JPH0938835A - Control method for part conveyance device and part supply head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To correctly position many kinds of parts of different sizes and shapes by mounting a pallet which has a wall forming a corner and is rotatably mounted on a pallet mounting plate such that it is inclined to the corner. SOLUTION: A same rectangular pallet 30 is rotatably mounted on a pallet mounting plate 20 such that it can be rotated about the diagonal line thereof. A first cylinder 41 is moved up to push up a contact part 34, thereby making the pallet 30 horizontal. If a part 60 is supplied to the pallet 30, the first cylinder 41 is lowered and the pallet 30 is inclined to a corner 30a thereof. When the pallet 30 is conveyed in a desired direction in this state, the part 60 on the pallet 30 is moved to the corner 30a along a slope by the vibration during conveyance and is put into contact with a wall forming the corner 30a to be positioned. The part 60 is conveyed to the assembling robot side 50 in the positioned state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a component carrying apparatus for placing a component and carrying it to an assembly robot or the like, and more particularly to a component carrying apparatus capable of positioning and carrying various kinds of parts having different sizes or shapes. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, assembling of electronic equipment and precision equipment is carried out by an automated line system in order to automate the work. In this automated line system, a component transfer device that transfers parts to an assembly robot is used, and as one of typical conventional component transfer devices, a plurality of pallets are attached to a conveyor at predetermined intervals,
There has been a configuration in which parts are placed on these pallets and sequentially transported to an assembly robot.

When the pallet is conveyed to the component take-out position by the component conveyer, the assembling robot takes out the component from the pallet by the supply head and assembles the equipment. Such a conventional parts conveying device has been mainly used for conveying parts which are difficult to be automatically aligned or parts which are easily deformed or damaged by stirring.

Here, since the take-out position of the part by the supply head is determined by the control program of the assembly robot, when the part is taken out from the pallet, the part is positioned at a predetermined position on the pallet. There must be. Therefore, in the conventional component transfer device, a recess or a pin corresponding to the outer shape of the component is provided on the mounting surface of the pallet, and the component is held by the recess or the pin to position the component on the pallet.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional component conveying apparatus, the component is positioned by forming the concave portion or the pin corresponding to the outer shape of the component on the placing surface of the pallet. Or, when transporting many types of parts with different shapes, etc., it is necessary to prepare multiple types of pallets corresponding to the types of these components. Also, multiple pallets had to be replaced manually.

For this reason, in the conventional parts conveying apparatus, it is very unsuitable as a conveying apparatus in a high-mix low-volume production system because it requires a great deal of time and money to replace a large number of pallets. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. It is possible to accurately position and convey many kinds of parts having different sizes or shapes with one kind of pallet, and to produce a wide variety of products in small quantities. It is an object of the present invention to provide a component transfer device that can efficiently perform the above, and a method of controlling a supply head when the component transfer device is used.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the component carrying device according to claim 1 is a component carrying device for carrying a component mounted on a pallet by means of a driving strip, wherein the driving strip is provided. A pallet mounting plate fixed at regular intervals, a pallet having a wall forming at least one corner, and rotatably mounted on the pallet mounting plate so as to incline toward the corner, The pallet is configured to include auxiliary driving means for leveling the pallet at a component supply position and / or a component unloading position.

According to this structure, the pallet is conveyed by the drive strip in a state of being inclined toward the corner. Then, when the pallet is conveyed to the component supply position, the auxiliary driving means operates to bring the pallet into a horizontal state, and the robot or the like supplies the component to the pallet.

When the parts are supplied to the pallet, the auxiliary drive means stops its operation, and the pallet is again inclined to the corner side. As a result, the electronic component on the pallet moves toward the corner portion side, and is positioned by contacting the wall portion forming the corner portion. Then, the movement is restarted in a state where the pallet is tilted, and the parts on the pallet are conveyed while being positioned.

After that, when the pallet is conveyed to the component mounting position, the auxiliary driving means operates to bring the pallet into a horizontal state, so that the component can be taken out by the supply head of the assembly robot or the like.

A method of controlling the supply head according to claim 2 is
A method of controlling a supply head for extracting a component from a component transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the supply head is based on a vertex position of a corner of the pallet and a distance from the vertex position to a center position of the component. Is calculated, and the position of the supply head is controlled when the parts are taken out from the pallet based on the calculation result.

