Patent Description:
The feed pipe of the installation tools such as an existing fastening device is arranged inclinedly in general and occupies a relatively large space. In some installation conditions, due to the limitation of the installation space, the installation of fasteners may be affected; in addition, when the fastening device occupying a relatively large space is used, the use of other components may be affected, thus, it is necessary to use other components after the operation of fastening device is completed. Other examples of known feeding structures are disclosed by for example <CIT>, disclosing a feeding structure according to the preamble of claim <NUM>, and <CIT>.

In view of the above problems occurring in the prior art, the present invention aims to provide a feeding structure and a fastening device that occupies a less space as a whole and that is capable of assembling and fastening the fastener quickly and easily and reducing the impact on other components.

The embodiments of the present invention provide a feeding structure, which comprises.

According to the invention, the feed pipe and the conveying pipe are connected through a bending pipe joint, which is fixed outside the shell of the propulsion mechanism, one end of the bending pipe joint is fixedly connected to the feed pipe, and the other end of the bending pipe joint is movably connected to the conveying pipe, which is oscillated relative to the propulsion mechanism under the action of the propulsion mechanism.

According to the invention, the other end of the bending pipe joint is of a cylindrical structure, and an opening is provided on the cylindrical structure along an oscillating direction of the conveying pipe, so that the conveying pipe can oscillate via the opening. According to the invention, the first end of the bending pipe joint includes a first cylindrical connecting section and the feed pipe is screwed into the first connecting section via a threaded connection.

In some embodiments, an angle between a central axis of the cylindrical structure and a central axis of the propulsion mechanism is <NUM> to <NUM> degrees.

In some embodiments, a through hole for communicating with the discharge end is provided on an outer wall of the material receiving portion, when the propulsion unit is working, the propulsion unit can push against the conveying pipe to oscillate the conveying pipe, so as to separate a port of the discharge end from the through hole and to block the port.

In some embodiments, a stop part is provided on an outer wall of the material receiving portion, the stop part is formed by extending outwardly along a radial direction of the material receiving portion from a position close to the through hole, when the propulsion unit pushes the conveying pipe to oscillate, the stop part abuts against the port of the discharge end to block the port.

In some embodiments, the feeding structure further comprises a resetting mechanismthat is provided at the bending pipe joint and that is abutted against the conveying pipe, the resetting mechanism can drive the conveying pipe to reset after the conveying pipe oscillates.

In some embodiments, the resetting mechanism comprises an elastic member and a movable member, one end of the elastic member is fixed, the other end of the elastic member abuts against one end of the movable member, and the other end of the movable member abuts against the conveying pipe, when the conveying pipe oscillates, the conveying pipe acts on the movable member to compress the elastic member, and when an external force is withdrawn, the conveying pipe having oscillated to a certain position is reset by means of resetting the elastic member.

In some embodiments, the feed pipe is a feed hose.

The embodiments of the present invention further provide a fastening device, which comprises said feeding structure.

Compared with the prior art, the feeding structure provided by the embodiments of the present invention can convey the mounting part to a target position corresponding to the propulsion mechanism through the cooperation of the feed pipe parallel to the propulsion mechanism and a conveying pipe arranged at a certain angle to the propulsion mechanism to realize rapid feeding, and the conveying pipe that is parallel to the propulsion mechanism can reduce the overall occupancy space of the assembly unit or assembly robot containing said feeding structure, and it is convenient to use, at the same time, interference with other components can be reduced.

In the accompanying drawings which are not necessarily drawn to scale, same reference signs may describe similar components in different views. Same reference signs with letter suffixes or different letter suffixes may indicate different examples of similar components. The drawings generally illustrate various embodiments by way of example but not limitation and serve to explain the disclosed embodiments together with the description and claims. When appropriate, the same reference signs are used in all drawings to refer to the same or similar parts. Such embodiments are illustrative but are not intended to be exhaustive or exclusive embodiments of the present device or method.

In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely in combination with the drawings of the embodiments of the invention as follows.

Unless otherwise defined, the technical terms and scientific terms used in the present invention should be common sense that can be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art of the embodiments of the present invention. The "first", "second" and similar words used in the present invention do not indicate any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. Similar words such as "comprise" or "contain" and other similar words mean that the element or item appearing before said word covers the element or item or equivalent listed after said word, but does not exclude other element or item. Similar words such as "connection" or "connected" do not fine physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. "Up", "down", "left", "right", etc., are only used to indicate relative positional relationship, when the absolute position of the described object changes, the corresponding relative positional relationship may also be changed accordingly.

