1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a cutting and clamping device, and in particular to a cutting and clamping device that cuts off and clamps work pieces carried by a part strip.
2. The Related Arts
With the progress of science and technology, living standards of human beings everywhere around the world have been greatly improved. Electronic products are now a must of regular living of modern people. Nowadays, the electronic products are evolving in a new trend of miniaturization and function diversification.
An electronic component that serves as transmission of electronic signal for and mechanical coupling of an electronic device will often leads to failure of the electronic device, if the electronic component is not functioning properly. Thus, the manufacturing and assembling of the electronic component is subjected to server requirement for each step or process. Currently, in the manufacturing process of electronic components, parts of the electronic components are often provided in such a form as being attached to a part strip. Before these parts are soldered or welded to a semi-finished electronic product, jigs are used to cut the parts off the part strip so as to separate the parts from the part strip. And then, the parts are conveyed to other devices where the parts are neatly arranged for subsequently positioning into a holder through manual operations, after which soldering may be carried out for the semi-finished electronic product. Since the operation of positioning the parts into the holder is carried out manually, certain problems are easily caused, such as oxidization and deformation of the parts, which lead to uncontrollable inconsistency of quality and increased flaw rate. Further, moving the parts to other devices for neat arrangement and then manually positioning the parts to a holder are apparently complicated, and cause undesired increase of loading of the operators, eventually leading to poor manufacturing efficiency, increased cost, and incapability of meeting the need for mass production.
Thus, it is desired to provide a cutting and clamping device that overcomes the above discussed problems.
In order to overcome the problems discussed above, an objective of the present invention is to provide a cutting and clamping device, which improves manufacturing efficiency, reduces flaw rate and manufacturing costs, alleviates the loading of operators, and helps realizing mass production.
To achieve the above objective, according to the present invention, a cutting and clamping device is provided, comprising an electrical control box, a base board, a supply mechanism, a conveyance mechanism, a forwarding mechanism, a cutting mechanism, and a clamping and retaining mechanism. The base board is mounted on a top of the electrical control box and comprises slide rails fixed thereto. The slide rails are slidably coupled to a slide block. The supply mechanism is mounted to the base board for loading and supplying an un-processed part strip. The conveyance mechanism is mounted to the slide block and has one end set adjacent to the supply mechanism. The conveyance mechanism defines a part transportation zone for transporting the part strip. The forwarding mechanism is mounted on the conveyance mechanism and comprises a sharp tip. The sharp tip is releasably insertable into positioning holes defined in the part strip located in the part transportation zone. The cutting mechanism is mounted to the slide block and is connected to an opposite end of the conveyance mechanism. The cutting mechanism comprises a cutting blade assembly and defines a cutting zone that is in communication with the part transportation zone for transporting the part strip. The cutting blade assembly is extendable into the cutting zone. The clamping and retaining mechanism comprises a first clamp assembly, a second clamp assembly, and a retaining assembly. The first clamp assembly comprises a fixed board, a first slide member, and a first jaw set. The fixed board is fixed to the slide block and has an end located adjacent to the cutting mechanism. The slide member is slidably coupled to the fixed board. The first jaw set is mounted to the slide member to oppose the cutting zone of the cutting mechanism. The second clamp assembly comprises mounting racks, a horizontal displacement cylinder, a cross beam, a second slide assembly, and a second jaw set. The mounting racks have lower ends mounted to the base board. The cross beam has an end portion mounted to upper ends of the mounting racks and extends above the first clamp assembly. The second slide assembly is coupled to the cross beam in a horizontally slidable manner. The second jaw set is mounted to the second slide assembly. The retaining assembly is fixed to a side surface of the base board to be set at a location under an opposite end portion of the cross beam. The retaining assembly is provided for holding a jig thereon, whereby when the second slide assembly is selectively driven by the horizontal displacement cylinder to slide to said opposite end portion of the cross beam, the second jaw set that is mounted to the second slide assembly is located above the jig.
In summary, the cutting and clamping device according to the present invention is capable of automatically cutting off a part carried by a part strip and automatically moving the metal plate to a jig immediately after the cutting. This eliminate the complicated procedure that is currently employed for manual operation, whereby the operation efficiency is significantly improved, product flaw rate and manufacturing cost are reduced, and working load of operators is alleviated. Further, the operation of the cutting and clamping device according to the present invention is stable and product quality is reliable, and thus, the needs for mass production can be met.