According to such a method, the offset amount of the supply head is calculated based on the apex position of the corner of the pallet and the distance from the apex position to the center position of the component. The center of the supply head may be located at the center of the component. Therefore, the position control of the supply head at the time of taking out the component can be easily performed only by changing the movement amount of the supply head according to the offset amount.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a parts conveying apparatus and a supply head controlling method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, an embodiment of the component carrying device of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a component carrying device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the main part of the above-described component carrying device.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a conveyor, which is formed by a chain (driving member) 11 for conveying parts which is driven by engaging with sprockets (not shown) provided at both ends. As shown in FIG. 2, a coupling portion 11a is formed on the chain 11 at regular intervals.
Each coupling part 11a has a rectangular pallet mounting plate 2
0 is screwed, and a U-shaped first connecting body 21 is provided on a diagonal line on the surface of these pallet mounting plates 20.

On each pallet mounting plate 20, a rectangular pallet 30 which is the same as the pallet mounting plate 20 is mounted so as to be rotatable about its diagonal axis. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, an inverted U-shaped second connecting body 31 is provided on the diagonal line on the back surface of each pallet 30, and the second connecting body 31 has a torsion spring 32 interposed therebetween. Meanwhile, by overlapping the first connecting body 21 of the pallet mounting plate 20 and inserting the shaft 33 into the first connecting body 21, the second connecting body 31, and the torsion spring 32 to connect,
The pallet 30 is rotatable about a diagonal shaft 33. Further, each pallet 30 is always biased by the torsion spring 32 and is inclined toward the corner portion 30a.

Further, first and second cylinders (auxiliary driving means) 41, 42 are provided on the corner 30a side of each pallet 30.
And a contact portion 34 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first cylinder 41 is provided in the vicinity of the component supply position 10a of the conveyor 10, and when the pallet 30 is conveyed to the component supply position 10a, the first cylinder 41 ascends and comes into contact with the contact portion 34. To raise the pallet 30 to a horizontal state (see FIG. 3). On the other hand, the second cylinder 4
As shown in FIG. 1, the reference numeral 2 is provided in the vicinity of the component unloading position 10b of the conveyor 10, and when the pallet 30 is conveyed to the component unloading position 10b, the pallet 30 rises and pushes up the abutting portion 34 to horizontally move the pallet 30. (See FIG. 3).

The first cylinder 41 can be omitted if the parts used for assembly are such that they can be supplied onto the inclined pallet 30. Further, when the supply head of the assembly robot 50 can take out parts from the tilted pallet 30, the second cylinder 42 can be omitted.

The assembling robot 50 is arranged at a position corresponding to the component take-out position 10b of the conveyor 10.
The assembly robot 50 takes out the parts 60 from the pallet 30 that has been conveyed to the parts take-out position 10b, and assembles the parts 60 on a workbench (not shown).

Next, the operation of the component conveying apparatus having the above structure will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the empty pallet 30 to which the component 60 is not supplied is biased by the torsion spring 32 and is conveyed in a state of being inclined toward the corner portion 30a.

Then, the empty pallet 30 becomes the conveyor 1.
When transported to the component supply position 10a of 0, the conveyor 10
Stop, the first cylinder 41 rises to push up the contact portion 34, and the pallet 30 is brought into a horizontal state. Then, the parts 60 are supplied to the pallet 30 in the horizontal state by a robot or the like (not shown).

When the parts 60 are supplied to the pallet 30,
The first cylinder 41 descends, and the pallet 30 is again inclined to the corner portion 30a. Pallet 30 in this state
When the sheet is conveyed again, the component 60 on the pallet 30 moves toward the corner portion 30a along the inclination due to vibration during conveyance, and is positioned by contacting the wall portion forming the corner portion 30a. . After that, the component 60 is conveyed to the assembly robot 50 side while being positioned.

When the pallet 30 is conveyed to the component take-out position 10b of the conveyor 10, the conveyor 1
When 0 is stopped, the second cylinder 42 rises to push up the contact portion 34 and bring the pallet 30 into a horizontal state.
Then, the assembly robot 50 moves the supply head (not shown) to take out the component 60 from the pallet 10 in the horizontal state.

The operation of supplying the component 60 at the component supplying position 10a and the operation of taking out the component 60 at the component extracting position 10b are performed in synchronization with each other when the conveyor 10 is stopped.

Next, an embodiment of the method of controlling the supply head of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing the electronic components positioned on the pallet.

In FIG. 4, the assembly robot 50 has a distance (X ₀ , Y ₀ ) from the center position O of the pallet 30 to the vertex position A of the corner portion 30a and from the vertex position A to the center position B of the component 60. The distance (X _B , Y _B ) is previously input as data.

Then, the assembling robot 50 uses these (X
₀ , Y ₀ ) and (X _B , Y _B ), the offset amount (X ₀ −X _B , Y ₀ −Y _B ) of the supply head from the center position O of the pallet 30 is calculated. The position control of the supply head when the component 60 is taken out from the pallet 30 is performed based on the calculation result.

As a result, the assembly robot 50 moves the supply head to the center position B of the component 60 positioned on the pallet 30, picks up the central portion of the component 60, and takes out the component 60 from the pallet 30.

According to the component carrying apparatus of this embodiment having such a structure, the component 60 having any size and shape can be obtained.
However, since the pallet 30 can be always positioned at the corner portion 30a by tilting it, it is possible to accurately position many types of parts 60 having different sizes or shapes with one type of the pallet 30. High-mix low-volume production can be performed efficiently without replacement.

Further, when the parts 60 are supplied to the pallet 30 and when the parts 60 are taken out from the pallet 30, the pallet 30 is arranged in a horizontal state. Therefore, the parts 60 are supplied and assembled by the robot or the like. It is possible to easily and surely take out the component 60 by the robot 50.

Further, according to the method of controlling the supply head according to the present embodiment, the apex position A of the corner portion 30a of the pallet 30 and the distance from the apex position A to the central position B of the component 60 are used. Since the offset amount of the supply head is calculated, even if the type of parts to be transported is changed, if the dimensions of the parts are input in advance,
By simply designating the component, the take-out position of the component can be automatically set.

Even if the offset amount for each type of component is not input, it is possible to easily deal with the change of the type of the component 60 by designating this offset amount, and the supply at the time of taking out The position of the head can be easily controlled.

The component conveying apparatus and the supply head controlling method of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The component transfer device of the present invention can be applied to various parts, and in particular, it transfers electronic parts having lead portions around them, sheet metal parts such as leaf springs formed in a complicated shape, and parts having other easily deformable parts. Suitable for positioning. Here, when a component having a portion that is easily deformed is conveyed, the portion that is easily deformed is supplied in an orientation such that it does not contact the corner portion 30a of the pallet 30.

Further, in the above embodiment, the drive strip of the conveyor 10 is the chain 11, but it can be changed to a belt.

Further, in the above embodiment, the pallet 30 is used.
Although the wall portions are formed on all four sides, the wall portions may be formed on only two sides forming the corner portion 30a. The term “wall portion” as used herein is a generic term for those capable of positioning components, and also includes protrusions and the like.

Further, the auxiliary driving means for horizontally placing the pallet 30 at the component supply position 10a and the component unloading position 10b is not limited to the first and second cylinders 41 and 42, and the following modifications can be considered. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to form an abutting portion 35 (broken line portion in the drawing) on the opposite side of the pallet 30 and adsorb the abutting portion 35 by a solenoid to bring the pallet 30 into a horizontal state. Further, a pressing portion is formed on the supply head of the assembly robot 50,
The pressing portion may press the contact portion 35 to bring the pallet 30 into a horizontal state.

Further, the pallet 30 is located at the component supply position 10
When passing a and the component take-out position 10b, the contact portion 34
It is also possible to provide a cam that abuts on the pallet 30 and keeps the pallet 30 horizontal for a certain period. With such a configuration, it is possible to supply and take out components while continuously operating the conveyor 10.

[0039]

As described above, according to the component transfer apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to accurately position a large number of electronic components having different sizes or shapes with one type of pallet, and to produce a wide variety of products in small quantities. It can be done efficiently.

Further, according to the supply head control method of the present invention, the position control of the supply head at the time of taking out the component 60 can be easily performed only by designating the offset amount calculated by this method.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a component carrying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of the component transfer device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an operation of a pallet of the component transfer device.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing components positioned on the pallet.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Conveyor 10a Parts supply position 10b Parts extraction position 11 Chain (driving body) 11a Coupling part 20 Pallet mounting plate 21 First connection body 30 Pallet 30a Corner part 31 Second connection body 32 Torsion spring 33 Shafts 34, 35 Contact part 41 first cylinder (auxiliary driving means) 42 second cylinder (auxiliary driving means) 50 assembly robot 60 parts

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A component transporting device for transporting a component placed on a pallet by a drive strip, wherein a pallet mounting plate fixed to the drive strip at a constant interval, and a wall forming at least one corner. With
A pallet rotatably attached to the pallet attachment plate so as to incline toward the corner portion; and an auxiliary drive means for leveling the pallet at a component supply position and / or a component removal position. Characteristic parts transfer device. 2. A method of controlling a supply head for taking out a component from the component transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a vertex position of a corner of the pallet and a distance from the vertex position to a center position of the component are provided. A method of controlling the supply head, wherein an offset amount of the supply head is calculated based on the calculation, and the position of the supply head when the parts are taken out from the pallet is controlled based on the calculation result.