Article supply apparatus

Abstract

To provide an article supply apparatus capable of more surely conveying an article having directionality such as a waterproof seal in a predetermined direction.SOLUTION: An article supply apparatus for sending out an article having a longitudinal shape whose one end and the other end are different from each other in the shape toward a predetermined direction, comprises: a first conveyance unit 10 for conveying the article; a direction determination unit 20 for determining the direction of the article conveyed by the first conveyance unit 10; a direction converting unit 30 for converting the direction of the article into the predetermined direction based on the determination result of the direction determination unit 20; a second conveyance unit 40 disposed on the downstream side of the direction converting unit 30; and a delivery device 50 for delivering the article having the direction converted by the direction converting unit 30 to the second conveyance unit 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an article supply device that aligns the posture while transporting a component having a directional shape and supplies it to the next process.

Background Art

[0002] A cylindrical waterproof seal is inserted into the terminal portion of an electrical wiring harness of an automobile or the like as a waterproof measure. The insertion process of the waterproof seal is performed by a terminal crimping device that processes the terminal portion of the electrical wiring harness.

[0003] A general waterproof seal has a longitudinal shape, and in many cases, one end on the insertion end side is formed to have a smaller diameter than the central portion or the other end (see, for example, FIG. 5 which is an explanatory drawing of the present invention). In order to supply a waterproof seal having such a directional shape to the terminal crimping device in a predetermined posture, a vibratory component supply device is often used.

[0004] As a vibratory component supply device for a waterproof seal, a method is generally used in which the waterproof seal is transported by vibration and aligned so that the smaller-diameter side end faces upward and is supplied to the terminal crimping device. However, in recent years, due to the thinning and weight reduction of wire harnesses and the accompanying miniaturization of waterproof seals, it has become difficult to align and transport the smaller-diameter side end of the waterproof seal upward.

[0005] In order to solve such problems, for example, in Patent Document 1, air is ejected from a nozzle to cause the waterproof seal to enter a recess, and using an alignment hole provided in the recess, the smaller-diameter side end of the waterproof seal is turned downward and dropped into a chute. The chute has a guide groove with a predetermined width along the transport direction. The waterproof seal is in a suspended state with the larger-diameter side end held in the guide groove and is transported downstream along the guide groove. If the photoelectric sensor detects that a waterproof seal with the smaller-diameter side end not facing downward exists on the chute, the waterproof seal is excluded by the air ejected from the nozzle.

[0006] In addition, waterproof seals that cannot be conveyed in an upright state with the longitudinal direction of the waterproof sheet standing vertically or in the aforementioned suspended state have also been commercialized. In order to perform the aligned supply of such waterproof seals, Patent Document 2 is disclosed. In Patent Document 2, the small-diameter side end of the waterproof sheet is conveyed with the front in the traveling direction by sorting at the posture holes, and if the photoelectric sensor of the direction discrimination unit detects that there is a waterproof seal whose small-diameter side end is not facing forward, it is transferred to a predetermined return position without being conveyed to the next process.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] However, in the technology of Patent Document 1, it is difficult to adjust the flow rate and direction of air when inserting the waterproof seal into the concave portion and the posture holes. In addition, the chute requires fine adjustment of the suspension allowance in order to hold only the waterproof seals in a predetermined direction. There is a problem that such adjustment of air and fine adjustment of the suspension allowance require skill.

[0009] In addition, in the case of Patent Document 2 as well, there is a problem that skill is required for adjusting air in the concave portion and the posture holes as in Patent Document 1. In addition, the sorting in the concave portion and the posture holes is not highly accurate. For this reason, a mechanism is required to return the waterproof seals determined not to be facing in a predetermined direction by the direction discrimination unit on the downstream side to a predetermined return position (such as a feeder), and the structure of the device becomes complicated. In addition, if there are many waterproof seals that are not conveyed to the next process, the supply capacity varies, which is not preferable.

