JP3935128B2 - Work transfer device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a work transfer device for transferring and transferring an axial work such as a crankshaft or a propeller shaft between two points of a work cradle fixed at positions separated from each other.

  Conventionally, as one of this type of workpiece transfer device, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, an endless chain is formed between a pair of sprockets 41 and 42, one of which is linked to a driving means such as a motor. 43 is attached to the endless chain 43 via a roller 46 that cyclically moves on a closed loop surrounded by guide rails 44 and 45 and two sprockets 41 and 42 arranged in two upper and lower stages. 47 is provided in a continuous manner, and at the upper end of the support frame 47, workpiece receiving portions 48, 49 are provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction with a pitch interval of half the distance between the two fixed workpiece receiving bases 51, 52 separated from each other. The workpiece receiving member 50 provided with the intermediate workpiece is placed continuously, while the intermediate workpiece temporary placing table 53 is arranged at the center between the two workpiece receiving tables 51 and 52. Conveying device over system is known (e.g., see Patent Document 1).

  This lift-and-carry-type work transfer device is configured such that the work W on one work cradle 51 is moved while the work receiving member 50 reciprocates once in an elliptical path as the endless chain 43 is rotated once. Is placed on one work receiving portion 48 and moved horizontally to temporarily place the work W on the intermediate temporary placing table 53, and the work receiving member 50 follows an elliptical locus as the endless chain 43 is rotated once again. While drawing and reciprocating, the work W temporarily placed on the intermediate temporary placing table 53 is placed on the other work receiving part 49 and moved horizontally to transfer the work W to the other work receiving table 52. Is.

  In addition, as another workpiece transfer device, conventionally, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, one is stretched between a pair of sprockets 61 and 62 interlocked with a driving means such as a motor. The first endless chain 63 is provided with a slide frame 67 via a roller 66 that moves cyclically on a closed loop surrounded by guide rails 64 and 65 and two sprockets 61 and 62 arranged in two upper and lower stages. A guide frame 69 provided in a continuous manner and provided with winding portions of the second endless chain 68 at both ends in the longitudinal direction along the winding direction of the first endless chain 63 is provided at the upper end portion of the slide frame 67. The work receiving member 70 is held on the guide frame 69 so as to be slidable only in the winding direction of the first endless chain 63. There is also known a one-motion lift and carry type conveying device in which an endless chain 68 is connected to a lifting frame (not shown) for holding the slide frame 67 and a work receiving member 70 (see, for example, Patent Document 2). ).

  This 1-motion lift and carry type work transfer device draws the work receiving member 70 at a double speed of the slide frame 67 and draws an elliptical locus as the first endless chain 63 rotates once. By reciprocating, the workpiece W is transferred between two fixed workpiece cradles 71 and 72 which are separated from each other.

JP-A-6-55419 Utility Model No. 3056404

  In the case of the conventional lift-and-carry-type work transfer device as shown in FIG. 6, the endless chain 43 is moved twice to transfer the work W between two fixed work cradles 51 and 52 that are separated from each other. In addition to being unable to meet the demands for high-speed conveyance, the pre-process device such as a processing machine must move the next workpiece until the workpiece conveyance is completed. Since it cannot carry out toward a process apparatus, the efficiency of the workpiece process over both front and back processes is very bad. In addition, there is a problem that there is always a work in progress (during processing) on the intermediate temporary placement table in the center between the two work receiving tables on the carry-in side and the carry-out side.

