Conveyance device and inspection device provided with the same

Abstract

To provide an inspection device for properly separating work-pieces on a conveyance device.SOLUTION: A conveyance device comprises a conveyance unit 20 for conveying a work-piece, a supply unit 30 for supplying the work-piece to the conveyance unit 20, and a transfer unit for supplying the work-piece on the supply unit 30 to the conveyance unit 20. The transfer unit includes a notched disc 32 in which a notched groove capable of storing the work-piece is formed at the outer periphery thereof, and a rotary drive source for rotating the notched disc 32. By rotatingly driving the notched disc 32, a foremost work-piece on the supply unit 30 is separately supplied to the conveyance unit 20 at constant intervals, in a conveyance device 10. By supplying the work-piece of a supply rail 31 to the conveyance unit 20 by using the notched disk 32 in this way, there is the advantage that an interval between the work-pieces on the conveyance unit 20 is increased.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a conveying device for conveying a workpiece and an inspection device including the same.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as a conveying device for conveying a workpiece, a conveying device including a rotary table that conveys a workpiece in the circumferential direction and a supply unit that supplies the workpiece onto the rotary table, as applied to the inspection device shown in Patent Document 1, is known. Further, this inspection device also includes an inspection unit that inspects the workpiece conveyed by the rotary table and an exclusion unit that excludes the workpiece based on the inspection result of this inspection unit. The workpiece conveyed in the circumferential direction as the rotary table rotates passes through the inspection range of the inspection unit and is subjected to a predetermined inspection by the inspection unit, and it is determined whether the workpiece is a good product or a defective product. Thereafter, the workpiece is conveyed to the exclusion unit and excluded from the rotary table based on the inspection result of the inspection unit.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the case of a structure in which workpieces that have reached the end of the supply rail are sequentially transferred onto the rotary table, like the conveying device used in the above inspection device, the interval between workpieces on the rotary table may become narrow. For this reason, during inspection, there has been a problem that false determinations such as determining a good workpiece as a defective product occur easily due to the workpieces in the previous stage or the subsequent stage entering the inspection range.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a conveying device capable of conveying workpieces while appropriately separating them from each other, and an inspection device including the same.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a conveying device having a conveying unit for conveying workpieces, a supply unit for supplying workpieces to the conveying unit, and a transfer unit for supplying workpieces on the supply unit to the conveying unit. The transfer unit includes a notched disk having a notched groove capable of accommodating a workpiece on its outer periphery, and a rotary drive source for rotating the notched disk. When the notched disk is rotationally driven, the workpiece on the supply unit closest to the front is separated and supplied to the conveying unit at regular intervals. The notched disk preferably includes a rotation drive unit, a delivery disk that rotates in response to the drive of the rotary drive source, and an adjustment disk held on the delivery disk. By relatively rotating the adjustment disk with respect to the delivery disk, the size of the notched groove can be adjusted. The conveying device further preferably includes a control unit for controlling the drive of the conveying unit and the rotary drive source of the notched disk. The control unit detects the movement amount of the workpiece from the drive amount of the conveying unit, and when the movement amount of the workpiece reaches a predetermined amount set in advance, the control unit rotationally drives the notched disk to supply the workpiece to the conveying unit.

[0007] A second object of the present invention is an inspection device including the above conveying device. An inspection unit for inspecting workpieces and an exclusion unit for excluding workpieces from the conveying path based on the inspection results of the inspection unit are provided in the conveying path of the workpieces by the conveying unit. A detection sensor for detecting that a workpiece has been supplied is provided in the conveying path of the workpieces by the conveying unit. The control unit is preferably configured to drive the inspection unit and the exclusion unit after receiving a signal from the detection sensor and when the conveying unit is driven by a preset amount.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the conveying device of the present invention, due to the rotation of the notched disk, the foremost workpiece on the supply unit is separated and supplied to the conveying unit at regular intervals. Therefore, by adjusting the rotation speed of the notched disk, the interval between workpieces on the conveying device can be freely adjusted. As a result, it is possible to prevent the workpieces from approaching each other excessively. Consequently, there are advantages such as being able to prevent the workpieces from approaching each other on the conveying unit. In addition, since the notched disk is composed of a delivery disk and an adjustment disk that can rotate relative to each other, there is also an advantage that the size of the notch groove of the delivery disk can be adjusted according to the workpiece by rotating the adjustment disk. Moreover, there is also an advantage that the interval between workpieces on the conveying device becomes more uniform by the control unit controlling the rotation amount of the notched disk based on the driving amount of the conveying device.