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
With reference to the drawings and in particular to
Reference is now made to
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4-6, the conveyance mechanism 4 is mounted on the slide block 22 in such a way that one end of the conveyance mechanism 4 is set adjacent to the supply mechanism 3. Specifically, the conveyance mechanism 4 comprises spacer boards 41, a support board 42, and a retention board 43. The spacer boards 41 include a first spacer board 41a and a second spacer board 41b. The first spacer board 41a has a lower end mounted to the slide block 22 and the first spacer board 41a is located immediately adjacent to the cutting mechanism 6. The second spacer board 41b has a lower end mounted to the slide block 22 and the second spacer board 41b is spaced from the first spacer board 41a by a distance. Upper ends of the first spacer board 41a and the second spacer board 41b are located on the same horizontal plane. The support board 42 is mounted on the upper ends of the first spacer board 41a and the second spacer board 41b. The support board 42 has a top surface forming a recess 420, which constitutes a part transportation zone for the part strip 34. The support board 42 supports the retention board 43 fixed thereon. The retention board 43 functions to confine the part strip 34 within the part transportation zone. The retention board 43 forms a slot 430 corresponding to the part transportation zone.
The forwarding mechanism 5 comprises a driver block 51, a connection member 52, and a forwarding cylinder 53. The connection member 52 has a lower end slidably arranged between the first spacer board 41a and the second spacer board 41b. The driver block 51 is rotatably mounted to an upper end of the connection member 52. The driver block 51 has a lower end forming a sloped configuration, which defines a sharp tip 510. The sharp tip 510 is extendable through the slot 430 and releasably engageable with the positioning holes 342 of the part strip 34 located in the part transportation zone. The forwarding cylinder 53 is coupled to the connection member 52 for selectively driving the connection member 52 to slide or move between the first spacer board 41a and the second spacer board 41b. Since the lower end of the driver block 51 is of a sloped configuration, the driver block 51 is only capable of moving or driving the part strip 34 in a forward direction. When the driver block 51 moves backwards, the sloped configuration is incapable of moving the part strip 34 in a backward direction.
Specifically, the forwarding mechanism 5 comprises a first stop bolt 54 that is mounted to the first spacer board 41a and a second stop bolt 55 that is mounted to the connection member 52. The second stop bolt 55 has a free end releasably engageable with the second spacer board 41b, whereby when the second stop bolt 55 is in engagement with the second spacer board 41b, the distance between the first stop bolt 54 and the connection member 52 is the distance along which the connection member 52 is allowed to move, which substantially corresponds to the spacing between two adjacent positioning holes 342 defined in the part strip 34. Consequently, for part strips of different sizes, the first stop bolt 54 or the second stop bolt 55 may be loosened or tightened to define an interval corresponding to the distance between two adjacent positioning holes 342 of any specific part strip 34.
Referring to
Referring to
Specifically, the cutting mechanism 6 comprises racks 64, which are each of an L-shape, comprising a vertical section 64a and a horizontal section 64b. The vertical section 64a has a lower end mounted to the slide block 22. The horizontal section 64b is connected, in a substantially perpendicular manner, to an upper end of the vertical section 64a and extends above the punch cutter board 62. The operation cylinder 63 is mounted to the horizontal section 64b and comprises a transmission shaft 630. The transmission shaft 630 has an end slidably coupled to the operation cylinder 63 and an opposite end connected to the punch cutter board 62. The operation cylinder 63 drives the punch cutter board 62 to do vertical reciprocal movement, and thus the first cutting blade 622 and the second cutting blade 623 mounted to the punch cutter board 62 are caused to respectively carry out cutting operations on a metal plate 341 of a part strip 34 and the portion of the part strip 34 of which the metal plate has been cut off.
Referring to
Referring to
The second clamp assembly 72 comprises mounting racks 721, a horizontal displacement cylinder (not shown), a cross beam 722, a second slide assembly 723, and a second jaw set 724. The mounting racks 721 have lower ends mounted to the base board 2. The cross beam 722 has an end portion mounted to upper ends of the mounting racks 721 and extend above and across the first clamp assembly 71. The second slide assembly 723 comprises a first slide plate 7231, a second slide plate 7232, a connection plate 7233, and a vertical cylinder 7234. The first slide plate 7231 is slidably coupled to the cross beam 722. The connection plate 7233 is fixed to the first slide plate 7231 and forms a guide channel (not shown). The second slide plate 7232 comprises a guide axle (not shown) mating the guide channel. An end of the second slide plate 7232 is coupled to the vertical cylinder 7234, whereby the vertical cylinder 7234 drives the second slide plate 7232 to cause the guide axle to reciprocally and vertically move along the guide channel of the connection plate 7233. The second jaw set 724 is mounted to the second slide plate 7232 and comprises a second jaw set cylinder 7243 coupled thereto. The second jaw set 724 comprises a left jaw 7241 and a right jaw 7242. The left and right jaws 7241, 7242 define therebetween a second pinching opening. The second jaw set cylinder 7243 drives the left and right jaws 7241, 7242 that define the second pinching opening to approach or separate from each other thereby clamping or releasing a metal plate.
