法国专利FR3058082A1 PARTS ORGANIZATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

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专利摘要:
A coin organizer (10) receives small pieces (26) such as mechanical fasteners in bulk form and organizes a plurality of pieces in a desired common orientation. The unoriented pieces are received on the upper portion of a workpiece holding device (12) and are then moved along the upper side (24) of the workpiece holding device by an agitator (14). A plurality of receptacles are formed in the coin holding device (12) and open on its upper side. Each receptacle is configured to hold one of the pieces in the desired orientation and may include an input feature to assist in reorienting the pieces as they encounter the receptacles during movement. A retaining wall (16) functions to hold the unmaintained parts at the upper side of the workpiece holding device (12) during a work organization step and to allow the agitator to disengage the unmaintained workpieces from the workpiece. upper side of the piece holding device (12) during a purge step.
公开号:FR3058082A1
申请号:FR1759805
申请日:2017-10-19
公开日:2018-05-04
发明作者:Jonathan Mark GREGORY
申请人:Faurecia Interior Systems Inc；
IPC主号:

专利说明:

Technical area
The present description relates to a system and method for providing mechanical fasteners and more particularly for converting such fasteners from a loose form to an organized form more suitable for later use.
Context
Mechanical fasteners are gaining popularity in the manufacturing industry for assembly operations. This is due in part to different government requirements that certain products, such as automobiles, are designed to be disassembled at the end of their life to facilitate the separation of dissimilar materials and thus promote the recycling or reuse of materials. While there seems to be no solution for the innovation of new joining techniques, it has proven difficult to improve the approved threaded fastener when it fastens parts together in a robust manner. long term, but ultimately temporary.
While fastener manufacturers may welcome renewed interest in their products, the personnel who must use such fasteners during assembly operations are not happy. Mechanical fasteners have long been the bane of assembly line foremen and factory managers around the world. They are small, tedious to handle and famous for jamming automatic manufacturing equipment and causing downtime - a Phillips or wrongly supplied screw can stop an entire assembly line and quickly wipe out efficiency and the benefit of an assembly operation.
One problem with mechanical fasteners is the loose form in which they are typically delivered and / or stored before use. The fasteners are typically piled together randomly in a case or a box by the hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands. At some point during the lifetime of an individual mechanical fastener, it must be reoriented, from its randomly acquired storage orientation to a desired use orientation. To achieve this, vibratory distribution bowls have become ubiquitous facilities in assembly operations. British Patent No. 9,364,645 to Hoefliger and Associates describes an example of a vibratory distribution bowl which consists of a round bowl with a narrow ramp which spirals at the top of the inner wall of the bowl. When the bowl vibrates, the parts to be delivered are transported to the ramp from one end in or near the bulk fixtures and arrive at a dispensing end near the top of the bowl in a single file arrangement. These bowls usually include orientation features (e.g. angled protrusions, openings in the ramp, etc.) positioned along the ramp, which are designed to reorient passing fasteners and / or return disoriented fasteners to the bottom of the bowl for refeeding.
While such feeding devices offer certain advantages over manual sorting and manual placement, they have their own set of problems. For one, each dispensing bowl is designed specifically for a particular size and geometry of attachment; any change in fixing therefore requires a new design of the distribution bowl. Vibratory feeders are also infamous because they get stuck, due to an inevitable burr or other imperfection or an isolated fixture of different size or geometry. Indeed, assembly plants with large numbers of distribution bowls often have dedicated staff to clean up jams. There are also physical limitations to the speed at which fasteners can be powered by these devices.
summary
According to one embodiment, the invention relates to a parts organizer for organizing a plurality of randomly oriented parts, comprising a parts holding device comprising an upper side and a plurality of receptacles opening onto said upper side, each of the receptacles being configured to receive and hold an individual part in a desired orientation and in spaced relation to each other individual parts which are maintained in the desired orientation by different respective receptacles, an agitator operable to move the parts of the plurality of parts randomly oriented which are not held by one of the receptacles in the desired orientation along the upper side of the workpiece holding device, and a retaining wall configured to hold unworked workpieces at the upper side of the workpiece my device parts while the agitator is moving the unsupported parts along the upper side of the part holding device.
In one or more embodiments, the parts holding device is removable from the organizer when each of the receptacles holds one of the parts. This means that the parts holder can be removed from the organizer when each of the receptacles holds one of the parts.
In one or more embodiments, the organizer further comprises a container which contains the plurality of randomly oriented pieces in a bulk form, in which the piece holding device is configured to receive at least some of the plurality randomly oriented pieces at the top side of the piece holder to be moved along the top side of the piece holder by the agitator.
In one or more embodiments, the workpiece holding device and the agitator are movable relative to each other between a workpiece receiving state in which at least some of the plurality of workpieces are randomly oriented are received at the upper side of the work holding device, and a work organization state, in which the agitator operates to move the received unsupported work pieces along the upper side of the work holding device.
In one or more embodiments, the agitator is not in contact with the parts received at the upper side of the part holding device when it is in the part receiving state, and the agitator is in contact with the parts received at the upper side of the parts holding device in the state of parts organization.
In one or more embodiments, the organizer further comprises a container which contains the plurality of randomly oriented pieces in a bulk form, the piece holding device being movable relative to the container, in which at least one part of the upper side of the workpiece holding device is immersed in the plurality of randomly oriented parts in the container in the receiving state of parts and not submerged in the plurality of randomly oriented parts in the container, at the 'state of organization of parts.
In one or more embodiments, the agitator is configured to be in physical contact with the unmaintained parts that the agitator moves along the upper side of the part holding device.
In one or more embodiments, the agitator does not vibrate.
In one or more embodiments, the agitator includes a brush having bristles that move relative to the workpiece holding device to apply forces to the unsupported pieces that the agitator moves along the top side of the workpiece holding device. parts maintenance.
In one or more embodiments, the agitator rotates about an axis in a direction of rotation and moves the unsupported parts along the upper side of the part holding device in said direction of rotation.
In one or more embodiments, the retaining wall is round and concentric with respect to said axis.
In one or more embodiments, the retaining wall can pass from a closed position in which the retaining wall retains the unsupported parts at the upper side of the part holding device while the agitator moves the non-held parts. held along the upper side of the work holding device, in an open position in which the agitator operates to move unsupported work pieces at the upper side of the work holding device out of the upper side of the work holding device .
In one or more embodiments, each of the parts has a first end and a second, smaller end, each of the receptacles having a first part at the top side of the part holding device and a second part extending away from the first part to an opposite side of the part holding device, each second part being dimensioned to exclude the first ends of the parts and allow one of the second ends of the parts to extend in the second part to be maintained in the respective receptacle in the desired orientation, thereby preventing movement of the parts held out of the receptacles when the agitator is operating to move the unsupported parts along the upper side of the part holding device.
In one or more embodiments, the parts are mechanical fasteners having a head at the first end and a coaxial rod extending from the head to the second end, the second part of each receptacle comprising a tubular passage and the first part of each receptacle comprising a chamfer having a depth greater than an axial length of the heads of the fasteners so that the head of a fastener maintained in the desired orientation is under an upper surface of the workpiece holding device.
According to another embodiment, the invention relates to a method for organizing rooms, comprising the steps consisting in:
providing a workpiece holding device comprising a plurality of receptacles opening onto an upper side of the workpiece holding device;
receiving a plurality of parts at the upper side of the part holding device, in which each part has an elongated axis and at least one of the parts is received with the elongated axis in a non-vertical orientation;
moving said at least one of the pieces along the upper side of the piece holding device; and redirecting said at least one of the pieces to an empty receptacle of the receptacles so that the elongated axis of each redirected piece is in a vertical orientation and each redirected piece fills one of the receptacles.
In the context of this request, it is envisaged that different aspects, embodiments, examples, characteristics and variants, presented in the preceding paragraphs, in the claims and / or in the following description and the following drawings can be taken independently or in the 'any one of their combination. For example, the characteristics described in relation to an embodiment are applicable to all the embodiments, except when there is an incompatibility of the characteristics.
Description of the drawings
One or more embodiments are described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which the same designations designate the same elements, and in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic side view of an example of a coin organizer illustrated in a coin receiving condition;
Figure 2 is a schematic side view of the room organizer of Figure 1, illustrated in a room organization condition;
Figure 3 is a schematic side view of the parts organizer of Figures 1 and 2, illustrated in a purge condition;
Figure 4 is a schematic side view of the parts organizer of Figures 1 to 3, illustrated in an unloaded condition;
Figure 5 is a top view of an embodiment of a workpiece holding device of the room organizer;
Figure 6 is a sectional view of the workpiece holding device of Figure 5; Figure 7 is a partial sectional view of the workpiece holding device of Figure 5 with a mechanical fastening held in a receptacle of the workpiece holding device;
Figure 8 is the view of the workpiece holding device of Figure 7 with the mechanical fastener illustrated during movement along the upper side of the workpiece holding device;
Figure 9 is the view of Figure 8 with the mechanical fastener further displaced along the upper side of the workpiece holding device and which is received in the receptacle;
Figure 10 is the view of the workpiece holding device of Figures 7 to 9 with a longer mechanical attachment illustrated during movement along the upper side of the workpiece holding device;
Figure 11 is the view of Figure 10 with the mechanical fastening which is received in the receptacle; and Figure 12 is the view of the parts holding device of Figure 7 illustrating an unsupported mechanical fastening in the receptacle.
Detailed description of the illustrative embodiment (s)
The parts organizer described below represents a new approach for providing small parts such as mechanical fasteners that are received in bulk form, to an assembly line or cell in an organized manner. The parts organizer does not rely on low amplitude vibrations or single file organization arrangements typically used in vibratory distribution bowls, and its feed rate is therefore not limited by such features. The system and methods described here can be adapted to organize and redirect anywhere from a few rooms to several hundred or several thousand small rooms in the same period of time. Furthermore, this same organizer can be used to organize and supply parts of different shapes and sizes and / or to organize the same parts into a plurality of different models predetermined by simple design or selection of a different part holding device for each cycle or each new type of fixation. While the illustrated embodiments are presented in the context of organizing threaded fasteners such as screws or bolts, the adaptation intended to be used to organize almost all small parts with an elongated axis (for example, springs, positioning pins, nails, rivets, etc.) is considered.
Figures 1 to 4 are schematic side views of an embodiment of a parts organizer 10 which includes a parts holding device 12, an agitator 14, a retaining wall 16, a source of loose parts 18 , and a holding device holder 20. The piece holding device 12 comprises a plurality of piece receptacles 22 opening on its upper side 24. Each receptacle 22 is configured to hold an individual piece of pieces 26 to be organized in an orientation desired. The source of bulk parts 18 illustrated is a bowl-shaped container containing a plurality of parts 26 in bulk form.
The parts holding device 12 is movable between a first position and a second position in which its upper side 24 is respectively immersed (FIG. 1) and not immersed (FIG. 2) in the loose parts. The agitator 14 is a rotary bristle brush in this example and can operate to move unsupported workpieces 26 along the top side 24 of the workpiece holding device 12 until the receptacles 22 are filled with workpieces in the desired orientation. The retaining wall 16 is movable between a closed position, in which it contains unsupported parts 26 at the upper side 24 of the holding device 12 during agitation (Figure 2) and an open position, in which it allows the parts not held at the top side of the work holding device to be moved out of the work holding device (Figure 3). In this way, the room organizer 10 passes a plurality of rooms, from different orientations randomly to a desired common orientation and arranged relative to each other according to a desired model in the workpiece holding device 12. When the parts 26 are mechanical fixings, the filled part holding device 12 can be used by a manufacturing assembly cell to bring the fixings to the cell according to pre-programmed cell coordinates corresponding to the model of the receptacles 22 and with the heads fasteners which are all accessible from the upper part of the workpiece holding device, eliminating the need and the problems associated with vibratory distribution bowls.
FIG. 1 illustrates the room organizer 10 in a room reception condition in which some of the rooms to be organized are received at the upper side 24 of the room holding device. In the example illustrated, the pieces 26 are received by immersion in the loose pieces in the container 18 - that is to say with the upper side 24 below an upper limit of the loose pieces. Other parts receiving conditions are possible, such as a condition in which a source of loose parts pours the parts on the upper side 24 of the part holding device 12 from above. For example, FIG. 2 represents a condition for receiving parts from the organizer with parts which are supplied from above and inside the retaining wall 16. The number of parts 26 received may be greater than the number of receptacles 22 in order to increase the profitability of the organizational process. The magnitude of the difference in the number of parts received in the receiving condition and the number of receptacles 22 may vary; but the number of parts received generally represents at least twice the number of receptacles and can go up to an order of magnitude greater than the number of receptacles. In the illustrated embodiment, the received pieces 26 are arranged in a layer of randomly oriented and partially overlapping pieces with the layer thickness in a range between the smallest dimension and the largest dimension of an individual piece. .
FIG. 2 illustrates the room organizer 10 in a room organization condition in which the unsupported rooms 26 are moved along the upper side 24 of the room holding device 12 by the agitator 14. The retaining wall 16 is in the closed position and retains the parts not maintained in a stirring zone 28 defined along the upper side 24 of the parts holding device 12 while the agitator 14 is operating. The agitation and movement provided by the illustrated bristle brush differs from that provided in conventional dispensing bowls in several respects. For one, the movement can be provided without intentional and controlled vibration of the container 18. Also, the movement is provided by the application of a force to each non-maintained part 26 by the agitator 14 via physical contact to a location above the surface on which the piece is placed. The applied force is generally parallel to the opposite surfaces of the workpiece holding device (i.e. horizontal). In other words, the agitator 14 drives the parts 26 along the upper side 24 of the parts holding device. This results in a partial movement which can be considerably faster than the partial movement provided by the high frequency and low amplitude vibrations of a conventional dispensing bowl. For example, while a vibratory dispensing bowl can move parts along a track at a speed of the order of tens of inches per minute, a rotating brush or other suitable agitator 14 can move parts along on the upper side 24 of the workpiece holding device at a speed of the order of thousands of inches per minute.
Other types of agitators are envisaged. For example, the agitator can be configured to provide one or more air jets inside the retaining wall 16 to move the workpieces along the workpiece holder 12. Or the agitator can be configured for tilting and / or vibrating the workpiece holding device at relatively large amplitudes (for example, on the order of inches rather than millimeters) and / or low frequencies (for example, on the order of a few Hertz or less, rather than 50 - 60 Hz). An objective of the agitator 14 is to quickly move the unmaintained parts 26 among the plurality of receptacles 22 to provide numerous opportunities for each of the unmaintained parts to meet an unoccupied receptacle. The greater the number of these opportunities, the greater the probability that one of the meetings is the one in which the coin can be received by the receptacle in the desired orientation. The agitator 14 can thus be any component which moves the unsupported parts along the upper side 24 of the part holding device 12 among more than one of the receptacles 22.
FIG. 3 illustrates the room organizer 10 in a purge condition in which the non-held pieces 26 are removed from the upper side 24 of the piece holding device 12. In this example, the retaining wall 16 passes from the open position in the closed position of FIG. 2, and the continuous operation of the agitator 14 moves the unsupported parts 26 away from the part holding device 12 and brings the loose parts back into the container 18. Other purging conditions are possible , such as a movement of the agitator 14 and of the workpiece holding device 12 at a distance from each other with other means for removing the unsupported workpieces which have been used (for example, manual means, air jets, tilt, etc.), also, other types of retaining walls 16 are envisaged. For example, the retaining wall 16 can be configured so that only part of the wall opens or moves away from the closed position to allow the unsupported parts to go out of their limits.
FIG. 4 illustrates the organizer 10 in an unloaded condition, in which the parts holding device 12 is accessible to be lifted from the support 20 or else is removed from the organizer. In this example, the part holding device 12 is in a third position between the first position in FIG. 1 and the second position in FIGS. 2 and 3, but any one of the positions in which the part holding device is accessible to be removed manually or automatically is sufficient. A different empty parts holding device can be installed on the support 20 in this same condition, or in a different organizer condition with one or more components of the organizer 10 in a different relative location. Figure 4 shows the retaining wall 16 rotated in the closed position of Figure 2, but this can be done at any time before a next part organization step. After installing an empty part holder, the organizer can return to the part receiving condition to repeat the part organizing process.
The different conditions of the room organizer 10 illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 are only illustrative. The organizer 10 can be configured with the illustrated components movable relative to each other in different ways or with some of the conditions mentioned above which are the same as the others. In the example illustrated, the agitator 14 and the container 18 are fixed, the workpiece holding device 12 and the support 20 are vertically movable together, and the retaining wall 16 is independently movable. Alternatively or additionally, the agitator 14 and / or the container 18 can be mobile or the workpiece holding device 12 and / or the retaining wall 16 can be fixed to obtain different conditions of organizer. In another variant, the agitator 14 can be fixed while being in the condition of organizing pieces and move the pieces along the piece holding device via the rotation or another movement of the piece holding device. The relative component movement can be obtained by known methods, such as hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, solenoids or servomotors and the movement is not limited to vertical movement.
Other embodiments may have the different organizer components in different relative positions from those illustrated in each of the receiving, organizing, purging and discharging conditions. For example, starting with the receiving condition of Figure 1, the agitator 14 can be lowered into the container 18 with the workpiece holder 12 which remains immersed in the loose parts to obtain another example of the condition parts organization, after which the parts holding device and the agitator can be removed from the loose parts to obtain the purge condition. In another example, the purge condition and the discharge condition are identical, with the workpiece holder 12 which can be removed from the holder 20 in a side-by-side direction with no additional vertical play required.
As mentioned above, the organizer 10 described is useful for the organization not only of mechanical fasteners, but of almost all small parts which have an elongated axis. An exemplary method for organizing pieces having an elongated axis may thus include the steps of receiving the pieces 26 at the upper side 24 of the piece holding device 12 with elongated axes randomly oriented, and then redirecting the received pieces with the axes elongated in the desired orientation in the receptacles 22 of the workpiece holding device. As discussed in more detail below, the receptacles 22 can be configured to help redirect the pieces 26 from random orientations to the desired orientation during operation of the agitator 14.
Figure 5 is a top view of an exemplary workpiece holding device 12, and Figure 6 is a sectional view of the workpiece holding device of Figure 5. The workpiece holding device 12 has a plurality of receptacles 22 opening onto the upper side 24 of the parts holding device. Each of the receptacles 22 is configured to maintain an individual part in a desired orientation and in spaced relation to the other parts which are maintained in the desired orientation by the other receptacles. In this particular example, the workpiece holding device 12 is a plate, and each receptacle 22 is a hole formed through the plate and countersunk at its upper side 24. As explained in more detail below, the characteristic milled can help redirect parts that are moved along the upper side 24 of the holding device 12 from an unwanted orientation to the desired orientation.
The receptacles 22 are arranged along the parts holding device according to a desired model. In this particular example, the workpiece holding device 12 is round with a receptacle 22 at its center and each of the other receptacles has a center which is located along one of three concentric circles. The resulting model is uniform and has several lines of symmetry. Other uniform patterns may include a compact hexagonal pattern or a group of linear columns and rows. The model does not need to be uniform or regular, however. In some cases, each receptacle 22 simply has a known location relative to an origin or other reference location of the work holding device 12 so that the following automatic equipment can be programmed to retrieve individual organized pieces from the working device keeping parts filled.
The workpiece holding device 12 illustrated also includes fastening features 30 in the form of peg holes formed in a lower side 32 of the holding device which facilitate removable attachment to the holding device support 20 described above (not shown in Figures 5 to 6) via positioning pins. The workpiece holding device 12 may otherwise be configured for removable attachment, preferably in a quick manner, such as a magnetic or vacuum attachment or a keyed hub to allow the workpiece holding device 12 to be easily lifted from the support and easily replaced by another workpiece holding device having the same or a different model of receptacles 22.
Each receptacle 22 illustrated has a first part 34 which opens on the upper side 24 of the workpiece holding device 12 and a second part 36 extending from the first part. The first part 34 extends at least partially through the thickness of the workpiece holding device 12 from a first end 38 at an upper surface 40 of the holding device 20 to a second end 42 opposite. The second part 36 extends from the second end 42 of the first part 34 to the lower side 32 of the workpiece holding device 12. In this example, the first part 34 is the milling part of each milled hole, and the second part 36 is the cylindrical part of each hole. The receptacles 22 do not need to extend completely through the holding device 12, and the second part 36 can be omitted in certain cases.
The first part 34 can be designated as an entry and operates by gravity to modify the orientation of the parts not held along the upper side 24 of the part holding device 12 when the agitator moves the parts not held along this latest. In particular, when an unsupported part moving along the upper side 24 of the part holding device meets the inlet 34 of one of the receptacles 22, the elongated axis of the part can be inclined towards a vertical orientation , as explained in more detail below.
Figure 7 is a partial sectional view of the workpiece holding device 12 of Figure 5 illustrating an exemplary mechanical fastener 26 which is held in the desired orientation in one of the receptacles 22. As used herein, a workpiece "Held" 26 is a part which is in the desired orientation in one of the receptacles 22 so that at least one of the surfaces defining the receptacle prevents the part from leaving the orientation desired by the agitator Operating. All other parts are considered not to be maintained. The elongated axis A of the illustrated part 26 extends through the center of both a first end 44 and a second end 46 of the part in a direction parallel to the largest dimension of the part, which is the length L of the piece 26 in this case. The first end 44 of the part 26 is larger than the second end 46. In this particular case, the part 26 is a mechanical screw, and the diameter or the width D1 of a head 48 at the level of the first end 44 of the screw is greater than the diameter or the width D2 of a threaded body 50 extending from the head 48 towards the second end 46. In this example, the desired orientation is with the elongated axis A oriented vertically and with the head 48 of the screw above the threaded body 50, as shown in FIG. 7.
As mentioned above, each receptacle 22 can be formed to facilitate the use of gravity to change the orientation of the unsupported parts which are moved along the upper side 24 of the part holding device 12 in one orientation not desired at the desired orientation. Each receptacle 22 is also formed or configured to prevent a maintained part 26 from going out of the desired orientation once it is received. The second part 36 of the receptacle 22 is dimensioned to receive the second end 46 of the part 26 and in this case, allow the body 50 of the binding to extend in the second part of the receptacle. The second part 36 of the receptacle 22 is also dimensioned to exclude the first end 44 of the part 26 and in this case, to prevent the head 48 of the binding from extending into the second part of the receptacle. The first part 34 of the receptacle 22 is dimensioned so that it does not exclude each end 44, 46 of the part 26.
In this embodiment, the second part or lower part 36 of the receptacle 22 is a tubular passage (for example cylindrical) having a diameter or width D3 which is less than the diameter or the width D1 at the first end 44 of the part 26 and greater than the diameter or the width D2 at the second end 46 of the part 26 (D1> D3> D2), thus excluding the head 48 from the fixing, from the passage 36 while allowing the body 50 of the binding to extend in the passage, as shown in FIG. 7.
Also illustrated in FIG. 7, there is an entry angle a and a wall length W associated with the first part 34 of the receptacle 22. While the magnitude of these characteristics of the receptacle are not entirely responsible for the proper functioning of the inlet to suck parts into the receptacle so that they are received and maintained in the desired orientation, the proper functioning of the inlet is linked to these characteristics, as described below.
FIG. 8 illustrates the screw 26 of FIG. 7 in a non-maintained condition, with the head 48 of the screw which rests on an edge of the receptacle 22 at the level of the upper surface 40 of the workpiece holding device 12 and the body 50 of the screw overhanging on the second part 36 of the receptacle. This represents a crucial position of the screw 26 relative to the receptacle 22 in which any additional movement in the direction of the arrow causes the screw to fall into the receptacle to be received and maintained inside the latter.
Figure 9 illustrates such an additional movement. With the proportions illustrated in particular between the screw 26 and the receptacle 22, the screw slides downwards on a wall 52 of the inlet 34 so that the entire diameter of a point 54 of the screw enters the second part 36 of the receptacle 22. This screw 26 easily falls into the receptacle 22 in the desired orientation as in FIG. 7 without additional agitation.
FIG. 10 illustrates a screw 26 of the same nominal diameters as that of FIGS. 7 to 9, but with a greater length. When the same receptacle 22 is encountered, the longest screw is too long to reach the crucial position that the screw of FIG. 7 has reached - that is to say with the underside of the screw head 48 at level of the highest edge of the receptacle 22 where any additional movement causes the screw to slide down on the wall 52 of the inlet and the reception in the desired orientation.
Figure 11 illustrates the screw 26 of Figure 10 in a theoretical position with the full diameter of the tip 54 of the screw which enters the second part 36 of the receptacle 22. To achieve this, the head 48 of the screw 26 must be lifted away from the workpiece holding device 12, as shown. A brush-type agitator can perform this type of screw movement, when enough flexible bristles are part of it, to allow the screw head 48 to climb into the brush. But this is not a preferred condition because it reduces the likelihood that any given encounter of the screw 26 with one of the receptacles 22 will result in the fact that the screw is received and held by the receptacle.
To make the screw 26 illustrated more easily received in the receptacle 22, the wall length W (FIG. 7) can be increased to a size which allows the full diameter of the point 54 of the screw to go beyond the second end of the inlet and in the second part 36 of the receptacle with the head 48 of the screw which is supported along the wall of the inlet. The size of W may depend on other things, such as the diameter D3 of the second part of the receptacle, the diameter D1 of the screw head, and the entry angle a, for example (see Figure 7) . Because of these other variables, there is no limit or dimensional relationship that can be attributed to the wall length W in all cases. However, in many cases, configuring the receptacle 22 to have a wall length W which is greater than or equal to the length L2 (FIG. 7) of the body of the screw, is suitable.
It is also useful to have a sufficiently long wall length W so that the underside of the screw head rests along the wall 52 so that the wall functions as a centering characteristic for the screw 26 maintained . This differentiates the illustrated entry from a smaller chamfer which, while it may be useful as an entry, does not serve as a centering characteristic if the external diameter of the underside of the screw head is supported. on the upper surface of the workpiece holding device. Centering the screw 26 so that it is coaxial with the cylindrical passage of the receptacle or so that the exact position of the longitudinal axis of the screw relative to the workpiece holding device is known, is useful in following operations such as when the filled workpiece holding device continues to a cell or assembly station where each screw is removed from the workpiece holding device by a robot or a gripping and positioning unit. Also, when the bent wall 52 provides such a centering function, the diameter D3 (Figure 7) of the receptacle need not provide a centering function, and the dimension D3 can be formed to be significantly larger than the diameter of the screw body 50. In fact, the diameter D3 of the lower part of the receptacle can be almost as large as the diameter D1 of the screw head, which provides a large amount of play between the screw body and the lower part of the receptacle, allowing easier and freer movement for the screw to fall into the receptacle.
This solves an additional problem in relation to a process on which the size of a hole with a small entry or no entry depends, for centering purposes. In any case, if the hole surrounding the screw rod is too small - that is, D3 is barely larger than D2 - filling the hole and removing the screw from the hole is difficult and prone to jamming. On the contrary, if the hole surrounding the screw rod is large enough to avoid these problems, then the location of the center of each piece is unpredictable and complex, and expensive adaptation systems (e.g. vision systems) are necessary to find where the screw is positioned relative to the center of the receptacle in order to remove it and engage the screw without failure.
Figure 12 illustrates another situation that occurs during the operation of the parts organizer. In this example, the screw 26 is supported in the receptacle 22 but is not in the desired orientation. In this case, an additional operation of the agitator moves the screw 26 away from the receptacle 22 and continues along the upper side of the workpiece holding device 12 until it encounters another receptacle. This is partly due to the receptacle 22 which is dimensioned so that a screw 26 in the receptacle, in an undesired orientation, projects above the upper surface 40 of the workpiece holding device 12, as shown, then that a screw in the receptacle in the desired orientation is completely below the upper surface of the holding device. This is not a requirement for the proper functioning of the parts organizer, but this can improve performance by ensuring that parts in the desired orientation are not moved away from the receptacles and by ensuring that parts not held in a receptacle can be moved along the upper side of the workpiece holder. In some cases, workpieces not held in a receptacle that do not protrude above the upper surface of the workpiece holder may be displaced due to the bristles of the brush reaching the receptacle during operation. Similar limitations can be placed on the depth of entry 34, depending on the entry angle a.
The entry angle a (Figure 7) also affects the parts organization operation. For example, an entry angle a that is too large (i.e. a shallow entry) may not facilitate the sliding movement described above in conjunction with Figure 9, when a part 26 meets a receptacle 22 in an otherwise favorable orientation - that is, rather than falling into the receptacle, the part 26 may instead be moved away from the receptacle and lose an opportunity to be received in the receptacle . An entry angle a that is too small (i.e., a steep entry) may not facilitate removal of an incorrectly oriented part from receptacle 22. In other words, the entry also serves 'a sort of' exit 'feature when the agitator is operating to remove unsupported parts from a receptacle. Although not limited to this range, an entry angle a in the range of 30 degrees to 60 degrees may be appropriate. In one embodiment, the entry angle is in the range of 40 degrees to 50 degrees. In a particular implementation, the entry angle is 41.5 degrees and 45 degrees in another implementation.
It should be understood that the preceding part is a description of the one or more exemplary embodiments of the invention. The invention is not limited to the embodiment (s) described here, but is rather defined only by the claims below. In addition, the statements contained in the foregoing description relate to particular embodiments and should not be construed as being limitations on the scope of the invention or the definition of terms used in the claims, except when a term or a sentence is expressly defined above. Different other embodiments and different changes and modifications with respect to the described embodiment (s) will become more apparent to those skilled in the art. All of these other embodiments, changes and modifications are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.
As used in this disclosure and the claims, the terms "for example >>," for example >>, "such as >>, and" like >> and the verbs "comprising >>," having >>, "including And their other verbal forms, when used in conjunction with a list of one or more components or other articles, should each be interpreted as not exhaustive, which means that the list should not be considered to exclude other components or additional items. Other terms should be interpreted using their broadest reasonable sense unless they are used in a context that requires a different interpretation.

权利要求:
Claims (15)
[1" id="c-fr-0001]
1. Room organizer (10) for organizing a plurality of randomly oriented rooms (26), comprising:
a workpiece holding device (12) comprising an upper side (24) and a plurality of receptacles (22) opening onto said upper side (24), each of the receptacles (22) being configured to receive and hold an individual workpiece in a desired orientation and in spaced relation to each other individual pieces which are maintained in the desired orientation by different respective receptacles (22);
an agitator (14) operable to move the pieces of the plurality of randomly oriented pieces (26) that are not held by one of the receptacles (22) in the desired orientation along the upper side (24) of the workpiece holding device (12); and a retaining wall (16) configured to retain the unsupported workpieces at the upper side (24) of the workpiece holding device (12) while the agitator (14) moves the unsupported workpieces along the upper side (24) of the parts holding device (12).
[2" id="c-fr-0002]
2. Organizer according to claim 1, in which the parts holding device (12) is removable from the organizer when each of the receptacles (22) holds one of the parts.
[3" id="c-fr-0003]
The organizer of claim 1, further comprising a container which contains the plurality of pieces (26) randomly oriented in bulk form, wherein the piece holder (12) is configured to receive at least some of the plurality of pieces (26) randomly oriented at the top side (24) of the piece holder (12) to be moved along the upper side (24) of the piece holder (12) by the agitator (14).
[4" id="c-fr-0004]
4. Organizer according to claim 1, in which the parts holding device (12) and the agitator (14) are movable relative to each other between a parts receiving state in which at least some of the plurality of randomly oriented pieces (26) are received at the upper side (24) of the piece holding device (12), and a piece organization state, in which the agitator (14) operates to moving the received unmaintained parts along the upper side (24) of the part holding device (12).
[5" id="c-fr-0005]
5. Organizer according to claim 4, wherein the agitator (14) is not in contact with the parts received at the upper side (24) of the parts holding device (12) when it is in the coin receiving state, and the agitator (14) is in contact with the coins received at the upper side (24) of the coin holding device (12) in the coin organizing state.
[6" id="c-fr-0006]
The organizer of claim 4, further comprising a container which contains the plurality of pieces (26) randomly oriented in bulk form, the piece holder (12) being movable relative to the container, wherein at least part of the upper side (24) of the workpiece holding device (12) is immersed in the plurality of workpieces (26) randomly oriented in the container in the state of receiving workpieces and not submerged in the plurality pieces (26) randomly oriented in the container, in the state of organization of pieces.
[7" id="c-fr-0007]
7. The organizer according to claim 1, wherein the agitator (14) is configured to be in physical contact with the unsupported parts which the agitator (14) moves along the upper side (24) of the part holding device. (12).
[8" id="c-fr-0008]
8. Organizer according to claim 1, wherein the agitator (14) does not vibrate.
[9" id="c-fr-0009]
9. The organizer according to claim 1, wherein the agitator (14) comprises a brush having bristles which move relative to the workpiece holding device (12) to apply forces to the unsupported workpieces that the agitator ( 14) moves along the upper side (24) of the workpiece holding device (12).
[10" id="c-fr-0010]
The organizer according to claim 1, wherein the agitator (14) rotates about an axis in a direction of rotation and moves the unsupported parts along the upper side (24) of the part holding device (12) in said direction of rotation.
[11" id="c-fr-0011]
11. Organizer according to claim 10, wherein the retaining wall (16) is round and concentric with respect to said axis.
[12" id="c-fr-0012]
12. Organizer according to claim 1, in which the retaining wall (16) can pass from a closed position in which the retaining wall (16) retains the parts which are not held at the upper side (24) of the holding device. of parts (12) while the agitator (14) moves the unsupported parts along the upper side (24) of the part holding device (12) to an open position in which the agitator (14) operates to moving the unsupported parts at the upper side (24) of the part holding device (12) out of the upper side (24) of the part holding device (12).
[13" id="c-fr-0013]
13. The organizer according to claim 1, wherein each of the parts has a first end and a second smaller end, each of the receptacles (22) having a first part at the upper side (24) of the part holding device (12 ) and a second part extending at a distance from the first part towards an opposite side of the part holding device (12), each second part being dimensioned to exclude the first ends of the parts and allow one of the second ends of the parts pieces to extend into the second part to be held in the respective receptacle in the desired orientation, thereby preventing movement of the pieces held out of the receptacles when the agitator (14) is operating to move the unsupported pieces along the side upper (24) of the workpiece holding device (12).
[14" id="c-fr-0014]
14. The organizer according to claim 13, wherein the parts are mechanical fasteners having a head (48) at the first end and a coaxial rod extending from the head towards the second end (46), the second part of each receptacle (22) comprising a tubular passage and the first part of each receptacle comprising a chamfer having a depth greater than an axial length of the heads of the fasteners (48) so that the head of a fastener maintained in the orientation desired, is under an upper surface of the workpiece holding device (12).
[15" id="c-fr-0015]
15. A method of organizing rooms, comprising the steps of; providing a work holding device (12) comprising a plurality of receptacles (22) opening onto an upper side (24) of the work holding device (12); each of the receptacles (22) being configured to receive and maintain an individual part in a desired orientation and in spaced relation to each other individual parts which are maintained in the desired orientation by different respective receptacles (22);
receiving a plurality of randomly oriented pieces (26) at the top side (24) of the piece holding device (12), moving pieces of the plurality of randomly oriented pieces (26) that are not held by one of the receptacles (22) in the desired orientation along the upper side (24) of the workpiece holding device (12) via an agitator (14); and retaining the unsupported parts at the upper side (24) of the part holding device (12) while the agitator (14) moves the unsupported parts along the upper side (24) of the part holding device (12).
1/3
2/3
D3

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同族专利:

公开号 | 公开日

US20180118467A1|2018-05-03|

DE202017106339U1|2017-12-06|

US10053295B2|2018-08-21|

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2018-10-25| PLFP| Fee payment|Year of fee payment: 2 |

2019-09-18| PLFP| Fee payment|Year of fee payment: 3 |

2020-09-17| PLFP| Fee payment|Year of fee payment: 4 |

2021-08-06| PLSC| Search report ready|Effective date: 20210806 |

2021-09-22| PLFP| Fee payment|Year of fee payment: 5 |

优先权:

申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题

US15/339,166|US10053295B2|2016-10-31|2016-10-31|Parts organizing system and method|

US15339166|2016-10-31|

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