JP2015074080A - Automated production line of ink ribbon cassette for sublimation printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automated production line that is compatible with mass production without depending on only the number of workers, in a production process of ink ribbon cassettes for sublimation printers principally by manual operation on the basis of one article for one worker depended heavily on manual every working part.SOLUTION: A preliminary work by a worker and a main work by an automatic device are sorted and arranged. In the assembly preliminary work by the worker, total four components of housings A, B, C of main components and a double-wound bobbin are received as in a delivery state by introducing an exclusive component tray achieving a role as a component fixing jig. By combination with an exclusive jig for handling five products simultaneously in one worker one work cycle, departure from the work relying only on the worker's proficiency and the number of the workers is achieved. Further, an automation line using an automated assembly device and an image test apparatus is directly connected to this, and thereby an automated production line is provided in which the work efficiency and work precision in the product assembly and finished products inspection are drastically improved.

Description

  The present invention relates to the manufacture of ink ribbon cassettes for sublimation printers, and includes work systems including equipment and personnel arrangements for parts supply and assembly preparation work, as well as product assembly and finished product inspections that are linked to each work part. In response to this, a series of automated production lines were devised with dedicated automatic equipment.

  At present, we are not aware of patent documents and non-patent documents related to a production line for an ink ribbon cassette for a sublimation printer.

  Conventionally, when assembling an ink ribbon cassette for a sublimation printer, there is no special designated delivery specification for parts delivery from a parts manufacturer, and it is left to the delivery specifications of each part manufacturer as long as the quality of the parts is not affected. It was. In the assembly of the conventional products, preparatory work and the division that the present work is not, because it was not changed in principle one worker one work cycle dish start is in any work part for that, partially dedicated jigs for each work part Although it used tools, it was basically a manual work line, one by one with human naval tactics that relied on the skill level of the workers. In addition, there is no automatic assembly device, and for increasing production, the production capacity of the conventional manufacturing method is limited, and improvement of work efficiency and work accuracy is an essential issue.

  The ink ribbon cassette is a consumable item for the printer. Therefore, mass production with a short delivery time is a major premise, but there has been no automatic finished product inspection device for quality inspection of finished products, and accuracy is guaranteed in inspections that rely on visual inspection or palpation of workers. It was indispensable to secure a certain time, and there was a limit to shortening the inspection time. Therefore, the improvement of inspection efficiency and inspection accuracy of the finished product was an essential issue.

  First, the preparatory work by workers and the main work by automatic equipment are sorted and arranged. In order to solve this problem, according to the invention of claim 1, when the four main parts are delivered from the parts manufacturer, a dedicated parts tray is provided for each part, and a prescribed number of parts are regularly delivered at a predetermined position for delivery. . This component tray has not only a function as a container for delivery but also a function as a jig for fixing components during assembly preparation work. Furthermore, the efficiency was improved by introducing a dedicated jig to be used in preparation work as a pair with the component tray in advance.

  The inventions of claims 2 to 4 have improved the efficiency and accuracy of assembly and inspection by introducing an original automatic assembly apparatus and automatic image inspection apparatus for product assembly and finished product inspection.

  The invention of claim 5 is a series of preparatory work systems using the dedicated jig of claim 1 in the manufacturing work of an ink film cassette for a sublimation printer, and the original automatic assembly apparatus of claims 2 to 4 An assembly production line that directly links and links assembly and inspection work with automatic image inspection equipment was introduced.

  One part of the assembly preparation work by an operator who has delivered a major part from a parts maker using a special tray and uses the tray itself as a part fixing jig and manipulated this tray and a special jig designed in advance as a pair. It was possible to work on five items simultaneously in one work cycle, and to break away from work that relied solely on the proficiency level of the worker and the number of personnel.

  As a result of the direct connection of the assembly line of the work with the automatic equipment and the preparatory work by the worker who introduced the dedicated parts tray and the dedicated jig, the production efficiency of the finished assembly of the product compared to the conventional manufacturing method has increased by about 10 times. . Furthermore, with the introduction of automatic image inspection equipment, both the inspection efficiency and inspection accuracy of finished products have dramatically increased, and the production efficiency of the entire production line has increased by about 15 times compared to the conventional manufacturing method. As a result, mass production became possible, and it became possible to respond flexibly to sudden increases or decreases in production.

である。When delivering four types of main parts from a parts manufacturer, the parent and child bobbins (the parent bobbin 17 and the child bobbin 18 are joined to each other by pressing both ends of a fixed length of ink ribbon with double-sided tape, The ribbons wound with the ink ribbon) are placed on the parent and child bobbin tray 14 , the housing A8 is placed on the housing A tray 11 , the housing B9 is placed on the housing B tray 12 , and the housing C10 is placed on each dedicated tray of the housing C tray 13. Pay as prescribed and deliver to assembly plant. (See Fig. 4) The relationship between these four types of trays and storage parts

It is.

