JP3893045B2 - Positioning device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a positioning device, and more particularly to a positioning device suitable for positioning a workpiece that has a horizontally long shape such as a cowl inner of an automobile and is assembled horizontally at a high position.
[0002]
[Prior art]
When assembling the body of an automobile, for example, an underfloor jig pallet truck (hereinafter referred to as a truck) is intermittently transported to each position of the transport path, and a vehicle body part, for example, an engine compartment (hereinafter referred to as “encopa”). The front floor, the front pillar lower inner, the cowl inner and the like are sequentially positioned and assembled on the positioned encopa.
[0003]
By the way, in the assembly of the cowl inner as described above, since the cowl inner is assembled at a high position above the encopa and the front pillar lower inner, a high positioning post corresponding to the positioning height of the cowl inner is provided on the carriage.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, as described above, when a high positioning post is provided on the carriage, when assembling using a two-stage conveyance path having an upper outward path and a lower return path as described later, the higher positioning post is lower. The distance between the upper return path and the lower return path must be increased due to obstruction on the side return path, and the height of the positioning robot for positioning on the upper return path and the handling robot for assembly must be increased. There was a problem.
[0005]
To lower the upper outbound path, for example, dig a pit on the floor and install the lower return path in this pit, but digging the pit or installing a transport path in this pit It was difficult and not only increased initial investment, but also had the problem of difficult maintenance work in the pit.
[0006]
In addition, the cowl inner is a highly designed work, and its shape and design vary depending on the vehicle type. Therefore, the positioning post must be replaced for each vehicle type, or a carriage equipped with a different positioning post for each vehicle type must be used. The former has a problem that not only a wide variety of posts have to be prepared, but also the replacement work is troublesome. In the latter case, a carriage having a wide variety of posts must be prepared, which not only increases the production cost but also requires a large space for storage.
[0007]
The present invention has been proposed in order to solve such problems, and has a simple configuration, in particular, a work such as a cowl inner having a horizontally long shape and horizontally positioned and assembled at a high position. It is an object of the present invention to provide a positioning device capable of easily positioning with high accuracy.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problem, the positioning apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is mounted with an encoder on which a front floor and a front pillar lower inner are assembled, and corresponds to the position of the positioning hole of the encoder. A carriage having positioning recesses provided at one location and positioning recesses provided at two locations corresponding to the positions of the round holes of the front floor, an arm, and a plurality of cowl inners provided at the arm Clamping mechanism that clamps horizontally, three vertical arms extending downward from the arm, and provided at the lower ends of the three vertical arms, respectively, corresponding to the positions of the three positioning recesses of the carriage A positioning robot having a positioning convex portion for positioning the positioning convex portion at one location of the handling robot. Are inserted into one positioning concave portion of the carriage through two positioning holes, and two positioning convex portions of the handling robot are respectively inserted into two positioning concave portions of the carriage through the round hole of the front floor. By doing so, the cart, the encoper, and the handling robot are positioned .
[0009]
According to such a positioning device, by inserting the positioning depression of three of the carriage the positioning projections of the three of the handling robot through the positioning hole and the front floor of the round hole of Enkopa, the dolly, Enkopa And the handling robot can be positioned with high accuracy. In addition, the cowl inner as a workpiece clamped by the clamping mechanism provided in the handling robot is also positioned at the same time, so that the horizontally long cowl inner can be positioned horizontally at a high position easily and with high accuracy. it can. Further, positioning projection of the handling robot, the clamp mechanism is provided on each of the lower ends of the three vertical arms extending from the arms provided below, it is not necessary to Ru maintain high positioning posts on the bogie, 2 Even if a stepped conveyance path is adopted, the height of the upper outbound path can be reduced, and there is no need to dig a pit on the floor surface.
[0014]
The positioning device according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that the clamp mechanism portion of the handling robot includes a clamp portion that clamps rising portions at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the cowl inner.
