JP4857222B2 - Sub-pallet transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sub-pallet transfer device capable of easily taking out a sub-pallet out of a reference pallet, and reliably transferring the taken-out sub-pallet onto the reference pallet. <P>SOLUTION: By driving a cylinder unit, an operational claw piece 107 is advanced, a stopper 18 provided on a reference pallet 10 is set in a horizontal state against a spring, and a sub-pallet 20 is in a drawable state. Further, an elevating/lowering member 110 is set at the lowest limit position in advance, the cylinder unit 123 is driven to advance a rod, and an engagement piece at a fore end of the rod is advanced into a T-shaped groove of the sub-pallet 20. Then, the rod is turned by 90&deg; by a motor (a driving member) to engage the engagement piece with the T-shaped groove, the cylinder unit 123 is driven in an opposite direction, and the sub-pallet 20 is drawn from a storage space S onto a sub-pallet delivery unit 130. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sub-pallet transfer device for taking out a sub-pallet stored in a part of a reference pallet from the reference pallet and transferring it onto the reference pallet.

  Many parts are assembled on a workpiece such as an automobile part (for example, an engine mission case). In order to efficiently assemble such parts, a workpiece has been placed on a pallet that has been moved on the transfer line, and an assembly station has been placed for each part along the transfer line. Parts are assembled to the workpiece sequentially.

  The pallet is provided with positioning pins or positioning seats for positioning and fixing the workpiece. Since the position of the positioning pin or the positioning seat changes when the type of workpiece changes, a large number of pallets must be prepared. Therefore, Patent Documents 1 and 2 propose a pallet device.

  Patent Document 1 proposes a two-layer pallet including a parent pallet and a child pallet as a pallet device on which a calculator is placed. This two-layer pallet stocks multiple types of child pallets in the stocker according to the calculator model, while the parent pallet is common to all child pallets and the signal given to the memory pin of the parent pallet , And automatically selecting a predetermined child pallet, taking it out from the stocker and loading it on the parent pallet.

  In Patent Document 2, a pallet is composed of a main pallet and a sub-pallet that can be exchanged with respect to the main pallet, and a work can be attached to the sub-pallet and the main pallet can be rotated about two orthogonal axes. The contents have been disclosed.

JP 61-124421 A JP-A-8-252783

  In the pallet apparatus disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a place for storing the child pallet or sub-pallet is required separately. In particular, since a child pallet or sub-pallet is prepared for each model, a large storage space is required. Also, when replacing a sub-pallet according to the model change, the sub-pallet must be moved from the storage location to the position of the main pallet (main pallet), saving time and effort. Take it.

  Furthermore, manually setting the child pallet (sub-pallet) to the parent pallet (main pallet) is a heavy work because the pallet itself is heavy.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a sub-pallet transfer device according to the present invention includes a positioning member for positioning a reference pallet for housing the sub-pallet and a lifting member, and the lifting member includes a sub-pallet from within the positioned reference pallet. A sub-pallet drawer unit that pulls out the sub-pallet and a sub-pallet delivery unit that places the sub-pallet pulled out by the sub-pallet drawer unit and sends the sub-pallet onto the reference pallet. When pulling out, the sub-pallet delivery unit moves forward and backward independently, and when sending the sub-pallet onto the reference pallet, it moves forward and backward integrally with the sub-pallet delivery unit via the joining unit.

  When the sub pallet is provided with a plurality of positioning pins corresponding to a plurality of workpieces so as to be able to appear and retract, the sub pallet transfer device is provided with a positioning pin corresponding to the workpiece to be placed among the plurality of positioning pins. It is preferable to provide a positioning pin switching device that selects and projects the selected pin.

  As a specific structure of the sub-pallet drawer unit, for example, a locking piece that engages with a notch formed in the sub-pallet is provided at the tip of a rod that moves forward and backward, and the rod is rotated around its axis to thereby rotate the engagement. It is conceivable to disengage the stop piece from the notch.

  According to the present invention, a sub-pallet can be automatically transferred onto a reference pallet from a pallet device in which the sub-pallet is housed in a part of the reference pallet, and the pallet can be efficiently reloaded. .

  Further, by projecting only a specific positioning pin from among a plurality of positioning pins provided on the sub-pallet at the time of transfer, it is possible to easily cope with the switching of the workpiece type.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a front view of a subpallet transfer device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of an automatic guided vehicle that has entered the subpallet transfer device, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the subpallet transfer device according to the present invention. 4 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is an enlarged view in the direction BB of FIG. 3, and FIGS. FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating the structure and movement of the positioning pin, FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating a state in which the subpallet drawer unit is free with respect to the subpallet delivery unit, and FIG. 8B is a diagram of FIG. (C) is a view of (a) seen from the direction c, FIG. 9 (a) is a view showing a state where the sub-pallet drawer unit is engaged with the sub-pallet delivery unit, and (b) is a view of (a). The figure seen from b direction, (c) is the figure which looked at (a) from c direction.

  First, the automatic guided vehicle A that has entered the sub-pallet transfer device 100 travels along the magnetic track B provided on the floor surface. The pallet device 1 is placed on a lifting platform C provided in the automatic guided vehicle A.

The pallet device 1 includes a reference pallet 10 and a sub-pallet 20. The reference pallet 10 has a support plate 11. On the upper surface side of the support plate 11, a positioning pin 12 as a fixing member for positioning and mounting the sub-pallet 20, a positioning pin 13 for positioning and mounting the workpiece, and a workpiece positioning seat 14 is provided.
An operation knob 15 is attached to the positioning pin 13 of the workpiece so that the positioning pin 13 can be exchanged or the height can be adjusted according to the model. In the illustrated example, both the positioning pin 13 and the positioning seat 14 are provided, but either one may be used.

  Further, a bottom plate 17 is attached to the lower surface of the support plate 11 via side plates 16 that surround three sides, and the storage space S is defined by the lower surface of the support plate 11, the inner surface of the side plate 16, and the upper surface of the bottom plate 17. The sub-pallet 20 is stored in the storage space S.

  Of the side plates 16..., The inner side surfaces of the left and right side plates 16 also serve as a guide for inserting the sub-pallet 20, and the tip end portion is tapered. Further, positioning in the storage space S is performed by abutting the sub-pallet 20 against the back side plate 16.

  Further, the surface without the side plate is used as an opening for taking in and out of the storage space S, and a stopper 18 for preventing the sub-pallet 20 from falling out of the storage space S is provided at this opening. As shown in FIG. 5, the stopper 18 is usually lifted up to a height where the tip of the stopper 18 interferes with the subpallet 20 by a spring 18a, and the stopper 18 is opposed to the spring by an operation claw piece of a subpallet transfer device 100 described later. The sub-pallet 20 can be pulled out of the storage space S by making it horizontal.

  Further, the entire pallet device 1 is positioned on the bottom plate 17 of the reference pallet 10 when the sub-pallet 20 is pulled out of the storage space S or when the sub-pallet 20 is placed on the positioning pin 12 of the reference pallet 10. A positioning hole 19a and a positioning seat 19b are formed. A total of four positioning holes 19a and two positioning seats 19b are arranged diagonally.

  A rolling roller 21 is provided on the lower surface of the sub-pallet 20, and the tip of the jig is locked to the front edge of the sub-pallet 20 when the sub-pallet 20 is pulled out of or inserted into the storage space S. A T-shaped groove 22 is formed as a notch.

  The subpallet 20 is provided with a plurality of workpiece positioning members 23. 7A to 7D are views for explaining the structure and movement of the positioning pin of the sub-pallet.

  The workpiece positioning member 23 is provided with a cylindrical body 24 that penetrates the subpallet 20 in the thickness direction, and a lower end opening of the cylindrical body 24 is closed with a cap 25. A hollow pin 26 is slidably disposed in the cylindrical body 24 and is urged upward by a spring 27 that is compressed between the hollow pin 26 and the cap 25.

  An inner pin 28 is slidably disposed in the hollow pin 26. The inner pin 28 has an intermediate portion having a large diameter portion 28a and an upper half portion having a small diameter portion 28b, and the large diameter portion 28a and the small diameter portion 28b are continuous with a tapered portion. Further, the inner pin 28 is biased upward by a spring 29 that is contracted between the inner pin 28 and the cap 25. The spring force of the spring 29 is set to be weaker than the spring force of the spring 27.

  Further, the hollow pin 26 is formed with a horizontal hole 26 a, and a steel ball 30 is accommodated in the horizontal hole 26 a, and grooves 24 a and 24 b that are engaged with the steel ball 30 are vertically formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 24. They are spaced apart.

