Parts feeder

Abstract

A parts feeder for conveying a succession of parts in a common posture, includes: a rotary drum rotatable about its substantially horizontal axis of rotation and having on its inner circumferential wall surface a plurality of radial plates circumferentially spaced at predetermined distances; a chute in the form of an elongated plate substantially horizontally extending from an inside to an outside of the rotary drum through an outlet and having a guide portion along its upper edge; a vibrator supporting the chute for vibrating the chute longitudinally; a remover disposed adjacent to the guide portion for removing any of the parts if it is abnormal in posture while being conveyed on the guide portion of the chute; and the guide portion having a parts-supporting cross-sectional shape gradually varying from an inner end of the chute outwardly toward the outlet of the rotary drum.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A parts feeder for conveying a succession of parts in a common posture,  comprising: 
       (a) a rotary drum rotatable about its substantially horizontal axis of rotation and having on its inner circumferential wall surface a plurality of radial plates circumferentially spaced at predetermined distances;  
       (b) a feed chute in the form of an elongated plate substantially horizontally extending from an inside to an outside of said rotary drum through an outlet and having a guide portion along its upper edge, wherein parts are conveyed on said guide portion of said feed chute;  
       (c) a vibrator supporting said feed chute for-  vibrating the  said feed chute longitudinally;  
       (d) a remover disposed adjacent to said guide portion for removing any of the parts if it is abnormal in posture while being conveyed on said guide portion of said feed chute; and  
       (e) said guide portion having a parts-supporting cross-sectional shape gradually varying from an inner end of said feed chute outwardly toward said outlet of said rotary drum, wherein said cross- sectional shape gradually varies to complement to a shape of an inside surface of each of the parts to thereby correct a posture of each part little by little.    
     
     
       2. A parts feeder according to claim  1 , wherein said rotary drum has at one end a bottom and is inclined slightly with respect to the horizontal with said bottom on the down side, said chute slightly sloping down from the inner end toward the outside of the drum. 
     
     
       3. A parts feeder according to claim  1 , wherein said remover is composed of an abnormal-posture parts removing mechanism for removing parts being conveyed in an abnormal posture on said guide portion and a stagnant parts removing mechanism for removing parts stagnated in said guide portion. 
     
     
       4. A parts feeder according to claim  3 , further including a detector disposed adjacent to said guide portion for successively detecting the parts being conveyed on said guide portion, and a controller for measuring a time interval of detection of adjacent parts by said detector and for activating said stagnant parts removing mechanism when said time interval exceeds a preset value.