[0015]
According to the above positioning device, the clamping mechanism portion of the handling robot clamps the rising portions at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the cowl inner with the clamping portions, so that it is not necessary for the clamping mechanism portion to move in the horizontal plane, and the lowering Clamping the workpiece, releasing the clamp, and raising the workpiece is sufficient, and the lifting mechanism of the clamping mechanism is driven by the lifting operation of the handling robot, simplifying the configuration of the handling robot. Can be
[0016]
In the positioning device according to claim 3 of the present invention, the clamping mechanism section includes one positioning recess and projection and the other two positioning positions among the three positioning recesses and projections. It is provided between the concave portion and the convex portion for use.
[0017]
According to the above positioning apparatus, a workpiece such as a cowl inner clamped by the handling robot is transferred to the carriage position by the handling robot, and the three positioning protrusions of the handling robot are connected to the positioning holes of the encoder and the front floor. By inserting the bogie, the encoder and the handling robot with high accuracy by inserting them into the three positioning recesses of the bogie through the round holes, the work such as the cowl inner clamped by the handling robot is positioned on the bogie. it can. Moreover, since the clamping mechanism is provided between one positioning recess and projection and the other two positioning recesses and projections among the three recesses and projections, Compared with the case where the clamping mechanism is provided in the three positioning concave portions and the outer portion of the convex portion, the handling robot can be made compact without increasing its size.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. 1 is a schematic side view of an example of a workpiece assembling apparatus, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a vehicle body as an example of a workpiece to be assembled by the positioning clamp apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 3A is an encoder of FIG. FIG. 3B is an enlarged side view thereof, FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a carriage as an example of one side member of the positioning device of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is the other side member of the positioning device of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a state in which the one side member and the other side member of the present invention are positioned.
[0019]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an upper and lower two-stage transport mechanism having an upper forward path 11 and a lower return path 12 at a predetermined interval. Elevating devices 13 and 14 are disposed at both ends of the transport mechanism unit 10, respectively. The carriage 15 on which the encoper 16 is placed is transferred from the lifting device 13 at one end, for example, the left end in FIG. 1, to the upper outbound path 11, and the positions P1 to P7 of the upper outbound path 11 are intermittently moved. The encoper 16 is positioned at each position, and the front floor 17, the front pillar lower inner 18, the cowl inner 19 and the like are sequentially positioned and welded to the positioned encoper 16.
[0020]
At position P7 of the transport mechanism unit 10, the chassis that has been assembled as described above is removed from the carriage 15 by a crane or the like. The trolley 15 that has been emptied is transferred to the lifting device 14 at the right end of FIG . Then, the elevating device 14 descends and stops when it reaches the same height position as the lower return path 12. Then, the carriage 15 is transferred from the lifting device 14 to the lower return path 12. The carriage 15 returned and conveyed on the lower return path 12 is transferred to the elevating device 13 at the left end of FIG. 1 and supplied with an encoder 16 that is a new workpiece. When the elevating device 13 is lifted and stops at the same height as the upper outward path 11, the carriage 15 is transferred to the upper outward path 11 together with the encoper 16, and the various workpieces are sequentially assembled as described above.
[0021]
The encoper 16 constituting the vehicle body has a structure as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, 161 is a front apron, 162 is an apron, 163 is a dash panel, 164 is a front side member, and 165 is a suspension tower. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the encoper 16 has a positioning hole 167 in the bottom member 166.
[0022]
Reference numeral 17 denotes a front floor that is assembled on the front side member 164 of the encoper 16, and is formed on the rising side 171 at both ends in the width direction, the protrusion 172 in the center in the width direction, and the front side of the protrusion 172. And a long hole 173 for the shift lever, and round holes 175a to 175d formed at a total of four positions in the recesses 174 on both sides of the ridge portion 172 at two positions in the front and rear.
[0023]
Reference numeral 18 denotes a front pillar lower inner that is assembled to the encoder 16 and the front floor 17. The front pillar inner 18 is assembled to both ends of the dash panel 163 of the encoper 16, and the front surface portion 181 has a curved surface shape that matches the curved surface shape of the dash panel 163. And the hole 183 for harness penetration is formed in the triangular front-end | tip part 182, and the positioning holes 184 and 185 are formed in two places up and down.
