JP2001332893A - Micro part supplying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a micro part supplying device which stably at a high speed aligns and supplies directive square micro parts with their directivities aligned. SOLUTION: The front or rear orientation of a micro part 1 fed to a part transportation path 3 from a part housing part 2 is detected with a sensor 4. The part 1 discharged from a lower-end outlet of it is housed in a slit 5 of a ring 6a which intermittently rotates with the front and rear sides facing peripheral part of the ring part 6a. A communication path 8 which connects the slit 5 at first and second rotational positions is provided on the inner peripheral side of the ring part 6a. Based on the detecting result with the sensor 4, an air is selectively supplied from two air supply ports 11 and 12 so that the part 1 housed in the slit 5 is fed to a part transportation path 10 continuous to a discharge end 9 through the communication path 8 and the slit 5 at the second rotational position from the first rotational position otherwise directly from the second rotational position. Thus, the parts 1 are fast and stably aligned and supplied with front-rear direction aligned.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for forming a rectangular micro component having characteristics and locality such as direction and polarity (hereinafter collectively referred to as directionality) in any of front and rear, left and right or front and back directions. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a micro component supply device that supplies and aligns the orientations of characters.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some square minute components such as chip resistors and chip capacitors have directionality in the front-back and front-to-back directions, and these components are formed by using a micro-component supply device such as a bulk feeder. It is often supplied in line with the process.

[0003] The directionality of the above-mentioned microparts cannot be discriminated from the overall shape such as length, width, thickness, and the like. There is also a problem that the ones with opposite sides are mixed.

A component supply apparatus for supplying such a rectangular micro component having a directivity in a uniform direction has been disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-148883. As shown in FIG. 9, the minute component supply device has a drop path 52 for a small rectangular component 51 provided at the bottom of a hopper (not shown) that reciprocates up and down. A sensor 53 for determining the front and back sides of the falling passage 52 is provided.
This is a bulk feeder provided with a direction change mechanism that connects the horizontal component feed path 54 to the feeder.

The direction changing mechanism comprises a disk-shaped fixing portion 55 with a groove, and a flat bottomed cylindrical rotating portion 56 circumscribing the fixing portion 55. A direction fixing passage 57 is provided, and a pair of slits 58 for accommodating the component 51 are provided in the rotating portion 56 at a phase of 180 °. The rotating unit 56 includes a pair of slits 58
The components 51 are stored one by one from the fall path 52 in the upper slit 58 at a position where the is oriented vertically, and 90
° rotate.

When the rotating section 56 rotates 90 ° in either direction, the pair of slits 58, the horizontal fixed passage 57 and the horizontal component feed path 54 are connected in a straight line as shown in FIG. It has become. A flammable path 59 communicates with the left end of the straight passage, and the air 51 supplied from the flammable path 59 causes the components 51 housed in the left or right slit 58 to face up and down. It is discharged to the horizontal component feeding path 54. A sensor 60 that detects the passage of the component 51 is provided in the middle of the horizontal component feeding path 54.

[0007]

Normally, minute parts such as chip resistors and chip capacitors are supplied to the next step at a speed of about several tens per second. The conventional micro component supply device described above needs to rotate the cylindrical rotating portion of the direction conversion mechanism that aligns the direction of the micro components in both forward and reverse directions. There is a problem that energy consumption and vibration for this rotation increase, and a driving device for the rotating unit also needs to be used for both forward rotation and reverse rotation.

Further, since only a pair of slits can be arranged in the cylindrical rotating portion at a phase of 180 °, only one small part can be stored and one small part can be discharged. Has a large rotation angle of 90 ° one way, so there is a limit to the number of parts supplied per unit time.

Further, in a bulk feeder for feeding a small part stored in a parts storage part such as a hopper in a single row to a parts transfer path by its own weight, a narrow parts transfer path such as the drop path or the horizontal parts feed path is used. There is also a problem that light micro parts are easily clogged in the middle of the process.

