JP5378167B2 - Transport device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly convey a truck for a long distance along a rail in a simple mechanism. <P>SOLUTION: A shaft 110 has a columnar shape, and turnable around its axial direction. The shaft 110 extends parallel to a rail 105 for guiding a truck 103 along the predetermined moving path 104. A cylindrical coil spring 111 is mounted on the shaft 110. The cylindrical coil spring 111 has a cylindrical coil part 117 and a fixed part 118. The cylindrical coil part 117 is formed in a space winding, and arranged to be wound around the middle portion of an outer circumferential surface of the shaft 110, and slidable in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 110. The fixed part 118 extends from the end of the cylindrical coil part 117, and is fixed to the outer circumferential surface of the shaft 110. A projecting part 107 extending from the truck is inserted between the pitches of the cylindrical coil part 117. When the shaft 110 is turned around the axial direction, the cylindrical coil part 117 is slidably brought into contact with the projecting part 107. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport device for transporting a carriage guided along rails.

  In Patent Document 1, a gear device 18 having a worm groove 21 is fixedly attached to a transporter 12 guided by a rail 11, the worm groove 21 is fitted to a worm shaft 17, and transported by rotation of the worm shaft 17. It is disclosed to move the vessel 12 along the rail 11.

JP 2001-278435 A (paragraphs 0021 to 0023, FIG. 1)

  There is a case where the carriage is transported for a long distance along the rail. In this case, it is conceivable to apply the technique described in Patent Document 1 to rotate the worm shaft and convey the carriage. However, there is a situation that it is difficult to manufacture a worm shaft that is too long. It is also conceivable to move a part of the rail up and down together with the worm shaft in order to transfer the carriage to a different rail. Considering the circumstances as described above, it is considered suitable to arrange a plurality of worm shafts in series in order to transport the carriage for a long distance.

  However, another problem arises when a plurality of worm shafts are arranged in series. As an example, consider a virtual example as shown in FIG. In this example, both worm shafts 901 are supported by bearings 905 at both ends so as to be rotatable in the direction around the axis. The two worm shafts 901 rotate independently of each other by the driving force of the motor 902 transmitted by the driving force transmission unit 905a (configured by the pulley 905b and the belt 905c). The two worm shafts 901 are separated by a bearing 905. Further, a meshing portion 906 for the worm shaft 901 provided on the carriage 903 has a shape that meshes with a groove of the worm shaft 901. The carriage 903 moves along the rail 904 by being pushed by the rotating worm shaft 901 with the placement object 907 placed thereon.

  Here, since the two worm shafts 901 are separated from each other and rotate independently, the phases of the grooves of the two worm shafts 901 may not match. When the carriage 903 moves from one worm shaft 901 to the other worm shaft 901, the meshing portion 906 and the groove of the other worm shaft 901 do not mesh with each other, and the carriage 903 rides on the worm shaft 901 and enters the rail. There is a risk of detachment from 904.

  An object of the present invention is to transport a carriage smoothly over a long distance along a rail with a simple mechanism.

  The conveying device of the present invention is cylindrical, extends parallel to a rail that guides a carriage along a predetermined movement path, and is formed by a shaft rotatable around an axis and a space winding. A cylindrical coil spring having a cylindrical coil portion arranged to wrap around the shaft and slidable in the longitudinal direction of the shaft; and a fixing portion extending from an end of the cylindrical coil portion and fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the shaft; A protrusion protruding from the carriage and positioned between the pitches of the cylindrical coil section; and the shaft is rotationally driven in an axial direction, and the cylindrical coil section is slidably contacted with the protrusion to cause the carriage to move on the shaft. And a drive unit that moves in the length direction.

  According to the present invention, the protrusions protruding from the carriage are positioned between the pitches and slide along the cylindrical coil part that rotates together with the shaft and move along the rails. Then, when the cylindrical coil portion starts to come into contact with the protrusion, the cylindrical coil portion is pushed and displaced by the protrusion, and the protrusion is reliably positioned between the pitches to move the carriage. Accordingly, the carriage can be transported smoothly for a long distance along the rail with a simple mechanism.