[0024]
Reference numeral 19 denotes a cowl inner which is assembled in a recess formed by the above-mentioned encoper 16 and front pillar lower inner 18. The cowl inner 19 is a horizontally long work that is long in the width direction of the encoper 16 and has a bowl-shaped recess 191 that accommodates a wiper drive mechanism portion, a window washer liquid supply drive portion, and the like. 192, 192.
[0025]
4 is a schematic perspective view of the carriage 15 of FIG. 1 as an example of one side member of the positioning member, and has a positioning recess 151 at the center in the width direction, and positioning recesses 152 at two locations on both sides. 153. The positioning recess 151 at the center of the carriage 15 corresponds to the position of the positioning hole 167 of the encoder 16, and the positioning recesses 152, 153 at the two side portions are round holes 175 a on the front side of the front floor 17. , 175b.
[0026]
FIG. 5 shows a handling robot 20 for a cowl inner 19 that is an example of the other side member that constitutes a positioning device together with the carriage 15 and has a “earth” -shaped arm 21, and this “earth” -shaped arm 21 is , “I” -shaped arms 22 and 23, and arms 24 and 25 extending laterally from a midway position of the “I” -shaped arm 22. A vertical arm 26 is fixed to the tip of the one “I” -shaped arm 22, and vertical arms 27 and 28 are fixed to both ends of the other “I” -shaped arm 23. Yes. A positioning convex portion 29 to be inserted into the concave portion 151 of the carriage 15 is provided at the lower end of the vertical arm 26, and a positioning concave portion of the carriage 15 is provided at the lower ends of the vertical arms 27 and 28. Positioning convex portions 30 and 31 to be inserted into 152 and 153 are provided.
[0027]
Here, the falling dimension h 4 of the positioning convex portion 29 from the upper surface of the “I” -shaped arm 22 is set according to the height position of the positioning concave portion 151 of the carriage 15. Further, the falling dimensions h5 and h6 (= h5) of the positioning convex portions 30 and 31 from the upper surface of the “I” -shaped arm 23 correspond to the height positions of the positioning concave portions 152 and 153 of the carriage 15. Is set.
[0028]
Clamp mechanism portions 32 and 33 of a cowl inner 19 which is an example of a workpiece are provided at the end portions of the lateral arms 24 and 25, respectively. The clamp mechanism portions 32 and 33 each have a configuration showing an enlarged view within a one-dot chain line. Since the clamp mechanism portions 32 and 33 have a symmetrical configuration, the clamp mechanism portion 32 on one side will be described below.
The clamp mechanism section mechanism section 32 is provided with a vertical arm 321 below the horizontal arm 24, and a fixed clamp member 322 is provided at the lower end of the vertical arm 321. An air cylinder 324 is pivotally supported at the end of the lateral arm 24 via a pin 323, and a movable clamp member 327 is pivotally supported at the tip of the piston rod 325 via a pin 326. Further, an arm 328 extending from a middle position of the movable clamp member 327 is pivotally supported on the middle of the vertical arm 321 via a pin 329.
[0030]
Accordingly, when the clamp mechanism mechanism mechanism 32 extends the piston rod 325 of the air cylinder 324, the movable clamp member 327 pivotally supported by the pin 326 on the tip of the piston rod 325 is pushed downward, and accordingly The movable clamp member 327 rotates counterclockwise about the pin 329, and the distal end thereof moves toward the fixed clamp member 322.
[0031]
In addition, since the moving locus of the pin 326 becomes an arc shape when the movable clamp member 327 is rotated, the moving operation of the pin 326 can be smoothly performed when the air cylinder rotates around the pin 323. I am doing so.
[0032]
In this way, the rising portions of both ends of the cowl inner 19 that is an example of the workpiece between the fixed clamp member 322 and the movable clamp member 327 by the rotation of the movable clamp member 327 of both the clamp mechanisms 32 and 33, respectively. 192, 192 can be clamped. Further, when the piston rod 325 of the air cylinder 324 is retracted, the state shown in FIG. 5 is obtained, and the rising portions 192 and 192 at both ends of the cowl inner 19 can be released.
