Workpiece receiving and supporting device
11364598 ยท 2022-06-21
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
International classification
Abstract
A workpiece receiving and supporting device that is configured to sequentially contact a plurality of types of different non-flat surfaces provided on a plurality of workpieces, and subsequently support the workpieces, includes: at least one positioning member that contacts the workpieces and positions the workpieces; and a plurality of surface copying members that contacts the workpieces positioned by the positioning member, and provided so as to be rotationally movable and linearly movable in accordance with surfaces of the workpieces, wherein the positioning member and the surface copying member include at least a contact portion that contacts the workpieces and supports the workpieces, and at least a sliding portion that is slidable in accordance with surfaces of the workpieces when contacting the workpieces on both sides of the contact portion.
Claims
1. A workpiece receiving and supporting device comprising: at least one positioning member that is configured to contact a workpiece and position the workpiece; and a plurality of surface copying members, each of the surface copying members being configured to contact the workpiece when the workpiece has been positioned by the positioning member, each of the surface copying members being configured to be rotationally movable and linearly movable with respect to a surface of the workpiece, wherein each of the at least one positioning member and the plurality of surface copying members include at least a contact portion that is configured to contact the workpiece and support the workpiece, and each of the at least one positioning member and the plurality of surface copying members further includes at least two sliding portions that are slidable with respect to the surface of the workpiece when each respective sliding portion contacts the surface of the workpiece, and wherein each contact portion is located between two respective sliding portions on each of the at least one positioning member and the plurality of surface copying members.
2. The workpiece receiving and supporting device according to claim 1, wherein each of the sliding portions comprises a rotating member that is rotatable by contact with the workpiece.
3. The workpiece receiving and supporting device according to claim 1, wherein each of the sliding portions comprises a member having a sliding property with respect to the workpiece.
4. The workpiece receiving and supporting device according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion includes a magnet that attracts the workpiece by way of magnetic force.
5. The workpiece receiving and supporting device according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion includes a sucker that suctions the workpiece by way of negative pressure.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(14) Hereinafter, an embodiment of a workpiece receiving and supporting device of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in
(15) It should be noted that, among the directions shown in each figure, the X direction is a direction along the plane direction of the common substrate 2, and indicates the width direction of the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1. The Y direction is a direction along the plane direction of the common substrate 2, and indicates a direction perpendicular to the X direction. The Y1 direction indicates a direction in which the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 moves toward the workpiece when supporting the workpiece. The Y2 direction indicates a direction in which the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 having released the support of the workpiece moves when distanced from the workpiece. The Z direction indicates a direction perpendicular to the common substrate 2. The Z1 direction indicates a direction opposite to the Z2 direction.
(16) The positioning member 3 is a member that contacts and supports a workpiece (refer to the first workpiece W1 and the second workpiece W2 shown in
(17) Similarly to the positioning member 3, the surface copying member 4 is a member that contacts and supports the workpiece. The surface copying member 4 is provided so as not to be movable in the X direction and the Z direction with respect to the mounting side surface 21 of the common substrate 2. However, the surface copying member 4 is provided so as to be linearly movable along the Y direction, and is provided so as to be rotatably movable at any angle around the axis C2 along the surface shape of the workpiece. Similarly to the axis C1, the axis C2 is disposed along the Z direction perpendicular to the mounting side surface 21 of the common substrate 2.
(18) The workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 of the present embodiment includes a positioning member 3, and two surface copying members 4 and 4 disposed on both sides of the positioning member 3, respectively. However, the positioning member 3 is not limited to one. Two or more positioning members 3 may be arranged between adjacent surface copying members 4 and 4. Furthermore, two or more surface copying members 4 may be disposed on one side so as to sandwich the positioning member 3.
(19) Next, a specific structure of the positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 will be described. The positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 have the same structure except for differing from each other in that they are provided so as to be linearly movable or not with respect to the common substrate 2. Therefore, in the following description, the structure of the positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 will be described together with reference numerals.
(20) The positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 include base portions 31 and 41, support plate portions 32 and 42, contact portions 33 and 43, rotating mechanism portions 34 and 44, and sliding portions 35 and 45, respectively.
(21) The base portions 31 and 41 are portions for attaching the positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 to the common substrate 2. The base portions 31 and 41 are formed in a substantially square shape when viewed in the Z direction, and are arranged substantially parallel to the mounting side surface 21 of the common substrate 2.
(22) The support plate portions 32 and 42 are portions for supporting the contact portions 33 and 43. As shown in
(23) The contact portions 33 and 43 are portions that contact the workpiece, and suction and support the workpiece. The contact portions 33 and 43 are provided in a rectangular shape on the side surfaces of the support plate portions 32 and 42 facing in the Y1 direction in the initial state of the abovementioned workpiece receiving and supporting device 1. As shown in
(24) The contact portions 33 and 43 of the present embodiment include magnets that attract metal workpieces by magnetic force. The contact portions 33 and 43 themselves may be formed by magnets, or alternatively, magnets may be disposed inside the contact portions 33 and 43. As the magnets, it is possible to use an electromagnet that generates magnetic force by energizing when attracting the workpiece.
(25) The rotating mechanism portions 34 and 44 are provided at the center portions of the base portions 31 and 41. The rotating mechanism portions 34 and 44 include rotating disks 341 and 441 which are provided so as to be freely rotatable at any angle around the axes C1 and C2 with respect to the base portions 31 and 41, and fixing plates 342 and 442 which are fixed to the upper surface of the rotating disks 341 and 441 (a surface opposite to the support plate portion 32 and 42, a side surface facing in the Z1 direction). The fixing plates 342 and 442 are portions that respectively fix the positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 to the common substrate 2. The fixing plates 342 and 442 are integral with the rotating disks 341 and 441, and are rotatable about the axes C1 and C2 with respect to the base portions 31 and 41.
(26) The sliding portions 35 and 45 are respectively disposed on both sides in the width direction (the X direction) of the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 in the contact portion 33 and 43. More specifically, support plates 36 and 46 that support the sliding portions 35 and 45 are attached to the lower end surfaces 321 and 421 (an end surface opposite to the common substrate 2, the end surface facing in the Z2 direction) of the support plate portions 32 and 42 of the positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4. The support plates 36 and 46 have a width (the width along the X direction) protruding from both sides of the support plate portions 32 and 42, respectively. The sliding portions 35 and 45 are disposed on the projecting portions 361 and 461 of the support plates 36 and 46 protruding from both sides of the support plate portion 32 and 42, respectively.
(27) The sliding portions 35 and 45 of the present embodiment are configured by rollers 351 and 451 which are rotating members. The rollers 351 and 451 are rotatably mounted about rotary axes 352 and 452 extending from the protruding portions 361 and 461 in the Z1 direction. As shown in
(28) The support plates 36 and 46 are fixed to the lower end surfaces 321 and 421 of the support plate portion 32 and 42 by fixing screws 363 and 463 inserted into the screw insertion holes 362 and 462. As shown in
(29) Next, the fixing structures of the positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 with respect to the common substrate 2 will be described. The positioning member 3 is fixed to the common substrate 2 via a fixing plate 342. As shown in
(30) The surface copying member 4 is fixed to the common substrate 2 via a fixing plate 442. As shown in
(31) As shown in
(32) Between the fixing plate 442 and the mounting block 251, a coil spring 252 is provided. The coil spring 252 is disposed on the outer periphery of the guide rod 443 and the guide cylindrical portion 25, and constantly applies a biasing force in a direction away from the mounting block 251 with respect to the fixing plate 442. Therefore, as shown in
(33) It should be noted that the surface copying member 4 which most protrudes in the Y1 direction by the biasing force of the coil spring 252 is disposed to be retracted slightly toward the common substrate 2 side more than the positioning member 3. That is, in the initial state of the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 which does not support the workpiece, regarding the position of the positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 along the Y direction, the positioning member 3 is protruding most in the Y1 direction.
(34) Next, a description will be given of the operation when sequentially supporting the first workpiece W1 and the second workpiece W2 having curved surfaces of different curvatures by the repetitive operation of the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 with reference to
(35) The workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 before first supporting the first workpiece W1 is in an initial state as shown in
(36) As shown in
(37) As shown in
(38) As shown in
(39) After the completion of conveyance of the first workpiece W1, the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 returns to the workpiece placing portion 100 for repetitive operation, and thereafter performs the support operation of the second workpiece W2. At this time, as shown in
(40) When the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 further moves in the Y1 direction after the sliding portions 45 and 45 disposed on the positioning member 3 side of the surface copying members 4 and 4 respectively contact the concave curved surface W2a of the second workpiece W2, the sliding portions 45 and 45 smoothly slide (roll) toward the center portion in the width direction (the X direction) of the second workpiece W2 following the concave curved surface W2a of the second workpiece W2 by the rotation of the rollers 451 and 451. As a result, the surface copying members 4 and 4 move to rotate around the axis C2 (see
(41) Therefore, even when, subsequent to the first workpiece W1, the second workpiece W2 having a curvature different from the curvature of the first workpiece W1 is contacted and supported, the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 can smoothly rotate and move the surface copying members 4 and 4 to cause the contact portions 43 and 43 to face the concave curved surface W2a of the second workpiece W2. Therefore, even when subsequently contacting and supporting a plurality of workpieces having a plurality of types of different non-flat surfaces by repetitive operation, it is possible for the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 to more reliably support each workpiece.
(42) It should be noted that, in the support operation of the first workpiece W1 and the second workpiece W2 described above, since the positioning member 3 contacts against the central portion of each of the workpiece W1, W2, the positioning member 3 does not move to rotate. However, similarly to the surface copying member 4, the positioning member 3 can also move to rotate about the axis C1 (see
(43) In the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1, it suffices if each of the sliding portions 35 and 45 of the positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 is configured so as to be slidable in accordance with the surface of the workpiece when in contact with the workpiece, and thus, is not limited to those configured by the rollers 351 and 451. The sliding portions 35 and 45 may be configured by members 353 and 453 having an easy sliding property with respect to the workpiece.
(44) The sliding portions 35 and 45 configured by the members 353 and 453 having an easy sliding property are formed of, for example, a resin material having little slip resistance such as PTFE(polytetrafluoroethylene), POM(polyacetal), PA(polyamide), or PPS(polyphenylene sulfide) so that the contact surface with the workpiece becomes a smooth curved surface as shown in
(45) When a workpiece supported by the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 is gripped or supported by another device at a conveyance destination, the contact portions 33 and 43 of the positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 may have one or a plurality of suckers 331 and 431 for suctioning and supporting the workpiece by negative pressure, respectively, as shown in
(46) In addition, although not shown, the contact portions 33 and 43 of the positioning member 3 and the surface copying member 4 may have a plurality of suction holes, and may be configured to suck and suction, and support the workpiece by suctioning air from the suction holes.
(47) In the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1, the surface copying member 4 may be configured to adjust the position in the width direction (the X direction) of the common substrate 2 so as to be disposed at an optimal position according to the size, the curvature, etc. of the workpiece.
(48) In the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1, the positioning member 3 is not limited to those configured not to move linearly in the Y direction with respect to the common substrate 2 and, similarly to the surface copying member 4, the positioning member 3 may be configured to be linearly movable in the Y direction with respect to the common substrate 2.
(49) The workpiece supported by the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 is not limited to being made of metal, and may be made of a non-metal such as a glass plate. In a case of supporting a non-metallic workpiece, each of the contact portions 33 and 43 is configured to suction and support the workpiece by suction of a sucker or a negative pressure.
(50) Furthermore, the workpiece supported by the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1 is not limited to those having a shape with one curved surface of an arc shape such as the first workpiece W1 and the second workpiece W2, and it suffices if the workpiece has at least one of at least one type of shapes among a curved surface and inclined surface where a plurality of flat surfaces intersect, on the workpiece surface supported by the workpiece receiving and supporting device 1.
EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
(51) 1 workpiece receiving and supporting device 3 positioning member 4 surface copying member 33,43 contact portion 35,45 sliding portion 331,431 sucker 351,451 roller (rotating member) 353,453 member W1 first workpiece W2 second workpiece