It is a front view of a conveying apparatus. (A) is a front view of a shaft and a cylindrical coil spring. (B) is a front view of a shaft and a cylindrical coil spring showing a state in which the cylindrical coil portion has moved. (A) is a front view which shows a fixing | fixed part. (B) is the sectional view on the AA line of Fig.3 (a) which shows a fixing | fixed part. (A)-(c) is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the trolley | bogie which moves across two shafts moves. It is a front view which shows the modification of a conveying apparatus. It is a schematic diagram which shows the hypothetical example which arranges a worm shaft in series and rotates a worm shaft by the drive of a motor, and conveys a trolley | bogie.

  One embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a front view of the transport apparatus 101. The conveyance apparatus 101 of this Embodiment is arrange | positioned in a factory as an example. More specifically, in a factory, a part 102 (for example, an automobile body) in the manufacturing process is mounted on a carriage 103 and conveyed. In the factory, a moving path 104 of the carriage 103 is defined, and two rails 105 extending in parallel with each other are extended along the moving path 104. The carriage 103 includes wheels 106. The wheel 106 is placed on the rail 105. The carriage 103 is guided along the rail 105 and is movable along the movement path 104.

  The carriage 103 is provided with a plurality of protrusions 107 that are spaced apart in the direction of the movement path 104. Each of the protrusions 107 includes a roller shaft 108 and a roller 109. The roller shaft 108 is located between the two rails 105 and protrudes downward from the lower surface of the carriage 103. The tip of the roller shaft 108 is positioned below the rail 105. The roller 109 is provided at the tip of the roller shaft 108 and is rotatable around the axis of the roller shaft 108.

  The transport apparatus 101 according to the present embodiment includes a shaft 110, a cylindrical coil spring 111, the protrusion 107 described above, and a drive unit 112.

  The shaft 110 has a cylindrical shape and extends in parallel with the rail 105. A shaft 113 protrudes from both end faces of the shaft 110. The shaft 110 is rotatable around the axis of the shaft 110 with the shaft 113 supported by the bearing 114.

  The drive unit 112 includes a pulley 114a, a motor 115, and a power transmission belt 116. The pulley 114 a is attached to the shaft 113. The motor 115 transmits power to the pulley 114a via the power transmission belt 116 to drive the shaft 110 to rotate.

  By the way, a plurality of shafts 110 are arranged in series along the rail 105. The drive unit 112 is provided for each shaft 110. Therefore, each shaft 110 is independently rotated by a separate and independent drive unit 112.

  FIG. 2A is a front view of the shaft 110 and the cylindrical coil spring 111. The cylindrical coil spring 111 is disposed along the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 110 so as to wrap around the shaft 110. More specifically, the cylindrical coil spring 111 has a cylindrical coil portion 117 and a fixed portion 118.

  The cylindrical coil portion 117 is formed at the central portion of the cylindrical coil spring 111. The inner diameter of the cylindrical coil portion 117 is equal to the outer diameter of the shaft 110. The cylindrical coil portion 117 is formed by space winding. The cylindrical coil portion 117 is disposed so as to wrap around the middle of the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 110.

  The fixed portion 118 extends from both ends of the cylindrical coil portion 117 and extends in the length direction of the shaft 110. Details of the fixing portion 118 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b).

  FIG. 2B is a front view of the shaft 110 and the cylindrical coil spring 111 showing a state in which the cylindrical coil portion 117 has moved. The fixed portion 118 of the cylindrical coil spring 111 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the end region of the shaft 110 by welding or the like. On the other hand, the cylindrical coil portion 117 of the cylindrical coil spring 111 is not fixed to the shaft 110 and is slidable in the length direction of the shaft 110. For this reason, in the cylindrical coil portion 117, when a force is applied in the length direction of the shaft 110, the distance between the pitches of the springs can be changed. When the longitudinal force of the shaft 110 is no longer applied, the distance between the spring pitches is restored to the original state by the restoring force in the cylindrical coil portion 117.

  FIG. 3A is a front view showing the fixing portion 118. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3A shows a state where the shaft 110 is rotated from the direction shown in FIG. 2 and the fixing portion 118 is positioned on the upper surface side of the shaft 110. FIG. A groove 119 is provided at the end of the shaft 110. The groove 119 has a U-shaped cross section, and appears in the U shape on the end surface of the shaft 110. The fixing portion 118 enters the groove 119 and is connected to the inner wall of the groove 119 by welding.

