GB2128122A - Apparatus for feeding and driving bolts - Google Patents

Abstract

A bolt driving machine comprises a hinged bolt-storage rail (16) which extends at one (inner) end towards a bolt-driving blade (31) and is formed with a suitably shaped slideway, the hinge allowing the said rail to swing between one position where its other (outer) end fits to a feed carriage (24) and another position where it is open to receive a charge of the bolts, the inner end of the storage rail being extended via a spring-supported feeding device. The machine may be charged by a separate feeding and charging mechanism comprising a body (3) having a receiving nest (4) to which the bolt- driving machine fits when the rail (16) is being charged with bolts, a feeding rail (2) having a slideway positioned to align with the storage rail (16), and a lever (6) which can be rocked to release a predetermined number of bolts. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for feeding and mechanized driving of bolts The invention relates to compact apparatus for feeding and mechanized driving of threaded jointing elements such as bolts in an appropriate rotational direction, and has application in apparatus where the bolts to be driven-in are already fitted with associated washers so that they can be driven-in together in a single operation.

The special advantage of apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention is that, in respect of its constructional details, it is readily adaptable to compact machines already available for the mechanized driving of bolts which thereby enable, on the one hand, the technological, advantageous development of apparatus not yet available according to the present state of technique, and on the other hand, the updating of existing apparatus, at low expenditure.

In the following, the general characteristics of the mechanisms of compact bolt driving machines will be regarded as already known, and they will be mentioned only as far as necessary for understanding the invention.

One of the most usually costly assembly phases in industry, particularly in the machine industry, is the fastening of components with screwed joints. For this reason, it is a prominent development trend to produce compact machines and single-purpose apparatus, which mechanize all or at least some phases of such fastening. Usually, the operation of driving-in the bolts is successfully mechanized by providing a turning arrangement for the bolt driving blade, possibly with means for the adjustment of applied torque. Recently, however, efforts have been made to automate the transfer of assembly components to the working place, their storage convenient to hand, and also the preparation of the bolts ready for driving, and apparatus and machines are available which function automatically at least partly for such operations.

Apparatus or compact machines which have been developed for mechanized bolt driving may be listed in two groups as follows: 1 - apparatus and machines mechanized only for bolt driving, 2 - apparatus and machines mechanized (at least in part) for transferring bolts to the assembly position, in addition to bolt driving.

The first group includes for instance the apparatus described in Hungarian Patent No. 164847 and a small machine made by GARDNER-DENVER (GFR).

The fundamental drawback of this first group is that the bolts are transferred to the working position by a manual process, which is repeated for each driving cycle. As a result of the different objectives, there are other drawbacks too. For example, in case of the above-mentioned compact machine, the direction of driving-in must be in a downward direction, because if the driving-in is directed upwards, or in a direction contrary to gravitational force, then the bolt inserted into the feeding hole of the apparatus will fall out.

Also, in the known devices, the mechanized feeding and driving of bolts already fitted with washers is not possible.

With some of the known compact machines included in the second group, for driving the bolt, they can be operated only when coupled with a complete charging and feeding system. Consequently, the compact machine can be used over a field of work extending only to limited distance from the system. This is the situation for instance with the apparatus known under the Trade Name INTER MODERN: the coupled parts include the feeding apparatus (usually a jigging feeder) and a connected stepping feeder, which passes successive bolts, one-by-one, through a tube under the influence of pneumatic momentum into a compact bolt driving machine.Also, the feeding apparatus according to GFR Patent Specification No. 1 478 845 feeds the bolts similarly one by one, and is connected to a compact bolt driving machine with electric, pneumatic and bolt guiding tube, and thus the limited field of work possibly reduces even more the applicability of the apparatus. These apparatus and machines are also not suitable for driving in bolts already fitted with washers. The apparatus according to GFR Patent No.2 113310 is also not suitable for this purpose, nor forth purpose of driving-in bolts contrary to gravitational force.

According to the present state of the art, only high capacity, complex assembly automatons are suitable for the mechanized driving of bolts and washers such as, for example, that known under the Trade Name OKUMAT, where separate feeding apparatuses are available for the washers and bolts, from which a manipulator controlled according toe technological sequence passes a set of bolts and washers to the front of the driving blade. The drawback of such an arrangement is that it can be used only at a localized assembly point, and hence for high capacity assembly operations at that point only.

