Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6076254?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-07-12 16:03:24
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Patent US6076254 - Apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsThe invention concerns an apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts. In the apparatus, a work with part fitting holes is set on a work bench, and parts are fed to a predetermined position while being heated. The work bench is moved in an X- and a Y-direction to bring a part fitting hole of the...http://www.google.com/patents/US6076254?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6076254 - Apparatus for automatically pressure fitting partsAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6076254 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 09/201,838Publication dateJun 20, 2000Filing dateDec 1, 1998Priority dateDec 5, 1997Fee statusLapsedPublication number09201838, 201838, US 6076254 A, US 6076254A, US-A-6076254, US6076254 A, US6076254AInventorsTakeshi Onodera, Yuetsu ObaraOriginal AssigneeYuugenkaisha TenshouExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (16), Referenced by (6), Classifications (13), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetApparatus for automatically pressure fitting partsUS 6076254 AAbstract The invention concerns an apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts. In the apparatus, a work with part fitting holes is set on a work bench, and parts are fed to a predetermined position while being heated. The work bench is moved in an X- and a Y-direction to bring a part fitting hole of the work to a position underneath the predetermined position. A holder is then lowered, then is caused to take hold of the part at the predetermined position and pressure fit the part in the part fitting hole of the work held below, and then is pulled upward out of the part having been pressure fitted and secured in the position in the part fitting hole. Parts may be fed while being vibrated with an ultrasonic wave instead of being heated, and then may each be pressure fitted while being vibrated in a part fitting hole of the work, followed by pulling the holder upward out of the part having been pressure fitted and secured in the position in the part fitting hole.
What is claimed is: 1. An apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts, comprising:a work bench for setting a work thereon; a control system for controlling the operations of the apparatus; a drive mechanism for driving the work bench in an X- and a Y-axis direction, under the control of the control system every time the pressure fitting of a part is finished, thereby moving the next part fitting hole in the work underneath a part setting position; a parts guide, which parts to be pressure fitted in the work are fed along in a row; a heater for heating the parts being fed; a setting position where each heated part fed thereto is set; a pressure fitting tool that moves up and down, thereby causing the pressure fitting of the part in a part fitting hole of the work set on the work bench; and a holder composed of two blocks capable of taking hold of the heated part set in the setting position and releasing the held part by being pushed open downward and outward by the pressure fitting tool being lowered, thereby pressure fitting the part in a part fitting hole of the work, the holder being closed into an original state when it is released by the pressure fitting tool during the upward motion. 2. An apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts, comprising:a work bench for setting a work thereon; a control system for controlling the operations of the apparatus; a drive mechanism for driving the work bench in an X- and a Y-axis direction, under the control of the control system every time the pressure fitting of a part is finished, thereby moving the next part fitting hole in the work underneath a part setting position; a parts guide, which parts to be pressure fitted in the work are fed along in a row; a setting position where each heated part fed thereto is set; a pressure fitting tool that moves up and down, thereby causing the pressure fitting of the part in a part fitting hole of the work set on the work bench; a holder composed of two blocks capable of taking hold of the part set in the setting position, and releasing the held part by being pushed open downward and outward by the pressure fitting tool being lowered, thereby pressure fitting the part in a part fitting hole of the work, the holder being closed into an original state when it is released by the pressure fitting tool during the upward motion; and the pressure fitting tool or holder being capable of being vibrated with an ultrasonic wave, thereby causing vibration of the held part and effecting the pressure fitting thereof being vibrated in the part fitting hole of the work. 3. The apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts according to claim 1, wherein the pressure fitting tool is capable of being reciprocated by a magnet type rod-less cylinder.
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically pressure fitting such parts as female screws in part embedding holes of works, such as substrate covers and cases of personal computers and like communication sets.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The covers and cases noted above are usually made of resins, and they have upright projections with central axial holes formed as part fitting holes. Metal female screws or like parts are pressure fitted and secured in position in such part fitting holes. Heretofore, such metal female screws were pressure fitted and secured in position in part fitting holes either manually or by using a machine.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A feature of the invention lies in setting a work with part fitting holes on a work bench, guiding parts fed to a predetermined position while heating the parts being guided, bringing a part fitting hole of the work to a position underneath the predetermined position by moving the work bench in X- and Y-axis directions, causing a holder to be lowered so as to take hold of the part at the predetermined position and pressure fit the part in the part fitting hole of the work underneath the predetermined position, and then be raised back out of the part, which has been pressure fitted and secured in position in the part fitting hole.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the automatic parts pressure fitting apparatus according to the invention;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 A first embodiment of the apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts according to the invention will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7A and 7B. The illustrated apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts comprises a work bench 2 for setting a work 1 thereon, a parts guide 4 for feeding parts in a row and in a predetermined orientation from parts feeders 21, a heater 5 for heating parts 3 being fed, a setting position 6 for setting a heated part 3 in a predetermined position, a holder 7 capable of taking hold of the part 3 set in the predetermined position of the setting position 6 and releasing the held part 3, a pressure fitting tool 9 for pressure fitting the part 3 held by the holder 7 in a part fitting hole 8 of the work 1 by lowering the tool tip 7, and a control system 10 for controlling the operations of the work bench 2, the holder 7 and the pressure fitting tool 9. Of these components, three sets are provided except for the work bench 2 and the control system 10.
