JPH0311950B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (1) Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spare tire mounting hand used when automatically mounting a spare tire onto a vehicle body on an automobile assembly line.

(2) Background of the technology Generally, on an automobile assembly line, mounting a spare tire onto a car body is done manually, and the spare tire is transported and stored in a spare tire storage area provided in a trunk room, etc. , the spare tire is fixed via a clamp member. However, since the spare tire is relatively heavy, the task of mounting the spare tire by an operator becomes cumbersome, and there is a desire to automate the task of mounting the spare tire.

(3) Prior art and its problems Therefore, in the past, for example, a hand equipped with a clamp arm was attached to an automatic machine, the hand held the spare tire, and the spare tire was moved to the spare tire storage part of the vehicle body. Then, at a position above the spare tire storage section, the gripping state of the hand is released and the spare tire is dropped into the spare tire storage section.After that, the worker positions the spare tire and uses the clamp member to drop the spare tire into the spare tire storage section. A device that fixes a spare tire is being considered.

However, with this type, when the spare tire is installed, the spare tire is dropped onto the vehicle body, so the impact when the spare tire is installed is relatively large, and the accompanying impact noise impairs the work environment. In addition to this, fixing the spare tire in the spare tire storage area requires the hands of a worker, which makes the automation of the spare tire loading process incomplete.

(4) Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned viewpoints, and its purpose is to improve the work of loading a spare tire while maintaining a good work environment by combining it with an automatic machine. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a hand for mounting a spare tire that enables complete automation.

(5) Structure of the Invention The basic structure of the present invention is a fixed base attached to an automatic machine, and a movable base supported by the fixed base via a swinging means so as to change its attitude with respect to the fixed base. and a gripping means for gripping a spare tire provided on the movable base, and a clamp fixing means for temporarily holding a clamp member for fixing the spare tire provided on the movable base and fixing it to the vehicle body. The spare tire mounting hand securely stores the spare tire in the storage area on the vehicle body side by changing its posture to prevent interference with the vehicle body, and also automatically clamps the stored spare tire. be.

(6) Embodiments of the invention Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic spare tire mounting system using a spare tire mounting hand according to the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle body that is conveyed by a conveyor 2 on an automobile assembly line. For example, a spare tire storage section (hereinafter referred to as tire storage section) 5 is recessed in a floor panel 4 that defines a trunk room 3 of the vehicle body 1. A clamp bracket 6 for mounting a spare tire is attached to this tire storage section 5. Then, the vehicle body 1 is temporarily stopped at the spare tire storage position with the trunk lid 7 open, and after the work of mounting the spare tire T is completed, it is transported again to the next process. Further, reference numeral 10 is a shooter that sequentially dispenses the spare tires T, and 11 is a positioning device that positions the spare tires T dispensed from the shooter 10 at a predetermined position. Further, reference numeral A denotes a spare tire automatic mounting device that transports the spare tire T positioned by the tire positioning device 11 to the tire storage section 5, stores it, and fixes it to the vehicle body with a clamp bolt as a clamp member not shown. It consists of a robot R as an automatic machine that slides along a guide rail 12 and has a multi-joint arm Ra, and a spare tire mounting hand H attached to the tip of the multi-joint arm Ra.

In this embodiment, the spare tire mounting hand H is, for example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
It has a long column-shaped fixed base 20 that is attached to the multi-jointed arm Ra, and this fixed base 20
A vane motor 22 as a swinging means is attached to the tip of the bracket 21 via an L-shaped bracket 21. A rotating shaft 23 of the vane motor 22 passes through the insertion hole 24 of the bracket 21 from the outside, and its axis are arranged perpendicular to the central axis of the fixed base 20. An adapter 26 that rotates coaxially with the rotary shaft 23 via a thrust bearing 25 is fitted into the rotary shaft 23, and a connecting arm 27 is attached to the adapter 26. A movable base 28 is fixed to.

Additionally, a spare tire T is mounted on the movable base 28.
A gripping means 30 is provided for gripping, for example, a drive mechanism 31, and the gripping means 30 engages and disengages from the hub hole 15 of the spare tire T (see FIG. 6) according to the operation of the drive mechanism 31. It consists of a chuck mechanism 40. The drive mechanism 31 includes a cylinder body 32 that extends in the radial direction of the rotary shaft 23 and is integrally formed on the movable base 28. A piston 33 that moves forward and backward in accordance with the direction of air supply is disposed within the cylinder body 32. At the same time, a piston rod 34 is attached to the piston 33 that extends in the forward and backward direction of the piston 33 so as to penetrate both end walls of the cylinder body 32. A guide taper portion 35 is formed that projects in the direction and the diameter decreases toward the tip, and a flange-like return plate 36 is attached to the end of the piston rod 34 in the advancing direction. Furthermore, the chuck mechanism 40 has three chucks 41 disposed on the wall of the cylinder body 32 in the advancing direction of the piston rod 34 on a concentric circle of the piston rod 34, and a shaft movable in the radial direction of the piston rod 34. Arriving at each chuck 41 above,
A locking pawl 42 is provided protruding from the periphery of the hub 15, and when the piston rod 34 moves forward, it comes into contact with the guide tapered portion 35 to move the locking pawl 42 in the locking direction, and when the piston rod 34 retreats, A protruding piece 43 is provided that comes into contact with the return plate 36 and moves the locking pawl 42 in the detachment direction. Note that an O-ring for sealing is interposed between the cylinder body 32, the piston 33, and the piston rod 34.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the movable base 28 is provided with a clamp fixing means 50 for temporarily holding a clamp bolt B for fixing the spare tire T and fixing it to the clamp bracket 6 on the vehicle body side. It is being The clamp fixing means 50 includes a vane motor 51 as an actuator attached to the movable base 28, and a rotating shaft 52 of the vane motor 51 is connected to a circular tubular transmission shaft 54 via a gear mechanism 53. The transmission shaft 54 is fitted into the hole 55 of the movable base 28 via a bearing 56, and the axis of the transmission shaft 54 is aligned with the spare tire T.
It is arranged at a position corresponding to one wheel nut mounting hole (hereinafter referred to as wheel mounting hole) 16 in the wheel nut mounting hole. A rectangular insertion hole 57 is provided at the distal end of the transmission shaft 54 and communicates with the inside of the transmission shaft 54.
The holding shaft 5 has a rectangular shaft portion 58a.
8 is slidably inserted into the holding shaft 5.
8, as shown in FIG. 4, the shaft portion 58a
has a pair of locking slits 59 extending in the axial direction on non-adjacent wall surfaces of the locking slits 59.
It is suspended and supported by locking a locking pin 60 protruding from the inner wall surface of the insertion hole 57 at the upper end. Furthermore, at the tip of the holding shaft 58, there is a cylindrical portion 58 having a larger diameter than the rectangular shaft portion 58a.
A spring 61 is interposed between the upper edge of the cylindrical portion 58a and a flange portion 54a provided on the outer peripheral wall of the transmission shaft 54 to bias the holding shaft 58 in the advancing direction. . Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5 in particular, a holding groove 62 into which the head Ba of the clamp bolt B fits is formed in the tip of the cylindrical part 58a.
Guide surfaces 63 are formed at the inlet portion of No. 2, which are mutually widened toward the end surface of the cylindrical portion 58b. Furthermore, a through hole 64 is bored through the holding shaft 58 in the axial direction, and a holding rod 65 is slidably inserted into the through hole 64 and the transmission shaft 54. The rod 65 has a flange 65a that comes into contact with the end surface of the shaft 58a of the holding shaft 58, and the tip of the holding rod 65 is disposed so as to slightly protrude into the holding groove 62, while the base of the transmission shaft 54 A guide bush 66 that guides and holds the base end of the holding rod 65 is fitted into the end opening.
A spring 67 is interposed between the holding rod 6 and the flange 65a of the holding rod 65 to urge them apart. A recess 62a is formed in the center of the opposing wall of the holding groove 62, and the head Ba of the clamp bolt B does not come into contact with the recess 62a. This improves the efficiency of transmitting rotational moment to the
Further, a part of the through hole 64 of the holding shaft 58, specifically a part 64a of the cylindrical part 58b, has a larger diameter than other parts and is not in contact with the holding rod 65. Reduces sliding resistance during rotation.

Next, the operation of the spare tire mounting hand H will be explained according to the above-described automatic spare tire mounting system.