An object of the invention is to provide apparatus comprising a compact bolt-driving machine which is capable of storing a given quantity of bolts, or bolts fitted with washers, feeding them one-by-one, and driving them in an optional direction without the need for the machine to be attached to a feeding and/or charging mechanism, thereby extending the field of work for the machine.

According to the invention, such apparatus is characterised in that the compact machine has a feeding mechanism, comprising a hinged storage rail which extends at one (inner) end towards a bolt-driving blade of the machine, said rail being formed with a slideway corresponding to the profile of the heads of bolts to be charged therein, said rail being adapted so that its other (outer) end can be swung between one end position where it fits to a feed carriage of the machine and another end position where it is open to receive a charge of said bolts, said inner end of the storage rail being extended via a spring-supported feeding device in front and into the path of said bolt driving blade.

Thus, the main part of apparatus according to the invention is the provision of a compact machine with its own feeding mechanism which can be charged, as required, with a predetermined number of bolts (and washers if fitted).

According to a preferred arrangement of the invention the compact machine may be charged from a separate charging and feeding mechanism comprising a body having a receiving nest to which the compact machine fits when being charged with bolts, a feeding rail having a slideway corresponding to the profile of the heads of the bolts to be charged and being positioned to align with said storage rail of the compact machine when in its open end.

In a preferred construction of apparatus the feeding mechanism of the compact machine is formed to receive a predetermined number of bolts for charging into the storage rail of said machine.

The inlet of the feeding rail of the feeding and charging mechanism fits preferably to the outlet of a device carrying the bolts, (or bolts already fitted with washers) to be driven in. Where the bolts are to be fitted with washers a jigging feeder is provided for guiding the bolts and washers together.

In a construction, given by way of example, the compact bolt driving machine has a springsupported pair of clamping jaws guided on the machine body arranged on the end of a spring biased telescopic sleeve; furthermore, it has a hinged storage rail leading between the pair of clamping jaws and a spring-supported locking pin openable by a detent pin at the openable end of the storage rail. Suitably, a spring biased carriage is fitted into the storage rail, as well as a lever mechanism at the end of the storage rail joining the telescopic sleeve to ensure bolt detachment one by one, the lever of which is hinged and spring tensioned to the storage rail.

Bush and pilot holes may be arranged in the telescopic sleeve for guiding the bolt driving blade in such a way that it is centrally guided between the spring-supported clamping jaws. The springsupported claw is hinged to the telescopic sleeve, one end of which is linked with the body of the compact machine, while the other end is hinged, and the claw extends into the bolt guiding groove of the storage rail, and the actuating roller which is fitted onto a shaft for the claw operates the arm of the lever mechanism in the upper position of the lever, thus ensuring bolt feeding, one by one.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, one embodiment of apparatus for feeding and mechanized driving of bolts will be explained in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a view showing the charging and feeding mechanism of the apparatus, and, Figure 2 is a view showing the compact driving machine of the apparatus.

Referring to Figure 1 the charging and feeding mechanism comprises a basic body 3 providing a feeding rail and a receiving nest 4. The feeding rail comprises a slideway corresponding to the profile of the bolt (or bolt fitted with a washer), tipping means in the form of a two-armed lever 6 hinged in such a way and prestressed with a spring 9, that a first cam 7 formed at the lower end of the tipping lever 6 in biased to a stationary position within the slideway to act as a stop for feeding the bolts. A second cam 8 formed at the upper end of the tipping lever 6 is movable to an operating position within the slideway against the bias of the spring, at which time the cam 7 moves out of the slideway to release the bolts beneath the cam 8 for charging into the compact machine. The inlet of the feeding rail 2 is fitted to the outlet of a device 1 carrying the work piece.

Referring now to Figure 2 the compact machine comprises a body 10 on which a telescopic sleeve 12 is guided, its extension being carried out by a spring 11. A feeding device comprising a pair of clamping jaws 14 is arranged on the end of the telescopic sleeve 12 supported by a spring 13. A feed carriage 24 of a feeding mechanism of the compact machine is formed with a fastening device which fits into the receiving nest 4 of the charging mechanism described hereinbefore with reference to Figure 1.The essential element of the feeding mechanism is the hinged storage rail 16 formed with a pair of rails, the upper end of which can be swung between one end position locked to the feed carriage 24, and another end position aligned with the feeding rail 2 of the charging mechanism, while the lower end of the storage rail 2 is fitted via the spring-supported clamping jaws 14 which extend along opposed sides of the path of the bolt driving blade 31. A claw 39 contacts the blade path with its ends extending between the pair of jaws 14 and the outlet from the storage rail 16, at which latter it is hingedlysup- ported by a spring 38, as well as by an actuating roller 40 fitted to a hinged shaft 37 forming part of the hinged fastening.

