JPH07156576A - Signature feeding robot hand - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] The signatures are clamped from the front and rear ends of a group of standing stacking signatures that are sequentially stacked horizontally in a standing posture, and are supplied (supplied) to the signature storage section of the feeder section of the binding machine. The purpose of the present invention is to prevent the signature supply robot hand from hanging down in the middle of the clamped stacking signatures due to the weight of the signatures or dropping the signatures from the clamping means. [Structure] A movable support plate 4 which can be slidably driven along a main guide shaft 3 axially supported by a robot hand body frame F, and is mounted and fixed on the robot hand body frame F side so as to face the movable support plate 4. In a signature supply robot hand which is provided with a fixed support plate 5, and which transports the signature group P by sandwiching the signature group P between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5, the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5 One or more intermediate support plates 8 which are freely movable in parallel with the direction of the main guide shaft 3 are provided between them.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a signature supply device for supplying a signature group in a batch manner to a signature storage section of a feeder section of a bookbinding machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A bookbinding machine supplies signatures one by one to an endless gathering chain, a conveyer, or other gathering section for collating them in order, further collating the cover sheets as appropriate, and then binding the back section. For binding books and magazines, the bookbinding machine is provided with a feeder unit for feeding the signatures to the collating unit one by one, and a signature storing unit in the feeder unit.

Conventionally, the replenishment of signatures to the signature storage section in the feeder section of the bookbinding machine has been performed manually or by a manual supply method in which a predetermined number of signatures are collectively collected and held in the storage section. An automatic continuous feeding system that feeds the signatures to the storage unit while continuously transporting the signatures one by one with a transport loader, etc., a robot hand that holds the signatures by a pair of open / close support plates (supporting forks) facing each other. There is an automatic supply system using an automatic clamp supply device that clamps and supplies a plurality of stacking signatures that are gathered together by the sandwiching means (clamping means) from both sides. The automatic feeding method is suitable as a signature feeding method in terms of work efficiency and labor saving.

When the automatic clamp supply device is used for automatically replenishing the signatures in the signature storage section of the feeder section of the bookbinding machine, the larger the number of signatures to be clamped by one clamping operation, the more time is required. It is economical because the transport amount of the sheet is increased and the amount of reciprocating operation in the clamp operation of the automatic clamp supply device is small.

[0005]

Generally, signatures are stacked in a horizontal posture in a vertical direction, or in a standing posture in a horizontal direction by stacking a plurality of folded signature groups. As the number of copies increases, the compression ratio in the stacking direction increases. Therefore, in the above-described automatic clamp supply device, when the number of signature pinching portions by the clamping means is increased, the compression ratio increases, and the clamp movement distance (clamping distance between the clamping operation and the clamping release operation of the clamping means (clamping) is increased. It is necessary to increase the opening and closing amount), and the signatures in the middle of the clamped stack of signatures are hung down due to the dead weight of the signatures, or the signatures fall off from the clamping means during clamp transportation. Easier to do.

According to the present invention, a group of standing stacking signatures, which are stacks of signatures in a standing posture in the lateral direction, are sandwiched from both the front end and the rear end, and are supplied (supplied to the signature storage section of the feeder section of the bookbinding machine). ) The signature supply robot hand is designed to prevent the signatures from hanging down due to their own weight in the middle of the clamped stacking signatures or from falling off from the clamp means during clamp transportation. is there.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a movable support plate 4 which can be slidably driven along a main guide shaft 3 axially supported by a robot hand body frame F, and a movable support plate 4 facing the movable support plate 4 are provided. In a signature supply robot hand, which is provided with a fixed support plate 5 attached and fixed to the robot hand main body frame F side, and a signature group P is sandwiched between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5 to be transported and supplied, The signature feeding robot hand is characterized in that one or more intermediate support plates 8 which are freely movable parallel to the main guide shaft 3 are provided between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5.

The present invention is also the above-described signature feeding robot hand, wherein the intermediate support plate 8 is provided so as to be freely movable along the main guide shaft 3.

