JP5311399B2 - How to check the mounting condition of insert parts to the mold - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for confirming whether or not an insert part has been normally mounted at a predetermined position in a mold.

  In insert molding, after inserting an insert part at a predetermined position in a mold, the mold is clamped, and a molten metal is injected into a cavity formed by the mold, thereby forming the insert part integrally with an injection material. This method is applied, for example, when a liner provided in a cylinder bore of an engine is formed integrally with a cylinder block.

  For example, in the insert molding method disclosed in Patent Document 1, a liner as an insert part is attached to a predetermined position (cylinder forming portion) in a mold by a robot arm.

JP 2002-97998 A

  At this time, if the insert part is not accurately arranged at a predetermined position in the mold, the insert part may interfere with other parts of the mold (molding pins, etc.) during mold clamping, and the mold may be damaged. . In particular, the cylinder block of the engine has a complicated shape and a complicated mold structure. Therefore, if the liner is not accurately placed in the mold, there is a high possibility of interference with other parts. Furthermore, in the case of a cylinder block of a small engine (for example, a three-cylinder engine) such as a light vehicle, the mold structure becomes finer, so that it is important to accurately arrange the liner.

  As a method for confirming whether or not the insert part is normally arranged in the mold, for example, a method of providing a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the insert part at a predetermined position inside the mold is conceivable. However, it is difficult to place a sensor in a complicatedly shaped mold, and even if the sensor can be placed inside the mold, the sensor is in direct contact with the molten metal. Is necessary and not realistic.

  In addition, when mounting an insert part with a robot arm, a method of providing a cylinder that pushes the insert part toward the mold at the tip of the robot arm, and confirming whether or not the insert part is mounted based on the amount of extrusion of the cylinder may be considered. . For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a cylinder 20 is provided at the distal end portion of the arm portion 10 of the robot arm 100, and the holding portion 30 holding the insert part W by the push pin 22 of the cylinder 20 is pushed out toward the mold 1. When the insert part W is attached to the predetermined position of the mold 1, as shown in FIG. 2, if the insert part W is normally attached to the mold 1, the holding portion 30 is pushed out to the front end position by the cylinder 20. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the foreign matter M is sandwiched between the insert part W and the mold 1, the insert part W does not reach a predetermined position, and the push pin 22 and the holding portion 30 stop before the front end position. . Therefore, for example, if the cylinder 40 is provided with a sensor 40 that is turned on when the push pin 22 reaches the front end position, the insert part W is normally mounted when the sensor 40 is turned on, and the sensor 40 is turned off. If so, it can be considered that a mounting failure has occurred.

  However, even when the foreign matter M is sandwiched between the insert part W and the mold 1, as shown in FIG. 3, when the arm portion 10 bends and the cylinder 20 itself moves backward with respect to the mold 1, the push pin 22. Reaches the front end position, the sensor 40 is turned on, and the insert part W may be mistakenly recognized as being normally mounted.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to surely prevent the mold from being damaged by reliably detecting the defective mounting of the insert part at a predetermined position in the mold.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a method for confirming whether or not an insert part is mounted at a predetermined position of a mold when the insert part is mounted on a mold by a robot arm. The arm includes an arm part, a holding part capable of holding the insert part, and an extruding means for pushing the holding part toward the mold with respect to the base part fixed to the arm part, and the holding part holding the insert part is provided. By inserting a predetermined amount to the base, the insert part is mounted at a predetermined position of the mold, and the step of pushing the holding portion by the predetermined amount with respect to the base by the pushing means, and the holding portion by the pushing means A step of detecting whether or not the holding portion is relatively close to the base at that time, and mounting of the insert part based on the detection result And a step of determining whether the good is intended to be performed via this order.

  When the holding part is pushed out with respect to the base by a predetermined amount, a foreign object is caught between the insert part and the mold, and the robot arm is bent by this amount and the base is retracted from the mold (see FIG. 3), a load due to the bending of the robot arm is applied to the base, and this load is supported by the pushing force by the pushing means. Therefore, when the pushing force of the holding part by the pushing means is released, the force to support the load due to the bending of the robot arm is lost, the base part moves forward while the bending of the robot arm is restored, and the holding part is relative to the base part. approach. In other words, if the relative approach between the holding part and the base part is detected when the pushing by the pushing means is released, the insert part is not normally mounted at a predetermined position in the mold due to some cause (such as a foreign object being caught). Can be determined.