A locking pin 21 supported by a spring 20 and opening with detent pin 19 is arranged on the end piece 18 of the hinged storage rail 16 which opens by rotation around the hinge pin 15. A coil spring 22 and the feed carriage 24 moved by a cord 23 fit into the guide groove of storage rail 16. The mechanism provided for detachment one by one of the bolts is arranged in front of the connection point between the storage rail 16 and the telescopic sleeve 12. Thus, the mechanism includes a lever 25 which is hinged to the storage rail 16 with threaded pins 26 and it is hinged by spring 27 against said storage rail, a guide path 28 which is suitably adjustable and a pair of suspension claws 29 and 30 are fixed to the lever 25 of the separating mechanism.

A guide bush 32 is arranged within, and a guide hole 33 is machined in the telescopic sleeve 12 for guiding the bolt driving blade 31. These guiding elements centrally guide the bolt driving blade 31 between the spring-supported pair of jaws 14.

A lever 36 coupled with the body of the compact machine 10 is hinged with a link 35 at one of its end to the telescopic sleeve 12 through threaded pins 34, while the feeding device formed with the hinged shaft 37, spring 38, claw 39 and actuating roller 40 is arranged on the other end.

Operation of the apparatus is as follows: The feed carriage 24 is engaged with the receiving nest 4 of the feeding and charging mechanism to charge up the storage rail 16 of the compact machine 10 with bolts, the coil spring 22 lowers the feeding mechanism under its own weight until the feed carriage 24 contacts the detent pin 19 arranged on the end piece 18 of storage rail 16 opening around hinge 15, and lifts the locking pin 21 against spring 20 out of its nest, thus releasing the locking. The compact machine 10 is turned around hinge 15 to bring it vertical, and the storage rail 16 fits to the feeding rail 2 of the feeding and charging mechanism and moves the feeding tipping lever 6.The second cam 8 of the tipping lever 6 prevents the bolts arranged above the cam from lowering, while the bolts under the second cam 8, having been released by withdrawal movement of the first cam 7, slide into the storage rail 16. The machine 10 is then turned back around hinge 15, and the spring 9 returns the tipping lever 6 into its stationary position, and hence the first cam 7 into its projecting position in the slideway. Thus, a next charge slides into the feeding rail 2. It has already been mentioned above that the feeding rail 16 can be fitted to a forwarding device 1, e.g. to a jigging feeder, for guiding the bolts and washers together, from where the next charge slides into the feeding rail 2 when the tipping lever 6 returns into its stationary position.Thus, through movement of the second cam 8, the passage is free between the outlet of device 1 and inlet of the feeding rail 2. Since in this case the first cam 7 projects into the slideway, the next charge which slides into the feeding rail 2 cannot move further until the compact machine is again located in the receiving nest 4 and turned into its vertical position, upon which the tipping lever 6 is again operated to supply the next charge of bolts.

Upon turning back the machine 10, it is detached from the feeding and charging mechanism, and the feed carriage 24 is pressed against the charged bolts in the storage rail 16, thereby releasing the detent pin 19, to permit the spring 20 to urge the locking pin 21 into its nest and thus prevent the end piece 18 of the storage rail 16 from opening again during the bolt driving process. At this stage the process of bolt driving begins.

Moving the compact machine 10 in the direction of screwing, the link 35 connected to the body of the machine turns the lever 36 into the upper end portion; the actuating roller 40 fixed to its end moves onto the guiding path 28 fixed to lever 25 of the detaching mechanism and moves this lever against spring 27 into the opening direction, whereby the pair of suspension claws 30 of the feeding mechanism releases the lowermost bolt, while the further pair of suspension claws 29 prevents the advancement of the bolt arranged above it. Simultaneously, the claw 39 arranged on the end of lever 36 passes behind the released bolt, whereupon it is snapped into position by the spring 38.Returning the machine 10 into its normal position, the lever 36 moves to its normal position, pushing the detached bolt in front of it, and snapping it between the pair of jaws 14, supported by the spring 13, in front of the bolt driving blade 31,whereby the machine 10 is ready for bolt driving. The bolt pressed between the pair of jaws 14 protrudes from the front end of the machine 10, and thus it can be fitted into the threaded receiving hole.

Moving the machine once more in the direction of screwing, the described bolt feeding process again takes place and, simultaneously, the driving motor of the machine is started, the bolt driving blade 31 moves forward and rotates, guided by bush 32 and guide hole 33, and contacts and engages with the groove in the head of the detached bolt which has already been fitted with a washer and located into the jaws 14, the bolt being then pressed out of the jaws, and screwed into its hole.

After the bolt is driven in, the machine is returned to the normal position, the lever 36 moves back, and the claw 39 passes the next detached bolt between the pair of jaws 14 in front of the driving blade 31, thus preparing the next work cycle.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the apparatus according to the invention ensures the feeding of a group of bolts fitted, already with washers, into a compact bolt-driving machine in a simple way. The machine can be charged with the bolts and then detached from the feeding and charging mechanism, and forwarded from the storage rail of the machine with a spring feed carriage, utilizing the work process of screwing with a simple lever-like mechanism to carry out feeding of the bolts, with their washers, one by one for driving-in.

Also, mechanized driving-in can be carried out in an optional, even upward, direction.

Modifications are possible within the scope of the invention. Thus, the feeding lever may be formed with a hinged mechanism also, intead of a link drive, and the known machine units used in the construction of the machine and arranged with respect to each other as described above may be substituted with other known machine units equivalent in respect of functioning in accordance with the invention.

Similarly, the compact machine provided with a one-by-one bolt feeding mechanism according to the invention ensures improved technology and increased automation compared with the present state of the art, even if the separate feeding and charging mechanism described above is not used, since locking of the storage rail 16 may be formed either four manual or optional release, or for the exclusive or optional adaptation to other types of feeding and/or charging mechanism. In addition the storage rail 16 may be formed as a conventional interchangeable module element, in which case the apparatus may be provided with more than one such module elements, which are filled up by the operator with a feeding and/or charging mechanism.arranged at a convenient point near the assembly area, and the work may be continued at the work location until all the module elements are discharged, after which the operator returns to the feeding and/or charging mechanism to charge the discharged module elements again with a fresh set of bolts; in this way, productivity is increased.

Claims (8)

1. Apparatus for feeding and mechanized driving of a bolt, which may be fitted with washers comprising a compact bolt driving machine, characterized in that the compact machine has a feeding mechanism, comprising a hinged storage rail which extends at one (inner) end towards a bolt-driving blade of the machine, said rail being formed with a slideway corresponding to the profile of the heads of bolts to be charged therein, said rail being adapted so that its other (outer) end can be swung between one end position where it fits to a feed carriage of the machine and another end position where it is open to receive a charge of said bolts, said inner end of the storage rail being extended via a spring-supported feeding device in front and into the path of said bolt driving blade.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that a separate feeding and charging mechanism is provided comprising a body having a receiving nest to which the compact machine fits when being charged with bolts, a feeding rail having a slideway corresponding to the profile of the heads of the bolts to be charged and being positioned to align with said storage rail of the compact machine when in its open end position, and tipping means formed as twoarmed lever hinged and biased in such a way that a first cam at the end of one arm of the lever and adjacent the discharge end of the rail projects into the path of bolts on the rail to act as a stop, a second cam being provided on the end of the other arm, said tipping means being operable against said bias to withdraw said first cam and project the second cam into the bolt path a set distance from the discharge end of the rail to release a predetermined number of bolts for charging into the storage rail of the compact machine.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that the feed carriage of the compact machine is formed with a fastening device for fastening the machine to the receiving nest of the feeding and charging mechanism.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the feeding device of the machine is formed by the bolt driving blade, a pair of jaws extending along opposed sides of the blade path, spring means supporting the pair of jaws, a claw with a free end adapted to be moved into the blade path between the pair of jaws and the outlet of the storage rail, and hinged spring means supporting the claw carried by an actuating roller.

5. Apparatus according to Claim 2, or Claim 3 or 4when dependent on Claim 2, characterized in that the inlet of the feeding rail of the feeding and charging mechanism is adapted to fit onto the outlet of a device carrying the bolts (and washers if fitted).

6. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 5 for bolts fitted with washers, characterized in that the device carrying the bolts, includes means for guiding together bolts and washers in the form of a jigging feeder.

7. Apparatus according to any of Claims 1-6, characterized in that the hinged storage rail of the machine is formed as a conventional hinged and rotatable module element, and the machine is provided with more than one such module element.

8. Apparatus for feeding and mechanized driving of bolts constructed, arranged and adapted for use substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.