Apparatus for picking up small diameter product of PVD unloading equipment

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for picking up a small diameter product of equipment for unloading a carbide insert product having been subjected to PVD coating, and the apparatus for picking up a small diameter product relates to an apparatus for picking up a small diameter product of PVD unloading equipment, which comprises a magnetic gripper. According to the apparatus of the present invention, in the unloading process after PVD coating, a small diameter carbide insert, which has a small hole diameter at the center part thereof and thus is difficult to be gripped by a jaw gripper, can be safely transferred by the magnetic force of a magnetic gripper, to improve the work efficiency and accuracy thereof and ensure the safety of main body equipment.

Description

Small diameter product pickup device of PVD unloading equipment

[0001] The present invention relates to a small-diameter product pickup device of PVD unloading equipment, and more specifically, to a small-diameter product pickup device of PVD unloading equipment that applies a magnetic gripper to pick up a small-diameter carbide insert that has completed coating work in a PVD coating furnace.

[0002] In general, cutting tools are mainly used for cutting ferrous, non-ferrous metals, and non-metallic materials. They are tools that are usually installed on machine tools and perform cutting to process the workpiece into a desired shape.

[0003] Carbide inserts used in cutting tools are sintered alloys formed by mixing diamond powder or carbide powder with metal powders such as iron (Fe), tungsten (W), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), tin (Sn), copper-tin (Cu-Sn), zinc (Zn), copper-zinc (Cu-Zn), and silver (Ag).

[0004] The molding step prior to sintering involves placing a mixed powder in a rectangular cavity and performing a primary pressurized molding. The primary pressurized mixture is then placed in the cavity of a carbon mold, and a puncher is used to apply relatively high pressure to form a cutting tip having a shape corresponding to the shape of the puncher. By sintering the insert tip formed into a certain shape in a sintering furnace, a diamond insert tip or insert tip is completed.

[0005] Sintered carbide inserts undergo inspection and PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) coating before becoming finished products. When removing PVD-coated carbide inserts from shafts, they are typically picked up using a 3-jaw gripper. However, depending on the type of carbide insert, if the inner diameter of the center hole is very narrow, using a 3-jaw gripper to pick it up can cause the jaws to bend or break, causing the product to fall and potentially damage the main equipment.

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and safely pick up small-diameter carbide insert products, the present applicant has developed a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment according to the present invention that applies a magnetic gripper, thereby enabling the small-diameter carbide inserts to be picked up at once from a shaft and has made efforts to ensure the maximum safety of the main equipment.

[0007] An object of the present invention to solve the above-described problems is to provide a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment comprising a magnetic gripper.

[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment comprising a magnetic gripper including a cylinder unit and a piston unit.

[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide a small diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment, wherein the cylinder unit comprises a cylinder, a pneumatic circuit, a pneumatic chamber, and a cylinder lower cap.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a small-diameter product pickup device for PVD unloading equipment, wherein the cylinder is a cylindrical shape with sealed top and bottom, and operating air is introduced and discharged through the pneumatic circuit. In addition, the pneumatic chamber is configured to store the operating air introduced into the pneumatic circuit and lower the piston with the pressure thereof.

[0011] Another object of the present invention is to provide a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading device, wherein the cylinder lower cap is configured to be sealed after the piston unit is coupled, and the bottom is flat so that the small-diameter carbide insert product is well bonded by the magnetic field of the magnet loaded inside.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading device configured to accurately align the center of the small-diameter carbide insert product by attaching a centering pin to the center of the lower cap of the cylinder.

[0013] Another object of the present invention is to provide a small-diameter product pickup device of PVD unloading equipment, wherein the piston unit is formed of a head portion and a skirt portion so as to perform a lifting operation by slidingly engaging the inside of the cylinder.

[0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment, which comprises a head portion of the piston unit including a flat portion that contacts the pneumatic chamber and receives the pressure of operating air, an O-ring for sealing with the inner wall of the cylinder, and an O-ring groove portion formed to accommodate the O-ring.

[0015] Another object of the present invention is to provide a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment, comprising a cylindrical magnet inserted into a groove formed inwardly based on the center of the skirt portion of the piston unit to pick up small-diameter products by magnetic force, and a spring coupled to the groove formed on the outer periphery to raise the piston.

[0016] To achieve this purpose, a feature of the small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment of the present invention is that it comprises a magnetic gripper.

[0017] Another feature of the small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment of the present invention is that the magnetic gripper is configured to include a cylinder unit and a piston unit.

[0018] Another feature of the small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment of the present invention is that the cylinder unit comprises a cylinder, a pneumatic circuit, a pneumatic chamber, and a cylinder lower cap.

[0019] Another feature of the small-diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment of the present invention is that the cylinder is a cylindrical shape with sealed top and bottom, and operating air is introduced and discharged through the pneumatic circuit. In addition, the pneumatic chamber is configured to store the operating air introduced into the pneumatic circuit and lower the piston with that pressure.