[0009] According to the inspection device equipped with the above-described conveying device, since it is possible to perform an inspection on the workpieces conveyed on the conveying unit at a certain interval as described above, it is possible to prevent the workpieces that are too close from affecting the inspection results of the previous and subsequent stages, and there are advantages such as the inspection results being stabilized. In addition, a detection sensor is provided on the conveying unit, and after the workpiece is recognized by the detection sensor, when the conveying unit drives the workpiece by a certain amount, the inspection unit and the like are driven. With this configuration, there are also advantages such as being able to stably drive the inspection unit without being affected by the conveying speed of the conveying device, the interval between workpieces, etc.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes an inspection apparatus for inspecting the quality of a nut N which is an example of a workpiece. This inspection apparatus 100 includes a conveying apparatus 10 for conveying the workpiece, an alignment unit 40, an inspection unit 50, a removal unit 60, and a discharge unit 70 provided on the conveying path by this conveying apparatus, and a control unit for controlling the driving of these.

[0012] The conveying apparatus 10 includes a rotary table 20 for conveying the nut N, a supply unit 30 for supplying the workpiece to the rotary table 20, and a notched disk 32 as a transfer unit for supplying the workpiece at the forefront of the supply unit 30 to the rotary table 20.

[0013] The rotary table 20 is an example of a conveying unit, and includes an AC servo motor 21 (hereinafter referred to as a conveying motor 21), an upper plate 23 and a lower plate 24 which are fixed to a base member 22 that rotates upon receiving the drive of the conveying motor 21 and rotate integrally therewith. The upper plate 23 is sufficiently smaller than the lower plate 24, and in a plan view as shown by a two-dot chain line in Fig. 1, the conveying path 231 of the upper plate 23 and the conveying path 241 of the lower plate 24 are configured to draw concentric circles. Further, the base member 22, the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24 are configured in an annular shape with a through hole 25 formed at the center thereof in a plan view, and a mortar-shaped tapered portion 232 that gradually inclines toward the through hole 25 is provided on the upper surface of the upper plate 23 inside the conveying path 231. Note that the conveying motor 21 is provided at a position away from the center of the rotary table 20.

[0014] The supply unit 30 includes two supply rails 31 for supplying nuts N to the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24. These supply rails 31 are composed of a support plate 311 arranged to be continuous with the upper surfaces of the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24, and a fixed rail 312 and a movable rail 313 arranged on the support plate 311. The movable rail 313 is configured to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the fixed rail 312, and the width thereof with the fixed rail 312 can be changed according to the nut N. At the starting end of the supply rail 31, a feeder (not shown) that stores a large number of nuts N inside and can sequentially supply the stored nuts N onto the supply rail 31 is continuous, and the supply rail 31 is constantly vibrating under the drive of a vibration drive source (not shown). For this reason, the nuts N supplied onto the supply rail 31 by the feeder are vibrationally conveyed on the supply rail 31 toward the rotary table 20.

[0015] The notched disk 32 is provided at the terminal end of each of the supply rails 31, and includes an AC servo motor 321 (hereinafter referred to as disk motor 321) which is a rotation drive source, a feed disk 322 that rotates by the drive of the disk motor 321, and an adjustment disk 324 stacked on the feed disk 322. A long hole 325 extending in the circumferential direction is formed in the adjustment disk 324, and a fixing screw 326 passes through the long hole 325. Therefore, when the fixing screw 326 is loosened, the adjustment disk 324 can rotate relative to the feed disk 322, and when the fixing screw 326 is tightened, the feed disk 322 and the adjustment disk 324 can be fixed. Further, notch grooves are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the feed disk 322 and the adjustment disk 324, respectively, and these notch grooves are each sized to accommodate the nut N. Furthermore, a contact member 323 that contacts the nut N is mounted on the upper surface of the feed disk 322, and this contact member 323 is disposed in the notch groove of the adjustment disk 324. Therefore, by relatively rotating the adjustment disk 324 with respect to the feed disk 322, as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), the size of the groove formed between the contact member 323 mounted on the feed disk 322 and the adjustment disk 324 can be changed to suit the size of the nut N.

[0016] Note that the supply unit 30 and the notched disk 32 are arranged in line symmetry, and the supply unit 30 is arranged such that the fixed rails 312 face each other. Therefore, when the positions of the movable rail 313 and the notched disk 32 are adjusted according to the size of the nut N, they do not move to the supply unit 30 side facing each other from the fixed rail 312. As a result, it is said that the supply units 30 come into contact with each other due to the position adjustment. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, the nut N immediately after being transferred from the supply unit 30 onto the rotary table 20 is supplied such that its center is located slightly radially outside the transport paths 231 and 241.