  In the above, if the type of the workpiece placed on the sub-pallet 20 is detected by checking the position of the positioning seat 14 on the support plate 11 of the reference pallet 10 with the sensor, the positioning pin switching device described later Only a predetermined workpiece positioning member 23 is protruded as it is depending on the model, and the other workpiece positioning members 23 are pushed to a position where the hollow pin 26 is flush with the upper surface of the sub-pallet 20.

  Specifically, in the state shown in FIG. 7A, the steel ball 30 is locked in the groove 24a, and at the same time, the steel ball 30 abuts on the large diameter portion 28a of the inner pin 28 and cannot escape inside. The hollow pin 26 cannot be pushed down.

  From this state, the inner pin 28 is pushed down against the spring 29 by the positioning pin switching device. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the small-diameter portion 28b of the inner pin 28 descends to the position of the steel ball 30, and the steel ball 30 moves radially inward to come out of the groove 24a and push down the hollow pin 26. Is possible.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7C, when the hollow pin 26 is pushed down and the upper end surface of the hollow pin 26 is pushed to a position flush with the upper surface of the subpallet 20, and the inner pin 28 is made free, FIG. As shown in (d), the inner pin 28 is raised by the elastic force of the spring 29, and the large-diameter portion 28a of the inner pin 28 pushes the steel ball 30 outward in the radial direction and engages with the groove 24b. 26 remains in the submerged position.

  Thus, by making only a predetermined workpiece positioning member out of the plurality of workpiece positioning members 23 protrude, it becomes possible to cope with the model.

  Next, the configuration of the subpallet transfer apparatus 100 will be described in detail. The subpallet transfer device 100 has support columns 101, 102, and 103. Two of these columns 101, 102, 103 are provided in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The sub-pallet transfer station is between the columns 101 and 102.

  In the sub-pallet transfer station, the support columns 101 and 102 are provided with positioning pins 104a that engage with positioning holes 19a provided in the reference pallet 10 and receiving seats 104b on which positioning seats 19b are placed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the support columns 102 and 103 are connected by a frame 104 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction to form a base frame 105.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the base frame 105 is provided with a rail 106 in the left-right direction, and an operation claw piece 107 is engaged with the rail 106. Then, by driving the cylinder unit 108, the operation claw piece 107 slides along the rail 106. That is, when the operation claw piece 107 moves forward (moves to the left in FIGS. 4 and 5), the stopper 18 provided on the reference pallet 10 is brought into a horizontal state against the spring 18a. In this state, the sub-pallet 20 can be put in and out.

  In addition, vertical rails 109 and 109 are attached to the base frame 105, and the guides 111 of the elevating member 110 are engaged with the rails 109 and 109, and the motor 112 is driven to move the elevating member 110 up and down. .

  The elevating member 110 is provided with a subpallet drawer unit 120 and a subpallet delivery unit 130.

  In the subpallet drawer unit 120, the block 122 is slidably engaged with the guide rail 121 in the left-right direction, and the block 122 is moved forward and backward by the cylinder unit (drive member) 123. Is supported rotatably around the shaft, and a T-shaped engagement piece 125 is attached to the tip of the rod 124. The rod 124 is rotated by 90 ° by a motor (driving member) 126 provided in the block 122. By doing so, the engagement piece 125 having a T-shape is directed upward or horizontal.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a frame 113 is attached to the elevating member 110, and a receiving plate 114 with which the rolling roller 21 on the lower surface of the subpallet 20 abuts is provided at the upper end of the frame 113.

  A guide 115 is attached to the side surface of the frame 113, and a rail 132 of the arm 131 of the sub-pallet delivery unit 130 is engaged with the guide 115. A receiving portion 133 for positioning the pulled out sub-pallet 20 is provided on the upper surface of the arm 131.

  Further, the sub-pallet delivery unit 130 includes a joining device 140. The joining device 140 engages / disengages the sub-pallet drawer unit 120 and the sub-pallet delivery unit 130, and the details will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A is a view showing a state in which the sub-pallet drawer unit is free with respect to the sub-pallet delivery unit, FIG. 8B is a view of FIG. 8A viewed from the direction b, and FIG. 8C is a view of FIG. FIG. 9A is a diagram showing a state in which the sub-pallet drawer unit is engaged with the sub-pallet delivery unit, FIG. 9B is a diagram in which FIG. ) Is a view of (a) seen from the c direction.

  The joining device 140 fixes a support plate 141 to the sub-pallet delivery unit 130, a movable plate 142 is slidably attached to the support plate 141, a pin 143 and a pin 144 are attached to the movable plate 142, and a movable plate is further attached by a spring 145. 142 is biased downward. Further, the pin 143 is in a lower position than the pin 144 in a state where no force is applied.

  On the other hand, an angle bracket 150 is attached to the base frame 105, and an engagement hole 151 into which the pin 143 can be engaged is provided at the tip of the angle bracket 150.

  When the elevating member 110 is in the lowered position, as shown in FIGS. 8A to 8C, the pin 143 engages with the engagement hole 151, and the pin 144 engages with the sub-pallet drawer unit 120. It is located above the hole 127.

  On the other hand, when the elevating member 110 is raised, the sub-pallet drawer unit 120 is also raised, and the engagement holes 127 of the sub-pallet drawer unit 120 are engaged with the pins 144 as shown in FIGS. The sub-pallet drawer unit 120 and the sub-pallet delivery unit 130 are integrated.

  Further, a positioning pin switching device 160 is disposed at a position above the ascent limit of the elevating member 110. As described above, the positioning pin switching device 160 is a device that projects only a predetermined workpiece positioning member among the plurality of workpiece positioning members 23 provided on the sub-pallet 20 according to the model.

Next, a procedure until the sub-pallet 20 is pulled out from the reference pallet 10 and transferred to the upper surface of the reference pallet 10 will be described.
First, when the automatic guided vehicle A is positioned at the subpallet transfer station of the subpallet transfer apparatus 100, the elevator table C is lowered as shown in FIG. Then, the positioning hole 19a provided in the reference pallet 10 is engaged with the positioning pin 104a provided in the sub-pallet transfer device 100, and the positioning seat 19b is placed on the receiving seat 104b of the sub-pallet transfer device 100 for positioning. Complete.

  Thereafter, by driving the cylinder unit 108, the operation claw piece 107 is moved forward to bring the stopper 18 provided on the reference pallet 10 into a horizontal state against the spring 18a, and the sub-pallet 20 can be pulled out.

  Further, the elevating member 110 is set at the lowest position in advance. At this time, since the pin 144 is disengaged from the engagement hole 127 of the sub-pallet drawer unit 120, the sub-pallet drawer unit 120 is in a state of moving forward and backward independently.

  Therefore, the cylinder unit 123 is driven, the rod 124 is moved forward, the engagement piece 125 at the tip of the rod is entered into the T-shaped groove 22 of the sub-pallet 20, and then the rod 124 is rotated by 90 ° by the motor (drive member) 126. By engaging, the engagement piece 125 is engaged with the T-shaped groove 22, and then the cylinder unit 123 is driven in the reverse direction, and the subpallet 20 is pulled out from the storage space S onto the subpallet delivery unit 130.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 11, the motor 112 is driven to raise the sub-pallet 20 together with the elevating member 110 to the position of the positioning pin switching device 160, and a predetermined work positioning member 23 of the sub-pallet 20 according to the type of work. Project.

  When the switching by the positioning pin switching device 160 is completed, the elevating member 110 is slightly lowered. At this time, the pin 144 of the joining device 140 is engaged with the engagement hole 127 of the sub-pallet drawer unit 120. Therefore, the sub-pallet drawer unit 120 and the sub-pallet delivery unit 130 are integrated.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, the cylinder unit 123 is driven, and the sub-pallet delivery unit 130 on which the sub-pallet drawer unit 120 and the sub-pallet 20 are placed is advanced to above the reference pallet 10 and stopped.

  Thereafter, the sub-pallet drawer unit 120 and the sub-pallet delivery unit 130 are lowered, and the sub-pallet 20 is placed on the positioning pins 12 of the reference pallet 10. Then, the rod 124 of the sub-pallet drawer unit 120 is rotated 90 ° by the motor 126 to release the engagement state between the T-shaped groove 22 of the sub-pallet 20 and the engagement piece 125 at the tip of the rod. Driven, the sub-pallet drawer unit 120 and the sub-pallet delivery unit 130 are moved backward integrally. Thereafter, when the sub-pallet drawer unit 120 and the sub-pallet delivery unit 130 are integrally lowered and come to the lowest position, the pin 143 of the joining device 140 is engaged with the engagement hole 151 of the bracket 150, and the pin 144 is engaged. The sub-pallet drawer unit 120 is released from the joint hole 127.

  Thereafter, the lifting platform C of the automated guided vehicle A is raised, the reference pallet 10 on which the sub-pallet is mounted on the lifting platform C is received and moved to the next process.

The front view of the subpallet transfer equipment concerning the present invention Side view of the automated guided vehicle entering the subpallet transfer device The top view of the subpallet transfer equipment concerning the present invention 3 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. A direction arrow view of FIG. BB direction enlarged view of FIG. (A)-(d) is the figure explaining the structure and movement of the positioning pin of a subpallet (A) is a diagram showing a state in which the sub-pallet drawer unit is free with respect to the sub-pallet delivery unit, (b) is a diagram when (a) is viewed from the b direction, and (c) is a diagram when (a) is viewed from the c direction. Figure (A) is the figure which shows the state which the subpallet drawer unit engaged with the subpallet delivery unit, (b) is the figure which looked at (a) from b direction, (c) is (a) from c direction Viewed The same figure as FIG. 1 which shows the state which positioned the reference | standard pallet to the subpallet transfer equipment The same figure as FIG. 1 which shows the state which raised the subpallet to the position of the positioning pin switching device The same figure as Fig. 1 showing the state where the sub-pallet is sent to the reference pallet

Explanation of symbols

A: Automated guided vehicle, B: Magnetic track, C: Lift platform, S: Storage space.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pallet apparatus, 10 ... Standard pallet, 11 ... Support plate, 12 ... Sub pallet positioning pin, 13 ... Work positioning pin, 14 ... Work positioning seat, 15 ... Operation knob, 16 ... Side plate, 17 ... Bottom plate, 18 ... Stopper, 18a ... Spring, 19a ... Positioning hole, 19b ... Positioning seat, 20 ... Subpallet, 21 ... Rolling roller, 22 ... T-groove, 23 ... Work positioning member, 24 ... Cylindrical body, 24a, 24b ... Groove 25 ... cap, 26 ... hollow pin, 26a ... side hole, 27 ... spring, 28 ... inner pin, 28a ... large diameter part, 28b ... small diameter part, 29 ... spring, 30 ... steel ball.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Subpallet transfer apparatus, 101, 102, 103 ... Support | pillar, 104a ... Positioning pin, 104b ... Receiving seat, 105 ... Base frame, 106 ... Rail, 107 ... Operation claw piece, 108 ... Cylinder unit, 109 ... Rail, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 ... Elevating member, 111 ... Guide, 112 ... Motor, 113 ... Frame, 114 ... Base plate, 115 ... Guide, 120 ... Subpallet drawer unit, 121 ... Guide rail, 122 ... Block, 123 ... Cylinder unit (drive member) , 124, rod, 125, engagement piece, 126, motor (drive member), 127, engagement hole, 130, sub-pallet delivery unit, 131, arm, 132, rail, 133, receiving portion, 140, joining device, 141: support plate, 142: movable plate, 143, 144 ... pin, 145 ... spring, 150 Bracket 151 ... engaging hole, 160 ... positioning pin switching device.

Claims (3)

A sub-pallet transfer device that takes out a sub-pallet stored in a reference pallet and places the sub-pallet on the reference pallet. The sub-pallet transfer device includes a positioning member and a lifting member for positioning the reference pallet. The elevating member is mounted with a sub-pallet drawer unit for pulling out the sub-pallet from the positioned reference pallet, and a sub-pallet pulled out by the sub-pallet drawer unit and sending the sub-pallet onto the reference pallet. A sub-pallet delivery unit is provided, the sub-pallet drawer unit moves forward and backward independently of the sub-pallet delivery unit when pulling out the sub-pallet, and when sending the sub-pallet onto the reference pallet, the sub-pallet delivery unit Same as sub-pallet delivery unit Subpalettes transfer device, characterized in that the advance and retreat to. 2. The sub-pallet transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the sub-pallet transfer device selects and selects a positioning pin corresponding to a workpiece to be placed from a plurality of retractable positioning pins provided on the sub-pallet. A sub-pallet transfer device comprising: a positioning pin switching device for projecting the pin that has been protruded. 3. The subpallet transfer device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the subpallet drawer unit includes a rod that moves forward and backward, and a locking piece that engages with a notch formed in the subpallet is provided at the tip of the rod. A sub-pallet transfer device provided, wherein the locking piece is engaged with and disengaged from the notch by rotating the rod around an axis.

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