DEVICE FOR BRAKING AND HOLDING A MACHINING ELEMENT

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for braking and holding a processing element that has a head and that is automatically supplied to a tool. The apparatus has a guide channel for the processing element; and a braking element that is movably supported between a braking position and a release position and that can be at least partly introduced into the guide channel to brake and hold the processing element supplied. A part of the braking element that projects into the guide channel in the braking position and thereby narrows the guide channel has an end face that faces the guide channel and that forms a latch recess for holding the head of the processing element.

Claims

1.-15. (canceled)

16. An apparatus for braking and holding a processing element, the processing element having a head and being automatically supplied to a tool, said apparatus comprising a guide channel for the processing element; and a braking element that is movably supported between a braking position and a release position and that can be at least partly introduced into the guide channel to brake and hold the processing element supplied, wherein a part of the braking element that projects into the guide channel in the braking position and thereby narrows the guide channel has an end face that faces the guide channel and that forms a latch recess for holding the head of the processing element.

17. The apparatus in accordance with claim 16, wherein the apparatus is configured such that it brakes the processing element solely at the head.

18. The apparatus in accordance with claim 16, wherein the braking element is configured and arranged such that it applies a clamping force directed transversely to a main direction of extent of the guide channel to the head of a held processing element in the braking position.

19. The apparatus in accordance with claim 16, wherein a preloading device is provided that preloads the braking element against a movement into the release position.

20. The apparatus in accordance with claim 19, wherein the braking element has a run-on surface which is arranged upstream of the latch recess in a transport direction of the processing element and by which the guide channel is narrowed when the braking element is in the braking position, with the preload force acting on the braking element being dimensioned such that a movement of the braking element in the direction of the release position up to an opening position can be brought about by an impact and a sliding along of the head of the processing element at the run-on surface.

21. The apparatus in accordance with claim 19, wherein the preloading device is configured such that a first force is required to move the braking element from the braking position in the direction of the release position up to an opening position and such that a larger second force is required to move the braking element from the opening position further into the release position.

22. The apparatus in accordance with claim 19, wherein the preloading device has at least two spring elements connected in series, with a movement of the braking element from the braking position into the opening position taking place against a first restoring force of a first spring element or of a first spring arrangement and a movement of the braking element from the opening position into the release position taking place against a second restoring force of a second spring element or of a second spring arrangement, and with the second restoring force being larger than the first restoring force.

23. The apparatus in accordance with claim 16, wherein the braking element is pivotably arranged at a housing.

24. The apparatus in accordance with claim 23, wherein the pivot axis of the braking element is arranged in front of the latch recess viewed in a transport direction of the processing element.

25. The apparatus in accordance with claim 16, wherein a force application apparatus is provided that is configured to adjust the braking element from the braking position into the release position.

26. The apparatus in accordance with claim 25, wherein the force for adjusting the braking element is generated by means of compressed air.

27. The apparatus in accordance with claim 25, wherein the force application apparatus comprises a cylinder pistonvia which the restoring force of at least one spring element can be transmitted to the braking element.

28. The apparatus in accordance with claim 25, wherein the cylinder piston is a pneumatic cylinder piston.

29. The apparatus in accordance with claim 27, wherein a force transmission element movable relative to the cylinder piston is provided, said force transmission element being connected between the cylinder piston and the braking element and being acted on by a restoring force of a first spring element, with the first spring element being supported at the cylinder piston.

30. The apparatus in accordance with claim 16, wherein a processing element drive device is provided that is configured to further transport the processing element in a conveying direction after a release by the braking element.

31. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, wherein the processing element drive device is configured to further transport the processing element in the conveying direction by means of compressed air.

32. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, wherein the processing element drive device comprises at least one pneumatic line section that opens laterally into the guide channel in front of the braking element in the main direction of extent of the guide channel.

33. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, wherein the processing element drive device comprises a plurality of pneumatic line sections, that open laterally into the guide channel in front of the braking element in the main direction of extent of the guide channel.

34. Method of using an apparatus for braking and holding a processing element, the processing element having a head and being automatically supplied to a tool, said apparatus comprising a guide channel for the processing element; and a braking element that is movably supported between a braking position and a release position and that can be at least partly introduced into the guide channel to brake and hold the processing element supplied, wherein a part of the braking element that projects into the guide channel in the braking position and thereby narrows the guide channel has an end face that faces the guide channel and that forms a latch recess for holding the head of the processing element, wherein the apparatus is used to brake, fix and release a screw.

35. The method in accordance with claim 34, wherein the screw is an FDS screw.

36. The method in accordance with claim 34, wherein a braking of the screw is brought about by a braking force transmission from the apparatus solely to the head of the screw.

Description

[0034] The invention will be described with reference to purely exemplary embodiments with reference to the enclosed drawings in the following. There are shown:

[0035] FIG. 1 a sectional view of an apparatus in accordance with the invention in a braking position;

[0036] FIG. 2 a detailed view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in an opening position; and

[0037] FIG. 3 a sectional view of a second apparatus in accordance with the invention with a curved guide channel.

[0038] The apparatus 10, 10 shown in the Figures are provided to brake and to securely fix a processing element 12, in the present embodiments an FDS screw, that is supplied to a tool, likewise not shown, by means of a supply system, not shown, in the present embodiments a supply system operated by means of compressed air, until said processing element 12 can be released for a further transport to the tool. The tool is typically a bit of an automatic screwdriver.

[0039] The apparatus 10, 10 comprises a housing 14 in which a guide channel 16 is formed. The guide channel 16 connects an input 18 and an output 20 of the apparatus to one another. The input 18 is couplable to a section of a hose-like or tubular line of the supply system that supplies the processing element 10. The output 20 is couplable to a section of a hose-like or tubular line of the supply system that transports away a processing element 10.

[0040] The apparatus 10, 10 further comprises a braking element 24 that is pivotably supported about a pivot axis 22 and that can be partly introduced into the guide channel 16 to brake and hold the supplied processing element 12 in a predefined section of the guide channel 16. The pivot axis 22 of the braking element 24 is located in front of a latch recess 28 in a transport direction A of the processing element.

[0041] FIG. 1 shows the braking element 24 in its braking position. In this braking position, the braking element 24 partly projects into the guide channel 16 and narrows the guide channel 16 in such a manner that the processing element 12 cannot completely pass the braking element 24. In other words, the braking element 24 blocks the guide channel 16 between the input 18 and the output 20 for the processing element 12. The part of the braking element 24 that projects into the guide channel 16 and thereby narrows the guide channel 16 has an end face 26 that faces the guide channel 16 and that is in particular adapted to the shape or extent of the guide channel 16. The end face 26 forms the latch recess 28 for holding a head 12b of the processing element 12. The processing element 12 is therefore held in the latch recess 28 by a form fit between the head 12b of the processing element 12 and the latch recess 28. In addition, the braking element 24 can press the head 12b of the processing element 12 against an inner wall 30 of the guide channel 16 so that the processing element 12 is clamped between the braking element 24 and the inner wall 30 of the guide channel 16.

[0042] The braking element 24 furthermore has, at the end face 26, a run-on surface 32 arranged upstream of the latch recess 28 in a transport direction A of the processing element 12. In the braking position of the braking element 24 shown in FIG. 1, the run-on surface 32 projects into the guide channel 16 at an angle to the inner wall 30 of the guide channel 16 so that a passage section defined by the inner wall 30 of the guide channel 16 and by the run-on surface 32 is continuously narrowed along the run-on surface 32.

[0043] The apparatus 10 further comprises a preloading device 34 that acts against a movement of the braking element 24 from the braking position into the release position and that preloads the braking element 24 into the braking position. For this purpose, the preloading device 34 has a cylinder piston 36 having a cylinder piston attachment 58 that is pushed into an extended position corresponding to the braking position of the braking element 24 by means of two spring elements 38, 40 connected in parallel. In this position, the cylinder piston 36 transmits the preloading force of the spring elements 38, 40 via a further spring element 42 to a force transmission element 44. This force transmission element 44 transmits the preloading force to a coupling element 46 of the braking element 24.

[0044] Instead of two spring elements 38, 40 connected in parallel, only a single spring element can also be provided. In principle, it would also be conceivable to provide more than two spring elements for preloading the cylinder piston 36.

[0045] The cylinder piston 36 is simultaneously a part of a force application apparatus 48 that is configured to adjust the braking element 24 from the braking position into the release position. In the present example, the cylinder piston 36 is designed as a pneumatic cylinder piston. An actuating force can be applied by means of compressed air to the cylinder piston 36 and the cylinder piston 36 is moved by said actuating force against the restoring force of the spring elements 38, 40, to the right in the Figures, in order to adjust the braking element 24 into the release position. To apply the actuating force to the braking element 24, a hook-shaped section 50 which engages around the coupling element 46 of the braking element 24 is provided at the end of the cylinder piston 36 or of the cylinder piston attachment 58 facing the braking element 24. The hook-shaped section 50 surrounds the coupling element 46 at three sides, wherein a clearance is provided between the oppositely disposed sides and the coupling element 46. The coupling element 46 is configured as a pin and has a rounded run-on surface that is or comes into contact with the hook-shaped section 50 when the cylinder piston 36 pulls the braking element 24 from the braking position into the release position.

[0046] The cylinder piston 36 is consequently configured such that it pushes the braking element 24 into the braking position as long as no pneumatic force is applied to the cylinder piston. As soon as the braking element 24 is to be pivoted into the release position and a pneumatic force is therefore applied to the cylinder piston 36 and urges the cylinder piston 36 away from the guide channel 16, the cylinder piston, in contrast, pulls the braking element 24 into the release position.

[0047] The apparatus 10 additionally comprises a processing element drive device 52 that is configured to further transport the processing element 12 in a transport direction A by means of compressed air after a release by the braking element 24. The processing element drive device 52 has at least one pneumatic line section 54 that opens laterally into the guide channel 16 in front of the braking element 24. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the pneumatic line section 54 opens into the guide channel 16 at an angle of approximately 40 to the main axis of the guide channel 16 or to the transport direction A of the processing element 12. As can likewise be seen in FIG. 1, a plurality of pneumatic line sections 54 distributed along the periphery can be provided to exert a stronger and more uniform drive force onto the processing element 12. In addition, compensation openings 56 can also be provided that are arranged offset from the pneumatic line sections 54 along the main axis of the guide channel 16. The compensation openings 56 establish a fluid connection between the supply hose or the guide channel 16 and an environment. This fluid connection to the environment ensures that environmental air can penetrate into the supply hose or the guide channel 16. A vacuum is hereby prevented from arising in the supply hose or in the guide channel 16.

[0048] It will now be explained in the following how the apparatus 10 gently brakes the processing element 12, holds it securely and releases it again in a precise manner.

[0049] If a processing element 12 is transported through the input 18 up to the braking element 24, the tip 12a of the processing element 12 passes the run-on surface 32 of the braking element 24 without moving the braking element 24 out of its braking position since the braking element 24 does not narrow the guide channel 16 in such a manner that the tip 12a would no longer fit through the narrowed guide channel 16. However, as soon as the head 12b of the processing element 12 slides into the section of the guide channel 16 which is narrowed by the run-on surface 32 when the braking element 24 is in the braking position, the head 12b of the processing element 12 comes into contact with the run-on surface 32 since the run-on surface 32 narrows the guide channel 16 in such a manner that the head 12b of the processing element 12 does not fit through. On the sliding along at the run-on surface 32, the processing element 12 pushes away the braking element 24 away so that the latter is pivoted from the braking position shown in FIG. 1 into the opening position shown in FIG. 2. The force applied by the processing element 12 to the braking element 24 ensures that the first spring element 42 is compressed in that the coupling element 46 of the braking element 24 presses against the force transmission element 44. The force transmission element 44 then in turn presses against the first spring element 42, whereby the latter is compressed. The restoring force or the spring constant of the first spring element 42 is adapted such that a movement of the braking element 24 in the direction of the release position up to an opening position can be brought about by an impact and a sliding along of the head 12b of the processing element 12 at the run-on surface 32.

[0050] In contrast, the cylinder piston 36 does not move when the braking element 24 is moved from the braking position into the opening position since the second spring elements 38, 40 as a spring arrangement together have a higher spring stiffness than the first spring element 42.

[0051] As soon as the head 12b of the processing element 12 has reached the end of the run-on surface 32, see FIG. 2, the head 12b latches into the latch recess 28. The opening force transmitted from the head 12b to the braking element 24 hereby decreases and the braking element 24 can pivot back into the braking position. The first spring element 42 can hereby at least partly expand again. The head 12b of the processing element 12, and thus the processing element 12, is now held in a form-fitted manner by the braking element 24, i.e. the head 12b partly engages into the latch recess 28. Since the latch recess 28 prevents a movement of the head 12b of the processing element 12 in both directions of the guide channel 16, the processing element 12 cannot be unintentionally released either in the direction of the output 20 or in the direction of the input 18. Thus, the processing element 12 is fixed in the region of the latch recess 28 by the braking element 24 even if the processing element 12 is accelerated in the direction of the input 18 by gravity or by a centrifugal force acting on the processing element 12, for example, when working overhead.

[0052] The force application apparatus 48 serves to release the fixing of the processing element 12 again. For this purpose, the cylinder piston 36 of the force application apparatus 48 is moved by means of compressed air against the restoring force of the spring elements 38, 40 from the position corresponding to the braking position of the braking element 24 into a position corresponding to the release position of the braking element 24. In this respect, the hook-shaped section 50 of the cylinder piston 36 pulls at the coupling element 46 and thus pulls the braking element 24 from the braking position into the release position, not shown, in which the braking element releases the guide channel 16. If the guide channel 16 is released, the processing element 12 together with the head 12b can pass the braking element and can move to the output 20 of the guide channel 16.

[0053] To ensure a further transport, in particular also when working overhead, a pneumatic drive force is provided by the processing element drive device 52 on the release of the braking element 24. For this purpose, compressed air is introduced through the pneumatic line sections 54 and ensures that the processing element 12 is always transported further in the direction of the output 20 independently of the position of the apparatus in a space and thus independently of the direction of action of gravity.

[0054] FIG. 3 shows a further embodiment of the invention. In contrast to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a curved guide channel 16 is provided instead of a straight guide channel 16. The end face 26 of the braking element 24 is adapted to the curved shape of the guide channel 16 so that the diameter of the guide channel 16 remains substantially constant along the direction of movement A of the processing element when the braking element is in the release position. Such a curvature of the guide channel 16 and of the end face 26 of the braking element 24 can have 45 or 90, for example.

[0055] In the present embodiment, the apparatus is used to brake, to fix, and to release FDS screws, i.e. flow-drilling screws. However, the apparatus can naturally also be used for any other processing elements that have a head, i.e. a lateral projection, and that are thus suitable for entering into a form fit with the latch recess.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

[0056] 10 apparatus [0057] 12 processing element [0058] 12A tip [0059] 12B head [0060] 14 housing [0061] 16 guide channel [0062] 18 input [0063] 20 output [0064] 22 pivot axis [0065] 24 braking element [0066] 26 end face [0067] 28 latch recess [0068] 30 inner wall [0069] 32 run-on surface [0070] 34 preloading device [0071] 36 cylinder piston [0072] 38 spring element [0073] 40 second spring element [0074] 42 first spring element [0075] 44 force transmission element [0076] 46 coupling element [0077] 48 force application apparatus [0078] 50 hook-shaped section [0079] 52 processing element drive device [0080] 54 pneumatic line section [0081] 56 compensation opening [0082] 58 cylinder piston attachment [0083] A transport direction of the processing element