[0017] Also, on the workpiece transfer paths 231 and 241 by the rotary table 20, there are provided an alignment unit 40 for aligning nuts N supplied to the supply unit 30 downstream of the supply unit 30, an inspection unit 50 for inspecting the nuts N aligned by the alignment unit 40, an exclusion unit 60 for excluding nuts N determined to be defective by the inspection unit 50, and a discharge unit 70 for discharging nuts N determined to be non-defective. Note that the basic configurations of these units are similar regardless of whether they are arranged on the transfer path 231 of the upper plate 23 or the transfer path 241 of the lower plate 24. Therefore, hereinafter, only one of them will be described except for those with different configurations.

[0018] The alignment unit 40 is composed of an alignment member 41 having an arcuate surface and a detection sensor 42 provided downstream of the alignment member 41. The alignment member 41 is arranged such that the arcuate upper surface is positioned inside the rotary table 20 from the nuts N installed on the rotary table 20 by the supply unit 30. When the nuts N arranged on the rotary table 20 follow the arcuate upper surface, they can move along the transfer paths 231 and 241 shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1. The detection sensor 42 is a pair of optical sensors for detecting the nuts N that have moved onto the transfer paths 231 and 241 by the alignment member 41. The detection sensor 42 is connected to the control device and is configured to output a detection signal to the control unit when the nuts N advancing along the transfer paths 231 and 241 block the detection light. Thereby, the control unit can store the coordinates of the nuts N on the rotary table 20.

[0019] The inspection unit 50 includes a first inspection unit 51 that inspects the upper surface of the nut N on the rotary table 20, and a second inspection unit 52 that inspects the side surface of the nut N. As shown in FIG. 3(a), the first inspection unit 51 includes an annular ring illumination 511 that irradiates light from above the nut N on the conveyance paths 231 and 241, and an upper camera 512 that is disposed above the ring illumination 511 and photographs the nut N from above. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3(b), the second inspection unit 52 includes a backlight 521 that irradiates light from the radially inner side of the nut N on the conveyance paths 231 and 241, a mirror 522 provided on the radially outer side of the backlight 521, and a side camera 523 provided above the mirror 522. The mirror 522 is arranged to reflect the light irradiated from the backlight 521 toward the side camera 523 disposed above. With these structures, the side camera 523 can photograph the nut N reflected in the mirror 522, and the photographing distance of the side camera 523 does not extend in the radial direction, making it possible to miniaturize the device. Note that the photographing results by the upper camera 512 and the side camera 523 are analyzed by the control unit.

[0020] The exclusion unit 60 includes an AC servo motor 61 that is a rotational drive source (hereinafter referred to as the exclusion motor 61), exclusion vanes 621 and 622 that rotate upon receiving the drive of the exclusion motor 61, defective product chutes 631 and 632 that drop the nut N excluded from the rotation table 20 by the exclusion vanes 621 and 622 to a predetermined defective product box, and an exclusion sensor 64 provided downstream of the exclusion vanes 621 and 622. The exclusion vanes 621 and 622 are connected to the drive shaft of the exclusion motor 61 and are provided with three vane parts extending radially outward. At the tip of this vane part, an exclusion member that abuts against the nut N on the conveyance paths 231 and 241 and ejects the nut N toward the defective product chute side is mounted. The defective product chute 631 of the upper plate 23 is provided in the through-hole 25 of the rotation table 20 and is configured to guide the nut N to a defective product box provided below the rotation table 20 through the through-hole 25. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 4(a), the exclusion vane 621 of the upper plate 23 is configured to eject the defective nut N on the conveyance path 231 radially inward. On the other hand, the defective product chute 632 of the lower plate 24 is provided on the radially outer side of the lower plate 24. For this reason, as shown in Fig. 4(b), the exclusion vane 622 of the lower plate 24 is configured to eject the defective nut N on the conveyance path 241 radially outward. The exclusion sensor 64 is a pair of optical sensors that detect the nut N on the conveyance paths 231 and 241 in the same manner as the detection sensor 42, and this exclusion sensor 64 is connected to the control device. When the nut N blocks the detection light of the exclusion sensor 64, the control unit checks whether the nut N has been determined to be a defective product by the inspection unit 50. In the event that the nut N has been determined to be a defective product, the rotation table 20 is reversely driven to convey the nut N below the exclusion vanes 621 and 622, and the exclusion motor 61 is driven to perform the exclusion operation again.