<FIG> are structural schematic diagrams of the feeding structure of the embodiments of the present invention. As shown in <FIG>, the embodiments of the present utility model provide a feeding structure for conveying the mounting part to be assembled to a corresponding position and mounting, the feeding structure comprises:.

Specifically, the mounting part fed from the feed end can fall into the material receiving portion <NUM> sequentially via the feed pipe <NUM> and the conveying pipe <NUM> and can be aligned with the target position, so that a subsequent propulsion unit <NUM> action pushes the mounting part and mounts same in a target position. When the feeding mechanism <NUM> is feeding, the feeding structure is in a first state and the propulsion unit <NUM> is stationary; when the propulsion unit <NUM> action mounts the mounting part conveyed to the material receiving portion <NUM>, the feeding structure is in a second state.

The feeding structure provided by the embodiments of the present invention can convey the mounting part to a target position corresponding to the propulsion mechanism <NUM> through the cooperation of the feed pipe <NUM> parallel to the propulsion mechanism <NUM> and the conveying pipe <NUM> arranged at a certain angle with the propulsion mechanism <NUM> to realize rapid feeding, and the feed pipe <NUM> parallel to the propulsion mechanism <NUM> can reduce the overall occupancy space of the assembly unit or assembly robot containing the feeding structure, and it is convenient to use, at the same time, interference with other components can be reduced. The present invention has a wide range of applications, in particular, it can be adapted to the installation of mounting parts when the assembly unit or the assembly robot is limited by space.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the feed pipe <NUM> and the conveying pipe <NUM> are connected through a bending pipe joint <NUM>, which is fixed outside a shell <NUM> of the propulsion mechanism <NUM>, one end of the bending pipe joint <NUM> is fixedly connected to the feed pipe <NUM>, the other end of the bending pipe joint <NUM> is movably connected to the conveying pipe <NUM>, which is capable of oscillating under the action of the propulsion mechanism <NUM> relative to the propulsion mechanism <NUM>.

In the present embodiment, the mounting part can be a fastener such as a screw, the propulsion unit <NUM> of the propulsion mechanism can screw the screw fed to the material receiving portion <NUM> by the feeding mechanism <NUM> into a target position along its axial direction. As shown in <FIG>, when a first fastener to be fastened is conveyed to the material receiving portion <NUM>, the propulsion unit <NUM> of the propulsion mechanism <NUM> moves forward to the first fastener (target position), and a side wall of the propulsion unit <NUM> can act on the material conveying pipe <NUM> to make it oscillate and offset relative to the propulsion mechanism <NUM>, and the propulsion unit <NUM> action screws the first fastener into a target position; as shown in <FIG>, after the fastening of the first fastener is completed, the propulsion unit <NUM> moves backward, the propulsion unit <NUM> is separated from the conveying pipe <NUM> and the interaction therebetween is released, the conveying pipe <NUM> oscillates reversely to reset, so that a second fastener falls into the material receiving portion <NUM> for the next fastening, which backs and forths to install different fasteners continuously, thus improving the efficiency of installation and fastening.

In some other embodiments, the mounting part can also be an adhesion component, the propulsion mechanism <NUM> has an adhesion head matched with the adhesion component, the adhesion component of the propulsion mechanism <NUM> moves toward a target position to adhere the adhesion component conveyed to the material receiving portion <NUM> and mount same in a target location. For example, an insert can be adhered by the propulsion mechanism <NUM> having an adhesion head and is placed in a corresponding insert installation groove to realize picking, placing and installing the insert. The type of the mounting part and the specific structure of the propulsion unit <NUM> are not specifically limited by the present invention.

The bending pipe joint <NUM> includes a first connecting section and a second connecting section, which are of cylindrical structures. The inner cavities of the first connecting section and the second connecting section are communicated, a U-shaped opening is provided on the second connecting section along an oscillating direction of the conveying pipe <NUM>, so that the conveying pipe <NUM> can oscillate via the opening.