[0033]
Next, with reference to FIG. 1 thru | or FIG. 6, operation | movement of the positioning apparatus comprised with said trolley | bogie 15 and the handling robot 20 is demonstrated.
First, in FIG. 1, when the carriage 15 on which the encoder 16 is placed is transferred from the lifting device 13 at the left end of FIG. 1 to the upper outgoing path 11, the encoder placed on the carriage 15 at the position P1. 16 is positioned. For this positioning, the positioning convex portion 29 of the positioning robot (which does not require the clamp mechanism portions 32 and 33) having the positioning convex portions 29, 30, and 31 at the same three positions as the handling robot 20 is positioned by the encoder 16. By inserting into the positioning concave portion 151 of the carriage 15 through the hole 167 and inserting the other positioning convex portions 30 and 31 into the concave portions 152 and 153 of the carriage 15 located on the side of the front side members 164 and 164. Done. When the positioning of the encoder 16 is finished, the carriage 15 is transported to the position P2.
[0034]
At the position P2, the handling robot having the positioning convex portions 30 and 31 at two locations on the front side members 164 and 164 of the encoder 16 positioned on the carriage 15 (however, the two clamp mechanism portions 32 and 33 are provided). The clamped front floor 17 is supplied by a clamp mechanism portion that clamps the four locations of the front floor 17 instead of the two, and the positioning protrusions 30 and 31 of the two positions of the handling robot are replaced with the front floor 17. Are positioned and temporarily welded by being inserted into the positioning recesses 152 and 153 of the carriage 15 through the front side round holes 175a and 175b. Then, the carriage 15 is transported to the position P3, finally welded, and transported to the position P4.
[0035]
At the position P4, a handling robot having positioning convex portions 29, 30, and 31 at the same three locations as described above (however, instead of the clamp mechanism portions 32 and 33, holes 184 and 185 at two locations on the front pillar lower inner 18 are provided. A pair of front pillar lower inner members 18 are transferred by the above-described configuration, and the positioning convex portions 29, 30, 31 of the handling robot are moved in the same manner as described above. In the same manner as described above, positioning is performed by inserting into the three positioning recesses 151, 152, 153 of the carriage 15, and after temporary welding, it is transported to position P5 and subjected to main welding. When the main welding is completed, the carriage 15 is transported to the position P6.
[0036]
At position P6, the handling robot 20 goes to the cowling inner 19 at the work supply location. At this time, the clamp mechanism portions 32 and 33 provided on the left and right are in a state in which the piston rod 325 of the air cylinder 324 is retracted and the movable clamp member 327 is separated from the fixed clamp member 322. As shown in a one-dot chain line in FIG. 5, rising portions 192 and 192 at both ends of the cowl inner 19 are positioned between the 322 and the movable clamp member 327.
[0037]
Therefore, when the piston rod 325 of the air cylinder 324 is extended, the movable clamp member 327 is counterclockwise about the pin 329 as described above (the movable clamp member 327 of the clamp mechanism 33 is centered on the pin 329). And the rising portions 192 and 192 at both ends of the cowl inner 19 are clamped by the fixed clamp member 322 and the movable clamp member 327.
[0038]
The cowl inner 19 clamped by the clamping mechanisms 32 and 33 is transferred by the handling robot 20 above the front pillar lower inners 18a and 18b that have been previously welded.
[0039]
Therefore, the positioning convex portion 29 of the handling robot 20 is inserted into the positioning concave portion 151 of the carriage 15 through the positioning hole 167 of the encoder 16, and the two positioning convex portions 30 and 31 are connected to the front floor 17. It is inserted into the recesses 152 and 153 of the carriage 15 through the front side round holes 175a and 175b.
[0040]
Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the handling robot 20 is positioned on the carriage 15, and at the same time, in the upper recess formed by the dash panel 163 of the encoper 16 and the pair of left and right front pillar lower inners 18a and 18b. The cowl inner 19 is positioned. Therefore, in this positioning state, temporary welding is immediately performed by a welding robot (not shown). Then, the carriage 15 is transported to the position P7 and is finally welded.
