JPS6253356B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for marking characters, symbols, etc. on the surface of products, materials, etc.

In products such as pipes and plates, or in their manufacturing processes, the marking work on the surface of the products, such as line marking, is automated using NC equipment, etc.
Character markings such as component specifications and processing method instructions are still manually marked using brushes, marker pens, etc. However, when marking is done manually, errors, omissions, blurring, and other imperfections may occur, which may result in work losses. In addition, when manual marking is used, the work is time-consuming, a large number of products, etc. accumulate during the marking work process, and there are disadvantages in that it is necessary to increase the number of personnel in order to improve work efficiency.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned current situation, and an object of the present invention is to automate the marking work of characters, symbols, etc., and to improve work efficiency and simplify the work. The gist of the present invention to achieve such an object is to position a rotating stencil having a plurality of marking holes arranged in an annular shape on the surface of a material to be marked, and to index and rotate the rotating stencil to form predetermined marking holes. The rotary stencil is positioned at the marking point on the material to be marked, spraying paint into the marking hole from the surface side of the rotary stencil to mark the shape of the marking hole on the surface of the material to be marked, and then rotating the rotary stencil to mark the marking hole. A marking method characterized in that the paint on the surface of the rotary stencil is cleaned by water absorption by a sponge roller that supplies cleaning water and an ejector, and a rotary stencil in which a large number of marking holes are arranged in an annular manner. A water supply sponge is supported on the marking head body via a feeding mechanism, and a spray gun for spraying paint is positioned above the marking hole of the rotary stencil and supported on the marking head body, and is further attached to a presser against the inner surface of the rotary stencil. A marking head in which a cleaning head for cleaning a rotating stencil surface by water absorption by a roller and an ejector is supported on the marking head body, a manipulator for mounting the marking head and performing positioning movement, the indexing mechanism, and the manipulator. and a control system for controlling the marking device.

FIGS. 1 to 7 show the entire structure and parts of an automatic marking device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the material to be marked is a pipe material.

As shown in FIG. 1, which shows the overall configuration, the marking device consists of a marking head 1, a manipulator 2 that supports the marking head and moves it horizontally and vertically, and a control mechanism. The manipulator 2 is a left-right (X-axis) movable part 2 that can move in the left-right (X-axis) direction.
a, and a vertically (Z-axis) movable part 2b which is movable in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction), and supports the marking head 1 thereon. A broken marking material W such as a raw pipe for piping is conveyed by a conveyor and stopped below a marking head 1 of a marking device. A rotation device 4 with a chuck is connected to one end of the material W to be marked on the conveyor 3, so that the material W to be marked is indexed and rotated about its axis.

2 to 5 show a plan view and a front view of a modification of the marking head 1. In FIGS. In this marking head 1, the rotary stencil 6 has a cylindrical shape,
An annular marking hole 5 is punched out along its outer periphery. The rotating stencil 6 is connected to a horizontal output shaft of an indexing motor 8 incorporated in the head body 7 of the marking head 1, and is adapted to be indexed and rotated around its axis. An automatic spray gun 9 is fixed to a mounting plate 11 of a head body 7 via an arm 10 directly above the marking hole 5 at the bottom of the rotary stencil 6. The mounting plate 11
A shielding/water absorbing head 12 is attached coaxially between the marking hole 5 and the automatic spray gun 9, and has an oval hole 13 in the center through which the spray passes, and has a U-shaped cross section. A shielding sponge 14 is fitted into the ring-shaped holder part, a surplus paint discharge hole is provided, and the pipe 15 is connected to an external ejector or vacuum chamber. Micro water absorption holes 1 are provided at the lower left and right sides of the oval hole 13 toward the circumference of the stencil 6.
6 is connected to piping, and is piped to an ejector or a vacuum pump (not shown).

Furthermore, outer water absorption heads 18 are attached to the outer peripheral surface of the rotary stencil 6 on the mounting plate 11 at positions shifted approximately 45 degrees on both sides of the mounting position of the automatic spray gun 9.
Fixed to. A water absorption hole 19 is provided in the outer water absorption head 18 as shown in FIG.
A hose piping 22 is connected to an external ejector or vacuum (not shown).

A water supply sponge roller 23 is set on the inner peripheral surface of the rotating stencil 6 on the upper part of the outer water absorbing head 18 on the mounting plate 11 via a shaft 26 attached to an arm 25 having a fulcrum on the mounting plate 11. Arm 25
A bearing 27 is provided on the pin 2 of the mounting plate 11.
Pass the bolt 30 connected to the other end of the spring 29 with one end fixed to 8, apply tension with the nut 31, and press the water supply sponge roller 23 with an appropriate pressure.
Let's press it against the rotating stencil. Bearing 2
7, a thin tube 32 is bored toward the outer periphery, which communicates with the shaft center hole 33 and is connected to an external water supply pipe 34.

