JPH03256628A - Automatic assembling machine of pzeppa joint - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it compact by arranging an inner race assembling device and a cage assembly assembling device at the corner part of a base structure respectively. CONSTITUTION:A turn table 21 is provided at the center of a base structure 34. The inner race assembling device 26 having actuators 143, 203 moved in the horizontal direction and a cage assembly assembling device 28 need the space in the horizontal direction larger than other devices in order to secure the action stroke of an actuator either. So the inner race assembling device 26 is arranged at the corner part 34a of the base structure 34 and also the cage assembly assembling device 28 at the corner part 34b of the base structure 34. Consequently, each devices of the inner race assembling device 26, a one ball driving device 27, the cage assembly assembling device 28, a five balls inserting device 30, etc., are stored compactly on the square base structure 34 whose plane shape is close to a square for instance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic assembly machine used for assembling a Tsutsuba joint.

(Prior Art) A Zeppa joint 1 as shown in FIGS. 46 and 47 is used as a constant velocity joint in a driving force transmission system of an automobile. The Tsuetsuba joint 1 has a shaft portion 2 and a bowl-shaped portion 3.
A cage 5 is swingably housed inside the outer ring 4, an inner ring 6 is swingably housed inside the cage 5, and six balls 7. . The ball 7 is fitted into a ball groove 8 provided inside the outer ring 4, an opening window 9 provided in the poppy 5, and a ball groove 10 provided in the inner ring 6. An internally toothed center hole 11 is provided in the center of the inner ring 6 .

Teeth 12 are provided protruding from the outer circumferential portion of the inner ring 6 at six locations in the circumferential direction at equal intervals. A protruding strip 13 is provided between each ball groove 8° 8 of the outer ring 4.

Outer ring as above 4. Cage 5. In order to assemble the Tsuetsuba joint 1 consisting of the inner ring 6 etc., it was thought that automatic assembly by a machine would be difficult because a certain kind of ``two'' was required, just like when assembling the wheel of wisdom. For example, when attaching the inner ring 6 to the cage 5,
When assembling the inner ring 6 to the outer ring 4, the inner ring 6 may get caught on the cage 5, or a part of the cage 5 may get caught on the inner surface of the outer ring 4, causing it to become stuck. In the case of manual assembly, assembly can be accomplished by moving the inner ring 6 and cage 5 through trial and error, but in order to automate such assembly work with a rigid machine, it is necessary to move the inner ring and cage 5. It was necessary to establish a smooth assembly method by researching what kind of behavior should be used when inserting cages and the like.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Based on such a request, the present inventors have been working on the development of an automatic assembly machine for Zeppa joints. This type of machine has multiple work stages, such as an inner ring assembly device and a ball driving device, arranged around a turntable that is driven to rotate intermittently. It is configured to perform assembly work.

However, there are various types of devices used in each work stage, and the actuators for driving the devices operate in various directions. For this reason, simply arranging these devices around the turntable would result in the overall planar shape of the device becoming quite large, making it difficult to fit it compactly into a building such as a factory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic assembly machine for a Zeppa joint that can be made more compact by devising the arrangement of various devices provided around the turntable.

[Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems)] The present invention, which was developed to achieve the above object, is arranged in the center of a base structure that is approximately rectangular in plan view, and includes an outer ring holder, a cage holder, and an inner ring. a turntable equipped with a holder; an inner ring assembly device equipped with an actuator that moves in a horizontal direction to take out the inner ring from the inner ring holder and insert it into the cage; a single ball driving device that obtains a cage assembly by driving a second ball; a cage assembly assembling device that is equipped with an actuator that moves in a horizontal direction and that takes out the cage assembly from a cage holder and assembles it into an outer ring; a five-ball inserting device for sequentially inserting the second to sixth balls into the cage assembly in the cage assembly, and the inner ring assembling device and the cage assembly assembling device are respectively installed at the corners of the base structure. It is characterized by being placed in a section.

(Function) In the above automatic assembly machine, both the inner ring assembly device and the cage assembly assembly device, which have actuators that move in the horizontal direction, require a larger horizontal space than other devices in order to ensure the operating stroke of the actuator. However, in the present invention, since the two types of devices equipped with these horizontal actuators are both placed at the corner part of the base structure, each device can be placed on a rectangular base structure whose planar shape is, for example, close to a square. Can be stored compactly.

(Example) First, regarding the procedure for assembling the Tsuetsupa joint 1,
This will be explained with reference to FIGS. 48 to 76.

48 to 55 show the inner ring assembly process. As shown in FIGS. 48 and 49, the inner ring 6 is placed in a vertical position with respect to the cage 5, and the inner ring 6 is placed on the horizontal axis H3.
Hold it so that it can rotate.

Moreover, the radial center C1 of the inner ring 6 is the center line O of the cage 5.
The inner ring 6 is eccentrically eccentric by Δ in the radial direction with respect to -0, and the inner ring 6 is positioned so that the center C2 of the inner ring 6 in the thickness direction is on the center line O-0 of the cage 5.

Note that the opening width W of the opening window 9 of the cage 5 is slightly larger than the thickness t of the inner ring 6. The inner peripheral surface of the cage 5 is a spherical surface with a radius r. The center C3 of the outer circumferential surface (outer sphere) of the inner ring 6 is shifted by several liters laterally from the center C2 in the thickness direction. The outer radius r2 of the inner ring 6 is slightly smaller than the radius r1 of the inner spherical surface of the cage 5.