  Further, in the case of the conventional one-motion lift and carry type work transfer device as shown in FIG. 7, the time required for the work transfer between two fixed work cradles is the same as that of the former lift and carry type. Compared to the former lift-and-carry type device, it is half the size of the product, can meet the demands of high-speed conveyance, and can eliminate the need for an intermediate temporary table to temporarily place workpieces in progress. There are so many components and parts that the structure is complicated, and the endless chain for the double speed (second endless chain 68) is extended with long-term use. Since the position shift occurs between the bases 71 and 72 and the work receiving member 70, or the work receiving member 70 rattles at its stroke end, Te certainty, the to hold the smooth conveyance must perform maintenance such as tonicity adjusting the speed for the endless chain frequently, maintenance cost increase is inevitable. In addition, in order to change the transport distance (stroke), the entire apparatus must be newly assembled and manufactured, and the cost burden when a work transport device with various transport strokes is added is extremely large. There is.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described actual situation, and its purpose is to eliminate the need for an intermediate temporary table, to achieve a high speed of workpiece conveyance, and to be used in a maintenance-free state for a long period of time. It is another object of the present invention to provide a workpiece transfer device that can ensure reliable and smooth transfer and can easily change the transfer stroke at a low cost.

In order to achieve the above object, a workpiece transfer device according to the present invention has a workpiece receiving member attached to an upper end portion of a transfer arm supported so as to be able to swing left and right around a fulcrum, and a pair of gears directly linked to a motor. While the rotational force transmitting member protruding from the eccentric portion of the rotating shaft that can be continuously driven and rotated in one direction by the first gear transmission mechanism is fitted into a long hole formed in the transport arm portion below the fulcrum, A link mechanism that circulates the swinging fulcrum position of the transfer arm so as to draw a circular locus by a second gear transmission mechanism composed of three gears that are directly coupled to the motor is provided, and the rotation by the driving rotation of the rotary shaft By combining the eccentric rotational movement of the force transmission member and the circulatory movement of the fulcrum position by the link mechanism, the workpiece receiving member at the upper end of the transfer arm draws an arc-shaped locus and has two arms. It is characterized by being configured to 1 reciprocates over between cradle click.

According to the workpiece conveying apparatus according to the present invention having the above-described characteristic configuration, the motor is operated, and the rotational force is transmitted to the rotating shaft and the link mechanism via the first and second gear transmission mechanisms, respectively. When the member is rotated eccentrically and the fulcrum position for swinging the transfer arm is circulated so as to draw a circular locus , the work receiving member at the upper end of the transfer arm is moved between the two work cradles by combining these two movements. It is possible to transfer the workpiece directly from one cradle to the other cradle by reciprocating so as to draw different arc-shaped trajectories at the time of forward movement and backward movement. Compared to the conventional method, the required transfer time is halved and high-speed transfer can be achieved. In addition, it is not necessary to install an intermediate temporary table for temporarily placing workpieces in progress. Device the cradle of the work of the work unloading side is lost immediately since it is possible to discharge toward the next workpiece to subsequent process apparatus, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the overall work process over the front and rear step. In addition, since the rotational force transmission member and the link mechanism are linked to a single motor via a gear transmission mechanism, the endless chain stretches like a conventional lift-and-carry type or one-motion lift-and-carry type. This eliminates misalignment between the workpiece cradle and workpiece receiving member due to the occurrence of the workpiece and rattling of the workpiece receiving member at the stroke end, eliminates the need for maintenance to adjust the chain elongation and rattling, and is maintenance-free for a long time. Even when used in a state, it is possible to ensure a reliable and smooth work transfer function. Furthermore, it has come to an effect that the transport stroke can be changed easily and at low cost only by changing the length of the transport arm.

  Here, the transfer arm may be configured to reciprocate at a constant speed over the entire length of the reciprocating path, and in particular, as in claim 2, the first and second gear transmission mechanisms. By adjusting the transmission ratio, it is desirable that the moving speed of the workpiece receiving member at both end portions of the reciprocating path be slower than the moving speed of the workpiece receiving member at the other path portions. In this case, loading and unloading of the work with respect to the work cradle by the work receiving member can be performed reliably and stably while keeping the work transfer speed as a whole high.