  For example, if the push-out means is constituted by a cylinder, the push-out force can be released by releasing the pressure in the cylinder after pushing out the holding portion by pressurizing the inside of the cylinder.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably detect the mounting failure of the insert part at a predetermined position in the mold, and therefore the mold is clamped with the mounting failure and the die is damaged. Can be reliably prevented.

It is sectional drawing of the robot which mounts insert components in a metal mold | die (reference position). It is sectional drawing which shows the state by which the insert components were normally mounted | worn in the predetermined position of the metal mold | die. It is sectional drawing which shows the state (state where the robot arm bent) where the foreign material was pinched | interposed between insert components and a metal mold | die. It is sectional drawing which shows the state (state where the holding | maintenance part approached the base part relatively) where the foreign material was pinched | interposed between insert components and a metal mold | die.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In this embodiment, the case where the cylinder block of an engine is injection-molded (insert molding) by a die casting method is shown. As shown in FIG. 1, the mold used in this injection molding has a fixed mold 1, a moving core 2, and a movable mold (not shown). The fixed mold 1 is provided with a columnar protrusion 1a on which a liner W as an insert part is mounted, and the moving core 2 is provided with a forming pin 3 for forming a cooling path of the cylinder block and the like. The moving core 2 is provided so as to be movable up and down, and is arranged at the lower end position in FIG.

  In the injection molding using the mold having the above-described configuration, after the iron liner W is mounted on the protruding portion 1a of the fixed mold 1, the fixed mold 1 and the movable mold are clamped, and the molten metal ( By injecting molten aluminum). Hereinafter, an apparatus and a method for attaching the liner W to the protruding portion 1a of the fixed mold 1 will be mainly described.

  A robot arm 100 shown in FIG. 1 attaches a liner W to a projecting portion 1a of a fixed mold 1, and includes an arm portion 10, a cylinder 20 as an extruding means, and a holding portion 30 capable of holding the liner W. Have. In the present embodiment, the case in which the pushing direction of the cylinder 20 is the horizontal direction (the left-right direction in the figure) is shown, and the side approaching the fixed mold 1 (the right side in the figure) is the front, and is separated from the fixed mold 1. The side (the left side in the figure) is called the rear.

  The arm portion 10 has a plurality of joint portions (two locations in the illustrated example), the drive portion 11 is connected to the proximal end portion, and the cylinder 20 is attached to the distal end portion. By driving the arm unit 10 with the driving unit 11, the cylinder 20 can be freely moved three-dimensionally.

  The cylinder 20 includes a base 21 fixed to the distal end portion of the arm portion 10 and an extrusion pin 22 protruding forward from the inside of the base portion 21, and the extrusion pin 22 is fixed to the base 21 by hydraulic pressure or the like. Can be pushed out toward. The base 21 is provided with a sensor 40 for detecting the front end position of the push pin 22. In the illustrated example, the sensor 40 is disposed at a position for detecting the front end position of the flange portion 22 a of the push pin 22.

  The holding unit 30 is attached to the tip of the push pin 22 and is provided with holding means (not shown) for holding the liner W detachably. The holding means is constituted by a chuck portion that chucks the rear end portion of the liner W, for example.

  Next, a method of mounting the insert part W on the mold by the robot arm 100 having the above configuration will be described.

  First, the arm part 10 is moved by the drive part 11, and the liner W held by the holding part 30 is arranged on the protruding direction extension line of the protruding part 1a protruding in the horizontal direction from the fixed mold 1 (see FIG. 1). At this time, the push pin 22 is in the rear end position. Further, the pushing stroke S of the pushing pin 22 is set to be equal to the horizontal distance L between the front end portion of the liner W and the fixed mold 1. Hereinafter, this state is referred to as a reference position.

  From this reference position, the push pin 22 is pushed forward by the cylinder 20, the liner W is brought close to the fixed mold 1, and the inner peripheral surface of the liner W and the outer peripheral surface of the protruding portion 1a are fitted. When the push pin 22 is pushed out by a predetermined amount (push stroke S), the push pin 22 reaches the front end position, and the sensor 40 detects the flange portion 22a of the push pin 22 and turns ON. If the sensor 40 is not turned ON, it is considered that a problem has occurred in the mounting of the liner W, the mounting process is interrupted, and the actual mounting state is confirmed. If it is detected that the sensor 40 is turned on, it is considered that the push pin 22 has been pushed out by a predetermined amount with respect to the base 21, and the subsequent mounting process is continued.

