JPH0478416B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a parts assembly line apparatus.

(Prior Art) Generally, at assembly sites, a system is adopted in which workers sequentially assemble parts stored along an assembly processing conveyor line into an assembly sent along the conveyor line. There is.

However, such an assembly system forces the worker to make many movements, and there are also problems with managing parts and replacing parts when changing the assembly model, so the applicant previously proposed the Japanese Patent Publication No. 57 In Publication No. 49341, we proposed a new assembly device.

This system has an assembly processing line and a parts supply line installed side by side, so that the parts to be assembled and the parts to be assembled are always matched and transported to the assembly work department, reducing the work burden on workers and increasing the stock base. This has the advantage of eliminating the need for parts, but when the assembly is large and heavy, such as the rear suspension of a car, the distance between the hand and the parts supply line is large. As a result, the work burden on the worker cannot be reduced much, as the worker has to handle the parts half-heartedly.

(Purpose) The present invention was made in view of these problems, and its purpose is to provide a new method that can reduce the work burden on workers as much as possible and at the same time significantly improve work efficiency. The goal is to provide a device that is

(Means for Achieving the Object) That is, the present invention provides a parts assembly line device for achieving the above object, in which a part assembly line device is provided between a supply lifter disposed at a starting position of an assembly site and a return lifter disposed at a terminal position. A small conveyor for parts assembly extended from the container supply lifter to the start end position side of the small assembly conveyor. A part of the container transport conveyor is connected to the container supply lifter and the container supply lifter, which are arranged on the side of the terminal position of the small assembly conveyor, so that a part of the container transport conveyor is located directly below the container transport conveyor. The container is disposed on the side of the terminal end of the extended parts-placing container return conveyor and the parts-placing container transport conveyor, and is pressed against one side edge of the parts-placing container on the transport conveyor. a container loading pusher unit which operates so as to superpose the parts on the upper surface of one side of the parts assembly pallet of the small assembly conveyor; The container dispensing unit operates to release the containers from the upper surface of one side of the parts assembly pallet on the small assembly conveyor.

(Example) The details of the present invention will be described below based on illustrated examples.

FIG. 1 shows the main parts of a conveying device directly used in the method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of the device.

First, the entire structure of the apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. This apparatus consists of a parts supply system and an assembly processing system.

The parts supply system includes a container transport conveyor 10 that sends the parts containers 100 lifted up by the container supply lifter 1 to the input pusher unit 20, and a container transport conveyor 10 that sends the parts containers 100 lifted up by the container supply lifter 1 to the input pusher unit 20, and the part containers 100 lowered by the discharge lifter 60 described later to the base of the parts supply lifter 1. It consists of a container return conveyor 5 for returning to.

On the other hand, the assembly processing system includes a small assembly conveyor 40 that transports the combined parts container 100 and jig pallet 110 through the assembly site to the delivery unit 70.
and a pallet return conveyor 80 that returns the jig pallet 110 lowered by a pallet return lifter 85 (described later) to the input lifter 30 located at the starting end of the small assembly conveyor 40.
The input pusher unit 20, located at the contact point between the container conveyor 10 and the small assembly conveyor 40, serves as a unit for transferring the component containers 100 onto the small assembly conveyor 40 and combining them with the jig pallet 110, and is also arranged at the terminal position of the small assembly conveyor 40. The provided dispensing unit 70 is configured as a unit that separates the empty component container 100 from the jig pallet 110 and then transfers it to the container return lifter 60.

This device also receives a jig pallet 110 from the subassembly conveyor 40 in order to send the large workpieces assembled here, such as the rear suspension, to the vehicle body transfer hanger 99 that forms the next assembly line. Direction change unit 9
The jig pallet 1 is sent through the stock conveyor 91 and the direction change unit 93.
A workpiece mount unit 97 removes a workpiece such as a rear suspension from 10 and assembles it onto the vehicle body suspended by a vehicle body transfer hanger 99.
The above-mentioned pallet return lifter 85 is arranged on a stock conveyor 95 that connects this direction change unit 93 and workpiece mount unit 97.

Note that the reference numeral 16 in FIG. 2 indicates the parts container 100.
Container conveyor 10 for temporarily restraining
It shows the stopper provided on the top.

Next, returning to FIG. 1, the main parts of this device will be explained in more detail.