[0021] The discharge unit 70 includes a count sensor 71 that counts the number of nuts N, a discharge member 72 provided downstream of the count sensor 71, and a good product chute 73 that drops the nuts N discharged from the rotary table 20 onto a predetermined good product box. The count sensor 71 is a pair of optical sensors that detect the nuts N on the conveyance paths 231 and 241 in the same manner as the detection sensor 42. The count sensor 71 is configured to count the nuts N on the conveyance paths 231 and 241. The discharge member 72 is a plate material arranged to intersect the conveyance paths 231 and 241, and is inclined so as to gradually move radially outward in the downstream direction. Therefore, the nut N that comes into contact with the discharge member 72 moves along the discharge member 72 to the downstream side and radially outward, and is guided to the good product chute 73. Further, a shutter (not shown) is provided in the good product chute 73. This shutter is configured to operate when the count sensor 71 counts a predetermined number, store the nuts N in the good product chute 73, and not supply them to the good product box. Thereby, it becomes possible to put only a predetermined number into the good product box. Above the lower plate 24, a sub-chute 74 that continues from the upper plate 23 to the good product chute 73 is provided downstream of the discharge member 72. As shown in FIG. 5, the sub-chute 74 is arranged with a slight gap so as not to contact the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24. Therefore, the nuts N on the upper plate 23 are discharged onto the sub-chute 74 by the discharge member 72, slide down the sub-chute 74, and are guided to the good product chute 73.

[0022] The control unit is connected to the rotary table 20 and various units, and is configured to be able to control the driving thereof. Further, the conveying motor 21, the disk motor 321, and the discharge motor 61 are provided with encoders (not shown) capable of detecting their rotation angles, and the control unit is configured to be able to detect and control the rotation angles of these motors based on signals from the encoders. For this reason, every time the conveying motor 21 rotates by a predetermined angle, the disk motors 321, 321 are alternately rotationally driven by an angle corresponding to one notch groove, and nuts N are alternately and circumferentially supplied onto the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24 at the same pitch as shown in FIG. 1. In the present embodiment, the nuts N are configured to be supplied onto the rotary table 20 every time the conveying motor 21 rotates by 10 degrees. Further, when receiving a detection signal from the detection sensor 42, the control unit can calculate the position of the nut N on the rotary table 20 by obtaining the rotation angle of the conveying motor 21 from the encoder of the conveying motor 21.

[0023] Next, the operation of the inspection apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described. First, the control unit drives an external feeder to sequentially supply the stored nuts N onto the supply rail 31. The nuts N supplied to the supply rail 31 move along the supply rail 31 to the notch disks 32 located at the respective end portions, and are sequentially supplied onto the rotary table 20 by the rotation of the notch disks 32. At this time, the disk motor 321 of the notch disk 32 and the conveying motor 21 of the rotary table 20 are rotationally driven and controlled by the control unit as described above, and every time the rotary table 20 rotates by a predetermined angle, the nuts N are alternately and equally spaced and supplied to the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24 respectively. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the nuts N on the rotary table 20 from approaching excessively.

[0024] As described above, the nut N placed on the rotary table 20 is conveyed downstream as the rotary table 20 rotates and abuts against the aligning member 41 of the aligning unit 40. The nut N that abuts against the aligning member 41 is guided radially inward along the arcuate upper surface of the aligning member 41 and positioned so that its center is located on the conveying paths 231 and 241. Thereafter, the nut N is detected by a detection sensor 42 provided downstream of the aligning member 41. At this time, the control unit grasps the position of the nut N on the rotary table 20 based on signals from the detection sensor 42 and the rotary table 20.

[0025] As described above, the nut N whose position has been detected by the control unit passes through the imaging range of the inspection unit 50 provided downstream of the detection sensor 42 as the rotary table 20 rotates. At this time, as described above, the rotation of the rotary table 20 is controlled by the control unit, and the position of the nut N on the rotary table 20 is notified to the control unit by the detection sensor 42. Therefore, when the nut N reaches the imaging range, the control unit activates the first inspection unit 51 and the second inspection unit 52 respectively to image the nut N from above and from the side. These imaging results are analyzed by the control unit to determine whether the imaged nut N is a good product or a defective product. At this time, since the nut N is alternately and equally spaced between the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24 by the notch disk 32, it is possible to prevent the nut N on the other plate or the nut N in the previous or next stage placed on the same plate from being reflected in the imaging results during imaging. Therefore, even if the nut N is arranged in two rows on the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24, it is possible to perform highly accurate inspection.