The retaining assembly 73 comprises a mounting board 731, an adjustment cylinder 732, and a carriage block 733. The mounting board 731 is fixed to one side surface of the base board 2 to be set at a location under an opposite end portion of the cross beam 722. The adjustment cylinder 732 is mounted on the mounting board 731 and comprises an adjustment shaft 734, which has an end coupled to the adjustment cylinder 732 and an opposite end coupled to the carriage block 733. The carriage block 733 functions to hold a jig 9 thereon. The adjustment cylinder 732 drives reciprocal movement of the adjustment shaft 734 in a vertical directly to cause the carriage block 733 and the jig 9 held on the carriage block 733 to reciprocally and vertically move. When the second slide assembly 723 is driven by the horizontal displacement cylinder to reach said opposite end of the cross beam 722, the second jaw set 724 that is mounted to the second slide assembly 723 is located above the jig 9.
Referring to
Referring to
When the conveyance mechanism 4 conveys the part strip 34 to the cutting zone of the die support board 61, the operation cylinder 63 drives the punch cutter board 62 to move downward, during which the fixing pins 621 first extend through the positioning holes 342 of the part strip 34 to hold the part strip 34 at a location above the first cutting opening 612 and the second cutting opening 613 and then, the clamping and retaining mechanism 7, after being signaled, drives the first slide member 712 of the first clamp assembly 71 to slide to engage the first stop block 7111. At this moment, the first pinching opening of the first jaw set 713 extends into the cutting zone and the first jaw set cylinder 7133 drives the upper and lower jaws 7131, 7132 of the first pinching opening to approach each other so that the upper and lower jaw 7131, 7132 tightly clamp the metal plate 341 therebetween. Afterwards, the first cutting blade 622 of the punch cutter board 62 carries out a cutting operation on the metal plate 341 to separate the metal plate 341 from the part strip 34. Then, the second cutting blade 623 carries out a cutting operation on the portion of the part strip 34 from which the metal plate 341 has been separated to have the portion of the part strip 34 from which the metal plate 341 has been separated detached from the remaining portion of the part strip and moving through the second cutting opening 613 to reach the collection bin 13.
When the first pinching opening clamps the metal plate 341 and the metal plate 341 is separated from the part strip 34, the first slide member 712 slides to a location below the second clamp assembly 72. The second clamp assembly 72 is then signaled to drive the horizontal displacement cylinder and the vertical cylinder 7234 to operate to have the second pinching opening of the second jaw set 724 aligning the first pinching opening of the first jaw set 713. The first jaw set cylinder 7133 drives the upper and lower jaws 7131, 7132 of the first pinching opening to release the metal plate 34 and at the same time, the second jaw set cylinder 7243 drives the left and right jaws 7241, 7242 of the second pinching opening to tightly clamp the metal plate 341 released by the first pinching opening.
Subsequently, the horizontal displacement cylinder drives the second slide assembly 723 and the second jaw set 724 to slide to a location above the retaining assembly 73 to align the metal plate 341 with a receiving compartment defined in a jig 9 for receiving the metal plate 341. Under this condition, the left and right jaws 7241, 7242 of the second pinching opening separate from each other to position and retain the metal plate 341 in the jig 9. Finally, the jig 9 is transported to a spot welding device (not shown), where a semi-finish product (not shown) is loaded into the jig 9 to correspond to the metal plate 341 and then spot welding is carried out.
In summary, the cutting and clamping device according to the present invention is capable of automatically cutting a metal plate 341 from a part strip 34 and automatically moving the metal plate 341 to a jig 9 immediately after the cutting. This eliminate the complicated procedure that is currently employed for manual operation, whereby the operation efficiency is significantly improved, product flaw rate and manufacturing cost are reduced, and working load of operators is alleviated. Further, the operation of the cutting and clamping device according to the present invention is stable and product quality is reliable, and thus, the needs for mass production can be met.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.