  Each of the four types of dedicated trays can be stacked regardless of the presence or absence of the accommodating parts in the tray. The tray is a vacuum-formed polypropylene thin plate with consideration given to impact, durability and prevention of scratches on parts. Therefore, if the tray is empty, stacking it in the same direction can save space, but even if the part is placed inside it, the tray is reversed 180 degrees to add a direct load to the part. Stacking with a constant interval is possible without any problems. These are designed to be efficiently stored in a commercially available folding plastic container, and the packaging cost can be reduced as a through box compared to a cardboard box, and the problem of paper dust mixing in the cardboard box is also eliminated. (See Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8)

The work is first a spring preparation work. The springs supplied by the spring manufacturer are entangled with each other, forming a large and small loose mass. The springs, which are separated one by one by the uppermost spring separation / distribution device 2 of the assembly preparation rack 1 , are then regularly arranged in a line, and through the spring distribution tube 4 to the take-out port on the lower surface of the lower spring distributor 3. Prepared automatically. (See Figure 1)

The supply worker d40 takes out the necessary component-containing tray from the main component stock space 42, and on the turntable a6 on the work table a5 from the front of the assembly worker a37 and the assembly worker b38 of the assembly preparation rack 1. The parent-child bobbin tray 14 is supplied with the housing C tray 13 placed on the turntable b7. (See Figure 2)

The assembly worker a37 and the assembly worker b38 stand in front of the parent / child winding bobbin tray 14 and place the distal end portion of the stud pin 45 of the spring loading jig 15 into the jig insertion holes 45 of the five sets of the parent bobbin 17 and the child bobbin 18. The bobbins are picked up from the bobbin tray, and the tips of the bobbins are pressed against the lower surface of the spring distributor 3, and the springs 44 are displaced to the tips of the bobbins. Next, the body is moved in front of the housing C tray 13 while holding the spring loading jig, and the five sets of parent-child bobbins in which the springs are transferred are placed in five rows of housings C10 accommodated in the tray. Remove the hand from the spring loading jig. (See Figures 1 and 3)

Next, the marker boss a49 of the bobbin loading jig 16 is inserted into the marker boss a receiving hole 51 at the center in the longitudinal direction of the housing C tray 13 and the marker boss b50 is inserted into the marker boss b receiving hole 52, respectively. Position the tool. Then, the jig is pushed from above with both hands, and five sets of the parent bobbin 17 and the child bobbin 18 are securely loaded into the five housings C10. Thereafter, the spring loading jig 15 is lifted again with both hands, and the five prepared housings C are picked up from the housing C tray, transferred onto the housing C conveyor 23 , and the stud pin 45 of the spring loading jig is pulled out to flow to the line. . (See Figure 1)

The housing C tray 13 has a total of 10 housings C10, and the parent-child bobbin tray 14 has a total of 20 sets of parent bobbins 17 and child bobbins 18 , both of which are separated into two rows in the longitudinal direction of the tray. The spring loading jig 15 and the bobbin loading jig 16 are devised so as to simultaneously handle five products simultaneously in each operation. Therefore, the parent and child bobbin takes 4 cycles of work, and the housing C takes 2 cycles of work, and all the storage parts on each tray are used up, and the tray is emptied. (See FIGS. 7, 8, 9, and 10)

When the assembly worker a37 and the assembly worker b38 insert the stud pin 48 of the spring loading jig into the jig insertion hole 45 of the parent bobbin 17 child bobbin 18 stored in the tray using the spring loading jig 15 , When the parent-child bobbin is inserted into the housing C, the direction of the parts is reversed 180 ° in the left and right rows of the tray. Therefore, when the work for one row is completed, the turntable a6 and the turntable b7 are rotated by 180 ° as a whole, so that the handling direction of the jig is kept constant and the work efficiency is not lowered.

The supply worker d40 also takes out the necessary tray from the main parts stock space 42, supplies the housing A tray 11 and the housing B tray 12 containing the parts on the table b24 placed in the center of the line, and is empty. Collect the tray. (See Figure 2)

In response to this, the supply worker c39 picks up the parts of the 13 housings A8 on the housing A tray 11 by sucking the parts by the air intake mechanism of the housing A shift jig, and supplies the parts to the housing A conveyor 21 at equal intervals. Move and flow. In a similar procedure, 13 rows of housings B9 on the housing B tray 12 are picked up by the housing B shift jig, and the parts are transferred to the housing B conveyor 22 at equal intervals to flow. Here, the preparation work by the worker is completed. (See Figure 2)

The housings A, B, and C placed on the dedicated conveyors are then automatically assembled. First, the preparatory housing C10 is sent to the shaft loading device 25 through a dedicated conveyor, loaded in the housing C by dropping the shaft 20 from above, and then sent to the housing ABC fitting device 26 . Moreover, the housing A8 and the housing B9 are also sent to the housing ABC automatic fitting device through each dedicated conveyor.

In the housing ABC fitting device 26 , the housing A8 flowing on the left side in the moving direction and the housing B9 flowing on the right side in the moving direction are sucked up from above by the suction control block with respect to the prepared housing C10 flowing in the central part in the moving direction. On the housing C flowing through the Then, the housing A and the housing B are automatically fitted so as to push the housing C slightly upward from below, and the automatic assembly work is completed here. (See Figure 2)

Thereafter, when the finished product passes through the next product reversing device 27 , the front and back are reversed on the conveyor, and the housing C side is up and the housings A and B are down. This has the purpose of preventing the ink ribbon in the product from loosening and dropping due to vibration when the product joins the product conveyor 32 and the purpose of ensuring the inspection accuracy of the subsequent image inspection apparatus 33 to the maximum. Next, the product joins the product conveyor, but when joining from the second line 30 or the third line 31 , the automatic forward distribution device 28 detects that the product does not overlap the product flowing from the previous line. Then, the timing of merging is adjusted. (See Figure 2)

である。Next is finished product inspection. The image inspection device 33 that makes full use of eight surveillance cameras instantaneously selects the quality of the product, and the product judged as defective is automatically removed into the defective product storage box 34 at the exit of the image inspection device. Is done. Here, it is roughly classified to determine whether a part is missing, loaded, fitted, or loaded. The specific inspection items in this image inspection device are:

It is.

The products that have been inspected by the image inspection apparatus are then automatically packaged individually by the pillow packaging machine 35 and discharged onto the table c36. The boxing worker e41 packs the box on this and stores it in the boxing space 43. This completes a series of assembly, inspection, and individual packaging operations.

  In response to changes in the number of orders from customers in the medium and short term, some assembly lines will be used and stopped, and long-term increases in production will be flexibly handled by increasing the number of lines.

Industrial applicability

  The sublimation type printer ink ribbon cassette manufacturing line according to the present invention has a possibility of industrial use because production efficiency and production / inspection accuracy are greatly improved as compared with the conventional method.

  FIG. 4 is a three-sided view showing the arrangement of equipment and workers in preparation work for manufacturing a sublimation type printer ink ribbon cassette.   It is the top view which showed arrangement | positioning of apparatus, an installation, and a worker of the preparatory work of a sublimation type printer ink ribbon cassette, and the whole automated manufacturing line.   It is a schematic three-view figure of the sublimation type printer ink ribbon cassette which is the object goods produced with the assembly manufacturing line of this application.   It is sectional drawing of the A-A 'part of FIG.   It is a three-sided view of a housing A tray.   It is a three-sided view of the housing B tray.   It is a three-sided view of the housing C tray.   It is a three-sided view of a parent-child wound bobbin tray.   It is a three-sided view of a spring loading jig.   It is a three-sided view of a bobbin loading jig.

1 Rack for assembly preparation 2 Spring separation / distribution device 3 Spring distributor 4 Spring distribution tube 5 Work table a 6 Turntable a
7 Turntable b 8 Housing A 9 Housing B
10 Housing C 11 Housing A tray 12 Housing B tray
13 Housing C tray 14 Parent and child bobbin tray 15 Spring loading jig
16 bobbin loading jig 17 parent bobbin 18 child bobbin 19 ink ribbon 20 shaft 21 housing A conveyor
22 housing B conveyor 23 housing C conveyor 24 table b 25 shaft loading device 26 housing ABC fitting device
27 product reversing device 28 automatic ordering device 29 1st line
30 Line 2 31 Line 3 32 Product conveyor
33 Image inspection device 34 Defective product storage box 35 Pillow packaging machine 36 Table c 37 Assembly worker a 38 Assembly worker b
39 Supply worker c 40 Supply worker d 41 Packing worker e
42 Main parts stock space 43 Packing space 44 Spring 45 Jig insertion hole 46 Housing A claw 47 Housing B claw 48 Stud pin 49 Marker boss a 50 Marker boss b
51 Marker boss a receiving hole 52 Marker boss b receiving hole

Claims (5)

  When assembling an ink ribbon cassette for a sublimation printer, the main parts of the housing A, B, and C are connected to the parent and child bobbins (the main bobbin and the child bobbin are bonded to both ends of the fixed length ink ribbon with double-sided tapes. In the case of delivery from a parts manufacturer of a total of 4 items (with the ink ribbon wound up on the parent bobbin side), it is not limited to the function of a container for delivery. Introduction of a component tray characterized by fulfilling the functions of And a work system including the introduction of a special jig for the preparatory work for incorporating springs and parent-child bobbins into the housing C on the tray.   In the assembly of an ink ribbon cassette for a sublimation type printer, an assembly apparatus is characterized in that an ink ribbon take-up relay shaft is automatically loaded into a housing C in which a spring-loaded parent-child bobbin is housed.   When assembling an ink ribbon cassette for a sublimation printer, the housing A and the housing B are automatically fitted to the housing C which has been loaded with the spring-loaded bobbin and shaft, and the product is completed. Assembling equipment.   Inspecting finished products of ink ribbon cassettes for sublimation printers, using multiple surveillance cameras, automatically inspects multiple items instantly, and selects and eliminates defective products. .   In the assembly of an ink ribbon cassette for a sublimation printer, the work system in the preparatory work of claim 1 is directly connected to the automated assembly line in which the original assembly apparatus and the inspection apparatus are arranged in the assembly / finished product inspection of claims 2 to 4. A series of production lines characterized by things.

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