While maintaining the above posture, the inner ring 6 is lowered and inserted into the cage 5. In this case, as shown in FIG. 50, a portion 12a of the teeth 12 of the inner ring 6 comes into contact with the edge of the end surface 5a of the cage 5, so that the tips of the teeth of the inner ring 6 rotate while the inner ring 6 rotates around the horizontal axis H4. The portion 12b enters the opening window 9 of the cage 5. As shown in FIG. 51, the radial center C of the inner ring 6
The inner ring 6 is lowered to a position where the height of the center C8 of the cage 5 almost matches the height of the center C8 of the cage 5.

Next, as shown in FIG. 52, the inner ring 6 is moved laterally so that the radial center C1 of the inner ring 6 coincides with the center C8 of the cage 5. In this state, as shown in FIG. 53, the outer spherical center C3 of the inner ring 6 remains eccentric by Δ to the side of the center C8 of the cage 5. Therefore, in order to eliminate the eccentricity Δ2, the inner ring 6 is made thicker. By moving it by Δ2 in the direction, the outer spherical center C3 of the inner ring 6 and the center C9 of the cage 5 are made to coincide with each other, as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 55, by tilting the inner ring 6 by 90 degrees clockwise in the figure, the inner ring 6
to accommodate.

The above-mentioned series of inner ring assembly steps are performed in the inner ring assembly bag f! shown in FIGS. 15 to 21. 26.

The 56th
A cage assembly 15 is obtained by driving the first ball 7a as shown in the figure.

The balls 7a are driven across the open window 9 of the cage 5 and the ball groove 10 of the inner ring 6.

The driving of the first ball 7a is performed by the single ball driving device 27 shown in FIGS. 22 to 24.

In this specification, for ease of understanding, the first ball is indicated by the symbol 7a, and the second and subsequent balls are indicated by the symbols 7b to 7.
Although they are indicated as f, they are all actually the same ball 7. Cage assembly 1 into which the first ball 7a is driven
5, the positions of the cage 5 and the inner ring 6 in the circumferential direction are regulated by the balls 7a.

The cage assembly 15 is assembled into the outer ring 4 through a cage assembly assembly process described below. That is, as shown in FIG. 57, the cage assembly 15 is in an upright position with respect to the outer ring 4, that is, the axis of the outer ring 4 is 0. -0. The axis 02-02 of the cage 5 is orthogonal to the cage 5, and the ball 7a is directed upward, and the pair of opening windows 9.9 are aligned horizontally and in a straight line as shown in FIG. The cage assembly 15 is dropped into the outer ring 4 from above the outer ring 4. Moreover, at this time, the 59th
As shown in the figure, the opening windows 9, 9 are the protrusions 13 of the outer ring 4,
The cage assembly 15 is positioned so that it passes through 1B.
into outer ring 4.

As shown in FIG. 57, since the opening dimension H of the opening window 9 is slightly larger than the maximum width W1 of the protruding strip 13, by dropping the cage assembly 15 while maintaining the above-mentioned positional relationship, the cage 5 is The cage assembly 15 can be smoothly inserted to the position shown in FIG. 58 without getting caught.

After inserting the cage assembly 15, the cage assembly 1 is moved in a direction to fit the balls 7a into the ball grooves 8 of the outer ring 4.
5, but if the cage assembly 5 is simply pushed down in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 59, the balls 7a will hit the end surface 4a of the outer ring 4. Therefore cage assembly 1
It is necessary to rotate the outer ring 4 by θ, -30' in the direction of arrow B relative to the outer ring 5.

However, as shown in FIG. 60, the cage assembly 15 immediately after the cage assembly assembly process described above is completed.
Since the protruding strip 13 is located exactly inside the opening window 9, if the outer ring 4 is rotated in the above-mentioned direction B in this state, the edge 13a of the protruding strip 13 will easily catch on the edge 9a of the opening window 9, and the outer ring will 4 may not be able to be rotated.

Therefore, before rotating the outer ring 4 in the direction B, the 61st
As shown in the figure, by tilting the cage assembly 15 over the angle θ in the direction of arrow C with respect to the outer ring 4, the outer ring 4 can be smoothly rotated in the above-mentioned direction B. In the illustrated example, it is approximately θ2-30°. After this preliminary tilting process is completed, the outer ring 4 is rotated 30° relative to the cage assembly 15 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 59, thereby adjusting the positions of the balls 7a and ball grooves 8 as shown in FIG. Make it correspond. Then, by tilting the cage assembly 13 horizontally by about 60 degrees in the direction of the arrow, the balls 7a are fitted into the ball grooves 8 as shown in FIG. 63. Thereafter, by rotating the outer ring 4 together with the cage assembly 15 by 30 degrees in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 59, the outer ring 4 is returned to the original reference position as shown in FIG. 64.

The above-described series of assembling steps from FIG. 57 to FIG. 64 are performed by the cage assembly assembling device 28 shown in FIGS. 25 to 32.

The second to sixth balls 7b to 7f are attached to the outer ring 4 into which the cage assembly 15 is assembled through the series of steps described above.
are sequentially inserted through the five balls insertion process shown in FIGS. 67 to 76.

The balls 7b to 7f are inserted one by one with the cage 5 in the outer ring 4 and the inner ring 6 tilted to an angle that allows the balls 7 to be inserted, as shown in FIG. After the balls are inserted, the inner ring 6 and cage 5 are rotated in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 66 and returned to their original positions.

