Parts supply device

Abstract

To provide a parts supply device that can easily supply parts with special shapes, has a small footprint, and is compact. [Solution] The device includes a cylindrical outer plate 11 having an axis inclined with respect to the vertical, a circular rotating plate 12 rotatably positioned coaxially with the axis at the inner bottom of the outer plate, and a magnet 13 positioned on the back surface of the rotating plate. The drum 3 attracts multiple parts 8 that are brought into the lower part between the outer plate and the rotating plate and transports them to the upper part of the rotating plate 12. Furthermore, it includes a parts removal unit 4 for removing parts from the rotating plate, a parts detection unit 5 for detecting parts on the rotating plate, and a parts imaging unit 6 for photographing parts on the rotating plate. If the parts photographed by the parts imaging unit are parts that can be removed by the parts removal unit, the parts that can be removed are taken out of the drum. If the parts photographed by the parts imaging unit are not parts that can be removed by the parts removal unit, the parts are transported.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a component supply device that takes out components from a component storage section that stores a plurality of components and supplies them to the next process such as processing or assembly.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a component supply device including a bucket that stores a plurality of components and a drum that takes out a predetermined number of components stored in the bucket one by one, and by causing the components to enter the recesses formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum or by magnetically attracting the components with magnets built into the drum, the components are taken out from the bucket one by one and supplied onto the disk of the component aligning device.

[0003] In the component supply device of Patent Document 1, the components are held by the recesses or magnets of the drum. However, when a plurality of components are held, the drum is reversed and then rotated forward to return to the bucket. Therefore, for components with a special shape that are bent at 90° and have a large portion at the tip, when a plurality of components are entangled, they are held by the recesses or magnets of the drum, making it difficult to supply the components.

[0004] Patent Document 2 describes an article supply device including three upstream conveyors from the first to the third for conveying articles, a downstream conveyor that has a different conveying direction and a step from the upstream conveyor and conveys articles that fall from the upstream conveyor, and a return conveyor. The state of the articles on the upstream conveyor is detected, and when the state of the article is a predetermined state, the article is taken out from the upstream conveyor, and when the state of the article is not the predetermined state, the article is supplied to the downstream conveyor.

[0005] In the article supply device described in Patent Document 2, the three upstream and downstream conveyors are arranged so that they convey in different directions, and articles are taken out from both the upstream and downstream conveyors, resulting in a large installation area. Furthermore, specially shaped parts, as mentioned above, are prone to becoming entangled with other articles, which may lead to them being refused for retrieval and circulating indefinitely. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2019-48713 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6703230 specification [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0007] This invention has been made in view of the aforementioned conventional problems, and aims to provide a parts supply device that can easily supply parts with special shapes, has a small footprint, and is compact. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] (1) The component supply device of the present invention, which is a means for solving the above problem, A drum comprising a cylindrical outer plate having an axis inclined with respect to a vertical line, a circular rotating plate rotatably disposed coaxially with the axis at the inner bottom of the outer plate, and a magnet disposed on the back surface of the rotating plate, which attracts a plurality of parts brought into the lower part between the outer plate and the rotating plate and transports them to the upper part of the rotating plate, A parts removal unit for removing parts from the rotating plate, A component detection unit for detecting components on the rotating plate, The system includes a component imaging unit for imaging components on the rotating plate, If the part photographed by the part imaging unit is a part that can be removed by the part removal unit, the part that can be removed is removed from the drum. The system is configured to transport parts if the parts photographed by the parts imaging unit are not in a state where they can be removed by the parts removal unit.

[0009] (2) In the parts supply device described in (1) above, The component detection unit is configured to stop the rotating plate when it detects a component on the rotating plate.

[0010] (3) In the parts supply device described in either (1) or (2) above, The magnet consists of a plurality of magnets arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the rotating plate, and the plurality of magnets are arranged offset in the radial direction of the rotating plate.

[0011] (4) In the parts supply device described in (3) above, A switching device is provided to switch between the aforementioned plurality of magnets, each with a different attractive force.