[0010] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable an article having a directionality such as a waterproof seal to be more reliably conveyed in a predetermined direction without complicating the apparatus and without requiring skill.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0011] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides an article supply apparatus for sending out an article having a longitudinal shape and different shapes at one end and the other end in the longitudinal direction in a predetermined direction, including a first conveyance unit for conveying the article, a direction determination unit for determining the direction of the article conveyed by the first conveyance unit, a direction conversion unit for converting the direction of the article based on the determination result by the direction determination unit into the predetermined direction, a second conveyance unit provided on the downstream side of the direction conversion unit, and a sending-out device for sending out the article whose direction has been converted by the direction conversion unit to the second conveyance unit (Configuration 1).

[0012] In Configuration 1, the direction conversion unit may include a rotary rotor that rotates around an axis and a housing unit provided on the rotary rotor for housing the article, and the direction of the article in the housing unit is converted by rotation of the rotary rotor in one direction or the other direction around the axis (Configuration 2).

[0013] In Configuration 2, the housing unit may be arranged such that the longitudinal direction of the article faces the central direction of the rotary rotor (Configuration 3).

[0014] Also, in Configuration 2 or Configuration 3, the direction determination unit may adopt a configuration in which the article in the housing unit is the object to be determined (Configuration 4).

[0015] Also, in Configuration 2, Configuration 3, or Configuration 4, the direction conversion unit may include a central axis that rotatably supports the rotary rotor around the axis, and the sending-out device may include a conveyance hole provided on the central axis and communicating with the second conveyance unit, and an injection device for injecting fluid to send out the article in the housing unit facing the conveyance hole to the second conveyance unit (Configuration 5).

[0016] In Configuration 5, the rotating rotor may include a plurality of the accommodating portions, and the conveying hole may face one of the accommodating portions and communicate with the second conveying portion through another of the accommodating portions (Configuration 6).

[0017] Further, in any one of Configurations 1 to 6, the direction determination unit may adopt a configuration in which a photoelectric sensor or an image sensor having an image processing function is used to determine the orientation of the article (Configuration 7).

[0018] Further, in any one of Configurations 1 to 7, the first conveying unit may adopt a configuration in which a plurality of the articles are drawn out from a bowl that stores them in an aligned state (Configuration 8).

[0019] In Configuration 8, a configuration may be adopted in which an ejector mechanism that pressure-feeds the articles in the bowl into the first conveying unit by jetting air is provided (Configuration 9).

[0020] In Configuration 9, the first conveying unit may adopt a configuration in which a vertical dropping portion is provided in a previous stage leading to the direction determination unit, and the vertical dropping portion is provided with an air escape hole (Configuration 10).

Advantages of the Invention

[0021] According to this invention, an article having a directionality such as a waterproof seal can be more reliably conveyed in a predetermined direction without complicating the apparatus and without requiring skill.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0022]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6A

Figure 6B

Figure 6C

Figure 7A

Figure 7B

Figure 7C

Figure 8A

Figure 8B

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0023] An embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is an article supply device 1 that supplies a waterproof seal 3 attached as a waterproof measure to the terminal part of an electrical wiring cable for an automobile or the like toward a terminal crimping device that performs insertion processing of the waterproof seal 3 into the cable. The article supply device 1 is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. Also, the waterproof seal 3 is shown in FIG. 5. FIGS. 6 to 8 are working diagrams for detecting the directionality of the waterproof seal 3 and changing the direction of the waterproof seal 3.

[0024] The waterproof seal 3 is a member made of a soft resin that has a circular cross-section and a longitudinal shape with a space for inserting a cable inside, and has a predetermined length along its cylindrical axis direction (longitudinal direction). Also, the waterproof seal 3 is an article in which the shapes of one end 3a in the longitudinal direction and the other end 3b in the longitudinal direction are different. The insertion end side (one end 3a in the longitudinal direction) of the waterproof seal 3 is formed with a smaller diameter than the central part 3c in the longitudinal direction and the other end 3b in the longitudinal direction. Hereinafter, one end 3a in the longitudinal direction will be referred to as the small-diameter side end 3a, and the other end 3b in the longitudinal direction will be referred to as the large-diameter side end 3b.