In the present embodiment, the feed pipe <NUM> can be a feed hose, which is detachably installed at the first connecting section. The feed pipe <NUM> can be screwed into the first connecting section directly via a threaded connection to facilitate disassembling. The feed hose is used to adjust the angle of the feed pipe <NUM> according to the actual situation, so as to meet the installation requirements of the mounting part in special situations.

Further, an angle between a central axis of the second connecting section and a central axis of the propulsion mechanism <NUM> is <NUM> to <NUM> degrees, thereby facilitating falling the mounting part into the material receiving portion <NUM> smoothly along a feed passage. When the feeding structure is in a first state, the conveying pipe <NUM> is in a free state, a central axis of the conveying pipe <NUM> is parallel to a central axis of the second connecting section to facilitate accommodating the part of the conveying pipe <NUM> close to the feed pipe <NUM> in the bending pipe joint <NUM> so as to protect the conveying pipe <NUM> while having a nice appearance.

In the present embodiment, the feed pipe <NUM> and the conveying pipe <NUM> are arranged at a certain angle, when the mounting part is conveyed, buffer can be provided at the connection between the feed pipe <NUM> and the conveying pipe <NUM> to prevent the mounting part from falling into the material receiving portion <NUM> directly to cause damage to an inner wall of the feeding mechanism <NUM>.

In some other embodiments, the conveying pipe <NUM> can be directly movably connected to the feed pipe <NUM>, one end of the feed pipe <NUM> extends into the conveying pipe <NUM>, and there is a certain gap between an outer wall of the feed pipe <NUM> and an inner wall of the conveying pipe <NUM> to connect the feed pipe <NUM> in the conveying pipe <NUM> to the conveying pipe <NUM> through a rotation shaft, the conveying pipe <NUM> can oscillate around the rotation shaft without affecting the feeding of the feed pipe <NUM>. At this time, the bending pipe joint <NUM> can be served as a protective cover to protect the connection between the feed pipe <NUM> and the conveying pipe <NUM>.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, a through hole <NUM> for communicating the discharge end <NUM> is provided on an outer wall of the material receiving portion <NUM>, when the propulsion unit <NUM> is working, the propulsion unit <NUM> can be pushed against a side wall of the conveying pipe <NUM>, so that the conveying pipe <NUM> oscillates to away from the material receiving portion <NUM>, thus separating a port of the discharge end <NUM> from the through hole <NUM> and blocking a port of the discharge end <NUM> to prevent other mount parts from dropping out of the discharge end <NUM>.

In the present embodiment, the material receiving portion <NUM> is provided with a through groove penetrating both ends in an axial direction thereof, a central axis of the through groove coincides with a central axis of the propulsion unit <NUM>, and said through groove is aligned with a target position, and the through groove <NUM> is provided on a side wall of the through groove.

As shown in <FIG>, a stop part <NUM> is provided on an outer wall of the material receiving portion <NUM>, and the stop part is formed by extending outwardly along a radial direction of the material receiving portion <NUM> from a position close to the through hole <NUM>, when the propulsion unit <NUM> pushes the conveying pipe <NUM> to oscillate, the stop part <NUM> abuts against a port of the discharge end <NUM> to reliably block the port of the discharge end <NUM>.

In particular, the stop part <NUM> is formed by extending outwardly from a circumferential edge of the through hole <NUM> along a radial direction of the material receiving portion <NUM>, while ensuring that the discharge end <NUM> is separated from the material receiving portion <NUM>, a port of the discharge end <NUM> is blocked reliably.

In some embodiments, the feeding structure further comprises a resetting mechanism (not shown in the figures)that is provided on the bending pipe joint <NUM> and that is abutted against the conveying pipe <NUM>, the resetting mechanism can drive the conveying pipe <NUM> to reset to its initial position after the conveying pipe <NUM> oscillates to prevent it from oscillating randomly and generating collision with the propulsion mechanism <NUM>.

Further, the resetting mechanism comprises an elastic member and a movable member, one end of the elastic member is fixed, the other end of the elastic member is abutted against one end of the movable member, the other end of the movable member is abutted against the conveying pipe <NUM>, when the conveying pipe <NUM> oscillates, it acts on the movable member, through which the elastic member can be compressed, so as to keep the conveying pipe <NUM> at a certain oscillating position and reset the conveying pipe having oscillated to a certain position by means of resetting the elastic member when an external force is withdrawn. In the above-described embodiments, an external force by which the conveying pipe <NUM> oscillates is provided by the propulsion unit <NUM> of the feeding mechanism <NUM>.