According to the present invention, in the signature feeding robot hand, one end of the intermediate support plate 8 is fixed to the fixed support plate 5 in parallel with the main guide shaft 3 and the other end of the movable support plate 4 is fixed. The signature supply robot hand is provided so as to be freely movable along the sub guide shaft 7 fitted in the hole portion 4a.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The signature supply robot hand of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 is a side view of the robot hand, FIG. 2 is a left front view of the robot hand, and FIG. 3 is a top view of the robot hand. A pair of front and rear facing brackets 1 and 2 are provided below the robot hand body frame F. The main guide shaft 3 is horizontally fixed to the brackets 1 and 2, and a movable support plate 4 is provided so as to be slidably movable orthogonally to the main guide shaft 3, and the movable guide plate 4 is orthogonal to the main guide shaft 3. A fixed support plate 5 is provided to face the movable support plate 4, and an air cylinder 6a for drivingly moving the movable support plate 4 is provided on the fixed support plate 5.
One or more intermediate support plates 8 are provided so as to be freely movable orthogonal to the main guide shaft 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the robot hand body frame F can be freely moved by an electric motor, an air cylinder or the like in any of the vertical direction, the horizontal direction, the vertical direction, or the vertical and horizontal directions. It is properly attached and fixed to the drive arm A and is also rotatably attached and fixed. The structure of the robot hand body frame F is, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, two parallel horizontal frame plates F ₁ and F ₁ and both frame plates F ₁ and F ₁ (not shown). Is fixed to both frame plates F ₁ and F ₁ (end faces of both ends), and is 2 in a direction orthogonal to the frame F ₁ .
It is composed of parallel horizontal frame plates F ₂ and F ₂ . In the present invention, the structure of the robot hand main body frame F is not limited to the above, and an appropriate structure can be adopted.

At the bottom of the robot hand body F, a pair of front and rear brackets 1 and 2 facing each other are provided.
The main guide shaft 3 is attached and fixed to the brackets 1 and 2. The main guide shaft 3 may be one, but in the above embodiment, a pair of two is provided in parallel as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

A movable support plate 4 is slidably mounted on the main guide shaft 3 in a direction orthogonal to the shaft 3, with one end side of the support plate 4 facing downward. A fixed support plate 5 is attached to the guide shaft 3 so as to face the movable support plate 4 with one end side of the support plate 4 facing downward by screwing or the like. 5
Reference numeral a is a fixing bracket attached to the fixed support plate 5.
The movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5 are attached in parallel to each other (or in a slightly non-parallel state in which the lower ends of the support plates 4 and 5 approach each other). The fixed support plate 5 includes
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the air cylinder 6 is attached and fixed, the movable support plate 4 is attached to the distal end portion of the operating rod 6a, and the operating rod 6a of the air cylinder 6 is moved by expansion and contraction by controlling the air amount. The support plate 4 opens and closes (separates and approaches) with respect to the fixed support plate 5 along the main guide shaft 3. The movable support plate 4 is provided with a cutout portion 4b cut out from its lower end portion, and the fixed support plate 5 is provided with a cutout portion 5b cut out from its lower end portion, and has a comb blade shape. The notch portions 4b and 5b are used to insert a signature bucket or a support plate of a mounting table for holding the front and rear ends of the signature group P when the signature supply robot hand holds the notches. .

Between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5,
An appropriate number of intermediate support plates 8 are attached to the main guide shaft 3 so as to be freely movable in a direction orthogonal to the shaft 3.

The intermediate support plate 8 can be manually slid along the main guide shaft 3. Or
A ball bearing or the like is interposed in the sliding portion between the main guide shaft 3 and the through hole 8a provided in the intermediate support plate 8 through which the shaft 3 is inserted, and the intermediate support plate 8 is inserted through the ball bearing. The intermediate support plate 8 may be moved with a light force by making it movable along the main guide shaft 3. An appropriate spring (spiral spring) is provided on the main guide shaft 3 between the movable support plate 4 and the intermediate support plate 8, between the fixed support plate 5 and the intermediate support plate 8, and between the intermediate support plates 8 and 8. It is possible to prevent the intermediate support plate 8 from freely moving along the main guide shaft 3 for a predetermined distance or more by inserting and loosely fitting).

It is suitable to install one or two intermediate support plates 8, but an appropriate number can be installed if necessary. As shown in the side view of FIG. 1, the lower end portion of the intermediate support plate 8 is formed in a tapered shape, a rounded corner shape, a hemispherical shape, a semi-cylindrical shape, or the like. It should be noted that the intermediate support plate 8 may also be provided with a cutout portion cut out from the lower end portion similarly to the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5.
It is not always necessary to cut out.

Next, the signature supply robot hand of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to another embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 is a side view of the robot hand, FIG. 2 is a left front view of the robot hand, and FIG. 6 is a top view of the robot hand. Below the robot hand body frame F, a pair of front and rear brackets 1 and 2 are provided. The main guide shaft 3 is horizontally fixed to the brackets 1 and 2, and a movable support plate 4 is provided so as to be slidably movable orthogonally to the main guide shaft 3, and the movable guide plate 4 is orthogonal to the main guide shaft 3. A fixed support plate 5 is provided to face the movable support plate 4, an air cylinder 6a for driving and moving the movable support plate 4 is provided on the fixed support plate 5, and a sub guide shaft 7 horizontal to the fixed support plate 5 is provided.
One end side of which is attached and fixed, and the other end side of the sub guide shaft 7 is fitted and inserted into the hole portion 4a of the movable support plate 4, and one or more intermediate support plates 8 orthogonal to the sub guide shaft 7 are provided. Is provided so that it can move freely.