[0020] Another feature of the small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment of the present invention is that the cylinder lower cap is configured to be sealed after the piston unit is coupled, and the bottom is configured to be flat so that the small diameter carbide insert product is well bonded by the magnetic field of the magnet loaded inside.

[0021] Another feature of the small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment of the present invention is that a centering pin is attached to the center of the lower cap of the cylinder to accurately align the center of the small diameter carbide insert product.

[0022] Another feature of the small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment of the present invention is that the piston unit is formed of a piston formed with a head portion and a skirt portion so as to slide and engage the inside of the cylinder to perform an upward and downward motion.

[0023] Another feature of the small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment of the present invention is that the head portion of the piston unit is configured to include a flat portion that contacts the pneumatic chamber and receives the pressure of the operating air, an O-ring for sealing with the inner wall of the cylinder, and an O-ring groove portion formed to accommodate the O-ring.

[0024] Another feature of the small-diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment of the present invention is that the skirt portion of the piston unit is configured to include a cylindrical magnet inserted into a groove formed inwardly based on the center to pick up small-diameter products by magnetic force, and a spring coupled to the groove formed on the outer periphery to raise the piston.

[0025] The small-diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment according to the present invention, as described above, first aims to pick up small-diameter products using a magnetic gripper. Accordingly, it is possible to pick up carbide inserts with a small inner diameter of the center hole at once, thereby improving work efficiency. In addition, compared to when working using a conventional 3-jaw gripper, the gripping success rate is much higher, and by performing a safe pickup operation, it can contribute to improving the performance of the main body equipment.

[0026] Additionally, the magnetic gripper according to the present invention controls the magnets within it using pneumatic pressure and a spring. Therefore, it has an excellent pick-up rate for carbide insert products and enables precise separation at a specific location, thereby enhancing the operability of subsequent processes.

[0027] Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a PVD unloading device combined with a small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading device according to the present invention.

[0028] Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a small diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment according to the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration and operation of a magnetic gripper of a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment according to the present invention.

[0030] Figure 4 is a drawing comparing the inner diameter and outer diameter of a jaw gripper of an example of a small-diameter superhard insert product to which the present invention is applied.

[0031] The present invention can have various modifications and embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the description of the invention.

[0032] However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, but is to be understood to include all modifications, equivalents and substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

[0033] The terms and words used in this invention are used solely to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. Based on the principle that the concepts of terms can be appropriately defined to best explain the invention, they should be interpreted in a way that aligns with the technical spirit of the invention.

[0034] The applicant of the present invention applied for and received a patent for the invention, "Carbide insert loading and unloading device for PVD coating (Application No. 10-2016-0132548, Application Date 2016.10.13.)" (hereinafter referred to as "main device") in 2016. The invention relates to a device for loading a carbide insert product onto a shaft for PVD coating or separating a carbide insert product from a shaft after PVD coating is completed.

[0035] Referring to Fig. 1, the above main body equipment is briefly described. The above main body equipment is equipment that loads a carbide insert product onto a shaft for PVD coating (loading operation) or separates a carbide insert product that has been PVD coated from a shaft (unloading operation).

[0036] The above main body equipment is called 'loading equipment' or 'unloading equipment' depending on the work process at the site of use, and the present invention is applied to the unloading operation, which is the process of separating a small-diameter carbide insert product that has undergone a PVD coating process from a shaft, and is therefore named 'unloading equipment'.

[0037] As described above, in the unloading operation, the carbide insert product loaded on the shaft is mainly picked up with a '3-jaw gripper'. However, depending on the type of carbide insert product, if the inner diameter of the center hole is very small and the difference with the outer diameter of the 3-jaw is slight, there is a problem in that the 3-jaw gripper cannot pick it up. (See Fig. 4)

[0038] In order to solve the above-described problems and safely pick up small-diameter carbide insert products, the present applicant developed a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment according to the present invention, which applies a magnetic gripper.

[0039] Specific features and advantages of the present invention will be further clarified by the following description with reference to the attached drawings.

[0040] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a PVD unloading device combined with a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading device according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration and operation of a magnetic gripper of a small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading device according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a drawing comparing the inner diameter and the outer diameter of a jaw gripper of an example of a small-diameter carbide insert product to which the present invention is applied.

[0041] Hereinafter, the technical configuration of the small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0042] Referring to FIG. 2, the present invention relates to a device for picking up a small diameter product of equipment for unloading a carbide insert product that has completed PVD coating, and is configured to include a magnetic gripper (100).

[0043] The magnetic gripper (100) of the small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment according to the present invention is configured to include a cylinder unit (110) and a piston unit (120).

[0044] The cylinder unit (110) of the present invention is configured to include a cylinder (111), a pneumatic circuit (112), a pneumatic chamber (113), and a cylinder lower cap (114).

[0045] The cylinder (111) of the present invention has a cylindrical shape with the upper and lower parts sealed, and operating air (air pressure) is introduced and discharged through the pneumatic circuit (112). In addition, the pneumatic chamber (113) is configured to store the operating air introduced into the pneumatic circuit (112) and lower the piston (121) with the pressure thereof.