[0041]
Although the above embodiment has been specifically described with respect to the configuration, the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in this embodiment, and various modifications are possible.
[0042]
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the clamp mechanism portions 32 and 33 of the handling robot 20 are configured using the fixed clamp member 322 and the movable clamp member 327 is described, but the clamp mechanism units 32 and 33 are configured using a pair of movable clamp members. You can also
[0043]
Moreover, although the case where the cowl inner 19 is positioned as an example of the workpiece has been described in the above embodiment, the same applies to any workpiece having a horizontally long shape other than the cowling inner and positioned in a horizontal state at a high position. Applicable.
[0044]
Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the positioning concave portion of the carriage 15 and the positioning convex portion of the handling robot 20 are fixed has been described. However, the positioning concave portion 151 and the convex portion 29 and other positioning concave portions 152 are described. , 153 and the distance between the convex portions 30 and 31 may be variable. Moreover, you may make the space | interval dimension between each positioning recessed part 152,153 and the convex parts 30 and 31 variable. Furthermore, each height dimension may be variable. When configured in this manner, it can deal with a wide range of workpieces of various sizes and / or shapes.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention , by inserting the three positioning convex portions of the handling robot into the three positioning concave portions of the cart through the positioning holes of the encoper and the round holes of the front floor, the cart, the encoper, and the handling The robot can be positioned with high accuracy. In addition, the cowl inner as a workpiece clamped by the clamping mechanism provided in the handling robot is also positioned at the same time, so that the horizontally long cowl inner can be positioned horizontally at a high position easily and with high accuracy. it can. Furthermore, since the positioning convex portion of the handling robot is provided at the lower end of each of the three vertical arms extending downward from the arm provided with the clamp mechanism, it is not necessary to provide a high positioning post on the carriage. Even if the transport path of the type is adopted, the height of the upper outbound path can be lowered, and there is no need to dig a pit on the floor surface .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a workpiece assembly apparatus incorporating a positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an exploded perspective view of a vehicle body which is an example of a workpiece to be positioned in the workpiece assembling apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 3A is an enlarged plan view of an engine compartment;
(B) is the enlarged side view.
FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a carriage as an example of one side member in the positioning device of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic bottom perspective view of a handling robot which is an example of the other side member in the positioning device of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a state during positioning by the one side member and the other side member in the positioning device of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Upper and lower two-stage type conveyance mechanism part 11 Upper outgoing path 12 Lower return path 13, 14 Lifting device 15 One side member (under pallet jig for pallet)
151, 152, 153 Positioning recess 16 Engine compartment 17 Front floor 18 Front pillar lower inner 19 Work piece (cowl inner)
192 Rising part 20 The other side member (handling robot)
32, 33 Clamp mechanism 322 Fixed clamp member 324 Air cylinder 327 Movable clamp member

Claims (3)

An encoper on which the front floor and the front pillar lower inner are assembled is placed, and corresponds to the positioning recess provided at one position corresponding to the position of the positioning hole of the encoper and the position of the round hole of the front floor. A carriage having positioning recesses provided at two locations;
An arm, a clamp mechanism for horizontally clamping the cowl inner at a plurality of locations, three vertical arms extending downward from the arm, and lower ends of the three vertical arms, A handling robot having positioning convex portions respectively corresponding to the positions of the three positioning concave portions of the carriage,
One positioning convex portion of the handling robot is inserted into one positioning concave portion of the carriage through the positioning hole of the encoder, and two positioning convex portions of the handling robot are inserted into the round of the front floor. A positioning apparatus for positioning the carriage, the encoper, and the handling robot by respectively inserting into two positioning recesses of the carriage through a hole . The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the clamping mechanism of the handling robot, characterized in that it comprises a clamp unit for respectively clamping the rising portion of the longitudinal ends of the Kauruin'na. The clamp mechanism portion is provided between one positioning concave portion and convex portion and the other two positioning concave portions and convex portions among the three positioning concave portions and convex portions. The positioning device according to claim 1, wherein:

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