[0026] As described above, the nut N inspected by the inspection unit 50 reaches the rejection unit 60 provided downstream of the inspection unit 50 as the rotary table 20 rotates. At this time, if the nut N has been determined to be a non-defective product by the inspection unit 50, the rejection unit 60 allows the nut N to pass through without being driven. On the other hand, if the nut N has been determined to be a defective product, when the nut N reaches below the rejection blades 621, 622, the control unit drives the rejection motor 61. As a result, the rejection members provided at the tips of the rejection blades 621, 622 abut against the nut N, and the nut N is ejected from the transport paths 231, 241 toward the defective product chutes 631, 632. At this time, since the tapered portion 232 is provided on the upper plate 23, the nut N ejected radially inward from the transport path 231 slides down the tapered portion 232 toward the defective product chute 631. As a result, even if there is a gap between the transport path 231 of the upper plate 23 and the defective product chute 631, it is not necessary to eject the nut N too strongly, and it is possible to prevent damage to the nut N or the inspection device 100, or the nut N being ejected too strongly from flying outside the inspection device 100.

[0027] In addition, the nut N that has passed through the rejection blades 621, 622 is detected by a rejection sensor 64 provided downstream of the rejection blades 621, 622. At this time, if the rejection sensor 64 accidentally detects a defective nut N, the control unit temporarily stops the rotary table 20 and drives it in reverse to move the defective nut N below the rejection blades 621, 622 again. After that, the rejection motor 61 is driven again to eject the nut N from the rotary table 20, and then the rotary table 20 is driven forward again. Since it is possible to detect whether the defective nut N has been rejected by the rejection sensor 64 in this way, the mixing of defective nuts N is prevented.

[0028] As described above, the good nuts N that have passed through the exclusion unit 60 reach the discharge unit 70 as the rotary table 20 rotates. These nuts N are guided to the good product chute 73 following the discharge member 72 after being counted by the count sensor 71. They slide down inside this good product chute 73 and are stored in a good product box. Also, since the count sensor 71 counts the number of good nuts N, when a predetermined number of nuts N are stored in the good product box, the shutter of the good product chute 73 is activated and starts storing the nuts N inside the good product chute 73. Thereby, it becomes possible to divide the good nuts N into predetermined numbers. After that, a new good product box is installed and the shutter is opened, so that the nuts N inside the good product chute 73 are stored in the good product box again.

[0029] Since the inspection device 100 configured as described above has two rows of conveying paths 231 and 241 on the rotary table 20, it is possible to increase the number of inspections per unit time without increasing the rotation speed. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the nuts N from shifting in position due to the centrifugal force of the rotary table 20. Also, since the nuts N are conveyed in two rows in the radial direction, only one conveying motor 21 is required and it can be manufactured at a relatively low cost, and it can be installed in a narrower space than having two inspection devices 100. Furthermore, since the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24 are arranged in two levels, upper and lower, when the side camera 523 photographs the nuts N on the upper plate 23, there are advantages such as the nuts N on the lower plate 24 not interfering with the photographing, and the sub chute 74 can slide the nuts N on the upper plate 23 to the good product chute 73.

[0030] Also, the notched disk 32 enables the nuts N to be supplied onto the rotary table 20 at equal intervals. As a result, each nut N on the rotary table 20 can be detected by the detection sensor 42 as described above. Consequently, the control unit that receives both the detection signal from the detection sensor 42 and the angle signal of the conveyance motor 21 can individually identify the nuts N. Thereby, after the pass / fail discrimination by the inspection unit 50, the rejection sensor 64 can detect whether the nuts N determined to be defective remain on the rotary table 20. Since the control unit can individually identify the nuts N in this way and the rejection sensor 64 can detect rejection failures, it is possible to prevent the mixing of defective products. Further, since the nuts N are supplied at equal intervals, it is possible to prevent a plurality of nuts N from entering the imaging range, and thus there are also advantages such as stable inspection results. Furthermore, since the nuts N are prevented from approaching the nuts N in the next stage excessively as described above, when the defective products are ejected to the defective product shoots 631 and 632 by the rejection unit 60, the rejection blades 621 and 622 do not contact the nuts N in the next stage, and no malfunction occurs in the ejection operation.