  Further, the work receiving member may be fixedly attached to the upper end portion of the transfer arm in a fixed posture, but as in claim 3, the attachment portion of the work receiving member to the upper end portion of the transfer arm and the link mechanism By interposing a link for holding the workpiece receiving member in a horizontal posture at all times when the transfer arm is reciprocating between the intermediate portion, the workpiece placed on the workpiece receiving member moving along the arcuate locus is placed. It is possible to always carry out a predetermined workpiece transfer stably without incurring a load or a tilt while maintaining a constant posture.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 3 are a side view, a front view, and a plan view of a part of a workpiece transfer apparatus according to the present invention. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a box-shaped device frame fixed to the upper part of a gantry unit 2 installed on the floor surface, and a transfer arm 3 is disposed at the center of the frame 1. A gear motor 4 with a brake, which is a motion drive source for the transport arm 3, is fixedly supported on the frame right side plate portion 1a. A work receiving member 5 on which a work W such as a crankshaft is placed is pivotally connected to the upper end of the transfer arm 3 via a bearing 6 so as to be rotatable (oscillated) around a fixed shaft 7. In addition, at the left and right outer positions of the upper end portion of the apparatus frame 1, after receiving the workpiece W conveyed by the workpiece carrier 32 and the workpiece conveyance device, which supports the workpiece W unloaded from the previous process device (not shown). A work cradle 33 on the process apparatus (not shown) side is fixedly installed.

  The transfer arm 3 is supported so as to swing left and right around a fulcrum shaft 8 that is circulated so as to draw an elliptical locus to the left and right via a link mechanism, which will be described later, and the fulcrum shaft of the transfer arm 3 A long hole 13 is formed in a lower part than the number 8. It is linked via a first gear transmission mechanism 14 comprising a pair of gears 11 and 12 having the same diameter and the same number of teeth as a drive rotary shaft 10 directly linked to the output shaft 4a of the gear motor 4 with brake via a clutch 9. The first rotating shaft 15 is supported by a frame member 16 fixedly standing in the apparatus frame 1 via a bearing 17 so as to be continuously driven and rotatable in one direction. The rotational force transmitting member 19 projected from the eccentric portion of the eccentric rotating member 18 fixed to the axial end portion of the first rotating shaft 15 can roll in the elongated hole 13 via the bearing 20 and is in a retaining state. The rotational force transmission member 19 is fitted and eccentrically rotated about the axis of the first rotation shaft 15, so that the transfer arm 3 is reciprocally driven to swing left and right around the fulcrum shaft 8. It is composed.

On the other hand, the drive rotary shaft 10 is arranged at the same height level as the drive rotary shaft 10 by being linked via a second gear transmission mechanism 24 comprising three gears 21, 22 and 23 including a small-diameter intermediate gear 22. The second rotating shaft 25 is supported by the frame member 16 via a bearing 26 so as to be continuously driven and rotated in the direction opposite to the first rotating shaft 15. Eccentric rotating members 27 and 28 are fixed to the axial end of the second rotating shaft 25 and the axial end of the drive rotating shaft 10, respectively. Among these, the shaft constituting the fulcrum shaft 8 is projected from the end portion of the shaft 29 protruding from the eccentric portion of the eccentric rotating member 27 on the second rotating shaft 25 side and the eccentric portion of the eccentric rotating member 28 on the driving rotating shaft 10 side. The end portion is pivotally connected via a link 30, and the eccentric rotating members 27 and 28 and the link 30 constitute a link mechanism 31 that circulates the position of the fulcrum shaft 8 so as to draw a circular locus. ing.

