HK1256025B - Article supply method and device - Google Patents

Description

Article supply method and apparatus

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for conveying and supplying small articles.

Background

In order to transport and supply minute articles such as various electronic parts, a so-called bulk feeder (bulk feeder) is used. For example, patent document 1 describes a bulk feeder in which a rectangular chip randomly housed in a cassette is fed into a passage (transport path), and the chip is transported by vacuum suction to the front end side (downstream side) of the passage. The chips arriving at the front end of the passage are, for example, sucked by the pick-up nozzle and sequentially taken out.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. Hei 10-294597

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, according to the studies of the present inventors, it has been clarified that the problem in the conventional bulk feeder is the increase in the feeding speed. If the time interval (pitch) between the takeout of the pickup nozzles is shortened, the probability of failure in the takeout of the conveyed object increases. This is because the speed of conveyance itself is not slow, but the conveyance object to be taken out from the downstream end of the conveyance path interferes with the subsequent conveyance object. That is, it has been known that the conveyed objects conveyed in line on the conveying path arrive at the downstream end in series without a gap, and when the leading one is taken out, the next conveyed object is caught to hinder the taking out.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an article supply method and apparatus capable of conveying and supplying small articles at high speed.

Means for solving the problems

The article supply method of the present invention uses a movable block capable of reciprocating between a 1 st position and a 2 nd position. And, includes the steps of: a step of introducing a conveyed object into a receiving portion formed in the movable block when the movable block is located at the 1 st position; an outward path step of pressing the movable block by applying pressure for a predetermined time from the 1 st position side of the movable area while performing vacuum suction from the 2 nd position side of the movable area of the movable block, and then continuing vacuum suction from the 2 nd position side to move the movable block to the 2 nd position; discharging the conveyed object from the storage section when the movable block is located at the 2 nd position; and a returning step of moving the movable block to the 1 st position by vacuum suction from the 1 st position side.

Preferably, the step of returning is as follows: the movable block is pushed by being pressurized for a predetermined time from the 2 nd position side of the movable area while being vacuum-sucked from the 1 st position side of the movable area of the movable block, and then the vacuum suction is continued from the 1 st position side to move the movable block to the 1 st position.

The article supply device of the present invention includes: a conveying unit for conveying the conveyed object; a movable block that can reciprocate between a 1 st position and a 2 nd position in a direction intersecting a conveying direction of the conveyed object by the conveying unit; a 1 st compression/decompression unit provided at an end portion of the movable block on the 1 st position side in a movable region; and a 2 nd pressurization and depressurization portion provided at an end portion on the 2 nd position side of the movable region of the movable block. The movable block includes a receiving portion capable of receiving one of the objects to be conveyed, and the receiving portion communicates with a downstream end of the conveying portion to receive the object to be conveyed in the 1 st position. The 1 st and 2 nd pressurization/depressurization units can independently control the pressurization time or the depressurization time, respectively.

Preferably, the housing portion includes an opening of a vent portion communicating with the 2 nd pressurizing/depressurizing portion on a side wall surface or a bottom surface thereof.

The article supply device may further include an outlet through which the transported article in the storage portion can be taken out when the movable block is located at the 2 nd position.

Alternatively, the article supply device may further include a 2 nd conveyance path extending in a one-dimensional direction provided on a side of the movable block opposite to the conveyance unit, and the article in the storage unit may be conveyed to an upstream end of the 2 nd conveyance path when the movable block is located at the 2 nd position.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the article supply method or apparatus of the present invention, only the first one of the rows of the conveyed articles arriving at the movable block located at the 1 st position can be separated at a high speed. The conveyance object separated as described above can be taken out by the pickup nozzle or synchronously introduced into another conveyance path at the 2 nd position without being disturbed by the subsequent conveyance object.

Further, according to the article supply method or apparatus of the present invention, when the movable block is moved from the 1 st position to the 2 nd position, the movable block is pushed by pressing only from the 1 st position side in the initial stage of the movement, and thereby the following effects are obtained: on one hand, the air used for pressurizing is saved, and on the other hand, the movable block can be moved reliably; and unnecessary vibration of the movable block can be suppressed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a side view showing a use state of an article supply device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing a use state of the article supply device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the article supply device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention, taken along a conveyance path.

Fig. 4 is a view showing the AA section of fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view showing a BB section of fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a view showing a CC section of fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of the control unit of the 1 st and 2 nd pressurization/depressurization units of the article supply device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 8A to 8F are diagrams for explaining the operation of the movable block according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining a method of controlling the 1 st and 2 nd compression/decompression units in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of the control unit of the 1 st and 2 nd pressurization/depressurization units of the article supply device according to embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a plan view (left side) and a horizontal sectional view (right side) along the 2 nd conveyance path of an article supply device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the symbols

10. 11: article supply device

20: carrying route (carrying part)

22: covering component

23: base component

24: bottom member

26: downstream end of the conveying path

27: air supply part

28: air intake part

30: movable block

31: containing part

32: ventilation unit for conveyance

33: ventilation part for fixing

34: area of motion

35: 2 nd pressure increasing and reducing part

36: 1 st pressure reducing part

38: opening of ventilation part for fixing

40: 2 nd conveying path

46: upstream end of No. 2 conveying path

47: air supply part

50: taking-out port

51: baffle plate

55: solenoid valve SOL1

56: solenoid valve SOL2

57: vacuum source

58: pressure source

60. 61, 62: article to be transported

70: feeding hopper

72: pressure reducing vent passage for the 2 nd pressure reducing and increasing part

73: pressurizing vent passage for No. 2 pressurizing/depressurizing part

74: 2 nd movable block inner ventilation path on pressure increasing/reducing portion side

75: 1 st pressure reducing part of the pressure reducing ventilation path

76: 1 st pressure increasing/reducing part of the pressurization ventilation path

77: 1 st pressure-increasing/reducing section side movable block internal air passage

78: check valve

80: pick-up nozzle

90: vibration feeder (transporting part)

91: outlet of vibration feeder

P1: 1 st pressurization time of pressurization and depressurization part

P2: pressurizing time of the 2 nd pressure increasing and reducing part

Detailed Description

An article supply device and an article supply method using the article supply device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 9. In the drawings, for the sake of easy explanation, the scale is not accurate, and the gap between the members and the like are exaggeratedly drawn.

In fig. 1 and 2, the article supply device 10 of the present embodiment conveys and supplies a conveyed article 60 such as an electronic component in cooperation with a hopper (hopper) 70. The conveyed material is put into the hopper and introduced from the lower portion of the hopper into the conveying path 20 which is the conveying portion of the article supply device 10. The conveyed objects are arranged in a line and conveyed to the downstream side by the air flow in the conveying path. The conveyed object passes through the movable block 30 provided at the downstream end of the conveying path, moves to the ejection port 50 provided at the side of the downstream end of the conveying path, and is sucked and ejected by the pickup nozzle 80.

The shape and size of the conveyance object 60 are not particularly limited. However, when the conveyed objects are large, the influence of interference between the conveyed objects is relatively small, and the significance of using the article supply device of the present embodiment is small. Therefore, when the object to be transported has a shape such as a rectangular parallelepiped which is long along the transport path, the long side of the object to be transported is preferably 20mm or less, more preferably 5mm or less, and particularly preferably 2mm or less. On the other hand, if the conveyed material is too small, the processing or fabrication of the device becomes difficult, and therefore the long side of the conveyed material is preferably 0.05mm or more. For the same reason, when the conveyance object is spherical, the diameter of the conveyance object is preferably 5mm or less, more preferably 2mm or less, particularly preferably less than 1mm, and preferably 10 μm or more.

In fig. 3 and 4, the conveyance path 20 is formed in a channel shape by a groove formed in a base member 23 and a cover member 22 covering an upper surface of the groove. The cross-section of the channel is slightly larger than the conveyance 60. In order to convey the small articles at high speed, it is preferable that the conveying path constitutes a closed system that restricts the side surfaces and the upper and lower surfaces as described above.

An air supply unit (27 in fig. 6) is provided upstream of the conveyance path 20, and an air suction unit 28 is provided downstream thereof. The air feeder feeds air into the conveyance path. The air suction unit sucks air from the conveyance path. The air suction unit 28 of the present embodiment sucks air in the conveyance path from the downstream end 26 of the conveyance path. The air supply part and the air suction part can be used to generate an air flow flowing from the upstream to the downstream in the conveying path. In order to generate the air flow, at least one of the air supply portion upstream of the conveying path and the air suction portion downstream of the conveying path may be provided, and in this case, the other may be provided with the ventilation portion. Further, when the conveying path is long, the air suction unit and the air supply unit may be additionally provided in the middle of the conveying path as appropriate.

