JPH0241780A - Method and device for working work - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform prescribed welding by providing holding parts to be held selectively by an arm to prescribed two places at least of a working unit to prevent the arm form conducting unreasonable motion. CONSTITUTION:A welding gun 12 is first held by the arm 8a at the holding part 24A and performs spot welding successively on a welding place pertaining to a group of the lower half part of the left side of a car body while changing the position by the arm 8a. The arm 8a then turns in the right direction and spot welding is also performed on the right side of the car body. Afterward, the arm 8a turns in the left direction and the gun is mounted on a welding gun placing base set up at the left side of the car body and afterward, holding on the holding part 24A is released and then, the opposite side holding part 24B is held. At this time, spot welding is then performed successively on a welding place pertaining to a group of the upper half part of both sides of the right and left of the car body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention provides a working device in which a processing unit held at the tip of a robot arm performs a predetermined processing on a workpiece, and a method using this working device. It concerns working methods.

(Prior Art) A working device that has a processing unit such as a welding gun held at the tip of a robot arm and performs processing such as welding on a workpiece such as a car body panel with the processing unit while making a predetermined movement of the arm is, for example, a special work device. It has been widely known as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 118391/1983. When performing the above-mentioned machining on multiple locations on a workpiece, it is necessary to sequentially change the posture of the machining unit, and conventionally such operations have been performed only by controlling the movement of the arm.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, when the above-mentioned processing is, for example, welding performed around the opening of the workpiece, the arm has to make complicated movements in order to make the processing unit take the required posture. Furthermore, due to space constraints around the workpiece, it may be impossible to drive the arm to a position where the processing unit assumes the desired posture.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a working device for a workpiece, which allows a processing unit to perform predetermined processing on the workpiece without forcing the arm to move, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of working on a work using this working device.

(Means for Solving the Problems) A working device for a workpiece according to the present invention achieves the above object by having a structure in which a processing unit is provided with gripping portions selectively gripped by an arm at at least two predetermined locations. In addition, the method of working on a workpiece according to the present invention makes it possible to easily selectively grip the gripping portion by temporarily mounting the processing unit on the mounting means during processing. This is intended to achieve the above objectives.

That is, a working device for a workpiece according to the present invention includes a robot having an arm, and a processing unit that performs a predetermined processing on the workpiece while being gripped by the tip of the arm, in which at least one of the processing units The device is characterized in that gripping portions that are selectively gripped by the arm are provided at two predetermined locations.

Further, the method for working on a work according to the present invention is a method for working on the work using the work device for the work, the work being subjected to a predetermined process on the work by the processing unit having a predetermined grip held by the arm. After performing the above processing, the processing unit is separated from the arm and placed on a predetermined mounting means, and then the arm is made to grasp another predetermined gripping portion of the processing unit, and the processing unit is used to place the processing unit on the workpiece. It is characterized by being subjected to predetermined processing.

(Function) As shown in the above configuration, the workpiece working device according to the present invention has at least two predetermined locations of the processing unit.
Since the arm is provided with a gripping part that can be selectively gripped, the gripping part can be appropriately selected depending on the part of the workpiece to be processed.

Further, in the method of working on a workpiece according to the present invention, the processing unit is once mounted on the mounting means during processing, so that selective gripping of the gripping portion can be easily performed.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to selectively grip the gripping portion of the processing unit by the arm, so that the workpiece part can be moved by the movement of the arm without forcing the arm to move. Even if the workpiece is in a position that cannot be processed by the workpiece alone, the processing unit held in a predetermined posture by the arm can perform predetermined processing on the workpiece.

(Examples) Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a working device for a work according to the present invention.

A workpiece working device 2 is installed in a production line for automobile bodies 4, and spot-welds the underbody and side frame, which have been temporarily attached in advance, at multiple locations around an opening 4a formed on the side of the vehicle body 4. It looks like this. That is, the working device 2 includes a robot 8 installed on a shelf 6 arranged above a car body 4 that is a workpiece, and a welding unit that is a processing unit that is held at the tip of an arm 8a of the robot 8 via a tool changer 10. It comprises a gun 12 and a welding gun mounting stand 28 (see FIG. 3) which is a mounting means to be described later.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the welding gun 12 in detail.

The welding gun 12 includes a cylinder 16 and a control unit 18 housed in a casing 14. A movable electrode tip 20 is mounted on an output rod 6a of the cylinder 16, and a fixed electrode is mounted on a support arm 18a fixed to the control unit 18. Tips 22 are attached to each of the electrode tips 20 and 22, and spot welding is carried out by holding a workpiece between these electrode tips 20 and 22 and passing current between both electrode tips. Gripping parts 24A and 24B are attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the casing 14 to be gripped by the tool changer 10 at the tip of the arm 8a, and the welding gun 12 is attached to either one of the pair of gripping parts 24A and 24B. It is designed to be gripped selectively. Casing 1
A mounting bracket 26 is attached to one side of 4. Note that gripping by the tool changer IO is performed by a clamper (not shown) provided within the tool changer engaging the gripping portion 24A or 24B using air pressure.