FIG. 1a and FIGS. 3 and 4 show the charging pusher unit 20 and the charging lifter 30. The charging pusher unit 20 includes a large number of rollers 11...
Free-flow container conveyor 10 with
A mechanism for lifting the parts container 100, which has been stopped by contacting a stopper 12 provided at the end of the conveyor 10, from the rollers 11 at the end of the conveyor 10, and a mechanism for pushing it in a right angle direction toward the input lifter 30. It is composed of.

That is, at the terminal end of the container conveyor 10, there is a pair of support frames 23, 23 assembled in a frame shape by two angles 23a, 23a and two support plates 23b, 23b connecting these. , each guide rod 22a attached to the four corners of its lower surface...
are supported in a vertically movable manner by inserting them into four corresponding guides 22 fixed to the plate 14 at the top of the frame 13, and stays 24 provided at the center of each support frame 23, 23, 24
Each rod 2 of a pair of lifting cylinders 21, 21
It is configured to move up and down by being connected to ends 1a and 21a, and the lifting cylinders 21,
21, each support frame 2
The contact members 25 attached on the rollers 11 of the container conveyor 10 are made to protrude from between the rollers 11 of the container conveyor 10 to push up the parts container 100 from below.
It is configured to levitate from... Further, a cylinder 26 for pushing out containers and a pair of guides 27 are fixed to a bracket 15 protruding from one side of the frame 13 of the container conveyor 10, and a cylinder 26 and a pair of guides 27 are fixed to the tips of each of these rods 26a and 27a. Parts container 100 by pusher bar 28
is pressed toward a jig pallet 110 to be described later,
29 in the figure.
1 shows a regulating piece that comes into contact with the end surface of the component container 100 to regulate movement in the transport direction.

On the other hand, the charging lifter 30, which is located at the starting end of the small assembly conveyor 40 and adjacent to the above-mentioned charging pusher unit 20, lifts the empty jig pallet 110 to the conveyance surface of the small assembly conveyor 40, and combines the empty jig pallets 110 there. The lifting table 33 is moved up and down by a motor (not shown) via a ball bearing mechanism 32 provided in the outer frame 31, and is driven by a motor 34 via a chain (not shown). A large number of rollers 35... are installed with parallel shafts, and in front of the lifting table 33 in the pallet transport direction,
A pallet positioning arm 37, which is moved up and down by a cylinder 36, is mounted on a shaft. In addition, the number 38 in the figure
is a stopper fixed to the rear end of the lifting platform 32, 39...
. . . indicates a ball caster provided on the upper surface of the edge of the outer frame 31 on the side closer to the input pusher unit 20.

Next, the parts container 100 is assembled in this part.
To explain the jig pallet 110 with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, the component container 100 is constructed as a plate-shaped member made of synthetic resin, and the surface of the component container 100 has components to be placed on it (not shown). The mold is recessed,
Also, at both ends in the longitudinal direction, there are container conveyors 1.
a recess 102 that engages with a stopper 16 provided at 0;
102 is provided, and an angle 103 that engages with the claw 75 of the dispensing unit and an angle 104 that abuts against the positioning regulating piece 112 on the jig pallet 110 are fixedly provided on both side edges of the jig.

On the other hand, a jig pallet 110 also serves as an assembly workbench.
is constructed as a plate-like member made of a metal material and has stepped portions 111, 111 on both sides, and a jig for holding the assembly work is attached to its upper surface (not shown), and approximately in the center thereof, There are positioning regulating pieces 112, 112 that come into contact with the side edges of the parts container 100 to regulate the overlapping amount to a constant level, and near both ends of the parts container 100, guide pieces 113 for mounting the parts container 100 are protruded in the longitudinal direction. Positioning angles 114, 114 are fixedly installed, respectively.
Further, two sets of rollers 115, front and rear, are attached to one and a half of the upper surface to facilitate mounting of the component container 100. In addition, on the back surface of the pallet 110, short recesses 116 and 117 are formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction, where the end of the pallet positioning arm 37 on the loading lifter 30 and the stopper 39 come into contact, as well as short recesses 116 and 117, which will be described later. Hook 5 on conveyor 40
An engagement recess 118 that engages with the conveyor 40 is provided in the center of the back surface.
Bushes 119, 119 into which pins 53 are fitted are fixedly provided.