As shown in FIG. 4, the robot hand body frame F can be freely moved by an electric motor, an air cylinder or the like in any of the vertical direction, the horizontal direction, the vertical direction, or the vertical and horizontal directions. It is properly attached and fixed to the drive arm A and is also rotatably attached and fixed. The structure of the robot hand body frame F is, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, two parallel horizontal frame plates F ₁ and F ₁ and both frame plates F ₁ and F ₁ (not shown). Is fixed to both frame plates F ₁ and F ₁ (end faces of both ends), and is 2 in a direction orthogonal to the frame F ₁ .
It is composed of parallel horizontal frame plates F ₂ and F ₂ . In the present invention, the structure of the robot hand main body frame F is not limited to the above, and an appropriate structure can be adopted.

At the lower part of the robot hand body F, a pair of front and rear brackets 1 and 2 facing each other are provided.
The main guide shaft 3 is attached and fixed to the brackets 1 and 2. The main guide shaft 3 may be one, but in the other embodiments described above,
As shown in FIG. 6, two pairs are provided in parallel.

A movable support plate 4 is slidably mounted on the main guide shaft 3 in a direction orthogonal to the shaft 3 with one end side of the support plate 4 facing downward. A fixed support plate 5 is attached to the guide shaft 3 so as to face the movable support plate 4 with one end side of the support plate 4 facing downward by screwing or the like. 5
Reference numeral a is a fixing bracket attached to the fixed support plate 5.
The movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5 are attached in parallel to each other (or in a slightly non-parallel state in which the lower ends of the support plates 4 and 5 approach each other). The fixed support plate 5 includes
As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the air cylinder 6 is attached and fixed, the movable support plate 4 is attached to the tip end of the operating rod 6a, and the operating rod 6a of the air cylinder 6 is moved by the expansion and contraction operation by controlling the air amount. The support plate 4 opens and closes (separates and approaches) with respect to the fixed support plate 5 along the main guide shaft 3. The movable support plate 4 is provided with a cutout portion 4b cut out from its lower end portion, and the fixed support plate 5 is provided with a cutout portion 5b cut out from its lower end portion, and has a comb blade shape. The notch portions 4b and 5b are used to insert a signature bucket or a support plate of a mounting table for holding the front and rear ends of the signature group P when the signature supply robot hand holds the notches. .

Between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5,
Sub guide shaft 7 parallel to the main guide shaft 3
Is provided, one end of the shaft 7 is attached and fixed to the fixed support plate 5, and the other end is fitted and inserted in the through hole 4 a of the movable support plate 4. An appropriate number of intermediate support plates 8 are attached to the sub-guide shaft 7 so as to be freely movable in a direction orthogonal to the shaft 7.

The intermediate support plate 8 can be manually slid along the sub guide shaft 7. Alternatively, a ball bearing or the like is interposed in the sliding portion between the sub-guide shaft 7 and the through hole 8a provided in the intermediate support plate 8 through which the shaft 7 is inserted, and the intermediate support plate 8 is inserted through the ball bearing. The intermediate support plate 8 may be moved with a light force by allowing the intermediate support plate 8 to move along the sub guide shaft 7. The movable support plate 4 and the intermediate support plate 8
Between the fixed support plate 5 and the intermediate support plate 8, and between the intermediate support plates 8 and 8, a spring (spiral spring) is appropriately inserted and loosely attached to the sub-guide shaft 7 to provide the intermediate support. It is possible that the plate 8 does not move freely along the sub guide shaft 7 for a predetermined distance or more.

It is appropriate to install one or two intermediate support plates 8, but an appropriate number of intermediate support plates 8 can be installed. Further, as shown in the side view of FIG. 4, the lower end portion of the intermediate support plate 8 is formed in a tapered shape, a rounded corner shape, a hemispherical shape, a semi-cylindrical shape or the like. It should be noted that the intermediate support plate 8 may also be provided with a cutout portion cut out from the lower end portion similarly to the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5.
It is not always necessary to cut out.