[0010] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to form a rectangular micro component having directionality at a high speed by aligning the direction of the directionality.
An object of the present invention is to provide a micro component supply device capable of stably arranging and supplying.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a micro component supply device according to the present invention is provided with a rectangular micro component having directionality in at least one of a front-back direction, a left-right direction, and a front-back direction. A component storage portion for storing components, and a micro component stored in the component storage portion extending vertically or inclined downward from the bottom of the component storage portion to the side in the direction having the direction. A first component transfer path for transferring in a row, and a ring portion provided with slits of a predetermined cross-sectional shape penetrating the inner and outer peripheries at equally-positioned positions in the circumferential direction; A rotating disk for storing the microparts discharged from the lower end outlet of the transfer path by itself with the direction having the above-mentioned directivity facing the circumferential direction of the ring portion in the same posture, and rotating the rotating disk at a predetermined angle in a predetermined direction. Times to rotate intermittently A communication passage having a cross-sectional shape substantially equal to the cross-sectional shape of the slit, the driving device being connected at first and second rotational positions to a slit provided at the circumferentially equidistant position on the inner peripheral side of the ring portion; And the second
A second component transfer path connected to the outer peripheral side of the slit connected to the communication path at the rotational position of the second component transfer path and continuing to the discharge end, and the respective minute components in the middle of the first component transfer path or in the turntable. And a micro component housed in each of the slits is transferred from the first rotational position to the second component transfer path via the communication passage and the slit at the second rotational position. A first air supply port for sending out, and a second air supply port for sending out directly from the second rotational position to a second component transfer path, and the first or second air supply port is provided based on a detection result of the sensor. In this configuration, air is selectively supplied from the second air supply port, and the minute components housed in the slits are supplied to the discharge end from the second component transfer path while aligning the direction of the direction. Things.

That is, the first single row from the bottom of the component storage section
The small parts delivered to the parts transfer path and discharged from the lower end exit are placed in the slits provided at equal positions in the circumferential direction on the ring part of the turntable that rotates intermittently by a predetermined angle in a certain direction, with the posture as it is The direction having the directionality is housed singly in the circumferential direction of the ring portion, and a communication passage connecting two slits at the first and second rotational positions is provided on the inner peripheral side of the ring portion, A second component transfer path for supplying the minute component to the discharge end is connected to the outer peripheral side of the slit at the rotation position of the second position, and the directional direction of the minute component is adjusted in the first component transfer path or in the turntable. By detecting by a sensor and selectively supplying air from two air supply ports based on the detection result, the minute parts stored in each slit can be moved from the first rotation position to the communication passage and the second passage. Through a slit in the rotational position, or Directly feeding the second component transfer path from the second rotational position, fast microcomponents by aligning the direction of orientation, and has to be able to align supplied to stably discharge end.

When the phase angle between the first rotation position and the second rotation position is 90 ° or more, the communication passage can be designed to have a smooth shape. The passage can be designed to be straight. In addition,
The communication passage need not necessarily pass through the center of the ring portion.

At least one of the first and second component transfer paths is provided with vibration generating means for applying vibration in the middle thereof, thereby preventing clogging of minute components transferred through these narrow component transfer paths. can do.

A mortar-shaped inclined surface is provided at the bottom of the component storage portion, and an entrance of the first component transfer path is provided at the center of the mortar-shaped inclined surface. A predetermined distance of the component transfer path is formed by a straight component transfer pipe through which the minute components are passed in a single row, and has a cylindrical shape having an upper end surface forming an inclined surface around an entrance of the first component transfer path. A member is fitted on the outer periphery of the component transfer pipe so as to be able to move up and down, and when the cylindrical member moves forward, the upper end surface complements the inclined surface around the entrance to generate the vibration. By attaching means to this cylindrical member, or a member abutting on the cylindrical member, and applying vibration to the component transfer pipe,
The minute parts stored in the parts storage unit can be smoothly sent to the first parts transfer path, and clogging of the minute parts in the first parts transfer path can be prevented.

A sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the micro component is provided in the first or second component transfer path provided with the vibration generating means, and the vibration generation is performed based on the detection result of the sensor. By activating the means, it is possible to reliably detect the clogging of the minute component in the component transfer path and efficiently prevent the clogging of the minute component.

By using a piezoelectric element for converting electric energy into mechanical energy as the vibration generating means,
Vibration can be applied to each component transfer path with a compact design, and clogging of minute components can be prevented.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a rectangular micro component 1 supplied to the next step by the micro component supply device.
The micro component 1 is a chip component having a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape and having a characteristic portion 1a on a front surface side, and has a direction in front and back directions.

This micro component supply device is a bulk feeder. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, a component storage portion 2 for storing a micro component 1 and an entrance at a bottom of the component storage portion 2 in a mortar shape. A first component transfer path 3 that is provided, extends vertically downward, and transfers the small components 1 stored in the component storage unit 2 in a single row.
And a sensor 4 for detecting the direction of the front and back of the micro component 1 to be transferred at the lower end position of the first component transfer path 3, and connected to the lower end outlet of the first component transfer path 3, and discharged from the lower end outlet Wheel 6 having a ring portion 6a provided with slits 5 for accommodating the micropart 1 to be formed as a single body at circumferentially equidistant positions.
A pulse motor 7 for intermittently rotating the turntable 6 clockwise in a vertical plane; a communication passage 8 for connecting two horizontally located slits 5 on the inner peripheral side of the ring portion 6a; The second component transfer path 10 is connected to the outer peripheral side of the first part, and is connected to the discharge end 9 in the horizontal direction.
And the second air supply ports 11 and 12. Each of the air supply ports 11 and 12 is configured based on the detection result of the sensor 4.
By selectively supplying air from the nozzles 12, the microparts 1 stored in the slits 5 are aligned and supplied to the discharge end 9 with the front and back sides thereof aligned.

The first component transfer path 3 has a cross-sectional shape in which the longitudinal direction of the micro component 1 is directed up and down, and the directional front and back directions are directed sideways in a single row. The side is formed in a component transfer pipe 15 hanging downward from a hole 14 at the center of a mortar-shaped inclined surface 13 provided at the bottom of the component storage unit 2, and the lower side is overlapped with a vertical frame 16. It is formed on a vertical plate 17 which is attached by mounting. The lower end of the component transfer pipe 15 is fixed to the vertical plate 17, and the first component transfer path 3 formed on both is connected.

A cylindrical member 18 having a mortar-shaped inclined surface 13a formed on the upper end surface thereof is formed on the outer periphery of the component transfer pipe 15 with a hole 1 formed therein.
4 is fitted into the upper end edge of the cylindrical member 18 so as to be movable up and down.
a complements the mortar-shaped inclined surface 13 of the component storage section 2 around the upper end entrance of the component transfer pipe 15.

The cylindrical member 18 is urged upward by an externally fitted coil spring 19, is pivotally mounted on a pivot 20 fixed horizontally to the frame 16, and swings up and down by rotation of a cam 21 described later. The lower end is supported at the tip side of the swinging lever 22 and moves up and down toward the upper end edge of the hole 14, so that the micro component 1 stored in the component storage section 2 can be smoothly transferred without stagnation. It leads to the upper end entrance of the tube 15. A piezoelectric element 23 as vibration generating means for applying vibration to the component transfer pipe 15 is attached to the swing lever 22.

An L-shaped bent portion 22a is formed on the rear end side of the swing lever 22. A roller 24 attached to the upper end of the bent portion 22a is connected to a pivot 25 fixed horizontally to the frame 16. It is pressed against the pivotally attached lever 26 from below. The lever 26 is urged downward by a spring 27 attached to a distal end portion thereof, is pressed against the roller 24, and comes into contact with the cam 21 that is rotationally driven to the upper surface side. Therefore, by rotating the cam 21,
The swing lever 22 swings up and down via the lever 26.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the rotating disk 6 includes a ring portion 6a in which slits 5 are provided at regular intervals of 45 ° in a circumferential direction, and a disk portion 6b in which a gear is formed on the outer periphery. And the disk portion 2 fitted into the inner periphery of the ring portion 6a.
8a and the core member 2 fixed horizontally to the frame 16
8 is rotatably supported by a cylindrical portion 28b via a bearing 29. The gear on the outer periphery of the disk portion 6b is meshed with the gear 7a of the pulse motor 7 attached to the frame 16, and the turntable 6 is intermittently rotated clockwise by 45 °. Note that a rotary drive device such as a servo motor or an ultrasonic motor can be used instead of the pulse motor 7.

The outer periphery of the ring portion 6a is fitted into a vertical plate 17, and each slit 5 is formed in a groove shape on the end face of the ring portion 6a fitted into the vertical plate 17 by penetrating the inner and outer circumferences of the ring portion 6a. Have been. In addition to the first component transfer path 3, a second component transfer path 10 is formed on the surface of the vertical plate 17 in the same cross-sectional shape as the groove-shaped slit 5. The surface of the disk portion 28a of the core member 28 fitted into the inner periphery of the ring portion 6a has the same cross-sectional shape as the slit 5 and a communication passage 8 connecting the two slits 5 positioned in the horizontal direction. The groove-shaped slits 5, the component transfer paths 3, 10 and the communication path 8 are covered with a cover plate 30 superposed on the surface of the vertical plate 17.

The first component transfer path 3 includes a ring portion 6a
Is connected to the slit 5a located at the top of the
The micro component 1 discharged from the component transfer path 3 with the front-back direction turned up and down and the front and back direction turned sideways is placed in the slit 5a by itself with the front and back direction directed in the circumferential direction of the ring portion 6a in the same posture. Is stored. The communication passage 8 is connected to the inner peripheral sides of the slits 5b and 5c at the first and second rotation positions rotated 90 ° and 270 °, respectively, clockwise from the slit 5a. It is connected to the outer peripheral side of the slit 5c at the second rotational position in line with the passage 8.

In the vertical plate 17, the sensor 4 is incorporated at the lower end side of the first component transfer path 3, and the first air supply port 11 communicating with the outer peripheral side of the slit 5b at the first rotation position is also provided. A second air supply port 12 communicating with the communication passage 8 is provided in the disk portion 28 a of the core member 28.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vertical plate 17 has a sensor 31 for detecting the passage of the micro component 1 in the middle of the second component transfer path 10 and a sensor 31 based on the detection result of the sensor 31. Also, a piezoelectric element 32 for applying vibration to the second component transfer path 10 is incorporated, and an air supply for supplying air for discharging the minute component 1 sent from the slit 5 to the second component transfer path 10 to the discharge end 9 is provided. A mouth 33 is also provided. In addition,
The sensor 4 plays a role of detecting whether or not the micro component 1 has passed through the first component transfer path 3 in addition to detecting the direction of the front and back of the micro component 1, and based on the detection result of whether or not the micro component 1 has passed. , The piezoelectric element 23 is operated.

Next, a method of supplying the micropart 1 to the discharge end 9 with the front and back sides aligned from each slit 5 based on the detection result of the sensor 4 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 shows a case where the characteristic part 1a is detected by the sensor 4 and the micropart 1 determined to be facing up is stored in the slit 5a. In this case, air is supplied from the first air supply port 11 when the rotating disk 6 is rotated by 90 ° and the minute component 1 comes to the first rotation position of the slit 5b,
The micropart 1 has a communication passage 8 and a slit 5 at a second rotational position.
Through c, the part 1a is sent out to the second component transfer path 10 with the surface having the characteristic part 1a facing upward.

FIG. 6 shows a case where the characteristic part 1a is not detected by the sensor 4 and the micropart 1 determined to be facing down is stored in the slit 5a. In this case, the turntable 6 is 270 °
When the micro component 1 is rotated and comes to the second rotation position of the slit 5c, air is supplied from the second air supply port 12, and the micro component 1 is directly supplied from the slit 5c to the feature portion 1a.
Is sent out to the second component transfer path 10 with its surface facing upward.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show only one micro component 1 for easy understanding.
Actually, each slit 5 is continuously and successively provided with the minute component 1.
Is stored. Therefore, the minute parts 1 may be present in the slits 5b and 5c at the same time depending on the combination of the front and back directions of each minute part 1 discharged from the first part transfer path 3. In this case, only the micro component 1 remaining without being discharged to the slit 5c is the micro component 1 determined to face backward, and the micro component 1 existing in the slit 5b is
Both face-up and face-down are possible.

FIG. 7 shows a case where the micropart 1 existing in the slit 5b is facing down. In this case, air is supplied to the communication passage 8 from the second air supply port 12 and the slit 5c
Is sent out to the second component transfer path 10 with the surface having the characteristic portion 1a facing upward. Note that the micropart 1 in the slit 5b is pressed to the outer peripheral side by the air and remains in the slit 5b as it is.

FIG. 8 shows a case where the micropart 1 existing in the slit 5b is facing upward. In this case, air is supplied from the first air supply port 11 to the slit 5b, and the minute component 1 of the slit 5b is sent out from the communication passage 8 to the slit 5c. The micropart 1 of the slit 5c is also sent out together with the micropart 1 of the slit 5b to the second component transfer path 10 with the surface having the characteristic portion 1a facing upward.

In the above-described embodiment, the first component transfer path is formed vertically, and the direction of the small component is detected by the sensor at the lower end position. Alternatively, it may be formed so that a part thereof is inclined downward, and the direction of the direction of the micro component may be detected in the slit of the turntable.

Further, the slit of the ring portion of the rotating disk is set to 45.
8 are provided at a phase of °, the first and second rotational positions are respectively 90 ° and 270 ° from the top of the ring portion, and the phase angle between them is 180 °, but the slit is provided at an arbitrary phase The phase angle between the first and second rotational positions can also be arbitrarily set, preferably in the range of 90 ° to 180 °.

Further, although the communication passage connecting the slits at the first and second rotational positions is linear and passes through the center of the ring portion, it is not always necessary to pass through the center of the ring portion, and it is as smooth as possible. Any route can be designed.

[0038]

As described above, the micro component supply device according to the present invention is capable of supplying the micro components which are sent out from the bottom of the component storage section in a single row to the first component transfer path and discharged from the lower end outlet thereof.
In a slit provided at a circumferentially equidistant position in the ring portion of the rotating disk that rotates intermittently by a predetermined angle in a fixed direction, the direction having directivity in the same posture is stored alone in the circumferential direction of the ring portion, A communication passage connecting two slits at the first and second rotational positions is provided on the inner peripheral side of the ring portion,
A second component transfer path for supplying the micro component to the discharge end is connected to the outer peripheral side of the slit at the rotation position of the second component, and the direction of the micro component is sensed in the first component transfer path or in the turntable. And selectively supplies air from two air supply ports based on the detection result, and separates the minute components stored in each slit from the first rotation position to the communication passage and the second rotation position. Since the micro component is sent to the second component transfer path via the slit or directly from the second rotation position, the micro component can be aligned and supplied at high speed and in a stable manner with the direction of the direction being aligned.

Further, by providing a vibration generating means for applying a vibration in the middle of at least one of the first and second component transfer paths, it is possible to block the minute components transferred through these narrow component transfer paths. Can be prevented.

Further, a sensor for detecting the presence / absence of the passage of a minute component is provided in the first or second component transfer path provided with the vibration generating means, and based on the detection result of this sensor, the vibration generating means is provided. By actuating, it is possible to reliably detect the clogging of the minute components in the component transfer path and efficiently prevent the clogging of the minute components.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a micro component supplied by a micro component supply device.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of a micro component supply device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front view for explaining a method for discharging minute components from the rotating disk of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a front view for explaining a method for discharging minute components from the rotating disk of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a front view for explaining a method for discharging minute components from the rotating disk of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a front view for explaining a method for discharging minute components from the rotating disk of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a partially omitted front view showing a conventional minute component supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Micro part 1a Characteristic part 2 Parts storage part 3 Parts transfer path 4 Sensor 5, 5a, 5b, 5c Slit 6 Rotating disk 6a Ring part 6b Disk part 7 Pulse motor 7a Gear 8 Communication path 9 Discharge end 10 Parts transfer path 11 , 12 Air supply port 13, 13a Inclined surface 14 Hole 15 Component transfer tube 16 Frame 17 Vertical plate 18 Cylindrical member 19 Coil spring 20 Pivot 21 Cam 22 Swing lever 22a Bend 23 Piezoelectric element 24 Roller 25 Pivot 26 Lever 27 Spring 28 core member 28a disk portion 28b cylinder portion 29 bearing 30 cover plate 31 sensor 32 piezoelectric element 33 air supply port

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kunihiko Suzuki 1578 Higashikaizuka, Iwata City, Shizuoka Pref.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A component storage portion for storing a rectangular micro component having directionality in at least one of a front-rear direction, a left-right direction, and a front-back direction, and a vertical or inclined downward from a bottom of the component storage portion. And a first component transfer path for transferring the micro components stored in the component storage portion in a single row in the direction having the direction to the side, and a slit having a predetermined cross-sectional shape penetrating the inner and outer peripheries. Has a ring portion provided at a position equidistant in the circumferential direction, and the slit of the ring portion has the directionality in the same posture as the minute component discharged from the lower end exit of the first component transfer path. A rotating disk that is housed singly with the direction facing the circumferential direction of the ring portion, a rotary drive device that intermittently rotates the rotating disk at a predetermined angle in a constant direction, and the circumferential direction equidistantly arranged on the inner circumferential side of the ring portion. Slit provided at position And a communication passage having a cross-sectional shape substantially equal to the cross-sectional shape of the slit and a communication passage connected at the first and second rotation positions, and connected to an outer peripheral side of the slit connected to the communication passage at the second rotation position. A second component transfer path connected to the discharge end, a sensor for detecting a direction of each of the minute components in the middle of the first component transfer path or in the rotary disc, and a sensor accommodated in each of the slits. A first air supply port for sending a micro component from the first rotation position to the second component transfer path through the communication passage and the slit at the second rotation position, and directly from the second rotation position. A second air supply port for sending out to a second component transfer path, and selectively supplying air from the first or second air supply port based on a detection result of the sensor, to each of the slits. The stored small parts Serial direction of the micro-component supplying device which is adapted to supply to the discharge end from said aligned orientation second component transfer path. 2. A vibration generating means for applying vibration in the middle of at least one of the first and second component transfer paths to prevent clogging of the minute components in these component transfer paths. The micro component supply device according to claim 1, wherein 3. A mortar-shaped inclined surface is provided at the bottom of the component storage portion, and an entrance of the first component transfer path is provided at the center of the mortar-shaped inclined surface. A predetermined distance of the first component transfer path is formed by a straight component transfer pipe through which the micro components are passed in a single row, and has an upper end surface that forms an inclined surface around an entrance of the first component transfer path. The cylindrical member is fitted to the outer periphery of the component transfer tube so as to be able to advance and retreat up and down, and when the cylindrical member advances upward, the upper end surface complements the inclined surface around the entrance, 3. The micro component supply device according to claim 2, wherein the vibration generating means is attached to the cylindrical member or a member abutting on the cylindrical member to apply vibration to the component transfer pipe. 4. A sensor for detecting whether or not the micro component has passed is provided in the first or second component transfer path provided with the vibration generating means, and based on a detection result of the sensor, 4. The micro component supply device according to claim 2, wherein the vibration generating means is operated. 5. The micro component supply device according to claim 2, wherein the vibration generating means uses a piezoelectric element that converts electric energy into mechanical energy.