[0025] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the article supply device 1 includes a first conveying unit 10 that conveys the waterproof seal 3, a direction determination unit 20 that determines the orientation of the waterproof seal 3 conveyed by the first conveying unit 10, and a direction conversion unit 30 that converts the direction of the waterproof seal 3 to a predetermined orientation based on the determination result by the direction determination unit 20. Further, the article supply device 1 includes a second conveying unit 40 provided on the downstream side of the direction conversion unit 30, and a delivery device 50 that sends out the waterproof seal 3 whose direction has been converted by the direction conversion unit 30 to the second conveying unit 40. The second conveying unit 40 communicates with a terminal crimping device (not shown) on the downstream side.

[0026] The waterproof seal 3 is put into the concave bowl 15 provided in the bowl feeder. The first conveying unit 10 is drawn out from this bowl 15. Along the inner peripheral wall of the bowl 15 having a circular shape in plan view, a spiral conveying path 19 is provided. The waterproof seal 3 in the bowl 15 moves along the upward gradient of the conveying path 19 by the vibration of the bowl 15 caused by a vibration device (not shown).

[0027] The waterproof seal 3 conveyed to the uppermost part of the conveying path 19 is guided to a final conveying path 18 having side walls with a width adapted to the cross-sectional shape (hereinafter simply referred to as the cross-section) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the waterproof seal 3. The waterproof seal 3 is guided by the side walls on both sides in the width direction of the final conveying path 18, and the longitudinal directions of all the waterproof seals 3 are in a state of facing the conveying direction of the final conveying path 18 and they are in a linearly aligned state. However, here, those in which the small-diameter side end 3a of the waterproof seal 3 faces forward in the traveling direction and those in which the large-diameter side end 3b faces forward in the traveling direction are mixed.

[0028] An ejector mechanism 16 is provided in parallel with the bowl 15 to pressure-feed the waterproof seal 3 into the first conveying unit 10 by jetting a fluid (air in the embodiment). The waterproof seal 3 is conveyed to the first conveying unit 10 by the ejector mechanism 16 regardless of the front-back direction.

[0029] The first conveying unit 10 is composed of a tube (hose) slightly larger than the cross-section of the waterproof seal 3. As the tube constituting the first conveying unit 10, for example, a Teflon hose with a smooth inner surface and low contact resistance with the waterproof seal 3 can be adopted. The first conveying unit 10 extends laterally from the ejector mechanism 16 of the bowl 15, and then changes its direction downward and leads to the direction discrimination unit 20. The first conveying unit 10 facing vertically upward in the previous stage leading to the direction discrimination unit 20 is called the vertical dropping unit 11. Since the vertical dropping unit 11 is provided with an air escape hole 12, the air supplied from the ejector mechanism 16 is quickly discharged to the outside. Thereby, it is possible to prevent deformation of the waterproof seal 3 and clogging in the tube caused by excessive pressing of the waterproof seal 3 by the air pressure. The waterproof seal 3 drops by its own weight within the vertical dropping unit 11 and is led to the direction discrimination unit 20 one by one.

[0030] The direction discrimination unit 20 includes a first sensor (seating confirmation sensor) 22 that confirms that the waterproof seal 3 is seated in the normal position in the accommodation unit 32 that accommodates one waterproof seal 3, and a second sensor (direction discrimination sensor) 21 that discriminates the direction of the waterproof seal 3 when the seating of the waterproof seal 3 is confirmed by the first sensor 22.