[0012] (5) In the parts supply device described in (4) above, The switching device is configured to move the magnet between an operating position close to the outer surface of the drum and a non-operating position retracted from the outer surface of the drum. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the present invention, parts are attracted by magnets and held on the upper surface of a rotating plate for transport. Only one part attracted by the magnet is transported to the upper part of the rotating plate, while parts that cannot be attracted by the magnet fall to the lower part of the rotating plate. Therefore, even if multiple parts are entangled on the rotating plate, they can be separated and transported on the rotating plate, and parts with special shapes can be easily supplied. Furthermore, it has a cylindrical outer plate with an axis inclined with respect to the vertical, a circular rotating plate rotatably positioned coaxially with the axis at the inner bottom of the outer plate, and a magnet positioned on the back of the rotating plate. It also has a drum that attracts multiple parts brought in from below the outer plate and the rotating plate and transports them to the top of the rotating plate. As a result, it has the advantage of requiring fewer transported objects, having a small footprint, and being compact.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014] [Figure 1] Plan view of the component supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Side view of the component supply device of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] Perspective view showing the shape of the component. [Figure 4] Enlarged cross-sectional view of the drum in the axial direction. [Figure 5] Arrangement diagram of magnets viewed from a direction perpendicular to the rotating plate of the drum. [Figure 6] Perspective view of the magnet mounting jig. [Figure 7] Diagram showing the conveyance state of components on the rotating plate. [Figure 8] Diagram showing the normal state of components on the rotating plate. [Figure 9] Diagram showing the abnormal state of components on the rotating plate. [Figure 10] Enlarged cross-sectional view showing the cylinder and magnet arranged on the rotating plate. [Figure 11] Diagram showing the arrangement and adsorption force of magnets on the rotating plate. [Figure 12] Cross-sectional view showing the pneumatic supply path of the rotating plate to the cylinder.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a component supply device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The component supply device 1 is a device that supplies components (hose joints) in the process of assembling the hydraulic piping of an automotive brake, and includes a component storage unit 2, a drum 3, a component extraction device 4, a component detection device 5, a component imaging device 6, and a control unit 7.

[0017] The parts storage section 2 is composed of a container for storing a large number of parts 8. The parts storage section 2 has a loading section 2a consisting of a conveyor or the like for loading parts toward the drum 3. The parts storage section 2 contains parts 8, which are metal fittings connected to hoses. As shown in Figure 3, these parts 8 have a special shape in which a socket portion 8b is located at one end of a tubular portion 8a bent at approximately 90°, and a ring portion 8c is located at the other end, with a pin portion 8d protruding from the ring portion 8c.

[0018] Drum 3 is used to attract parts 8 that have been loaded into the lower part of the parts storage section 2 and transport them to the upper part. Drum 3 is mounted on a base 10 provided on a frame 9, below the loading section 2a of the parts storage section 2. Drum 3 is mounted on the base 10 at an angle such that the lower side of the loading section 2a is lower and the opposite side is higher. The inclination angle of drum 3 is 45° in this embodiment, but is not limited to this, and may be 40° or 50°, etc. As shown in Figure 4, drum 3 has an outer plate 11, a rotating plate 12, and a magnet 13.

[0019] The outer plate 11 is cylindrical with an axis inclined with respect to the vertical line. Its lower end is attached to the base 10 so that its axis is perpendicular to the base 10, and its upper end is open. A notch 11a is provided on the upper part of the outer circumference of the outer plate 11 to allow the arm 4a of the parts removal device 4, which will be described later, to approach easily. A motor 14, which rotates the rotating plate 12, which will be described later, is attached to the lower surface of the base 10. A support shaft 15 is attached to the center of the upper surface of the base 10, and a cylindrical rotating shaft 17 is attached to the support shaft 15 via a bearing 16. A drive gear 18 that meshes with the motor gear 14a of the motor 14 is provided at the lower end of the rotating shaft 17. A scraping plate 19 is provided on the inner surface of the outer plate 11 to scrape off parts 8 that are attracted to the magnet 13 of the rotating plate 12 and move from the bottom to the top.

[0020] As shown in Figure 5, the rotating plate 12 is made up of eight sector-shaped plates 12a arranged circumferentially to form a circle. The inner periphery is attached to the upper end of the rotating shaft 17 and is rotatably positioned coaxially with the axis of the outer plate 11. When the motor 14 is driven, its rotational force is transmitted via the motor gear 14a to the drive gear 18 and the rotating shaft 17, causing the rotating plate 12 to rotate. On the back surface of the rotating plate 12, three magnet housing recesses 12b are formed in each sector-shaped plate 12a. The three magnet housing recesses 12b of each sector-shaped plate 12a are aligned at equal intervals in the radial direction and are aligned on the same circle as the other seven magnet housing recesses 12b in the circumferential direction.

[0021] The magnets 13 are attached to the magnet housing recesses 12b on the back surface of each sector plate 12a of the rotating plate 12 by a magnet mounting jig 20. As shown in Figure 6, the magnet mounting jig 20 consists of a main body 20a that fits into the magnet housing recesses 12b of the rotating plate 12, and a mounting plate 20b attached to one end of the main body 20a, with the magnets 13 built into the main body 20a. The magnet mounting jig 20 is attached by fitting the main body 20a into one of the three magnet housing recesses 12b of each sector plate 12a of the rotating plate 12, and screwing the mounting plate 20b to the rotating plate 12. The magnets 13 are arranged so that adjacent magnets do not lie on the same circumference.

[0022] As shown in Figure 2, the parts retrieval device 4 is positioned above the frame 9 and is a robotic hand that retrieves parts 8 from the rotating plate 12 of the drum 3. As shown in Figure 2, the parts retrieval device 4 is capable of grasping and retrieving a predetermined portion of the parts 8 that have been transported to the upper part of the rotating plate 12 and supplying it to a predetermined part of device A that performs the next process.

[0023] As shown in Figure 4, the part detection device 5 is a sensor that detects parts 8 that have been transported to the upper part of the rotating plate 12 of the drum 3. The part detection device 5 consists of a light-emitting unit 5a located on the outer circumference of the rotating plate 12 and a light-receiving unit 5b located on the support shaft 15. The part detection device 5 detects the part 8 when the light emitted from the light-emitting unit 5a is blocked by the part 8 being transported on the rotating plate 12, and the light-receiving unit 5b does not detect the light.

[0024] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the part imaging device 6 is a camera such as a CCD camera that photographs the part 8 on the rotating plate 12. The part imaging device 6 is positioned on a stand 9 above the rotating plate 12 and is capable of photographing the part 8 detected by the part detection device 5 and its surroundings.

[0025] As shown in Figure 1, the control unit 7 is a computer that controls the motor 14 of the rotating plate 12 and the part extraction unit 4 based on the part detection signal from the part detection device 5 and the image signal from the part imaging device 6.

[0026] Next, the operation of the component supply device 1 by the control unit 7 will be described.

[0027] Numerous parts 8 are pre-stored in the parts storage section 2. The parts 8 in the parts storage section 2 are fed into the lower space formed by the outer plate 11 and the rotating plate 12 of the drum 3 via the loading section 2a.

[0028] First, the rotating plate 12 of the drum 3 is driven. As shown in Figure 7, the parts 8 placed in the lower space of the drum 3 are attracted to the outer surface of the rotating plate 12 by the magnets 13 on the rotating plate 12, and are transported along the upper surface of the rotating plate 12 from bottom to top in a counterclockwise direction in Figure 7 as the rotating plate 12 rotates. Multiple parts 8 may become entangled or overlap when attracted to the magnets 13, but all but one of the parts 8 will fall into the lower space before reaching the top of the drum 3. Even if multiple parts 8 are attracted beyond the top of the rotating plate 12, all but one of the parts 8 will fall into the lower space or be scraped into the lower space by the scraping plate 19 as they descend from the top. Because the magnets 13 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction and offset in the axial direction on the rotating plate 12, the parts 8 attracted to and transported by the rotating plate 12 are transported at equal intervals in the radial and circumferential directions, separating from each other.

[0029] When the part 8, which has been transported to the upper part of the rotating plate 12, reaches the area between the light-emitting unit 5a and the light-receiving unit 5b of the part detection device 5, it blocks the light emitted from the light-emitting unit 5a. As a result, the control unit 7 detects that the part 8 is in a predetermined position on the rotating plate 12 because the signal from the light-receiving unit 5b is turned off, and stops the driving of the rotating plate 12.

[0030] Next, the control unit 7 instructs the part imaging device 6 to photograph the part 8 on the rotating plate 12, and acquires an image of the part 8 from the part imaging device 6. From the image of the part 8, the control unit 7 extracts the planar shape of the part 8, and based on this planar shape of the part 8, determines whether or not the part 8 is in a state where it can be grasped and removed by the part removal device 8 at a predetermined position.

[0031] A state in which a part can be removed by the part removal device 4 is any of the following: a normal state in which part 8 is alone with no other parts 8 around it, as shown in Figure 8(a); an upside-down state, the opposite of Figure 8(a); or a vertical state in which one end of the ring portion 8c is on the rotating plate 12, as shown in Figure 8(b). A state in which a part cannot be removed by the part removal device 4 is any of the following: a state in which parts 8 are close together or in contact with each other, as shown in Figure 9(a); an abnormal state in which parts 8 are overlapping or entangled, as shown in Figure 9(b); or a state in which parts are protruding from the side edge of the rotating plate 12 or in contact with or close to the wall of the outer plate 11. The external shape of part 8 in a normal state is stored in the control unit 7 as a reference image in advance, and by comparing the captured image with the reference image, it can be determined that the state is normal if the difference is within an acceptable range, and abnormal if it is not.

[0032] If the part 8 photographed by the part imaging device 6 is in a state where it can be removed by the part removal device 4, the control unit 7 drives the part removal device 4 to grasp the part 8 at a predetermined position, remove it from the rotating plate 12, and supply it to the next process device A (not shown). In this device A, the part 8 is used in the processing and assembly processes.

[0033] If the part 8 photographed by the part photographing device 6 is not in a state where it can be removed by the part removal device 4, the control unit 7 restarts the rotation of the rotating plate 12 without driving the part removal device 4. As a result, the part 8 that was not removed by the part removal device 4 is further transported on the rotating plate 12 and either slides down into the lower space on its own or is scraped into the lower space by the scraping plate 19.

[0034] The parts 8 that slide down or are scraped off into the lower space are then attracted by the magnet 13 and transported to the upper part.

[0035] The above operations are repeated, and only the parts 8 that are ready to be removed by the parts removal device 4 on the rotating plate 12 are supplied by the parts removal device 4 to the next process device A.

[0036] In the parts supply device 1 of the above embodiment, the magnet 13 attracts the parts 8 and holds only one at a time on the upper surface of the rotating plate 12 for transport, while the others fall into the space below the rotating plate 12. Therefore, even if multiple parts 8 are entangled on the rotating plate 12, they can be separated and transported on the rotating plate 12, and parts with special shapes can be easily supplied.

[0037] Furthermore, it includes a cylindrical outer plate 11 having an axis inclined with respect to the vertical, a circular rotating plate 12 rotatably positioned coaxially with the axis at the inner bottom of the outer plate 11, and a magnet 13 positioned on the back surface of the rotating plate 12. A drum 3 is provided to attract multiple parts 8 that are brought in from below the outer plate 11 and the rotating plate 12 and transport them to the top of the rotating plate 12. As a result, the number of transported objects is reduced, the installation area is smaller, and the device can be made more compact.

[0038] (modified version) In the above embodiment, a magnet 13 having a predetermined attractive force was attached using a magnet mounting jig 20, but the attractive force of the magnet 13 may be made switchable.

[0039] For example, as shown in Figure 10, an L-shaped mounting plate 21 is provided on the back surface of the rotating plate 12, and three cylinders 22 are attached to this mounting plate 21 as a device for switching the attractive force. Each cylinder 22 has a piston 22a and a rod 22b that are operated by air pressure, and a magnet 13 is attached to the tip of the rod 22b. The magnet 13 is located in the magnet housing recess 12b of the rotating plate 12. When air pressure is supplied to the cylinder 22 and it is turned on, as shown by the solid line in Figure 10, the piston 22a and rod 22b move forward, and the magnet 13 is pressed against the back of the magnet housing recess 12b and moves to the operating position, and the attractive force of the magnet 13 acts on the outside of the rotating plate 12, making it possible to attract the part 8. Furthermore, when the supply of air pressure to the cylinder 22 is cut off and turned off, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 10, the piston 22a and rod 22b retract due to the biasing force of a spring (not shown), and the magnet 13 moves to a non-operating position where it is retracted from the magnet housing recess 12b. As a result, the attractive force of the magnet 13 no longer acts on the outside of the outer plate 11 of the drum 3, making it impossible to attract the part 8.

[0040] The magnets 13 in the three cylinders 22 each have three types of attractive forces: "strong," "medium," and "weak." Three magnets 13 with one of these attractive forces are placed in the magnet housing recesses 12b of each sector plate 12a of the rotating plate 12. Each magnet 13 is offset in the radial direction of the rotating plate 12, and magnets 13 with the same attractive force are placed at regular intervals in the circumferential direction of the rotating plate 12. Figure 11 is an example of the arrangement of magnets 13 on the rotating plate 12, where magnets 13 are placed in sections of three positions A to C in the radial direction and eight positions 1 to 8 in the circumferential direction. The "strong," "medium," and "weak" magnets 13 are offset in the radial direction so that adjacent magnets do not lie on the same circumferential surface.

[0041] As shown in Figure 12, each cylinder 22 is connected to three pneumatic paths 24, designated "strong," "medium," and "weak," formed on the rotating shaft 17 via pneumatic piping 23. The three pneumatic paths 24 on the rotating shaft 17 communicate with a pneumatic manifold 25 of a support shaft 15 that is fitted in a sealed state to the inner circumferential surface of the rotating shaft 17, and each port of the pneumatic manifold 25 is connected to a pneumatic supply device 26. The pneumatic supply device 26 supplies air pressure to each cylinder 22 to turn the cylinder 22 on or off.

[0042] In this embodiment, the cylinder 22 of the magnet 13 at the position corresponding to "strong" in Figure 11 is turned on by supplying air pressure, while the cylinders 22 of the magnets 13 at the other positions corresponding to "medium" and "weak" are turned off without supplying air pressure. One magnet 13 at the position corresponding to "strong" causes one component 8 to be attracted to the outer surface of the rotating plate 12.

[0043] In the above embodiment, multiple magnets 13 with different attractive forces are provided in advance, and depending on the shape or weight of the part 8 to be attracted, the cylinder 22 corresponding to the magnet 13 with an attractive force capable of attracting the part 8 is turned on to bring the magnet 13 closer to the outer surface of the rotating plate 12. However, instead of the cylinder, a solenoid can be used to electrically switch the magnet 13 between an operating position and a non-operating position. Alternatively, the magnet 13 may be used as an electromagnet, and the current supplied to the electromagnet may be turned on or off.

[0044] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified and changed within the scope of the gist of the invention as described in the claims. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0045] 1... Parts supply device 2...Component storage section 3…Drums 4...Parts extraction device 5…Part detection device 6…Parts imaging device 7…Control Unit 8...parts 9… Stand 10…Base 11…Exterior panels 12… Rotating plate 13…Magnets 14…motor 15...Spindle 16... Bearing 17…Rotation axis 18… Drive gear 19... Scrapboard 20…Magnet mounting jig 21…Mounting plate 22...Cylinder (switching device) 23... Pneumatic piping 24... Pneumatic pathway 25... Pneumatic manifold 26... Pneumatic supply device

Claims

1. A drum comprising a cylindrical outer plate having an axis inclined with respect to a vertical line, a circular rotating plate rotatably disposed coaxially with the axis at the inner bottom of the outer plate, and a magnet disposed on the back surface of the rotating plate, which attracts a plurality of parts brought into the lower part between the outer plate and the rotating plate and transports them to the upper part of the rotating plate, A parts removal unit for removing parts from the rotating plate, A component detection unit for detecting components on the rotating plate, The system includes a component imaging unit for imaging components on the rotating plate, If the part photographed by the part imaging unit is a part that can be removed by the part removal unit, the part that can be removed is removed from the drum. A parts supply device characterized in that it is configured to transport parts if the parts photographed by the parts photography unit are not in a state where they can be removed by the parts removal unit.

2. The parts supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that the parts detection unit is configured to stop the rotating plate when it detects a part on the rotating plate.

3. The component supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that the magnets consist of a plurality of magnets arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the rotating plate, and the plurality of magnets are arranged offset in the radial direction of the rotating plate.

4. The component supply device according to claim 3, characterized in that it is provided with a switching device that switches the plurality of magnets to magnets with different attractive forces.

5. The component supply device according to claim 4, characterized in that the switching device is configured to move the magnet between an operating position close to the outer surface of the drum and a non-operating position retracted from the outer surface of the drum.

Images