JPH0442232B2 - - 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 the Problems According to the device of the present invention, a pair of guides are provided on a traveling bogie that allows angular displacement around the vertical axis, with a distance larger than the width of the vehicle body. A post is provided upright, and the upper ends of the support members along the outer surfaces of both guide posts are connectable to an elevating drive source and are connected to the upper ends of the elevating members that are movably housed within each guide post. A receiving member for receiving the left and right bottom portions of the vehicle body is fixed to the lower end of the member.

(2) Function Since the traveling cart can be angularly displaced around the vertical axis, the direction of the car body can be changed arbitrarily during transportation, and the height of the car body can be adjusted by raising and lowering the receiving member along the guide post. It can be changed arbitrarily. Moreover, the receiving members that receive the bottoms of both sides of the vehicle body are fixed to the lower ends of the supporting members along the outer surface of the guide post, and the upper ends of the supporting members are connected to the upper ends of the lifting members that can move up and down within the guide posts. There are no obstacles to assembling parts to the vehicle body on the front, rear, left, right, or lower sides of the vehicle when the vehicle is supported on the vehicle body.

(3) Embodiment Below, 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 traveling truck 2, and the traveling truck 2 moves the vehicle body 1 in the transport direction. It is transported towards 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, four wheels 5 attached to the lower part of the base 4 so as to be able to be steered, and a wheel for steering the wheels 5. A steering mechanism 6, an air motor 7 as a traveling drive source connected to the wheels 5, a pair of cylindrical guide posts 8 erected on the base 4 with an interval larger than the width of the vehicle body 1, and both guides. The vehicle body 1 can be raised and lowered along the posts 8.
It includes a pair of receiving members 9 for receiving the bottoms on both sides, and a lifting 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 swing arm 17 whose one end is fixedly connected to the upper end of the support 13, and a swing arm 17 which is connected to the other end of the swing arm 17 via a pin 18. piston rod 1
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 the steering mechanism 6, the expansion and contraction of the air cylinder 20 causes the support shaft 13, that is, the support member 12, to rotate about the vertical axis, thereby steering the wheels 5.

In FIG. 5, the elevating mechanism 10 includes an elevating tube 2 as an elevating member that slides into each guide post 8.
3, a support plate 24 as a support member that hangs down along the outer surface of the guide post 8 from the upper end of the elevating cylinder 23 protruding from the upper end of the guide post 8, and has a receiving member 9 fixed to the lower end; The nut 2 has a nut 25 fixedly installed at the lower end of the cylinder 23 and a guide member 26 that slides and ascends within the elevating cylinder 23 at the upper end.
5, 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 bevel gear 29; and a third bevel gear 3
The fourth bevel gear 31 is meshed with the fourth bevel gear 31.

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 a 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 road surface 40 on which the traveling trolley 2 travels, and within this pit 41 is an elevating drive source 39 that can be connected to the shaft 38 of the fourth bevel gear 31 in the elevating 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 Road surface 4
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, 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, a support plate 24 having a receiving member 9 at the lower end and extending along the outer surface of the guide post 8 is connected to an elevating cylinder 23 that can be raised and lowered within the guide post 8, and the mechanism for raising and lowering the receiving member 9 is a guide. Since it is compactly arranged on the post 8, and the receiving member 9 receives the bottoms of both sides of the vehicle body 1, there are no obstacles when assembling the parts on both sides of the vehicle body 1 and below. This also makes it easy to assemble each part to the vehicle body 1.

As another embodiment of the present invention, the lifting drive source 39 may be mounted on the traveling truck 2, and the traveling truck 2 may be capable of traveling and angularly displacing around the vertical axis by an external force. It's okay.

C. Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a pair of guide posts are erected at a distance larger than the width of the vehicle body on a traveling bogie that allows angular displacement around the vertical axis. The upper ends of the support members that run along the outer surfaces of the posts can be connected to an elevating drive source and are also connected to the upper ends of the elevating members that are movably stored inside each guide post. Since receiving members are fixedly installed to receive the bottoms on both sides, the vehicle body can be transported while adjusting the direction and height along the transport direction, and there are no obstacles when assembling parts around the vehicle body. The vehicle body can be supported in such a way that there are no obstacles, parts can be easily assembled to the vehicle body, and parts assembly can be easily automated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

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. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Vehicle body, 2... Traveling trolley, 8... Guide post, 9... Receiving member, 23... Lifting tube as a lifting member, 24... Support plate as a supporting member, 39
...Elevating drive source.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a vehicle assembly transport device for transporting a vehicle body 1 for assembling a vehicle, a pair of guide posts are mounted on a traveling trolley 2 that enables angular displacement around a vertical axis, with a distance larger than the width of the vehicle body 1. The upper end of the support member 24 that runs along the outer surface of both guide posts 8 is connected to the upper end of the elevating member 23 that can be connected to the elevating drive source 39 and is housed in each guide post 8 so as to be movable up and down. A transport device for assembling an automobile, characterized in that the supporting members 24 are connected to each other, and receiving members 9 for receiving the left and right bottom portions of the vehicle body 1 are respectively fixed at the lower ends of the supporting members 24.