JP2000108068A - Method for sucking and holding a breathable object, suction holding device, and porous transport method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To suction and hold a porous material such as urethane foam. SOLUTION: This is a method of sucking and holding a breathable object to be suctioned, wherein a suction operation is performed from a suction surface of a suction member for sucking and holding the object to be suctioned, and the air permeability accompanying the suction operation by the suction hole is provided. Suppression of ventilation from the surroundings by the suctioned object is suppressed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for sucking a permeable member.

The present invention also relates to a method and apparatus for sucking and / or transporting an elastic member of a porous material.

[0003] In particular, the present invention relates to suction holding and transport of a soft substance such as urethane foam material or sponge material.

[0004] The present invention further relates to a suction conveyance of a metal permeable member made of an aluminum material or the like.

[0005]

2. Description of the Related Art When a metallic or non-metallic air-permeable member is held or moved from one place to another, the member is held by a holding means and then the next operation is performed. The holding operation by the holding means includes a holding operation by a robot hand or the like and a suction holding operation by a suction means.

When the member is not suitable for a gripping operation by a robot hand or the like, a suction operation by vacuum means is performed.

[0007]

When a member made of a porous or air-permeable material is sucked and held, the suction surface of the suction means connected to a vacuum source is sucked at a position opposite to the surface of the member to be sucked. When the suction operation is performed with the holes arranged, the suction holes are adsorbed on the surface of the suction member, and are suction-held by the suction operation from the vacuum source. And the suction holding force cannot be sufficiently obtained.

For this reason, it is necessary to set the vacuum device and the suction means to be larger than the size of the member to be sucked in consideration of the amount of air suction, which results in an increase in the size of the device and an increase in energy consumption.

When a member made of a porous material is transferred, the suction force on the suction surface becomes unstable due to the influence of vibration or the like during the transfer, and the suction posture may be lost.

Further, the present invention is applied to office equipment such as an image forming apparatus, communication equipment, optical equipment and the like which require airtightness. It has elasticity, and affixing a soft material around its opening is performed, and in the step of attaching those soft materials on a member to be attached,
It is necessary to hold the soft material by suction and to transport it to a predetermined sticking position.

[0011] The above problem also exists in the suction holding of a member made of such soft material.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a method for solving the above-mentioned problem for sucking and holding an air-permeable object to be sucked, and comprising a suction member for sucking and holding the object to be sucked from a suction surface. A suction method for a breathable object to be suctioned, characterized in that the suction operation is performed so as to suppress the ventilation from the surroundings of the air-permeable object through the ventilation hole due to the suction effect of the suction hole. I do.

[0013] Further, when a suctioned object having air permeability is sucked and held by the suction means, a plurality of suction holes are formed in a surface of the suction means opposed to the suctioned surface of the suctioned object. A suction operation of a breathable object, characterized in that the suction operation of the object to be suctioned is performed so as to suppress the suction of the surrounding atmosphere from near the outer peripheral surface of the object to be suctioned due to the suction action of the hole. Suggest a method.

Further, there is provided a method for solving the above-mentioned problem for sucking and holding a gas-permeable member, wherein a surface of the member facing the suction surface has a change in distribution of suction force with respect to the surface. The above-mentioned problem is solved by a method of sucking and holding a permeable member, which is characterized by being sucked and held.

[0015] In particular, the present invention is suitable for sucking, holding and transporting a flexible member made of an elastic material. Another aspect of the present invention is a device for suction-holding a gas-permeable member, wherein a plurality of suction holes are provided on a suction surface of the device facing the suction surface of the member, and the suction hole is provided on the suction surface. The present invention proposes a suction holding device characterized by being arranged non-uniformly with respect to a unit area of a suction area.

Another aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for suction-holding a gas-permeable member, wherein a plurality of suction holes are provided on a surface of the member facing the suction surface, and the arrangement of the suction holes has a density distribution. A suction holding device characterized by having is proposed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a suction holding device, wherein a density distribution of the suction holes changes along a center position of the suction surface.

Further, there is a suction holding device characterized in that the density distribution is set so that the center position of the suction surface is high and the peripheral position is low.

Further, the present invention relates to an apparatus for suction-holding a gas-permeable member, wherein a plurality of suction holes are provided on a surface of the member facing the suction surface, and the suction force of the suction hole is applied to the suction surface. On the other hand, a suction holding device characterized by having a pressure density distribution is proposed.

In the density distribution, the center position of the adsorption surface is high,
There is a mode in which the peripheral position is set low.

One aspect of the present invention is a method for transporting a porous soft material, wherein a plurality of divided suction forces are applied to the surface of the soft material, and a pressure distribution change is applied to the suction force on the surface of the soft material. The present invention proposes a method for transporting a porous soft member, characterized in that it is transported from a suction position to a transport position while being suctioned while holding the member.

In the aspect of the transport method, the pressure distribution change is set such that the center position of the surface of the soft material is high and the peripheral position is low.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of the main part of the suction holding device of the present invention.

In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a member to be sucked and held, which is a member having a porous structure such as urethane foam and containing an air component, a member made of a gas permeable material, and a felt material. And soft members such as nonwoven fabrics.

Further, the holding member 1 to be sucked can be applied to a case of a porous aluminum metal material.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a hand constituting suction holding means, 4 denotes a base of the robot body, 6A denotes a first arm, and 6B denotes a second arm.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a Z-axis that moves up and down in the direction A in the figure while holding the hand 2 at its tip position.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a vacuum source, and reference numeral 12 denotes a suction tube for connecting a suction plate member 2A of the suction holding means to be described later and the vacuum source 10.

The suction holding means 2 has a hollow box shape, and a suction plate member 2A is attached to a surface facing the suction holding member 1.

The suction plate member 2A has a plurality of suction holes 2a shown in FIG. 2 or FIG.

One of the features of the present invention is that when the member to be sucked 1 made of a porous material is sucked and held, the air is prevented from being released from the porous portion of the member to be sucked 1 to ensure the suction and holding. Is proposed, which will be described.

As shown, the suction plate member 2A shown in FIG. 2 is arranged such that the suction holes 2a change in the suction pressure distribution.

Specifically, the longitudinal direction B of the suction plate member 2A
Are arranged such that the arrangement interval of the holes 2a decreases toward the center position P on the surface of the suction plate member 2A.

In the present embodiment, the size of the suction holes 2a are all set to the same diameter.

In the width direction C of the suction plate members 2A, the holes are also arranged so that the space between the holes is reduced toward the center position P.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the suction plate member 2A.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the suction holes 2a are arranged at regular intervals on the arrangement surface of the suction plate members.
Is set such that the diameter dimension increases toward the center position of the suction plate member 2A.

(First Embodiment) A case will be described in which the suction plate member shown in FIG.

The to-be-sucked member 1 is made of a urethane foam material and has a rectangular shape having a length of 59 mm, a width of 22 mm, and a thickness of 4 mm.

As will be described later, the member to be sucked 1 is a urethane home to be stuck around the opening of the toner container of the toner cartridge used in the printer of the image forming apparatus according to the present applicant. The one having a density of 114 kg / m ³ is used.

The length B of the suction plate member 2A is 59 mm, the width C is 22 mm, and the diameter of the suction hole 2a is 1.6 mm.
In the arrangement of the holes 2a, the distance between the outermost row and the second row from the outside in the length direction is set to 5 mm, and the center position P
Column spacings of 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3, 2,.
They were arranged so as to be changed to 5, 2 mm 2.

In this example, the number of rows in the B direction is set to 17, and the number of holes in the C direction is set to 8.

The degree of vacuum reached by the main pipe of the vacuum source 10 is-
300 to -400 Hg.

Next, suction holding and transport will be described.

The to-be-sucked member 1 is transported and supplied to a supply position of the suction and holding means 2 by a supply means not shown in FIG.

The hand 2 of the suction holding means is moved to the supply position of the member to be sucked 1 by the operation of the arms 6A and 6B in accordance with an operation command from the robot control means.

The moving operation of the hand 2 is taught so as to move on a predetermined moving locus.

The hand 2 descends on the surface of the member 1 to be sucked, and at the same time, the operation of the vacuum source 10 starts.

When the operation of the vacuum source 10 starts, the hand 2 shifts to an ascending operation, whereby the suction operation of the member to be sucked 1 is executed.

The suction plate member 2A of the hand 2 and the member to be sucked 1
Then, the member to be sucked 1 is sucked and held on the surface of the suction plate member 2A by vacuum suction from the suction hole 2a of the suction plate member 2A.

Since the member to be sucked 1 is made of a porous material, the air in the porous hole is sucked into the suction hole 2a, but the porous material 1 sucks the surrounding air into the hole. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the distribution density is set so that the arrangement of the suction holes 2a of the suction plate member becomes higher toward the center of the suction plate member.

Since the distribution density of the suction holes of the suction plate member corresponding to the position around the member to be sucked 1 is set small, the suction of the air from around the periphery of the member to be sucked 1 is suppressed. Thus, the suction holding of the member to be sucked can be stably performed.

(Second Embodiment) A case will be described in which the suction plate member shown in FIG.

The member to be sucked 1 has the same material and the same dimensions as those of the first embodiment.

The length B of the suction plate member 2A is 59 mm and the width C is 22 mm.

The pitch of the arrangement of the suction holes 2a in the present example is the same pitch interval in the B direction and the C direction, and is 3 m in the B direction.
It is 2.5 mm in the m and C directions.

The feature of this embodiment lies in the arrangement of the diameter of the suction hole 2a. The suction hole 2a near the center of the suction plate member 2A is set to be the largest, and the diameter of the hole near the outer periphery of the suction plate member 2A is set to be large. It is the smallest, and the size of the hole in between is set to an intermediate diameter.

Specifically, the hole diameter at the center position is 1.4 m.
m, the outermost hole diameter is 0.8 mm, the diameter of the middle hole is 10 mm, and the total number of holes is 136.

The degree of vacuum reached by the main pipe of the vacuum source 10 is-
300 to -400 Hg.

Next, suction holding and transport will be described.

The to-be-sucked member 1 is conveyed and supplied to a supply position of the suction and holding means 2 by a supply means not shown in FIG.

The hand 2 of the suction holding means moves to the supply position of the to-be-sucked member 1 by the operation of the arms 6A and 6B in accordance with an operation command from the robot control means.

The moving operation of the hand 2 is taught so as to move on a predetermined moving locus.

The hand 2 descends on the surface of the member 1 to be sucked, and at the same time, the operation of the vacuum source 10 starts.

When the operation of the vacuum source 10 starts, the hand 2 shifts to an ascending operation, whereby the suction operation of the member to be sucked 1 is executed.

The suction plate member 2A of the hand 2 and the member to be sucked 1
Then, the member to be sucked 1 is sucked and held on the surface of the suction plate member 2A by vacuum suction from the suction hole 2a of the suction plate member 2A.

Since the member to be sucked 1 is made of a porous material, the air in the porous hole is sucked into the suction hole 2a, but the porous material 1 sucks the surrounding air into the hole. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the diameter of the suction hole 2a of the suction plate member is changed, and the suction force is set to increase toward the center position of the suction plate member. Therefore, the suction force at the center position of the suction plate member 2A is maximized, and the suction holes of the suction plate member corresponding to the positions around the member to be suctioned 1 are set to have a small suction force. Since the suction of the air from around the outer periphery of the first member 1 is suppressed, the member to be sucked can be stably held.

As described above, according to the present invention, in the method for sucking and holding a breathable object to be sucked, a suction operation is performed from the suction surface of the suction member 2A for sucking and holding the object to be sucked 1.
By performing suction while suppressing the ventilation from the surroundings by the permeable suction target 1 due to the suction action by the suction holes 2a, the reliability of suction holding and the stability of conveyance can be improved.

Further, the suction object 1 having air permeability is moved by the suction means 2.
When holding by suction, the object to be sucked 1
A plurality of suction holes 2a are formed in a surface 2A opposed to the suction surface of the suction object, and suction of the surrounding air from near the outer peripheral surface of the suction object due to the suction action of the suction holes is suppressed. The stability of holding the transported member is enhanced by a method of sucking a breathable object, wherein the suction operation is performed.

Also, a method of suction-holding a permeable member is provided, wherein a suction force distribution change is applied to a surface of the member opposite to the suction surface so as to hold the member. With this feature, a stable suction holding method of the air-permeable member was obtained.

Further, there is provided a device for sucking and holding a permeable member, wherein a plurality of suction holes are provided on a suction surface of the device opposite to the suction surface of the member, and the suction holes have a suction area of the suction surface. Proposal of a suction holding device characterized by being arranged non-uniformly per unit area has made it possible to stabilize the holding posture of a member to be sucked such as a porous material.

A device for sucking and holding a gas-permeable member, wherein a plurality of suction holes are provided on a surface of the member facing the suction surface, and the arrangement of the suction holes has a density distribution, so that a porous material is provided. By suppressing the inhalation of the atmosphere from the outer peripheral portion when sucking and holding, the suction holding action could be stabilized.

In a device for sucking and holding an air-permeable member, a plurality of suction holes are provided on a surface of the member opposite to the suction surface, and the suction force of the suction hole changes the density distribution of pressure with respect to the suction surface. By having it, the accuracy of the suction holding action could be increased.

Further, it is necessary to ensure the accuracy of the suction holding of the device for sucking the porous member by arranging a plurality of suction holes in a matrix on the suction surface which is in contact with the porous member. Achieved by setting large at the center of the surface and small at the periphery.

In the method for transporting a porous member such as urethane foam, a plurality of divided suction forces are applied to the surface of the porous member, and the suction force on the surface of the porous member has a pressure distribution change. By transferring the material from the suction position to the transfer position while sucking, the suction and holding of the soft material and the development to the transfer process can be performed.

[0077]

As described above, the present invention improves the operational stability when suctioning and holding a soft material such as a urethane foam material and performing suction conveyance to attach it to another member. I was able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a suction holding and transporting mode to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a first example of a suction plate member.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a second example of the suction plate member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sucked member 2 Suction means (hand) 4 Robot main body 6A, 6B Robot arm

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A method for sucking and holding an air-permeable object to be sucked, wherein a suction operation is performed from a suction surface of a suction member for sucking and holding the object to be suctioned, and the air permeability accompanying the suction operation by a suction hole is provided. A method for sucking a breathable object, wherein the suction is performed while suppressing the ventilation of the object from the surroundings. 2. A plurality of suction holes are formed in a surface of the suction unit facing the suction surface of the suction target when the suction target is sucked and held by the suction unit. A suction operation of a breathable object, characterized in that the suction operation of the object to be suctioned is performed so as to suppress the suction of the surrounding atmosphere from near the outer peripheral surface of the object to be suctioned due to the suction action of the hole. Method. 3. A method for suction-holding a permeable member, wherein the suction-holding member is provided with a suction force distribution change on a surface facing the suction surface of the member, with the suction force being changed with respect to the surface. A method for sucking and holding a gas-permeable member. 4. The suction holding method according to claim 1, wherein the permeable member is an elastic member. 5. A device for sucking and holding a gas-permeable member, wherein a plurality of suction holes are provided on a suction surface of the device facing the suction surface of the member, and the suction holes have a suction area of the suction surface. A suction holding device characterized by being arranged non-uniformly in unit area. 6. A device for sucking and holding a gas-permeable member, wherein a plurality of suction holes are provided on a surface of the member facing the suction surface, and the arrangement of the suction holes has a density distribution. Suction holding device. 7. The suction hole according to claim 6, wherein a density distribution of the suction holes changes along a center position of the suction surface.
The suction holding device as described in the above. 8. The suction holding device according to claim 6, wherein the density distribution is set such that the center position of the suction surface is high and the peripheral position is low. 9. A device for sucking and holding a gas-permeable member, wherein a plurality of suction holes are provided on a surface of the member facing the suction surface, and the suction force of the suction holes is a suction force for the suction surface. A suction holding device characterized by having a density distribution of: 10. The suction holding device according to claim 9, wherein the density distribution is set such that the center position of the suction surface is high and the peripheral position is low. 11. The suction holding device according to claim 5, wherein a suction force for sucking the surface of the member has a peak value on the surface of the member. 12. An apparatus for sucking a porous member, comprising:
A plurality of suction holes are arranged in a matrix on a suction surface in contact with the porous member, and a suction force by the suction holes is set large at a center position of the suction surface and small at a peripheral portion. . 13. A method for transporting a porous member, wherein a plurality of divided suction forces are applied to the surface of the porous member, and suction is performed while giving a change in the distribution of the suction force on the surface of the porous member. A method for transporting a porous member, wherein the transporting is performed from a suction position to a transport position. 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the porous member is a soft member having elasticity. 15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the change in the pressure distribution is performed such that the center position of the surface of the soft material is set high and the peripheral position is set low.