening 720 for exposing the central region of the surface 60. The two wire meshes 71, 72 are an example of a holding member for sandwiching the elastic member 61.

[0041] The fastening member 73 is preferably detachable and includes, for example, a bolt and a nut. By making it possible to release the fastening state of the wire meshes 71, 72, even if the elastic member 61 deteriorates due to the increased frequency of cleaning of the needle 2, it can be easily replaced with a new elastic member 61.

[0042] 6, a sheet member 74 having a plurality of openings 740 may be provided between the upper wire mesh 72 and the elastic member 61. The openings 740 are formed in an area of ​​the surface 60 into which the needles 2 are inserted. Note that the openings 740 may be formed to a size capable of receiving a plurality of needles 2 as shown in the figure, or may be provided for each needle 2.

[0043] Thus, according to this embodiment, the needle 2 can be cleaned with a simple configuration of simply arranging the needle cleaning means 6 including the elastic member 61 at the standby position P3 where the gripper 11 pauses during continuous operation. In other words, even if the continuous operation of the transfer device 1 is stopped to manually clean the needle 2, the deposit Ka can be automatically removed by inserting and removing the needle 2 into and from the elastic member 61. Therefore, the cleaning process when the continuous operation is stopped can be reduced.

[0044] The clamping members for clamping the elastic member 61 are not limited to the wire meshes 71 and 72, and may be plates. The material of the clamping members may be a material other than metal. Alternatively, a fixing member (such as a bolt) for fixing the elastic member 61 directly to the base 82 may be used instead of the clamping members.

[0045] The method for cleaning the needle 2 in this embodiment includes a step of moving the gripping part 11 to a waiting position P3 where the needle cleaning means 6 is installed after the kneaded material K gripped by the needle 2 is released at the delivery position P2, and a cleaning step of removing the deposit Ka on the needle 2 by inserting and removing the needle 2 into and from the needle cleaning means 6 during the waiting time until the next kneaded material K is received. The method for cleaning the needle 2 can be realized by the control part 13 executing a program stored in the memory.

[0046] According to this cleaning method, the needle 2 can be cleaned without affecting one cycle time of continuous operation caused by the cleaning process. As a result, the cleaning means for the needle 2 in this embodiment can be suitably applied to existing transfer devices.

[0047] The cleaning process does not have to be performed every time the gripper 11 is moved to the standby position P3. In other words, the program may be programmed to perform the cleaning process once every several cycles (for example, 3 to 5 times). Even in this case, the thickening of the deposit Ka can be sufficiently suppressed.

[0048] (Modification) In this embodiment, an example has been shown in which the elastic member 61 constituting the needle cleaning means 6 is arranged horizontally on the base 82, but as shown in Fig. 7, the elastic member 61 may be arranged vertically on a wall body 83 located at the standby position P3, for example. The elastic member 61 can be arranged vertically by being held by the holding member 62 shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The wall body 83 may be an existing wall body installed in a factory, or may be a wall body dedicated to the elastic member 61. The wall body 83 is, for example, a metal fence.

[0049] In this modification, the transfer device 1 sets the gripping portion 11 in an upright position at the standby position P3 so that the tip of the needle 2 faces the surface 60 of the elastic member 61, and advances and retreats the needle 2 in this state. In this modification, since the orientation of the needle 2 during the cleaning operation is different from the orientation (downward) when gripping the kneaded material K, it is expected that the adhering matter can be effectively removed.

[0050] (Other variations) In this embodiment, an example in which the needle cleaning means 6 is disposed at the standby position P3 has been shown, but the needle cleaning means 6 may be disposed at a position different from the standby position P3 as long as it is within the movable range of the gripper 11. Note that the needle cleaning means 6 is desirably disposed at a midway position on the return path from the delivery position P2 to the receiving position P1.

[0051] Furthermore, although the elastic member 61 constituting the needle cleaning means 6 is desirably a porous material such as sponge, it may be a material other than a porous material (for example, rubber, etc.). Alternatively, although the needle cleaning means 6 is desirably a reusable elastic member 61, it may be realized with a material other than the elastic member 61 as long as it can remove the deposit Ka by inserting and removing the needle 2. Specifically, the needle cleaning means 6 may be made of a porous material that does not have elasticity (for example, metal, etc.).

[0052] Furthermore, the needle cleaning means 6 is not limited to a member (typically a plate-shaped member) that can simultaneously receive a plurality of needles 2. The needle cleaning means 6 may be anything that can receive at least the tip of the needle 2, and may be realized, for example, by a plurality of brushes provided in the same number as the number of needles 2 (not shown).

[0053] In the present embodiment, the example in which the object to be gripped by the gripping portion 11 is the kneaded material K containing a thermoplastic resin has been described, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. If the object to be gripped is a semi-solid material, the above-mentioned technology is applicable.

[0054] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims, not the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 1 material transfer device, 2, 21, 22 needle, 3 base portion, 4 needle drive means, 5 heating means, 6 needle cleaning means, 8 conveyor, 9 molding device, 11, 110 gripping portion, 12 arm portion, 13 control portion, 20 needle holding portion, 31 heater holding member, 32 cover member, 33 stopper, 51 heater, 61 elastic member, 62 holding member, 71, 72 wire mesh, 73 fastening member, 74 sheet member, 82 base, 83 wall body, K kneaded material, Ka attached material, P1 receiving position, P2 delivery position, P3 waiting position.

Claims

1. a gripping section that pierces and grips the material with a needle; An arm portion that moves the gripping portion; a needle cleaning means that is disposed within a movable range of the gripping portion and is capable of receiving at least the tip portion of the needle; A material transfer device, characterized in that the needle after releasing the material is inserted into and removed from the needle cleaning means, thereby removing any deposits adhering to the needle.

2. 2. The material transfer device of claim 1, wherein said needle cleaning means comprises a resilient member having a surface that is transverse to the direction of movement of said needle.

3. 2. The material transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein said needle cleaning means comprises a porous material having a surface that is transverse to the direction of movement of said needle.

4. During continuous operation, the arm portion continuously moves the gripping portion between a predetermined receiving position and a predetermined transferring position, 2. The material transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the needle cleaning means is provided at a position midway along the return path from the transfer position to the receiving position.

5. The material transfer device according to claim 4 , wherein the intermediate position is a standby position where the gripper waits until the next material is received.

6. 1. A method for cleaning a needle mounted on a gripper of a material transfer device, comprising the steps of: a step of releasing the material that has been pierced and gripped by the needle at a predetermined transfer position, and then moving the gripping portion to a predetermined position where a needle cleaning means is installed; and a cleaning step of removing any adhering matter from the needle by inserting and removing the needle into and from the needle cleaning means during a waiting time until receipt of the next material.

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