  Please refer to FIG. 1, FIG. 3 (a) and FIG. 3 (b). The protrusions 107 that protrude downward from the carriage 103 are positioned between the pitches of the cylindrical coil portions 117 of the cylindrical coil spring 111. More specifically, the roller 109 included in the protrusion 107 is positioned between the pitches of the cylindrical coil portions 117. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3A, the lower surface of the roller 109 and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 110 are separated from each other, and a gap 120 is formed between them.

  FIGS. 4A to 4C are explanatory diagrams showing the movement of the carriage 103 that moves across the two shafts 110. Hereinafter, a description will be given based on FIG. 1 and FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (c). Here, for the sake of explanation, the right shaft 110 shown in FIGS. 1 and 4A to 4C is referred to as a first shaft 110A. The cylindrical coil spring 111 attached to the first shaft 110A is referred to as a first spring 111A. In addition, the motor 115 for rotationally driving the first shaft 110A is referred to as a first motor 115A. The left shaft 110 shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 4A to 4C is referred to as a second shaft 110B. The cylindrical coil spring 111 attached to the second shaft 110B is referred to as a second spring 111B. The motor 115 for rotating the second shaft 110B is referred to as a second motor 115B. The left roller 109 shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 4A to 4C is referred to as a front roller 109F, and the right roller 109 is referred to as a rear roller 109R.

  First, as shown in FIG. 1, the carriage 103 is on the rail 105, and most of the load of the carriage 103 is applied to the rail 105. Further, both the front roller 109F and the rear roller 109R are positioned between the pitches of the cylindrical coil portions 117 as shown in FIG. Here, in the transport device 101, both the first motor 115A and the second motor 115B are driven, and both the first shaft 110A and the second shaft 110B rotate. Thereby, the cylindrical coil portion 117 of the first spring 111 </ b> A is in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the roller 109. At this time, both the front roller 109F and the rear roller 109R move in the length direction of the first shaft 110A while being rotated by the movement of the cylindrical coil portion 117. As a result, the carriage 103 moves in the length direction of the first shaft 110 </ b> A, is guided along the rail 105, and conveys the component 102 along the movement path 104.

  After the front roller 109F is separated from the cylindrical coil portion 117 of the first spring 111A, the front roller 109F passes through the fixing portion 118 of the second spring 111B, and as shown in FIG. 4A, the cylindrical coil portion of the second spring 111B. Contact the end of 117. The cylindrical coil portion 117 of the second spring 111B is pushed by the front roller 109F and contracts in the length direction of the second shaft 110B. As a result, even if the arrangement interval and phase between the first spring 111A and the second spring 111B are not suitable for the movement of the carriage 103, the interval deviation and the phase deviation are adjusted by the displacement of the cylindrical coil portion 117. For this reason, the carriage 103 does not get on the cylindrical coil spring 111 and come off the rail 105.

  When the first motor 115A and the second motor 115B continue to drive, the rear roller 109R is detached from the first spring 111A, and circumscribes the end of the cylindrical coil portion 117 of the second spring 111B as shown in FIG. It is positioned to do. When the first motor 115A and the second motor 115B continue to drive, the front roller 109F is pulled by the cylindrical coil portion 117 of the second spring 111B, and the rear roller 109R moves forward accordingly. The rear roller 109R contacts the end of the cylindrical coil portion 117 of the second spring 111B via the fixing portion 118 of the second spring 111B, and as shown in FIG. 4C, the front roller 109F and the rear roller Each of 109R is positioned between the pitches of the cylindrical coil portions 117 of the second spring 111B. The carriage 103 is pushed by the cylindrical coil portion 117 of the second spring 111B and continues to move.

  As described above, according to the transport device 101 of the present embodiment, a plurality of shafts 110 are arranged in series along the rails 105, the cylindrical coil spring 111 is attached to each shaft 110, and the driving unit 112 rotates the shaft 110. With this configuration, the carriage 103 can be moved along the rail 105. As a result, the structure of the transfer device 101 is simplified, and maintenance is also facilitated. In addition, since a long worm shaft is not used, the shaft 110 is unlikely to be bent and the frequency of failure is also reduced. Further, even when the carriage 103 crosses the plurality of shafts 110, the cylindrical coil portion 117 is displaced in the length direction of the shaft 110, so that the roller 109 can be reliably positioned between the pitches of the cylindrical coil portions 117. Further, the impact when the roller 109 collides with the cylindrical coil portion 117 is absorbed by the spring property of the cylindrical coil portion 117. In this way, the carriage 103 can be smoothly transported along the rail 105 for a long distance with a simple mechanism.