Embodiment 2 A second embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to FIG. 8. In this apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts, the pair blocks 54 which are disposed adjacent to the forward end of the heater 5, are each mounted on an end of each of two rods 77 penetrating a case 76. The blocks 54 are rotated downward when the pressure fitting tool 9 is lowered subsequent to the insertion of the holder 7 in the part 3 set in the setting position 6 formed by them, and are rotated reversely to be restored when the pressure fitting tool 9 being raised to the initial position clears them. The rod 77 each have an arm 78 downwardly extending from the outer end of them. A coil spring 16 is connected as restoring means between the two arms 78 to upwardly bias the block 54. With the rods 77 penetrating the case 76, a neat construction can be obtained, thus reducing contamination of or dust attachment to the rods 77 to reduce causes of operation failures or troubles.
Embodiment 3 A third embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B. This apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts is the same as Embodiment 1 in the basic construction, and is different therefrom only in that the pressure fitting tool 9 is driven for reciprocation by a magnet type rod-less cylinder 17. As shown in FIG. 9A, the rod-less cylinder 17 has an upper and a lower air passage 80 and 81 of the cylinder 79, and accommodates an inside magnet 82 slidable along it. By supplying air through the upper air passage 80 into the cylinder 79 and exhausting air therefrom through the lower air passage 81, the inside magnet 82 is lowered along the cylinder 79. On the other hand, by supplying air through the lower air passage 81 into the cylinder 79 and exhausting air therefrom through the upper air passage 80, the inside magnet 82 is raised. With the vertical displacement of the inside magnet 82, an outside magnet 83 is also vertically displaced in sliding contact with the outer periphery of the cylinder 79 and together with a channel-shaped tool support 85 secured to it. The tool support 85 supports the pressure fitting tool 9, and its vertical displacement also causes vertical displacement of the pressure fitting tool 9 in the same direction. The pressure fitting tool 9 penetrates holes 84 of the channel-shaped tool support 85, and is supported in the same via springs 87 disposed between the upper and lower bent portions of the channel-shaped tool support 85 and a flange 86 secured to the pressure fitting tool 9 at an intermediate position thereof. When the pressure fitting tool 9 is lowered for pressure fitting the part 3 held by the holder 7 in the part fitting hoe 8 of the work 1, or when it is raised, a force in excess of a predetermined level may be exerted to it in the axial direction due to some cause. In such a case, the springs 87 will absorb the exerted force and eliminate irrational forces exerted or damages to the pressure fitting tool 9 or part fitting hole 8.
Embodiment 4 A fourth embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B. This apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts is the same as Embodiment 1 in the basic construction, and is different therefrom only in that the holder 7 has a structure as shown in FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 10, the holder 7 is a rod 18, which has a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the threaded hole 82 of the part 3 so that it can be inserted into the threaded hole 62. The outer periphery of the rod 18 has an annular groove 88 formed at a position near the lower end of the rod 18, and an engagement ring (i.e., C-ring) 19 is fitted in the annular groove 88. The holder 7 has a tapered tip so that it can be readily inserted into the threaded hole 62 of the part 3. The engagement ring 19 has an outer diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the threaded hole 62 of the part 3, and it is also capable of being radially elongated and contracted and thus changing its outer diameter by an external radial force applied to it.
Embodiment 5 A fifth embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. This apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts is the same as Embodiment 1 in the basic construction, and is different therefrom in that it further has the following function. After the end of the pressure fitting of the last part 3 in the last one of a number of part fitting holes 8 of a work 1 and until the start of the pressure fitting of parts 3 in the part fitting holes 8 of the next work 1, the pressure fitting tool 9 prohibits the feeding of the heated parts 3 to the setting position 6 and holes these parts 3 waiting in the heater 5, so that the waiting parts 3 are continually heated and not cooled down. This is attained by an arrangement as shown in FIG. 12. As shown, the outside magnet 89 which is slidable along the rod-less cylinder 17, has a cylinder support member 90 secured thereto and extending side-wise. Two air cylinders 91 have their cylinders penetrating and secured to the cylinder support member 90. The air cylinders 91 have their rods 93 secured at the end thereof to a rod support member 94. The pressure fitting tool 9 penetrates the cylinder and rod support members 90 and 94, and it is not secured to but slidable relative to the cylinder support member 90 while it is secured to the rod support member 94. In this apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts, when the outside magnet 89 is vertically displaced by the magnet type rod-less cylinder 17, the cylinder support member 90, the air cylinders 91 and the rod support member 94 are also vertically displaced. At this time, the pressure fitting tool 9 is vertically displaced in unison with the rod support member 94. This is brought about to pressure fit the part 3 in the part fitting hole 8. More specifically, this operation is brought about for reciprocating the pressure fitting tool 9 while holding the rods 93 of the air cylinders 91 retreated. After the parts 3 have been pressure fitted in all the part fitting holes 8 of one work 1 in this way, the pressure fitting tool 9 is raised up to an intermediate position by the magnet type rod-less cylinder 17, and also the rods 93 of the air cylinders 91 are advanced, so that the pressure fitting tool 9 will be at a position lower than the position otherwise assumed. That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the pressure fitting tool 9 is stopped at a position that its outer periphery closes the outlet of the guide groove 51 of the heater 5. Thus, the heated parts can all be held waiting in the guide groove 51.
EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The apparatus for automatically pressure fitting parts according to the invention has the following effects.
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