[0046] The cylinder lower cap (114) of the present invention is configured to be sealed after the piston unit (120) is combined, and the bottom is configured to be flat so that the small diameter superhard insert product is well bonded by the magnetic field of the magnet (122) inserted inside.

[0047] In addition, a centering pin (140) is attached to the center of the cylinder lower cap (114) of the present invention to accurately align the center of the small-diameter carbide insert product.

[0048] The piston unit (120) of the present invention is composed of a piston (121) formed with a head portion (not provided) and a skirt portion (not provided) so as to perform a lifting and lowering operation by slidingly engaging the inside of the cylinder (111).

[0049] The head portion of the piston unit (120) of the present invention is configured to include a flat portion (not shown) that contacts the pneumatic chamber (113) and receives the pressure of the operating air, an O-ring (123) for sealing with the inner wall of the cylinder, and an O-ring groove portion (not provided) formed to mount the O-ring (123).

[0050] The skirt portion of the piston unit (120) of the present invention is configured to include a cylindrical magnet (122) inserted and mounted in a groove (not provided) formed inwardly based on the center to pick up a small-diameter product by magnetic force, and a spring (130) coupled to a groove (not provided) formed on the outer periphery to raise the piston (121).

[0051] Referring to FIG. 3, the operation sequence of the magnetic gripper of the small-diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment according to the present invention described above is described as follows.

[0052] 1. Start unloading operation

[0053] A. Raise the small diameter carbide insert product of the vertically gripped shaft to the tip.

[0054] B. A magnetic gripper (100) that performs left-right rotation work arrives at the top of the small diameter superhard insert product.

[0055] A. Operating air is introduced into the pneumatic chamber (113) through the pneumatic circuit (112), and the piston (121) descends with the operating air pressure of the pneumatic chamber (113). (Fig. 3 (b))

[0056] 2. Pickup operation

[0057] A. A small-diameter superhard insert product is bonded to the bottom of the cylinder cap (114) by the action of a magnet (122) coupled to the skirt portion of the piston (121).

[0058] B. The small diameter product pickup device transports the gripped small diameter carbide insert product to a predetermined location.

[0059] When the grip reaches a predetermined position, the operating air of the air pressure chamber (113) is discharged. (Fig. 3 (a))

[0060] A. When the piston rises due to the action of the spring (130) and the magnetic field of the magnet (122) disappears, the product is placed in a predetermined position and the transport is completed.

[0061] The small diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment according to the present invention has the following features.

[0062] First, the purpose of the small-diameter product pickup device of the PVD unloading equipment according to the present invention is to pick up small-diameter products using a magnetic gripper.

[0063] Therefore, since it is possible to pick up carbide inserts with a small inner diameter of the center hole at once, work efficiency can be improved, and compared to working using a conventional 3-jaw gripper, the grip success rate is much higher, and by performing safe pick-up work, it can contribute to improving the performance of the main body equipment.

[0064] In addition, the magnetic gripper according to the present invention controls the magnet inside using pneumatic pressure and a spring.

[0065] Therefore, the pick-up rate of the superhard insert product is excellent, and the separation work is accurate at the designated location, so the workability of the next process is excellent.

Claims

1. Regarding a device for picking up small diameter products of equipment for unloading carbide insert products that have completed PVD coating, A small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment, characterized in that the device for picking up the small-diameter product includes a magnetic gripper (100).

2. In claim 1, The magnetic gripper (100) is a small-diameter product pickup device of PVD unloading equipment, characterized in that it includes a cylinder unit (110) having a shape of a cylinder (111) with the upper and lower sides sealed, a pneumatic circuit (112) formed at the upper portion through which operating air (pneumatic pressure) is introduced and discharged, and a pneumatic chamber (113) in which the operating air is gathered to form pressure, and a piston unit (120) formed of a head portion (not provided) and a skirt portion (not provided) so as to perform a lifting and lowering operation by slidingly engaging the inside of the cylinder (111).

3. In claim 2, A small-diameter product pickup device of PVD unloading equipment, characterized in that the head portion of the piston unit (120) comprises a flat portion that contacts the pneumatic chamber (113) and receives the pressure of operating air, an O-ring (123) for sealing with the inner wall of the cylinder, and an O-ring groove portion (not provided) formed to mount the O-ring (123).

4. In claim 3, A small-diameter product pickup device of PVD unloading equipment, characterized in that the skirt portion of the piston unit (120) includes a cylindrical magnet (122) configured to be inserted and mounted in a groove (not provided) formed inwardly based on the center to pick up small-diameter products by magnetic force, and a spring (130) coupled to a groove (not provided) formed on the outer periphery to raise the piston (121).

5. In claim 4, A small diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment, characterized in that the cylinder unit (110) further comprises a cylinder lower cap (114) configured to be sealed after coupling with the piston unit (120).

6. In claim 5, A small-diameter product pickup device of a PVD unloading equipment, characterized in that a centering pin (140) is further configured at the center of the cylinder lower cap (114) to align the center of the small-diameter product.

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