Returning to Figure 1a again, this figure and Figure 1b
The sub-assembly conveyor 40 will be explained with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. The frame body 41 that supports the small assembly conveyor 40 is
The lower part is configured as a space for arranging the pallet return conveyor 80, and the one side is configured as a space for arranging the container return conveyor 5. A pair of brackets 43, 43 extend from both sides of the plate 42 stretched over the top of the frame 41, and a large number of rollers 44 are cantilevered on each inner surface of the plate 42. …
At the same time, these brackets 43, 4
The jig pallet 110 is configured to be held horizontally by positioning regulating plates 45, 45 fixed to the top of the jig pallet 110 in an elevated position separated from a pin 53, which will be described later.

On the other hand, a rail 46 is laid in the center of the plate 42 over its entire length, and a long pallet conveying rod 47 is seated on this rail so as to be able to slide back and forth.

This pallet conveying rod 47 is configured to be driven by a rod driving unit 50 disposed as a crank mechanism at the end of the small assembly conveyor 40, and this driving unit 50, as shown in FIG. 1b, It is configured to be reciprocated by a crank mechanism 51 via a pinion (not shown) that meshes with a rack 48 fixed to one side of the terminal end of the pallet conveying rod 47. A hook 52 is provided on the upper surface of the pallet conveying rod 47 at the end thereof closer to the loading lift 30 and engages with the above-mentioned engagement recess 118 of the jig pallet 110. are two bushes 11 provided on the back side of the jig pallet 110.
Two pins 53 and 53 that fit with the pins 9 and 119 are provided at pitch intervals corresponding to the length of the jig pallet 110, and each time the rod 47 moves forward, the jig pallet 110 is sequentially moved. It is configured to advance one pitch at a time, and four cylinders 54 are attached to the upper surface of this plate 42 at intervals corresponding to the length of the jig pallet 110. The jig pallet 110 is then raised so as to be separated from the pins 48, and is held horizontally by the lower surfaces of the positioning regulating plates 45, 45 described above.

The frame body 41 also includes a container return conveyor 5.
A support plate 55 supported by a stay 55a on the side is erected, and a large number of rollers 56 . ... are each supported horizontally and vertically.

In addition, reference numeral 58 in FIG. 1b is a shock absorber that comes into contact with a protrusion 49 provided on the pallet transport rod 47 to absorb shock during reciprocating movement, and 59 is a shock absorber that absorbs vibrations that occur when the pallet transport rod 47 moves. Guide members for prevention are shown respectively.

On the other hand, on one side of the terminal end of the small assembly conveyor 40, a component container 100 separated from the jig pallet 110 on the small assembly conveyor 40 by the delivery unit 70 is placed.
A discharge lifter 60 is provided to receive the container and lower it to the container return conveyor 5. As shown in FIG. 1b, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7, this dispensing lifter 60 consists of a lifting platform 61 that is moved up and down by a motor (not shown).
A large number of rollers 63 driven by a motor 62 via a chain (not shown) are arranged in parallel. Also, this elevating table 61 has two angles 64 as well as the input pusher unit 20.
a, 64a and two support plates 64 that connect them.
A pair of support frames 64, 64 assembled into a frame shape by the four guide rods 66a, 64a, 64a, 64a, 64a, 64a, 64a, 64b, 64a, 64b, 64a, 64b, 64b, 64b, 64b, 64b, and b, 64b are provided. The stays 67, 6 are vertically movably supported by being inserted into the support frames 64, 64, and the stays 67, 6 provided at the center of each support frame 64, 64
7 is coupled to the ends of the rods 65a, 65a of a pair of lifting cylinders 65, 65, so as to be driven up and down. These support frames 64, 64 are constructed so that when they are raised, each angle 64a, 64a protrudes from between the rollers 63..., and three pieces are placed on the upper surface of each angle 64a, 64a. The parts container 100 discharged from the subassembly conveyor 40 can be smoothly transferred onto the discharge lifter 60 by the attached ball casters 68 .

On the other hand, a payout lifter 60 is mounted on a bracket 7 fixed to the outside of the frame 6 of the container return conveyor 5.
A dispensing unit 70 is attached between the two. This unit 70 is composed of a container separation cylinder 71 that moves a plate 76 having claws 75, 75 at the tip back and forth, and two guides 73, 73 that guide this plate 76. By pulling the rod 72 connected through the parts container 100, the parts container 100 is taken out and transferred onto the lifter 60 by the hooks 75, 75 hooked on the angle 103 on one side of the parts container 100.

Further, the container return conveyor 5 extending from below the dispensing lifter 60 toward the container supply lifter 1 is
As shown in FIG. 5, it is constructed as a free-flow conveyor with a large number of rollers 8 arranged side by side, and further passes from between the direction change unit 93 and the workpiece mount unit 97 below the small assembly conveyor 40 to the pallet input lifter 30. As shown in FIG. 5, the pallet return conveyor 80 leading to the pallet conveyor 80 is also constructed as a free flow conveyor with a large number of rollers 81 . . . arranged in parallel.

Next, the operation of the above-described device will be explained.

First, at each station of the container transport conveyor 10, the conveyor 1
A complete set of rear suspension parts, such as a cross beam, lower arm, trailing arm, and brake drum, was loaded from a parts cart container (not shown) placed on each station on the side of 00.
These are transported in sequence.

In the next input pusher unit 20, when the parts container 100 loaded with necessary parts is conveyed here and comes into contact with the stopper 12, the lifting cylinders 21, 21 are activated by a signal from a sensor (not shown).
is activated to raise the pair of support frames 23, 23, the parts container 100 is raised, and the roller 11 is raised.
At the same time, the cylinder 26 for pushing out the container is activated, and the pusher bar 28 fixed to the tip of the rod 26a pushes the parts container 100 up.
is pressed from the side and pushed out toward the input lifter 30.

On the other hand, on the loading lifter 30 side, the empty jig pallet 110 has reached the rising end at this point, and the lifting platform 3
The positioning arm 37 on the top 3 is reversed by the operation of the cylinder 36, and the jig pallet 110 is clamped between it and a stopper 38 provided at the rear in the transport direction to position the jig pallet 110. Therefore, under this condition, the parts container 100 is transferred to the input pusher unit 2.
0, one half of it is held between the locking members 112 and 114 while riding on the rollers 115 on the upper surface of the jig pallet 110, and is combined with the jig pallet 110.

When the combination is carried out in this manner, the positioning arm 37 reverses in the opposite direction to release the jig pallet 110, and at the same time, the rollers 35 driven by the motor 34 rotate and the jig pallet 1
10 is sent onto the small assembly conveyor 40.

By the way, in this state, the small assembly conveyor 40
Above is the jig pallet 110 that was sent out earlier.
is engaged with the pin 53 on the pallet conveying rod 47 via the bush 119 on the back side, and is held in the position immediately after exiting the loading lift 30.
The jig pallet 110 sent out by the rollers 35 on the lifting table 33 hits the rear end of the previous jig pallet 110 at point a in FIG. The hook 52 at the tip of the rod 47 engages.

In this state, the rod drive unit 50, which operates at regular takt times, moves the pallet transport rod 47 along the rail 46 one step to the right in the figure.
When the jig pallet 110 is moved forward by the pitch, the jig pallet 110 that has engaged with the hook 52 will be moved forward by the jig pallet 1 just before it.
While maintaining contact with the jig pallet 10, the rollers 44 move to the point where the previous jig pallet 110 was located, that is, position b in FIG. 1a.
After this movement, the four lifting cylinders 54 provided at each station are activated, and the jig pallet 11 is sent to each station.
0... is pushed up to disengage from the pin 53, and the step portions 111 on both sides thereof are pressed against the positioning regulation plate 45 provided at the top of the bracket 43 to position and fix it in the horizontal direction.

Once this positioning is done, the operator transfers the necessary parts from the parts container 100 onto the jig pallet 110 and performs assembly and screw tightening work using an automatic machine. During this time, the pallet transport rod 47
is driven by the inverted rod driving unit 50 and returns to the original position shown in FIG. 1a.

When a predetermined takt time has elapsed, the lifting cylinders 54 provided at each station lower the jig pallet 110 and place it on the rollers 44, and each bush 11 provided on the back side
9 to each pin 53 of the pallet transport rod 47...
By sequentially repeating this operation, assembly of the rear suspension is completed while transferring the jig pallet 110 combined with the parts container 100.

On the other hand, when the combined parts container 100 and jig pallet 110 are brought here, the small assembly conveyor 4
The dispensing unit 70 disposed at the terminal end of the parts container 100 operates the container separating cylinder 71 to extend the rod 72 and hook the claw 75 provided at the tip to the angle 103 on the side edge of the parts container 100. and transfer it onto the payout lift 60.

On the other hand, at this point, on the payout lift 60 side, the pair of support frames 64, 64 are pushed up by the lifting cylinders 65, 65, and each roller 63...
Since the ball caster 68 is in a state of protruding from between the parts, the empty parts container 1 that has been discharged from the small assembly conveyor 40 by the discharge unit 70
00 is smoothly transferred onto the payout lift 60 as it is. In addition, during this separation operation, on the side of the sub-assembly conveyor 40, the jig pallet 110 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the positioning regulation plate 45 by the lifting cylinder 54 and fixed immovably.

When the component container 100 separated in this way is placed on the payout lifter 60, the lifting table 61 is lowered, and the support frames 64, 64 are lowered at the lowest end thereof, and the parts container 100 is supported on the frame 64. The parts container 100 is transferred onto the roller 63, and by the rotation of the roller 63, the parts container 100 is discharged onto the parts return conveyor 5 and returned to the container input lifter 1 again.

On the other hand, the jig pallet 110 separated from the parts container 100 is further transferred onto the stock conveyor 91, where the conveyance is adjusted, and then the direction is changed by 90 degrees by the direction change unit 93 and transferred to the work mount unit 97. The rear suspension assembled on the jig pallet 110 is mounted on the vehicle body transported by the vehicle body transport hanger 99. And the empty jig palette 110
From here, the pallet is returned to the pallet return lifter 85, where it is transferred to the pallet return conveyor 80 disposed below the sub-assembly conveyor 40, and returned to the input lifter 30 again.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, parts containers containing parts for one product are stacked on one side of a pallet that also serves as an assembly workbench, so that especially When assembling large parts, the movement of workers is minimized to significantly reduce the workload and the efficiency of assembly work is improved, and a stock base is provided at each assembly station for supplying parts. It is possible to easily assemble parts of many models without any problems.

In addition, the pallets and parts containers are each conveyed and returned by two upper and lower conveyors, and at the assembly site, the combined parts containers and pallets are conveyed by a single small assembly conveyor. The installation space for the seeding device can be greatly reduced and the equipment can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1a and 1b are plan views of a device showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the entire structure of the same device, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are jig pallets and parts in the same device. Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in Figure 1a, and Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of Figure 1.
Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the small assembly conveyor in the same device as above, and Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 show the separation part between the jig pallet and the component container in the same device as above. The figure is a sectional view taken along the line C-C of FIG. 1b, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line D-D of FIG. 1b, FIGS. b is a plan view and a side view of the jig pallet. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Container supply lifter, 5... Container return conveyor, 10... Container transport conveyor, 20... Input pusher unit, 21... Lifting cylinder, 23
... Support frame, 26 ... Container pushing cylinder, 28 ... Push bar, 30 ... Loading lifter, 33 ... Lifting platform, 37 ... Positioning arm
40...Small assembly conveyor, 45...Positioning regulation plate, 47...Pallet conveyance rod, 50...Rod drive unit, 52...Hook, 54...
Lifting cylinder, 60... Dispensing lifter, 61...
...lifting platform, 64...support frame, 70...dispensing unit, 71...container separation cylinder, 80
... Pallet return conveyor, 85 ... Pallet return lifter, 93 ... Direction changing device, 97 ... Work mount unit, 99 ... Car body transfer hanger.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A small assembly conveyor for assembling parts extended between an input lifter disposed at a starting position of an assembly site and a return lifter disposed at a terminal position; the return lifter and the input lifter; a return conveyor for parts assembly pallets extending directly below the small assembly conveyor so as to connect the parts; a transport conveyor for parts mounting containers extending from the container supply lifter to the side of the starting end position of the small assembly conveyor; a part-placement container return conveyor extending so as to connect a discharge lifter disposed on the side of the terminal position of the small assembly conveyor and the container supply lifter so that a part thereof is located directly below the container conveyor; The component mounting container is disposed on the side of the terminal end of the component mounting container transport conveyor, and presses one side edge of the component mounting container on the transport conveyor to move the container onto the component assembly pallet of the small assembly conveyor. a container loading pusher unit that operates to overlap the parts on the upper surface of one side; A parts assembly line device comprising a container dispensing unit that operates to release containers from the upper surface of one side of a parts assembly pallet. 2 The above pallet for parts assembly is provided with a jig for holding the parts on one half, and a jig on the other half that comes into contact with the side edge of the container for placing the parts to regulate the stacking amount with the container to a constant level. A claim characterized in that it is constituted by a plate-like member provided with a positioning regulating part and a longitudinal positioning regulating part that slides on both end edges of the container and also serves as an insertion guide for the container. An assembly line device for the parts described in item 1. 3 The component placement container is a plate-like member having, on both sides, engaging edges that engage with a part of the dispensing unit and abutment edges that abut against the positioning regulating portion on the component assembly pallet. 2. The parts assembly line apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is constructed as follows.