First, as shown in FIG.
1, and the positioning device 11 performs phasing of the spare tire T (FIG. 10, 1). In this case, the positioning device 11 has a support stage 71 that restrains the movement of the spare tire T by a stopper piece 70, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, for example, and a drive motor 72 drives the The spare tire T is rotated on the support stage 71 by rollers 73 and guide rollers 74 arranged as appropriate, and the spare tire T is positioned at a predetermined position by a position sensor 75 such as a phototube. Position and stop. At this stage, the wheel mounting hole 16 through which the clamp bolt B is inserted is positioned at a predetermined position, and the phasing of the spare tire T is completed.

Next, the clamp bolt B is set on the spare tire T (FIG. 10, 2). That is, the clamp bolt B is guided to the wheel attachment hole 16 according to the teaching trajectory of a clamp bolt supply robot (not shown) equipped with a gripping hand H', and its tip is restrained by the guide mechanism 76. Then, the wheel is inserted into the wheel mounting hole 16 while maintaining an upright position.

Thereafter, the automatic spare tire mounting device A starts operating in response to a signal from a control device (not shown), and the hand H grasps the spare tire T on the positioning device 11 and temporarily holds the clamp bolt B (10th Figure 3). In this case, first, the movable base 28 of the hand H is set so that its chuck mechanism 40 supporting surface is substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the fixed base 20, and the hand H follows the teaching trajectory of the robot R. The spare tire T on the positioning device 11 is approached from above. And the seventh
As shown in the figure, when the hand H reaches a position close to the spare tire T, the gripping means 30 is set from the non-gripping state to the gripping state. That is, the gripping means 3
0 In the non-gripping state, the piston rod 34 of the drive mechanism 31 is retracted, so the locking pawl 42 of each chuck 41 in the chuck mechanism 40 engages with the spare tire T due to the engagement between the return plate 36 and the protruding piece 43. Each chuck 41 is inserted into the hub hole 15. When the gripping means 30 is set to the gripping state, the piston rod 34 of the drive mechanism 31 advances, so that each chuck 41 in the chuck mechanism 40 is locked by the engagement between the guide taper portion 35 and the protruding piece 43. The pawl 42 moves in the locking direction and is locked in a state in which it is in pressure contact with the edge of the hub hole 15. In this state, the spare tire T is gripped by the hand H via the gripping means 30 while being self-centered. At the same time, when the hand H is lowered, the holding shaft 58 of the clamp fixing means 50 is moved to the spare tire T.
When the vane motor 51 approaches the head Ba of the clamp bolt B set to , the vane motor 51 starts operating. Then, the rotation of the rotating shaft 52 of the vane motor 51 is transmitted to the transmission shaft 54 via the gear mechanism 53, and then transmitted to the holding shaft 58 through the transmission shaft 54. In this case, the holding shaft 58 rotates while rotating the head of the clamp bolt B.
The head Ba of the clamp bolt B fits into the holding groove 62 of the holding shaft 58. In the hand H, the tip end surface of the holding shaft 58 is the head flange of the clamp bolt B.
After contacting Bb, it descends a predetermined amount and stops. At this time, the downward movement of the holding shaft 58 is restrained, but since the holding shaft 58 is elastically supported by the spring 61, the holding shaft 58 relatively moves against the biasing force of the spring 61. Since the head flange Bb of the clamp bolt B is moved backward, the head flange Bb of the clamp bolt B is moved between the holding shaft 58 and the wheel mounting hole 1 by the elastic action of the spring 61.
It is held between the 6 edges. Furthermore, as the holding shaft 58 retreats, the holding rod 65 also moves backward, and the spring 67 is compressed and deformed accordingly, so that the holding rod 65 is further urged in the advancing direction. Clamp bolt B
The head Ba of is pressed by the holding rod 65. In this case, since the pressing force exerted by the holding rod 65 is along the axial direction of the clamp bolt B, the inclination of the posture of the clamp bolt B can be effectively suppressed. In this state, the clamp bolt B is connected to the clamp fixing means 5 through the spare tire T.
It is temporarily held at 0.

Thereafter, the robot R transports the spare tire T into the trunk room 3 via the hand H (FIG. 10, 4). At this time, the robot R raises the hand H as it is, changes the attitude of the movable base 28, and then moves the hand H to the trunk room 3.
move it inward. That is, the movable base 28
As shown in FIG.
In this state, the spare tire T is set to fall down along the axial direction of the fixed base 20. Therefore, the spare tire T is smoothly transported into the trunk room 3 from between the trunk lid 7 and the opening surface of the trunk room 3 without interfering with the vehicle body.

Then, in the trunk room 3, as shown in FIG. 9, the movable base 28 of the hand H is
is again set so that the support surface of the chuck mechanism 40 is substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the fixed base 20, and the spare tire T descends to the tire storage section 5 following the teaching trajectory of the robot R, and the spare tire T is mounted in the tire storage section 5 (10th
Figure 5). At this time, while the gripping state of the gripping means 30 is released, the clamp fixing means 50 maintains the state in which the clamp bolt B is temporarily held.

In this state, the clamp bolt B is tightened (FIG. 10, 6). That is, since the clamp bolt B set on the spare tire T is positioned at a predetermined position, the tip of the clamp bolt B is inserted into the weld nut N of the clamp bracket 6, and in this state, the clamp is fixed. Means 50 is activated. At this time,
As the vane motor 51 moves, the holding shaft 5
8 rotates, the clamp bolt B rotates due to the engagement between the holding groove 62 and the head Ba of the clamp bolt B, the clamp bolt B is tightened to the weld nut N, and the spare tire T is attached to the clamp bolt. It is fixed to the tire storage section 5 via B.

When the tightening of the clamp bolt B is completed, the operation of the clamp fixing means is stopped, and the robot R raises the hand H, removes it from the trunk room 3, and returns it to its original position. At this stage, the mounting process of one spare tire T is completed (FIG. 10, 7).

In the above embodiment, the vane motor 22 is used to change the attitude of the movable base 28 with respect to the fixed base 20, but the invention is not limited to this, and the movable base 28 can be made swingable. If it can be supported, the design may be changed as appropriate. Further, the gripping means 30 for gripping the spare tire T is not limited to the one shown in the above embodiment, and may be modified in design as appropriate, such as gripping the outer circumference of the spare tire T or using a vacuum cup. Of course. Further, the clamp fixing means 50 is not limited to those shown in the above embodiments, but may be appropriately selected as long as it can temporarily hold the clamp member such as the clamp bolt B and can be fixed to the vehicle body. It's fine. Furthermore, the automatic mounting system for the spare tire T is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to any desired system.

(7) Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the spare tire mounting hand according to the present invention, by combining the hand with a predetermined automatic machine, the tire storage area can be mounted while avoiding interference with the vehicle body. Since the spare tire can be stored quietly and automatically, it is possible to eliminate the impact noise caused by dropping the spare tire when the spare tire is installed, which in turn helps maintain a good working environment when the spare tire is installed. Since it becomes possible to automatically perform the work of fixing the spare tire to the vehicle body, it is possible to achieve complete automation of the work of mounting the spare tire.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an automatic spare tire mounting system, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of a spare tire mounting hand according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a bottom view thereof, and FIG. The figure is a cross-sectional view taken along the line in Figure 2, Figure 5 is a perspective view of the main part showing the relationship between the V section in Figure 2 and the clamp bolt, and Figure 6 is the process of phasing the spare tire and setting the clamp bolt. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the hand holding the spare tire and temporarily holding the clamp bolt. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the hand state when transporting the spare tire to the trunk room. The figure is an explanatory diagram showing the state of the hand when a spare tire is mounted in the tire storage section, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of an automatic spare tire mounting system. A... Spare tire automatic loading device, B... Clamp bolt (clamp member), H... Spare tire mounting hand, R... Robot (automatic machine), T
...Spare tire, 20...Fixed base, 22...
... Vane motor (swinging means), 28 ... Movable base, 30 ... Gripping means, 50 ... Clamp fixing means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fixed base attached to an automatic machine, a movable base supported by the fixed base via a swinging means so as to change its attitude with respect to the fixed base, and a gripping means provided on the movable base for gripping a spare tire. and a clamp fixing means for temporarily holding a clamp member for fixing the spare tire provided on the movable base and fixing it to the vehicle body side.