Material or article handling – Load carried along a horizontal linear path – Having gripper means
Patent
1995-09-21
1997-11-18
Valenza, Joseph E.
Material or article handling
Load carried along a horizontal linear path
Having gripper means
1984641, 1984644, 1984682, 1984684, 198751, B65G 4300
Patent
active
056881037
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a vibration reducer for an apparatus of transferring a workpiece to be press molded or a press molded workpiece.
BACKGROUND ART
A conventional transfer press is equipped with a transfer feeder for loading and unloading a workpiece to and from a processing station and for transferring a workpiece under process (hereinafter referred to as a workpiece) between processing stations. Particularly, for transferring a large workpiece, like a panel, and a workpiece of a low rigidity, a transfer feeder employing a vacuum transfer system is used.
In the transfer feeder employing a vacuum transfer system, a plurality of crossbar carriers, which are moved by a feeding apparatus in the direction of feeding a workpiece, are provided on lift bars which are arranged parallel to the feeding direction and which are moved in the vertical direction by a lifting apparatus. Vacuum cups, for vacuum chucking a workpiece, are provided on a crossbar laid laterally on opposed crossbar carriers.
The transfer feeder is adapted to repeat a series of the following operational motions: the crossbar is lowered by the lifting apparatus so that the vacuum cups vacuum chuck a workpiece, then the crossbar is raised by the lifting apparatus and moved in the feeding direction by the feeding apparatus, the crossbar is lowered again to unload the workpiece onto the next station, and then the crossbar returns to its original position. In the transfer feeder, if the crossbar vibrates in the vertical direction or in the feeding direction during operation, the vacuum cups provided on the crossbar might fail to vacuum chuck a workpiece, with a resultant occurrence of the misfeeding of a workpiece.
To prevent this problem, the following measures are proposed:
(1) The crossbar is formed of carbon fiber reinforced plastic to reduce weight and increase rigidity, whereby the vibration of the crossbar is reduced.
(2) The lift bar is supported at multiple points to shorten a support span, thereby to increase the characteristic frequency of the lift bar, whereby the vibration of the lift bar is reduced, and thus the vibration of the crossbar is reduced.
(3) The lift bar is provided with a vibration absorber to reduce the vibration of the lift bar, whereby the vibration of the crossbar is reduced.
However, the above measures involve the following problems:
(1) The crossbar formed of carbon fiber reinforced plastic is very expensive, hard to process, and inferior to a steel crossbar in durability. Furthermore, the overall vibration level is reduced, but the residual vibration still exists after an operational motion is halted.
(2) If the lift bar is supported at multiple points, the support elements should retreat somewhere else when molds are to be changed, and thus the work efficiency deteriorates. Also, although the overall vibration level is reduced, the residual vibration still exists after an operational motion is halted.
(3) Providing the lift bar with a vibration absorber has an advantage of a lower apparatus cost, but requires tuning the vibration absorber according to the apparatus concerned. Also, although an effect of reducing the residual vibration can be expected from this measure, an effect of reducing a peak of the vibration excited by an operational motion acceleration cannot be much expected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-mentioned problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a vibration reducer for a transfer apparatus, in a transfer press or the like, capable of effectively and easily reducing the vibration during an operational motion as well as the residual vibration after halting the operational motion.
According to the present invention, in a transfer apparatus provided with a mechanism for holding a press molded workpiece, a support member for supporting the workpiece holding mechanism, a structural unit for movably positioning the support member, and a drive unit to move the support member, a controllable act
REFERENCES:
patent: 4654569 (1987-03-01), Mizumoto et al.
patent: 4995505 (1991-02-01), Takahashi et al.
patent: 5231860 (1993-08-01), Tsuruta et al.
Ito Hiroyuki
Kanayama Naoyuki
Mitsuta Shinji
Nishida Kenji
Tsuji Hideki
Komatsu Ltd.
Valenza Joseph E.
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