[0031] In this embodiment, a transmissive photoelectric sensor is used as the first sensor 22. It utilizes the fact that the required time for the light emitted from the photoelectric sensor to return to the photoelectric sensor again varies depending on the presence or absence of the waterproof seal 3. Further, the second sensor 21 discriminates whether the lower end (the upper end may also be used) of the waterproof seal 3 in the accommodation unit 32 is the small-diameter side end 3a or the large-diameter side end 3b. As the second sensor 21, a photoelectric sensor similar to the first sensor 22 may be used, or various sensors such as an image sensor having an image processing function may be used.

[0032] FIG. 8A shows a state in which the small-diameter side end 3a of the waterproof seal 3 faces downward, and FIG. 8B shows a state in which the large-diameter side end 3b of the waterproof seal 3 faces downward. The second sensor 21 detects the difference between the small-diameter side end 3a and the large-diameter side end 3b through the window 23 at the lower end of the housing portion 32. For this reason, the second sensor 21 is arranged in front of the window 23 (see FIGS. 2 and 4). Further, the first sensor 22 is arranged on the side of the housing portion 32 (see FIGS. 2 and 4 as well). Note that the window 23 is formed in a semicircular shape in order to minimize the leakage of air for pressure feeding.

[0033] In this embodiment, the direction determination unit 20 is provided at the same location as the direction change unit 30. Here, the housing portion 32 that houses the waterproof seal 3 for performing direction determination is provided on the rotary rotor 31 of the direction change unit 30, which will be described later. However, for example, this can be changed, and a mode in which the direction determination unit 20 is provided at the lowermost end of the vertical drop portion 11 and in the previous stage (upstream side) of the direction change unit 30 is also conceivable. Therefore, the direction determination unit 20 may be provided at a location other than the rotary rotor 31 of the direction change unit 30 and include a portion for determining the direction of the waterproof seal 3.

[0034] The direction change unit 30 includes a rotary rotor 31 that rotates around an axis and a housing portion 32 that is provided on the rotary rotor 31 and houses the waterproof seal 3. The rotary rotor 31 is rotatably supported around the central axis 33 of the central axis 33, and control is performed to rotate in an arbitrary direction by an arbitrary angle by the driving force of the rotary table 34. By rotating the rotary rotor 31 in one direction or the other direction around the axis, the direction of the waterproof seal 3 in the housing portion 32 is changed.

[0035] The rotary rotor 31 has a donut shape with a hollow portion in its central portion. The housing portion 32 is set to a length equal to or slightly longer than the longitudinal length of one waterproof seal 3 in order to prevent the waterproof seal 3 from being cut when the rotary rotor 31 rotates. The housing portion 32 is arranged such that the longitudinal direction of the waterproof seal 3 faces the central direction of the rotary rotor 31.

[0036] After the direction of the waterproof seal 3 is determined by the function of the aforementioned direction determination unit 20, if the small-diameter side end 3a of the waterproof seal 3 faces downward (the front side in the traveling direction), as shown in FIG. 8A for example, the rotary rotor 31 is rotated 90° in the clockwise direction as indicated by the arrows in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C, and the waterproof seal 3 located above the figure is moved to the right side in the figure. As a result, the small-diameter side end 3a faces the left side in the figure (the second conveyance unit 40 side). Further, if the large-diameter side end 3b of the waterproof seal 3 faces downward (the front side in the traveling direction), as shown in FIG. 8B for example, the rotary rotor 31 is rotated 90° in the counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrows in FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C, and the waterproof seal 3 located above the figure is moved to the left side in the figure. As a result, the small-diameter side end 3a faces the left side in the figure (the second conveyance unit 40 side).