  FIG. 4 shows only the main parts of the respective mechanisms 14, 24, 31 so that the configurations of the first and second gear transmission mechanisms 14, 24 and the link mechanism 31 can be understood more easily. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an excerpt, and when the brake-equipped gear motor 4 is operated and the clutch 9 is engaged, the pair of gears 11 and 12 in the first gear transmission mechanism 14 and the three gears in the second gear transmission mechanism 24 are shown. The gears 21, 22, and 23 are respectively rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

When the first rotary shaft 15 is continuously driven and rotated in one direction via the first gear transmission mechanism 14, the rotational force transmission member 19 is eccentrically rotated about the axis of the first rotary shaft 15. At the same time, the second rotary shaft 25 is continuously driven and rotated in the opposite direction through the second gear transmission mechanism 24 to operate the link mechanism 31, and the link motion causes the position of the fulcrum shaft 8 to move left and right in a circular locus . It is circulated like drawing. By combining the eccentric rotational motion and the circular motion at the fulcrum shaft 8 position, the work receiving member 5 at the upper end of the transfer arm 3 is shown in FIG. Up and down during the forward movement from the cradle 32 toward the fixed work cradle 33 on the side of the post-process apparatus and during the backward movement from the fixed work cradle 33 on the side of the post-process apparatus to the fixed work cradle 32 on the side of the pre-process apparatus. It is configured to reciprocate between the workpiece supports 32 and 33 while drawing different arc-shaped trajectories a and b.

  The transmission ratio determined by the diameter and the number of teeth of the pair of gears 11 and 12 in the first gear transmission mechanism 14 and the diameter and the number of teeth of the three gears 21, 22 and 23 in the second gear transmission mechanism 24. By adjusting with the determined transmission ratio, the transfer arm 3 has the movement speeds V1 and V2 of the workpiece receiving member 5 at both ends of the reciprocating movement path so that the movement speed V3 of the workpiece receiving member 5 at the other path portions is V3. It is configured so as to be slower than V4, that is, a relationship of V1 = V2 <V3 = V4. In addition, when the transport arm 3 reciprocates between the tip of the projecting piece 34 protruding from the work receiving member 5 at the upper end of the transport arm 3 and the center of the link 30 that is an intermediate part of the link mechanism 31, By rotating the receiving member 5 around the fixed shaft 7 via the bearing 6, a turnbuckle-type link 35 for interposing the work receiving member 5 in a horizontal posture is interposed.

In the workpiece transfer apparatus configured as described above, when the brake-equipped gear motor 4 is operated and the clutch 9 is engaged, the first rotary shaft 15 is continuously driven and rotated in one direction via the first gear transmission mechanism 14. Thus, the rotational force transmitting member 19 is eccentrically rotated about the axis of the first rotating shaft 15 and at the same time, the second rotating shaft 25 continues in the opposite direction via the second gear transmission mechanism 24. Driven to rotate, the position of the fulcrum shaft 8 is circulated by the link motion of the link mechanism 31 so as to draw a circular locus to the left and right. 3 When the work receiving member 5 at the upper end is directed from the fixed work receiving base 32 on the pre-processing device side to the fixed work receiving stand 33 on the post-processing device side, the upper arc-shaped rail as shown in FIG. While moving forward to draw a, the workpiece W supported by the workpiece cradle 32 is picked up, transported in the air and transferred to the other workpiece cradle 33 side, while the fixed workpiece on the post-process apparatus side When heading from the cradle 33 toward the fixed work cradle 32 on the pre-process apparatus side, it moves backward to the original position so as to draw a lower circular arc locus b as shown in FIG. To do.

  In this way, the work W is directly transferred from one cradle 32 to the other cradle 33 only by reciprocating the transport arm 3, so that the work W is transported as compared with the conventional lift and carry system. The required time can be reduced by half and high-speed conveyance can be achieved, and it is not necessary to install an intermediate temporary placement table for temporarily placing the workpiece W in progress. In addition, when the workpiece W of the cradle 32 on the workpiece carry-out portion side is eliminated, the previous workpiece device such as a processing machine can immediately carry the next workpiece W toward the subsequent process device. The efficiency of the entire process can be improved.