  Next, the pushing force of the pushing pin 22 of the cylinder 20 is released, and at this time, it is detected whether or not the base portion 21 and the holding portion 30 are relatively close to each other in the horizontal direction. Specifically, the pressure in the internal space of the base portion 21 (the pressure in the space behind the flange portion 22a) is released, and the push pin 22 is allowed to move freely in the horizontal direction. At this time, the sensor 40 provided in the base portion 21 Whether or not is switched from ON to OFF is detected.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 2, if the liner W is normally attached to the protruding portion 1 a of the fixed mold 1, the cylinder 20 is not subjected to a load due to the bending of the arm portion 10, so the pushing force of the cylinder 20 is increased. Even when released, the base 21 does not move. Accordingly, the push pin 22 remains at the front end position, and the sensor 40 is maintained in the ON state.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, when the foreign matter M is sandwiched between the liner W and the fixed mold 1, the arm portion 10 is bent and the base portion 21 is retracted from the reference position, the cylinder 20 is pushed out from this state. When the force is released, the flexure of the arm portion 10 is restored and the base portion 21 moves forward (see FIG. 4). At this time, since the holding portion 30 remains in a fixed position, the holding portion 30 relatively approaches the cylinder 20, the push pin 22 retreats into the base portion 21, and the flange portion 22 a is moved from the detectable portion of the sensor 40. And the sensor 40 is switched from ON to OFF.

  Then, based on the detection result of whether or not the holding unit 30 and the base 21 are relatively close to each other, that is, whether or not the sensor 40 is switched from ON to OFF, it is determined whether or not the liner W is poorly mounted. That is, if the sensor 40 is maintained in the ON state when the pushing force of the cylinder 20 is released, it is determined that the liner W has been normally attached to the protruding portion 1a of the fixed mold 1, and the pushing force of the cylinder 20 is determined. If it is detected that the sensor 40 has been switched from ON to OFF when the is released, it is determined that there is a problem with the liner W mounting. In particular, as in the present embodiment, if the pushing direction of the cylinder 20 is the horizontal direction, when the pushing force of the cylinder 20 is released, the holding unit 30 and the base 21 may move relative to each other due to their own weight. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately determine whether or not the liner W is not properly mounted.

  Based on the above determination result, it is selected whether or not to perform a subsequent process (mold clamping or the like). That is, if it is determined that the liner W is normally mounted at a predetermined position in the mold, the chuck of the liner W by the holding unit 30 is released, and the arm unit 10 is moved to the outside of the mold and then moving. While the child 2 is raised, the movable mold is brought close to the fixed mold 1 to perform mold clamping. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a problem with the mounting of the liner W, the actual mounting state of the liner W to the mold is confirmed without performing mold clamping or the like. This prevents the mold from being clamped without the liner W being mounted in a poor state, and prevents the molding pin 3 of the moving core 2 from interfering with the liner W, so that the mold can be reliably damaged. Can be prevented.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the pushing means uses a pressurizing means such as a cylinder is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the holding portion can be pushed out and the pushing force is released. Any configuration that allows the relative approach of the holding portion and the base portion by the restoring force of the flexure of the arm portion may be used. For example, the pushing means can be configured by an elastic force such as a spring or a magnetic force such as an electromagnet.

  In the above embodiment, the sensor 40 detects the front end position of the flange portion 22a of the push pin 22 to confirm the relative approach of the base portion 21 to the holding portion 30. For example, a measuring unit that directly measures the distance between the base 21 and the holding unit 30 may be provided.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fixed mold 2 Moving core 3 Forming pin 10 Arm part 11 Drive part 20 Cylinder (extrusion means)
21 Base 22 Extrusion pin 30 Holding part 40 Sensor 100 Robot arm W Liner (insert part)
M foreign matter

Claims (2)

A method for confirming whether or not the insert part is mounted at a predetermined position of the mold when the insert part is mounted on the mold by the robot arm,
The robot arm includes an arm part, a holding part that can hold the insert part, and a pushing part that pushes the holding part toward the mold with respect to the base fixed to the arm part, and holds the insert part. By inserting a predetermined amount against the base, the insert part is mounted at a predetermined position of the mold,
A step of pushing out the holding portion by the predetermined amount with respect to the base by the pushing means; a step of releasing whether or not the pushing force of the holding portion by the pushing means is relatively approached at that time; And a step of determining whether or not there is a defective mounting of the insert part based on the detection result.   2. The method for confirming the state of mounting an insert part on a mold according to claim 1, wherein the pushing means is a cylinder.

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