[0037] The delivery device 50 includes a conveyance hole 51 provided on the central axis 33 and communicating with the second conveyance unit 40, an injection device 52 that injects a fluid (air in the embodiment) to send out the waterproof seal 3 in the accommodation part 32 facing the conveyance hole 51 to the second conveyance unit 40, and a passage 53 for sending out the air from the injection device 52.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 6C, when the waterproof seal 3 is on the right side in the figure, the small-diameter side end 3a of the waterproof seal 3 already faces the second conveyance unit 40 side. For this reason, when the air from the injection device 52 is supplied to the accommodation part 32 on the right side in the figure (referred to as one accommodation part 32) that houses the waterproof seal 3, the waterproof seal 3 is pressure-fed to the second conveyance unit 40 through the conveyance hole 51 and the other accommodation part 32 on the left side in the figure (referred to as the other accommodation part 32). Since the rotary rotor 31 includes a plurality of accommodation parts 32, the conveyance hole 51 faces one accommodation part 32 shown on the right side in the figure and communicates with the second conveyance unit 40 through the other accommodation part 32 shown on the left side in the figure, such conveyance is possible.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 7C, when the waterproof seal 3 is on the left side in the drawing, similarly, the small-diameter side end 3a of the waterproof seal 3 faces the second conveying portion 40. For this reason, when air from the injection device 52 is supplied to the other accommodating portion 32 on the left side in the drawing that houses the waterproof seal 3 through the one accommodating portion 32 on the right side in the drawing and the conveying hole 51, the waterproof seal 3 is directly pressure-fed to the second conveying portion 40 without passing through the conveying hole 51. Since the rotating rotor 31 includes a plurality of accommodating portions 32, the conveying hole 51 faces the one accommodating portion 32 shown on the right side in the drawing and communicates with the second conveying portion 40 through the other accommodating portion 32 shown on the left side in the drawing, such conveyance is possible.

[0040] In this way, the waterproof seals 3, each having the small-diameter side end 3a unified to face forward in the advancing direction, are conveyed one by one inside the second conveying portion 40 and supplied to the next process. As the pipe body constituting the second conveying portion 40, a Teflon hose or the like can be employed as in the first conveying portion 10.

[0041] In this embodiment, air is supplied from the common injection device 52 when the waterproof seal 3 is in the one accommodating portion 32 on the right side in the drawing as shown in FIG. 6C and when the waterproof seal 3 is in the other accommodating portion 32 on the left side in the drawing as shown in FIG. 7C. However, separate injection devices 52 may be provided according to the position of the accommodating portion 32 that houses the waterproof seal 3. Further, in the embodiment, the two accommodating portions 32 are provided at positions facing each other with the axis in between (azimuth of a central angle of 180° centered on the axis), but the azimuth for installing the accommodating portion 32 is not limited to the 180° azimuth and can be installed in a free azimuth. Also, the number of locations of the accommodating portion 32 is also free. If the central shaft 33 is a columnar member having a certain diameter, by interposing a curve in the middle of the conveying hole 51, the degree of freedom in corresponding to variations in the azimuth of the accommodating portion 32 is also increased.

[0042] In addition, by increasing the number of installation locations of the accommodating portion 32, for example, as shown in FIGS. 6C and 7C, another accommodating portion 32 can be set to face the first conveying portion 10 while the waterproof seal 3 is still inside the accommodating portion 32. In this way, even when the waterproof seal 3 has not yet been sent out to the second conveying portion 40, the determination of the direction of the next waterproof seal can be performed in parallel, improving the processing capacity of the apparatus.

[0043] Also, in the above-described embodiment, it was possible to set the conveying hole 51 to face one accommodating portion 32 shown on the right side in the figure and communicate with the second conveying portion 40 via another accommodating portion 32 shown on the left side in the figure. As a modification thereof, for example, a form in which one accommodating portion 32 directly communicates with the second conveying portion 40 through the conveying hole 51 (without passing through another accommodating portion 32) is also conceivable. At this time, for the other accommodating portion 32, the supply of air can be accommodated by setting an injection device 52 and a passage 53 different from the injection device 52 and the passage 53 corresponding to one accommodating portion 32.

