JPH0517706U - Tray positioning device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a tray positioning device capable of positioning a tray housed in a magazine unit at a predetermined position of the magazine unit. [Structure] A pair of movable plates 1 that are arranged so as to be able to advance and retract with respect to the central portion of the magazine unit by a guide means,
A pair of guide plates 2 mounted on the respective movable plates 1 so as to project toward the magazine unit side and entering into the magazine unit through an opening window provided on the side surface of the magazine unit to position the tray, and each movable plate. From a drive mechanism that engages the plate 1 and moves both movable plates 1 forward and backward by the same distance with respect to the central portion of the magazine unit, and a control unit that controls the drive operation of the drive mechanism based on the width of the tray. It will be.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a tray positioning device for positioning a tray contained in a magazine unit at a predetermined position.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 Conventionally, a magazine unit 50 as shown in FIG. 5 has been used in the case of sequentially supplying a tray on which a work is mounted to a transfer device installed in a manufacturing line or the like. The magazine unit 50 is composed of left and right side plates (L) 51, side plates (R) 52, upper and lower top plates 53, and bottom plates 54. The side plates (L) 51 and the side plates (R) 52 are provided. Have U-shaped rails 55 ... Welded at equal intervals in the vertical direction so that their opening sides face each other, and width fixing screws 56 are welded to the top and bottom rails 55. On the other hand, long holes 57 are formed in the top plate 53 and the bottom plate 54, respectively, and the side plate (L) 51 and the side plate (R) 52 are fixed with nuts 58 through the width fixing screws 56 through the respective long holes 57. There is. Further, positioning holes 59 are formed at both ends of the bottom plate 54, and this is for restricting the installation position when the magazine unit 50 is installed on the magazine set table described later.

Here, when assembling the magazine unit 50, the side plate (L) 51 and the side plate (R) 52 are moved in the elongated holes 57 based on the width of the tray 60 inserted between the left and right rails 55. It is necessary to adjust the positions of the side plate (L) 51 and the side plate (R) 52 as shown in FIG. That is, the tray accommodation width L of the magazine unit 50 is adjusted to be slightly larger (about 1 mm) than the width of the tray 60 to be used, and the positions of the side plate (L) 51 and the side plate (R) 52 at that time are adjusted. Should be evenly distributed to the left and right, that is, to be divided into 1 / 2L by the center line of the magazine unit 50 in the width direction. This is because the tray 60 to be set is positioned at the center of the magazine unit 20. The reason for this is that if the tray 60 is set to the left or right side, the tray 60 will actually be moved to the transport rail. This is because the tray 60 is caught on the tip portion of the guide rail 70 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) when it is delivered onto 66 (see FIGS. 7 and 8), and is not delivered smoothly.

Next, a tray transfer device for transferring the trays 60 accommodated in the magazine unit 50 will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, the magazine set base 61 is arranged so that it can be raised and lowered by an elevator 62 through an elevator hole 63. Positioning pins 64 and magazine retainers 65 are attached to both sides of the magazine set base 61, respectively. On the other hand, reference numeral 66 in the drawing denotes a carrying rail, and the leading end portion of the carrying rail 66 faces above the lower plate of the magazine setting table 61. A detection sensor 67 is provided on the upper surface of the tip of the transport rail 66, and a transport belt 68 is wound around both ends of the detection sensor 67. The tension of the conveyor belt 68 can be adjusted with a pulley 69. A width-adjustable guide rail 70 is provided on both sides of the transport rail 66, which guides the tray from the side so that the tray does not tilt or come off the transport belt 68 during transport. It is for doing.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state where the magazine unit 50 is installed in the tray transfer device. In the figure, the installation position of the magazine unit 50 is regulated by fitting the positioning hole 59 of the magazine unit 50 with the positioning pin 64 of the magazine set base 61. Due to this position regulation, the center of the magazine unit 50 in the width direction is arranged on the same line as the center of the guide rail 70 in the width direction. Further, in this installed state, the bottom plate 54 of the magazine unit 50 is pressed by the magazine presser 65 with a predetermined pressure.

Next, how the tray 60 accommodated in the magazine unit 50 is sent out onto the carrying rail 66 will be described based on the operation procedure of the entire apparatus. First, when an operation switch (not shown) is turned on, the elevator 62 is driven to start lowering the magazine unit 50. When the tray 60 set at the bottom reaches a predetermined height, the detection sensor 67 detects the presence or absence of the tray 60, and the height position of the detected tray 60 is determined by a positioning sensor (not shown). Finely adjusted based on the output signal of. Due to this fine adjustment, the bottom of the tray 60 is moved from the rail 55. It is placed on the conveyor belt 68 while being floated by 5 to 1 mm. When the tray 60 is placed on the conveyor belt 68 in this way, as a next step, the belt conveyor motor (not shown) is driven to start moving the conveyor belt 68 in the arrow direction, whereby the tray 60 is moved onto the conveyor rail 66. Is sent out.