As shown in FIG. 67, the first ball 7a is inserted in advance in the one-ball insertion step. In the five ball insertion step, first, as shown in FIG. 68, in the first ball insertion step, the second ball 7b is inserted into the ball groove located on the opposite side 180a to the first ball 7a. 8 is inserted. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 69, the outer ring 4 is rotated 60° clockwise in the drawing, and then, as shown in FIG. 70, in the second ball insertion step, the third ball 7C or two eye ball 7b
is inserted into the ball groove 8 next to the ball groove 8.

As shown in Fig. 71, rotate the outer ring 4 clockwise in the figure.
After rotating 80", the third
In the ball insertion step, the fourth ball 7d is inserted into the ball groove 8. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 73, the outer ring 4 is rotated 60° clockwise as shown in the figure, and the fifth ball 7e is inserted into the ball groove 8 in the fourth ball insertion step as shown in FIG. insert.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 75, after rotating the outer ring 4 by 180 degrees clockwise in the drawing, the sixth ball 7f is inserted into the ball groove 8 in the fifth ball insertion process, as shown in FIG. Insert into.

The above-mentioned five-ball insertion process is performed by the five-ball insertion device 30 shown in FIGS. 33 to 37.

Next, the Zeppa joint automatic assembly machine 20 of the present invention for carrying out the above assembly method will be described in FIGS. 1 to 4.
This will be explained with reference to FIG.

As shown in the planar layout in FIG. 1, the automatic assembly machine 20 of this embodiment includes a workpiece loading/unloading device 22 and a workpiece transfer device 2 along the rotational circumferential direction of the turntable 21.
3, a work rotation positioning device 25, an inner ring assembling device 26, a one-ball driving device 27, a cage assembly assembling device 28, a five-ball inserting device 30, a ball feeding device 31, etc. They are arranged at a positional relationship of 45° to each other on a horizontally provided base structure 34.

The base structure 34 has a substantially square shape in plan view, and its two corner portions 3
4a and 34b, an inner ring assembly device 26 and a cage assembly assembly device 28 are arranged.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the automatic assembly machine 20 with a protective cover 33 placed over it. The turntable 21 is rotated clockwise around the vertical axis by a drive device 32, for example.
It is controlled so that it is rotated intermittently by '.

A total of eight holder uni-soto 35 are provided on the turntable 21 at equal intervals of 45 inches in the circumferential direction. Each holder uni-soto 35 includes an outer ring holder 36, a cage holder 37, and an inner ring holder 38. There is.

The outer ring holder 36 shown in FIG. 3 includes a nose ring 41 rotatably held on the turntable 21 by a bearing 40 around a vertical axis, and a chuck 42 built into the nose ring 41. The chuck 42 is
The structure is such that the shaft portion 2 of the outer ring 4 is held by the elasticity of the spring 43, and the shaft portion 2 is released when the slider 44 is pushed up.

The cage holder 37 shown in FIG.
0, the chuck 51 holds the cage 5 by the elasticity of a spring 52, and is also configured to release the cage 5 when the slider 53 is pushed up. . A grease outlet 54 is provided inside the housing 50 to supply grease to the outer circumference of the cage 5 .

The inner ring holder 38 shown in FIG. 5 is provided with a hole 57 for accommodating the inner ring 6. As shown in FIG. A grease discharge port 58 is provided inside the hole 57 for supplying grease to the outer circumference of the inner ring 6 . The grease discharge port 58 is connected to a grease supply mechanism 59 when the inner ring holder 38 moves to a rotary positioning device 25, which will be described later. Note that the grease discharge port 54 of the cage holder 37 described above is also connected to a grease supply means similar to the grease supply mechanism 59 described above.

The workpiece loading/unloading device 22 includes a workpiece alignment/loading mechanism 61 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a single-workpiece transfer mechanism 62 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and a workpiece transport mechanism 62 shown in FIG. It consists of an assembled finished product delivery mechanism 63, a part of which is shown. The assembled finished product delivery mechanism 63 has a transfer body 64 that holds the Tsutsuba joint 1 after assembly. This transport body 64
is driven by a drive mechanism (not shown) to carry out the Tetsuba joint 1 after assembly.

The workpiece alignment/carrying mechanism 61 includes a conveyor 70 that runs endlessly. Guide members 71 are provided along the conveyor 70, spaced apart from each other above the conveyor 70, and corresponding to the respective heights of the outer ring 4, the cage 5, and the inner ring 6. On the conveyor 70 (the outer ring 4, the cage, etc. and the inner ring 6, which are carried one after another on two wheels, are separated by the kite member 71 while being moved by the conveyor 70, and are placed in a predetermined arrangement in the first
The workpieces are lined up in the special equipment section 72 of the workpiece and become 0. The cage 5 and inner ring No. 6 lined up in the first workpiece special unit 72 are transferred to the second workpiece special unit 7 by the one-piece transfer mechanism 62.
Up to 3 pieces are carried one by one.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 as a representative example of the single-piece transfer mechanism 62 for the inner ring, the single-piece transfer mechanism 62 includes a slider 76 that reciprocates along a guide shaft 751 extending in the horizontal direction. , the cylinder mechanism 7 that drives the slider 76
7, the first stopper 78, and the second stopper 79
and a third stopper 80. Slider 7
6 or in the initial position shown in FIG.
78 is in a position to stop the forward movement of the inner ring 6 in the front row.

When the slider 76 moves in the forward direction shown in FIG. 9, the first stopper 78 rises, the second stopper 79 engages with the center hole 11 of the inner ring 6, and the third stopper 80 , the inner ring 6 descends to a position where it blocks the forward movement of the following inner ring 6. Slider 76 is the ninth
By moving to the forward position shown in the figure, the inner rings 6 move one by one to the second workpiece special part 73. In addition,
The one-piece transfer mechanism for the poppies 5 has a similar configuration.

As shown in FIG. 10, the workpiece transfer device 23 includes an arm 86 that is rotatable in a range of 180° around a vertical axis around a pillar 85, and an outer ring chuck unit that is installed on this arm 86. 87, a cage chuck unit 88, an inner ring chuck unit 89, a finished product holding chuck unit 90, an actuator 91 for rotating the arm 86, and the like. The chuck portions 93, 94, 95, and 96 provided at the dot portions of the chuck units 87 to 90 are raised and lowered by a lifting actuator (not shown). The arm 86 is
The swing actuator 91 moves 180' from the position shown in FIG. 10 to the position shown in FIG.
＆: Made to spin.

12 to 14 show a work rotation positioning device 25. As shown in FIG. This positioning device 25 includes an outer ring positioning mechanism] 01, a cage positioning mechanism 102,
It consists of an inner ring positioning mechanism 103. These three types of positioning mechanisms 101 to 103 each have pawl units 105, 106, and 107 at the bottom, and the configuration and function of each part other than the pawl units 105 to 107 are common to each other. The mechanism 103 will be explained as a representative. Note that common parts in each of the positioning mechanisms 101 to 103 are given the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 12 or 13, a fixed bezel 110 is provided with an elevating body unit. The elevating body unit 111 is moved up and down by an actuator 113 along a pair of left and right vertical guide members 112 .

A hollow spindle 115 is supported by the elevating body unit 111 so as to be rotatable around a vertical axis.

The spindle 115 is rotated back and forth through an angular range of ] 806 by the rotary actuator 116 . A claw unit 107 is held at the bottom of the spindle 115 so as to be movable up and down. A claw 117 is provided at the lower end of the claw unit 107. The claw unit 107 is urged upward by a first spring 118.

A friction member 120 is provided below the spindle 115 so as to be movable up and down. The friction member 120 is held non-rotatably and is biased downward by a spring 121. A slider 122 is provided inside the spindle 115 so as to be movable up and down. This slider] 22 is a second spring 1 having a larger spring constant than the first spring 118.
23, it is urged downward. Slider 12
A flange], 24 is fixed to 2. This flange] 24 can be raised by a swing arm 125 shown in FIG. Swing arm 125 is driven by actuator 126.

When the elevating body unit 111 is lowered by the actuator 113, it descends to a position where the lower surface of the pawl 117 contacts the inner ring 6, as shown in FIG. When the spindle 115 is rotated by the rotation actuator 116, the pawls 117 fit into the ball grooves 10 of the inner ring 6, so by rotating the spindle 115 to a predetermined position, the circumferential position of the inner ring 6 is determined. Moreover, since grease is supplied in advance to the inside of the inner ring holder 38 through the grease discharge port 58, the inner ring 6 is
By rotating, the grease can be spread over the entire outer periphery of the inner ring 6.

The claw unit 106 of the positioning mechanism 102 for the cage 5 is provided with a pair of claws 130 that can be inserted into the inside of the cage 5, and the claws 130 are engaged with the opening window 9 of the cage 5. This cage claw unit] 06 is also rotated 1000 times to a predetermined position by the actuator 1] 6, thereby positioning the cage 5 in the circumferential direction and distributing the grease supplied from the grease outlet 54 to the outer periphery of the cage 5. I'm trying to spread it around.

The pawl unit 105 of the positioning mechanism 101 for the outer ring 4 is
A pair of pawls 131 that can be inserted into the inner side of the outer ring 4 are provided, and the pawls 31 are engaged with the ball grooves 8 of the outer ring 4. This pawl unit 105 is also rotated to a predetermined position to position the outer ring 4 in the circumferential direction.

Next, the inner ring assembly device 26 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 15 to 21.

As shown in FIG. 15, the fixed base 40 is provided with a pair of left and right guide rails 141 (only one of which is shown) that extends in the horizontal direction. A slide unit 142 is provided on the guide rail 141. The slide unit 142 is moved from the backward position force shown in FIG. 15 by a horizontal hydraulic actuator 143 such as an air cylinder to is moved through the forward position shown in .

A strut 144 is provided on the rear end side of the fixed base 140. A push-back mechanism 145 is provided next to the ST/SO/<144. The push-back mechanism 145 can push back the movable shaft 146 by a predetermined stroke Δ2 by the elasticity of a built-in spring.

A pair of left and right vertical guide members 151 are provided on the front side of the base body 50 erected on the slide unit 142 . Along the guide member 1511, the lifting unit 1
52 is provided with one C that can be raised and lowered. The lifting/lowering unit 152 is driven up and down with a predetermined stroke by a vertical actuator 1531 such as an Airliner.