[0031] Note that the inspection device 100 according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described one, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the nuts N on both the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24 slide down to the same good product chute 73, but two good product chutes 73 may be provided, and the nuts N on each plate may be guided to different good product chutes 73. By providing two good product chutes 73 in this way, there are advantages such as the ability to inspect different nuts N simultaneously. Also, even if some problem occurs in one of the inspection units 50, since the two nuts N do not mix, it is possible to re-inspect only the nuts N on the side where the abnormality occurred, and there is also an advantage that the number of re-inspections may be small even if the number is small. Further, when there are a plurality of good product chutes 73, as shown in FIG. 6, a structure in which two good product chutes 73 are provided on the outer side in the radial direction of the rotary table 20, or as shown in FIG. 7, a structure in which both a defective product chute 631 for the upper plate 23 and a good product chute 73 are provided in the through hole 25 may be used. When the defective product chute 631 for the upper plate 23 and the good product chute 73 are provided in the through hole 25 in this way, it is preferable to provide a partition 233 between these chutes and above the tapered portion 232 so that the defective and good nuts N do not mix.

[0032] Also, in the above embodiment, the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24 rotate integrally, but they may each have a separate conveyance motor 21 and rotate separately. When the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24 are driven separately in this way, when an elimination defect occurs on one hand, it is not necessary for both the upper plate 23 and the lower plate 24 to be reversely driven, so there are advantages such as an improvement in the inspection speed. Further, when supplying the same workpiece, the starting ends of the supply rails 31 may merge. In that case, by supplying the nuts N from one supply device to the merging portion of the supply rails 31, the nuts N can be supplied to both of the supply rails 31. Note that the various sensors are preferably selected according to the workpiece, and there is no problem even with a configuration other than the above sensors.

[0033] Furthermore, the rotating table 20 and the supply unit 30 are an example of a conveying device that conveys workpieces without fixing them, and may have a conveying unit provided with a pair of conveying belts and a supply unit that supplies a head-butting rod-shaped member such as a screw to the conveying unit, as detailed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-212251 disclosed by the applicant of the present application. For a conveying device in which it is difficult to keep the distance between workpieces on the conveying unit constant, by using the notched disk and separating and supplying the workpieces from the supply unit to the conveying unit, the distance between the workpieces on the conveying unit becomes constant. For this reason, as described above, it is possible to prevent the workpieces from approaching excessively on the conveying path, and there are advantages such as stable inspection.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0034] 10 … Inspection device 20 … Rotating table 21 … Conveying motor 23 … Upper plate 232… Tapered portion 24 … Lower plate 25 … Through hole 30 … Supply unit 31 … Supply rail 32 … Notched disk 321… Disk motor 322… Delivery disk 323… Contact member 324… Adjusting disk 40 … Alignment unit 50 … Inspection unit 60 … Exclusion unit 70 … Discharge unit N … Nut

Claims

1. In a conveying device having a conveying unit for conveying a workpiece, a supply unit for supplying the workpiece to the conveying unit, and a transfer unit for supplying the workpiece on the supply unit to the conveying unit, the transfer unit includes a notched disk having a notched groove capable of accommodating a workpiece on its outer periphery, and a rotational drive source for rotating the notched disk. When the notched disk is rotationally driven, the workpiece on the supply unit closest to the front is separated and supplied to the conveying unit at regular intervals. The conveying device is characterized by this.

2. The notched disk has a rotational drive part, a delivery disk that rotates upon receiving the drive of the rotational drive source, and an adjustment disk held on the delivery disk. The conveying device according to claim 1, characterized in that the size of the notched groove can be adjusted by the relative rotation of the adjustment disk with respect to the delivery disk.

3. It has a control unit for controlling the drive of the rotational drive source of the conveying unit and the notched disk. The control unit is configured to detect the movement amount of the workpiece from the drive amount of the conveying unit, and when the movement amount of the workpiece reaches a predetermined amount set in advance, rotate the notched disk to drive and supply the workpiece to the conveying unit. The conveying device according to claim 1 is characterized by this.

4. Having the conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, an inspection device, characterized in that an inspection unit for inspecting the workpiece and an exclusion unit for excluding the workpiece from the conveying path based on the inspection result by the inspection unit are provided in the conveying path of the workpiece by the conveying unit.

5. A detection sensor for detecting that a workpiece has been supplied is provided in the conveying path of the workpiece by the conveying unit. The control unit is configured to drive the inspection unit and the exclusion unit after receiving a signal from the detection sensor when the conveying unit is driven by a preset amount. The inspection device according to claim 4 is characterized by this.

Images