JPH0442231B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A. Object of the Invention (1) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an automobile assembly conveyance device for conveying vehicle bodies for assembling automobiles.

(2) Prior Art Conventionally, on an automobile assembly line, vehicle bodies are conveyed and assembled using an overhead conveyor or a slat conveyor.

(3) Problems to be solved by the invention By the way, automobile assembly work involves a large number of parts and many parts that are heavy, so automation has been attempted to reduce the labor burden on workers. It is coming. However, in the conventional transport device described above, the direction of the vehicle body is constant over the entire length of the assembly line, and the movement is complicated and difficult to automate assembly work in, for example, the engine room or trunk room. However, there are problems such as it takes too much time and equipment costs are high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is an automobile assembly conveyor that allows the orientation of the vehicle body to be arbitrarily changed and the height of the vehicle body to be arbitrarily adjustable, thereby facilitating assembly work and facilitating automation. The purpose is to provide equipment.

B. Structure of the Invention (1) Means for Solving Problems The device of the present invention includes a base, a plurality of wheels that are steerably attached to the base on a virtual circle to run on a floor surface, and each wheel. a steering mechanism provided on the base to steer the vehicle; a travel drive source connected to each wheel; a guide post erected on the base; The apparatus includes a receiving member, an elevating mechanism connected to the receiving member and provided on a base, and an elevating drive source disposed at a set position midway along the conveyance direction and connectable to the elevating mechanism.

(2) Operation The vehicle body is placed on the receiving member and is transported along the transport direction by driving the wheels on the floor surface by the travel drive source. Furthermore, by steering the wheels using the steering mechanism, the direction of the base, that is, the direction of the vehicle body along the conveyance direction can be arbitrarily changed. Further, by connecting and driving a lifting drive source to the lifting mechanism in the middle of the car body assembly line, the height of the receiving member, that is, the car body, can be changed.

(3) Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 1, during the assembly process of an automobile, a vehicle body 1 is placed on a running trolley 2, and the running trolley 2 is placed on a floor surface. 40, it is transported in the transport direction 3. Moreover, the work of assembling each part onto the car body 1 is performed at a plurality of assembling positions set along the transport direction 3, and the traveling bogie 2 adjusts the orientation of the car body 1 according to the work characteristics at each assembling position. Furthermore, the height of the vehicle body 1 can also be adjusted.

Referring also to FIG. 2, the traveling trolley 2 includes a rectangular hollow base 4 and four wheels that are steerably attached to the lower part of the base 4 so as to roll while touching the floor 40. 5, a steering mechanism 6 for steering the wheels 5, an air motor 7 as a traveling drive source connected to the wheels 5, and a pair of wheels erected on the base 4 with an interval larger than the width of the vehicle body 1. A cylindrical guide post 8 , a pair of receiving members 9 that are movable up and down along both guide posts 8 and for receiving both side bottoms of the vehicle body 1 , and an elevating mechanism 10 connected to the receiving members 9 . .

Each wheel 5 is arranged on a virtual circle 11 centered on the center of the base 4 and at each vertex position of a rectangle, and by steering these wheels 5, the direction of the traveling vehicle 2, that is, the traveling vehicle 2 The orientation of the upper vehicle body 1 can be changed arbitrarily.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, each wheel 5 is pivotally supported with a horizontal axis on a substantially U-shaped support member 12 that opens downward, and is integrally mounted on the upper part of this support member 12. A protruding support shaft 13 is rotatably supported by a support arm 14 about a vertical axis.
Furthermore, the support arm 14 is fixed to the base 4.

An air motor 7 is supported on the sides of two support members 12 supported by the base 4 on the rear side of the base 4 when the vehicle body 1 is oriented along the transport direction 3.
The output shaft 15 of this motor 7 is coaxially connected to the shaft 16 of the wheel 5 .

The steering mechanism 6 is arranged for each wheel 5, and includes a swinging arm 17 whose one end is fixedly connected to the upper end of the support shaft 13, and a swinging arm 17 connected to the other end of the swinging arm 17 via a pin 18. Piston rod 1 to be connected
9 and an air cylinder 20. The air cylinder 20 is mounted on a bracket 21 fixed to the base 4.
It is supported horizontally via a pin 22.

In such a steering mechanism 6, the support shaft 13, that is, the support member 12, rotates around the vertical axis due to the expansion and contraction operation of the air cylinder 20, thereby steering the wheels 5.

In FIG. 5, the elevating mechanism 10 includes an elevating tube 23 that is slidably fitted into each guide post 8, and an elevating tube 23 that is suspended from the upper end of the elevating tube 23 that protrudes from the upper end of the guide post 8 along the outer surface of the guide post 8. The nut 25 has a support plate 24 on which the receiving member 9 is fixed at the lower end, a nut 25 fixed on the lower end of the elevating tube 23, and a guide member 26 that can slide inside the elevating tube 23 at the upper end. a first bevel gear 28 provided at the lower end of the screw shaft 27; a second bevel gear 29 meshing with the first bevel gear 28; and a second bevel gear 29 of both guide posts 8. a third bevel gear 30 coaxially connected to the gear 29;
It has a fourth bevel gear 31 that meshes with the third bevel gear 30.

In FIG. 6, on the inner surface of the guide post 8,
A groove 32 extending in the axial direction is provided over the entire length, and a protrusion 33 that slides into the groove 32 is provided on the outer surface of the elevator tube 23 . As a result, the elevator tube 2
3 is prevented from rotating around the axis, but is allowed to move in the axial direction, so that the elevator tube 23 moves up and down in response to the rotation of the screw shaft 27. Moreover, since the receiving member 9 is connected to the elevating tube 23 via the support plate 24, the receiving member 9 is raised and lowered in accordance with the rotational movement of the screw shaft 27.

The lower end of the guide post 8 protrudes into the base 4, and a gear box 34 is fitted and fixed into the lower end of the guide post 8. This gearbox 34
A first bevel gear 28 coaxially connected to the screw shaft 27 is rotatably supported therein. Further, a support cylinder 35 extending inward of the base 4 is connected to the side of the gearbox 34 , and the second bevel gear 29 rotatably supported by the support cylinder 35 is connected to the first gear in the gearbox 34 . It meshes with the bevel gear 28.

A gearbox 36 is fixedly disposed inside the base 4 at the center between both guide posts 8, and a third bevel gear 30 coaxial with the second bevel gear 29 is rotatably supported within the gearbox 36. Ru. Moreover, the third bevel gear 30 and the second bevel gears 29 on both sides are connected to the transmission shaft 3.
They are coaxially connected via 7.

Within the gearbox 36, the fourth bevel gear 31 is rotatably supported with a vertical rotation axis,
The shaft 38 of this fourth bevel gear 31 is connected to the gearbox 36.
protrudes downward from.

At a set position midway in the transport direction 3 by the traveling cart 2, there is a lifting drive source 39 that can be connected to the lifting mechanism 10.
will be placed. That is, a pit 41 is provided at a set position on the floor surface 40 on which the traveling trolley 2 runs, and within this pit 41 is a lifting drive source 39 that can be connected to the shaft 38 of the fourth bevel gear 31 in the lifting mechanism 10. will be placed.

The elevating drive source 39 is, for example, an air motor having a vertical output shaft 42, and the upper end of the output shaft 42 is provided with a socket connection portion 43 that can be connected to the shaft 38. The elevating drive source 39 is fixed to a bracket 45, and the bracket 45 is supported by a guide plate 44 extending vertically so as to be movable up and down. Moreover, an air cylinder 46 for lifting is disposed between the base of the guide plate 44 and the bracket 45, and by driving the air cylinder 46 to expand and contract, the lifting drive source 39 moves the socket connecting portion 43 to the shaft 38. It moves up and down between the position where it is connected and the position where it is released.

In FIG. 7, a plurality of positioning holes 47 are provided at the bottom of the base 4, and when the base 4 is in a position where the elevating drive source 39 can be connected to the elevating mechanism 10, the positioning holes 47 are Floor surface 4 corresponds to
A positioning cylinder 48 is disposed at 0. The piston rod 4 in this positioning cylinder 48
A positioning pin 50 that can be fitted into the positioning hole 47 is protrudingly provided at the tip of the positioning cylinder 48. By extending the positioning cylinder 48 and fitting the positioning pin 50 into the positioning hole 47, the traveling bogie 2
The position of is fixed.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. The vehicle body 1 is placed on both receiving members 9. In this state, when the vehicle body 1 is conveyed with its longitudinal direction aligned with the conveyance direction 3, the steering mechanism 6 causes each wheel 5 to be conveyed with the wheels 5 aligned with the conveyance direction 3. Further, when the direction of the vehicle body 1 is to be orthogonal to the transport direction 3, each wheel 5 is steered by the steering mechanism 6 so as to follow the virtual circle 11, and the air motor 7 is activated. Then, the traveling carriage 2 can be rotated by an arbitrary angle around its vertical center line.

Further, when the traveling carriage 2 reaches the set position, the positioning cylinder 48 is extended to fix the traveling carriage 2, and the elevating drive source 39 is raised and connected to the shaft 38 of the elevating mechanism 10. By operating the elevating drive source 39 in this state, the receiving member 9, that is, the vehicle body 1 can be moved up and down.

In this way, since the direction of the vehicle body 1 can be arbitrarily changed and the height of the vehicle body 1 can also be adjusted, it becomes easy to assemble each component to the vehicle body 1. Moreover, since the receiving member 9 receives the bottoms on both sides of the car body 1, there are no obstacles when assembling parts on the bottom or both sides of the car body 1, and this also allows each part to be attached to the car body 1. Easy to assemble.

C. Effects of the Invention As described above, the device of the present invention includes a base, a plurality of wheels that are steerably attached to the base on a virtual circle to run on the floor, and a base that is attached to the base to steer each wheel. A steering mechanism provided, a travel drive source connected to each wheel, a guide post erected on a base, a receiving member that is movable up and down along the guide post and for receiving the vehicle body, and a receiving member that is movable up and down along the guide post to receive the vehicle body. Equipped with an elevating mechanism that is connected to the base and an elevating drive source that is disposed at a set position along the transport direction and can be connected to the elevating mechanism, the vehicle body can be oriented in any direction along the transport direction. In addition, the height of the vehicle body can be adjusted arbitrarily at the set position, which makes it easy to assemble each part to the vehicle body, making it easy to automate the assembly. In addition, by having multiple steerable wheels and a travel drive source for driving each wheel on a base with multiple wheels, it is possible to set the travel direction arbitrarily, and the assembly line The degree of freedom in setting increases. Furthermore, the weight is reduced by the fact that the base is not equipped with an elevating drive source, and the load on the traveling drive source can be made relatively small.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which the vehicle body is transported, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view of the traveling truck, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 2, and FIG.
The drawings are an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 1... Vehicle body, 3... Conveyance direction, 4... Base, 5
... Wheels, 6 ... Steering mechanism, 7 ... Air motor as a traveling drive source, 8 ... Guide post, 9 ... Receiving member, 10 ... Lifting mechanism, 11 ...
Virtual circle, 39...lifting drive source, 40...floor surface.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle assembly transport device for transporting a vehicle body 1 for assembling a vehicle, which includes a base 4 and a plurality of wheels 5 that are steerably attached to the base 4 on a virtual circle 11 to run on a floor surface 40. and each wheel 5
a steering mechanism 6 provided on the base 4 to steer the vehicle; a travel drive source 7 connected to each wheel 5;
A guide post 8 erected on the base 4, a receiving member 9 that is movable up and down along the guide post 8 and for receiving the vehicle body 1, and a receiving member 9 connected to the receiving member 9 and attached to the base 4.
and a lifting mechanism 10 provided at a set position along the conveyance direction 3.
1. A transport device for automobile assembly, characterized in that it is equipped with a lifting drive source 39 that can be connected to a motor vehicle.