Next, using the signature supply robot hand of the present invention, the signature group P, which has been stacked in the lateral direction, is sandwiched in a standing posture prepared in advance as shown in FIG. 1 or 4.
A description will be given of an example of use in the case of appropriately supplying to another place such as a feeder of a bookbinding machine.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the drive arm A of the signature feeding robot is moved to preliminarily stack signatures p in a standing posture in the lateral direction in advance. The signature group P is stacked in a standing position in a horizontal direction in a signature bucket) or on a signature mount, and the front and rear ends of the signature group P are appropriately supported by a support plate (not shown). The signature supply robot hand attached to the drive arm A is positioned on the upper side of the signature group P which is held by holding it in the upright stacking state. Subsequently, the air cylinder 6 of the signature feeding robot hand in FIG. 4 is operated to move the movable support plate 4 of the signature feeding robot hand so that the facing interval with the fixed support plate 5 is set to the lateral side of the signature group P. Open more than the accumulated length in the direction. Subsequently, the intermediate support plate 8 is arranged along the main guide shaft 3 in one embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and along the sub guide shaft 7 in another embodiment shown in FIG.
It is manually moved (manually moved), and is moved and stopped at a position where the facing interval between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5 is roughly equally divided. The intermediate support plate 8 does not necessarily have to be set at equal positions, and may be moved to an appropriate position between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5 according to need.

Subsequently, the signature feeding robot hand is moved downward from the upper side of the signature group P to move the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5.
Load the signature group P between and. At that time, the intermediate support plate 8
The tip (tapered) is divided is inserted into the middle of Orihinotogun P to signature group P ₁ of the two-compartment or more small sections. Then, the movable support plate 4 is moved to the fixed support plate 5 side by the air / air cylinder 6 to sandwich the signature group P between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5 as shown in FIG. , The small group of signatures P ₁ and the movable support plate 4 and the intermediate support plate 8
, The intermediate support plate 8 and the intermediate support plate 8, the intermediate support plate 8 and the fixed support plate 5, and the like. After sandwiching the signature group P by the signature supply robot hand in this way, the drive arm A of the robot hand is moved upward, and the signature supply robot hand integrated with the drive arm A is moved above the signature bucket or the mounting table. It is moved up and transferred to the feeder side of the bookbinding machine as needed.

[0027]

According to the present invention, the movable supporting plate 4 which can be driven and slidably moved along the main guide shaft 3 axially supported by the robot hand main body frame F, and the robot hand main body frame F side facing the movable supporting plate 4. And a fixed support plate 5 fixedly attached to the movable support plate 4 and the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5 are sandwiched between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5 for feeding and feeding. The movable support plate 4 is provided with one or more intermediate support plates 8 which are freely movable between the support plate 5 and the main guide shaft 3 in parallel.
Since the intermediate support plate 8 is provided between the fixed support plate 5 and the fixed support plate 5, the intermediate support plate 8 assists the own weight of the signature group P when the signature group P is sandwiched. It can be clamped and held, and the whole of the signature group P can be reliably clamped and lifted and fed over both ends and the middle.

[0028]

According to the signature feeding robot hand of the present invention, even if the compression ratio of the signature group in the stacking direction is large and the number of the stacking signatures to be sandwiched at one time is large, the intermediate support plate is provided. Since it exists, the whole stack can be clamped evenly from both ends of the clamped stack of signatures in the middle, and it is possible to avoid sagging due to the dead weight of the signatures in the middle of the signature group. It becomes difficult for the signature to fall out of the clamping means, and when feeding and feeding the signature group by the automatic clamp feeder, a reliable clamping operation can be performed without dropping the signature group, and the signature can be clamped once. The number of copies can be set more than before, and there is an effect that the signature group can be conveyed and supplied efficiently and economically.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a signature supply robot hand according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a left front view of the signature supply robot hand according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a signature supply robot hand according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a signature supply robot hand according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a left front view of a signature supply robot hand according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a signature supply robot hand according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

A ... Robot arm drive arm F ... Robot hand body frame 1, 2 ... Bracket 3 ... Main guide shaft 4 ...
Movable support plate 5 ... Fixed support plate 6 ... Air cylinder 7 ... Sub guide shaft 8 ... Intermediate support plate P ... Signature group

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hajime Takano 2-7-3 Kukuchinishimachi, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture Fukuishi Giken Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A movable support plate 4 which can be slidably driven along a main guide shaft 3 pivotally supported by a robot hand body frame F, and is mounted on the robot hand body frame F side so as to face the movable support plate 4. A fixed fixed support plate 5 is provided, and a group of signatures P is provided between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5.
In the signature feeding robot hand that sandwiches and conveys the paper, one or more intermediate support plates 8 that are freely movable in parallel with the main guide shaft 3 are provided between the movable support plate 4 and the fixed support plate 5. A signature supply robot hand that is characterized by 2. The signature feeding robot hand according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate support plate 8 is provided so as to be freely movable along the main guide shaft 3. 3. A sub-guide shaft in which one end of the intermediate support plate 8 is fixedly mounted on the fixed support plate 5 in parallel with the main guide shaft 3 and the other end of the intermediate support plate 8 is fitted into the hole 4a of the movable support plate 4. The signature supply robot hand according to claim 1, wherein the signature supply robot hand is provided so as to be freely movable along 7.