  Further, since the rotational force transmission member 19 and the link mechanism 31 are respectively linked to one gear motor 4 via the first and second gear transmission mechanisms 14 and 24, the conventional lift and carry system or one motion lift and As in the case of the carry type, there is no occurrence of misalignment between the work receiving bases 32 and 33 and the work receiving member 5 due to the extension of the endless chain, and no rattling of the work receiving member 5 at the stroke end. Even when used in this state, it is always possible to ensure a reliable and smooth workpiece transfer function. Furthermore, only by changing the length of the transfer arm 3, the transfer stroke can be changed easily and at low cost without modifying the other components. It is possible to greatly reduce the manufacturing cost when manufacturing.

  In particular, as in the above-described embodiment, the workpiece receiving member 5 is configured such that the moving speeds V1 and V2 at both ends of the reciprocating path are slower than the moving speeds V3 and V4 at the other paths. In addition, it is possible to reliably and stably carry out the loading and unloading of the work on the work receiving bases 32 and 33 by the work receiving member 5 while keeping the work transfer speed as a whole sufficiently high.

  Further, as described in the above embodiment, by configuring the workpiece receiving member 5 to be always held in a horizontal position when the transfer arm 3 is reciprocated via the turnbuckle link 35, the arcuate locus a The workpiece W placed on the workpiece receiving member 5 that moves along the axis can be kept in a stationary and constant posture, and a predetermined workpiece conveyance can always be stably performed without causing a load or an inclination.

It is a side view of the workpiece conveyance apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a partial cross section front view of the workpiece conveyance apparatus. It is a top view of the workpiece conveyance apparatus. It is the mechanism schematic of the principal part in the workpiece conveyance apparatus. (A), (B) is a schematic explanatory drawing of a workpiece conveyance action. (A), (B) is a schematic explanatory drawing of the workpiece conveyance effect | action by the conventional workpiece conveyance apparatus. (A), (B) is a schematic explanatory drawing of the workpiece conveyance effect | action by another conventional workpiece conveyance apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

3 Transfer arm 4 Gear motor 5 Work receiving member 8 Support shaft (fulcrum)
13 Long hole 14 First gear transmission mechanism 15 Rotating shaft 19 Rotational force transmission member 25 Second gear transmission mechanism 31 Link mechanism 32, 33 Fixed work cradle 35 Turnbuckle link W Work V1-V4 Moving speed a, b Arc shape Trajectory

Claims (3)

A rotating shaft that can be continuously driven and rotated in one direction by a first gear transmission mechanism including a pair of gears that are directly coupled to a motor, and is attached to the upper end portion of a transfer arm that is supported so as to be able to swing left and right around a fulcrum The rotational force transmitting member protruding from the eccentric portion of the motor is fitted into a long hole formed in the transport arm portion below the fulcrum, while the second gear transmission mechanism comprising three gears linked directly to the motor. A link mechanism that circulates the swing fulcrum position of the transfer arm so as to draw a circular locus is provided, and an eccentric rotational motion of the rotational force transmission member by driving rotation of the rotary shaft and a circular motion of the fulcrum position by the link mechanism And the reciprocating arm, the workpiece receiving member at the upper end of the conveying arm draws a reciprocal arc-shaped trajectory at the time of forward movement and at the time of backward movement, and makes one reciprocation between two workpiece cradles. Workpiece transfer apparatus characterized by being configured to motion.   By adjusting the transmission ratio in the first and second gear transmission mechanisms, the moving speed of the workpiece receiving member at both ends of the reciprocating path of the transfer arm is slower than the moving speed of the workpiece receiving member in the other path. The workpiece transfer apparatus according to claim 1, which is configured to be configured as follows.   Between the attachment portion of the workpiece receiving member on the upper end portion of the transfer arm and the intermediate portion of the link mechanism, a link is interposed for always holding the workpiece receiving member in a horizontal posture when the transfer arm is reciprocated. The work conveyance apparatus of Claim 1 or 2.

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