Component supply device and control method for component supply device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11034527-B2
Application number	US-201616345508-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 31, 2016
Priority date	Oct 31, 2016
Publication date	Jun 15, 2021
Grant date	Jun 15, 2021

Abstract

A component supply device configured to output a predetermined number of components to be used in a work operation includes a fixing plate having a via-hole through which the components pass, the fixing plate being fixed to a housing, a movable plate having a storage hole penetrating through the movable plate in an up-down direction and having a size that allows the predetermined number of components to be stored, the movable plate being laminated on a top side of the fixing plate and configured to move such that the storage hole moves relative to the via-hole in a direction parallel to a top face of the fixing plate, a controller configured to control an operation of the movable plate, and an elastic member placed on a top side of the movable plate and configured to elastically deform in a direction parallel to a top face of the movable plate.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A component supply device configured to output a predetermined number of components to be used in a work operation, the component supply device comprising:
a fixing plate having a via-hole through which the components pass, the fixing plate being fixed to a housing;
a movable plate having a storage hole penetrating through the movable plate in an up-down direction and having a size that allows the predetermined number of components to be stored, the movable plate being laminated on a top side of the fixing plate and configured to move such that the storage hole moves relative to the via-hole in a direction parallel to a top face of the fixing plate;
a controller configured to control an operation of the movable plate;
an elastic member placed on a top side of the movable plate and configured to elastically deform in a direction parallel to a top face of the movable plate;
a space retainer plate disposed inside the housing so as to be fixed above the elastic member; and
an opening via which a part above the space retainer plate communicates with a part below the space retainer plate,
wherein the controller repeatedly performs, until the predetermined number of components are output:
a forward-direction operation of moving the movable plate from a first state in which a top side of the storage hole is opened and a bottom side of the storage hole is closed by the fixing plate to a second state in which the storage hole communicates with the via-hole and the components are movable from the storage hole to the via-hole, and
a reverse-direction operation of returning the movable plate to the first state by reversing a moving direction of the movable plate when the movable plate enters the second state,

wherein, when the movable plate moves in a state where an excessive component enters the storage hole and the component partially projects from an upper end of the storage hole, the elastic member hits the component to remove the projecting component from the storage hole before the movable plate enters the second state, or the elastic member elastically deforms by being pressed by the projecting component, so that, while the movable plate is in the second state, the projecting component is sandwiched between the elastic member and a wall surface of the storage hole due to an elastic force caused by the elastic deformation,
wherein the forward-direction operation is in one of a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction, and the reverse-direction operation is in the other of the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction, and
wherein the controller performs position adjustment to adjust the movable plate to the first state before the movable plate starts working.

2. The component supply device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the fixing plate and the movable plate are inclined such that a position of the storage hole in a vertical direction becomes higher in the second state than in the first state, and
wherein the space retainer plate is inclined in the same direction as the fixing plate and the movable plate.

3. The component supply device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the movable plate is a rotating disk in which a rotation angle from the first state to the second state is 180°, and
wherein the movable plate has a first storage hole and a second storage hole entering the second state when the first storage hole is in the first state.

4. The component supply device according to claim 1 , further comprising an agitator provided on a top side of the space retainer plate.

Assignees

• Nissan Motor

Inventors

• Hoshi Hiromi

Classifications

• B65G47/145 Primary

  Jigging or reciprocating movement · CPC title

• B65G47/12 Primary

  from disorderly-arranged article piles or from loose assemblages of articles · CPC title

• B65G47/78

  Troughs having discharge openings and closures {(in air-slides B65G53/20)} · CPC title

• B65G2814/0325

  with rotating drums, cylinders or cones in or beneath the opening · CPC title

• B65G65/4809

  rotating about a substantially vertical axis · CPC title