In some embodiments, an annular abutting portion <NUM> is formed at a position closed to an oscillating center of the conveying pipe <NUM>, the annular abutting portion <NUM> is provided along an outer peripheral edge of the conveying pipe <NUM>; a groove <NUM> for mounting the resetting mechanism is provided on an inner wall of the bending pipe joint <NUM>, the movable member is slidably installed in the groove <NUM>. When the propulsion unit <NUM> moves toward the target position and pushes the conveying pipe <NUM> to oscillate, the annular abutting portion <NUM> acts on the movable member to push it to move along the groove <NUM> and compress the elastic member, so as to keep the conveying pipe <NUM> in an oscillating position; when the mounting part finishes mounting, the propulsion unit <NUM> moves toward the direction away from the target position to be separated from the conveying pipe <NUM>, when an external force exerted to the conveying pipe <NUM> is withdrawn, the elastic member accumulating certain elastic energy is reset to push the movable member to move reversely along the groove <NUM> and push the abutting portion to oscillate reversely along its oscillating center, thereby driving the conveying pipe <NUM> to reset by oscillating and going back to an initial position.

As shown in <FIG>, when an oscillating angle of the conveying pipe <NUM> is too large, the stop part <NUM> is difficult to block a port of the discharge end <NUM>, the conveying pipe <NUM> can be kept at an oscillating position where a port of the discharge end <NUM> is blocked by the stop part <NUM> through a resetting mechanism to prevent the mounting part from dropping out of the conveying pipe <NUM>.

In the present embodiment, the resetting mechanism is installed on both sides of the conveying pipe <NUM>, i.e., the grooves <NUM> are provided on two opposite side walls of the second connecting section, so that the conveying pipe <NUM> can oscillate steadily. The elastic member can be a spring or an elastic bush and other elastic components; the movable member can be a ball bearing, as the contact area of the rolling bearing is small, the rolling bearing makes a point or line contact motion relative to the abutting portion <NUM>, which moves smoothly and can transmit greater torque to reset the conveying pipe <NUM> rapidly.

The propulsion unit <NUM> further comprises a drive unit for driving the propulsion unit <NUM> to reciprocate along its axial direction, the drive unit is mounted in a shell <NUM>, and an output shaft of the drive unit is connected to the propulsion unit <NUM>. The drive unit can be a driving mechanism such as a drive motor, a drive cylinder or a drive hydro-cylinder.

The present invention
further provides a fastening device comprising said feeding structure, the fastening device can be a screwing fastening means capable of achieving the rapid assembling and screwing of the fastener.

Claim 1:
A feeding structure, comprising:
a feeding mechanism (<NUM>), one end of which is a feed end (<NUM>), the other end of which is a discharge end (<NUM>), the feeding mechanism comprises a feed pipe (<NUM>) and a conveying pipe (<NUM>) that are communicated with each other, a mounting part entering from the feed end can be conveyed to the discharge end through the feeding pipe and the conveying pipe;
a propulsion mechanism (<NUM>), which is provided on one side of the feeding mechanism, a material receiving portion (<NUM>) for communicating with the discharge end to receive the mounting part is provided on a shell (<NUM>) of the propulsion mechanism, a propulsion unit action of the propulsion mechanism can push the mounting part conveyed to the material receiving portion and mount same in a target position, a central axis of the propulsion mechanism is parallel to a central axis of the feed pipe,
wherein the feed pipe and the conveying pipe are connected through a bending pipe joint (<NUM>), which is fixed outside the shell of the propulsion mechanism, a first end of the bending pipe joint is fixedly connected to the feed pipe, the other end of the bending pipe joint is movably connected to the conveying pipe, the conveying pipe can oscillate relative to the propulsion mechanism under the action of the propulsion mechanism, characterized in that the other end of the bending pipe joint is of a cylindrical structure, an opening is provided on the cylindrical structure along an oscillating direction of the conveying pipe, so that the conveying pipe can oscillate through the opening
and wherein the first end of the bending pipe joint (<NUM>) includes a first cylindrical connecting section and wherein the feed pipe (<NUM>) is screwed into the first cylindrical connecting section via a threaded connection.