  Further, in the transport device 101 of the present embodiment, the fixing portion 118 extends from both ends of the cylindrical coil portion 117, extends in the length direction of the shaft 110, and is embedded in the shaft 110. Therefore, the roller 109 does not collide with the end portion of the cylindrical coil spring 111 and the fixing portion 118 and the shaft 110 are not welded.

  Furthermore, in the conveying apparatus 101 of the present embodiment, the cylindrical coil unit 117 is in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the roller 109. For this reason, the load applied to the cylindrical coil unit 117 is reduced, and wear of each part of the conveying device 101 including the roller 109 and the cylindrical coil unit 117 is small.

  In the transport apparatus 101 of the present embodiment, the carriage 103 can be transported in the opposite direction by rotating the motor 115 in the reverse direction. Further, since the shaft 110 is divided into a plurality of parts, it is possible to move a part of the rail 105 and the one shaft 110 up and down.

  FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are front views showing a modification of the transport apparatus 101. The transport apparatus 101 in this modification includes a lifter device 121 that moves the second shaft 110B up and down. The rail 105 positioned above the second shaft 110B also moves up and down while the distance from the second shaft 110B is kept constant by driving the lifter device 121.

  In the transfer apparatus 101 in this modification, a third shaft 110C is disposed below the first shaft 110A. A cylindrical coil spring 111 (third spring 111C) is attached to the third shaft 110C, and a rail 105 for moving the carriage 103 is provided above the third shaft 110C. In addition, the third shaft 110 </ b> C rotates by driving a motor 115 included in the driving unit 112. The motor 115 for rotating the first shaft 110A is referred to as a first motor 115A. The motor 115 for rotating the second shaft 110B is referred to as a second motor 115B. In addition, the motor 115 for rotating the third shaft 110C is referred to as a third motor 115C.

  Reference is made to FIG. In this embodiment, first, the lifter device 121 is driven, and the second shaft 110B is positioned at the same height as the first shaft 110A. In this state, the first motor 115A and the second motor 115B are driven to rotate the first shaft 110A and the second shaft 110B, and the carriage 103 is transferred from the first shaft 110A to the second shaft 110B.

  Reference is made to FIG. The component 102 placed on the carriage 103 is removed when the carriage 103 is positioned above the second shaft 110B. Subsequently, the lifter device 121 is driven to position the second shaft 110B at the same height as the third shaft 110C. Subsequently, the second motor 115B is driven to rotate the second shaft 110B in the reverse direction. Also, the third motor 115C is driven to rotate the third shaft 110C in the same direction as the second shaft 110B. As a result, the carriage 103 is transferred from the second shaft 110B to the third shaft 110C.

  As described above, the transport device 101 includes the lifter device 121 that moves the shaft 110, so that the cart 103 is not only transported along one movement path 104, but is also transported by moving the cart 103 to another path. Is also realized.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Conveyance apparatus 103 Carriage 104 Moving path 105 Rail 107 Protrusion part 108 Roller shaft 109 Roller 110 Shaft 111 Cylindrical coil spring 112 Drive part 117 Cylindrical coil part 118 Fixed part

Claims (3)

A cylindrical shape, extending in parallel with a rail for guiding the carriage along a predetermined movement path, and a shaft rotatable around an axis;
A cylindrical coil part formed by space winding and arranged to wrap around the middle of the outer peripheral surface of the shaft, and slidable in the longitudinal direction of the shaft, extending from the end of the cylindrical coil part and fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the shaft A cylindrical coil spring having a fixed portion;
A protrusion protruding from the carriage and positioned between the pitches of the cylindrical coil portions;
A drive unit that rotationally drives the shaft in a direction around an axis, and that causes the cylindrical coil portion to slide-contact with the projecting portion to move the carriage in the length direction of the shaft;
A transport apparatus comprising: The fixed portion extends from the end of the cylindrical coil portion in the length direction of the shaft.
The transport apparatus according to claim 1. The protrusion is
A roller shaft;
A roller rotatable in a direction around the roller shaft;
Including
The cylindrical coil portion is in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the roller;
The transport apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

Images