JPH0422748B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] A. Purpose of the invention (1) Industrial application field The present invention relates to a method of assembling a motor vehicle.

(2) Conventional technology Conventionally, in order to make it easier to mount the inside of the car body, the door was removed from the car body, the car body and the door were fitted in parallel, and then the door was attached to the car body. A device designed to be attached is known from Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 53-8884.

(3) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-mentioned conventional vehicle, the vehicle body from which the door has been removed is outfitted while the vehicle body is being transported by an overhead conveyor or a slat conveyor. Automation of the rigging is difficult because the orientation of the vehicle body is constant. Furthermore, when it comes to outfitting the vehicle body and doors, there are more workers involved in outfitting the vehicle body, and the vehicle body itself is larger, so the transportation distance is inevitably longer, and the door outfitting also requires a longer transport distance. Correspondingly, long-distance outfitting lines are required. Furthermore, when a situation arises in the outfitting process that requires the transportation of a certain car body to be stopped due to some abnormality, the above conventional system requires the entire overhead conveyor and slat conveyor to be stopped. This forced the entire assembly process to stop.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and makes it possible to easily automate the outfitting of the car body, shorten the assembly line, and even if there is an abnormality in a part of the car body, the entire assembly line can be maintained. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of assembling an automobile that can avoid stopping.

B. Structure of the Invention (1) Means for Solving the Problems According to the method of the present invention, after painting the car body with the door attached as it is,
The vehicle is placed on a self-propelled truck with multiple steerable wheels arranged on a virtual circle, the doors are removed, and the vehicle body on the self-propelled vehicle is outfitted and the undercarriage parts including the engine are assembled in parallel. Then, the removed door is fitted out, and the door after fitting is completed.
After the outfitting and undercarriage parts have been assembled and attached to the vehicle body on the self-propelled vehicle, the vehicle body is lowered from the self-propelled vehicle and sent to the next inspection process.

(2) Operation After the painting process is completed, the vehicle body with the doors removed is transported by a self-propelled trolley while the rigging and suspension parts are assembled. Moreover, the self-propelled trolley can change its direction by steering and driving multiple wheels located on a virtual circle, which changes the orientation of the main body of the vehicle, and also allows the self-propelled trolley to change its direction while being transported. Since it is also possible to stop the vehicle at any point, it becomes easy to mount the rigging to the vehicle body and assemble the undercarriage parts. In addition, the self-propelled truck can change its running direction by steering a plurality of wheels, and it is also possible to remove a malfunctioning vehicle body from the assembly line. On the other hand, the door that has been removed from the vehicle body is also outfitted, and the assembly of the automobile is completed by assembling the outfitted door to the vehicle body on which the outfitting and suspension parts have been assembled.

(3) Embodiment Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 1, a vehicle body B to which a door D is attached has finished the painting process in the painting line L1, and is sent to the stockyard BS. be stressed. The vehicle body B together with the door D is taken out from the stockyard BS, placed on a self-propelled trolley 2, and transported. Moreover, at the first set position P1 during the transportation, the door D is removed from the vehicle body B on the self-propelled trolley 2, and only the vehicle body B is sequentially conveyed to the outfitting line L2 and the suspension assembly line L3. On the other hand, the removed door D is conveyed to the door outfitting line L4, and the door D that has passed through the door outfitting line L4 is transferred to a It is attached to the vehicle body B on the self-propelled trolley 2 at the second setting position P2. after that,
The vehicle body B including the door D is lowered from the self-propelled trolley 2 and sent to the next inspection line L5.

The self-propelled trolley 2 can freely switch between running and stopping, and can arbitrarily change the direction of travel, and an example of the structure of the self-propelled trolley 2 will be described below.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, the self-propelled trolley 2 is
A rectangular base 4, a pair of guide posts 5 erected on the base 4 at positions spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the base 4, and a pair of guide posts 5 that can be raised and lowered along the guide posts 5. A mounting arm 6 on which the vehicle body B is placed, and a base 4 arranged at each vertex base of a rectangle on a virtual circle 8 centered on the center of the base 4.
It is equipped with four wheels 7 that are pivotally supported at the lower part of the vehicle.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, each wheel 7 is pivotally supported with a horizontal axis on a substantially U-shaped support member 9 that opens downward, and is integrally mounted on the upper part of this support member 9. A protruding support shaft 10 is rotatably supported by a support arm 11 about a vertical axis. Furthermore, the support arm 11 is fixed to the base 4.

An electric or air motor 1 is mounted on the side of the support member 9.
2 is supported and fixed, and the output shaft 13 of this motor 12 is coaxially connected to the shaft 14 of the wheel 7. One end of a swing arm 15 is fixedly connected to the upper end of the support shaft 10 that projects upward from the support arm 11. Further, at the other end of the swing arm 15, the piston rod 17 of the air cylinder 16 is attached to a vertical pin 18.
connected via. Moreover, the air cylinder 16 is
It is supported horizontally by a bracket 19 fixed to the base 4 via a pin 20.

The expansion and contraction of the air cylinder 16 causes the support shaft 10, that is, the support member 9, to rotate around the vertical axis, thereby steering the wheels 7.

Such a self-propelled trolley 2 maintains a constant running direction by steering each wheel 7 and driving it along a virtual circle 8 with the vehicle body B placed on the mounting arm 6. It is possible to freely change the direction of the vehicle main body B while keeping the vehicle as it is, and the running direction can be changed by steering each wheel 7.
Furthermore, it is also possible to freely switch between running and stopping.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the painting line L1, the vehicle body B is painted with the door D still attached. Thereby, the color appearance of the vehicle body B and the door D can be made the same.

After the painting is completed, the vehicle body B equipped with the door D is stored at the stockyard BS and then placed on the self-propelled trolley 2. Then, the self-propelled trolley 2 moves to the first setting position P.
When driving to 1, door D is opened from vehicle body B.
is removed. After that, the self-propelled bogie 2 reaches the outfitting line L2, and in this outfitting line L2, the vehicle body B
After the rigging is completed, the undercarriage assembly line L3
The suspension parts including the engine are assembled to the vehicle body B.

Outfitting line L2 and undercarriage assembly line L3
In this case, the self-propelled trolley 2 can freely change the orientation of the vehicle body B, which does not have the door D, by changing its orientation. Therefore, by changing the orientation of the vehicle body B to a direction suitable for assembling the rigging and underbody parts, it becomes extremely easy to assemble the rigging and underbody parts in the vehicle body B, and the rigging and underbody parts can be easily assembled. This makes it easy to automate the assembly. Moreover, when changing the orientation of the vehicle body B, if the door D is attached to the vehicle body B, it is necessary to open and close the door D to avoid rattling.
Since door D has been removed from vehicle body B,
It is not necessary to generally open and close the door D.

Furthermore, since the self-propelled trolley 2 can freely switch between running and stopping, the self-propelled trolley 2 can be left in a stopped state when the rigging and undercarriage parts are being manually assembled by workers. The above work can be carried out at
3 can be shortened.

Furthermore, since the self-propelled trolley 2 can freely change its running direction, it can run not only along a straight line but also along a curved line, including the outfitting line L2 and the undercarriage assembly line L.
The degree of freedom in setting 3 increases. Moreover, the outfitting line L
2 or on the suspension assembly line L3, if for some reason it becomes difficult to mount or assemble suspension parts to a certain vehicle body B,
The self-propelled trolley 2 can also be retracted to the side of the lines L2 and L3, thereby avoiding affecting the entire assembly line and moving the following vehicle body B.
It is now possible to continue outfitting the vehicle and assembling the undercarriage parts.

On the other hand, the door D removed from the vehicle body B at the first setting position P1 is conveyed to the door fitting line L4, and in parallel with the outfitting to the vehicle body B and the assembly of suspension parts, the door D is removed from the vehicle body B at the first setting position P1. At this point, door D is outfitted.

On the vehicle body B on the self-propelled trolley 2 that has passed through the suspension assembly line L3 and reached the second setting position P2,
Door D, which has been outfitted, is assembled. after that,
The vehicle body B equipped with the door D is lowered from the self-propelled trolley 2 and sent to the next inspection line L5.

C. Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, since the vehicle body with the door attached is painted as is, the color appearance of the vehicle body and the door can be made the same.

After the painting process is completed, the vehicle body with the doors removed is placed on a self-propelled trolley with a plurality of steerable wheels arranged on an imaginary circle, and the vehicle body is transported while being fitted with rigging and undercarriage parts. Since it is assembled, it is possible to mount the rigging inside the car body without a door, and the orientation of the car body can be freely changed to make it easy to assemble the rigging and undercarriage parts. It is possible to easily automate assembly and simplify the movement of automatic machines during automation. Furthermore, since the self-propelled bogie can be switched between running and stopping, it is possible to outfit the car body and assemble underbody parts while the car body is stopped, thereby shortening the assembly line. In addition, even when the rigging and undercarriage assembly is carried out manually by the worker, the labor of the worker can be reduced.

Furthermore, since self-propelled carts can change their running direction arbitrarily, they can also run along curved lines, increasing the degree of freedom in assembly line settings, and moving car bodies with abnormalities to the line. This allows the assembly line to be evacuated to the side, thereby avoiding stopping the entire assembly line due to some abnormalities.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the self-propelled cart in the middle of transportation, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the self-propelled cart.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view of essential parts of the self-propelled truck, and FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional side view taken in the direction of arrow V in FIG. 4. 2...Self-propelled trolley, 7...Wheels, 8...Virtual circle, B...Vehicle body, D...Door.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Car body B with door D installed,
After painting as is, it is placed on a self-propelled truck 2 having a plurality of steerable wheels 7 arranged on a virtual circle 8, the door D is removed, and the vehicle body B is placed on the self-propelled truck 2. In parallel with the outfitting and assembling the undercarriage parts including the engine, the removed door D was outfitted, and after the outfitting was completed, the door D
After completing the assembly of the rigging and undercarriage parts and attaching it to the vehicle body B on the self-propelled bogie 2, the vehicle body B is lowered from the self-propelled bogie 2 and sent to the next inspection process. An automobile assembly method characterized by: