Opening and closing chuck

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10189093-B2
Application number	US-201514600596-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 20, 2015
Priority date	Feb 5, 2014
Publication date	Jan 29, 2019
Grant date	Jan 29, 2019

Abstract

A guide rail is provided on an outer surface of a chuck body. A pair of fingers is disposed on the guide rail. At least one of the pair of fingers is a movable finger that is movable along the guide rail. One or two cylinder apparatuses, each of which has a rod that advances and retracts in the direction of its axial line by the action of air pressure, are provided in the chuck body. The top end of the rod extends from an end of the chuck body to the outside. An end block is attached to the top end of the rod. The end block is linked to the movable finger.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An opening and closing chuck, wherein:
a guide rail, which is linear, is provided on an outer surface of a chuck body, a pair of fingers that grasp a workpiece is provided on the guide rail, and at least one of the pair of fingers is a movable finger that is movable along the guide rail;
the movable finger includes a rail fitting groove into which the guide rail fits, a first concave groove is formed in right and left side surfaces of the guide rail and a second concave groove is formed in inner surfaces of right and left side walls of the rail fitting grooves, the first concave groove on the same side as the guide rail and the second concave groove on the same side as the rail fitting grooves being at positions at which the first concave groove and the second concave groove face each other, a rolling element is provided between the first concave groove and the second concave groove, and the movable finger is movable along the guide rail due to rolling of the rolling element;
as many cylinder apparatuses as there are movable fingers are provided in the chuck body, each cylinder apparatus including a piston and a rod that advance and retract by an action of air pressure in directions of an axial line of a cylinder hole, a top end of the rod extends from an end of the chuck body to an outside, and an end block, which faces the end of the chuck body, is attached to the top end of the rod so as to move toward and away from the end of the chuck body according to forward and backward movements of the rod;
the movable finger is linked to the end block, and opening and closing of the movable finger is driven by the rod through the end block; and
a position at which the rod is linked to the end block is a position near one end side of the end block in a width direction, and a position at which the finger is linked to the end block is a position near the other end side of the end block in the width direction,
wherein the guide rail is formed separately from the chuck body and is fixed to an outer surface of the chuck body, at least one of both ends of the guide rail in the longitudinal direction extends from the chuck body to within a moveable range of the block, and a clearance hole, into which the one end of the guide rail fits, is formed in the end block.

2. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 1 , wherein the movable finger is linked to an inner end surface of the end block with a fixing screw.

3. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 1 , wherein the both ends of the guide rail extend from the chuck body.

4. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 1 , wherein the end of the guide rail remains fitting into the clearance hole regardless of an operation position of the end block.

5. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 1 , wherein part of the movable finger extends from the end of the chuck body to the outside along the guide rail when the pair of fingers is opened to a maximum extent.

6. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 1 , wherein a convex part, which fits to the first concave groove in the guide rail, is formed on right and left side walls of the clearance hole.

7. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 6 , wherein a position at which the convex part is formed is an end of the clearance hole on the same side as the movable finger.

8. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 6 , wherein the convex part has a stopper function that prevents the rolling element from coming off the first concave groove and the second concave groove.

9. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 1 wherein:
two cylinder apparatuses, first cylinder apparatus and second cylinder apparatus, are provided in the chuck body, a first rod linked to a first piston in the first cylinder apparatus extends from a first end in the chuck body to the outside, a second rod linked to a second piston in the second cylinder apparatus extends from a second end, opposite to the first end, in the chuck body to the outside, a first end block is attached to the first rod, and a second end block is attached to the second rod; and
each of the pair of fingers is a movable finger, the first finger being linked to the first end block, the second finger being linked to the second end block.

10. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 9 , wherein the first cylinder apparatus and the second cylinder apparatus operate independently in an asynchronous manner, and the first finger and the second finger also open and close independently in an asynchronous manner.

11. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 9 , wherein the second piston has a larger diameter than the first piston, and a stop position adjustment mechanism that adjusts the stop position of the second end block is provided on the second end block attached to the second rod.

12. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 11 , wherein the stop position adjustment mechanism includes an adjustment bolt, the adjustment bolt being screwed into a screw hole formed in the second end block so as to make forward and backward movements of the adjustment bolt adjustable in a direction parallel to the axial line, and when the top end of the adjustment bolt abuts an end surface of the chuck body, a stop position of the second end block is determined.

13. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 9 , wherein the first finger and the second finger are structured so as to open and close synchronously by being linked to one end and another end of a swinging arm that is swingable with a center of the swinging arm acting as a fulcrum.

14. The opening and closing chuck according to claim 1 , wherein:
one cylinder apparatus is provided in the chuck body and one of the pair of fingers is a movable finger and another one is a fixed finger; and
the fixed finger is fixed to the guide rail by inserting a fixing bolt into a bolt insertion hole formed in the fixed finger and screwing the fixing bolt into a screw hole formed in the guide rail, the bolt insertion hole being a hole that is long in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail, a fixing position of the fixed finger being adjustable in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail within a length of the bolt insertion hole.

Assignees

• Smc Corp

Inventors

• Saito Tadashi
• Hara Koji
• Ishibashi Kouichirou

Classifications

• B23B2231/32

  Guideways for jaws · CPC title

• B23B2270/027

  Pneumatics · CPC title

• B23B31/16287 Primary

  using fluid-pressure means to actuate the gripping means · CPC title

• B23B31/30 Primary

  using fluid-pressure means in the chuck {(B23B31/10 and B23B31/40 take precedence)} · CPC title

• B25B1/18

  motor driven, e.g. with fluid drive, with or without provision for manual actuation · CPC title