JPH0771942B2 - Work positioning device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Use) The present invention relates to a work to be mounted on a mounted body such as a vehicle body when mounting and mounting a work such as a suspension unit having a movable portion. The present invention relates to a work positioning device used for positioning a workpiece.

(Prior Art) For example, in an automobile assembly line, an assembly (hereinafter referred to as an assembly work) including an engine, a transmission, an axle, a suspension equipped with a shock absorber, and the like is assembled and mounted on a vehicle body. At that time, the car body is supported by a transfer jig such as a hanger provided on the trolley conveyor and intermittently transferred to the mounting station at a predetermined pitch, and a lifter (heavy load mounting device) equipped with a lifting table at the mounting station. Is installed, and the pallet in which the assembled work is positioned and arranged is placed on the lifting table, which is lifted by the operation of the lifting table.
As a result, the assembly work is often moved to the assembly position of the vehicle body carried into the loading station, and assembled on the vehicle body using bolts or the like.

In such an automobile assembly line, assembling in which the assembling work is fixed to the vehicle body using bolts or the like is conventionally performed manually by an operator, but such assembling requires a lot of time and labor. It is not only required, but also troublesome tightening torque control of bolts, etc. is required, so it should be done by automated mechanical work rather than relying on manual work by workers. Is desired.

However, the vehicle body carried into the loading station is usually caused by a dimensional error in manufacturing the transfer jig or the vehicle body, or an error that occurs when the vehicle body is positioned to be supported by the transfer jig. It is accompanied by a positional deviation with respect to the assembly work placed on the lifting table via the pallet.
Therefore, in the case where the assembly work is performed by the automated mechanical work as described above, when the assembly work is lifted with respect to the vehicle body at the loading station, the assembly work is placed at the assembly position in the vehicle body. There is a possibility that the positioning may not be performed properly, and as a result, the assembly may not be properly performed by using bolts or the like by mechanical work.

Therefore, when assembling and mounting the assembly work on the vehicle body, for example, the position of the vehicle body carried into the mounting station is detected by using an appropriate detection means such as a visual sensor,
Based on the detection result, according to the actual position of the vehicle body loaded into the loading station, the position of the lifting table on which the assembly work is loaded is changed in the plane along the transport direction of the vehicle body, and the loading table is loaded by this. It has been considered to correct the positional deviation of the assembly work with respect to the vehicle body in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction with respect to the transport direction of the vehicle body so that the assembly work and the assembly position of the vehicle body are matched with each other.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, even when the assembly work is aligned with the vehicle body as described above, the assembly work may not be properly assembled to the vehicle body. That is, the work is, for example, the above-mentioned engine, transmission,
An assembly composed of an axle, a suspension, etc., having a movable part (shock absorber etc. provided in the suspension) which is supposed to slightly swing with respect to its main body part (engine and suspension), When the assembling work is moved to the assembling position of the vehicle body, the movable body is attached to the engaging portion such as the insertion hole provided in the vehicle body at the end opposite to the main body portion side. When the main body is assembled with bolts, etc., when the assembled work is moved to the assembly position of the vehicle body, the movable part of the assembled work is displaced with respect to the engaging portion of the vehicle body. If such a position shift occurs, there is a problem that the assembled work cannot be properly assembled to the vehicle body.

In order to avoid the situation where such a problem occurs, for example, it is necessary to arrange a positioning member for positioning the movable portion on the pallet and position the movable portion on the pallet in advance. Then, when arranging the positioning member for positioning the movable part on the pallet, the positioning member automatically takes the retracted state to avoid the interference with the assembly work before being mounted on the pallet, When the assembled work is placed on the pallet, it is required that the movable work is automatically activated to position the movable part. However, as described above, in order to cause the positioning member to selectively take the retracted state and the operating state, the detection means for detecting the presence or absence of the assembly work on the pallet, the pump or the motor for driving the positioning member, etc. Drive means, a control means for controlling this drive means, etc. are required, and the work positioning device including a base body such as a pallet becomes extremely complicated and expensive.

