Conveyors: power-driven – With means to facilitate working – treating – or inspecting... – Means engaging conveyor or load on a conveyor to align load...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-24
2004-05-18
Ridley, Richard (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
With means to facilitate working, treating, or inspecting...
Means engaging conveyor or load on a conveyor to align load...
C198S465100, C198S867010, C269S095000, C100S22900A
Reexamination Certificate
active
06736252
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a work holder for a through hole examination apparatus, and more particularly to a work holder that is suitable to an apparatus for examining the presence or absence of foreign matters in a through hole having a minute diameter.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, in an apparatus for examining foreign matters in a through hole, a work holder that retains a work is moved by a linear guide
90
shown in
FIG. 6
between a work replacement operation region
80
and a through hole examination region
2
. In
FIG. 6
, two guides
92
, each having a channel-shaped cross section with their opening sections facing each other, are disposed in a manner to extend from the work replacement operation region
80
and the through hole examination region
2
. The work holder
98
that retains the workpiece
10
is supported at both ends by the respective guides, and disposed in a manner movable along the guides
92
. The workpiece
10
is mounted on the work holder
98
in the work replacement operation region
80
, moved along the guides
92
in a direction indicated by an arrow
94
, and supplied to the through hole examination region
2
. After the examination is completed, it is moved along the guides
92
in a direction indicated by an arrow
96
, and the workpiece
10
is removed from the work holder
98
in the work replacement operation region
80
.
Also, in an apparatus for examining foreign matters in minute through holes, light that passes through the through holes having minute diameters is examined. Accordingly, the holder is required to be parallel, and this requirement is dealt with by precisely processing the work holder
98
and the guides
98
.
In the conventional technique that uses the linear guides described above, the work holder and the guides are brought in surface contact with one another, and scrubbed-off metal powder may be generated due to abrasion that occurs as the work holder moves along the guides, and may possibly be adhered inside the through holes to be examined. In order to improve the accuracy in positioning the work holder, margins in the measurements of the work holder and the guides need to be made smaller. However, this increases dust generation and makes the moving operation harder, which causes a problem of imposing excessive physical burden to the operators.
Further, while the holder is required to be parallel in the apparatus for examining foreign matters in minute through holes, when the work holder is made larger so that multiple workpieces can be mounted at once, the countermeasure of precisely processing the work holder is technically and economically difficult. Furthermore, once the parallel state is destroyed by abrasion or the like in the conventional system, the correction thereof is extremely difficult.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a work holder for a through hole examination apparatus that reduces generation of scrubbed-off metal powder caused by abrasion during the movements, and has a high operability. Also, it is an object to provide a work holder for a through hole examination apparatus that can readily adjust the parallel degree of the holder at low costs. Moreover, it is an object to provide a work holder for a through hole examination apparatus that can realize an easy and correct examination of foreign matters in through holes at low costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the objects described above, a work holder for a through hole examination apparatus in accordance with the present invention pertains to a work holder for a through hole examination apparatus that retains a workpiece having through holes provided therein and transfers the same between a work replacement operation region and a through hole examination region, wherein a roller movement device is mounted on a main body of the holder to enable a rolling movement thereof, and the roller movement device is made to be height-adjustable such that the parallel degree of the holder is adjustable.
The above provides a structure in which the roller movement device is mounted on the holder's main body to enable a rolling movement thereof, and therefore provides a work holder for a through hole examination apparatus, which generates less scrubbed-off metal powder, and has a good operability in which the holder can be readily moved. Also, the above provides a structure in which the roller movement device is made to be height-adjustable such that the parallel degree of the holder can be adjusted, and therefore provides a work holder for a through hole examination apparatus, which can readily adjust the parallel degree of the holder at low costs.
Also, the roller movement device may preferably be formed from a ball bearing that is equipped with a ball that can roll on a running surface in a point-contact state.
Furthermore, the roller movement device may preferably be provided with a roller movement support member that engages by screw threads with and passes through the holder main body, and a penetrated leading end thereof may preferably be provided with a slit for mounting a rotation tool.
In addition, the work holder for a through hole examination apparatus may preferably be formed from a lower jig on which a workpiece is mounted, and an upper jig that presses the workpiece between itself and the lower jig, wherein the lower jig may preferably have a positioning notch for positioning itself with respect to the through hole examination region and at least one pair of pins provided for positioning the upper jig, and the upper jig may preferably be equipped with notches for engaging the positioning pins.
More particularly, a work holder for a through hole examination apparatus, which retains a workpiece having through holes perforated therein and transfers the same between a work replacement operation region and a through hole examination region, is equipped with: a holder main body that is formed from a lower jig on which a workpiece is mounted and an upper jig that presses the workpiece between itself and the lower jig, wherein the lower jig has a positioning notch for positioning itself with respect to the through hole examination region and at least one pair of pins provided for positioning the upper jig, and the upper jig is equipped with notches for engaging the positioning pins; and a roller movement device that is formed from a ball bearing equipped with a ball that can roll on a running surface in a point-contact state is mounted on the main body of the holder at a peripheral section thereof, wherein the roller movement device is provided with a roller movement support member that engages by screw threads with and passes through the holder main body, and a penetrated leading end thereof is provided with a slit for mounting a rotation tool, such that the height can be adjusted.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2034509 (1936-03-01), Haven
patent: 2110269 (1938-03-01), Horvath
patent: 3306185 (1967-02-01), Soman
patent: 3456481 (1969-07-01), Zeitlin
patent: 4402108 (1983-09-01), Pannwitz
patent: 4528903 (1985-07-01), Lerch
patent: 5234205 (1993-08-01), Shanley
patent: 61-132843 (1986-06-01), None
patent: 07-111351 (1995-04-01), None
patent: 07-119744 (1995-05-01), None
Communication from Japanese Patent Office re Counterpart Application No. 2000-329362.
Harness & Dickey & Pierce P.L.C.
Ridley Richard
Seiko Epson Corporation
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