FIG. 3 is a view from the ■ direction arrow in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a spot welding operation performed by

Spot welding is performed around a pair of openings 4a formed on both left and right sides of the vehicle body 4, but in order to avoid making complicated movements of the arm 8a, welding is performed around either opening 4.
Regarding a, the multiple welding points are divided into two parts: the upper half and the lower half.
Welding is performed by dividing into two groups and changing the grips 24A and 24B of the welding gun 12 for each group.

That is, as shown by the solid line in the figure, the welding gun 12 is first held by the arm 8a at the holding part 24A, and then
Regarding the welding points belonging to the lower half group on the left side of
Spot welding is performed sequentially while the position is changed by the arm 8a. Next, the arm 8a pivots to the right,
Spot welding is also performed on the right side of the vehicle body 4 at welding locations belonging to the lower half group. Thereafter, the arm 8a pivots to the left and places the welding gun 12 on the welding gun mounting stand 28, which is a mounting means installed on the left side (right side in the figure) of the vehicle body 4, as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure. Then, after releasing the grip on the grip part 24A, the grip part 24B on the opposite side is gripped. Then, as shown by the dashed line in the figure, spot welding is sequentially performed on the welding points belonging to the group on the upper half of both the left and right sides of the vehicle body 4. The series of movements of the arm 8a and spot welding operations of the welding gun 12 are performed according to a preset operation control program for the robot 8.

4a, 4b, and 40 are a front view, a side view, and a plan view showing the welding gun stand 28 in detail.

Welding gun 12 is mounted on welding gun mounting table 28 by support arm +8a and mounting bracket 26 with support arm 18a facing downward. That is, the welding gun mounting stand 28 includes a main body 30 having a pair of V-shaped blocks 30a fixed to the upper end thereof, and supports that are biased upwardly by a pair of springs 32 at two locations above and below the main body 30. It consists of pins 34 and 36. A contact pin 40 is attached to the upper end of the support pin 34 via a plate 38, and the mounting bracket 26 is elastically supported by the contact pin 40. A pair of guide pieces 44 are attached to the upper end of the support pin 36 via a plate 42, and between these guide pieces 44, the mounting bracket 26 is attached to the plate 42.
It is designed to provide elastic support.

It should be noted that the spring 32 allows the welding gun 12 to be mounted on the welding gun stand 28 without applying a shock to the welding gun 12.
By providing this, it is possible to further improve the efficiency of the polishing work. That is, since the electrode tips 20.22 wear out due to repeated spot welding operations, it is necessary to polish these electrode tips 20.22 as appropriate.
If this polishing work is performed by inserting a polisher between both electrode tips 20 and 22 of the welding gun 12 that are elastically supported by the welding gun holder 28, the insertion position of the polisher may be slightly misaligned. However, both electrode tips 20 and 22 can be polished by the elastic force of the spring 32.

As described in detail above, according to this embodiment, when performing spot welding on the vehicle body 4 at a plurality of locations around the opening 4a, these welding locations are divided into two groups, the lower half and the upper half, and each Grip part 24A for each group
, Welding gun 1 held by arm 8a at 24B
2 performs spot welding, welding gun 12
Predetermined welding can be performed without forcing the arm 8a to take a required posture.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a working device for a workpiece according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing details of a welding gun of the device, FIG. Figures 4a, 4b and 40 are a front view, a side view and a plan view showing the welding gun stand of the apparatus in detail. 2... Working device for the work 4... Vehicle body (work) 4a... Opening 8...
・Robot 8a...Arm 12...Welding gun (processing unit) 24A, 24B...Gripper 28...Welding gun mounting stand (mounting means)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A working device including a robot having an arm and a processing unit that performs predetermined processing on a workpiece while being gripped by the tip of the arm, wherein at least two predetermined processing units of the processing unit A working device for a workpiece, characterized in that a gripping portion selectively gripped by the arm is provided at a location. 2) A method for performing work on a workpiece using the workpiece work apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after performing a predetermined processing on the workpiece by the processing unit having a predetermined gripping portion held by the arm, The processing unit is separated from the arm and placed on a predetermined mounting means, and then the arm is made to grip another predetermined gripping portion of the processing unit, and the processing unit performs the predetermined processing on the workpiece. A method of working on a workpiece characterized by: