Insert Molding System

Abstract

To provide an insert molding system which can cope with cases where an inner tray is arranged in a tilted state with respect to a pallet and where an insert molded product is required to be released at an appropriate position at an release position. [Solution] Even if the inner tray 11 containing the insert workpieces W is arranged in an inclined state within the pallet 9, the molded product removal machine changes the position and attitude of the removal head 51 based on the imaging data obtained by imaging that state with the imaging device 8, and removes one or more insert workpieces W from the inner tray 11. Also, before releasing the one or more insert molded products MA held by the removal head 51 to the open position, the one or more insert molded products MA held by the removal head 51 are released at a predetermined appropriate position of the open position based on the imaging data obtained by imaging the state of the open position with the imaging device 8.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a molding system for performing insert molding. [Background technology]

[0002] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-53161 (Patent Document 1) discloses a molding system in which a sheet is used as an insert work. In this system, one sheet from a number of sheets (insert work) held by a transfer member is attached to a sheet holding member attached to an entry frame attached to a molded product removal machine, and is transported into a mold. If the insert work is not a sheet, a transport device equipped with a transport conveyor is used to transport the insert work to a standby position where it is held by a removal head attached to the entry frame of the molded product removal machine. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2005-53161 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The conveying device is configured to store one or more insert workpieces in an open-top pallet in a state where the insert workpieces are fitted into one or more workpiece fitting recesses of an inner tray having one or more workpiece fitting recesses, and to convey the pallet to a standby position by a conveying conveyor. However, the position of the inner tray in the pallet is not always constant, and the inner tray may be arranged in a tilted state with respect to the pallet. In such a case, the removal head of the molded product removal machine cannot hold one or more insert workpieces in a proper position. In addition, it may be required to release the insert molded product removed from the mold to a proper position at the release position. However, an insert molding system that can meet such problems and requirements is inevitably expensive.

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide an insert molding system that can accommodate cases where the inner tray is positioned at an angle relative to the pallet, and cases where the insert molded product is required to be released in the correct position when in the release position. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The insert molding system to which the present invention is directed includes a molding machine, a molded product removal machine, and a conveying device. The molded product removal machine is provided with an entry frame that is movably mounted on an extraction frame and has a removal head at its tip, which is used to hold one or more insert workpieces, insert them into the mold of the molding machine, and remove one or more insert molded products from the mold and convey them to an open position, and an operation control device that controls the operation of the extraction frame and the entry frame and the operation of the removal head. The conveying device conveys one or more insert workpieces to a standby position where the one or more insert workpieces are held by the removal head. The conveying device may be configured to convey a pallet that has one or more workpiece fitting recesses and stores an inner tray in which one or more insert workpieces are fitted in the one or more workpiece fitting recesses to the standby position, and the structure of the conveying device is arbitrary. For example, it may be a general stocker. In addition, a posture change mechanism that changes the posture of the removal head relative to the removal head may be provided. In that case, the operation control device also controls the operation of the posture change mechanism.

[0007] In the present invention, one or more imaging devices are provided to photograph the arrangement state of one or more insert workpieces at the standby position before the one or more insert workpieces are held by the extraction head, and / or to photograph the state of one or more insert molded products held by the extraction head at the open position before releasing them to the open position. The one or more imaging devices may be any type that can obtain imaging data including information that indicates the arrangement position of the inner tray in the pallet. The operation control device controls the molded product extraction machine to hold one or more insert workpieces at the standby position in an appropriate posture by the extraction head and / or release one or more insert molded products held by the extraction head at a predetermined appropriate position in the open position, based on the imaging data captured by the one or more imaging devices.

[0008] According to the present invention, even if the inner tray containing the insert workpieces is arranged in a tilted state in the pallet, the molded product removal machine can change the position and posture of the removal head based on the imaging data obtained by imaging the state with the imaging device, and remove one or more insert workpieces from the inner tray. Also, before releasing one or more insert molded products held by the removal head to the open position, one or more insert molded products held by the removal head can be released at a predetermined appropriate position of the open position based on the imaging data obtained by imaging the state of the open position with one or more imaging devices. Therefore, according to the present invention, even if the inner tray is arranged in a tilted state with respect to the pallet, or even if it is required to release the insert molded products to an appropriate position at the open position, it is possible to provide an insert molding system with a simple structure and at a low cost that can be used.

[0009] Furthermore, if one or more imaging devices are placed in the open position and can obtain imaging data including information that identifies the positions of one or more molded product holding recesses of an inner tray that has one or more molded product fitting recesses into which one or more insert molded products are fitted, the one or more insert molded products can be reliably released into the one or more molded product fitting recesses.

[0010] The standby position and the open position may be the same position, and the inner tray in the open position may also serve as the inner tray in the standby position. In this way, not only can the number of parts or devices constituting the insert molding system be reduced, but also the installation space of the insert molding system can be made smaller.

[0011] Furthermore, the number and installation locations of one or more imaging devices are arbitrary, but as long as they are installed in a position where imaging data for the extraction frame or the entrance frame can be obtained, the necessary imaging data can be obtained with even a single imaging device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1]1 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of an insert molding system of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 2 is a block diagram showing components and peripheral devices used to control the molded product removal machine of the present embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 3] 11 is a diagram used to explain the situation when an insert work is removed from an inner tray in a standby position in this embodiment. FIG. [Figure 4] 1A is a diagram showing an example of an image of the arrangement of an inner tray in a pallet captured by an imaging device, and FIG. 1B is a diagram used to explain the situation when an insert molded product is released into the inner tray. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] An embodiment of the insert molding system of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an insert molding system 1 according to an embodiment. The insert molding system 1 includes a molding machine 3, a molded product remover 5, a conveying device 7, and an imaging device 8 attached to the extraction frame of the molded product remover 5. The molded product remover 5 includes a take-out head 51 having a suction nozzle 51A, a position change mechanism 52 for changing the position of the take-out head 51, a moving mechanism 53 for moving the take-out head 51, a driving device 54 for driving the moving mechanism 53, and an operation control unit 55 (FIG. 2) for giving an operation command to the driving device 54. The position change mechanism 52 has a function of swinging the take-out head 51 with respect to an entrance frame 53C included in the moving mechanism 53 and rotating the take-out head 51 with the Z axis as the central axis (θ axis). Depending on the configuration of the moving mechanism 53, it is of course possible to change the position of the take-out head 51 by controlling the moving mechanism 53 side without using the position change mechanism 52.

[0014] The moving mechanism 53 is a well-known three-axis moving mechanism, that is, an XYZ type moving mechanism, and includes a traverse frame 53A extending in the Y direction, a pull-out frame 53B movably attached to the traverse frame 53A and extending in the X direction, and two entry frames 53C and 53D that move in the Y direction and in the Z direction along the pull-out frame 53B. The entry frame 53C is attached to the take-out head 51 via a position change mechanism 52, and the entry frame 53D is used as a runner shaft. The operation control unit 55 of this embodiment is configured with a calculation device such as a CPU, and performs operation control of the position change mechanism 52 that changes the position of the take-out head 51 and operation control of the drive device 54 that drives the moving mechanism 53.

[0015] 1 shows a state in which the pull-out frame 53B is positioned at one end side of the traverse frame 53A, the pull-out frame 53B extends along the molding machine, and a plurality of insert workpieces W held by the take-out head 51 are not yet inserted into the space between the fixed mold 31 and the movable mold (not shown). As shown in FIG. 3, which will be described later in detail, when the movement mechanism 53 moves the pull-out frame 53B to the other end side of the traverse frame 53A, a plurality of insert workpieces W in the inner tray 11 arranged in the pallet 9 on the transport conveyor 71 of the transport device 7 are pulled out of the take-out head 51. adsorption The insert workpieces W are sucked by the nozzle 51A and transported to the position shown in Fig. 1 by the moving mechanism 53. As shown in Fig. 1, three insert workpieces W are stored in the pallet 9 in a state where they are fitted into three workpiece fitting recesses 11A of the inner tray 11 having three workpiece fitting recesses 11A [Fig. 4(A)], and the pallet 9 is transported by the transport conveyor 71 to the standby position [the state shown in Figs. 1 and 3].

[0016] The operation control unit 55 operates the attitude change mechanism 52 that changes the attitude of the moving mechanism 53 and the take-out head 51 according to the operation sequence, moves the extraction frame 53B from the position shown in FIG. 3 to the position shown in FIG. 1, and causes the take-out head 51 attached to the tip of the entry frame 53C to enter the space between the fixed mold 31 and the movable mold (not shown), and attaches the insert work W held by the take-out head 51 to the fixed mold 31. When the moving mechanism 53 pulls up the entry frame 53C, the molding machine 3 moves the movable mold toward the fixed mold 31 to close the mold, and then performs molding. When the molding operation is completed and the molding machine 3 opens the movable mold, the insert molded product including the insert work W appears in a state attached to the fixed mold 31. From this state, the molding machine 3 pushes out the insert molded product from the fixed mold 31 by the protruding operation of the ejector pin. Next, the moving mechanism 53 inserts the removal head 51 between the fixed mold 31 and the movable mold, and the removal head 51 sucks up the insert molded product with the suction nozzle 51A. The moving mechanism 53 then transports the sucked insert molded product MA [Fig. 4(B)] to the release position. At the release position, the suction by the suction nozzle is released, and the insert molded product MA is released at the release position. Note that for convenience, only one insert molded product MA is shown in Fig. 4(B).

[0017] In this embodiment, the opening position is set to the position of the conveying device 7. Delivery The inner tray 11 is located inside the pallet 9 on the conveyor 71. Therefore, in this embodiment, the inner tray 11 is used as a means for transporting the insert work W and the insert molded product MA [FIG. 4(B)].

[0018] The imaging device 8 is attached to the side of the pulling frame 53B. As shown in Fig. 3, the imaging device 8 captures an image of the arrangement of the inner tray 11 including the three insert workpieces W at the standby position (position shown in Fig. 3) before the three insert workpieces W are held by the removal head 51. When the insert molded product held by the removal head 51 is released to the release position (the same as the standby position in this embodiment), the imaging device 8 captures an image of the release position before the release, as shown in Fig. 4(A).

[0019] As shown in Fig. 4(A), a commercially available vision camera 80 can be used as the imaging device 8. A specific imaging device 8 in this embodiment obtains imaging data including information indicating the placement position of the inner tray 11 within the pallet 9 (information indicating the degree to which the inner tray 11 is tilted relative to the pallet 9). From the information on the placement position of the inner tray 11 within the pallet 9, the tilt of the inner tray 11 within the pallet 9 can be determined. As a result, Motion Control Unit From the information of the imaging data, the sensor 55 determines the positions of the take-out head 51 in the X-direction, Y-direction, and Z-direction and the angle of the θ-axis (angle with the Z-axis as the central axis) required for the suction nozzle 51A attached to the take-out head 51 to securely hold the three insert workpieces W, and issues a command to the drive device 54. The drive device 54 provides the drive command created using this information to a plurality of servo motors that drive the entry frame 53C and the extraction frame 53B included in the movement mechanism 53, and to the servo motor included in the posture changing mechanism 52. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the three insert workpieces W in the three workpiece fitting recesses 11A in the pallet 9 located on the transport conveyor 71 of the transport device 7 and in the standby position can be properly held.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 4(A), the imaging device 8 captures an image of the three insert molded products MA held by the take-out head 51 in the open position before the three insert molded products MA are released to the open position, to obtain imaging data. From this imaging data, the inclination within the pallet 9 can be determined. As a result, Motion Control Unit Based on the information of the image data, the three insert molded products MA are securely attached to the three molded product holding recesses of the inner tray 11 by the suction nozzles 51A attached to the removal head 51. Inside the departmentThe controller 52 determines the positions in the X, Y and Z directions of the removal head 51 and the angle about the θ axis (angle with the Z axis as the central axis) required for opening the workpiece 9 to the position indicated by the arrows 11A (in this embodiment, the three workpiece fitting recesses 11A also serve as three molded product fitting recesses for fitting three insert molded products), and issues a command to the drive unit 54. The drive unit 54 provides a drive command created using this information to a plurality of servo motors that drive the entry frame 53C and extraction frame 53B included in the movement mechanism 53, and to a servo motor included in the posture changing mechanism 52. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4(B), the three molded product holding recesses ( Work fitting recess 11A 4B, in order to simplify the illustration, only one insert molding product MA is shown, but in this embodiment, three insert molding products MA can be held simultaneously in the three molded product holding recesses. (11A) It is open to the inside.

[0021] As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if the inner tray 11 containing the insert work W is arranged in a tilted state within the pallet 9, the molding product removing machine can detect the state based on the image data obtained by imaging the state with the imaging device 8. 5 can change the position and attitude of the take-out head 51 to take out the insert workpiece W in the inner tray 11. Furthermore, the insert molded product MA held by the take-out head 51 can be released at an appropriate position for the open position based on imaging data obtained by imaging the state of the open position with the imaging device 8 before releasing the insert molded product MA held by the take-out head 51 to the open position. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to provide an insert molding system 1 that can handle cases where the inner tray 11 is arranged in an inclined state with respect to the pallet 9, and cases where it is required to release the insert molded product MA to an appropriate position at the open position.

[0022] In this embodiment, the operation program used by the calculation device of the operation control unit 55 includes a program for checking the positioning state (tilt) of the inner tray 11 relative to the pallet 9 from the imaging data obtained by the imaging device 8 and changing the posture of the removal head.

[0023] In this embodiment, one imaging device 8 is used to capture images of the interior of pallet 9 in the standby position and the open position, but two imaging devices may be used to capture images of the interior of pallet 9 in the standby position and the open position. Needless to say, more imaging devices may be used to obtain the necessary data.

[0024] In this embodiment, the imaging device 8 is attached to the pull-out frame 53B, but the imaging device may be installed at any location as long as the imaging data can be obtained. The imaging device may also be installed in the entry frame 53C. 5 Of course, it may be provided independently outside the device.

[0025] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the open position and the standby position are the same position and the same inner tray 11 is used, but it goes without saying that the open position may be provided separately from the standby position.

[0026] In the above embodiment, the removal head 51 holds multiple (3) insert workpieces W and multiple (3) insert molded products MA at the same time, but the present invention can naturally be applied to cases where the removal head 51 holds one insert workpiece W and one insert molded product MA.

[0027] In the above embodiment, the suction nozzle 51A is used in the take-out head 51, but it goes without saying that a chuck may be used in place of the suction nozzle. [Industrial Applicability]

[0028] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an insert molding system that can accommodate cases where the inner tray is positioned at an angle relative to the pallet, and cases where the insert molded product is required to be released in the appropriate position in the open position. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1. Insert Molding System 3 Molding machine 5 Molded product removal machine 51A Suction nozzle 51 Extraction head 52 Attitude change mechanism 53 Moving mechanism 54 Drive unit 55 Motion control section 7. Conveyor 8. Imaging device 9 Palette 11 Inner Tray

Claims

1. A molding machine; an entry frame that is movably provided on an extraction frame and has a removal head at its tip that is used to hold one or more insert workpieces and insert them into the mold of the molding machine, and to remove one or more insert molded products from the mold and transport them to an opening position; and a molded product removal machine that is equipped with a motion control device that controls the operation of the extraction frame and the entry frame and the operation of the removal head; A conveying device is provided for conveying the one or more insert workpieces to a standby position where the one or more insert workpieces are held by the removal head, The conveying device is configured to convey a pallet that includes one or more work fitting recesses and stores an inner tray in a state in which the one or more insert workpieces are fitted in the one or more work fitting recesses to the waiting position by the conveying device, One or more imaging devices are provided to photograph the arrangement state of the inner tray in the standby position before the one or more insert workpieces are held by the removal head, or to photograph the state of the inner tray in the open position before releasing the one or more insert molded products held by the removal head at the open position; the one or more imaging devices obtain imaging data including information indicating a position of the inner tray within the pallet, The insert molding system is characterized in that the operation control device controls the molded product removal machine to hold the one or more insert workpieces in the waiting position in an appropriate posture by the removal head based on the imaging data captured by the one or more imaging devices, or to release the one or more insert molded products held by the removal head in an appropriate position in the release position.

2. A molding machine; an entry frame that is movably provided on an extraction frame and has a removal head at its tip that is used to hold one or more insert workpieces and insert them into the mold of the molding machine, and to remove one or more insert molded products from the mold and transport them to an opening position; and a molded product removal machine that is equipped with a motion control device that controls the operation of the extraction frame and the entry frame and the operation of the removal head; A conveying device is provided for conveying the one or more insert workpieces to a standby position where the one or more insert workpieces are held by the removal head, The conveying device is configured to convey a pallet that includes one or more work fitting recesses and stores an inner tray in a state in which the one or more insert workpieces are fitted in the one or more work fitting recesses to the waiting position by the conveying device, One or more imaging devices are provided to photograph the arrangement state of the inner tray in the standby position before the one or more insert workpieces are held by the removal head, and to photograph the state of the inner tray in the open position before releasing the one or more insert molded products held by the removal head at the open position; the one or more imaging devices obtain imaging data including information indicating a position of the inner tray within the pallet, The insert molding system is characterized in that the operation control device controls the molded product removal machine to hold the one or more insert workpieces in the waiting position in an appropriate posture using the removal head based on the imaging data captured by the one or more imaging devices, and to release the one or more insert molded products held by the removal head at the appropriate position in the release position.

3. The insert molding system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the one or more imaging devices are placed in the open position to obtain the imaging data including information indicating the positioning positions of the one or more molded product retaining recesses of an inner tray having one or more molded product fitting recesses for fitting the one or more insert molded products.

4. The insert molding system according to claim 3 , wherein the standby position and the open position are the same position, and the inner tray in the open position also serves as the inner tray in the standby position.

5. The insert molding system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the one or more imaging devices are provided at positions where the imaging data of the withdrawal frame or the entry frame can be obtained.

6. The insert molding system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transport device is a transport conveyor.

Images