FIG. 7 shows the control mechanism of the automatic marking device. An input device (eg, typewriter) 44 for inputting character information D to be marked (eg, material symbol, charge number, drawing number, block number, etc.) is connected to the input side of a microcomputer 45. The position (rotation angle) of the marking hole 5 of the rotary stencil 6, the marking operation program, etc. are stored in advance in this microcomputer 45. The output side of the microcomputer 45 is connected to the control objects of the marking head 1 (indexing motor 8, automatic spray gun 9, etc.), the conveyor 3 of the movable parts 2a, 2b of the manipulator 2, and the rotating device with a chuck. 4 control devices and a detector for operation confirmation. These control devices and detectors are indicated by G1, G2b, G3, and G4 in order.

Marking of the material to be marked W using this device is performed in the following manner.

First, the material W to be marked is placed on the conveyor 3 by means such as a crane.

Based on the marking information D, it is manually input using the keyboard of the input device 44 or read via a separately prepared paper tape, card, etc., and the start button is pressed.

The conveyor 3 is operated according to instructions from the microcomputer 45, and the material W to be marked is inserted into the rotating device 4 with a chuck and chucked.

By the operation of each movable part 2a, 2b of the manipulator 2, the marking head 1 moves the marking target material W.
It is moved to the required marking position and stopped at a position directly above the center of the material W to be marked with a gap between it and the rotating stencil 6 of about 3 to 5 mm.

The rotary stencil 6 is rotated by the operation of the indexing motor 8, and a predetermined marking hole 5 is indexed to a position directly below the automatic spray gun 9.

This completes the preliminary marking process.

Next, the automatic spray gun 9 is operated to spray the water-based paint, and the shape is applied to the surface of the material W to be marked through the marking hole 5 of the rotary stencil 6. At this time, the sponge 1 of the shielding and water absorption head 12
4 adsorbs oversprayed paint so that no excess paint is deposited on the rotary stencil 6. The water content of the paint adsorbed by the sponge 14 is sucked through the pipe 15.

After marking one character, the rotary stencil 6 is rotated by the indexing motor 8 to the position of either the left or right water supply sponge roller 23.

As a result, the excess water-based paint adhering to the stencil 6 is discharged through the water absorption hole 16 of the shield water absorption head 12 and the water absorption hole 19 of the outer surface water absorption head 18 by evacuation using an ejector or the like. Furthermore, the water supply pipe 34
Washing water is supplied from the water supply sponge roller 23, which has been given more appropriate moisture, to dissolve the excess water-based paint and promote the above-mentioned discharge action.

After cleaning is completed, the rotary stencil 6 indexes the next marking hole 5 in response to the next character command. Before or after this indexing, the left-right movable portion 2a of the manipulator 2 operates to move the marking head 1 in pitches so that the characters do not overlap. Thereafter, marking and cleaning of the rotary stencil 6 are performed in the same manner as described above.

When the markings extend over two rows, the rotating device 4 with a chuck operates to rotate the material W to be marked by a predetermined amount. Thereafter, the marking head 1 is moved back to the origin by the manipulator 2. The material to be marked W is released from the rotating device 4 with a chuck, and the material to be marked W is carried out by the conveyor 3.

Note that a roller brush may be used as the water supply sponge roller, and a ring-shaped water absorption head may be provided on the circumference. Further, although the water is supplied through the axial center hole of the water supply sponge roller, a separate water supply piping may be provided at the upper part and the water may be dripped onto the sponge roller or the stencil. At this time, an ejector and a vacuum pump may be connected to the shaft center hole to absorb and discharge dirty water from the sponge roller.

As described above with reference to the embodiments, according to the present invention, it is possible to automate the marking work of characters, symbols, etc., saving labor, shortening processes, reducing costs, and eliminating errors in writing. or,
The device according to the invention is simple in construction, easy to control, requires less equipment, and as a result of the continuous automatic cleaning of the rotary stencil, clear markings can be made continuously for a long time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment according to the present invention; FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view, FIGS. 2 and 3 are a plan view and a front view of the marking head, FIG. 4 is a detailed view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the marking head. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a system diagram of the control mechanism. W...material to be marked, 1...marking head,
2... Manipulator, 3... Conveyor, 4... Rotating device with chuck, 5... Marking hole, 6... Rotating stencil, 7... Head body, 8... Indexing motor, 9... Automatic spray gun, 11... Mounting plate, 12
...shielding and water absorption head, 23...water supply sponge roller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A rotary stencil having a plurality of marking holes arranged in an annular manner is positioned on the surface of a material to be marked, and the rotary stencil is indexed and rotated to position a predetermined marking hole at a marking location of the material to be marked. spraying paint onto the marking hole from the surface side of the rotary stencil to mark the shape of the marking hole on the surface of the material to be marked, and then rotating the rotary stencil to shift the marking hole from the marking location;
A marking method characterized in that the paint on the surface of the rotary stencil is cleaned by dissolving the paint by supplying water and absorbing water by vacuum. 2. A rotary stencil having a plurality of marking holes arranged in an annular manner is supported on the marking head body via an indexing mechanism, and a spray gun for spraying paint is positioned above the marking holes of the rotary stencil and supported on the marking head body. , a marking head in which a cleaning head for cleaning the surface of the rotary stencil is supported by the marking head main body by water supply and vacuum water absorption, a manipulator for mounting the marking head and performing positioning movements, the indexing mechanism, and A marking device comprising: a control system for controlling the manipulator.