[0044] Furthermore, as the configuration of the direction changing portion 30, aspects other than the above-described embodiment are also conceivable. That is, the direction changing portion 30 only needs to have a function of changing the direction of the waterproof seal 3 to a predetermined direction based on the determination result by the direction determination portion 20. For example, the longitudinal direction of the waterproof seal 3 in the accommodating portion 32 may be inclined with respect to the central direction of the rotary rotor 31, or may be a tangential direction with respect to the circumference around the axis of the rotary rotor 31. Also, an aspect in which the axis of rotation of the rotary rotor 31 is inside the accommodating portion 32 is also conceivable. In this case, the waterproof seal 3 changes its direction while staying in its position. Furthermore, a configuration that changes the direction of the waterproof seal 3 by means other than the rotational movement of the rotary rotor 31 may be adopted.

[0045] In the above-described embodiment, the waterproof seal 3 used for the terminal portion of the electrical cable is taken as the article 3 to be handled by the article supply device 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and any article 3 having a longitudinal shape and different shapes at one end and the other end in the longitudinal direction can be handled by the article supply device 1 of the present invention.

[0046] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the claims, and it is intended that all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims be included.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0047] 1 Article supply device 3 Article (waterproof seal) 10 First conveying unit 11 Vertical dropping unit 12 Relief hole 15 Bowl 16 Ejector mechanism 20 Direction discrimination unit 23 Window 30 Direction conversion unit 31 Rotating rotor 32 Storage unit 33 Central axis 34 Rotary table 40 Second conveying unit 50 Delivery device 51 Conveying hole 52 Injection device

Claims

1. In an article supply device that feeds out an article having an elongated shape with different shapes at one end and the other end in the longitudinal direction in a predetermined orientation, a first conveyance unit (10) for conveying the article, a direction determination unit (20) for determining the orientation of the article conveyed by the first conveyance unit (10), a direction conversion unit (30) for converting the orientation of the article based on the determination result by the direction determination unit (20) to the predetermined orientation, a second conveyance unit (40) provided on the downstream side of the direction conversion unit (30), and a delivery device (50) for feeding out the article whose direction has been converted by the direction conversion unit (30) to the second conveyance unit (40).

2. The article supply device according to claim 1, wherein the direction conversion unit (30) includes a rotary rotor (31) that rotates around an axis, and a housing unit (32) provided on the rotary rotor (31) for housing the article, and the orientation of the article in the housing unit (32) is converted by rotation of the rotary rotor (31) in one direction or the other direction around the axis.

3. The article supply device according to claim 2, wherein the housing unit (32) is arranged such that the longitudinal direction of the article faces the central direction of the rotary rotor (31).

4. The article supply device according to claim 2, wherein the direction determination unit (20) targets the article in the housing unit (32).

5. The direction conversion unit (30) includes a central axis (33) that rotatably supports the rotary rotor (31) around an axis, The delivery device (50) includes a conveyance hole (51) provided in the central axis (33) and communicating with the second conveyance unit (40), and an injection device (52) that injects fluid to feed out the article in the housing unit (32) facing the conveyance hole (51) to the second conveyance unit (40).

6. The rotating rotor (31) includes a plurality of the accommodating portions (32), the conveying hole (51) faces one of the accommodating portions (32), and communicates with the second conveying portion (40) through the other accommodating portions (32). The article supply device according to claim 5.

7. The direction discrimination unit (20) uses a photoelectric sensor or an image sensor having an image processing function to discriminate the orientation of the article. The article supply device according to claim 1.

8. The first conveying unit (10) is drawn out from a bowl (15) that stores a plurality of the articles in an aligned state. The article supply device according to claim 1.

9. The article supply device according to claim 8, further comprising an ejector mechanism (16) that pumps the articles in the bowl (15) into the first conveying unit (10) by jetting air.

10. The first conveying unit (10) includes a vertical dropping portion (11) in a previous stage that communicates with the direction discrimination unit (20), and the vertical dropping portion (11) is provided with an air escape hole (12). The article supply device according to claim 9.

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