In fig. 5 and 6, a movable block 30 is disposed at the downstream end 26 of the conveyance path 20. The movable block is capable of reciprocating in a straight line in a horizontal plane between a 1 st position (right side in fig. 5, upper side in fig. 6) and a 2 nd position (left side in fig. 5, lower side in fig. 6) in a direction (left-right direction in fig. 5, vertical direction in fig. 6) perpendicular to the conveyance path. As described above, the reciprocating movement of the movable block is preferably performed in the horizontal plane. The reason for this is that the movable block can perform the reciprocating motion by a smaller driving force. The reciprocating movement of the movable block is preferably performed in a direction perpendicular to the conveying path, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the receiving direction of the conveyed object. This is because the movable block can be further reduced for the same size of the transported object.

The movable region 34 of the movable block 30 is defined by a cavity formed by the base member 23 and the bottom member 24. A 1 st pressurizing and depressurizing unit 36 is provided at an end portion on the 1 st position side of the movable region 34, and a 2 nd pressurizing and depressurizing unit 35 is provided at an end portion on the 2 nd position side. The 1 st and 2 nd pressurizing/depressurizing units pressurize the movable region by sending air into the movable region, or depressurize the movable region by sucking air from the movable region, thereby generating a pressure difference between both sides of the movable block and operating the movable block. The 1 st and 2 nd pressure and pressure reducing units can independently control the pressure increasing time or the pressure reducing time, respectively.

Fig. 7 shows the configuration of the control unit of the 1 st and 2 nd pressurization/depressurization units 36 and 35. The control unit includes two solenoid valves 55, a solenoid valve 56, a vacuum source 57 such as a vacuum pump, and a pressure source 58 such as an air tank (air tank) or a compressor (compressor).

The passage of the solenoid valve SOL2(56) is in a crossing state shown in the left square by an electromagnetic force when it is excited (ON), and in a parallel state shown in the right square by a spring when it is demagnetized (OFF). The passage of the solenoid valve SOL1(55) is in an open valve state shown in the left square when it is excited (ON) and in a closed valve state shown in the right square when it is demagnetized (OFF). In fig. 7, both solenoid valves are in the ON (ON) state. When the solenoid valve SOL2 is ON (ON), the 2 nd pressurizing/depressurizing unit 35 communicates with the vacuum source 57 to vacuum-suck the movable block 30 from the 2 nd position side. At this time, the 1 st pressure increasing/reducing unit 36 closes the valve when the solenoid valve SOL1 is OFF (OFF) according to the state of the solenoid valve SOL1, and communicates with the pressure source 58 only when it is ON (ON) to pressurize and push the movable block from the 1 st position side. When the solenoid valve SOL2 is OFF (OFF), the 1 st pressurizing/depressurizing unit 36 communicates with the vacuum source 57 to vacuum the movable block from the 1 st position side. At this time, the 2 nd pressure increasing and reducing unit 35 closes the valve when the solenoid valve SOL1 is OFF (OFF) according to the state of the solenoid valve SOL1, and communicates with the pressure source 58 only when it is ON (ON) to pressurize and push the movable block from the 2 nd position side.

Returning to fig. 5 and 6, the movable block 30 has a groove-shaped storage portion 31 on the upper surface for storing one conveyed object. Since the storage portion 31 is a closed system storage portion that restricts both side surfaces and upper and lower surfaces, even if the movable block is driven at high speed in a state where the transported object is stored in the storage portion 31, the transported object in the storage portion can be stably moved without being thrown out of the storage portion.

When the movable block 30 is located at the 1 st position, which is one end of the reciprocating movement, the receiving portion 31 may extend the conveying path 20 to receive one conveyed object reaching the downstream end 26 of the conveying path.

When the movable block 30 is located at the second end of the reciprocating movement, that is, the 2 nd position, a shutter (shutter)51 of the ejection port 50 provided above the storage portion 31 is opened, and the conveyed object is ejected by the pickup nozzle. Further, the shutter is not essential, and the outlet may be opened from time to time.

On the upper surface of the movable block 30, a groove-shaped conveying ventilation portion 32 shallower than the housing portion is formed on the 1 st position side of the housing portion 31. The conveying ventilation part may have the following shape: when the movable block is at the 2 nd position, the downstream end 26 of the conveying path is communicated with the suction part 28, and the conveyed object reaching the downstream end 26 of the conveying path is blocked.

The movable block 30 includes a fixing vent 33 communicating with the 2 nd pressurizing/depressurizing unit 35, and an opening 38 thereof is provided in a side wall portion of the housing portion. The opening 38 may be provided in the bottom surface of the housing portion. Thus, when the 2 nd pressurizing/depressurizing unit vacuums the movable block from the 2 nd position side, the conveyed object in the accommodating portion is fixed (positioned) at the opening 38.

Next, the operation of the movable block according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 8A to 8F and 9. Fig. 8A to 8F show changes in the position of the movable block, and fig. 9 shows the operating states of the 1 st and 2 nd compression/decompression units. The display of a to F in fig. 9 corresponds to the situation of fig. 8A to 8F, respectively. The display of SOL1 and SOL2 in fig. 9 represents the state of solenoid valve SOL1(55) and solenoid valve SOL2(56) in fig. 7.

In fig. 8A, the movable block 30 is located at the 1 st position. The conveyed object is conveyed by the air flow to reach the downstream end of the conveying path 20, and the foremost conveyed object 61 is introduced into the accommodating portion 31 of the movable block. At this time, referring to fig. 9, the 1 st pressurizing and depressurizing unit performs vacuum suction to immobilize the movable block. On the other hand, the 2 nd pressurization and depressurization portion does not operate, that is, neither pressurization nor depressurization.

Next, in fig. 8B, the air in the movable area 34 is sucked by the 2 nd pressurizing and depressurizing unit 35 to vacuum-suck the movable block from the 2 nd position side, and the air is sent into the movable area for a predetermined time and pressurized by the 1 st pressurizing and depressurizing unit 36 to push the movable block from the 1 st position side. Thereby, the movable block starts to move to the 2 nd position.

Next, in fig. 8C, the air supply of the 1 st pressure increasing and reducing unit is stopped while continuing the air suction of the 2 nd pressure increasing and reducing unit 35. The movable block moves further to the 2 nd position by vacuum suction of the 2 nd pressurizing and depressurizing unit. In fig. 8B and 8C described above, the step of moving the movable block from the 1 st position to the 2 nd position is the forward step.

Next, in fig. 8D, the movable block 30 reaches the 2 nd position. The 2 nd pressurizing and depressurizing unit 35 continues the vacuum suction so as to immobilize the movable block. While the vacuum suction of the 2 nd pressurizing/depressurizing unit is performed from fig. 8B to fig. 8D, the transported object 61 in the storage portion is attracted to the opening of the fixing vent 33 and positioned. A shutter (51 in fig. 5) at the upper part of the take-out port 50 is opened, and the conveyed material 61 is taken out by the pickup nozzle. On the other hand, since the conveyance path 20 communicates with the suction unit 28 through the conveyance ventilation unit 32, the conveyed objects on the conveyance path continue to move downstream, and the conveyed objects 62 that follow are caught by the movable block and arranged in a row.

Next, in fig. 8E, the air in the movable area 34 is sucked by the 1 st pressurizing and depressurizing unit 36, the movable block is vacuum-sucked from the 1 st position side, and the air is sent into the movable area for a predetermined time and pressurized by the 2 nd pressurizing and depressurizing unit 35, and the movable block is pushed from the 2 nd position side.

Next, in fig. 8F, the air supply of the 1 st pressure increasing/reducing unit 36 is stopped while continuing the air suction of the 2 nd pressure increasing/reducing unit. The movable block moves further to the 1 st position by vacuum suction of the 1 st pressurizing and depressurizing unit. In fig. 8E and 8F described above, the step of moving the movable block from the 2 nd position to the 1 st position is the return step.

Then, the movable block reaches the 1 st position, and returns to the state of fig. 8A. By repeating the above operation, only the first one of the rows of the transported objects reaching the downstream end of the transport path is continuously separated (cut) and moved to the ejection port, thereby supplying the transported objects to the pickup nozzles one by one. A typical period of the reciprocating motion of the movable block is 20ms to 30 ms.

In the outward step, the 1 st pressure and compression unit is controlled independently of the 2 nd pressure and compression unit, and the 1 st pressure and compression unit pressurizes only in the initial stage of movement of the movable block. The time for which the 1 st pressurization/depressurization portion performs pressurization (P1 in fig. 9) can be extremely short, but in reality, the lower limit is determined by the response time of the solenoid valve SOL1 in fig. 7. Since the response time of the solenoid valve which is easily available in the market is about 1.5ms, the pressurization time P1 of the 1 st pressurization/depressurization unit is preferably 1.5ms or more. In consideration of the time for stabilizing the pressure in the pipe or the movable area, the pressurization time P1 is more preferably 2ms or more. On the other hand, if the pressing time P1 is too long, the effect of limiting the pressing to the initial stage of movement is small. Therefore, the pressurization time P1 is preferably equal to or less than one-half of the step of moving the movable block. For example, when the time required for the outward route step is 10ms, the pressurization time P1 is preferably 5ms or less.

The following describes effects of the article supply method and apparatus according to the present embodiment.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 8A to 8F, since the first conveyed object 61 is separated and moved to the take-out port by the movable block among the conveyed objects arranged in a row at the downstream end of the conveying path, interference with the following conveyed object 62 does not occur at the time of taking out. As a result, even if the take-out pitch is shortened, the failure is less likely to occur, and the number of conveyed articles supplied per unit time can be increased.

In the outward-route step, the effect of pressurizing and pushing the movable block by the 1 st pressurizing and depressurizing unit only in the initial stage of movement of the movable block while performing vacuum suction by the 2 nd pressurizing and depressurizing unit is as follows. Since the resistance to movement is large at the start of movement of the movable block, the movable block can be started more reliably by pressurizing with the 1 st pressurizing and depressurizing unit than in the case where only the vacuum suction by the 2 nd pressurizing and depressurizing unit is performed. Further, compared with the case where the pressurization is performed throughout the outward route step, the amount of air used can be saved, and therefore, the present invention is advantageous in energy cost. Further, unnecessary vibration of the movable block can be suppressed. The air sent to the movable region by the 1 st pressure/relief portion is released to the outside from a peripheral gap or the like, but the movable block is likely to vibrate due to the airflow. The unnecessary vibration adversely affects the positional accuracy and success rate of pickup when the conveyed object is taken out, and also adversely affects the life of the components of the apparatus.

In the returning step, it is preferable that the pressurizing is performed by the 2 nd pressurizing and depressurizing unit only in the initial stage of the movement of the movable block, as in the going step. However, since there is no object to be transported in the storage section in the returning step, the movable block is lighter and less resistant to the start of movement than in the going step, and therefore the movable block is often started to move only by vacuum suction by the 1 st pressurizing and depressurizing unit. The same thing as the outward route step is that the amount of air used can be reduced and unnecessary vibration of the movable block can be suppressed, compared with the case of pressurizing through the entire outward route step. The preferable range of the pressurization time of the 2 nd pressurization and depressurization unit (P2 in fig. 9) is also the same as the pressurization time P1 of the 1 st pressurization and depressurization unit in the outward route step.

In the present embodiment, the object to be transported is positioned in the housing portion of the movable block by the action of the fixing ventilation portion 33, and therefore the object to be transported does not slosh when the movable block moves. The receiving portion is formed slightly larger than the conveyed object, but the position accuracy and success rate of picking up are improved by positioning the conveyed object. This is particularly advantageous when the load is small. Further, since both the movement of the movable block to the 2 nd position and the positioning of the conveyed object can be realized by the suction of the 2 nd pressurizing/depressurizing unit, the synchronous control of both is not necessary, and a series of operations can be stably performed even if the pitch of the takeout is shortened.

Next, an article supply device according to embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 10. In the article supply device of the present embodiment, the configuration of the control unit of the 1 st and 2 nd pressurization and depressurization units is different from that of embodiment 1.

Fig. 10 shows the configuration of the control unit of the 1 st and 2 nd pressurization/depressurization units 36 and 35. The control unit includes a single solenoid valve 56, a vacuum source 57 such as a vacuum pump, and a pressure source 58 such as an air tank or a compressor. The 1 st pressure and decompression section 36 includes a pressure reducing vent passage 75 and a pressure increasing vent passage 76, and the 2 nd pressure and decompression section 35 includes a pressure reducing vent passage 72 and a pressure increasing vent passage 73. The check valves 78 are provided in the respective air passages, and the air flows only in the direction from the movable region 34 to the solenoid valve 56 in the pressure reducing air passage 75 and the pressure reducing air passage 72, and flows only in the direction from the solenoid valve 56 to the movable region 34 in the pressurizing air passage 76 and the pressurizing air passage 73. Further, an air passage 77 and an air passage 74 are formed in the movable block 30, and when the movable block is located at the 1 st position (the state of fig. 10), the movable block inner air passage 77 on the 1 st position side communicates with the pressurization air passage 76 of the 1 st pressurization/depressurization portion, and when the movable block is located at the 2 nd position, the movable block inner air passage 74 on the 2 nd position side communicates with the pressurization air passage 73 of the 2 nd pressurization/depressurization portion.

In the forward step of moving the movable block 30 from the 1 st position to the 2 nd position, the solenoid valves 56 are in the intersecting state shown in the left square. The vacuum source 57 communicates with the 2 nd pressurizing/depressurizing unit 35, and vacuums and sucks the movable block from the 2 nd position side through the depressurizing gas passage 72. At this time, the pressure source 58 communicates with the 1 st pressurizing/depressurizing unit 36, and pressurizes and presses the movable block from the 1 st position side via the pressurizing air passage 76 and the movable block inside air passage 77. When the movable block starts to move and the position of the connection part between the pressurization vent passage 76 and the movable block vent passage 77 is displaced, the pressurization by the 1 st pressurization/depressurization unit is stopped. Then, the movable block continues to move by vacuum suction by the 2 nd pressurizing and depressurizing unit. As described above, the pressing time of the 1 st pressurization/depressurization unit is autonomously determined by the movement of the movable block.

The same applies to the operation of the return step of moving the movable block 30 from the 2 nd position to the 1 st position.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea thereof.

For example, the conveyance unit is not limited to one conveyance path, and a plurality of conveyance paths may be provided in parallel. In this case, the movable block may be provided with the same number of receiving portions as the conveying paths, and the conveyed articles may be received one by one from each conveying path.

For example, the conveying unit may include a vibration feeder instead of the conveying path extending in the one-dimensional direction.

For example, instead of taking out the transported object from the movable block moved to the 2 nd position, the transported object may be further delivered to another transport path when the movable block is located at the 2 nd position.

Fig. 11 shows a modification of the article supply device. In fig. 11, the article supply device 11 includes a vibration feeder 90 as a conveying section, and a plurality of 2 nd conveying paths extending in a one-dimensional direction are arranged in parallel on the side opposite to the vibration feeder with the movable block 30 interposed therebetween. The conveyed material is put on a vibration feeder 90 and conveyed to the movable block. The movable block 30 receives one conveyed article from the outlet 91 of the vibration feeder to each of the plurality of storage units 31 at the 1 st position. The accommodating portions of the movable block communicate with the upstream end 46 of the 2 nd conveying path 40 at the 2 nd position, and are delivered to the 2 nd conveying path by the airflow generated by the air supply portion 47.

For example, the carrier to which the present invention is applied is not limited to electronic parts.

Claims (6)

1. An article supply method using a movable block capable of reciprocating between a 1 st position and a 2 nd position, comprising the steps of:

a step of introducing a conveyed object into a receiving portion formed in the movable block when the movable block is located at the 1 st position;

an outward path step of pressing the movable block by applying pressure for a predetermined time from the 1 st position side of the movable area while performing vacuum suction from the 2 nd position side of the movable area of the movable block, and then continuing vacuum suction from the 2 nd position side to move the movable block to the 2 nd position;

discharging the conveyed object from the storage section when the movable block is located at the 2 nd position; and

a returning step of moving the movable block to the 1 st position by vacuum suction from the 1 st position side.

2. The article supply method according to claim 1, wherein

The road returning step comprises the following steps: the movable block is pushed by being pressurized for a predetermined time from the 2 nd position side of the movable area while being vacuum-sucked from the 1 st position side of the movable area of the movable block, and then the vacuum suction is continued from the 1 st position side to move the movable block to the 1 st position.

3. An article supply device, comprising:

a conveying part for conveying the conveyed object as a 1 st conveying path;

a movable block capable of reciprocating between a 1 st position and a 2 nd position in a direction intersecting a conveying direction of the conveyed object by the conveying unit;

a 1 st compression/decompression unit provided at an end portion of the movable block on the 1 st position side in a movable region; and

a 2 nd compression/decompression unit provided at an end portion on the 2 nd position side of a movable region of the movable block; and is

The movable block includes:

a storage unit capable of storing one of the objects to be transported; and is

In the 1 st position, the accommodating portion communicates with a downstream end of the conveying portion and can receive the conveyed object,

the 1 st and 2 nd pressurization/depressurization portions can independently control the pressurization time or the depressurization time, respectively.

4. The article supply device according to claim 3, wherein

The housing portion includes an opening of a vent portion communicating with the 2 nd pressurizing/depressurizing portion on a side wall surface or a bottom surface thereof.

5. The article supply device according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising:

and a take-out port through which the transported object in the storage portion can be taken out when the movable block is located at the 2 nd position.

6. The article supply device according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising:

a 2 nd conveying path provided on the side of the movable block opposite to the conveying section and extending in a one-dimensional direction; and is

When the movable block is located at the 2 nd position, the conveyed object in the storage portion can be delivered to the upstream end of the 2 nd conveying path.