A pair of leg members 155 are firmly provided on the elevating unit 152. A head assembly 156 is supported by the leg member 155 so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis. The head assembly 156 includes a chuck unit 160 for holding the inner ring, which is swingable about a shaft 157. The chuck unit 160 is configured to swing from a neutral position shown in FIG. 18 to an eccentric position (eccentricity Δ,) shown in FIG. 19 by a drive mechanism (not shown).

A claw 161 is provided at the end of the chuck unit 160. This head assembly 156 is moved by an actuator 162 from a position with the claws 161 facing sideways as shown in FIG.
1 can be rotated within a range of 90'' across the downward facing position.

Next, the single ball driving device 27 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 22 to 24.

As shown in FIG. 22, a pair of left and right vertical guide members 171 (only the negative side is shown) is provided on the front side of the base 170, and the elevating unit 172 can be moved up and down along the guide members 171. It is provided. The lifting unit 172 is driven up and down by a vertical actuator 173 such as an air cylinder. Lifting unit 1
72, an inner ring positioning mechanism 180 and a ball driving mechanism 18;
1 is provided. The inner ring positioning mechanism 180 includes a hollow spindle 182 that is rotatable around a vertical axis and an actuator 183 that rotates the spindle 182. The actuator 183 is configured to reciprocate the spindle 182 within an angular range of 90''.

A pawl 185 is provided at the bottom of the spindle 182.

This pawl 185 is biased in a downward direction by a first spring 186. A slider 187 is provided inside the spindle 182 so as to be movable up and down. Slider 187
is biased in a downward direction by a second spring 188.

As shown in FIG. 24, the ball driving mechanism 181 has a ball passage 191, and a bushing rod 192 is inserted through the opening side of the lower end of the ball passage 191 so as to be freely movable in the axial direction. The bushing rod 192 is driven by an actuator 194 via a drive member 193.

Next, the cage assembly assembly device 28 will be described with reference to FIGS. 25 through 32.

As shown in FIG. 25, a pair of guide rails 201 (only one shown) extend horizontally on the fixed base 200.
is provided. A slide unit 202 is provided on the guide rail 201 so as to be able to move back and forth in the horizontal direction. The slide unit 202 is movable from a retracted position shown in FIG. 25 to a forward position shown in FIG. 26 by a horizontal actuator 203 such as an air cylinder.

A pair of left and right vertical guide members 211 are provided on the front side of a base body 210 provided on the slide unit 202 . An elevating unit 212 is provided along this guide member 211 so as to be movable up and down. Lifting unit 21
2 is a vertical actuator 21 such as an air cylinder
3, it is driven up and down with a predetermined stroke. The lifting unit 212 has a board 215 extending in the horizontal direction, and a pair of leg members 2] 6 are provided on the lower surface side of the board 215. The head unit 21 is attached to the leg member 216.
7 is supported rotatably around a horizontal axis. The head unit 217 includes a chuck 2]8. This head unit 217 is operated by actuator 2]9.
The chuck 218 can be rotated within a range of 90'' from a position with the chuck 218 facing sideways as shown in FIG. 25 to a position with the chuck 218 facing down as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, the head unit 217 is provided with a ball pressing arm 225. The ball holding arm 225 can be rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 28 by a swing link 227 interlocking with a cam follower 226. The cam foot lower 226 is in rolling contact with the guide rail 228. The guide rail 228 includes a pair of front and rear slide shafts 23
Fixed to 0. The slide shaft 230 is driven in the axial direction by an actuator (not shown).

Next, the five-ball insertion device 30 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 33 to 37.

As shown in FIG. 33, a pair of left and right vertical guide members 241 (only the negative side is shown) is provided on the front side of the base body 240, and a lifting unit 242 is provided along the guide members 241. is installed so that it can be raised and lowered. The elevating unit 242 is driven up and down with a predetermined stroke by a vertical actuator 243 such as an air cylinder.

The elevating unit 242 has a board 245 extending in the horizontal direction, and a pair of leg members 246 are provided on the lower surface side of the board 245. The head unit 24 is attached to the leg member 246.
7 is supported rotatably around a horizontal axis. The head unit 247 includes a shaft member 250. The shaft member 250 has a shape that can be inserted into the center hole 11 of the inner ring 6. The head unit 247 is configured to be rotated by an actuator 252 via a connecting rod 25. That is, from the position in which the shaft member 250 faces straight down as shown in FIG.
It can be rotated through positions tilted by about 5 degrees. As shown in FIG. 37 etc., position 1 facing the upper edge of the cage 5
A cage holding arm 253 is provided. The poppy holding arm 253 is urged toward the upper edge of the cage 5 by a spring 254.

A ball insertion mechanism 260 is provided in the lifting unit 242. The ball insertion mechanism 260 has a ball passage 261.
and a push port/end 262. The bushing rod 262 is driven in the axial direction by an actuator 264 via a drive member 263.

An outer ring rotation mechanism 27 shown in FIG.
0 is set. This outer ring rotation mechanism 270 selectively rotates the outer ring holder 36 around a vertical axis by 60° and 180°. This rotation mechanism 270 is
Lifting shaft 2 rotated by actuator 271
72. The lifting shaft 272 is the actuator 2
73, it is driven up and down. A chuck portion 274 provided at the upper end of the lifting shaft 272 can be fitted from below into an engaged portion 275 provided at the bottom of the outer ring holder 36.

FIG. 39 shows the ball supply device 31.

The ball supply device 31 supplies the first ball 7a to the one-ball driving device 27 described above, and also supplies the second to sixth balls 7b to 7f to the five-ball insertion device 30. It is for the purpose of This ball supply device 31 includes a ball storage box 280. The bottom of the ball storage box 280 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane when viewed from the side (FIG. 39). A disc-shaped rotary conveyance body 281 is provided rotatably about a shaft 282 on the lower side of the ball storage box 280 provided at an inclination in this manner. The rotary conveyance body 281 is continuously rotationally driven in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 40 by a drive mechanism 283 having a motor unit with a speed reducer 44.

A ball receiving portion 284 is provided on the outer periphery of the rotary conveyance body 281 .

Ball outlet 290 located at the top of the rotary conveyor 281
A ball sorter 291 is provided below. 41st
As shown in the figure, the ball sorter 291 includes a pair of cylindrical rails 292 facing each other and spaced apart from each other. The distance W2 on the upstream side of the rail 292 is narrower than the distance W3 on the downstream side of the rail 292. Furthermore, the downstream side of the rail 292 is lower than the upstream side of the conveyor. Therefore, a ball 7 of a regular size dropped onto the rail 292 from the ball outlet 290 passes between the rails 292 and falls into the first hopper 293 while rolling in the longitudinal direction of the rail 292. Non-standard ball 7 larger than regular ball 7
' falls into the second hopper 294.

A ball special device section 300 is provided at the bottom of the first hopper 293, and a 42nd ball special device section 300 is provided below this ball special device section 300.
A mechanism 301 is provided for ball distribution shown in FIGS.

The ball distribution mechanism 301 includes a swing member 303 having a ball storage portion 302, and this swing member 303.
It is equipped with an actuator 304 that drives the . The swing member 303 is provided to reciprocate from a neutral position PN shown in FIG. 43 to a first position P1 shown in FIG. 44 and a second position P2 shown in FIG. 45. It is being

That is, when the swing member 303 is located at the neutral position PN shown in FIG.
is located at the ball special equipment section 3oo. a first position P in which the swing member 30B is shown in FIG. 44;
When tilted to the maximum, the ball receiving portion 302 is located at the first ball dispensing port 305 . When the swinging member 303 is tilted to the second position P2 shown in FIG. 45, the ball receiving portion 302 is positioned at the second ball distribution port 306.

The first ball distribution port 305 is connected to the first ball transfer pipe 30
7 to the ball passage 1 of the single ball driving device 27.
91. The second ball distribution port 306 has a second
The five balls insertion device 3 is inserted through the ball transfer pipe 308 of
0 ball passage 261.

Next, the operation of the Tetsuba joint automatic assembly machine 20 having the above configuration will be explained.

The outer ring 4, cage 5, and inner ring 6 placed on the alignment carry-in mechanism 61 in FIG.
Line up at 2. And the single piece transfer mechanism 6 shown in FIG.
2, the workpieces are separated and sent one by one to the second special equipment section 73. The outer ring 4, cage 5, and inner ring 6 that have been transported to the second work special equipment section 73 are
The chuck section 93 of the workpiece transfer device 23 shown in FIG.
The holders 36, 37, 38 are held by the chuck parts 93-95 as the chuck parts 95 descend, and the chuck parts 93-95 rise and the arm 86 rotates 180', as shown in FIG. It is transferred to the top of the screen. When the chuck parts 93 to 95 descend, the outer ring 4, cage 5, and inner ring 6 are moved to the holder 3637.
It is held at 38.

Thereafter, as the turntable 21 rotates 45'', the outer ring 4, the cage 5, and the inner ring 6 move to the rotary positioning device 25 shown in FIG. 5 and the inner ring 6 are positioned in the rotational direction so that they are at positions suitable for the inner ring assembly process and the cage assembly assembly process, etc., which will be described later. At the same time, grease is applied to the outer periphery of the cage 5 and the inner ring 6. be done.

After the above-mentioned rotational positioning is performed, the turntable 21 is rotated by 45'' again, so that the outer ring 4, cage 5, and inner ring 6 are moved to the inner ring assembly device 26 shown in FIG. 15.Inner ring assembly In the attaching device 26, the first
As shown in FIG. 7, with the chuck unit 160 facing downward, the claws 61 are inserted into the center hole 11 of the inner ring 6, and the inner ring 6 is held. And lifting unit 15
As the chuck unit 2 is raised, the chuck unit 160 turns sideways as shown in FIG. 16. Thereafter, the chuck unit 160 is eccentrically moved as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 15, the slide unit 142 is retracted by the actuator 43 to a position where it hits the force (stomper 144), and the force 1 is maintained by maintaining the fluid pressure to the actuator 143. - The chuck unit strike 142 is held at the position at the end of the backward stroke.
The inner ring 6 held at 0 is located on the center C2 in the thickness direction or on the center line O-0 of the cage 5, as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, the lifting unit 152 is lowered by a predetermined amount, and the inner ring 6 held by the chunk unit 160 is inserted into the cage 5.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 50, a portion 12a of the teeth 12 of the inner ring 6 comes into contact with the edge of the end surface of the cage 5, so that the inner ring 6 rotates around the horizontal axis and the tip portions 12a of the teeth 12
b enters the opening window 9 of the cage 5. Finally, as shown in FIG.
or be lowered.

After passing through the above steps, the chuck unit 160
By returning to the initial state shown in the figure, the radial center C1 of the inner ring 6 becomes the center C1 of the cage 5, as shown in FIG.
Matched to 8. Also, until then, actuator 1
By releasing the fluid pressure supplied to 43,
The push-back mechanism 145 causes the slide unit 142 to move Δ
2 in the forward direction. As a result, the outer spherical center C3 of the inner ring 6 coincides with the center C8 of the cage 5, as shown in FIG.

Next, as the head rotation actuator 162 operates, the head rotation actuator 160 rotates by 90'' around the horizontal axis. The inner ring 6 falls horizontally.Then, the elevating unit 152 rises, leaving the inner ring 6 and the cage 5 in the cage holder 37.

By rotating the turntable 21 by 45 degrees again,
The outer ring 4 and the cage 5 in which the inner ring 6 is incorporated are connected to the second cage 5.
One ball is moved to the driving device 27 shown in FIG. Then, as the lifting unit 172 descends, the claw 185 moves toward the inner ring 6 as shown in FIG.
At the same time, the spindle 182
By rotating the inner ring 6 to a predetermined angle, the inner ring 6 is set at a predetermined rotational position, that is, a position where the first ball 7a can be driven (the position shown in FIG. 24).

Thereafter, by operating the ball driving actuator 194, the force of the bushing rod 192 (advances,
The first ball 7a is driven across the opening window 9 of the cage 5 and the balls 10 of the inner ring 6.

This first ball 7a provides a cage assembly 15 in which the positions of the cage 5 and the inner ring 6 are regulated.

By rotating the turntable 21 by 45 degrees again,
The outer ring 4 and the cage assembly 15 are moved to a cage assembly assembly device 28 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 26, the slide unit 202
is advanced, and the chuck 218 faces downward. Then, by lowering the lifting unit 212, the chuck 218 is inserted into the inner ring 6 as shown in FIG. In addition, the ball presser arm 2 shown in FIG.
By moving the ball 25 in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, the ball 7a is clamped and stopped.

In this state, the elevating unit 212 is raised and the head unit 217 is rotated by 90'', thereby placing the cage assembly 15 in an upright position as shown in FIG. be forced to retreat.

Thereafter, the lifting unit 212 is lowered by a predetermined amount, so that the cage assembly 15 is lowered as shown in FIG.
is dropped into the outer ring 4.

The above steps are the steps for inserting the cage assembly 15 shown in FIGS. 57 to 60.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 31 and 61, the head unit 217 is tilted by about 30°, and then the outer ring 4 is rotated clockwise by 30'' to reach the state shown in FIG. 62. As shown in FIG. 28, by driving the ball presser arm 225 in the unclamping direction,
Ball 7a is released. Thereafter, the cage assembly 15 is laid down horizontally as shown in FIGS. 32 and 63. Thereafter, the elevating unit 212 is raised and the outer ring holder 36 is rotated counterclockwise by 30@, so that the outer ring 4 in which the cage assembly 15 is assembled returns to its original reference position.

Thereafter, the turntable 21 rotates 45'' again, and the outer ring 4 in which the cage assembly 15 is assembled moves to the 5-ball insertion device W130 in FIG. 33.Then, the lifting unit 242 descends. Then, by lowering the head unit 247, the shaft member 250 is inserted into the center hole 11 of the inner ring 6, as shown in FIG.
2 is activated, the head unit 247 is folded down 756 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the inner ring 6 is tilted by 75 degrees, and the distal end of the cage holding arm 253 comes into contact with the upper edge of the cage 5, so that the cage 5 is
Tilt 7.5 degrees. In this state, the bushing rod 262 is advanced by the ball driving actuator 264 (see FIG. 33), and the ball 7 is inserted into the opening window of the cage 5.
and is inserted into the ball groove 10 of the inner ring 6. Thereafter, by operating the tilting actuator 252 in the opposite direction to the above, as shown in FIGS. 35 and 66,
The cage 5 and the inner ring 6 are returned to their original horizontal state. ball 7
68 to 7, the outer ring 4 is selectively rotated by 60" or 180" by the outer ring rotation mechanism 270 shown in FIG.
Five balls 7b to 7f are inserted in the order shown in FIG.

The aforementioned six balls 78-7f are distributed to the one-ball driving device 27 and the five-ball inserting device 30 by the ball supply device 31 shown in FIG. That is, when the swing member 303 is located at the neutral position PN as shown in FIG.
The ball 7 contained therein enters the ball accommodating portion 302 of the swing member 303. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 44, the swing member 303 rotates to the first position P1, so that the first ball 7a is dropped into the first ball distribution port 305, and the first ball 7a is transferred. tube 3
07, one ball is sent to the driving device 27. Thereafter, the swinging member 303 is returned to the neutral position PN shown in FIG. 43, so that a new ball 7 enters the ball housing portion 302. The ball distribution movement in this direction is performed only once per Tsevba joint.

As shown in FIG. 45, when the swing member 303 rotates to the second position P2, the ball 7 that was in the ball storage section 302 is dropped into the second ball distribution port 306, and the ball 7 is dropped into the second ball distribution port 306. Through the ball transfer pipe 308,
Five balls are sent to the insertion device 30. Then, the swinging member 303 is returned to the neutral position PN in FIG.
Get into it. The ball distributing motion in this direction is repeated five times for each Tsetspa joint assembled.
A total of five balls 7b to 5f are inserted into the five ball insertion device 30.
sent to.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, an automatic assembly machine for a Zeppa joint that is equipped with various devices necessary for automatic assembly of a Zeppa joint, such as an inner ring assembly device and a cage assembly assembly device, can be configured in a compact manner. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 45 show an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 1 is a plan view of the Zeppa joint automatic assembly machine, Figure 2
The figure is a front view of the Tetsuba joint automatic assembly machine, Figure 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the outer ring holder, Figure 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cage holder, Figure 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the inner ring holder, and Figure 6 is the alignment FIG. 7 is a plan view of the carrying-in mechanism, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the alignment carrying-in mechanism, FIGS. 8 and 9 are side views showing different operating states of the single-workpiece transfer mechanism, and FIG. 10 is the workpiece transfer device. 11 is a side view showing a state in which the arm of the work transfer device is turned; FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the rotary positioning device; FIG. 13 is a side view of the rotary positioning device; The figure is a longitudinal sectional view of the inner ring positioning mechanism, the first
Fig. 5 is a side view partially showing the inner ring assembling device, Fig. 16 is an enlarged sectional view of a part of the inner ring assembling device, and Fig. 17 is a partially sectional view showing the slide unit of the inner ring assembling device in the advanced state. A side view shown in cross section, FIG. 18 is a front view of the head assembly in the inner ring assembly device, FIG. 19 is a front view of the head assembly in a displaced state, and FIGS. 20 and 21 each show the operation mode of the head assembly. 22 is a side view partially showing a single ball driving device, FIG. 23 is a sectional view of the inner ring positioning mechanism in the single ball driving device, FIG. 24 is a sectional view of the ball driving mechanism, FIG. 25 is a partially sectional side view of the cage assembly assembly device; FIG. 26 is a partially sectional side view of the cage assembly assembly device in a state in which the slide unit is advanced; and FIG. 27 is a partially sectional side view of the cage assembly assembly device. A front view of the head unit in the attached device, FIG. 28 is a rear view partially showing the head unit in cross section, FIGS. 29 to 32 are cross-sectional views showing the operation mode of the head unit, and FIG. 33 shows five balls. 34 is a front view of the head unit in the 5-ball insertion device; FIGS. 35 and 36 are side views partially showing the insertion device;
The figures are a sectional view showing the operation mode of the ball insertion mechanism,
Fig. 37 is a partially sectional plan view of the ball insertion mechanism, Fig. 38 is a sectional view of the outer ring rotation mechanism, Fig. 39 is a sectional view of the ball feeding device, and Fig. 40 is a sectional view of the rotary conveyance body in the ball feeding device. 41 is a plan view of the ball sorter, FIG. 42 is a cross-sectional view of the ball sorting mechanism, and FIGS. 43 to 45 are front views showing the operation mode of the ball sorting mechanism. Figure 46 is a perspective view of the Tsuetsupa joint,
Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of the Tsuetsupa joint, Figure 48 is a partially sectional front view showing the relationship between the inner ring and the cage before the inner ring is inserted, and Figure 49 is a cross section taken along line I-I in Figure 48. 50 to 52 are sectional views showing the relationship between the inner ring and the cage in the inner ring assembly process, respectively, and FIG.
54 and 55 are sectional views showing the relationship between the inner ring and the cage in the inner ring assembly process, respectively. FIG. 56 is a perspective view of the cage assembly, and FIG.
Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing the state immediately before the cage assembly is inserted into the outer ring, Fig. 58 is a sectional view showing the state in the middle of the cage assembly assembly process, and Fig. 59 is a sectional view showing the state in the middle of the cage assembly assembly process. FIG. 60 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 59, and FIGS. 61 to 64 are longitudinal sectional views showing the relationship between the cage assembly and the outer ring in the cage assembly assembly step, respectively. , FIG. 65 is a perspective view showing the state in which the cage assembly is tilted in the step of inserting five balls, FIG. 66 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the state with the balls inserted, and FIGS. 67 to 76 are the steps of inserting five balls FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the outer ring and the cage assembly in the order of steps. 1... Tsuetsuba joint, 4... Outer ring, 5...
Cage, 6...Inner ring, 7...Ball, 7a...1
1st ball, 7b to 7f... 2nd and subsequent balls,
8... Ball groove of outer ring, 9... Opening window, 1o... Ball groove of inner ring, 15... Cage assembly, 2o...
・Tsetsuba joint automatic assembly machine, 21... Turntable, 25... Rotation positioning device, 26... Inner ring assembly device, 27... Single ball driving device, 28...
- Cage assembly assembly device, 30...5 ball insertion device, 31...ball supply device, 34...base structure, 34a. 34b... Corner part, 36... Outer ring boulder, 3
7... Cage holder, 38... Inner ring holder, 143
゜203...Horizontal actuator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A turntable disposed at the center of a base structure having a generally rectangular shape in plan view and including an outer ring holder, a cage holder, and an inner ring holder, and an actuator that moves in a horizontal direction to move the inner ring. an inner ring assembly device that takes out the inner ring from the inner ring holder and inserts it into the cage; a single ball driving device that obtains a cage assembly by driving the first ball across the opening window of the cage and the ball groove of the inner ring; a cage assembly assembly device that is equipped with an actuator that moves to take out the cage assembly from the cage holder and assemble it into the outer ring; and a ball that sequentially inserts the second to sixth balls into the cage assembly in the outer ring. An automatic assembly machine for a Zeppa joint, characterized in that the inner ring assembling device and the cage assembly assembling device are respectively arranged at corner portions of the base structure.