In view of such a point, the present invention is provided with a base body such as a pallet on which a work having a movable part to be assembled to an assembly object is positioned and placed, and automatically under a relatively simple configuration, The movable part positioning mechanism takes the retracted state before the work is placed on the base body, and takes the operating state when the work is placed on the base body to perform the operation of positioning the movable part of the work with respect to the base body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a workpiece positioning device configured as described above.

(Means for Solving Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a work positioning device according to the present invention is provided on a base in addition to a base on which a work having a movable portion is positioned and placed. A fluid supply unit that takes an expanded state in which the working fluid is filled inside when the work is not placed on the base, and is compressed by the work when the work is placed on the base to discharge the working fluid to the outside; The movable part positioning mechanism that selectively takes a retracted state that avoids interference with the movable part and an operating state that positions the movable part with respect to the substrate, and the retracted state of the movable part positioning mechanism before the work is placed on the substrate. And a drive unit that is supplied with the working fluid discharged from the fluid supply unit when the work is placed on the substrate, and that causes the movable unit positioning mechanism to be in an operating state by the pressure of the working fluid. To be done.

(Operation) In the work positioning apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above, since the movable part positioning mechanism is in the retracted state before the work is placed on the base, the work is positioned on the base. When it is placed and placed, the interference between the movable part positioning mechanism and the work is avoided.

Then, when the work is placed on the base body, the fluid supply unit is compressed by the load of the work, and the working fluid filled therein is pressurized and supplied to the drive unit. As a result, the movable portion positioning mechanism is in an operating state in which the movable portion of the work is positioned with respect to the base body.

By doing so, when the work placed on the base body is moved to the assembly position of the assembly target, the movable part of the work is displaced with respect to the engaging part of the assembly target. Therefore, the work is properly attached to the assembly target.

(Example) Hereinafter, the Example of this invention is described with reference to drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a work positioning device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the work positioning device 10 includes an engine 2, a transmission 3, a disc wheel 4, a suspension unit 8 having a shock absorber 6 (struts), an engine mounting member 9, etc. An assembly work 12 which is an assembled body is positioned and mounted on a base body 14. The assembling work 12 moves the disk wheel 4 vertically with respect to the engine 2 fixed to the vehicle body 70 via the engine mounting member 9 via the suspension unit 8 and knuckles on the lower arm 8a of the suspension unit 8. The shock absorber 6 connected via the arm 8b slightly swings with respect to the disc wheel 4.

The base body 14 is used as a pallet when the assembled work 12 is conveyed to and placed on a lifter described later,
When the mounted work 12 is placed, a flat plate-shaped base 16 provided with a positioning member 15 for positioning the disc wheel 4 and the lower arm 8a of the mounted work 12, and mounted on the upper part of the base 16 to be mounted It has supporting portions 18 and 19 that come into contact with the engine mounting member 9 of the work 12. The support parts 18 and 19 have a work piece 12 attached to the base body 14.
A plurality of positioning pins 21 for positioning are arranged, and a socket 24 used when mounting the assembled work 12 on the vehicle body 70 by assembling it with bolts 23 is provided so as to be movable in the axial direction. There is.

A fluid supply cylinder 25 is provided at the center of the base 16 of the base 14. The fluid supply cylinder 25 is a base
A cylinder body 26 erected on the base 16 of the piston 14, a piston 27 that slides in the cylinder body 26, a piston rod 28 that is connected to the piston 27 and projects above the cylinder body 26, and a piston 27. The coil spring 29 biases upward, and a check valve 33 provided in relation to the air chamber 22 formed on the lower surface side of the piston 27.

In addition, a pair of plate-shaped support columns is provided at both ends of the base portion 16 of the base body 14.
31 is erected, and the positioning mechanism 30 is arranged on the top of the plate-like support 31. The positioning mechanism 30 has a swing arm 32, one end of which is pivotally attached to the plate-shaped support column 31, and one end of which is connected to the swing arm 32, and the other end of which is connected to a bracket 31a provided on the plate-shaped support column 31. Return spring 3
It is assumed to have 6 and. The swing arm 32 is moved from the state (retracted state) shown in FIG. 1 by the drive cylinder 34 mounted on the bracket 31a against the elastic force of the return spring 36 to the inner side as shown by the one-dot chain line. It can be displaced to the state of falling (operating state). The piston lot 34b of the drive cylinder 34
A pin to be inserted into a guide hole 32a provided in the swing arm 32 is provided at the tip of the.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, a plate-shaped bracket 38 having an arc-shaped positioning surface 38a corresponding to the cross-sectional outer shape of the lower portion of the shock absorber 6 is attached to the tip of the swing arm 32. A pair of positioning arms 40 are pivotally mounted on the plate-like bracket 38, and a driving cylinder 35 for operating the positioning arms 40 is provided. The drive cylinder 35 has a positioning arm 40.
Pistons 37a and 3a for rotating the working ends of the positioning arm 40 in the directions toward each other about the pivot point of
7b, the pistons 37a and 37b are driving cylinders.
When the working fluid (compressed air) is supplied to the center of 35,
The return springs 42 and 43 move in directions opposite to each other against the resilience of the return springs 42, thereby rotating the positioning arm 40. The positioning arm 40 is for correcting the positional deviation (posture) of the shock absorber 6 with respect to the base body 14 in cooperation with the positioning surface portion 38a of the plate-shaped bracket 38, and presses the outer peripheral surface of the shock absorber 6 at its operating end. Then attach the shock absorber 6 to the plate bracket 38.
Is pressed against the positioning surface portion 38a of.

Further, in this example, the air chamber 22 of the fluid supply cylinder 25 and the respective working chambers 34a and 35a of the drive cylinders 34 and 35 are provided with the switching valve 45 as shown in FIG. ,
The air ducts 44, which are not shown in FIG. 1, communicate with each other. As shown in FIG. 1, the switching valve 45 slides in the valve main body 46 mounted on the upper surface of the support portion 18, and the upper end of the valve main body 46.
An air introduction port a connected to the air chamber 22 via the air duct 44 is formed in the valve body 46. The spool 47 projects upward from the spool 46 and the spring 48 that biases the spool 47 upward. Each working chamber 34a of the drive cylinders 34 and 35
And 35a, an air introduction / extraction port b and an air discharge port c, and an atmosphere opening port d open to the outside are formed in a predetermined manner.

Under such a configuration, when the assembled work 12 is not placed on the base 14 of the work positioning device 10, the first work is performed.
As shown by the solid line in the figure, the fluid supply cylinder 25
The piston 27 and piston rod 28 are coil springs.
It is positioned at the rising end by the elasticity of 29 and the air chamber 22 is filled with air. Therefore, at this time, compressed air is not supplied to the respective working chambers 34a and 35a of the drive cylinders 34 and 35, so that the swing arm 32 swings outward by the elastic force of the return spring 36 and takes a retracted state. , Positioning arm 40 is return spring
Due to the resilience of 42 and 43, the operating end thereof is in a widened state (retracted state) as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG.

When the work positioning device 10 having the above-described configuration is used, the assembled work 12 is assembled and mounted on the vehicle body 70 as follows.

First, in the work loading section attached to the automobile assembly line, the work 12 attached to the base 14 of the work positioning device 10 is
The mounted work 12 is lowered from directly above the work positioning device 10 in order to place the work. When such an operation is started, the swing arm 32 takes the retracted state as shown by the solid line in FIG.
Interference between 30 and the assembled work 12 is avoided. Assembly work 12
Is lowered with a predetermined orbit and approaches the base 14 of the work positioning device 10, the engine mounting member 9 of the assembly work 12 contacts the piston rod 28 of the fluid supply cylinder 25, and the load of the assembly work 12 causes The piston 27 is pushed down as the assembled work 12 is lowered. As a result, the compressed air filled in the air chamber 22 becomes the air introducing port a and the air introducing port b of the switching valve 45.
Is supplied to the working chambers 34a and 35a of the drive cylinders 34 and 35, and the sliding arm 32 and the positioning arm 40 are moved from the retracted state to the activated state in accordance with the lowering of the assembly work 12. Further, at that time, the positioning pin 21 is inserted into the reference hole provided in the engine mounting member 9 of the assembly work 12, and the disc wheel 4 and the lower arm 8a are locked by the positioning member 15 so that the assembly work 12 is assembled. The main body (engine 2, transmission 3, disc wheel 4, etc.) is positioned with respect to the base body 14. In that case, the shock absorber 6
As shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 2, when it is displaced from the regular position as indicated by the alternate long and two short dashes line in FIG. It is pressed against and is positioned in a regular position with respect to the base 14.

In this way, after the main body portion of the assembly work 12 and the shock absorber 6 serving as the movable portion are positioned and mounted at the regular position of the base body 14, the assembly work 12 is mounted. As shown in FIG. 4, the work positioning device 10 in the state is conveyed by the work loading / unloading conveyor 49 to a position near the front lifter 60, and is placed on the uppermost stage of the front lifter 60 by an appropriate loading device (not shown). It is transferred onto the lift table 50 located. In that case, the workpiece positioning device 10 is mounted such that the base 14 is locked by a convex portion (not shown) provided on the upper surface of the lifting table 50, and the workpiece positioning device 10 is mounted on the lifting table 50. Is detected by a detection means such as a limit switch provided on the lifting table 50 side, a plurality of lock pins 54 are attached to the work positioning device from the lower surface side of the lifting table 50 as shown by the dashed line in FIG. It is inserted into the engagement hole 56 provided in 10, and this allows the assembled work
The work positioning device 10 in which 12 is positioned and placed is positioned and fixed to the lifting table 50.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, a vehicle body 70 as an assembly body to which the assembly work 12 is assembled is hung on a hanger 58 provided on an overhead type trolley conveyor arranged along an automobile assembly line. Then, it is transported to the mounting station STp and stopped almost directly above the front lifter 60. At that time, the stop position of the vehicle body 70 is detected by a visual sensor or the like (not shown).

The front side lifter 60 has an elevating cylinder 62 for elevating the elevating table 50, and a substrate 64 is connected to a tip end portion of a piston rod 63 of the elevating cylinder 62.
Although not shown between the substrate 64 and the lifting table 50, the lifting table 50 is moved in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction (direction along the mounting direction) and the piston rod is moved.
Elevating table drive means for rotating around the central axis of 63 is arranged, and the position of the elevating table 50 is determined by this elevating table drive means based on the stop position of the vehicle body 70 detected by the above-mentioned visual sensor. Will be corrected. As a result, the position of the assembly work 12 placed on the work positioning device 10 in the horizontal plane is corrected with respect to the assembly position of the vehicle body 70.

After the position of the lifting table 50 is corrected in this way, the mounting cylinder 12 is mounted on the vehicle body 70,
The piston rod 63 is extended by the operation of 62, and the lifting table 50 is raised toward the vehicle body 70. At this time, in order to avoid the interference between the assembled work 12 and the existing members provided on the vehicle body 70, the lifting table 50 is moved in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction and the piston rod 63 is moved in accordance with a predetermined control program. It can be rotated around the central axis. When the lifting table 50 reaches the position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG.
The mounting portion 12 (a part of the engine mounting member 9) comes into contact with the assembly position of the vehicle body 70, and the lifting movement of the lifting table 50 is stopped.

In this case, since the shock absorber 6 of the assembled work 12 is positioned with respect to the base body 14 by the positioning mechanism 30, the top portion (mounting portion) of the shock absorber 6 immediately before the lifting table 50 reaches the rising end, as shown in FIG. As shown by the alternate long and short dash line, it is properly inserted into the engaging hole 72 provided in the vehicle body 70. Immediately after the uppermost portion of the shock absorber 6 is inserted into the engagement hole 72, the spool 47 of the switching valve 45 is pressed by the lower surface of the vehicle body 70 and pushed into the valve body 46, and the spool 47 moves. The air inlet port a and the air inlet outlet port b of the switching valve 45 are blocked, and the air outlet port c and the atmosphere opening port d are made to communicate with each other. As a result, the working chambers 34a and 35a in the drive cylinders 34 and 35 are released to the atmosphere, the swing arm 32 is returned to the retracted state by the elasticity of the return spring 36, and the positioning arm 40 also moves to the return springs 42 and 43. Elasticity returns to the retracted state.

Then, the mounting portion of the assembled work 12 is the work positioning device 10
The nut runner drive section 80 arranged on the side surface of the lifting table 50 is lifted in the state of being in contact with the assembling position of
It is fitted into the socket 24 that holds the bolt 23, and the assembling work of the assembling work 12 with the bolt 23 to the vehicle body 70 is performed.
At this time, since the assembling work 12 is properly aligned with the assembling position of the vehicle body 70, the assembling work by the nut runner can be performed quickly and accurately.

After the assembling work is completed and the assembling work 12 is mounted on the vehicle body 70, the lifting table in the front lifter 60 is provided.
When the descending operation of 50 is performed, the elevating table 50 and the work positioning device 10 are lowered, and accordingly, the piston 27 of the fluid supply cylinder 25 is raised and lowered by the elastic force of the coil spring 29, and the piston in the fluid supply cylinder 25 is moved. At the same time as the rod 28 extends, the atmosphere is introduced from the outside into the air chamber 22 of the fluid supply cylinder 25 via the check valve 33, and the fluid supply cylinder 25 returns to its original state.
At this time, since the swing arm 32 and the positioning arm 40 are both set in the retracted state, they and the assembly work
Interference with 12 will be avoided. In this way
The work positioning device 10 that has returned to the original state is then removed from the lifting table 50 and is a work loading / unloading conveyor.
It is carried out by 49 and returned to the shipping section of the assembly work 12 again.

In the above example, the working fluid supply unit is configured by the fluid supply cylinder 25, but the work positioning device according to the present invention, as the working fluid supply unit, instead of the fluid supply cylinder 25, for example, As shown in FIG. 5, a bellows device 90 including an outer cylinder 81 having a bellows shape and a coil spring 83 interposed between a receiving surface portion 82 for receiving an assembled work and a bottom surface portion 82 is used. Good.

(Effects of the Invention) As is apparent from the above description, the work positioning apparatus according to the present invention includes a base body on which a work having a movable part to be assembled to an assembly body such as a vehicle body is positioned and placed. When the work is placed on the base, the movable part positioning mechanism is operated by the load of the work. Therefore, when the work is automatically placed on the base with a relatively simple structure. It is possible to avoid the interference between the work and the positioning mechanism in 1) and to position the movable part of the work with respect to the base body. Therefore, when the work positioning apparatus according to the present invention is used, there is an advantage that the work can be properly and promptly mounted on the assembly target object under the automated mechanical work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of a work positioning apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial plan view showing a main part of the example shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 5 is a connection diagram of a fluid circuit system in an example shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a part of a mounting station in which the example shown in FIG. 1 is used, FIG.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a fluid supply unit used in another example of the work positioning device according to the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a work positioning device, 12 is an assembled work, 14 is a substrate, 21 is a positioning pin, 25 is a fluid supply cylinder, 30
Is a positioning mechanism, 34 and 35 are drive cylinders, 40 is a positioning arm, 50 is a lifting table, and 70 is a vehicle body.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base on which a work having a movable portion is positioned and mounted, and an extended state in which a working fluid is filled inside the base when the work is not mounted on the base. In other words, when the work is placed on the base, the fluid supply part that is compressed by the work and discharges the working fluid to the outside, the retracted state for avoiding interference with the work, and the movable part are attached to the base. And a movable part positioning mechanism that selectively takes an operating state of positioning the workpiece, and the movable part positioning mechanism is set to a retracted state before the work is mounted on the base body, and the work is mounted on the base body. When the working fluid discharged from the fluid supply unit is supplied, the work positioning device is provided with a driving unit that causes the movable unit positioning mechanism to be in an operating state by the pressure of the working fluid. Apparatus.