[0007]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in a normal production line or the like, the type of work supplied may change, and if the type of work changes, it is necessary to change the size of the tray to be used accordingly. In such a case, in the above-described conventional device configuration, the position of each side plate of the magazine unit must be adjusted each time as shown in FIG. 6, and the adjustment is very troublesome to perform manually. However, there is a problem that it takes a lot of time to change the setup.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tray positioning device capable of positioning a tray accommodated in a magazine unit at a predetermined position of the magazine unit. To do.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The tray positioning device of the present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, positions a vertically movable magazine unit in a central space, and stores a plurality of trays accommodated in each stage of the magazine unit. This is a device for sequentially positioning the magazine unit at a predetermined position, and in the configuration, a pair of movable plates are arranged oppositely to the central part of the magazine unit by a guide means, and a magazine is mounted on each movable plate. Mounted so as to project to the unit side, enter the magazine unit through the opening window provided on the side surface of the magazine unit to position the tray. A pair of guide plates and each movable plate are engaged and A drive mechanism that moves both movable plates forward and backward by the same distance with respect to the center of the magazine unit, and a drive mechanism that drives the drive mechanism based on the width of the tray. It is made of a control unit for controlling.

[0010]

[Action]

 In the tray positioning device of the present invention, a pair of movable plates arranged to face each other and a pair of guide plates attached to each movable plate are arranged in the central space of the device by the driving operation of the driving mechanism. Move forward and backward by the same distance to the center of the unit. In addition, when moving forward and backward, both guide plates enter through an opening window provided on the side surface of the magazine unit, and the trays accommodated in the magazine unit are positioned by sandwiching them from both sides. Regardless of the size of the tray, the tray will always be placed in a predetermined position with respect to the magazine unit.

[0011]

【Example】

 FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the tray positioning device of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a pair of movable plates arranged to face each other with a central space V in between, and a pair of rectangular guide plates 2 project on the upper end surface of each movable plate 1 toward the central space V side. Is installed as. Further, slide bushes 3 are fitted on both sides of each movable plate 1, and both movable plates 1 serve as guide means for the two guide shafts 5 which are bridged between the side plates 4a and 4b. It is movably supported by fitting the slide bush 3 to.

Next, a drive mechanism for moving the movable plates 1 back and forth with respect to the magazine unit 20 (see FIG. 2) arranged in the central space V will be described. In the figure, 6a and 6b are male screws having the same pitch and pitch circle, but these are abutted so that the threading directions are opposite to each other, and are connected by a coupling 7. The male screws 6a and 6b are respectively screwed into nuts 8 incorporated in the movable plate 1, and one end of the male screw 6a is rotatably attached to a bearing 9 incorporated in the side plate 4a. The end of the other male screw 6b which is supported is connected to the motor shaft of the stepping motor 10 fixed to the side surface of the side plate 4b via a coupling 11. Therefore, when the stepping motor 10 is driven, the male screws 6a and 6b rotate, and the movable plate 1 is arranged in the central space V according to the rotation direction of the male screws 6a and 6b. Against, move forward and backward by the same distance.

In the structure of the drive mechanism described above, the male screws 6a and 6b are butted so that the threading directions are opposite to each other and connected by the coupling 7. However, this is because the movable plates 1 are arranged at the same distance. This is a means for moving the back and forth, and other than this, for example, by incorporating nuts having different screw cutting directions into each movable plate 1 and screwing one male screw into the nuts, the same operation is performed. It is possible to

Next, the control unit that controls the drive operation of the drive mechanism will be described. In this control unit (not shown), the wiring drawn from the stepping motor 10 is connected, and the driving operation of the stepping motor 10 is controlled by a pulse signal sent from the control unit through the wiring. In addition, the control unit stores, for example, the amount of advance of the movable plate 1 corresponding to the size of each tray, and the operator selects a pushbutton switch or the like according to the size of the tray actually used. Can be set with. Further, an origin sensor 13 for detecting the origin position of the movable plate 1 and limit sensors 14a, 14b for limiting the moving range of the movable plate 1 are electrically connected to the control unit. Each of these sensors is an optical sensor, and is switched on and off by being shielded from light by the tip portions of the light shielding plates 15a and 15b attached to the side end surface of the movable plate 1.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the magazine unit in this embodiment. As shown, the magazine unit 20 is composed of left and right side plates (L) 21, side plates (R) 22, upper and lower top plates 23, and a bottom plate 24. The side plates (L) 21 and side plates (R) An opening window 25 is opened in each of 22. Two handles 26 are attached to the upper surface of the top plate 23, and positioning holes 27 are formed on both sides of the bottom plate 24. On the other hand, the side plate (L) 21 and the side plate (R) 22 are welded with auxiliary plates 28 in which grooves are cut at equal intervals in the vertical direction. A tray is set in each groove of the auxiliary plates 28. A middle plate 29 for fitting is fitted. Further, the middle plate 29 is formed with a concave notch portion 29a, which is for avoiding contact with the leading end of the transport rail 66 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the tray centering device of this embodiment is incorporated in the tray transport device. In the figure, the center of the interval between the movable plates 1 arranged opposite to each other is arranged to be on the same line as the center of the guide rail 70 in the width direction. Since the tray transporting device in the figure is the same as that of the conventional example, the same reference numerals are given to the respective constituent members in this embodiment, and the duplicate description will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the magazine unit 20 is installed in the installation state of FIG. In the figure, the installation position of the magazine unit 20 is regulated by fitting the positioning hole 27 of the magazine unit 20 into the positioning pin 63 of the tray transfer device. Due to this position regulation, the center of the magazine unit 20 in the width direction is located on the same line as the center of the guide rail 70 in the width direction.

Next, the operation of the tray positioning apparatus of this embodiment will be described based on the operation procedure of the entire apparatus thus configured. First, when a start switch (not shown) is turned on, the tray 60 is lifted by 0.5 to 1 mm from the middle plate 29 by a predetermined operation (see the conventional example) on the conveyor belt 66. Placed on.

When the tray 60 is placed on the conveyor belt 66, as a next step, the stepping motor 10 of the tray positioning device is started, and the movable plate 1 advances toward the magazine unit 20 accordingly. With the advance of the movable plate 1, the guide plate 2 attached to the movable plate 1 enters the magazine unit 20 through the opening window 25 provided on the side surface of the magazine unit 20, and the tray on the conveyor belt 66. 60 is sandwiched from both sides, and in this case, it is positioned at the center of the magazine unit 20. At this time, the driving operation of the stepping motor 10 is controlled by a pulse signal sent from the control unit, and when the advance amount of the guide plate 2 reaches a predetermined amount, that is, the tray 60 is positioned at the central portion of the magazine unit 20. At that time, the rotation of the stepping motor 10 is reversed, so that the movable plate 1 starts to retreat. Then, the backward movement of the movable plate 1 is continued until the light shielding plate 15b attached to the movable plate 1 shields the origin sensor 13 from light.

When the backward movement of the movable plate 1 is completed, in a further next step, a belt transport motor (not shown) is driven and the transport belt 67 starts moving in the direction of the arrow, whereby the tray 60 is moved to the guide rail 70. It is smoothly sent out onto the transport rail 66 without being caught by the tip of the. After that, the series of operations described so far is repeated, the trays 60 in the magazine unit 20 are successively sent out onto the transport rail 66, and when the sending out of the predetermined number of trays 60 is completed, the magazine set table is completed. 61 moves up, and the magazine unit 20 is returned to the height position before the start of operation.

As described above, according to the operation of the tray positioning apparatus according to the present embodiment, which is adapted to the elevating operation of the magazine unit 20, the plurality of trays 60 accommodated in the respective stages of the magazine unit 20 are sequentially transferred to the magazine unit. It can be positioned at 20 predetermined positions. Further, when the width of the tray to be used changes, it is only necessary to change the setting of the advancing amount of the movable plate 1 in the control unit, so that the setup change time can be shortened.

Although the guide shaft 5 is used as the guide means for the movable plate 1 in the above description of the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the movable plate 1 is movably supported by, for example, a rail. It may be one. Further, in the tray positioning apparatus of the present embodiment, the amount of advance of the movable plate 1 with respect to the magazine unit 20 is defined by the operator appropriately setting it from among the values stored in the control section. Not limited to this, for example, by utilizing the occurrence of overload (stepping out of the stepping motor 10) caused by the guide plate 2 sandwiching the tray 60, the rotation of the stepping motor 10 is reversed when the overload occurs, It is also possible to define the amount of advance of the movable plate 1.

[0023]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the tray positioning device of the present invention, the trays accommodated in the magazine unit can be positioned at the predetermined position of the magazine unit. Also, even if the width of the tray to be used changes, it is only necessary to change the setting of the moving amount of the movable plate in the control section, and it is not necessary to adjust the tray storage width of the magazine unit each time, so you can change the setup. The time required can be greatly shortened, and productivity can be expected to increase accordingly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a tray positioning device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a magazine unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the tray positioning device of FIG. 1 is installed in a tray transfer device.

4 is a perspective view showing a state where the magazine unit of FIG. 2 is installed in the state of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional magazine unit.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a conventional magazine unit.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a tray transfer device.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state where a conventional magazine unit is installed in the tray transport device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 movable plate 2 guide plate 5 guide shaft 6a, 6b male screw 10 stepping motor

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A tray positioning device that positions a vertically movable magazine unit in a central space and sequentially positions a plurality of trays accommodated in each stage of the magazine unit at predetermined positions of the magazine unit. And a pair of movable plates that are arranged to face the central portion of the magazine unit by guide means so as to be able to move forward and backward, and are mounted on each of the movable plates so as to project toward the magazine unit side. A pair of guide plates for positioning the tray by entering the magazine unit through an opening window provided on the side surface of the unit, and the movable plates engaged with each other, and the both movable plates are placed at the central portion of the magazine unit. A drive mechanism that moves forward and backward by the same distance, and a control that controls the drive operation of the drive mechanism based on the width of the tray Tray positioning apparatus characterized by comprising a.